The Spire

by Peter F Smith

  The Spire

  Peter F. Smith

  Contents

  Short Story Access Information

  Preface

  Jacob Patterson

  Aaron Miller

  Jacob Patterson

  Aaron Miller

  Natalia

  Aaron Miller

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  End

  Also by Peter F. Smith

  Ethos Access!

  Short Story Access Information

  A Quick Note.

  Be sure to read to the end to get access to your copy of the short story, Ethos.

  Your email is needed for the download but signing up for my newsletter is optional, though it’s the best way to stay up to date on the release of future books in the Spire Saga.

  Also please review this novel when you’re done with it, your reviews, much like the tears of my enemies, sustain me.

  Thank you and please enjoy!

  Preface

  “Don’t fear the machines, fear those that control them”

  David Williams

  Jacob Patterson

  The sound of a hard heel cracked off the tile of the hallway, reverberating up and down the length of the space. The steady report of the Oxford style dress shoes nearly flawless in their rhythm as if the wearer had planned every single step. A door at the end of the hall opened; the man stepped through the entry without breaking his stride. It slid closed silently and quickly, plunging the room into darkness except for a circle of dim light directly in his path. Jacob Patterson stepped into the ring; his well-pressed jacket shimmered in the soft light projected from above. Deftly he removed it, folded it properly, and placed it gently on a chair just outside of the circle.

  The words “establishing connection” appeared before him. He stared forward, taking a deep breath. His hand ran through his hair, dislodging the carefully styled strands. His breathing intensified, air rushing through his nostrils and filling his lungs. Deeper and more rapid with each passing moment until his mouth dropped open in a primal scream. His right fist slammed into his breast, faster and faster. A minute passed and he suddenly stopped.

  An image appeared suspended in the air before him—a reflection of himself. He inspected it for a moment, noting the throbbing veins of his neck, dark red tint of his skin, and sweat along his brow. His brown hair was out of sorts and his fine suit hung on him awkwardly. He regarded his eyes and the ever-present level of curiosity that they displayed. He experimented with slight tightening of the muscles around them and a tilt of his head, settling on what he felt looked the most appropriate for rage.

  He waved the screen away and in its place the connecting message appeared, within a few seconds a man made of light stepped into his field of view. “Our meeting isn’t for another hour. What do you want?"

  Jacob stared at the holographic representation of his longtime colleague Jeffery Chen. Standing six feet three inches tall, he was as physically imposing as he was mentally capable. He had managed to navigate the complex and, often times, treacherous political waters of Southeast Asian governments in order to take his place as the head of operations for that region, the second most lucrative in the world. His Spire was the largest of all those constructed by Multi National Robotics and towered over a vast portion of the island of Hong Kong, where it was often necessary to use symbology to establish dominance over those you wished to work with and control.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Jacob barked.

  Jeffery smirked, “I’m a very busy man Patty; what the hell are you talking about?”

  “Why did you convince Robert to visit Capitol Hill? Today wasn’t a part of our agreed upon timeline.”

  “That was the timeline you pushed on the rest of us, not mine. Plus, I’ve always thought you were a pussy, so I didn’t want to risk you growing a conscience.”

  Jacob took a step forward. “I made this plan. I put everything in place, and you just triggered the AI sequence!”

  Chen stepped closer, the size difference between the two of them apparent. “Then why are you so pissy?”

  “Because both Eva and Maria are in D.C.” His eyes burned up into the holographic image of Chen.

  “Hmm, didn’t realize that."

  “The hell you didn’t. So what was the plan? Use their deaths to throw me off balance so you could sweep in and take North America with less resistance after the plan runs its course?”

  Chen chuckled, “Ahh hell, I don’t want them dead.”

  “You have no moral compass to speak of Jeffery. Why should I believe you?”

  “Because I’m not gonna to let your wife die until after I’ve screwed her, been wanting to do that since I met her."

  His jaw muscles tensed, his fingers balled into fists. “I swear if anything happens to them I’ll…”

  Chen thrust himself directly at Jacob. His face screwed into barely contained rage. “You’ll do what Patricia?” He leaned in even closer. If they had truly been in the same room, Jacob would have smelled that awful menthol after shave he used. “Be careful you don’t get your panties in a twist sweetheart. You might say something I’ll make you regret." He slowly turned and walked out of the conversation, flipping Jacob off as he went.

  A moment passed and the system presented a dialogue message confirming the signal had been disconnected. Jacob immediately swept his hand through his hair and straightened his shirt. His breathing returned to his normal resting state. The rage left him as quickly as he had summoned it, and he picked up his jacket, slipping his arms back through. Chen’s betrayal had been planned for. He had hoped that the man wouldn’t, but his past behavior made it clear he would do something to remove Jacob as a competitor or at least attempt to establish himself at the head of their hierarchy. Thankfully he had prepared for this potential occurrence. The girls were in D.C. and the spark that would be the beginning of the end of the world was about to break out there, but they were not alone.

