Traps…
“What do you know about the ancient Egyptians?” he asked Angelo, his eyes suddenly alive with excitement.
“What is commonly referred to as the ancient Egyptian era began in 4000 or 6000 BC–”
“Their tombs,” Charlie cut off the Ancient Egyptian lecture. “Their tombs…”
“The most famous tombs of the ancient Egyptians reside in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt,” Angelo said.
Charlie spun his finger in the air as if fast-forwarding Angelo’s speech. “Booby traps,” he said. “Booby traps! Look at this place. All it needs is booby traps to be perfectly impenetrable. Right now, it seems impenetrable, but the moment somebody gets in they are free to access the entire place because there are no booby traps.”
Maverick was rubbing his lower back. “I just fell from a booby-trap.”
“This place needs booby-traps,” Charlie said, “And so do the hybrids.”
“Please explain,” Angelo said.
“Well, in ancient Egypt, if you made it in the door there would be something like a pit with painted stars overhead, so you get distracted by the stars and you’d look up and then fall into the pit. It was by far the most common booby trap, but there were others like double thick walls, false entryways, doors sliding down behind you. Tons of them. We cannot stop the hybrids from having code inside them, it’s what keeps them alive. We can’t remove Jade’s cerebellum, but we have to find a way so nobody who gets in there can interfere with who she really is. So, if we write some reroute code that traps alien code in a windowless room and didn’t allow it in, the code would be caught in an endless loop like a booby trap dropping you in a bottomless pit with no way out.”
“So, you can fix the code and then leave booby traps for anyone who tries to get in with malicious code after you?” Maverick asked.
“Like hell I can,” Charlie smiled. “MS-DOS does this. And I bet I can stick some old code in there to create the shield. When I first started writing code, well we couldn’t afford a real computer. So, my mother bought me this weird black keyboard I plugged into our old computer, and I had to write my own code. I used to go down to the public library and play this game, a really old-fashioned Dungeons and Dragons game. It was a black screen with just green letters going across the screen, and it would tell you things like, ‘you’re standing in the hallway, there is a door to the left and to the right. Which doorway do you choose?’ And you would choose a doorway and you walk into the door and it would show you to something else like ‘a troll stands in front of you, about to strike, what do you want to do?’ and you have to come up with something to do against the troll.”
“It sounds quite engaging,” Angelo said.
“I’m going to write the chamber at the front of the hybrid code,” and even as Charlie spoke he scribbled in the air.
“It’s really quite impressive what you’re capable of doing in modern code,” Maverick said.
“Anybody who enters this space will be triggered into this maze,” Charlie said. “Only it’s a complete loop and there’s no way around it, because nobody in this time knows MS-DOS. And it is so old and so clunky that even if they could see behind it, they won’t be able to see the pattern.”
It was done just like that, without even much more thinking. Charlie reached into his childhood and pulled out a code nobody in 2325 knew. He built a hallway and a booby trap that would keep them trapped there forever, never allowing them access to Jade’s code.
“What happens though when she needs a software update?” Angelo asked. “in one, five, ten years, maybe everyone will need an updated technology to survive.”
Charlie shook his head. “Not this technology. She won’t be able to get a software update,” Charlie said. “But nobody will be able to control her ever again.”
Maverick nodded approvingly. “She will die like the rest of us. Only slightly different. Her hardware will get older, her software will become outdated, and slowly some of her organs will run down. It’ll be like she’s human again.”
“And she won’t be able to get any more synthetic organs. If they’re meant to be run from the cerebellum, it won’t be possible anymore.”
“Never?” Angelo said, tilting his head to the side as he computed. “I’m not quite sure how she’s going to absorb that piece of information.
Charlie shook his head. “The world inside the code is set to grow itself in an endless cycle. There will be an endless series of doors and trolls and pointlessly repetitive quests and even I won’t be able to find my way out of the world inside Jade’s brain.
Chapter 35
Blake looked through the glass pane at Robin. What the hell was wrong with her? What had been done to make this happen? He had his suspicions and Warren was at the top of the list. Who else would have access to the CompuVerse that could make this possible? A ravenous mental disease to infect all Deltas. Only Warren. Well, he supposed Dustin had that capability, too, but that sniveling idiot didn’t have two brain cells to rub together. Not the kind of brain cells you needed to pull something like this off.
Malicious. Selfish. Powerful.
The kind of brain cells that, well… Blake had.
That’s why he needed Robin. Without her, he was just a narcissistic megalomaniac. He needed her to keep him humble, well, as humble as he could ever be.
Blake pressed his hand against the glass. He’d hadn’t dared move Robin out of her room, but he’d removed the wall. He needed to see her, but he couldn’t bear to have her see him. The way she looked at him, like she wanted to kill him. It was impossible to fathom.
The woman who had always loved him, always supported him, always guided him…she wasn’t dying anymore, but she was gone. Her brain was gone and she was a killer.
Blake bowed his head. In the deepest briefest part of himself a horrifying, quiet thought was emerging… Maybe it was better for Robin if she was dead.
