by Tony Corden
Dr Ellis sat down suddenly and thought through what Leah had said. He had to have his AI play it back several times before he understood the direction she was headed. He said, "Are you free to come and discuss this with Ellen?"
Leah nodded. Dr Ellis contacted Dr Whitfield and said, "Ellen, can I bring Leah over to discuss an insight she had?”
Leah could only hear one side of the conversation, so after a small break, she heard Dr Ellis say, "I know that Ellen, but this is important. Anyways, you know she can keep her mouth shut."
Another pause and then, "Deal. Your place in three minutes. Bye."
He turned to Leah and said, "She's invited us over for tea. Whatever you hear or see that isn't involved with the research, you need to keep quiet about. It's nothing illegal or anything. It's just that we both have an image to keep up. I'm trusting you with this because Ellen is booked up officially until next week and she can't change that. The only thing that lets her have any time to herself is her total and complete inflexibility when it comes to scheduling. As soon as you have her location, then we can be off. I'll wait for you outside the apartment."
Dr Ellis disappeared and when Gèng received the address, so did Leah. She reappeared outside an apartment to find Dr Ellis waiting and Dr Whitfield standing at the door. Dr Whitfield welcomed Leah and invited her in, and then after a slight hesitation she gave Dr Ellis a small hug and said, "You too, Thomas. I can't imagine what's come over you lately—inviting people to my place." She slipped an arm through his and led the way through into a sitting room where a cup of tea was waiting.
Leah tried not to react, but she must have failed because Dr Whitfield said, "Thomas and I are old friends, Leah. For a time back in the forties we almost got married but that would have meant moving countries, and we were both too stubborn. Our 'feud' started soon after that, mainly because we'd hurt one another by not taking the 'next' step. We are well and truly reconciled now, but we have our images to keep up. You’re probably one of only a dozen or so who knows, and I'd appreciate the secret being kept."
"Of course, Dr Whitfield."
"I think, seeing as how we are sharing a cup of tea, you may call me Ellen. Just between us, I wasn't keen on being Ellen Ellis, and Thomas was too Welsh to consider me being anything else. Now, what is all this hoo-ha about, Thomas?”
The next two hours were filled with theoretical discussions of neutrinos, electrons, muons, tau particles, leptonic oscillations and quantum packaging, among other things. They moved from the sitting room into a large area with large screens on all walls, where together they went through numerous calculations, checking and rechecking the possibilities in what Leah had suggested. Finally, Gèng interrupted Leah and said, "Leah, the lady from Logan is waiting to start on your gear. John was wondering how long you would be?"
It took ten minutes, but finally there was an opportunity to interrupt, and Leah said, "Ellen, Thomas, I'm very sorry, but I have a prior appointment that can't wait. I don't want to go but I must. Will you please excuse me?"
Dr Whitfield said, "Of course. An appointment must be kept. I think giving you two months to prepare that summary was very shortsighted of me. Instead, I want you to write a paper on the theoretical foundations for your suggestion. I will have my AI contact yours for a meeting next week to review that."
Dr Ellis said, "Off you go, but I still expect to see you tomorrow night."
At that Leah logged back to the tower and then hurried out of the Pod to meet the lady from Logan.
Diary - 12 December 2073
Compassion. Love. Fear. Rage. My emotions have been through the whole range today.
Compassion. How can I help the people who’d been trapped on the Tempest? It isn’t enough to just free them, how do I help them? Their suffering isn’t over it has just entered a new stage. Feeling sad, anger, sympathy, or even empathy for them isn’t enough. Standing on the sidelines and not doing anything isn’t enough. What’s needed is action. What can I do?
Love. They say it hurts and I know why people say that, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t hurt. It just opens us up to the greater possibility of being hurt. I realise the more I think about it that I love Thad. Eli is being controlled and It makes me sad, I’m sorry for Elsa and I want to do something about it. But Thad, Thad being controlled is tearing me apart. For a moment I wanted to stop loving him so it wouldn’t hurt, but it isn’t love’s fault. Love is wonderful, it heals, it restores, it is good. The thing that needs to change is the real thing that hurts. Thad needs to be set free from the manipulation and the lies, those are the real things that hurt.
Fear. I am afraid. Afraid for Thad. Afraid of what they’ll do to him, of what they’ll make him do. Afraid that I might lose him. How do I deal with fear? I don’t know. Mum would say it is hope, hope casts out fear. But it can’t be a vague hope, not a wishful hope. It has to be based in fact, in substance, in reality. What gives confidence he will get free? I don’t know.
Rage: This is more of a rant because I have to get it out or I’ll explode. I am so angry, so hurt, so mad. Victimless! A victimless crime! What an oxymoronic statement. Why does society keep thinking that treating women like objects doesn’t hurt anyone? Why do people think that our bodies are somehow not important to us? Somehow, not vital to our sense of identity? Someone invades our privacy, they steal our dignity, or worse, and it is ok because we’re ignorant of it, or because we’re not physically hurt by it? I’m not even convinced that getting consent would reduce the damage. I know it wouldn’t make it a crime and the person wouldn’t be seen as a victim, but the damage is still done. Being treated like an object always hurts. Being ‘used’ is always destructive.