  He opened an audio only connection to the head of his family’s security, Aaron Miller. A moment later the system informed him that it had been rejected. Jacob’s heart skipped a beat and for the first time today he felt genuine emotion. Had he miscalculated? Robert, the head of their company Multi National Robotics, had only just arrived on Capitol Hill. Patterson’s social media bots were already inciting action on the variety of extremist pages that he had co-opted or even formed. The groups were organizing quickly and preparing to move on their preplanned locations, but none of them were in D.C. yet and wouldn’t be for a short period of time. But he couldn’t rule out the possibility that there might be other groups, operating independently of his time line. If that was the case, his wife and daughter might already be in danger.

  A text message appeared in his field of vision; its ID showed that it came from Miller, and the tension in his shoulders relaxed slightly.

  “In the Planetarium, sir."

  As Jacob thought, the words he wanted to reply with appeared within his view. “Social media analysis of the protests is becoming concerning. Please bring the girls home."

  “Understood, will update you as soon as possible."

  Jacob was not going to wait for an update, instead choosing to activate the video feed from Miller’s contact lenses and the holographic display before him expanded to fill his entire vision. None of the staff of MNR were aware that their contact lenses could be used in this manner. While
it was possible to allow someone to access your view, the belief was that there was no way to force it. It had been a very useful tool for spying on the other heads of the company. That is until Chen’s favorite IT technician had detected the errant code and Jeffery had spread the word to leadership.

  Off to the side, he activated several more windows. Accessing the variety of streams coming from the protests that were taking place on the Mall in Washington D.C. At least a hundred thousand people had gathered here today, and more were expected in the coming days. People held signs in the air demanding action against automation and affordable artificial intelligence that had begun to seriously cut into the number of available positions that humans could take. Others demanded that the government provide greater access to job retraining programs or invest more in their schools. Some insisted on a basic universal income, thinking that handouts would inspire creativity and growth.

  Most had a variety of insults directed toward Multi National Robotics. As the leader of the robotics and artificial intelligence revolution, it was only natural that they would direct their anger at this organization. A few even had pictures of him, as the CTO he often appeared on the news feeds to defend MNR. One of the signs had the words ‘Seventy-Thirty’ emblazoned on it, referencing the failed piece of legislation that would have forced companies like his own to ensure that seventy percent of their overall productivity came from human actions.

  He had secretly funded the political action committees that had supported it, hoping that it would result in legislation that would allow him to place a check on the insatiable quest for wealth and power that the members of his board, and those of most companies, seemed absolutely addicted to without exposing his position and risking its loss.

  He had joined MNR those many decades ago to make the world a better place and yet it seemed as if the intense greed of the elite and the absolute corruptibility of America’s elected officials, along with an electorate that was either criminally disengaged or ignorant of the facts had conspired to stop him. He remembered the day the legislation was voted down in the House. One of the twenty-four hour news services had praised its defeat as a win for working class Americans and people around the globe saying it would leave companies such as MNR open to make more profits which would naturally lead to an increase in available jobs.

  The news channel then went on to feature numerous members of both the House and the Senate claiming that the real threat to American workers was low skilled immigrants and now, with this whole 70/30 business concluded, they could tackle the real problem. His fury at watching the events of his youth play out again so many decades later was immeasurable. He shook his head at how easily people could be bought and how quickly the masses latched on to a lie, so long as it was one that they were familiar with. The failure of the people and their elected officials to secure the future for the human race meant that he would have to take matters into his own hands.

  As the cameras panned the crowd, his AI assistant silently observed the faces of the protestors and began to flag several that strongly resembled men and women that were members of insurgent groups he had been nurturing. Clearly they had not waited for him to issue orders to them, instead taking the initiative to join the protest outside the Capitol.

  The crowd was growing increasingly restless and belligerent as Capitol Police officers addressed them on bull horns demanding that they withdraw from the steps of the Capitol building. People began to push against the barricades that were meant to keep them from the most influential legislative body in the world.

  Feeling concern, he shifted his focus to Miller’s point of view.

  Aaron Miller

  The Universe lay spread out before him. The narrator’s deep and soothing baritone voice filled the room, describing the exoplanet that was manifest before the entire audience. Their hands stretching out to touch the sphere that was just out of reach, covered with water, jungle islands sprinkled across it, like chick peas spilled across a counter top. The narrator went on to explain that this was a very well-educated guess at how it appeared. The space-based telescopes at the gravitationally stable Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun had gotten some amazing imagery of the world, but nothing with so much definition as to allow them to make out if there was vegetation on the islands. The idea, he said, was based on the amount of oxygen in the planet’s atmosphere. For there to be as much as we could detect, there had to be plant life.

