“What on earth were you thinking? A Tech! Are you insane? Those things could accidentally break you like a twig.” Her breathing was ragged, and her outstretched hands trembled on his shoulders. She took several hurried gulps of air, then put her hand on her chest. “Oh sweetie, that’s the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen. I watched you being plucked off the ground like an abducted child and being carried away. I was afraid it would drop you.”
Jason tried to calm her, both by broadcast and by touching her shoulder in return. Mom didn’t wear a bio-suit, so his efforts were mostly in vain. “He wouldn’t have dropped me. They seem entirely incapable of harming anyone.”
Before Mom could say anything else, several other people ran up to them, wondering what they had seen, not believing it. Finally released from their shocked paralysis, the crowd bombarded him with questions.
Jason tried to retreat, but they were relentless.
The Director appeared soon after, parting the crowd with a fury. “What the hell was your little social outing with the Tech about? Dr. Emerson, this is ridiculous.” His eyes became predatory. “Did you use your new abilities on it? Somehow—I don’t know. Take it over? Force it to obey you? What did it say?” His anger had an eager, hungry quality to it. Jason could guess what Faust was after, his desire for power and control obvious.
“No, I . . . what?” Jason quickly became angry. “Seriously, Director? First of all, how in the world would I force a Tech to do anything? He could shut me down without getting anywhere near me. What kind of idiot question is that?”
The Director’s eyes blazed. “Watch yourself, Doctor. My patience with you is rather thin as it is. You seem to delight in spending entirely too much time with that Tech. Practice your skills where we can gauge them and bite your tongue. Remember, accosting a member of the Council, even verbally, can be considered treason.”
“Really? Is this a new rule you invented? I can’t even disagree with you? You are above the law now?” Jason raised his voice even more. “Is it treason for voicing my opinion to the esteemed Council punishable by death? Are you going to just have my head cut off?”
The Director looked murderous. Still, he was wily enough to realize the crowd around them listened intently with enough attention to get this entire affair to the media rather quickly, confused as they might be by the dialogue.
“Don’t be even more of an idiot than you’ve already proven yourself to be. It is of the deepest concern to the Council that you aren’t causing problems with our Techs, Doctor Emerson, and no member of this society would look the other way if they thought you were interfering with one. If anything, I’m protecting you from being torn to shreds by a mob.”
“I’m telling you now, the Tech came to see me. I don’t know what you’re implying, but if you haven’t noticed, they are the least helpless people in the world. One of them could have you locked up and end your Council tenure with absurd ease.”
Doctor Faust reared back as if struck. His face turned an ugly purple and his fists clenched below the short sleeves of his blue suit jacket. For a moment, Jason thought he really would have him beheaded.
Finally, Faust’s gaze became flat, hateful. “We will speak of this again. You’ll be summoned.” He turned on his heels and the crowd flinched out of his way. His airlift took off as soon as Faust boarded.
Without waiting for the crowd to recover enough from this second shocking interaction so they could bombard him further, and realizing he was leaving Mom standing there with no answers, Jason fled to his apartment.
Nine
FOR A WEEK, JASON KEPT expecting the Tech to appear. He dreamed of him, waking in frustration, hoping to spy him from a distance. Not knowing where or when he’d see the Tech again made him slightly crazy. His hope finally gave way to disappointment, then frustration. His strange fear of the Tech had instead become fascination. Finally, he sank into a mild depression and focused only on his work.
Shortly after the end of the week, Jason received a summons from the Council, mandating he appear in three days. All dreaming of Tarien gave way to fear. Monica began to panic, pleading with him to grovel. She talked incessantly, and Jason eventually had to avoid her, since he could barely contain his own anxiety.