Charlie was sleeping when Jade woke up. Right after he finished the self-expanding DOS world that would act as the booby trap inside Jade’s code, he had fallen asleep right in the chair. Angelo had stayed to watch over Charlie and Jade as they both rested and he watch with curiosity and excitement, or as much excitement as a bot could have, as Jade woke up. He watched her eyes open and look around the lab.
“Angelo,” Jade said. “Angelo, why am I tied down?”
It was all Angelo needed to hear to know Jade was fine. He reached over and with the simple movement of his fingers he freed the bonds holding her against the table. She sat up rubbing her wrists.
“I feel… I feel strange,” she said. She sat there staring at her hands for a moment, turning them over. She rubbed her neck where the needle had been. She looked up at Angelo.
“I – I killed people,” she said. “Humans. Rebels… What happened?” Her voice choked up and her throat was raspy. Angelo could see delicate puddles of water forming in her eyes
“It’s not your fault, Jade,” he said, reaching out and carefully moving a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
“I was standing on the stage. They brought rebels in and we were going to welcome them into the city. They were going to become part of Crowley, but suddenly it was a bloodbath.” She stared in confusion at her hands and back at Angelo. “Even Robin was a part of it.”
“Warren changed the code,” Angelo said. “He and Dustin created code that allowed him to control you.”
Jade’s eyes slid over to where Charlie was snoring slightly in the chair. “Charlie fixed it?” she asked.
“He did more than fix it,” Angelo said. “He made it so it can never happen again.”
Jade smiled a warm and lovely smile as she stood and moved over to Charlie. He was slowly waking up in the chair listening to Angelo and Jade talk.
“Well, I don’t know what he did to the code,” Jade said, “But I feel so much better. I feel… Like there’s something more inside me now. Whatever was there before felt like a black circle but now ther
e’s something pure and warm in there.”
“There is something you should know,” Angelo said.
“What?” Jade asked, turning to a giant red robot.
“Your code can never be updated again,” Charlie said, sitting up.
“Never updated?” Jade asked.
“I’m sorry, don’t be mad,” Charlie said. “But I had to protect you. All the hybrids are out running around under the control of Warren. If I didn’t find a way to clear out the whole system, it doesn’t really matter. Anybody could go in and change whatever they wanted.”
“And the problem would keep happening and who knows what would become of you.”
“I’ll die?” Jade asked.
Charlie nodded. “I’m sorry, Jade. It was the only way to protect you.”
Jade stared down at her hands. “My parents went through so much to save me.”
“You are still saved. You will just live a normal life span. Sort of. I think.” Charlie said. “I didn’t know what else to do, Jade. I needed to make sure that never happened again.”
Jade took a deep breath. “It’s okay.” And suddenly, a huge smile burst across her face, like it was a ridiculously warm summer day and she was the sun, shining down on everybody. Charlie’s heart filled with warmth. But then…
“You do realize what it means, right?” he said.
“Yes,” she said. “They cannot upgrade me. I will degrade and die.” And she looked so happy about this piece of information, Charlie was a bit surprised.
“It doesn’t bother you?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I never wanted to live forever, I just wanted to live long enough.”
She pulled Charlie up into a standing position.
“Let’s figure out how to go back and fix the code and all the hybrids.”
“That’s my girl,” Angelo said.
* * *
The hall was silent as Charlie, Jade and Angelo were escorted into the room, everyone stared at the hybrid, the bot and the man from the past. Charlie looked around at the people in the chapel. There were a lot less rebels than he would’ve thought, but maybe they were out attacking Crowley or something. They walked up to the front of the room where Trekon stood.
“So, this is Jade of Crowley,” he said looking at her less warmly than usual.
“Thank you for saving me,” she said. “I do not deserve it.”
“I agree,” Trekon said. “But I did not save you. He did.” His long thin finger pointed towards Charlie.
Charlie looked down at his feet. He didn’t need any recognition for fixing the code that had turned Jade into a killer. He was just happy it was over.
“I would like to return to Crowley,” Jade said. “I will get Charlie into the central control unit so he can fix the hybrid code.”
“And the shot from your gun started it. When you executed Frank.”
“She wasn’t herself!” Charlie exclaimed.
“That’s the problem with hybrids,” Tallahassee growled. “You never know who they are.”
Trekon held up his hand to Tallahassee. “Reparations may be made.”
“Nothing is going to bring back Frank,” Tallahassee muttered.
“The city still burns and humans still die.” Trekon’s hand swept through the air highlighting the screens lining one end of the cavern well. Crowley was ablaze.
Jade’s eyes narrowed as she looked from screen to screen to screen. Now that Charlie knew exactly which parts of her were human and which parts were machine, he kept a close look on her left eye. He could see it was lens scanning the screens and reading information that there was no way he was going to be able to see.
“Quadrant two,” she barely breathed the words out, but Charlie could tell by the movement of her lips what she was saying. The quadrant she grew up in. Trenchtown. He sucked his breath in through his teeth and fought the urge to reach out and take her hand. The last thing in the world one would want to do was take Jade of Crowley by surprise with a sweet gesture. But he knew exactly what she was seeing: the decimation of the town she grew up in.
