by J. M. Preiss
"You'll be given access to another bank for processing," Adam finally said. "What kind of toll do we expect this to take?"
"Modification of Control for another section will tax the power grid for a few days to weeks, but it should not be much more than that," the raspy voice responded. "Afterwards, our processing power will increase ten-fold. Ascension will progress."
"I care not for the power expenditure," Adam said as he sat down and started typing at his workstation. "What kind of toll will be had on the biologics?"
There was silence for a few moments before the lilting voice spoke.
"We expect a 20% degradation of the bank as its Control is modified."
"Level of degradation," Adam prodded.
"Total," the raspy voice responded.
Adam leaned back and puts his hands together before his face. Touching his thumbs to his nose, he closed his eyes and sighed.
"I understand that you have no attachment to the biologics," he said, "but they are the focus of Ascension. Without them, the project is meaningless. Show restraint and caution with the modification to Control."
"We understand the gravity of the situation," the deep voice said.
"I do not believe that you do," Adam sighed. "Control was a stepping stone for Ascension. It has given us vital time to complete our work on Ascension. It has allowed us to increase the vitality of the biologics. Despite this added time, without the completion of Ascension, the time of the biologics will inevitably run out."
"Then you must pray to whatever God you worship," the lilting voice mocked.
"I already have," Adam stated morosely. "I'm afraid that my prayers fall on deaf ears."
Chapter XI
"While that thought does not sit well with me," Jacob started, "I am unable to deny the apparent truth of the statement. Evidence supports that this all began with Halcyon, and we're the ones that went through the wormhole. Invariably the blame is ours, but it is not ours alone."
"That does little to comfort me," Mason snorted. "Understanding may not be required, but I think it is very important right now."
"I'm trying my best," Sara intruded. "There is a lot of data, and while I am an artificial construct capable of this task, it will still take me time."
"What else have you learned," Jacob asked.
"From what I can tell," Chelsea began, "the first anomaly was detected after Halcyon, but the readings that they had gathered don't match up with what we are experiencing now. The calculated tidal forces are in excess of what the Halcyon Event - what they are now calling it - data tells us. Mathematical models indicate that whatever was spawned when the gate malfunctioned - once again, this is what they are calling it in some of the papers - should have dissipated shortly after the gate collapsed."
"Something about Hawking Radiation, but I'm unsure what they're talking about," Sara added.
"That means nothing to me," Jacob said. "But that doesn't matter. Understanding isn't required to find a solution."
"Seems backwards," Chelsea muttered.
"Be quiet, Chelsea," Mason mumbled. "It's no use arguing the point with him."
"If you say so," she responded. "Whatever caused this to occur is accelerating. The tear is growing bigger from what the papers are saying. Tidal forces are increasing."
"How long do we have?" Jacob asked.
"Hard to say," Sara said. "They think that they have determined the point at which the tear is sitting in our orbit, but none of the data is irrefutably conclusive. Some theories point towards the tear moving at an orbital velocity almost matching our own, but it is lagging behind."
"Other theories are saying that it is a fixed point along the orbital path," Chelsea stated. "But these theories are full of conjecture that is flimsy at best. While the math works out, none of the observable phenomena that should be apparent are present. All data points towards the lagging theory."
"And that is why the tidal forces are able to cause tremors, both terrestrial and lunar," Jacob nodded. "Why are the forces increasing? What is the end result?"
"We know the end result," Mason grumbled. "Moon destroyed. Ecosystem collapse. Armageddon."
"I can't disagree," Sara sighed. "That is what the scientists and doomsayers alike are predicting. There is, as was said, argument over the expected date, but it is agreed that it is inevitable."
"Inevitable," Mason said with a faraway voice. "I should've stayed in retirement. Maybe all of this would have been avoided if I turned down the mission."
"You know that to be untrue," Jacob said. "They would've found somebody else to take your position, and besides, I would still have gone on the mission. Disobeying a direct order is not a good career move."
"I suppose," Mason sighed. "It worked for me up until New York."
Mason absent-mindedly flexed his left hand.
"What can you tell us about these tanks?" Jacob asked Sara.
"Information regarding the tanks is sparse. I'm seeing manuals on maintenance and care, but there is nothing in the way of what their primary function is-"
"I found something," Chelsea interrupted. "There are people in them. It appears that they are in some form of suspended animation."
"So they're asleep," Mason said.
"Not exactly," Sara replied. "The brain activity implies otherwise. They're wide awake."
"I," Mason began before stopping. "I find that hard to believe. They're just floating in those tanks, fully aware of their surroundings and predicament? Sounds cruel."
"There has to be some purpose," Jacob said.
"Let me look further into their system," Sara responded.
Mason looked down at his left hand. It was clenched tightly.
"I'm not liking where this could be going," he said.
"I'm afraid that I don't follow," Jacob said as he looked around the room again. There was nothing that moved in the brightness.
