“We need to map out our escape route from there to this manhole.”
“Walking through those trees and park?” Wolf asked incredulously knowing that the blades of grass could be transformed into real sharp blades to cut and maim them. The trees would supplement the pain with their acid covered leaves.
“We know how to play around with the parks software so that one can escape them.”
“How do the markers work?”
“By walking around strategic areas we spread out tech footprints that will help them put down markers.”
In the half light she turned to him.“Zugovsky and Roneel would be proud of you.”
Wolf brought her closer to him, “Where are they?”
“I don’t know. They were names provided to me,” she said as gently as possible as she pushed him back as diplomatically as possible without seeming to be rude. “Our little adventure has been simulated.”
He understood this to mean that her team had done a simulation of how their present mission would work out.
“What’s the ratio?”
She was hesitant, “They never reveal those things.”
Their mission could just barely succeed. It was therefore important that only enough information was provided at a given time otherwise it would affect the complex modeling.
+++++
“We’ll ditch the weapons here. Get ready to push. Your hand must move in sync with the explosions that will come in the distance very shortly. It will buy us some time, not that much but it’ll give us a head start.”
The explosions would go off at about the time they were supposed to be coming out of the outlets.
He opened the manhole as the passersby on the streets and the surveillance cameras momentarily focused on balls of fire and explosions outside the dome.
“Close it gently,” she said. “Tighten one of your shoe laces over the manhole.” She stood partly obscuring him from the overhead cameras. “Stand up slowly and look towards the direction of the explosions and register surprise on your face. We will turn away slowly almost at the same time as the cameras come back to their usual positions and then walk very casually to Park Number 10.”
+++++
Wolf had to suppress the urge to laugh when he heard the plan. They were supposed to walk near the Genetica Super-Machine Complex which was located on a short rise beyond the wooded area not far from Park Number 10. They would take the roundabout route to the Complex through the transit line and after they had established their markers would go through the wooded area and the park to the pond and then back to the manhole!
“You mean they’ll hack a path through the trees and park lawn and then to the pond and finally to the manhole?” he asked trying not to sound incredulous. He was convinced that they were going to be caught.
“Why the interest to engage this Complex?”
“This is the nerve center of Genetica. This Machine carries a billion petaflops per second.”
“It’s not easy to change its system,” Wolf said.
“That is not the plan. Our instructions are to walk through it and place our tech footprints here. I think there are some really smart devices attached to me that have unbelievable algorithms.”
+++++
Then it all came back to him. This was the same Complex that he had dreamt about where Dr Mengele had brought him as child. He had drawn Wolf’s picture on a white wall and blew to give his clone a separate life. This clone was in suspension and would be activated if were to expire. Wolf remembered that he had given him the paint brush which he had been hesitant to hold. Finally in his last dream he recalled that he had taken hold of it and had been filled with overwhelming power. Dr Mengele seemed to remind him that the paint brush was still with him ready to be claimed. He felt weak and she had to momentarily take hold of him until he got a grip of himself.
“You’ll get over it,” she said. Were there things she knew that he was not privy too at this point?
He sensed that the markers were synchronized around him because he would have to return later and confront Dr Mengele. But why?
This Complex would have very sophisticated surveillance gear and he wondered why were they exposing themselves unnecessarily? It suddenly occurred to him that they had received inside help from a mole or someone who was very familiar with the place.
She seemed to sense what he was thinking, “It’s not that simple.”
“Why expose ourselves?” Wolf couldn’t help asking.
She shrugged, whispering, “Let the complex simulation program figure it out while we just go through our motions.”
They walked past the Complex without incident. The workers going in and out and the guards barely looked up at them.
It was as they were walking towards the trees and through the park that the alarm sounded.
They started running very fast towards the edge of the trees. The guards near the Complex did not run or fire at them. In fact they were looking at them quite incredulously as if they were insane and were rushing to commit suicide.
They could see the outlines of 2 platoons of robots moving to catch up with them. It seemed that from the time she entered Genetica she had been monitored.
The trees were deathly quiet. “Don’t mind them. They’ll start their tantrums soon.” She looked quickly at Wolf and was concerned at his lack of confidence. “We can do this,” she said with supreme confidence.
Then it dawned on him that in a simulation they were merely pawns playing a role. It was not for them to think of the impossible. They were to believe and have faith. This notion boosted his spirit.
They were in the direct shadow of the trees when they began to shake violently as if they were going through a kind of controlled tantrum. Leaves began to rain down on them. But an unusual thing happened. There seemed to be a kind of anti magnetic repellant protecting them and they passed safely through.
“Keep running in a couching position so that they will not suspect anything until we reach the Park.”
+++++
“I suspect that the grass will not start rotating their blades until we are inside so that there’s no escape.”
“We are not going back to that manhole. The area is heavily guarded. It’s the pond.”
