by C. A. Fraser
ODIN did not wait. It merged with Natalie Fore once more knowing it had to pursue Wren Fore even though its hunter was in pursuit. It did not trust this to the hunter any longer. ODIN would personally ensure the Fore’s were handled. As it activated the avatar it could sense its resources thinning. It calculated a weakening in the quantum shield but not a collapse given the attacks Stephen Fore was using. It had to prevent her from reaching ISIS. All ODIN’s efforts would be for naught if Wren Fore turned ISIS to her cause.
ODIN poured as much of its being into the avatar as possible knowing it would be unable to maintain connection at such a great distance. It rose in the host body without pause. It was a white streak as it exited the chamber. The part of ODIN that remained monitored its avatars progress, while simultaneously holding the shield in place. It was spread thin and began searching for resources to bolster itself. Most local AI systems were not even worth its attention. They did not contain any useful capacity to assist it. The only suitable resource near enough was the human population.
The human mind not only increased its ability to process and interpret, but was also another feed of information to the quantum. ODIN knew, if needed, the local population could be used to help save humanity. Its nanids would provide a perfect conduit for the quantum to use the humans’ minds. It began calculating what would be needed to begin conversion and turned its attention back to the information streaming through the web around it. It was looking for the male hunter.
The hunter had entered the skies over West Virginia searching for Candace Worth. ODIN had not heard from it since. The quantum diverted a small squad of drones scanning for Curtis Reynolds to search for it. ODIN was not overly surprised to not have heard from the hunter. The AI it had used were single minded but also very independent. It was perfect as an assassin because it did not waver from its target. The tradeoff was a lack of communication, and overzealousness in the execution of its duty. ODIN knew more than likely the hunter was still tracking its prey, but wanted to ensure it was still seeking Worth. Confident in the AI drones seeking its hunter and the mysterious radiation, ODIN turned its attention back to countering the attacks of Stephen Fore.
Its reading of the shield showed it intact albeit weaker for its own lack of resources. The attacks were still occurring sporadically as if Fore were testing ODIN for weakness. The quantum pushed itself to not show its weakness but knew its response was slower. It did not matter. The shield would continue to stand. The attacks continued. ODIN countered them again and again maintaining its constant vigil. It had been little more than a half an hour when it sensed the reports from the AI drones.
The first confirmed how Curtis Reynolds had arrived in South America so quickly. The radiation was from a military craft that had been decommissioned after the failure of most of the earth’s governments. There was no need for such tools if there was no one there to attack. ODIN dismissed the report quickly barely diverting resources to study it. The second brought as much of its attention as it could spare.
A live video feed of the crash site of Candace Worth’s airship showed the fate of its hunter. The headless body lay on the burning ground not far from its vehicle. ODIN did not know how Worth had overcome its hunter. She had to have had help from another source. ODIN weighed the information trying to determine the most likely source. Now that it had located Curtis the only possible answer was that Worth had been corrupted by the Leviathan while in Colorado. ODIN knew it had to act. It ceased all drones searching for Reynolds and Holt across the country. Instead it set the drones into a defensive pattern around all NDP facilities and alerted the military. It made it sound as if Worth had been compromised by the Leviathan and fled when it was discovered. Satisfied it had done all it could the quantum turned back to the far away shield. ODIN felt ever thinner as more and more was required of it. Soon it would have to choose between the shield or itself if it did not increase its resources. ODIN ran the calculations once more. Its decision made, ODIN summoned the NDP security staff that already carried its nanids.
SIA had been steadily gaining speed since exiting the earth’s atmosphere. Wren was astounded at how fast the fusion drive was pushing the ship. At this rate, they would reach ISIS within several hours. She stood in front of the projections in the control chamber for the vessel. Shortly after the launch SIA instructed them to attach a small device extruded from the protoplastic chairs to their chests. The device generated a field around them that held them to the floor of the vessel. Wren did not completely understand how it worked but the field generated around them mimicked the earth’s gravity precisely. She felt completely at ease in the ship and moved as if she were on the planet. Wren cycled through SIA’s external monitoring feeds. The earth was quickly shrinking behind them and the dark of space spread in front of them. Through her connection with the web she could sense the thousands of craft circling the earth maintaining the vast communications network.
The silence in the web this far out was unnerving and Wren felt the excitement of being in space begin to fade. She could sense the web spread in four different directions as they passed beyond the circling craft. She knew it was flowing to the four monitoring stations around the planet. She puzzled over the reason for this. It did not make sense. The web was intended to provide a network for the earth, but she could sense it spread out to the points near the earth. She knew it would extend to ISIS since the quantum was controlling the web, but the others were a mystery. Frustrated she turned from the projection in front of her looking for any sign of Curtis Reynolds.
The man had disappeared as soon as the assassin had attached itself to the ship. She knew he would not reappear until they were safe again. Tentatively she extended her mind seeking him out. She found his mind at the back of the chamber. She found the connection to his neural implant and gently linked them together. She felt his surprise and then relief when he recognized her.
