Cyber Thought Police

by Kyle Robertson

  A very high pressured blast of water from a fire hose exploded out the doorway to carve divots in the wall. That blast was meant to force them through the wall.

  When the blast dissipated, Steve combat rolled across the door frame to hit an opponent in the face and get out of the line of sight in less than a second. Nugget and Snark stormed in and took out three more while Steve backed them up.

  “Don’t shoot! I’m unarmed!”

  Chip and Gaia came in.

  “Get away from the column and show yourself!” Steve yelled.

  “No! You’re gonna shoot me!”

  “You know we’re from the prison and this is Japan! These are non-lethal riot rifles. Come out, or I’ll give you a nasty headache!” Steve yelled.

  “You’re attacking us with riot guns?” the person asked and walked out pointing 22 pistol. “I’m sorry, I lied. I am armed. Drop your rifles.”

  Steve was shocked. Guns were outlawed in Japan. His toughness left quickly.

  “Hold on, guy. We just want to talk.”

  He didn’t want to ‘talk’, so he shot Nugget in the arm.

  “I think you should listen before we talk. Drop your rifles!”

  They all dropped their rifles and slowly backs away from him.

  “Your main purpose wasn’t to talk. You wanted to destroy my creation.” It was Kalin. “I won’t allow that. Gerry? Grab their weapons!”

  Gerry came out from behind a desk.

  “They may have a reason, Kalin. They did come here for a purpose.”

  “Get their guns, boy! I won’t ask you again! Never question me!”

  Gerry looked as if he was offended. He picked up a crowbar, went to the smug Kalin, and cracked his skull!

  “I was NEVER your ‘boy’! You’re too obsessed with your new toy, you won’t listen!”

  Chip was amazed, but Steve picked up his rifle and aimed it a Gerry.

  “Drop the crowbar!”

  Gerry dropped it and put up his hands

  “Trust me, I’m the least of your problems.”

  “You’re in this death cult! You just hit a member you know, but don’t like! How can I trust you?!”

  Everyone picked up their riot rifles and Magrupt.

  “I think he just earned trust, Steve. Stand down.”

  “I’m a slave and Kalin’s just a cheap swindler,” Gerry said. “He only had one bullet in that gun. I just got sick of faking belief in the Program and putting up with the callous arrogance.”

  “Hit him again,” Clarence said with anger. “He only had one bullet and decided to shoot ‘me’ in the arm!”

  “This’ll just give your war story some more ‘spice’, Nugget,” Steve said with a grin.

  Chip got into the new transmitter’s workings and gutted the system. As he pulled out the wirings and optics, he checked to see if there was a back-up. It was an isolated system with no wireless connection, he contacted Kayleigh so she could send Liham the schematics. He took some wires to tourniquet Nugget’s arm.

  “It’s done. Bullhorn the squad and let’s get out of here.”

  “What do you want to do with Gerry?” Steve asked.

  “He’s really not part of this,” Chip said. “He can help Nugget back home.”

  “We’re bringing back a straggler then,” Steve said.

  “After knocking out Kalin and letting us destroy their Program transmitter, I don’t think he’ll be very welcome here anymore.

  Steve went to Gerry.

  “You’re luck Chip’s a rational man, because I’d just ‘irrationally’ shoot you, because you’re on the other side and I don’t trust you. Pick up Nugget. We’re leaving.”

  Steve sounded the bullhorn to let Neo-Khaos know to pop their tear gas to lay down a smoke screen and escape.

  “It took about a minute to hear the coughing and spitting up. They put on their masks. Nugget shared with Gerry.

  “Hold this wired tether so I can clear you of the gas!” Chip yelled through his mask. “You’re on your own when scaling the fence! It’s partially down, so figure it out!”

  They all left the warehouse to rendezvous with the rest of Neo-Khaos. After they cleared the fence, the journey back home became interesting.

  Chapter Ten: Who Will Fall?

  “My transmission went through,” Kayleigh told Cole and Sledge. “That crazy transiton pulled it off.”

  Cole play-punched Sledge’s arm.

