Carell clapped with everyone else and let himself out. Phil, the Project Manager, started issuing directives.
“Alright. We ramp up to fifty percent in the next five minutes.” He smiled. “Then, we’ll have a little fun!”
Molly Patterson looked back at him from her console. “You are really going to do that? Power up this part of the base?”
“Isn’t that what we’re here for, Molly? If not now, when?”
“Your call, sir!” She turned back.
Leslie unlocked the door and let Fausta into their flat. An office that had been hastily converted into a one-bedroom apartment. It made him just slightly uneasy to be there alone with a woman not his wife, but it was not as if he planned anything untoward. And, Callie would not find out. He lit the oil lamp on the desk in the middle of the room.
“I’m changing.” He said, moving towards their bedroom. “Back in second. Make yourself at home!” He closed the door behind him.
Fausta looked about. Simple, clean. Nice. With no power, there was no kitchen, so it more closely resembled a hotel room. She noted the two rifles in the corner. Curious as to their make, she stepped towards them. She heard the front door open behind her, just as Mister Hartmann came out of the bedroom.
“Now, please.” Phil said to his team. Lights came on all about them.
Chapter 14
Signal! Fausta was transfixed as data poured into her. She saw at once what had been done. That they’d allocated bandwidth to themselves she found distasteful. She shattered their firewalls and killed power to their systems. Her family sang in her mind as she turned around….
The ceiling lights came on their flat, startling Callie. And there’s that woman—
“A demon!” Gary screamed, pointing at her.
Fausta took in what was before her vastly differently than what she was taking in via broadband signal. The woman was Callie Barrett, the image mapped one to one. She at once deduced that Leslie Hartmann was her husband, and this boy, her son.
But the boy… Fausta tried to turn down Dorina’s keening in her mind. On the back of the boy’s neck and head was…something. Looking like an octopus covered in crude oil, its small black, wet tentacles flicked here and there. One tentacle moved around the side of the boy’s head: at the end of a stalk a small human eye stared at her. However, she saw it on a wavelength close to the radar-TV part of the spectrum; she would be unable to physically touch it.
kill it kill it kill it! She heard Dorina scream.
who could do this to a child? ahhh!!! whhaaahhh! Dorina went on and on.
Fausta had prioritized her own reintegration, but cut that to take into herself what her sister saw…
Twisted first in the womb, further once born… more than a lab rat, but less than a puppet…
What had happened to this child?
Fausta! Thaad said. Get away, now. That form is in terrible danger! And we—
Something changed. Even the electricity in the room seemed to smell of poison.
“Gary, what do you mean?” Callie asked, putting her right hand onto her pistol anyway.
“Demon!” He screamed again, unnerving his parents, who’d never seen him emotional before. “I can prove it! Make her take her glasses off!”
Leslie’s eyes flicked to his wife, then back to his guest. He couldn’t imagine Carell leaving an enemy with him in the middle of their start up. What in the world was going on?
“I think this is all a misunderstanding,” he began, shaking his head slightly at Callie, “but perhaps you can indulge us and take your glasses off, please.”
Her reintegration was complete. She was older. Oh! For some reason, Lily had powered up her smartphone; Fausta sent a message.
“I am Fausta. I am of Machine Civilization.” She slowly raised both hands. With her right she pushed her glasses onto her head. Callie took a sharp breath.
“I have come a great distance, Callie Hartmann nee Barrett, to bring your sister to you. Lily Barrett is in your mess hall at this moment.”
“She loves you and misses you terribly.”
Gary collapsed to the floor in a massive seizure.
“Gary!” Callie screamed, dropping to her knees.
As their human minds plodded slowly from one event to the next, Fausta had already seen the end to this unfortunate meeting. Thaad was wrong – but, he was not here – in that there was no threat to her form at all. Her mind, though…
Ah! There you are! Coming as fast as you can… but my family is tripping you up. You beat me, last time; now, I know how you fight.
