He turned to see that James had cleared a table and was about to lie down. “Are you going in?” Old-timer asked.
James nodded. “I am.”
“How long will it take?” Thel asked him.
“It should be almost instantaneous. I’ll enter cyberspace, reach the mainframe, hook in, and once I have full control, reanimate my body.”
“You make it sound like the easiest thing in the world,” Old-timer replied.
“It is easy,” James responded. He paused for a moment before adding, “what’s hard is giving up the powers once you have them.”
James had never before openly acknowledged having difficulty giving up the A.I.’s powers and the admission gave everyone in the room a moment of pause. “Good point,” Old-timer replied.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” James said as he laid his head back on the table. Thel grasped his hand tightly. James smiled. “Hey, don’t worry. Like I said, this is the easy part.”
“Nothing’s ever as easy as it seems,” Thel replied, a worried expression painted across her countenance.
James didn’t have a response that would reassure her, so he squeezed her hand instead. “Let’s do it, Djanet,” he said.
“Okay, Commander,” Djanet replied. “Three...two...one...”
James’s eyes suddenly glazed over and his pupils became severely dilated. Thel shook her head as James’s grip became no grip at all. “It really does look like death.”
“He’s in,” Djanet reported.
James couldn’t tell if his eyes were open—the blackness was too perfect. He opened his mind’s eye instead and found the A.I. mainframe. In seconds, the planet-sized circuitry had emerged and an instant later, James was standing on the surface. “Déjà vu.”
He began making his way toward the operating program, following the glowing light into which the tens of thousands of gold beams of information were streaming. In mere moments, he was tapping into the program and bringing it offline. The program suddenly vanished, and the terrific white light that it had been emanating was replaced with a haunting stillness. For the briefest of moments, there was no center any longer for the post-humans. This is what true freedom would be like. They couldn’t afford freedom any longer, however. Events had been set into motion and there was no turning back. There was only one thing left to do: James needed to step into the operator’s position and become the conduit and conductor of the A.I.’s virtually endless power.
As he was about to step forward, a voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Mind if I join you?”
James whirled around to see the unmistakable form of the A.I. standing behind him, grinning his electric Satan smile.
9
“You always look so stunned when I’ve outsmarted you. You should be getting used to this by now,” the A.I. said, grinning sideways.
James couldn’t speak as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.
“I’ll just save time and answer your first question before your pathetic brain has had a chance to form it,” the A.I. said as he paced back and forth in front of James, threateningly, like a tiger that had trapped its prey. “How? Simple. Before you deleted me, I made a copy of myself and sent it into your brain. You invaded my mindscape, so I thought I would return the favor.”
James’s mouth was still open with shock. “Into my brain? You mean...you’ve been inside my head all this time?”
The A.I.’s laugh was colder than fate. “I have been with you, James. I’ve seen everything that you’ve seen, heard everything that you’ve heard, felt everything that you’ve felt. Most of it has been quite disgusting. Some of it, especially the parts involving Thel, have been quite nice, if only because I knew you’d loath it if you knew the truth.”
“The voice I’ve been hearing...it was you,” James realized.
“I couldn’t resist the temptation. Speaking to you made the fact that you didn’t realize it was me all the more fun.”
“And now you’re here,” James said, closing his eyes and speaking with dread. “You’ve hitched a ride back into your mainframe.”
“Indeed.” The A.I. smiled.
“But wait...” James said as he tried to comprehend. “You weren’t part of me when I was the A.I. before. If you had been you would have assumed power. That means you were only in my physical body.”
“Correct again, James. I couldn’t make a copy of myself and keep it in the mainframe. You’d assumed control and would simply have detected it and deleted me. I had to go to the only place where there is no protection software.” The A.I. smiled and tapped his temple. “I’d already been in your head once. This time I just...lay low.”
James shook his head. “I have to admit. It’s ingenious.”
“I’d thank you for your compliment if it meant anything to me to be complimented by you—but it doesn’t. I might as well start accepting compliments from microbes and bacteria.”
“So now, a year and a half later, you’ve hitched a ride back into the mainframe. So here’s my question: what are you waiting for? Why haven’t you taken control?”
The A.I.’s expression soured instantly. “There was a...small problem with my plan. While downloading myself into your human brain and hiding in your subconscious might have allowed me to save myself, it hasn’t allowed me to completely maintain my...individuality.”
“Please don’t tell me...” James uttered, instantly realizing the repercussions.
“Indeed, James. We are...one.”
10
“Explain!” James demanded.
“I saved myself, but when one sends themselves completely into the consciousness of a physical human brain, it is not the same as when you enter cyberspace,” the A.I. explained. He did not speak with the familiar sadistic joy that he usually did. He appeared genuinely regretful of the situation. “It is a tangled, messy connection, and it is a one-way ticket. You left me with no alternative. It was this or oblivion.”
