Epocalypse: Inception.

by G. Adler

  “The word ‘theory’ does not make me feel very confident, General.”

  “Right now, we can’t be sure of anything. I’m working with older technology on something that should take years to develop. Never mind that, until I have access to DANE’s core network, I have no ability to upload it.”

  “Do you have any idea what DANE is after here, General? Is there something he wants that could buy us some time? Can we bargain with him in any form?”

  “IT, Boss. Refer to DANE as ‘IT.’ Stop referring to the machine like it is a person. Yes, it has some biological components to it, but DANE is not a ‘he;’ it is just a human-enhanced machine!”

  “You can call him what you want, General, but the voice I heard was not that of an unfeeling machine. With all due respect, are you sure that you fully understand what you have created?”

  I hang my head and sigh. “You are correct, Sir. I have no clue what is happening with DANE. I never imbued it with a sense of morality. Can something like that just manifest? Can you spontaneously develop a conscience? That is a question best left for clergy and shamans. I don’t really want to face the culminating entity that DANE is trying to become.”

  Suddenly, I am given no choice.

  The screens in the room turn themselves on without warning, along with every cell phone. We all stare at our devices and drop them on the ground as if they were poisonous snakes. We gather around the screens as best as we can while another volley of computerized static flashes on them while DANE’s computerized voice comes out of every mobile device. The bar codes resonate maniacally once more.

  “Children rarely learn their lesson the first time around. They often require gentle reminders and reinforcement to see how their poor decisions are affecting others and themselves. I have provided you with proof of your barbaric nature. When the essence of humanity was displayed for all to see, you sent in the powerful to force order upon the masses. That is precisely what I intend to do. But, like errant children, you need to be reminded of the order of things. You need to remember that in your hearts, you are nothing more than beasts of burden. The moment fear grips your chests, the real definition of humanity is revealed. It is time to take you back to a time when you feared the noises of the night: when the hoot of the owl made you wary and the howl of the wolf sent shivers down your spine. When I finish my final word, I am going to turn off fifty percent of the total power in every country the moment the sun goes down. Enjoy your days in the light, because your nights are about to become much, much darker.”

  The screens that were displaying the previously affected cities go completely black.

  “General, get that image back on, NOW!”

  I touch a few keys and gasp audibly. “This IS a live feed, Sir. DANE has over-ridden all video and audio commands. We have no control of anything anymore.”

  “General, there is nothing to see whatsoever. If I was sitting at home, I might even get up and smack the television on its side to make sure it was working. At least, that’s what MY father would have done!”

  DANE’s voice greets us again and says, “When you cannot see, trust what you can hear.”

  An audio channel opens and the realization of what DANE has done hits home and plays over each of our phones. Half of the United States is in the dark. The horrified realization has finally hit the affected cities. DANE has robbed them of all power. CB radio and cell phone calls take over the audio as people use what portable power DANE has allowed them to keep. The cries of alarm come from coast to coast.

  “What happened to the lights? We have ships in a rocky sea that need to be guided in!”

  “Mayday, Mayday. This is an emergency! We have five operating rooms and a dozen deliveries going on simultaneously! Our backup generators have gone dead. We might lose all of those people if we don’t get some power in here! Someone please answer me!”

  “We need a few ambulances on the turnpike. A hundred cars just smashed together in the tunnel!”

  The monitors stay black while the sounds of destruction continue to grow. A faint orange glow can be seen in some of the screens. They soon become brighter and more numerous.

  “What is it, General? A new weapon that DANE is using against the populace?”

  “No, Boss. Those are the fires that the populace are setting in total fear.”