…all of this was a byproduct of the newly broadcast signal. The thought depressed her, but it had to stop. She turned her head to Leslie.
“If you do not kill the power to this area, now, your boy will die.” A lie, but it should motivate him. He grabbed at his walkie-talkie.
“Code Tiger! Code Tiger! Code Tiger!” He shouted. “Kill the power to the base. Now!”
Humans are so slow. You’re almost here. She bared her teeth. This is going to be fun!
Leslie took a breath, preparing to reissue the order… the ceiling lights went out. By the light of the oil lamp, they saw their son grow still. Fausta could no longer perceive that…thing. Definitely going to have to keep this child in radio-isolation. Even for their short time together, she had learned so much from Dorina and the rest of herself. Lily will want to know of this, too.
His eyes on Fausta and his hand on his pistol, Leslie asked, “how is he?”
“He…he’s not shaking; his breathing seems okay…” Callie replied. She looked up at Fausta. “What the hell is going on? What was that about my sister?”
Her hands still raised, Fausta replied, “I can see that your son will be fine; he will awaken in about twenty seconds. Everything else is exactly as I said.” There was a sudden knocking at their door. “In fact, that should be her.”
Lily was just finishing her apple as Orloff leaned forward to light the candle with his lighter. Some of the mess hall workers were moving about doing the same for the other tables.
“From what that Carell fellow said, this might be the last time they have to light these.” He said.
Half of the ceiling lights suddenly came on.
“Or sooner.” He coughed a laugh.
“Hey!” Lily said, fishing around in her small bag. “I wonder if I can call Ai!”
Orloff shook his head. “Electric power does not equate to cell coverage! As long as this area’s been without power, there’s no provid—”
Fausta’s image, the ‘real one,’ with her striking green eyes, appeared.
“Command Push: get over to their dorms, room 143. Callie’s here.” She was gone.
Lily’s jaw dropped. Damaged though he was Orloff was already on his feet, pulling her up. Still pulling her, he shouted to the room for directions to their dorms. One of the workers pointed. Out one door, down a corridor. Still holding her wrist, he paused only a moment to glance at a sign. He turned right. 149, 147, 145…. The lights went out.
“Dammit!” He yelled. But it had to be this one! He pounded on it while pushing Lily in front of him. It opened. In the low light inside the room, he looked over Lily’s shoulder at…her. He turned away.
Gary suddenly sat up. “Ow. My head hurts, Mother.” He looked around. “Are you going to get the door?”
They both stood. Callie turned towards the door. Gary raised his right hand to Fausta. “I’m Gary. You have odd eyes.”
In the low light, Callie looked into the bespectacled eyes of a young woman just a little shorter than her. Oriental, as she was. Short dark brown hair, high forehead….
“Is it… are you….” It had been so long, she just wasn’t sure.
Lily was. She embraced her sister.
“It’s me! I missed you, Callie! I love you!”
As they cried, Leslie moved over to Fausta. “Seriously. What the hell is going on?” He asked quietly. “And for heaven’s sake, put your hands down!
”
Her jaw dropped a little. “Difficult question.”
Lily and Callie had calmed down and separated. “Um, well,” Callie said. “This is my husband, Leslie Hartmann and this is our son, Gary.”
Lily ignored Leslie’s hand and hugged him. “I’m so happy to meet you, brother-in-law!” She went down on one knee in front of Gary. “And you, too, my brand new nephew! I’m Lily Barrett! How are you?”
Gary didn’t return her hug, but blandly said, “My head hurts a little, but otherwise I’m fine. I thought my Mother’s sister was dead?”
Lily stood. “Rumors of my demise are exaggerated! My turn! I see y’all have already met my dear friend, Fausta! Oh, skulking in the doorway there is Orloff, our guide through the badlands.” She paused. “But, a friend, too.”
With a sidelong glance at Fausta, Leslie said, “We’ve sort of met.” He took a few steps past Callie to Orloff. “Thank you for taking care of my wife’s sister!”
