by Tony Corden
“T: Yes! If Leah’s letting me off the leash, then a few friends and I will be dealing out some punishment to Clan Y’Haul later today.”
“K: Is this true, Leah?”
Leah grinned shyly and nodded, “I have plans, but for them to succeed, I need Meredith’s attention elsewhere.”
“K: So, how does that relate to what Marianne was saying?”
“It doesn’t connect directly, but I’ve been thinking of Meredith’s interests. While I would rather her attention pulled away by her crushing defeats, I thought how giving her the opportunity to crush me might also distract her.”
“T: I don’t like it already.”
“W: Nope, I’m OK with things as they are.”
“A: Quiet you two, Leah said an opportunity, she didn’t say she’d get crushed.”
“W: Even an opportunity is too much. I’m not happy to give the bitch even a sniff of good fortune.”
“M: What was the idea?”
“What about doing a crossover event with TRAX?”
“W: What? How?”
“We want to sell Seraph to people. We want them to be drawn not only to Cosmos Online but to this system. Regular advertising works to interest people in this as a world they want to visit or to draw them away from other similar worlds. What if instead of that, we connect with a whole group of players who are interested in something else? In this case, racing. TRAX might be interested because it will be able to target a whole new demographic of possible players.
“My idea is to hold a racing carnival. It’ll take some work between Cosmos Online and TRAX, but it should be feasible. Let’s offer to give them a unique option for the start of the new year. For a fee, players will be able to race in circuits prepared across the Seraph system. We can showcase both games but in particular, both habitable planets and the space station. We could even tie in some of the small quests with the races. Everyone starts at the lowest tier and have one chance in every division to make the finals.
“TRAX will make billions, as will we. It’ll take some bargaining, but even splitting the usual fee will more than compensate both worlds for the overtime they’ll payout in the next five days. We can throw in some prime real estate for the top prizes and have some of the races run through the city streets. We’ll draw millions into the city as spectators alone. Meredith will love the idea of winning here where I’ve excelled. If we let people know that I’m donating one of my mansions to whoever is best of the best at the meet, then she’ll have to play. Even better, I could donate one of my space ships.”
No one said anything for a minute as they digested the idea. Marianne was first to speak, “M: It could work. No, it almost certainly would work, but we’d need to get moving straight away. We’d need a firm contract between all three parties and that will be difficult with only a few days. They may want to hold off for a bit to get it sorted out.”
“W: They may, but we won’t know until we push. My AI says that neither group currently has any financial conflicts of interest.”
“M: Leah, you hold the deciding vote for the owners of the system. Do you want me to go ahead and see if I can organise something like this?”
Leah asked for people’s views, and each of the others thought it was worth trying. In the end, Wisp decided to give Stephen a heads up and get started with the legal side of the contracts. Marianne hurried away to begin negotiations with Cosmos Online in the hope she could contact the management at TRAX. The others were about to leave when Marianne returned and asked them to flesh the idea out even more.
By the time Leah logged out to take a break, the CEOs and lawyers of both worlds were in meetings with Stephen, Leon and Marianne to try and reach a final consensus on how to share responsibilities and costs. Teams of developers from both worlds had already begun collaborating. NDAs had been signed by all involved. Leah had an agreement by all involved that she would not be copied in to any information that might bar her from participating as a contestant.
As she stepped into the Tower, Leah sighed at her missed opportunity to spend some relaxing time with Thad. She then logged out of her Pod.
53
December 26 2073 - 3
STORK TOWER
After a large morning tea and her ever-present supplements, Kevin stopped by to look at Leah’s wounds and give her a quick physical. With the all-clear to continue as she’d been doing, Leah returned to the Pod. As she headed for the Ascendant portal for her meeting with Major White, she accelerated her neural processing and read through the priority messages that had arrived in the last few hours using two braille readers Three placed before her, one for each hand.
Entering the portal room, she felt Gèng appear.
“4: Three and I have agreed that I will dress you. In Ascendent, you should always dress to your advantage even if you meet in private. Now, Gianna has booked you a private booth at Enigma, it is Ascendent’s most exclusive and secure meeting facility. All the AI are special purpose and have their memory scrubbed of all personal details both before and after each meeting. Each invitee is meticulously vetted to ensure they are who they purport to be.
“There is no set dress code, but I’ve put together something more formal with a martial flavour. It’s made from black silk with black embroidery and white edging. It has a Chinese martial flair to it. Over the top is a black leather open-fronted ankle-length trench coat with flared leather sleeves. This has filigree on the collars and sleeves done in white gold.”
“A bit over the top, don’t you think?”
“4: No. If you want help to rescue Leo and Abimbola, then you need to try and get Major White on board. Gianna was asked by Major White if he could bring a colleague and she said no. If he wanted to ask you, then that was for you to decide. Thinking he might ask you himself, Gianna has prepared spaces for an optional two guests at your discretion.”
“Alright, I’ll wear what you suggest. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful in any way. Your choices have always been appropriate so far. Is there anything else I need to remember?”
