Darwin's Paradox

by Nina Munteanu

  Angel removed the helmet and as she glanced to check out her competitor, she came face to face with Manfred and started. He met her gaze with those sudden eyes and she felt that silly feeling again in the pit of her stomach.

  She expected him to snarl belligerently at her, particularly since she’d beat him. Instead his eyes shone and he smiled out of the corner of his mouth as he leaned casually over the handle bar, long tendrils of hair curling over his shoulders.

  “You’re good,” he simply said. Angel felt her face heat with excitement as he appraised her, eyes sweeping her appreciatively from top to bottom. Then he surprised her with his next words, “I’m sorry for how I behaved in the lab. Me and my old man sometimes have disagreements, but we usually work it out.”

  “By leaving him in a huff?”

  He barked a laugh. “You sure don’t pull punches, do you?”

  I get that from my mother, Angel thought and smiled apologetically. Her father was the diplomat in their family.

  “You’re kind of weird,” Manfred went on, dampening Angel’s initial joy at seeing him again. Perhaps she deserved that remark for her own rude one, she thought. Tit for tat. But he continued, “My dad said you came from the heath and that’s why you don’t have any manners.”

  “Carl would never say that,” Angel huffed, feeling that initial blush smolder with annoyance.

  He pulled back his unruly mane with both hands and firmed his lips, briefly looking away from her. “You’re right. He didn’t.” When he returned her gaze, his was intense and direct. “He’s just too kind-hearted and lets everyone walk over him. I never see him anymore. Those ass-hole politicians get the best of him and I get what’s left.” He shrugged, dropping the subject, and she was suddenly sorry she’d been so direct with him. She’d gotten the very best of her own father, Angel thought and now realized how lucky she’d been. “Hope I didn’t make the wrong impression on you,” Manfred went on. “I’m a bear sometimes.” Then he grinned out of the side of his mouth. “But I don’t bite. Not often, that is.”

  “That’s okay,” Angel said with a coolness she was far from feeling but met his intense gaze head on. “I don’t bite often either.”

  Manfred’s half-smile lit into a full grin that sent a thrill of delight through her.

  Gaia sidled up to them. “Hello, Manfred,” she said, looking amused.

  Manfred slid off the cycle and, shaking the hair off his face in a dramatic sweep, returned her a barely civil nod. “Hello, Gaia,” he said, shifting his voice from friendly to cold.

  “Well, enjoy yourselves. I’ll be right back,” Gaia said and abruptly left them alone again. Angel felt a sudden wave of panic and almost lunged after Gaia. She stopped herself and smiled stupidly, she thought at Manfred.

  “She gives me the creeps,” he muttered with a cold glance after the beautiful woman.

  “Why?” Angel asked, tilting her head. “She’s nice.”

  “Shit, you don’t know her very well, do you?” he said, tilting his body into a slouch over the bike.

  Angel frowned at his cynicism and his awful language. What she did know of Gaia she liked. What was there not to like? “Gaia’s kind and generous to me. And she’s trying to help me find my mother.”

  “Sure, she’s nice to you,” he went on with a smirk, “so long as you do what she wants you to do.”

  “That sounds more like my mother,” Angel admitted with a laugh. She leaned back on her bike. No, she reconsidered. That was unfair to her mother. “Actually my mother was always nice. Just bossy sometimes about chores and responsibilities. But Gaia’s so...”

  “Charming? Pleasant? Exciting?” he sneered. “Shit, you’re so damn naïve, letting the smell of glamour overpower you!”

  “Well, you’re overly cynical,” Angel retorted, particularly piqued by his suggestion that she’d let something like glamour sway her judgment. “And you swear a lot. It doesn’t impress me, you know.”

  Manfred raked back the long hair dangling in his eyes. “Okay,” he nodded. “So, I’ll try something else.” He smirked and his eyes sparkled with exhilaration. It sent a thrill coursing through her and she wondered if there was a thread of truth beneath his cavalier remark. He leaned forward as if to share a confidence. “Well, I still think you’re too gullible about Gaia, Angel. She’s a clever witch. Your mother sounds okay, though. I’d take her any day over Gaia.”

