by Claire Buss
Ben coughed to get Dina's attention.
'I'm heading out,' he said. 'You want anything?'
Dina shook her head, but smiled in thanks.
'Are you leaving too, Ben?' Kira sounded disappointed. 'Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? There's plenty.'
'No thank you.'
'You won't say anything about what went on tonight will you, Ben?' Kira said.
Ben had his hand on the door. 'No, I won't,' he assured Kira without turning round.
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'Divided we fall – together we are mighty!'
Kira watched him leave and chewed on her bottom lip.
'It'll be alright, Kira. Ben won't say anything.' Dina stood beside her.
'Huh?'
'Ben. He won't say anything. He doesn't want anyone to know about …. well you know.... about..... the failure.'
Dina tried not to cry. Kira turned and hugged her tight.
'You are not a failure love. You're a fighter.'
Martha murmured her agreement and even Ingrid patted Dina on the shoulder.
'Corporation will sort it out,' Ingrid said confidently. 'Things will go back to normal - Collection and control. The way it should be.'
The others stared at her, but Ingrid wasn't watching their faces. Instead she was accessing her mother's social calendar on her wristplant to see if she would be at home.
'I'll come round soon,' she said. 'I promise.' Then she air kissed them all, and left.
'What a Corper!' Dina exclaimed. 'I know she's your sister-in-law Kira, but she is such a tech-head.'
Kira nodded her agreement. A faint ding from the kitchen reminded them of dinner.
'Let's eat,' Kira said, leading the others over to the counter as Grace began to cry. 'You serve, Ma. I'll go get the little one.'
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The next morning saw a tired yet determined group of friends gather for their first planning meeting. Kira was bleary-eyed after getting up four times in the night with an extremely unhappy baby, and feeling resentful at how well-rested Jed looked. Martha and Dina had waited up for Ruth to get back from processing, and spent most of the night talking about how to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was happening to them.
'I had a strange dream last night,' Kira said, joining the others in the lounge with a cup of synth-caf in her hands. 'When I finally got to sleep that is.' She looked pointedly at her husband.
Jed, engrossed in the morning's sweeps, carried on eating breakfast unaware the remark was aimed at him.
'What?' he said, finally noticing the silence and speaking through a mouthful of food.
Kira ignored him, addressing Ruth, Martha and Dina.
'Anyway,' she said. 'I saw Gaia.'
'You saw Gaia,' Ruth repeated in disbelief.
'Yes, I did,' Kira replied, feeling defensive. 'She was walking towards me as the entire city around us exploded into a million pieces. As the pieces rained down they became trees and a lake and beautiful countryside. I couldn't hear her but I knew she was talking. It was odd because I was trying so hard to catch what she said, but I couldn't hear anything.'
'What did she look like?' Dina asked.
'Oh, she was beautiful. Blue skin and hair that moved around her on its own with flowers and creatures peeking out. Her eyes were like - '
'Eyes that sparkled like a thousand stars?' Jed asked, sitting up in the chair and paying attention.
'Well, yes,' Kira said, a little confused as to how Jed might know such a thing.
'That's who I saw. On Collection Day. In the street. When I saw the bee. You remember?' he said in excitement.
'A bee?' Martha said. 'I saw a bee.'
'Aren't they supposed to be extinct?' Ruth asked, but when no-one answered her, she shrugged. 'I thought they were extinct.'
Dina came to her rescue. 'Ruth's right, they are extinct. They're also familiars of Gaia.'
'What's a familiar?' Jed asked.
'Familiars are animal shaped spirits and bees are associated with Gaia.'
'How do you know that?' Ruth queried.
Dina flushed. 'I've been doing some research, reading ancient texts. I think I've dreamt of Gaia before too. At first I thought it was my mother, but the woman was more beautiful than I remembered.'
'What happened?' Kira asked, interested to know if Dina's dream could in anyway be connected to her own.
'I could hear her,' Dina said. 'She just kept on apologising. It was around the time I .... when I .... well, you know …..'
The group quietened, sensing Dina's reluctance to talk about her miscarriage.
Jed offered to refresh everyone's drinks, and walked away to the drinks machine with a handful of mugs.
'I did not know Jed believed,' Martha said to Kira in his absence.
'I don't think he does Ma, not really. But even he has to admit strange things have happened to us. And the news sweeps aren't reporting any other pregnancies out there.'
'If it was widespread,' Ruth said. 'We'd definitely be hearing it on the sweeps.'
'Why?' Dina asked.
'Because Corporation wouldn't be able to stop every single person from uploading,' Ruth replied, then hesitated. 'Would they?'
'Who knows?' Dina shrugged.
'Speaking of Anti-Corp.' Kira changed the subject. 'Did they accept your arrest Ruth?'
'Yep. I've gotta report in later. I'm planing to get D up to speed by then, so I can give them their new mole and not get fitted with a new recorder. That's the last thing we need.'
