“They have unique personalities, you know,” she said. “I saw them interacting. They have thoughts, feelings, opinions. You can’t just treat them like outdated software.”
“What you saw were constructed anomalies that exhibit traits you would interpret as consciousness,” he said. “One of which purposely destroyed a Citadel.”
She let go of him and stood on her own, crossing her arms. A light illuminated to announce the arrival of the elevator, followed by a faint chime shortly after. The doors opened and they entered quietly. Ethan pushed the button for the third floor.
“You have to understand,” he said, breaking the silence. “We have to rebuild and the first step was to remove the unstable daemon onsite.”
“I don’t know what to think. I saw her die.”
“It was erased. Something that has never been alive can’t die.”
Alexia didn’t seem interested in further pursuing a debate and she simply stood there in silence. It was critical that she accepted the idea of Controllers being not much else but an unexpected nuisance in the Program but perhaps he was pushing too much so he decided to change the subject.
“Let’s talk about the mission.”
“What mission?” Alexia asked. The elevator stopped and its doors opened then the pair made their way to her apartment.
“The recon party is traveling to ground zero aboard specialized vehicles called pressurized personnel carriers. The ride should take about ten hours. I need you to join this group,” he said. They then arrived at the door which Alexia opened and they stepped in. Ethan grabbed a chair and sat down at the kitchen table. Alexia followed next to him. “I’m not sure what the extent of the damage to network equipment is at this point,” he continued. “But after they’re done with whatever repairs are needed, you’ll need to go to the Controller lab there and initiate a fast-convergence.”
That last sentence seemed to make Alexia uneasy.
“A fast-convergence? Why?” she asked.
“We don’t have a choice. You know I wouldn’t ask otherwise.”
“I see,” Alexia said as if wanting to protest but as usual, her need to avoid disappointing him appeared to stop her. She then stood up to grab a glass and fill it with water from the tap.
“It’s the last time I will ask you to.”
She stood by the kitchen window, drinking from the glass.
“What will happen to Aurora after that?” Alexia asked still looking out the window.
“Our team will work remotely to capture a daemon. By the time you are there, it should be a simple matter of initiating a fast-convergence. A daemon instance of Aurora will be created then it should go online and begin controlling the citadel just like the one that is doing it here right now.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
“After you come back? Deletion.”
“No,” she said as she turned around to face him.
“You will be free to live a normal life. Isn’t that what you want?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that erasing her is wrong and I don’t want you to do it,” Alexia said, her voice shaking.
Ethan sat there bewildered at the sight of his stepdaughter standing up to him for the first time. She was not a child anymore and apparently, she had made up her mind about coexisting with Aurora. He couldn’t be more proud of her at that point. The success of the Program dictated he didn’t show it though and so he continued to follow the script.
“Then what do you suggest we do?”
She seemed to have been waiting for that question so she put the glass down and went back to sit next to him.
“There’s got to be a way to unify our minds,” she said.
“Reunification?”
“I’m asking you to help me not as my supervisor but as my father,” she said, grabbing his hand. “Dad, please help us.”
“Even if it was possible, are you aware that both of you would not be yourselves anymore but become a completely different gestalt personality?”
“Maybe that’s what’s supposed to happen. I’ve always felt like Aurora and I are extreme opposites.”
“I can promise I’ll look into it but nothing else,” Ethan said. “It’s not as simple as you make it sound.”
Alexia smiled and gave him a quick hug.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Can I have some water too?” he asked.
“Sure,” Alexia replied as she stood up to grab another glass from the cabinet. She filled both and returned to the table. Ethan took a long sip.
“There’s something else,” Alexia said, looking at him with concern.
“What is it?”
“I saw Sophia describe this entity she called Gea.”
Ethan put the glass down and looked at her with confusion.
“That sounds vaguely familiar,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yes. I think I read about it somewhere, it’s one of the names that Neolithic people used to refer to this Earth-Mother deity archetype.”
“Oh,” Alexia said, disappointed.
“What did Sophia have to say about this?”
“She said this Gea entity told her it was us that caused the planet to lose its atmosphere-”
“Listen,” he interrupted. “It’s time you learned something I’ve kept from you all these years.”
Alexia stopped and nodded at him to continue.
“It took us years of trial and error to figure out the Controller Program,” he said. “Along the way, some of our test subjects developed severe mental illnesses. One the reasons I’m so concerned with closing this chapter of the Program is that I feared even successful candidates like you would later on suffer the same fate.”
“Wait, you think Sophia went insane?”
“I don’t know but it’s certainly a better explanation than her coming in contact with some goddess.”
“But she knew so much. It’s so weird.”
“Oh yeah? What else did it tell Aurora?”
“She told her that citadel technology was developed in preparation for the synchronization incident. Told her it was us messing with forces of nature we didn’t understand that killed the planet.”
“Come on, Alexia,” Ethan said somewhat condescendingly. “What would anyone gain from committing such an atrocity? Think about it.”