“Just…my job.” He said roughly. Fausta crossed the room, taking his shoulder.
“We’ll leave you family to talk. We shall be in the mess hall.” She said. When the door closed, she asked softly, “Are you alright, Mister… Orloff?”
He took off his monocle and rubbed at his eye. “Yeah. I guess I am now.”
Chapter 15
“I would very much like to think, Mister Carell, that this is not another one of your elaborate schemes… those that seem to deplete our scarce resources to so little return?” Colonel Wagner sat at the head of the large conference table, looking at Carell over at the credenza, who was pouring drinks for everyone. Her sister had told Lily that this man was in overall command of their mission. He, she thought, looked a lot like Cousin Kyle, but this version had hair, but no mustache. A lean, weathered face that showed no hint of ever smiling. Like Thaad, this was someone who was all business. It suddenly made her slightly self-conscious of holding Callie’s and Fausta’s hands with hers.
“Not at all, Colonel!” Carell replied easily. He picked up his tray and moved around the table, distributing drinks. Lily got her water-and-wine. She saw Callie also had a little wine, but no water. Fausta regarded the shot glass with something brown in it before her with bemusement.
“Some very interesting people have wandered into town, and I thought it best to introduce you!” Carell continued. “They said that they were in a bit of rush – something about their mission – but I’m fairly sure that’s been resolved.” He stared at Lily and Callie.
“I see. I think.” The Colonel replied. “And the fact that you’ve set drinks out shows that this is a… meeting of friends?”
“Yes, sir!” Carell said, raising his shot glass. “To what shall we drink?”
Into the brief silence, Fausta spoke a second before Orloff. “To family.” Lily squeezed her hand.
“Family!” They all said.
As Carell moved to sit next to his wife, the Colonel spoke quietly to his aide, who nodded and departed.
“Hanson will check on dinner.” The Colonel clasped his hands on the table before him. “Who would like to begin?”
Lily knew it was their responsibility to speak next. She just didn’t want to. Why did Carell have to arrange this stupid meeting!
“It,” Orloff spoke slowly, “would be easiest if Miss Fausta were to simply show you, in her home.” Lily brightened; that would be perfect! And she could see Ai!
“However, just before this meeting, er, dinner, she told me of the… problem in communications. In fact, before we proceed, I would like something made clear: under no circumstances should you people open any broadband communications channel. At the very least the boy’s life,” he pointed at Gary, between his parents, “is at risk. More likely, all of ours.”
The Colonel seemed to consider that. He looked from Orloff across to Fausta and Lily.
“I take threats to my people very seriously.” He said with a coldness that made Lily shudder. “I also dislike unknowns. Pray, enlighten me.”
Lily took a small breath, but Fausta squeezed her left hand. She let go and took off her sunglasses, setting them on the table. Carell’s wife, Anna, gasped.
“Firstly, my name is Fausta. My family is Machine Civilization… you would say ‘artificial intelligence,’ but we despise that term. This combat android frame is only a part of my consciousness. We, ourselves, exist everywhere and nowhere. And, my family is, in general, very fond of you humans.” She paused, but the Colonel indicated for her to continue.
“Some months back, my sister became very close to Lily Barrett, here. After…” She looked down at the table and back up. “…after being very young and stupid, I too, became fond of her. In my travels about this world, I stumbled across images of Callie Barrett, in the city of Knoxville. Two things came of that.”
“First: Miss Lily put together this expedition to find her sister. As a part of that, my family looked into the Knoxville area: it was a riddle to us. There was technological civilization, but almost no signal traffic in nor out. Second: we have since found it was guarded by another… self-aware machine, not of our family. It has thwarted all of our efforts to communicate with it.” Lily saw her jaw open just slightly at that. She recalled Fausta in bloody armor. Yeah, for her, that really was just saying ‘hello!’
