The cop just pointed down the road.
Jordan looked along the curve of the overpass. It led to a settling cloud of dust. She didn’t see anything else, wasn’t sure what was wrong with the skyline before her until suddenly she realized something was missing.
The security headquarters was gone. The eighty-plus-story slab structure had fallen somehow or been knocked down. The street level was well below them. She looked over the low wall of the overpass. It looked like a sea of dust below, moving between the other buildings like a river.
The security people were still just standing there.
“What happened?” Jordan asked.
“It just went down,” the cop said. “There was an alert. We evacuated. It collapsed.”
Jordan slapped him. This proved to be a mistake as the cop’s face was mostly bone. Her hand hurt. He looked at her in confusion. All of the cops looked like they were in a state of shock.
“Snap out of it!” she screamed. “Have you checked for survivors? Is anyone else in the area hurt? Do you have a backup system to get as many people here to help as possible?”
The cop started to speak, stuttered.
She hit him again, this time punching him in the arm. “Go do something!”
He nodded. “Let’s go,” he said to the other cops. “Bring every bot in the area here and set up an aid station.”
Jordan took Ceph by an arm and led him away.
“Where are you going?” the cop said.
“I’m getting him a translator. Be right back.”
***
Shannanon hadn’t left the vehicle, was still reclined in the grav car and either in-game or asleep. If she had two brains was she playing two games? Fang continued to slumber. It now had one tentacle around Shannanon’s arm. Jordan opened the door and moved Shannanon’s head forward. She found the null-space pouch behind her neck with her friend’s translator inside.
“I’ll borrow this for now,” Jordan said.
Shannanon didn’t react as Jordan removed the device. If Shannanon was in yet another game, that should throw off the experience. But Shannanon didn’t stir. She probably was asleep. If her gaming habits hadn’t changed, she played until the point of exhaustion and then crashed. Or she had entered the poisoned game world again and now both of her brains were playing.
Before stepping out of the grav car, she programmed it to go to the nearest implant kiosk outside of the evacuation zone. Off the car went with its sleeping passengers. Jordan next sent Shannanon a message:
“Took your translator, will pay you back for one later. Watch Fang for me. Could have killed you in your sleep. J.”
She had sat Ceph down on a curb. She gave him Shannanon’s translator. When he just stared at it, she took it back and installed it for him.
“Captain Flemming was inside the building,” Ceph said once the tech was in place.
“How many others?”
“I don’t know. Personnel tracker shows everyone got out. Can’t always be certain.”
“Get up. Let’s go be certain. I’m sorry about the Captain. He seemed to be an okay guy. But other people now need your help, you know.”
She helped him up. The streets were now empty, the traffic having been diverted away from this district. A few bots rolled along in the direction of the fallen building. Jordan and Ceph jogged along after them. Much of the cloud of dust was gone, no doubt acted upon by whatever air cleaning system the city had in place. Still, a circulating haze gave the silver sky a sickly green tint.
They passed a small group of retreating citizens before they found their first cop along with a pair of bots. The bots had their lights blinking. The cop was the one with the bony head Jordan had struck earlier. They were a block away from where the security building had once stood.
Ceph said, “Report.”
“We have drones out,” the cop said. “Broad range sensors show no life signs in the security building’s remains.”
Enough light filtered down from the sky that Jordan expected to see something: girders, remains of walls, chunks of building parts. But there was nothing except a tall pile of dust.
It was Jordan’s turn to stammer. “It…it’s just gone.”
“In the event of catastrophic failure,” the bony cop said, “structures are designed to cause as little harm as possible to anyone in the surrounding area.”
“But could anyone inside survive?”
“Doubtful. It’s still hundreds of thousands of tons of material all crashing down.”
“But why did it happen?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“The only uncertainty is knowing what’s in the heart of the culprit,” Ceph said. He then told them about the worms and what had happened at the transportation terminal.
CHAPTER 23
All that the refugees had to do to go home was accept the installation of an unknown app via their translator and to pay that app a few credits.
“This is how we get home,” Toggs said to the crowd after it had been explained to them a third time.
“We have to pay for the AI that will drive the elevator,” Jeff said. “What got us here before was only a demo, apparently.”
When he spoke, most in the pack of angry Galactic Commons citizens frowned, scowled, or generally looked more defensive.
“You’re really winning them over, human,” the Grey said.
It was still held fast in Jeff’s arm. Jeff tried to cover its mouth, but his hands and arms hurt from a half-dozen bites.
“A human trick to rob us,” someone in the crowd said.
“I’m not installing a game program!” said another. “I hate games.”
“You better do all of the talking,” Jeff said, looking up at Toggs.
“Look, people,” Toggs said. “All this means is you install the game marketplace so you can make purchases. You’re not buying a game. In fact, the human says to not play the game as it has some issues. You’re only buying a share in the AI that might fix the transportation service for everyone. The elevator gets fixed, and we go home. Maybe we’ll be able to get everything back up and running, and you’ll be the heroes. That way you can go home, or at least get back to the Commons. Your sovereign houses will be grateful. They’ll also pay you back.”
This was met with silence.