I imagine the same people think that all the crimes committed by the people trapped on the tempest weren’t real, they didn’t really happen and so won’t have stained their souls. They imagine that all the things that were done to them, they weren’t real, they didn’t really happen, and so they won’t have broken their spirits. Somehow, sins of the mind are seen as unreal. I remember when Mrs Taylor found out Mr Taylor was watching porn every night, she almost killed the bastard. Everyone came running at the noise. While Jimmy and most of the men were wondering what to do about the psychotic woman, mum and the women were comforting Mrs Taylor and wanting to finish the beating. I don’t think Mr Taylor ever understood why she left him, or why she felt betrayed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
December 13, 2073 - Part 1
As she left the Pod, she almost collapsed from a sudden headache that assaulted her. She said, "Gèng, it seems worse, not better."
"Leah, when you had your insight on aether dimensions you ramped up the speed with which you processed information beyond what I have ever done. You blocked me from interfering and maintained that speed for eight minutes. I'm surprised you can still stand."
"I'm sorry. Now that you mention it I do remember, and it was under my control. How did I do that?"
"I believe it is a function of the protocols we have been installing for you to penetrate the Vault. You have become so adept at manipulating cyberspace that you had the skills and speed, at least within your own chip, to block my attempt to control the connections to the basal ganglia and the right parietal lobe. I am working to prevent that happening again. As for your headache, I had anticipated this and had the Pod administer some of the neural-antihistamine before you left the Pod. It should begin to take effect soon."
"Thank you."
As Leah left her room, Gèng said, "John is waiting in the Conference room on the floor below. He suggests you hurry as the lady is becoming impatient."
As Leah entered the conference room, she saw John talking with a tall lady about her mother's age who had skin the colour of ebony and was dressed in surplus camouflage trousers and a white T-shirt. Leah smiled and said, "Hello, my name is Leah, and I am sorry for being late."
The woman didn't smile but said, "My name is Aker, and I would like to know why I have been kept waiting like this.
What was more important than me?"
"As I said, Aker, I am very sorry. I did not mean to offend and I have no excuse."
"Then what were you doing to make you late?"
Leah's voice hardened a little, and she said, "What I was doing is not relevant. What is important is that I am here now and if you are willing, then let us move on. If not, then I reiterate I am sorry, and I will ask John to reimburse you for your time, and I will look elsewhere."
The woman's face lit up with a smile, and she said, "John, you were right. There is steel in her. I'm sorry, Leah, but John had asked for my 'never talk to anyone, ever' service package. It costs more, but I've discovered over time that the people who that package are the ones who usually can't keep their mouths shut. John assured me that you would—hence the small test. Now, if you can forgive me, then will one of you say what you want?"
John pointed to a table which had several rolls of material on it and several boxes. He indicated a roll of dark grey material that had a slight pattern. It wasn't shiny, and yet it gave the impression of being a liquid that would flow through your hands if you tried to pick it up. He said, "Leah needs a full bodysuit with this light-absorbent low-resistance cloth on the outside." He then pointed to a smaller roll of much thicker material. We want this as a middle layer, again full body. It is the newest and best bullet resistant material we could buy anonymously."
He moved down the table pointing to material for boots and gloves and then a high-friction coating for the bottom of the boots, knee and elbow pads and on the fingers and palm of the gloves. And an inner material to wick away moisture. At the end of the table were a set of fighting sticks, eight throwing knives, and a pair of fighting knives. When he got to the weapons John said, “You will need to discuss with Leah the best place for these. I’ll come by later and a few bits and pieces which I think should go in a belt but either you or Leah may have other suggestions.”
When he was finished, Aker said, "Where are you sending this girl, John?"
"Sorry Aker, we want your skills and discretion, not your judgement. Can you do it?"
"I can do it. I'll need my tools. They are in the car. I'll need most of the day. How often are you available, Leah?"
“I am available until two-thirty and then from half-past six for an hour. After that, I'll be busy almost completely until after two this afternoon though I can duck out if it is important. I'm completely unavailable from four until seven, but I'm free if needed after that. I'll be in a game, but usually, I can leave if I need to."
John interrupted and said, "We need it fitted and tested before ten tonight."
Leah started and then said, "It's a go?"
John nodded and said, "So Aker, can you meet the deadline?"
"I can make it work. You, get my tools. Leah, stand on the chair and take your clothes off. Leave the underwear on for now, but you won't wear it tonight."
John left the room in a hurry while Leah undressed and Aker started measuring every inch of her.
It took Aker over an hour to measure Leah. She not only measured Leah while standing but made her pose in a variety of different positions; in each one she checked and double checked every measurement. John had not been brave enough to return with the tools and had sent one of the female security personnel to bring it to the room. Aker made Leah show her where she usually had her knives and sticks and they discussed the different options.