Aside from having to avoid Monica, Jason found himself dodging his staff, random strangers, and his neighbors, including Mom. The news had picked up the story and Jason sometimes had random people come up and try to talk to him about the incident with the Tech the previous week. Instead of taking the public anti-gravity trains and lifts, Jason ordered a private vehicle to fly him to work. He ordered food delivered and did not go anywhere he wasn’t obligated to go. The summons of the Council quickly became gossip throughout the Med labs and amongst his peers.
Doctor Garbine came by to express her concern with a tight-lipped and carefully phrased offer to stand up for him. She evinced unbridled anger in her quiet tone but didn’t want to afford the Director a reason to have her removed. The other doctors avoided Jason when they learned of his summons and even his staff grew reluctant to be around him for long, going about their duties as far away from him as they reasonably could.
At last, a robot came to escort him to the Council chamber, informing with mechanical indifference that Jason must appear within the hour.
Jason followed the robot with increasing fear, which finally gave way to anger. How ridiculous that he should be summoned because a Tech had contacted him. It was completely absurd to be stripped of his rights and due process over something out of his control. The Director’s peevishness and feelings of his will being thwarted reinforced the fact Faust should not be allowed to govern. Summoning Jason was petty.
Jason took a short flight, then landed on one of the pads of the main, pyramidal, complex of the center of government. Security took a long time, requiring complete scans and multiple layers of clearance. He felt manhandled, taken in by robots who ushered him down long hallways. They placed him in a small shuttle akin to an elevator, although it had the extended capability of going sideways. With a complicated and rapid set of directional changes, it moved him efficiently to a waiting chamber. He lost all sense of location within the complex. The main, massive pyramid dwarfed the nearby buildings, and smaller pyramids at each of the four corners were, in turn, flanked by other pyramids. The entire place took up several square miles.
Jason waited briefly, fidgeting nervously. The doors opened, and robots escorted him to a small balcony overlooking a massive room. A focused beam of light shone down on his platform, the only lit area in the entire hall. The door closed seamlessly behind him, leaving him on an illuminated island floating in a sea of darkness—a daunting effect.
Above him, the lights came on over thirteen much larger balconies. He flinched. The Council seats. They were too far away to see clearly, but above each hovered a massive bioluminescent membrane, a display designed to show their faces as giant projections. The screens lit up, showing each of the thirteen members of the Supreme Council, the rulers of the most influential of the nine total Sectors in the world.
Their age surprised Jason, who hadn’t expected they’d all be so old. Faust must be the youngest by several decades. Some of the members appeared ancient. Two of them, both women, stared down at him with rheumy-eyed indifference, their paper-thin skin mottled and nearly translucent. White, wispy hair fell across their faces in thin strands as they stared with watery lenses out into the darkness.
A quick glance showed Director Faust staring down at him with a sneer of self-satisfaction.
A strong, clear voice addressed him, and Jason saw a man on one of the screens—a hulking dark figure with large brows and jet-black hair with white at the temples. Even advanced age didn’t seem to be wearing this goliath down. The man smiled. “We have summoned you, Citizen Emerson, ostensibly to discuss the issue of having derided a member of the Supreme Council in public. We have been asked, and have, albeit reluctantly, agreed to reprimand you for the issue. This is to be
the official and recorded reason for the summons.” He looked pointedly at Faust.
Citizen Emerson. A clear slight, Jason thought. He cleared his throat. “Medic Emerson, if you please. Or Doctor Emerson.”
The man raised his large brows and laughed softly. “Indeed. Medic Emerson. While we do not have a formal process for reprimand in this regard, we’ve been urged by Director Faust. According to him, we cannot have the Council seen as being subject to public derision.”
“So you are creating a new set of policies to ensure we don’t challenge you? This is a bit tyrannical, don’t you think?” Jason wasn’t going to stand by and let his rights be stripped away, not if he had already been judged.
There were several uncomfortable coughs and one of the Council actually looked sheepish. The magnified screen emphasized Faust’s anger. He pointed an admonishing finger at Jason. “Be silent until we ask you to speak, Jason.”
