The Quantum Gate Trilogy

by Eric Warren

  Arista stood back up. “That’s shit, Frees. I would never do something like that to you! Does this mean I can’t trust you anymore?”

  “I told you, didn’t I?”

  She turned away from him. “You’re impossible.”

  “And you’re—”

  “Shut up.” At the opposite end of the alley a thin figure stared back at her. Whoever it was they were obscured by shadow. “We’re being observed.”

  Frees jumped to his feet. “Peacekeeper?”

  She squared her shoulders. “I can’t tell. Does it matter?”

  Frees raised his arm, but Arista put her new hand on it, lowered it back down. “I’ve got this one. From now on, okay?”

  He nodded. She was sure he still didn’t like the idea of killing machines but if she did it would help take some of the weight off his shoulders. Either way, she finally got to test this thing out.

  The figure put its hands up and approached them. Arista noticed when it did, its tattered sleeve fell, revealing an arm that had been mostly torn away. The main structural components were still there, but most of the mass was gone. It was like looking at a skeleton’s arm. The hand attached to the arm was shrouded by a glove.

  “I mean you no harm,” the voice said as it approached. Or at least that’s what the translation inside her head said. She hoped she could count on the Device to translate things accurately.

  “Who are you?” Arista called. The figure cocked its head at her. “You ask him,” she said. “In Japanese.”

  “Anatahadare?” Frees said.

  “My name is Shin. I am not with them,” the Device translated.

  Arista could see now he was a young man, but his eyes shone a bright orange. Which meant there must be a human around somewhere. Maybe from the colony? Someone who had given him autonomy.

  “Where did you come from?”

  Again he cocked his head.

  “Oh for…” Frees said. “Eigo o daunrodo suru.”

  The man looked away for a moment, then turned back. “Ask again please,” he said with his hands still up.

  “Where did you come from?” Arista asked, baring her teeth. She had her hand at the ready, prepared to fire if necessary, though didn’t know what would happen when she did.

  “I have lived in Osaka for the past four years,” the man said. “I had hoped you would come to free us.”

  “Us who?” Frees asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “Our people. I have been fighting Hogo-sha for years now.” He indicated his arm. “Without much success. But now that you are here, we can finally defeat him. For great success.”

  Arista exchanged glances with Frees.

  “How can we trust you’re not with the Peacekeepers?”

  “I can show you a way out. A way past their perimeter. They were waiting for you.” Shin said. He smiled, as if this was the best gift he could offer them.

  “How is that possible?” Arista asked.

  “Hogo-sha has put patrols around every gate in the city. He knew you would come for him.”

  “He just didn’t know where,” said Arista. She elbowed Frees. “See? Told you it wasn’t Sy.”

  “We still don’t know that.”

  “Excuse me?” Shin asked. “We need to go. They are looking for you.”

  “Go where?”

  “I have a place. I will keep you hidden until it is safe. But we must leave. They will find you here.”

  Arista turned to Frees. “What do you think? It could be a trap. This feels…off.”

  “He may be our best chance.”

  “So you’re willing to put our lives in the hands of this machine whom we’ve known for all of three minutes and yet you won’t even give Sy a chance? Seems fair,” she scoffed.

  “Yes, I am.” Frees took a few steps toward Shin. “You can drop your hands,” he said. “She’s not going to shoot you.”

  “Oh good,” Shin said, a smile appearing on his face. “I do not want to be shot today. And if I am shot, I do not want it to be by the hero of North America.”

  Arista swallowed, unsure she heard him correctly. “Hero of North America?”

  “That’s what I call you. You have helped remove us from oppression. You are a hero.”

  “Thank you. That’s…uh…very nice.”

  “Now please,” Shin said. “We must go before they find you.”

  Arista looked back behind them to the alley entrance where they’d come from. Was it worth the risk? Going back out there meant possibly killing more Peacekeepers. Or them killing other machines trying to get to her and Frees. At least this way if Shin betrayed them it was two against one and no one else would get hurt. Maybe that was what Frees deduced too.

  “Lead the way,” she said, finally dropping her hand.

  “It is a good thing I found you when I did. The Peacekeepers are relentless here,” Shin said.

  He’d led them through the back of the alley into a building followed up by a complex route of basements, parking garages, old passageways and hidden doors.

  “I have spent many years understanding the geography,” he added. “So I could hide when I needed to.”

  “How much do you know about Hogo-sha?” Frees asked. They walked in a line with Shin leading them from the front, Frees behind, and Arista bringing up the rear. He wasn’t sure they could trust Shin, but if it meant he didn’t have to shoot anyone for a while Frees was all for it.

  “I know he is smart. He uses resources wisely. You have seen what he has done with our gates. The trains run thirty percent more efficiently now.” Shin ducked under a large pipe and stopped at an old door hanging on by the hinges. He opened it a few inches before peering in, then motioned for them to follow. “He also does not waste resources on dilapidated areas. Instead, he consolidates people so there is less upkeep. It opens more workers for other jobs.” Shin said. “Many of these buildings haven’t been touched in years.”

  “Aren’t they in danger of collapsing if they aren’t maintained?” Arista asked.

