by Mary Fan
“I’m sorry, Jane,” he said. “I know it was… It was the only…” He took a breath. “I’m sure Adam found a way out.”
“Of course he did.” Jane refused to fret anymore. She paced, tracing the same few yards of ground over and over, unable to decide if she was afraid or irritated that Adam wasn’t back yet. She had to keep moving or she’d go crazy—every inch of her body seemed to quiver.
Tired of turning circles, Jane ran into the Stargazer. She couldn’t stand the thought of looking at Adam’s lifeless body again. She started back toward the door, then looked at the viewscreen in case his face appeared, then walked down the ramp, then—why couldn’t she decide where she wanted to be?
She paced again, beyond agitated. “Where the hell is he? That’s all I want to know. He did what he came here to do, so I ask again: Where the hell is he? If this whole trap thing, which was his stupid idea to begin with, got him stuck in the freaking Networld, I’ll just have to find a way to upload my consciousness and hunt his Book-of-Via-thumping ass down!”
“That’s not fair. When have I ever thumped anything?”
Jane whirled. Adam stood in the doorway of the Stargazer, smiling that infuriatingly adorable smile of his, his bright peridot eyes twinkling.
“Adam!”
Adam was glad to be back in the physical world. He didn’t care that he was less powerful there than he had been in the Networld. He’d rather be able to feel again, even if it meant feeling pain.
But the first thing he felt after stepping out of the Stargazer were Jane’s arms around him, and her lips against his.
Epilogue
A hologram of a female reporter appeared in front of Devin’s slate, which was propped up by the controls of the Stargazer he piloted.
“The Interstellar Confederation began its special session today to discuss the enforcement of the Technology Council’s regulations on artificial intelligence. As we previously reported, the investigation ordered by the IC Tech Council concluded that the Pandora program did indeed exist before it was destroyed through the efforts of several amateur programmers. The full extent of its actions and effects remains unknown.
“In related news, the investigation led by Commander Jihan Vega of the RKSS Granite Flame has revealed that both Victor Colt and Dr. Revelin Kron were shot by their own internal defenses, which the Pandora program had taken control of. After a thorough inquiry, it was discovered that the previous forensics reports were faked and that no forensics team investigated either crime.”
A hologram of Commander Vega, looking proud and disdainful in her crisp uniform, replaced the reporter. “The more I looked into it, the more I realized how incompetent the original investigators were. They overlooked details and simply trusted their computers instead of taking action themselves. Once the Pandora program was deactivated and no longer able to tamper with the evidence, we were able to get the real results.”
The reporter reappeared. “Meanwhile, the Blue Diamond Technology Corporation has been distancing itself from the Pandora Project, insisting that it was the work of a single rogue programmer and that the company is not responsible.”
The reporter faded, replaced by a hologram of Jim X. “It’s true. You can hang me high if you want, but the only person who can really be blamed for Pandora’s existence is already dead. The rest of the company didn’t have anything to do with it, and I’m not just saying that because I used to run it. I’m tired of this world of lies and have decided that nothing but the truth should be told from now on. I wish the rest of the galaxy felt the same.”
The reporter returned to the fore. “In response to public outrage, President Nikolett Thean of the Republic of Kydera has issued full pardons to Devin Colt, Jane Colt, and Adam Palmer for the legal infractions they committed in the incidents surrounding Devin Colt’s brazen escape the day of his scheduled execution.”
The reporter faded again. A hologram depicting a scene before the Presidential Palace appeared in her place. President Thean stood behind a podium, flanked by several guards and two aides, one of whom Devin recognized as Jonathan King.
“I am appalled by this whole matter.” President Thean spoke with restrained anger. “I cannot believe that under my watch, the Kyderan justice system was so misused. I only hope that Devin Colt will find it in himself to forgive us for what we nearly did to him.”
Jane, who leaned against the side of the pilot’s seat, crossed her arms and huffed. “Or what they did do to you. Idiots.”
Devin lowered the slate’s volume. “At least it means we can return to Kydera.”
“Yeah, finally.” Jane grinned. “Back to civilization at last! Decent food, decent clothes, no bad guys or killer robots shooting at us… Suddenly, boring sounds like heaven.”
A month of hiding out on the Fringe can do that.
The reporter reappeared, interviewing a cyberpolice chief about Pandora’s destruction. According to the chief, a simple virus had taken her out. For once, reality’s more exciting than the news.
Devin recalled watching the factory obliterated explosion by explosion—and Pandora along with it.
