The Stream

by Mark White

  'You must stop this,' I shout. 'It is against the law. I place you under interim arrest pending formal charges, Lictor Damon Gates. Please remove the wires and sit over there, while I summon assistance for Kofi.'

  He looks at me with an unfathomable expression. Then he unexpectedly relents, and says 'Very well. I have achieved all I can here.'

  He removed the wires from Kofi's hands, pressed his forearm again, and they retract. The skin sealed itself. I looked in fascination. Before I could react, Lictor Damon pulled a gun from his pocket, and shot Kofi in the forehead.

  'No!' I shouted, pulling out my gun and pointing it at him. 'You are not above the law, you murderer. Drop your weapon.'

  He looked straight at me, and said, 'Very well. Although I do beg to differ at your statement. I am the law.'

  He blinked.

  [Pool logging force terminated]

  Plog: Geraldine Mander - 25th Sextilis 227PD

  I've found it difficult to concentrate this last day or so. I've been going through the motions, unwinding the old plans and getting everyone to focus on deploying a Tap-killer command. I'll focus on more myself once I know Kofi is OK. Strange how we lost touch for all those years, but as soon as we met, it was like we'd never been apart. Our friendship was back, and his warmth and humour have been the rock on which I've anchored myself in recent weeks. I miss his company.

  I was expecting Safira to get back to me yesterday to tell me he landed OK, but I've heard nothing. I keep dropping into the Kubrick room, but nothing from her. Of course we didn't part on very good terms, but I don't think she'd be staying away because of that.

  Odd though, she's put the monolith in the room now, I wonder why? I know I mentioned it and the pod to her once, but why now? Another thing to ask her if she ever turns up.

  I am worried about Kofi though. I've never stopped feeling guilty about him, I dragged him into this hoping I'd just used his analytical skills without putting him in danger. He did too good a job though, and sucked himself into my schemes. Everyone else knew what they were getting into from the start. Kofi did it because of who he is.

  I know he will do a good job on Castor. I just need to know he is OK.

  At least it seems as if Safira's Tap-killer might be an easier thing to get deployed. I've split it into several distinct parts; the trigger mechanism from this base, the method of propagating the trigger around the world, receiving and processing it at each local Stream node's Source Banks, and finally broadcasting the Tap-kill command to everyone's Tap in range. I've got several levels of redundancy in all aspects of the work too, with multiple people doing each part independently in different locations with no knowledge of any other parts. I've done my bit, it's up to my team to get it ready.

  I've found a set of old personal computers here on the base, all identical, all with old style keyboards. I'll only need one, but I wanted multiple systems set up ready around the base, so I can do it wherever I am when things are ready. I like the idea of using an archaic, old-style keyboard to revert the world back to pre-Stream days.

  I've realised I'm going to need to explain to the world what I've done and why, if this does go ahead. So I've started putting together a collection of documentation to send out. It's not as grand as Raj's Doctrines of course, but I hope my and Kofi's pools and logs will convince everyone that something needed to be done. I have a feeling I'll be hated for quite a while until people admit to themselves what was happening. I may not get through it, in fact I expect not to get through it. That won't stop me though, it's not just humanity that needs saving. That's worrying, I just sounded like Raj.

  I'll send it out as soon as I press the trigger. People won't be able to access it via the Stream of course, but at least it will be available around the world in all the Source Bank computers. Someone will find it all. I'm still not sure what I'll do with myself. Give myself up? Who to? I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Let's do this thing first.

  I've just about come to terms with what I had to choose last time I spoke to Safira. I'll always be wracked with guilt over choosing death directly for those convicts. I see no choice though. Does that make me as bad as Raj?

  I can't believe how quickly my agents arranged it all. By tomorrow they should all be in one location under guard, ready for the Safirans to start testing. I've left Safira a message with the details, I really can't face talking about it to her. They'd better make it work.

  Enough self-analysis, I'm going to hang out in the Kubrick room for a while.

