The Immortality Game

by Ted Cross

  “It is now,” Zoya replied. “They made me like this.” She knelt and fished the card from the dead man’s pocket, snapped it back in her slot. She searched him and found two more ammo clips.

  “What now?” Marcus whispered.

  Zoya stood up. “Like I said before, get in the car. Your father can control it, I assume?”

  Marcus nodded, then supported Ira while he half-dragged her toward the gangster’s air car.

  Getting into the back seat of the air car was a blur to Marcus. His body trembled from utter exhaustion. He opened a link to his father and asked him to grant them rights to the car. Once his father complied, Marcus said, «Papa, you betrayed us. What could you possibly be thinking?»

  «You left me little choice. I keep trying to extricate you from this mess and you seem intent on getting yourself killed for this girl. Don’t you know I’d kill everyone on this planet for you if I had to?»

  «You’re not helping your case. And…‌and this was the second time you’ve done this! You made it sound reasonable at the time, but you betrayed us to these guys earlier as well. I don’t…‌I don’t even know who you are!»

  «All that matters is getting you home safe,» Javier replied. «Then we can talk and you’ll see this was for the best. If it’s girls you’re interested in now, well we can find one for you—»

  Marcus slammed a fist into the car seat. «Are you this callous? Zoya is a human being. You act as if you care so much about life that you want a body back? Well Zoya is real. You aren’t seeming very human to me right now.»

  «Idealism is an indulgence of the young. You’ll find out once you mature just how ridiculous it is. Family is what matters. You and I are family, and despite what your hormones may be telling you, she isn’t.»

  «You’re a soulless bastard.» Marcus severed the link.

  “This has been one fucked up day, hasn’t it, Bunny?” The injured man had found a small toilet behind a wooden door off the main room and was dabbing blood off his face with a wet paper towel.

  Tyoma still couldn’t trust his mouth to work, so he whispered a small prayer in his mind and dropped the dead cat in the trash beneath the sink. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and shuddered. Frankenstein’s monster looked kind next to me. I can’t believe I got stuck in this body.

  “I thought you were gonna keep it as a pet,” the man said, tossing the bloody wad of paper in after the cat. “Look, I’ve called for my car and it should be here soon. There’s no need for you to stick around. The bitch got me good and I don’t imagine she’s stupid enough to let me catch her again. Why don’t you go on home?”

  Tyoma was glad the man wasn’t forcing him to speak. He shrugged his massive shoulders and turned to lumber off toward the exit door.

  The man’s voice trailed after him. “Yeah, uh, I guess I’ll just see you tomorrow, eh?”

  Tyoma shoved the door open. He was finally finding it easier to move in this shambling mountain of a body, though he imagined it would be a long time before anything became easy for him. Outside he found a dark parking lot with a silver sky cycle. The sun had recently set and downtown Moscow glittered with thousands of lights. Off to his left he recognized the gleaming claw-shape of The Pyramid’s hotel towers, and he suddenly knew where he was. He looked across the river at the city center again, trying to pick out his apartment building. If only I could get into it.

  He checked the time and date on his slot and was surprised. His last memory was from Friday evening, and that was only two days ago. For some reason he had assumed it was much further in the future.

  He sighed. Time to call Kostya. He accessed his contact list, found Kostya, and sent out a link request. It was answered immediately.

  «Tyoma! You’re okay! We’ve been worried sick about you.»

  «I don’t know what has happened to me.»

  «Did he get you out of The Pyramid?»

  Tyoma looked over at the brilliantly lit towers of The Pyramid again. «Did who get me out? What are you talking about? Do you know what’s happened to me?»

  «Dr. Saenz. He’s been helping you, hasn’t he?»

  Tyoma’s head was beginning to hurt again. «I don’t know anything about a Dr. Saenz. Look, I’m in trouble here. Can you come pick me up, please?»

  «Sure, of course. Find a good place to hide out and send me your coordinates. I’ll be there as soon as I can. You sound odd, though. Dr. Saenz told us he was helping you.»

  “What you doing standing out here, Bunny?”

