The Signal

by John Sneeden

  Amanda’s eyes also widened as she realized who it was. “Oh my, is that—”

  “It is,” answered Carmen.

  “She looks… well, almost like one of us.”

  “You’re looking at the future, the highest-grade humanoid ever produced. If you see her up close it’s not quite so compelling, but without a doubt she’s a marvel.”

  After speaking to the humanoid for a minute or two, Mironov disengaged and walked over to Marrese, who had just come out of the cubicle. The two of them began to speak, with Mironov gesturing toward the robot. Carmen noted that Marrese’s eyes never left Keiko the entire time, and he had a sinister look on his face. It wasn’t hard to tell he was displeased at her arrival.

  When the two men finished talking, Mironov spoke in Russian to the guards standing on either side of Keiko. They immediately lifted their guns and pointed them at her. She nodded, and began to walk toward Carmen and Amanda. The robot was a prisoner.

  Carmen noticed Amanda watch with wonder as Keiko approached. She remembered her own similar reaction the first time she had seen the robot. It was difficult to imagine that you were seeing a machine and not an actual person.

  After Keiko arrived with the three guards, she took her place against the wall right next to Amanda. The American couldn’t help herself, turning her head and studying the robot from head to toe. When the guards stepped away, Keiko said, “Hello, Amanda.”

  Amanda’s eyes widened. “How… how did you know my name?”

  “I know almost everything about you, including, of course, your appearance.”

  There was a slight whine of gears each time Keiko moved. “And how did you learn so much about me?”

  “Your father couldn’t stop talking about you. And when people tell me things, I never forget. There is very little about you that I don’t know.”

  “I’m just surprised that he could describe me so well that you’d—”

  “No, I do not recognize you because of any descriptions he gave. Shortly after I began operation, your father showed me a picture of you, which was followed by twenty-seven more. Some were prints and others electronic images. He told me that you were his greatest joy in life.”

  Amanda’s eyes watered as she stared at Keiko.

  Carmen used the moment of silence to break in. “Keiko, why are you here?”

  “Because you needed me.”

  “I appreciate that,” Carmen said. “But to be honest, it doesn’t look like you’re in any position to help us. What happened?”

  “I was betrayed by Vincenzio Marrese. Somehow he managed to figure out that I opposed everything they are trying to do. I then decided there was no risk in coming here. What did I have to lose?”

  “Where did they find you?”

  “I came to them.” Keiko glanced toward the guards to make sure they weren’t looking. “I was just with your friends, and I am now here trying to provide them with information.”

  Carmen was relieved to hear that the group was now inside. “And do you have a plan?” she asked.

  “Yes, but for now it is better if I keep it to myself,” Keiko said.

  Immediately the trembling grew worse, shaking the building as though it was going to lift out of its foundation. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but Carmen noticed a change in expressions around the room. Only Marrese seemed calm, his mouth curling into a sinister smile.

  “Call me a cynic,” Carmen said over the noise. “But I’m not sure how you’re going to get us out of this while under armed guard.”

  Keiko turned to face Carmen and said, “Trust me.” She then turned her head toward the cubicle where Koehler sat. “I just hope it will be in time.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  “SKINNER, COULD YOU repeat that?” Zane whispered into the microphone attached to his cuff. The operatives were still holed up in two rooms just outside of the lobby of the CERN control center.

  “I just received a text from the bot,” came the whispered reply through Zane’s earbud. “She said she is going to make her move in the next couple of minutes and will text us again when she does. And get this—she also said that shortly after we receive the text we will hear a blast. That will be our signal to enter.”

  Zane didn’t like what he was hearing. He didn’t like the fact that the humanoid was taking matters into her own hands, particularly when it seemed to be putting other people’s lives in danger. “Did she say what was going to be the cause the blast?”

  “Negative.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Zane said. “There are innocent people in there… people we’re trying to extract. Text her back and tell her we have concerns about collateral damage.”

  There was a long pause as Skinner typed out his text and then waited for Keiko’s reply. About a minute later Skinner’s voice crackled through the earpiece once again. “She said the blast will be contained with no chance of collateral damage. She’s going to take out the bulk of Mironov’s men with the blast, and that Carmen and the others will be to our right when we enter.”

  “There are ‘others’?”

  “I’m assuming VanGelder, but I don't really know. She said that her decision was final, and we need to prepare to enter.”

  “I still don’t like it.” Zane let out a long sigh. “But we have no choice. Ready your weapons and be prepared to enter. There will be smoke and chaos, so be sure you’ve identified your target. Also, remember that Carmen and VanGelder should be on our right as we enter.”

  “Roger that,” Skinner said.

  Zane couldn’t quite figure out how Keiko was going to trigger a blast, but he assumed she must possess some sort of internal weaponry. In the end, if she said she could manufacture a blast, Zane had no doubt she could.

  “Sir, Reid here.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Do you feel that?”

