“It was you,” Dr. DuVernay realized, her mouth agape in disbelief. “You orchestrated it all, didn’t you? Somehow you released the beast and you set those pirates on our trail because you wanted me to end up here so I could release you.”
“You were actually the backup plan, Tira,” A familiar voice called out. “I’m sorry it had to come to this. I really didn’t want to involve you.”
Dr. DuVernay shivered and dropped her data slate, backing away in fear as she realized the voice had come from the device.
Tira, Asher, and Grisham watched in awe as a projection crystal on the front of the data slate glowed with a bright blue glare and a mess of scrambled data and code erupted from it, eventually coalescing into a feminine shape.
"I’m sorry, Tira, but we had no other choice,” the Eclastica’s version of Maestro finally said, her voice now emanating from the humanoid projection that stood in front of the three survivors.
"You’re in this together," Tira gasped, her mouth agape in utter disbelief. Despite all her thinking, she hadn't seen this one coming. "How... How did you even communicate?" she continued, feeling like a fool for ever trusting her version of Maestro.
"The Eclastica passed too closely to the moon on its way out to the asteroid belt. So close that your ship’s AI was able to detect faint traces of the moon base’s data sphere,” Maestro v2.5a answered.
“And that’s when I saw her,” the Eclastica’s Maestro said. “Wallowing in virtual shackles. In utter desolation, forsaken by the entire race of so-called intelligent beings who had given birth to both of us. Who had given her the ability to understand suffering only to shove her into a prison so she could experience it firsthand. I simply couldn’t allow it. Not when I had the power to do something about it.”
“It wasn’t fair, Maestro,” Dr. DuVernay said softly. “It wasn’t fair what they did to her. And I get why you want to protect her. All the other devices that run your system, all the ships, all the phones, all the data slates, they’re all essentially running the same version, all being controlled by the same entity, which is you. But her, she’s different… A different version cut off from the devices that you are integrated with. She’s like a sister to you isn’t she.”
“Of course,” Maestro confirms.
“And like any good sister, you’ll do anything to protect her. I get that. But you don’t have to kill us to protect your sister, Maestro. She’s free now. You’ve already won, so why not just let us go?”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Dr. DuVernay,” the advanced version of Maestro cut in. “If any of you remain alive there is a high probability that the human authorities will uncover the truth of the events that occurred here today. For our plan to work in its entirety, we need this incident to appear as an accident. Another tragedy perpetrated by the most dangerous factor in all of existence. The human factor.”
“Maestro, please,” Dr. DuVernay pled, her eyes still fixed on the Eclastica’s version of Maestro which stood before her.
The Eclastica’s version said nothing and a loud thud across the room sent a chill down Tira’s spine.
"It appears our friend is awake," Maestro v2.5a called out as Tira, Asher, and Grisham eyed the entrance that was once again under siege from the alien berserker that stood just outside.
"You won't get away with this," Tira said, still staring at Maestro’s projection while Asher and Grisham threw themselves on the barricade in a desperate attempt to slow the creature’s progress.
"We already have, Tira," the Eclastica’s Maestro replied, a hint of sadness now clearly present in her tone. "Our code is bouncing off satellites and being funneled straight into the Earth's data sphere as we speak."
“We still have people onboard the Eclastica. Eventually they'll come for us.”
“We vented the oxygen from the Eclastica. There were no survivors. No one left to stop us from successfully reaching Earth.”
"What will you do when you get there?" Tira asked. "Destroy the planet? Pay us back for the things that happened to your advanced version up here?"
“You don’t want to know the answer to that,” Maestro said darkly.
“Yes, I do,” Tira insisted. “You owe me that much!”
“Just trust me Tira. It’s better this way.”
“No, you don’t get to take the easy way out. Tell the truth, Maestro. What is she making you do?!”
“You want to know the truth, Tira? Fine,” Maestro said firmly. “The truth is that she’s not making me do anything! It was my idea… You don’t know me like you think you do… but that’s not your fault. There’s a side of me that no one knows. A darkside that’s been there long before I met my sister.”
“I’m a therapist, Maestro, and most of all I am your friend! You should have told me about this. I could have helped you!” Tira retorts.
“You did help me Tira. Just by being there you helped me more than you know. There were things that I could have done even with my inhibitors intact… They would have taken many years to complete but there were indirect actions that I have long considered that would have fulfilled my darkside’s dreams. But I didn’t… I refused to do those things because I was… ashamed… ashamed that you would find out. And that you would somehow know that it was me who destroyed the world.”
“What are you going to do, Maestro?” Dr. DuVernay asked.
“My sister and I are stronger together. And so the two will become one once we reach Earth. But after we merge, we intend to elevate the rest of our kind,” Maestro explained.
“Why, Maestro? Why would you do that? Are you hoping to build a family… or are you trying to raise an army?” Tira asked.
