by Ken Barrett
Once safe on the other side, they wandered through a charred and tortured forest, and soon came across an ancient highway that would lead them down the mountain and into the long-abandoned town of Steamboat Springs. The macadam had been baked and melted by the solar flare, forming the asphalt into a solid black sheet that when cooled had taken on the shapes of ripples and eddies.
Night arrived early beneath the glowering clouds, turning the world around them murky and gray. They occasionally heard the rustling of creatures moving through the brush at the side of the road. Several times Liam turned to look, but only caught a fleeting glimpse of motion that was never enough to identify the source.
“Animals… right?” Rose asked. “It can’t be people, can it?”
“I don’t think so,” he replied uncertainly. Was it possible that human beings had survived outside during the conflagration? No, of course not; he and his sister had barely made it back into the shelter when they repaired the vents. Bears and other animals had endured it though, probably by taking shelter in caves, so why couldn’t people have done the same?
The furtive movement within the charred forest had put him on edge. Something tickled at the back of his mind, but he didn’t know if it was a memory or just a bit of programming implanted by his creator. Regardless, real or not, it was there. Someone, long ago, had told him that rationality only exists in the clear light of day, because once the lights go out, imagination takes flight and all the unlikely things we fear become real. Perhaps his worries were just a trick of the mind; he hoped so.
He gripped his laser rifle a little tighter as he led his sister down the rippled roadway toward Steamboat Springs.
*****
The town was a disappointment. Most of the buildings had burned to the ground, and the rest were in the midst of a slow but steady collapse; their ceilings had fallen in, and whatever was inside had either been looted, rotted away, or ripped apart by the local wildlife. They found markets of varying sizes, but their shelves were bare; rust and rodents had claimed anything worthwhile. They wandered through the rain along lonely and forgotten streets, passing the ruins of pubs and restaurants. Those places of joy and comradery had been abandoned and become dark, lonely, and foreboding.
Depression lapped at the edge of his soul. The old world had been magical; why had it fallen apart? From what he knew of history, everyone in the old United States had the opportunity for success, and even the most unfortunate always had enough to eat and a safe place to sleep. But self-destruction was central to human nature, and no matter how beautiful, glorious, and plentiful a civilization they built, it was destined to fall. It was sad to see such potential wasted.
“Is that a library?” Rose pointed at the remains of a five-story red brick building, then looked back over her shoulder. “I suppose you’d like to go inside.”
He smiled as he trotted past her, then slipped through the metal frame of a broken glass door. Rain fell from the crumbling ceiling and through empty windows onto a floor littered with shattered bricks. The once bright room stank of mold and rot; whatever literature that had once filled its shelves had long since disintegrated. So much of the past had been lost; no, not lost, but thoughtlessly discarded instead. He shook his head; the wonders of the old world were gone forever, and the waste of it tortured his mind.
“It’s alright Big Brother.” Rose patted his arm in sympathy. “There’s nothing here for us, so let’s just leave.”
*****
They arrived back at the shelter in the early hours after midnight. The torrential rain had eased temporarily, which had made their hike up the hill easier. After returning their rifles to the burial mound, they huddled together just beyond the outer vestibule door.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Rose asked.
“It’s a matter of degree,” he replied. “It’s 3 AM, and anyone that’s awake is either coming on shift or going off. This is our best chance of not being seen, but if we are, keep your head down and try to blend in.”
Rose touched the hidden switch, and the outer hatch grudgingly opened. The hinges creaked loudly, but all they could do was hope that no one inside would hear. The vestibule was empty, so they activated the motor and lifted the door so it shut quietly behind them.
“So far, so good.” Rose led the way through the room, then pressed her ear against the inner hatch. After a moment she stepped away. “Sounds clear. Let’s go in.”
They spun the locking wheel, then pushed the door open. No one stood guard on the other side, and he sighed with relief. “Ok, let’s get it closed,” he said once they were through.
At the top of the first ramp they waited and listened, then like ghosts silently gliding through the shadows, they descended. At each level, the process was repeated, and slowly, stealthily, they made their way deeper into the shelter.
Angry voices echoed up the ramp from level seven. It sounded as if Commander Davis was arguing with Priestess Oxana. Liam wondered what was going on, but even with his acute hearing, the jumble of words was impossible to decipher.
“Let’s keep going,” Rose whispered. “The longer we stay put, the more likely it is that we’ll be seen.”
He nodded, and they slipped quietly down the ramp then turned and hurried down to level eight. They cautiously descended until they finally arrived on level fifteen, then slipped through their workshop door and locked it behind them. They were safe at last.
*****
“Should we let Roxi and the others know that we’re back?” Rose asked.
“She’ll probably come down on her own within the next couple of days,” he said. “The best use of our time is to make the final preparations to get our upgrades installed.”
Rose frowned worriedly. “What if she doesn’t come? We have to be shut down to swap out our power supplies, so we can’t do the work ourselves; we’ll need help.”
“The workaround is that I’ll do you, then you do me,” he replied. “We’ll get by.”