“Medic Emerson, Council member Faust. And I will have my voice heard unless you have managed to override the constitution along with my rights, which should have prevented this absurd farce.”
Faust flushed with fury. “You see? This man is an outrage! He has no respect for the Council.”
One of the ancient women spoke up with a surprisingly rich voice. “Council member Faust, please be silent. You are behaving like a spoiled and petulant child and, as the newest member, we are starting to notice a lack of maturity expected of someone of your prestige. We agreed to this meeting to review the research under the guise of punishment and, at your insistence, ask Medic Emerson to please behave more appropriately in the future. To ask him, Council member Faust, not command.”
Faust nearly had apoplexy, but somehow, miraculously, closed his mouth and sat back in his oversized chair. He stared murderously down at Jason.
The woman continued. “Medic Emerson, I am council member Elandra Hayes and I would like to thank you for coming.” She smiled, her red-rimmed eyes watery but kind.
Jason frowned in confusion. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Council member Hayes. I know who you are. I think everyone does, but I appreciate the introduction.”
“Yes, of course. Now, we must apologize for this—what did you call it?”
“Farce,” offered the large man who’d spoken first. Jason recognized him as Arkine Feit, a former sports star and brilliant man. A rare combination, but one which had served the country well once he’d left football and moved into politics.
“Yes, farce,” continued Council member Hayes. “Honestly, we have been speaking with each member of the research team as we are able, but we cannot draw undo attention. We had intended to come up with a way to bring you before us earlier, but this opportunity, however absurd, presented itself.” She frowned. “Unfortunately, I do not agree with the signal this sends to the populace. We should not be seen as interfering with such small matters and certainly Director Faust needs to be more discreet about his meetings with you, regardless of your association.” She looked pointedly at the screen where the Director sulked.
“Consider yourself spanked, Medic Emerson,” a tiny, wrinkled woman said. Her nearly elflike size and incorrigible smile gave her a childish appearance. Brenda Nigh, if Jason recalled correctly. A Nobel Prize winner in physics and said to be incredibly mischievous.
He let out a surprised laugh. “This whole thing is just an excuse?”
“Tsk,” said Brenda. “Now seriously, doctor. We certainly appreciate you coming to see us, and I’m eager to see what you can do, but let’s be honest. We do have more important things to do than wag our fingers at anyone who looks at us cross-eyed. At least, those of us who aren’t children have more important things to do.” She glanced sideways at Faust.
He suddenly felt a lot better. His fear of being genuinely in trouble, that the Council had slid into petty retaliation for small challenges to their authority the moment they were impervious to being removed, now seemed silly.
“Then why am I here?”
Director Faust slid forward in his chair, still looking hateful. “Aside from the fact we told you to be here, Medic Emerson, the Council wants to see how much progress you’ve made. The videos don’t adequately convey the complexities involved in how you can impact everyone. Some of the Council are convinced the emotions you work with are false or somehow indistinguishable from normal feelings.”
“Okay. So? Are you guys asking for a demonstration?”
Faust frowned. “Please refer to us as ‘the Council’ or ‘your eminences’, not ‘you guys.’ This isn’t a street conversation, Medic. You stand before the Supreme Council of Humanity, an honor most will never know.”
“Council member Faust, honestly, if this is how you intend to act in front of everyone we meet with, we might vote to have you muzzled,” Elandra said. Turning back to face Jason she said, “A demonstration would be wonderful, Doctor Emerson. We are all excited about this research, but not everyone truly understands or believes the enormity of what the results could be.” She rubbed her eyes tiredly. “Other than the work of Doctor Garbine, your focus is the only other type of research we don’t quite comprehend. The other researchers have clearly measurable and well-explained results, such as the enhanced nannies and new biosuits. Those of us who believe you must have certain powers still have a hard time understanding just how much you can do with them.”
