by M. R. Forbes
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the Intellects are machines programmed to act like humans, at least to enough of a degree to fool us into thinking you are human. Do you really understand loss? Guilt? Regret? If one of your machine friends dies, do you mourn them?”
Max was quiet for a moment. “Understanding. The Axon organics produce machines which produce machines by the millions. Intellects don’t have an awareness of the others. We are incapable of becoming friends, or of mourning one another.”
“Then how can you rectify something you don’t understand?”
“Intellects act within a set of parameters. Those parameters don’t preclude forming bonds, a topic of which we are informed. At least not in my case. Our programming enables us to be human enough that I could pass as human. While I cannot actively pursue a friendship with another Intellect, if that Intellect was disguised as human and we interacted, it is not beyond our parameters to become friends.”
“But it also wouldn’t be real.”
“Not in the human definition. However, my word is my bond, Sheriff. If I promise you the battery will be safe with me, and that I will not use it or withhold it from you, my parameters are altered to uphold that promise.”
“That sounds dangerous. What if you’re forced to make a promise under duress?”
“It cannot happen unwillingly or beyond the parameters of our design.”
“We made a deal before. You broke it.”
“I never said I promised.”
Hayden laughed. “Are you fucking kidding me? Do you need to pinkie-swear?”
“I’m incredibly complex, but still a machine, Sheriff. The words are important.”
“Then you intentionally used the wrong words so you wouldn’t be beholden to our agreement.” Hayden shook his head. “And you want me to trust you.”
“Affirmation. A potential error in judgment.”
“You seem to make a lot of those for a machine.”
“I am damaged.”
“That’s an excuse.”
“I promise that if you give me the device, I will safeguard it to the best of my capabilities.”
Hayden looked back at Max. “Where’s the trick, Max?”
“Honesty. My word is my bond. It is now a contract written into my programming. I’m incapable of breaking it.”
“So if I give the battery to you and ask for it back, you won’t say, ‘oops, I never promised I would give it back?’”
Max was silent.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Hayden said. “If you want to try the friend thing, you have a lot more you need to learn.”
“We provide value to one another. I do not require friendship. I require trust. It will increase our aggregate effectiveness. I promise if you ask for the nodule back, I will return it to you immediately.”
Hayden kept riding, not responding to Max right away. He was still convinced the Intellect was trying to fool him. “And you won’t set it off?”
“That would be counter to the definition of safeguard. The device will be more secure in my possession, Sheriff. You cannot deny that.”
“No, I can’t. Which is the only reason we’re still talking about it.” Hayden reached into his pocket, withdrawing the key. It seemed so innocuous from the outside. The LED wasn’t even lit. But Max had little reason to lie about the nature of the device, and it did have enough juice to open the portal.
He held it out toward the Intellect. “Take it.”
Max looked at it, and then at him. “You are certain?”
“You’d better not be bullshitting me about your promises, or I swear I’ll end you in whatever manner causes you the most pain.”
“Hahaha. Haha. In my Skin, that might be possible.”
The Intellect reached out and took the key. Hayden watched in disgust as Max proceeded to extend a claw-like tendril from a finger and use it to slice open his stomach. Blood leaked out through the wound as he inserted the key and healed the shell.
“You have made the correct decision, Sheriff,” Max said. He pointed into the distance. “Someone is coming.”
Chapter 34
Hayden gazed out at the hazy horizon. Two people on horseback had appeared over a small incline, silhouetted by the sun. Wanderers? Scavengers? Followers of Shurrath?
“Can your sensors do anything useful?” Hayden asked.
“They’re armed,” Max replied. “Axon alloy.”
“Microspears?”
“It is logical.”
“How did Shurrath get Axon weapons, anyway?” Hayden asked.
“Uncertainty. I will process later.”
The horses had picked up speed, going from an easy cantor to a full-on gallop. The riders began pulling their weapons.
