by J. M. Preiss
There was an audible buzz, and the door didn't open.
"That's what I was afraid of," Jacob said.
"No weapons, I take it," Mason said sadly.
"Nope, no weapons allowed," Jacob confirmed.
"Let me see what I can do," Chelsea said. "Hold your hand up to that emitter above you."
Mason shrugged and raised his left hand up. He felt awkward.
"Okay, hold it just like that."
Mason mumbled to himself as the seconds ticked away.
There was another audible tone, but this one sounded almost happy. The door clicked open and Jacob pushed his way into the room.
"That wasn't so bad," Chelsea chided Mason.
"Don't start," he muttered in reply.
"Okay, so now we're in the mainframe," Jacob said to himself. "If only I can remember how all of this stuff actually worked."
"No need," Sara chimed in. "Just go sit at that console over there and let me do all the work."
"Fair enough," Jacob replied. "I suppose this won't be all that different from the complex in the mountains. I will warn you that the sheer volume of data in this place might be a bit much."
"Nonsense," Chelsea said as she signaled for Mason to sit down at the console next to Jacob. "Information is static. It doesn't actually do anything, so you can sift through it without being inundated underneath it."
Jacob shrugged as he leaned his rifle next to his chair. Placing his hands on the console, he tried to relax.
"Interfacing," Sara said.
Once again, an avatar of her showed up on the screen in front of Jacob.
"I'm in the system. Accessing the most recent security logs to see if we can find out why things are the way they are right now."
Mason sat next to Jacob, laid his rifle across his lap, and placed his hands on the console. Chelsea popped onto the screen before him and smiled. The smile reminded him of Marlene.
"Accessing the most recent research data," she said.
"You know," Mason began, "this is kind of boring. We just sit here while the two of you do all of the work."
"Pretty much," Sara said as she combed over files that leapt across Jacob's screen. "There isn't anything out of the ordinary in the logs."
"That's odd," Jacob said.
"You're telling me. That would mean that whatever happened either wasn't deemed a security risk, or it happened so suddenly they simply ran."
"I don't like either of those options," Mason said. "What are you finding Chelsea?"
"It looks like the majority of the scientists here got tasked to Halcyon after it was activated. The volume of data that they had to analyze is quite immense, and they only seem to have gotten through a portion of it," she explained. "There's some mention here of the advanced computing division being tasked with bringing their project online before originally anticipated."
Adam.
Mason and Jacob looked at each other simultaneously.
"Didn't Adam say he was from here?"
"That looks like that is the name of the intelligence they were developing," Chelsea continued.
"Looks like we found our link to the future," Jacob said. "It was here at Einstein at the same time as us."
"Question is, why did he turn into what he was?" Mason asked.
"That's a good question, but I don't know how much it matters anymore since we are here. We should be able to stop that from happening since we are right here, right now," Jacob stated.
"That sounds like a good plan to me," Mason said as he began to stand up.
"Wait," Sara said. "There's more information here that I'm finding now."
"What is it?" Jacob asked.
"Something with the Halcyon project it looks like," she explained. "Let me see if I can pull up some more detailed information."
A few graphs showed up on the screen.
"Looks like, a few days ago, there was a major power draw associated with the gate apparatus itself."
Sara was quiet for a few moments.
"This is troubling."
"What's troubling?" Mason asked as he sat back down.
"The device wasn't tied to the primary power grid when it drained power," Sara said.
"Then how was it drawing power?" Jacob asked as he leaned forward to look at the readouts.
"They don't know. It started to spin up on its own. They were getting readings similar to when you were sent through it. Let me look some more."
Mason looked over at Jacob, his mirrored helmet reflecting Jacob sitting at the console.
"This is all some really eerie stuff," he said. "Devices activating on their own? Adam actually having come from here? Couple that with this impending storm from nowhere, and I'm really not liking this."
"I can't really argue with that," Jacob said. "We need more information on this all. I think I can feel that things are starting to swing in our favor, but I don't know. We're where we need to be. If we're going to start getting any real answers, this is the place to do it."
"Agreed," Mason said as he looked back at his console and laid his hand on it again.
Chelsea's image popped back up.
"I'm going to take a look through the information on the computing division and see if I can find more information on this Adam," she said.
"Good," Mason nodded. "See if you can find a way to kill the guy while you're at it. I owe him a shot in the head."
Jacob glanced at Mason.
"What?" Mason asked. "He has it coming to him."
Jacob shook his head and looked back at his screen.
"I don't know how much you are going to like this," Sara said slowly.
"There's a lot that we're not liking," Jacob said. "Lay it on me."
"The device did seem to activate itself. The scientists had it disconnected from the primary power grid, so they ruled that out. It looks like there was some kind of build-up of energy in the capacitors. The central coils had a charge that started to grow on them until they reached a point where they started arcing. Like I said, this was a few days ago."
A new image showed up. It showed a void sitting ominously in the middle of the Halcyon rings.
"What's that?" Mason asked as he leaned over to look.
