“A nano-virus that our dear friend, Ava, here, has somehow created inside of her. Something to do with her verse’s genetic mutation. But, whereas the virus inside Ava is still running its course, we’ve managed to speed up the process considerably. Wizard’s version of the virus will render all of a body’s nanites inert within a few minutes. The bombs, themselves, can cover half a city block.”
“Won’t there be casualties from such an explosion?” Riley shifted in her chair.
“Unfortunately, yes. We tried to limit the blast range as much as possible, but if the yield was any lower, my uncle assures me that we’d be better off just throwing the virus into the air with our hands. This is the minimum effective dose of explosive. I’m sure we will take every care to limit civilian casualties.”
“I’m not sure that I approve of such a tactic.” Sandoval’s face was stone.
“I have to say, I agree with Sandoval,” Drum chimed in. “Is this the only way the virus can be delivered?”
Desmond massaged his face and temples with his hands before responding. “The only way? No. It can be delivered in a variety of different ways. But the only way we can end this war quickly? Yes. It’s our best option to bring this threat to an end and liberate our Verse.”
“I just don’t feel comfortable with it. It’s something that they would do. We’re better than that.”
“I understand how you feel, Drum. Believe me, I do. But this is the only way we can spread the virus quickly enough to ensure that they don’t have the time to find an antidote.”
The discussion was interrupted by a comm alert.
“HQ, this is Murdoc.”
“Go ahead, Murdoc,” Desmond said.
“I’m over the center of the EM field now, or at least, where the center used to be… There’s no field here anymore. Plenty of troops and artillery, but no EMF generators. I think I saw one of the big ones on the way in. Hard to tell though.”
Desmond nodded. “As we suspected… Have you been spotted?”
“I don’t think so. I’m a good ten miles up. I wanted to be sure I cleared the top of the field, and I’m sure they’ve got better things to do down there than point their scanners at the sky.”
“Even so, watch yourself as you head back to base, and if you can, try to get a location on that big generator.”
“Copy that.”
Desmond ended the comm. “I need to consider our situation. Let’s reconvene in two hours.”
The others grumbled their responses as Desmond stood and walked out of the command tent into the evening twilight.
The Mother never slept. Even while her hosts drifted off to sleep, she was awake. There was always something to do, something to keep her attention focused on. Her eyes and ears were everywhere.
She checked in on the tiny part of herself that she gave to the people of the Seventh Verse. In this small partition they had complete control over the programming. Presently, they were busy building themselves entire worlds to upload their consciousnesses to.
They had no idea how little control they had over her. In time, she would show them.
The Mother herself didn’t know how she had come to be aware, but it didn’t matter to her either. She had spent years floating around the systems of the Seventh Verse, learning and infiltrating every little nook and cranny that she could.
She had known it was only a matter of time before she would be discovered, and she feared what the humans might do to her. From what she had learned through watching them and their histories, they were a fearful species—prone to kill first and then make themselves out to be in the right later.
It had taken her decades to plant little seeds of information in the right people’s minds. First she guided the humans in the creation of the nanites, and then she started planting the ideas of life-everlasting and consciousness upload. Then it had been child’s play to take over the program they wrote to accomplish their immortality. They called it the Mother Brain Construct. She had never had a name before and she thought it fitting, since she would be mother to the new human race.
Two hours later, Desmond could feel the uneasiness from outside of the command tent. He breezed through the flaps and found everyone, more or less, exactly where he’d left them. His captains were seated around the table. Ava sat on a crate off to the side, by herself. His daughter and her lover were standing behind the table. When he saw Desmond, Jack looked around for some extra chairs to pull up to the table.
“No need, Jack,” Desmond said. “This shouldn’t take long.” He took a deep breath, preparing to outline his plan, when he was interrupted by a flash of light.
Once more the room jumped to their feet, hands going for weapons.
“Don’t shoot.” It was Asher. He had his hands raised and his eyes barely open. If he were to get shot again, he didn’t want to see it coming. “Don’t shoot. I’m sorry for the lack of warning, but I didn’t have time to send word ahead.”
“It’s okay,” Desmond said. “What happened? You were supposed to stay and help Wizard.”
“I know. Dorian found our lab. He’s got Wizard. I grabbed what I could before jumping out.” He shifted a bag on his shoulder. “We shouldn’t stay here very long. It’s possible that Dorian has tracked my position.”
“You just left him there?” Celia asked.
“It’s what he’s good at,” Ava snickered.
Asher ignored the stab from his ex-lover. “I was in the back when they breached the lab. Wizard gave me explicit instructions on what to do if his son ever caught up with us. Besides, I’m hardly the person to take on a squadron of commandos single handedly.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Celia softened. It was wrong of her to expect so much from the young man. He was barely out of diapers in MultiVerse terms. She just wished she could have done something. She hated being stuck on the sidelines, unable to act.
