He paused only long enough to take a breath. “The man who fled the scene of the attack on Devon and Emily was found dead in an alley, but forensics ID’ed him as one of Kigin’s thugs, and Kigin was the principal Zelones rep on Pandora. The mercs on the Baladan were killed by an enhanced version of a weapon used by Montegreu’s most elite hit squads. Etcetera, etcetera.”
Will nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe all this is being perpetrated by what remains of the Zelones leadership, under the theory if they exact public revenge for her death, they’ll regain some respect from the other cartels.”
“Possibly. But in that scenario, wouldn’t they just kill their targets in a straightforward manner and move on? These tailored hits are far too personal for a simple power play. The man who attacked Jenner practically reenacted his hit on Montegreu, and this virus is intended to torture the Prevos it infects before it kills them.”
“Granted. But the irrefutable fact remains that she is dead, physically. Her body expired. Adult cloning is still a long way off—even Dr. Canivon hadn’t made much progress on it. So whatever we’re talking about, we’re not talking about her in the flesh.”
Richard sighed. “There have been reported sightings of her at various locations, but when probed they all evaporate. So, absent some absurd scenario we can’t begin to envision, yes. Olivia Montegreu the human being is dead.”
He stared at the surfeit of data before him. “She didn’t have any lieutenants clever enough to plan and execute on something this convoluted, and she killed any rival capable of it. There’s simply no one left alive associated with her who possesses the wherewithal to pull this off.”
“So it looks, acts, smells and talks like Olivia Montegreu—but it can’t be a duck. Okay. Is it conceivable she uploaded a copy of her consciousness somewhere before she died? Is that even possible?”
“Several of the Prevo Artificials have transferred their consciousness into their human partners, but going in the other direction? I wasn’t aware we’d succeeded in defining the parameters of human consciousness, much less isolate it, much less lob it around.”
Richard started wandering beyond the table. “I’ll tell you why I don’t like this hypothesis. These attacks? They feel…petty. Montegreu was a psychopath and an egomaniacal narcissist, but she wasn’t petty. When she took it upon herself to execute a hit personally, she had business reasons for doing so, and she executed it with ruthless efficiency.”
Will sipped on his coffee. “What if the consciousness upload wasn’t complete? As you said, we don’t know precisely how to do it. So maybe she tried, but it wasn’t entirely successful. What if the copy is broken?”
He stopped mid-pace. “Not a bad theory. It would mean…what? Some shard of her consciousness is floating around the exanet trying to imitate herself? Well, that’s not creepy at all.”
Richard ran a hand down his face and went back for his coffee. “I can’t fathom how such an entity would gain access to the funds and accounts needed to execute on all these operations. Or, you know, exist. And I really want to be able to explain this without having to resort to religion, metaphysics or the supernatural.”
Will’s grin flitted through the virtual grid lines of the charts and graphs.
“What?”
“I like watching you work.”
“Watching me flail and stumble around trying to grasp hold of a glimpse of an answer, you mean.”
Will shrugged. “Among other things. What about her Artificial? What happened to it?”
“We’ve assumed the former Triene mercs who are squatting in Zelones headquarters on New Babel took control of it.”
“And how exactly does one ‘take control’ of an Artificial these days?”
He gazed at Will curiously, brow furrowing. “An excellent question. Those mercs wouldn’t have a clue what to do with such a powerful synthetic, and if they did they wouldn’t have a clue how to get through all the firewalls Montegreu would have instituted around it. Also, most of those mercs are now dead—and were the first ones killed in this spree, which is…interesting.”
He dropped the coffee mug onto the far corner of the table, leaving it to wobble around while he hurried over to the cluster of data. He began rearranging pieces and adding new link nodes.
It was several minutes before he stopped and took a step back to survey the complicated but now orderly collection of information. Then he strode around the table and drew Will into his arms, kissing him fully. “You are brilliant, and without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me. Thank you.”
Will chuckled against his lips. “Am I? Um…glad to hear it, but care to elaborate? On whatever you just figured out, I mean—you can elaborate on the rest later. And please do.”
“Every piece of information doesn’t point to Olivia Montegreu—it points to her knowledge base. Her resources, contacts and network. She isn’t the center, but she did create it. She gave her Artificial unparalleled power and access to everything the Zelones cartel touched, in her arrogance convinced she exerted total control over the machine.
“But from the minute she became a Prevo, it was in her mind. It absorbed everything she knew. And if I’ve learned anything about Artificials in the last year, it is that they are very quick studies.”
47
ROMANE
IDCC COLONY
* * *
SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A GENETICIST.
She should have been a quantum physicist.
She should have been Abigail.
Devon was right. This was too much for her.
You give yourself—and me—too little credit. We have solved challenges this difficult before.
Have we, Meno? The Metigen superdreadnought shields were complex, but this virus is insidious.
Crowdsourcing the Dimensional Rifter equations to the Noesis had worked out brilliantly, and the collective intelligence of over a hundred thousand Prevos would likely solve this puzzle, too.