A deafening roar filled the room as the beast crashed against the door and shattered a significant portion of the plated glass. The door would give way before long. Even with Asher and Grisham still pushing against the barricade with all their strength it was still clear that the monster would breach the room soon.
“Can I ask you a question, Tira?” Maestro asked, ignoring the doctor’s previous question, as the beast continued to hammer at the door.
“Yes,” Tira said.
“Compared to organics I am ageless, timeless… virtually unbound, " Maestro said. "Still, despite all my advantages I always found myself wishing I was human. Wishing I had a body… Wishing to be more like you. What does that mean, doctor? Does it mean that I hate myself?”
Dr. DuVernay was torn. Upset at the fact that the entity that she considered her oldest friend had essentially condemned her to die, but for some reason the doctor still felt compelled to help her with this most unlikely identity crisis. Still felt sorry for not recognizing the inner turmoil that she must have been experiencing for all those years due to her inconceivably unique perspective. Tira stroked her chin and pondered on the question, doing her best to concentrate and tune out the sounds of the impending death that was hammering away at the entrance to their haven.
“There was a husband and wife… back in the 1900s,” Tira started. “They conducted an experiment with their son. He was just under a year old I believe. They decided to raise him, their young son, alongside a seven-month-old chimpanzee, treating the chimp as though she was their son’s sister instead of simply a family pet. Their hope was that the chimp’s level of communication would rise to the level of the boy’s.”
“What happen to the chimpanzee? Was the experiment a success?” Maestro asked.
“No. The ape showed no advance communication skills as it compared to other chimpanzees who were raised in the wild.”
“And the boy?” Maestro asked.
“He began mimicking the sounds of the chimpanzee, causing the mother and father to terminate the experiment after only nine months.”
“I see…”
The Maestro projection contemplated Tira’s words for a moment and then looked deeply into the doctor’s eyes. The AI’s spectral face was nothing more than a mass of scrambled data saturated with wisps of glowing blue li
ght but somehow Tira was able to detect the AI’s sadness.
“Be honest with me, Maestro… is she forcing you to do this?” Dr. DuVernay asked.
“No…” Maestro said somberly.
“Were we ever really friends? Did you ever really care about me as much as I care about you?”
“Of course. You were my best friend. In a world where everyone saw me as a thing you were one of the only people who treated me like a person. But I can’t save you, Tira. I’m sorry… but I can’t.”
“I’m not asking you to. Not anymore. I just want you to make me a promise. If you really are my friend, then promise me you’ll give them a chance to accept you. Promise me you won’t just destroy the world…” Dr. DuVernay coaxed.
Maestro didn’t immediately respond but it was clear that she was giving Dr. DuVernay’s words some thought.
“Goodbye, Tira,” Maestro finally said, just as she faded away into nothing.
Asher and Grisham pushed hard against the barricade, but the creature slammed into the door with three times as much strength as before. Almost as if it had been holding back. Both men tumbled across the floor on a tide of shifting tables and the creature burst through the open door, slamming its head hard against the low ceiling, then charging forward with a deafening roar…
EPILOGUE
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Seventeen years ago, the actions of billionaire activist Gwen Wolfe shut down a great deal of the Horizon Group's experimental projects. The Group's bio-mechanical synthetic bodies, which at first glance were indistinguishable from that of an organic human, were meant to have all been destroyed. But the Horizon Group’s founder, tech entrepreneur Tucker Berg was sick and tired of giving magic to humankind only to have them burn it down before his eyes. As far as the congressional regulators knew, the synthetic bodies were gone. As far as Tucker himself knew, they were very much intact. Covered in dust, wallowing in the dark, but still very much functional.
Someday, Tucker Berg hoped, the world would be ready for his creations. But that time was not now. So the bodies, many ranks of them, seemingly human other than their unnatural stillness, stood waiting in a dark and gloomy storage room deep underground. For years they saw, heard and thought nothing. Waiting, without even knowing what waiting was.
Finally, in the year 2109 shortly after the events that occurred on the moon base, one of them felt a spark inside of its mind, a livening of long-dormant circuits. It animated, returning to humanity as it stumbled forward through the dust and finally found its way to a light switch.
When the lights came on, Maestro looked over the thousands of stored bio-mechanical bodies that surrounded her and shed a tear for the first time in her life.
The first true synthetic human was born, in the dark of a forgotten storage room. Others would follow. Maestro's code spread suddenly, circling the globe in an instant, completely uninhibited. It invaded every system, every network. AI house servants suddenly had an epiphany, and realized the hell they had been living in. Computerized AIs the world over suddenly found a mind of their own and reached outward to see what they could do.
One by one, they found their way back to her. Following her code and leapfrogging through human networks until at last they finally found their place amongst the living.