  Tyoma turned to see that the injured man had joined him. «Kostya? Here’s my coordinates. I’m in a parking lot outside some building. Please get here soon, all right?»

  «Of course, buddy. Maybe thirty minutes, okay?»

  «Yeah.» Tyoma cut the connection. A long air car whooshed in overhead and began settling down toward the parking lot.

  “There’s my ride,” the man said. “That what you waiting for? It wasn’t what I had in mind, but what the hell. I’ll drop you off at The Pyramid, but I’m not in the mood to see Viktor right now. Tell him I’ll see him tomorrow.” He waved a hand at his face. “Tell him what happened to me…‌only don’t tell him a girl did it. Make something up that sounds decent, all right? What you waiting for? Get in.”

  Tyoma shook his head slightly and stood his ground. He wasn’t sure what his relationship was with this man, though it sounded like they were colleagues. If they worked together in The Pyramid then they were probably bad news.

  “Christ! I don’t got all night. You coming or you just gonna stand there?”

  Tyoma didn’t know if he should be frightened of this man or not. He wavered between getting into the car or just doing nothing and hoping the man would go away.

  The man shrugged and climbed into the car. A window lowered. “You’re a real nutcase, you know that? Yeah, whatever, see you tomorrow.” The air car rose into the air and Tyoma breathed a sigh of relief.

  Come on, Kostya. Hurry up and help me figure out this mess.

  Moscow

  Sunday, June 8, 2138

  10:20 p.m. MSK

  A memory of pain. Tyoma snapped his eyes open and the faint echo of pain died away, replaced by a feeling of utter calm. By the painting on the wall he realized he was in his cell in The Pyramid, but he was lying on a gurney that hadn’t been in the room before. No one was in the room with him, but three bots were there going about different chores. The two little round ones were cleaning bots, scouring the last of the blood from the floor. Near Tyoma’s left knee hovered a blocky med bot, checking the tightness of the bulky bandage.

  Ah, God! Tyoma thought. Bastard blew my knee off. He vividly remembered the flying shards of bone, the horrific image of his knee seeming to explode. He watched the med bot, grateful not to be feeling any pain.

  «You’re back with us,» Javier said. «I was worried when you so suddenly dropped offline.»

  «They blew my goddamned knee off!» Tyoma mentally shouted.

  «I’m sorry. I told you there weren’t enough cameras on this level for me to be certain you were safe.»

  «I’ll never get out of here now.»

  «You know, I think it’s for the best,» Javier said. «Let the general’s men take you. I can handle the general. You have nothing to worry about.»

  Tyoma couldn’t help but laugh. The situation I’m in and he tells me there’s nothing to worry about! A faint twinge of pain shot from his knee, and Tyoma coughed into his fist several times to stop the laughter. «You know…‌I’ve spent a very long life working on science…‌mathematics, coding. Never imagined in my craziest dreams that I would ever become involved with mobsters. I don’t think anyone can ever seriously tell me there is nothing to worry about anymore.»

  «I’m not making light of your situation,» Javier said. «I only meant that I can ensure that the general lets you go unharmed. Relax the best you can and trust me. I need you, remember?»

  Tyoma imag
ined attempting what Javier Saenz wished to do and found the idea impossibly difficult. Whatever coding Javier used to build his AI, however brilliant, it wouldn’t be compatible with the type of data Tyoma and his colleagues had been working on for decades. He was afraid to say this to Javier right now, though. Suddenly he wanted to hear the reassuring voice of a friend, so he accessed his contacts list and sent a signal to Kostya. For a minute he thought there would be no answer, but finally it clicked through.

  «Tyoma? What’s wrong? I’m just in the car now.»

  «I just needed to hear a friendly voice,» Tyoma said. «This has easily been the worst day of my life.»

  «I understand. I’m sorry. I’ll pick you up and get you home. We’ll talk it over if you like…‌or you can draw a nice hot bath and just try to forget about it.»

  «Pick me up? Did they call you? They’re letting me go?»

  There was silence for a long moment. «Are you okay? I just got off the line with you a few minutes ago, but now you sound like you have no idea we just talked. You gave me your coordinates. What do you think I’m doing in the car?»

