Interface: A Techno Thriller

by Tony Batton

  "Did you think," he said, "I'd have come into this room alone if I couldn't handle you?"

  Kate grunted but, though she struggled, she could not get out of his grip. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

  "Unfortunately you learned to fight in a classroom."

  "Maybe if I were speaking to Bern, instead of his trained monkey, you'd have found me more persuadable. You're just going to kill Tom and me. So it might as well just be me."

  Marron shook his head. "I need Tom alive. And I need you to get to him."

  "I've no way of contacting him."

  "I don't believe you."

  "Believe what you wish."

  He held up the syringe "I'll believe what you say once this has worked its magic." He called to the guards to come in.

  They took her arms, holding her down.

  "Now hold still; this will hurt a little." He paused. "Then it's going to hurt a lot."

  SEVENTY-FIVE

  LENTZ WALKED OVER TO THE pile of items they had unloaded from the van and selected a large reinforced case, similar to the type used for transporting musical instruments. She popped the catches and flipped it open. Inside was a round metal hoop, a hand-span across. She gently separated the sides into two semi-circles and held it out to Tom. "Place this around your neck, and click it together."

  "You want me to wear a collar?"

  Lentz tilted her head. "Would you prefer a helmet?"

  Tom coughed and took the metal pieces from her. They were smooth, a colour like burnished copper, and cool to the touch.

  "Careful with it. I only have one other and it doesn't work at the moment."

  "I'll be careful." He clicked the two halves together around his neck.

  She checked the positioning. "So far, what abilities have you noticed?" she said.

  "Flashes of enhanced memory. I played a game shooting a basketball and was able to replicate the shot several times, but I'm not sure if I could have kept going. It feels... inconsistent."

  "The capacity of the chip alone is extremely limited and the data is stored very inefficiently, so you probably had 'data overflow'. If it is used more intensively, you risk the overheating problem that plagued the original experiment. But with this collar we move most of the processing outside the chip. Were you able to do anything else?"

  "A couple of times I seemed to be able to glitch computer equipment - perhaps make things turn on or off."

  Lentz reached forward and rotated the loop slightly again. "That's the key feature of the technology: interfacing with other computers and networks. This collar will amplify the ability." She reached into the case again and withdrew something the size of a matchbox, holding it out to him.

  "What's that?" He took the item and rotated it in his fingers. It was made from the same material as the circle round his neck. It had a single switch and LED light.

  "It's a hub. It clips on the back of the collar. It provides the interface with the necessary power. Should be good for twenty-four hours. I'm working on one that lasts longer." She took the hub from his hand, clicked it onto the back of the collar then pressed the switch. "OK, you should be up and running in a minute."

  "What do I do then?"

  Lentz pointed to a table in the middle of the room. "Sit there. And let the testing commence."

  ◇ ◇ ◇

  'Testing' was indeed a word that Tom would use to describe the experience. For nearly two hours he tried everything he could think of, all to no avail. He sat at the table, staring at a laptop screen, a cable running from the hub to the computer.

  "So what exactly do you want me to do?" Tom had asked.

  "Your goal is to control the computer. Make it do something. Anything. Open a webpage, create a new document: it doesn't matter what."

  But two hours on and the only thing that had happened was that the laptop had gone into standby mode. Tom closed his eyes in concentration then opened them. The laptop screen stared back at him, unchanged. "How exactly am I supposed to do this? You've got to have some ideas," he snapped, his voice sharp with frustration.

  Lentz sighed, sounding equally frustrated. "As I've said, I don't know. Think in different ways? Reach out in your thoughts and see if anything feels different? All I know is that it can take time for the new nano tech to make connections in your brain – for the software to learn and adapt. Once it works, you should be able to recall the path and do it again. Like with the basketball game."

  "But I'm not getting any special feeling. I've been trying for two hours and zip."

  "OK, OK. Let's try something else." Lentz walked over to the equipment pile and withdrew a battered metal case. She placed it on the desk and opened it to reveal a robotic arm. "This is a computer-controlled synthetic limb. I'm hoping you might find it simpler to manipulate. It will give you something specific and familiar to visualise." She reached over and plugged it into the laptop, then set it on the desk; it was not unlike an angle-poise lamp with a gripping hand. "See if you can make it move."

  Tom closed his eyes again and tried to feel the robot arm, to sense its shape and form, to guide its movement; but it did not happen. After several minutes, he sat back. "I'm sorry. I can feel a slight buzzing around me. Nothing more."

  Lentz shook her head. "Perhaps there were other explanations for the phenomena you've experienced. Maybe you were just lucky with the basketball shot. In our rush to reach the conclusion we want, we could be trying to impose a desired cause on an effect."

  "Give me something to remember. A string of random numbers. Let's see if I can memorise them."

  Lentz shrugged, grabbed a piece of paper and pen, then began writing a string of digits. She slid it across to Tom. "That's the first fifty digits of pi."

  "Only fifty?" he asked, eyes fixed on the list. He gave the sheet back almost immediately, half-smiling. "OK, I'm ready to surprise you."

  But Lentz cocked her head, frowning, then raised a finger to her lips. "We have company," she mouthed.