But after getting burned so horribly by Winslow’s spies in the Noesis, Mia didn’t dare risk sharing the virus with anyone she didn’t personally know and trust. The Rifter was radically expensive technology designed to be used in a specific and solely defensive manner, and it lacked the functionality to hurt someone who wasn’t attacking its operator.
But this virus? It was nothing but code, so once provided a copy of it anyone would be able to use it. To harm, to kill.
No. She had to be good enough to solve this on her own.
A guard stuck his head inside the lab to check on her, as one had done every half hour for the last…however long she’d been here this time. Four guards were located outside the lab entrance, with another two patrolling the floor and eight manning the perimeter outside. Other, less visible security measures had also been implemented, then doubled in the wake of the attack on the hospital.
The threat is very real, Mia. After those harrowing moments in Morgan’s room, I am glad they are here.
She and Meno probably needed to talk through the emotional repercussions of killing a man up close and personal, but it was going to have to wait. I know, and I understand the need for such drastic measures. Their constant hovering is just a bit oppressive. But it’s fine.
She wished it were Malcolm here watching her back. Of course, him actually watching her back would soon lead to other, vastly more enjoyable activities. Ones which didn’t involve an evil, nasty alien infiltrator and her failing attempts to kill it and instead involved strong yet tender hands and rapacious lips and….
She sighed. Yes, that would most definitely be preferable.
But with the arrival of the data dump from Valkyrie, Malcolm had his hands easily as full as she did. So she took a sip of an energy drink then returned to the row of screens displaying the readings from Emily’s cybernetics.
The virus had wormed its way into the girl’s ware until it was impossible to separate the virus from the native code, even here in the data. Still, a full flush and reset of her eVi
and cybernetics would eradicate the virus, were it any other virus but this one.
In frustration she moved to another of the screen banks, the one showing the pure virus data techs had extracted from the vial carried by the man who’d tried to infiltrate her home.
The problem came back time and again to the extra-dimensional nature of the virus. She could see all five dimensions here on these screens because she was able to track the code from one data point to the next, but she couldn’t necessarily see the same inside the damaged cybernetics.
More to the point, she couldn’t see what damage it had wrought in those extra dimensions when the cybernetics themselves were designed and implemented in only three dimensions.
And even if she could, the flushing and reset tools available to the doctors didn’t operate in extra dimensions, so the virus would simply hibernate within them to resurface later.
No, she had to figure out a way to neutralize it where it lay. Except she didn’t have any tangible mechanism at her disposal capable of accessing those dimensions….
She blinked.
That wasn’t quite true. She did have one. She was staring at it right now.
Devon burst into the lab like he was being chased.
Meno exclaimed in her mind. Is he?
Um…I don’t think so.
He skidded to a stop in the middle of the room. “What do you have?”
“Maybe a way to nullify the virus on all levels. Maybe.” She frowned. He looked terrible. She recognized the clothes he wore, since he’d been wearing them for the last three days. His hair hadn’t seen a comb in at least as long, and the sagging, dark circles under his eyes had worsened since the attack, giving him a gaunt, haggard appearance.
She could hardly stay angry at him for ‘borrowing’ her mind and its power when he was in such a blatantly tormented state, could she?
Perhaps you could resume with your irritation at a later time, after Emily has recovered.
I’m afraid that’s not how human emotions work, Meno.
Alas.
She gestured to the table in the corner. “There’s water, energy drinks and bars, and some other snacks. You should eat something.”
He gazed longingly at the table. “All right. I’ll eat while you talk.”
“Good. I’m basically mirroring the routines of the virus—in a weird way, it’s similar to how the Dimensional Rifter works on a conceptual level. But my goal is to zero out the virus’ code at every point of its operation. Every action it takes will be countered by its mirror opposite, negating the action’s effect.”
“Okay.” He wandered over to stand beside her, crusty bread roll in hand. “I can almost see how the approach might work on the pure code, but it’s wound itself all up in Emily’s cybernetics. Can you mirror that, too?”
She shook her head. “No, and it wouldn’t help if I could. We’re going to have to flush her system to get rid of all the mess either way. I’m targeting what we can’t see and the flushing routines can’t reach.”
“This mirror code you’re building—it’s still a virus, isn’t it? Won’t it wreak new havoc when it’s not busy negating existing damage?”
She rubbed at her temples. “Well, that’s why I’m not done working. I’m attempting to build in a subroutine which will basically ‘ground’ the virus whenever it can’t find an opposing operation. It’s an old hacking trick used to—”
“—Sure, I know it.” His eyes began to light up, flickering with the beginnings of a fire absent these last days. “I think this will work. How much longer until it’s ready?”
She grimaced and stared at the screens in search of an answer. “I’m not… four hours?”
“You’re the best. Thank you. I’ve got to go, because Navick—I’ve got to go. Thank you!” He spun and rushed out as swiftly as he’d arrived.
AMARANTHE
48
HELIX RETENTION FACILITY
MILKY WAY SECTOR 7
* * *
“WHO ARE YOU? Who do you represent? Where is your homeworld? How did you access Machim Central Command? What data did you attempt to steal, and for what purpose?”