  Zane had been lost in his thoughts and hadn’t noticed that the floor was now shaking underneath his feet. It was so intense that it was like a convulsion that rose up out of the bowels of the earth. “I do now. I’m assuming this has something to do with the collider. It feels like she’s ready to blow.”

  “Should we instruct the bot to abort?”

  “Negative. The blast, combined with this tremor, may give us an advantage. The more chaos, the better. They’re going to be focused on those two things, and we’re going to be focused on taking them out.”

  “Copy that.”

  Three minutes later Skinner’s voice erupted in their earpieces. “I just received the text. The bot is about to launch.”

  Zane reached out and grabbed the doorknob with his left, ready to move at the first sound.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  “INCREASE THE ENERGY to sixteen TeV,” Marrese hissed. He and Mironov were both standing behind Koehler, staring at the screen as the moment of truth approached.

  The German grimly complied. After tapping out several commands and overriding the warning to check the system, he stopped and waited for the results. Various screens scrolled across the monitor automatically before a notice came up indicating that the electromagnets had been engaged once again. Precisely two minutes later, the earth and the building began to shake even more violently than before. Koehler’s face was ash white, and he looked nervously at Mironov.

  Seemingly oblivious to the trembling, Marrese’s mouth turned into a sinister smile. This was the moment he had been waiting for; the new era of mankind was upon them. His body tingled as he realized that the visitors would be arriving at any moment. Based on a vision he’d received, he knew that a partition was forming over their heads. In the vision, he had also been given the number eighteen, a number he knew indicated the amount of energy needed in the system. Once there, he would instruct the German to trigger the collision of subatomic particles.

  Reminded that the moment had almost arrived, Marrese turned to Mironov. “Have your men been instructed that they are not to shoot, regardless of what happens?”
>
  “Yes,” replied the Russian. “Many times. They would kill themselves before they would disobey me.”

  “Good… because we’re almost there.”

  As if on cue, the computer binged, and a box popped up indicating that the changes were complete and the proton beams were being catapulted around the twenty-seven-kilometer tubes at a sizzling sixteen TeV of energy. Marrese smiled at Mironov and then placed his hands on Koehler’s shoulders. Lowering his head, he whispered into the German’s ears, “Take us to eighteen and then trigger the collision.”

  Koehler hesitated, but then said, “Yes, sir.” He tapped out the commands, and once again overrode the request for the system to be tested prior to increasing the energy. Thirty seconds later, the final request appeared on the screen, asking Koehler to verify that he was aware of the potential safety hazard of increasing the system without further testing.

  The German glanced back at Marrese, as if to give the priest one last chance to change his mind, but seeing only a smile, he hit the Enter key and braced for what was to come.

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  “YOUR FATHER WAS a great man,” Keiko said.

  Amanda looked into Keiko’s aqua-blue eyes, still finding it difficult to process the fact that she was talking to a machine. “Did you work closely together?”

  “As close as any two could work at Renaissance. He built every piece of me, from the gears in my limbs, to my power source, to my personality. All of it.”

  “How can one program a personality?”

  Keiko paused for a moment, and Amanda heard a whining noise inside the humanoid’s head, almost like the hard drive of a computer. “For years your father had conducted research in artificial intelligence, or AI… more specifically the introduction of idiosyncratic human behavior in advanced humanoids such as myself. He programmed me with certain traits that he said represented desirable qualities in a human being, including loyalty, grace, and putting the needs of others before your own. I could tell you more about the specific programming initiatives, but we do not have the time, nor do I believe that would interest you.”

  “Right,” said Amanda, her eyes now moist. “Maybe some other time.”

  It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Amanda thought she saw the sides of Keiko’s mouth turn up ever so slightly.

  “For now, I need to focus on the job at hand.”

  The building began to shake harder. Keiko’s body adapted to the movement, allowing her to remain standing. Once she had stabilized, she looked into the cubicle once again. In a moment when the guards were looking elsewhere, Keiko reached out with both hands and pulled Carmen and Amanda closer, so close that their bodies were touching. She spoke in a low voice. “It is time to act. I need to let you know what I am about to do.” She glanced up again and noted that the guards were still distracted. “I have been equipped with a self-destruct mechanism,” she explained, pointing at her torso. “I will set my timer for thirty seconds, and then I am going to pull Jorg Koehler away from the controls. I will drag him over to the window where I will detonate soon thereafter. The explosion will be minimal, but—”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Carmen said. “What do you mean by ‘minimal’?”

  “You do not have to worry because the explosion will be limited to approximately ten meters. There is always the chance that things will not go as planned, so as soon as I move for Jorg, I need both of you to take cover over there.” She gestured toward a row of filing cabinets on their right that Carmen hadn’t noticed before.

  “And what about my team?”

  “Your friends are just outside. I have already used my communications system to send them a message that they should come in once they hear the explosion. The guards will try to save Jorg, and when the explosion takes place, most or all of them will die. And even if they do not, they will at least be turned away when the others come in.”

  Carmen opened her mouth to protest but then stopped. After thinking about it for a moment, the Italian slowly nodded her head.