“I know it doesn’t make any sense but then there’s this whole thing about something called zero-point energy production.”
“What?” he asked, annoyed.
“Something Sophia mentioned. The technology that makes the citadel reactors work should be impossible.”
“So now it’s the reactor?” he said exasperated. “Look, for now let’s just assume the simplest answer is the correct one. Sophia lost her mind and in her madness, she destroyed a Citadel and took over a million lives with her, including her own.”
Alexia tensed and he could see fear in her eyes. Ethan figured he had overdone it and reminded himself of how fragile her psyche was. Which complicated matters when he had to be firm and get a point across.
“I’m sorry,” he continued with a softer tone. “I’m under a lot of pressure to sort out this mess. And I’m worried about you being out there outside of the protection of the barrier.”
“It’s alright, I understand,” she said, looking down.
The two of them sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes.
“Do you mind?” Alexia said, breaking the silence. “My skin gets all itchy if I don’t shower right after an isolation chamber session.”
“No, by all means go ahead,” he replied standing up. “Meet us outside. I’ll hold the team for about an hour to give you time to pack your stuff too.”
“Thanks,” she replied with a smile then stood up and walked to the bedroom.
“Thanks for the water,” Ethan said. He then showed himself out.
The Troika would have proof to blame him for the fall of Francisco Citadel if word got to them abo
ut Alexia’s findings. It was his responsibility to monitor the mental stability of hosts and Controllers after all. Sophia had not been insane though and neither her host, Maya. The Troika wouldn’t understand and blame him regardless. Who knew what was going to happen now but whatever happened to him wouldn’t matter as it was all worth it for the greater good.
There was time to relax before he had to see his stepdaughter off so he made his way back to his office. Once there, he poured a glass of whisky. He was not excited about the idea of Alexia traveling out there in the deadly wastes outside of the citadel but it had been ordered by the Troika and he didn’t have much a choice in the matter. In their minds, she would deliver a daemon instance of Aurora and the Citadel would be rebuilt. Although it would take months just to remove the bodies of the deceased and get the aeroponic cycle back in place. For the time being, he was playing along with their plan, as futile as it was. His body was not used to consuming hard alcohol and so it only took a couple sips to get tipsy. He reclined the leather chair all the way back and put his feet on the desk. With his free hand, he reached for the phone on his desk and pushed a button.
“Hello, Ethan,” Mikhail greeted him through the phone’s conference speaker. “How are you?”
“Not very well, Mikhail.”
“Tell me, what’s going on?”
“Besides the fact my daughter is about spend the next 10 hours outside of a citadel, not much.”
“That’s it?” Mikhail asked. “She’s going to be alright. You worry too much.”
“Damn. That’s exactly what Alexia said.”
Ethan chuckled then Mikhail did too.
“They know about Gea,” Ethan added after a brief pause. On the other side of the call, Mikhail remained silent as if considering the implications.
“That’s unfortunate,” Mikhail then said. “It’s too soon.”
“I know, I know. Sophia just couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”
“How much do they know though?”
“The same lies Sophia thought she knew.”
“So now what?”
“No idea. The Troika pushing this pointless recon expedition takes her away from my control. Knowing Sophia, she most likely told Aurora to look for the root network interface and join her true self, or some other nonsense.”
“Well, if you think about it, them finding out what the Mother really is will prepare her for what’s coming.”
“And then my daughter is going to find out her whole life is a lie I fabricated,” Ethan said, then took a sip of whiskey. “I’m tired, Mikhail.”
“So am I, but you must hang in there, old friend. We’re almost done.”
“Yes. And when we’re done I hope it was all worth it.”
“For the greater good, it will be.”
“For the greater good.” Ethan said, raising his glass in the air.
Alexia
“SO YOU COULDN’T find anything else?” Alexia asked as she put another uniform in the suitcase.
“I read all the books I could find on the subject. The idea of unifying multiple personalities was not even mentioned,” Aurora replied. She was standing by the bedside, observing her sister pack for the expedition to ground zero. “Perhaps it’s such an absurd notion that no one ever bothered considering it.”
“There’s got to be some documentation on treatment used at some point.”
“It doesn’t look like it’s ever been an exact science. Pre-Sync academics couldn’t even agree on whether multiple personality disorder cases were actually real.”
“Well, then those who were convinced they were real surely came up-“
“Psychotherapy. Drugs. Sometimes hypnotherapy,” Aurora interrupted. “Those were the standard treatments.”
Sighing with annoyance, Alexia stopped packing and looked at her sister in silence. Aurora seemed to realize the meaning of the expression and appeared to do her best to render a semblance of regret in her actor’s face.
“I apologize,” Aurora then said. “It takes you a long time to translate abstract thoughts to speech and I have to wait for you to form every single word.”
“I know, I’m slow,” Alexia said, annoyed then went back to the closet to get some more clothes. “But it’s impolite to interrupt.”