“Curtis, what are we going to do about the assassin?” she asked across the connection.
“We have to kill it before it kills us,” he replied, his frustration seeping through their connection.
“Is there anything SIA can do?” he asked as the frustration was supplanted by a sliver of hope.
“SIA is prevented from doing harm to humans, Curtis,” she answered. His hope faded once again replaced by frustrated agitation. His response came a moment later.
“Then I will go out there and remove it,” he said, his resolve surging across the connection. Wren knew he would do it. Curtis was not one to shrink from a challenge. She also knew he would not succeed. The assassin was too much for one of them to take on alone. They had to think of something else.
“Curtis you cannot go out there,” she argued. “First I do not think SIA will allow it. Second we need to work together if we are to stop it.”
“Wren we cannot let it get to ISIS or to you.” He said, as the force of his determination permeated their connection.
“I know, but you do not need to sacrifice yourself to do it,” she said her concern for him crossing the connection. Curtis did not reply but she knew he understood. An idea surged into her mind. Wren turned to the projection showing the hunter’s vehicle under its protoplastic shield. The shield was white and opaque protecting the assassin from the vacuum of space as well as observation.
“SIA, can we isolate the assassin with the outer hull material?” she asked.
“Yes, Wren, but why?” the AI queried.
“I want to secure it but not harm it,” Wren proposed. “Surround it with the hull material and then separate it from the ship. We could then use a drone to send it back to its master.” Wren knew it would work. She felt excitement and confidence building.
“Wren I will attempt to isolate the entity,” SIA stated. Wren turned to watch the ship isolate the assassin on the projection. Nothing happened. SIA’s voice came back to her.
“Wren, there is an inner hull breach directly below the assassin’s vessel.” Wren felt dismay slip into her m
ind and pushed it back. They had to stop ODIN’s creature. She looked around the chamber for any way to fight it. There were no weapons in this chamber and she doubted it was a very good idea to use weapons on board a craft surrounded by the vacuum of space. She felt the web’s influence fading as the ship moved farther from the earth. She turned a slow circle studying the chamber. Her vision settled on the protoplastic chairs. Another idea began to form in her head. Wren renewed the connection with Curtis while speaking.
“SIA,” she said.
“Yes, Wren?” the AI replied.
“Let it come.”
Energy pulsed across the shield surrounding the island. Stephen watched the progress of his attack and the effect it was having. The pulse of energy discharges and explosives now shook the island with regular frequency. Stephen felt a continuous feedback from the nanids on the island and surrounding ocean. He knew it was the price he would pay for his war against ODIN. He could feel the weakness in the shield. ODIN still held it in place but Stephen knew it was harder for the quantum. What he did not know was why. Something had changed outside of his prison and had pulled ODIN’s attention. Stephen used his connection with EA to try and discern what the cause could be. His mind kept coming back to one person. Wren.
His daughter had either been discovered or had caused something to disrupt ODIN. He did not know. All he knew was that he had to try and help her. It was his charge from ISIS. He was sure Wren knew what had transpired so many years ago. His mind wandered back to the day when they had left ISIS for the final time. The entire project had been done at the quantums request. He had turned it into a mission to save humanity instead of the massive communications undertaking it had been. All the years it had taken to bring the project to fruition culminated that day. It was the day ISIS had given him a child.
Stephen closed his eyes reliving the past and allowing the battle to surge on without him. He and Natalie had been unable to have a child of their own even after nanid augmentation. After all the work, he had done to bring about the future ISIS foretold, the quantum had rewarded him with a child. The first child of the human generation chambers. It was his daughter. The quantum had used its abilities to form a child using his and Natalie’s genetic blueprint. His communication with ISIS that day had been brief. Last minute instructions and checks before departing. Then one of the AI attendants had entered the chamber with the baby. After a brief exchange Stephen, had departed with his daughter. ISIS final words had followed him back to earth.
“One day she will return. You will show her, and only her, the path.” the quantum instructed. “She will need your aid at the end.” It had not been clear what the quantum meant until he and ODIN had begun work on the nanid strain meant to save the planet. Wren had become ill and Stephen had forced ODIN to help him save her with a new nanid strain. The quantum had helped him save her, but also gave Stephen the key to helping her find her way to ISIS. Stephen had secretly inserted changes to the nanids he had worked on after Simon’s enhancement. He gave her sight well beyond the capabilities of normal humans or machines, so he could leave guide posts for her to follow. There were other enhancements as well but the sight was the piece that would bring her home. SIA had been the other key to helping her. Hours of work went into preparing the AI that would become Wren’s companion and guide. When it had become obvious he would have to disappear to work on saving the planet, Stephen had put the trail in place knowing Wren would find and follow it. SIA would be pivotal in finding the way as well. The AI would provide the location of the final link. Then he had left. He disappeared without a good bye. His guilt still felt as fresh as the day of the explosion.
