by Han Yang
Laura sat at a dining table on the mining ship with ten other dissident council members. This was a rare event to have so many of their members in one place at one time. Plus, one new person she didn’t want here already made a comment she didn’t like.
“Remind me why the spy is here?” Laura said dryly.
“Councilwoman Feinstein, if anyone is the spy, it’s you,” Teresa replied in a snooty tone. “Mother of Theodore Karo, the hero of Hope, and best friend of Darcy. Please woman, have a clue that everyone sees you’re pissing into the wind with that dilemma. Hates the AI, loves her son.”
Laura shook her head. “I understand my son is involved in this latest incident. I have nothing to do with that and have never faltered in my beliefs that Darcy must go. My son and I are distant, barely talking.
“But you have a point, as much as it pains me to admit. I have always told my son to be the best, regardless of his origins. I will send him a message of congratulations. He accomplished quite the feat.”
“Not finished,” Olivia said sassily.
“Like I said, she doesn’t care. Humans can’t hurt an AI that is not centrally located,” Teresa said. “Plot, plan, and brood away.”
“And we’re good,” Olivia said.
“Such a pain to set these up,” Laura said, taking a sip of her coffee. “Alright, run the blood tests.”
Laura watched Marius set a hover for the mining ship over an abandoned city. While he poked fingers one at a time, she watched the swaying trees below. The once glorious city was a ruin and Earth was a shitty place now.
She glared down at the jungle with disdain. Laura hated that humanity was screwed almost as much as she hated being a chicken in a cage to an AI overlord. Marius poked her finger, and she didn’t yelp or suck the blood droplet afterwards like that harlot Teresa.
“Why are you here?” Laura asked Teresa.
“Maris pleaded with me to listen. He was very convincing in his arguments. After all, I only want to Liberate Earth, not caring who the boss of the fleet is. AI or council, it matters little as long as they help rid Earth of its infestation. So, I play both sides. Now, why this clandestine mission?” Teresa asked.
“We have a way to stop Darcy,” Marius said. “Everyone’s blood came back a match with no errors.”
“Good, good.” Laura turned her attention to Teresa. “Congratulations, you’re not a clone.”
“Uh, what?” Teresa blurted.
“Don’t get her started,” Olivia said. “We take the blood test to ensure we’re not in a simulation. DNA sequencing is so vast and complex that when you run ten testers on ten sequences it would lag out Darcy’s capabilities in a simulation. There’s no such thing as clones.”
“That’s a bummer, I’d do me,” Teresa said in a sassy tone.
“Right,” Marius said, and this time it earned a chuckle.
Everyone loved Marius, such a charmer, Laura thought. “There’s no such thing as clones that we know about.”
“Not possible,” Jeelna said. “There’s some science facts that make it impossible. A human being is the cumulative process of their growth. Any human generated as an adult doesn’t develop right without being a child first. Even if the DNA is a match and I’m cloned, the individual experiences create a new person as they age.”
“I think she figured it out, that’s all,” Laura said. “She uses a flesh suit, and it seems real enough. Why not stick people in that?”
“Her one-of-a-kind grandma is an altered sexbot.” Teresa shuddered and Laura almost felt like she was acting. “She can make drones and stick minds in them, but no one wants to be a damn robot and all our resources have gone toward making more cryopods. Now, can I hear more about taking down Darcy and why you think that is the most prudent course of action?”
“We’ve lived far longer than we should have. For that I am grateful. However, I was part of the team meant to keep Darcy in check,” Marius said, leaning his elbows against the tabletop. She could see the pain on his face, knowing this story all too well. “I was on The Meadow, sent to add restrictions on her capabilities when she killed President Lang.”
Teresa gulped. “Oh, shit. I thought that was a rumor.”
“Nope, not a rumor. I watched her trigger the lockdown in the president's hideout before dropping bunker busters on top of her head. I was right at the console, staring at an alert that blared from her tripping my sensors. All because President Lang was about to say The Meadow wouldn’t launch on schedule. She wanted three more months,” Marius said.
