by T E Stouyer
“Yes, thank you,” Marie replied. “Thank you both,” she added, glancing at Soran.
“Don’t mention it,” said the young man. He then glanced towards the counter, where Sonar was lying down, surrounded by the other mercenaries.
“Hey, Ben, maybe you should listen to what Doc’s telling you,” Rock said.
“I’ll be fine, big guy. Right now, I’m more interested in knowing how that redheaded chick was able to hit me so hard. I feel like I stepped in front of a bus or something. I mean, Nate warned me about those guys but, damn … and am I crazy, or did I get attacked by a freaking knife?”
“No, you’re not crazy,” Doc said. “But it’s a long story. We’ll explain later.”
Meanwhile, Carson had been carefully scanning outside through the glass walls on the terrace-side of the coffee shop. Once he was satisfied that no more masked men would be coming for them, he moved back inside and re-joined the others. “I take it he’s a friend of yours,” he said, looking at Ben. “The last member of your team? The one Mr. Leicester mentioned?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Rock said. “We never made the introductions.” The giant turned to the trio seated in the middle of the coffee shop and said, “Everyone, that’s Ben. Benjamin Green. He’s a member of our team. Ben, that’s everyone.”
“You call that an introduction?” Ben complained.
“What do you want, a red carpet?” The giant fired back.
“Rock, you ungrateful bastard,” Ben growled. “Nate calls me, and tells me you guys are in trouble … again. Big surprise, right? So I drop everything, jump on the first plane here, pick-up Da Costa from the hospital and leave him with that old man and the Indian guy. Then, I rush over here and save your collective butts. And that’s the kind of tone I get in return for my troubles?”
Rock stuck his finger in his comrade’s face and said, “Hey, let’s get a couple of things straight, here. First, I didn’t call you. Nate did. If you have a problem, take it up with him. Second, you didn’t save me. You saved her,” he corrected, now pointing at the detective.
“That’s enough, you two,” Doc barked.
Curious about the newcomer, Soran stood up and walked over him. He extended his hand and said, “Hi, my name’s Soran. Thanks for helping us out.”
Ben examined the young man from head to toe and shook his hand. “No worries. Like Rock said, Nate’s the one who called me. If you want to thank someone, you can thank him.”
Soran turned around, and motioned to the woman and the girl seated at the table. “This is Marie. And the young one’s my little sister, Lucielle.”
“Thank you,” the detective said. “You saved my life.”
“You’re welcome,” Ben replied. “But really all I did was get my butt kicked.” He then turned his attention to Lucielle. Obviously, he had noticed her, before. But he was still unclear about the reason for her presence. And he had questions about her hair, too. “Hey guys, what’s with the kid?” he whispered to his comrades.
Doc let out a heavy sigh. “That’s also a long story, I’m afraid. But trust me, you don’t want to go there, right now.”
“I see,” Ben said.
Lucielle turned to her brother and said, “I’m worried about Arianne and Nate.”
“Yeah, me too,” Soran admitted.
“Arianne’s their sister,” Rock explained, pre-empting Ben’s question. “She’s with Nate. They went to look for something.”
“We should go check on them,” Soran suggested. “They might need our help.”
“What makes you say that?” Ben asked, wondering why the two siblings looked so worried.
“Because of my other brother, Damien,” the young man replied. “If he had been nearby, he would have killed all of you when Johann …” he lowered his eyes, unable to finish his sentence.
Doc sensed the waves of conflicting emotions swirling inside Soran’s head. He imagined there was relief, that Johann had been prevented from killing anyone. But also sadness, and regret. And finally, guilt, because he had sided against his own brother.
Johann was a monster. A psychopathic killer who took pleasure in hurting others. Someone beyond saving. Soran and his siblings knew this better than anyone. They had grown up with him. But in spite of all his faults, Johann was still one of them. And to a group of orphaned clones who had been kept imprisoned their entire lives for the crime of being different, the bond between siblings no doubt carried a singularly profound and complex significance.
Doc knew he could never understand what Soran was going through. No one could, aside from his siblings. But Doc understood that all the valid, logical, and ethical reasons for which Johann had to be stopped would do very little to alleviate the young man’s sorrow.
Lucielle also experienced a similar internal conflict, with her mind and her heart pulling her in opposite directions. She was trying to put on a brave face. But even though she had managed to hold back her tears, the urge to cry simply wouldn’t go away.
Marie had been observing the young girl closely for the past few minutes, wondering why Lucielle had been repeatedly stealing furtive glances at her brother, Soran. Then, noticing the sadness in Lucielle’s eyes, the detective finally stumbled upon the same insight Doc had had regarding the siblings’ emotional turmoil.
Marie was hit by a sudden surge of guilt. She had been so focused on avenging Professor Karpov’s murder that she had never stopped to consider what it meant for Lucielle and Soran. “I’m sorry,” she said to the young girl.
“I know,” Lucielle replied, while still keeping an eye on Soran. “Johann was my brother. But he was also a bad person. And he killed Professor Karpov who was like family to us.”
