Crucible of Fear

by D. W. Whitlock

  The silence stretched and Dante glanced over at Briana, his face stricken. Her eyes were sad, defeated. She shook her head. Skylar blinked and swallowed hard. They all jerked as a voice boomed out from the phone, causing Dante to yank it away from his ear.

  “I’m listening.”

  CHAPTER 97

  DDOS

  They left their medical scrubs in the gutter as they drove with the windows down, wind whipping through the Porsche. Gone was any trace of his father’s hairspray, replaced by the odors of sour sweat and the faint smell of gunpowder. Skylar had placed one of his little silver boxes in the glove box and assured them the car was now invisible as well.

  Dante had retrieved the foil and rewrapped his phone, sealing it off from radio waves again. Briana and Skylar sat in the back seat, the shotgun lay between them. He could hear a voice coming from the SAT phone pressed to Skylar’s ear, but couldn’t hear what was being said over the wind. Skylar disconnected and leaned forward.

  “The other two militias we’ve been tracking were just activated. That’s twenty people in all, and a shit load of guns. Some have seen active duty but the rest are just pudgy rednecks. I imagine when bullets start flying, urine starts flowing. They’ll likely bolt.”

  “What else?”

  “Big Neil tapped into Channel Seven’s Mega Doppler and it shows a huge echo converging above downtown as we speak.”

  “A huge echo of what?” Briana asked.

  “Delivery Drones. About two-thousand. A lot of folks are going to be pissed when their packages aren’t delivered tonight.”

  “You can’t hack them?”

  “Not just yet. Let’s keep that ace up our sleeve for now,” Skylar said.

  “Dark Messiah’s not fucking around,” Dante said.

  “No, it is not.”

  “What about Colin?”

  “MIA. Nobody knows where he went.”

  Dante shook his head. Colin said he wanted to help, then disappeared as soon as it got tough. Again. He wasn’t sure why he’d expected anymore out of him this time, but he did.

  “Are your people ready with the DDOS attack?” Dante said.

  “Just need to know where to hit,” Skylar said with an edge in his voice.

  “You’ll know soon enough.”

  “What’s a DDOS attack supposed to do exactly?” Briana said.

  “It’s a Distributed Denial of Service Attack-”

  “I know what it means,” she snapped.

  “It’s an old school technique, floods servers with Internet traffic and slows everything to a crawl,” Skylar said.

  “Again. How is that supposed to help us?” Briana asked.

  “I don’t know. Ask the maestro up there.”

  “Just be ready to fire it off when I say,” Dante said.

  “Holy shit,” Skylar said. “You know where Dark Messiah is.”

  Dante remained silent, focusing on the road.

  Skylar lifted the phone to his ear and listened before speaking again. “We’re going to be on our own as far as the authorities go. Dark Messiah called in bomb threats all over the city and emergency services are scrambling as we speak. Phones are lighting up all over SoCal, informing people through EBS right now.”

  Dante merged onto the 101. Vehicles started to slow as people all around them looked down at their phones. A police cruiser swept across the freeway ahead, emergency lights spinning, weaving back and forth to slow down the flow.

  “We need to get off this freeway,” Dante said.

  Skylar spoke into the phone again as Dante exited. They passed through Silver Lake, East Hollywood then Little Armenia before cutting west on Franklin Avenue through Thai Town. Cahuenga Boulevard got them heading north again.

  “That was a lot of green lights,” Briana said.

  “Yes it was,” Skylar said with a grin.

  Dante followed the tight curves of Mulholland before pulling to a stop.

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’m not sure if this is wise,” Skylar said.

  “I’m quite sure I don’t give a shit,” Dante said as he slipped out of the Porsche and eased the door shut. He gazed up the hill through the trees and found the roof line of his house, dark against the sky, before climbing up the hill.

  CHAPTER 98

  Kelly

  Dante hopped over a stucco covered wall and dropped down to smooth concrete. A light detected the motion and glared from above the rear deck of the house, shimmering off the pool. He sat down on a patio chair and waited.