“Yikes,” Teresa said before adding, “Wait, didn’t the Florida site fall a month later? Don’t answer that, it did. I watched it fall.”
“Didn’t give her the right to kill a world leader,” Laura said with a sneer. “We didn’t invite you here to hear you excuse the inexcusable. The AI was built to serve humanity, not rule it.”
“My faction will support what is best for Liberating Earth from the narocks. I sure as hell am glad The Meadow is in the air instead of on the ground,” Teresa said bluntly.
Marius calmly patted the table. “Ladies, retract the claws. Look. I’ve studied Darcy’s creation. I can limit her power. I can even send her to a central location and…”
“But why? How does that help us?” Teresa asked with a huff and calmed.
Marius smiled at her fondly, applying his charm. “We’ll do everything we can to help all the factions once Darcy falls. Our ability to plan a laid-out future, well, that is difficult under the circumstances. We do have private plans though.”
“So, I’m not worthy of hearing them. I respect that but a ‘trust me, I’m better’ is not very convincing,” Teresa said.
Laura contained the impulse to lash out and calmly said, “She is evil and a monster. No machine should lord over humanity. Her original programming and purpose have long since been abandoned by Darcy.”
Teresa replied, “I agree. Darcy oversteps and sometimes to an inexcusable level. Even my faction is concerned by what she did to your son.”
“Theodore is a mad scientist's experiment to create a cyborg. Worst of all, it worked. He’s charming, charismatic, quick-witted, and extremely lethal. He’ll be on the council, and we can’t let that happen,” Olivia said with a fierce glare.
Laura frowned. “He isn’t given any special privileges in Snagglewood. Simply have your people do better to keep him out of the top hundred.”
Barker said, “This happens every time. Most of us get complacent. The young bucks who enter the Trials are filled to the brim with hope and compressed training. While I’ve been flipping candles for a profit and earning good points, they charge into danger to rack up oodles of points. Most die a bunch until they learn better. Some get lucky, he’s been lucky.”
“We have to remove him from the equation,” Olivia said. “We will never ever win over the populace with him continuing to provide hope for humanity on Earth with Darcy at his side.”
“Wait… is that your true purpose?” Teresa asked. “To abandon Earth?”
“We have factions inside our common goal of removing the AI. Clearly. Some of us want to be a space faring race, never resettling on Earth. It has merit. But we need Darcy to run the automations until we develop the code to control the drones,” Marius said. “My point is that you were invited here to listen and learn. You must realize we are not united on all fronts besides the fact humans should be in charge.”
Laura danced her fingers across the table, chewing on Barker’s words. Something he said struck a nerve and almost felt prophetic. “My son is a problem. Maybe the best answer is not to kill him ourselves. I believe he will do that on his own, on the ground. If he falls, then what?”
“Then all hope of a normal human surviving the untamed lands would be diminished,” Teresa said.
Olivia grunted with a head shake. “He is the symbol of the AI. He must go. Sorry. I know this is personal, but we already have plans in motion since his little stunt was broadcast to everyone who we
nt for their time out of Snagglewood.”
Laura dug her fingers into her coffee mug, gripping it to the point she thought it might shatter. “He’s innocent. You better cancel the hit on my son. Let him die on his own accord and not with an… accident. If he dies a martyr, you’ll rue not only public opinion but my wrath too.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Olivia said. “We may have been rash in our conclusion that a swift death would be a boon. I can take the argument to my people to be patient. He is young and foolish, and the dangers are already stacked against him.”
The tension in the air faded and Laura nodded in thanks. This was as close to an apology as she’d ever get and was enough for her.
“And this is the fragility of our coalition,” Marius said. “The fact remains. Darcy is the threat and constantly treats humanity as her experiment. The council has sway, but she has overridden us many times in the past. Including coming back to Earth instead of staying at Alpha Centauri to wait for the terraforming to finish.”