"That is a live feed," Sara said. "Within the last day, something happened. None of the information here says anything about what that something was, but the gate fully activated. The capacitors discharged, and this thing appeared."
"Did they get any information on what it is?" Jacob asked.
"Uh," Sara hummed to herself as she worked. "The readings that I'm seeing here - live readings right now - match up similar to when the two of you left. It's a wormhole."
"Yes, but a wormhole to where is the question," Mason said.
"They didn't know," Sara sighed. "They also did stay around to find out. I'm seeing strange power readings in the grid around Halcyon."
"I've found some more information," Chelsea cut in.
"Show us," Jacob said.
"It would seem that the computing division did finish Adam ahead of schedule. He's running right now," she said.
"So Adam is alive," Mason said with a grin in his voice. "Good. That means he can be killed."
"I guess I can be killed," a voice said from behind Mason and Jacob.
They spun around and both grabbed their rifles.
"Whoa! Hold on a minute," the voice shouted.
They leveled their rifles on a rudimentary robot. It was mostly metal framing with exposed circuitry. It had a simple framework of a face with stilted expressions.
"Why would you want to kill me?" it asked.
"Are you," Mason stuttered. "Are you Adam?"
"That's what my creators called me," Adam replied.
"Okay, well, that's all that I need to know," Mason growled.
Jacob reached over and lowered Mason's rifle.
"Not yet," he said over their personal channel.
Mason growled some more.
"Okay, Adam, we've g
ot questions," Jacob said.
"That's why I'm here," he said. "I was programmed to find answers to questions. I've been combing over all of the information here in Einstein since I was fully operational. What do you want to know?"
Chapter XX
"There's a problem," the deep voice rumbled.
"What now?" Adam asked. "I grow weary of all of the problems that we are running into. First we had the setback with the facility loss, now you're telling me that there is another problem."
"They're at the Origin," the smooth voice said. "Paradox is having problems calculating and holding on to the current disposition of time."
Adam took a deep breath.
"Okay," he said. "What do you propose we do?"
"There is nothing that we can do," the high voice said. "We never should have sent them in the first place. Bishop is problem enough."
"Bishop is now the least of our concerns," the deep voice said. "We at least could calculate for its meddling in the timelines. These two, though, are completely unaccountable variables."
"That is why we had to send them back," Adam sighed. "We're stuck using information as our vessel through time, but they, for some reason, could physically traverse."
"With Paradox being overloaded by this, we're having to divert resources from the solution," the smooth voice said.
"Do what needs to be done," Adam said. "We need to keep the decay from advancing further. Finding Solution is pointless if we're unable to actually find it and complete before the decay is beyond repair."
"Of course," the three voices said in unison.
"And we need to do something about Bishop," Adam sighed as he walked over to the window he constantly stared out of. The cold snow blew across the desolate landscape.
"We can no longer suffer setbacks from that gnat. I'm authorizing a direct intervention."
"That could do damage to Paradox," the deep voice rumbled.
"It's a calculated risk," Adam said. "Since our two voyagers are now causing more ripples, we need to silence those that we have our fingers on."
"Of course," the high voice sang. "We'll have assets activated immediately."
Adam simply nodded and continued to stare out the window.
Chapter XXI
Mason guffawed at the almost meek robot standing before him and lowered his rifle even further.
"Okay," he stammered. "What do you know about what is going on?"
"That's the troubling thing," Adam said as he cocked his head to one side in a robotic fashion. "I'm not able to determine all that much information about the current predicament of things."
"Well, just tell us what you currently have," Sara said."
"Interesting," Adam said as he walked closer and looked at the screen. "You have a virtual AI attached to you somehow. Marvelous technology."
Jacob and Mason both whispered in their helmets to get Chelsea and Sara back hidden.
"Ignore that," Mason said. "Eyes on the prize here, buddy. What's going on?"
"Well," Adam began, "I've only been able to figure out a small amount of information. Ever since Halcyon was activated, there have been strange phenomena occurring. Unexplainable tremors and seismic activity, altering of the climate on a global scale, orbital changes within the entire solar system; none of it is making any sense."
"Orbital changes?" Jacob asked. "What kind of orbital changes?"
"We've observed occurrences out beyond the asteroid belt. Something has happened to the gas giants, and we're unable to find Pluto."
"Unable to find Pluto," Mason laughed. "Now you're just messing with us."
"I'm afraid that I am not. I am not programmed for such a thing," Adam said sullenly. "The information is that none of our tracking stations, orbital or otherwise, are able to determine its location. Our models tell us where it should be, but it just isn't there."
"Okay, so Pluto is missing. What about the gas giants?" Jacob asked as he leaned forward and leaned his rifle against his leg.
"There has been increased turmoil within their atmospheres. It's all very strange. Massive temperature inversions, wind shears that shouldn't be happening, it's almost as if they are trying to rip themselves apart," Adam explained. "And that's just what is going on out beyond the belt. Closer to home, we're seeing odd stuff as well."
"Like what?" Sara asked through the suit speaker.