“It’s finally over,” Jane had said. “There’s no way it could’ve escaped, right?”
Adam had shaken his head. “I almost didn’t make it, and the Snare wasn’t meant for me. I was just a bit thrown because I thought it’d been destroyed.” He’d turned to Devin with a look that held questions but no blame.
Devin regretted he’d had to use the kid. He’d distilled his explanation into, “The first Snare program was a decoy. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. Riley wanted to warn you, but I told him not to because that would have meant warning Pandora as well.”
“I understand,” Adam said. “You were right. She could see my every thought.”
Jane nudged Adam with a hint of annoyance. “What took you so long? I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back.”
“I got lost, but then I remembered that some things are more important than perfection.” Adam looked at the sky. “It’s strange. I know my life here is no closer to being real than the false memories of the virtu-world, but… I can believe in it, even though I know most of it never happened.” He brought his gaze back down to Jane.
Jane’s expression warmed. “Then it might as well be real. Most things in life seem to be illusions anyway, and all we can be certain of is here and now.” She’d cheered as one final, all-consuming explosion demolished what remained of the factory, a satisfied glint sparking in her eyes as she watched the remnants of the Pandora Project blown away by a strong wind.
The same glint brightened Jane’s eyes at present as she watched the reporter speak of Pandora’s destruction. It was the closest thing she would get to justice, and Devin hoped she’d found some kind of closure.
As for him, all it meant was no longer having to run. It wouldn’t heal his father or return to him the Sarah he loved. Sarah, who had reawakened passions once frozen behind dull surrender, who could with a single demure smile turn every meaningless hour into one more reason to stay and keep fighting for the proverbial someday.
Sarah DeHaven, what will you do? Can you think for yourself, now that your strings have been severed?
What will I do? How can I face a world in which you’re not only gone, but never existed? No matter how many times Devin had told himself to accept it, he knew the memories and the deception would haunt him forever, wrapped in a confused disorder of grief and pain at a betrayal that could hardly be defined as one.
He checked the navigation chart and veered the Stargazer toward Kydera Major.
Meanwhile, President Thean reappeared. “I believe in order to move forward, we must look to the past. I know these are not the words people want to hear, but perhaps they are the words that must be spoken.” She left, followed by her entourage.
J
ane pushed off the pilot’s seat. “I wonder what’s going to happen to him. Jonathan King, I mean. And the others. They were meant to be leaders. How many rising stars are Pandora’s AIs? Can they still… know what to do now that their creator’s no longer commanding them?”
Adam, who stood beside Jane, looked thoughtful. “They should be able to. Pandora told me she only affected their most important decisions. I hope no one ever discovers that we’re anything more than what we appear to be.”
“You’re not one of them.” Jane took his hand in hers, and her expression melted into a radiant smile.
Adam returned her gaze. The two seemed to speak without uttering a word.
Devin looked away with a mental grumble but couldn’t help smiling. He’d dismissed any inhibitions he had about his sister’s relationship. Adam had what counted, and if the kid made Jane happy, that was all that mattered.
I would’ve done the same, Sarah. If you were who I thought you were, I would love you still.
The slate flipped through several holovision channels and paused at one that a Net program determined he would find interesting. As a hologram of another reporter appeared, the communication light by the control screen blinked. Devin pressed the icon that would put it through.
Riley’s face showed up in a rectangle on the viewscreen. He was, as usual, waving too quickly. “Hi, peoples!”
“Hey, kid,” Devin said.
“So I’m… uh… checkin’ in. Wondering what you guys are up to, now that you’re not on the run anymore.”
Jane leaned on Devin’s shoulder with an impish smirk. “Returning to the tool life? You’re not seriously going back to Quasar, are you?”
“Are you? You’d better not.” Devin gave her a joking smile. “I’ll go back just to have you fired, if I have to.”
Jane straightened. “Hey!”
“You don’t belong there, Pony.”
“I know.”
Devin turned to the viewscreen. “So, Riley, how do you like your new job?”
Riley grinned. “Dude, it’s awesome! Jim X gave me an official contract and everything. He says I’m the first person he’s actually liked and wants to keep me here! I’m his freakin’ Chief of Security! Hah! What the hell, right? I mean, no one’s really after him anymore, but there’s still the… uh… other stuff. Robots are good and all, but I guess he wants me around to make things easier. Or he just wants me around. Either way, I’m not complaining. Anyhow, you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing now that you’re not a fugitive?”
No idea. All Devin could do was go back to the straight and narrow path to normality and hope things would stay simple. But that was what he’d thought in the past. No matter how dull he made his life, it always managed to get too interesting. “Still deciding.”
