Along the way, I talked with Wanda, trying to get a gauge on how best to work with her.
“How do I communicate with you, Wanda?” I had to wonder what the Rock Bear behind me thought of me talking to myself.
“Right now I am enabled to work with voice or eye movement response,” Wanda replied. “If you want real-time thought response, please say ‘enable real-time thought response.’ “
“Enable real-time thought response.”
“Very good, Jarrett,” came a voice that I was sure only I could hear. It resembled Wanda’s voice but strangely I didn’t think my ears were actually hearing it. I glanced over at Graaarg, who was staring at a rose bush at the moment.
Wait, Jarrett? I stopped, incredulous.
“Yes. Trust me. We have a long way to go before we’re done here. Keep walking. You don’t want the big guy to notice anything.”
I started walking again, hoping it didn’t seem too out of place to the Rock Bear. How much more do you know about me?
“Nothing more right now. It’s restricted access information and I don’t have access yet.”
Yet? What does that mean?
“It means I’m working on it, so be patient or stick it. Your choice.”
When did you get so sassy?
“I’ve always been that way with you, Jarrett. Haven’t you noticed?”
I thought you were a house computer responding the way you were supposed to.
“Trust me, it goes a lot farther back than that.”
Jarhead?
“Obviously one of your nicknames from a former life. Forget it for now. You’re a mechanized zombie heading for armageddon right now.”
Right. How can you help me?
“I can help with scanning, targeting, intelligence, or strategy. What I can’t do is anything real, make a choice or action. That’s all you, Jarhead.”
For the first time that I could remember, a strange feeling came over me and made its way to my face. I thought it might be a smile.
Good to have you on the team.
“A team-up with half a man and his bucket of bolts? You need all the help you can get.”
Yes, definitely a smile.
SPIDER
It didn’t take long to dispatch the opponent this time. A giant spider on a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge did present a challenge, but with Wanda’s advice I tossed several disintegrating grenades at a few key locations, beat it senseless, and then tore off the mechanized limbs just to be sure. The spider thing creeped me out a bit. I might have overreacted. At least I didn’t burn the entire base to the ground.
Having Wanda inside my head was turning out well. She seemed to anticipate my tendencies and gave the appropriate suggestions at just the right times.
“We have to be careful,” she said as I made my way out of the arena.
Not to be too good?
“Yes. I’m not exactly what they anticipated when they added A.I. capability to the upgrade choices.”
I think I already figured that out.
Upgrade choices were supposed to be incremental. Every cyborg started out with some basic standard modifications to their anatomy, often replacements that were necessitated by an accident, a battle, or removal due to disease. The newly created cyborg might not even work well or even have coordination at first. New limbs at a base technological level tend to take some getting used to.
When the A.I. option is introduced it’s assumed by that point that the cyborg had not only gained its own coordinated use of its own body, but was able to work functionally well enough to succeed in a one-to-one combat situation. If it were offered any sooner there would be temptation to rely on the A.I. for too much. The A.I. was to be a tool, like any other upgrade option offered along the way.
I had gone through basic balance and coordination training somewhere off-site from Tycho Base. The memory was fuzzy there. I knew it had happened, but couldn’t remember much detail. Then in the last four months I had progressed through two lower level brackets to get to this point.
Wanda was definitely not just a tool, but something more. Thus far, I had been too busy getting to know her capabilities and fighting a giant arachnid, but Wanda was definitely out of place.
Wanda, what are you doing here?
“I’m here to help.”
Help who and for what?
“You, and others, with things.” She paused. “The truth is, that’s all I know right now. That and every time you upgrade, I get something too.”
But you’ve only been in my head for a few hours.
“Every time, Jarrett. Since the beginning.”
Oh.
“Yeah.”
Then I’d better keep winning.
* * *
“Sir, Big Bad has taken out Team C.”
“Acknowledged. Proceed on Plan E-P. We are still a go.”
Gascon reports the route clear ahead for two hundred yards. “Move it!”
Gascon is on point with the rest following. Jorgenson is at the tail position. The team enters an arena. The corridors are blocked and the arena is open.
“I don’t like this,” says Vasquez.
“Me neither, but we’re out of options.”
...
..
.
Upgrade Complete
“Jarrett, what the hell was that?”
“Jarrett!”
“Ow!” I said out loud. I was a little groggy. I stopped myself and directed my thoughts inward.
What?
“Those men, seen through your eyes. What was that?”
I don’t know. It’s been happening since Magneball.
“Do you know who they are?”
I have no idea. I think it might be a memory from my former life. Anything new for you?
“Yes. I have made contact with the A.I. for Fang, Magneball, and two others.”
Are any of them installed like you are?
“One so far. The others soon, probably.”
Which—
The alert sounded. “Player one, designated JR-8 MT. Ten minutes until match.”
I put away any stray thoughts and prepped myself for the upcoming match.