Wolf’s hunch was right. The innocently looking grass began to be transformed into green metallic sharp blades whirring and cutting anything it came into contact with.
However, there seemed to be a pattern superimposed on the lawn through where they were walking that remained passive like normal grass.
The first platoon of robots was running from the wooded area and was being slowed down by the acidic leaves. Some had fallen behind. Others kept running. A second platoon was close behind them. They had reached the park lawn and were having a difficult time with the whirring grass blades.
Wolf was aware that the water was made of a transparent chemical and that the fish were not too friendly. But he thought of what Zugovsky had prophesied and was very confident.
The robots were trying their best to run through the whirring blades and move faster. It seemed that it had not been deactivated for them. It appeared that their orders were to take them alive as only stun guns were being fired.
In the background they could hear the furious whirring of a heliship carrying more robots ready for engagement.
“We have to wait for the ring.”
The seconds seemed like eternity. Then all of a sudden the jelly solidified with a small opening for them to enter. They crawled through the opening which connected to another tunnel and then climbed up the rungs to a small walkway. The jelly and fish had gone back to their original positions. They could hear the sounds of weapon fire as the robots fired their stun guns inside.
Wolf was convinced that Zugovsky and Roneel had played a part in their escape.
“This guy Lazer, how well do you know him?” Lilydeen asked.
“He’s quite a character. When he sets his mind on something he usually works har
d to get it,” he paused strategically and then asked bluntly, “Why was he factored into the matrix?”
“You already know the answer,” she said cryptically. The Oracle had no choice because there was no way of getting in and coming out safely without using him as a decoy. They knew it was extremely dangerous but even machines have to take chances too.”
+++++
From a hidden crouching position Lazer watched them intently. He knew that what he was doing was extremely dangerous. He was well aware that they were planning to bring down the Corporation and that Wolf featured prominently in it. They were both linked to Dr Mengele who was integrated into the Super-Machine. If he were to to thwart the plans by the Resistance he would be hailed as a hero and share in the power and the glory, second only to Dr Mengele. If they were to succeed it would work in his favor too. Dr Mengele was a relic of a decayed past and Lazer had the main codes that could be manipulated. He thought of the girl and he was filled with an obsessive kind of love. She was very attractive and he wanted so much to touch her. He felt weak from the overpowering emotions. There was something enigmatic about her that he needed to check at the Complex. She was the key to something which was currently a mystery to him. But he would find out. He always did.
Chapter 9: Escape to the Fringes
Genetica had been built over an old city which still had abandoned sewer lines, tunnels, subways and undergrounds air vents. The Corporation had sealed them all off not realizing that they could be easily reopened and used against them. There were so many outlets leading in and out.
Lilydeen consulted a map on her tab. They had come out miles away in an empty street in the Fringes. In previous times it had been a neighborhood for yuppies on the make. Many buildings had been overgrown with vines, brushes and undergrowth. These parts gave the impression of an immense green house that had thrived because of the lack of human activity. It looked like the city had thrived in a previous era. The current inhabitants had put in some effort to make their sections livable. The lower levels of high rise buildings had been repainted in garish colors and amateur plaster work had been undertaken on crumbling facades. It appeared that the upper reaches had been left to bats and the elements although from the US flags and other paraphernalia flying from them, he guessed that they were also used by intrepid inhabitants for moments of solitude or intimacies.
Looking at one of the US flags flying so proudly, Wolf had the overwhelming feeling that he was free. He could speak, think and dream as he wished unlike his life in Genetica where he was always on his guard.
“You’re so deep in thought,” she said gently.
“It looks like a nice place to survey the world.” He looked up at a derelict sky scraper.
“You’re not thinking of going up there, are you?” she smiled. She knew that he wanted to dream about the possibilities of an expanding horizon and that it was important that he went up as far as he could and saw the world before him.
They walked up an endless flight of stairs. They had to be careful of crumbling masonry works.
They managed to reach the highest point and from their vantage point they saw the patchwork of communities in their small pieces of claimed land, the glass dome shining like the hideous egg of a dying beast, the savannah lands and beyond it the desert. They saw that they were like an island with the vast sea encroaching on them. He had only heard about it and he gasped in awe at seeing it for the first time.
They heard the faint whirring of rotors from heliships in the distance. They sensed that they were out looking for them.
As they returned to the ground level, they saw Mario looking at Wolf in awe.
“You look so perfect,” he smiled. “Welcome to the Fringes!”
Wolf was going to make a joke that he also looked like an inhabitant but held his tongue. He might be treading on sensitive ground.
“Stop treating him like a distant cousin,” she turned to Wolf. Mario blushed and Wolf sensed that he had also emanated from Genetica. She had not seen Mario’s reaction and Wolf was thankful that she had not caught on. “He’s a kind of tech wiz kid and sometimes forgets he’s with people.” Wolf could see that she was very fond of him and treated him as a brother.
