by Tony LaRocca
Alyanna,
If you’re reading this, then I have died without the courage to end things by my own hand. That desire must be painful for you to read, but it doesn’t matter. Either way, it will end soon.
I am sorry, Alyanna. I’m sorry for what I did to you. You lost everything in the crash, and I was afraid you might hurt yourself. I’m sorry, I’m—
She could not make out the last word, but she assumed it was “sorry.” She took the pill, and examined it. “What are you sorry for?” she asked. “What were you trying to say?” She sat on the edge of the bed, and gazed out of the window at the sky.
Everett wobbled through the doorway. “I apologize for my earlier outburst,” he said, his words jittery, and flanged. “It won’t happen again. My damaged circuits have been re–routed.”
“What happened here?” she asked.
“A violent Cyleb. Disgusting woman.”
She held the pill to the light. “Is this really a weapon?”
“I cannot scan its contents,” he said. “The capsule is made from a defractactactact—” He dipped his head, clicked, and raised it again. “I seem to still have problems.”
“Huh,” Alyanna said. “What will you do now?”
“I do not know. Under normal circumstances, he would have a funeral, but these circumstances are not normal. As for me, I’m afraid my next shut–down will be my last.”
Alyanna laid her head in her hands. She felt a warm flush of shame creep up her face. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“Why?”
Tears stung her eyes. “I could have been much kinder to him,” she said. “All he did was love us, Matthew and me.” She stood. “Do you know any reason he would need to apologize to me?”
“I know of no such thing,” said Everett. His voice slowed. “Forgive me, madam, but I fear I don’t have much time left.”
Alyanna nodded. “One more thing. Where did they take Matthew? The painting, did they bring it here?”
“The Cyleb was carrying a null–envelope,” he said in a stilted monotone, each word more drawn out than the last. “I did not see her leave, but I assume she would have gone to their Sanctuary.”
“That’s all you can tell me?”
“Yes, I was quite damaged at the time. I do apologize.”
“Me too,” she said. She left the room, and walked down the stairs. She heard Everett clumping behind her. “It’s all I can do now, being sorry.”
“Yes, of course ma’am,” he said. “I see that you are still slightly intoxicated.”
“Still?”
“When you and your husband would visit, you would put the drinks away quite quickly.” His gears whirled. “Please forgive me, my tact circuits seem to have melted.”
“It’s almost a shame. I like you better this way.”
“Thank you, madam. I only mentioned it because when you walked by, my sensors registered a 0.05 percent alcohol level in your bloodstream. Please be sure to use the autopilot.”
Alyanna snorted. “You smelled it on my breath?” she asked. “You’re a robot who’s about to die, and you’re actually worried about what’s in my… mouth.” She looked at her hand; she still held the capsule. She dropped it into her breast pocket.
“Madam, I must protest,” said Everett. “That might possibly be a dangerous weapon.”
“Don’t sweat it,” she said. She took one last look at the debris–strewn foyer of her father’s home. “Goodbye, Dad,” she said, and left.
Colonel David Rivers closed his eyes, and leaned back in his leather chair. He had suspended his skull in a Quasi–field. It was highly pleasurable, and highly illegal. He had it set to Absolute Zero. He had tried Joy, Contentment, and even Rage, but all were too addictive. Absolute Zero just made him feel like nothing, and that was all he wanted to feel.
The intercom buzzed. Somewhere in the delicious void, the lifelong soldier within broke through, and turned the field off. Emotions, sensations, and memories flooded over him. The intercom buzzed again. He lifted the receiver. “Yes?” he asked.
“Sir,” Lieutenant Vadness said, “the next bunch of Redeemers has arrived. You wanted to be informed.”
Shit, this was important. “All right,” he said, his voice slurring. He needed a stimulant.
“Are you okay, sir?”
“Yes, damn it, I’ll be right there,” he said. He pulled the Quasi–field generator off his head. God, he thought, what a monkey on my back. I can’t even go without it at work. I should just shoot myself now. He opened the desk drawer with the false bottom. He looked at the generator. Would just five minutes more cause the NorMec Military Machine to grind to a halt?