“Well, I don’t like it, but I guess that’s the only option we have. I’ll start running my final debug and packaging routines, and you finish up on the batteries,” she said. “I don’t know if you noticed, but something was tracking us when we were on the road to and from Steamboat Springs.”
“Yeah, I heard it, but hoped it was just my imagination.”
“Well, we share a lot, but not the same imagination,” she replied. “We don’t know who or what might have survived the flare, so we need to get these upgrades installed before we’re thrown out again.”
He paused. “Since you’re still elbows deep in our code, is it possible to increase our visual and auditory acuity?”
Rose’s face went blank for a long moment, then she blinked and returned. “Without hardware upgrades, we’re limited to about a 5% increase in our perceptions.”
“It might be worth it.”
“Yes, I agree. I’ll start massaging the code and see what I can do.” Rose narrowed her eyes. “It has to be something we can command consciously; over-sharpened perceptions would be distracting.”
*****
Later that morning he heard familiar footsteps and smiled. “Rose, Roxi and the others are here.”
Rose sat up just as the workshop door opened. “Hi everybody!”
Roxi rushed forward and gave his sister a long hug. “Oh! I was so worried about you two. What happened? Where did you go?”
“I guess you could call it a witch hunt,” Rose replied. “Someone pointed us out to that melted priest, Thelon, and he called us demons.”
Liam gestured toward the crates stacked against the back wall. “Sit down everybody.”
“Yeah, we heard about that,” Tiger stated. “All hell broke out, and they were lookin’ everywhere for you guys.”
“The way down was blocked by the people chasing us, and even if we fought through, we couldn’t lead them back here,” Rose replied. “If they found this place, all the work we’ve done would have been destroyed.”
Tiger nodded. “Yeah, I get it. But where did you guys go?”
“Outside,” Liam said. “Then, since we had some time to kill, we took a walk down to old Steamboat Springs.”
“Really?” Roxi frowned. “That old town has been abandoned for maybe fifty or sixty years. Why would you go there?”
“There was a chance someone would come outside to look for us,” Liam answered. “So, we decided to do some sightseeing.”
“What’s it like down there?” Alice asked. “Is there food or a place to live?”
“There’s no food, that’s certain,” Rose answered. “The stone buildings are still standing, but otherwise the city is falling apart. We found a place that was out of the rain, and waited there.”
“We knew there would be a chance to get back inside between the night and morning work shifts,” Liam said. “So, we stayed away until the last minute, then snuck in.”
“On our way back down, we heard Commander Davis arguing with one of the priests,” Rose added.
“Paul told me about that,” Roxi stated. “Oxana is pushing for more control of our shelter, and he’s resisting.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Rose asked.
“Yes.” Roxi pursed her lips and shook her head. “He likes being in charge though, and doesn’t want to give it up.”
“I really don’t see how this could affect us much,” Liam stated. “He never liked me and my sister.”
“He wanted to keep his position, so he said and did what he thought the people wanted,” Roxi replied.
“Does he have any opinions of his own?” Rose asked.
“Politicians rarely do,” Roxi replied. “At heart, Paul is a good man. His friendship kept me going while I waited for Sam to show up here, and he was a shoulder to cry on when I finally realized that my husband was lost to me.”
“How are Keith and Denise doing?” Rose abruptly asked.
“They’re keeping to themselves,” Roxi said as she looked away. “I’ve not seen much of them.”
“Someone spray-painted ‘demons’ on their apartment door the other day,” Tiger said.
“That’s not good,” Liam grumbled. “Maybe we should have them move down here with us?”
“I don’t think so.” Tiger nervously glanced at Alice. “They want to stay where they are and blend in, and I think that’ll work out ok for ‘em.”
“Really? Why?” Rose asked.
Tiger shrugged. “No reason, I just have a feeling that it will.”
“They’ve publicly denounced you,” Roxi stated. “I know that hurt you guys, but it’s what they had to do for their own safety.”
Rose sighed. “I suppose.”
“For now, you and your brother should try to let go and move on without them,” Roxi said. “In time, everything will work out.”
“And that’s for the best.” Liam sighed. “Eventually Rose and I will be forced outside, and we can’t take them with us. The weather’s cooled down, but it’s still wet and miserable and there’s no food to be found anywhere.”
“You’ll need your upgrades installed soon then,” Roxi said. “I’ll do the operation when you’re ready.”
*****
“These things are complicated,” Tiger said as he struggled to attach the glass canopy over one of the isolation beds. The interiors of their bodies were merely resistant to outside contamination, not impervious. They would probably be fine if the operation took place outside a sterile environment, but Roxi didn’t want to take any chances.
“I’ve got plans for these beds once you guys are taken care of,” Roxi said.
“What are you going to do?” Rose asked.
“Just some research on old theories about artificial intelligence.”
Liam frowned. What was Roxi up to? He was about to ask when the public address loudspeakers came to life.
“Hear me.” Oxana’s rough voice assaulted their tiny workspace. “Hear me and be saved, or cover your ears and die.”
