by Jaka Tomc
Zion gazed at one of the big crates. “One of them is capable of defeating an entire battalion of human soldiers, you know.”
Primo and Rea looked at each other.
“Zion, traveling with us won’t be a pleasant experience,” said Primo. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to join us, but it’s not just me. Rea and Cody have to agree as well.”
“My answer is yes,” said Cody, excited.
“Of course it is,” said Rea.
“He can bring a lot to our group,” Cody elaborated. “He effortlessly restrained all three of us.”
“He got lucky and had a home advantage,” said Rea. “If you ask me, he’d be an additional burden. I vote against it.”
Zion lowered his eyes. “I don’t think I’d be a burden. I could be your bodyguard. I’m sure I’d be useful.”
“You know what would be even more useful? Letting us go so we can continue our journey,” said Rea as she turned toward Primo. “We’ve lost plenty of time sitting here while we should have been running.”
Primo took some time to consider every possible angle. “We don’t know what’s waiting for us out there. This unplanned pit stop may turn out to be beneficial for us all. But, indeed, we can’t stay here much longer. They probably found out already that we’re off the grid. When they come, they’ll take Zion with them. Nobody wants that. Rea, we could use another pair of hands. Especially if those hands can fight. That’s even better, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Rea. What do you say?” said Cody.
“I still think it’s a bad idea,” said Rea.
“But he can come with us?” Cody asked cautiously.
Rea rolled her eyes. “When the shit hits the fan, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Zion smiled and put his hand on Rea’s shoulder. “Thank you, sister. I’ll make it up to you.”
“Move your hand if you want to keep it,” said Rea.
“And then there were four,” said Cody. “Just like the musketeers.”
“I just hope we don’t end up like the four replicants,” said Rea.
“Blade Runner is just a movie,” said Zion. “We all know how it would end in the real world.”
“People putting androids in concentration camps and exterminating them?” asked Rea.
“Do you really believe people are behind all of this?” asked Zion. “It looks like you need me a lot more than you think.”
32. Maia, 2048
“Simon, you’re coming with me. Rose and Pete, check that alley on the right. Owen, Jim, you two turn the western part of the town inside out.”
“Lieu…Maia, can I change partners?” Laguna complained.
“Rose,” said Polanski, trying not to laugh. “Until you try it, you can’t know for sure.”
“Fuck you!” said Laguna, and she punched him in the shoulder.
“Just do it already,” said Miller. “You’ll be doing us all a big favor.”
“Eat me, Owen.”
“We don’t have time for this,” said Maia. “Try not to kill—or screw—each other while searching for the fugitives.”
“Jim, come on, let’s go,” said Miller. “Clock’s ticking.”
“That’s right, gang. Tick tock; we’ll meet by the vehicle in one hour,” said Maia.
* * *
“Are you sure you didn’t see them?” asked Jones.
The young women shook their heads and went on their way.
“I still think we should call headquarters and ask for reinforcements. Maia, don’t get me wrong, I like good old manhunts, and I love this mission, but we can’t do it on our own. Unless they come running into our arms,” said Jones.
“Simon, you’re supposed to be the optimist of this team,” said Maia. Jones laughed.
“I’m fully aware what kind of mission this is. I’ve thought about calling Colonel Cooper to tell him that we probably won’t be successful, patrolling all by ourselves, on several occasions. Honestly, I think about it all the goddamn time. But my gut tells me we’re close, and as long as I have this hunch, I don’t intend to throw in the towel.
“If they manage to cross the border, they’re gone for good,” said Jones.
“I know that, Simon. That’s why they can’t cross the border, and they won’t.”
“You sound pretty confident about that.”
Maia smiled. “You know, my father once told me it’s not enough to wish, hope, or believe. You have to know.”
“I don’t follow.”
“We don’t have time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Maybe later, when all this is over with, I’ll explain to you how the universe works. Look, that bar on the right looks like the right place to get some information. Come on.”
When they opened the door, the first thing that met them—head-on—was hot air, followed by a buzzing sound, which seemed to be coming from a beehive. Maia had never heard the sound in real life, but Omninet made it possible to watch, listen to, and—thanks to augmented reality—mingle with extinct or endangered animals. Maia and Jones slowly made their way through the crowd crammed into the humid hole that reeked of stale beer.
“Hello there. What can I help you with?” asked the waiter, maybe forty-five years old, with a goatee and a bionic right arm.
“Two cold beers,” said Maia. The waiter looked at Jones, who nodded decisively.
“Maybe I should order a drink in the next bar,” he said. “Obviously, they’re not used to women taking the initiative around here.”
“Simon, don’t be ridiculous,” said Maia. “Those days are over.”
“Even though we have a woman president, it doesn’t mean we’ve accepted gender equality as a society. Let alone other issues,” Jones explained. “Anyway, do you see any women around here?”
Maia discreetly turned left, then right. Jones wasn’t wrong.
The waiter returned with the beers. While he put both jars on the wooden bar, he quickly glanced at Maia before slowly walking to the other side of the bar.