  “I knew he could do it. Liham’s about to turn this war to us.”

  “We’ll see,” Sledge said. “Let’s see how many casualties were recorded in this exercise.”

  “If his calculations were accurate, a minimal amount,” Cole assured.

  “Keep up the optimism. Just don’t be shocked if Gaia died.”

  “Why would you even say that?!” Cole was shocked.

  “That’s probably the worst outcome for you. If she’s alive, you’ll be very happy. Just be prepared for the worst. That’s camp leader speak.”

  What Sledge just did to him was coldly constructive.

  “Stop doing that, I’ll never be the camp leader.”

  “Yeah. That’s what you stated so adamantly about running the rookie squad,” Sledge said. “I may not be around next year, or even tomorrow. Your squad trusts you. Neo-Khaos will follow suit.”

  “As you told me earlier, I’m too optimistic to run the camp.”

  “When Liam sends out these new schematics, your optimism might just be the new spark they need to win.” Sledge was promoting as if he knew something. That was when Cole rationalized his demeanor. He was a pessimist. Pessimists speak that way naturally.

  “Chip will be back by noon. Let’s get some shut-eye, so we can hear his war stories,” Cole told Sledge.

  “A geeky transiton telling hardened war stories,” Sledge said with a hint of sarcasm. “I can’t wait.”

  

  The war squad came in about 1 in the afternoon. It took a little longer because they had to assist Clarence. Losing blood in the heat didn’t help their expedient travel.

  Cole came out of the prison to greet them.

  “I thought your timing was precise when you mapped this out!” he yelled at Chip.

  “Murphy’s Law consequences!” Chip yelled back. “Nugget got shot!”

  Cole ran through their borgey defense line to help with Nugget. The borgeys sensed a foreign element within the group and aimed their Magrupts.

  “Tell them to stand down. We brought a human straggler.”

  Cole saw Gerry.

  “Get AWAY from Neo-Khaos! Hands up, Extremist!”

  Chip intervened. “He was captured by them! He helped us complete our mission! He’s fine!”

  Cole looked at Steve.

  “He knocked out that Kalin guy and helped Chip destroy the Program transmitter to get Kayleigh her communication stream. He’s cool for now.”

  “Where’d they kidnap you from?” Cole asked him suspiciously.

  “I was in maintenance in Tsuen Wan when they took me. I’ve been listening to their crazy notions for a couple years. I’m glad you guys came when you did.”

  Cole was still suspicious. “They just let you stay. Eating their food and drinking their drink for you to not be indoctrinated to be one of them? Why didn’t they just kill you?” They think we’re Program fodder and they don’t even know us. They know you.”

  “I’ve been their slave ever since they took me. As long as I was productive, they wouldn’t kill me. Cleaning toilets saved my life.”

  “Nugget’s bleeding out, Cole. Can you interrogate inside?” Chip asked.

  Cole looked at Nugget and saw how weak he looked.

  “Did anyone else get shot?”

  “No,” a Neo-Khaos soldier said. “Those idiots brought old Magrupts to a riot rifle beanbag fight. They’re the definition of an isolated camp.”

  Cole smiled and let them through. The borgeys fired.

  “They’re shooting, Cole!”

 
“Yes. With cyborg deactivating firepower. Gerry’s human, so he can’t be turned off. Just ask the cultists from that camp you recently defeated.” They went inside to get Clarence patched up.

  

  After everyone felt better. Kayleigh went to Linda.

  “Hi, Linda. Have you encountered Gerry yet?”

  “He’s been marveling over Alikira all evening. He never saw anyone like her before. That janitor is surprisingly tech-savvy,” she said.

  “Tell me about it,” Kayleigh began. “He was behind the transmission console asking me so many questions, I thought my ears would fall off.”

  “Chip said he helped. I just think he wants to know what he helped in.”

  “Yeah, but being asked about hyperlink compatibility nodes and terabyte holo-storage protocols from a janitor is a little creepy.”

  “You were a florist interior designer model before the event. I bet you had no idea what any of those things were three years ago,” she said. “Stop being Steve and deactivate your suspicion.”

