I chuckled and said, "Yea right. Like I'm going to believe this. I've got places to be and funerals to go to, I'll leave you be. You've got a lot of cleanup to do." I queried
And with that, I ticked the location for my home and was transported there almost instantly. A few data streams trickled by. Home sweet home. Time to get a celebration drink. Except...
I couldn't disconnect. My jack refused to recognize my commands to log off Persistence. I tried every one I knew, but I couldn't leave the network. Panic started to set in. Not being able to log off had always been a rumor, an urban legend. Something that never actually happened but you heard about it by word-of-mouth. I wondered if anyone would remember me, stuck here in this black ether. A few data streams floated by me. I tried a few more commands but started to give up. Maybe if I-
A light particle popped up and pulsed in front me. Rimer?
The particle pulsed again and then the familiar sensation of being jacked into congealed inside of me. Gruffly, he said, "You've ruined our last hope. There was more than just mind control, you know. We had plans to fix-"
"Save it," I interjected. "Save your breath. I don't care what you were going to fix. You're finished now."
A pause, and then Rimer spoke again. "I see you've made your decision. You are correct, the network assault was far too much for me to handle. I didn't actually know how strong the attacks were, as the wall was set up and then forgotten. The wall has been broken, now I’m the primary target. Soon, I will cease to exist as I am now, and I suppose I have you to thank for that. They've attached countless pingers to me, they now know where I am. The next attack will complete the job." Rimer's voice got solemn as he continued. "They've chosen a new front man, so to speak."
I perked up. "What did you say?" I asked. The light particle was dimming slightly in front of me. Several streams of data curled up from above and flung themselves at the light particle.
"They know who you are. The government has always known. Your efforts in the outer world are no longer needed. They've severed your connection. You're integrated into Persistence, permanently. You are the new me. The new Rimer, I suppose. Welcome aboard."
Shock. That was the emotion I felt. "I..." I couldn't even talk. Rimer disconnected and the light particle floated away, not even bothering to dodge the assaulting data streams anymore. One final attack and the light pulse simply disappeared without fanfare. I almost felt Persistence breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm the new Rimer?" I spoke aloud, a quiver entering my voice halfway through. Of course nobody had heard. No one else was here.
I wondered if I should publicly acknowledge the change of leadership and announce my presence as the new Rimer, though with a bigger and bolder plan. Take down the corrupt government, power to the people, that sort of thing. I watched a data stream of a video lazily floating above me. It depicted the scene of the Proxy in the mag train, still looking like Swiss cheese.
I reached out with digital fingers and flicked the feed away, leaving me to the ruined city in which I now inhabited. The walls that I had worked so hard to break down had already begun to patch themselves. The parasitic streams clinging to the shrinking holes were severed in half as their metaphoric mass was sliced in half as the holes filled in. They lay twitching on the ground, slowly losing their ambience and fading away, much as Rimer had.
Feeling wistful, I triggered a feed to my old apartment. As I had expected, I wasn’t there. My body hadn’t quite made it back as I’d hoped it had. It was simply an apartment devoid of human life. Rimer hadn’t been kidding, there had been no ruse. They’d killed me and left my consciousness locked in a digital prison.
Catbot mewed softly in the corner, awaiting a master that would never return in corporeal form. I reached out and touched its mind and was rewarded with a faint blue spark that lit up the video feed. It sat up on its haunches like a statue and I was hit by a stream of data that emanated from that cloyingly simple brain. Catbot was so much more than a robotic house pet, he had been there to keep an eye on me. I realized this all too late. It had even loved me in a strange, matronly way.
Several minutes later, I began to feel the change. Triggering a video feed, I replayed my final confrontation with Rimer, augmented to show data streams in detail. That bastard had sent an invisible stream with his final pulse. Scanning myself, I realized in horror what was happening. Holding my hands to my eyes, I saw the fine details begin to fuzz in tune with my heartbeat. Rimer, it seemed, had sent an auto-destruct mechanism to finish the job.
This was not good. This stream would tear away any remaining tendrils that grounded my digital presence to Persistence.
A new feed appeared, unsummoned, showing the real world in time with my conversation with Rimer. As the stream flowed into me, I saw my real body twitch, stagger, and then collapse into a heap of limbs, looking far too much like a marionette that has had its strings neatly clipped. Laughter pounded through my head, it seemed that Rimer was going to have his last laugh after all.
