by Eric Warren
“Don’t worry,” Blu said under her breath. “I’m not really taking you to your room. I’ve got a surprise.” Her green eyes flashed with a mischievous twinkle.
“A surprise?”
“Follow me.”
TWELVE
“DAD GETS UPSET WHEN I INTERRUPT HIS WORK,” Blu said, leading Arista into a separate section of the underground service station. “Plus, this is just so cool I have to show someone.”
“Do you…live here?” Arista asked.
“Oh yeah. Lived here all my life.” She paused. “All I can remember anyway.”
“Where’s your mother?” They traveled down a short hallway, Blu leading her through a door on her left.
“Haven’t got one. I mean, I’m sure I’ve got one somewhere. Everyone’s got one. Except some kinds of Marmokrebs and Komodo Dragons. I hear they change sexes. But then again, one of them had to be a female at some point. So even if they change sex later they’re still technically a mother. Right? Anyway, I don’t know where mine is. Or my dad for that matter.”
“But I thought—”
“Adopted. So he tells me. He took me in as a baby. Clothed me, fed me, raised me. Taught me about the facts of life. You know, the whole deal.” The room looked to be some kind of small control room with a console and a large monitor on the wall. Everything was off until Blu tapped a switch on the wall and the overhead fluorescents flickered to life.
“Why would he do that?” She didn’t like the fact this David had taken in a baby just as her parents had taken her in as a young girl. She was doing her best not to draw parallels and was failing.
She shrugged. “Didn’t want to watch a baby die, I guess. It’s not that uncommon. People leave kids on the street all the time out here.”
“You mean outside Manhattan.”
Blu nodded. “Yep, it’s pretty much kill, or be killed out here.” She tapped a few panels on the control board in front of her, taking a seat in the old swivel chair. The devices sprung to life. But before the monitor came on she swung back to face Arista. “What’s it like? The arm?”
“It…feels like my old arm used to feel. But it’s stronger. And it’s got a few tools.” She held up her hand and a tiny blade extended from one finger.
“Wow,” Blu whispered. “What else can it do?”
Arista pressed her lips into a line. “Honestly…I don’t know. I haven’t had it that long.”
“Where did you get it?”
“I was in a place…with some other people who had expertise. Actually…I was with my own mother. She gave it to me.” She tried not to think too hard about Jessika. She didn’t want her mind to invent what kind of tortures the colony might be putting her through right now for her treachery. If she was even still alive.
“That’s amazing,” Blu said. “I wish I had something from my mother. Just a picture or something. It wouldn’t have to be much.”
Arista’s heart panged. Though she had the arm from Jessika, she carried nothing from the woman she considered her real mother: Emily. The woman who’d raised her after the shuttle accident. Who’d kept her safe all these years. And who, right now, was probably still stuck in a tube device with no way out. Arista could only hope Jill could make some kind of progress with them. “I know how you feel.”
“Yeah, parents are…complicated,” Blu said. “Anyway. I want you to check this out. Dad would show you eventually anyway, but he’s busy with other stuff at the moment.”
“Your dad,” Arista said. “He seems…distracted. He barely batted an eye about me staying here.”
“That’s just his way. He’s too trusting. I tell him all the time. He’s also pretty loyal to his friends. If he knows that guy Robert, he knows he can trust you.”
Arista had a hard time comprehending that. Was it possible this David was different from the one in her universe? Maybe in some ways, but fundamentally they were the same person. There’s something to be said for one’s environment shaping who they are as a person, but changing them at their core? She didn’t think so. Echo was a perfect example. Maybe in this world she wasn’t the leader of the human race, but she was poised to be. Rich, powerful, influential. All the things she was in Arista’s world. Except here, there were a lot more humans to deal with. “I’ll be sure to thank him later.”
“You don’t need to do that. He’s happy to help. I’m really glad you’re here. It’s nice to have someone to talk to for once. Dad’s not the best conversationalist.”
“I noticed.”
“Okay,” Blu said, turning back around in the chair. “Are you ready? I think this is going to blow your mind. Did Robert tell you what we do here?”
“Umm…not really. He said something about your dad being an AI advocate.”
“Yes!” Blu said. “He’s been working on it for years. He’s got contacts all over the world who collaborate in secret. But we found something earlier today. Something that’s going to blow the whole thing wide open.” She smiled as she continued to turn the machine in front of her on. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Arista said, not sure what to expect.
Blu flipped the last switch and the monitor came on, revealing a grainy image of a figured strapped down to a long table. Blu picked up a small mic in front of her and tapped the side. “Subject,” she said.
“What now?” came his voice. Frees’ voice. It was him.
“Subject I have a new guest for you to meet.” Blu looked up at Arista.
“What’s he doing in there?” Arista asked, rushing forward to the screen. “Is he okay?”
Blu’s brow creased. “You know him?”
“That’s my friend I was talking about! You have to let him go.” She grabbed the mic. “Frees. Frees, can you hear me, are you okay?”
“Worried about my well-being now? Well, you can just go screw yourself!” Frees yelled.