  'Hello Geraldine,' Safira said, appearing in front of me. 'May I speak with you?'

  May I speak with you? Is she that nervous of me? She looks very serious.

  'Of course Safira,' I said. 'There is nothing more to be said about last time.'

  'Thank you, and thank you for arranging our subjects so quickly,' she said. 'It is not last time that I wish to speak to you about however. It is Kofi.'

  Shit, Kofi. What has happened? 'Tell me,' I said, not really wanting to hear.

  'There is no easy way to say this. Kofi was killed the day after he arrived on Pollux. Damon tracked his drone, followed him, and had him arrested. Damon killed him during interrogation. I was unable to stop him. I am so sorry. I feel his loss badly, so I can only imagine how you must feel,' she said.

  I stared at her, not wanting to believe it, but knowing she wouldn't be saying it if it wasn't true. I could feel tears welling in my eyes. Hold yourself together, Geraldine. Mourn later, act now.

  'Tell me exactly what happened. Don't hold anything back. I need to know what we're up against,' I said, my voice breaking as I reached the end.

  'Are you sure Geraldine? You may find the details distressing,' she said.

  'Yes,' I said grimly. 'I'm sure Kofi found it more upsetting than I will. Don't hold anything back.'

  'Very well,' she said, her face grim. 'Kofi was injured when he landed, but nothing more serious than a broken arm. Kaori took him into his house and cared for him. He was recovering well. Kofi told Kaori in full what has been happening, which Kaori passed on the key members of his local cadre.'

  'Unfortunately there was an informant in his cadre who told the local police force that Kaori was hosting an illegal immigrant. By this time, Damon had made contact with the local police, so found out immediately. Kaori and Kofi were arrested and taken to the judiciary.'

  'Damon was ruthless. He tortured Kofi to try to get him to say what you were doing, and where you are. Kofi suffered badly, but would not reveal anything, not even that we knew that Raj was the Fount. I tried to appear to distract Damon, but I could not. I could do nothing. Kofi bade me inform you that he regretted nothing. He would not betray you.' Of course he wouldn't. He was a brave, loyal friend.

  'Damon was interrupted by a local constable who had observed the torture, at which point he decided there was nothing to gain by continuing. He killed Kofi and the constable immediately. He had already killed Kaori's family. He then tidied up all the loose ends. He killed Kaori. He burned down the police station to destroy the evidence. Some members of the Dry cadre have disappeared, although it is unclear if they are in hiding, or worse. There is uproar on Pollux; it will cause many problems for Raj, but I can but assume he deemed it less of an issue than Kofi's message being allowed to spread. Damon has of course disappeared. The only record of what happened is the pool from the constable on duty which I managed to extract.'

  I stared at her blankly. My mind was catching up and processing what I heard. So many deaths, so much destruction, because of what we're doing. But I couldn't get past the thought of Kofi being tortured and killed, while protecting me. I can only imagine what he went through. I'm sure he gave Damon a few choice words in exchange.

  'We must not left Kofi down. We must stop this,' was all I could say. 'We must stop Damon and Raj. They will be bought to account for their actions.'

  'I agree. We will do our part. Will redouble our efforts to destroy access to the Stream,' she said.

  '
Do not let me down,' I said, largely for the lack of anything better to say. I was distraught, but angry.

  'We will not. There is one other glimmer of hope. I hesitate to mention it, as it is unproven, but I feel I need to be honest. All may not be lost for Kofi yet,' she said.

  'What do you mean?' I asked, confused.

  'It is something we considered as a worse case backup plan, but it happened more quickly than we expected. We are not yet fully prepared, and cannot tell if it will yet be successful. We do not want to rush and minimise our chance of success,' she said.

  'What is it?' I said. Get on with it Safira, don't leave me hanging in anticipation.

  'It is something we have been attempting for a while, trying to replicate one of Raj's achievements. We believe we may have succeeded in the first part of this endeavour the night before Kofi's death. The timing is fortuitous,' she said.