Pleasure before business, David?
The colonel jerked his head up. The voice resonated from somewhere inside his skull. It was a voice he had not heard for almost two decades.
“Hello, General,” he spoke aloud in the empty room, his voice hoarse. “It’s been a long time.”
Seventeen years, Jaeger spoke from within his mind. Seventeen years. I’m glad to see your virtual reality neural implant hasn’t been removed. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to talk like this.
David turned, staring at the ceiling. “Where are you?” he asked.
Ah, the general sent. I’m a little bit here, and a little bit there. I’m a little bit everywhere. I’ve been riding the currents of data networks, learning about the world that passed me by.
“I thought that little show in the desert was for your benefit.”
I never could pull one over on you.
“So, this explains all the increased Cyleb activity,” Rivers said. “What do you want?”
I don’t know, honestly, said the voice. So much has changed. The latest generation of my children is but a shadow of what we once were. But here you are, squirreled away, working on new implants and technology to better the human race, in between getting your fixes.
“We have to survive.”
You won’t. Not against what’s in the desert. Especially now, with biopures dying by the millions. What your drones can see is just the tip of the iceberg. Sooner or later, they’ll eat through your shields, and then there will be nothing left of NorMec, nothing but sand and insects from coast to coast.
“The human race must survive, somehow,” Rivers said. The intercom buzzed again. He picked it up. “I said I’d be there in a minute.” He slammed the phone down.
I want to see one of these Redeemers.
“That’s—”
Classified. Don’t be so predictable. I’ve been through your databases. I know all about the project. I want to see one in action.
Rivers bit the inside of his cheek. “So what do you need me for?” he asked.
Nothing, sent Jaeger. I can tap into your cameras and communications, and see everything for myself. But to tell the truth, I’ve just been lonely.
Rivers took a deep breath. “I can imagine.” He stood. “Well, shall we?”
They walked through the maze of the base together. Rivers wondered if he should put a bullet in his brain, but what purpose would that serve? He knew Jaeger could stroll through their computer banks at will, taking whatever he wanted. At least this way, he might gain some inkling of the Cyleb’s plans.
They came to a room fashioned from concrete. A metal chair adorned with restraints had been bolted to the floor. A buzzer sounded. On the far side, a door slid open. Two guards dragged a woman into the room, their hands clasped under her arms. A gag filled her mouth. Her eyes rolled in their sockets. Her head jerked back and forth in spasms. They forced her into the steel chair, strapping down her arms and legs. A technician entered, injected her scalp with local anesthesia, and made an incision along her temple. He inserted a series of twisted, luminescent fibers. The buzzer sounded again, and Lieutenant Vadness entered.
“Good morning, sir,” he said, coming to Rivers’s side. “Shall we begin?” He took his tablet from under his arm, and read from its screen. “Nancy Baker,” he said. “Convi
cted of drowning her three–year–old son and the children of two neighbors, one after the other. History of psychotic episodes, due to a chemical imbalance. The imbalance has been corrected six times. However, the subject always slips back into psychosis after about twelve weeks. With your permission?” Rivers nodded, and Vadness removed the woman’s gag. She coughed and sputtered, a glob of phlegm and saliva dripping from her mouth and onto the floor.
“Mrs. Baker,” Rivers said with a cough. He scratched his chin. “Why did you kill those children?”
“Fuck you.”
“Come now,” he said. He crooked his finger. Vadness responded with a few taps on his tablet. The woman’s eyes widened. “Don’t you want to tell us why?” She did not speak, but her face twitched, as if she might cry. Images of the children filled the room, one by one. “There’s your son Gregory, his best friend Joshua Moorhead, Joshua’s sister Maria, and Anthony Irons. Now, won’t you please tell us why these children, especially your son, deserved to be drowned?”
Her face screwed up tight.
“You know, Mrs. Baker, hospital records state something strange about your sleeping habits. Something about bedwetting, am I right?”