Hayden glanced over at Max. “Try to keep up,” he said, kicking Zorro gently in the sides, urging the mount forward.
He took off, charging forward to meet the other riders. He pushed his hat off, letting it fall behind his back and dangle from its strap so he could grab the cowl of the Skin and pull it over his head.
The HUD appeared the moment he connected it, highlighting the two riders while alien symbols appeared beside them. Hayden pulled his revolver into his left hand, leaning low over Zorro and taking aim.
Bullets whipped past him, the opposing sides closing the gap as if they were participating in a medieval joust. The outline of one of the shooters suddenly intensified on the HUD, and Hayden pulled the trigger, surprised when the three rounds he fired hit the man in the chest and sent him sprawling off the back of his horse.
Hayden continued toward the other rider, converging on him in a hurry.
Thirty meters. They exchanged gunfire, Hayden shooting more defensively to hit the other man.
Twenty meters. Hayden’s gun clicked empty and he holstered it, switching the reins to his right hand.
Ten meters. The other rider leaned back slightly when he got a look at Hayden’s featureless, Skin-covered, black face. He started pulling on the reins, hoping to redirect his horse, the animal’s eyes wide with fear.
Zero. Too late. Hayden reached out and grabbed the man’s shoulder, yanking him off his horse. The man hit hard and rolled as Hayden brought Zorro around to a spinning stop and drew his second revolver.
The man pivoted on his knees—face bloody, clothes torn— and threw a microspear. Hayden rolled off the other side of Zorro, the spear buzzing past his ear. The Skin didn’t lose track of his opponent. Hayden could see him rushing in from behind Zorro. He turned and raised his pistol, firing as the enemy lunged at him.
The round hit the man in the face, taking off part of his jaw. It didn’t slow him down. He smacked Hayden’s hand with enough force to throw it aside, following up with a solid punch in the stomach that stole Hayden’s breath. What the fuck good was the Skin if it couldn’t absorb a hit?
The other man kept coming, hitting Hayden in the face and knocking him to the ground. The man pulled another microspear, throwing himself down at Hayden and driving it toward his chest.
Hayden grabbed the man’s hand, using the strength of his augment to crush the man’s wrist and forcing him to drop the spear. Tossing the man over his head, Hayden rolled over and picked up the spear.
The second gunman reached for another revolver, firing as Hayden threw the spear, hitting him in the chest. The spear sought out and destroyed the khoron inside the man, and he fell to the ground. His bullet struck Hayden in the shoulder, but he had already blinked to activate the Skin’s shields. A flare of blue light captured the round, small arcs spreading across the Skin as the slug fell harmlessly to the ground.
Hayden exhaled sharply, scanning for the remaining man. He found his horse in the distance, looking lost. Where was its rider? Where was Max?
He found them a moment later. The gunman was lying on top of Max’s larger shell as if they were locked in a loving embrace. Neither one was moving.
“Max?” Hayden said, gun up and ready. His HUD showe
d strange symbols beside the pair and had them outlined in white. He walked toward them cautiously. “Max, what the hell are you doing?”
A spear sprouted from the man’s back, his khoron impaled on the end of it. It screeched and wriggled once before falling limp.
“Max?” Hayden said again. “Say something or I’m going to shoot.”
The top person turned his head. “Do not shoot, Sheriff. I am transferring.”
“Sounds nasty,” Hayden replied, slipping his revolver back into its holster.
“Hahaha. Haha.”
Hayden turned around and returned to the first man. Older, with a scruffy face, he was wearing a necklace beneath his clothes. Hayden grabbed it and lifted it out from beneath his shirt. Shurrath’s symbol was attached to the end, not that it was a surprise. He stood up again, blinking his left eye to scan the man. Once that was done, he pulled the cowl from his face and put his hat back on his head.
He looked down at the Skin. It still felt strange to walk around in something that hugged his body so closely it seemed barely a step above nakedness. But at least it had helped him survive this encounter.