As she put one more uniform in the suitcase, Alexia wondered just how many sets she was going to need. Not like it was going to be a pleasure trip but it was not clear how long the recon party would take to come back home. It would not be a good thing to run out of fresh clothes.
“Three sets should be enough,” Aurora pointed out.
Alexia looked up from the suitcase to see her sister was sitting on the bed. It was strange how the bed covers were not disturbed. Aurora was after all, not actually there. There was something unsettling about the visual paradox.
“Reading my thoughts without my permission is not any better,” she said.
“I can’t help it. It just happens,” Aurora indicated defensively.
“Well then at least pretend or something,” Alexia said then proceeded to close the suitcase. “And I agree, three should be enough.” She had everything she needed so she took the suitcase off the bed and put it on the floor. Aurora was still sitting there in silence, maybe wondering the appropriate ways she was supposed to interact in. Regretting lecturing her, Alexia sat down on the bed too.
“Alright so it sounds like those are out of the question,” she said. “Maybe our case does not fall in the classical definition of multiple personality disorder though. Could be something entirely different and we’re looking at it the wrong way.”
“Ethan would know. He probably keeps paper notes or a journal.”
“If he knew, he would have said something when I asked.”
“If you weren’t so naïve, you would see he is obviously withholding information from you.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. We need to learn what he knows. You need to stand up to him.”
Alexia could not entertain the idea Ethan was hiding something from her. He had never done anything to hurt her or even show he could not be trusted. But it still didn’t make much sense to keep the sisters from reunifying if he knew how. Especially now that Controllers were probably never going to be needed anymore. Pushing that line of thought out of her mind, Alexia observed Aurora and wondered why she chose to construct her actor to look just like her. She seemed to react but apparently abstained to comment on it until Alexia mentioned it.
“You know, now that I think about it,” Alexia said. “When you taught me how to construct an actor inside the Controller domain, I could have chosen anything. Right?”
“Correct,” Aurora replied.
“If you can too, why do you look like me then?”
“You were eleven years old when I first constructed my actor,” Aurora immediately responded. “We’re opposite minds contained in the same body. It felt like the natural choice at the time.”
“Well, you could change it now. I don’t have a choice but to wear these uniforms, given how hard it is to make clothes but you could look any other way you wanted.”
“I could, yes but there is no point since you’re the only one who can see me.”
“Still, maybe a different outfit or haircut-“
“Could we not discuss this?” Aurora interrupted. “It is irrelevant and a waste of time.”
“Alright,” Alexia said as she stood up, giving up. She could only guess her sister lacked the imagination to come up with a totally different appearance for her actor. At that moment, she chuckled, knowing Aurora had read that in her mind but she was not going to acknowledge it due to the terms of their agreement. “Let’s go,” she continued and grabbed the suitcase, preparing to leave the apartment. For a moment she stood with the door opened and took a good look at the place that had been her home for almost seven years. Ethan had promised she was going to be safe but a lot of things could go wrong out there in the world outside of the Cit
adel. Finally, she left, locking the door behind her.
Moments later, she stepped outside of the Control Administration Building. As she walked down the steps, she passed by the concrete bench that had so many times served as her escape from the repetitive routine of lab work then unconsciously, she stopped next to it. In the back of her mind, she was about to leave the range of coverage where her stemlink could work over its wireless connection. She had to remind herself that a daemon was controlling the Citadel, not the involuntary functions relayed out of her brainstem to the stemlink. Carefully, she took one more step then another, then eventually, she had crossed the street and stepped on a sidewalk for years she had only seen from a short distance. She then looked up, just to make sure the barrier was still up and running above them.
One of the pressurized personnel carriers was parked near the corner of the street. It was a large vehicle of military design with four tires on each side which were taller than her. Its roof was lined with solar panels. The cabin looked big enough to allow its occupants to stand up. After Ethan had mentioned the PPCs, she looked them up in the Internet archives and found they were a type of pre-Sync military recon vehicle designed to penetrate recently irradiated territory in the aftermath of nuclear warfare. As much as he had promised they were going to be safe, she still felt uneasy to the idea of being shielded from cosmic radiation and extreme temperatures by nothing but a few millimeters of aluminum. There were some people standing by it, some wearing the distinctive lightly armored uniform worn by Citpol officers. Ethan was there too. Her sister was nowhere to be found. As she got closer, one of the cops detached from the group and rushed to meet her and take the suitcase.
“I’ll take care of that,” he said with a smile. Alexia let him have the suitcase and he took it to the back of the vehicle for storage.
“There you are,” Ethan said when he noticed she was there. “Here, let me introduce you to some people who will traveling with you.”
Alexia nodded and followed him. Surprisingly, she detected a faint scent of alcohol in his breath.
“This is Captain Hugo Solis, Citpol,” he said motioning to the tall, muscular middle aged man with the thick mustache.
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