Jane lightly elbowed Adam. “I think Adam here’s the only one who knows what he’s gonna do.”
“More priest-school?” Riley asked.
Adam nodded. “Just in time for the new semester. I don’t want to think about how much make-up work they’ll pile on me…”
“I still think you should’ve downloaded your textbooks when you had the chance. I would’ve. Anyhow, uh… Have fun going back to boring!” Riley ended the transmission.
“Hey, Devin?” Jane sounded tentative. “What would you say if I told you I wanted to be a composer?”
“I’d say it’s about time,” Devin replied. “Don’t know why you gave it up in the first place.”
“Yeah, I mean, I’ll probably have to fight oceans of rejection and bullshit and still end up a miserable failure, but… I took on the freaking Kyderan government. A few industry execs shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“You won’t fail.”
“What’ll Dad think when he wakes up, though? And don’t say it, he will wake up.”
Devin shrugged. “Let him deal with it. You can handle him.”
Jane bit her lip fretfully. “What if I end up a tired cliché? I mean, everyone thinks their ideas are significant, that their music’s sublime, their writing transcendent, their artwork inspired. What if I’m delusional? Just another mediocre office drone who wants to be an artist?”
Adam put an arm around her. “Stop scaring yourself, Jane. Do what you do, and forget the rest. We’re the only ones who can decide our fates.”
Jane looked at him with a glowing smile. “You would know.”
A hologram of Sarah appeared. Devin contemplated her. She stood on a sapphire stage in a live concert performance. According to the caption, her song was the unexpected number one hit in the galaxy.
“What’s that bitch doing here?” Jane reached for the slate.
Devin held up a hand and stopped her. “It’s okay, Pony. She’ll be everywhere when we get back. I have to get used to seeing her.”
He studied Sarah’s perfect face, not knowing whether to feel sad or angry or regretful or simply… nothing. She wasn’t the woman he remembered, the one he’d fallen for. Real or not, she’d affected him in ways her creator could never have understood. He wondered if he would ever be able to forget the way she’d once made him feel. how she had to make countless others feel.
Would she respond to them, as she had to him? She’d been designed to learn, to adapt. Would she remain pre-programmed, taking logical steps to advance her career, or would she evolve? Be forced to create independent thoughts to survive? Perhaps even develop sentience?
I loved you, Sarah DeHaven. Will you ever understand what that meant?
Sarah finished her wordless run, and the music flowed into a smooth echo of the introduction. She seemed to look directly at Devin as she sang the last verse:
“Story older than the skies,
“It’s been told ten thousand times,
“Not the first, won’t be the last,
“Same old tale in different rhymes.
“Tell the story one more time…
“Tell the story one more time…”
Coming Early 2014
Synthetic Illusions
Written by Mary Fan
In the thrilling sequel to Artificial Absolutes, Jane Colt finds herself combating the one person she always trusted: her older brother, Devin. After the events of the first book, Jane hopes to return to her ordinary life. But when the shadowy government agency Devin works for orders him to capture Adam, the young man she loves, she ends up in her brother’s crosshairs as she helps Adam escape.
Although Adam looks like any other seminary student, he harbors a secret he hopes the rest of the galaxy will never uncover. Haunted by a menacing voice, he fights to control his own mind.
Meanwhile, Devin uncovers his employer’s clandestine agenda but, coerced by the deadly consequences of noncompliance, must remain silent. He reluctantly obeys the agency’s commands while secretly plotting to expose the truth.
Forced to choose between the two people she loves most, Jane sets off on a journey that takes her into the darkest corners of known space and challenges everything she believes.
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Nikki Thean, Julianne Grasso, Lalithra Fernando, and Erik Anson for reading through earlier drafts of this work and providing feedback, which helped me gain perspective and inspired new approaches. Especially Nikki, without whom none of this would exist.
Thanks to Allen Wold, who coached me in my younger years and whose words of wisdom continue to influence me.
And thanks to the Authonomy community for their support and encouragement.
About the Author
Mary Fan lives in New Jersey, where she is currently working in financial marketing. She has also resided in North Carolina, Hong Kong, and Beijing, China. Sh
e has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember and especially enjoys the infinite possibilities and out-of-this-world experiences of science fiction and fantasy.
Mary has a B.A. in Music, specializing in composition, from Princeton University and enjoys writing songs as much as writing stories. She also enjoys kickboxing, opera singing, and exploring new things—she’ll try almost anything once.