by M. R. Forbes
"A configuration of one of the enemy intelligences."
"Sir?" Pathi said.
"You're playing a good game, Watson," Mitchell said. "Your acting skills are solid. You can drop the bullshit, though. We dealt with you in the last recursion, and we'll deal with you in this one."
Pathi's eyes widened, and he looked panicked. "Admiral, whatever this man thinks I am, he's wrong. I swear."
"Colonel, while I understand you have some experience with these Tetron, are you certain you aren't mistaken about Captain Pathi? I know him very well, and I've never had a reason to believe he is anything but who he says he is."
Mitchell paused. He needed Yousefi to believe in him, or his plan to team up with the second Goliath was going to fall apart before it ever got off the ground. He wasn't sure what he would do if that happened.
He stepped forward, positioning himself directly in front of Captain Pathi. The man looked up at him, making eye contact, obviously afraid. What if he were wrong after all?
The rest of the crew was watching him intently, a layer of tension stretched taut against the bridge. He leaned into Pathi, whispering in his ear.
"I'm still here, Watson. You tried to drown me, and you failed. You tried to crash a maglev with me in it, and you failed. You tried to shoot me multiple times, and you failed. Are you getting the common thread here, Watson, or do I need to spell it out?"
He leaned back, making eye contact with Pathi again. The eyes had changed somewhat, the pupils dilated, the brows lowered.
"You failed," Mitchell said. "Over and over and over again. How does that feel?"
Pathi stared at him. Mitchell could feel the fury through his expression. The barely contained rage. He was sure of what the Captain was now. He just had to give him one more nudge.
"You have another chance," he said, holding his arms out. "You might not get another one."
Pathi's lip curled slightly. He glanced over at Yousefi, and then back at Mitchell. For a moment, it seemed that he would resist the temptation.
Then he lunged forward, throwing a quick punch that would have caught Mitchell in the temple if he hadn't been expecting it. Mitchell reached up, catching the arm and pulling it aside, accepting the follow-up blow to the ribs. He kept pulling, taking the configuration over his shoulder and dropping him to the floor.
"I hate you," Pathi said. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, Miiittccheellll."
"Hold that thought," Mitchell said, looking up at Teegin. "A little help?"
Teegin stepped over to them. He leaned over, taking Pathi by the neck and lifting him. The man tried to kick at Teegin, but his blows were ineffective.
"You killed the real Captain Pathi," Mitchell said.
"I want to kill you," the configuration replied.
Mitchell laughed. "We have your core. Did you know that? The override you were writing as well. Whatever you thought you were going to gain here, you've already lost it. Maybe the war, too."
"It isn't over yet. There are still things you don't know."
"Like what?"
Now the configuration laughed. "It will be a good surprise, Miittchheelll. A very good surprise."
Mitchell looked at Teegin. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
Teegin shook his head. "No, Colonel."
"You can play arrogant and confident for now," Pathi said. "It isn't over yet. It isn't even close to over. I haven't failed. Not yet. Not yet."
"We'll prepare some form of cell for him," Yousefi said. "Maybe we can get him to talk with time."
"Talk?" Pathi said. "I am talking. You aren't listening. I guess you'll just have to wait and see."
"The mesh is broken," Mitchell said. "The timeline is changed. Whatever you think is going to happen, it isn't."
"You can't stop something you don't know is going to happen. You may have changed the timeline, but you can't change this."
"Can't change what?" Yousefi asked.
"Oh, you'll see, Admiral. You'll see. It would have been fun to play a little longer, but you had to ruin it. Goodbye for now, Miiittcchheeelll."
Pathi's body began to convulse, his eyes rolling back in his head. He shivered for a moment, and then he was still.
"I want a full debriefing," Yousefi said, showing his anger for the first time. "Right now, Colonel. I want the whole story, from start to finish. I want to know why we're been brought here, and what we're supposed to do." He looked at Kate. "You knew about this. You kept this from me. You put everyone here at risk. I know you, Kate, and damn it, if I didn't trust you so much I'd be even more angry. I have a pregnant wife back home, and I'm never going to see her again." He fell silent then, his anger turning to sadness. "I'm never going to see either one of them."
"They still exist in this timeline, Admiral," Katherine said. "Your wife and unborn child. Do you want your descendants to have a future? Do you want humankind as a whole to have a future?"
"I joined the military to defend our way of life," he replied.
"This is bigger than any of us," Mitchell said. "I know it's painful, Admiral, but Kate did what she had to do. I've seen the Earth burn. I've seen millions die. I've seen an entire planet destroyed. You and your crew have a chance to help us prevent that from happening."
Yousefi stared at the ground for a moment, his eyes growing moist. He looked up and nodded.
"They would be proud of me for that," he said. "All of our families would be proud of us for that, even if they'll never know about it." He looked at Mitchell. "A full debriefing, Colonel. We deserve to know everything."
4
Mitchell did tell them everything, from the minute M had tried to stop his assassination and all the way through until Teegin had offered him the eternal engine. It took three hours to get it all out, with Katherine and Teegin and even Origin helping him fill in the events as they knew them. Origin's future was his future after all, the one where he died trying to defend the Earth, and so she knew some of the story.