“Jeffy,” Zachary said from inside his head. “Tell them about your favorite game. Our game. Or all the other groovy games you’ve tried. Five star user review right here.”
Jeff shushed him. He heard a buzzing sound, distant, and at first thought Zachary was up to something. Some in the crowd looked skyward. Others began to move away, but most were hemmed in by the press of bodies in the crowd.
“More drones,” Doctor Cochran said.
Three rotary-winged drones came whirring in, flying at different heights, none close enough to knock out of the air with anything thrown.
“Not mine,” Oliop said.
“Help me get the downed drone,” Doctor Cochran said to Jeff.
They stepped from the elevator. The crowd around them had their attention fixed above them. They hardly noticed as Jeff and Doctor Cochran moved between them and picked up the remains of the car door–sized wreck and brought it back to the elevator.
“What’s this going to do for us?” Jeff asked.
“Depends how broken it is. Your friend seems handy. Can you get him to help?”
Oliop nodded and looked the drone over. He said, “It’s broken.”
“See if the camera and microphone are working,” Doctor Cochran said.
The drone had no lights on to indicate power. Oliop got to work. He had a side panel off and the battery out in moments.
“Camera lens is broken,” Oliop said. “That would have to be replaced. Mic appears intact. I just reattached the antenna. Battery had just unseated. Now you have the power back.”
While Oliop spoke and tinkered, Doctor Cochran had a weird smile on her face. She nodded.
“Th
ank you, Oliop,” she said.
Doctor Cochran pushed the drone’s battery back into place and picked up the entire unit. She spoke into it, looking into the lens on its bottom.
“This is Doctor Karen Cochran. I hope you can hear me. You have to hold off on any further security response. Most of our people inside the containment zone have been compromised, but we are working on a solution. Send no more personnel inside the zone and contain any that try to leave. The Director has been infected, and if he tries to communicate with you it must be assumed that anything he says is not of his volition. His person has been subverted somehow by an infection. A solution to all of this is possible, and I will try to give a more detailed report when I get to a radio. As the senior medical operative here in the containment zone, I’m taking command.”
She put the drone down and yanked out the battery.
“Will that work?” Jeff asked.
“If you see a plane fly over us and drop a bomb, then no.”
The three drones now circled the old airfield. The refugees continued their fearful muttering. Some had made their way to the old hangars and were going inside.
Toggs asked, “How close are we to completing our purchase?”
Jeff checked. “8%.”
“Not bad.”
“I mean we’ve collected exactly 8% of the purchase price.”
Jeff put the Grey down, his hands gripping its shoulders. He stared it in the face. “You got us into this mess. How about helping out?”
The Grey snapped at him, almost biting his nose. It laughed. “I’ve got a solution that doesn’t involve emptying my bank account to a spam bot AI.”
“The humans are helping us,” Toggs said. “You’re either going to chip in, or you’re staying here.”
The Grey’s face curled. Its lipless mouth trembled. A whiff of never-before-smelled pheromones washed over them that brought to mind an earthy flower garden watered with tears.
“I’m so sorry,” the Grey said. “I’ve seen the error of my ways. Okay, I’ll help. Let me talk to your AI.”
Before Jeff had a chance to find Zachary, an involuntary friend request extended itself to Irving the Grey via Jeff’s own translator. It felt as if someone had forced him to blink or to swallow, an involuntary sensation that quickly passed yet left a lingering unease. The friend request was followed instantly by a message to “Join the Galactic Commons New Gaming Network! Join all your friends! Free!* Fully immersive experiences unlike anything you’ve ever played! No purchase required!** Escape your humdrum life and choose an adventure to share with your family and all your acquaintances!”
Seventeen more paragraphs followed, the mental text getting smaller, all bracketed by realistic images of the games offered and several buttons that would accept the invitation to install. It would take an act of extraordinary concentration to read the fine print scrolling between the blinking pictures. Jeff couldn’t wait to uninstall but kept his mind as blank as possible, as Zachary was no doubt listening.
This was identical to the invitations offered to the rest of the crowd gathered around the elevator.
Both Toggs and Jeff kept a wary eye on the Grey. The Grey cocked its head and closed its eyes.
“How very interesting,” it said.
Irving the Grey was now Jeff’s friend, along with four hundred of the refugees stuck here on Earth.
Jeff took a moment and tried to read the fine print. This became difficult as the game menus in his mind kept interceding, pushing their way forward like competing carnival hawkers vying for his attention. Zachary appeared, and Jeff had to push him out of the way before he could continue to examine the document that had been sent to the Grey and every other new friend on his list.
The letters and words of the dry corporate-ese moved about as if to direct Jeff’s attention to anything but themselves. Finally Jeff scrolled down and managed to read what the Grey had no doubt already read.
“This end user license agreement shall become the sole property of the primary shareholder. If the primary shareholder chooses to designate other users, this is a discretionary choice as dictated by the primary shareholder.”
Jeff checked the contribution tracker. It had jumped from 8% to 100%. The Grey now owned 92% of the AI.
“Watch him!” Toggs said.