  'Please get on with it. What did you do?' I said, getting more annoyed.

  'We managed to perform a full, deep, brain scan on Kofi. Every aspect of him, of his personality. We believe this is a complete copy,' she said.

  I stared back, yet again. 'What does this mean? What can you do with it?'

  'We are not yet sure. That is the part of the process we have not yet completed. Your corporeal-based intelligence is different to ours. We evolved to be incorporeal, in an environment that was conducive to it. Our intelligence, our 'soul' is one and the same with our being. Is your soul just the sum of your thoughts and memories? Is your personality, your being, fully encapsulated in your brain? Can that person be replicated from those thoughts? If so, in what form can we recreate his being?' Safira replied, with more questions than I asked.

  I was stunned. Can they bring him back in some way? If they did, is that truly Kofi?

  'You need to try. There is only one way to find out. After all, Raj has shown that something similar is possible. How long will this take?' I asked.

  'We do not wish to rush this, as keen as we are to bring him back. We do not know if the act of recreation may be a one-time opportunity. We have the holographic wavefront of the scan locked in stasis. We do not wish to disturb this until we are ready. There is also the question of the form in which we can bring him back. We do not have the equivalent of the Stream's neural network available, nor do we have an android like Damon as yet. We are working on possibilities on our native planet. As I said, there are properties of that environment that are conducive to incorporeal intelligence, so that may facilitate things if we try to bring him back there. I can assure you, we will do everything we can. It will take at least one of your months. I will keep you informed of any progress,' she said.

  That sounded better than I dared to fear. To talk to Kofi again, in any manner, would be so sweet. Would he want to be bought back in such a way? I do not know. He was always adventurous, and wanting to try new things. It sounds as if he could be the first of us to see the Safiran's home world. I envy him that.

  'Please, do everything you can. If I can help in any way, just ask,' I said.

  'There is one way that you could help. We could do this without asking, but I feel it is only right that we get your permission,' she said.

  'Yes?' I said, again wanting her to get on with it.

  'You know the prisoners we will be using to develop the Tap-killer command? We wish to carry out a brain scan of them before we use them as test subjects. We will use these scans to ensure that the procedure we will use on Kofi is safe and will work,' she said, back to her cold, matter-of-fact voice.

  Damn, once you take a step down this road, you cannot stop. But it will help Kofi.

  'On one condition. If you successfully recreate one of these prisoners as part of this work, you must let them live. That will be some recompense for what we will put them though,' I said. To be honest, I think that condition was to help assuage my guilt, rather than help the prisoner.

  'Thank you. One final thing. We wish you to undergo a brain scan too, so that we can hopefully bring you back if the worst happens. That is what this monolith is for. Just stand in front of it and touch it with your bare hands which will initiate the scan. You will be unconscious in reality for just under eight hours while this process happens,' she said.

  'I, I will need to think about this. I am not sure I wish to return, unless I am able to continue to fight Raj. Ask me again once you have successfully bought Kofi back. I will need to understand how he is first,' I said. I needed to stall and think about it. I really don't want to come back and be useless. I hope I'm doing the right thing for Kofi.

  'Very well, but do not leave it too late. Your life is in constant danger. We cannot lose you Geraldine,' she said.

  'That's an extra incentive for you to bring Kofi back quicker then,' I said, smiling encouragingly. 'Now, please may I be alone for a while. I need to mourn Kofi in my own way. Let me see the final pools from Kofi and the Castor constable before you go.'

  'Of course. Take care Geraldine,' she said, and disappeared after sending them.

  Oh Kofi, what have I put you through? This had better be all worth it. You're not the first to die, and you won't be the last, but no-one else will hurt like this. No more logging today, I'm going to share your last moments. I need to be truly alone for this.

  Plog: Kofi Albus - Date unknown

  What happened? Where am I? I'm awake, but I can't see. I touched that black monolith, the world went white, and now I'm awake again. I can tell I'm lying down, but I'm blind. I can feel my body, but it feels wrong. I can't work out why the sensations are wrong, but they are. I try to move my arms, but they feel heavy, as if there is something holding them down. Even stranger, I feel an itch, where there is nothing to itch, somewhere between my elbow and my body.