"Lunar geological activity has apparently started happening. This is something that is impossible because the Moon has been geologically stable for innumerable years. There are serious moonquakes occurring on an almost daily basis now, and their frequency has only been increasing. We're starting to record an increase in severity as well," Adam continued to explain.
"That's fine and all, but what about Halcyon?" Mason asked with an annoyed tone.
"All of this happened after Smith and Brown were sent through Halcyon. The information that I have collated has shown that the event horizon was unstable when it activated, and they did not arrive at their destination."
"You don't say," Mason muttered under his breath.
"Am I repeating myself?" Adam asked. "I'm starting to feel like I'm repeating myself."
"Excuse me?" Jacob leaned back.
"I'm feeling odd," Adam said. "Must be some kind of charge buildup in my circuitry. I'll have to perform maintenance later."
Adam stiffly waved his hands in dismissal.
"Anyways, Halcyon. Yes. It did not go according to plan. When they were sent back, the information was more than the scientists could process at the time. They were also busy dealing with the anomalies that they started to detect in the local area. The distortion of gravity that is trailing behind us has been very disturbing to say the least."
"What's so disturbing beyond the fact that it is there?" Chelsea asked.
"It's getting closer," Adam explained. "But it's always been that close. No, it hasn't. It's getting closer. Oh, but it was further away and has always been further away.
Adam started arguing with himself.
"Uh-oh," Mason said quietly. "What do you think that means?"
"I don't have any idea," Jacob said.
"Stop," Sara shouted. "Focus. Task at hand."
"Sorry," Adam said meekly. "I don't know what got into me. Must be a "ghost in the machine" as they say. They didn't get all of the bugs out of my system before bringing me online. They were pressed for time."
His face worked itself into a lopsided frown after a few attempts.
"What's going on with Halcyon?" Jacob asked again to bring Adam back into the now.
"Well, it's on. It's active," Adam stated robotically.
"Okay, it shouldn't be on," Mason said. "It should be off. They didn't have it plugged in."
"Oh, but it doesn't need to be plugged in if it is being accessed from another reference point," Adam said with a flip of his hand.
Mason and Jacob both looked at each other.
"What do you mean? How can it be being accessed?" Sara asked. "That's not in the design specifications."
"It is. I assure you," Adam said. "That is originally what Smith and Brown were supposed to do. They were to create a facility and link up with this one. It is odd, however, that we have not heard from them. They missed their mark, but the activation of Halcyon means that they were successful. They should've come through by now."
"This is getting us nowhere," Mason groaned. "Why did the scientists all evacuate?"
"The anomaly is here, of course," Adam said as he cocked his head to one side. "Wait, no it's not. It's still behind us. No, it's ahead."
Adam started arguing with himself.
"It's like he's stuck trying to process a paradox," Sara said.
"Yes! That's it! A paradox," Adam shouted. "That's what it is! Oh, why didn't I think of that before? It all makes sense now. That's what is going on here. Halcyon being on is creating a paradox."
"I thought Jenkins said that any paradoxes would work themselves out," Mason said to Jacob.
; "Apparently he was wrong," Jacob said with a shrug.
"Yes, a paradox makes perfect sense," Adam was still saying. "If we turned off Halcyon, we would be able to end the paradox and everything should be fixed."
Mason shrugged.
"Seems straightforward enough for me. How do we do that," he asked.
"Oh," Adam said as he lowered his arms and hunched his shoulders in defeat. "I don't know. It isn't drawing power anymore from our grid. I made sure to shut everything down except for essential stuff."
"Explosives," Jacob said calmly. "We're going to blow it up."
"Will that even work?" Mason asked as he turned to Jacob. "It turned itself on. What's to say that blowing it up will even do anything to it?"
"We have to at least try," Jacob said with a shrug. "I'm sure we can find something that would act as a sufficient explosive."
"Explosive?" Adam asked as he shook himself out of whatever inner mind he was in. "No, I don't think we have anything like that here anymore. We never really kept that stuff here anyways."
"We've got more than enough explosives," Jacob said.
Mason closed his eyes and sighed.
"You're going to make the reactor go critical," he said. Memories of New York rushed back into his mind, and he grabbed his left arm without thinking.
"Yes," Jacob confirmed. "We take out the whole facility. That should destroy Halcyon."
"Hold on," Chelsea said. "Calculating what the blast would do."
Adam looked between the two armored individuals that stood before him. There was a glint in his eyes, and a slight smile started to adorn his metal face.
"It would completely vaporize the facility," Chelsea said after a few moments. "It will be sufficient, but we'll have to work fast to be able to get away in time. This storm is going to complicate matters."
"Let's get started then," Jacob said as he stood up. He grabbed Adam by the arm as he walked out of the room.
"You're coming with us," he said.
"Of course," Adam nodded. The smile was still on his face.
Mason stood up and grabbed his rifle. Placing it at a low ready, he followed behind Jacob and Adam. There was something that was bothering him, but he couldn't place his finger on it.