Like the detective, Doc had also noticed the stubborn glances Lucielle repeatedly cast at her brother. He thought there was something odd about the way she looked at him. Something buried beneath the pain and the sadness. But before he could venture a guess as to what it might be, Rock’s voice abruptly pulled him from his observations.
“Hey, you were saying something about Nate needing our help?” the giant said to Soran.
“Oh … yes, sorry,” said the young man. “Luce and I believe the reason Damien’s not here is because he’s looking for Arianne and Nate. And if he finds them …”
“Then what are we still doing here?” Rock said. “Let’s go.”
“Hold on,” Doc said. “Sonar and Marie are in no shape to go running around. And the rest of us aren’t doing that much better.”
“We can split up,” Soran suggested. “Some of us can go check on Nate and Arianne, while the others stay here and look after the injured.”
“Fine,” Doc said. “You and I can go. But everyone else stays here, in case your other sister returns.”
“No offense, Doc,” Ben said. “But you don’t look like you should be running around, either. I’ll go.”
“Yeah,” Rock said. “And I’m going too.”
“No way,” Doc told him. “I need you to stay here.”
“Argh,” the giant grumbled, looking displeased.
“Maybe you should stay, as well,” Lucielle said to her brother.
Everyone turned to her, looking surprised. Soran most of all.
“What are you talking about?” Rock exclaimed. “He’s pretty much the only one here who’s still a hundred percent.”
“That’s right,” Soran agreed. “Don’t worry, Luce. Rock and that other scary guy will stay here with you,” he added, nodding at Carson.
Carson frowned as he turned to Rock and pointed a finger at himself. “Scary guy?”
The giant shrugged, and said, “Well … you kinda are.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you of all people,” Carson retorted.
“All right,” Doc said. “Ben and Soran will head out. The rest of us will wait here.” He turned to his comrade. “Remain vigilant, and avoid open spaces. There could still be one or two of Jenkins’ men posted on a roof somewhere, waiting to tak
e a shot at us.”
“We’ll be careful,” Ben said. He then turned to Soran and asked, “Ready?”
“Yeah. We can use the subway station on the lower level. It’ll take us a bit longer to get there, but at least we won’t have to cross the esplanade. We’ll come up right in front of the monument. That’s what Arianne and Nate did.”
Ben nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”
Chapter 19 – Legacy
“You leave me no choice, Damien,” Arianne said.
Kincade stood at the ready, thinking she was about to attack. But instead, she raised the box and quickly drummed her thumbs on the keypad.
There was a long beep, followed by a double-click, and a small chip was ejected from the box.
Arianne pinched the chip between her fingers and pulled it out.
Kincade looked on, surprised by her actions. But even more surprising to him, was Damien’s inaction. Yes, Arianne had been spontaneous and quick. But Damien hadn’t moved a single muscle to stop her. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned as she removed the data card from its protective container.
Arianne glared at her brother. She held the chip in front of her and squeezed it between her thumb and index finger. “Leave!” she commanded. “Right now. Or I’ll destroy it.”
“That’s an empty threat,” Damien said. “You, of all people, would never allow Adam’s legacy to be lost forever.”
“We are Adam’s legacy,” she countered. “You, me, all of us. Not some virus.”
Damien smiled. “It’s not a virus.”
A dubious frown immediately appeared on Kincade’s face. He glanced at Arianne to gauge her reaction, because he knew she could determine the veracity of Damien’s claim. Which was why the look of shock on her face left no doubt in his mind as to whether or not her brother had told them the truth.
“Perhaps I should rephrase that,” Damien said. “The card does contain data about a virus. But not in the sense we all thought. It’s not a biological weapon. It’s a computer virus. A program.”
“A program?” Arianne echoed.
“Yes.”
“Do you really expect us to believe that Adam went through all this trouble just to hide some computer virus?” Kincade challenged.
Damien gave him a long and contemptuous stare. In the end, he only decided to address Kincade’s objection because he could see the same question burning behind Arianne’s eyes. “This program is unique,” he said. “It has the potential to change the world.”
“Change the world how?” Arianne asked.
But as she asked the question, Kincade sensed that the foundations of her resolve were starting to shake. Her voice, which up until then had been steady and resolute, was now laced with doubt and hesitation.
But what if Damien was lying? Kincade wondered.
He knew it was practically impossible to lie to Arianne’s face. He had long stopped doubting the accuracy of the intuition and instinct that allowed her to pierce through the thickest shrouds of deception. But what if it was a lie she desperately wanted to believe? Could she still rely on this subconscious perception? Or would her conscious mind override it?
Kincade had no doubt that the idea her father’s last project could be a computer program—even a dangerous one—rather than a deadly biological weapon would be very appealing to Arianne.
Was Damien playing on this?
“Explain what you mean by that,” Arianne demanded.
Damien stared at her and Kincade for a while, as if trying to decide on the best way to deal with the pair. Then, he let out a faint sigh, and his whole body seemed to relax.
During their first encounter, Kincade had learned that Damien was the kind of person who favored actions over words. But on this occasion, the man with silver hair had apparently decided to make an exception. Probably because he hoped to convince his sister to hand over the data card willingly.
