by D A Buckley
“And, what did you answer, Katherine?”
“I said, ‘Why not?’ I run into them everywhere here. That’s why Tony and I split, you know?”
“No, I didn’t know. I thought maybe there was another woman or you both grew apart or whatever the common reasons are for marriages to fall apart these days.”
“Well, he found religion…he found Jesus…or something or someone. I don’t know. It was bad timing really. I was just being brought onboard with TRIAD. The information was all-consuming to me. I had no time for his personal enlightenment. In the end, I had no time for him. Trying to save our species…I had no time for him. I really hate myself for how I treated him, Porter. He deserved so much better from me.”
*****
“Luceee, I’m hooome,” Jared called out as he unlocked the door and stepped into the living room.
“Oh, if only you really were Ricky,” Jackie sighed while clasping her hands in front of her as she looked dreamily upward. “What a night I would have.” Dropping her hands and looking at Jared with feigned disappointment. “But no, it’s only you. And look, no food. You’re a very difficult partner, you know? You never think about little ole me. While you’re out rubbing elbows with the beautiful people I’m always left at home, starving, waiting for the giant to return to his hideout.”
“Okay short round. Don’t get your knickers in a knot. There’s a place down Santa Monica Boulevard, Misfit I think. They apparently have prime rib sliders. One for you and four or ten for me. A thimble of vodka for you and a couple of shots of JD for me and we can come back here and sleep the night away. So, come on Hu. Step it up…”
“Did you just call me Hu? Wait. I feel kind of funny.”
“Me too. I need to sit down for a minute.” Jared made his way to the couch and collapsed rather unceremoniously into its overstuffed cushions.
Jackie headed for the love seat, then abruptly stopped and turned toward Jared. “This is going to sound slightly weird, but hold out your hand.”
Without hesitation, Jared held out his left hand and Jackie placed her right hand on top of his. Instantly they were both thrown into a state much like a trance. For several minutes they were both completely motionless as memory after memory flooded their separate consciousnesses.
Finally, Jackie dropped her hand and looked incredulously at Jared. “You threw me into the air?” Her shrill voice demanded to know. “You threw me into the air? You know that I hate to be picked up by anyone. And you threw me into the air like some kind of a doll…in front of crowds of screaming people! When I get through with you…”
“They lied to us, Jackie. They’re still lying to us.” Jared’s eyes never moved from the cheap Monet print on the wall beside the entertainment center. “Wait. I’m accessing a data file from my bicuspid chip.”
“Whatever you’re doing is causing me to do it too. Did you notice that?”
“Yes, I did. Look at this sub-file. What do you think we should do?”
“Alright, jolly pale giant,” Jackie narrowed her gaze, “here’s what we’re going to do. First…we eat.”
“How can you think about food at a time like this?” Jared’s voice was incredulous.
“Well, I wasn’t out feeding my face with Madame Buns Bavishni, was I? I’m starving, you dolt. And nothing is going to change one way or another tonight. So get up and let’s get some sliders before I perish from starvation…wait…did you see that data line? They’re trying to override our program?”
“Hold my hand again…”
“I wasn’t holding your hand…”
“Do it now or we’re screwed,” Jared ordered.
As Jackie’s hand touched Jared’s Jared somehow generated a feedback command that immediately startled Ramos.
*****
“Porter, come in. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see you.” Katherine greeted Porter with a kiss on the cheek and pointed him to the living room. “How was your flight from Pennsylvania?”
“It was very relaxing,” Porter spoke as he moved to the coach. “I hadn’t realized how stressful the insurance business was.
They both found that amusing.
“Well, Porter,” Dr. Mathis observed somewhat wistfully, “this may well be the last time we see each other. I saw your reassignment orders to Montreal. What’s up with that? Are you off in search of Big Foot or something?
“Well…I could tell you, but…”
“Yea, yea, then you would have to kill yourself…”
“Well, actually I had a different thought.”
They both laughed.
“There is some sort of operation there in the DUMB facility beneath the airport. It’s very hush, hush. Although, I know that you are aware of that facility. It is the first of been made aware of its existence. It’s quite large I’ve been told. But I haven’t been fully read-in yet on the exact nature of my mission there. I’ll admit that I could use some Mother Nature time. I’m a real outdoorsy kind of guy, You know?”
”No, actually I didn’t know that about you,” Katherine poured them both a glass of wine.
“Well, in my mind…I guess. I love watching all those old survival shows from the twentieth century. That Bear guy. Now there’s the guy you want with you when your plane crashes in the middle of nowhere. How come there aren’t any more of those guys around? Well, I certainly won’t need to drink my own urine to survive here in L.A.”
“You’re flying out in the morning then?”
