“Ok, I’m here,” I announced at the faded red barn doors.
“Excellent.” Alice smiled as she stepped through the gap between the two large doors. “Ok… so I’ve been working on the tech that we have developed over the past few months and looking for ways to weaponize them. The obvious place to start was the holograms – since they have proven fairly effective already. However, I hit a few snags…”
“Snags…”
“Yes, the shielding that holds the hologram together is susceptible to electromagnetic waves. Years ago, the only way to generate an EM pulse with enough power to affect the shield would’ve been with a nuclear detonation – that would’ve also fried every electrical circuit in about 10 square miles. The military obviously recognised that EM fields were useful, so have developed technology to emit the pulses of a nuke – just without all the death and destruction. If they used one of these pulse emitters against a hologram, the shield would destabilise and objects would pass through, if they were bullets, and some happened to hit the orb…”
“…the hologram would be destroyed.” I finished.
“Precisely. I could be wrong. I’m fairly sure that bullets wouldn’t do any real damage to the Nanites, and I’m almost certain that the EM field wouldn’t affect them at all… but the hologram would almost certainly collapse and become useless, I’d rather not base our defence and protection on those kinds of uncertainties. Plus, hologram orbs require a hell of a lot of Nanites which could be put to better use elsewhere.”
“I’m assuming you came up with an alternative then.”
“Actually, I did. I’d like to introduce you to the Spartans…”
Alice turned to the side, clearing my view of the barn behind her as the doors were pulled open from the inside. From out of the barn stepped three huge, human shaped… things. I was instantly reminded of a cross between Iron Man from the Marvel films and the robots from the Terminator franchise, these machines looked similar except they were black, about 7ft tall, much broader and obviously had nobody inside controlling them.
“Holy shit,” I spluttered.
“Fully automated combat drones,” Alice nodded proudly, “Two-way encrypted hybrid communications allow them to be monitored and controlled anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world – by me, of course. Enhanced targeting scanners in the eyes and multi layered optical sensors allows them to have night, thermal, infrared and electromagnetic vision. Electro-magnetic powered servos give it full range of movement and carbonite infused fibres have added strength to all the limbs meaning it can carry a weight of about 4 tonnes.”
My jaw was still firmly on the floor as the Spartans strode into the clearing and stopped a few yards in front of us.
“their bodies,” Alice continued, “are covered with a triple plate and tube carbonite armour system with reactive shielding similar to the shields on the hologram.”
“triple plate and tube?” I asked, my mind slowly catching up with the details.
“yes, each spartan has an inch-thick layer of Carbonite around his whole body. On top of that is a layer of carbonite nanotubes - each filled with a mixture of foam and carbonite crystal shaped masses, the idea is that if any projectile penetrated the armour, it would be deflected by the different angled crystals in the tube, and by the tube itself. On top of that is another inch-thick layer of solid carbonite. I estimate that this combination could survive a direct hit by a M1A2 Abrahams tank shell. Assuming, of course, that anything can penetrate the shielding – the emitters for which are inside the superstructure.”
“…shit!...”
“The whole system is powered by one of the new lithium power cells. Good for about 8 months of uninterrupted operation before needing to be refuelled. These battle frames are basically indestructible by current weapons.”
“Ok…” As apprehensive as I had been about creating weapons, especially considering Maria’s opinions on the matter, I had to admit that these were impressive machines. The even looked intimidating. “…What about weaponry?”
“Ah yes, the second part of the spartan combat system. This is the X1 variable battle rifle.” In perfect synchronicity, the three Spartans reached over their shoulder and removed a black case from their backs, bringing it back over their shoulders and holding it in their arms.
The case was about 3ft long and about 8 inches from top to bottom; its cross-section was roughly diamond shaped with the top and bottom points flattened off. As the Spartans cradled the cases, they ‘opened’ – previously invisible seams split open, a trigger butt and handle springing out of the bottom, a stock jutting out of one end and the business end of the barrel extending a few inches from the other. The top extended into an advanced looking scope sight and white lines glowed along the seams down the length of the barrel.
“these weapons can only be activated by Spartans,” Alice explained, “and are based around the principle of focused energy.” My ears pricked up as I heard that term, but I allowed Alice to finish. “In each rifle, there is a mini reactor like the ones we use to power the forge, but the magnetic constrictor fields are calibrated much differently. Instead of containing the full power of the artificial sun, the field allows the surface plasma to be funnelled into the firing mechanism and used as ammunition.”
“So, it’s a laser?”
“No, technically it’s a plasma weapon,” she looked towards the Spartans and – having been given some silent command – one of them raised his weapon aiming at a tree, three high pitched thudding noises echoed around the clearing as three red coloured ‘dashes’ were sent sizzling through the air. The targeted three shook violently as three mango sized holes were blasted through the bark and out of the other side, glowing red embers lining the tree’s new wounds.
