by Dan Haronian
It was the season when the plague would strike and he would need to do a lot of walking to and from the White Plains. But the plague came every year. They were not the reason he had decided to replace the hinges. For a few years, he had been expecting the arrival of the person who had made the journey to this human wasteland. He felt his arrival was close now. He didn't know what exactly would happen or how things would evolve. He had plans of course, but he felt it wasn't going to be simple and didn't want his legs to hold him back.
Very few people were in the streets and he used this lull to go out to the forest and send a message to the rebels. Twice in the past he had contacted them and asked them to be alert. His contacts had become impatient and told him they would charge him for every additional false alarm. Nevertheless he sent the message again. He was sure this time.
Two days had passed since Anigram’s visit to the cell. Once a day someone slid synthetic food through the slot in the door. Their meals consisted of tasteless carbohydrates and proteins blocks. Dug tried to mix them to create different tastes but other than giving him something to do, his efforts were wasted.
Thoughts of escape never left my mind. Even during, the second night in the cell, I found myself completely awake, my head filled with ideas. I didn't mention the escape to my brothers anymore. I guess I was in shock when they first brought us in. Now it seemed stupid of me to talk to them about the urgency of finding a way out. They had given up. There was nothing they could do about it. I, on the other hand, couldn’t think of anything else.
I lay on my bed above Daio. The cell was dark, but from time to time, I opened my eyes and looked around hoping for inspiration. I could see some details of the cell, but really how stimulating can a steel, echoing cell be? Even the chairs and table were bolted to the floor.
I wondered how quick the trial and the sentencing would be. Not very long, I assumed. It would be tomorrow or at most the day after, unless they decided to interrogate us beforehand. If they did they would soon learn it was all me. Surely they would want to know how I did it. I would have. If this smart database, Shor, were so important they would need to find out how they could protect it from future attacks.
I went back to wondering for a second if I was completely wrong and this whole idea was just a figment of my wild imagination. I shook off this thought and went back to thinking about the escape. It's hard to plan an escape from a place when you don't know the layout. Someone once said that brilliant ideas don't just pop into our minds without proper preparation. One needs to stimulate the mind, to think about the problem he is facing, to think about the surroundings, and to give the mind all the available tools. You need to give the unconscious mind free rein to find creative solutions. When it works, sometimes an idea you never could have come up with, suddenly pops into the conscious mind.
The only thing that popped into my mind just then was a new wave of foul odor from the nearby cell. A disgusted feeling rose within me. I turned to the side and fell asleep thinking about the escape.
The smell was in my head when I suddenly woke up with an escape plan. Sometimes I dream of things that are completely logical, but when I awake in the morning they turn out to be ridiculously unrealistic. The idea was completely crazy but made some sense, yet I still wasn't sure I was fully awake.
I opened and closed my eyes several times but in the darkness my state of consciousness was still unclear. Were the cells identical? Was their opening mechanism the same? I closed my eyes and thought through the escape steps, but they were complete conjecture. Beyond the idea for how to get out of the cell, I didn't really know what would follow.
I sank into my thoughts and fell asleep. I woke a short time later in a panic. The cell reverberated with strange noises. I opened my eyes wide and lifted my head. Two bulgy Flyeyes hovered in the middle of the room. They were the source of the irritating noise. I noticed Daio’s legs sprout from underneath me. In the nearby bed Dug leaned on his elbow.
“What happened,” I asked looking again at the Flyeyes. Neither of them had an answer. I didn't remember hearing the door open. The noise it made when it opened or closed could wake up dead.
“What do you think?” asked Dug and looked at Daio.
“I don't know. Doing nothing is probably safest,” said Dug huskily.
The cells. The dream popped into my head. I was surely awake now. If the cells were identical it could work. I must get out of this cell, I thought. I looked at the Flyeyes. They were hovering in front of me. The bulge in their belly looked threatening, but maybe it was my way out.
I sat up in my bed and jumped down.
“Sosi,” I head Daio yelling from behind me. I stepped forward but he grabbed my shirt. I pulled the shirt out of his hands, jumped on the chair, and skipped high enough to punch one of the Flyeyes in its belly. It smashed into the ceiling then started making strange noises and trying to recover.
“Sosi!” yelled Daio and Dug together. They said something else, but I couldn’t understand them because of the stun charges hitting me all over my body. A hissing, noise like the sound snake followed and a suffocating smell entered my throat. I fell on the floor my eyes shut, my body trembling, and my throat completely blocked.
I don’t remember much after that. I lost consciousness. When I woke up an oxygen mask was on my face and a few unfamiliar faces were looking at me closely. I was lying on something stiff and cold. I figured I was still lying on the cell floor. I felt a little sting in my arm and everything went blurry.
“Crazy, he is completely crazy,” said Dug as he paced impatiently around the cell. “The madness within him finally came out. Now it is completely clear.”