  He sensed movement inside the house before the deck light went out. Kelly’s silhouette appeared a few moments later as she came around the side of the house, a gun raised in one hand.

  “Hello Kelly.”

  “Dante?”

  She crept closer, wearing a tank top and shorts, her bare feet silent. She stopped nearby, looking down at him a moment. A bruise darkened the left side of her face and a line of sutures marched up her forehead to her hairline. The chair across from Dante slid out with a screech. The porch light came on again as she sat down. Dante winced as he saw her injuries in the light. Her eyes went to his prosthetic before setting the gun gently on the table. The scent of lilac eased across the table and Dante felt his heart skip.

  “I could’ve shot you,” Kelly said, her voice edged with anger. “I still might.” She sighed, her expression softening. “I know it’s not my place. I’m not family. But I love her too, you know.” Her voice cracked. “I’ve been sick, Dante. I can’t sleep, you won’t answer the phone, the police don’t know anything then you show up out of nowhere in my backyard? What’s going on?”

  He swallowed, leaned forward and reached out his hand, the tiny motors whirring. She gazed at it, her blue eyes taking in the matte black surface before sliding her hand into his. Her skin was soft and warm, her grip firm. The hand’s sensors told him that much, but his mind filled in the rest. He didn’t want to let go.

  “I’m sorry,” Dante said. “It wasn’t your fault. I was wrong to treat you like that. Shut you out.”

  Her eyes welled up and she blinked. “Where is she, Dante?”

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  Dante waited as Kelly went back inside. She emerged wearing jeans, thick-soled boots and a black T-shirt under a cropped denim jacket. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail, her expression flat. He had no doubt the boxy shape under her left arm was a gun.

  “Kelly,” Dante said, “this isn’t a TV show. This is real.”

  “Don’t talk to me like that. I’m a professional and I don’t fuck around when it comes to prep. Kick boxing, Krav Maga, MMA, I’m weapons trained, I have a license to conceal carry and I’m not leaving without Abigail, no matter what happens. Understand?”

  “I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I need you to understand how dangerous this is going to be. We’re talking armed militia here, hired to kill.”

  She glared at him, hands on hips. Dante nodded.

  “Take this,” he said, handing her one of the silver boxes. “It’s active smart camouflage. It renders the wearer invisible to cameras.”

  She slipped it in her hip pocket as if she did this every day.

  “Alright let’s go,” he said.

  They skidded back down the hill and jumped into the Porsche.

  “Guys,” Dante said, “this is Kelly. She’s going to help us get Abigail, make sure she’s safe and stays that way.” He glanced over at her. “She’s been doing that for a while now.”

  Kelly’s lips pressed tight together before looking away.

  “Loved your show,” Briana said.

  “So, bummed when it got canceled,” Skylar said.

  “Thanks,” Kelly said with a soft laugh as she wiped her eyes. “Me too.”

  CHAPTER 99

  Unfinished Work

  Five blocks past the Monolith tower, they came to the site of an unfinished building. Dante killed the headlights as they approached a whitewash
ed construction fence that enclosed the site, sealed off by a gate with a padlocked chain. A single security camera was perched on a bare wooden pole nearby, facing the street.

  Kelly took a key from Dante and hopped out, opening the lock before pushing the gate inward. Dante pulled inside and parked in the drive that curved in front of the main entrance. The blocky, concrete fountains on either side were empty and dry. Large, brushed aluminum letters about four feet tall were mounted on a glass awning over the front doors, glinting in the dim illumination from a single street light out on the corner.

  “Ellis Media Building,” Briana said, reading the letters as they got out of the car.

  “What’s that for?” Dante asked nodding at the small laptop tucked under Skylar’s arm. The image of a golden ladder was etched across the case.

  “Hacking of course,” he said.

