Genesis

by Filip Forsberg

  She came up to a guard standing next to a scanner. Noshimi pulled the bracelet through the scanner and the guard nodded for her to continue. She exhaled. The confusion after the panic attack still lingered and she was grateful that her enemies did not seem to know exactly where she was. Then a voice was heard to her left.

  "Wait!"

  She froze. Dread screamed within her. A few seconds elapsed while she hoped that the voice would disappear. It did not.

  "Wait."

  The voice, however, sounded softer now so Noshimi allowed herself to turn around. She was prepared for the worst. Perhaps it was the Flor Fria guard force that would arrest her. Or maybe a killer. Could her enemies really send a killer who during day would attack her in such a public place as the main central? She turned and saw to her astonishment a woman smile towards her with her arms extended.

  The woman was dressed in a soft coat and her eyes were friendly.

  "You look like you need love, my friend."

  Noshimi did not respond. She stared at the woman who continued smiling at her. The woman took a few steps towards her.

  "You don't have to be afraid. We are alike, and we are all love. "

  Noshimi looked at the woman as if she came from another planet and she became nauseous when the woman embraced her. The woman hugged her and held her against him while she spoke quietly but Noshimi did not hear a word she said.

  The woman released her and continued smiling. She knew that the woman belonged to a kind of religious sect but did not remember what it was called. She tried to but frowned while the woman continued talking. Undicier! That was what the woman was. She cleared her throat and met the woman’s gaze.

  "Get lost."

  The woman froze, and the smile faded. Noshimi repeated herself, this time a little higher.

  "Get lost, I said."

  The woman glared at Noshimi and withdrew her lips and vest while she took a few steps back.

  "We're coming back."

  Noshimi glared back at the woman who disappeared back in into the crowd of people surrounding them. She exhaled slowly. Cursed undicier. That they allowed themselves to touch her. She shrugged and moved quickly through the human crowd down to the lower levels of the central station.

  * * *

  Normally the cutting-edge MAGLEV train moved completely without shaking but the tracks were worn, and he could again feel the vibrating sound that increased in strength when they slowed down. They had made it through the control where the military had boarded and gone through all the passengers ' papers. Fortunately, Weng-Li's foresight had already arranged a meeting with a contact who could produce the necessary documents for them. It was not cheap but both Weng-Li and Ln'Geem had access to hidden bank accounts filled with money.

  Dr. Weng-Li squinted out over the sea by people on the platform when their train approached the platform. Masses of people moved like a single large, living mass behind the metal fences that moved up from the floor on the platform and pushed people backward.

  There must be hundreds of people here he thought. It would be almost impossible to find Noshimi. This might have been a mistake. Maybe it was idiotic that he contacted his sister for help, but he had not had any other resort.

  The vibrations grew in strength when the train slowed down, and they ended abruptly when the train stopped. A pungent odor in the air made Dr. Weng-Li recoil and he took a step back. It was not at all as he imagined. This was quite different from what he was accustomed to from Tabula Rasa. There, the surroundings had been clean and tidy. Even if there had been many people, more there than in any mega-complex in the world, it had almost always been orderly. This was something completely different. He squinted at the crowd and was amazed at what he saw. A myriad of different people moved in front of him.

  He heard a sigh behind him. He spun around and saw Dr. Ln'Geem staring past him out towards crowds. He moaned.

  "How can we ever find someone here?"

  Ln'Geem looked at the human sea that slowly moved like a living mass in front of him. Weng-Li put his hand securely on his shoulder.

  "Don’t worry, my friend. My sister sent her identification code yesterday."

  Ln'Geem nodded weakly. That would clearly make it easier. With the identification code of a holo-band, you could determine the position anywhere in the world with a precision of less than one meter.

  "How did you persuade her?"

  Weng-Li had himself been surprised when Noshimi suggested that she would send her identification code. He had not wanted to ask about it, that he had asked for help had been a big enough step for him, given that they were not particularly close to each other. But he had no other possibilities. There were no more family or other friends that he could ask for help. After a scandal in Japan, many years ago, Weng-Li had to flee, and he had he lost all his friends and colleagues. He had been accused of rape by various women and the scandal had been a fact. After the scandal, he had gone underground and had to hide in several weeks to give himself time to think of the next step.

  Without warning, John Vendrick III had contacted him and asked him to come to Tabula Rasa to continue his research there. He had been given a second chance in life and he was determined to make the most of it. He had developed and improved the methods they had to generate clones, and under Weng-Lis's direct supervision, the secret programs at Tabula Rasa had become world-leading. He had given it all. His entire life and energy had been spent on improving and developing the methods they had access to. Improved amniotic fluids. Accelerated lifespan and incubation methods. Everything he had worked on and by his side, Ln'Geem had been. Both in success and in failure, Ln'Geem had been supportive and when Weng-Li hit his forehead against the wall due to failure, so was Ln’Geem there and could help him further. And in the evenings, they had continued to discuss various suggestions for improvement.

  Dr. Weng-Li squinted out over the crowd. There must be at least a thousand people here. He glanced at his holo-band and adjusted it so that it indicated the path to the Noshimis identification code. The holo-band blinked, and the indicator showed that she was not more than fifty meters away. He squeezed Ln'Geem’s shoulder.

