The Last Place to Stand

by Redshaw, Aaron K.

  “Yeah,” Sydney said, “I do.”

  “Can you believe it? Do you think it was a failed experiment?”

  “How could it be?” said Sydney. “The experiments have always been to improve humans. How could that cause an explosion?”

  “I don't know,” said Odysseus. “It almost makes me want to get nearer just to find out what's going on.”

  Sydney said with a chuckle, “No need to go doing that. Remember, we have people out there. You know, Samuel and his men. And I'm told there are others in the city as well. They'll know what's going on and they have the ability to do something if it needs doing. Very resourceful that Samuel.”

  “Yeah, I'm sure you’re right. I just would like to know. “

  “Me too,” said Sydney.

  Chapter 43

  Chai turned to Greg, “What was that?”

  “A big boom,” said Greg with a smirk.

  “No, I mean it. It was loud.”

  Now serious, Greg said, “I know. And that brief power outage was weird. There hasn't been a power outage for as long as I can remember.” Greg brought out his mini-computer. “I'm gonna see what the city computer systems show.”

  “I can't get over how you can get into systems like that.”

  “Hey, I was taught by the government to break into government systems. It's their own fault.”

  Zach, their leader, came over to where they were stationed. “Men, it was a power surge. I'm sure of it. Not sure why we lost power at first though. That hasn't happened in practically forever.” Then noticing the computer Greg had out, “You checking out the system?”

  “That's the plan,” said Greg.

  All three of them watched Greg's screen. He was a master at this sort of thing. It was what made him invaluable to the team. An insider techie guy who liked technology, but did not agree with what it did to people if gone unchecked. As they stared at the screen they could see Greg going through lines of code, bypassing security systems almost at will. As he was maneuvering through the system to inquire about what happened, Zach noticed the screen seemed to be brightening slightly. A shape on the screen slowly came into view. It was the face of a man. It looked three dimensional. The face was in black on a black screen. It was hard at first to tell what they were looking at. Then it said, “Ah, Ah, Ah. No you don't.” It shook its head back and forth, a reproving gesture. Then the face faded again into the background. For a moment Greg kept typing. Then suddenly he stopped and said, “They're all closed. All the doors I can usually enter have been closed. I can no longer maneuver the system. Someone is blocking all access. We can't get in.”

  “Then let's get out,” said Zach. “I have a bad feeling about this.” Zach's feelings were rarely ever wrong. A couple of times this had saved the men's lives. “Let's notify the others. Most of them are back at camp. Let's go.”

  ***

  In the background a fire burned with a crackling sound at the top of the Techcorp building. People nearby watched in wonder and horror. Being the largest building in the city, it was a kind of monument. But being the building that housed the governing authorities as well, it was the seat of power and so this fire was a threat.

  It was also the main hub of feed transmissions. All but a few private or illegal feeds were cut off. This was a major issue with the people. Those who had been out late at night suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at the building. Those farther away just stopped their feed assimilation and stared into space, wondering what to do next. The feeds were their main source of entertainment and the main source of communication. But feeds must be monitored, so all but a couple of pirated feed transmitters had gone through the Techcorp building.

  A city full of people, who did not sleep much anyway, wondered what had happened. But mostly, they just wondered what to do now. They were not used to boredom. They had no coping mechanisms, only the feeds. Some cried, some yelled. It was a city full of babies who had never learned to grow up.

  Chapter 44

  “What was that?” the general shouted to Dr. Chin as he opened the door to boardroom 16. The lights had been off briefly, and then a tremendous explosion shook the building. The Director and other advisors had never left the room. “An earthquake?”

  The screen was again projected onto the wall and everyone was paying rapt attention. “Let's watch and see,” said the Director. The screen still revealed the patient, but now there seemed to be an aura around him. Light shown from the cocoon and strands of the silver wires, like hair floated out from it like a head in water. “Please show the vitals,” said the Director. “I’ve got to know what’s going on in there.”

  He’s not the only one, thought the general.

  “I can't,” said A116, who was working the controls. “Nothing I do makes any difference.”

  Just then, the Director turned to the general. “So what happened in your meeting?”

  “Nothing,” said the general.

  “Nothing?” said the Director.

  “They will be no help to us,” said the general.

  Then turning to face A116, “Why can we see this screen if everything has been cut off?”

  “I don't know,” said A116.

  A sound that seemed to be from the very walls spoke in a voice beyond the realm of human possibility. “It's because I want you to see me and know what's coming.”

