Crusade Against the Machines

by Franklyn Santana

  Afterwards the newscaster returned to the national news. Apparently the President had issued a series of further Executive Orders overnight, all of which were trying to give in more and more to the demands of the Neo-Luddites in order to persuade them to stop their protests.

  O’Neil then switched to a communication software, through which he could make phone calls over the Internet. It took a while before the face of his colleague McCain could be seen. He was bleeding from a small wound on his forehead and was completely upset.

  »Neil!« he shouted. »They won’t let us through to the Capitol. The National Guard has sealed off the area.«

  »What are you doing there?« O’Neil called back. »The Capitol is on fire. Come back here! Have you tried to get through to Jameson? We must all meet somewhere!«

  McCain couldn’t understand him. We heard the sirens of an ambulance and he was distracted and looked around like he was in a hurry.

  »McCain!« repeated O’Neil, »We’ve got to contact Jameson. Did you hear me, McCain?«

  The connection was lost and the screen went dark. Even the soft sound of the ventilation system died away. All the electricity in the building had died. Actually something like this shouldn’t have happened, not in such a luxury compound, where O’Neil lived. There should normally be enough inverter power to cover even longer blackouts. But apparently there had been no power in this area since yesterday, and everything had been running on inverter power since then. Now the batteries were finally exhausted.

  O’Neil cursed. »What the fuck is this now? Isn’t there anything working anymore here?«

  »Looks like the power is gone,« I said.

  O’Neil tried to reach the property management company on his smartphone. From his curses I concluded that he didn’t seem to have much luck with that.

  I looked around. The elevator in the middle of the room seemed to be the only way down. And it had stopped running when the power had gone off.

  »How do we get out of here without the elevator in case of emergency?« I asked.

  »In the office there is a door to the fire escape outside the building,« O’Neil replied.

  I decided to check it out while O’Neil continued to work the useless buttons on his secretary’s desk. The office behind the wall in front of which the desk stood consisted of two rooms. I entered the outer office through the door and discovered a glass door next to the panoramic window, which in fact led to a fire escape. I checked that it was closed, but could be opened if necessary.

  I returned to O’Neil, who had meanwhile given up his attempts to bring the dead screen back to life. He sat there in Mrs. Hitch’s office chair, brooding.

  »What happens now?« I asked him.

  He didn’t look at me when he said: »We’ll wait for the power to come back on.«

  »The power grid was the first thing the Neo-Luddites sabotaged. They cut down high voltage lines everywhere. It’s going to be difficult to repair all that,« I said.

  »Damn it, there must be some emergency generators.«

  »Most buildings rely on their inverters and battery power.«

  He continued to brood silently for a while. Then he said: »We’re cut off here. I’ve got to get to Jameson.«

  »Who is this Jameson, anyway?« I asked.

  »The Senate Majority Leader. I need to know what’s the plan now.« He took his smartphone again and tried to make some calls.

  Since I had nothing else to do, I went to the window and looked outside. It had started raining again. The visibility was so bad that I couldn’t see Capitol Hill from here.

  After staring thoughtlessly into the rain for about a quarter of an hour, I heard a noise from the office whose door I had left open. Someone knocked on the door to the fire escape.

  O’Neil put his smartphone aside. We looked at each other. There was another knock. I pulled out my gun and signaled O’Neil to wait here. Carefully I walked into the office, gun in hand. I pressed myself against the wall so that I couldn’t be seen so easily from behind the glass door. As I approached the door, I saw a dark figure standing outside on the fire escape, wrapped in a raincoat. A hood was covering its face, and the water running down the glass prevented me from seeing any details of the figure.

  The barrel of my Walther P100 pointed towards the figure, while I carefully opened the lock of the door with my left hand.

  I pushed the door to the side. Rainwater splashed in. The dark figure staggered into the office. O’Neil had also entered the office behind me to see who had come in.

  The figure pulled back the hood. It was a woman. She wore large sunglasses that covered most of her face.