The patient snarled, and thrashed in her chair.
“I bet you wet the bed a lot, Nancy.”
“Burning!” she cried. “Gregory’s eyes were green. I put him in the bath because he had such a high fever, and I didn’t want the Cies to take him, so I pushed him in, and held him down. And all his friends, they were going to get it too, I knew it, and I couldn’t let the robots take them, I couldn’t…” She collapsed, sagging in her restraints.
“Their parents loved them,” said Rivers, twitching his finger again. Vadness made a few adjustments. “None of them had the Burning, except your boy. I don’t believe you. You just like to kill.”
“Shithead,” she said, spitting. The colonel saw a look of murderous fury in her eyes. The woman was psychotic. She had no filters between her ego and the chaos that raged inside her subconscious. “You have no idea what pain is. You stupid, ugly, fuck.”
Vadness activated the redeemer. The fibers glowed with a pulsating, violet light. Nancy froze. Her eyes rolled back in her head, her irises contracting and dilating every other second. She shook, letting out a long shriek mixed with giggles and moans that were almost orgasmic. Her head lolled forward.
The technician removed the fibers, sprayed a sealant on her skull, and sutured her skin. Nancy lifted her shaved head. Her face, though lined and bruised, was blank and thoughtful.
“Nancy?” Colonel Rivers asked.
“Mmm?”
“Nancy,” he said again, “tell me about the children.”
“The children?” Her face clouded. “I killed them,” she said. “I’m sorry I did it, but I was very sick.” She lowered her head.
“Do you feel guilty?”
She pursed her lips, thinking. “No,” she said. “Forgive me if that makes me a bad person, but I don’t. I was sick, and I was grieving. I would never do such a thing, now.”
Vadness continued to tap on his tablet. “One more thing, Nancy,” Rivers said. “Do you ever wet your bed?”
She flushed. “I’ve done that, it’s a bit embarrassing.”
“A bit embarrassing?” Rivers asked. “You should be embarrassed. If you were my wife, I’d be ashamed of you.”
Nancy opened and closed her mouth. “Is… is there something wrong with you?” she asked.
Rivers glanced at Vadness. “Thank you, Mrs. Baker,” he said. The guards removed her straps. She stood, rubbing her arms. She followed them to the door, and then stopped.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?” asked Rivers.
She touched her chest. “It’s like, like there were voices everywhere, whispering or yelling at me, all of the time. Now they’re gone. Like I was being smothered for years, and now I can breathe again. So thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome,” he said. He watched as she exited the room.
David…
Rivers clutched the arm of his chair. He stood. “Lieutenant, prepare the next subject. I’ll be back.” He entered the nearest men’s latrine, and locked the door. He looked in the mirror.
“Well?” he asked.
It’s extraordinary, sent Jaeger. Think of it, biopures without guilt, without anxiety or terror. Think of all man could achieve, unbridled. There was a pause. Think of what you could achieve, without all the filth inside holding you back.
“Can you read my mind now?”
I don’t need to. Benjamin Dvorkin is dead. Did you know that? Rivers’s shoulders slumped. No, I see you didn’t. He’s gone. Your daughter, Charlene, she just passed too, didn’t she? Yet there you were, letting your Quasi–field dissolve your soul, trying to forget all your pain. Wouldn’t it be wonderful not to have any guilt over that, to forget her completely? How old was she, eleven?
Rivers licked his lips. They felt like rubber. “Ten,” he said.
And with this little invention, you would feel no guilt that the biological weapon you helped create killed her. Then you could feel free to make more. There was a pause. I can’t let this go on.
Rivers held his reflection’s gaze. “What are you going to do?” he asked.
Destroy it. Destroy every vestige of it. Every model, inside of your insane lab–rats’ skulls or not, every last one and zero in your files.
“When?”
Now.
“Wait.” Rivers raised his hands. “Give me six hours.”
You can’t stop me.
“It’s not that. I…” He swallowed. “I want to remove it from the patients first. There are nineteen of them, so far.”