At that point, I was knocked on my ass, streamers of light beginning to waft out of my fading body. As the streamers faded, winking flecks of light began to coalesce above me. One in particular, a blazing, electric blue light mote began to dance above my eyes, landing gingerly on the tip of my nose. There it sat for a few moments before rising again, suddenly plunging directly into my forehead. The rest of the particles followed, causing my digital body to convulse. After what seemed an eternity, my body seized, chest arching upwards towards the sky. All colors of light pulsed just under my skin, cracks of brilliance beginning to emanate outwards. My body shuddered a few seconds longer and then burst apart into tiny, tiny particles of brilliant light, swarming around each other in a vortex.
I was reborn.
--
The caretaker of Melancholy pretended to ignore the Sharper and Pounder carrying a fresh body. She kept her attention focused on the small patch of flowers but allowed her peripheral vision to see what the body looked like. A smile crept across her face, it was the man that had nearly drowned a few days prior. The same one that seemed all too curious and had discovered the graveyard. She’d known his fate was decided as she watched him from within the trees. She had studied his face, watching his mental gears creak as he learned what was really going on at Melancholy. He’d grimaced several times and exited the garden in a haste. "You'll be back," she had whispered to herself. Now, she watched that face bounce against the shoulder of the Pounder, lifeless and grey. She nodded to the Sharper and led them to the freshest grave in the yard. The Pounder dropped the man into the pit with a thud.
"I can bury this one, guys. You go and do something more useful." The Sharper and Pounder didn't have a problem with the request and left the caretaker alone with a shovel. "I knew you were trouble, I just knew it," she said to the dead man as she pushed dirt onto him. "But then again, so were the other 26 of you." The dirt rolled over his grey-face, filling any niche to be found. The woman hummed as she worked, completely unaware that the virus had been transferred from his body to hers through the air, through a local connection. The man would be the last man she ever buried, the faintest hue of blue light sparkling in her eyes.
Epilogue
Whispers.
Just inaudible. Barely out of my grasp. It seemed as though a crowd of people were talking just outside the limits of my hearing, but I could not make out what they were saying. I opened my eyes and was greeted by complete and under blackness.
I was floating in a void.
There, in the distance, a blue light flickered. It just sat in the middle of nothing, suspended in infinite space.
I blinked, and when my eyes
reopened, it was still there. The sole illumination in this darkness. As it danced the voices seemed to rise and fall, as though it was fed by their chatter.
I swam towards it, the light growing larger, brighter. This light, this blue flame, was my flame. It belonged to me, it always had. It hung in a seemingly endless distance away, and yet with each stroke, its flame seemed to spark just a bit larger. As though it were calling me, welcoming me.
Bringing me home.
After what seemed to be eons of utter blackness I was finally within reaching distance of the blue flame. It danced towards me, and the voices which had once been whispers now rose to a rising crescendo of chatter. With each flicker of the flame, a solitary voice would rise above the buzzing and call out a bit of information. As I tried to focus, I felt a coldness snaking up my legs. It had begun at my feet, and it now worked its way upwards.
I had arrived at the flame, and it felt wonderful.
Blue fire coursed over my body, rushing towards my head in waves of iridescent blues, yet it did not burn. It enveloped me, it contained me. It burned me away, leaving nothing but an essence, a cognizance held together by pure light.
I was now the flame. The flame. The voices had settled down, dimming once more to a background buzz. My minions, those that comprise the flame, had accepted their new master. Who controls the flow of blue light, of information, controls all. I was in control. I am, in control.
I am. Alive.
And I will rebuild the world.
###
Authors’ Note
First of all, we want to thank you for reading our book. This is our first attempt at a published work of fiction and it has been a hell of a ride for the both of us. We both work full-time jobs that really limit the amount of time we can spend on our collective passion (that is, writing for fun), so the fact that you’ve made it this far makes it that much more special for us.
If you enjoyed (or hated, either way) reading this book, please leave us a review at your retailer of choice. Good or bad, we’d love to hear your feedback on your experience, and how we can improve for the next one!
Thanks for reading!
Rob and Jake
About the authors:
Jacob Hunter works in software and lives in rural Michigan with his family.
Robert Lenz also works in software, but refuses to acknowledge the fact and instead tells people he is “living the dream.” Robert lives in a slightly less rural part of Michigan with his family and robotic vacuum.
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