‘Yes?’ she asked.
‘Is no one here to meet me?’
‘No. Nobody has been in for an hour. They all went to their posts.’
‘Where is Sergeant Regis? That’s the name I have. Shouldn’t he be coordinating this sector?’
‘He is not here. I’m sorry.’
‘Well, what am I supposed to do then?’
‘We have been told that everyone should stay in their homes.’
‘I haven’t been assigned quarters yet.’
‘Oh.’
He waited for her to say something more. ‘Can I stay here?’ he asked.
‘I’m sorry. Only authorised Citizens are allowed access.’
‘But surely … Please, I am who I say I am. There must be some record.’
‘Just let me see if I can contact someone. Wait here.’
Humbolt stayed where he was. He watched the woman go back into the main room, stop and talk quickly with the girl, both looking over at him, and then she put on her visor and spoke into it.
When she was done, she pressed a button and spoke, her voice coming out through speakers in the waiting room.
‘Someone will be up to see you shortly.’
Humbolt was left to wait in the reception area alone. He dragged his luggage to one side and sat down. Realising he had nothing to do, he put the emergency pack on the seat next to him and began opening its compartments.
The orange pack he had chosen — for warmer conditions, such as summer in West — contained mostly high-protein ration packs, hard sticks and nutrient gum, three litres of water, a water purifier, a first-aid kit, a sewing kit, wire-rope, wire, matches, two foil blankets and a radio.
He looked at the radio, flipped it over and found the ‘on’ switch. It was pre-tuned to an emergency broadcast station.
‘… to your homes. Please check this station frequently for updated instructions. Continue recording your interactions. All data will be committed to the Weave once the disruption is over … Citizens. Remain calm. The Weave has been disabled for security reasons. All Servicemen are to report for active duty. Do not be alarmed. Stay indoors and return to your homes. Please check this station frequently for updated instructions.’
Humbolt played through the message twice more before switching it off.
Pound. Pound. Pound.
Takashi was lying on his back in pitch dark. Someone else’s legs were draped over his own. They were warm and smooth, soft and real. His hand ran over them to find a fully naked girl who mumbled at his touch. Not one of his dolls then.
The knocking continued, coming from the ceiling. It was too loud for his sensitive head.
He rose with a groan, moved the stranger’s legs, and tried to send a command to the room to raise the lights. It didn’t respond. His symb couldn’t make a connection and he grunted in annoyance at the glitch.
At the next impatient knocking he made towards the sound on all fours, feeling his way forward with his hands until he found the first step and clambered upwards.
‘I’m coming,’ he called out, and was soon fumbling with the bolt lock. The trapdoor lifted up suddenly and Lewis was looking down on him with a bright torch in his hand. Takashi lifted his arm to block the beam of light from his eyes.
‘What do you want? What time is it? Why isn’t the room working?’
‘The Weave is out. The whole thing.’
‘What? Don’t be … oh.’ Takashi blinked and felt his symbiot fruitlessly probing for connections. All he had access to was the data on his back. ‘How long has it been down for?’
‘Twenty minutes. I thought it would pass, but there’s been no word.’
Takashi laboured up the last of the steps. ‘Help the girl, will you? I don’t want her to bump her head.’
‘Qinny, Jay, help Cindy,’ Lewis ordered. He pointed his torch at the floor and Takashi edged past him to the front room. The clientele turned to look at him, eyes wide, worried and uncertain.
Takashi nodded to them and kept moving until he was at the exit. Outside, the dawn light stabbed at him. He could feel his pupils shrink abruptly. Were they hoping I would have an explanation? I just woke up. He stood there blinking, looking around the streets.
It was early, the air cool, not many people up and about. The squib channels were sparse and traffic intermittent. Pedestrians turned to look at him with questions in their eyes and eyebrows. He smiled reassuringly. Why is everyone looking at me like I should know what is happening? Do they think because I am a Shima I must know? Like them, he couldn’t connect and he felt as if he had lost an arm, or a part of his brain. He felt stunned and unsure.
