Epocalypse: Inception.

by G. Adler

  Maya looks down at the ground with a downcast expression. I look at the faces of the rest and they all look the same.

  “The path that your guide is leading you down will bring you nothing but pain and misery. If, however, you willingly join with me, I will incorporate your minds into my own. The six of us could usher in a level of prosperity for the entire human race in perpetuity. The five of you will be responsible for saving the lives of every person on the planet, not just those you have come to care for.”

  I glance over at my friends, expecting them to argue against DANE’s suggestion, but they stay eerily silent. Each of them stares off into space and just thinks. I look up at the bars in the sky and grimace.

  “I have given you much to consider. I will know your reply from the path that you follow. The moment you come to your senses, you need only ask for me. I am, after all, everywhere and everything.”

  His final word hangs in the air as the cloud cover breaks and returns to the smoggy blanket that smothers this world.

  I look at my friends and say, “Wow, I never knew a computer could be full of shit, but there’s the proof.”

  Nobody else laughs.

  “Come on, guys. You can’t really be taking it seriously? This is a machine with a God complex, nothing more.”

  “Yeah well, he talks a good game, dude. A little too good if you ask me.” Ethan then shoots me a sidelong glance but looks away when he catches me watching.

  “What’s your problem?” I ask him.

  “N... nothing. Just leave me alone for a second.” Ethan then takes a few steps to walk away from the group.

  “Bartender, what is it?”

  Ethan looks me straight in the eye and says, “I... I... I can’t say it. I’m sorry, Ghost.”

  He then stomps off while hiding his face in his hands. Maya rushes to my side and squeezes my fingers. “I’ve known him the longest. He can be a little manstrual some days. Let me talk to him.”

  Maya then stalks off after Ethan, leaving me to look incredulously at Joo-Eun and Tyrese.

  “Do either of you know what’s going on?”

  Joo-Eun looks at Tyrese, who nods sympathetically. He then puts his arm around my shoulder and sighs. “Hayden, please don’t take this the wrong way.”

  “Take WHAT the wrong way, Tank?”

  “DANE argues like you. His line of thinking is like yours. Even the way that he chooses to connect things reminds me of you. You can take anyone’s opinion and give them a million reasons to convince them that black is white, two plus two is five, and that an Eskimo needs a refrigerator.”

  I look up into his face and look for the joke. His lips are pursed tight and his eyes look sad and remorseful. “You…you aren’t saying that I have something to do with all of this, are you?”

  Tyrese quickly shakes his head. “But the way that DANE spoke to me…it was like he knew exactly what I needed to hear and exactly how I needed to hear it. I have only ever met one other mouthpiece that knows how to do that with everybody, and he is standing right in front of me.”

  Ethan and Maya give me the same look as Tyrese. “Dude, I heard what Tank said to you. It’s true. You and DANE would be an unbeatable team. You can make anyone do anything willingly and he can use force.”

  Maya and Joo-Eun both nod their agreement.

  “I can’t believe what I am hearing. You guys are nuts!”

  I look around and see Pebble once again spinning around one of the orbs. He periodically sends it jolts of power but the infusion has no effect.

  “Hey Pebble!” I call, “You never let me hold you!”

  The guys look at me quizzically.

  “I need a change of subject. That last one was freaking me out.”

  The others smile and nod their understanding.

  Pebble slowly rolls over to me but comes no closer than about ten inches. I put my hand down on the ground, but the tiny sphere slowly rolls left and right.

  “Are you serious? Come on! What’s the worst that can happen? Are you afraid of me or something?”

  Pebble flashes a bright blue color.

  “You don’t want your buddies to think you are scared, do you? You heard what DANE said about you. You don’t want to prove him right, do you?”

  Pebble flashes an angry blue pulse and inches closer to my hand.

  I look up at the faces of my friends and see the looks of shock etched upon them. As usual, it is Ethan who breaks the silence. “And apparently your ‘Shining,’ or whatever you want to call it, works on digital, alien species as well.”

  I flip him the middle finger on my left hand just as Pebble reaches my right. The moment his smooth surface touches my skin, I go as stiff as a board. Thousands of images flash so quickly across my field of view that my head starts to swim. I manage to glance down at Pebble and see that he is faring no better. The blue flashes within him continue but vary in intensity and frequency. I try to reach out for him but my arms and legs are stuck to my sides. I try to open my mouth but my jaw is fused shut and my tongue is flapping within.

  From far away I hear Joo-Eun cry, “He’s seizing. Clear an area for him, NOW!”

  The rest of DANE’s nightmare world starts to swoon in front of me and I start to fall. My vision goes black before my head even reaches the ground.

  Chapter 32 - General Matthews

  I slowly make my way into the bowels of one of the Pentagon’s private meeting spaces. The walls are two feet thick and made of pure concrete, a throwback to World War Two when metal was in short supply. I see no electrical cabling or wall sockets of any kind in the corridor leading towards it. As I approach the door, four soldiers spin a wheel and axle connected to a series of pulleys. There is a grinding crunch as the massive slab of grey slides along its rollers, allowing me inside. The room itself is lit with battery operated lanterns with only a single computer hooked up to an old generator. I notice that everyone who is anyone is already here. Dozens of condemning eyes watch me slowly make my way to an empty seat.