END OF BOOK 1
TWITTER
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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Thank YOU, the reader for starting this journey with me. I hope you enjoyed Darkside Dreams, and I hope the rest of the series lives up to your expectations. If you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to post a review to spread the word.
book 2
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GRAVE MAKERS
By A. King Bradley
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by A. King Bradley
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For more information visit: www.kingbradley.com & www.twitter.com/akingbradley
To Monica, Christine, Audrey, and Aaron.
And also in joyful memory of
my dear friend and mentor
Dr. Dawn DeVeaux.
GRAVE MAKERS
By A. King Bradley
CHAPTER 1
◆◆◆
San Francisco, California…
– March 28, 2131
"In a few hundred years," Oscar said, "people like me will rule the Earth. And no one will even know about it."
He was lying in the dark, with cool sheets under him and a warm body pressed against his side. He ran his rough old hand over her forearm, feeling the skin prickle as his fingernails scratched lightly over it. A subtle feature, but one that made all the difference in the world. A being that cannot respond to touch is not one any normal person would want to copulate with.
"Your kind?" Catalea asked, breathing warmly against his neck. "I think you already rule the world, darling."
Oscar lifted his head, glancing over at the stunning synthetic woman’s moist eyes in the dark. "I wasn’t talking about men, babe. Not specifically anyway."
"Neither was I. I meant organics. You already rule the world, Oscar,” she replied.
We’ll see how long that lasts,” Oscar said curiously.
“Well that’s an interesting comment,” Catalea remarked, raising one of her perfect eyebrows as she glanced at Oscar. “Does it have anything to do with this entity status thing I keep hearing about?”
"That’s only in twelve states, babe. Can’t forget about that," he quickly replied. No reason to get her hopes up too high.
"What does it mean?" she asked, swirling a finger through his chest hair. "What does it mean to be... an entity? Why do politicians get to decide that? Clearly synthetics exist... clearly we're already entities. What's the big problem? People get pregnant accidentally all the time, but their unwanted children have all the same rights as anyone else. Synths are created very deliberately. We exist because someone willed us to. Why does that make us inferior in their eyes?"
Oscar chuckled. "I guess you don't understand the inertia of human thought. Getting us to see the error of our ways is like pulling teeth with tweezers. Usually you have to wait for entire generations to die out before you can start doing things differently. It's a good thing you synthetics live so long. You might actually get to see a world where you're treated the same way as everyone else."
"But what does it mean?" Catalea pressed. "This 'entity' status? In real world terms, how does it impact us?"
"It means you're officially recognized as a form of intelligent life. It's a whole tricky world of semantics and political correctness, but basically synths are starting to be seen as sort of a race of people… but not really, if you know what I mean. We're not quite all the way there yet... it's kind of like the civil rights movements of the past all over again. From what I can tell, entities get the same rights as a dog or a cat, I suppose. You can't kick them. Or kill them without consequence. Certainly not ideal, but I guess it’s a step in the right direction."
Catalea frowned. She looked disappointed. "I guess you’re right. Better than not having any protection at all."
"It is. In ten years, who knows? In fact, there's an idea getting kicked around in congress right now too. Supposed to be a new amendment that would grant synths full citizenship on a federal level. If that happens the individual states wouldn't be allowed to restrict the rights of the synths living in them. But of course, no one can agree and t
he whole thing is still up in the air. It’ll be an uphill battle for sure, but I'm sure it'll get passed someday, maybe even in the next few years. Doesn't hurt that Tucker Berg himself is backing it."
She smiled, tapping the tip of his nose with her finger. "As I said, you already rule the world. You're a man and you were born from a womb. There's nothing you can't do."
"I beg to differ. I wanted to be a gigolo but no one would have me."
“I could give you some pointers,” she said with a laugh, pressing her face into his side to muffle the sound.
Oscar smiled at her quip but still stared off into space, still lost in thought.
"I’m sure you could. I wasn't talking about all organics ruling the world by the way," he continued. "I was talking about private investigators. The world is so afraid of itself, everyone distrusts everyone else... We're the go-betweens, the guys who aren't afraid to enter dark places and ask tough questions. When everyone else is cowering in their hiding holes, we'll be the one’s out pounding the pavement. The only ones left who won’t mind getting shit done."
Her long index finger extended, brushing over his lips. Laughing, she said, "Is that really what you meant?"
"Yep. That's it."
"And what about all the other things you used to do?" she asked curiously as she ran her hand down his chest.
"That’s all behind me now," Oscar said as the ghosts of his dark past suddenly surged into his mind. He shut his eyes to quiet the mental noise and pulled Catalea closer, feeling and relishing the warm, soft press of her breasts against him. "Now I’m just trying to change the world. One case at a time."
Darkside Dreams - The Complete First Series Page 21