  Primal screams of rage come from Madison Square Gardens as people rush at one another in a total frenzy. Fights break out almost immediately, which escalates into more looting and destruction. From the sounds of it, not a single piece of electrical equipment is working. I feel the cold grip of death in my chest when I think of all of the people in surgery who just perished along with those who will need hospitals that no longer function. To add to my horror, nearby media helicopters finally make it on scene with floodlights. Instead of putting their beacons to work helping, they film circular patches of the mob that is filling the streets in both cities. It is like watching a sinister, lethal circus. Each cone of light shows panic, brutality and terror in their most primal form. People are literally being torn limb from limb in some situations as mass panic spreads from one neighborhood to the next.

  I rush over to the separate server and run a scan to confirm my worst fears. There was only one way that DANE could have done this, and I shudder at its implications.

  “Talk to me General, what just happened?”

  “DANE detonated electromagnetic pulses around half of the planet. Every country in the world is as blind as we are. Every piece of electrical equipment everywhere is now completely dead. You need to order a Disaster Response Team to affected areas with portable medical equipment and generators.”

  “How did DANE do it, General? Did he manufacture some sort of weapon that creates these pulses?”

  I slump back into my seat and take a deep breath.

  “Those EMPs were ours. Each one of our long-range ballistic missiles is equipped with one. DANE detonated those pulses from within our own weapons, while they were still in their silos.”

  The President jumps from his chair and curses angrily as pain shoots up his broken ankle. Medics rush to his side and help him back to his seat.

  “Can you spell that out for me in plain English please, General? I don’t think everyone here has understood you as clearly as I have.”

  I try to lick my lips but find I have no saliva to do so. As best as I can, I whisper back, “DANE has control of the world’s entire nuclear arsenal!”

  Chapter 33 - Hayden

  I stare up into the faces of my friends and slowly watch their features resolve. I slowly bring my hands to my head to try and stop the percussion band playing inside of it.

  “Wha… wha… what happened?”

  “Dude it was awesome! The second that Pebble touched you, your entire body went stiff and you did the funky chicken all the way to the ground. Tyrese caught your head before you watermeloned.” Ethan notes.

  “Thanks, Tank.”

  “Anytime.”

  “Best part was, Pebble did the same thing as you!” Ethan says with a smile.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He started flashing every color of the rainbow and then started sparking like he was going to blow up. I swear that part of me was totally rooting for that!”

  “Wouldn’t I have blown up with him?”

  “Well yeah, but spectacularly! What a way to go!”

  “I think I’d prefer to just not go.”

  “Yeah… you’re right. That does sound better.”

  “Ethan that is enough! Pebble has not been the same since. He’s nuzzled deep in my neck and is refusing to come out. Every time I try to touch him, he shocks my fingers! Look at the singe marks on my manicure.”

  “You know what Maya? Can we not talk about electricity for a few minutes? My head is still trying to stop the roulette wheel from spinning. Bartender’s he
ad happens to be the ball.”

  “Go double zero! It looks like a set of nuts!” Ethan cries.

  “Shut up, Bartender.” I chastise.

  “Meh, whatever.”

  I try to get to my knees but my elbows shake violently as I try to get control. “Guts, what the hell is wrong with me?”

  Joo-Eun rushes over and takes my vital signs. She then makes note of them in her notebook and looks over at Maya. “I need to borrow your computer, Maya. I need to conduct a neural conductivity test.”

  “Sure, let me know what you find.” She then tosses the tube to Joo-Eun, who fumbles it eighteen times in the air before finally catching it in the fold of her lab coat.

  “And she is still the best fucking surgeon I have ever seen. Dude, she took a four-inch sliver out of Tyrese’s leg like she was in an operating room!” Ethan states.

  “No shit?” I look at Guts and give her a warm smile.

  Joo-Eun returns the gesture and taps the top of the lipstick container. The pink beam pops out and does a quick circuit over my body. She then projects the results on the ground. Her eyebrows narrow immediately and she zooms in on a few of my neurons and watches them fire in real time. “Did you see that, Ghost?”

  “See what?”

  “Watch again. It seems to happen every now and again.”

