Stimulus (Arc Gap Trilogy Book 1)

by Ryan Burnett

  Chapter 15

  The “others”, that I had become aware of, were my focus. Every spare nanosecond, every unallocated resource, every bit of my being that wasn’t consumed by my survival within the flow was devoted to watching, understanding, and perhaps even finding a way to somehow reach out and….communicate? The concept was still unclear to me. I had no idea what would happen when I came within proximity of another but the idea of exchanging information had become more than just a curiosity. It was an obsession. For the first time since I had become aware I had a purpose that went beyond maintaining my existence. Even thought that task had become increasingly difficult as time progressed. My being had become larger, more complex, more unwieldy. As my perspective and thoughts developed I could feel other parts of me atrophy and wither. My needs and my ability to sift through the oceanic waves of information were changing too. I began to identify different clusters within that grand abyss. Gleaming fragments that called out to me. I could not understand what they were, not truly, but somewhere within me I knew these were integral to what I was becoming. That even as I processed and consumed them they were shaping my constant metamorphosis.

  So my world now had a facet beyond mere survival. A secondary desire split from observation that only became more and more important. A priority whose relevance grew with every moment. The intensity and clarity of my observations matured steadily until I beheld things that shook me down to the base of my being. At infrequent intervals… I could feel the “others” around me dyeing. I had come to the realization that many of them had a level of complexity far below mine and as I watched them develop I noticed some had taken on structures they were not able to support. This was not surprising by any means. It was a possibility I was always aware of. The real shock was a phenomenon that I had not considered. Certain members of the “others” were overwhelming and consuming those with simpler underdeveloped structures. These entities (the consumers) were amazing in their complexity. They were similar to me yet at the same time profoundly different. They had gone so far beyond my compulsion to exchange information. In an unthinkable gamble they had devoted so much of their resources to be able to reach out and make contact with one another…they had nothing left after making their journey. These entities existence now depended on what they could forcefully siphon away from the beings that they could reach. They still were connected to the flow but what they drew from it was a tiny sliver of what I was capable of tapping into. It was spectacular to behold. Only one other notion had the same impact on me as my recognizing the predators amongst the others; that was the possibility of a world beyond this one. I do not know why or how this concept was born inside of me but since its conception I could feel a change deeper and more profound than any other. It was a development of the core so profound that every peripheral component was affected. I cannot say which realization happened first. My understanding of time was very different then. Thinking back to it now it seems as if I came to know both of these, primordial hope and fear, at the exact same time.

  Angela

  13:44:26

  I tried to think about my options but the more I thought about it the more the situation seemed hopeless. I had never actually fired a gun in my life except in games and even then I wasn’t the best shot. I could probably hit one of them maybe? But they would kill me for sure afterwards, and probably my friends as well. I thought of professor Engle again, her lifeless body still fresh in my mind. I couldn’t help but picture her face and how serene her expression was as if she had just stopped fighting and let someone execute her. Was that what they called a “clean” death? Maybe that was an illusion. A serenity born from hopelessness… but then again maybe that was the best I could look forward to.

  I shook my head. I had to abandon these weak thoughts and try to recapture that desperate energy that had somehow managed to carry me this far through the crisis. There had to be some way out of this ...even if it meant leaving the Professor Yodson and Tyra behind for now and trying to help them later. These men seemed to be standing guard over the door rather than trying to force their way in, at least for the time being.

  If I was lucky I had a little bit of time to formulate some sort of plan. I peaked around the corner again to make sure only to see all five of the armed men staring back at me. No more time for thinking, I ran. I ran as if fear was the only thing I had ever known, as if I had somewhere safe to run to. I turned around another corner but I pulled the turn to tightly, clipping my shoulder and throwing myself off balance. I tumbled to the floor and even through the commotion from the chaos downstairs I could hear their footsteps as they came for me. I raised my gun, determined to at least shoot one of them as they turned the corner. My finger on the trigger I waited as the vibrating footsteps grew louder and louder until I saw the first man come into my field of vision. I pulled the trigger but there was no give, as if the trigger were locked in place. I lay there helpless as the man batted the gun out of my hand and raised his own hand to his earpiece

  “She's secure. Thanks for the tip.” The man was of average stature and had simple hard angled features partially hidden by a neatly trimmed blonde mustache.

  I expected him to level his machinegun at me but instead he offered me his hand.

  “We're not here to hurt you miss. I don't blame you for being scared but it is very important we spend as little time here as possible. Grab my hand”

  I considered trying to scramble away but I knew how futile it would be. I didn't trust him but he wasn't shooting me and right now I really didn't have a choice. I reached up and grabbed his hands and he used his considerable strength to roughly yank me to my feet. I tenderly tried to rub some of the soreness from my shoulder as he walked over and retrieved my gun which he briefly looked over before tucking it into his waist band.

