The Rubidium Beach Series - Episodes 1 Through 4: Cyberpunk/Dystopian Science Fiction

by G. D. Blanton

  Ani then announced that he wanted to be alone with the Anioptic, as he had much ground to cover. Noddy walked off in the direction of his own labs looking very pleased with himself and the rest of the group headed back to the Jupiter Moon. They walked across the park in silence each lost in their own thoughts. There was a lot for each of them to process. Junco did find time to think ahead a little and the importance of what they had just seen, the Anioptic, was just beginning to dawn on him. He really hated the name though – surely Noddy and the coders could have come up with something better. Maybe the appeal to Ani's vanity was the backup plan – in case he blew a fuse at the sky color change.

  6. MORE ASSASSINATIONS

  For four days things almost returned to normal. The group all managed to drop down to Level Minus One (the only non-virtual Level) to take care of bodily functions and to catch up on some much needed sleep. Junco had moved out of his cramped single apartment and into a new much more spacious one with Teal. Of course the standard couple apartment was only slightly larger than the single apartment, but it appeared that housing allocation was yet another pie that Ani had his fingers in. Junco put on a show of wounded pride, telling Teal that he didn't want to accept Ani's charity and would rather live in a shed. Teal told Junco to shut up.

  Back on Rubidium Beach there were three more assassinations. A transporter containing the head of the emergency services blew up. A Neon Beach entrepreneur who dealt in everything from beachfront rentals to extremely skeevy porn sims and back was found sliced, diced and stapled to the mirror beach directly in front of his own beachfront home. Another body was found in a similar condition at the other end of Neon Cove. This one belonged to a loner though, a person with no profile within the community whatsoever. Even Scoter, who prided himself on knowing just about everybody in the cove had no idea of who this guy was.

  These acts were all very specific. Certain individuals were the targets. This led the group to the conclusion that the attempt on Scoter's life was not random. Junco found himself wondering if Scoter was involved in something that he had kept quiet from the rest of the group. He lived and worked in Neon Cove and that community was known for its chaotic and even downright anarchic tendencies.

  There were no more large-scale blunt force attacks like the earthquakes or the explosion outside the Jupiter Moon. Teal posited that it was very possible that Ani's new toy, the Anioptic, would at least give them advanced warning and, best case scenario, give them a way to neutralize any such attack.

  7. EXHAUSTION AND A REBUKE

  ”I have just seen things both wonderful and deeply disturbing,” said Ani, taking a large gulp out of the drink provided by the Yellowlegs clone. “I knew that there was a lot of hidden code within Rubidium Beach, but I had no idea how much. Most of it is really benign, some is mischievous and some is downright evil. On the evil side there are sleeper programs in there that were designed to assassinate specific people or trigger explosions or natural disasters. What I missed terrified me.” The Yellowlegs clone quietly replaced the beverage that Ani had just drained.

  “So you had no idea about all of this stuff?” asked Junco.

  “No, none at all. I thought that everything was just humming along fine and would continue to do so forever.”

  “So, what do you intend to do about it?” asked Teal.

  “I've managed to do a lot of repairs on the fly. I'd see some programming that wasn't right and either delete it or recode it on the spot. Some of it is a lot more complicated and will require some long sessions in the White Room. I'll need days if not months of real coding time to plow through it all.” Ani was now on his third drink and he suddenly looked exhausted. He could not hide it any longer.

  “You need some down time,” said Teal. “Get your backside down to that palace you call a home on Level Minus One and sleep a lot.”

  “No time, too much to do.” And with that Ani's head slowly descended onto the table. Within ten seconds he was snoring. A combination of complete exhaustion and a few drinks had been enough. The others carried him into the backroom and laid him out on the neon brown sofa. Teal slapped his face gently several times and received some mumbled curses for her trouble. Yellowlegs transmitted a signal to his personal clone and the clone appeared with a single drink.

  “This should do the trick,” said the original version of Yellowlegs.

  “What trick?” asked Teal.

  “The drink contains a stimulant. It'll wake him up just long enough to drop down to Minus Zero so that he can get some real rest.”

  “Okay then here we go,” said Teal. This time she slapped Ani quite hard and as he came around she barked, “Drink this now!” Some part of Ani knew that she was not messing around and he took the glass and downed the contents in a single swallow.

  “What about the time differential?” asked Scoter. “He may be gone a day or so on Level Zero but that may equate to a week or so here.”

  Junco answered Scoter's concern. “We are talking about Ani the ultimate control freak here. He will always have a feed of Rubidium Beach running. Even when he is sleeping I bet he sets up some type of alarm.”

  “Hope you are right. It's just that I have never seen him look that exhausted before,” said Scoter.

  Junco and the others left Ani on the sofa and made their way into the main bar area. No sooner had they sat down at their usual table and had the clone set up a round of drinks when Noddy entered through the Plateau entrance. “Hi, is Ani around?”

  Scoter replied “No, he's currently on Level Minus One. He was exhausted so we sent him down to rest. Do you really need to see him?”