  SEVENTY-SIX

  TOM HEARD A VEHICLE CRUNCH to a halt on the gravel outside, the engine turning off. Lentz shoved Tom in the direction of a stack of old cardboard boxes.

  "Do you get a lot of visitors?" Tom asked, as he crouched out of sight of the door.

  "Not really. I prefer my privacy. Quit talking and hope they don't come inside."

  The door to the barn rattled as someone turned the handle. "I don't know why we're bothering with this place," said a man with a rough and gravelly voice. "There's no way she'd be stupid enough to come back here."

  "We're here," said a second man, "because the boss gave us orders. So shut up about it."

  "It's not even locked. Can't be anything in here. Waste of time."

  The door swung inwards and, through a narrow gap between the boxes, Tom saw two large men walk in, blinking in the half light. They immediately stared at the piles of new equipment.

  "What the--"

  "Look like a waste of time now? I'm calling this in."

  The hub on the back of Tom's head beeped softly and he stifled a curse.

  "Who's there?" The first man advanced on Tom's hiding place, a large pistol in his hand. "Get out where we can see you!" he shouted.

  Lentz whispered to Tom, "Let me manage this." Then, more loudly, "We're coming out. Everybody stay calm." She stood up and beckoned for Tom to do the same.

  The second man had also produced a gun.

  "I don't suppose it's worth pointing out that you're trespassing," said Lentz.

  The first man was looking around. "Check out all this gear."

  "She's supposed to be some kind of genius." The second man leaned closer to the robot arm. "This looks like something out of Terminator."

  The first man pushed his pistol forward until it was directly in her face.

  I need to do something, thought Tom. And in his mind he sensed the artificial limb.

  Then things happened quickly.

  The robot arm swung and struck the second man on the wrist. There w
as a crack of metal on flesh and bone. The man screamed, dropping his gun. The other looked round on reflex and Lentz moved with him. She stepped inside his reach, grabbed his wrist and, with a sharp rotating movement, forced the gun from his grip. Continuing the same motion, she drove her elbow into his solar plexus and knocked him backwards, simultaneously taking the weapon and turning it to point at him. The second man had recovered and was looking for his gun, only to see the robot arm had picked it up and was shaking it in an agitated manner. He took a step back as Lentz calmly cycled her aim between them.

  "Now, you two, let's start again. You can begin with how you found me."

  SEVENTY-SEVEN

  TOM STOOD IN THE DOORWAY as Lentz climbed out of the underground storage area of the barn, closing the trapdoor then kicking straw over it.

  "I drugged them. It'll buy us several hours," she reported.

  He stared out at the road. "No sign of anyone else yet. How did they find us?"

  Lentz held up a small booklet. "The visitor guide for CERUS Tower. It contains a microscopic passive tracker that activates sporadically and tries to broadcast via any local network. Very hard to detect."

  "So I guess we have to move on?"

  "Marron will send more goons. He needs to get you."

  "Because I know too much?"

  Lentz shook her head. "Actually, no. He doesn't want you dead." She paused. "At the least not any more, based on what his thugs told me. It sounds like New Tantalus has gone off the rails. The main four test subjects have died from complications."

  Tom swallowed. "What does that mean for me? Am I going to--"

  Lentz placed her hand on his shoulder. "Listen, those two idiots didn't know any of the details, but, you have to remember that you're different from the other four. You were chosen as Subject Zero because you already had the chip. That's what saved you. And it's because you lived that you're now in danger. Before, you were just a loose end; now everything hinges on you. You are the only real proof that a project costing hundreds of millions actually works."

  "We can't keep outrunning them." Tom shook his head. "We have to go to the authorities."

  Lentz laughed. "That's just going to be a different group of scientists who want to experiment on you. Your interface works. It's a paradigm shift, Tom. You have no idea of the implications: financial, military, political..."

  Tom closed his eyes. "Hold on, we haven't proved it works."

  Lentz laughed. "You controlled the mechanical arm."

  He blinked. "Oh. I'm not sure if I can do it again."

  "It will take time, and unfortunately that is something we don't have a lot of. At least not if we stay here."

  Tom sighed. "I just need to send Kate a message, then I'll help you pack up."

  Lentz shook her head. "The less she knows, the safer she is. We need to keep a low profile until we can figure out a plan."

  "But--"

  "It's not just New Tantalus that's gone off the rails." She tapped on her phone and showed him a news headline.

  Tom stared, his mouth falling open. "Bern is dead?"

  SEVENTY-EIGHT

  CELIA BERN PARKED HER FERRARI across the entrance to the CERUS underground car park and climbed out.

  Two security guards immediately ran up to her, waving their hands. "You can't put your car there," said one of the guards. "The building is closed to visitors."

  She turned on him, eyes blazing. "Do you know who I am?"

  "It doesn't matter who--" he began.

  "Mrs Bern," said the second guard, jabbing the first with his elbow. "Perhaps we could find you a space? Or move it for you?"

  Celia glared, threw him the keys then marched past. She had to fight her way through a steady stream of people leaving the building, eventually reaching the front desk.

  A security guard the size of two men sat there, his expression placid. "Can I help you?"