“Human civilization is on a path to extinction,” Damien declared.
Kincade raised his eyebrows at the young man and said, “That’s a hell of a way to begin an explanation.”
“This isn’t some doomsday prediction,” Damien said. “It’s merely a fact of nature which holds true for every species that’s ever lived. The moment we come into existence, the countdown begins. We’re then simply carried by the currents of time towards our fated end.”
“Wow!” Kincade exclaimed. “And people call me a pessimist.”
“Don’t misunderstand. This isn’t a fatalistic point of view. On the contrary, understanding this simple truth is the key to our survival.”
“Is that a roundabout way of saying we’re all in the same boat?” Kincade asked.
“I suppose,” Damien said. “But you’d have to imagine that boat being carried by a strong current leading to a fatal waterfall drop. The challenge would then be to find a way to escape before the drop. You could approach this problem from different angles. To continue with your metaphor, perhaps you could somehow make oars strong enough to fight the current and get to shore. But many people would need to row together, undisturbed by the others, for your plan to succeed. Or perhaps you could even build a flying machine to get off the doomed ride. But would others allow you to use parts from the boat? The only safe place they’ve ever known. Just so you could put together an experimental machine which most of them won’t even understand. There’s no single right or wrong answer. The point is that regardless of the path you choose, intelligence and knowledge won’t be enough. Wisdom and awareness will determine whether a species survives or not.”
Kincade turned to Arianne and asked, “What the hell is he going on about?”
She shot a quick glance at him but didn’t say anything.
“Arianne understands,” Damien said. “She and I may differ on our approach to finding a solution, but we are in complete agreement as to the problem. Humans like to think of themselves as intelligent and civilized, when really most of them are constantly tripping over their own ignorance and stupidity. And although some truly brilliant men and women have appeared throughout the centuries, even today their impressive works and great discoveries are sometimes disregarded by large congregations of people. Take us, for example. If people knew of our existence, they would come for us with their torches and pitchforks, driven by fear and prejudice. Simply because we’re different.”
“And what does any of this have to do with a computer virus?” Arianne asked, finally breaking her silence.
“It’s the first phase in a plan to change the course of human civilization,” Damien replied.
“That’s kinda vague,” Kincade said.
“The virus will infect the systems of all major banks, financial institutions, stock exchanges, etc …” Damien explained. “And once activated, it will wipe out everything.”
“Are you insane?” Kincade exclaimed. “Why would you even want to do something like that?”
“Because society needs to learn that it can function without using money as its main motivator.”
“You are insane,” Kincade concluded. “What do you suggest we use instead? Or do you think we can simply do away with all forms of currency?”
“There are alternatives,” Damien replied. “The only reason the idea seems unthinkable to you is precisely because you’ve never actually thought about it.”
“It won’t work,” Arianne calmly said. “There are far too many safeguards in place. It would be impossible for one virus alone to accomplish this.”
Damien shrugged at her objection. “Normally, you’d be right. But what if the virus in question was hidden inside a text file? And I do mean hidden. Not simply disguised as one.”
Arianne’s eyes widened in realization. “Impossible …” she said again.
“Even for Adam?”
Arianne stood motionless, staring into space as if captivated by some calamitous event unfolding before her eyes.
“What?” Kincade asked. “What am I missing?”
Without
looking at him, the young woman began her explanation. It was almost mechanical, like she wanted to talk herself through the idea to see if it could actually succeed. “At their core, every computer file is the same. It’s just a series of ones and zeros. It’s the format that determines whether a file is a program, a text document, an image, a video, or anything else. The format is what describes how the information inside the file is encoded. But it’s still just ones and zeros. Now, that’s never a problem, because if you try to open a file with the wrong application … for instance, a movie file with a word processor, it’ll look like gibberish. The file will open, but it won’t make any sense because it’ll be in the wrong format.”
“OK,” Kincade said. “I’m with you so far.”
“Computer viruses are basically programs,” Arianne said. “They’re executable files with code that instruct computers to perform specific tasks. Whereas text files are only meant for reading and writing, there’s no code to execute. They’re what people use to write documents and memos, and such. In terms of computer security, text files are considered harmless.”
“Why?” Kincade asked. “Wouldn’t it be possible to write a program inside a text file, and then run it using the proper application?”
“Sure,” Arianne replied. “But it’d be obvious to anyone who looked at it. People would immediately see that the file contains computer code and flag it as a security risk.” She marked a brief pause, and then continued. “However, if someone were to find a way to create a file with human-readable information displayed in plain text. In other words, a file with information that actually made sense to anyone who read it. While at the same time hiding the code for a program at the binary level, inside the ones and zeros. Then, that file would easily bypass all conventional security measures.”
“I think I sorta understand what you mean,” Kincade said. “It’d be like walking through a bunch of metal detectors with a plastic gun. They wouldn’t pick it up.”
“Exactly,” Arianne confirmed.
“Is such a thing really doable?”
“The idea itself is quite simple. But to implement it would be incredibly difficult. You’d have to arrange the ones and zeros so that they made sense both as a text document, and also as a computer program. I don’t know of anyone who could accomplish this.”