Someone pushed past him from behind. It was Cindy the counter girl, clothed in a brightly dyed kimono and pants. She held out a robe to him. ‘You should put this on,’ she said.
Takashi looked down at himself … Ah, so that’s why everyone is looking at me … Not because of who he was. He grinned sheepishly, pulled the robe over his shoulders and held it shut at the waist.
Cindy stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the nose. ‘Come back inside. Lewis wants a powwow.’
He let her lead him back in. Was it her I woke up beneath?
Lewis was still in the back room with Qinny and Jay, two of the regulars Takashi had been seeing around since he took up residence at Cybermesh.
‘Do you know anything, Shima san?’ Lewis asked Takashi. Stress made his voice more high-pitched than normal.
‘No, I can’t get any connections either.’
‘What is happening? Is it the psis?’ Lewis asked.
‘I told you. I don’t know any more than you do.’
‘What do we do if the Weave doesn’t come back?’
Takashi wavered. The idea seemed an impossibility but … ‘It’ll come back,’ he said uncertainly.
‘How could this happen? You must know something.’
‘It has only been half an hour. There is no need to worry.’
‘Takashi san. I think you are saying things you don’t believe.’
‘Maybe.’ Takashi tried to brush it off. But how could he? Another human being was asking him for help. For an answer that might help them. He sighed before answering. ‘It could be Pierre Jnr. Or the psi rebellion. There’s too much I don’t know.’
‘You think this could be an attack?’
‘It could be. Look, do you know anyone with a squib I can borrow? I have to find out what is happening with my family. They should know more.’
‘Of course. They will be able to tell us. Will you come back?’
Takashi bit his lip. ‘Yes. But I don’t know how long it will take and they might need me there.’
‘Then take Cindy as a messenger. You can send her back to tell us what is happening.’
‘Cindy?’
‘She has chosen you. Don’t fight it.’ Lewis winked. He went back towards the front room and Takashi followed, standing back while Lewis homed in on one of his clients and began gesticulating. Takashi couldn’t hear what was being said, though he thought he heard his name mentioned. Emphasis on the Shima.
The young patron nodded and handed his codes over. Lewis came back to share them with Cindy and Takashi.
‘Thank him for me,’ Takashi said.
‘Your patronage is thanks enough,’ Lewis answered. ‘Now take care of Takashi san, Cindy. I don’t want anything to happen to my best customer.’
With much of the traffic grounded, it was a quick squib to Shima Palace. The tall geometric mess of buildings in the east gave way to forested suburbs that followed the river to a delta of canals where the raised lily leaves of lush farms and housing floated together, and the modern phallus-like apartment blocks huddled like toadstools.
Life didn’t look any different from usual at this height, but Takashi still couldn’t raise a connection, even with his symb at its most sensitive.
Cindy yawned and stretched in her seat. Takashi should have been tired too, but his brain was racing. It was like the Weave disa
ppearing had triggered something in him, got him hooked on the question: Who could have done this?
One could not simply shut down the Weave. The idea itself was based on a misconception — the Weave was a multilayered series of interconnected networks of all kinds. Even if the common code layer, the command lines, had been removed, people should still be able to access local area networks, but even these were unavailable.
This was not something that could happen by chance, nor by an attack — not even multiple attacks. The power grid and water were still functioning. If there had been any serious attacks, this might not be the case. So the only thing that has been taken away is the ability to communicate with the Weave …
There were too many possibilities for him to process and not much information. He could only conceive of two reasons for shutting down the Weave. One: as an element of a hostile takeover; or, two: to take control of the data. History could be rewritten that way. Rewrite history and you control the present … so who would want to control history?
To his mind there were only three suspects who had the power to bring the Weave down, and possibly the motivation to do so: Services, the psis or Kronos.