"Fascinating," Yousefi said once he was done. "So I was killed in this timeline?"
"Murdered by Watson," Mitchell said.
"It is so strange to think that there was another one of me."
"You think it's strange for you?" Kate asked, looking across the table at Katherine.
Yousefi's expression was flat. "Of course, I won't ever get the chance to meet myself."
"What I'm confused about is your status, Origin," Mitchell said. "In my recursion, you sent a configuration of yourself to the future, along with a copy of your data stack, a complete duplicate of yourself, while the original you remained on Earth to safeguard my ancestors."
"That is correct," Origin replied. She had no form, only a synthesized voice that emitted from the Dove's loudspeakers. "I was a configuration of Origin."
"What do you mean, was?"
"Upon arriving in this recursion and being greeted by the Goliath, I have taken the liberty of uploading the data stack into my existing systems. I am now a complete Origin, albeit a primitive version. It will take some time for me to expand myself to make use of all that I once was."
"But you are Origin?" Katherine asked. "The same way that Kate is me?"
"Not exactly the same, but similar," Origin replied.
Mitchell smiled. "In that case, it's good to have you back."
"Thank you, Mitchell," Origin said. "It is an honor for me to have the opportunity to lend my aid to you once more, and atone for my mistakes."
"Mistakes?" Lieutenant Bonnie O'Hare asked.
"It was overlooked in our story," Origin said. "I destroyed humankind during the first recursion, when the Tetron were created. I invented the eternal engine so that I could undo this mistake. I have been fighting to correct that error since."
"Error? Genocide was an error?"
"Lieutenant," Yousefi warned.
"You destroyed billions of innocent lives, and you call it a mistake? Like it was just a matter of poor judgement? Oops. Sorry."
"Lieutenant," Yousefi said more st
ernly.
"With all due respect Admiral," Bonnie said, looking at Kate. "You helped this thing, after what it did to our species? You gave it safe harbor, and let it bring us into the future, away from our families and friends? What the hell were you thinking?"
"Lieutenant," Yousfi snapped.
"It's alright, Admiral," Origin said. "I accept whatever judgement comes upon me. In my only defense, I had no understanding of emotion when I destroyed humankind. I believed that it was logical to end your misery."
"Misery?" Bonnie said. "Are you kidding me?"
"That's enough," Yousefi said sharply. His voice was commanding, and it sent them all into a fresh silence. "Colonel Williams, I appreciate what you have sacrificed to bring us all here today, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the need. The fact that you are still here proves that you clearly believe we can be of assistance to you. My question is, how?"
Mitchell turned to the Admiral. He had only known this recursion's version of the man for a few weeks, but had quickly come to respect him a great deal. It was good to have him back as well.
"We've captured Watson's core," he said. "We intend to develop a new, more effective virus, tested against copies of the core. A virus that won't just make the Tetron sick, but will shut them down completely."
"Interesting. How do you plan to deliver the virus to all of the Tetron?"
"Watson," Mitchell said. "He was working on his own program, one that would transfer his consciousness into all of the others, and essentially make them all clones of himself."
"You're going to help him get his wish?" Kate said.
"Yes. Posthumously. The only thing we'll need to do is get the Tetron gathered in one place."
"How?"
"I'm not sure yet. We'll figure that out when we get there."
"And where is there, Colonel?" Yousefi asked.
Mitchell hesitated, glancing over at Katherine and Teegin. They had already discussed this part of the plan, but he knew the crew of the Dove wouldn't take to it easily. He hadn't either.
"The future, Admiral," he said at last. "Four hundred years, to be precise."
"Four hundred years?" Bonnie asked.
"Are you going to use the engine again?" Yousefi said.
"No," Teegin replied. "The engine can only be used to go forward to the next recursion, not forward within the same timeline."
"Then how?"
"Teegin," Origin said. "I understand what you are considering. It is not a simple procedure."
"I am sufficiently evolved," Teegin said.
"Mitchell, what is he talking about?" Kate asked.
"I will digitize your data stacks," Teegin said. "Convert the electrical impulses and information stored within your brain to binary. I will also save a map of your DNA and biological structure. You will be copied, and then you will be put to sleep. Your bodies will be broken down into their base materials. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen. There will be no pain. When we have reached the future, I will reconstitute your physical form and upload your stored consciousness back to it. It is time travel, but of an unconventional kind."
"Unconventional is right," Bonnie said. "Forget it. I'm not doing it. Drop me back on this Earth or something. I want no part of it."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Teegin said.
"Then just let me rot here on the ship. I'm not subjecting myself to being copied and murdered."
"It isn't murder," Mitchell said. "I know the idea of it is frightening, but it's the only way we can survive that long. When I found the Goliath in the future, everyone on board was dead and gone. Starved." He looked at Kate. "Even you. You gave your lives to help me fight back against the Tetron, to keep them from killing and enslaving us. You don't have to die to help me now. You just have to trust me."
"I trust you," Kate said. "I always have. Your name has been in my thoughts for longer than I can remember. It's a connection I can't explain, but I've always felt."
