The Sixth Extinction

by Bob Blink

  "Carol's waiting in back for you," the gray-haired woman said with an uncertain smile.

  Glenn was glad the receptionist was getting along in years. If all went according to plan, they would complete the raids he felt necessary within another month or so, and he'd considered seeing the woman 'retired'. Her next incarnation would then not recall the frequent visits he and his team made, which might be prudent. That would leave only Carol who had become uneasy with her involvement in his activities. Agreeing with his ultimate philosophy, somewhere along the way she'd realized her involvement was aiding the killing of others, and Glenn could tell that weighed heavily on her mind. He needed her involvement for the foreseeable future, and she was far too young for retirement. Besides, he didn't want to have to go through the lengthy recruitment process that had been necessary to bring her into his group. With luck, those two specialists he now had sidelined working a couple of support tasks, would figure out how memories could be edited, a skill he knew existed but which had not been recorded anywhere. He knew it had not been felt necessary for the operations that were envisioned for the Facility.

  He hurried down the left passageway, walking all the way to the back of the building. The walls were painted in cheerful colors, and huge dynamic holographic murals showed the various vacation spots currently being offered. Multiple doors lined either side of the wide hallway, most were closed indicating they were occupied by vacationers. Several were open, revealing between four and eight of the large, sterile support couches used for the 'trips' people would take. The room Glenn's Team had become accustomed to using was all the way in the back of the facility, out of the way, and away from most of the activity by both support staff and those preparing for a holiday, or just returning from one.

  When he reached the double doors to the room, he pushed open the left door without knocking and stepped inside. As expected, Carol was there, along with Joe and Zack. The clear, plastic lids of four of the couches were standing open, and Zack was busy programming something in the control units along the front wall.

  "Almost ready," Zack informed him.

  The Resort was the answer the builders had come up with to provide a much needed escape from the drudgery of the caverns. Planned as a stand alone facility, it was designed based on the most advanced of the gaming environments, much like the Simulation itself. At any given time, five 'destinations' were active, from which vacationing Caretakers could select. Four of these were rotated out of the Resort's simulation each year, all except the Caribbean Islands option. That was so universally popular that it was always available.

  Vacationers would climb into their assigned couch, where they were hooked into the systems that would take care of their bodily needs for the month they would be 'away'. In fact, the chambers were designed to perform a complete health check while they were sedated and enjoying their trip, repairing minor health anomalies, and providing them with the series of inoculations that had been selected to help maintain proper health in the cavern environment.

  Once activated, the 'travelers' would find themselves in a simulated environment of their choosing, that seemed every bit as real as actually being there. If traveling as a group, their friends would join them, while most of the other vacationers were 'ghosts' selected from the same data pool that helped populate the larger World Simulation that was the whole purpose of the facility. These ghosts could be interacted with just like real people, but in fact they were entirely computer constructs. The same could be said of the staff at the vacation sites, although a great deal of effort had been put in to give them diverse personalities, and the ability to recall vacationers, their preferences and interests, even from year to year. If a Caretaker elected to return to the Islands after a couple of years away, he'd be pleased to find familiar staff still working at the hotel. Staff who would remember them from before. As Rao had noted, the simulations here were first rate.

  Glenn and his team had a much different plan for use of the Resort. For one thing, they would only be away for a few hours, and as a result didn't need the majority of the capabilities of the chambers, which made their preparations far simpler. They also wouldn't be visiting any of the five vacation spots available at the time. They would be using the Resort, and the Type I insertions used here, as a back door entryway into the World Simulation.

  When the World Simulation and the facility had been designed, the planners had seen no need for anyone here to be injected into the operational environment. In fact, they had seen all manner of possible complications of such actions, and made it impossible for such action to be taken. The World Simulation was supposed to run undisturbed, and part of the purging of critical information from those who worked in the facility was to make sure no one hacked a way to accomplish this task. Bored engineers were likely to try, and the planners had done all they could to dissuade such attempts.

  That had been the assignment that had prompted Glenn to bring in the two outside engineers. When Charlie Crane had balked at Glenn's direction to develop such a path, there had been no choice but to eliminate the recalcitrant programmer. He'd hoped the two outsiders would not be put off by his directions, and much to his pleasure, they had managed to complete his task in far less time than he'd considered possible.

  As a result of the work that Dale and Rao had performed during the first months of their residency in the facility, the Resort now had six locations that one could be injected into. The existence of the sixth destination was a closely held secret, and provided a gateway into the ten cities of the World Simulation. The isolation between the two simulations had finally been overcome. Because the data lines connecting the Resort to the World Sim were of limited capacity, meant only to allow access to the large database of ghost residents, the process was limited to a small number of individuals traveling at one time, and the insertion was a bit slow, but it worked well enough for Glenn's needs.

  Glenn examined Carol, who looked tense as always when they were preparing to set off. He realized he'd have to put some effort into reassuring her once this mission was over. Before he could say anything to her, there was a brisk knock at the door, and Joe opened it to grant access to the remaining three members of Glenn's team.

