Absolution

by Peter Smith

  The laser missed by a millimeter, but burst into existence as it passed over Patterson’s chest. The beam of concentrated light broke into several weaker ones and bounced away from Patterson’s surface. Carbon burns appeared along the inside of the lift and across the surface of Drone C. Drone A’s fist grazed Patterson’s suit jacket, the closest any attack had come so far to causing him harm.

  Jacob gripped the drone’s wrist as it passed, aiming it at Drone C and using the still firing laser to cut the machine in half. Patterson’s free hand plunged through Drone A, aimed at the QEC within. With the detection of the hand breaching the exterior shell, Toby immediately deactivated the drone and severed its connection to the QEC network. Drone B propelled itself across the small space and pressed itself against Patterson’s back, gripping at his head, attempting to snap his neck.

  Alerts appeared in Toby’s consciousness as Drone B’s sensors noted wide spread damage across the entire surface of the unit. Its outer material was being consumed by a nanoscale attack. Patterson’s arms reached upward, his left hand sliding through and out of the remains of Drone A, and he gripped the metal frame at the top of the lift, preventing himself from falling back to the floor.

  Drone B, still functioning, but for how much longer Toby couldn’t be sure, shifted to wrapping its fingers around Patterson’s face and digging them into his eyes.

  All data from the hands ceased as they dissolved away. Its grip lost Drone B plummeted to the floor of the elevator below, moments later it ceased transmitting or receiving as Toby disconnected it from the QEC network before the swarm of nanites could get to the device.

  The upper half of Drone C was still functioning, but no longer combat capable. Toby used it to observe Patterson as he ascended the Spire’s exterior to reach the family suite level. The man climbed the surface, his hands and feet adhering to it.

  On the family suite level, Toby watched through a hundred and seventeen sensor feeds. Eighty-seven of those had their laser emitters trained upon the closed lift door. The remainder were stacked behind those that did, prepared to replace fallen drones in combat and keep a consistent volume of fire on Patterson.

  All previous attacks had failed, Toby had analyzed the defense mechanism being used by Patterson. His body was constructed and maintained by an indeterminate number of nano machines, the advanced descendants of the smart material that the fountain within main atrium consisted of. While the technology behind them was impressive, it still operated under the laws of physics.

  Tobor determined that the next strategy would be to concentrate a large burst of energy into Patterson, overwhelming the ability to the nanites to disperse or absorb the power.

  Drone C continued to send its observations. Toby was still in command of the severely damaged body and was directing it to scale the exterior of the Spire. It would follow Patterson, maintaining sensor contact with the man as he moved up the wall.

  Toby had just pulled the torso of Drone C out through the top of the elevator car when Patterson arrived at the doors that would give it access to the family suite. Tobor, inhabiting the entire company, directed their laser emitters onto the door. It would discharge an incredible volume of energy into Patterson the nanosecond the doors split open. Toby could have fired now, but the door would absorb some energy and potentially give Patterson the time he needed to adapt to the attack.

  One instant Patterson was there, clinging to the outside of the door. The next moment Drone B observed him fall toward the door, as if gravity had reoriented itself and was pulling him into it. His body impacted the metal, and he lost all cohesion, splashing across the surface of the doors. The mass converted to streams , and then into hair thin strands. They disappeared a second later, having completely penetrated the wall.

  Toby focused on the feed from its defense force, unsure what to expect. A vibration ran through the floor and walls. The Spire’s internal maintenance system indicated that there was a decrease in structural integrity in the area. Then the entire outer wall fell apart, crashing into the hallway as a black wave that funneled itself directly toward the doors of the family suites.

  The drones fired.

  Red light filled the hall as hundreds of laser beams crisscrossed the space, targeting the ever growing and advancing mass of nanites. The color only noticeable as the beams burned through the microscopic machines, throwing off crimson hues.

  Spines erupted from the mass in a pattern that would have been chaotic to a human brain but was well planned and easily tracked by Tobor. Unfortunately, the speed and lethality of the assault meant that even though Toby could track the inevitable motions of the black mass, there was little it could do to stop it.

  They shot out, flying across the space or projected from the mass, slicing through drones at an incredible rate. Drones that were exposed fell at the same rate as those hidden behind walls. The black spikes slipping through the walls as easily as they did the armor of the combat units. Each of the spines struck with precision, destroying the CPU of each machine.

  Lasers continued to burn away nanites, but others replaced them as the little machines consumed materials from Tobor’s own bodies and used it to replace those that were vaporized by the directed energy weapons.

  Drone C crested the edge of the elevator access door, its fingers fighting for purchase on the smooth surface. The last of the protective company fell to the ground, Toby no longer able to connect to its system.

  C watched as the mass calmed, coalesced and reconstituted itself into Patterson’s form. He gripped at the cuffs of his shirt, straightening them and dusted off a mote of dust that had landed on his jacket’s arm. Gaping holes existed in the surfaces and destroyed drones, all the missing material having been consumed by the nanites to replace those that had been destroyed in the battle. Patterson looked at Drone C, “Good try Toby”, the words transmitted wordlessly across the gap between them.