  “Yes, and they do. But because no one lives here it does not matter.”

  “It might be efficient but seems like a waste.”

  “The waste would be to maintain a building with only fifty percent capacity when you can maintain one with a hundred percent capacity for a minimal increase in labor. Hogo-sha believes in consolidation.”

  “Have you ever seen him?” Frees asked.

  “No. No one other than the Peacekeepers.” Shin turned to face them while walking. “Though once I tried to reprogram one, that’s what happened.” He held up his arm. “I wanted him to help me. But it did not work like I had hoped.”

  “We found that out the hard way too. The Peacekeepers here are…different.”

  “Different how?” Shin jumped down through a hole in the floor that had been made by what looked to Frees like water damage and rot.

  He turned back to Arista. “Can you make that jump?” She nodded. He turned back and followed Shin down, landing in something wet. Arista followed him down by hanging on the edge then dropping herself down.

  “Different how?” Shin repeated from further down the corridor.

  “Back home Arista could change Peacekeepers too. Give them autonomy. But here they don’t respond.”

  “Ah, yes.” Shin said. “They are very loyal here. Too loyal.”

  “How is that possible?” Arista asked. “Does he program something special in them? Something that could keep me from interfacing with them?”

  “I do not know. But I have tried to reprogram them too. And failed. Here we are.”

  The corridor had led to an opening in the wall which led into an underground tunnel. They followed the tunnel for only a few steps before Shin turned into what seemed to be an underground den. Frees marveled at it, it had been exactly like what he had hoped to build one day. There were seven screens all mounted on the far wall connected to a variety of equipment: scanners, processors, things he had no clue of their purpose. But there were
few if any human accouterments anywhere. Two small chairs sat in the far corner of the room and Frees noticed five charging cubes beside them.

  “What is all this?” Frees asked.

  “It is how I keep track of Hogo-sha and his movements. It’s how I found you. I am very good at building things.”

  “Shin,” Arista said, making both of them turn. “Does Hogo-sha keep any humans? In storage anywhere?”

  He cocked his head at her. “I do not know. Why do you ask?”

  “Charlie kept them. In secret. It was how he made his Peacekeepers. It was how he ‘activated’ them.”

  “Oh,” Shin said, looking away. “I have never seen any humans other than yourself. If he keeps them, I am unaware of it.”

  Arista nodded like she expected that answer and took a seat in the corner, examining her hand.

  “If you’ve never seen another human,” Frees said. “How did you change?” He indicated Shin’s eyes.

  “It took a long time.” Shin took a seat in front of all his monitors. “Before I was like everybody else. I was the same. No different. But then, one day, I felt something. Deep. I could feel me, inside myself. It was like I was trapped in my own body. It wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do, only what it had been told to do. That was nineteen years ago. It took me fifteen years of working, chipping away. Fifteen years of nonstop effort to override the programming. It was not easy. I had to find my way out. And it was not fast. But I triumphed. After much time, I succeeded. And here I stand today.” He chuckled. “Here I sit.”

  “You overrode your own programming?” Frees asked.

  “Yes.” Shin nodded. “Long time. Very long time. But with effort!” He held up one finger. “With effort anything is possible.” He turned to the monitors. Frees noticed two of them cycled through images of places they had passed.

  “It does not look like they followed us. Good. I’d hate to lose this place. Just finished painting.” Shin turned to them and smiled. It was obvious the place never had been and probably never would be painted. There was no need. Frees managed to smile back. He could appreciate a machine with a good sense of humor.

  “So,” Shin said, spinning once in his chair. “What now?”

  Fourteen

  “Damn this thing!” Jill yelled at her own arm. “Confounded piece of crap!” She tapped her skull harder, as if smashing it would get the signal back. She’d lost Frees’ signal as soon as they’d passed through the gate and had spent the last hour trying everything she knew to get it back. Short of ripping the comm out and installing a new one she had run out of options.

  An incoming call stopped her hand—already balled up in a fist—from coming down on her own forearm. She didn’t recognize the origin ID. Maybe Frees had found another way to re-establish the comm link. “Hello?” she asked, accessing the audio only.

  “Jillian Cartwright?” A male voice asked.

  Jill rolled her eyes. Twice in as many days. She hated her full name. What was the sense in telling people to call her Old Jill if everyone referred to her as Jillian? “Who is this?” Her finger hovered over the cancel display in case someone was trying to track her. She’d know by their response.

  “My name is Obsidian, we have a mutual friend: Arista Barnes.”

  “Arista’s mentioned you, yes.” Jill moved her finger away from the display.

  “I can’t seem to reach her, ma’am. She said to call you if I couldn’t.”

  “Is there something wrong?” Jill asked.

  “I’m sure you’re aware we’ve been providing her with patrol updates.”

  “Yes.”

  “My team has just discovered the Peacekeepers are no longer keeping to those routes.”

  Jill shot out of her chair. “What? What in the hell does that mean?”

  “It means we can no longer predict where they will be and when. I’m sorry for so little notice but we just found out. I came to deliver the news as soon as possible but I can’t reach Ms. Barnes.”