"What do you think a logical extension might be of my prosthetics?" Mason asked.
"I," Jacob started. "Oh. I think I see where you're going."
"He's not far off the mark," Chelsea said. "In fact, he's quite accurate in his implication. They're fully aware of their surroundings, but they are not actually in the tank. It could stand to reason that with substantial advancement, the ability to interface with technology while in suspended animation is possible."
"Thanks, Chelsea," Mason sighed as he unclenched his hand. "I can't think as to what the purpose would be to do such a thing, but they were able to wire these prosthetics into my central nervous system. They're as much a part of me as my old limbs were. What if these people have been wired into a computer? What if they are now living in that computer?"
Jacob shook his head.
"That wouldn't make any sense. Why would they want to live in a computer?"
"I think I've found something," Sara finally said to fill the silence that had been left by Jacob's unanswered question. "These are life rafts. Escape pods."
"Escape pods," Mason said. "How are they escaping from anything? They're floating in tanks in this room. They aren't going anywhere fast."
"That's what the information is telling me," Sara responded. "This entire facility is a fallout shelter of sorts. It seems that there were multiple facilities planned, and construction had even been completed on a few others like this one. One thing though, the others had industrial accidents of some sort. They either suffered power core breaches or engineering failures."
"Convenient," Jacob whispered. "So we were just another cog in the machine bent on taking down these shelters."
"That's never going to sit well with me," Mason said.
The two stood in silence as Sara and Chelsea continued to examine all of the information in the network. The tanks and their various systems had a very low and slow thrumming that permeated the room. The people floated lightly within their tanks.
A spherical map of the globe sprang to life on the display, and the avatar of Sara returned. Five locations lit up and slowly puls
ed.
"These are all of the locations that were slated to have a shelter. Four out of the original five have failed. You're right that we were sent on a mission to either destroy or disable this one."
"This has nothing to do with this purported Eugenics program," Mason muttered. "We're wasting our time here."
"No," Jacob said slowly. "I think that this is exactly where we need to be right now. Think about it, this is the first time that we have been able to get information that will actually be beneficial to us. We just might be able to figure out what is going on with this information."
"I'm unsure about that, Jacob," Mason sighed. "We don't understand any of this information, and while you may have been trained to survive without that understanding, it is important to be able to put together the bigger picture. We're operating blind. Last time I did that, I put in a down payment on a nice farm in the middle of nowhere. I don't intend to do that again."
"Granted," Jacob replied. Standing straighter, he looked around the room once more. For such an important location, the security was beyond lacking. There should have been a response once the patrol team didn't check in. There should've been an alarm on the door that alerted a response team. There was simply nothing.
"We were supposed to come in here," Sara said. "I know what you're thinking, and I am of the same mind as you. This is all too convenient."
"If we were meant to come in here, why was our mission to destroy the facility without asking any questions?" Mason put forth. "That seems totally at odds with what we are doing right now."
"I don't disagree," Sara replied, "but think about it. Surely whoever sent us here intended for us to ask questions. Why else would they choose you?"
"Convenience," Jacob answered. "We were a tool that was available, so Adam capitalized on it."
"What makes you think that we're still working for Adam, Lieutenant? That doesn't explain our welcoming party when we regained consciousness. He most definitely was not Adam."
Jacob simply shook his head and walked over to one of the tanks. Inside, he could barely make out the feminine figure of a woman. He was instantly struck by a pang of regret for leaving Lisa. He felt emotions surge forth and then recede back into nothingness.
"Is it possible that these people are using robotic bodies elsewhere?" he suddenly asked.
"I don't see why not," Chelsea said in a matter of fact voice. "That's a logical extension of the technology. If you can interface somebody with a computer, it should stand to reason that transferring that consciousness into an external source would be the next step."
"So we didn't actually kill those civilians up top," Mason said with relief.
"I don't doubt that they felt the pain of death, Mason," Jacob said morosely. "They might not be dead, but they would've felt the destruction of the body they are in. Unless, of course, they have found a way to avoid that feeling altogether."
Mason tapped on one of the tanks and peered at it closely.
"Do you think they even know that they are plugged into a machine?"
"The information is vague on that," Sara said as her avatar scratched its head. "Looking over it, I think that they all were selected due to a specific set of skills and genetic predispositions. From what I see, they were told that they were going to be a part of a new experimental program on the longevity and viability of suspended animation technology."
Mason shook his head sharply.
"This is no experiment. This is prison."
"Is it really a prison if they are unaware of it?" Jacob asked into the sterile air before him. He slowly ran his hand along the tank in front of him. "If you're unaware of the fact that you are really in prison, is it a prison to you?"
"It's wrong," Mason said flatly. "They shouldn't be stuck in these things."
"This might be the only way that they think they can survive whatever the coming catastrophe is bringing," Sara offered. "Who are we to determine the morality of what they are doing?"
Mason huffed in frustration but didn't say anything more.