“Yes, I was there. She said waiting in space for a thousand years was pointless and the council disagreed. She took us back to Earth anyway,” Teresa said flippantly. “What about containing her, and how will you make life better?”
“I’ll reveal a little. We will give each faction a ship. There are hundreds of shells around the globe that humanity failed to complete. We remove Darcy, we manage the construction from safety, and we expand without a damn AI overlord,” Laura said with conviction.
“I assume if we stay neutral, we can stay behind and use one such shell as a base?” Teresa asked.
“Finally, we are getting somewhere. Let me tell you all about how you can help,” Laura said with a wicked smile.
25
Snagglewood Day 20
Lornsto Mines
I pushed myself hard over the next fifteen hours or so, working tirelessly and well into the evening. Now that all our supplies were in, most the animals were settled in the basement floor, and rooms were established, I could take care of myself.
I sat in a chair for some tender doctoring, and by tender I meant the rip off the bandage kind.
“Hold still,” Beatrice said. She happened to be the woman with tweezers next to my eyeball. She plucked out a rock that was dug under my skin and I grunted. “See, almost done. Funny how you take this damage without a second thought and then moan and groan while I fix it.”
“It hurts,” I said, causing her to giggle.
“Hey, Boss.” Eric approached, looking almost asleep on his feet. “The entrance is thoroughly clogged, and I’m going to get some rest.”
“Thanks Eric, appreciate the hard work,” I told him.
“I think it’ll hold, but best to keep a guard,” he recommended.
I sighed with a wince, feeling another small rock exiting my face. “Not tonight. I blew through my sleep to help get everything established. No one slept and the threat continues to be minimal. Best use the reprieve while we can. Sleep well, Eric.”
“I will. I appreciate you winning the fights for us. I’ll admit, I’m not thrilled about living in a cave, but I do want to live,” Eric said, heading deeper into the mining floor.
His wife, Beatrice said, “That’s his thank you. He’s a proud man but hates guns. If he says the entrance is clogged, I’d take his word for it.”
“Thanks for cleaning up my wounds,” I said.
Beatrice sat on the chair across from me, bringing the candlelight next to my face. Slowly but surely, she removed the pebbles ingrained under the skin. I listened to the soft sounds of snoring mixed with the lullaby of a mother.
This place wasn’t much, but now that it was sealed it was ours. Even had a running track built into it, well, sort of.
“And done. Hey, Theo, on another note. I can’t consciously keep giving Zachary whiskey,” Beatrice said, and I chuckled.
Zachary awoke in a world of hurt. He was lost, confused, and in incredible pain. After he cried for an hour, eating a bit, and drinking some water, Beatrice, our best suited nurse, added a drop of whiskey into his diet.
Out he went, and honestly, while it wasn’t ideal, it worked.
“I understand. We will take him to the depths when he awakes. Let him see some other kids and such,” I said, trying to be optimistic.
“Best to rinse the grime off and then get some rest,” she advised, leaving me sitting there.
I slipped away from the communal area and headed down to the floor below. Craig and Kayla had occupied a landing floor with a small stream. This was their, and now our, fresh water source.
Thankfully, they never misused the upper water. The third floor as we called this landing continued down in another spiral to the fourth floor and water cascaded down to a waterfall from above.
The waterfall was slow, and boards reset across the stream to create a bathing area. An outhouse did something similar near the edge of the floor. The water continued down somewhere lower, sliding further into the earth.
The clean water was up top, the nasty water down here. A little gem of an operation and established by the miners a while ago. The best part was that the water brought in plenty of fresh air.
The bottom floor only had a few dozen wooden pegs supporting the roof as it stretched a good distance, and all the mining tools were down here. I walked the spirals, finding the waterfall unoccupied beside the animals we secured down here.
Not all the oxen wanted to be recaptured but most saw the rains and hurried into the mine. While I wanted to try to rush out again and maybe find more animals, it would be on the agenda later.