The Grey slipped from Jeff’s grip. It darted for the elevator, slipping past Doctor Cochran and Kwed, who had finally unwrapped himself and come outside. Oliop grabbed at the Grey, but it headbutted him. Irving sprang for the control panel. Jeff chased after it, his fingers slipping off Irving the Grey’s slick skin. Irving made it to the console and hit a button. The door hissed shut and the elevator sprang to life, with the interior lights increasing in their intensity, flashing complex running patterns along the walls and ceiling.
Oliop had just stumbled inside the door before it closed. He held his forehead and groaned.
Jeff was about to grab the Grey when it snarled at him.
“Back off, human,” Irving the Grey said. “If you ever want to help any of those sods back on your filth world, you’re going to do exactly as I say.”
It removed its hand from the control panel. The button continued to shine bright red as it popped up from having just been depressed. The door swooshed open. They were back at the Galactic Commons transportation terminal. As before, travel had been instantaneous. A security bot waited for them. It raised both arms and pointed its weapons at Jeff.
***
“Lord Akimbo to the transportation terminal please,” the Grey said. “Paging Lord Akimbo.”
The Grey gave Oliop and Jeff a push out the door. Jeff stepped tentatively past the bot. The worms were all gone, as was their weird master. All Jeff heard were the echoes of their own footsteps as they walked out onto the platform. The bot pivoted and followed them.
“And try anything with that tail of yours, and I’ll cut it off,” the Grey said to Oliop.
“Send the elevator back,” Jeff said. “We can start ferrying people a few at a time.”
“Why on Earth would I do that?” The Grey chuckled at its own joke.
They moved down the ramp and into the large lobby. Six security volunteers lay unconscious on the floor. They showed no signs of external trauma. It looked as if they had just collapsed. Jeff started to move towards them, but the bot beeped a warning. Jeff froze.
“What happened to them?”
“They’re sleeping for now,” the Grey said.
“It’s like what you did to me.”
The Grey didn’t respond.
Oliop tugged at Jeff’s sleeve and pointed. Around the many exit doors Jeff saw hundreds of the worms. Many clung high on the thresholds and to one another, festooned there like garlands of macaroni. They whispered their repeating mantra to themselves. The worms were in a perfect position to drop down onto anyone or any bot that entered. The downed security team hadn’t made it twenty paces inside before being neutralized.
“So you’ve got an elevator that takes you between here and Earth,” Jeff said. “What does that do for you? We’re not going to help you or Lord Banana Splits do whatever it is you’re doing.”
“We’ll see what Lord Akimbo wants to do next,” the Grey said. “Hopefully we won’t need you anymore. So sit tight and be patient.” The Grey then grinned and shot a finger at Jeff. Oliop’s ears dropped low.
Jeff accessed his in-brain app. Zachary waited for him, standing with his arms crossed in front of him.
“Sorry, Jeffy, but your buddy there had the funds to seal the deal since you weren’t able to perform. Doesn’t mean you can’t play. Take a little vacation from all your problems. He can’t bug you there.”
“Anything you can do for me?” Jeff asked.
Zachary shrugged and pointed at the game menu. Jeff looked it over and selected the friends tab. From the list, he selected Detective Ceph and Irving the Grey. He tagged Irving and himself and sent a notification to Ceph. Ceph’s game app should notify him of their physica
l location if the detective was paying attention. If that didn’t work as intended, at least Ceph would eventually discover that they were back in town.
“Nice try,” the Grey said.
The notification of the Grey’s location blinked off almost as fast as it had come on. The Grey’s privacy settings had been activated. Still, the Grey couldn’t do anything about Ceph seeing where Jeff was.
They waited.
CHAPTER 24
When Shannanon found Jordan standing with Detective Ceph, the other cop, and the gaggle of security bots, she didn’t hesitate. She tackled Jordan, sending them both tumbling to the ground. She raised her fists and roared. Jordan braced for impact, but Shannanon’s fists smacked the ground next to Jordan’s head with a wet slap. Jordan’s orange-furred game friend roared again, her mouth inches from Jordan’s face. Her long canines flashed white. Her breath smelled like a dyspeptic dog’s. Then she began to gibber in her native tongue, a series of sucking sounds and rude noises that Jordan could only half follow.
“Where’s my translator?” was the gist.
Fang followed along behind Shannanon, bobbing up and down and chirping excitedly.
Ceph placed a hand on Shannanon’s shoulder. He reached back and took out the borrowed translator. Shannanon snatched it from his hand.
“That wasn’t nice,” Shannanon said after the reinstallation. She took a moment to look at her surroundings. “What the hell is going on?”
“It’s an emergency, young lady,” the other cop said. “We’re going to have to get you out of here.”
A bot the size of a shoe box came racing in. It stopped next to Ceph and waited. Ceph reached down and the bot handed him a new translator. Ceph popped it in.
“That clears that hurdle,” Ceph said.
Shannanon helped Jordan up. Judging by the look on Shannanon’s face, Jordan still wasn’t sure if her friend was going to punch her lights out.
“I’m sorry, but he needed a translator, and it was an emergency,” Jordan said. “I left you a message and sent you to the nearest vendor.”
House of the Galactic Elevator Page 28