Restoration

by Daniel C McWhorter

  “A very good question, Evan, a very good question indeed,” Chen replied. “And it is our search for an answer to that question that has led us all here.”

  Adee raised his cup of tea. “Let us hope that the next generation of humanity makes far better decisions than the last!”

  CHAPTER 26

  APRIL 5, 2075 3:13 PM GST

  GSSA Headquarters

  Zurich, Switzerland

  Geoff’s first call after leaving GSSA headquarters had been to Evelyn Wu, but she was still unavailable according to her AI assistant. Geoff left a message informing Evelyn of Aubrey’s condition and asked that she return his call as soon as possible. As Telogene’s Chief Legal Officer he should have had easy access to Evelyn, but it was becoming obvious that the GSSA did not want them speaking just yet.

  Geoff summoned a taxi and instructed it to take him to the airport before placing his next call. Kenrich Jones, Telogene’s Corporate General Counsel and Geoff’s right-hand man, answered immediately.

  “It’s good to hear from you. Geoff. Things are absolutely crazy here.”

  Kenrich worked at Telogene’s North American headquarters in Lead, South Dakota and his day was just starting because of the seven-hour time difference.

  “I know, thanks for taking my call,” Geoff replied. “I need a favor.”

  “Of course. What can I do?”

  “Aubrey Harris was terminated…nano-wipe.”

  “Oh, my God. How did that happen?”

  “I don’t know. She was being held in GSSA custody but someone got to her.”

  “Any suspects?”

  “Not yet, but the building is still locked down.”

  “How did you get out?”

  “The Secretary General let me go. I think I am her number one suspect.”

  “Then why let you go?”

  “I can only assume she wants to see what I’ll do next.”

  “Geoff…you didn’t…”

  “No, of course not. I got there after it had happened.”

  “Sorry, I had to ask.”

  “I understand. Now as to that favor…”

  “First, I should tell you that this place is crawling with GSSA agents. And now I understand why the BGSI just showed up.”

  “I figured, don’t worry. What I need won’t get you in any trouble.”

  “I’ll do whatever I can. What do you need?”

  “I need you to take over this case.”

  “What? I’m not sure…”

  “Ken, please. If I am right, it’s only a matter of time before the GSSA or BGSI arrest me and I need to get you up to speed before that happens.”

  “Of course I will represent you if it comes to that, but what grounds do they have to arrest you?”

  “I would prefer to discuss that in person. I will send you everything I have on the Evan Feldman situation.”

  “So, it’s true then? Aubrey brought her grandfather back?”

  “Yes, it’s true.”

  “Unbelievable. They told us that she had violated the HDDA but none of us believed she would try something like that! Where is he now?”

  “I don’t know. If I had to guess I would say Evan and Doctor Hao are on their way to Mars by now.”

  “So, Hao is not in custody then? That answers one of my questions. We’ve assigned counsel to Walker and Berkovic but the GSSA has been stonewalling us.”

  “Yeah, I don't understand how he did it but Hao slipped through the GSSA’s net.”

  “I was just briefed last night. He apparently bribed a GeoNet controller and got his hands on a military spec stealth AI.”

  “Where did he launch from?”

  “Our launch facility outside of Xi’an and he had a lot of help. We were just notified that two dozen employees have been arrested in connection with Hao’s escape.”

  “God, what a mess.”

  “You can say that. So what’s the plan?”

  “I have a jet waiting at the Zurich airport and I will return to Lead tonight. Assuming they let me leave that is.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  “Then you will have to come to me, my friend.”

  “Okay. I’ll review the material you’re sending. Anything specific you want me to focus on?”

  “Yes, talk to Evelyn. She’s not taking my calls and we need to know what she knows and where she stands on this. Aubrey says she sold her out to the GSSA but I have a hard time believing that. There has to be more to that story.”

  “Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thanks, Ken. You’re all I’ve got.”

  Geoff disconnected the call and keyed in the AI authentication sequence required to transmit the files he’d promised.

  There, that should be convincing, he thought.

  Geoff a.k.a Bruce Wagner had played this game for a very long time. He knew that Dianne Merkel was putting the pieces together but hopefully his call with Ken would buy him more time.

  I just need a few more hours.

  * * *

  “Yes, I understand. Let him go,” Dianne said to the BGSI agent on the holodisplay in front of her. “But I want that plane tracked. We’ll get the President’s approval to red-flag every single covert flight if we have to but we will not under any circumstance lose that plane. Understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am, that won’t be necessary…we won’t lose him.”

  “Good. Contact me immediately if that plane deviates so much as a kilometer from its flight plan.”

  Dianne disconnected the call and turned her attention back to the BGSI data she had been reviewing for the past hour.

  “So, what’s your next move, Bruce?” she said to herself. “What do you hope to accomplish in Lead?”

  She checked the time—it was a little after four in the afternoon, which meant she’d have to wait at least another four hours for Christian’s probability analysis. She thought about calling Captain Bachman but decided against it, they were scheduled to meet in another hour anyway. But the lack of action was driving her crazy. There had to be something she could do other than wait? Waiting put her in this situation in the first place.