“All right, sure.” Then he added, “your eminences.” He reached out and found each of them in the darkness, sensing their nano-feedback and reassuring himself they were, indeed, here in the room with him and not just projections on the large screens. He felt several hundred other people nearby, probably security and aides, or administrators.
He sent a wave of calm, of relaxation, of reprieve from all the cares in the world, of elation. He did it to everyone he felt, and made it strong, but not overbearing.
They sighed collectively, and he saw every face on the screens relax, all tension leaving them. Even Faust became calm and collected. Jason made this emotional change in them brief and then released everyone back to their base emotions.
“Oh my.”
“This is incredible.”
Several of them sighed.
Tyra Altur, another ancient woman, said to Faust, “Carlisle, this is amazing. I can hardly believe it. It felt real; it still does. I feel better, more relaxed than I have in many years.”
Brenda suddenly leaned forward with a glint in her eye, her wrinkled face impish. “What else? Could you, for example, make us all completely enraged? Better yet, how about lust? How strong are these emotions? What about permanency?”
Arkine’s brows jumped to his thick hairline. “Brenda!”
“Oh, c’mon. You know we’re all thinking about something like that. Let’s face it, I haven’t felt a good rush of lust in half a century. Just affect me then, Doctor Emerson.” She giggled wickedly.
There were several laughs at this. “And me!” said Susan Castle and Tyra Altur at the same time.
“Actually, I love the lust idea,” said Mohammed Adnor. “What about the permanency question? I’m not sure any of our hearts could handle prolonged lustfulness.” He chuckled to himself.
Before Jason could answer, Director Faust jumped in. “His control is entirely temporary, and he must maintain focus and concentration, or the sensation dissipates. We’re working on this from a number of angles. The first is to augment the broadcast abilities with enhanced nannites and the newly created enhanced suits. The second is to change the receptors of the host’s—”
“Yes, I’m sure whatever you’re saying is riveting, Carlisle. But let’s move along. None of us here have much time to spare. I would like to feel my heart quicken and my blood rush.” Brenda pursed her lips. “So? Can you do that, Doctor Emerson?”
Jason didn’t know what to say, since the request surprised him. Finally, he said, “I think so. I haven’t tried it on anyone, to be honest. It seems a little . . . invasive.”
“Well, I’m asking you to t
ry. Nothing invasive about that.” Brenda smiled encouragingly. Then, with some hesitation, she said, “Or is it because I’m a girl and we girls sort of gross you out?”
Jason laughed. “No, that’s not a problem. Despite what you might think, I’m rather fond of women and have some of the normal male thoughts about them. No, it’s more . . . well, it borders on controlling someone rather than passive reassurance. It just seems, you know, unethical.”
She beamed at him. “Oh, you are a dear. What a heartening thing to hear. I have a feeling we’ll be grateful for your ethics. You’re probably better suited to this Council than most of us. But that’s neither here nor there. I’m delighted to hear your concerns, and I’ll admit the request is a bit absurd, but I’m old, Doctor. I want to feel something of my youth.”
There was a murmur of assent.
He took a deep breath. “Okay. Yeah, sure. I’ll see what I can do. You first.” He reached out again, found her bio-signal and took a moment to analyze it. Then, without really knowing how, he pushed a strong sense of lust and worship. Reading her response, he tightened it, made it sharper, upped the urgency. Finally, when he found her whole body responding, he sent another wave of desire akin to a cat in heat. The instructions were the strongest he’d ever pushed out and the most he’d ever worked with the signal feedback to tune it toward a specific goal.
She groaned in her chair, lips parting and eyes wide. He let her go after only a few moments, worried about causing her physical harm. But she breathed heavily for another moment and then leaned forward with a huge smile on her face. “Oh, wow. Wow. I’m still . . . I can’t tell you. I don’t think I felt like so much of a harlot even when in my thirties.” She brushed her hair out of her face. “If you could make a chemical cocktail for what I just felt, I’d have it synthesized and drink it for morning tea.” She laughed.
Sector Seven Page 14
