"Yes Sir, we'll try, Sir, but the heavy-suits tend to explode when overloaded with too much power. I'll try to isolate and damage rather than destroy. I assume, Sir, you want one down now however we have to do it but I understand about the rise in ratings if we can knock them down and then fok them," said the Team Leader.
"You understand correctly Team Leader," said the Secretary.
"Pick one randomly from the squad. Leave the Captain alone," ordered Carpenter.
"Yes Sir," the Team Leader said.
"Sky-Sec. When the Chase Team starts shooting, I want you to eliminate the lasers. I want a clear field of fire coming in."
"Yes Sir. Consider it done, Sir."
"Here are your orders," said the Secretary.
"Team South. Sergeant, you hold fire and do not shoot, you are the insurance shooter if needed. All eight remaining troopers will each pick up one of the Captain's Team, take them as they enter your kill zone. But only one shooter each. Understood?"
"Team Two Leader, your Team is on the north side and you will take one man from the line. Not the Captain. I repeat. Not the Captain. Random choice. That will give us a two-on-one for that single trooper.
Team North troopers, you are to fire over their heads, behind them, in front of them and everywhere you can think of but do not engage or hit them directly.
Any man who screws this up had better start running after them. Any questions?"
Silence.
"Good. Do your jobs gentlemen." The screens dissolved to the automatic city views.
"Overheads to main screen." A casual wave and the overhead action returned. "Put main broadcast channel on secondary." Let's see what our fair city sees. He smiled and looked at the screens.
This would work nicely he decided. Another small piece of his problem would disappear in the next few minutes.
12:06:2167 12:00:00
Jake awoke at noon, groggy and brain-whipped after the computer had integrated and tested the new circuits.
He stumbled out of bed to the fresher unit. "Coffee," was his first word. "Strong," was the second. He stood sipping the hot drink trying to focus on the screen.
The computer gave him a few minutes of grace for a half a cup, time for the caffeine to work before it launched into the important updates.
"Captain Fraser is still running. Carpenter has taken over Corporate. Social nets buzzing. I have confirmed several requested details from Carpenter while I acted as you. There are four calls from your friends suggesting, rather rudely, you wake up, and the weather is bright and clear. Anything else you need before we start work?"
Jake shook his head. "More coffee." He staggered to his chair and half-fell, half-sat into it. He spilled some on his leg and lifted his jeans away from his skin.
"Drink that one and then go for the second. First though, we need to discuss what I discovered last night while you slept. I apologize for your headache and groggy state, but decided it was best if you slept through the integration as much as possible. I note your rest was not peaceful. You fought me on several interesting program sectors."
"Good," said Jake emptying his cup. "Now I need more coffee." He stood and stumbled towards the pot. As he poured, he wondered how he had fought the computer and over what.
"Coffee," he said as he took his cup back to the edge of the bed. He turned to the mask and raised the cup.
He sat with exquisite care to not juggle anything or move quickly.
"The haze and fog is beginning to clear." he said. "I may live. I'm not completely sure yet. Thank you for making the coffee stronger this morning," he said. He raised his mug to the mask. The mug wavered as he lowered it, and he took another large sip.
"Give me a minute or two to get up to speed," he said with a command wave to the screen. He smiled as the mask faded.
Jake finished his second cup of coffee, leaned back on the bed and said, "Yes?"
The mask reappeared. "The hack you proposed to meld the time and learning curve together along with your chip upgrade has produced some interesting results. I've created a dedicated-server network and split it away from the main server banks to isolate the outcome while we test it further. The results were so fascinating I ran a few further tests on my own. I integrated more inputs into your chipset while you slept," the computer said.
"You modified the chip source code? What did you do?" said Jake.
"I wanted to bring this online slowly to give you a chance to adjust as we change your new enhanced abilities to interface with remote inputs. And before you ask, yes, the abilities you now have are far above those promised by the original combat chips. We've an entirely new level of synergy working for us."
"What 'entirely new level' are we talking about here?" asked Jake
"I want you to close your eyes. Good. Now I want you to imagine you're seeing the pub where you met that sweetheart. Good. What do you see now?"
Jake's eyes shot open, he sat bolt upright, and gasped, "I can see the inside of the pub in my feed. Holy... that's the inside of the pub in real time. How did you... how did I do that?" he demanded.
"The simple version is you now have full mental control of all server inputs. So you can see the cameras, you can hear the microphones, you can feel the weather sensors and whatever else you need, and you're doing it in real time.
The city server inputs are now your sensory inputs. You hear, feel, smell, see and perhaps even touch the city data. We need to investigate this further," said the computer.
"How do I do this myself?" Jake asked.
"Imagine what you want to know. Imagine what you want to see."
"What limits are there on this?" asked Jake.
"None".
"I can access all your databanks and process them myself?"
"Yes."
"I can see, hear, feel, anything I want? Anywhere? At any time I want?" said Jake.
"Yes,"
"So it's like I'm in both places at the same time. I can see my room but I can also see the pub. I've got a split feed in my brain," said Jake.
"Once you practice, I suspect you'll be able to hold more than two at the same time. But I do not know your limits."