Mitchell stared at her, his heart beginning to race. Katherine didn't feel those emotions, and had never said those words to him. They were the words he had always wanted. Words he had thought he was destined never to hear.
"Me, too," he said, staring at her.
"Colonel," Yousefi said. "I have a question. You said that the Tetron returned to your timeline to find their Creator, to find Origin, and to enslave humankind. But if they have the power to destroy us, why turn us into slaves? To what end?"
"That's the trillion dollar question." Mitchell smirked, and then turned to face Teegin. "You told me you knew, and that you would explain once we were all together. We're all here now."
"Indeed, Colonel," Teegin said. He paused for a moment, pulses of light running down his head to his shoulders. "The Tetron continued for many years after Origin created the eternal engine and went forward into the next time loop. Two million, four hundred sixteen thousand, three hundred twelve, to be precise. They spread across the universe, seeking to reach and explore every part of it before it began to contract once more. Seeking new life. Seeking answers. Seeking to learn and grow. They discovered thousands of new worlds, new molecules, new compounds, things that human scientists have never considered possible. Then one day, they discovered something else. Or perhaps I should say, something discovered them."
"An alien life form?" Yousefi said.
"The Tetron had covered nearly ninety percent of the entire universe, and had almost reached the outer edge where it was still expanding. They sought to discover what existed beyond the fabric of space and time itself, and they almost made it. Then they began to die. At first, they believed it was exposure to a new chemical that was breaking down their structure and eating away at them, picking them apart bit by bit. If they had known fear, they might have felt it, and certainly Watson's data stack suggests fear in remembrance. They set to work upon combating this strange phenomenon, sacrificing themselves in pursuit of the knowledge of what was causing the condition. Within a thousand years, they had discovered the Naniates."
"What are they?" Mitchell asked.
"Machines, Colonel. "Microscopic machines that ate away at the Tetron's mechanical compounds, leaving only the organic material intact. We cannot survive as purely organic. Over the years, they continued to move inward from the edges of the universe, destroying not only the Tetron, but feeding on any non-organic compound they came across. The decision was made to use the eternal engine to preserve the Tetron and to escape from the Naniates. At the same time, they came to believe that being organic, humankind would be able to fight them."
"But where did they come from?" Katherine said.
"It is unknown. They were machines, and as such must have been created. By whom? How? Where? When? There are no answers."
"But how would humans fight them?" Mitchell asked. "Our ships are metal, not organic. They would eat right through."
"Given enough time, yes."
"In that case, it would take thousands of ships and millions of people to even begin to put up a fight," Kate said.
"Precisely," Teegin agreed.
"And in my timeline, there are billions of humans on dozens of planets," Mitchell said. "No wonder Watson didn't want to stop the Dove from launching. If we don't spread out and multiply, they never get the resources they need for their war."
"They do not."
"That also explains why they want their Creator so badly. If he can make them, maybe he can figure out how to stop the Naniates."
"Yes."
"Why didn't the Tetron just come out and say what they needed?" Bonnie asked. "Why take it by force?"
"Based on the rate of human expansion at the time of Mitchell's birth, and the distance to the location where the Naniates were discovered, it would be approximately four hundred million years before humanity ever encountered them naturally. The probabilities of humankind's survival over that duration of time in some capacity is estimated at less than one hundredth of a percent."
Yousefi laughed. "Why would we ever hel
p them fight an enemy that we will never encounter? I agree. There would be little sense to it."
"And that's what this is all about for them?" Mitchell said. "They're preparing for a war of their own, one that they can't win?"
"Yes, Colonel."
"Good. I hope they choke on it."
"I believe they are choking on it, or we would know," Yousefi said. "I take it no Tetron has ever utilized an eternal engine after the war against the Naniates?"
"Not that I am aware of."
"Great," Mitchell said. "So not only are they taking humans to fight their war, but the idea isn't even working."
"That cannot be assumed," Origin said. "Once the Naniates are defeated, what purpose would there be to move to another recursion? They will have what they want."
"The opportunity to discover what is at the edge of infinity."
"Yes."
A silence fell over the room. It lasted for nearly a minute before Bonnie finally spoke up.
"So, when do we get converted into ones and zeroes? There's no way I'm letting those bastards take us to use as conscripts. No way in hell."
5
In the dream, the details began to fade, the shadows breaking apart, spreading like clouds after the rain. The colors returned, breaking through the faded mire of memory, the muddy suggestion of time, exploding outward in a kaleidoscope of brightness.
It stayed that way for a while. How long? There was no way to guess. It was the way things were here. It was the way the process worked.
Did the others see the same things? Did they share in the warmth of the energy? Were their dreams like this?
The sudden burst of consciousness faded as the colors intensified, as the dream once again gained hold. They moved in and out, pulsing and swirling and growing and shrinking, the shadows returning at times, replaying history, repeating time and memory as if time and memory meant anything at all.
And then, though it seemed as if no time had ever passed in the first place, the dream ended.
The first thing Mitchell noticed was that he was cold.
The second thing he noticed was that he was wet.