  None of them were dressed any different than usual, nor had they brought along any special equipment. It was entirely unnecessary. Everything they would require, including their tactical clothing and weaponry, would be provided by the simulation, selected carefully by Zack from the menu that the simulation provided. The options provided were different than normal vacationers would use, but the simulation allowed for almost anything, since one of the simulated vacations offered each year was a gamers world, where contestants could encounter all manner of dangers.

  "Let's get everyone onto their couches," Zack directed.

  Glenn felt the flutter of nervousness once again. He was annoyed by it, and couldn't figure out why today was any different than before. He'd done this a dozen times already. It wasn't as if they were in any danger. As Type I insertions, they were present within the environment, but nothing could happen to their physical bodies resting here. As real as events would seem, even if they were 'killed' inside the simulation, that would only mean they would be rejected, awakening here in their chambers, totally unaffected other than carrying the memories of their 'deaths'. That was very unlike their target today. As a Type II insertion in the World Sim, any death experienced by their victim would mean complete elimination of the memory kernel, and since he didn't exist outside the simulation, effectively he would be killed.

  Glenn was the first to climb onto the chamber couch, sitting first, then swinging his legs up and resting back, his head on the contour forming pillow that was extremely comfortable. Given the complexity of what these chambers did, Glenn felt they were remarkably simple in operation. There weren't a bunch of lights and controls. A simple band wrapped around his head for the mental link, and since he wasn't here for the long term, the three I.V. injections weren't being hooked up. The
gas mixture once they closed the upper lid would contain the relaxant and sleeping gas, so he would simply go under, and find himself in another world.

  "Let's go," he urged the others to hurry up, and watched as Carol closed the lid over him, a hint of doubt still showing in her hazel eyes.

  His vision faded before all of the other chambers were closed, but then he was awake and stepping into the simple room he recognized. He was decked out in full combat gear, one of the familiar M&Ps in a retention holster on his hip, and this time a compact, fully automatic Colt model M25 strung over his shoulder. The room was laid out as a large circle with hidden but softly glowing lights, with ten glowing portals arranged symmetrically around the room, each clearly labeled with the name of a city. The ten cities of the World Sim were all represented.

  "Chicago," he said unnecessarily, pointing to the portal off to his right.

  Before stepping through, he checked to see the other three members of his team were all equipped and following behind him.

  Chapter13

  Chicago

  They stepped into the Simulation as if materializing out of nothingness. At least that's how it would have looked to anyone watching where they were inserted. The sharpness of the artificial reality was almost overwhelming, and Glenn fought back the momentary sense of loss when he realized this was how his world had once looked. Then, pulling his thoughts to the task at hand, he checked again to be certain all of them were in place behind him.

  They had been inserted just inside the wall to Anthony Rossetti's estate, located in one of the more elegant neighborhoods of Chicago. That was about the best they could hope for. There was no GPS to use to position themselves. Even if there had still been satellites providing such information, they were in a Simulation, and such data simply wasn't accessible from the outside. Glenn didn't know if some simulated data was available to those living inside, but it hardly mattered since like many aspects of this artifact, they didn't know how to even find out.

  Glenn knew a lot about this Tony Rossetti fellow. A close friend of the President, he was also clearly connected with one of the largest crime syndicates still functioning in the United States. Politics had become even more corrupt over the years, and the connection between the crime families and those running the country had been documented over the past several presidencies. Closing on sixty years old, Rossetti suffered almost chronic debility from recurring sciatic nerve flare-ups in his legs, and as a result was either limited to a walker, or at times to a wheelchair, and hardly ever left the estate.

  Normally such a person would have been of little interest to Glenn and his crew, considering their long-term plans, but Rossetti had supported the President's massive effort to create the Facility and had long terms plans of his own. He had an agreement with the President and some of the very lawmakers that Glenn had been surgically removing, that once things returned to normal, he would be extracted from the Simulation, placed into a new, young body without the nerve problems, and be in a position to assume control over the many crime families in the country. Most of the leaders of the various families hadn't been saved, a deliberate action, and the one other such individual in the Simulation Rossetti had a standing plan for dealing with. Glenn didn't need anyone with his kind of power base appearing later, and while he could have simply left him in the Simulation, too many powerful people owed the man a debt or relied on him for their continued existence in positions of power and would therefore insist on his being resurrected. The only way to be absolutely certain that didn't happen would be for the man to have perished in the Simulation during the long years before the Earth shed the ice age above.

  "Two guards, so far," Bill noted. "One by the front door as expected, the other making his rounds around the house."

  They had researched the security measures that Rossetti relied upon, and their information had listed two outside men in addition to the men in the gatehouse controlling the vehicular entrance to the estate, two on the lower floor of the mansion itself, and almost always, at least during waking hours, Rossetti's long term friend and personal protector, Sal Maggiora. So far it appeared that the information was correct.