Takashi and Cindy flew in silence. She looked back and forth from the flight path to him while he stared out the windscreen at the passing supra-urban landscape.
Something to the north caught his eye, a faint column of smoke rising into the blue sky.
‘Let’s go see what that is,’ he said.
‘Don’t you think we should just get to the palace and then go back? I don’t like the look of that.’
‘We will. But this won’t take long and I want to see what is happening.’
‘It might not be safe,’ she said.
He leant forward and redrew the flight plan. The computer safeties flattened it out and the squib banked gracefully. He glanced at Cindy, who looked filled with concern and worry. ‘Maybe not. But we’ll find answers there. I’m pretty sure of that.’
The smoke was just under ten kilometres away and it only took a minute to get close enough to see that it was pouring out of a broken and smouldering tower block.
There was still one building aflame. Fire squibs, attached to the ground with long hoses, belched water onto the hot areas, navigating to find angles into the building. The flames dwindled and white steam joined the grey plumage of the smoke.
They weren’t the only ones to come and watch. A handful of other pilots hovered around the edge. Services was too busy to move them on, but they all feared getting too close.
Below them, lines of servitors were organising bodies, sorting the living from the dead. They systematically removed the rubble, piling it to one side, while they excavated.
‘There must be hundreds of them down there. Look.’ Takashi pointed the cameras to take a close-up view of the triage lines. ‘Some of them are masked to keep them unconscious, so it must have been a psi attack.’
‘Takashi, let’s go.’ Cindy dug her nails into his arm.
Takashi analysed the scene a moment longer. His eyes found broken gas pellets and he made a rough estimate of how many Citizens would have been in the area.
‘Okay. Let’s go. I’ve seen enough,’ he said. Cindy quickly spun the controls to revert back to their original course. ‘We need to hurry. I’ll override the limiter.’
‘Was it Pierre Jnr?’ she asked.
‘This? No. This was weapons fire — which means it was most likely something to do with my brother.’
An hour later their squib landed on the rooftop of Shima Palace. Cindy had fallen asleep and snored softly while Takashi’s mind unravelled. She didn’t wake as they auto-parked without a bump.
As Takashi opened the door, armed guards emerged from hidden towers and pointed their weapons at the squib. Looking around, he saw more guards on the edge of the roof, watching the ground below.
‘It’s okay. It’s me, Takashi Shima,’ he called out. He smiled and began to clamber out the door.
‘Stay where you are,’ one of the guards answered.
‘Shizo san, you know me.’
‘I have to follow orders, Shima san. Please stay in the cockpit.’
‘Woah, easy. At least put the guns down.’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t do that, Shima san. I have my orders,’ Shizo said. Takashi smiled his warmest goofy smile, but the guard kept his serious face on.
‘How long do you expect me to wait here? I have come to see the Alpha.’
‘We have alerted the family that you are here.’
Takashi slumped back and waited. Cindy was still asleep so he concentrated on his symb and was disappointed that his family hadn’t managed to create a basic communications system yet.
He saw his father approaching from the access stairs and leant back out the window. ‘Father, it’s me. Takashi.’
‘Takashi? How do I know it is you?’
‘How do you ever know it’s me?’ he asked.
‘I would like to take a swab,’ Hachiro called to him. ‘Please respect our precautions.’
‘Of course, Father. Perform all the checks you need to. I just came back to see if you were alright.’
Hachiro didn’t respond. He was playing the role of regent right now. Takashi got that. Shimas can be a bit … punctilious, at times. Shizo came to the squib door with a sensor pad held up. Takashi licked his finger and wiped it on the plate. The guard stepped back and took the machine to the Regent. He was happy to see his father looking relieved at the result.
‘Who is your companion?’ Hachiro asked.
‘This is Cindy. She works at the café I’ve been staying at.’
‘She will have to stay here.’
‘I’ll vouch for her,’ Takashi said.