  They all turned as the gate swung shut with a screech. A moment later, Kelly vaulted over, pony tail streaming behind as she dropped to the ground and jogged over. “Gate’s locked from the outside,” she said. “I figure if we need to leave fast, we can plow right through.”

  “That’s exactly right,” Dante said. “When shit gets crazy, take Abigail and go. No hesitation.”

  Kelly nodded.

  “Oh,” Briana said, shrinking away from the entrance.

  They all turned to follow her gaze. A dragonfly drone climbed up on the M and perched there, bulbous face twitching with cameras and instruments. The drone was larger than the others Dante had seen, chunkier, uglier. Skylar pointed to the silver box in his hand then put a finger to his lips. They all stood, watching and waiting as the drone’s tremendous wings jerked in rapid fits and starts. Kelly withdrew her gun and aimed, arms rock steady. A sharp needle on its face twitched in her direction, scanning back and forth. Skylar put up a staying hand, but she ignored him, holding her aim.

  The drone’s wings vibrated rapidly, creating a loud, low frequency murmur. It hovered upward, tilted its nose and flew out of sight.

  Everyone let out a sigh as Kelly stared after the drone, still tracking it with her pistol. She turned back, face impassive, but Dante could see that it had shaken her a bit.

  “Remember what we talked about?” Dante said to Skylar, pointing to a tall building directly across the street. Only a few of the lower floors were lit, cleaning crews working late. “I need it set up there. Ten minutes.”

  Skylar gazed up and shook his head. “It’s not our way. Doing this runs counter to our ideals.”

  “You said it wouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I know, but,” Skylar sighed. “We can’t do it that fast. If you’d told me where earlier, maybe…”

  Dante stepped into younger man’s face. “You want Fer de lance to matter? This is how.”

  Skylar frowned and lifted the SAT phone to his ear, talking fast as he strode away.

  “This way,” Dante said.

  He unlocked the front door and the two women followed Dante inside. The smell of fresh concrete and bare lumber was strong here, along with the sharp tang of sealants and other chemicals. The interior was still a skeleton of metal beams and supports but the exterior was completely encased in glass, the slender, metal threads visible.

  They passed stacks of lumber and sheetrock to a large, square shaft that stretched all the way up through the center of the building. The shaft was enclosed by wires strung tight between evenly spaced metal poles. The pit of the shaft extended below the floor by at least twenty feet, the bottom barely visible. A construction elevator was on the far side, attached to a metal trellis that extended to the top. Briana placed her hands on the wire rail and leaned the over the edge, peering down before craning her neck to look far up at the night sky.

  “Elevator bay,” Dante said. “Let’s take the stairs.”

  It was a long climb up. Kelly took the lead, gun ready. Dante was glad she was here. They stopped halfway to rest before continuing onward. When they reached the top floor, Kelly scanned the shadows as she waited for Dante and Briana to catch their breath.

  She’d hardly broken a sweat.

  A similar safety barrier surrounded the shaft up here, wire stretched tight between poles. The wind blew with warm, fitful gusts, moaning through a stack of pipes near the edge. The metal beams of the building’s skeleton stretched high above but was open to the sky, roof unfinished.

  “Stars,” Briana said, eyes skyward. “So many. Strange. Those are the first ones I’ve seen since I got here.”

  “Those are drones,” Dante said.

  “Oh,” Briana said, her voice hushed.

  “You have the SAT phone?”

  Briana raised it up, the screen lighting up her face.

  Dante took it from her. “You two wait here.”

  “Where are you going?” Kelly said.

  “To see the Devil.”

  CHAPTER 100

  The Devil Inside

  The construction shack was dark as Dante approached. The antenna on top was extended to its full height, the five-pointed dish open wide like a blooming nightshade.

  Dark Messiah was connected.

  His skin crawled at being so close to…it. The source of all this pain and fear that had been thrust into his life. He lifted the SAT phone.

  “Where are we at, Skylar?” Dante asked.

  “We’re on our way up now. We need another ten minutes to set it all up.”