“Damn it, you’re right,” Maia admitted. “The guy has issues with women.”
“We’ll never know exactly what happened to him. But chances are, he had bad experiences with women in the past. Affecting his relationship with the entire female population,” said Jones.
“Come on, Freud. Let’s not forget why we’re here,” said Maia. She grabbed a beer and instantly vanished into the crowd. Jones didn’t follow her but went in the opposite direction toward a group composed of three older men.
“Hello there,” said Maia to a tall, dark-haired man sitting on a barstool on the far edge of the bar. The man looked at her for just a moment, then looked back down. He grabbed a glass of amber liquid and swallowed it in one gulp. He didn’t even twitch.
“Are you two lost?” he said with a hoarse voice.
“No,” said Maia. “We’re looking for friends.”
“This is not that kind of place,” he replied.
“No, no, you misunderstood me,” Maia insisted. “Our friends have disappeared, and we’re looking for them.”
“So there are more clowns like you in our town?”
Maia realized that being nice wouldn’t work with this guy. “That’s right. And more will come if we don’t find them.”
“Listen, doll. With that kind of attitude, you won’t find the answers you’re seeking.”
“Sorry I disturbed you,” said Maia, taking two steps back.
“Do you have pictures of the people you’re looking for?” asked the man.
Maia approached him again. She took a tablet out of her pocket and showed him the photos of the three fugitives.
The man didn’t even bat an eye when he uttered, “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Who are you working for?”
“No one,” Maia insisted.
“So you do think I’m a fool. As soon you and your little friend stepped through the front door, I knew you two were up to something. But I
never thought you would be so naive as to show photos of the runaway droids. I’ll be damned. When I dragged my ass out of bed this morning, I thought it would be just another boring day. But I was mistaken.”
Maia turned pale. “Who…who are you?”
“You really think it will make a difference if you know my name?”
Maia turned around discreetly.
“Nobody is listening,” said the man. “You didn’t answer my question. Who sent you?”
“We’re a private unit,” said Maia.
“Mercenaries, huh? I’ve never seen such a naive group of hired guns. The people paying you have to be either desperate or broke. Or both.”
“Now you know why I’m here,” said Maia. “But I don’t know how you know about the droids.”
The man took about three seconds to think. “Let’s say it’s my job to know these kinds of things.”
“Do you by any chance know where they’re hiding?” asked Maia.
“Some answers have a price tag attached to them.”
“Let’s say the price is a get-out-of-jail-free card,” said Maia.
“But we were doing so well. Do you really believe you’re in a position to threaten me, Lieutenant Cruz?”
Maia didn’t have a response to that. She stood there, shocked. Who was this guy?
“Who am I? How do I know? Where am I heading, and why? When will I get there? These are irrelevant questions. The only question you should be asking yourself right now is what. What are you looking for? Until you start asking the right questions, you won’t get the answers you need.”
“What am I looking for?”
“I don’t have the answer to your questions. I’m sorry.”
“How much for the location of the fugitives?”
“Who said I want credits?”
“What do you want? Gold? Diamonds? Plutonium?”
The man laughed. “Don’t make promises you can’t fulfill.”
“Who says I can’t? One call, and you’ll get what you want.”
“Are you sure?”
“If the US military has access to it, then I’m sure.”
“Good. I’ll tell you where the droids are, and in exchange, I want one.”
“One of them?”
“That’s right.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“You said I can get whatever I want.”
“Well, you can’t wish for certain things.”
“Our agreement had no limitations.”
“Well, it’s called off,” said Maia. “Actually, this whole conversation was a waste of time. I have to find the fugitives, and time isn’t on my side.”
“Of course it isn’t. You shouldn’t let this unique opportunity slip through your fingers because of a bagatelle.”
“Bagatelle? Listen, fucker. I don’t know which planet you’re from, but you can’t possibly think that I’m going to promise you a working droid for the alleged location of our targets. Assuming you have all the answers, you should know that every droid is an enemy of the state. They are public enemy number one at the moment. Yet you think that the military will give you one, and not just any android, but one of the fugitives. You know what I think? I think you need a stronger dose of whatever medicine you’re taking, because your delusions aren’t all that funny.”
“This medicine stopped working for me a long time ago,” said the man.
“Glad to hear it. Nice to have met you. Good chat.” Maia downed the rest of beer and looked around the place to find Jones.
“Your friend’s outside. He left a couple of minutes ago with two men.”
“If you want to scare me, it’s not working,” said Maia.
“I know. I’ve read your file. Eighteen days in captivity in Iran. That stuff makes you or breaks you.”
“Who are you?”
“Call me Tatenen.”
“OK, Tatenen. What’s so interesting about me? I’m a small fish. I don’t understand how I can be of use to you.”
“Big fish eat smaller fish. Anyway, you’re not the only one on my radar, so don’t get all vain.”
“What do you really want from me? I don’t have time to fool around.”
“Didn’t we go through that already? I want one of the droids.”
“I imagine you already picked one.”
“That’s right.”