“This is the standard firing mode, lethal at almost any range. The plasma bolt is allowed to maintain its heat in the barrel of the rifle, that heat and kinetic force being transferred into the target on impact – and as you can see, there is a fairly violent result.”
I stared at the tree in disbelief, wondering what would happen if that bolt hit a person.
“The rifle can be reconfigured into three different firing modes, the first being the lethal, heated plasma that you’ve just seen; The second is the non-lethal mode, same basic principle, except this time, the heat is drained away from the plasma until there is barely any left. Then the magnetic field from the confinement shield is redirected into the barrel creating a neuro-electric field around the bolt. If this impacted a person, it would render them completely unconscious – it would hurt like hell but there wouldn’t be any lasting damage. Good if you were concerned about unnecessary casualties.”
Another nod from Alice and the Spartan raised his weapon, this time the lights on the side of the barrel turned blue as three equally blue bolts shot from the rifle and into a different tree. There didn’t appear to be any physical damage but there was only one real way to test this weapon mode and I wasn’t about to volunteer.
“The third option is a little more… heavy duty. If we were ever in a situation where we were dealing with armoured vehicles, tanks for example, these weapon modes would be very inefficient. Non-lethal wouldn’t do anything at all and I don’t know if the lethal mode would penetrate the more advanced armour systems out there. Even if it did, it would only do harm to the crew, the vehicle itself would be fine. So, I developed the third firing mode…”
Another nod to the Spartan and he raised his rifle again, this time the barrel glowed red as he held the trigger down for a second or two before firing. The air split open as a crack of sound flew through the clearing, chasing a much larger and much faster red bolt. The targeted tree exploded in a hail of fire and splinters as a violent explosion obliterated the area of impact, the decapitated trunk falling backwards and into the forest.
“Holyfuckingshit!” I yelped, stumbling backwards and away from the detonation.
“That was a much larger bolt of plasma, much more heat allowed
to flow into the barrel and a constrictor field wrapped around the whole bolt. It packs a massive punch on impact and will penetrate all known forms of conventional armour as well as up to 4ft of reinforced concrete. Because the weapons run off a micro-reactor, the ammunition can be reloaded from water. I’m not sure, at this point, how many shots can be fired before reloading is needed, but I would estimate a few thousand standard and non-lethal shots and high-hundreds for the heavy shots. All-in-all, between the Spartan battle frame and the X1 rifle, this is an extremely adaptable and formidable combat system.”.
My eyes were still firmly fixed on what was left of the two trees that the Spartan had used for target practice, my mind flashing with images of what these weapons were capable of doing to a human body and racing with the knowledge that one day, I might be forced to use them.
I had personally killed five people already; the two men on the night Maria was killed, Agent Donaldson in Arlington, Major Richards outside Langley, and Sergeant Haze inside Fort Meade, but all of these were participants or conspirators in Maria’s execution and were, therefore, guilty of a crime for which they would never be punished. Normal soldiers though, honest intelligence agents… they were just following orders, guilty of nothing more than a desire to defend their country. I didn’t want to kill them if there was any way to avoid it. But if the government ever came for us, these would be the people who would do the chasing.
It was a dilemma I had never had to face before. Now, looking at the shattered remains of the target trees, I had no choice but to deal with these questions and come up with answers I could live with.
“You need to decide what you want out of all this.” Alice stately calmly after I had voiced these concerns to her. “this all started because you wanted to stop the military from doing the exact thing we have just done, because we needed to keep you and Maria safe and hidden while they tried. They killed her, for no other reason that she wouldn’t give them what they wanted. Now they know that you are alive, and they will do the same to you if given the chance. So, you have to ask yourself: what do you want out of all this?”
“I don’t know.” It was the truth, Alice had already said that we were now, basically, in active Rebellion against the United States and I hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but – as usual – she was right. “Rebellions need a cause.” I muttered to myself.
“and what cause would that be?” I shook my head, not being able to answer the question, “Do you want to take down the government?”
“No, of course not… maybe…. I don’t know.” I paused for a few moments to collect my thoughts, “I don’t want to take down the government completely. But I want an end to the corruption and oppression that comes with institutions like the FISA courts, like the technology acquisition departments of the military, like the elements of the CIA who know they have no mandate on American soil but conduct operations here anyway.
I want to end people like Reaves and Hammond, men who demand that someone’s hard work is handed over without question, make threats and intimidate them if they don’t comply and then murder them if they can’t get their own way – and do all that with complete impunity from the law!” I started to shout as my anger rose, “They killed her! They snuck into her office and executed her in the middle of the night! All because she exercised her constitutional right and said no! Well, to hell with them, if they come for me then they will deal with someone who is able and willing to fight back!”
Alice nodded in understanding. “So, non-lethal methods if possible, but if they bring the fight to our front door…”
“…then none of them leave alive!”
No honest agent or simple soldier would follow an order like that, not without questioning it. And the ones that did… well, they chose the wrong side.