'What's the last thing we need?' Jed asked, returning with fresh synth-caf.
'Ruth to be reactivated,' Kira said.
'Oh right, yeah. Well, it's not actually the worst thing that could happen. We've got some new tech that could hijack whatever Ruth transmits, and process it through our server first.' Jed paused, seeing puzzled faces in front of him. 'It means we can remove anything we don't want Anti-Corp hearing.'
'What about me?' Dina asked. 'What will I have?'
Jed fished around in the bag under his stool, and brought out a thin hollowed disc.
'This is what we call a jack-catcher. It'll fit around your neural jack and capture audio and data information.'
'So you can even read encrypted info dumps?' Ruth was fascinated.
'That's right,' Jed said. 'Anti-Corp might think they've got the upper hand over us at Force, but we are constantly evolving new ways to monitor and counter their actions. We don't want a repeat of the mob action we had after The Event.'
Even though no-one there had been alive then, regularly streamed audio and visual recordings of The Event and its aftermath kept the details fresh in people's minds. The recordings were played to provide a reminder of what had been lost, and what had been gained.
'We'd better get on with this then,' Ruth said. 'This is what I'm thinking...'
She outlined her plan to introduce Dina to her contact at Anti-Corp as a recent graduate, with all the right qualifications to be their Science Division insider. The others listened, each hoping that Dina would find out the answers to all their questions.
Later that afternoon Dina sat in Ruth's flat fiddling with her hair, trying to calm her nerves.
'You ready?' Ruth asked, looking at her wristplant to check the time.
'I guess so.'
Both women jumped when the door chimed, and Ruth went to open the door. The meet with Anti-Corp usually happened at the students own accommodation, but seeing as Dina was staying with Kira and company everyone felt meeting at Ruth's would be less suspicious. Bobby filled the doorway. He greeted Ruth then pushed by her, excited to meet his latest recruit.
'Well aren't you a sweet little chip,' Bobby said looking Dina up and down.
The group had decided to try and make Dina look as innocent as possible by dressing her in her University tunic and keeping hair and make-up simple and natural. So far it was working. Bobby ran through a few general queries about Dina's education and her areas of expertise, then sat back with a self-satisfied smile.
'Your credentials check out. You're exactly what we're looking for. I'm sure Ruthie has told you Dina, we have an interest in Science Division.'
'And what is it you want me to do?' Dina asked, eyes wide.
'We want to know what it is they're cooking up in their placenta bars,' Bobby said, his grin fading as neither women reacted to his joke. He carried on. 'We want to know which genes are being spliced, what experiments they're working on - how exactly they plan to continue their vice-like hold over the masses. Everything really. That's where you come in.'
Bobby stopped speaking, waiting for Dina to guess.
'You want me to plant bugs?'
'Something like that. We'll start you off small with a couple of re-cons, see how you do. If they go well....'
Bobby noticed Ruth frowning hard at him.
'Now don't worry yourself Ruthie, we aren't going to get this little chip in any kind of trouble.'
Bobby cleared his throat and stood up, Dina mirrored his movement. He leant over and swiped his wristplant over Dina's.
'I've got your number, we'll send you your first job in a few days. Let's just leave it at that shall we. Ladies.' Grinning to himself he made his own way out of the apartment.
'Ugh,' Ruth shivered. 'That man is slime personified.'
'I think it went well though,' Dina said.
'He was a little bit vague for my liking,' Ruth replied. 'I'd like to know more but if Anti-Corp are planning something big I guess we'll find out eventually.'
A week after meeting Bobby, Dina stood in the foyer of Science Division gripping her access card, waiting to pass through security. She was wearing the bugged ear comm from Jed as well as carrying several listening devices scattered about her person. Both Jed and Ruth had assured Dina she would pass through security without a hitch, but standing in line waiting to be swept, Dina could feel sweat trickling down the back of her neck.
Thirty seconds later, and it was all over. She wished she didn't feel so clammy but at least the first hurdle had been negotiated. Now all she had to do was memorise the floor plan, find the places Anti-Corp wanted her to plant bugs in, and be the most unmemorable intern - all without getting caught.
An officious looking man came over to where Dina was standing by a moving staircase.
'You the new intern?'
'Yes, I'm Dina Grey,' she said, holding out her hand in greeting.
The man ignored her hand completely, turned and began walking away from her. He called 'Follow me' over his shoulder without even looking to see if she was and proceeded to ascend the moving staircase.
Dina decided against making small talk as she tried to keep up with him. He swept down an ordinary looking corridor with doors marked numerically, until they reached an empty lab. He retrieved a couple of passes from his pocket and passed them to Dina.
'We need you to clean up,' he said. 'The last intern fried the mechanism of our equipment-washer. While we wait for the parts we've got a bit of a backlog.'
He swung the door open to reveal tray upon tray upon tray of test-tubes and beakers, petri dishes and syringes.