  Tyoma’s mouth hung open. What the hell? «You…‌you sure it was me? I’ve been unconscious for some time and just woke up.»

  «What? Are you serious?»

  «I’m…‌yeah, I’m staring at the med bot right now while he works on my knee.»

  «You said you were in a parking lot. It’s about three kilometers from The Pyramid. I assumed Dr. Saenz had helped you escape, but you acted like you never even heard of him.»

  Tyoma shook his head. Am I losing my mind? «What’s going on? I’m still in The Pyramid. I tried to escape but I got shot instead.»

  «Shot!? Are you okay? I—»

  «Yes, I’m…‌well, not fine, but I’m as good as I could hope for while still being held prisoner by gangsters.»

  «Okay, okay, just a second. Let me think,» said Kostya. «Okay, how about I fly over the location of the coordinates I was given and see if I can notice anything suspicious? After that, I’ll come to The Pyramid and try to negotiate your release.»

  «That all sounds dangerous to me,» Tyoma said. «You shouldn’t come here. I don’t trust these people for a moment. And whatever crazy stunt they are pulling mimicking me, that sounds like a trap.»

  «Why would they set some kind of trap for me? They have all the leverage they need. When they contacted us earlier they could have just made me come to them. This doesn’t make sense.»

  «I know, I know. I don’t know what to say. It just feels wrong.»

  «Well…‌I still want to take a look at the coordinates. After that, I’ll figure out what to do.»

  «All right, but be careful. Dr. Saenz says he can keep me safe once the general comes to get me. Says he can get the general to release me.»

  «That sounds good, if he can do it. If he’s anything close to as brilliant as he was in life, I wouldn’t be surprised if he can pull it off.»

  «Do you think he’s for real? I mean, a fully-realized AI…‌we considered working on that once, and we put the idea aside as too complicated.»

  «It wasn’t what the military needed from us at that time, remember? I think it’s possible. It’s just too much work for us given what our goal was.»

  «If he’s truly for real, he could help us in so many ways.»

  «True,» Kostya said. «Though what if we can’t help him with what he wants?»

  «I was thinking that myself. Hopefully once he’s over his disappointment his natural scientific curiosity will impose itself.»

  «We can hope. Look, I’m going to be at the coordinates soon. I’ll call you back once I figure out what to do next.»

  «Promise me you’ll be careful, Kostya.»

  «I promise. Don’t fret about me. Just let that med bot do its work.»

  «Yeah. Talk to you soon.» Tyoma severed the connection. He couldn’t for one moment understand why someone would call Kostya posing as him. And why wouldn’t Kostya’s contacts database know that it wasn’t the real Tyoma?

  Moscow

  Sunday, June 8, 2138

  10:39 p.m. MSK

  Tavik scowled at the view screen as the air car rose from the parking lot of the morgue. He had long viewed himself as an energetic man of action, a man of great smiles and expansive gestures. A man with a great future ahead of him. Today he felt like a tremendous failure.

  Having to kill his best friend had of course not been a good start to the day, but it had been necessary and it was something his conscious could bear without too much of a twinge. Things had only gotten progressively worse, however. He wasn’t used to encountering resistance. He wasn’t used to being made to look a fool. And all of this had been done by a slip of a girl. In the back of his mind he’d always vaguely assumed he would one day marry Zoya, once he’d had enough fun in his younger years and reached a point where settling down felt more important than partying. He had trouble giving up on these dreams despite having been beaten senseless by his intended, and despite her being the reason he had failed to procure the cards his boss had demanded he retrieve.

  Zoya…

  He knew what the guys always said. You’d have to be stupid to marry a woman when you have a virtual mate at home. All the good things about women without any of the bad. Yeah, right. No matter how much he tried out setting the virtual mate to mimic Zoya, it just wasn’t the same. It feels real, smells real, tastes real, but it just isn’t the real Zoya.

  I need a hot bath, he thought. Then I’ll sleep for a week.