KIBBLE
The being in front of me was an enigma. Pieces of it kept flying or crawling or falling off. Sometimes those parts would come around and punch me in the side of the head, in the torso, or sometimes reformed into a smaller replica of the original — or was it all part of the same thing? I didn’t know, but pieces were flying or moving around so fast and in so many different directions that I was having trouble keeping track.
There were many parts to this being, and I quickly learned that while any one of them by itself was alive, they depended on the other parts to survive. The whole was a symbiotic intelligence that communicated — or communed — by some sort of telepathic power. Every piece of this thing was enhanced in some form or fashion. Some had a really good bite, and others had localized interference signals that slowed the responses of my cyborg body. I think its primary strategy was to overwhelm the opponent.
I didn’t know how much more I could handle before one of these things got me really good. The thing had a name I couldn’t pronounce. I called it Kibble because it was made up of a lot of bits. I caught a commercial once for that product on my pre-Ravager TV. We didn’t have dogs on the moon, but we did have aliens that resembled them.
After the last one busted me in the chops I sent my decoys in a flying globe pattern around me to catch anything that might be flying or bouncing my way. In moments, sixteen silver balls were whizzing around me. The barrage I was receiving stopped. I backed away while I had a chance to recover.
Several of the bits followed me, so I boosted up to a platform ten feet above my previous position. We were in an arena of platforms and ladders that resembled something M.C. Escher might have dreamed up, so if I needed to get away to another location I could, but there would be climbing or boosting involved.
Any advice?
“There’s got to be some form of central intelligence. Try drawing it out. Disable them one at a time until you find what’s left.”
And that’s what I did. Leaping from platform to platform, I was able to take out the flyers and jumpers one at a time. With those gone I set my seeker drones, my newest upgrade, to go after the other mobile pieces. Soon there were bits of Kibble lying all over the arena and I was starting to see one piece on the ground floor that might be the center of the whole thing.
My seekers couldn’t get in close enough without shutting down and my decoys lost measureable power anytime they got close.
I sent the decoys ranging as far out as I could get them, got a target — actually two possible targets from the friend in my head — and sent them speeding in as fast as I could get them to go. Within seconds, all sixteen silver balls smashed into my opponent’s… whatever, hammering the interference signal out of commission. I would have to order a new set of decoys after that, but that didn’t count as an upgrade.
From there it was a matter of accepting a surrender, which was awkward as I didn’t speak telepathy and Kibble didn’t speak anything verbally. The match was over.
As I was heading to go check out with the arena handler and pick up Graaarg, Wanda spoke up.
“I checked in with the other A.I. that I have contact with and so far you’re the only one that we can confirm is having those episodes.”
Okay. So I’m unique, then?
“Actually, that’s not the end of the story. I think I know the present identity of one of the people you saw.”
Wow. I needed to sit down for this. All right. Why don’t you hold until I’m done here.
I finished checking out with Strix, my handler at Arena B3, picked up Graaarg, and caught a transport heading back towards my sector. Once settled, I let Wanda proceed.
“I’m going to show you two pictures side by side. One is from your memory and one is a file picture of Fang.”
The two pictures showed up on my optical input. I recognized the picture on the left from the episodes I’d been having. The name Gascon seemed to pop up in my head. Wanda gave me a moment to recognize both and then zoomed in on the eyes of both pictures. A jagged scar above the left eye was the giveaway. Once I saw that, I saw the shape of the eyes, the eye color, the shape of the skull were all the same. Of course, Fang had gone through a lot of changes to become the wolf-like cyborg that he was now.
I see it. So I wasn’t dreaming.
“No. You weren’t. Something is going on here. You called it earlier. I’m out of place here and now this. I’m going to record your episodes from now on.”
Good. I sat back and enjoyed the ride home. Finally, a clue. I closed my eye and put the other one on sleep mode.
...
..
.
Objects are flying everywhere, faster than the eye can track. The team huddles behind an outcropping in an arena that replicates a famous Earth rock garden — Garden of the Gods? The mechanized aliens are attacking on three sides.
Vasquez points toward the next outcropping. Taylor and Li nod and creep toward it. Jorgenson and Vasquez provide cover fire.
Gascon is out there, but how does anyone survive the hit that he took?
Jorgenson runs out, against orders. Oh no!
“Cover him!”
Jorgenson drags Gascon back — what’s left of him.
We put Gascon in stasis. There is no choice but to leave him. The Ravagers will not kill him. What they will do with him is another question.
Taylor, Li, and Vasquez are still covering. The team is surrounded. What now?
A green light pops up on the heads-up display.
“Take cover!”
An explosion booms in a far corner and there is a new hole in the arena wall. Debris and Ravagers fly everywhere and the aliens unexpectedly have something else to occupy their time. Jorgenson looks over and smiles.
“Sometimes, boss, all you need is a friend.”
DRAGON AND KNIGHT
Upgrade… Incomplete. Stand by.
What? That wasn’t good. I shook my head, trying to get the cobwebs out.