  Kayleigh knew her suspicion was unfounded in the time after the extinction attempt. You were forced to learn new things to survive. She put it out of her head consciously, but subconsciously, it was still lingering.

  “Liham coded our template into a Morse capable transmission. We should see a borgey defection in about a month. Liham just has to plan the coup d’état against the Program.”

  “This could be over soon,” Linda said. “I would love to take a shower by myself again. You can’t… pamper yourself in a group of others.”

  “I’m getting sick of the locker room environment as well. I like singing off key alone.” She smiled. “I know our lives have changed dramatically, but those little creature comforts get you through life easier.”

  Linda began to dream.

  “Just imagine. Taking a hot lavender scented bubble-bath with rose petals in the tub listening to the Vanjelione String Symphony with champagne by your side surrounded by warm candlelight.”

  “Yeah,” Kayleigh said. “That is a few lightyears away from watching a guy scrubbing his hairy armpits in a group shower with no soundtrack, let alone an enjoyable one.”

  “I think we can stop dreaming before the year is over,” Linda said.

  Kayleigh smiled.

  “Fingers crossed.”

  

  “Okay… almost… got it!” Steve was trying to open an old stuck latch to an escape door to access some escape submersibles to the lake.

  “Why are you doing this, Steve?” Carlos asked. “That’s the only door without a digital lock. They didn’t even use it.”

  “The reason it’s not digital is that you couldn’t open your only means of escape during a power disruption. This prison housed some savvy cybercriminals trained to trap you for hostage situations. Jerin told me that and where to find this escape route to get to submersibles.”

  “The ‘why’ I was talking about is we’re safe with Liham sending the schematics. Our borgey army can deactivate any automatons and disable any human threat. Why are you trying so hard to find an escape to our ultra-safe location?”

  “Think about it this way,” Steve began. “If the front door is blocked by a rapidly advancing fire about to engulf this prison in a deadly fire, wouldn’t you want an escape route?”

  “This prison has many safety anti-inferno protocols installed by law.”

  “Stop the semantics, Carlos. It’s an analogy. You always want a back door.”

  “Has anyone ever told you you’re over cautious?”

  “Just the dead ones, so pointing that out seems to be their Styx final boat tour ticket.”

  “You live in morbidity. I bet you get hives when everything’s going right,” Carlos said.

  Steve pried open the door and the rats scurried from the opening.

  “I guess they didn’t use this often. I just surprised an entire rat community.”

  “I’m not goin’ in there,” Carlos said.

  Steve pressed the sonic evacuator only the rats could hear to evict the rodents.

  “Funny you wanted to call me a pussy, Pussy.” Steve grinned.

  “I think I’m justified in calling you over suspicious of nothing. I think the Neo-Khaos nurse can help with your paranoia.”

  “Why have her help with one of my advantages?” he said. “You’re the one who thinks it’s one of my problems.”

  “It’s not just me,” Carlos said. “Ask any one of your squad mates to describe you to a stranger and the first thing to come out of their mouths is paranoid.”

  “At least they know me well,” Steve said. “My job is to never let my guard down. Your job is to fly. I never told you, you suffer from gravity defiance while doing your job, so don’t hinder my job. You fly occasionally. My job is a twenty-four, seven thing.”

  “So, you’re never off duty?”

  “I’m off duty when this war is over,” he said. “Tell the others we have a new way out. Have them run escape drills because panicked confusion can get you killed as well.”

  Carlos gave up trying to talk to him. He wouldn’t even accept he had a problem, so why try to help him?

  “Okay. I’ll have them run drills. At least it’ll take away the boredom.”

  “Just remember, Carlos,” Steve said. “You never know. Always have an escape contingency.”

  

  Jak brought some freshly killed rats to Gaia in the mess kitchen.

  “Okay, I did it. Now we have fresh meat instead of simulated meat cubes. My question is, why would you get rats?”

  “One, the protein packs are depleted and two, can you hunt and kill a bobcat or wolf with a beanbag rifle and your bare hands? I’m a very experienced and seasoned chef. I’ll make it taste like chicken.”