  “No, I'm pleased that he is not with you. There is something that we want you to know but would rather he didn't. We have taken a leaf out of his book, to use an archaic expression, and re-purposed a few million nanobots on Level Zero to allow us to keep an eye on him. Usual stuff, full visuals, audio and replay functions.”

  “Why have you done that?” asked Junco who was beginning to see Noddy as a junior but just as controlling version of Ani.

  “We are worried. He is a little off his game.” replied Noddy, ignoring the edge to Junco's question.

  This got the groups attention. Teal commented, “I was beginning to wonder. He doesn't seem as engaged as he used to. He is becoming less of a control freak.”

  Junco looked surprised. “I thought he was getting worse, if anything.”

  “No, that is you – that side of Ani's personality has always rubbed you up the wrong way. He couldn't manage this place, Rubidium Beach, without being controlling. Your easy going nature works for you, but it wouldn't work for Ani. Time to get over yourself.” Teal's rebuke stung.

  Junco was defensive. “Wow! If my attitude had been that far off why wait until now to bring it up?”

  “Actually, I've been meaning to mention it for a while now but just kept putting it off, I guess.” Teal's delivery had softened but she didn't intend to back down on the message.

  Junco looked around the table. Body language indicated that the others agreed with Teal and no one was leaping to his defense. He knew when he was beaten and decided to accept the 'course correction' with good grace. “I'm sorry, I really didn't realize that I was being such a jerk. Do you think that Ani picked up on it?”

  Teal replied. “Not sure. Ani isn't really a people person so probably not. This type of thing seems to miss his radar completely. At least he hasn't said anything to anyone as far as I know.” But Junco knew that Ani never said anything disparaging about anyone in the circle. It wasn't so much a loyalty thing with Ani as a not worth the time of day thing.

  Scoter and Yellowlegs didn't appear to be too put out by the couple's quarrel but Noddy looked thoroughly embarrassed. 'Look, I can come back later if you like.”

  Junco immediately worked to put him at his ease. “No, please stay. I'm sorry about my attitude – won't happen again I promise.”

  Noddy relaxed. “You do have a right to be suspicious. Our concern
s are very genuine but our methods are admittedly questionable. We know this and there was much heated discussion about whether to spy on Ani or not. In the end though, the consensus was that the ends justified the means.”

  “So you are spying on him?” asked Teal.

  “Yes,” said Noddy. “no point in talking in euphemisms, we are watching Ani. He doesn't know we are watching him and he would be livid if he found out. Almost a textbook definition of spying, I'm afraid.”

  It was three days later when Ani returned from Level Minus One. He looked much better all around. The break was obviously needed.

  Teal and Junco were in the Jupiter Moon planning their day when Ani reappeared from the back room.

  “Well I guess the lazy day at Neon Cove just went down the tubes,” whispered Junco.

  Teal smiled. “I suspect that you are not wrong.”

  “Greetings, Teal and Junco.” Ani was obviously in a wonderful mood.

  “What did you get up to down there on Minus One?” asked Teal.

  “A good sleep and a couple of interesting meal sims and a movie. That was about it.”

  “How long were you down there for?” asked Junco.

  “Oh, just over a day, around twenty eight hours or so.”

  “The time differential is pretty bad at the moment then,” said Junco. “Three days have passed here.”

  “Anyway, let me get a drink. Either of you need one?” asked Ani.

  Junco approved. “Sure I'll have whatever you are having.”

  “Me too,” said Teal.

  The clone of Yellowlegs took the telepathic order and supplied a tray of Neon green drinks in eighteen inch high glasses with a black dodecahedron of something or other at the bottom of each. Teal pulled a face, took a sip, then drained the lot, including the geometry.

  “So what can you tell us?” asked Teal

  Ani sighed. “More than you could possibly believe. I honestly thought that I had a really good handle on just about the whole underlying structure of Rubidium Beach. I thought that I knew the code inside out sideways and backwards. Well, it turns out that I don't.”

  “You don't look to unhappy about that,” said Junco.

  “I am not unhappy. A bit terrified perhaps, but not unhappy. This is going to be a real challenge and that exhilarates me, but it is like walking a tightrope without a safety net for the first time. I am not putting this very well – let me think a second. Got it. I have just discovered that Rubidium Beach itself may do something completely unpredictable at any time – or not. This has always been the case but this is the first time that I have known it.”

  Junco said, “I am surprised that you are handling this so well. You like order, perhaps more than anyone I know.”

  Teal gave Junco a look which he interpreted to mean that he was sailing just about as close to the wind as was good for him. Ani didn't seem at all bothered, though.

  “I thought so too,” said Ani, “but, to be honest, I am really enjoying the uncertainty, the not knowing.”

  Junco decided that he liked this new version of Ani. Uncertainty made him a whole lot more likeable. “Anyway, what have you discovered that has brought about this change?”

  “As I hinted at before, there is a lot of hidden programing within the actual structure of Rubidium Beach that I did not know about,” said Ani.

  “You have always known about that though,” Said Junco. “You have said that you like the idea of people been able to add stuff to the Beach. You said that it makes life more interesting.”

