Dawn Of Affinity

by V. J. Deanes

  “Really?” Hugo marveled.

  “Yes. That ball has enabled your brain to function again. Its power to exchange information with your brain will only increase over time. I started sending you signals from the Internet a few moments ago. Can you tell?”

  Hugo felt his memory begin to return to what he thought was normal. “I think so. Is that because of the ball?”

  “Yes,” Nisha replied.

  “What if I lose the ball?” Hugo asked with concern.

  “We’ll simply get you a replacement,” Nisha answered. “I need you to keep what you know about the ball a secret.”

  “Why is that?” Hugo asked.

  “It is new technology. Some people are nervous about new things, especially when they are as powerful as that ball. What if someone used it to control you, to make you do bad things?”

  “That scares me,” Hugo said nervously,.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to point out why we must be discreet about what you are learning today.”

  “I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Good,” Nisha replied. “Where were we? The data you are receiving relates to your case. What were you doing just before the accident?”

  Hugo spoke very slowly and deliberately as the thoughts and images unfolded in his mind. “I was walking down the street. I saw the sign for the cafe. A man suddenly ran out of the door. He collided with me and I fell down. The mask he wore became dislodged, just for a brief moment. After a few seconds I stood up, took a step. My memory is blank after that.”

  “Can you hold an image of the man’s face in your mind for a few moments?” Nisha asked.

  “I will try,” Hugo obliged.

  Nisha nodded to her assistant, who then instructed the computer. A picture of the man who bombed the cafe appeared on the screen. “It’s not much to go on, but it’s the best that I can get,” the assistant said to Nisha

  “Hugo, are you tired?” Nisha asked. “We have one last exercise on our list for you today.”

  “It depends. What is it?”

  “Calibration therapy. We will provide your brain with instructions for something it has never done before and we will monitor you and make adjustments as your nervous system carries out the instructions.”

  “What am I to do?” he asked.

  “Take a seat at the digital piano on the other side of the room.”

  “I have never played a piano in my life.”

  “That’s the point,” Nisha replied.

  Hugo closed his eyes and grimaced at first. His fingers stretched to reach the keyboard. His clumsy plodded through the first few bars. It gradually became easier for him, as the smile on his face indicated. He stopped. “I don’t know that tune,” he remarked.

  “That will be enough for today,” Nisha remarked. “Hugo, without the affinity ball you will revert back into the comatose state that we revived you from. My assistant will take you to a special apartment that we have prepared for you in one of the faculty residences. She will explain the plans for the rest of your rehabilitation with us.”

  Nisha went to her office after leaving the rehabilitation center. Calibrating Hugo’s brain provided her with a new understanding of how much information a human brain could receive and share with computers. She was on the threshold of a breakthrough.

  Nisha reviewed the electronic traces from Hugo’s affinity organ meticulously. Switching efficiency was higher than her calculations predicted. When the DNA nano-machines in the affinity organ relaxed they unfolded and contacted the surface of the affinity ball. When the nano-machines folded, the connections to the affinity ball were broken. Digital switching of wireless signals by DNA at the speed required to process thoughts in a human brain was confirmed.

  Her demeanor appeared calm, but her nerves were tense in anticipation of Duncan’s arrival. Duncan was still ruffled from his encounter with Sahil. His expression suggested that an inquisition was imminent

  “Why did you let him go?” Duncan asked pointedly.

  “Why did I let who go?” she replied.

  “Don’t play games,” Duncan said. “Kalan Mars. What happened at the safe house?”

  “I didn’t let him go,” Nisha answered. “He escaped.”

  “Escaped?” Duncan asked. “We agreed that you would hold him there into the evening, so that we could move him under the cover of darkness.”

  “So why didn’t they show up?”

  “You tell me,” said Duncan.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

  “The Guardian said he would send four men.”

  “He only sent one,” Nisha scoffed.

  “Who was it?”

  “They never tell you their names. The hot one with the big muscles, covered in tattoos. He came late. Kalan was gone.”

  Duncan looked agitated.

  “Kalan was well armed. He packed a Silent Destroyer. I did the best I could to keep him at the safe house. The Guardian’s muscle man showed up just after Kalan disappeared. After the storm hit, three more men showed up.”

  “Who were they?”

  “How should I know?,” Nisha asked rhetorically. “I’m lucky that Kalan was gone by then. If he had been there we would have had a fight on our hands. The only reason I’m alive is because they needed to me to help them find Kalan.”

  “Why should I believe that?” Duncan asked. “What if the real story is that Kalan was going to be handed over to SEAP from the moment you got him into that car? When those who came for him didn’t find Kalan at the safe house, the deal fell through and the fighting started.”

  Nisha cursed. “That’s ridiculous.”

  Duncan backed down. “I’m not saying that you were responsible. I’m saying that you may have been used.”

  “Was that your plan?” Nisha asked in return.

  Duncan glared at her.

  “So you needed to show someone else that you were willing to put me in harm’s way. Is that what you are saying? Who do you owe?”

