The Golden City fr-3

by John Twelve Hawks

42

  Hello, I’m Gabriel Corrigan. “I realize that it’s a surprise to see my face on your monitor screen. Some of you might be frantically pushing the ‘delete’ key or wondering if you should unplug your computer.

  “The first thing I need to explain is that your computer hasn’t been harmed and none of your data has been lost. My message to you is a one-time event. When I finish speaking, this video will end and will never appear without your permission. You can erase it or play it again by searching on your hard disc for a file called revelation.

  “Right now, I’m in the United States, in California, where something terrible has happened. Fourteen children have disappeared…” Gabriel held up a photograph of one of the kidnapped children. “Including a little boy named Roberto Cabral.”

  “The people listening to this message have different nationalities and speak different languages. But all of you can understand how the loss of a child evokes powerful emotions. The parents living in California are frightened. They’re worried that they can’t protect their children.

  “Towards the end of this message I’m going to share some news about the lost children, but first I need to explain why all this happened. The disappearances were not some random event caused by a madman. The children were kidnapped because of an elaborate plan created by my brother, Michael Corrigan, who is currently the head of the Evergreen Foundation,

  “The Foundation is the public face of a group called the Brethren, a secret organization that has existed for many years. Their members hide in the shadows as they push and guide our leaders toward a system of pervasive social control. Anyone who has noticed the changes taking place all over the world can sense their presence and their power. The men and women who belong to the Brethren have one purpose: they want to control your life.

  “Now some of you might be asking: ‘Is the Brethren a left wing or a right wing group? What is their political philosophy?’

  “These kinds of questions aren’t misguided-just irrelevant. Ideology is dying in our new age. Political slogans have become code words for different cultural and economic groups. In most countries, left-wing and right-wing governments share the same goal: to strengthen the technology that watches our lives. This all-pervasive system of electronic surveillance is called the Vast Machine.

  “Some of you have already become aware of this new system. One morning, you wake up, look around, and realize that surveillance cameras are everywhere. It feels like you’ve stepped into a massive electronic prison.

  “But the cameras are only a small part of the Vast Machine. Every major government in the world is reading your email messages and listening to your phone calls with scanning programs that react to certain words and phrases. Security agencies and corporations monitor your bank and credit card activity. Your mobile phones and your car generate data about your location and activities.

  “We can usually see the cameras, but the rest of our prison is invisible. Sophisticated software programs acquire information from your purchases, your work activity and your medical files to create a shadow image of your life. Separate databases are being combined into a total information system, and this data will be saved forever.

  “Many people will gladly trade their personal privacy for small improvements in their lives. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong,’ proclaims the honest citizen. ‘So why should I be worried?’

  “We are being watched, but who is in charge of the watching? Although some of us freely offer up our private lives to the Vast Machine, we have no knowledge of how the information is being used and who is using it. Criminals can duplicate our identities. Corporations can manipulate our spending behavior. Governments can manufacture opinions and crush dissent. We are seen, but they are faceless. We are asked to live in a transparent house while the forces of power are concealed.

  “In order to justify these changes, the Brethren have used the politics of fear. Kings and dictators have always used fear to strengthen and validate their power. Much of history is simply a record of one group of people trying to destroy another group of people who have a different language, faith or culture.

  “But the new technology has made some crucial changes in the politics of fear. Modern media allows frightening images to be broadcast immediately with great emotional impact and power. In addition, there are very few leaders that challenge the public to be brave and take responsibility for their lives. The political credo of our times sounds like an all-powerful parent talking to a child. Sit down and don’t ask questions. We’ll take care of everything.

  “Michael Corrigan has created a crisis here in California. He’s used the politics of fear to gain support for something called the Guardian Angel system. In this system, every child under the age of thirteen will have a radio chip implanted beneath their skin.

  Some of you might think this is an impossible fantasy, but the technology is fairly simple. In China, the authorities are insisting that everyone carry a special ID card. The card can be detected by sensors that allow the Vast Machine to track your movements.

  “The infrastructure is already in place for a world where our individual Self becomes just another object like an automobile or a television set. In this system, we become a mobile ID chip, moving through an environment of other chips that link and communicate with each other. Our individual actions are simply more data for the Machine.

  “Privacy is the ability to control access to information about one’s Self. It’s easy to see that this invisible, all-pervasive system will destroy any sort of privacy. We’ll lose the power to protect our Self from the scrutiny of unknown groups or individuals.

  “And some of you may ask: ‘Is there any value to privacy?’

  “All new ideas are dependent of some kind of mental privacy-the potential for peace and reflection. The Vast Machine provides information about us and gives the authorities a wide variety of ways to manipulate our thoughts with a subtle power. Everything we hear and see can be shaped to create certain prejudices. Free will-that is, our ability to make real choices about significant issues-becomes an illusion. Gradually, we are surrounded by targeted messages that destroy the opportunity to make own decisions.