“No, I’m going to the facility at San Vicente Mountain Park. You know the Nike DUMB? From there to the Taos DUMB then Denver then Minot, then Vancouver.”
“Dear God, what a long trip. You know, I wasn’t aware that there was anything there at Mountain Park. I guess compartmentalization is a wonderful thing. You may have just upgraded my clearance there, Sparky.”
“Or permanently downgraded mine,” Porter realized that he had let slip something in assuming that Katherine knew about this depot in the underground defense transportation system. “Do you suppose they have this place bugged?” Porter asked only mildly concerned.
“I assume they have video of every time we sneeze. That’s why I usually don’t let things slip like you just did,” Katherine said with a grin. “Seriously though, Porter, I’m sure there’s no drama here. We’re both in the same program. They expect us to communicate and expect a little sharing of information.” Katherine attempted to quash any anxiety in Porter. She really had no idea what the impact of Porter’s slip would have when she mentioned it in her after action report. “Is Mill going with you?”
“Sure. She’s Canadian, you know. That may have something to do with my assignment there I suppose. She’s pretty excited about visiting old haunts with friends from university days.”
“Do you have any friends from university days?”
“Now that you mention it, no. Our lives are so hidden away from…”
Dr. Mathis’ cell phone emitted a tone like a fog horn. She held up a hand to Pause Porter’s observation of the uniqueness of the life they had both lived working for the TRIAD. “Sorry Porter, 911 from Ramos. He’s never done this before.”
Katherine retrieved her phone from her from her purse. “Ramos, what’s wrong?”
“Doc, you have to get back here ASAP. It’s J – Squared. They both did a total firewall penetration. They have it all, Doc. And they’re not responding to my queries.”
“Activate the GOHOME protocol.”
“That’s the problem, Doc. I did. But they somehow retransed a feedback that completely scrummed the program. It’s crap now…it’s completely corrupted.”
“What does that mean, Ramos? What do you mean corrupted,” Dr. Mathis’ voice was heavy with concern?
“Doc, it means they’re autonomous.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes…”
“Well, that sounds like my cue to leave, Katherine,” Porter said as he stood and walked to the door.
“Good luck my friend.
” Katherine’s voice was warm. She hugged Porter for as quite a few seconds before kissing him again on the cheek. “I do hope we see each other again someday.”
“Au revoir, Katherine. It’s been a pleasure all these years.”
*****
“So what are our options, Doctor?” the Vice President was worried.
“Mr. Vice President, we have some draconian options that will cause us to lose our entire investment in the J-Squared program…both J1 and J2.”
“Please tell me we’re not there, yet.”
“I don’t believe that we are, sir. We have some things still working in our favor. Their telemetry remains strong. They haven’t severed their connection with us, though the question of why not is certainly a mystery to me. Still, we remain in communications with them. In fact, they’re both sleeping as we speak. But there is another very strong factor in our favor, as I see it.”
“What factor exactly, Doctor?”
“Patriotism, sir. They’re not out of control evil machines. Their ideation is still rooted and grounded in being Americans or at least still humans…more or less. The unknown is that once they comprehend the entirety of what we’re doing to them they may not agree to cooperate any longer.”
“Your recommendations then?”
“Let them continue, sir. If they complete the mission then we have total buy-in.”
Dr. Mathis could almost hear the gears turning in the Vice President’s mind. “That’s really risky,” he said. “But I don’t see any other options that I’m willing to accept at the present time. Do they know where all this leads, yet? Exactly how much do they know?”
“We observed a complete penetration of our firewalls. If they haven’t figured it all out yet, they will, and very soon.”
“Alright,” the Vice President agreed. “You know when I was a Captain in the Army I worked for a Colonel who often said to his staff, ‘Hope is not a technique.’ Get as much control as you can, Katherine. Losing them constitutes an unacceptable outcome. If you feel you need to advance to final phase I approve but let me know so that I can inform the President.”
CHAPTER THREE
The sunrise through the patio glass doors was warming on Jared’s skin. He loved the early morning light. Jared emptied the entire contents of the cereal box into a mixing bowl and then covered the puffy cocoa cereal with two-percent lactose-free milk. Room service had delivered coffee and Danish a few minutes ago. As he began shoveling spoonfuls of chocolatey goodness into his mouth Jackie shuffled in yawning and still in her pajamas and bunny pink slippers.
“Are you a child?” she asked through her yawns. “How did you get to be a giant eating crappy sugar bombs? They serve bacon and eggs here, you know?”
“Morning, Jackie,” he responded without looking up from the bowl. “How’d you sleep? I’m exhausted.”
“I don’t know if I actually slept… slept if that makes any sense. My mind would not shut off. You know what they’re doing to us, right? You saw the same time-lines and operational objectives and data points I saw, right?”