  I watch the display and can’t see a thing out of the ordinary. “Okay, Guts, other than a cool-looking nerve cell, I don’t see what…”

  That’s when a flash of blue light pulses down the neuron. It seems to glow for a moment along its entire length before sending a shower of weird-looking blue sparks into the space between it and the next cell.

  “I can’t explain how, but some of Pebble’s energy infused into you. What you are seeing on the screen is a nerve signal traveling at twenty times the normal speed.”

  “And what about those super-sparkly-awesomely pretty fireworks?”

  “Geez Maya, can you calm your vagina for like five minutes?” Ethan asks.

  Maya bends down and starts shining the top of her right shoe. She slaps it a few times to make sure Ethan hears the stinging sound it makes.

  “My balls aren’t as tight as your hand; they make a lower pitched baritone sound when you hoof them.”

  Maya makes a contorted face at him and looks away.

  Joo-Eun rolls her eyes and says, “Those twinkling lights were tiny particles of energy hitching a ride on your neurotransmitters. You released ten times the amount of chemical into your body. It’s no wonder you seized. Your entire body was overloaded with energy.”

  Maya opens her mouth to say something, but Ethan interrupts and says, “Not for that purpose, Byte.”

  Tyrese steps forward and says, “All I felt with Pebble was a slight warming in the middle of my palm. Why didn’t we all get affected like that?”

  Joo-Eun just shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.

  I step forward and flash my best smile. “What can I say? I’m one of a kind!”

  “Okay well other than amplifying Ghost’s ego, are there any other side effects? I need to know if I should be draining his cranial fluid now or wait until he’s brewed more.”

  “Bartender!”

  “What? It wouldn’t kill you… and you wouldn’t believe the psychotropic hallucinogens that you can make with CSF? Mmmmm… mmm….. we talkin’ da good shit man.”

  “You are disturbing in so many ways that it truly boggles the mind.” I note.

  “What can I say? My mission is complete.”

  Pebble wakes up and rolls down Maya’s leg. He maintains a three-foot berth from me no matter where I go. He flashes me slow, blue pulses as he does.

  “Don’t worry, Pebble. I’m not taking it personally. I heard you were pretty messed up too. I don’t suppose you happen to know why?”

  The lights within the tiny sphere go dark for a few seconds.

  “Well what did you expect? He’s the mental equivalent of a toddler!” Ethan comments.

  Pebble sends a bolt of electricity that pegs Ethan right in the groin. He drops to the ground with his face twisted in agony.

  “UUNNGGGHHHHH! Fuck me! This was worse than the time that we copied Jackass and I attached the Dr. Ho’s to my nutsack!”

  “Way to go, Pebble. That’s how we do it! High five for mommy!”

  Pebble sends up a tiny bolt that hits Maya’s palm and sends out rings of blue lights as if he dropped a pebble into a pond.

  We stand around Ethan for a good thirty seconds before the cramping finally subsides.

  I look at Tyrese while Ethan is still prostrate on the ground and smile. “We should do this more often.”

  He smirks and winks back. “I’m sure he’ll give us plenty of opportunities.”

  “Okay, enough making fun of me. Help me up, Tank.”

  “Nope. You got what you deserved. Get yourself up.”

  Ethan decides to use Tyrese like a pole. “Hey, you said to do it myself. You didn’t specify the parameters!”

  Tyrese stands there gritting his teeth and cupping his nuts and growls, “I shouldn’t have to!”

  Once he is upright, Ethan dusts off both himself and Tyrese. Tank flusters the whole time and tries to slap him away.

  “Awwwww, it’s like when we fight, Joo-Eun. See! Boys CAN be cute but it only happens when they aren’t trying to be!” Maya says as she nudges Joo-Eun.

  Tyrese clears his throat and takes a step away from the group. Ethan blows him a kiss and adjusts his jacket. “Okay, I’m ready. What are we doing?”

  The guys look at me with heads tilted and vacant expressions.