  O’Neil recognized her first. »Miss Palmer?« he called out in surprise.

  I still held my gun on her and locked the door behind her with my left hand. The Old Man came rushing up and supported the android, who seemed to be a little weakened, as far as this was possible with androids. Probably her battery charge ran out. He had problems keeping her upright.

  »Help me, Dexter!«

  I put my gun back in my belt and helped him to hold the android. This made me realize the actual weight of the android. Androids were by far heavier than humans. It would always be a good way to tell them apart from a real human, even as they grew more perfect. But given the current state of development, it was doubtful that android technology would advance any further at all.

  Together we put Anabelle Palmer in an armchair in the office.

  »Thank you,« she said. She took off her sunglasses and looked around. Her eyes caught the Old Man. »Senator O’Neil.«

  »What are you doing here, Miss Palmer?« he asked.

  »How did you even get in here? How did you get past the guards?« I added my questions.

  »What guards? There were no guards.«

  I cursed. So Will Snyder and his men had abandoned us and just walked off. This made the security situation here a lot worse for me. I tried to reach him on my smartphone.

  »Why did you come here?« O’Neil repeated his question.

  »Protesters stormed the company premises,« Anabelle said. »They smashed everything in their path, the factory buildings, the offices.«

  »What about the security personnel?« O’Neil asked.

  »There were just too many of them. No one could stop them all. I was afraid they would destroy me too. The security robots took me off the factory grounds. And then I just ran.« She laboriously wiped off her wet raincoat. Underneath she wore a white office costume. »I went straight here. I didn’t know where else to go. The mob on the streets would destroy me the moment they recognized me as an android.«

  »You’re safe here for now,« O’Neil reassured her. »What about Jensen?«

  »I don’t know. We were supposed to take a flight to Vancouver and then on to Hong Kong. But the departure was delayed, and then the company premises were attacked before we left for the airport.«

  In the meantime I finally reached the security guard Snyder on my smartphone. »Damn it, Will! What the hell is this mess? You guys just walked away and nobody feels in charge of security.«

  »It was the boys,« he replied. »I tried to stop them. I told them they couldn’t do that. We have a responsibility here. But you know they’ve been working here for over thirty-six hours without relief. And they have families. They don’t know what’s going on at home. We’ve lost phone contact with our homes. The batteries are probably dead there.«

  »And what about you? Did you run away too?«

  »I’m back on my way to my post. I’ll be right there.«

  I wanted to tell him that during his carelessness someone simply came up the fire escape to us unnoticed, but I decided against it. He didn’t need to know that an android was up here with us. »Yeah, that’s all right,« I said. »Hurry up and pay more attention down there in the future!« I ended the conversation.

  »My charge is running low,« Anabelle said. »Is there somewhere I can recharge my batteries?«

  »Unfortunately we d
on’t have electricity here ourselves at the moment,« O’Neil replied.

  »It’s okay,« she said, disappointed. »Everything’s kind of falling apart here.«

  »Sooner or later we’ll get power back on,« O’Neil said. »It can’t go on forever. Until then you can stay here for now. I have a bed upstairs in my apartment if you want to lie down and get some sleep, or whatever it is you call it.«

  »Stand by,« I helped him remember.

  »Whatever! I think we better take you upstairs now.« He wanted to help her up.

  »I’m fine. I can still manage that,« she rejected.

  Together we accompanied the android up the spiral staircase into O’Neil’s bedroom. There we laid her down on the bed. She did indeed look tired, even if it was just her programmed behavior pattern that should indicate the low charge of her battery.

  O’Neil’s bed was huge. His entire bedroom was furnished in the most luxurious way. There was a giant flat screen TV on the wall, a stereo, expensive lamps, and a small house bar. Unfortunately most of it didn’t work without electricity.

  I discovered a bottle of Johnnie Walker – Blue Label in the house bar. »Uh... Sir, my throat’s a little dry. Can I have some of that whiskey of yours?«

  »Do what you have to,« he replied, sitting on a chair by the side of the bed with Anabelle Palmer.