“Fie! A soldier and afeard?” Jaeger sent with a chuckle. You’ve gone soft in your old age. A few silent seconds passed. That last woman, only. The operation to put it in took fifteen minutes. You have twenty.
Rivers closed his eyes. “Thank you,” he said.
Get moving, David, although I think it would be kinder to let me put her out of her misery with the others.
Rivers ran his hand across his face. “H.Q.,” he said, “what will I tell them?”
Tell them that I have returned, Jaeger sent, and departed, leaving the colonel to the torrent of his thoughts.
Alyanna touched down outside of the Sanctuary. There was a flurry of activity as vehicles landed and took off, their passengers all third–generations in hazmat suits. She went ignored amidst the sea of identical faces, until she reached the nearest entrance. Two Cylebs guarded it.
“I want to see Sigma,” she said, her voice cracking.
The Cylebs blinked simultaneously. After a pause, the one on the right opened the door for her. “Please enter, ma’am,” he said.
Alyanna clenched her hands. She had not anticipated that they would just let her walk in without an argument. She stepped inside. Once they sealed the door behind her, the airlock was dark. She could make out another door in front of her, if she squinted.
“Please stand still,” said a voice that reverberated throughout the chamber. Jets of cold air thick with shimmering particles buffeted her from all sides. Her clothes rippled, and her hair billowed around her. She tried to breathe, but she choked on the tiny motes of light as if they were dust. As abruptly as it had started, the assault stopped. A line of blue light raked over her face and down her body. Even through her clothes, it stung like heat on a sunburn. The light traced her from head to toe, and then back up again. It stopped at her chest. “Please identify object in breast pocket.”
“Medication,” she said, “stomach issues.”
A few seconds passed. The ring of blue light stung its way back to the top of her scalp. “No viruses detected,” said the voice. The light winked out. “Proceed.” The doors at the end of the hall spun outwards toward her, and she walked inside.
The room beyond resembled a chapel more than the entrance to a military facility. The ceiling curved upward into a
dome. At the center was a sapphire fountain, with pews laid around it in a triangular pattern. A handful of Cylebs knelt throughout them. One bent figure held court at the font, his right hand swishing back and forth in the clear water. None of their uniforms had numbers.
She approached, her legs shaking with every step. One by one, she felt the eyes of the Cylebs turn towards her. “Hello?” she said. Her voice echoed. She took in the patrons with quick, nervous eyes. They looked back at her with naked curiosity.
The Cyleb at the font stopped his swirling of the water, and straightened. His expression softened. “It’s you,” he said.
“Sigma,” Alyanna said. “I want to talk to her, now.”
“She does not wish to be disturbed,” he said. “You are Alyanna Galbraith.” She nodded. “Do you wish to join us?”
“No,” she said. “I mean—”
“Shh,” he interrupted. “There’s no need to explain. You may sit, and watch us meditate, if you wish, or you may join us.” He returned to swirling the water with his fingers, causing it to ripple.
“Yeah,” she said. “What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “I am 0800. We met at the hospital.”
“Okay, Eight–hundred,” she said. “I want to see Sigma. I want to see her now. I want to see my son.” Her voice choked on the last word.
“I’m sorry, but she can’t be disturbed,” he said. “I understand, you must be under a tremendous amount of stress.”
Don’t think, she told herself, just do it. Her shaking hand stabbed into her pocket, grabbed the pill, and popped it into her mouth. She held the capsule between her teeth as if it were made of eggshell. “Can you scan what this is?” she asked around it.
His eyes flashed. “It’s a pill capsule,” he said. “I can’t see its composition through the shell. There are some markings on it though; it’s an old Scarlet Labs code.” He paused. “Oh dear.”
“What would happen if I chomped on it, if I broke the shell, and it mixed with the saliva in my mouth?”
He blinked a few times. Alyanna heard a rustling noise as the other Cylebs surrounded them. “If the outside markings are accurate, it would react with the enzymes in your saliva, causing roughly a two–ton explosion.”