“You came back safely and took in the heights.”
“He wanted to see the world,” she laughed and then turned serious. “Of all places why did you bring us through here?”
“We’ve been through this. This was the best option.”
“So what sort of things do you do?” Wolf asked and Lilydeen looked irritated.
“I was beginning to feel worried that you were not going to ask. We’re going to be great friends. I’m going to teach you all I know and you’ll let me in on some of the wizardry in Genetica.”
“He’s linked to the Oracle program that can simulate the future and do other complex things,” she said.
“I fed her most of the data about you and of course you know more of her then she knows about herself.”
“Aw thanks. Now you’ve given everything away there’s no mystery left for romance,” she joked.
“Be careful what you say and don’t speak too soon,” Mario laughed.
Wolf seeing how she was very uncomfortable with the prospect of falling in love with him quickly changed the subject, “I’m sure you can get the Oracle to help me find out why I keep dreaming of this guy Dr Josef Mengele.”
The name seemed to trip something in Mario’s wired brain. He shuddered but pretended that the sound of oncoming drones and a heliship had affected him. He hoped that Wolf had not noticed.
They hurled themselves against the shadows of the building the moment they heard the rotors coming closer.
They hurried off. They were already late for their rendezvous.
The city went on endlessly with some areas looking well ordered while others looked neglected. The sea gradually glistened in the distance.
Wolf was pleasantly surprised that the Fringes did not have the controlled climate of Globia. The sun was warmer. Dark clouds formed in distant parts of the sky. Birds flew freely and insects moved in their own familiar spaces.
“We have to move through a rough neighborhood,” Mario told Wolf with just the slightest tinge of nervousness in his voice.
Wolf looked inquisitive.
“This neighborhood is made up of gangs that are quite wild.” She could see that this would take some time for him to digest. In Genetica these gangs would have been given smart drugs to stop them from mugging, raping and terrorizing people. They’d be very law abiding citizens. If the smart drugs didn’t work, they were quietly deleted. In the Fringes, it wasn’t that simple.
Mario seeming to read his thoughts said, “These gangs take crazy drugs rather than your smart ones.” It sounded witty and they laughed. They knew that it amounted to contrasting outcomes. The crazy drugs made the groups assertive while the smart ones made the Genetica citizens docile.
They went to an abandoned building for Mario to get his bearings from the Oracle. “Once they give me a safe route we’ll move,” Mario said lost in his tech world.
They had some time to rest.
He beckoned to her.
“What are we going to do about Lazer?”
She pretended not to understand.
“He may follow you here?”
“To the Fringes?”
“You sense that already. Lazer has plans.”
“He won’t survive here.”
“You’ll be very surprised. He’s highly intelligent and is lethal. He’ll be able to hold his own.”
“Can he be stopped?”
“All things go through their own motions. Time is not on our side and we will have to move fast.”
“I wish the Oracle would not treat us like children.”
“But sometimes knowing the future can be a very dangerous thing especially if we try to change the present.”
Mario and Wolf sat huddled together.
They both felt very drowsy.
> Wolf could feel his face getting flushed and his lips and eyelids twitching.
It was Zugovsky smiling at him. “No I disappeared before they could get to me. I work for the Underground to develop a more sustainable Genetica,” he said anticipating his question.
“Why me?”
“You are that rare breed that the best genetic modification and enhancement technology cannot put down, an individual with all the best attributes of humanity.”
He shrugged at this praise.
“You have the qualities we want to develop in everyone; the restless spirit always questioning, thinking and looking to find better ways of existing.”
“What’s going to happen now?”
“We’re using a highly complex program to simulate the future of your mission. The end result is supposed to have a domino effect on Genetica,” he paused. “The success ratio is low but you know that. I cannot say anymore as the various events are unfolding in due time.”
“Is Roneel okay?” he asked impulsively.”And who is Dr Josef Mengele I keep dreaming about?”
Zugovsky acted as if he had not heard the question although he seemed tense at the name. “Oh,” he said almost in an offhand manner. “I’m happy you’ve got along well.” There was a pregnant pause. ”You will in due time bond with that woman.”
He thought this was some kind of a joke given that they were biologically incompatible.
“And produce an offspring that will herald a new beginning.” Before he could reply, Zugovsky had moved off.
She was tapping him gently on the shoulder. She couldn’t help noticing his perfectly formed face and wondered how she could ever fall in love with him. She just didn’t like clones. “Sorry to wake you up. We slept for such a long time,” she whispered.
Wolf could sense her revulsion but pretended not to notice.
“We’d better start moving. They have given the coordinates to the rendezvous point,” Mario said. “It is an underground track that we will have to follow. It is currently the only safe way.”
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