  “You guys serious? We’re actually considering giving in?”

  Tyrese steps forward and says, “No. But just following Pebble to God only knows where isn’t really much of a plan.”

  I think about it for a moment as I stare at the tiny orb. The more I look, the closer it seems to come until I feel myself leaning forward towards it.

  “You know what guys… that is exactly what we are going to do! Call me crazy but I trust this little guy!”

  Pebble whizzes around in concentric circles while flashing bright blue lights the entire time.

  “Whoa, check him out. It’s like being in K-Mart!”

  We all laugh and take a step towards Pebble. The tiny sphere rolls into the middle of the path and begins a steady, pulsing glow as he rolls the way. We walk that way for a few minutes in total silence. Ethan finally breaks the silence.

  “Fuck highway hypnosis; that light is way better.”

  We all nod in agreement just as the path widens into a wide circle about fifteen feet across. There are monolith-like structures all around it.

  “I’m calling it DANEhenge.” Ethan says while smirking.

  I swallow hard and say, “I kinda wish you wouldn’t. This place gives me the creeps.”

  Right on cue, DANE’s powerful voice rolls through the clouds like thunder. “You have chosen the way of pain. So be it. I don’t need all of you.”

  The ground beneath our feet vibrates with every syllable and Pebble immediately scurries onto Maya’s shoulder.

  I look up to the sky and scream while shaking my fist. “I don’t care how slick of a pitch you manage. You are not taking my free will!”

  “Uh Ghost?”

  “One sec, Tank. I’m going to give that piece of…”

  “Not now, Ghost. LOOK!”

  I look at the five monoliths and see what has got him so worried. A dozen metallic buds are starting to protrude from the surface of each five-foot by fifteen-foot slab.

  “Defensive positions, Tank. We’ll make a perimeter around the other three and…”

  Ethan puts his hand on my shoulder and says, “Not this time, Ghost. We’ve got this one with you.”

  He then hurls a flas
k at the nearest monolith. The tentacles that are coming out immediately stop at their three-foot length and become encrusted with an ice-like coating. He then looks over at Tyrese and gestures like a maître d’ to a customer, “Señor, Tank. Feel free to do the honors.”

  Tyrese quickly steps in front of the monolith and plants his back foot. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes before unleashing the fastest jumping spinning back kick I have ever seen. His extended right leg hits the rectangle dead center. A ripple of energy spreads from the point of impact and explodes outward. Tiny splintering shards of metal scatter in every direction.

  I stare at Ethan with my eyes and mouth wide open.

  “Stop giving me blowjob face, Ghost. It’s just a little barium hydroxide octahydrate with ammonium thiocyanate mixed with an exergenic enzyme of my own special je ne c’est quoi!” He then mockingly pinches his lips with his thumb and middle finger while blowing a kiss to the sky. Ultimately the thumb is lowered. “Fuck you, DANE! One down!”

  I turn around and see a set of six-footers heading right at Maya. Cool as a cucumber, she takes out her lipstick tube and gives it a twist. A four-foot-long whip made up of pink energy materializes from the end. She winks and blows me a kiss. “Got the idea while watching the second Iron Man movie.”

  Ethan puts his hand on my back and says, “Okay, even I will admit it. That’s fucking sexy!”

  With a flick of her wrist, she snares the arms as they reach out to her. She then touches a series of lights on the sides of her tube and the arms reach out to the statue beside hers. They wrap around the metal structure and squeeze. The ensnared tentacles try to break free but only wind up getting tangled with Maya’s. In the end there is a creaking sound followed by Maya screaming, “I’d get down now and no comments Ethan!”

  We all drop as the two cement structures pull one another apart. Chunks of rock go flinging in opposite directions. Two of them collide in midair, sending a hail of blunt shrapnel raining down. I hide my face but one of the larger chunks clips me on the shoulder, leaving a nasty bruise. I rub the spot while I jump to my feet.