After Life (Power Reads Book 2)

by Dean Crawford

  ‘Of which you’re guilty as charged,’ Alexei said to her. ‘Besides, we knew you would run to me eventually, although not like this. Re–Volution have been listening in, Arianna. You should never have called me Rebyohnuk when you sent me that transmission request. I knew then for sure that it was you.’

  ‘Alexei,’ she gasped, ‘is there nothing left of you?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Alexei replied, ‘nothing human that taints me any longer. You were right Arianna, we do change when we upload, but we change for the better. You human beings are like an illness, like The Falling. You take but give nothing back. You kill each other, live in squalor and cower before diseases and your false idols. Losing my humanity was the best thing that ever happened to me, and it will be for you once your holosap rids itself of your pitiful existence for once and for all.’

  Arianna’s heart sank as she stared at the image of a man she had once cared about more than life itself, a figure cruelly torn from her life to be replaced with a monster.

  ‘It would be a great shame, Arianna,’ Beck went on, ‘if your deception here were exposed, the lengths to which you will go to discredit Re–Volution’s mission revealed to the public. You know how they do hate terrorists.’

  Arianna made to move toward Beck, but it was as though her body was made of stone. Only her head could move. Beck grinned and made a show of tapping his little quantum box, his finger vanishing briefly inside.

  ‘Frustrating, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Holosaps are allowed limited freedom of movement, but at just a flick of a switch you’re as immobile as a light bulb, which in some ways is all you really are. A big, complex light bulb. It’s like a prison, isn’t it?’

  ‘What do you want?’ Arianna snapped.

  ‘From you?’ Beck asked. ‘Nothing, because you’re not important enough, Arianna. You’re a bit of an irritation to be honest, an itch that needs to be scratched. Fortunately for me, all I have to do is hit a switch on this box and you’ll cease to exist.’

  Beck’s finger hovered over a red button concealed beneath a clear plastic safety cover. Arianna’s eyes were drawn to it as though it were a gun pointed at her head.

  ‘I seem to recall,’ Beck went on, ‘that you never wanted to be uploaded? That you were against holosaps even existing. You claimed once that they represent an abomination?’

  ‘Why am I here?’ Arianna asked. ‘If I’m so damned unimportant why bring me here at all? Why not just erase me?’

  Beck lifted his hand away from the box and looked up at the ceiling as though searching for his words there.

  ‘Because you’re useful to us, Arianna,’ he replied.

  ‘What does he mean?’ she asked Alexei, and then looked back at Beck. ‘You murdered Alexei, just like you murdered my father twenty five years ago. What would you have wanted with me?’

  ‘Ah,’ Beck smiled, ‘Cecil Anderson. He tried to stop us, but he failed. As for Alexei Volkov, his support for the campaign for the right–to–die–again was damaging our credibility. It seemed the sensible thing to do when it became clear that Volkov was achieving such a following, to end his life and thus replace him with somebody entirely more amenable to our needs. Now Alexei understands, and will support us in parliament.’

  Arianna shook her head in disgust.

  ‘You killed a good man just so that you could get control of everything,’ she uttered. ‘You’re just another power–monger, another crazed little Hitler.’

  Kieran Beck chuckled and looked across at Alexei. ‘Such a charmer, isn’t she?’

  ‘Get rid of his face,’ Arianna demanded of Alexei. ‘You’re not Alexei.’

  ‘I like his face,’ Alexei replied. ‘The people like his face. It’ll help them so much to see him assure them that life as a holosap is so much better, that he regrets ever opposing it in the first place.’

  ‘What do you want?’ Arianna repeated to Beck.

  ‘Security,’ Beck replied finally. ‘Where is your father’s kill–switch, Arianna?’

  ‘The only man who knew that was Alexei Volkov and he is dead,’ she replied. ‘Serves you right.’

  ‘Not good enough,’ Beck snapped back. ‘Volkov died after enduring pain that no mortal man could endure and prevail. He did not know where the kill–switch was so there is only one other person who does. You.’

  Arianna shook her head. ‘My father went to great lengths to hide me. The last thing he would have done is tell me something as important as that.’

