It was my turn to smile. That was good enough for me.
Once the cruisers got us out of the precinct and we disembarked I addressed the group.
“You’ll be pleased to know that with this minor incursion into this most dangerous precinct we have ably demonstrated our point. That this precinct with its several warring public housing estates is far too dangerous a place to locate an adjacent private aged persons facility. We have everything we need here to convince Council that the developers have got it all wrong.”
Well done all!
End
The Shooting Gallery
I took aim at the grotesque alien entity that appeared before me. With only a micro second to decide, I fired. Just the once.
“Good clean shot, instant death,” boomed the automated shooting gallery’s robotic announcer. “Only problem is he was a friendly, a Glaxian no less. One of our closest allies.”
Was the announcer rubbing it in? I wondered. It seemed almost rude if that were possible.
Next up was a very beautiful alien woman. Too beautiful, too perfect to be a woman of Earth. Homo Superior I guessed but from where? Those thoughts passed through my mind in the micro second I chose not to shoot her and instead she shot me. Was I influenced by her beauty? That something that beautiful couldn’t possibly be our enemy?
“Wrong again!” boomed the announcer. The thing seemed to be laughing at me, even taunting me, enjoying my discomfort. Was it programmed such that its attitude changed the more mistakes I made? I might not have minded so much but the alien woman’s shot hurt me. Caused me to stumble and left me feeling numb. “Is that really necessary? Do you need to be so realistic?” I yelled at the robot announcer. There was no reply.
Next up was a droid soldier. Finally I got it right. It was of Fermian construction and had enemy written all over it.
“You are learning!” said the announcer who, it seemed, had also been programmed with sarcasm and impertinence among its various other objectionable qualities. “Good, accurate, temporary disabling shot, but you should have followed up with another shot to permanently disable it.”
Was there no satisfying this announcer? I wondered, ruefully.
I went on down the gallery occasionally getting it right but mostly killing our friends and being shot up by our enemies. The cumulative effect of the shots on me was starting to tell. I was starting to stagger but was determined to complete the course. I noticed the robot controller/announcer did not at any stage suggest I retire from the shooting gallery course. Though I was pretty certain that any human controller/announcer would have suggested just that.
There was another thing about this gallery. Was it just my imagination or were some of my potential targets looking decidedly too real? I asked the announcer. Normally it would not have responded to such a question but inexplicably and almost defensively it did.
“All potential targets are only holograms, re-useable droids, or disposable partial robotic constructions.” So that was the official line. Somehow I just didn’t quite believe that.
Later towards the end of the gruelling gallery I was on the verge of quitting from the sheer pain of hits I’d taken. It was only then that the proverbial really hit the fan.
A Velovrian unisex soldier. It had to be an enemy. I’d never heard of any Velovrian being on our side. It may be that I hesitated oh so briefly – then I fired and it fired at about the same time. I scored a direct hit on an excuse of a head and the Velovrian narrowly missed me.
I waited for the robot announcer to tell me I’d done something wrong but no announcement came. Of any kind. It was so nice to have my robotic taunter silenced for a while. Not far away the green blooded Velovrian looked very real and very dead. Then two human security guards came on the scene and unceremoniously whisked me away from the gallery.
They gave me a pass mark for the shooting gallery test and I was told to keep quiet about what may or may not have happened. I needed the pass for my alien embassies protective officer status. So I did as I was told.
When I next came up for re-testing on a shooting gallery I was stationed on Grolton 4 attached to the Earth embassy there.
The automated shooting gallery there was eerily like the one on Earth even down to its robotic controller/announcer. Who made these shooting galleries anyway? I wondered. I had always assumed that it was an Earth based firm but I was becoming less sure of that.
“Well left,” boomed the robot announcer as I didn’t fire on what looked like an Earthman to me. The thing seemed to have the same impertinent programming as the one on Earth of years ago. It sure sounded like it.
I went down the gallery shooting a few friends and missing a few enemies but mostly getting it right. Seemingly to the annoyance of the robot announcer.
Then everything caught up with me. I hesitated. The target seemed to be located in an Earth setting and appeared to be another Earthman. Except that he was wanted in 8 star systems. I got off a shot but he beat me to it. I fell and kept falling. It was a feeling I have experienced just once before. Travelling through a gateway.
Bloodied and in pain I awoke from unconsciousness just long enough to realise I was no longer on the shooting gallery on Grolton 4 but on the shooting gallery on Earth where I’d first been tested. Security guards stood around me unconcerned and with them was a robot announcer. Just for once it didn’t have anything rude to say for itself. In fact it didn’t have anything to say at all.
The shooting gallery on Earth and on Grolton 4 have been closed,” said a voice as I started to come to. “Others on other worlds will follow. Things were in motion beforehand but what happened to you was the catalyst for speeding the process up.”
