Evolutionary Rebel

by J. D. Cavan

  Instantly it was like she was there. The community was sprawling, larger then she’d imaged, and more like a small town or city. The houses were all mansion-sized, and the lawns and landscapes were perfectly manicured. The downtown seemed idyllic, like what she’d seen in movies of the ‘50s, but modernized, with stores and theaters and shops. Civilian Replica, women and men alike, were walking about the town, chatting and going about their daily lives. They all appeared incredibly happy, smiling and laughing with each other.

  She walked around the town searching for something real when her heart skipped a beat. She saw Ben sitting on bench. This must be some video they replayed, because she knew that Ben was at the compound with her. He’d just left her. She stepped closer to him and noticed that he was smiling at someone. Then she saw a beautiful woman walking across the street toward him. She was tall and blonde and waving to him. She sat down next to Ben and started kissing him.

  “That’s enough,” Samantha said, removing the eye-shield. She felt sick.

  “Wonderful, isn’t it?” Silva asked.

  “Yeah, and all fake,” she replied bitterly.

  Silva frowned. “Maybe this is all too much too soon for you…”

  The cell door opened and Ben Myers walked in and Silva stopped talking. “Mother, you shouldn’t be in here.”

  “I just wanted to give Samantha a sense of how we live so she doesn’t go on thinking we are all military living in outposts and compounds,” she said.

  Myers shook his head. “We really don’t have time for this.”

  “Very well, I’ll leave you two then. Good luck in your decision, Samantha. It’s been a pleasure,” Silva finished saying before her image disappeared and the Replica left the cell.

  Ben glanced into her eyes, and she thought about asking him who the woman was, but she didn’t. There was something about Ben that totally disarmed her—even though she hated that he was with Aion and Zim.

  “Is there anything I can get you?” he asked her.

  “No,” she replied, but that was a lie. As much as she’d been angry with him, she wanted to hold him, but knew she couldn’t. She loved Luca, not romantically, but it didn’t matter—her heart broke for him, and it would never heal fully.

  “Okay then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” He went to leave.

  “Wait,” she blurted. She couldn’t help it. “I got a little virtual tour of your creepy community.” He gazed at her blankly. “Who’s the blonde, your robot wife?”

  He frowned and looked annoyed. “I don’t have a wife.”

  “Okay, girlfriend.”

  “That’s my Replica, and that’s his wife,” he replied. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  At first she felt relief, then confusion set in. “You have a Replica?”

  “We all do, that’s the point. There are different numbers, however. We have a status system, too.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked

  “Have you noticed that most military Replica look the same?” she nodded her head. “That’s because we replicate them the most. Out of the forty-six Originals, twenty-two of them were military, and we just kept replicating them well after the Originals left this earth. That’s how we built the huge military we have now, but not all Originals were replicated like that. The rest of the Originals were civilians, in varying fields; scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, engineers and architects. We even had an artist. They haven’t been replicated in the kind of numbers the military have. There’s just no need to.”

  “How many Replica do you have?” she asked. She had to know.

  “Just one,” he replied, “like the Order.” It was quiet for a moment. “Look, I don’t know if this is helpful to you or not,” he went on.

  She had a million more questions, but there was too much on her mind already. “It’s not. Not now, anyway.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  “And I need you to go,” she told him.

  He stood there for a moment longer before he walked out.

  She lay down on her cot. The crazy idea of submitting to the Calculation, whatever that was, spun in her head. As an Ereb she knew nothing at all scientifically about herself or her race. They never had the time or resources to map out a scientific study, so their anatomy and physiology remained unknown to them, technically speaking. Perhaps the Calculation would shed some light on that—not that she or the Ereb ever needed it. They knew who they were.

  She quieted her mind for a moment and a wave of sleepiness came over her. She fought herself from dosing and instead fell into a hazy subconscious state. Then it unfolded in front of her again. Visions of her future returned.

  18

  SOMEONE HAD A FLAMETHROWER, because the demon hell horde started going up in smoke, bodies melting in front of her.

  She felt the heat through her heavy military gear and quickly rolled out from under the flames and over the piles of dead and roasting bodies. It was a couple of Replica military tanks, and she hoped they hadn’t noticed her. Raging fire sprayed from the cannons, sweeping the area and setting everything that wasn’t steel or concrete ablaze. It was perfect timing—her blasters were running low and she couldn’t spin like a top forever.

  She slipped behind a mound of wreckage that used to be a building and watched the show. Burning rotten flesh, the smell impossibly toxic, permeated the area. She covered her nose and mouth with a bandana she had tucked into her belt. The black soot was so nasty.

  The tanks ceased fire, and it grew silent except for the crackling and popping from the burning heaps of demon crud. They lit up like giant campfires in the center of the square.

  She spied carefully as one of the tanks, and then the other one, opened at the top. She slipped back further into hiding, peeking out a small crack in the rubble.

  A bunch of military Replica emerged from the tanks and descended onto the streets. They were searching for something—her, presumably—as they shifted through the mess. One of them pointed and said something she couldn’t make out, and they separated and scoured the streets.