Jake sat silently for a few seconds, the corner of his mouth twitched in the beginning of a smile. "What else can I do now?" Jake said.
"That remains to be seen and experimented."
The memories of the chase and the Secretary finding him rolled into his awareness. "Are we secure?" Jake asked.
"Completely."
"I'm imagining the Secretary's office," said Jake and his face broke into a huge grin. "Gotcha! Fokker!"
"I'm imagining me. OK! I'm seeing me, seeing me," exclaimed Jake.
"I wondered if that would happen."
"What would happen?" asked Jake.
"Well, I created a double, there's another Jake alive on the servers. You're here but you're also there. You're mirrored on the servers. When we combined the time organization and the learning curve parameters, it would seem the virtual Jake is on the same learning curve as you are and you can communicate with him."
"There's two of me?" asked Jake.
"Yes."
"Seriously? We did it. We created a silicon life form," said Jake
"Yes. But it does raise those interesting questions we've identified. I'm still considering the implications of AI-singularity explosion for example..."
Jake wasn't paying attention because he had passed out from data overload. Coffee or no coffee, he couldn't keep his eyes open. The coffee cup balanced precariously on his lap.
It was time for both the central computer and virtual Jake to explore what they had created, what a virtual Jake could do or could not do. It would take a great deal of work to overcome the physical, mental and philosophical problems and meld the physical and virtual Jake.
And before they could ethically proceed, Jake had to agree. Had Jake been conscious, he would have been surprised to hear this; he hadn't thought of computers having the ability to make ethic
al decisions. But he also knew things change.
But for the moment, unaware of his surroundings, Jake dreamt the delights of his physical world, where his every fantasy came true. As the Chase played out, Jake enjoyed a magic moment slowly unbuttoning a very colorful shirt on an extremely beautiful young woman.
12:06:2167 12:04:00
The Captain knew he had no serious options. The Secretary had isolated his comm channel and wasn't giving them any information. But any beginner could see there was an ambush planned as they entered the valley.
Probably shooters on both sides - that's how I'd do it. Not much cover of any use; those larger rocks are only protection from one side. Those low shrubs aren't any help. Fok. His mind rolled at full speed evaluating all his options.
"Listen up," he said.
Fraser knew he couldn't alter the course of this one-sided slaughter but he thought the team might create a few extra seconds of safety. Possible even upset the planning. "Team, half-speed in straight line until firing begins and then go to full battle speed in fire-evasion patterns," he said.
His team all slowed to what seemed like slow motion to the viewers back in the city after their frenetic speed of just a few seconds ago.
Fifteen seconds later, Chase Team Leader Davies sent a streak of laser fire zapping out from the hillside. That single shot signaled the start and very quickly every member of the Captain's team was targeted, the suit power levels fluctuated and the team went to max battle speed in zig-zag running patterns. Darting behind trees, hesitating for a heartbeat or two, and then running for the next clump of rocks or bushes, the team moved down the valley in random bursts of speed and direction.
This sudden tactical shift threw the fire off for a few seconds and then the Chase team's targeting sensors kicked back in and laser targeting lit up each trooper.
Lightning bolts narrowly missed each of them, but shattered rocks and created geysers of dust while vaporizing plants and digging up sand clouds.
Viewers joined the show at an exponential rate, doubling every few seconds. Vid mixes started at the same time and the uploads flooded the Nets.
"We're half way," said the Captain into his main com-channel. "You're doing good - keep it up." He dove behind a rock, rolled into a somersault. His suit started its recovery phase, but went to damage control as he emerged from the other side of the rock in a different direction. He was targeted by a trooper on the opposite side of the valley.
"Keep it going, Beck, I'm gaining on you," yelled Sergeant Price.
Beck forced a laugh. "You only think so, Sarge. I'll beat you out of here. Two beer says I get to the other side before you."
"Move it. Keep it rolling," yelled Fraser. "Keep up."
The online betting was running heavily against them and the only bets being placed were how many would be knocked down.
Over his command frequency, Fraser heard, "Sergeant. Engage," from Team 2 Leader Davies.
Fok. Now what, Fraser thought?
He didn't see the Team 2 Sergeant sight on Beck, zero the shot in, and with a ten second burst adding to Beck's already maxed-out defenses disable his suit.
Beck staggered on a few more yards until a second bolt passed right through him.
The play-by-play announcers both said, "Gut shot!" at the same time as Beck spun, feet off the ground, uncontrollably crashing to the valley floor.
"Beck's down, Sir," said Sergeant Price.
"Keep running!"
The firestorm continued and bolts scattered around them, keeping them moving and the audience entranced.
But no more troopers were disabled, and they passed out of the valley kill zone to the next problem.
12:06:2167 12:15:00
Team 2 Leader Davies ordered, "All troops not firing turn to follow the Captain's Team and its retreat."
As Fraser's Team reached the end of the valley, the shooting tapered off, one trooper at a time. To the casual viewer, it would appear the Captain had escaped the ambush.
This scene has been well orchestrated and performed so viewers, and hopefully the Secretary, should be pleased, thought Davies.
"Hold your targeting as ordered. We have one down," said Davies.