  Duncan grew infuriated. “I need to know who is loyal and who is trying to push me out...”

  “I put myself in considerable danger for the group,” Nisha interrupted. “Now you are insinuating that I am disloyal. How do I know that I wasn’t set up? I got Kalan out of the city. I took precautions to make sure that we weren’t followed. Why did you rely on the Guardian at Hadley’s Crossing for protection? Why didn’t you send some of our people?” Nisha was angry.

  Duncan pondered his response. “This institution must survive as the people who serve it come and go. It must create the environment for those who are driven to explore human enhancement, while working in secret. I make the decisions necessary to preserve that,” he remarked.

  “You have lost your edge,” Nisha interrupted. “You are the one who has put the group at risk. Not because of what you choose to do. Because of what you choose not to do. Or don’t have the balls to do.”

  A look of shock appeared on Duncan’s face.

  “Affinity technology has tremendous value,” Nisha stated. “A human organ that connects a brain to the Internet will command considerable power and money. Clones are a mere stepping stone in that journey. The collective body of work that the group is exploring has become too big for one person to manage. You are starting to screw up.”

  “I resent that accusation,” Duncan replied.

  “We both resent some of the accusations today,” Nisha replied.

  Duncan looked away, towards one of the large information screens in Nisha’s office. “Lost my edge,” he repeated slowly.

  “Perhaps you have been compromised.”

  “By what?”

  “Greed and power,” Nisha replied. “Can any of us trust you in your current state of mind?”

  Duncan glared at her, then left.

  Nisha settled back into her work. She pulled up the image. Paula Slate, Nisha’s assistant, returned from escorting Hugo to his apartment. “Perfect timing,” she said. “This was created
from the information we extracted from Hugo’s mind early this morning.

  Paula looked at the image closely. “This is the man who evaded capture for bombing a cafe in Haven City Number Two?”

  “Let’s call it in.”

  “Can’t do that,” Nisha said. “Whoever you call it in to will ask where it came from. We can’t reveal that.”

  “So let’s call it in anonymously,” Paula suggested.

  “Too risky,” Nisha replied. “The trail will come back to us.”

  Her assistant held her head in her hands.

  “Are you alright?” Nisha asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure,” Paula replied. She took a moment to breathe deeply and collect her thoughts. “We have created the means for the contents of a human mind to be hacked,” she said.

  “You must not think of it that way,” Nisha said reassuringly. She placed her arm on her assistant’s shoulder for encouragement. “Take a look at the traces that we measured from Hugo...”

  Paula stepped away. “You don’t get it,” she said.

  Nisha had never seen Paula act like this before.

  “I’m sorry,” Paula said. “We are not just enhancing humans. We are making it possible to invade and alter the individuality and memory of every person. This is bigger than any of us can understand. It can’t be right.” She fled from Nisha’s office distraught by what she had helped to create, frightened by what would happen if it was not stopped.

  Chapter 12

  “It’s the waiting that gets to me,” said the first spotter. He lit another cigarette.

  “You need to get into the right frame of mind,” Devon replied calmly. “Be patient.”

  “We’re wasting our time here. If that Inspector was for real he would have called by now. I think it’s a set up.”

  “I told him that we weren’t going to wait forever. He’s got another couple of days. Give him credit for the digs,” Devon remarked gesturing to the surroundings in their luxury apartment.

  “We need to find Kalan,” the first spotter said. “So that we can get out of here and get back to making money.”

  “I’m all for that,” the second spotter added. “We’re like sitting ducks cooped up in here. I don’t like it.”

  “The Inspector seems convinced that Birchstone is still under threat. Something about more targets here being valuable. Says that’s why he is footing the bill for us to stick around.”

  “Bet he hasn’t said what those targets are. How can we prepare if we don’t know...”

  Devon checked the call display before answering the Inspector’s call. “Twenty minutes. Where?”

  XXXX

  Devon watched the bird of prey swoop closely past his shoulder. A single unsuspecting crow had flown deep into the falcon’s territory. The falcon flew in behind the intruder, determined to track its frantic darting and swerving.

  “It’s like the work that we do,” the Inspector remarked as he stood beside Devon on the path in River Park. Birchstone sprawled peacefully in the valley below. “The trick is knowing when to pounce.”

  No maneuver in the crow’s repertoire could save it. Once the falcon’s sharp talons gripped the crow firmly, it launched into a dive. It released the crow just above the rocky outcropping near the path. The crow tumbled helplessly along the hard surface, coming to rest in a lifeless heap. The falcon swerved, then landed beside it. A tom cat poked out of a nearby shrub to see if the fallen bird would be an easy meal. The falcon had a challenger.

  The cat crept out of the shrub, hunched down, ready to stalk the crow. The falcon chose to avoid a confrontation with the cat and flew away. The cat raced towards the crow at full speed.

  The injured bird mustered the will to hobble before lifting off the ground. The crow’s wings faltered, and could not give enough altitude. The cat took a swipe with one of its paws. It clipped the crow’s tail feathers, knocking the bird back to earth. The beleaguered bird struggled to get up. The cat pounced, clamping its teeth down hard on the helpless crow’s neck. The bird struggled less and less as the cat hauled it away into the solitude of the shrub.