  "Time to go."

  Ln'Geem nodded and together they followed the long line of people who stepped off the train. Weng-Li steered them away towards an edge of the platform. He let his gaze glide over the people but saw nothing. The indicator showed that Noshimi was within five meters of him. He had not heard her voice for years.

  "Brother."

  He spun around and saw Noshimi in front of him, and he gasped. She looked much older than what he remembered her. Her face was taunt and ravaged. Her hair was thin and her eyes watery. His mouth dried up. He swallowed and could feel sand in his throat. He nodded rigidly against her.

  "Sister."

  However, relief grew within him when he saw her. They still had a chance. Their persecutors would find it difficult to follow them inside in Flor Fria. He smiled weakly at her.

  "Thank you for coming."

  She did not respond but looked at Ln'Geem. Weng-Li motioned towards him.

  "This is Dr. Ln'Geem that I told you about."

  She nodded but before she had time to say something, a man bumped into her and she stumbled. She regained her footing and nodded towards the exit signs.

  "Let's get away from here."

  Without saying anything they hurried after her and they had almost left the crowd when they heard a loud, shrill beeping. Noshimi froze and Weng-Li and Ln'Geem nearly stumbled into her as she stopped. Red warning lights on the rugged walls flashed red and the two doctors were pale with fear. Ln'Geem was sweating profusely.

  "What's going on?"

  Noshimi shook her head and pulled her brother’s arm.

  "Come on, we have to away from here."

  They started to push through the stagnant amount of people who had stopped to see what the commotion was about. A faint rumbling came from somewhere from the underworld. Noshimi did not perceive it at
first, but after a few seconds, her legs felt unsteady as she tried to move forward with her brother and his friend. The muffled sound grew in intensity and it did not take many seconds until a woman screamed.

  "Earthquake! Run! "

  Atacama deep, the coast of Chile.

  March 16, 2049

  The icy cold sparkled around him. Everywhere. As thousands of stars fell towards him without harming him. He was barely conscious, he was in a remarkable mixture of consciousness and darkness. He floated in a way still at the water surface. A wave rolled over his head and he got water in his mouth and nose.

  Jonathan jolted out of his semi-comatose state and coughed hard and the sharp sunlight forced itself into his mind and he tried desperately to lift his head. Confused, he looked around and finally understood where he was. He was on life buoy. David was in his arms and Jonathan could hear him moaning. Jonathan took a couple of deep breaths and felt how he came back to life.

  Small waves kept rolling over them as he held David firmly. He tried to remember what happened, but only dream-like fragments floated round in his head. He remembered the woman who called herself Umbra, how she shot Melissa and how David had thrown himself after her. He could still feel the shot from Umbra's weapon graze him when he threw himself after David and Melissa. Umbra had been inhuman quick, he had never seen anything like that.

  He went through what had happened but was filled with a multitude of unanswered questions. How had Umbra come to their boat? How could she be so fast? And where was the Fabergé-egg? He thought of the egg and how Umbra's face had sparkled when she opened the box. Jonathan had not seen what was in the box but given the greenish light reflected in her face, it had certainly something extraordinary.

  David did not move.

  "David?"

  No answer. David's head rolled to when a wave struck over his knees. Jonathan moaned when pain shot up in his legs. David's body was so heavy that it affected the blood circulation in them and they tingled with pain. Jonathan tried to bend his feet to force the circulation. He shook David again, harder this time.

  "David!"

  Now David mumbled something, but Jonathan could not hear what. Jonathan took a scoop of water in his hand and threw it in David’s face. David woke up with a jerk.

  "Melissa!"

  The sun burned relentlessly, and his lips were sore. He did not know when he last had some water. He put his arm on David's chest and spoke softly to him.

  "She's gone."

  David sobbed when Jonathan talked to him but did not respond. They were at least three hours from the coast and could not swim anywhere because there was no land in sight. And he had not seen any major parts from the wreckage that they could use, the way they had been the lifebuoy they were on, but it was dangerously overloaded. It would have been a miracle that they had done so long as they did. The small waves regularly hit Jonathan's legs and over his knees. He did not know how quickly Marie could have organized a rescue operation, but it could probably take a while. He smiled grimly to himself. There was not so much to do besides trying to stay afloat until help came.

  ***

  He did not know how long they had been in the water when he was jerked out of his slumber. Jonathan coughed violently when water ran out of his nose. He must have dozed off and cursed himself because he had been so careless.

  A shadow slipped past to the left and he twisted his head toward it. He froze when the sharp edge of a fin quietly slipped past in the water not more than ten meters away. The icy sensation intensified when he saw two more fins silently appear another five meters away. A faint sense of panic reigned within him and he gently shook David.

  "David, we have visitors."

  David's head moved softly when he tried to move it and Jonathan quietly watched the fins that slipped past them. David slowly awoke and pointed at the fins but before he could say something, Jonathan heard something, and he first thought it was imagining but understood after a few seconds that the sound was for real. A faint buzzing far away. He first saw nothing on the clear blue sky, but the buzzing sound intensified. A dark spot appeared behind a white cloud and he squinted to see what it was, but it was too far away to be able to see some details.