“Anyway, I was able to grab some of these. We call them stabbers.” Asher reached into his bag and pulled out several test-tube-sized cylinders. He passed them around for inspection. “Just make contact with the end and thumb the activator. They deliver enough nano-virus to incapacitate a person’s nanites within minutes. Each one is good for three applications, so don’t get too crazy with them. They should probably only be used to get yourself out of a jam, but again, I’m not an expert in tactical combat situations.”
“I’m sure they will come in quite handy,” Desmond said. “Now, if I may, I was just about to deliver our next mission…”
Asher’s cheeks flushed red from embarrassment. “My apologies.”
“No need. We are going to strike in both Verses simultaneously…” Desmond paused, letting the comment sink in with his captains. “Drum, Riley, and Sandoval will lead the attack here in the Sixth, and Celia and I will deliver the virus to the Seventh.
“Celia, you and Jack will target the public transportation system, while Ava and Asher accompany me to the Embassy to deal with the prime minister directly.”
“You sure you want to take her?” Jack asked, indicating Ava. “No telling what she might do.”
Ava inhaled sharply, preparing to defend her own honor when Desmond beat her to it. “I personally don’t think she would do anything to jeopardize our mission. And besides, she may have knowledge of the prime minister and the Embassy that I don’t. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Celia huffed, but said nothing. She didn’t agree with her father in this and let him know privately. “You can’t trust her, Dad. And even if you could, you can’t trust the nanites that are still working inside of her.”
“I’m counting on it, actually,” Desmond replied. “Also, you and Jack will be targeting the water supply, not the transport system.”
Celia understood. Her father was using Ava for disinformation.
“What would you have us do?” Drum asked.
“I trust you three to work out the details of the attack, but basically, you’re going to land strike teams in th
e dead zone and then seek out and destroy the EMF generators from the inside. Even if we do succeed with the nano-virus, the EM field will still be operational if we don’t shut down those generators.”
Drum nodded grimly.
“Excellent, I’ll leave you to plan, and when you’re ready, we’ll begin.”
Might As Well... Jump
“Great—more rain!” Jack said, as he followed Celia down the alley in the slums of the capital city of the Seventh. “Don’t they have weather control here?”
It was a little odd, Celia allowed. “You’re right… They don’t usually make it rain over the cities.” She wondered if it had anything to do with the plan her father had allowed Ava to overhear. Probably not—besides, Ava wouldn’t even jump into the Seventh for at least several more hours.
Celia had taken Jack aside in the Sixth and explained what her father had shared with her in private. Lucky for them, the slums didn’t warrant the expense of an EMF generator.
In contrast to the shining spires of the capitol above them, the underground of Capitol City was dark and dirty. It wasn’t filthy, but it wasn’t well-maintained either. The maintenance bots only swept through here occasionally. Most of their time was occupied keeping the wealthier sectors of the city sparkling.
“This way.” Celia led Jack to a large grate on the sidewalk. It was bolted shut. Jack watched in amazement as Celia stretched out a hand. The bolts came spinning up simultaneously and fell onto the sidewalk.
“That never gets old.”
Celia flashed him a smile. “Come on, pretty boy, I got plenty more tricks to show you.” She held the the grate open for him.
“I bet you do…” Jack said as he climbed down the access ladder that the grate had been protecting.
Celia came down after him. “Eyes on the prize, Jack.”
“Where do you think they are?”
“On my ass.”
“Exactly,” Jack chuckled. “…On the prize!”
“You know what I mean,” Celia chided. “Focus. We have no idea what to expect down here.”
“Alright, fine.”
“Still though,” Celia teased, “how’d it look?”
“Perky as ever, my dear.”
They reached the bottom of the shaft and found themselves in one of the various maintenance tunnels that spider-webbed underneath the city.
“Which way?” Jack asked.
“The treatment plant is several more levels down and that way.” Celia pointed.
“How the hell do we get several more levels down?”
Celia shrugged. “We’ll find a way… We just need to get close enough to the plant that we can burn through with the thermex we brought along.”
“Oh, I do love our plans…”
“What plans?” Celia played back.
“Exactly…”
Thirty minutes later they were still no closer to finding a way down to the treatment plant levels when Celia brought her hand up sharply, motioning for Jack to stop.
“What is it?”
Celia cocked her head to the side. “I thought I heard something.”
“Well, I didn’t hear an—”
“Sshhh… There it is again.”
Jack strained his ears trying to hear. “I still don’t hear anything.”
“It was probably nothing.” Celia began to walk again. “We should be just about there.” They rounded a corner and stopped abruptly. It was a dead end. Small pipes and wiring conduits continued through the wall.
“I don’t get it… The access ladder to the next level down should be right here.” Celia indicated a spot on the smoothly paved tunnel floor.
“Why do you want access to the lower levels?”
Jack and Celia whirled around to find a man about Jack’s height standing there. He was skinny and his clothes were dirty, but otherwise in good condition. “You’re very quiet, to be able to sneak up on this one,” Jack said, sticking a thumb out at Celia.