  Dianne had known for weeks that something was about to happen at Telogene, and she had been suspicious of Aubrey’s activities for months. If she was being completely honest with herself, she had had concerns for much, much longer. In fact, it was Lily’s accident, and the suspicious circumstances surrounding it, that caused her to activate Evelyn.

  Evelyn was introduced to Aubrey almost a decade ago, and they had worked together nearly all that time. They had become close friends and Aubrey had placed a great deal of trust in her. But, as authentic as their friendship may have seemed, Evelyn Wu was a covert Overwatch agent—and it was her job to be a trusted friend and confidante.

  Although some said it was unethical for the government to spy on the large mega-corporations, those corporate behemoths have time and again proven that they could not be trusted. It was almost inevitable that an executive would order something done simply because it could be done, without ever considering whether it should be done—or the consequences of doing it.

  The GSSA was created as a corporate conscience of sorts—enforcing a set of rules and consequences that would, hopefully, give an overly tempted CEO pause. Should a CEO become blinded by ambition, greed or any of a dozen other human failings then the agent would act as a voice of common sense and reason. Sometimes, agents would infiltrate a company only after there was reason to suspect some misdeed might occur. In others, they might place an agent close to a high potential candidate years—or even decades—before their eventual rise to power, as with Evelyn and Aubrey.

  Prior to activation, an agent’s only job was to befriend their target, prove their usefulness and demonstrate their loyalty. Once activated, however, they would betray their hard-earned trust to prevent the executive from straying too far down a forbidden path. Patience, secrecy and discretion were the hallmarks of a great agent. Acting prematurely cou
ld lead to discovery and discovery meant game over.

  Aubrey was, for the most part, a good corporate citizen and executive. She worked twelve to eighteen hours a day, rarely took vacations and had few friends outside of work. There had been a few short-lived intimate relationships along the way and even an occasional “escort” to help fill in the long gaps but nobody would deny her right to those basic human comforts.

  Prior to becoming CEO, she led the Organic Storage division and worked to reduce the gap between the capabilities of the human brain and Telogene’s proprietary organic storage medium. After Lily’s death, the company’s board of directors had begged Aubrey to assume her mother’s place as head of the company. She was reluctant at first, but within a few weeks she had a change of heart and fully embraced the challenge they had given her.

  One of Aubrey’s first official acts as CEO was to increase funding for the company’s research facility on Mars, expanding it sufficiently to accommodate over two thousand of Telogene’s top scientists, engineers and researchers. Although several Earth-based companies had achieved a sizable presence on Mars, Aubrey’s executive order made Telogene one of the largest.

  A few board members question the need for such a large increase but none wanted to vote against Aubrey's first big decision as CEO. Aubrey justified her decision by saying that Mars afforded a unique environment for studying and isolating the genetic mutations appearing in the Earth’s population, which seemed to satisfy the board and shareholders.

  Evelyn filed her first report on Aubrey's activities shortly thereafter. It included details not shared with the board or the public, and most interesting to her superiors was that a significant portion of the increased funding was to be used to construct a large organic storage production facility on Mars. Dianne wondered what organic storage had to do with studying genetic mutation but she decided to wait. She now realized that was a mistake.

  Evelyn’s final report, which Dianne had received four days ago, indicated that Aubrey was preparing to go to Mars and planned to stay there for at least a year. In addition, Aubrey had initiated a secret project with Doctor Hao—the details of which she refused to share with Evelyn.

  All that Evelyn could report was that Doctors Hao, Walker and Berkovic were working in secret and were not to be disturbed. Dianne thought about calling Aubrey then but again waited. Two days later Dianne learned that Aubrey had retrieved Evan Feldman’s engrams from archival storage.

  Dianne slammed her palms down on her desk to give voice to the words of frustration echoing in her head.

  No, I can wait no longer. I must act now!

  She retrieved a small data cube and inserted it into the holo-reader. An AI encrypted communications protocol appeared on the holodisplay. She made a few furious swipes with her hands before saying the words that would put her plan in motion.

  “Authentication sequence niner four delta tao two seven eight three gamma This is Secretary General Dianne Merkel. Activate, activate, activate. Confirm.”

  The display flashed the word Transmitting followed a few seconds later by Sent. Dianne removed the cube and returned it to her desk drawer. Then she leaned back in her chair and pondered how long she would have to wait to receive confirmation. Given the distance involved, she guessed that it would take at least an hour for the agent to receive and validate it. Her contingency plan would be underway shortly thereafter.

  Now let’s see if Bachmann was right.

  CHAPTER 27

  APRIL 5, 2075 8:47 PM GST

  GSSA Headquarters

  Zurich, Switzerland

  “Madame Secretary?”

  Dianne looked up from her desk to see Christian standing in the doorway.

  “Yes, Christian, please come in. What do you have for me?”

  Christian walked across the room and sat in one of the chairs across the desk from Dianne.

  “I have analyzed all available data and have identified the most probable scenario.”

  “Well, let’s hear it.”

