by Chris Wright
“Well help yourselves, we have a basic selection on the top, some beers in the fridge and I think we have some wine somewhere” Sheryl said glancing around.
They did as she said, both of them taking very small measures, not wanting to offend their host on the first day.
“Will we get to go outside from here?” Jarrah asked. Nature was his world, his ancestral home, to be denied access to it to him was as bad as falling under the Elite's spell.
“Of course, we’ll have to be careful and not venture far but yes, we all need fresh air” Sheryl said before taking a deep breath, “So, I'll bring you up to speed. The rest of the team are on their way”.
Jarrah and Emma let out a huge sigh of relief. That had been preying on their mind all afternoon, whether they would all make it here safe or not.
“But I have to tell you” Sheryl paused. “Three of your friends didn't make it”.
She said it quite abruptly, the gin consumed obviously numbing her ability to sound sensitive enough. Jarrah and Emma were shocked. They knew something could go wrong, but fooled themselves into dismissing that possibility.
“Who?” Emma said, ready to burst into tears whoever it was.
“I'm afraid it was Sofia, Ben and Niel” Sheryl replied, this time sounding a lot softer and understanding in her tone.
She was upset herself, she wasn't a callous woman, despite what people thought of women who did well in business. In fact, it was quite the opposite, she just learnt how to hide her emotions when necessary. She was genuinely upset, she knew that if they hadn't joined in her campaign, that they would still be alive. Ultimately, she blamed herself.
Jarrah and Emma both dropped their heads in sadness, they were both fond of them all and had known them a long time, and it was going to take a long time to let it sink in. They both sipped from their glasses, Jarrah taking a few at a time. It wasn't making him feel better, but thought it was worth a try.
It wasn't long before they heard the rumble of something in the distance, which they took to be their approaching friends. That sound was another relief, they knew they hadn't all made it, but it could have been so much worse, and felt strangely lucky to be able to see those who had made it again. If the last week had done anything to them, it was to strip them of hope, and this small glimmer felt magnified ten-fold. It was the thing they needed, the thing they all needed.
A couple of minutes later they had landed and were being led through to greet them. There was a look of sheer joy on all of their faces as they hugged and shook hands. They had so much to catch up on, but also so much to grieve for. The whole day had been surreal, the situations they had been in almost unbelievable, and finally here they were.
Sheryl pointed to the drinks and told everyone to help themselves. She knew how much they had been through, she had been actively involved herself but tucked away in safety watching it all unfold. How it must have felt to her team she knew she would never understand.
“Well I am so pleased you all made it” Sheryl said raising her eighth glass towards them, “I know it's been a traumatic and, well, downright weird day. We have a lot of work to do, but I think you all need the rest of the day to settle in and recuperate, when you're ready I'll show you all your rooms, but take your time, we'll go at your pace”.
Most of them wanted to get showered and changed first, and then settle down and try and block out the day's events. Only Emma, Jarrah, Brandon, Danny and Mike decided to stay in the main hall and raid the beer fridge for a little longer. They each told their fantastical tales, leaving a few of the gory details out, leaving Emma and Jarrah amazed and repulsed in equal measure. It certainly sounded like they had got off lightly with their journey, Emma deciding that Jarrah's crotch wasn't so bad after all. Only Monique didn't venture out of her room later on, she couldn't seem to face the others. She didn't want to try and smile when she had just been through what she had. Mike was concerned about her absence and excused himself to find her and check if she was okay. He found her room, it was easy to locate as they each had their names plastered on the front, as if they were patients in an asylum, and when Mike thought about it, it almost felt like they were. He knocked quietly and whispered her name gently through the door. A few seconds later she opened it and managed to raise a smile, but only briefly. Mike entered and sat down smiling back.
“Are you okay?” He asked, knowing she wasn't, “You should eat something”
She shook her head, food seemed unimportant at the moment, it would give her some kind of satisfaction and she couldn't bring herself to do that.
“Emma told me what happened” He said putting his arm around her, “I can't imagine how it feels you know, but you need to try and let it go. All this madness that has been going on, it's affected everyone, he was no longer able to be himself.”
A small tear ran down Monique's cheek.
“I have to be cruel to be kind Monique, he was practically dead long before that. The second the Elite took away his individuality he was gone, and you know that if what happened didn't actually happen, then I wouldn't be able to talk to you right now”
“I know” she replied laying her head on his chest, a few more tears dampening his shirt.
“We'll get them back for this, for him, for everyone” Mike whispered.
The Morning After
It was the morning after the night before. They had all had many of these, but this one felt very different. The whole of humanity was being wrenched away from what made them human, well most of them anyway, the others were indulging in the greed that was an unwarranted side effect of human evolution. They felt a tremendous burden weighing down on them, that and the hangovers that were constantly slapping at the inside of their skulls. Sheryl strode in the main hall, looking surprisingly buoyant considering the amount of gin she had soaked up.
“Hi everyone” She said, “Did you all rest okay?”
There was a sea of murmurs, that sounded like a field of confused cows. Not all of them had slept well, some found the day before was still being flicked back into their brains in a series of freeze frames, while others could hardly remember going to bed.