“Sorry,” Blu said, tapping a button. “I had the vocoder on. He thinks we’re the same person. Try it now.”
“Frees?”
“Arista? Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Hang on a second, I’m coming for you.” She turned to Blu. “Where is this? I need to get him out.”
Blu’s face fell. “I—I’m sorry, but he’s in a facility. It’s about twenty miles from here. It was for our own safety.”
“What? We need to go get him.” She tapped the mic again. “Frees, just hang on. I’m coming.” She set it down and headed for the door. “Where is this facility? How do I get there?”
Blu looked like she was straining, then a huge grin broke out over her face and she laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. He’s right over here, in the next room.” She stood, heading for another door.
Arista’s eyes narrowed.
“Oh. You’re not mad, are you?” Blu said, approaching her. “I’m sorry. I like to joke. I didn’t mean anything. He’s fine, really. Come see. We had to strap him down because we didn’t know anything about him. But if he’s your friend then I trust you.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s just been a long couple of days.” Arista worked to bring her heart rate back down from its spike. She had to remind herself that Frees was here and he was okay. A little practical joke was nothing to get upset about.
“Arista, I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“No, it’s fine. Help me go see him.”
“I don’t know about you,” Blu said. “But I think he’s pretty cute for a machine.” She led her through the door. There on the table was Frees, glancing all around until his eyes locked with hers.
“I don’t know if cute is the word I would use,” Arista said.
“Are you alright?” Frees asked. “Are you hurt?” He struggled against the restraints.
“I’m fine. Here, let me help with those.” Arista grabbed on the of the restraints with her hand and yanked up where it connected to the base. It broke free easily.
“Wow,” Blu said, her eyes wide in amazement. “But those come right
off. There’s a latch underneath.”
“Who is that?” Frees asked.
Blu put up one hand. “Hi, subject.”
“You?” Frees yanked at the restraints again.
“Calm down, she’s just a kid.” Arista pushed him back down, searching for the latch underneath.
“Is she the one who’s kept me captive this whole time? Are you the one who repaired me?” he asked, still struggling.
“Stop moving for one blasted second!” Arista yelled, feeling for the latch. She felt a small level and pulled and the metallic straps retracted on their own. The one she’d broken only flapped against an empty track.
“I was just trying to learn about you. You’re the first artificial life form we’ve ever encountered,” Blu said.
“We?” Frees asked, sitting up then planting his legs on the ground.
“You’re never gonna beli—” Arista didn’t get to finish because Frees had wrapped her in a hug and held her tight. She couldn’t keep her heart rate normal. She couldn’t keep her levels from spiking. And as she hugged him back she almost couldn’t keep from shaking.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he whispered.
She nodded, afraid if she said something her voice might crack.
He held on longer than he needed to, then finally broke the connection, letting her go and standing beside her. He turned his attention on Blu.
The young girl stared at them. “Sooo, are you guys like—?”
“No,” they said at the same time.
“No, we’re just friends,” Frees added.
Blu nodded, raising her eyebrows like she didn’t quite believe them.
“It was you?” Frees said. “Asking me those ridiculous questions?”
Blu waved her hand dismissively. “They weren’t ridiculous. We needed to learn more about you. The fact I did it when Dad wasn’t around doesn’t matter. And you have to admit,” she said, a sly smile on her face. “Those were productive sessions.”
“Yeah?” Frees asked. “Let’s see how you like it.” He took two steps toward Blu who took two back but looked like she was about to burst out laughing. Arista grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.
“Did they repair you? The bullets?” she asked.
“Dad did,” Blu said. “I helped. We’ve been working on robotics…well, all my life I guess. I’m more of a programmer. He did most of the work.”
“Were you the ones who picked me up in the black vehicle?” Frees asked.
“You mean the charcoal chariot? The slate schooner? The midnight marauder? Yeah, that’s our special ops vehicle,” Blu said. “Virtually invisible to the Manhattanites. But it’s only good if it keeps moving. As soon as it’s stationary their sensors pick it up.”
“How did you find me?”
“I can answer that,” David said from the doorway. Frees looked taken aback but didn’t say anything. He only kept his eyes on Arista, who hadn’t noticed David come in until he started speaking. “We…and when I say we I don’t mean me and Bloom.”
“Dad!”
“Me and Blu.”
“Daaaad.”
“Sorry. Blu and me.” He paused for another interruption. When there was none he continued. “I am in charge, or at least one of the people in charge of a secret society of people working to create the first sentient AI on the planet since the failed experiments a century ago. We continue to monitor possible AI activity and all related alerts. Frees inadvertently caused an uproar in the middle of Manhattan, sending off multiple alarms. If we hadn’t already been in the air we wouldn’t have gotten to him in time, but fortunately we were close.”
“What were you doing?” Arista asked.
“Investigating another anomaly,” Blu said. “You should have seen it. It left this quantum footprint a mile wide. We’re still not sure what it is, because it already disappeared.”
“Quantum footprint?” Arista asked.
“Yeah, why?”