  The door to Eva and Williams suite opened and Alex stood at the threshold, his little hands shaking as he inspected the source of the noise outside his grandparent’s door.

  Tobor’s hand stretched for Alex, its other dragging it forward toward the boy, “Run Alex,” it exclaimed.

  Alex, confused, looked from Toby toward the man in the well-pressed suit standing before him. His eyes narrowed and his head tilted to the side, “Grandpa?”

  Patterson walked toward Alex, his fingertips touching his small shoulder as he guided him back into the room. Jacob looked back over his shoulder, glaring at Tobor as he spoke to Alex, “Hello Alex, I’ve wanted to meet you.”

  The door slid shut.

  21

  Jacob Patterson

  New York Spire

  It looked at him expectantly.

  Jacob sat down on the floor, the doorway to his left, and patted the ground next to him.

  “What happened to Toby?” It asked.

  Patterson smiled sadly, “Toby had an accident.”

  It sat next to him, “What happened?”

  “Who told you I was your grandfather?” He asked, changing the subject.

  “Mommy has pictures of you in her office?”

  Shock filled him. The last memory he had of his daughter was of her murdering him. Everything that he had learned through his clandestine observations of the planet had showed that her opinion of him hadn’t improved. She spent every day trying to undo many of his achievements. The establishment of free settlements for survivors of his greatest sacrifice, for example. That she allowed the lesser leaders of the world to dictate the direction the planet would follow rather than guiding them either directly or through manipulation.

  He looked at Alex as the boy fidgeted with his shoelaces. This child was the greatest act of contempt she could have perpetrated against him. It was devastating to him that she had chosen to breed with those that he had given his soul to end. Not only was she saving them, but she was mingling her blood and culture with theirs. Everything she did was an attempt to resist him and proved how muc
h Eva had corrupted her.

  The thought of Eva touching Williams flashed through his mind and he pushed his fingertips through his palms, “Grandpa?” it said.

  Though hearing that Maria still kept mementos of him shocked and reinvigorated his thought process. He was right to strive to save her from this world. To save her from her mother who had been insidiously whispering into Maria’s ear while he spent his time creating a safe and promising world for her to thrive in.

  “Grandpa?”

  Jacob shook his head, suddenly remembering that he was not alone, “Yes?” He asked.

  “Your hands have an owie.”

  With a start he looked down at his hands and could see where his fingertips had fused with the palms. He smirked, waving his hands in front of the boy’s face with a flourish, his fingers coming free, “Just practicing a magic trick.”

  Patterson’s heart fluttered at the look of wonder that blossomed on his grandson’s face, “Can you do it again?” Alex asked.

  He smiled, “How about a different trick?” He displayed his empty hands, reached behind Alex’s ear and then produced a small miniature of the planet Earth. It that floated above his open palm.

  “Wow” Alex said, his little finger stretching out to touch it, “How did you do that?”

  His shoulders relaxed as he looked at his grandson, appreciating that he had responded the correct way to the new situation. Curiosity and the desire to learn more were signs of intelligence.

  His neck tightened. He shifted his head ever so slightly to look at the doorway. Alex continued to probe the blue gem floating in the air as Patterson closed his eyes. Maria’s elevator had arrived on the floor, the doors were about to open. He could hear her speaking to herself frantically in the lift, willing the vehicle to move faster as she allowed panic to grip at her.

  She would be here in seconds and then it would be that much more difficult for him to rescue her from this elaborate ruse that her mother and the agents of the old world had orchestrated. He needed to act quickly, to make her transition back to him smoother and less painful.

  He focused on Alex. He saw so much of his daughter in that small face. It was the eyes though, those were the most pronounced. One day, she would have an amazing child to carry on her legacy.

  He cleared his throat, and the child looked at him. Patterson forced a smile, “I’ve got one more magic trick for you.”

  Its expression lit up even more and Patterson felt pity for it, “Close your eyes.” He commanded.

  The thing did as it was told. Patterson placed his hand over its forehead and the nanites that made up his body slipped free of the magnetic field they were maintaining to create his form and flowed through its ears, nose and tear ducts.

  It jerked ever so slightly and Patterson’s free hand came up to support its head. It wasn’t this creature's fault that it was a flawed creation and he had no desire to cause it pain or discomfort as he ended it’s life. It needed to end, to cut all of Maria’s ties to this world, to allow him to reshape her and place her back onto the correct path. The direction that would see her fit to lead the entire planet and the human race into a new golden age. Unfortunately, the thing before him was a solid anchor to the current status quo, so it had to be removed.

  Guilt roiled beneath his calm face as he laid its body gently on the ground, having shut down its brain functions. He didn’t know why he felt this way, why seeing it still and growing cold upon the floor would bother him. It shouldn’t, after all it never should have been created. It was an accident, and one that was preventing the best path forward.

  He would explain that to her when she arrived. She would understand, eventually.