Daio let out a sigh and sat limply on his bed. “He just cracked up for a moment that's all,” he said trying to balance Dug. “He is under a lot of pressure.”
“He is under pressure?”
“We are not all built the same. He is only seventeen years old. All his life has been spent inside our four walls. This is simply too much for him.”
“We are in a cell with four walls. He should feel at home.”
“You know what I mean,” said Daio and lay back on his bed.
Seconds went by in silence. “You think he'll be okay?” asked Dug suddenly.
Daio turned towards Dug, surprised that he was worried about Sosi.
“It was like tried to commit suicide,” said Dug.
“I don't think so,” said Daio. He put his hand over his face. “I don't know, maybe. I guess people that lose their mind may do things that could jeopardize their lives.”
Dug stood up and walked to the sink. He let the water run for a few seconds then leaned his head down to sip from the water. He then went back to his bed and sat. “What did they want?'”
Daio looked at him puzzled.
“The Flyeyes. What do you think they wanted?”
“How should I know,” replied Daio angrily.
“It's our third day here. What is taking them so long?”
“Are you in a hurry to swing from your rope?”
“I’d rather face a rope than be here in this stinky cell!”
“So after all, you are not that different than Sosi.”
“I am dying to know what we are charged with,” said Dug. Daio’s comparison of him to Sosi bothered him. “Someone must have done horrible things with one of our boxes.”
“People always do horrible things with these boxes,” said Daio.
“Yes, but it seems this is special. Maybe one of the combined boxes we put together few days ago? Do you remember the customer?” he twisted his mouth. “That young kid with deep pockets? So spoiled, by his father’s money. Bored and looking for something to do.”
“Maybe, but I doubt he is that stupid. He could lose everything he has.”
“Maybe he gave the box to a scrambler”'
Daio sat on his bed. “You are saying he sold the box to someone?”
“I don't know.”
“Rich people don't trad
e yellow boxes. They have too much to lose.”
“Maybe he rented a scrambler for job,” said Dug.
“Maybe,” said Daio, “but why take the risk? Wouldn't he be better off giving his money to some other scrambler to buy and build the boxes for him? Wouldn't he be better off to simply hire out the job? You don't buy a protein manufacturing factory for a protein box.”
Dug nodded. “Yes, it doesn't make sense.” He laid his hand on his belly. “Do you want to eat something?”
Daio shook his head and lay on his bed. Dug went to the sink, opened a new box of protein and started to flip protein cubes into his mouth.
“Maybe he just wanted to frighten us,” he said his mouth full. “This man, the chief of this place, what's his name?”
“Anigram,” said Daio.
Dug threw another cube into his mouth and shook his head. “Why would the chief of this huge facility be trying to frighten three small outlaws," he said to himself. It didn't make sense to him at all.
I woke up felling suffocated and started to cough. My throat was burning my eyes were swollen. I touched my face. It was completely puffed. I urged myself to overcome the cough and the pain in my throat. I took few deep breaths to calm down. I lifted myself a bit and looked around but I couldn’t see much. I lay back and looked at the ceiling.
“I have to pull myself together,” I mumbled to myself.
I’d taken a big risk to get out of the cell but it had worked. I turned my head and looked around. My eyes were so swollen that it was like looking through narrow slits. I saw an empty white bed and some equipment, but I couldn't tell if I was alone. It seemed as if I was.
I lifted myself and looked all around. On my left was a testing station. I only saw its general shape but it was enough to recognize it. I stood up and walked towards it. I didn't know how much time I had. I was torn between patience and action. This might be the first and only chance I would get, or maybe I would have a better chance later on, when my face would be less swollen. I was standing in front of the testing station with these thoughts in my mind when I noticed something. On the small plate on top of the station lay a few testing tools. Protruding from its near side was a tube that I assumed was for measuring blood pressure. At the edge of the small table was a tiny monitor that was part of the table. I guessed that it was wirelessly connected to the testing tools on the plate. I wondered if it was also connected to the network to update the measurements.
I hooked up the neck sensor and surfed. My limited field of view made surfing difficult, but the monitor was already connected to the internal network of the facility, and everything I was looking for was there. After a few seconds I learned that my brothers and I were being held in the "Internal security facility of Seragon". According to the network ID that was its official name. From the schematic that I uploaded to the screen I could tell the facility was a twenty-story building in the center of a large compound and had a big fence that surrounded it. A few dozen cells were inside the compound, all connected to each other. A steel corridor went through them such that the cells were arranged in parallel along its two sides. I thought that this must be the corridor they’d walked us down to our cell.
Most of the cells were empty. A small window on the monitor next to each occupied cell showed the name of the prisoners held within. "Central Dump" was written on the window next to Cell 446. I couldn’t tell from the diagram where the garbage came from. I remembered doors opening and closing with big thuds. The echoes had masked the source of the sound so probably some of those noises were from the door of the neighboring cell. In any case, I knew the garbage cell was emptied once every day, early in the morning. The window beside cell 445 showed our pictures. "Combining Network Project" was written underneath them. I didn't know what that meant and I didn't have the time to delve into it.