“Well I'll get started” She said, “Most of you have no idea about what it is we're trying to do, with the exception of Mateo, Gina and Jarrah”.
There was now silence from them as they tried to keep their hangovers at bay, listening carefully to every word Sheryl said.
“We are at a cross-roads in humanity, and only people like us can make a difference. I have used all my resources possible to bring you together, every last cent I had has been poured into this. It is a legacy I want our children to thank us for, a better future for all, but it's going to be difficult. You aren't the only team, you are just my team. There are many of us dotted around, hidden underground in different places across the world. We're all in covert communication, all with the same goal, to hit back at the Elite” She informed them, before taking a sip of her morning tea, “Each of you has a specific skill or some specific knowledge and that's why you're all so important”.
David lifted his arm to ask to speak, like he had been transported back to high school. Sheryl paused and looked at him to allow him to speak, hoping he didn't just want the bathroom.
“What about” He paused a second, “What about Niel, Sofia and Ben? Their skills are no longer with us, will that hold us back”.
Sheryl shook her head.
“No, hopefully not. As you know, Sofia was a software programmer. We also have Mateo who can fill that void, one of his many IT talents” She said smiling at him.
Mateo didn't know what to say, so just smiled discreetly and did a strange thumbs up motion.
“Ben was an expert in the new field of Nano-technology. His skills in that area are obviously lacking, but we were able to get hold of his research thanks to Danny”
“Those things were brutal, I don't want to see any of those little shits again” Brandon butted in.
Sheryl cleared her throat and
took another sip of tea.
“They have many uses. Obviously as you have seen, they can be abused, as well as used responsibly. The prototypes the Elite commandeered are quite basic models, they haven't yet finalised the designs to make them almost indestructible. Ben had devised far superior Nano-bots, but it won't be long before the elite increase their technology and do the same” Sheryl glanced around the room at everyone, their eyes all focused on her every word, “Niel was a hidden treasure, also a programmer, but he had figured things out that others hadn't yet. Thankfully his copious notes were retrieved, so we should still be able to tap into his expertise”
The silence blanketed the room again apart from the odd pained cough that didn't do everyone's headaches much good.
“So the plan is for each team, that's positioned in a different location, to build and launch a space-craft that's purpose is to take out one of the Elite's satellites. That's where your machine comes in” She said looking at Emma and Jarrah, “We need to make sure we use it to crash into a specific satellite”.
They were all startled about this revelation, it wasn't quite what they were expecting.
“From what I understand, your craft, once launched, relies on solar power, so we will need to harness as much of it as possible to make sure we reach the target. Danny, do you think you'll be able to calculate the margins of error and the best angles for maximum sun exposure? Obviously, you'll need all the data from Dave and Emma, but do you think you can find the best possible trajectories?”
“Err, yeah sure” He replied.
“Sheryl?” asked Mariam, “I'm not sure what my skills have to do with this?”
“Me neither” Brandon said.
“Well, you guys make more sense than me” Mike butted in, “What do you need me to do? Go looking for firewood?”
Sheryl waited for their questions to end, obviously appreciating that the plan she had detailed hadn't explained why they were all there.
“Well that takes me to the second plan, a backup plan if the first one is derailed at any point” She said smiling slyly.
Somewhere
The images and memories seemed to float away just as suddenly as they had flooded his mind and Danny found himself back in the lightly illuminated room, the soft furnishings still lying around him. He was momentarily disjointed, forgetting where he had previously been. The images he had just witnessed were so real, and now he was back, sat in this same room, with no recollection of how he had got there. The 'future' memories were still preying on his sense of logic, where they the future? Or were they from the past?
He now had two completely conflicting realities, one where they were stalked by creatures that ate his dimension apart like a reality-gulping Pacman and another, a world of human-devised torture and enslavement. He didn't know which one was real, maybe both were, maybe both weren't. His breathlessness from before had subsided though, and he appeared calmer. Something in his memories was familiar, maybe that had given him some subconscious comfort. He tried to move again waiting to be restrained once more but found he was able to get up from the couch he had been sitting back on.
“You've unrestrained me” Danny said, still assuming that Auton was somewhere around him.
“Welcome back Danny” he said, “I saw your emotions were calming down and your breathing back to normal. Have you been able to remember everything?”
Danny thought carefully about what he had just been shown, and even though he was confused as to how it all related and whether one was fantasy, he had an insatiable desire to understand how he was able to remember in a quick flash like that.
“How did you do that?” He asked.
“Do what?” Auton asked back.
“Make me remember with hardly any conscious effort on my part?”
“I fed you back your memories, little by little, so as not to overload you. You just needed to be in a calm receptive state to receive them properly” Auton replied.