  Angel cast her eyes past him to the glittering games and exhaled. “She’s missing. Gaia’s trying to find her for me.”

  “I’m sorry to hear she’s missing. But like I said, I wouldn’t trust Gaia. You’re better off looking for her yourself. That’s what I’d do.”

  Manfred was awfully cynical, Angel thought; and she didn’t like those things he said about her benefactor. Angel changed the subject. “What about your mother?”

  His lips compressed and his eyes grew dark. “She’s dead.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry.” She recalled Manfred’s reference to his mother during his argument with his father. “I didn’t mean to...”

  “It’s okay. She died right after I was born. My dad says she barely made it through the pregnancy. She’d been in remission from Darwin but somehow the pregnancy made her sick again.”

  “My mother has Darwin too,” Angel offered.

  His eyes flared with a new intensity. “My dad said that you can hear Icaria’s machines in your head.”

  He’d caught her off guard with his blunt remark. “Yes,” she replied. “Can’t you?”

  He shook his head. “But I can hear those other sounds.”

  “The chirping?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. But we’re keeping it a secret. Don’t tell Gaia. My dad thinks it’s Darwin’s way of communicating. My mom never heard them or the machines. “

  “Mine did, I mean does.” She hoped her mother was still alive. “We could even talk to one another sometimes through Darwin.”

  “Cool!” Manfred said, genuinely impressed. He grinned and Angel thought it brought out his beautiful eyes. “Must be neat to hear the machines of Icaria in your head like that. Can you understand them?”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s kind of weird having them around all the time, though.” She shrugged.

  “Hey!” His thundercloud eyes flashed and she felt a surge of excitement as he touched her arm. “I know three other kids who were born from Darwin moms. Po and Jenna have a veemeld mother and Tim’s parents are both veemelds. The kids can all hear the chirping sounds even though their Darwin moms can’t. You want to meet them?”

  “Yeah!” she said, before she had a chance to think about it. The idea of other kids like her was exciting. She wanted to ask them if they also had strange dreams. She found herself stealing a glance over her shoulder for Gaia. “But, I should ask Gaia first.”

  “Why?” he said sharply, looking obviously annoyed. He seized her arm. “Listen, she doesn’t know about us four being able to hear Darwin. It’s a secret. Besides, she isn’t your mother.”

  She felt like a mother, Angel thought. When Angel’s world fell apart, Gaia was there. She’d taken her in, fed her and given her comfort and support. And love. Angel pursed her lips. “I promise I won’t give away your secret but I can’t just go without telling her. She’s taken me in like one of her own.”

  His grip on her arm tightened. “Angel, she could never have one of her own. That witch’s ovaries are probably shriveled raisins, just like her heart.”

  Angel broke from his grip with a gasp. “She’s all I have right now.” She spun away from him and looked for Gaia. To her relief Angel saw her at the far side of the games room, talking with a tall man. Heart hammering, Angel struck toward her, leaving Manfred behind without a backward look, and she felt a pang of regret.

  26

  The Café de Fleurs was nestled in a huge natural park in the middle of Darwin
Mall. Angel sat with a gleeful smile, facing Gaia across the table, who was obviously enjoying Angel’s appreciation of the strawberry drink in front of her.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Oh, yes,” Angel responded cheerfully. “It’s very refreshing. I’ve never tasted anything like this before.”

  “It’s made from fresh strawberries and has ambrosia in it. It’ll make you feel good.”

  “I already feel good,” Angel said, giggling and taking another big slurp. Realizing that she hadn’t thought of her dead father or missing mother for sometime, Angel looked up from the delicious thick drink and asked, “Do you think you’ll be able to find my mom?”

  “Yes,” Gaia said. “It may take awhile but I have many resources at my disposal. If she’s here we’ll find her.” She took a sip of her coffee then looked at Angel with eyes that glinted like gems. “So, tell me more about your conversations with Proteus. What do you talk about?”