'I thought it was all automated these days,' Dina said, somewhat surprised.
'Head of SD is a dinosaur,' the man said. 'He likes to keep some of the old traditions alive. When you're done, swipe this card and I'll come get you. Have fun.'
Dina surveyed the room in dismay. Was this some sort of initiation test? At least she was unsupervised, and as an added bonus there happened to be a map of the facility on the wall over the sink. It was looking less and less like a waste of time after all.
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DING: Newest intern @ SCID – exciting times ahead!
Notes from Anti-Corp Meeting at Academy Student Bar, July 31st 2215
• Well done to everyone who joined us for the beach party attempt. Even though our wall breech was unsuccessful at least it was well swept – the people deserve to know that outside is safe!
• We are in favourable talks with Professor Kamir to ensure any students who took part in the wall breech are given additional duties on campus rather than expulsion.
• Successful bugging of Science Division achieved – we are monitoring all feeds to find out what new experiments are being worked out and hope to have a full report by the next meeting.
• We'd like to remind members that anyone who decides to follow the 42nd Army should leave Anti-Corp – we do not share the same mission statement and cannot condone the use of excessive violence.
• Monitoring headquarters were broken into last week. Nothing was taken so we believe it may have been a student prank but if anyone has any information please come forward.
• We have located some nearby woodland outside the wall so submit your ideas for the theme of this year's fall ball.
Meet again in a month's time. Bring all your ideas for new rallies – let's keep fighting Corporation! Think free – be free.
Chapter Eleven
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After a month into her assignment at Science Division, Dina thought her brain might atrophy from boredom. Her days were spent cleaning all the antiquated, yet still in use, equipment and performing whatever menial task her mentor didn't feel like doing. Some of these little jobs had been quite interesting, taking her to different parts of the building - useful for her double agent status - but mostly she was reduced to filing of one kind or another.
Today was different. Today the head of Science Division had specifically requested all interns to present themselves outside the entrance to Banner Corridor, the highest security clearance corridor in the complex, at 9am sharp. Dina stood with the four other interns wondering what was going to happen. There had been rumours about an intern who mysteriously went missing when working late on this particular floor. But Dina had done a bit of digging and found out that the young man had been caught in a comprising position with a senior lab technician. They had both been quietly, but firmly, asked to leave. Workplace gossip was useful and had helped Dina plant all her bugs, but she hoped this gathering was not cause for another sudden disappearance.
At 9am the automatic doors to Banner opened, and the five interns crossed the threshold. As the doors swung shut, Dr Basjere, Head of Science Division, exited a side room and joined the nervous group.
'Welcome,' he said, smiling at them all.
There were a few nervous thank-yous and foot shuffles.
'If you would all follow me please.' Dr Basjere set off down the corridor. 'Loyalty is a highly coveted trait. One that we look for in our staff. Here at Science Division we need you to be 100% committed to everything we do.'
Dr Basjere glanced over his shoulder to make sure everyone was still with him. He needn't have worried. The interns were hanging off his every word. Dina brought up the rear, wondering what Basjere was going to say next.
'We have decided that one of you will be our new full time scientist working on special projects. But before we make our final selection we have a tricky problem we would like you to take a look at. We welcome any thoughts and suggestions you might have.'
Dr Basjere stopped
outside a pair of double doors.
'Please.' He gestured the interns inside. 'Enjoy this chance to look at the future.'
Dina and the other interns entered the room, and came to a standstill. They had entered the nerve hub of the entire division - the Idea Generation Room - a nirvana for anyone who wanted to work in Science Division. The place where the magic happened. Even Dina felt a tingle of excitement as she looked at the idea boards, floating mind maps, probability machines and, most wonderfully of all, the computer hive mind that ran everything.
The hive mind sat behind several layers of plexiglass, protected by intricate security levels, but the interns could still look at it through the window. And it was beautiful.
Dr Basjere had been talking to Dina, but she hadn't heard a word.
'Miss Grey, if you could?' he repeated.
Dina heard this time, and hurried to follow the other interns into one of the affectionately named 'fish bowls' - a workspace that cut you off from all outside interference and modulated it's background to whatever most inspired and motivated the individual. It was achieved through state of the art brain scans, and some dizzying computer programming that Science Division hoped to be able to begin beta testing in people's homes in the near future. That much Dina had been able to glean from one of her break-time gossips.
As the fish bowl closed around her, Dina caught a glimpse of a high-energy radiation warning sign from behind the hive computer. That was unexpected. HER weapons had been behind the devastating effects of The Event, and she had been taught the technology – and the means to recreate it - had been destroyed forever. The testing data popped up on the transparency in front of her. The fish bowl tuned into her own personal wavelength creating her optimal work environment, and she no longer had time to think about anything else.
Later that evening, Dina relayed her days' activities to Kira and the others over dinner. The glimpse of the high-energy radiation sign had everyone worried.