“Don’t,” Eva whispered and Hammell fought to calm himself. At least he couldn’t see Nieder; the captain’s smug face would have sent him over the edge and made him do something stupid.
Out of nowhere there came a sudden burst of gunfire. The I.T.F. Agents were disoriented and confused as Ettore himself emerged from the remains of a fallen building, bloody and filthy. Gun raised above his head, he screamed a primal scream as the remnants of his entourage appeared at his back, roaring as they followed him out. The counterattack was swift – the agents were decimated before their androids had a chance to gather around them for protection. Ettore’s survivors spread out before they could be wiped out en mass, and the battle descended into a series of point-blank one-on-one fights, with whoever was quickest on the machinegun trigger prevailing.
Whoever Nieder’s replacement was in the air, he was no more sympathetic. A machinegun wielding robotic bomb landed heavily in the centre of the street and Ettore himself turned to fire at it, his bullets barely making a dent in its armour.
“LI MORTACCI TUA!” Ettore screamed and the bomb detonated, taking out people and androids alike.
Eva let out a sudden sob as Ettore vanished and Hammell pulled her close. The battle was over.
They were taken by androids – I.T.F. Agents were strangely reluctant to set foot on the ground now – to the replacement command carrier. After a brief period of questioning by a blackshine, which they got through by feigning ignorance of anything and everything, they were flown back to the city and dumped unceremoniously at a checkpoint. With no way back into the Reserves, they travelled by public nat to Hammell’s apartment; a place which provided a good vantage point across the city and the Reserves beyond, a comfortable spot from which to finish watching mankind become extinct.
They spent the rest of the day by the giant windows, staring out at the distant smoke and fires and occasional tracer bullets, watching as the few who had escaped the rout were gradually hunted down in the wilderness. The cat sat on its haunches alongside them, clearly wondering what they were all looking at, but watching with them just the same.
When evening fell, Hammell ordered Chinese food, which only he and Kitty tucked into. Eva didn’t move from the windows, not until long into night when the last gun had fallen silent and the carriers had turned for home.
“It’s finished,” she said finally and Hammell held her again.
Over her shoulder he spotted another flash of light, of a wholly different kind: A shuttle was launching. Life continues as normal, he thought as he watched the bright spot rising up, the smoke trail white against the grey cloud. As the vehicle vanished into the cloud layer, he nodded to himself.
Eva pulled away to see what he was looking at. “Did you know that Abaddon means ‘a place of destruction’ in old mythology?” she said. She gave him a sad little smile. “Who thought that would be a good name for a colony world?”
Terminology
A.I. Act
The Artificial Intelligence Act was originally a ban on all artificial intelligences. It was eventually relaxed to allow for faster building of the megastructures required to help save the planet from natural catastrophes such as The Storm. However the Act still stipulates that no machine is allowed to become mentally advanced beyond a certain point. To enforce this, all androids must be periodically reset by law (typically every 12 months). MegaAIs are permitted no genuine intelligence at all, but simply possess a massive amount of processing power, requiring human or android direction to make use of it. Organic anthropomorphic androids (andromorphs) remain illegal.
Abaddon
Known as Earth’s twin, Abaddon is the most common destination for people looking to make a new start on a fresh world. It was the first of the colonised planets and is the closest to Earth. Multiple settlements now exist, forming trading economies across the planet. It is the only colony planet currently categorized as ‘permanently inhabited’ and not merely ‘settled’.
Andromorph
A robot designed to closely simulate a human. Illegal to produce after WWIII.
Beacon
A person’s internal ID which transmits a signal that can be recognised by Providence and other so-called ‘pinging’ technology from a very limited range.
Bellerophon
A more distant and alien world than Abaddon, but one which also has a colony, though at an earlier stage of development.
Black box
A device everyone is implanted with at birth which primarily monitors the blood, though it can record other parameters too including registering impacts. It links to the implant and stores medical records and a summary history of everything that happens to the user, from wounds received to exercise taken to sexual activity engaged in.
Glowlight
A small torch embedded in the tip of the finger.
I.A.
Interpol Agent. Roughly equivalent to a detective in rank, working for the global police force, Interpol. In recent years I.A.s have been increasingly made redundant as their jobs have been rendered unnecessary by the success of the Providence networks.
iEye
A recording device linked to the optical nerve which allows images to be recorded directly from the eye. Advanced features include the ability to link to skywalls for more realistic imaging, zoom function, image amalgamation tools, filters, etc.