  Another fin slipped quietly up to the right of him and slipped ominously past no more than three meters away. Beneath the water's surface, he could see the dark shadow and he swallowed hard. It was as if time started to slow down and he felt that all the small details around him more intensive. Water movements, wind noise, buzzing from the dark spot. Everything was clearer, more real.

  The buzzing sound changed character and he squinted up against it. It was a drone. It must be a long-distance drone to be able to get so far out on the sea, he thought for himself.

  As he looked on, the drone approached quickly, descended toward him and took up position obliquely in front of him. It was bigger than what he had expected. While studying it, a red light started flashing and he could hear a faint beeping. Jonathan blinked, but before he could do something, the drone split in two and the upper part was still hovering in the air while the lower part fell quietly through the air and hit the ocean with a splash.

  Jonathan stared at the dark object that in the same second as the surface it began to inflate and unfold. It was an inflatable rescue raft. He laughed out loud when hope returned to him. After no more than five seconds, the rescue raft was fully inflated and to Jonathan, it looked enormous. A cold thought flashed through his head. How would he get there? The raft was at least ten meters away and Jonathan could easily swim there if he had been alone but now that David was in his arms it was almost impossible.

  The dark drone hovered straight over the raft and while Jonathan was watching, what looked like a gap on the side of it opened. Something small and red flew out of the drone and set a course against Jonathan. He stared at it and saw that it was a remote-controlled robot and it flew straight down towards him.

  It stayed about two meters from him and he could hear a familiar voice.

  "Jonathan!"

  His lips hurt his mouth formed a smile.

  “Marie. Thank god."

  Her voice was close, and it was strange to hear it as clearly when he was at sea.

  "Help is on the way. A rescue boat from the Chilean Coast Guard is an hour away. The rescue raft can keep you afloat until they come. "

  Jonathan looked over at the raft.

  "But it's too far away."

  Marie's voice was clear, and he could almost hear how relieved she was.

  “Don’t worry. Just stretch your hand. "

  Jonathan did as he was told. The drone approached. His heart jumped over a beat when he saw a thin line connecting it with the raft. Slowly, the larger drone came closer and Jonathan could feel the wind from the powerful engines.

  When it was no more than three meters from him, a thin mechanical arm stretched out with the rope in a firm grip and placed it softly in his hand. He laughed with joy when Marie asked.

  "Do you have it?"

  He smiled from ear to ear and felt energy returned to him. He immediately began to pull himself and David towards the raft.

  "Yes, I have it. On the way to the raft now. "

  Space

  It was not cacophony, but it was close. Their communication happened instantaneously. There was not the delay that normally was between people when the spheres communicated. Their communication happened instantly and to all spheres at once. At present, three hundred seventy-one spheres were within the solar system called Milky Way by the humans.

  On seven locations on Earth, they had established contact with mankind and started communication with them and it had gone surprisingly smooth and they had been positively surprised at how well it had gone so far. It was in stark contrast to how it had been the first time on Earth and established contact.

  That attempt had ended in disaster and had resulted in that they had to cease contact. But this time things progressed far better. They had managed to establish a
common alphabet and language in the short time and the spheres had been impressed by how quickly humans learned. They had gone through the process in the past to establish contact with intelligent races and knew that it was a prerequisite to communication was to establish frameworks and systems for communication.

  Before meeting with the humans, the spheres had already prepared a kind of Rosetta-stone with a common language base between them and all the spoken and written languages of the Earth. They did not want to repeat their mistakes from the last time. An unsuccessful one would be devastating. But this time it went better, and the language base had been a great help. For the spheres, it had helped immensely, and it had shown its value when they presented the system for the humans.

  But everything had not gone smoothly. There had appeared a rift in the coherence between the spheres, which was extremely unusual. Usually, the different positions and viewpoints within the spheres were discussed and then reached a common conclusion but not so this time. In recent weeks, they had tried to reach an agreement that all could stand behind, but so far it would not have succeeded. Several of them had protested the theory that they should interfere as little as possible. They would take a more passive position and the seven contacts with mankind were more than sufficient. There was no need for more contact.

  But there was the part of those who thought that mankind needed more help than was immediately clear. The imbalance that had so quickly led to the problems with the planets climate was a sign of it they meant. The acceleration of the destruction of the environment was only a long series of extremes that were driving the Earth past the brink of the collapse. The spheres had witnessed the increasing speed of the wheel of the last century, and the depletion of natural resources was accelerating.

  According to their estimates, Earth had less than a few centuries before large parts of it became uninhabitable. According to their calculations, the desert band that went through Africa would expand northward in the coming decades and made several million people into climate-refugees. Rain and monsoons would add to the mayhem and impoverish the earth in other parts of the world they occurred. And even now parts of the news reporting had taken with the prevailing degree of pollution on precipitation. All this together with unbridled population growth was the sign of an unhealthy environment that quickly pushed itself over the edge. One of the spheres, with the temporary name two-two-nine and representing the majority, took the floor.