  Two Replica carrying assault weapons headed her way. She un-holstered her pistols and waited. There was no place for her go, and she wasn’t running anyway. A tank would be a good way to get around the city—and possibly out it. If she could kill enough Replica, she’d try and jack one.

  Then an undead demon-thing sprung out of a dumpster and landed on one of the Replica. It had been a man in a business suit, and it took his sharp claw of a hand and tore off the head of the Replica. The other one stumbled backward while opening fire on it, blowing it to pieces and sending heavy shrapnel everywhere.

  Some of the gunfire hit a weakened wall next to her and it collapsed. On the other side of it were hundreds of undead, looking like they had just woken up at once. The Replica panicked, some firing on the now raging horde while others tried hopelessly to get back into the tanks.

  She pulled an old wool blanket on top of her, causing her to disappear even further into the side of the rubble.

  The Replica were overtaken quickly, and some of the things actually got into the tanks. One of the armored vehicles began to act strangely, backing up as if the driver was trying to escape before careering into the fountain and a bunch of burned out cars and coming to a stop. The other tank began spraying fire wildly again, but it wasn’t aimed at anything, and finally it cut out and went silent.

  Although the light was failing she could see that the frenzied horde went docile, most standing slumped over, barely moving or wandering aimlessly about. The sun had set and she felt the chill. She pulled the heavy blanket closer to her body.

  She remained quiet. Night had fallen quickly and it was dark. She could hear them moving and her shuffling about. She lowered her breathing and peeled her eyes as they adjusted to the darkness. More coldness came over her as the temperature dropped precipitously.

  She cleared her mind and lowered her pulse rate. She would wait for morning to make her move.

  * * * />
  THE FIRST SIGN of the sun afforded Samantha sight, and she was pleased that the horde had dissipated. She pushed off the blanket and moved over toward the tanks. Replica would be coming soon, so she had to move fast.

  She climbed up one of the huge treads and up onto the top of the tank. She put her ear against the metal, listening for any movement before descending down into the machine.

  She found the controls quickly and started the engine. She climbed back up and shut the top door of the tank and locked it behind her. Soon she was moving about the city streets and found that the tank could move at faster speeds than she had anticipated. It still took her forever to get anywhere, however, because most of the roads and highways were covered with impassible obstacles, fallen buildings, twisted asphalt, stacks of cars, busses, and even a crashed jet liner.

  It took her the entire day before she reached the outskirts of city. She spent a very cold night locked in the tank before heading out, while it was still dark and no one would be on the highways. It was loaded with empty vehicles. She drove the tank on the shoulders of the highways and roads, rumbling over fallen trees and smaller cars, until the city was far behind.

  The sun began to rise, providing dim light as she drove the tank over a desolate winding road that ascended. It struggled as it climbed the steep hill, and she pushed the engine, noticing her gas level dropping. The tank rumbled on, finally reaching the summit of the long highway.

  Once on top, she cut the tank’s engine and climbed the ladder and popped the door. Fresh air entered her lungs and she breathed in, gazing up at the sky. She stood on top of the tank, finally getting a clear view over the vast landscape in front of her.

  Instead of lush grassy fields and tree-filled mountains, the landscape lay bare and bleak. Hills and plains were burnt with giant black holes in the earth, trees broken like match sticks. There were no birds or animals of any kind, no sounds or even a light breeze.

  She fixed her sights on something slowly moving off in the distance many miles down the road. Besides whatever was coming at her, everything remained like a dead body, still and silent. It had come to this. What she’d known all along. It wasn’t just the destroyed city and the monsters that roamed it. The entire world was gone.

  19

  THE NEXT MORNING, almost as soon as she opened her eyes, Myers knocked on her door and came in. He was anxious and paced the room. His usually clean-cut hair was disheveled and sticking up on his head, and his neatly collared shirt looked wrinkled like he’d slept in it.

  “Listen, I couldn’t sleep a wink last night. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” She wanted to tell him it was okay, that she had similar feelings about him, but he just kept on rambling nervously.

  “I wanted to tell you that when the Order and Aion started spitting out data points that didn’t look good, and then came up with the solution, ways to exterminate mass amounts of humans in phases, I knew it was just a matter of time before the steps would be set. So I wracked my brain and asked them to run the numbers again and again with different formulas and approaches, and each time Aion and the Order came back with the same result. I even asked the Order to review the ethical principles embedded in the codes—like ‘do no harm,’ especially ‘don’t kill people.’ You know, the ones in the life, health, and pursuit of happiness program, but somehow the Calculations of Aion got around it. Still, extinction was the only option.” He stopped for a moment and looked at her as if he was searching for her encouragement to continue. He seemed beyond stressed.

  “Go on,” she said.

  He nodded. “And then it hit me, the one thing that Aion systems hadn’t searched, the one variable they couldn’t get around. It confounded and invalided everything, and even though they are nothing more than algorithms, it angered them. I don’t know. It is you, Samantha, because it has to be a high-status Ereb. All four of your traits will be represented in the Calculation. There won’t be any other variables left out.”