“4: No, but I do want you to wear some dark glasses. They’re completely opaque with a high reflective gloss. The frames are in white gold, and the style is similar to what you find in steampunk. They’re often known as John Lennon glasses, they’re named after a popular twentieth-century singer.”
“You want me to appear inscrutable, I take it?”
“4: Yes.”
As Leah stepped toward the portal Gèng equipped the clothing.
ASCENDANT
Leah appeared in the small reception area where Gianna was waiting.
“G: Good afternoon, Atherleah. Major White is due to arrive shortly. As I shared with your AI, Major White has asked for additional guests to be included. I have pre-booked two discretionary guests should you agree to his additions. Major White is aware that the Enigma facility is for members only. Should you agree to an additional guest, then please allow up to one minute for all security protocols to be engaged before that guest arrives.”
“I do understand, and I thank you for reminding me.”
“G: Then, please follow me. You and your new AI have been verified and note taken of the SNAIL module.”
Gianna led Leah through an arch into a rather sombre room outfitted with a subdued elegance. On the other side of the room was an ornate door. Gianna opened the door and moved to the side to let Leah enter. Once Leah was inside, Gianna closed the door, leaving Leah in a medium-sized sitting room with two doors. It was outfitted with the same elegance and on one side was an array of food and drinks. Four leather armchairs were in the room with one placed slightly to one side, by itself, near where Leah entered—the others facing it in a semicircle.
Leah stood by the single chair and waited. Her senses registered nothing beyond the panelled walls of the room. There was a knock on the door opposite, and Major White entered. As he stepped into the room, the door closed behind him. Leah didn’t move for a moment, then without looking at Major White
, she said, “Welcome, Major. Please have a seat.”
When she’d finished talking, she sat in her chair, keeping her back straight without touching the rear of the seat. When he’d taken a seat, she said, “Major White, you said you needed to see me.”
“W: Yes, the Brigadier wants to know about Leo Barnsworth.”
“I don’t care what Archie wants. As far as I’m concerned I want nothing to do with Sir Archibald Matthews. I’m only speaking with you until I find out if you were a party to his stupidity and faithlessness.”
“W: Could he join us to explain?”
“No. There is nothing to explain. He said he would do nothing without my permission and he lied. No explanation would suffice. Not only is he not trustworthy, but he is also undependable. His stupidity almost got four people killed.”
“W: Four? Who?”
“Agnes, Emily, Leo Barnsworth and the super-cyber-spy himself, Sir Archibald Matthews.”
“W: Could I bring someone else in to discuss things? The truth is I’m just not senior enough.”
“Who is this other person?”
“W: Captain Mary Hobbert, she is one of the top currently-serving cyber-security experts we have.”
“So not only did you and Archie decide to investigate on your own, but you also brought in the authorities?”
“W: That’s not really fair, Atherleah. You were out of action and out of the multiverse. There was no other option but to try another avenue.”
“And yet here we are in the multiverse. Frankly, Franklin, if your word is only good when things are looking positive, then it isn’t worth the spit on a handshake. How do you know this Captain isn’t a part of the officials who are working with those who took Leo?”
“W: Mary is my niece.”
“And that makes her trustworthy?”
“W: It does. I stake my life on it.”
“It’s not your life I’m worried about. You’re staking mine and the futures of millions of others.”
“W: She won’t betray us, I swear.”
“OK, but the only reason I’ll agree to meet this ‘Captain’ of yours is to help Agnes and Emily.”
Leah had Three communicate with Gianna to give permission for a Captain Mary Hobbert to join her and the Major. While they waited, Major White asked a variety of questions, but Leah just ignored him. After a few attempts, he stopped trying and just sat there. Finally, after a few minutes, the door behind him opened, and a woman in the uniform of the British Army stepped into the room.
Leah said, “Welcome, Captain Hobbert.”
“M: Thank you for agreeing to my inclusion at this meeting. Both the Brigadier and the Major have been reluctant to give up their source or even to say where their information came from. I am a little surprised to find it’s you.”
“They shouldn’t have shared anything with you. That was their agreement with me. I primarily agreed to this meeting to tell them they were the most incompetent cyber-spooks in history. At every turn they give themselves away. When they wanted to invite others, I knew they’d also broken their word. You needed to hear me telling them I no longer trusted them and that this source of theirs was about to go dark forever.”
“M: That would be a shame. From what little they’ve said, we actually need your help. From the flurry of successful cyber-attacks into our secure records after the message you sent to Sir Archibald, we realise we’ve a high-level leak. If Sir Archibald hadn’t been in my office when the message came through, we wouldn’t have been able to change things in time.”
“So, who have you told?”
“M: At the moment, this is isolated to myself, my personal assistant, and those who work with the Brigadier. Depending on what the plans might be, then I may need to bring in more people.”
“If I give a rundown on what the plan is at the moment, could you explain who you would need to tell? If it is too big, I may step away and get others to help. If I step away, will you promise to leave it to me and stay out of it?”