  ‘We will see, Arianna.’

  ‘So that’s it?’ Arianna said to Beck. ‘You torture me, or somebody else, until you get the kill–switch, then gain control over parliament and eradicate all humans and inherit the Earth?’

  ‘Oh no,’ Beck countered with an extravagant wave of his hand. ‘We have no intention of eradicating mankind, only upgrading it. Come, I have something to show you.’

  Beck tapped a light panel on his broad desk and Arianna experienced a rush of colours spiralling in a milieu about her. They resolved into a well lit room that she guessed was underground, deep beneath the Re–Volution building. Alexei and Beck were standing before her. To her right were ranks of quantum super computers, all humming as they churned unimaginable amounts of data through their circuits. To her left were several rows of glass spheres, each containing swirling balls of light that writhed and sparkled with remarkable beauty, like shimmering tropical fish.

  Arianna felt herself inexplicably drawn to the spheres, and realised that she could move freely again. As she moved closer she imagined her heart fluttered in her chest as she realised what she was looking at.

  ‘Oh my god, no,’ she gasped.

  ‘Yes,’ Beck replied. ‘Welcome, Arianna, to the future of humanity.’

  Coiled within the writhing tendrils of light inside the nearest sphere was a holographic foetus, as clear to Arianna as any X–ray image from the womb.

  ‘How?’ she demanded. ‘You’re not allowed to access the genetic records of people without their specific consent.’

  ‘We’re not accessing people’s genetic records,’ Beck explained. ‘We’re using those of people who have long ago passed away.’

  Arianna’s voice choked back into her throat in horror. ‘You’re what?’

  ‘We’re bringing back the dead,’ Beck said. ‘We have their genetic code, their brain scans, everything we need. This is the greatest gift we’ve ever been able to create for the human race and believe me they’ll pay handsomely for it. Who wouldn’t want to hug their long lost father or mother one more time, Arianna?’

  ‘You can’t do this,’ she whispered. ‘This is not natural. You’re playing god.’

  ‘Not playing,’ Beck countered her, ‘being. And we can, because we already have. I am sure that you would love to meet the latest addition to the Holo sapien race, ressurected this very morning?’

  Arianna stared at Beck as he extended his holographic arm to his right.

  From the ranks of super computers, a small, shy looking boy emerged.

  Arianna’s throat tightened and needle sharp points of pain pierced the corners of her eyes as she saw the boy’s floppy brown hair and wide brown eyes staring at her. Tears flooded her eyes and a sob escaped from her lips as she heard his voice call to her.

  ‘Mummy?’

  Arianna dropped to her knees on the light path and held her arms out toward him.

  ‘Connor.’

  The little boy ran into her embrace and threw his arms tight around her neck as she cried openly and loudly into his shoulder, squeezed his body against hers as though he was the only thing keeping her alive.

  ‘So you see,’ Kieran Beck said quietly, ‘we have everything that you need right here, Arianna. There is no need for you to run any more. Join us. You have seen the holosap colony have you not? An entire world, modelled as we would wish it to be. There is no pain there, no suffering, no loss, no hunger, no need to ever say “goodbye” again. This is the future of our species: a safer, brighter, happier life
with our loved ones all around us. Join us and let us protect the human race not just for the now, but for ever more.’

  Arianna clutched Connor to her as she looked up at Beck through eyes that still blurred when she cried, even though there were no real tears to shed.

  ‘It isn’t right,’ she shouted through the grief warring with joy in her mind and in her heart. ‘It isn’t right!’

  Beck sighed as though he were burdened with the worries of a lifetime. ‘Even if all you have said is true there is no reversing the march of human evolution, be it biological or digital. We holosaps are unassailable now. We control the key to eternal life. If anybody stands against us we can deny them that immortality. We possess something greater than the power over life and death now; we have the power to control a person’s existence. The sloughing off of human foibles, the cumbersome emotions and the ridiculous wants and needs is not a detriment but evolution. We never needed those things, never will again. We are all the purer in our new forms and no longer slaves to grief or love or hope.’

  Arianna released Connor and looked into his eyes. He smiled back at her, his nose scrunching up just like it always used to. She turned to Kieran Beck.