  Her screams took him out of the moment. His hand had been gently stroking the mop of hair on its head. He had a vague memory of doing the same for Maria, as a child, when he had arrived home from a late meeting to find her asleep on the couch. The difference being that she was meant to live.

  He turned to look at her. She was on her knees, just past the threshold for the door. Her eyes were wild and her body lurched forward, but she didn’t move any closer, as if her legs had adhered to the floor. She reached for the child.

  Patterson shook his head, “Oh no sweet heart don’t worry, it didn’t feel any pain. It was quick, I promise you.”

  Her screams intensified. He had known she would take the loss of her son badly. People often formed unnecessary attachments. His father for example had cried when selling an old car. Her reaction here, though, was far more than he had been prepared for. Seeing her brokenhearted because of the actions of her mother tore at his own heart.

  He scrambled over to her, wanting to comfort her, “I’m so sorry Maria, she never should have permitted this to happen.” He said, trying to wrap his arms around her, to give her the reassurance that she so desperately needed.

  The shouts of anger and loss were incoherent as Maria attempted to scramble toward the body, “Let me go!”

  He shook his head, his arms resisting her attempts at escape, “No Maria, that is the past. We can’t dwell on it, we have to move forward and prepare for the future.”

  She spit in his face and clawed at his eyes. He let go, stunned by her sudden act of violence against him. It shouldn’t have surprised him, it shouldn’t have hurt him so. She had killed him once, so the bar was pretty high. But she had done that because of the insidious influence of her mother. But that was an act of anger that took place in the moment. He hadn’t expected it to occur again.

  He took a breath. This too was because of her. Maria had been trapped with Eva for the last five years, without any counterbalance. It only made sense that she would become more violent as she was influenced by those that clung to the old world.

  Maria scrambled across the floor, draping her body over Alex’s. She gripped the boy’s face as she pleaded with him to wake.

  Patterson moved and knelt next to her, watching as she cried over his body. The joy had left his grandson’s face. Jacob’s head snapped violently to the side. His hand crashed against his breast, fingers digging into his chest as he threw his head back in a wordless scream of agony.

  The next nanosecond he snapped back into his previous body position. Looking down upon his daughter as she embraced its body.

  He rested his hand on her shoulder, “We have to go.”

  She spun, smacking his arm to the side. He allowed it to happen and watched as she collapsed back onto it.

  He was running out of time. She was to have allowed him to engage her in discussion by this point. Allowed herself to be persuaded by his logic. Surely she would have been upset, she had after all established a new mental pattern, but she eventually would have understood that his path was the correct one. Maybe she would have been relieved to no longer have to carry the burden of the world and this thing’s existence on her shoulders.

  Tobor and Maria had already directed an entire army group to converge on this spire. While he could disrupt dozens of drones and building operations, even his abilities had their limits. That volume of drones would be problematic and might make it impossible for him to safely remove Maria from this place. They needed to leave now before the reinforcements arrived to support the security units that were already taking elevator lifts to engage him.

  He placed his palm against the back of her head; the nanites flowing from his hand and into her ears. She resisted for far longer than he had expected, several microseconds. He’d have to explore what effect her neural implant had on the process. Slowly, she collapsed atop its body, slipping into unconsciousness as she did.

  He stood and as he did a thin layer of his nanites shed from his surface, sliding underneath her body and separating her from the body of the boy. She floated into the air, slowly and gently as the nanites served as a surface to support her. He extended his hand toward the floor and his entire body deformed, flowing toward the spot he had pointed his non-existent hand toward. He flowed toward that point, forming a perfect circle six feet in
diameter.

  He consumed the material of the floor, subfloor, burrowing through the thickly reinforced armor plating that protected the suite from an explosion or breach from below. Maria followed, levitating above of his ravenous mass of nanites as he consumed floor after floor, avoiding the lifts entirely by creating his own alternate route to reach the hangar.

  As the last millimeter of the hangar roof in their path dissolved, he reconstituted himself, lowering both of them to the ground. He laughed as he imagined he could see them both floating through the air, Maria unconscious and he wearing a business suit. He must have looked ridiculous. He contemplated forming a cape to complete the image but shook his head, “That’ll make you look worst.”

  “Besides, you’d have to wear spandex and you’ve never had the physique to pull that off.” He replied with a chuckle.

  As his feet touched the ground he sent the signal for his transport to return. Maria hovered a meter away, still unconscious and would remain that way so long as he continued to instruct the nanites to keep her in that state. He checked to make sure that the platoon of drones he had placed into standby mode were still where he had left them.

  Tobor was rerouting elevators to deploy its forces on the floor below and above the hangar so they could take the stairwell access.They were preparing to steal Maria from him yet again. The last thing Patterson wanted was for the platoon that was already here to activate and distract him for crucial seconds.

  That might let Tobor get a sizable force into this cavernous space and make it possible to take her. Or worst, the ensuing battle would result in her death. He would do everything within the realm of physics to prevent that outcome, but in the chaos of battle, not everything could be predicted or prevented.