  She leaned towards him. "My name is Celia Bern. I want to see Neil Bradley. Immediately."

  "I'll take things from here," Peter Marron said, appearing from a door behind the desk. "Celia, would you come with me?" He led her to a meeting room on the first floor. "Neil is just finishing up a meeting. He'll be down as soon as he can."

  Celia sniffed. "Nobody is answering my calls. Nobody is telling me anything."

  "There's been rather a lot going on." Marron placed a hand awkwardly on her shoulder. "I know this is a difficult time for you. And I'm very sorry for your loss."

  She pushed him away. "Don't pretend that I'm some gooey-eyed twenty-year old. William had been cheating on me for years."

  "I don't know anything--"

  Celia raised a hand. "Don't bother. It doesn't matter anymore. It just wasn't supposed to be this way."

  "No one could have predicted what's happened. It was just one of those freak--"

  "You are not going to tell me it was an accident, Peter. I'm not in the mood to be handled. Was it the Russian?"

  "I think perhaps you're getting a little carried away--"

  "William was not destined to die in a random road accident." She closed her eyes. "I didn't want him dead. I wanted him to wish he was dead. I wanted him alive to suffer."

  "Life doesn't always work like it should."

  Celia opened cold, determined eyes. "William always trusted you. Now, I'm the one who's going to need your help. I'm stopping Tantalus – the whole project. With William gone, what's the point?"

  Marron stared at her. "You're still grieving--"

  Celia's eyes flashed angrily. "I am not grieving: I'm taking charge. Somebody is out there killing people. We have to go to the police with what we know. Before anyone else gets murdered."

  "If you're right, you think the police can protect us?"

  "We're more at risk if we do nothing. And it's the right thing to do." She looked into Marron's eyes. "I'll make sure you and the key team still get your bonuses. I'll pay them myself if necessary."

  "They won't do us much good in prison."

  "They'll do you less good if you're dead. And our lawyers have got us out of worse before. I'm going to need your support as I tell them upstairs, Peter."

  "I understand." He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. "Neil is free now – he's in the video conference suite. Follow me."

  They walked to the express lift, and the doors slid apart. Marron turned to the control panel. "Level Minus 5." The doors hissed shut and the lift descended quickly.

  "William never mentioned that the basement went down five levels," Celia said distractedly. "Why is the video-conference suite down here?"

  "Something to do with isolating it from electronic interference." The lift slowed and the doors opened, revealing a dimly lit concrete corridor. Marron walked to the third door on the right. "This won't take a second." He walked in and the lighting came on automatically.

  "What the hell?" said Celia. "What is all this?"

  The walls were packed with weaponry: hand guns, automatic rifles, even a rocket launcher. Marron picked up a short rifle with a scope and calmly slotted a magazine into its chamber. "This is the armoury."

  "Why do you have all these guns? It can't be legal."

  "It's a security measure. Only registered operatives can use what's stored here."

  "So where is Neil?"

  "Actually I haven't spoken to him." Marron shouldered the weapon and aimed it at Celia. "William knew, you know."

  Celia swallowed. "Stop it, Peter. What are you talking about?"

  "William knew about you and Bradley."

  "What?" She blinked rapidly. "He knew what?"

  "About your little conspiracy. So he just slotted it into his plan."

  "A lot of good it did him." She swallowed. "Did you kill him?"

  "That's one theory." Marron clicked off the safety catch. "I'm sorry it's come to this, Celia. But this project is not going to be stopped."

  The sound of the rifle firing, even silenced, was painfully loud in the enclosed space. Celia fe
ll back, an expression of complete confusion on her face.

  Marron walked over to her slumped form. "I would be the last one to kill William."

  But she was already dead.

  SEVENTY-NINE

  TOM MADE YET ANOTHER TRIP, carrying a box of equipment from the barn and loading it into the van. The rusting vehicle was nearly full to bursting and creaked worryingly on its suspension.

  Lentz shook her head. "Too much stuff, too little space. I've had no time to sort it. Don't get back home that often."

  Tom stepped back, putting his hands on his hips. "Can I ask you a question?"

  "A question?" she replied. "I don't think you've stopped since we first met."

  He shrugged. "Why are you doing this? Helping me? Why come back at all?"

  Lentz shook her head. "You know, I told myself that I wanted to stop CERUS. And part of me wants revenge. But then another part wants to see Tantalus work." She looked at him. "This thing you have, it has such wonderful possibilities. It will change the world in ways nobody can predict."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Do we really understand the human brain? We have theories and models - but we're still not even close to truly comprehending its inner workings. So how can we hope to understand the outcome of building an interface connected with it?"

  "Didn't that occur to you when you signed up for the project?"

  "Of course. But, as a scientist, I had to believe that some risks were worth taking if we're going to move forward as a species."

  "Now you sound like Bern." Tom ran his hand through his hair. "If this works, will we become more or less human?"

  "You tell me. Right now, you're the only one who really knows."

  "I like to think I'm still the same person."

  "But are you, given the things you can do now? When you moved that mechanical arm, were you moving something remotely or was it like it was your arm?"

  "I'm not sure."