  “Freedom of thought isn’t the only value attacked by the culture of surveillance. The Vast Machine also gives governments the power to control our actions. At the beginning of this message, I said that ideology is dead. But a new kind of pernicious nationalism has appeared along with the spread of religious fundamentalism. Both groups want to use the new technology to control their citizens.

  “And an equal danger exists in democracies. Many elected leaders want to restrict freedom because it appears more efficient or simply because they can. Instead of controlling technology, they serve it. Day by day, the Machine gains power over its creators.

  “Some of you have seen the future clearly. For these people, it feels as if we are trapped in a gigantic mall, frightened but hiding our fear, trudging from store to store, carrying objects purchased for some reason-now forgotten. Celebrities appear and disappear on monitor screens while music continues to play.

  “When people believe they have no real power, their only choice becomes what to consume. Our society’s constant emphasis on buying things has nothing to do with the loss of morality. We feel powerful when we buy something, so we are easily manipulated to buy more.

  “I’ve spoken about freedom throughout this message, but for many of us the word has lost its meaning. The faces on television use the word freedom as the justification for war and the expansion of the Vast Machine. The word ‘freedom’ is used to sell airplane tickets and lawn mowers.

  “Freedom is the ability to think, act and express our views. In a free society, our rights are respected as long as they don’t harm others. A political system that allows freedom has validity no matter how you view mankind.

  “If you believe that humanity is greedy, violent and intolerant, then free thought challenges bad leaders and corrupt institutions.

  “If yo
u have a positive view of humanity, then you can see how freedom allows new ideas and technical innovation. Religious and political dictatorships lumber down the road like an old truck spitting out foul exhaust. The entire country can’t turn in a new direction when the scenery begins to change.

  “The Vast Machine carries us toward a world where free thought and the expression of those thoughts becomes difficult-and, sometimes, impossible. And the politics of fear gives our leaders the justification for more control.”

  Gabriel picked up the photographs. “And sometimes, the threat is exaggerated or even false. Here in California, the Evergreen Foundation made fourteen children disappear. But they are alive-and safe-and their story will validate my message. Of course there are real terrorists, and we should defend ourselves against their attacks. But the anthrax incident in Tokyo, the bombings in Paris, and the poisoned food in Australia are events deliberately created to establish a permanent system of control. Look behind the curtain and ask yourself: who really benefits from these changes?

  “Some of us have had enough of fear and manipulation. In the next few days, we will appear in the chambers of power and in the street. Join us. Stand with us. Who speaks for freedom? It’s your choice.”

  43

  Priest switched off the video camera. Gabriel’s face disappeared from the monitor, and few seconds later a message appeared on the screen. Video statement received and recorded. Quality good. I’ll attach the key and send out immediately. My body is captive, but my spirit flies. The Nighthawk.

  The Traveler sighed and pressed his hands against his eyes.

  “You okay, Gabe?”

  “I don’t feel like talking to people. Call Simon Lumbroso and tell him to activate the groups.”

  “Good idea. Then we should find some place to hide.”

  “No. We need to find my brother.” Gabriel got up from the desk. “Boone said that he was staying at the El Dorado Hotel.”

  Priest called Simon as they got back in the car and head north to the beach area. The Traveler was quiet and slumped against the door. He stared out the windshield as patches of street lights glided across this face.

  “What are you going to do when you meet your brother?”

  “Michael will see what happened as a setback, but he won’t give up. The half gods of the Fifth Realm have changed the way he views reality.”

  “Do you want me to kill him?”

  The Traveler looked surprised. “You really have become a Harlequin.”

  “He wants to destroy you, Gabriel. It’s my obligation to keep you alive.”

  “I’m the one who needs to deal with Michael. He’s my brother. We’re connected to each other.”

  The mobile phone rang, and Priest slipped on an ear piece. Simon was calling from Rome. “Tell the Traveler that his message has gone public.”

  Like a wave gaining size and power, Gabriel’s speech began to appear on computers all over the world. Priest knew that it was all because of a complicated package of programming code that that could replicate itself and spread to other machines, but he found it easier to see the Revelation Worm as a creature hiding on the bottom of a river. The Traveler’s speech only needed to be sent to one computer. Within seconds, the programming key activated the hidden worm. While the speech was being copied multiple times, the worm’s command function took over the computer’s video play capability. Then it was in control, and it insisted that Gabriel’s speech appear on the monitor screen. After the speech was broadcast, the individual worm withered and died, but the key continued to spread through the Internet.

  Simon called several more times as Gabriel’s two-level strategy started to unfold. The middle class citizens involved in the Resistance were sending out the first of what would be thousands of emails to journalists and elected officials. They demanded an investigation into the Evergreen Foundation and challenged the new laws against personal freedom.

  These citizens were what Gabriel had called the “Voice in the Forum,” but the “Voice in the Street” was also getting organized. It was early morning in Europe. Small groups of Free Runners hurried through streets of a half-dozen cities, putting up posters and spraying graffiti. Who’s in charge? Listen to the Traveler! Defend your freedom before it disappears!