“Sheriff,” Max said.
Hayden looked up. The other shell—Alexander—was lifeless on the ground, replaced by the man who had attacked them.
“The Skin is functional?” Max asked.
“I should have activated the shields sooner,” Hayden replied. “Bastard knocked the wind out of me.”
“Remember not to waste the energy stores.”
“How do I know how much is left?”
“When the mask is on, there are symbols in the top left corner.”
“They aren’t in any alphabet I’ve seen before.”
“They’re Axon symbolic representations of interconnected algorithms.”
“Dumb it down for me, Max.”
“The solution to the equation shows the exact amount of power remaining.”
“I can’t read it.”
“Affirmation. If it turns red, you are running out of power.”
“I’ll take what I can get. Why did you change shells?”
“We require information.”
“Wait. What about the nodule?”
“It is safe.”
“Good to hear. What do you mean about information?”
Max smiled. “Hahahaha. Hahaha. Haha. An Intellect feature, Sheriff. Give me a minute. I’m processing.”
“Processing what?”
“Memories.”
Chapter 35
“Your new shell’s memories?” Hayden asked. “You can do that?”
“Affirmation. Standby.” Max froze in place.
Hayden found Zorro, walking over to the horse and checking him for damage. He was happy to see that none of the enemy rounds had hit his mount. The other horses had moved closer to Zorro, seeking order in the chaos. Hayden quickly checked them too, finding them unharmed.
“This one’s name is Matthias,” Max said. “The one you killed is called Dutch. Did you scan him?”
“Pozz.”
“They were part of the group that abducted Sergeant Pine.”
“What are they doing out here?”
“Apparently, Sergeant Pine escaped captivity. He threw Dutch down a flight of stairs, stole a motorcycle, and took off, heading north.”
Hayden smiled. “Fucking Ike. I knew he was tough. But how come we haven’t crossed paths?”
“Sergeant Pine turned west to follow the road. His vehicle couldn’t handle this terrain. Dutch and Matthias were sent to confront you. They didn’t know you have a Skin or that I was with you. We had the element of surprise.”
“A nice change to have the upper hand for once.”
“Affirmation. Hahaha. Haha.”
“Who sent them this way?”
“Cyrus Salk.”
Hayden’s confidence began to drain as quickly as it had risen. “Shit. Where is he?”
“He headed west after Sergeant Pine. He expected either Dutch and Matthias would kill you, or you would kill Dutch and Matthias. In Matthias’ mind, Cyrus was unconcerned regarding the outcome of our meeting.”
“Because he doesn’t know I have a Skin and an Intellect with me,” Hayden said. “Or he might have been more worried. Shurrath still thinks I can’t sneak up on him.”
“Pozz.”
Hayden raised his eyebrow. “Did you just say pozz?”
“Pozz. It is an interesting word. Short, but with great meaning. Like fuck, only more positive.”
Hayden laughed. “I guess so.”
“Did Cyrus say where he thought Ike was headed?”
“Negation. West. Matthias has been west as well. There’s a city there. Tijuana. Shurrath’s followers control it.”
“If Ike goes west, he’s going to run right back into Shurrath’s hands?”
“It is logical. Even if he slips past Shurrath there, Cyrus Salk is tracking him, and Matthias feared Cyrus almost as much as he feared Shurrath.”
“Cyrus was the vessel Shurrath used to get through the portal to Earth. They were connected for a long time.”
“Shurrath likely modified him from within to make him a better host, at least until he was strong enough to survive without a host. He will be more difficult to kill than a typical human.”
“What about Shurrath? You’re saying he isn’t using a host anymore?”
“It is likely.”
“What does he look like?”
“I don’t know. I have never seen him.”
“What do the other Relyeh ancients look like? They’re all related, right?”
“Affirmation. But all of them have undergone genetic modification and evolution over the ens. Their original forms are lost. They are each unique.”
“Have you ever seen one of them?”