At my bedside was an alien. A law enforcer from Grolton 4 but with rare extra planetary authority. I knew him slightly and knew he’d been sniffing around about the shooting galleries.
“It all started when they tried to make the shooting galleries for each world more realistic. Dampened laser and other weapons that actually hurt. Then they occasionally brought in real people that got hurt. They really overdid it when they established some gateway links between shooting galleries. They actually had participants from different galleries up against one another. Then there was ____.”
“It’s a long story,” he sighed “but then you’re not going anywhere.”
End
The Cams
Canberra
Australia 2069
“We immobilised one of them yesterday,” said the Territory Police Commissioner, “but then it self destructed.”
“Any idea who sent them and why?” enquired the Chief Minister.
“No idea,” responded the Commissioner “the feed has been sent to different websites on the deep web. Where it goes after that is anyone’s guess.”
“Extra-terrestrial involvement?’ enquired the Chief Minister in a rare display of insight for a local politician.
“We’re looking into that possibility,” came the reply.
One of the now almost ubiquitous cams was recording two youths walking through a non citizen housing enclave in the suburb of Turnbull. Most of the youth, except those engaged in gratuitous violence, seemed oblivious of one another. Heads down listening to music, eyes viewing the latest vid on the inside lenses of dark glasses. Short range personal radar ensuring they didn’t collide with their fellows.
However three of them were actually engaged in conversation. An unusual occurrence. “My fame index shot up to 0.157 late last night,” boasted a young man.
“Well I’ve reached 6,707 likes on my, Allow my Hologram into Your Home, page,” responded his female companion. “That’s nothing,” chuckled another youth a unisexer, “the change to my 3D insta burst profile reached 8.050 minds in just an hour!”
Another of the numerous cams recorded a conversation on the inner city travelator only accessible by the over 100’s. “You must be approaching your use by date,” chuckled one elderly woman attempting to make light of the Governmen
t mandate. Her even more elderly friend was not amused. “They have transferred all of my residual home equity to consolidated revenue as a prelude to the State putting me down.” She was both angry and scared at the same time.
Another cam religiously followed two politicians in the privileged embassy/politician fortified zone of Canberra. “We’ve promised a budget surplus by 2094,” said one of them. “That’s easy to do since it’s past your used by date,” commented the other.
Somewhere else in the Universe
“I can’t make much sense out of some of these downloads from the galactic net. Especially the human material,” said a frustrated analyser. “Are you sure we are getting a good cross section of human society? The younger humans seem totally obsessed with fame and self image, the older ones are obsessed with death and dwindling assets. While the political leaders don’t really seem to care about anyone other than themselves and are making meaningless promises that they have no intention of keeping. In short they are unworthy of consideration.”
Canberra, months later
“They’ve gone,” said the Chief Minister “there’s not a trace of them.”
“I know,” replied the Police Commissioner.
“Have they just become completely undetectable?” worried the Chief Minister.
“No, I’m assuming they got what they came for, or not, and they have left,” responded the Commissioner. “Those strange dark web sites have gone to,” he added. “We now know that the feeds were uploaded from the dark web sites to that galactic net that we know so little about”
The Commissioner started laughing.
“Viewing those feeds, must have been a headache for whomever or whatever was observing us. I wonder what they made of us?”
Catching on the Chief Minister started laughing too.
End
Feeding Time
Had my long inter-dimensional journey come to an end? I wondered. Yet if so this world didn’t look much at all like the final destination I had envisaged
Then I realised I had only been diverted because of my overwhelming need for sustenance. An automatic survival mechanism of all of my kind.
For a time I remained silently frozen observing my new environment.
The apparently dominant indigenous species hereabouts seemed very small, very frail and something else. Ephemeral.
My sensory systems are not like most sentient entities. Light, sound, smell, taste, touch do not mean so much to me as to most others. Though I can smell some things. Such as fear. Oh yes I can smell fear. No, emotions are what guide me.
Here in this place, this world, this dimension, this reality there was a veritable morass of emotions. Fear, hatred, envy, greed, prejudice, happiness, sadness, love, desire and much more. Though not the full gamut of my vast experience there were even some emotions that I had never sensed before.
One emotion though, at least in this immediate area, was predominant. Vanity. How utterly intriguing. I would have thought these creatures had more to worry about than mere vanity.
At first I fed indiscriminately on the emotional undercurrents. Mostly the darker emotions as I find these best satisfy me. I neither knew nor cared what affect my feeding might have on this world and its inhabitants.
Then fully sated I reverted to my silently frozen observation mode. Had these rather pathetic creatures detected me? If so could they or would they do anything about it? I rather doubted it. Though there were some races capable of giving me pause. I didn’t think that anything hereabouts was capable of doing that.
The time came for me to continue my journey and yet I was reluctant to do so. After all it had been a long time since I’d had any fun.