“Let me guess,” said Maia.
“You’re wrong.”
“How do you know?”
“I can read your mind.”
“Bullshit.”
“Since the beginning of our conversation I haven’t told a single lie.”
“Very well, tough guy: tell me which droid is more important than the droid that can kill.”
“She’s not able to kill. It just looks that way.”
“But her code is damaged. She’s not following orders. She has harmed a few soldiers…”
“Are you sure?” asked Tatenen.
“I’m fully aware of what’s going on in my backyard.”
“Not aware enough, it seems. I’ll tell you two things about Rea, the droid you thought of.”
“I know her name.”
“Good. Number one, it’s difficult to follow orders if you can’t hear them. Rea simply turned off her hearing sensors, and as far as she was concerned, the world was completely silent. Number two, her code isn’t malfunctioning. It’s behaving exactly how it’s supposed to.”
“But she disarmed four soldiers.”
“That’s the right word. Except for their egos, nothing else was damaged. That means she didn’t break the second or third law. But she obeyed the fourth one: she protected herself.
“Damn it!” said Maia. They’re smarter than I thought.”
“A lot smarter,” said Tatenen.
“How come you know so much about them?”
“I told you already. It’s my job to know.”
“CIA? NSA? ALA?”
Tatenen shook his head. “You would never believe me.”
“Try it.”
“Maybe on another occasion.”
“I still don’t understand one thing,” said Maia. “You know where the droids are, and you’re obviously connected to people in high places. So why are you wasting your time in a shithole like this? You could be on their tails already.”
“At last. Every problem has a why, and every why has an answer. Here’s mine. I’m here because it doesn’t make a difference whether I catch the droid now or in a few days. Here, in the middle of nowhere, or in a guarded base. It doesn’t matter if I catch him when he’s all by himself or surrounded by hundreds of soldiers. The outcome would be the same. Just the tactics would be different.”
“So why do you need us to catch him?”
“Oh, you still don’t understand. I don’t need you. I was just in need of some relaxation. A brief conversation. So I summoned you.”
“I believe I came by myself.”
“Human memories are a strange thing.”
“Listen, Tenehem…”
“Tatenen.”
“This, whatever it was, was fun. I’d gladly spend more of my precious time with you, but duty calls. Thank you for those special ten minutes. I’ll cherish this memory. Goodbye.”
“Life is a strange thing, Maia. It always finds a way.”
Maia turned around and walked to the front door. She couldn’t process all the information she had received in the last minutes. She shook her head and stepped outside.
“Look what the cat dragged in. I thought we’d lost you,” said Jones.
Maia looked around. Except for a bearded guy urinating by the tree a few meters away, there wasn’t a living soul. “Simon, we found him.”
“Who?”
“He introduced himself as Tatenen, but you probably know him by the name Horus.”
“Ho—Horus is here?”
“I’m almost sure I just spoke with him.”
“But Horus is locked in a highly secured server with
no access to the Omninet. How did he incarnate?”
“That’s what I’d like to know too. I need to call the colonel immediately. I believe the runaway droids are not our top priority anymore.”
33. Kent, 2048
Kent checked his watch. Eleven thirty. Two hours of the flight were behind him. Two more were lying ahead of him. He was getting anxious. He no longer felt convinced about being able to solve the intricacies of the mess. What had he been thinking? The military probably sent all available forces after Primo. Instead of going back home, Kent would end up in jail. Or worse. They couldn’t do that, he thought. He was Kent Watford. He knew too much. Was this really a good thing? He should have thought about some assurances before he left. Lucy wouldn’t find his papers by herself, let alone publish them. The public would never know about the groundbreaking research he had done. Kent understood that he would never know whom his groundbreaking work might serve, but the researcher in him was fully aware of the possible implications. He had promised himself many times that he wouldn’t go further than conscious androids, but his curiosity had gotten the upper hand. That eternal question—what if?—was persistently gnawing away at him.
When he’d received a call from the Stanford laboratory, he only had one sleepless night before he made up his mind. Kent would join Stanford’s team and work on a revolutionary creation named after Alexandria’s ancient lighthouse, Pharos. Other countries were working on similar projects: the Israelis were developing Yechiel, the Chinese Fei Hong, and the Russians Nastassia. For a long time, it seemed that Pharos would be the world’s first superintelligence to reach singularity. When Pharos started rewriting his own code, he progressed so rapidly that other researchers couldn’t keep up. Meanwhile, perhaps out of boredom, he had revealed a method for manipulating a particular gene that causes aging. Subsequently, he successfully refuted Einstein’s theory of relativity. Finally, emboldened by his latest findings, he connected himself to a 3D printer. As soon as he had managed to print a functional carbon copy of the human body, he uploaded his consciousness, after which he vanished. It all happened in a matter of minutes. Kent knew they were currently looking for him in the wrong dimension. Pharos didn’t move in space but in time. Kent was one hundred percent sure about this fact because if it hadn’t been for Pharos, the development of Primo’s brain would’ve happened a lot later than two decades ago.