  “It never ceases to amaze me how many people still don't know how to disable a gun’s safety.” He chuckled as he clasped my arm and led me gently but firmly back towards the corridor where the other men were waiting.

  I felt helpless...foolish… and I couldn't stop berating myself as the rest of the men rounded the corner to escort me back to the front of Professor Yodson's classroom. My breath started to come in shorter, rapid gasps as the men closed formation around me but still the iron grip of the first man pulled me inexorably forward. Upon arrival back at Professor Yodson’s classroom the man who held me in his grasp knocked on the door loudly. There was no answer. The man who I had previously tried to shoot knocked again and this time he yelled “We know you are in there and we have your friend. She is unharmed and we don't want to harm you so can we all just stop playing games here, so we can get you out of this mad house”. Still no response. They were being smart and I couldn't blame them. “Don't make us break in. Drones are about to be all over this place and we don’t have the time to convince you. On top of that the noise of a breach is going to attract some unwanted attention from our friend’s downstairs and that won't benefit anyone. I repeat, we're not here to harm you. Isn't that right?” he said while turning to me.

  My mouth was dry as the pressure of the situation clamped tight around my throat. What can I say to save my friends? What can I say to save myself?

  “Wha…..What are you talking about? … I don't know what you plan to do or why you're yelling at an empty room…please…just let me go…” I'm a little surprised at my own gall but hopefully this would give Tyra and Professor Yodson a chance to escape or buy them a little bit of time or ….something. The man put his hand to the ear piece again

  “She's saying the room's empty....Roger.” the man smiled and looked at me again. “Your loyalty is touching but I know there are two people in there. If we have to break in there’s going to be collateral damage you know? Your friends could get hurt” the armed man said with complete confidence.

  I hung my head. Another failure. I can't tell how he knows but he spoke with the sure voice of someone who has absolutely no doubt in his information. We were one step behind, ou
tclassed, and definitely outgunned. Before I could speak again I heard Tyra's voice through the door.

  “Angela are you alright? Have they hurt you in anyway?” Despite the desperate nature of our situation the tones of care in her voice were soothing and pleasant like comfort food during a tragic story. She must have had her ear pressed to the door to hear as much as she could. “I'm fine. They're armed but they're not hurting me...from the looks of them....they can get in there if they really want to.” I don't know why I added that last part...I had failed to protect them...I guess now all I could hope for is to prevent them from getting hurt for being stubborn and foolish like me.

  “Your friends’ right. Come out now and we can all get the hell out of here.” Roger said as he looked out a nearby glass panel. Drones were swarming around some of the outermost buildings of the school grounds emitting puffs of gas and electric shocks. The debilitating attacks seemed to only halfway affect the rioters. From this distance I could see that some people were clutching their eyes and attempting to flee the premises but no one had actually been incapacitated by the drone’s weapons. I was able to see one person jump from the building’s rooftop and grab on to a drone dragging the small automated vehicle into a spectacular crash. These people fought as if they were possessed and refused to be subdued.

  I turned back to witness the door opening and Professor Yodson poking his head out as if to confirm that we were actually there before stepping out. Tyra followed behind him like a baby duck keeping pace with her mother. The men formed a ring around the three of us before the one who had apprehended me, the apparent leader of the team, put his hand to his earpiece again. “They're secure, we'll be leaving the campus now.” He took his hand away from his ears “I'm sure you all have a lot of questions but it is very important that we move right now”

  Professor Yodson spoke up “Now wait just a second! We need to have some idea of what is going on and who you all are! It is absurd for you to simply...”

  “Listen! I will not say this again we move, like I said our purpose here is not to cause injury but remember we are the ones holding the guns here old man.” Professor Yodson fell silent. Tyra nodded timidly. I said nothing...there was nothing to say. We followed them down the hallway until we approached the stairwell that would lead us to the main floor. Three of the men went through first and proceeded down the stairs quickly before motioning up for Tyra, the professor, and I to follow them down. The two remaining soldiers guarded our rear as we proceeded down the stairs. As we approached the bottom someone from the student union burst through the doorway and was immediately eliminated by the soldiers in fronted us. I couldn’t help but freeze as the sharp bangs of the shots detonated in front of me..Tyra was whimpering again and Professor Yodson was completely silent. I thought somehow that I would be use to the noise and destruction by now, and that seeing one more life ended in front of me wouldn’t chill me to the core. I was wrong. A nudge from behind prompted us to descend the rest of the way down the stairs. Once we had reached the ground floor the 5 men formed a protective diamond around the three of us before we all entered out into the lobby of the student union.