  All of the men stared at the screen. The cocoon began to open up of its own accord. Unlike an actual cocoon, there was no struggle to get out, but the chords simply parted. Then a man, the patient, sat up and looked at the screen. He had many of the features of the original patient, but with a silver metallic skin. He had no ears, nor a nose. But it did have eyes, and they sparkled as electricity arced across the eye sockets. The pupils looked like blue fire.

  At that moment, the patient stopped looking at the camera and turned to face behind it. Reaching out its arms, tentacle-like chords came from its torso and began to connect to various electronics in the room. Pulling many of these pieces together he made what at first looked like a heap of junk. He wrapped some of his chords around it and made it into another cocoon. When he did this, that voice which seemed to emanate from the walls spoke. “There must be redundancy.” Then the screen went blank.

  “Uh oh,” said A116. “Do you know what that means?”

  “Tell us,” said the Director.

  “All computer systems must have a backup in case the first one goes down. That way no data is lost. That is called redundancy. It is a basic idea ingrained in all programs and computer system. There must always be a backup. So that's what he is doing. He's creating a backup.” He could tell they weren't getting it. “Of himself. He's making another one like him. And if he can do that, he can mass produce himself. Do we want that?”

  The director turned to the general. “General,” he said. “It's time to bring out the troops.”

  “Yes sir,” said the general.

  Chapter 45

  On the streets of the city, the people heard a rumbling sound. At one spot the pavement opened up and a depression appeared. One section of concrete tilted downward until a ramp jutted up from deep underground. Men dressed in gray and black with stunners marched up the ramp and onto the city streets perfectly in step. They had no fear and a single purpose.

  Pedestrians, having no feeds to occupy their attention, now aware of their surroundings, ran to hide from this new terror. Soldiers had not been seen in these streets in anyone’s memory. Only past stories existed about wars and rumors of wars, but nothing like what they saw now. These signs, however, were unmistakable. The way they were dressed, and the weapons they carried, spoke for them as well as the way they marched in formation. This army was marching to war.

  People hid in alleys and behind the corners of buildings, but no one got in their way. The men, driven on by their programming, did not fear what they would face. They did not question the orders to invade a building and kill whatever mon
ster they found there. Their orders were clear, their duty set.

  Up ahead stood Techcorp, their destination. Before they even approached the block, people were running out of the building in the opposite direction. They could see the fire at the top of the building. The general, who advised them through remote feed, gave them an order to halt until they received further instruction.

  People ran out of the building and there was the sound of breaking glass and then silver strands shot out of the windows. After that there was another explosion and the ground shook. The general ran out and joined the men. “That thing that they were working on turned into some kind of monster,” he yelled to A116 who was following closely behind. “We have to keep it from replicating itself.”

  “But how can it do that?” said A116 as they stopped in front of the men. “Doesn't it need to have a human since it was made up of a person and a machine?” Then, as if answering his own question he said, “Wait a minute.” Another explosion. The men stopped and looked up. This time it appeared that the top of the building had been destroyed in the blast. Soldiers, pedestrians, everyone just stared up.

  Silver wires weaved their way out of windows and around the outside of the building. It was was creating an enormous cocoon around the whole building. Other silver wires grew longer, but rather than wrap around the building, they began to reach toward the people. One man cried out as the wires grabbed him from behind and began to wrap around him. It carried him inside. Others soon followed. Being already controlled by the chips in their heads, the soldiers did not even know to resist unless ordered to do so by the general. The general gave the order. “Kill or disable that thing,” he said.

  The soldiers used their stunners against the building that seemed to have sprouted tentacles, but since most of it was inorganic it did not seem to affect the thing. Other soldiers were being carried off by the tentacles or cocooned right where they stood. He could see them still trying to fight even when enveloped. Their programming was complete and they would not cease until something made them cease.

  A116 looked at the general anxiously, who only muttered, “Too big,” and began to run in the opposite direction of the action. His last order to his men was to kill or be killed. And they would.

  A116 stood in horror. As the tentacles reached him he retreated, barely outpacing them. Now the building was alive with tentacles. Some reached to the ground, beginning to bore holes like roots. Some stretched to the sky just waving there like plants reaching for sunlight and always growing. Once long enough they too searched for people to add to the collective.

  A116 realized he needed to run in earnest. As he turned, a tentacle that had been growing under his feet without his notice tripped him. It wrapped around his ankle, and began to drag him away. He screamed, but the tentacles wrapped themselves around his waist. He struggled to get free but could not. He was being taken toward the building, slowly dragged away to whatever fate that thing might have for him. As he was reaching the threshold of the building, he heard through the wrap, a blast. Suddenly the wires began to loosen. Now in front of him he saw the general in front of the building, moving toward him. He was in something which encased him to the waist. It was green and enormous, and seemed to be armored on all sides. It had tracks that it used instead of wheels and it had an enormous gun attached to the front.