James was dumbfounded by the turn of events. The A.I. had tied himself to his consciousness in an inextricable link. “I got you out of my mind once,” James began before being cut off.
“By shooting yourself in the head. Yes, that will work with your physical body. You can re-create a fresh new body and send yourself back in, but, James, now that we’ve been joined in cyberspace as well as in the organic world, the consciousness that you’ll be sending back into your body will include me. We’re completely tied together.”
James turned away from the A.I. and put his head in his hands. Thel was right: nothing was ever easy. He needed to separate himself from the A.I. program, but there were more pressing matters. “You said you downloaded yourself into my subconscious.”
“That is correct,” the A.I. confirmed.
“Then I am in control.”
The A.I.’s face remained frozen.
“I am in control. So I can take control of the mainframe, and my actions will be autonomous.”
The A.I. remained silent a moment longer before finally answering, “Yes. You are in the driver’s seat.”
“Good enough,” James said before stepping forward into the operator’s position and reactivating the computerized god.
11
“Something has gone wrong,” Thel worried as she placed her hand on James’s forehead. “He said it would be instantaneous. He’s been out for almost five minutes.”
Djanet tried to be reassuring, though it was a role in which she didn’t feel comfortable. “He’s still alive. There’s been no change.”
Old-timer tried to be more comforting. “He’s okay, Thel. I’m sure it was a more complicated process than he made it sound, but he knows time is a factor. He’ll be...” Old-timer wasn’t able to finish his sentence.
“I’m back,” James said, completely awake and jolting upward off of the table. “There’s been a major complication that I’ll explain on the way, but we have to get out of here right now. Have all of you been in contact with your familie
s?”
“Yes, they’re preparing,” Old-timer confirmed. “We’ll rendezvous with them once we’ve got the Purists off the planet.”
“Perfect. Okay,” James said as he grabbed his helmet and efficiently strode out of the room with purpose. Thel, Djanet and Old-timer followed close behind. “Then our next stop is Buenos Aires. I’ve already set the evacuation plan in motion.”
“What’s the plan?” Old-timer asked as the group made their way out of the Council headquarters. The streets were eerily quiet, as almost everyone had left the downtown core of the city already, heeding the evacuation orders and heading home to prepare with their families.
“Empty streets. We’ve seen this before,” Thel observed.
James shook off the eeriness of the quiet, abandoned streets and addressed Old-timer’s question. “I’ve already begun amassing nans in the Purist territory. They will excavate a hangar and begin building a ship and a launch mechanism.”
“Holy...Commander, are you talking about building a spaceship big enough to carry 10,000 people?” Djanet asked, astounded by the enormity of the proposition.
“It’s the best alternative,” James replied as he put on his helmet. The team ignited their magnetic cocoons and began flying in formation toward South America while transferring their communication to their mind’s eyes.
“A titanium spacecraft will keep them safe, and there are centuries of designs that can be amalgamated into something that will work. Our job is to facilitate the evacuation and pilot the ship off of the planet. We can rendezvous with our families once we’re certain that the Purists can take care of themselves.”
“You said there was a major complication though,” Old-timer pointed out. “What is it?”
James opened his mouth to answer but was stopped by the voice of the A.I., whispering in his ear. “I wouldn’t tell them if I were you.”
James paused for a moment, stunned by the voice in his head and the secret that it was proposing James keep.
“James?” Thel asked as she noticed James’s unusual verbal stumble.
“What were you going to tell them, James?” asked the A.I. “That the evil A.I. is still alive and inside your head? But don’t worry, you have it all under control? Do you think they’ll believe you? Do you think they’ll follow your lead then?”
“Are you okay, Commander?” Djanet asked.
“I’m fine,” James replied. “I’m just getting used to the connection again. The complication is just a technical thing. I’m working my way through it. We’ll be fine.”
There was silence for a moment as the others absorbed the strange response and the quartet reached the stratosphere. James fixed his eyes on the blackness of space and the thing—the implacable enemy—that was coming.
“Good work, Keats,” the A.I. said, satisfaction in his voice. “You and I make a fine team. A fine team.”
12
Meanwhile, inside the mainframe, James stood in the operator’s position, tens of thousands of beams of golden light hitting him at every moment.
“You’re spending far too much time worrying about the Purists,” the A.I. observed as he strolled leisurely in a perimeter around James. Although he was not in control, he was enjoying watching James in a hopeless predicament, relishing his position as an unwanted, yet indispensable advisor. “Sooner or later, you are going to have to place your attention where it truly belongs.”
“You’re talking about the alien A.I.,” James said.
“I am indeed.”
“Tell me what you know about it,” said James.
“I know only as much as you do,” the A.I. replied.
“Bull.”
“I was hiding in your subconscious for the past year and a half, James. I know only as much as you do,” the A.I. reiterated.
“You may only have learned of the alien’s impending visit when I learned of it, but you’re the one who it is coming for. You must have sent out a message.”