  “We don’t actually talk,” Angel explained, pleased that Gaia took an interest in her personal affairs. She slurped down some of the frothy sweet drink and licked her lips. “Proteus just lets me talk to my mom...well it used to, that is,” she quickly corrected herself when she noticed Gaia’s stunned face. “But I think Proteus is interfering now for some reason.” Gaia remained silent and Angel shrugged. “Its chirping sounds also give me a danger sense.”

  “You mean it warns you if something is about to hurt you?”

  “Yup,” Angel said, taking another gulp of the wonderful frothy drink. “By chirping more excitedly.” She enjoyed these talks with Gaia, who was so interested in her and so understanding. Gaia spoke to her like Angel was her equal. Not like her mother, who still treated her like a child.

  “And what about the machine voices?”

  “Oh, yeah. They came when my dad and I got here. My dad explained it to me. My mom could hear them too. She’s a veemeld, you know. Aard told me.”

  “So are you, Angel,” Gaia said, placing her arms on the table and leaning forward.

  Angel gasped. “Really? Just like Carl and Manfred? How do you know?”

  Gaia smiled gently. “Well, because I knew your mother. The trait for veemelding is passed down genetically; and because Carl just confirmed it.”

  “Wow!” Angel exclaimed. Those three kids Manfred talked about were obviously veemelds, then. Like their parents. Was there a connection between being a veemeld and being able to hear Darwin inside their heads? But then she recalled what Manfred had said about the two Darwin veemeld mothers not being able to hear Darwin, even though their Darwin children could. And why was it that only she and her mother could hear the machines in their heads? Or talk to one another through Darwin? Her brows furrowed thoughtfully. “But what exactly is a veemeld?” She remembered that neither her father nor Aard had ever answered her question.

  Gaia folded her hands together and gave Angel a vague smile. “You are the destiny of Icaria,” she answered cryptically. Just as Angel was about to press the matter, someone caught Gaia’s attention in the crowded mall.

  He was the same tall man Gaia had talked to at the Games room in the Rec-Center. He was about her dad’s age, with a wrinkled brow and a shaved head and was approaching them with the confident steps of purpose. He stopped several meters short of them and stood expectantly, hands at his side, face deadpan.

  Gaia nodded to him and said to Angel. “Speaking of one of my resources, excuse me for a moment, please, Angel. Mr. Dykstra is a busy man—I better speak with him while I can.” She stood up and the two of them walked a little further into the crowd, obviously to get out of Angel’s earshot.

  Angel let her gaze wander the mall but found it drawn back to Gaia and Dykstra. She knew somehow that they were discussing her. She could feel Dykstra watching her without actually looking at her directly and it felt creepy. Without thinking, she focussed on blocking out the other sounds of the mall and strained to hear their quiet conversation.

  “She’s remarkable, Brian,” Gaia was saying. “Perhaps more gifted than her troublesome mother. And potentially far more useful.”

  Dykstra gave Gaia a cold smile. “Then why bother with Crane if we have this one? Crane’s a virus in our side. Let’s dispose of her and—”

  “You fool!” Gaia cut him down with a glacial look. “We still need her. Only she can shut down the A.I.-core. Once she does—”

  “If she does.”

  “When she does,” she snarled. “I never lose.” She hiked a brow for punctuation. “She’ll do it, and for the right reason—to save Icaria. Ironic, really, how in her brave action of honor in killing her friend, SAM, she’ll be erasing the last shred of evidence against me and ensuring the success of my plans. She’ll be ridding me of that rebellious contingent and initiating the first step of our new system in one fell swoop. The people will be devastated, aching for some order and a resumption of their happy routines. They’ll welcome our new paradigm using the combination of Darwin and veemelds with open arms.” She smiled tightly and patted Dykstra, who was scowling, on the shoulder. “But you’re right about the girl. She’ll satisfy us better than Crane. After Crane completes our little task we may re-evaluate our need of her. She may yet serve us best in the land of chaos after we extract what we need at the DP.”