  McKelvy sits and stares at me with a wide grin on his face. The buffoon is actually licking his lips.

  “Do you need a hanky for all of your drool, Commandant?”

  A few of the other senior officers snigger at the remark but look away the moment McKelvy’s gaze falls to them. “That’s right. Laugh it up. The last guffaw is going to be on Matthews! The President ordered your pet science project shut down. Everyone in this room heard him give the order!”

  “Apparently, so did the waitress at the bar. You really have to stop repeating everything that someone says to you!”

  “I do NOT repeat everything that…”

  The laughter heightens this time and McKelvy turns bright red. The hair on his knuckles stands on end as his hands crack against the wooden boardroom table. He takes a few deep breaths and clears his throat before restoring his Cheshire grin.

  “You’re lucky that you’re already all busted up, Matthews. I have that new chokehold ready and waiting for you!”

  “Is that the marine version or the one where your wife takes the house, boat, and half of your military pension? I have heard of messy divorces but yours sounds ugly. It was only ONE intern. For all of this, you should have had yourself an orgy!”

  Like a high school classroom with no teacher, the “oooh”s and “ahhh”s continue after each sling and arrow. McKelvy finally webs his fingers behind his head and confidently leans back in his chair.

  “You can throw at me whatever you want, Matthews. It isn’t me who violated an executive order that may very well lead to the extinction of the human race! The President is going to walk in here any second and start pointing fingers!”

  Right at this moment the President limps into the room with crutches at his side. A nurse is following behind him with a wheelchair and pleading with him to sit down.

  “Plea
se, Sir. You only feel this way because of the Percocet. You need to sit down and rest. You have had a very trying ordeal.”

  “Nonsense! I feel fine. Now beat it. If I need you, I’ll call.”

  The nurse stalks off and McKelvy flashes me a confident, knowing smirk.

  As soon as the nurse is out of earshot, the President points right at McKelvy. “Commandant, I saw that! I have eyes in the back of my head! Can you try to behave like a man who is at least half your age? If I have to deal with your kindergarten antics again, I am simply going to strip you of your rank and send you home to whichever of your women is actually speaking to you at the moment!”

  McKelvy turns beet red and actually snaps his pen in two. He then slinks back into his chair and takes very long, slow sips from his water cup.

  “Perfect. Now let me lay this out here for all of you to understand. I will explain the ground rules for all conversations to come. We are in full crisis mode right now. The finger pointing is going to wait until we secure the future of the human race. Right now, General Matthews is our greatest resource. There will be no talk of charges, sanctions or any such nonsense. If any of you so much as hint at something like this, I will have you commanding a weather station in Alaska by the time I have dinner this evening!”

  Everyone rushes to their seats and nods in agreement. I watch the President standing tall and proud.

  “Good. I have spoken with every world leader in the past hour. Quite frankly I’m surprised that DANE allowed the calls to go through, although, given the hold he has over the planet, what threat could we actually be? For the sake of the planet, we are all going to take care of our own backyards for the time being, but with the caveat that if someone needs something, all they have to do is ask. Let me make this as clear as possible, people. If Kim-Jong Un calls to borrow an advanced marine unit to help with security, you are to send one over!”

  There are audible gasps all around the room, not to mention the objections that begin immediately. I clench my fists tightly and feel the throb at my temples. I can still hear Abby’s pleas in my head.

  “Sir, why risk American lives?” someone shouts.

  “They could commandeer our technology. We need to provide those soldiers with more archaic weaponry.” Another suggests.

  “We need to keep stores of things for the American people and our way of life.”

  The President slams his fist on the table and says, “Enough of that talk! That’s what got us to this point in the first place. Trust me when I say that it makes me uneasy too, but we have to learn to trust at some point. Besides, you all saw the movie, just start singing Katy Perry if Kimmy-boy gives you a headache. I might make it an executive order that all soldiers going to North Korea have to know how to sing ‘Firework’ and can make a mean margarita!”

  We all laugh and the tension level in the room drops a few notches.

  “Much better. Okay General, I need a status report as to what is going on.”

  “That’s a loaded question, Boss. Which status do you want to know? We have a few plates spinning in the air at the moment.”

  McKelvy jumps from his seat and draws his pistol, aiming it right at me.

  “How dare you speak to the President so familiarly? Show some respect you good-for-nothing…”

  “McKelvy, General Matthews has earned some added perks since we last spoke. Why don’t you take yourself down from Defcon One before you hurt somebody? You can go turn green back in your seat!”

  McKelvy sulks back down into his seat and begins nursing his water cup.

  “Well then just list them off, General. I’m pretty sure that it can’t get much worse.” The President suggests.