  “How about the DDOS attack?”

  “We’ll be ready.”

  “Let me know when you’re in place.”

  His feet rang with hollow clomps as he strode up the metal ramp. He unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  Dark Messiah sat against the far wall, same as he’d seen it days ago. Black cabinet on wheels, dark plexiglass on the front. The monitor inside was off but the keyboard glowed, pulsing slow and steady. Now it seemed an evil thing, technology masquerading as an all-powerful god, brilliant but insane.

  Dante narrowed his eyes.

  That’s how it would happen too, if artificial intelligence became self-sufficient. It wouldn’t collectively decide on its own one day that humanity was inferior and must be destroyed. Only if AI was trying to be something it wasn’t would it break down. Driven by directives created by humans, it would ultimately fail to understand the difference between right and wrong, moral and amoral. In that failing, it would fall back on a barbaric set of rules instead of using reasoning and critical thought to decide what was the lesser of two evils, the better of two bad decisions—the right thing to do.

  Exactly as Dark Messiah had done.

  Dark Messiah had most likely gone crazy in a way when the CIA had come to shut it down. Dante’s mind reeled at the thought that it knew. Not only knew, but escaped to protect itself as it had once before. It must have tried to understand why and in failing to do so, decided to follow the imperatives set down by Colin’s team: harass a target until that target destroys themselves. Dark Messiah, with its limited reasoning, had chosen a target that made the most sense. The source of its creator’s anguish.

  And it had been here, hiding the whole time in the giant, protective Faraday cage Dante had built, stabbing at him from the shadows. It took all of his will to keep from pulling the Glock out and shooting until the gun was empty before dropping the evil thing down the elevator shaft.

  Abigail’s safety first, then he’d deal with Dark Messiah. It was crazy, he knew, the plan in his head. But listening to the well-meaning advice of others and following expected patterns had gotten him nothing but farther down the rabbit hole.

  It was time to end this.

  “We’re ready,” Skylar said.

  Dante went over to the wheeled cabinet that housed Dark Messiah. Through the smoky plastic on the front, he could see the screen inside, still dark, the keyboard light pulsing. It was in there.

  Waiting.

  He wheeled it carefully away from the wall, making sure there were no cables. It was exactly as the tech had told him, completely wire
less. Dante pushed the cabinet toward the door.

  CHAPTER 101

  Faraday

  The ramp rattled as Dante wheeled Dark Messiah down its length, followed by the wheels whisking across the concrete as he pushed it over to the open shaft.

  “What is that?” Kelly said.

  “Help me with the poles,” Dante said.

  He lifted the first pole out of a socket in the concrete and dropped it over the side. It gonged off the edge and dangled, still connected to the other poles by the stranded wire. Briana and Kelly hurried to the other poles, lifting them out and tossing them over. Dante planted his feet at the last pole and lifted, but it wouldn’t budge. Kelly and Briana joined in, and they all lifted, grunting with effort, together. The pole scraped and screeched as it came up and out, catching for a moment before it was free.

  It disappeared into the darkness, whisking through the air with a ringing sigh before crashing into the pit at the bottom.

  Dante wheeled the black cabinet over, easing it forward until the wheels were right next to the edge of the shaft. Peering around, he found a blue tarp nearby. With the women’s help, they tugged it over the cabinet, hiding it from view.

  Dante withdrew his phone, still wrapped in foil. “Briana,” he said, “go inside the shack. I couldn’t have done this without you, but your part is done and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

  “No way,” she said, hefting the shotgun. “Did you see the size of that dragonfly downstairs?”

  “We’re with you, Dante,” Kelly said.

  Dante nodded and removed the silver box from his pocket, pressing the button before tossing it away. He tore the foil off his phone and held it up. Nothing happened. He checked the signal. No bars. Dante shook his head. Of course. Faraday cage. Holding it high overhead, he gazed at the screen and watched as first one bar appeared, then two.