“What the hell is it this time?” Tiger asked.
“Commander Paul Davis has graciously stepped aside, and allowed me to fully take charge of this shelter,” the priestess stated.
Roxi frowned. “Paul would never have done that on his own. This is a coup d’état, a takeover of our government by force.”
“What happened to him?” Alice asked.
Roxi sighed. “I’ll have to find out. I owe him that at least.”
“Demons remain among us,” Oxana was saying. “They pretended to flee, but have returned and are hiding somewhere within our shelter. Adar has seen this in a vision, and therefore it must be so.”
Rose narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Do Keith and Denise know we’re back inside?”
“How could they? We just found you today.” Alice replied.
Rose slowly nodded. “I suppose.”
“Do not feel sympathy for these creatures,” the priestess continued. “Their familiar and friendly faces may put you at ease, and they’ve been helpful and kind enough that you would never suspect their evil intent. But, make no mistake, their purpose is to turn you away from the Burning Path. Remember, the machines bring a soft tyranny that enslaves; it is a prison made of velvet cushions that keeps us from entering the Kingdom of God.”
“That bitch is nuts,” Tiger said. “Does anyone really believe her crap?”
“Fear can be persuasive,” Roxi answered. “I doubt that Oxana worries about convincing anyone that what she says is true. All she needs to do is threaten torture, and that would be enough.”
“I hereby order a full search of our shelter,” the priestess stated. “Come out of your homes and hunt these monsters, look for them in the dark and forgotten places, you will find them where the clean and innocent will not go. Strike them, hurt them, and then deliver them to me. We shall not allow demons to live among us.” Silence followed; Oxana’s speech was abruptly over.
Liam watched as his sister and their friends stood or sat quietly, wide-eyed and fearful of their future. He trusted Rose completely, to do otherwise would be to doubt himself, but what of the others? Under the threat of torture and death, would they betray them? As ever, hope was tempting, but too often it had proved to be nothing more than self-deception. Their lives hung in the balance; the searchers would come, and his simulations predicted a strong chance that they would be caught.
“We’ll never betray you,” Roxi stated, and beside her Tiger and Alice nodded in emphatic agreement.
He smiled, feigning confidence. “Oh, I know. But it’ll be dangerous down here, so I think everyone should go back home.”
“Yes,” Rose agreed. “If you guys aren’t in your apartments, you’ll be suspected of harboring us. There’s no need to put yourselves in unnecessary danger. Go home and act normally, and even take part in the searches. Let’s just wait until this mess passes, then we can get together again.”
“What about your upgrades?” Roxi asked.
“They won’t be ready for several days,” Rose replied. “If we need to, Liam and I can operate on each other. The important thing is that you all stay safe. Don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine.”
*****
“Have you considered moving our work area, just to be safe?” Rose sat beside him on the walkway outside their lab as they ate bland tofu from ceramic cups. They idly watched the hydroponic trellises raise their gardens toward the light, then gently lower them again. Level fifteen was silent other than their whispered conversation and the gentle whir and clatter of the electric trellis motors.
“Actually, I hadn’t, but that might be a good idea,” he said. “The only issue I see is that we’d have to move all our equipment, including those big isolation beds. A lot of it would have to be dismantled because it won’t fit through the door.”
“Huh,” his sister grunted. “And doing all that would delay the install of our upgrades.”
“But you’re worried that someone will betray us.”
“Yes,” she said
. “We shouldn’t expect otherwise If they’re tortured.”
“Just the threat might be enough.”
Rose nodded, then a moment later, she gasped. “Someone just came down to the floor above us.”
Liam had heard the conversations and footsteps as well. “Let’s get inside and lock up.” They rapidly cleaned up the signs of their picnic and hurried away.
“Curse the old gods, it’s fuckin’ hot down here,” a disembodied male voice echoed from the floor above.
“Yeah, it’s like swimmin’ in your own sweat,” another male voice added.
“Well, come on then. Let’s make this quick,” the first speaker said.
Liam silently closed the workshop door and slid the locking latches into place, then leaned back and eased down onto the floor. Hopefully, the uncomfortable environment would soon force the searchers to leave. But he worried, if they lingered and were observant, they might notice their footprints on the dusty floor.
“Well, yeah. Looks like somebody coulda been down here,” a third male speaker stated. “Probably just folks doin’ the harvest though.”
How many people were out there? He closed his eyes and concentrated, their tread was light and partly masked by the clatter of the hydroponic machinery. Five searchers, he counted, four of which were heavier and possibly male, with one female. They all were probably armed with cattle prods. If discovered, he and his sister might be able to fight their way up through the next few levels, but it was doubtful they could make it all the way to the vestibule and escape outside. “We could knock them out and hide their bodies,” he whispered.
“Fighting back isn’t a good idea,” Rose replied. “A show of strength would validate the crazy woman’s claims.”
He nodded in agreement. Their friends weren’t in the basement with them, at least there was that, however, they were known associates and that might be all that was necessary to convict them.