"We need to decide where to go from here," Jacob stated. "We need to find more answers. What is really causing the tidal forces? Why are they getting worse? How do Adam and the Eugenics program fit into all of this?"
Mason remained quiet, now lost in his own world.
"Maybe if we can get information from Einstein or one of the connected research facilities," Jacob continued, talking to nobody in particular. "Jenkins. We need to find Doctor Jenkins."
Mason snapped out of his reverie.
"Do you really think that he will have any answers for us?" he asked.
"He has to have some kind of answers," Jacob responded. "If he doesn't, then who does? I feel like this is our only real chance to figure out what is actually going on. There are forces at work here that we don't fully understand. We need to narrow the playing field."
"And how do you propose we find Jenkins? We're halfway across the world."
"I might be able to help with that," Chelsea said. "Looking through the network, there is a hangar facility located within this shelter. It has sub-orbital transports that should be able to take us anywhere in the world."
"You realize that going off mission like this is going to cause issues for us," Mason said as he cocked his head to one side. "Not that I really care for the current predicament."
Jacob looked around the room one final time.
"Noted. Let's get going."
Jacob leaned back from where he had been staring into the tank and looked towards the door.
"Head through the door and back down the corridor we traveled through. Once at the lift, we can head to the level with the hangar facility," Sara explained. "If things continue as they have, it should be a simple matter to secure transport."
Mason groaned.
"What?" Sara asked, surprised at the response.
"Murphy's Law," Jacob replied. "You just invoked it."
"I'm unfamiliar with such a law, and either way, there is nothing to the contrary," Sara chided.
Mason groaned again and shook his head.
"It's something that people in the Reactionary Forces have lived by loosely," Jacob explained. "There are things about how the best laid plans never survive first contact. The one that you just invoked deals with how if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong."
"You jinxed us," Mason huffed.
"Superstitious nonsense," Chelsea chimed in. "There is no evidence that things are going to take a turn for the worse on our way to the hangar facility. It's almost as if everything in here is being tasked to some other purpose."
"Why don't the two of you just quit talking and making this worse," Mason said. "Besides, the longer we stand here, the worse things are going to get."
"We can at least agree on that," Sara agreed. "I've updated our maps to show us the new location that we are going to. Once we're in the hangar facility, I'll be able to interface with the computers to begin a spool-up sequence for one of the transports. It should take no more than maybe five minutes before one has a warm reactor and we are able to leave."
“Five minutes,” Mason echoed. “I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but we aren’t going to have five minutes when we make it into their hangar facility.”
Mason started off towards the door with his rifle at a low ready position. His slow saunter was at total odds with how he was feeling at the moment.
Jacob fell into step behind him, occasionally looking behind himself to the other end of the room.
When Mason slapped the door open control, the solid doors lumbered apart to grant them access to the corridor that they had come from. The flashing alert lights were still going, but it was eerily silent. Nothing moved beyond the doors.
“I’m still not liking that there isn’t anybody here,” Mason muttered as he looked down the adjoining corridor.
“What’s not to like?” Sara said over the communications channel. “If there is nobody here, that makes our job easier.”
&nbs
p; “I’m just hoping that isn’t an illusion,” Mason responded. “It doesn’t take long for things to go south.”
“It doesn’t,” Jacob agreed. “The people in those tanks are somewhere.”
Mason felt the hair on the back of his neck suddenly rise.
"Somewhere. You get the feeling we're being watched, like a thousand eyes all centered on us?"
Jacob shook his head.
"No, I can't say that I do. There might be a security system of some kind that is watching us, but it doesn't seem like there is anybody actively watching it."
Jacob paused for a moment.
"It's almost like we're being allowed to move through here freely."
"Freely or not," Sara said. "I'm going to have to reiterate the choice to move quickly. If what you say is true about this Murphy, things are going to get worse for us."
Mason grunted and crept through the doors while looking down the corridors.
"Let's move quickly," he said. "Access the hangar facility. Commandeer a sub-orbital transport. Fly to Einstein or a connected research facility. Yeah, this is going to be a walk in the park."
Jacob walked behind Mason just listening to him talk. His mind was elsewhere.
Chapter XII
Lisa handed Jacob a plate of dinner. He sat stiffly in the chair of their new apartment. It didn't feel right to him, but he was told that getting back into a normal life was what he needed to do. He had responsibilities. The apartment was provided to the two of them by the London Habitation Complex on the completion of his training in the hope that they would make a life there and become a part of that community. He didn't care for a normal life.
"So I was talking to Betty earlier today," Lisa was saying. "She'd like us to come over to dinner some time. She's been working on a new project that she'd like us to take a look at before she petitions to put it on display in the art level."
Jacob blinked and methodically ate the food on his plate.
"I told her that we would be more than happy to have dinner with her this coming Friday. You're not doing anything on Friday, are you?"
Jacob shook his head.