  “You’re Vietnamese. Most of us are from America. We eat cows and pigs, not rats and crickets.”

  “Well then, I recommend you become vegan like Cole and tell no one they’re eating a Vietnamese delicacy,” she said.

  “Pufferfish, boiled sheep’s head, dog, shark fin soup, fried tarantulas. Why does every delicacy sound so weird?” Jak asked under his breath.

  “I bet my Ostridge beats your chicken any day,” Gaia said. “Go eat your bean sprouts and keep quiet about my food.” She began cleaning the rats.

  

  As everyone ate heartily and began to run escape drills, Liham Morsed Kayleigh about their progress.

  “Liham says everyone’s ready to attack. The schematics worked and each camp has borgey defense squads patrolling. When are we going to take down the Program?”

  “Don’t jump the execution just yet, Kayleigh,” Cole said. “I’ve never seen the mainframe building, so we can’t have them just go in blind. I have to Murphy’s Law plan this.”

  “Good thinking,” Sledge said. “The Program is pragmatic and not arrogant enough to discount security. It’s an inherent computer anti-virus program, so once it kills a bug, you can’t make another bug anywhere near similar to the original. If you fail, you’ll have to concoct an entirely different strategy. Alikira could be rusted by the time you come up with something new and she’s made with non-oxidizing titanium. Don’t mess up your first attempt and you won’t have to think up another.”

  “You use your pessimism to make sure things go right,” Cole said.

  “And you use your optimism to execute your planning favorably,” Sledge said. “Our yin yang operations share a synergy that way.”

  Cole agreed and went to his cell to plan for victory.

  “He might need some help knowing all the parameters of the global timing mark to be able to surge at the right time,” Linda said.

  “He knows the tidal wave is comin’,” Steve said. “The timed unanimous surge is Kayleigh and Liham’s calculation. The reason he’s a great leader is he has an awesome team to do all the micro-managing. Don’t weigh him down with the insignificant.”

  “Do you do that with your marksmen squad?�
�

  “I tell them what to deactivate and they adjust their ranging. I trust my team to be the marksmen I recruited them for. I picked them. Cole used your strengths. So, yeah. We both trust our teams to micro-manage,” Steve confirmed.

  Kayleigh knew it would take some time for Cole to implement his Murphy’s tactic, so she got up and grabbed Chip’s hand.

  “We have some time. Come on.”

  “Where are we going?” Chip asked.

  “Relationship education,” Kayleigh said. “Jenny said she was fine with teaching you.”

  “Where is Kayleigh taking Chip?” Gaia asked Steve.

  “Looks like a forum diary experience. I think she’s about to change the transiton into a suave ‘ladies’ man’. Let the poor sap learn.”

  Everyone went to their normal tasks in the prison. It wasn’t an ideal location, but for right now, it was their home.

  

  After Kayleigh and Jenny ‘taught’ Chip relationship education, it became very late. She wanted to check to see if Liham had given further instructions. She went to the transmitter room to find out. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, so she didn’t look for a portable illumination device. It turned out she didn’t need any. There was someone in the transmitter room!

  She crept to the partially opened door to listen.

  “No, it’s safe. The borgey defense is mainly for anything electronic. I hacked their protocol from that robot chick, so humans are invisible to them. Just leave your digital watches and you won’t be detected.”

  “Did you alert Circumscriber of their blasphemous misdeeds?”

  “I contacted you first. Alerting Circumscriber is next.”

  It was Gerry! He wasn’t their slave! He was their mole! Kayleigh swung open the door and hit the prison riot alarm.

  “You’re not a janitor! You’re humanity’s traitor!”

  As the alarm blared, Gerry sprang from his chair to grab Kayleigh by her throat!

  “It’s already done! You idiots found out a little too late!”

  As the Neo-Khaos soldiers scrambled to assemble, Gerry pulled out the previous pistol from the squad’s first attack foray, spun Kayleigh around and put it to her head. As Steve and the rest came near, he yelled out.