Her gaze flew to Charlie. “My parents?” she asked.
“We don’t know,” he said.
She turned on her heel and strode towards the door. Two Lowsmiths stepped in front of her. Jade stopped in her tracks, hands moving to her holsters, but they were empty.
“We can’t let you return to the city,” Trekon said.
“Am I a prisoner?” Jade asked.
Charlie frowned.
“We do not know whose side you are on,” Trekon said. “I think this is an understandable situation. If we were to let you go back to the city, you may simply become a killing machine again, attacking our people.”
“Enough,” Charlie said, stepping forward. He looked around the room. “You’re standing here with the deadliest bot and hybrid in all of Crowley. Neither one is doing anything.”
“She would have just shot our guards if she had her guns on her,” Tallahassee said.
“I wouldn’t have,” said Jade. “But I need to get in there. I will help the Lowsmiths, but I must go to Crowley. My parents are there and they are human.”
Chapter 36
The buzzer startled Blake. He pressed his forehead against the glass. No one was allowed to ring the buzzer to his private apartment. It was completely not allowed. If he ignored it they would go away. They would have to or else his ProtectoBots would make it go away.
Come to think of it, where were his ProtectoBots?
Blake lifted his head and looked curiously over his shoulder as the buzzer rang again, sending a grating shrill down his spine. He pressed his finger to his temple, activating his x-ray eye.
Monfils hit the buzzer. He hit it again and again and again.
It was totally against protocol, but he needed help and he needed help from the top of the food chain. Fortunately, he was close enough to the top, he’d been able to gain access to Blake’s private suite.
“There’s something wrong with the Deltas,” Monfils called through the door. “They need your help, Blake.”
Monfils was one of the few in all of Crowley who could call Blake by his first name. They’d been through some things together, back when Monfils was young. When his mother, Blake’s sister, was dying. The fact that Blake was Monfils’ uncle was something no one in Crowley knew. Both of them had wanted it that way. Monfils had wanted to work his way up and Blake hadn’t wanted to show favoritism. But now, well, it was time for Monfils to use his relationship to help Jade. And, if he understood the situation correctly, his Aunt Robin, too. She was a Delta. Whatever was going on in Blake’s penthouse couldn’t be good.
“Blake!” he shouted, as the door slid open and Blake stood there, frowning.
“Monfils,” he said quietly.
“It’s Warren,” Monfils said. “He’s changed the code in the Deltas.”
But even as Monfils said the words, he realized it was too late. The look on Blake’s face was so discouraged, so down, he wasn’t sure he had the strength to bring him up.
“I know.” Blake nodded stepping back and motioning towards the window, which overlooked Robin’s sick bed.
“We have to do something,” Monfils said as he stepped towards the window.
Blake cringed. “Even if we can find a solution,” he muttered. “I’m not sure Robin will want to know what she has done.”
Monfils pushed against the thought that Blake was right. He had lost contact with Jade after she left for the rebel stronghold. There was no telling what havoc she had wreaked out there. There was no telling if she had killed rebels or saved Charlie or killed Charlie.
“I need your BSA, Blake,” he said.
“Huh?” Blake gazed over at Monfils. “You know I don’t let anyone ride it.”
“If there is any hope of saving Helen or Jade, I need the BSA.”
“It’s a dangerous prototype, Monfils,” Blake shook his head. “You don’t even have that much experience on it.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Monfils held out his finger for the code. He could feel his uncle was going to give in. Blake’s BSA was a prototype single man transport that would get him out to Holbrook in fifteen minutes. He needed to get out there as quickly as possible and he needed to get out there with no one knowing about it. He couldn’t risk Warren finding out where the rebel stronghold was. Especially not with Jade and Charlie out there. “Please,” Monfils said.
Blake sighed, staring at his wife, who was grinding her teeth angrily. He reached his finger forward and pressed it against Monfils, transferring the BSA code to his nephew. “Don’t let this get any worse,” he said as he turned back to the window looking in on Robin’s room.
Everybody was staring at Trekon, whose brow was furrowed as he stared at Jade’s one human eye. Silence filled the stone chamber as the fires of Crowley glowed, blinking orange on the screens.
“I give you my word.” Jade’s voice was low. “I will get him into the CompuVerse where he can access the hybrids.”
Trekon’s eyes were dark, his face a stone wall.
“I will leave you Angelo,” Jade said. “If I do not fulfill my promise, you may have him. He will be loyal to you.”
“Why, well, I do not think that is quite appropriate,” Angelo said, tilting his head to stare at Jade. “I am your bot.”
“You can’t get in there without him!” Charlie exclaimed.
Trekon eyes squinted. “You may go,” he said.
“No,” said Charlie. “Without Angelo, it’s a suicide mission.”
“Then take Angelo with you. I trust you,” Trekon said with a nod.
“You can’t trust a hybrid,” Tallahassee said.
“We shall see,” Trekon said. “So much is already lost. This is our only hope of saving humanity.”
Jade looked around the room. “I could use some extra hands to get us into the CompuVerse. There are a lot of barriers to get past.”
Myths & Magic: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection Page 118