“M: No, but I will work to find common ground where we can work together. It’s obvious you have a skill set and access to information that we lack. I can’t agree until I have more information.”
“Fair enough. Leo Barnsworth, Meredith Kodoman and Abimbola Adebowale have been replaced in the multiverse. I have no idea how V-Sec has not picked up on the change in PAI as each of them still has access to their original AI. No records I’ve managed to find show they’ve had another PAI issued to them. With the cooperation of Nathan, Meredith was replaced in 2055 after the birth of her third child. Her place was taken by the daughter of Arnaud Guerin, Louise, and Nathan handles them both.
“Leo was replaced in 2063 and is kept in a coma in the basement of his family home. He is in this situation because he would not agree to the continued wholesale enslavement of people through their PAI chips. His handler is Egan Anagnos and this man holds the life of Emily and Agnes over Leo. I do not know who took Leo’s place and he doesn’t know either.
“Abimbola Adebowale was replaced in 2068 and is handled by his daughter Fowoke just before he took the position as chair of the International Review Board for Personal Security Compliance. Fowoke also had her mother and brother killed. Abimbola doesn’t think Fowoke has the skills to run the company as she does and is fairly confident she’s being managed by Alison Neilson. He knows that Alison and Fewoke became friends when Fewoke was on Alison’s team in the multiplayer horror-world Evil Blood. He’s kept in an almost constant coma in his mansion.
“While the other two are in relatively good health, he isn’t. When Fewoke takes him out of the Pod every three months for a check-up, she punishes him for his role, or lack of it, in her life. She’s also changed some of the settings in the vault where he’s stored, and today he was in a torture chamber instead of the apartment where I last saw him. The walls dripped with blood and there were corpses rotting on the walls. I just managed not to throw up. He’s slowly going insane.”
“Both Meredith and Leo know their pods are in heavily guarded areas designed to kill them and destroy all evidence if breached. I assume Abimbola’s Pod is similarly secured. In less than a week, just before the New Year, I will lead a rescue attempt to secure Meredith. At the same time, I was hoping you would coordinate an effort to secure Leo, Agnes and Emily. Leo understands that rescuing all three simultaneously may be impossible, in which case he wants Emily and Agnes rescued. I agreed to this and if you want the information he was able to give me, then so must you. Having said that, I’d prefer if you could rescue all three. If you have the contacts then a rescue should also be attempted to secure Abimbola. If you can’t, then I will try and find some mercenaries to help.”
“W: A week! We can’t get everything together in a week.”
“Then you are the wrong people for me to talk with.”
“M: How did you get this information?”
“The details I got from talking with the three prisoners when I visited them in their prison earlier today. That’s how I knew about Archie’s dodgy attempt to get information. I was standing in the room while Egan questioned Leo. I had to project the answers that I wanted Leo to give on the wall behind Egan’s back.”
“M: How could Egan not see you?”
“I was isolated from their feed. Three security sensors were monitoring the feed, but I’d subverted them with small data modifying modules. I don’t really understand the code itself but the two hackers I use suggested the workaround, and I trust them implicitly. When I tested them, my AI couldn’t pick them up even knowing where they were.”
“M: Code like that is prohibited, even for use by the military.”
“No kidding, I’ve already had a friend look at ways to counter it and have added the counter to my security suite.”
“M: Why at New Year?”
“Personal reasons.”
“M: We’ll return to that in a moment but first, what’s your plan for keeping this information under wraps?”
“Before or after?”
“M: After.”
“I don’t. Feel free to tell whoever you want. I will. Just don’t say anything beforehand.”
“M: That’s not how this works. Information like this out in public will cause chaos.”
“So you think that people should not be warned that our PAI are not secure, or that cyber-slavery is a real problem which affects almost five per cent of the world’s population?”
“M: I agree we should do everything possible to combat those things. I don’t think scaring people and making them afraid and distrustful is helpful.”
“Better for three people to suffer and maybe die than for the world to find out they’re living in a lie. Is that it?”
“M: Of course we should rescue them. What we don’t have to do is tell the world.”
“So what happens to Meredith and Nathan? Do you quietly imprison him and Louise without a trial and make Meredith live with the lie? Abimbola can’t take up where he left off without some very intense counselling. Do you give him a stroke or something? Don’t even start me on Leo and Egan and the people like them. You, and those like you, have known about things like this for years and it just keeps getting swept under the table.”
“M: Things aren’t swept under the table. We deal with them quietly. I have hundreds of people trying to find people who are enslaved.”
“I’ll tell you what, if I help you uncover a thousand of your citizens who are enslaved will you free Leo?”
“M: We plan to free him anyway.”
“OK, then I guess this talk is over because we’re now at an impasse. I won’t give up what I know to people who are too gutless to right a wrong or to make a stand for what is right. You have no way of safely getting through to where he is without a copy of the modified blueprints to his basement, the placement of the various bombs, the location of human guards and the AI directed weaponry. I will say this though. If you tip off the people holding Meredith before I set her free, then I will set my sight on you next.”