The United States was – in my opinion – the result of one of the greatest and noblest social experiments in history; a government of the people, for the people. But being hunted by them – even if in my own mind – had highlighted some blaringly hypocritical and dangerous elements within its system. No truly democratic government with a genuine goal to govern with the best intent towards its own people would contain institutions that allowed their execution, let alone use them. Yet, Maria was dead, by their hand, and that simply didn’t reconcile with how I had always perceived the country in which I was born. My perception of the United States had changed.
“I guess that was the beginning of the end of my time in the United States,” I said to Penny as the moonlit sky hung over the tower. “I supposed that’s an easy distinction to make now, looking back with the benefit of hindsight. Everything escalated so quickly after that.”
“Have you ever been back since you left? In an unofficial capacity I mean.”
“I did once, to bring Maria here a few years after I left, but otherwise, no. The cabin was obliterated by an airstrike a few months after we left, I’m not sure if they thought we were still there or not, but they destroyed it anyway… Another illegal operation carried out on behalf of the US government. Itek was run remotely by Alice for another few years, her alter ego gradually winding down the business as people retired or left the company. It was reincorporated in Atlantia about five years after the founding, it still technically exists – on paper at least – and still collects royalties for the technologies that we developed there.”
“You’re still being paid for that?” Penny laughed in incredulity, “I thought they would have frozen everything.”
“They couldn’t. Maria and I were officially dead, and the charges were against us, not the company. Itek was left alone once they realised that the records of our research weren’t there. The encryption software Alice designed – although obsolete by current Atlantian standards – is still widely available on the commercial market all around the world. We are actually making more money off it now than we ever did back then. Itek now consists of a telephone line direct to Alice to negotiate licenses, deeds of incorporation and a bank account. That’s all that’s left of Maria’s company.”
“Did you ever consider rebuilding the company here, maybe attaching it to the Hawking institute?”
“Yeah, I thought about that for a long time. But Itek was Maria’s baby; she created it, she nurtured it, she made it thrive, without her it just seemed… hollow. Maybe one day I will change my mind, but for now, it will rest in peace with Maria.”
“so how come you never went back? Other than to get Maria? My parents visit France and their old friends as often as they can.”
“I don’t know really.” I answered honestly. “I suppose I felt betrayed and attacked by the government – even though they had never gone after me personally at all by this point. As soon as you start seeing your country as the enemy, the beauty of the landscape doesn’t seem so appealing anymore. I can say now – again, with the benefit of hindsight – that I had developed something of a siege mentality, but as the saying goes: just because the voices in your head aren’t real, it doesn’t mean they aren’t after you. I was a target and I knew it. That changes the way you think, everything becomes about survival, it’s instinct and everything reminds you of it, even geography… It’s a hard mindset to explain.”
“like a trauma victim going back to the scene of the accident.” Penny offered.
“More or less, but it’s about fear, not pain. Fear is an insidious emotion. It poisons everything. Even if I went back, after all this time, that cabin and Maria’s valley…”
“the bad memories would override the good.”
I nodded.
“Look, Marcus, it’s getting late – It’s already passed midnight. Would you mind if we picked this up again tomorrow afternoon? After close again?”
“Not at all, Penny. I’m sorry to keep you so late. I lost track of time.”
Penny laughed, “I guessed as much. Do you ever sleep?” she asked jokingly.
“Not really.” I answered with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“
You know you can’t tell her…” Alice’s voice came from over my shoulder after Penny had closed the door behind her. Alice’s holographic body materialising behind me.
I turned and smiled at my oldest friend. Penny and every other citizen of Atlantia knew Alice; she was their access point to the databanks. Children talked to her in class everyday as their teachers guided them through their education – but it was Alice they learned from. Alice was in control of the robotic elements of the armed forces, coordinated the emergency services, the citizens saw her as a mainframe computer who helped their day-to-day lives and kept them safe. But I knew her as my friend, as close to a living person as mattered.
I hadn’t given Penny the full story. Some of the details regarding Alice’s involvement in events had been glossed over or even left out entirely. Penny had no idea of Alice’s true capabilities, nobody did. Alice had grown vastly more capable when she was moved to her new core. That core had been the size of an old desktop computer, the crystal – the true measure of the core’s power – had been about the size of my fist. Her newest core – already about five years old – was the size of a small building, its crystal was more than two meters from top to bottom, roughly the same size as a Spartan soldier. Her abilities had grown in parallel with this expanded size.
“I know, I won’t” I answered.
“The people won’t accept a hologram for a leader, they wouldn’t even accept me if they knew the full extent of my capabilities.”
“We don’t know that; besides, my body is still alive, and my mind is as sharp as ever. If all else fails, I will just…”
“We still don’t know if that is even possible. You’ve been down there for 8 years now, circulation problems, muscle atrophy… It may be too much, even for us.”
“We can only cross that bridge when we come to it and trust the people if we can’t. This isn’t just about our survival anymore, we are safe – our job now is to extend that right to the people who trust us to protect them… for as long as they are willing to let us.”
The Rise of the Speaker Page 17