  Shock seized Angel’s muscles. Gaia knew where her mother was all along and was playing her like a bobcat with a field mouse. Angel had no doubts that this land of chaos was not a good place. How had Gaia convinced her mother to sabotage this A.I.-core and kill someone? Gaia had hinted at a friendship with her mother. Perhaps that was how she’d convinced her mother. But their friendship obviously meant nothing to Gaia, who remained poised to betray Angel’s mother at a moment’s notice when it suited her. And who was this friend, Sam, her mother was going to kill? Angel almost burst into tears at the thought and grabbed her drink with a shaky hand. Gaia had mentioned bravery and honor. Surely there was little bravery or honor in killing a friend, Angel thought.

  The treacherous words Gaia had spoken with such casualness...she’d completely betrayed Angel’s trust and taken advantage of her desperate situation. Angel stopped listening and grasped at one thought like a drowning sailor would a dangling piece of rotting rope: at least it meant her mother was still alive...for now.

  When Gaia returned to her seat and smiled across at her, Angel forced herself to smile back. “Did he have any information about my mom?” She felt a slight mocking tone emerge in her voice.

  Gaia didn’t seem to pick it up. “Sadly, no,” she said, lying through that slick apologetic smile.

  As she gazed into those iceberg blue eyes, Angel recognized how this beautiful woman had so easily veiled her true intent. She’d fooled Angel with an understanding smile and a hug. Given her just what she’d wanted: a mother.

  Angel snapped her eyes away and felt her face flush with anger and some shame at her own naïve part in the deception. Gaia misunderstood and patted her hand. “Don’t worry, Angel. I know you’re anxious and impatient. We’ll find her. I guarantee it.”

  Sure you do, Angel thought. You’ve already got her. She studied Gaia carefully and said with provocation in mind, “Will you use the A.I.-core to look for her?”

  Gaia’s faint smile stiffened and her eyes flared briefly in a frown. “Who told you about the A.I.-core of the city?”

  “Manfred mentioned it to me,” she lied. “What is it?”

  “The central repository of the artificial intelligence community that runs Icaria,” Gaia answered flatly. “Think of it as a huge interactive digital library.”

  “Wouldn’t it be useful?” Angel persisted. Her mind raced with what her mother was supposed to do.

  “Yes. But I have better resources available to me,” Gaia said rather smugly. “Shall we go?” Gaia got up from her chair, ignoring Angel’s unfinished drink.

  “Sure,” Angel said cu
rtly and got up. She didn’t want any more, anyway. She’d lost her taste for it and this place. Not sure why, she willingly let Gaia take her hand as they negotiated the crowd toward the tube-jets. She suddenly felt very small and alone. And realized just how much she missed her mother and father. It ached inside her chest and cloyed inside her stomach.

  She grew giddy as the intoxicating images and sounds enfolded her in a dizzying embrace, shattering her with waves of staccato impressions, a jangle of disjointed noise and movement. Her senses were overloaded and she flinched at every bark of sound, stumbled and wavered with every brushing movement against her. She wanted to bolt, scramble away and pound out of this place, back to the heath. Then she felt a jolt of pain in her belly and the sudden urge to throw up gripped her. Without warning, she coughed up thick, pink vomit all over Gaia’s sparkling dress.

  27

  Trying to keep her mind focused on her task, Julie strode quietly along a Com-Center hallway to a lower level stairway. Mike Aubry, a Core Technician Supervisor and a veemeld, had filled her in on the set up. She’d been to the core once before. But that was over twelve years ago, shortly after she’d met SAM and he’d given her a tour of his physical home. Back then, apart from the regular security for entering a level-one classified environment, there was nothing to keep her from entering.

  The changes that Mike had described included several physical barriers, the first of which was the door to the outer core. Mike had given her the necessary procedures and codes to get through, so she wasn’t worried about these physical barriers. The A.I.s still permitted limited access to a select group of technicians: all veemelds were trusted by their A.I. symbionts, therefore, she’d received a new, temporary identity, thanks to a little nuergery on her palm. She’d refused to get a full treatment despite Mike’s insistence, so, for today, she was Rachel Drake, veemeld Core Technician, even though she didn’t look anything like her.