  Devon pondered what the Inspector had said. “Your work is like that of the cat. But you don’t know how to disrupt an invader and prepare it to be finished off. That is because you have not adapted your methods to understand how and where people who detest Red Zones will strike. My work is like that of the falcon. Which one would you rather be?” Devon asked. “The falcon or the cat?”

  “I have a tip about another attack,” the Inspector remarked.

  “What’s the target?”

  “Best not to speak about it openly,” the Inspector said, ignoring Devon’s question.

  “Your people should be able to handle it now. You don’t need us.” said Devon.

  “We shouldn’t have needed you a few days ago. Turns out that the force had enough information, but no one acted.”

  “That surprises you?” Devon asked.

  “The force has been infiltrated,” the Inspector muttered. “I’m sure of it.”

  “The longer we stay here, the more we risk having our cover blown,” Devon said.

  “I need to explore all of my options,” the Inspector replied. “Enlisting your group and paying you a bounty is one option.”

  “Preventative arrests. Autonomous drones. They’re better options.”

  “You’re not listening. I need the force to approve pre-arrests. I need to request autonomous drones from the force. If the force has been infiltrated, who am I going to trust?”

  “I get it,” Devon answered. “Our group is less hassle, maybe even expendable...”

  “Preventative arrests are on the way out, even in Red Zones like this one. Can’t get convictions anymore, not even from die-hard law and order judges. Autonomous drones work well in rural areas, but they leave too much collateral damage in urban areas, like Birchstone.”

  “I wonder what target could be so valuable?” Devon inquired.

  “There is some urgency,” the Inspector revealed.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Day after tomorrow. Is that yes or no?” the Inspector asked.

  “We’ll do it. For five times as much as last time.”

  “Five times...”

  “Sounds like we’re the only option you have. For immediate assistance,” Devon remarked. “I need some of it now.”

  “Just in this for the money,” the Inspector remarked shaking his head.

  “Quite the opposite,” Devon said confidently. “I know how to put a fair price on the task that you are signing us up for.”

  The Inspector selected the icon on his mobile phone. “How much to sign you up?” he asked.

  “Forty thousand,” Devon answered.

  The Inspector handed Devon his phone to key in the password and account information.

  “I wish you success on this assignment,” the Inspector remarked.

  “Where do we have to be and when?”

  The Inspector handed Devon a folded piece of paper. “This has all the information that you need.”

  Devon opened the note briefly then slipped it into a pocket. “Paper? Is this all you’ve got?”

  “Aren’t you going to read it?”

  “I saw enough. I’ll read the details later.” Devon remarked. “Me and the lads are obliged to you for not blowing our cover. And for the place to stay.”

  “There is another matter that we need to discuss before you leave,” the inspector replied.

  Devon looked surprised. “What?”

  “That man standing over by the fountain. He witnessed the shooting. He wants to speak to you.”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Devon gasped.

  “Keep it together,” the Inspector said calmly. “I’ve convinced him not to disclose what he saw. He’ll keep it that way so long as he gets to speak with you.”

  “What if I don’t want to meet him?”

  “Says that he has information that could save your life,”
the Inspector said before he walked away.

  Devon was curious and approached the man.

  “You were in the park during the shooting,” the man remarked. “I saw you.”

  “The Inspector didn’t tell me your name.”

  “You may call me Stone,” the man said.

  “The Inspector said that you are bound to keep what you know about the shooting quiet,” said Devon.

  “That’s right,” Stone replied. “I have nothing to gain by bringing attention to an event that the Inspector wants to remain covered up.”

  “Why should I believe that?” Devon asked bluntly.

  “You should not waste your energy thinking about me,” Stone replied calmly. “You have humiliated the Inspector.”

  “Is that what he told you?” Devon asked.

  “Police in this Red Zone enforce law and order any way they see fit. I don’t think they are thrilled about being outsmarted by a bunch of kids. My guess is that he’s looking for revenge, even though his Chief ordered him to work with you.”

  “What do you want with me? I don’t have much time.”

  “You were with a man who looks remarkably like a man I know.”

  “You used whatever connection you have with the Inspector just to tell me that,” Devon taunted.

  “You think that what I have come to tell you is not important?” Stone asked.

  “What do I need to know about this man?”

  “He hunts down human replicas,” Stone replied.

  “Or shoots at people that he thinks are human replicas,” Devon countered.

  “Exuberance is a weakness that he has yet to grow out of,” Stone conceded. “May I suggest that your weakness is that you take the uniqueness of your persona for granted.”

  “I have other things that I need to do.” Devon started to walk away.

  “What makes you so sure of your identity?” Stone asked as he grasped Devon’s arm.

  Devon grabbed Stone’s throat. “Hands off,” he said quietly. He glanced back up the hill at the spotters, then shook his head slightly. “You don’t want to find out if someone in the trees behind us is prepared to dust you, do you?”