  Miller performed a quick scan of the room. His eyes searching for those not looking up at the spectacle displayed. He took in the entire space; his contacts providing him with biometric analysis of people in the room as he looked at them all. The AI software trying to determine what their threat level might be. He activated his virtual text feature.

  “Vision has intelligence of potential hostilities imminent, exfil protocol," Miller texted his team. The word “understood” appearing in his vision. Miller knew his personal communications were some of the most secure in the world, but he still followed his training from his decades as a member of the armed forces, using code words and keeping details scant so as to make it harder for those that might have broken the encryption to plan.

  He turned his head toward his two charges. Eva was leaning over her arm rest, her raven black hair cascading over her shoulder and reflecting the menagerie of lights projected above. She bent over slightly whispering into her daughter’s ear, her hand gesturing to the variety of constellations and celestial objects. Maria’s four-year-old face was awash in wonder, listening with rapt attention as her mother filled her ear and, most importantly, her imagination with details of what she was seeing. Miller’s view stayed on the two for a moment longer than necessary. A twinge of something he couldn’t place rippled through him. He thought of his own estranged daughter for a brief instant and then snapped himself back into the moment. Thinking about the distant past could get you and those you were responsible for killed. And while he might not have been certain as to what it was that he had just experienced, he did know that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to these two ladies.

  Miller turned his head to sweep the audience one more time, not having to look behind himself since he had placed all three of them in the aisle along the back wall. His eyes stopped on a young man, who quickly looked away when he saw Miller’s gaze sweep his way. Immediately, Miller utilized the facial recognition software, a part of his technology suite, and began running a background check on him. Another man without a family, sitting several seats from the first, drew his attention, and Miller began a facial recognition check for him as well. The results popped into his vision, highlighting petty theft, domestic violence, and assault charges.

  Miller turned toward the girls just as the lights in the planetarium came up to full washing out the three dimensional display. People looked around confused as a calm voice came over the speaker system.

  “All patrons of the United States Air and Space Museum are asked to head to the nearest emergency exit.” The message repeated itself as the fire alarm began to intone.

  Miller immediately stood, entering the aisle and holding out his hand for both of the girls. Maria grabbed it as she neared; her eyes filled with concern. Eva stepped in after her, hands on her shoulders, instinctively holding her close.

  “What’s happening?” she whispered into Miller’s ear as she passed.

  “Not sure,” he said loud enough for Eva to hear but low enough for Maria to miss it.

  Miller directed them toward the exit. He quickly turned his head and noticed that the two men were striding toward them. Their gaze not breaking from him.

  “ETA?” Miller asked on his squad frequency. Eva glanced over her shoulder as they passed through the doors into the antechamber. Other people were entering the horseshoe space from doors along the perimeter of the planetarium.

  “Are we being followed?” Eva asked as they increased the length of their strides.

  Miller didn’t answer her as the response to his earl
ier question came in via text, “Less than five minutes, shit’s getting intense out here."

  Miller grabbed Eva by the shoulder and directed her out into the main walkway of the second story. The alarms were still blaring and the same voice repeated its request to evacuate. The sound of hundreds of people, possibly more than a thousand, making their way to the large glass entrances and exits threatened to overwhelm the public address requests to leave.

  “What’s happening, Mommy?” Maria asked.

  Eva scooped her up and held her, turning toward Miller who followed behind. “The museum is practicing an evacuation, sweetie.”

  “Are those men behind us practicing too?”

  Eva quickly glanced at Miller over her shoulder. “Did you bring it?” she asked, referring to his sidearm.

  Miller shook his head, “Security frowns on it." He grabbed her by the arm and took her into the nearest restroom. He nearly picked both girls up off the ground and rushed them into the stall. “Stay,” he said, closing the flimsy privacy door behind him. He turned and bolted for the door which opened just as he was about to be within it’s arc. The first man he saw in the theater, with short brown hair and black eyes, was the first through.

  Miller grabbed his right hand, the one pushing the door open. Pulling him in while his other hand shot out and up into the man’s throat; an audible crunch was heard as his eyes bulged outward. Miller’s right leg shot forward, striking the front of the man’s knee with such intense force that it sent a snap reverberating through room. If it weren’t for his collapsed trachea, the man likely would have screamed in intense pain as his leg collapsed beneath him, his knee now going the wrong direction. His mass fell downward as his friend stepped into the doorway. Aaron didn’t hesitate. Still holding the first assailant’s hand, he used the man’s arm as a ram and utilized his downward momentum. Channeling it at an angle and into his friend’s shins, he hurled the first attacker into his peer.