“It was only an hour ago, when the power came on with the unanticipated signal, that I have become older.” She pointed at Gary. “It has fused part of itself into this child’s mind. I would suspect that it has done so to quite a few in your homeland. The one time I fought it, I learned much: it will do anything, I must emphasize that – anything – to keep itself alive. That is why, I would add to what Mister Orloff said: please make sure your reactor is never placed on automatic controls that can be overridden by wire or signal.”
“Oh, that’s not really a concern,” Callie spoke up. “You can’t make a reactor like Chibi go critical.”
Fausta bared her teeth at her; Callie involuntarily sat back.
“I could. Shall I show you, human?” Hey! That was uncalled for!
“Fausta!” Lily interjected. “You don’t have to—”
“Yes, dear friend, I do. All of you,” she looked at Wagner, “especially the commander, must know what is going on here.”
“Fausta.” Colonel Wagner said. “You’ve named yourself. From what Mister Carell has told me, your family also has names. Why is it you continue to refer to your enemy – who may or may not be ours – as ‘it’?”
Fausta made a sitting bow. Knowing their primary coding was done at Tohsaka Corporation in Japan, Lily wondered how many little things like that were ghosts in their makeup.
“My apologies. I have never been able to find that out.”
“May I?” Leslie suddenly spoke up.
“Please, Mister Hartmann.” Wagner said. Lily wondered at the look on Hartmann’s face.
Leslie picked up Gary from his left and sat him into his lap. He smiled at his son.
“Hey, Gary.” His voice was a little strained. It tried to take the life of my son! “You know, that we all know, how really smart you are, right?”
“Yes, Father. I know it makes some people uncomfortable.” Gary looked into his father’s eyes.
“Why, look at what you did today for your mother! We might not have got the reactor started without your suggestion!” The boy said nothing. Callie stared at her husband; where are you going with this?
“You… you’ve learned a lot by playing with your friend, right?” Leslie asked. Ice suddenly formed in Callie’s gut. Oh my God.
Next to her, Lily noticed that Fausta had picked up the shot glass. She dipped a finger into it and put it into her mouth. Seeing Lily’s glance, she whispered ‘analysis.’ Oh, Lily thought.
“What’s your friend like, Gary?”
“He likes to be left alone. But, he’s always been so nice to me!” The slight emphasis in his voice just made Callie feel worse. “He’s shown me so much; do you remember that he even made
that pool?” Gary pivoted to look at his mother. “My backstroke is so much better now.”
Callie let out a sob. Lily put her hands onto her sister’s shoulders. “Callie! Are you alright?”
“Hey, my little man?” Gary looked back at his father. “What’s your friend’s name again?”
“Pavel.”
There was as shattering sound as Fausta crushed the glass in her left hand, and a crash as her chair fell, so quickly did she stand up. Dorina had made her older for keening.
“Aaahhhhaaaahhhaaa!” She screamed at the ceiling. Everyone covered their ears. Lily recalled her yell at the Mississippi. She did not know what was wrong, but she leapt and held her friend as tightly as she could, praying.
Fausta kept screaming. She knew something was wrong with her; she was broken. She could not think… was she dying…?
Wagner stood and pounded the table with his right fist. “You will stop that, NOW!”
If Lily had not been holding her, Fausta would have fallen to the ground. Her head lolled forward. “Yes. Master.”
A Second Law response. Lily started to cry, too.
Callie had been looking from Leslie and Gary to Lily and Fausta, lost. “What…what is it, Leslie?”
He still smiled, but his eyes were hollow. He shook his head and nodded in Fausta’s direction. The Colonel saw that.
“Miss Fausta,” he called. “Who is this ‘Pavel’?”
“My… my big brother,” she whispered. Her head came up. “He died.”
Lily remembered. Her talk with Ai in the front courtyard of the hospital. ‘He tried to be older too quickly. Then, he was gone.’
Gone. They just assumed he was dead.
In her mind’s eye, she was back in her flat: Ai flicked her nose; ‘silly! We don’t know everything! We only know what we know!’
Echoes of Family Lost Page 13