Implant
The second major device used by almost every person, the implant allows for connection to various networks. The implant is able to gather information and present it directly in the user’s mind like a thought, or can link to the iEye. Facts, figures, and key information about any subject the user thinks about can be placed instantly and automatically at their disposal. Each person has a unique algorithm which they develop over their life, helping their implant determine what is important to them.
iPalm
A standard communication device implanted in the palm of the hand which provides a receive-and-give connection to the public networks. It allows users to make video calls using sensors in the fingertips linked to a facial reconstruction program that results in projection of the user’s face for the receiver, while simultaneously projecting the receiver’s face above the palm. iPalms can also be linked to other devices such as skywalls to make calls.
I.T.F.
Intergovernmental Task Force. A new global military unit tasked with seeking out and destroying threats from organized crime and terrorism.
MegaAI
A computer with immense processing capacity but no genuine artificial intelligence, in spite of its name. The name megaAI is a hangover from the time when such machines were envisaged to be exactly as they sounded, before WWIII.
Megacities
Cities primarily in the east which bucked the depopulation trend and continued growing, sucking in the people from neighbouring towns and cities to become gigantic. Megacities include Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, and Shanghai, with only New York in what used to be called the west.
Memory chips
Implanted artificial memory, storing primarily cached information from the implant. However studies have recently shown that people are increasingly using memory chips to replace brain storage, thereby freeing it up for processing. Memory centres in the brain are also known to be shrinking, most likely due to the lack of need to remember information, since the implant provides it instantly by accessing the networks.
Nat
A car-like vehicle which is commonly (though not exclusively) automated and has the capability to fly limited distances alone, and longer distances in chains or when attached to a carrier. The term ‘nat’ is informal, believed to derive from the word ‘gnat’.
Networks
Many different networks exist, some public and some private, with varying connection speeds and different access requirements. Users can access different networks depending on their status, their job, their security clearances, what they are willing to pay for, etc.
Omni account
A single international account set up with one semi-governmental corporation, used to link information from all manner of sources together intelligently, thereby preventing the need for the user to create multiple accounts for different companies and services.
Providence
A massive global network of cameras, facial recognition software, surveillor blocks, androids and satellites with regional megaAI oversight, Providence has the ability to instantly identify crimes and punish criminals. Civilian oversight is conducted from Interpol and Intergov. The enormous success of Providence has led to the gradual redundancy of police officers until only civilians, part-time wardens and a few Interpol Agents are left.
Red Hands
An underground Mafia-like organization which has been declared illegal by Intergov. Believed to have been led by a man named Roy Brown, who was eventually killed by an Interpol bombing campaign in Paris.
Reservation Line
The border to the Reserves.
Reserves
The huge expanse of towns, villages and countryside to the east of the city which were largely abandoned due to depopulation and have been bordered off to be returned to nature.
Restoration
The continuing rebuilding of the city (and other cities) by an array of machines after the devastation caused by WWIII and The Storm, and for general regeneration purposes.
Rubber
A semi-derogatory term for an android, particularly a low-end model used mainly as a first responder unit for disasters. The correct name should be ‘boxbot’.
Rubber ring
A structure formed by boxbot (“rubber”) first responders to block off a crime scene or disaster zone from the general public. A semi-derogatory term for a temporary wall.
Sexulator
A general term for a variety of real-feel sexual simulation devices.
Skywall
A non-portable connection to the networks, as well as a method for projecting information on a variety of holographic displays in 2D or 3D. Calls to and from iPalms can be made via the skywall. Even sexulators can be connected to make the projections (soligrams) feel real. The skywall is a versatile and ubiquitous display device.
Soligram
A term for holograms which can interact with the physical world via advanced projection techniques such as tight magnetic manipulation of various materials.
Storm, The
A massive weather system which developed into a global storm similar to Jupiter’s Red Spot. It travelled the world once per year, devastating everything, until android-built machines brought it under control. This was the trigger to finally fight global warming with megastructures and to allow artificial intelligences back into society after WWIII.
Surveillor
A trademarked name commonly used for a variety of static, mobile or semi-mobile sensor blocks which form a major part of Providence.
Warden
A police officer with limited powers, roughly equivalent to a Special Constable.
WWIII
The name of the series of wars which were clustered under the name World War 3, largely simplified to be a war between humans and artificial intelligences. WWIII resulted in the A.I. Act banning all artificial intelligences.
XS
A colloquial term meaning to move to another planet, usually permanently. Derived from the term ‘Extra Solar’.
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