Finally, Leah was excused but told to return before seven for a fitting. Leah hoped to see her dad, but he had been out of his room only briefly for an early morning snack and then hurried back to his Pod. She wasn't worried, but she did find his behaviour unusual for him—he was usually so laid back. As she headed to her own Pod, she realised that the virtual multiverse had similarly grabbed her attention and time. She promised herself once more that when her mother was safe, she would spend more time with her family.
When she arrived in the Tower, she said to Gèng, "I think I need more practice in your cyber-world before I try and help release Akia. I suggest ten minutes, now, before Dunyanin and ten minutes after. I'll then take a break and have half an hour NREM3 before attempting the Vault."
"I agree that the extra experience will help, but I'm concerned with the stress this is putting on your nervous system."
"Hopefully I'll not have to experience such a drastic perceptual acceleration for a while, and it will have time to settle down, but honestly I don't feel confident at the moment."
"Unfortunately, I agree. At the current level of integration, I calculate the probability of you being successful as 0.0013."
"That's a lot less than the eight and a half percent possible success rate you originally suggested."
"Both Akia and I failed to accurately assess the complexity of the task as well as the magnitude of the differences that exist between human and cyber sensory systems."
The next ten minutes seemed to Leah like nine hours. Leah had previous experience at lock-picking and safe-cracking. Associations and protocols were developed which allowed Leah to see passwords as keys. Small pieces of code designed to hack into systems, most of them developed by Reed, were assigned to burglary tools. Some ended up as master keys or lock-picks, some as specialised hearing devices and one was a small canister of liquid nitrogen. Each association was tested by Leah, and as even a small detail could trip her up, there were constant revisions and reassignments made. Toward the end of the time, they began matching different aggressive security codes with creatures and then providing Leah with the appropriate weapons or spells to defeat them. For Leah, she might see and fight a carnivorous plant, but in cyberspace, she would be working to contain a security-introduced autonomous virus whose role was to detect intrusions and attack the intruder's system. Randomised security snapshots to detect unlogged changes were transformed into a searchlight or a flock of birds. Leah had access to several spells, and she wore camouflage to avoid detection.
When the practice was up Leah sat on the sofa in the Tower and said, "It's strange, but I even feel a little nauseous in here. Now and then I think I get glimpses of the code behind the virtual reality of the Tower, but then I look closely, and all I see is this amazing space."
"I noticed the small hesitations as you entered before. A quick review of several relevant papers in the neurological literature suggests your consciousness is seeking to discover what is true. Your experiences have opened the door to a larger sample available for evaluation. I believe you will reconcile the different expressions of reality and be able to move between them with even greater fluidity. You just need to give yourself more time to reach a settled decision."
They discussed the matter for a bit longer, then Leah said, "Well, I can't sit here all day, no matter how much I would like to. I'm heading to Dunyanin and see if I can raise one of Orumeck's creatures and then check if I can meld that Dark magic, or preferably some shadow magic, into my spells."
Leah entered the Dunyanin Arch and appeared in the small copse of trees she'd logged out of the night before. She checked the vicinity then beast-walked as Katil Sıçan, the rat, for several minutes to use the keen sense of smell to confirm nothing was nearby. A gust of wind brought the scent of the Forest of Night to her twitching nose and though she tried to tease apart the different scents, most of it was totally foreign and outside her experience. Even so, she thought she could identify at least five different species close by on the opposite bank.
Feeling safe on the western bank she moved out of sight of the river, and double checked the Spell she'd found in Orumeck's Cavern.
Orumeck's Spell of Summoning - Novice Level (max Level 20)
This is a dark spell of summoning. The spell summons one of Orumeck's creations. The creature is yours to command.
Cost: At Novice Level [500 x Level of Summoned / Spell Level] MP or KP
The Creature will serve until it is killed or dismissed
Preset Activation:
Say the following phrase with the correct intonation “B
y Darkness bring an Orumeck's _______ to serve me”.
This spell is not available to apply to a hand gesture for Dark Mana must be commanded. Note: you must insert the desired creature at the appropriate place in the Spell Phrase.
Effect: The summoned creature, formed of Dark Mana, will appear.
Note1: Level of Summoned = [Caster Level x (Spell Level/20)](min Lvl 1)
Note2: To direct the creature give it a verbal command.
Note 3: At higher levels, the spell may be activated silently.
Note 4: Higher order creatures require a greater Spell Level to be summoned.
Leah silently practised the phrase and then said, "By Darkness bring an Orumeck's Worker Drone to serve me."
Darkness gathered in front of her and slowly coalesced into the form of one of the Worker Drones she remembered from the cavern. This one was bigger than she remembered. Previously she had been attacked by a level three drone with meter long legs and an abdomen the size of a beach ball. This drone was level fifteen and almost double the size. She had points, and she could have raised the spell level but decided to keep them for later. She considered her options and then looked at the drone and said, "Go to that tree and bring me back a branch."
The drone shuffled around and then walked to the tree. Reaching up with one of the spiked legs, it hammered at a low lying branch until it had broken it free. It used its mandibles to drag the branch back to Leah. Leah mentally ticked the Summoning Spell off her list and decided to try adding either shadow or darkness to the spells she knew.