  ‘Those are the things that make us who we are.’

  ‘Who we were,’ Beck insisted. ‘They are a part of history, just like the rest of the human race.’

  ‘I don’t know where the kill–switch is.’

  Beck shrugged.

  ‘As I said, Arianna, we will see. For now, just tell me where the man known as Icon is, and what he and his band of terrorists intend to do. If you can manage that then I may withhold using Connor as a means to extract information from you.’

  Arianna felt raw terror surge through her heart.

  ‘They’re not terrorists,’ Arianna replied, her voice shaky as she held Connor beside her. ‘You’re the one who is lying and murdering. You’re the terrorist.’

  ‘They might as well be terrorists as far as human survival is concerned,’ Beck insisted. ‘If it’s not The Falling that gets you it’ll be something else, perhaps your own wars with each other. The time has come for humanity to move forward, to leave your medieval wars and your petty illnesses behind. Humanity is weak, Arianna. It always was. This is your chance to define your species’ future for all eternity. Tell us what we need to know and you’ll never miss your son again.’

  Arianna looked at Connor and then back at Kieran Beck as the impossible decision swamped her.

  ***

  43

  New Orleans

  Marcus watched as Kerry and Chad skirted the corpses of the soldiers lying dead on the terminal floor. The Wasps, their glistening bodies pulsing as though they were out of breath and their fearsome stingers leaking drops of pale creamy venom, sat on table tops or clung to the walls nearby.

  ‘That’s gross,’ Kerry said.

  White froth clouded the insides of the soldier’s face masks, their eyes wide and rigid with pain. Some of their limbs twitched sporadically as the lethal venom surged through their nervous system.

  ‘Full melee mode does that,’ Chad explained. ‘The poison is a mixture of the venom of fire ants, Black Widow spiders and Black Mamba snake. It hits pretty much everything at once.’

  Marcus shivered as he glanced at one of the Wasps. ‘They won’t hit us?’

  ‘Not as long as we’ve got this,’ Chad said and waved his little control box. ‘Shame the guys forgot I was carrying it for them when they posted me as the sentry.’

  ‘We need to move,’ Kerry said. ‘We need to get the word out about all of this and shut Dr Reed down too.’

  ‘Not yet,’ Chad warned. ‘I want my immunity.’

  ‘We can do it on the way,’ Kerry replied. ‘You guys must have a medic, right?’

  ‘We did,’ Chad replied, and inclined his head to indicate one of the bodies now lying dead on the floor.

  ‘We’ll figure something out,’ Kerry said.

  Chad picked up extra ammunition from his fallen comrades and stuffed them into his belt kit. Marcus was surprised when Chad hefted an M–16 from one of the dead soldiers and handed it to him.

  ‘I’m not a soldier,’ Marcus said, the weapon feeling cold and heavy in his hands.

  ‘You are now.’

  Chad turned and walked off toward the departure gates on the far side of the terminal. Marcus looked at Kerry, who shrugged and followed Chad. Marcus saw her lean down and snatch a 9mm pistol from one of the dead soldiers as she passed by. She hefted the weapon in her hand, clearly having never held a gun in her life before.

  ‘What about the Wasps?’ Marcus asked.

  ‘They stay here,’ Chad called back over his shoulder. ‘Once we’re clear I’ll set them to guardian status in case anybody tries to sneak up on us from behind.’

  Marcus nodded, hurrying to get away from the revolting machines. He glanced back to see the remaining functional sphere sitting lop–sided on its damaged legs, two black eyes staring at him as he walked and both machine guns still smouldering wispy tendrils of smoke.

  ‘We need to access the satellite dish and send a clear message,’ Kerry informed Chad.

  ‘The building is at the end of the east concourse,’ Chad said. ‘It’s guarded, obviously, but it’s also on lock–down.’

  ‘Reed?’ Marcus asked, and was rewarded with a nod.

  ‘So how do we get in?’ Kerry asked.

  ‘We knock,’ Chad replied, and one gloved hand tapped a square pouch on his belt kit. Marcus glanced at it and saw a pack of plastic explosive stuffed into the pouch.