Danny continued to look around him confused, things still weren't gelling properly in his mind. What did Auton mean that he fed his memories to him? Something like that can't be possible, at least not from any experience he had known. His pulse was starting to increase again, something didn't feel right to him. This was all starting to turn into a muddled mess in his brain again. He remembered two realities that didn't appear to sit with each other properly. Had he been in a normal world that was turned into monster food? Or had he been in a world of greedy businessmen and women using the human race as their play things? Neither sounded a place he wanted to return to. The thoughts still raced around his mind, the more he tried to sync the two set of memories up, the less they seemed to make sense. The 'feeding of memories' was the element that made Danny paranoid, he had never heard of anything like that, but that could be just the kind of technology the Elite had discovered. Was he imprisoned by the Elite? Were they trying to find answers from him by confusing his mind and injecting false memories and realities? Was their intention to break his psyche down so he would reveal where all the rebels were hidden? But he didn't know that information, at least not that he could remember.
So, there it was again, it all came back to memories. He was tying his mind up in a circle with rotating thoughts, back round and round. It must have been their intention, to drive him mad, make him doubt everything, make him susceptible to their whims, control him like they had the others. His final loop of thoughts gave him the realisation that he could be just another one of their play things, only the Elite would do this twisted and sick game with someone. He had to get out of there, out of this prison. Although his heart was now pumping quicker and quicker, he tried to calm it down, take subtle deep breaths. He didn't want to show this Auton any sign that he was going to try and escape, he didn't want to be subdued again. He slowly paced the room, not making it look like he was going to head for the door straight away.
“What are you doing Danny?”Auton asked.
“I'm thinking” He replied abruptly, “There's a few bits I still need to piece together, give me a few minutes”.
Danny was concerned he had snapped that out too quickly and potentially given his plan away. It was a simple plan as it was and it didn't take much to telegraph what he was going to do. He just had to have the element of surprise and stay looking relaxed. He paced round the room slowly, making sure he passed the door a number of times without trying to leave. One more lap and then he would make his escape, or at least try. The door was probably locked, but he had enough simmering contempt and hatred towards the Elite that he was confident he could bash it down in anger, if he had enough time before Auton saw what he was up to. Maybe he should ask him a question, engage his mind for those crucial few seconds, just distract him so he wouldn't notice he was halfway out of the door until it was too late.
“Auton?”
“Yes Danny?”
“Why do I remember all my friends disappearing when they didn't?” He said as he quickly turned towards the door.
It was a really bad question, but his mind went blank and he couldn't think of anything else to say. He grabbed hold of the door handle frantically and tried to push it. To his astonishment the handle melted away.
“What the...” He shouted before lunging at it with all his might.
His body seemed to go through the door, but something didn't seem right, he felt no resistance. He glanced around him to find the room had disappeared. It wasn't even behind him where he thought it should have been. He suddenly realised that his feet weren't touching any floor, there was no floor, the same way there were now no walls and no ceiling.
“I thought you were calm Danny” Auton said sounding disappointed.
“What the fuck is going on?” Danny cried still looking round him, each point looking indistinguishably the same as the next, “Where am I?”
“You haven't remembered everything Danny” Auton replied.
Danny's view suddenly juddered, and spun around him, his mind seeing hypnotic ripples everywh
ere, he gasped for air and then his memories once again took over. There was one last thing Danny heard before he found himself replaying memories again.
“You must remember everything”.
The Compound
“The plan to attack all their satellites as a joined effort is a brave one, but there is so much that can go wrong” Sheryl said, taking turns to catch eyes with each one of them, “I don't like leaving anything to chance. As the events yesterday show us, things don't always go the way you want them to, so I felt it crucial to have a second plan”.
She looked over to Monique smiling, and Monique wasn't quite sure why.
“Monique, do the others know about your work?” She asked her.
“No” Monique replied wide-eyed, “It was top secret, I was bound by contracts, I've never mentioned a thing. How did you know?”
“Because it reached out to me” Sheryl said, “I don't know how it figured out I could help, but that's what initiated my second plan, it was more their idea”.
Monique sat there stunned, everyone else confused as to what could reach out, and why it was being called an 'it', they had seen enough 'it's' the last few days to last them a lifetime.
“Monique was involved in a project to create the world's first full artificial intelligence” Sheryl announced to an audible gasp of surprises, “This intelligence reached out to me and suggested this second option”
The room was still silent, at least on the outside. On the inside, in their brains, there were many hamsters running on many wheels, making many unusual images pop into existence. Mateo imagined an AI to be a something between a cyborg and a desktop computer. Emma thought it would look like a golden ball with eyes and multiple spinning legs. Samir thought it would look like a metallic skeleton, and Danny thought it might look like Sheryl. Maybe it was Sheryl, the hamster told him.
“The intelligence you created Monique is highly intellectual, it figured out it had the ability to disable all the Elite's signals as well shut off the internet and all electronic devices across the planet. This would essentially bring back a level playing field, the Elites power would be gone. There would probably be a reset of humanity. Many skills could be lost, as we're not sure what the result of turning off the web in the brains would have. People have been wired up almost completely, we're not sure they will be who they once were once it has gone. People would most likely struggle to survive at first, and we would be there to help build humanity back again. Each one of you has the tools to help do this, from knowing and teaching how to survive, being able to diagnose and treat illnesses and get humanity back on track safely and showing them how to use technology in a way that benefits all, not destroy”.