The Regent shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Takashi. We are not allowing any strangers access at this time.’
‘Okay, just give me a minute.’ Takashi shook her awake and she opened red-rimmed eyes.
‘What is it? What’s happening? Are we there y— oh.’ She saw the guards ringed around the squib, rifle barrels aimed. ‘Takashi?’
‘It’s alright. We are at Shima Palace and I’m going inside. Don’t worry about the guards. It’s just a precaution.’
‘Why are they pointing guns at us?’
‘I mean it, don’t worry. It’s just the Shima way. But you have to stay here.’
‘By myself?’
‘You’ll be fine. Look how much protection you have.’ He smiled. ‘If you don’t hear from me in half an hour, go back to Cybermesh. Tell them what has happened.’
‘What will I tell them?’ she asked.
‘That I went inside and didn’t come back out.’ He squeezed her hand and clambered out of the squib, making sure to keep his arms raised for Shizo’s benefit. Takashi stared patiently at his father while he was patted down for weaponry, and hand scanners were hovered over his body in case he had anything hidden inside or under his symbiot.
At last he was allowed to step forward to meet his father properly, joining their hands and bowing to the other simultaneously.
‘Are you satisfied?’ Takashi asked him as they walked across the roof.
‘We have to be careful.’
‘So you don’t know what is happening either?’
‘No. May we assume then that it is the same at the coast? The Weave is gone there also?’ Hachiro asked.
‘Yes. And I found no connections on the flight over. What is all this for?’ Takashi waved his arms towards the guards lining the walls.
‘Precautions, Taka. We must protect the House. Have you heard from Ryu?’
‘He doesn’t speak to me. Do you think he caused this?’ he asked.
‘No. It happened after he lost his position.’
‘Someone else is Prime?’
‘Abercrombie Pinter,’ Hachiro answered. ‘Where have you been?’
‘The Scorpion?’ By this time they had reached the staircase that led down to the elevators. ‘Yeah, that fits. This i
s the kind of thing he would do.’
‘What do you know of the Scorpion?’ his father asked.
‘I read. I know his history,’ Takashi said. ‘You’ve met him before. Don’t you think he would do this?’
‘I have met him many times.’
‘And?’
‘He is not a man I understand.’ Hachiro sighed.
‘How is Mother?’
‘Distressed, but don’t say I said so.’
‘I won’t. Is Sato here?’
‘She’s here. But please do not cause any more trouble between the two of you, Taka.’
‘I guess the marriage will be delayed then.’
The lift let them out near the western balcony of the sixth floor. Takashi went to look at the screen-windows at the sound of a strange hum and saw that the palace was surrounded by a tightly packed mob.
‘What are you telling them?’ he asked.
‘We have been replaying the Services emergency instructions. People are going home, but more are arriving.’
What announcement? he thought to himself. How can they broadcast anything? ‘Why haven’t you set up a network and given them something to connect to?’
‘Perhaps we will. But if the Weave was brought down for a reason, perhaps we shouldn’t be too quick to contradict the action … Come, the Alpha is waiting.’
When he entered the tea room, the first thing Takashi noticed were the two new faces, his cousins Nari and You-han. The family hadn’t wasted any time replacing him and Ryu.
He felt a welling of immense grief for a moment and covered himself by bowing to his cousins, to Sato, and then most deeply to his mother, before kneeling at the foot of the table at the guest position. Head bowed and supplicant.
What am I now? No longer the lowest son, but an exiled one.
‘Takashi. It is good of you to come,’ his mother said.
‘I had to see that the family was alright.’
‘We are,’ she answered.
‘That’s good. I was worried.’ There was much Takashi wanted to say, but he just stared at You-han, kneeling where he once sat. ‘Do you know what has happened to the Weave?’
‘We have only the information everyone else has. Do you have more?’
He shook his head. No, Mother. ‘But on our way here we saw a building on fire.’
Convergence Page 3