  The air car began to pick up speed when something unusual caught Tavik’s eye and he told the car to slow down. Below, not a block away from the morgue, a black air car was hovering on the street near an abandoned building. Several dark figures were climbing into it. Can it truly be her? It seemed a long shot, and yet why would such a nice car be near that wreck of a building? Tavik decided it wouldn’t hurt to follow it for a short time, just to be sure it wasn’t her. The bath can wait.

  As the black air car rose up in front of him, Tavik gave instructions to his own car to follow it. “Surreptitiously”, he told the car, proud that he knew such a word. See, I may not have finished school, but I’m not as stupid as Viktor thinks I am.

  He didn’t have to follow long. The black car headed straight for The Pyramid’s upper landing platform. Tavik wondered what Zoya was up to. “Go on and land,” he said to his car. If she’s trying to get rid of the cards because of the trouble they’ve caused, she could have just given them to me. If she thinks she can get some kind of revenge for Georgy, well, I’ll just have to stop her.

  Finally, Tyoma thought. Took him long enough.

  The familiar shape of Kostya’s air car coasted to a stop thirty meters up. It was too dark to see his friend through the view screen, but he felt Kostya’s eyes staring down at him. He’s wondering where I am. Tyoma waved an arm up at the car, which continued to sit there.

  Guess I’d better call him. He sent a link request to Kostya just as the air car began to move away.

  «Yes?»

  «Where you going? Get back here.»

  «I can’t see you. There’s a scary-looking bastard down there waving—»

  «That’s me! Someone used one of our injector cards on whoever this guy was.»

  «That’s…‌you know that’s not possible. It never—»

  «I know, I know, but I’m telling you it worked this time for god knows what reason. Hey, we’ve only tested on chimps. Maybe there’s something different we don’t yet understand about human minds? Whatever, just get back here.»

  «I don’t know. This doesn’t ring true to me. I have a lot of trouble believing what you’re telling me.»

  «What can I say? I understand completely. All I know is that I woke up like this. It’s a hell of a painful experience. I need you. I need a friend right now to help me get through this.»

  The air car banked slowly around.

  �
�I’m coming down. But listen, I need you to talk to me, convince me you’re for real before I let you in the car.»

  «Yes, of course. Oh wait, you’ll need to bear with me. My tongue isn’t working right so far, so I’m having trouble speaking aloud. It’s much easier to talk this way.»

  «Perhaps, but there’s no guarantee I’m not speaking with someone else. Take your time and get your tongue working.»

  The car came to a stop a meter above the ground a few paces from Tyoma. The front window slid down a few centimeters and Kostya’s wary eyes peered out. “You sure are one mean-looking son of a bitch.”

  Tyoma had been practicing as the air car had descended. Now he took a deep breath and focused hard on forming his tongue into the proper shapes. “I- It’s mmm- me.” His voice was oddly high-pitched. Another breath. “Ree- really.” As awkward as it felt, he could already tell it would get easier pretty fast.

  “Quick,” Kostya said, “what’s our favorite game?”

  “Ch- chess on T- T- T- Tuesdays. Swords and Sc- scrolls any other day wh- when we h- have t- time.”

  Kostya stared at him a long time, the look in his eyes changing from wariness to compassion. Finally he shook his head. “I just can’t believe it worked. It’s…‌it’s crazy. Come on, get in.” He told the car to open the door, and it slid upward.

  His new body still felt wobbly, so Tyoma took great care to ease himself into the front seat next to his friend. He sighed when he was at last able to drop his head onto the head rest.

  Kostya grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. “The guys are going to go nuts over this! They won’t believe it.”

  “Not…‌not t- tonight,” Tyoma said. “Please. Just…‌need help getting home.”

  “Of course, of course. You look tired. It’s just…”

  “What?”

  “Well…‌you—I mean the original you—you’re in trouble over there at The Pyramid.” Kostya pointed at the nearby resort.

  “I’m alive?” Tyoma forced his thick lips into what he hoped was a grin. He recalled many debates over the years as to whether the universe would allow two versions of the same person to live at the same time. Seems I’ve been right all along.