I amplified the effect of certain emotions. Downplayed the effect of others. I could delightfully feel the overall emotional shock my actions were causing. I was more interested in the changes in the structure of this world’s whole emotion field than the physical effects my actions were having. Physical effects such as the conflicts that I caused ranging from small local disagreements to major continental wars. These physical affects are things unworthy of my notice.
I saved the best until last. Experimenting with the primary emotion hereabouts, the dominant species vanity. Pumping it then deflating it only to pump it again.
How does an entity that has known great fame and adoration cope with sudden anonymity? Not so well I observed, at least not for selected members of this race.
Then finally, and as is inevitably my way, I tired of it all.
Yet this great tapestry of emotions, this vast feeding trough, was too good to remain unknown. I needed to leave a signal, a sign post for those of my kind that might come this way.
Before departing I created a multi-dimensional emotion beacon high above this world. One permanently fuelled by a never ending source of energy. The vanity that ever arises here.
Then before lapsing into unconsciousness for the still long journey ahead I was briefly amused. A rare occurrence indeed. The thought that I was known among my ilk for my kindness. Of course all things are relative.
I realised that others of my ilk visiting here would not be nearly as generous as I had been.
End
The Repository
‘There’s been an unauthorised entry,” cautioned Jeff “quite recently.”
“How do you know?’ I enquired. The repository appeared undisturbed. None of the alarm systems had been triggered. Infinitely small physical entity or robotic movement, breath, saliva, smells, emotions, slightest touch of surfaces, life energy signatures, electronic emissions for AI’s among many other things would trigger the alarms. Nothing was showing on the 3D cameras. Also, most importantly, not even the slightest mind print was detected on the mind imprint register
“A small life energy trace,” replied Jeff “registering on my own instruments. A trace so small that the life energies did not trigger the alarms.”
I had heard of such things aliens, even certain humans, who could temporarily lower their life energies below normal detection levels.
“Can you identify the life energy?” I enquired.
“Unknown,” said Jeff.
“Human or alien?” I enquired
“Hard to tell,” came the reply “possibly hybrid.”
The fact that our visitor was possibly alien and sophisticated enough to avoid immediate detection worried me. The fact that he/she/it had been here quite recently compounded that worry. Life energy traces tended to fade very quickly. Was the intruder somewhere nearby even now?
“Could it be simulated life energy from an advanced AI,” I suddenly had the thought.
“Mmm just possibly,” responded Jeff.
The repository was so well protected it was hard to imagine anything getting into it. It had in times past withstood SE (superior to Earth) technologies. Of course the Dlorne helped us build it. Yet for some reason they had not interfered in the design of the detection technologies. These were all left to Earth to design and they probably had a primary focus on human or human built AI intruders.
We set about examining the tamper proof inventory records system held in beyond electronic form in a pocket dimension only accessible from inside the repository.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, appeared to have been taken. We could confirm also that the inventory records system had not been tampered with. It matched exactly inviolable external duplicate records. Well I suppose they are inviolable. I was beginning to wonder if anything was inviolable these days.
“What do you suppose they were after?” I found myself whispering to Jeff.
He shrugged. “It could be absolutely anything.”
I looked on down the aisle at the knowledge pods that would be available to humanity at pre-determined future dates. Unless of course we discovered or otherwise acquired the knowledge beforehand. In which case the particular knowledge pod became just about useless.
The Faster than Light Travel knowledge pod was still some years away from accessibility a
s was the true teleportation knowledge pod. The inter-dimensional travel knowledge pod was even further away from accessibility. We had not made much progress on any of these matters and likely would have to wait until we could access the knowledge pods on the designated dates.
For much of humanity the existence of the repository and its knowledge pods was a source of deep frustration. Perhaps it would have been better kept as a secret from the bulk of humanity. The advanced races, the Dlorne and others, who contributed to the Repository no doubt knew what they were doing. They had done it for other worlds and it was all part of a grand scheme for the controlled evolution of this part of the galaxy. Apparently it had worked well on some worlds. The Repository was not entirely static. Occasionally one of the higher races added to it and inevitably pods reached their designated dates and were opened.
Jeff interrupted my thoughts. “The reality seal on this particular knowledge pod has been interfered with. Just oh so slightly that I missed it first time around. Someone has been inside it and no doubt electronically recorded its secrets.”
“Which knowledge pod is it?” I asked trembling slightly.
“Ultimate Stealth for humans and human built AI’s,” Jeff responded.
“Why would the intruder need that?” I asked “he/she/it seems to be already very well endowed in that area.”
“Well, we did eventually discover the intrusion,” offered Jeff.
We continued checking the reality seals on all of the remaining knowledge pods.
It was a laborious process. Yet in terms of the protocols we could not call on outside assistance. Since our discovery of the reality seal break the Repository had gone into total lockdown. No, Jeff and I as selected Dlorne appointed human guardians of the Repository had only ourselves to rely on.
We detected two more knowledge pod breaches.
A Collection of Science Fiction Gems Page 8