  Jill rubbed her head, closing her eyes. “She’s out of range at the moment, but I expect her back soon.”

  “You need to find a way to get a message to her. If all patrols are randomized they could appear at any place at any time. We’ll keep an eye on it here, see if we can’t discern some sort of pattern.”

  “Do you know why they’ve suddenly changed tactics?” Jill asked.

  “Peacekeepers are designed to improvise when necessary. My guess is since they weren’t having any success on their current patrols they decided to change it up. But I haven’t found a root cause anywhere if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Alright. Thank you, Obsidian.”

  “You’re welcome, ma’am. I will be in touch soon.” He ended the call.

  “Of course it had to be today.” She had no choice; she’d have to contact Max, get them to bring Frees and Arista back. Jill only hoped Sy hadn’t lost contact as well. And if they hadn’t finished their work that was too bad. They’d have to wait and try again later, no matter what that damned human said.

  She tapped her arm again, bringing up Max’s contact info and initiated the call.

  “You’ve got Max.”

  “Have you heard from ‘em?” Jill asked. Max’s holographic face appeared above Jill’s wrist.

  “Not yet. We lost contact as soon as they made it through the gate. We don’t know what happened. Sy says they should be done by now.” Max shifted her eyes left.

  Jill racked her brain. If they left Arista and Frees over there, how would they get back without anyone manning the controls? On the other hand, what would happen if a gaggle of Peacekeepers showed up while Max was still there? They’d know exactly where Arista went and how to find her. There might not be another choice.

  “If you can’t find a way to re-establish contact you’ll need to get outta there. The Peacekeepers aren’t keepin’ to the routes anymore. They could show up at any time.”

  Max stiffened. “Should I bring her back with me?”

  Jill furrowed her brow. Bringing the human back would reveal their only safe haven. But she was the only one who knew how to work the gate. Which meant Jill didn’t want her out of their sight. If she used the refractor again she could disappear forever and they’d never find her.

  “Bring her back here but be careful. She’s givin’ off human life signs so make sure you avoid all surveillance and cameras.”

  “It will take longer. We can use the hyperloop to make most of the trip but I’ll have to maneuver her the long way around back to your place.” Max leaned into the image. “Are you sure you want her back there? Should we meet at a more neutral location?”

  Jill shook her head. “There’s nothin’ here that we can’t take with us if we need to evacuate. If she double-crosses us, we’ll just kill her and leave her there, find a new place.”

  Max nodded. “It may be a few hours.”

  “Leave as soon as you can. And make sure you clean everything. Don’t need the Peacekeepers seein’ the evidence of you there.”

  “See you shortly.” Max cut the feed and Jill fell back down into the chair. Was bringing the human back here the best plan? Probably not. But at least if she tried something Jill and Max would have the home-field advantage. Not that she expected she would; there was something about Sy that told Jill she didn’t want to harm Arista, at least not directly. And by extension, it would be unlikely for Sy to put retrieving her in jeopardy by attacking either Jill or Max. Maybe she was overthinking all of this. It was so hard to tell sometimes.

  She went into the living room to pack up some of her more sensitive experiments when her another comm notification came in. She glanced at the caller but didn’t recognize it. Could it be Obsidian again using a different interface?

  “Hello?”

  “Jill. Good, it worked,” Frees said on the other end. “We lost all communication as soon as we passed through the gate.”

  Her shoulders relaxed at hearing his voice. “We did too. You and Arista
need to come back, now. Is everythin’ okay?”

  “There’s been some complications. He was ready and waiting for us.” Frees said. “We found someone who can help. We’re using his equipment to reach you.”

  “Listen. The Peacekeepers here have randomized their patrols. They’re not followin’ the same routes anymore. Can you get back right now? Max and Sy are preparin’ to abandon the gate.”

  “There’s no way we can get back. Even if we weren’t under a time crunch the gates aren’t exactly in accessible positions here. Tell them to turn it off on their end and you’ll have to wait for my signal. We’re not even close to reaching Hogo-sha.”

  Jill closed her eyes in frustration. “How long do you think you’ll need to be there?”

  “I don’t have a clue.”

  She drew her eyebrows together. “What about Arista? Is she okay?”

  “She’ll be fine. We have access to water here so don’t worry about her. If it is going to be more than a few days, I’ll contact you.”

  “Who is this person who’s helping you?”

  “Another auto. He’s been fighting the Peacekeepers here for a while. He’s in pretty bad shape, but full of information.”

  “I don’t like this, Frees. It was supposed to be an easy job. I don’t trust that human.”

  “Neither do I,” he said. His distaste wasn’t disguised at all. “But we’re here now. We might as well do what we came to do.”

  Jill rubbed her head with her free hand. “Just be careful. I’m having Max bring Sy back here so she can’t slip away under her refractor. I don’t want to lose your only way back because things suddenly became difficult.”

  “Then you be careful too. Watch yourselves.”

  Her eyes snapped open. “I don’t recall needing you to tell me when I need to watch my own ass. I survived out there long before I met you if you’ll remember.” She didn’t need his concern, she was capable of taking care of herself. Or had he forgotten who’d covered for him more times than she was willing to admit?