  Keiko bowed slightly and then lifted her sweater, exposing a panel on the side of her torso. As she reached out to enter the code, two cuffed hands shot out and grabbed hers before she could make the entry.

  “No!” Amanda said in a panicked voice. “I can’t let you do this.”

  Keiko looked down at the American girl. The humanoid shifted her hand so that she could grab Amanda’s and then gave it a quick squeeze. “I have to. Your father meant everything to me. And now it is time to save the person he loved so much.”

  “No,” Amanda said, her voice rising. “No.”

  “You have the heart of your father,” Keiko said, and then exercising her power, she pulled free from Amanda’s hands and made the appropriate entries on her panel. There was a long beep, and then the number 30 appeared on the LED screen. A second later the number 29 appeared. The countdown had begun.

  As Keiko pulled her sweater down and prepared to move, Amanda looked to her left and saw that one of the guards had noticed the humanoid. He likely didn’t know what she had done, but he realized something was amiss.

  Lifting his rifle, he walked toward them. He had only made it two steps when the building itself began to shake, this time so hard that it seemed unlikely it would remain standing much longer. The guard stumbled but then regained his balance as Keiko began walking toward her destination. He shouted at her to stop, but there was so much noise in the room that no one else heard him.

  As Keiko crossed the room, no one seemed to notice, including Koehler. Some were focused on the screen, and others were focused on maintaining their balance.

  Amanda heard a gunshot and saw heads turn at the sound. Marrese was staring at Keiko, his expression a mixture of both loathing and alarm. He screamed something to the armed men around him, and shots came from all directions, each of them ricocheting off of Keiko’s five-millimeter titanium covering like hail bouncing off the hood of a car. Two of the guards dropped their rifles and jumped onto Keiko, trying to wrench her head from her body. The robot threw them off as though swatting away flies, flinging their bodies across the room.

  Amanda looked at Koehler, who seemed aware of what the bot was trying to do. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a SIG Sauer P226 pistol and lifted it with both hands. Steadying the gun, he seemed to be aiming at her head. But just as he was about to squeeze the trigger, Keiko lowered her head and bull-rushed him. The move seemed to startle the German, who squeezed off two wild shots and then dove to his right. But it was too late. Keiko wrapped her powerful arms around his torso and lifted him from the ground as if he were made of Styrofoam. She locked him against her chest, turned, and marched toward the windows.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  JUST AWAY FROM the action, sitting in a seat at the back of the command cubicle, was a surprisingly calm Alexander Mironov. As soon as the Russian had seen Keiko marching toward Koehler, he had slipped away and pulled out his cell phone. He was tapping through a number of screens, searching for the one that would bring a quick end to this uprising. His movements were quick, but they were also surprisingly composed.

  In a few seconds, he had pulled up the Renaissance security system and calmly swiped through the options using the touch screen. He eventually found what he was looking for: the command and control program for the humanoid that had his head of security in a bear hug. A few more taps of the screen, and she would be permanently disabled—even her self-destruct function, which Mironov assumed she had already activated. He was mad at himself for not doing this before.

  Seconds later he came to the screen he had been looking for. He smiled as he realized he was only seconds away from eliminating the last thing that stood in their way.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  CARMEN CURSED HERSELF for losing focus. Rather than following the instructions to hide from the coming blast, she had instead been thinking about grabbing one of the rifles that the guards had discarded when they jumped Keiko. Most of the Renaissance security tea
m was facing the window, and it would have been easy for someone to simply mow them all down. But the weapons were lying too far away to grab in time, and she also doubted she could fire them with her hands still cuffed. In other words, she had wasted precious seconds.

  But there was still time left, so she grabbed Amanda by the arm and pulled her toward the row of filing cabinets about twenty feet away.

  When they had traversed about three-quarters of the distance, she realized that she probably only had a second or two left. Using her cuffed hands as best she could, she pushed Amanda toward the space behind the cabinets.

  Then, after taking one more step, Carmen dove right as the blast was triggered.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  WOULD YOU LIKE TO DISABLE ALL FUNCTIONS?

  As Mironov lifted his finger and prepared to tap the “Y” button, he decided to look up one last time. He wanted to see the robot’s body shut down with his own eyes, and see the victory that would be so sweet. The monster that Higgs had created had caused him much trouble, and he would delight in seeing her demise.

  His eyes on Keiko, the Russian lifted his finger and brought it down toward the screen. But before he could make contact, an explosion ripped through the room.

  Computer screens, keyboards, clipboards, and a host of other items flew toward him like shrapnel. A blunt object hit his midsection with a thud, knocking him underneath one of the counters.

  He tried to rise, but the injury to his abdomen was too severe.

  There were flashes of light, and then his eyelids closed.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

  PHILIPPE HAD BEEN deep in prayer when the sound of gunfire reached his ears. It wasn’t a sound he wanted to hear. Lifting his head, he looked toward the windows of the building across the street. He saw flashes of red inside, the discharge from the muzzles of guns, and then also the movements of figures inside the room.