  “First, I would like to share some key facts and validate some assumptions.”

  “Proceed.”

  “Fact: Doctor James Evan Richardson is a clone operating with the memory and personality engrams of Doctor Evan Arthur Feldman. DNA samples taken during decontamination on Luna confirm this.”

  “There is no chance Feldman is a synthetic?”

  “None. They created his body using standard organic cell reproduction and accelerated growth protocols.”

  “So, they did violate the HDDA.”

  “Yes, transferring a deceased person’s engrams into a clone directly violates section 3.1.7.”

  “Continue.”

  “Fact: The DNA used to create the Richardson clone belonged to Lily Harris.”

  “What? How is that possible?” Dianne asked.

  “The BGSI lab compared the clone’s DNA with Lily’s and they found a 99.2 percent match.”

  “Interesting. I had assumed that they had used a modified version of Evan’s original DNA but that also explains why Luna had records of previous trips by Richardson—they’ve done this before.”

  “I agree. It is even possible that Lily has used the Richardson clone herself.”

  “You think she is still alive?”

  “It is possible and I would say even probable.”

  “Is there anything else?”

  “Only that the Galileo Group is building a massive ship in orbit around Ceres. The purpose of which is unknown.”

  “The BGSI thinks it’s a colony ship.”

  “Possible but there is insufficient data to confirm.”

  “And your assumptions?”

  “Assumption One: The fugitives believe they are safely outside of the GFN’s jurisdiction and the Martian government is providing them with some level of support. Two: Harris and Hao believe that Feldman is a critical component of their plan, and three: It is probable that Lily Harris, Chen Hao and Geoff Wagner are clones.”

  “Why do you think they are clones?”

  “It is the most likely explanation for their behavior. It appears as though they have planned for nearly every contingency and being captured or killed was certainly something they would have considered.”

  Dianne thought for a moment. “I agree. If they were willing to violate the HDDA once there is nothing to keep them from violating it multiple times.”

  “Correct and it is clear that Lily Harris, Chen Hao, Bruce Wagner and Adekunle Gbadamosi have been planning this event for some time.”

  “What about Aubrey?”

  “Doctor Vasquez ordered a full DNA analysis on Aubrey Harris’ body and the results confirm that the body in our medical bay is a clone.”

  “Goddamnit,”—Dianne slammed the palms of both hands hard against her desk—“how are they bypassing our detection protocols?”

  “Unknown at this time. They assembled the team that restored Feldman in secret, and Agent Wu stated in her report that she had no direct knowledge of their activities before Aubrey’s arrest.”

  “Is it possible she’s lying?”

  “Unknown. You did not order a memory scan.”

  “Do it after we are done here. We need to know everything she knows.”

  “Understood. Shall I proceed?”

  “So, do you think that Aubrey’s clone was carrying Aubrey’s engrams? Or Lily’s?”

  “Impossible to know because of the nano-wipe. Even a partial neural map is impossible.”

  Dianne considered that for a minute.

  Neural mapping was a technique that could reconstruct memories from damaged or fragmented neural pathways. But Christian was saying that the nanites had so completely destroyed Aubrey’s brain that there were no neurons—and hence no memories—left to map. Someone obviously didn’t want them to know what Aubrey knew.

  “Best guess?” she asked.

  “Based on her actions I believe that she was Aubrey Harris but was probably restored using an old archive—one that did not k
now that Lily Harris is still alive.”

  “Why would they do it?”

  “I assume to avoid discovery if this Aubrey was captured.”

  “Then why did they have her wiped?”

  “To keep us guessing. Without a memory scan, we can’t know her real purpose or objectives.”

  “And the real Aubrey?”

  “Unknown. But given her background and expertise in organic storage, I think it is likely that she is on Mars—and she has been for at least a year, and perhaps longer.”

  “So, what’s their endgame?”

  “Based on all available information, the most likely scenario is that they will archive their engrams, and those of the other colonists, to the Kutanga’s organic storage array and then launch themselves out of this solar system.”

  “Any idea on who they are taking with them?”

  “I am compiling a list of likely candidates now. It should be ready within the next hour. So far, the majority are scientists, engineers and highly skilled technicians.”

  “Just the people you would need to start a new world.”

  “Indeed.”

  “And what was Feldman's role in all this? Why the mad scramble to restore him and keep him from us?”

  “There are several possible reasons but the most likely is that they needed to test their ability to restore fifty-year-old engrams.”

  “You think they are planning to clone themselves on…what’s the name of that planet?”

  “Gaia.”

  “That’s it. You think they plan to clone themselves on Gaia some fifty-odd years from now?”

  “I would say less than thirty years given the maximum velocity estimates of the Kutanga’s gravity drive system. But, yes, I believe that is their plan.”

  “But what about the circadian rhythm problem? Wouldn’t restoring the engrams of someone who lived on Earth cause the same problems on Gaia as they did on Mars?”

  As one of the original authors of the HDDA, Dianne was briefed on Telogene’s human cloning experiments on Mars and she had witnessed the terrific events that came after.