  "Wait until the roamer circles around behind the house toward the pools," Glenn instructed unnecessarily. They had walked through the plan multiple times, but he still had an uncomfortable itch about today's mission.

  As soon as the one guard disappeared from view, they began to move carefully across the grounds. There was a great deal of brush along the western side near the tennis courts, but they were close to the east side, and much of the area was open ground, paved with the circular driveway that allowed visitors to drive up to be greeted by the waiting door guard. Such visitors would never have gotten past the gate and the two men on duty there had they not been approved, so the man at the front door would have greeted them respectfully. They couldn't hope for such a reception, and had to hope they could make their way within shooting distance without being seen. It was too bad Zack didn't have finer control over where they were deposited, or what could be done in the Simulation. Glenn was used to computers allowing more freedom, but those responsible for this creation had been firm on making it realistic, and not allowing the caretakers access to modify much of anything. Glenn also hoped there were no dogs. The report said no, but he wasn't certain he believed it. A place like this should have dogs. He would have had them, if it were his place.

  Then they had a bit of luck. The guard must have been contacted by someone. He turned as if to block the view of his speaking, perhaps protecting anyone from lip reading if they were somehow watching, or simply to muffle his voice as he spoke. This was their time to move, and they didn't need anyone to set them off. As one, moving silently for men who had never really trained for this kind of thing, they hurried across the open expanse of concrete, and found cover behind a large green hedge. They were within a hundred feet of the guard when he finished speaking, but before they could consider the next steps, the roaming guard made his way around from the back of the house.

  Glenn was surprised to see them switch places. He hadn't expected that, and wasn't sure if it was good or bad. Had the original guard sensed something, he would be moving away on a different assignment, but the new man might be hyper alert for the first minutes of his new assignment.

  Tense, they waited until the second guard made his first turn around the house. Once he was gone, and they were convinced the one at the door wasn't paying their spot particular attention, Glenn nodded to Luke. Luke was hands down the best shot among them. Glenn couldn't help but consider that despite all of the progress and technological advances made over the years, they still used the same basic kind of weapons. In the movies there were ray guns, beam weapons, and silent needle projectors, but in real life lead-spitting, chemically-powered weapons still were the only real choices.

  Actually, it didn't really matter who made the shot. The rifles were military issue and they included a half-century of military smart gun technology. The guns were packed with enough electronics to launch a rocket and safely land it on the moon let alone make a shot of some hundred feet. The rifle corrected for every possible variable and shooter twitch imaginable. It even corrected for the wind, although Glenn couldn't imagine how that was managed.

  The problem was going to be the noise factor. The silencers, correctly termed suppressors, were extremely efficient, but physics wouldn't be denied and the supersonic bullet was going to make noise no matter what was done to the rifle to suppress the blast of the propellant. He held his breath as Luke sighted, pressed the lock-on button, and waited until the rifle guaranteed the shot. The 'crack' was subdued, and it was possible it would go unnoticed, at least long enough for them to complete their mission.

  Moving quickly, the four men hurried over to the front door where the dead guard lay spread out on the porch. Mark checked the body, then used his laser-knife to remove the right index finger at the second joint. His access crystal was almost certainly under the finger
nail. The front door wouldn't open except from the inside for security reasons, but the guards had a side entrance they could use. Not all were on-duty, and some spend the off time in the annex that attached to the eastern side of the house and was accessible from the lounge area near the security station, so they'd have to keep a watch for any of them.

  Luke was left to keep an eye on the visible outside guard, and was directed to take the remaining guard out when he appeared around the side of the building. They didn't want an alert raised when the body of the door guard was spotted. Glenn signaled the rest, and leaving the dead man where he'd fallen, they moved to the east perimeter and made for the entrance that the removed finger should activate. Moments later they were inside the house.

  Listening, they heard no sounds of movement, but knew that the guard quarters were close, and there should be two men on duty at this level. The stairs to the upper level were nearby, but unfortunately adjacent to the security office that coordinated the activities of all the guards. Moving apart to come at the office from opposite directions, Bill and Mark quickly dealt with the man inside. Mark stepped into view with his gun pointed at the man, and while he was focused on the threat in front of him, Bill slipped silently in behind and slit his throat.

  "You delay any others," Glenn instructed Bill. "Mark and I will go upstairs."

  Making certain the way was clear, Glenn led the way up the curving stairway. Mark followed a couple of steps behind, scanning the open areas of the floor below as they advanced.

  "Doesn't sound like anyone is here," whispered Mark once they reached the upper level.

  Glenn nodded, and pointed toward the back of the house where the library and access to the stairs going up to Rossetti's office would be found. They glanced into the rooms they passed, but didn't do a careful sweep of every area as professionals might have done. If they didn't find their target on the upper level, they'd make a more careful check here. He had to be here somewhere. Glenn knew the man almost never left the estate.