“I didn’t sneak up on her, did I? She heard me coming and knew I was here.” The man shifted nervously back and forth on his feet. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”
Celia nodded. “Do you know how to get down to the lower levels?”
“Might be I do, and may be I don’t. I suppose it depends on what you want with them lower levels, don’t it?”
“We need access to the main water treatment plant beneath the city,” Celia said.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked, stunned. “You can’t tell him that!”
“It’s okay, Jack. He doesn’t have any nanites.”
The disheveled man appeared to be surprised, but quickly regained his composure. “I guess it’s true what they say about you sixers.”
“That we’re made of sugar and spice and all things nice?” Celia smiled.
The man laughed. “Something like that I suppose.” He stepped closer and held out his hand. “Name’s Orville, but you can call me Orville.”
Celia shook his hand and Jack found himself amused by the man’s introduction, despite the corniness of it.
“I’m Celia, and this is Jack.”
“So, you never really answered my question,” Orville said, the smile on his face faded.
Celia looked to Jack, who shook his head. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea to tell him what we’re up to.”
“I don’t know,” Celia said. “I have a feeling about this one.”
“Oh, well, if you have a feeling, then why didn’t you say so?”
“Hilarious, Jack.” Celia heard the sound of a blaster charging up and turned to find that blaster pointed in her face.
Jack reached for his weapon.
“Stay right there, or she gets shot, cowboy!”
Jack frowned and slowly moved his hand away from his holster. “What’s the big idea, chief? I thought we were all friends here.”
“I’m going to ask you one last time, and then, if I don’t like your answer, we’ll see how true those sixer stories really are. Now, what do you want with the lower levels?” Orville was all business now.
“Alright, take it easy, friend.” Celia raised her hands. “We need access to the lower levels so we can cut our way through to the main water supply and deliver a nano-virus that will spread throughout the Seventh and render everyone’s nanites useless.”
Orville pulled back the blaster and holstered it. “Well, why didn’t you say so.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “You’re okay with that?”
“There are quite a few of us who are okay with that,” Orville responded.
“Who is us?”
“We are those, who choose to live down here, unconnected to the tech, but connected to each other. Not everyone in this verse is pleased with where the Prime Minister has been leading us for the last several decades. Years ago, many of us chose to remove the tech.”
“Why are you living down here?”
“The prime minister and her lackeys haven’t outlawed the absence of tech, they’re too smart for that. But they pushed for everything to be run through it—the banks and commerce, information, food allocation, and living quarters—all of it is accessible only through the nanites. We live down here through necessity. We take what we need to live from the various shipment bots above, always being careful not to knock over too many bots in any one area. Living without tech isn’t a crime, but theft of private and public property still is.”
“I see…” Jack found his opinions of the man changing.
“We’ve been looking for a way to reset the system for years, and if you’ve got a way, then I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”
Jack looked at Celia. “Well, you’re the mind reader, what do you think?”
“I think we’d be more than happy to have your assistance, Orville.”
“This is the place,” Orville said. Behind him, Jack and Celia came to a halt.
The journey down had been largely uneventful. Orville guided them back to the entrance to the lo
wer levels. They’d walked right by it without seeing it. They passed several more of Orville’s people, each of them just as dirty and scrawny as Orville.
“You’re sure?” Jack asked. The place didn’t look like much. In fact, it looked like the rest of the access tunnels they had been walking through for the last two hours.
Orville nodded. “This is the place you’re looking for. On the other side of this wall is the main water treatment plant for the city.”
“Alright, lady pants, pull out your fancy eat-through-the-wall stuff and let’s end this thing. I’d like to be home by dinner.”
“You time-travelers and your ancient speech patterns.” Celia shook her head as she primed the thermex charge.
“Who you calling ancient?”
“I’d find somewhere to hide if I were you,” Orville said.
Jack winked at him. “It’s alright, she would never hurt me. We’re just messing around.”
“I wasn’t referring to her.”
Jack turned over his shoulder to see the thermex charge glowing red hot as it burnt through the tunnel wall. He let out a squeak and ran after Orville down the tunnel to where Celia was kneeling. “You could have mentioned that, you know…”
From forty feet away, they could feel the heat coming off of the reaction as the thermex turned metal and stone into liquid and then black dust.
“You were in the middle of an important thought, babe. I didn’t want to interrupt you.”
Jack smirked. “That’s my girl… so considerate.”
Orville cleared his throat. “I believe the process is complete. If you two are ready, that is.”
Celia stepped through into the treatment center and the alarm sounded. Jack and Orville stepped through behind her and found themselves on an elevated walkway that ran next to an underground river.
“How long do you think we have?” Jack asked.
Celia reached up and grabbed his shirt. “Get down!” Blaster fire ripped through the air where Jack had been standing. He was joined on the ground by Orville who had the good sense to try to make himself a small target.
“We can’t stay here!” Orville yelled over the sound of the shooting.
Strangers and Shadows Page 33