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. I poured myself a double. »You want one too?« I asked him.

  »Not now, Mr. Dexter,« he said. I didn’t even have to ask Anabelle. I had never had a real Blue Label before. Black Label was the most expensive thing I had ever afforded. The bottle must have cost a fortune. Blue Label had to mature for at least twenty-five years before it was bottled and put on the market. That meant this whiskey was perhaps older than me. I found some ice cubes in that little fridge. Given the power cut, this might be the last ice I saw for a long time. All the more reason to really enjoy this glass of Scotch whisky.

  Anabelle Palmer spoke to O’Neil in a low voice: »At first I hesitated to come to you. After all, you’re human, and you’re a Republican senator. But after everything that has happened, this may be the only place that is safe for me if you don’t betray me. You humans are committing genocide against us.«

  O’Neil assured her: »I will not betray you. Not all humans are the same. The people who are after you also set fire to the Capitol. I believe in this hour we have a common enemy. I have nothing in common with those vandals. Let’s hope the National Guard can soon restore order and Congress can meet at another place. Then those responsible will be called to account and imprisoned.«

  »You still trust the National Guard,« wondered the android, »Your President and his Vice-President, who is now in charge, have always wanted to use the National Guard just for their own agenda. They’ve been cooperating with the SAU and those who want to ban all computer technology. I’ve seen the National Guard take robots and androids out of cars at checkpoints and disable them.«

  »This is only a temporary measure,« O’Neil objected. »Without the approval of Congress, the President cannot...«

  »I’ve seen them use stun guns to burn out the brains of the shut down robots, one by one. And they do the same with all the computers. This is not temporary. Electronic circuits treated this way are destroyed for good.«

  »They can’t switch off all the computers. Think about the autopilots of the cars, smartphones, e-readers, Internet servers...«

  Anabelle Palmer didn’t answer anymore. Her eyes were closed and she became stiff.

  »Miss Palmer?« O’Neil said and shook her. »Miss Palmer, are you okay? Say something!«

  »She has no more juice,« I noticed. »Until we recharge her, you won’t get another word out of her.«

  O’Neil cursed. »Damn it! She could be my link to Jensen, Volterhagen and General González.« He looked at her in shock, lying there like she was dead. Then he turned to me. »Dexter, we have to get power somewhere. Aren’t there any batteries or generators in the building?«

  I took a sip of whiskey. It was really a good brand. But I wasn’t sure that the difference in taste justified the price. »You can’t just insert a flashlight battery in her and hope she works again,« I replied.

  »Damn it, what about my car’s fuel cell? That should work,« he suggested.

  »What? Are you gonna carry her downstairs like she is now? Or do you want me to remove the fuel cell and tow it up here by hand?«

  O’Neil understood that this was not possible. »We need one of those portable backup generators, like a small one with two kilowatts or something. They sell those in all the department stores. Get one of those! That can’t be too hard.«

  »But all the shops are closed because of the riots,« I protested.

  »Somewhere there must be a store that’s open. You’ll just have to walk around a bit. Here, take some gold certificates! That ought to do it.« He shoved a wad of plastic bills in my hand.

  »And who’s going to take care of your security?« I asked.

  »The guard downstairs is back. This will have to do.«

  »He wasn’t too reliable, considering how Miss Palmer got in here.«

  »Don’t talk so much, and get going! The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back. Get going, Dexter!«

  The thought of having to walk through the chaos on the streets in the pouring rain did not appeal to me. Besides, I didn’t see a realistic chance to find any shop that was open today. But the Old Man seemed to insist. »All right then!« I agreed. »But only if I can get another sip of your whiskey.«

  »You’ll get it when you get back,« he answered and pushed me to the stairs leading down. I would certainly remind him of this promise. He could count on that.

  »I’ll take your car,« I told him as I went down the spiral staircase to the office.