Mostly, I had taken so long to get down here, everyone who wanted to get clean already had, leaving me to disturb our only chicken. A towel waited near the falls, along with some soap.
After a stinging but refreshing shower, I felt a semblance of cleanliness.
I didn’t put on my nasty clothes, sticking them into the water. The pants were ruined, but holey pants were better than no pants. I rinsed out the nasty the best I could and when I finished, ascended with a towel around my waist.
It didn’t take long to dislike the fact that I was trapped in a gloomy mine. While I was grateful to be alive, I sure as hell wished I were in Bisben.
While I spun up the mineshaft to reach my designated bed, I checked the score.
Points: 35,432
Ranking: 1st out of 125,033
“Damn, securing this mine was amazing,” I said to myself.
I had been busting my ass off and slaying narocks left and right, so while this seemed impossible, I had to wonder what it would take to have done better. Even stabilizing Laro had fewer rewards and maybe that was the purpose of my sudden lead - to illustrate that getting out of the way of the invasion was smarter than standing against the waves.
I was sure if these folks died, I’d take some penalties, but I couldn’t dwell on the ‘what-ifs’.
The ten-by-ten sections on our main floor proved to create excellent sizes for bedrooms. I navigated the common areas, finding my bedding closest to the tunnel that led to the surface. I entered the hanging sheet and saw Lillo sleeping soundly in a mini bed not far from mine.
I quickly slipped into fresh clothes and hung my current garb to dry. My bed lay empty, no lady daring to reward me or trying to snuggle.
Feeling ready for bed, I achieved an epic pop of my back with a big stretch.
The moment I laid down I received a flash notification.
Update: Delayed due to hostile environment.
Update: Proceeding. Ensure you are in a secure location before accepting. Accept update (Yes) - (No) - Yes selected.
I left my body, finding myself seated at the back of an auditorium. Darcy stood at the lecture spot, her aged body opened its mouth to speak and -
“Boo,” she said from beside me. The version of her at the front vanished. “Welcome to your update.” I stared at her with an upset look. “Not still mad, are you?”
I kicked my feet up, tossing my
heels onto the seat in front of me.
“I killed some narocks, returned a girl, and established contact. Could I have died? Sure, but I didn’t. Just warn me next time that there’s a time issue or something,” I said.
“Eh, there wasn’t one. I shifted a thousand drones to converge on your position though. You were never in danger,” she said. I stared at her flatly, recalling a poisonous barb coming inches from impaling me. “Alright, a smidge of danger. Got your blood pumping I bet, and you were fabulous.”
Instead of letting her get to me, I relaxed. Some people never understood Darcy, and I think I did to an extent. She was quirky, finding love in her creations. Resenting her wouldn’t help me in the slightest and she lost a lot of trust with her recent stunt.
I decided to change the topic as moving on was for the best.
“What’s going on with the competition numbers?” I asked.
“The replica would have taken you through a semi-boring slideshow.”
She snapped her fingers. We stood inside the massive bridge to a starship. The captain’s chair reminded me of something out of a movie with all its dazzling buttons, huge size, and swiveling capabilities.
The view screen displayed a curve of black nothingness. A hundred stations to manage the ship sat empty and I found a placard telling me where I had been transported to.
Darcy said, “This is the Dominus. Tell me about her.”
“Oh wow. Everything is bigger in Texas. The most ambitious of all the ships. They moved heaven and hell to prepare this ship. Some say if they didn’t secede from the Union, it would be in the fleet. You were the tipping point,” I said, inspecting each station one at a time.
None of it made sense to me, but with time it could. I felt immense disappointment in the fact such a marvel lay on the surface of Earth.
“You love your history and have worked tirelessly to be ready to help humanity into the future, a brighter future. Sometimes I wonder if there were more girls for you to chase, or sports for you to play, if you would have made me as proud.” She eyed me curiously. “I think I would have been.”