  ‘Reed won’t go easily,’ Marcus pointed out, ‘he’s all for the cause.’

  ‘And he’ll have sent warning by now,’ Kerry realised. ‘Crap, he might even sabotage the dish.’

  Chad shook his head. ‘The dish was built by the engineering corps. There’s not much he could do that we could not repair in short order, except maybe scramble the computer codes or something. Only one way to find out.’

  They hurried down the long, silent concourse, the hot wind moaning through shattered windows and gusting bits of trash at their feet. They were half way along when Marcus glanced out to his left and almost tripped up.

  ‘Holy crap.’

  Kerry and Chad stopped and stood in the gaping maw of a shattered window that looked out across the terminals and aircraft parking areas to a distant hanger, probably where aircraft were stored or serviced long ago. The hangar doors were wide open and four big CH–47 heavy lift helicopters were parked outside, their long rotors drooping beneath their own weight.

  Inside the hangar, in long ranks of silver that glinted in the sunlight, stood thousands of metallic spheres and behind them hundreds of automated drones.

  ‘You think they’re planning to use all those spheres just to do farming, Chad?’

  The soldier hefted his rifle against his chest. ‘I’m not paid to ask questions.’

  Kerry shook her head. ‘You’re not paid to be ignorant either, are you? Didn’t it cross your mind as a bit odd when your soldiers sent a bunch of infected convicts into our compound to kill us?’

  ‘We were told that you were traitors,’ Chad replied. ‘That you had to be stopped. Those were our orders.’

  ‘You’re like those machines,’ Kerry said, ‘unthinking.’

  Chad shot her a dirty look, then turned away and stalked off down the concourse.

  ‘It’s an army,’ Marcus whispered as he looked at the distant hangar. ‘How many other armies do you think they’ve built?’

  ‘I don’t want to know,’ Kerry replied. ‘Come on.’

  Ahead, the concourse ended in a set of double doors that led into what had once been a departure lounge. The satellite dish was built on top of the lounge, its control room occupying the lounge itself.

  Marcus felt a pulse of excitement. Here, finally, was a way to get the word out about what had happened, to reveal to millions of people that they had been lied to for decades. The knowledge that he and Kerry
would be behind this momentous achievement filled his chest with pride, and for a few moments his fever seemed to break.

  ‘Movement.’

  Chad’s word was simple and precise. He slowed, Marcus and Kerry slowing with him. The double doors ahead had two windows at about head height, and in them appeared two masked soldiers, both looking out down the concourse.

  ‘This is where it might get a bit tricky,’ Chad said.

  Moments later, it got even trickier. A voice called out to them from behind.

  ‘Marcus, Kerry.’

  They whirled to see Dr Reed behind them, his holosap shimmering and flickering slightly.

  ‘Reed,’ Kerry hissed. ‘It’s over.’

  Reed chuckled, his hands in his pockets as he looked at her. ‘Yes it is. There’s no way that you’re getting into the control room, and my men saw everything that happened in the terminal entrance. Chad, frankly I’m surprised that you were turned so easily.’

  Chad said nothing, simply watching the holosap as he cradled his rifle in his grasp.

  ‘You can’t hide this forever, Reed,’ Marcus pointed out, ‘sooner or later people are going to realise that you and the people you work for are lying.’

  ‘Too late, I suspect,’ Reed replied. ‘There are discussions and votes being cast right now in political halls across the world, passing bills ensuring that political and military control pass to the holosap community, to safeguard the future of humanity. No matter what you do here, I’m afraid the outcome is already assured.’

  Marcus looked at Dr Reed for a moment. Something seemed off about him but he could not be certain of what.

  ‘You’re not safeguarding, you’re planning genocide,’ Kerry scowled.

  ‘Genocide is a harsh word,’ Reed scorned her. ‘A tactical retreat from mankind’s archaic existence would be a more reasonable description.’

  ‘From your point of view,’ Kerry almost laughed, ‘and what about these soldiers who are running around and dying for you? I take it you’ve lied to them about their futures, that they’ll be automatically assured uploads when they die? Like hell they will.’