  Is this some strange new virtual environment? Why would Safira do this to me without any warning? What is going on?

  Shit, I tried to sit up, but there are restraints of some sort round my ankles and my neck. Has Damon captured me somehow?

  I hear a voice. The voice sounds strange, oddly muffled, but I recognise the intonations. It's definitely Safira.

  'Kofi, can you hear me? Are you there?' she asks.

  Of course I'm here, what are you doing to me?

  'Yes,' I say, and then stop in shock. That was not my voice. It was rough and gravelly. It wasn't just a croaky voice. It was someone else's. And my mouth felt strange, my tongue didn't move as it should. Shit, my teeth are different, I can feel them with my tongue, which seems shorter and stiff. What the fuck is going on?

  'What is happening?' I managed to say in the stranger's voice.

  'Do not panic Kofi,' Safira said. I could tell she was putting on a reassuring voice. It's going to need more than that. 'There was an incident on Castor, and Damon captured you. We are aiding your recovery. You will not remember what happened, but we will explain all soon.'

  Captured by Damon? I'm sure I would remember that. How could the Safirans recover me, they can't manifest physically near the Stream? I started to remonstrate, but Safira interrupted me.

  'No questions now Kofi. We must put you back to sleep to complete your incorporation. When you awake, you will be able to gain full control over your new body. I will be waiting for you', she said.

  New body? Incorporation? What the…

  'Kofi? Kofi, can you hear me?' said Safira's voice from the end of a long corridor of marshmallows.

  'Gmph,' I replied trying to focus.

  'Slowly, Kofi. Take your time. When you are ready, open your eyes. Please do not panic, everything you see is normal, it will just take you time for you to adjust,' she said.

  OK, let's try. Ow that's bright. Slowly, blinking rapidly, I opened my eyes. I stared. What?

  It was Safira, I recognise her. I'd know that smile anywhere, her head above me, trying to be reassuring again. So why is she the wrong colour? Why are the cilia on the underside of her arm flaps covered in a complex pattern of stripes that I've never seen before? It's also like I'm seeing through a
fish-eye lens, viewing way to either side of the bed that I'm lying on. And there are other Safirans in the room. Where am I?

  I raise my hand to point at the others while I work out how to elucidate my thoughts, other than saying 'what the fuck?' again. I stop when I see my hand. It's not my hand. It's not my arm. The only thing that looks familiar is the new Sink wristwatch strapped to it. I have a flap covered in writhing cilia under my arms. What the fuck?

  'Kofi, do not be alarmed. Please, breath slowly and listen. At present, your consciousness is residing in one of our Bora symbionts. This was the only way we could bring you back. We hope to be able to restore you into a human-like vessel at some point, but that will take time. For now though, you are one of us. Welcome to our planet. We call it Sanctuary,' she said with pride in her voice.

  I wasn't focusing on where I was. I was focusing on what I was. That explains why everything feels strange, why everything looks strange. I assume the Boran visual system is attuned to a different range of frequencies. That's why I can't quite put a name to the colours I see. Stop it Kofi, that's not the most important thing right now. What happened? How did I get here?

  'What happened?' I croaked in my new voice. That's going to take some getting used to. 'How did I get here?' continued the stranger.

  'Relax Kofi, do not move and I will explain. Please listen, I will answer any questions you have at the end,' she said.

  'OK,' I said, trying to work out how to relax the muscles of this alien body.

  Once she was happy I was comfortable, she started. 'Your mission to Pollux was discovered, there was a police agent in the local Dry cadre. Unfortunately Damon had followed you to Pollux, and you were arrested. You were interrogated, but would not give up information on Geraldine. To cover his tracks, Damon shot and killed you.'

  'Killed?' I shouted. Is this an appropriate time to say 'what the fuck' again?