  Priest turned on the car radio and found a news station. When the announcer came on, it sounded like he had just run down a hallway to the microphone.

  “They’re alive! The children are alive! A few minutes ago, the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Department announced that the fourteen missing children have been found at an abandoned mining operation near Rosemond. Four dead adults were found at the site and law enforcement personnel are attempting to-”

  Gabriel leaned forward and switched off the radio.

  “Don’t you want to hear what happened?”

  “It’s already in the past.”

  “What are you talking about? This is going to change everything.”

  “This is just one battle. The conflict will never end.” Gabriel peered through the windshield as if he was searching for a lost friend. “We do have one advantage over the Tabula. Because they worship power, they have a hierarchy and a few centralized locations for their equipment and employees. They may seem strong and efficient, but they’re actually more vulnerable than we are.”

  “We’re just a lot of groups.”

  “That’s right. The Resistance is a collection of different groups with different motivations, but the same general goal. We’re hard to find, hard to destroy.”

  “That might be true, Gabe. But all this is happening because you appeared.”

  “My father has spent years trying to understand why the Travelers exist. Some are killed. Others die in obscurity. Some teach a lesson that survives for a period of time and then fades away. Maybe we’re some kind of cosmic anomaly that must keep appearing, again and again, to guide the six realms in a certain direction.”

  They parked a few blocks from the El Dorado Hotel and got out. Priest had taken a bed sheet from Boone’s room, and he wrapped it around the assault rife so that it looked like a wad of dirty laundry. The two men passed through the hotel lobby and took an elevator up to the fourth floor.

  “Did Boone tell you the room number?” Priest asked.

  “412.”

  “Let me handle this. I’ll get us inside.”

  As they headed down the hallway, Priest saw a room-service tray on the floor. He concealed the dirty plates beneath their plastic covers, then picked up the tray with his left hand while his right hand clutched the rifle.

  “Knock on the door, Gabriel. Then step back.”

  Priest stood in hallway with a big smile on his face as a young Asian man wearing a handgun in a shoulder holster answered the door.

  “Room service for Mr. Corrigan.”

  “He didn’t order-”

  Priest threw the tray and all its contents directly into the mercenary’s face. As the man stumbled backward, Priest laid him on the floor with a leg sweep, then clubbed him with the butt of the assault rifle. On the edge of his vision, he saw Gabriel slip into the bedroom. First he secured the area, making sure there were no other bodyguards, then he heard the two brothers arguing.

  “No, you won’t!” Michael shouted. “That’s not going to happen!”

  Priest ran across the living room and yanked open the bedroom door. There was an open suitcase on the bed and a smaller bag on the breakfast table. He stepped around the corner of the bed and stopped.

  Two bodies lay motionless on the floor-alive, but lifeless, empty of their Light.

  44

  The four barriers of air, earth, fire and water stood between the different realms. For some Travelers, the barriers were their only experience in a different reality. They would have a nightmare that they were drowning in a whirlpool or wandering alone across a barren plain. The experience could be so terrifying that Travelers never wanted to return to that place. They would spend the rest of their lives afraid of sle
ep, clinging to the familiar world that surrounded them.

  ***

  When Gabriel opened his eyes, he was falling through blue sky. His brother was far ahead of him, a black speck of anger and desire, as small as a starling flying through a cathedral. Michael shifted his body, reached the passageway and disappeared. And Gabriel followed him, gliding across the sky toward a shadow.

  ***

  Darkness. When he opened his eyes again he was standing on a desert plain. There were no mountains or canyons to be found in this earth barrier-just coarse red dirt, cracked and weathered from an eternal drought. Michael was about a mile away, kneeling on the earth like an athlete who had lost his footing. When he saw Gabriel coming toward him, he jumped up and began running. Both brothers sensed where the passageway was hidden, but Michael appeared cautious and uncertain. Twice, he stopped as if he was going to face his brother, then he changed his mind and started running again. Gabriel widened his stride and tried to shorten the distance between them. But Michael reached the passageway and disappeared.

  ***

  Gabriel passed quickly through the dark green waves of the water barrier and suddenly he was standing in an empty town surrounded by a dead forest. This was the fire barrier, and everything around him was burning. If he stayed here long enough, he could watch the endless cycle of destruction and renewal.

  A massive wall of smoke rose up from the burning trees. Orange sparks and bits of ash drifted through the air. The two and three-story buildings were linked by a sidewalk made of pine and the loose boards squeaked and shuddered as he ran toward the town church. Smoke pushed its way through key holes and letter slots. Gabriel glanced through a window and saw a barber chair on fire as if a flame creature had sat down for a shave.

  When he reached the church, he yanked open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside. The rafters were burning, and embers glowed on the floor. Directly behind the altar, fire flowed up the walls like shimmering lines of water.