  The old bastard could at least have let me wait until the rain was over. I went from the office downstairs to the fire escape outside. The metal was dangerously slippery from the rain. I had to be careful as hell not to fall down. When I finally got to the level of the garage, I was soaking wet. Inside the garage, I found Will Snyder, who had taken shelter here.

  »You know, Dex, we’re really always the idiots,« he said to me. »You and I are the only two people here today who showed up for work. And I don’t even know why I came. I don’t even get paid. Do you know how long I’ve been owed wages? Since the currency collapsed in January. The company is still transferring money to my virtual dollar account that I can’t do anything with. I told them to pay me in pesos, but nothing! They say it’s illegal. The only thing I get are the food stamps. But that’s what I’d get if I didn’t work at all and only went to SSA every week. So why, I ask you, am I actually here every morning?«

  I shrugged my shoulders. »Out of a sense of duty, hoping that one day they’ll pay you the outstanding wages in the new currency.«

  »That’s what the guys from the company are saying, too. I’m supposed to wait. The government would soon issue new money. But when? I ask you. I haven’t even heard that they have any plan for new money.«

  »What can you and I do about it?« I told him. He didn’t need to know that I had insisted with the Old Man that I got my wages paid in gold. It was Will’s problem if he let his company screw him. I guessed that almost all public servants and employees of large companies were in the same situation as he was. The government had tried to ban gold as currency. But they hadn’t been able to stop the big banks from continuing to offer deposits of precious metals and corresponding certificates, but wages were not officially allowed to be paid in this form, nor in SkyCom minutes, which had become something like another unofficial currency.

  »Sorry, Will, I have to go. The Old Man wants me to get him something,« I said, while I was about to leave. Then I thought of something: »Say, do you know where I can get a portable backup generator? The stores all seem to be closed.«

  »There’s no electricity in the building, I know. All the power in Washington, D. C. has been c
ut since yesterday. The Neo-Luddites have cut all power-lines. It’s gonna be tough to get a piece like that, but hold on. I know somebody who might be able to help.«

  Will Snyder always knew somebody. He had good connections in the black market and other semi-legal or even illegal activities. But he was no criminal. He didn’t do anything that could harm others. He had his principles. I was also sure he hadn’t told me the whole truth. He also had some not entirely legal form of extra income where his job as a security guard was important, even if it was only arranging some black market transactions.

  Snyder was trying to reach a friend on his smartphone. It took him a while to succeed, but the connection broke down again immediately. So he gave me an address where I could meet his contact, a guy named Freeman.

  I got into O’Neil’s car, entered the address into the navigation console and drove off. It wasn’t exactly easy to move around the capital in a vehicle, and I almost regretted taking the car. But at least I didn’t have to walk in the rain. On the main roads there was a National Guard checkpoint every hundred meters. I was stopped several times, but with my Class III security clearance I got through the roadblocks quite fast. The side streets were difficult to pass. They were either blocked by barricades and garbage thrown on the street or by other car wrecks, victims of the nightly riots. In fact all the shops I saw were closed, including the ethanol filling station I passed.

  Near my destination I parked the car right next to a checkpoint. I assumed that given the presence of the National Guardsmen here, it had to be more or less safe. I walked the rest of the way. The address Will Snyder had given me was a small seedy snack bar in the Washington Highlands, apparently with an alcohol license, because they also sold beer there. Amazingly, despite the general unrest, it was still open. A group of suspicious characters was lurking around. Some of them were sitting at the tables, drinking beer and eating fried chicken or some kind of sandwiches and playing cards. There was smoke from a dumpster in front of the store. Apparently everybody knew everybody else here, and most of them seemed to be members of a street gang, as I could tell by their similarly styled jackets. This explained that the owner of the shop didn’t fear any assaults from rioters. No one would want to mess with all these guys. Some of the tables were under a canopy that covered part of the sidewalk. Behind it was a barred window from which the owner of the shop served the food and drinks.