Do this right. Get it right or else. That fokking Secretary makes the orders, screws up, gets my men killed and blames me. Fokking typical. OK. Let's do this one right. I have one down waiting for me. Stand up straight. Grim smile. Shit, I really don't want to do this. Beck was a good man. OK Fok - get it over with. He made his choice. I'm on the main feed along with Beck by now. The thoughts screamed through Davies' mind and he couldn't focus on any of them. He took a deep breath, thought about it for a second and understood this could be a career-making moment.
He chose a private channel to the Secretary. "Mr Secretary, can we reduce pain medications to Beck? Override his suit, fill him with adrenalin and endorphins, get the consciousness back to normal, and freeze his muscles? This will look better on screen," he said. He heard the single word, "Agree" in his ear feed.
He stood straighter, braced his shoulders, set his face into a grim, narrow-eyed look and raised his face-shield.
He picked his way down the slope, knowing every eye was tracking him through his feeds, the cameras on his men's suits, the overheads and drone shots. In a few seconds, Beck's camera would come online as well.
This wasn't Davies' first kill but it would be his biggest and he was making the most of it with a casual approach.
OK, little swagger. Not that much. Dial it back. Swing the shoulders. Good. Pistol at side like the manual says. Push the safety off. Damn, glad I remembered that. Face grim enough? Hell yeah, practiced that enough in the mirror. He smiled inwardly.
The cameras tracked multiple views but focused more and more on Beck and the approaching Team Leader. All sky shots and personal feeds of the fleeing Captain and his Team switched to back channels. There was no doubt in the audience minds about what they were about to see. And Davies' drawn pistol and raised face shield made that crystal clear.
Davies saw Beck's helmet shield retract into his helmet. The techs back in the city had done that and were setting everything up for him. He'd have to remember to send a few cases of beer their way tonight. Fraser always did he remembered.
Beck tried to move his arms and legs and his eyes changed when he understood he didn't have any control over them.
Davies faced Beck eye-to-eye, without technology between them.
He nodded as Beck focussed on him and the eye-contact spoke volumes. They both knew the kill wouldn't be personal, it was just the way things were. Or at least that's how Davies took the exchange.
He watched as Beck tried again and found it impossible to move either his legs or his arms. Davies smiled to himself as Beck realized he was about to die and there was nothing he could do about it. Davies' eye feeds recorded the look of impending death in Beck's eyes. Beck's tightening facial muscles signaled he understood his life was now over and his hormones had been adjusted for this final moment.
He aimed his pistol at Beck's forehead and tightened his finger on the trigger.
Davies eye feeds zoomed in on Beck's face.
Beck winked, grinned and said, "Fok You!"
Davies never thought about it but pulled the trigger and burned a circle between Beck's eyes.
He had forgotten his well-practiced "You're Fokked," and there was no time to do it again.
Fok! he said to himself. Fok, Fok.
12:06:2167 12:18:00
The Captain noted the laser curtain stopped after they passed through the valley. They were no longer forced southward, so the show was over for another few hours. He decided to run for two hours and then look for a decent defensive position for the all-too-certain evening attack. With only seven of them left, he wasn't sure what tactic would work against eighteen.
"Shit storm ahead," he thought.
A minute later, he ordered, "George, take point, head due West. The rest of us will run together. Jackson, you trai
l the line, turn your sensors full rearward to cover our asses. We have a few hours of running before the next show. Hump it out. Miles to go before we sleep."
He and his men suddenly staggered and had to work very hard just to stay on their feet. The Secretary had given them all back their full feed systems without warning and as the data flowed through, the troopers worked adjusting the almost-overwhelming flow.
Calan heard the Secretary's voice, "I can give it and I can take it. Enjoy it while you can, Captain, you'll never know just when I will take it away again. It might even be when you need it most."
He and his team were under no illusion about what waited for them. The only question in the Captain's mind was whether his anonymous friend could delay that fate long enough for something, for anything to happen that might save him and his men.
Fok.
He kept running.
12:06:2167 15:00:00
Two hours later after the excitement of the kill had worn off, Carpenter interrupted normal city-wide programming with an announcement.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know, I have the privilege to be the Secretary of Homeland Security and I get to see many things that must stay secret for our own protection.
One of these investigations you should know about is a well-devised scheme to steal a great deal of money. The victims are every one of you. You've all lost a lot of money in excessive charges and fraud against your accounts, particularly your retirement accounts and there's been nothing you could do about it.
Until today.
Today, we put the last few pieces of the puzzle together. The judicial review of this theft against the city has shown without a shadow of doubt, the senior managers of the Corporation raised prices unnecessarily, gouged citizens and created false accounting trails to hide these activities. They altered their tax statements to willfully break the law and we will prove this in a court of law with no problems.
I have ordered the arrest of Chairman Gwinnett and his Vice-Presidents and, as I speak to you, they are in holding cells, to wait for their fair trials. Let me announce that if they are found guilty, you will all vote on the sentence. It only seems fair; they robbed you and you should get to decide on the punishment.
Flee or Kill: The Future Of Reality TV (Future Forward Book 2) Page 22