“Yes, In fact, I’ve been trying to think of what we should do about this. My first response is to resist everything they have planned. They have no right to do to us what they are doing. We’re people, you know? At least…we used to be. What do you think?” There was real consternation in Jared’s voice.
“I’ve been going over that in my head. I’m seriously pissed, too. They manipulated us. They are using us. And nobody ever asked me for my permission. I’m not a volunteer. I feel like I was kidnapped or something. I feel like I’m someone’s property. They lied to us, Jared. Every step of the way, they lied to us.” Jackie turned on the TV to order breakfast over the hotel system.
“Yes they did,” Jared said, spraying some puffs across the table as he spoke. “How could they just co-opt our entire lives like this? We aren’t lab rats…we’re living, breathing people for god’s sake.”
“Still, ask yourself this, partner. Consider the ‘why’ here. 87 Sylvia is coming. And our augmentations are freaking awesome.” Jackie climbed a bar stool at the breakfast bar, retrieved and started peeling a banana. “I mean, if they had asked me, I know that I would have volunteered. They have hung all their hopes on us. We are the only lifeguards in an ocean of drowning people. Can we really complain? Considering what had happened to us that night, haven’t we gotten a really good deal out of this? You know, if this crazy, insane plan of theirs works they’re going to name a Federal building after us, or something.”
“Well that’s just awesome,” Jared said cynically. Staring out the patio sliding glass door his mind shifted gears and took notice of the view of the Pacific Ocean from the seventeenth floor. Somehow it was almost mesmerizing. The warm salt air and the rhythm of the waves were calming his thoughts. Already there were swimmers, jet skiers, and boaters enjoying the warm Santa Monica surf. Jared imagined himself there in the water, floating lazily in the rising sunlight. The thought was very relaxing. It was his happy place.
“And we are going to be the longest living people humanity has ever known,” Jackie observed out loud.
“But that’s the question, isn’t it…” Jared dropped his spoon into the now empty glass bowl producing a clamorous sound that brought him out of his happy thoughts and caused him to wince.
“I’m not following you,” Jackie said while chewing the soft banana and turning toward Jared.
“Will we be, are we even any more, human?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, pale face. But I’m still little ole me. Asian mini super-spy. Whatever, I’ll be in the shower. My breakfast will be here soon…”
“Do you want me to ask if they have a high chair?”
“Obviously, you’re still human as well, pale sour-puss giant. Just leave everything on the cart and have them put the cart on the balcony. I want to look out over the ocean this morning. We need to finalize our egress plan for this afternoon at the Watanabe building.”
“You’re still planning on completing the mission then?” Jared asked.
“It’s either that or fulfill my lifetime dream of joining the US Olympic High Jumping Team.” Jackie toddled down the hall laughing.
“Don’t mind the cameras I put in your bathroom. They’re just for security,” Jared teased.
“Yeah, yeah.” Jackie dismissively waved her hands over her head as she walked down the hall to the shower.
*****
“Okay,” Ramos sighed as his hands flew across the keyboard. “Let’s see just how far you smart alecks were able to hack my program.”
“Morning, Ramos. What are the damages? How far have they penetrated the system?”
“Good morning, Dr. Mathis.”
Katherine was always entertained at how Ramos would work with one computer and then push himself away and roll in his chair to another computer a few feet away. He could have arranged the systems next to each other on one table but he just simply enjoyed gliding from one system to another. He said it was his, “process.”
“Wow, this is amazing. Doc, I don’t know how they’re doing this but their synaptic interfaces are linked. They are actually communicating with each other at a below-consciousness level…periodically in real time. How are they doing that? At the same time, they are each taking turns accessing all of the files in the mainframes here. It’s like tag-team wrestling.” After stopping for just a moment Ramos continued, “I could try to shut the door.”
“Put yourself in their place, Ramos,” Dr. Mathis said while keyboarding at a much slower speed at her own station. “If I’m reading this correctly, and I am, they know that we have been keeping so much from them. If we slam the door in their faces now, who knows how they will respond to that? No, from the next few days at least, you and I are on a goodwill mission to head off any overreactions from either or both of them. We’ve got soothe their minds as much as we can manage.”
“Right. I suppose that it’s a good sign that they haven’t severed comm
s and taken off somewhere.”
“It’s an even better sign that they are not on their way back here in a fit of rage.”
“Holy cow, Doc,” Ramos exclaimed, looking up in shock. “I never thought of that. With their cognitive abilities, I doubt that we could hide anywhere on the planet from them. We would have to initiate the MELTDOWN program.”
“Go ahead and try,” Dr. Mathis said.
“What? Are you serious? Shut everything down? Destroy years of work and billions of dollars in practical research…”