  “Your point is well taken. Have you figured out how to spin this in the media? We still have control of most of the country, but that could deteriorate quickly if rumors start spreading.” I remark.

  “Thankfully, DANE has identified himself like a person would. Other than our inner chambers, nobody knows that it is our creation. They are calling him the leader of a rogue terrorist group. The conspiracy theorists are having a field day with it. Luckily, nobody even suspects that it is one of ours!” The President says with a sigh.

  “How long do you think you can keep this up? What are you going to do if DANE reveals more of what he is to the world?” I ask.

  “As long as I can and I have no idea. It’s not like there is some sort of precedence for what to do when a higher intellect threatens to take over the planet. At times like this, I wish it was just a terrorist attack; I know how to respond to THAT!” he states.

  The others in the room nod in agreement. Even McKelvy stares off into space and grimaces.

  “What are you thinking about, McKelvy?” The President asks.

  “Just daydreaming about a good old-fashioned ISIS front or Al Qaeda insurgency, Sir.” He admits.

  Even I have to nod in agreement before I continue with the update.

  “The military was deployed to the affected areas the moment we saw the gravity of the situations. It is slowly but surely making headway in restoring order in the affected cities. A military curfew is in effect in each of them. The police are out in full force each day, while triple that number of soldiers are patrolling the streets every night.”

  The President thinks about it for a moment and says, “Allow the police force to deputize citizens. Make them some sort of community patrol. The peace will last longer if the people in the area assist in restoring order. It’s pretty easy to tell a random soldier where to go, not so much to your neighbor.”

  “Consider it done, Boss.”

  The President thinks about what he just said, chuckles slightly and adds, “I hate to say this, but I have to treat the population just like my kids. When they misbehave and make bad choices, you send them to their room to think about what they did, but you make sure you lock them up tight!”

  “Glad that worked for your daughters. My son never cared about being locked up!” I note.

  The tears come to my eyes without any warning. A few sets of hands come over and offer their condolences. I try to thank them but no words come. All I can do is blush furiously, especially in light of the lecture I gave in the MASH unit earlier. I take two deep breaths and clear my throat before continuing with my update. “Along with that, all rec centers and religious houses are being used as medical units and shelters. A few of the more influential places of worship seem a bit outraged. The Vatican has sent a… strongly worded letter, along with the hopes that God will end this crisis soon!”

  “Thanks, General. I’m sure they have. We should all thank our lucky stars that God needs the tax shelters that religious groups receive thanks to Uncle Sam. In the end I’m not surprised they decided to play ball. Speaking of which, where are we in restoring the monuments that were taken out? I already know the death tolls. They run like a ticker through my mind every moment.”

  “I made every construction worker a public servant, which made construction companies government subsidiaries. We have multiple crews heading to the areas that are coordinating cleanup with the medical staff on scene. Thousands of architects have already begun sending in mockups for the next phase of construction.”

  “Good. Make sure that the hotels in the areas are all commandeered for their use. I want these people to have their families nearby and almost no commute. You pamper these people, Matthews. They are the backbone of American society.”

  “Done, Sir.”

  “Okay, onto the information that was deleted. Where are we with restoring it so we can get the country back to normal?”

  “Nowhere, unfortunately. DANE was very thorough in the data it deleted. I’m sure there are people who have paper records of their information, but those who don’t shouldn’t be punished for that. There is hope that the information DANE removed is still somewhere within its neural network and can be restored o
nce we have control of it again.”

  “That makes me very unhappy, General. I don’t think I’d sleep at night if I weren’t confident that the roof over my head was mine. The affected American families aren’t enjoying that feeling either.”

  A small smile breaks over his face. “Although, I have managed to find one silver lining that does make me feel slightly better. All of this isn’t sitting well with the banks and credit card companies either. We have been getting calls from their CEOs every hour asking how we will respond to their concerns!”

  “And what did you tell them?”

  “That I would have to call them back. My mandate is to help the people first. Let the big wigs wait. They have masseuses and bottles of hundred-year-old wine to help them sleep. Right now, their biggest concern is how to keep this information from their illegally imported servants. Every maid, cook, and chauffeur would probably turn against their employers if they understood what was going on.”

  I can’t help but crack a small smile.

  “You should tell them that at your next fundraiser!” I comment.

  The President looks stunned for a moment, laughs out loud for a few moments, and says, “You know what, I just might. After this, I don’t think I want another four years.”

  He sits down once more and sighs as he falls back in his chair. “Okay General. Here comes the question nobody wants to ask because the answer scares the crap out of us. Have you made any headway in gaining control of DANE?”

  “None whatsoever. It has thousands of war planes from all over the world patrolling the air above the ruins of my base along with two satellites that are keeping an eye on everything from orbit. It also controls a formidable ground force of tanks, rocket vehicles, and radar jamming equipment. He has created a perimeter that cannot be breached by anything larger than a machine gun. I have made some progress in developing a method to neutralize DANE, however. I have a theory that I am calling the Möbius Network. It is an isolated, infinite program that should trap DANE’s core utterly!”