  Ani nodded. “I know, but this is very different. I am now seeing coding woven into the fabric of Rubidium Beach that I never knew existed. The other stuff was coding that was attached to the Beach but not a part of its structure. To put it in more practical terms, if someone programed something that I didn't like I could remove it within a matter of seconds. If I start trying to unravel this newly discovered code without a lot of thought, just about anything could happen.”

  “And this really doesn't annoy you?” asked Junco.

  “Not at all. I've never felt more alive.”

  Teal's expression showed that she understood the change in Ani.

  Ani continued. “Anyway, on to the really interesting stuff. Not only is there all this undiscovered code but some of it is really old – and by really old I mean that it predates not only virtual reality but the ancient industrial revolution. Some of it may even predate the evolution of humans. I am not a hundred percent sure about that but it is certainly not impossible.”

  “Wait a minute. So you are saying that some of the code in Rubidium Beach may be older than the human race?” Junco was amazed.

  “Yes I think so. Anyway, even if the code isn't older than the human race there is some that could not have been added by humans. The date-stamps predate human beings knowing that computers even existed.”

  “So something extraterrestrial was involved?” asked Teal.

  “That would be the simplest and least troubling explanation,” said Ani.

  “And what would be a more troubling explanation?”

  “Oh, lets see, that we have been sharing Level Zero with a species that is far more advanced, and secretive, than ourselves for one. Other possibilities tend to involve parallel universes and other equally far out stuff. The alien hypothesis is certainly the most straightforward explanation.”

  “I guess that rules out the Mechanik then,” Said Teal. “We know that their origins are human – don't we?”

  “They or at least some or one of them were definitely involved in the latest attacks but they are not the big story here. There is a possibility that they initiated something but that the end results were not what they planned, that somehow their coding caught onto some of this dark code that is currently under discussion.” Ani continued, “As far as the origins of the Mechanik are concerned, we think that they were human but their origins are a bit of a mystery. True I was a member but I was not one of the group's founders. The history is a little shaky.”

  8. THE TRANSPORTERS

  After another round of drinks Ani announced that he had something to show Junco and Teal using the Anioptic. Junco cringed at the name but found the device itself fascinating. He welcomed the chance to take another look at it. Teal, with her science background was also an easy sell. The three of them stood on the suspended platform, formed by the convergence of all of the walkways, over the center of the pit. A perfect scale model of Rubidium Beach, the size of a large team sports field, was laid out below them. Only it wasn't a model, more like a three dee projection as it showed the Beach as it was, in real time.

  “Junco, Teal, do you see the transporters?”

  Junco noted the hundreds of miniature cube shaped objects dotted around the vista below. Some were stationary and some were moving. Even scaled down they moved at speed. These strange cubes were a mystery to everyone including Ani. They had just appeared on Rubidium Beach unbidden one day. The cubes would often disappear completely for a period of time then reappear in a slightly modified form. They were either all here or all absent and the disappearance could last for anything from a couple of hours to several months. The cubes were also always different on their return. The changes could be minor, say a new bolt or rivet or could be major, a change in material used or in a property such as speed. As a rule the bigger the change the longer the absence.

  Until recently the assumption was that some obsessive living on Rubidium Beach was responsible for the transporters. They built the initial versions, then recalled them all whenever a possible improvement came to mind. This theory had taken a hit when it was discovered that the transporters also existed on at least one other Level and had done so for a very long time. On that Level, Violencia, their origins were also shrouded in mystery.

  The transporters were also designed to perfectly interface with human chip implants. All a person had to do was literally think of a transporter and a probable destination and one would appear, usually within the minute. Such a
perfect interface of technologies with very different origins was extremely unusual.

  “Junco, are you in there?”

  “Sorry, Ani. I was thinking about the transporters.”

  “No problem,” said Ani. “Watch this though.” At that the moment whole scaled down version of Rubidium Beach lost its natural coloring and turned a light gray.

  “That didn't really happen did it? I mean Rubidium Beach hasn't lost its colors and textures?” Junco asked.

  “No, not at all. I did that because I need to show you something. Look.” Parts of the model then turned red. In some cases whole buildings and stretches of land changed color while in others the effect was more amorphous. A building would be, say, eighty percent gray and the remaining twenty percent would be red.

  Junco thought he saw what Ani was driving at. “Let me guess. Everything in red is the alien code for want of a better term and everything in gray is normal accounted for code, either yours or the Mechanik's rebuild?”

  “Spot on,” said Ani. “Though it is only a model. If something is completely red it is alien and if it is completely gray it is normal code. In the case of the mixed objects the model breaks down a little. The relative amounts of the different colors is indicative but their exact positions mean little.”

  Junco was pretty sure that he understood Ani's explanation and then spent a while looking at every stationary transporter. “Ani, there is no gray on any of the transporters. They are completely alien in origin”

  “That is absolutely correct,” said Ani.

  Junco looked at the model for a while longer. “Have you seen this Ani? A house here in Neon Cove. It's completely alien – No normal code at all.”

  “I know, finding out more about that is pretty close to the top of my 'to do list.”

  “It might be worth checking in with Scoter. After all he is our resident Neon Cove expert,” Junco suggested.

  “I was going to do that later on today but there is no time like the present I guess,' said Ani