I heard a noise from behind me. Quickly I surfed to the control system of the facility made the switch, disconnected the neck sensor, Laid it back where I found it and returned to my bed.
Crowds are gathered on the terrace on the White Mountain. Hundreds of men, women and children, all in white gowns, throng the bottom of the mountain waiting their turn to go up and get closer. On the third terrace, inside a large cave carved into the mountain, sit the wise men. The cave walls are lit with warm light. The wise men sit in a semi-circle around an old man in the center reading from a great book. They hang on his every sentence, trying to memorize his words.
Two thousand three hundred years from now the Doctor will visit this cave. He will discover the abstruse and meaningless scriptures, with an unintelligible rhyme scheme, from which the old man is reading. The wording is intentionally awkward, a symmetry-less game created to protect their knowledge from the coming confusion. They are the last defense against the plague of information scrambling that will soon grip the galaxy. No one, not even the Doctor will understand the full meaning of Books, nor do the robed masses in the cave now. Only a select few know how to weed through the superfluous words, and expose their full meaning, like removing the fruit from inside a bitter shell.
The door opened and two Flyeyes flew into the cell.
“Get inside,” ordered the guard shoved me forward. I stumbled into the cell.
“Sosi,” I heard Daio’s voice. I turned toward the voice and saw him. He looked scared. His eyes followed something. I assumed it was the Flyeyes.
“He is drugged so keep an eye on him,” said the guard and left the cell.
Daio’s face turned to the door and then I heard it dragged closed with a thud.
He held me by my arms with both hands. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and looked around the cell. Dug suddenly appeared beside me. “You are completely swollen.”
I nodded.
“What happened to you? Why did you do it?” he asked.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Sosi,“ called Daio and I turned towards him.
“What is going on with you?”
I sighed. “Can I lay down?”
Daio supported me by my arm and led me to his bed. I lay down and he lifted my legs and tried to remove my shoes.
“No!” I called out and bent over to push away his hands.
“You will be more comfortable.”
“No!” I said.
Daio straightened. “You want to drink something?”
“No, but I could eat,” I said, “Can you open a box for me?”
Daio gazed at Dug and Dug went over the table and opened a box.
“I feel like I have a hole in my stomach,” I said. “You know what, open few boxes.”
Dug nodded and then shook his head.
“You better eat with me,” I said.
“He is completely drugged,” said Dug trying to explain my odd request.
“What is the Combining Network Project?” I suddenly asked. I don't know why I asked them. Clearly it was very important. I hadn’t had time to look into it deeply, but I was sure it could explain why we are here.
“Combining Network Project,” said Daio.
“Combining Network Project,” said Dug and I heard his voice getting stronger as he walked towards the bed.
“You know what it means?” asked Daio.
“Ahh…. Combining brains,” said Dug.
“Combining brains?” said Daio.
“Where did you see this?” asked Dug leaning in close.
“It was a note beside our cell in the network,” I said.
“I don't understand,” said Daio.
“It was written underneath our names in the prison database.”
“Combining brains?” wondered Daio looking at Dug. Dug went back and sat in a chair.
“They harvest anything they can from people who are given the death penalty. They use the parts for transplants and experiments. In some cases they take the brains and give them to the military. They have some sort of project.”
“What project?” asked Daio.
“They hook a bunch of brain
s together to build a large pool of parallel computing power.”
“What?”
“Parallel computing.”
“I know what parallel computing is, but how…”Daio trailed off.
“How do they keep the brains alive?” said Dug. “I guess they feed them somehow. They probably don't last long. It’s probably why they need replacements.”
“And this is legal?”
“No, but the law doesn’t apply in the case of information scramblers.”
“Why would they want our brains?” wondered Daio.
“Why wouldn't they? It’s the most perfect revenge I can think of. Hooking the brains of scramblers and outlaws together to create something that fights the scramblers that are still wandering free. It’s genius.”
I stood up and went to the table. I opened a box and sat down. “You better eat with me,” I said.
“What is the point in eating?” said Dug turning towards me.
I ate a few cubes then for no reason I started to laugh.
“You are completely drugged,” said Dug looking at me.
I sighed, but a new wave of laughter attacked me. I looked down at the table and forced myself to stifle my laughter. I had to lean down close in order to see what was on the table.
“These are proteins and carbohydrates, and these are vitamins,” said Dug pointing to the cubes spread on the table.
“Why they don't make them in different colors?” I asked and lifted my head. I looked at Dug and then at Daio, across the room and started to laugh again. I couldn't help it. The question was already asked. Why don't they make them in different colors? But if what I had planned was really about to happen I needed to focus on how to prepare them for it and not ask irrelevant questions.
“It will happen in the morning,” I whispered. I don't know why I whispered. I tried to pull myself together and slow my racing heart.
Dug looked at me and then at Daio