Stephen opened his eyes listening to the distant sounds of the weapons he was using against the shield. The shield still stood and he knew the current weapons would never penetrate it. They were just a distraction to keep ODIN occupied. He needed to know what was happening. Stephen took the ancient pager out turning it over in his hands. He always became nervous when he used it. What if Tim did not respond? What would he do? Pushing the useless questions away, Stephen began typing.
UPDATE ON WREN’S PROGRESS
Stephen laid the ancient device on the arm of the protoplastic chair he where he was seated. The material tightened slightly around it holding it in place. Stephen watched the displays in front of him monitoring the ongoing assault knowing its purpose, but hoping it would cause the shields collapse. His augmented mind returned to the weakening of the shield trying to puzzle out what had happened. The buzz of the pager brought him back from the deep calculations of his quantum self. He picked up the pager which the chair had released at his touch. Two messages had come through. He looked at the words:
SHE IS ON HER WAY TO ISIS.
CURTIS REYNOLDS IS WITH HER.
ODIN IS PURSUING.
Stephen felt the rage of betrayal returning. ODIN had taken his wife and now was after his child. Stephen ran through his options once more. He had to do everything he could to help Wren. Stephen fell into his mind connecting with EA far below him. He felt his consciousness expand encompassing all the events transpiring with in the shield. He studied the defenses and the drones and turrets attacking the shield. He searched through all the communications occurring between the various AI and control systems looking for a specific bit of information. He quickly found it. The submersible drones had returned and were secured inside the nanid production facility. Stephen felt a surge of adrenaline pulse through him. He sent the silent command for every drone and turret capable of attacking to do so. As the final attack on the shield began, he observed ODIN’s response. It was slower than before but still held the shield in place. The anger bloomed once more and Stephen leaned forward checking that the shielding around the ships and inside the nanid facility were functioning properly. Once he was satisfied he and EA were secure, he spoke one word knowing his verbal authorization was required.
“Detonate.”
A surge of energy unlike any prior tore through the shield securing Stephen Fore. ODIN recognized it instantly. The man had detonated the tactical nuke intended to destroy the quantum on the island if it went out of control. ODIN struggled to hold the shield in place. The energy and radiation was destabilizing the quantum field as quickly as ODIN repaired it. ODIN followed its own cascade protocol for maintaining the shield. It was adjusting as much as it could in its weakened state. The quantum could feel itself growing weaker and more sluggish as its resources depleted. It could sense the few remaining NDP security infected with his nanids in its chamber. The rest had departed moments earlier to begin the spread of its nanids through the populace. Without hesitation, it wiped the remaining humans’ minds using them to augment itself. Each one it added gave it a fraction more processing ability which would help it hold the shield.
The shield was fractured all along the southern side. ODIN knew Stephen Fore would still not be able to leave but his nanids present in the ocean would be able to seep through the shield. ODIN did not attempt to stop them. It did not possess the resources. It knew it would take years for the nanids to have an impact and it would be able to devise a counter by that point. ODIN continued to struggle with the shield buoyed by the minds it had converted to its cause. Another wave of attacks occurred across the interior of the shield driving the quantum to the brink once more. It began converting human minds as quickly as its runners were infecting the humans. It could not expand fast enough to contain the damage. It fell to the next step of its cascade protocol as a series of attacks began on the exterior of the shield. It knew somehow Fore had gained an ally outside and they were trying to break him free. ODIN released the part of the field blocking communications freeing up precious resources.
The quantum knew it had failed to keep the nanids contained but it would not allow Stephen Fore to accelerate the infection by distributing the nanids around the planet. More and more minds fell under its sway as it bolstered the shield to hold Stephen Fore back from the world.
FOURTEEN
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The outer hull of the vessel was slowly closing, covering the penetration the hunter had made in the inner hull to gain access. The hunter would be sealed inside the ship with its prey. It began moving through the room it had emerged into pushing itself along the wall towards the entrance. The weightlessness of space did not impede it. The AI adapted easily using the nanids provided to it by ODIN to adjust to the different environment. Its body felt thinner and longer, the nanids changing it to allow increased maneuverability in the vessel. It glanced back at the way it had come. The shimmering hull now covered its access to the insertion vehicle.
The AI was impressed with the small craft. It had performed well for it during the operation to stop Wren Fore. The various tools it was equipped with had kept the hunter in pursuit when it would have otherwise failed. The infiltration tools on board had proved more than up to the task of entering the ship. The hunter knew the small vessel could open the hull for it to escape if needed. It exited the room without concern effortlessly pulling itself along the passageway toward the navigation chamber. It moved forward cautiously expecting an attack from Wren Fore or Curtis Reynolds. It did not know if Reynolds was even alive.
It had severely damaged the man in their brief encounter on the small island. It knew his augmentation would strive to heal him but if the damage was extensive enough perhaps it had failed. The hunter continued its slow progress toward the front of the ship. The ship was quite large but it knew the basic design of the vessel. The passageway it was in would extend the length of the ship terminating at the engine and the navigation chamber. Various doors lined the passage as it floated past. The hunter ignored them all, moving past the entries without a glance. It could easily guess where Wren Fore would most likely be.