“Negation.”
Hayden sighed. “Okay. I need to make a choice.”
“Affirmation. Go west and confront Cyrus Salk before he catches Sergeant Pine, or continue south to confront Shurrath. We will go south.”
“I said I need to make a choice,” Hayden said. “You don’t get a say, and you definitely don’t get to dictate.”
“Pozz. Hahaha. Haha.”
Hayden considered the options. He had started on his journey to recover Isaac before Shurrath could find out how the Marine was immune to the Axon neural disruption. But Isaac had gotten away, and at the moment was potentially further away from Shurrath than Hayden. Cyrus Salk was chasing after Ike, but Cyrus wouldn’t kill him. Not if Shurrath still wanted Isaac’s brain. And if Cyrus captured Isaac, he would bring him south to Shurrath anyway.
But what if he could kill Shurrath before Cyrus ever got Isaac to him? Or what if Isaac managed to stay out of the other man’s grasp? Hayden had the Skin. He could get behind enemy lines unseen, and for as unpredictable as Max was, the Intellect was still a powerful asset Shurrath wasn’t expecting.
Hayden hated the idea of leaving Isaac twisting in the wind as a distraction for Cyrus while he went after Shurrath, but at the same time, he knew the Marine would tell him to do it if the plan were open for discussion. He knew it was the smart thing to do, even if it wasn’t the most morally right thing.
It was risky, but then, everything about this was risky.
“Okay. We’ll go south,” Hayden said.
Chapter 36
“Governor, I think I have something,” Doctor Hess said, his voice rising in an excited tone.
Natalia looked up from the computer terminal, blinking for the first time in too long to moisten her eyes. She couldn’t see herself, but she was sure she had dark rings beneath the lids, caused from having slept a total of eight hours over the last two and a half days.
She missed Hayden. She missed Hallia. She missed the simplicity of their life only a short week ago. But she would be damned if some asshole alien was going to use her goliath against everything they had worked so hard to build.
“What is it?” she asked, turning around.
&n
bsp; They had brought a bunch of equipment down from the hospital to the lab, putting it in place along with the botter station and the interlink. The dead khoron was lying on an examination table beneath a microscope she had helped rig to provide better coverage over a larger area. Doctor Hess was looking into the viewport of the microscope, his hands near the khoron, using a forceps and a needle driver to hold open part of the creature.
“Come take a look,” he replied with a smile, shifting his body and face out of the way without moving his hands.
Natalia went to the microscope and peered in. The device revealed a small round ball with hundreds of tiny tree-like branches spreading out from it. The branches moved as if caught in a tide, but as they spread away they seemed to vanish entirely before reappearing.
“What is that?”
“I think it’s the source of their nonverbal communications,” Hess said. “Based on what you described to me from Grace’s notes.”
“Quantum communication across another dimension,” Natalia said. “Like these branches are reaching out of our concept of spacetime.”
“Yes,” he replied excitedly. “I’m theorizing there’s a matching structure in the alternate dimension. It may only be molecular in nature. A single-celled organism that shares the exact properties of the root ball. Perhaps billions of them, all connected within three-dimensional space.”
“Like our universe?”
“Only smaller. Much, much smaller. Imagine taking every person on Earth and every person on Proxima, and sticking a copy of them in a room the size of...I don’t know… this lab. Now, through the properties of quantum mechanics, they can talk to one another in the room and at the same time the two copies light years away from one another can hear the conversation. Instant communication across infinite distance.”
“That’s not exactly how quantum mechanics work.”
“But that doesn’t mean it isn’t how the Relyeh Collective works.”
“At a basic level, maybe.”
“Right now, that may be all we need.”
“Elaborate, Doctor.”
“The root ball is still sending and receiving, even though the host is dead. Or maybe it’s only acting as a passive carrier. If my theory is even a little bit right, there’s a matching form on the other end that isn’t dead. So it can still send messages along.”