Arista glanced at Frees but got no reassurance from him. “Do you have somewhere we can sit? We have a lot to discuss.”
THIRTEEN
THEY RETREATED TO AN AREA just outside the control room. It was sparse, with few soft surfaces. There Frees had seen the display screen showing his now-empty slab, along with the microphone Blu had used to taunt him. Part of him was furious for being interrogated by a little girl and the other part of him was impressed with her confidence. She kept sneaking him looks as they all took their seats around a makeshift dinner table.
“It’s not the coziest place,” Blu said as they sat. “But it’s home.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Frees whispered to Arista. Could they trust these people? Especially if one of them was Arista’s father. He’d already deduced this couldn’t be the same David who’d been shot trying to shut down the gate in the other universe; this universe must have its own versions of people they knew. And he couldn’t help wonder if that meant there was another Arista here as well. But her eyes told him not to say anything and to let her do all the talking. Fine with him, he was just glad to be off that slab.
“You already know Frees isn’t human,” she began. “And you know I’m mostly human, with a few enhancements.” She flexed her polymorphic fingers for effect. “What you don’t know is we aren’t from this world.”
Blu smirked at Frees but David kept his face impassive. He was so much calmer than the other David. So much more…reserved. There were some physical differences but his demeanor stood out the most to him.
“We arrived here through something called a Quantum Gate. We come from a parallel dimension where things are similar but different.”
“The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics,” David said. “Yes, go on.”
“You don’t seem surprised,” Arista said.
“He already told us,” David said, indicating Frees. “Or rather, he told my daughter.”
Arista glanced at him. Was that anger? Why would he be angry? He hadn’t known an alternate universe version of her father had been on the other side of that speaker. He’d been trying to get out of here.
“Your simultaneous appearance lends itself to a massive event occurring,” David said. “So it doesn’t surprise me it’s something as massive as a dimensional tear. That was the signal we picked up, wasn’t it?”
Arista nodded. “I’m sure it was. We have Quantum Gates all over our world, but this was the only one designed to do something different. And we need to get back.”
“I’m not sure we can help you with that,” David said. “I don’t know much about interdimensional travel.”
Frees scoffed. “That’s ironic.”
“Frees,” Arista said, giving him the eye. He shut his mouth and sat back. He couldn’t believe she was willing to work with this man. Maybe Arista was able to separate the two but Frees wasn’t sure he could. Although, the David here led a very different path than the one they’d met. It might be enough to make a difference in the man. One only had to look at Bloom as proof of that.
“We don’t need you to create a gate,” Arista said. “It’s likely they’ll open it back up eventually. At least, that is our hope.”
“Why, did you come here by mistake?” Blu asked.
“Yes.” She turned to Frees. “Did you tell them about Echo?” He nodded. “Then you already know. We have to find her before we can go back. If she stays here, she could cause untold havoc to both our worlds.” Arista tapped her fingers against the table and Frees winced. It was like an incessant pecking inside his cranium. And if she didn’t stop he’d have to rip those fingers right off her hand.
No! What the hell was he thinking? Could it still be that damn malfunction? He still hadn’t managed to pin it down. But since everything at the colony, including almost being chopped up into tiny bits, he hadn’t had much time to investigate further. He had hoped he could have used some of the colony’s equipment to scan himself but that would have to wait until they got back. Unless Blu and D
avid had something here he could use.
David put his elbows on the table and leaned over to Frees. “In this other dimension. Are your kind…common?”
“Very,” Frees said.
“Does that mean the experiments from 2051-2053 were a success? They managed to create sentient artificial life?”
“We don’t consider ourselves artificial,” Frees said. “We’re just as alive as you are.”
“Forgive me,” David said. “It’s just I’ve never met anyone like you before. And I’ve spent my life’s work striving to reach it.”
“Sound like anyone you know?” Frees asked Arista.
She shushed him. “Do you know where we could find Echo? If we know about her then so does the one from our universe. And she’s going to use that to her advantage, if she hasn’t already. The Echo of your world might already be dead.”
David furrowed his brow. “She’s going to be hard to reach. The rich don’t make it easy. Their homes are like fortresses. They typically have guards and sponsored tagging along. It’s a jumble of people.”
“What about if we take your…van?” Arista said. “Blu told us it was undetectable as long as we keep moving.”
“That might work if she’s out on the street. But if you’re thinking about landing on her building or somehow getting to her through the roof I’d think again. Most Manhattanites have shield grids protecting the roofs of their buildings, along with automated defenses.”
Arista slumped back in her chair.
“What’s the point of that?” Frees asked.
“They’re paranoid,” Arista said. “Too paranoid to live. Too paranoid to do anything but sit in their towers behind their walls of glass and steel.”
“This is how I knew I’d like you,” Blu said, turning to her father. “We have to help them, don’t we? They need to get back home.”
David motioned to Frees. “Do you think the portal will open back up in the same place?”
“I’m not sure. I would think so, unless they know how to detect our Echo. There’s…something of a war going on there and we’re not sure which side has control of the gate.”