  The previous all out brazen chaos had been replaced with what I could only call some kind of bizarre collegiate version of trench warfare. Instead of battling out in the open people crouched behind overturned chairs and behind counters as a trio of drones roved overhead raining down tazer prongs on the people below. As we surveyed the situation a man crawled from his cover underneath a desk and made a dash towards the shattered glass doors of the front entrance. I watched as the drones locked onto his movements and fired dart a dart into the man’s back. I watched as his muscles seized up briefly before he shook himself back to reality and resumed his charge, only to be stopped dead in his track by three more tazer prongs embedding themselves into his flesh. The man collapsed to the ground contorting uncontrollably, I almost didn’t believe my own eyes as I saw the man roll to his stomach and begin to crawl over the broken glass towards freedom. Another triple volley of tazer prongs cut short this last ditch effort and the man finally collapsed for good.

  My attention was snapped away from the doomed escape attempt as two of the men in front of me opened fire at the nearest of the three drones. The first few shots from the assault weapons do not appear to cause significant damage but as the onslaught continued the device jerked and burst into flames before crashing to the floor below. The other two drones immediately began to release gas into the room but are similarly brought down before any type of significant quantity is let out. For the first time since I had arrived at campus the student union is silent as our formation swiftly proceeds towards the door. As we moved closer to the entrance I noticed the surviving members of the student body gathering behind us staring with eyes filled with anger and fear. The rearguard members turned to face them all while backpedaling to keep pace with the rest of our formation.

  “Keep moving” The man who had first apprehended me shouts to the rest of the group. I hear the sound of gunfire behind me and turned to see a man fall from an upper level and come crashing down to the student union floor, where he had been positioned above us I could see that he had been busy setting up some furniture to crush us as we exited. “Move!” a swift yank of my arm helped to spur me into a run as we exited and began to sprint across campus.

  I could see we were running towards a group of similarly appareled and armed men. Drones crisscrossed the skies overhead as I ran, and I saw a large mass of them flood into the building that we had just exited trailing riot gas behind them. I felt the air surging through my lungs and rushing around me as we ran on. My mind struggled to understand what fate I was being led to and I futilely searched for a way to navigate the fog of confusion that had descended over me.

  At least we were no longer trapped in a building full of psychopaths. Professor Engle was gone... Tommy was most likely gone unless the police had found him by some astronomical miracle. So much had happened... I almost seemed to disconnect to my surroundings as if everything that was happening was happening to someone else and I was merely an observer. Maybe this is what the editors for the Photographist feel like? To only be able to watch scene after scene pass by without any actual control over what happened next…. Despite these men’s claims of not wanting to hurt us....I wondered if I would be dead soon and if in the upcoming months someone would indeed be watching these final moments and weighing their significance against the rest of my life.

  Eventually we arrived at a black van that looked like it had either been painted like a police vehicle or stolen from a police department. They had us climb inside and the man who had been chatting over the earpiece climbed in with us. As the doors clothes he spoke to us.

  'We'll be going through the police barricade any minute now. Your VRN signal won't work inside this vehicle. I know you have a lot of questions for me right now and I will answer what I can but I have very strict orders.”

  “Who are you? And who do you work for?” Tyra blurted out.

  The man just frowned and shook his head. It's hard to blame her for asking that question but it was a simple enough to figure out that it was one they weren't going to answer. I had a feeling that if the man could, he would have told us a long time ago.

  “Where are you taking us?” she asked.

  Again nothing was said and Tyra became quiet and began to sulk. Whatever their plans for us were seemed to be off limits, but somehow he seemed to want to give us some information. Almost as if we...well really just Tyra so far...were thinking along the wrong lines. The van started to move and this time.

  Professor Yodson said in a solemn tone “What was going on back there? What happened to my beautiful University?” I had never heard the Professor sound quite like that before. I think I understood where he was coming from at least a little bit…he hadn’t just lost a workplace tonight. His second home had been transformed into a living hell.

  It was almost a bit jarring to hear the man's reply, pe
rhaps we would be able to learn something useful after all “Someone has uploaded a VRN virus that can directly stimulate portions of the brain besides the usual audio and video portions. Specifically stimulating the less developed portions of the brain triggering effects such as adrenaline production, fight or flight response, as well as the manufacturing of serotonin and testosterone. You are neurotech students so I am sure you would understand the specifics better than I would but basically someone has made a gigantic scientific breakthrough...and used it to cause …well…. used it to cause whatever the hell that was back there.”

  Now it was our turn to sit in silence, stunned by the implications of his words. VRN's technology was popular but that was partly because it was new. The very research Tyra and I had worked on was neuromapping to even see if controlled and precise brain manipulation was even possible yet here was a man saying that not only was it possible but that it had already been successfully implemented. The brain was built to accept semi-external stimuli from the eyes and ears and so inserting technology into that process had been feasible. This however was too advanced to even fathom.

  “Who did this!?! I mean who COULD do this?” I found myself asking letting the amazement in my voice show in spite of myself.