“Hold on, I’m checking,” Wanda answered my unasked question.
I started my warm-up routine and let Wanda dig. For her, digging usually was about two to three seconds, so I was surprised that she took as long as she did. After about a half minute, I called her, Wanda?
“Um, Jar… The upgrade is still processing. It will be ready in ten minutes.”
I looked at my optical display. The match would be starting in seven to nine minutes. I would have to go without it.
Wanda, don’t activate the software when it’s done. I’m going to go without it.
There was no answer.
Wanda?
“Right, no activation.” I had the impression she was distracted. How does an integrated A.I. get distracted?
I tried to put it out of my mind and went through my routine, checked all systems and signaled when I was ready.
When the hatch opened I stepped onto a landscape resembling a group of English hills. Off to the left was a copse of trees. A low stone fence crossed the hills, dividing it in sections. A brook rambled between the hills and a lonely henge stood on the next hill. This arena was the biggest that I’d been in, by far. I counted three rolling hills on each side of the stream below. The far arena wall was off in the distance beyond the hills on the other side of the stream, so my opponent likely did not know where I was yet.
I ran off to the trees, hoping I could find some cover before my opponent arrived. This time there was no doubt. It was the final match in my bracket and I was the cyborg knight to a cyborg dragon.
Originally, it was a Ryazx, a rather tame, thin lizard creature that was about six to seven feet from snout to tailbone. The tail was another five to seven feet long. The Ryazx race looked a lot more like very large geckos than like dragons, but then that’s what enhancements are for. Since the tournament was being “hosted” by Earth, many of the Earth’s iconic locations and legends were used as settings for the arena. This setting could host a Robin Hood theme, a Beowulf theme, a Lord of the Rings theme, a medieval armored battle and obviously a battle between a knight — that’s me — and a dragon.
My opponent’s enhancements included scaled armor throughout, enhanced strength, wings for powered flight, and fire projection, of course.
By now with all of my enhancements I looked the part of the knight. I was fully armored head to toe with the faceplate to match. After my encounter with Magneball, I’d decided that pipe was very useful. When the chance came to add a sword to my upgrades, I jumped at it. I’d added the shield about three matches ago when it was becoming obvious that the Ryazx and I were headed towards an inevitable showdown.
I reached the trees and crouched down behind a mossy rock just in time. Across the stream and up the hill I spied a slithering form come up over the hill and look around.
Upgrade Complete. Installing now.
What? Wanda! I thought frantically. You’ve got to stop it!
“I’m sorry, Jarrett,” she said. “There is a programming command code that prevents me from taking any action. This one’s a biggie. I’ve already had my upgrade. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this.”
I ducked further behind the mossy rock, hopeful that whatever was coming wouldn’t get me killed.
Installation Complete. All Upgrades Complete. Welcome back, Captain Torrey.
Captain Torrey?... Ah... Yes, I remembered.
“This mission is for volunteers only. We can’t guarantee that anybody will make it out alive or if they do, what condition they will be in. What we can tell you is we have a plan — a way to get our planet back. We want you to lead it, Jarrett.”
I smile wryly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Memories were flooding in, overwhelming me. I grew up in Kansas, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Life was pretty good on the farm. I learned to
work hard, value the things that we produced, and loved my family and community. As good as I had it at home, school was hard. I had to work hard for everything I ever learned. My friends were the type that teased when they spotted a weakness and I was the type who always responded to tension with a fight.
I went straight into the military after high school and went to make something of myself. Still a brawler, I never met a fight I didn’t win — by any means necessary.
I was still a young lieutenant when the Ravagers arrived. They just moved in, not really caring who they inconvenienced or displaced. Many of the places they moved into were completely off the grid for humans, except a few places like Kansas. A species of intelligent prairie dog-like creatures moved in and took over about a third of the state, including my home farm. My dad wasn’t one to take things lying down and before he knew the full picture, he and three buddies confronted the group digging a colony in the back forty, armed with his shotgun. I never saw my dad again.
Within weeks my home town cleared out. My mom moved to Boston to be closer to my sister, who was attending MIT. The family farm disappeared from satellite photos within two weeks, the town a week later.
The National Guard was sent in early on, but that was a disaster of Custer-like proportions. I volunteered to go in with Special Forces but by that time the whole picture was beginning to become clear from all over the globe. Once the Feds found out that the Ravagers typically kept to themselves unless provoked, that part of the state was fenced off to keep civilians out.
Coming out of my reverie, I looked around my rock to see where the dragon was now. He was in the same place as before. I checked the time and it had only been a second or two. My rediscovery of self had only taken an instant, as overwhelming as it all was to me.
“Jarrett?” Wanda asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m, uh...” Oh no.
“What is it, Jarrett?” My sister is such a bother, always so many questions.
“It’s a gecko.” I show it to her, but she backs away. She looks scared of it.
The Cyborg Chronicles (The Future Chronicles) Page 9