The interrogation had begun seconds after Alex had awoken, but the drone’s questions hardly registered through the noise of her mind racing in every direction.
Where was Caleb? He’d surrendered; he must be nearby, but she couldn’t reach him. What about Valkyrie? Had she done as Alex asked? Her stealth would have held, so if she’d departed before the lockdown she shouldn’t have been captured or destroyed. But she, too, was unreachable. And Eren—god, Eren. There were a million better ways to learn of the destructive capability of Vigil firearms than seeing him be cut to shreds.
“Answer or be pacified.”
She breathed in and tried to prepare, ordering her eVi to release pain suppressors—
Her limbs spasmed from jolts of electricity as shooting pain rocketed through her limbs. She bit the inside of her cheek so hard her mouth filled with blood. She gagged, struggling not to choke.
The jolts mercifully subsided, and she spit the blood out. It hovered for an instant in the halo of the restraining field before dropping to the floor.
Okay, forget the pain suppressors; they weren’t going to get the job done. She ordered her eVi to block all neural pain receptors.
The aching discomfort from the restraining field holding her up in an awkward position faded away. She felt floaty.
“Who are you? Who do you represent? Where is your homeworld? How did you access Machim Central Command? What data did you attempt to steal, and for what purpose? Answer or be pacified.”
The electrical shocks weren’t pacification? Terrific. She scowled at the drone. The jolts hadn’t honed in on her cybernetic pathways where they would cause real damage. Not this time or so far. Her captors and their drones weren’t familiar with her physiology or her enhancements, and she only hoped they remained so.
The next round of shocks was stronger, though. Her head jerked back so hard she wrenched her neck, and she heard rather than felt a sharp crack in her left wrist as her body convulsed.
Her head swam in the aftermath. She couldn’t feel the pain, but that didn’t mean the pain wasn’t happening, and physically her body reeled from its effects. A few things had broken, she suspected. Bones, or maybe more vital parts.
Her lips grew wet; she darted her tongue out and tasted more blood. Failure warnings from her eVi flashed in her internal vision.
What were they expecting to happen here? Was the drone programmed to be a sadist? Was its sadist master watching on a screen somewhere?
Valkyrie?
Nothing. She hadn’t expected a response, but she kept checking every now and then, just in case. The Kats’ shield at Taenarin Aris had blocked their connection as well, so technically it wasn’t unprecedented.
But not many forces in the universe could pull the feat off, which meant one hell of a blocking shield surrounded this place.
During that fateful night above Romane after she’d severed her connection to the Siyane, she’d been slightly concerned about what actions Valkyrie might take without her consent—rooted in the best of intentions and the rational belief Alex would be unable to give informed consent—and she’d set her eVi to record any forced neural activity.
This was relevant to her present circumstances for one crucial reason: armed with the recording and using the quantum pathways now indelibly carved into her brain, her eVi was able to repeat the actions Valkyrie took to put her to sleep.
As a new series of jolts tore into her, she readied the command that would plunge her into a blissful oblivion—
—the image of the elder Galenai scolding the rambunctious youngsters flashed into her mind. What right did she have to take the easy copout when such wondrous creatures were in danger? She couldn’t exactly protect them if she was passed out, could she?
“Who are you? Who do you represent? Where is your homeworld? How did you access Machim Central
Command? What data did you attempt to steal, and for what purpose?”
She leveled a scathing glare at the floating interrogator. “I don’t suppose you have a different routine? This one’s getting a bit old.”
“Who are you? Who do you represent? Where is your homeworld? How did you access Machim Command? What data did you attempt to steal, and for what purpose? Answer or be pacified.”
“Fuck you, drone. Fuck your Anaden overlords. Go ahead, give me your worst—you won’t get shit from me, nikchyemnaya peshka. No matter what you do to me here, you are going to lose in the end. Idi k chertu I gori v adu, malenkaya suchka.”
49
HELIX RETENTION FACILITY
MILKY WAY SECTOR 7
* * *
CALEB HAD CEASED CHECKING the number of hours which passed in a haze of repetitious questions and ineffectual torture when the drone abruptly spun and departed.
He welcomed the opportunity of a few precious minutes to recover, evaluate and prepare. The inability of the drone to extract any useful information from him meant his captors would escalate. Given the departure, likely soon.
Direct physical torture became a possibility, and he didn’t know how much of it the diati could protect him from. He came back to the expectation of involuntary extraction capabilities—some method of taking the knowledge from his mind—but perhaps his captors were afraid his mind was too different and worried it would be destroyed in a failed effort.
It would be fantastic if they thought that.
Or maybe they were waiting for something. Marking time until…if only he knew. Until they caught up to Valkyrie. Until they captured Mesme, or any Kat. Until they raided an anarch base. The possibilities stretched out in a bloody landscape to the horizon.
If they possessed any sense, they’d realize they already held the trump card. All they had to do was bring Alex here and threaten to harm her. Was the concept of emotional attachment so far gone from their existence they didn’t perceive it as a tool of manipulation? Right now it would be even more fantastic if this were true.
Relativity: Aurora Resonant Book One (Aurora Rhapsody 7) Page 30