  “Yeah, I pretty much got that from yesterday,” she said. Myers was repeating himself.

  “I doubted it. I doubted myself, but then it happened.” He stopped again and his chest was rising and falling quickly and it was like he was trying to catch his breath. “You thought to me and I knew. I had studied synchronic sense, the logic behind that trait. Then I followed the idea and found you.”

  She felt her heart soften a little. Ben was something different, special and maybe even unique. He was trying to convince her to take the risk and do the Calculation. He didn’t need to, because she’d made her mind up already. Her visions of the future had convinced her. If she was actually going to follow through with this insanity, it was time for her to get to it.

  “Where are they going to take me for this?” she asked.

  It appeared as though Ben was going to go on with what he had obviously rehearsed, but then stopped in his tracks. “What?” he blurted.

  “I’ve made my decision, Ben.” It was silent for a moment.

  “Oh. So you mean where are we going for the Calculation?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. “Below, down into the bunker.”

  “The bunker?”

  “That’s where the laboratories are, and the holding tank.”

  “Holding tank?” she asked immediately, her internal threat index jumping up a notch.

  “Yes, I can explain it on the way down. I have to let the Order know you’ve agreed,” he finished saying as he walked toward the door. He stopped himself and reached out and took her hand. She allowed it.

  “Thank you,” he said. “You’ve made the right decision. I know this is going to help a lot of people.”

  She nodded and gently pulled her hand back before he walked out of the door.

  20

  THE ENORMOUS DOUBLE STEEL DOORS of the bunker shelter began to crank open. Samantha had been escorted by a dozen Replica, General Zim, and Ben Myers across the compound toward the giant concrete entrance that was built into the earth. Once the doors opened, they stepped inside.

  The internal entrance was dark and made of concrete. It looked more like an underground vehicle tunnel than a bunker. It smelled musty and damp. A part of the wall slid open and they stepped into a huge glass elevator that dropped many feet below the surface of the earth.

  The elevator descended into the interior of the bunker’s shelter system. The first floor that they traveled through appeared more like a luxury health club than a military bunker. Comfortable seating, a pool, and televisions everywhere, with soft lighting and pleasant décor. After dropping through what appeared to be small living areas with kitchens and meeting rooms, they came to the medical and laboratory level.

  The elevator opened and they escorted her through a series of swinging hospital doors, then through hallways lit with overhead fluorescent lighting, before finally stepping into a medical room. There was a table in the center. Strange equipment of all kinds surrounded her, including the electronic injection devise, which was the only thing in the room she recognized. The Replica stood outside her room while Myers and Zim came in with her.

  “Have a seat,” Myers told her.

  Her heart started pounding while she sat on medical table.

  “I’m going to ask you some questions.” Myers gave her a wink. “General Zim, would you please excuse us? The patient needs to get prepared.”

  General Zim stared at him for a moment and then walked out.

  “I’m freaked,” she whispered. Fear was not a familiar emotion for her.

  “I know, just relax. The doctor will be in soon. I know him, his Original was a brilliant doctor and his Replica is one of the best we have.” He opened a small cabinet and handed her two strips of latex bands. “You have to wear this for the Calculation.”

  “Are you serious?” she held up the skimpy straps.

  “Yes, you have to be as unencumbered as possible.”

  “Really, unencumbered? You mean humiliated as much as possibl
e.”

  “It’s designed to lower defenses. You’re going to lie still in water without lights, and the mind and body gets exceedingly vulnerable, open, and less immune responsive. This will allow Aion to calculate more easily. They used to put the Originals through Calculations all time, like a regular polygraph back in the day, but now they rarely use it. They threaten me with it every once in a while, but they never do it.”

  She sighed and tried to suppress her sense of dread. If it got too high, Replica would get hurt and this whole Calculation mission would be over quick. “How long will I be in the tank?”

  “It doesn’t take Aion long to get past defenses, but we have no idea how long it could take with you, so be prepared.”

  She took another deep breath and blew it out, second thoughts in her mind. She didn’t like any of it—the feelings and senses were all negative.

  Clearly the bunker systems were developed to protect Replica from the hell Aion planned to bring down on everyone. While the planet burned and demon monsters roamed, Replica would be safe, locked away underground.

  She hated all of it, but it was too late for her now. She knew she had to go through with the Calculation, and maybe—just maybe—something in her could stop this grand tragedy from unfolding. She glanced at her ridiculously small bathing suit. Ben stood there awkwardly, staring at her.

  “Get out please,” she said.

  “Huh?” he replied as if his mind was somewhere else.

  “Leave the room.” She raised her eyebrows and held up the straps.

  “Oh, God, sorry, of course,” he uttered nervously as he walked out of the room.

  She reluctantly took everything off and put on the latex bands that could barely be called clothing. One band went over her chest, the other went low on her hips and stretched just over the tops of her thighs. She sat back up on the cold table and felt the most vulnerable she’d felt in her entire life.