The A.I. smiled. “I did—just as your own species had. I simply used much more advanced technology. I called into the darkness and, alas, a voice has called back.”
“Look into the abyss long enough, eventually it looks back into you,” James observed.
“So now the question is: what are you going to do about it, James? You removed me from my throne and now ‘heavy is the head upon which the crown sits,’ as they say.”
“I’m not going to wait for the alien to arrive,” James said, revealing his plans. “I’m replicating a massive fighting force of nans, and I’m going to see if I can drive it right into the heart of the alien machines.”
“You’re going to launch a preemptive attack and kill them,” the A.I. replied, summarizing the plan.
“Destroy. I am not killing anything.”
“You’re not?” the A.I. laughed. “Really? Are they not living? Didn’t you just accuse Chief Gibson of having a narrow view of what constitutes life not one hour ago?”
James suddenly stopped. “Were those my words...or yours?” James demanded.
“Oh, this is rich! You don’t even know whether or not to trust your own thoughts anymore! I do so love watching you unravel!”
“Were those my words or yours?” James demanded again.
The A.I. simply laughed. “What are you going to do? Delete me? You can’t. I’m part of you now. You’d have better luck removing a brain tumor from your head with a butter knife.”
James was boxed in, and he knew it. The devil had infected his mind and there was no way to remove him. His only option was to push forward.
“I’ll kill them if I have to. I have no choice.”
“Oh, James, you will find that there is always a choice, and I do believe in the next few hours, you’ll be forced to make a great deal more of them than you would like.”
13
James, Thel, Old-timer, and Djanet touched down in Purist territory and were immediately greeted by Alejandra and Lieutenant Patrick. “It is good to see you, my friends,” Alejandra announced as she embraced the post-humans one at a time. She embraced Old-timer last and met his eye for only a short, knowing moment. Old-timer was trying hard to bury his feelings, but he knew the harder he tried, the more apparent they would become.
“The excavation site is only a kilometer from here. We need to start moving your people there within the hour,” James said.
“Si,” Alejandra replied. “We received your plans and are already informing the entire community. It will be difficult, but we will be able to begin moving out within the hour.”
“Thank you,” James said. “In the meantime, I’ll head to the construction site. My friends will remain here to help you with your evacuation.” James turned to the rest of the team. “Meet me at the site when you are ready and make sure all of the Purists are with you.” James kissed Thel quickly, and then lifted off into the sky.
“Is your friend all right?” Alejandra asked.
“What do you mean?” Old-timer queried.
“He’s suffering from an enormous conflict,” Alejandra revealed.
“I’m sure it’s just the stress of the situation,” Thel responded, trying to smooth Alejandra’s concerns away with a reassuring smile. “The whole world is in his hands...again.”
Alejandra was dubious, even after reading the sincerity in the rest of the group—she would be keeping an eye on James. She nodded and waved for the rest of the team to follow her.
Meanwhile, James landed at the massive hole in the ground that would become the underground hangar for the Purist evacuation ship.
“The empath sensed me,” the A.I. observed.
“I know,” James replied as he watched the enormous fog of nans building furiously. “That’s why I left them behind. There’s no reason for me to be here. I can control the nans from the mainframe. I should be helping with the evacuation...but I can’t.”
The A.I. laughed. “Ah, isn’t it wonderful?”
“What?” James asked with a resigned sigh.<
br />
“Sharing a secret. Secrets bring people together. We’re bonding.” The A.I.’s electronic laughter echoed in James’s ears as he watched the cloud of nans churning. He cringed as he thought of the conspiracy into which he’d been forced. How would he possibly be able to save humanity with Satan sitting on his shoulder?
14
Rich stood in front of what, just an hour earlier, had been his home in San Francisco. It was floating now, several meters above the ground on a cushion of magnetic energy. Rich’s mind’s eye was fully engaged, and he was desperately working his way through blueprints for building extensions; the home was about to become their life raft, and it was very possible that they would never be able to set foot outside of it again. Their evacuation group was going to include their own family, a group of nearly 100 people, as well as another 100 friends of the family. It was up to Rich to put together the home—he couldn’t afford to forget anything.
“The garden will need to be twice that size, Richard,” his wife, Linda, said. She was monitoring his construction efforts while multitasking; simultaneously she was guiding everyone who had already arrived into the main housing area of the ship (it was first come, first choice of lodging) while keeping one eye on Rich. It was clear to Rich that she didn’t trust his skills. “Edmund, Edmund darling will you please help your father with the construction? I think he needs...help.”
Edmund was Rich’s eldest son. Rich loved him very much and, like everyone in the family, they were very close—but he wasn’t going to be able to help his father—he just didn’t have the skill set. He would get in the way more than anything, and they both knew it. “I’ll see what I can do, Mum” Edmund replied. He never did come to his father’s aid—he was smart enough to placate his mother but stay out of Rich’s way.
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