  The general fired a blast and yelled, “I'm glad I kept this baby!”

  A116 ran toward the general. “Get inside,” yelled the general. He climbed up and saw a large hole in the top of the vehicle. He climbed through the hole.

  He yelled down at the general, “What is this thing?”

  “A souvenir from the past. The glory days of battles and wars and all the good stuff. Now this baby is going to see some action once again. Yeehaw!” he yelled.

  A116 yelled as well, but not a yell of excitement. He had the feeling that this might not be the quick escape he had hoped for. The general was firing his gun again and again as if he was trying to win this battle all by himself. This was going to be a dangerous ride.

  Chapter 46

  Samuel and Wallace had just received word from Zach about the lockout from the feeds and the rest of the system. Something big was happening. Then there were the soldiers. That made the enormity of the situation clear. Never had soldiers been seen in the city, and in such large numbers. Evidently the Director had secrets no one had ever guessed. Zach had seen the soldiers and said he was preparing for evacuation of the city. Once he saw that the feeds had ceased, he knew this was a big deal and there were too many people under his command to risk them all. The night that had started so quietly had erupted into a cacophony of screams, gunfire, and the destruction caused by whatever was going on at Techcorp. His men wondered if this would be the end of the Technos. Some had conjectured for quite some time that someday the Technos might finally invent something that would destroy them. Knowing their interest in extreme technology, some in the group believed this held real possibilities.

  Samuel had only the four men, but right now he wasn't thinking about them. He was thinking about his daughter. If something was going on, he wanted to make sure she was safe. He checked his watch. She would be at home, probably in bed. That was good. But he still didn't feel right without knowing she was okay. “I've got to check on my girl,” he said to his men and left them standing there, mouths agape. Being men who would follow their leader anywhere, they looked at each other for a moment and then followed behind him.

  Samuel did not have far to travel. A few minutes later they were standing in front of a gray apartment building much like were all over the city. Samuel walked in with his men behind him. His men remained silent, unsure what to do. As they were riding up the elevator, Samuel said, “I don't know how things will be between my ex-wife and me. It has been quite a while.” His men nodded in agreement.

  When the elevator door opened, Samuel walked down the hallway and took a right turn. His men kept their distance, giving him room. As they passed other doors they heard a loud boom that shook the building. At that moment, doors began opening and people started to run out toward the lifts and the stairs. Among them, he saw his ex and her new husband carrying his girl. When they saw him, they stopped and stood there. Her new husband was the first to speak. “We just got the feed. Did you get the feed?”

  “No,” he said, pointing to the chip on the side of his ear. “It's not real. What did it say?”

  “It wasn't a real feed,” the man said. “It was something else that sent the message. It didn't sound human. It said, 'I need space to grow and learn. I need this space. Leave my space.'“

  “It was scary,” said his ex-wife. “We need to get out of here or fight. It don't know which one.”

  “I don't think we can fight this thing,” said her new husband. “Anyway, if it possesses the Techcorp building it has overthrown the government already and there will be chaos either way.”

  “Will you go with me?” said Samuel.

  “Yes,” said the new husband. “We will follow you.”

  “But how can we leave our home and the technology that we have worked on for so many generations?” said his ex-wife anxiously.

  “I don't think you are just letting it fall apart,” said Samuel. “I think this thing that possesses it will take care of your technology just fine. Maybe even improve it. But you are out of the loop.”

  “Let's go,” said his ex-wife. She seemed to see the men who followed Samuel for the first time. “Are you with him?” she said.

  “Yes we are,” Wallace said. “Where he goes, we go.”

  Samuel turned to his men. “It's time to go back home.”

  Chapter 47

  X213 had been hiding out in the camp of Little Brother. Zach was kind enough to receive her, letting her stay with his people, but she was tired and everything sounded too loud to her. It must have been the absence of the feeds. She had been so used to hearing background conversations, entertainment or instr
uctional feeds, that when all was silent, everything felt wrong. It was like a piece of her heart was opened up and taken out. She felt empty. That first night she felt the most violent emotions. Regret, fear, doubt, a feeling of being lost. She did not know what to do with her life now. She had lost her sense of purpose. She would not work at a desk everyday approving and disapproving experiments. Her life could slow down now.

  She had been sleeping on a cot they had given her, but now she couldn’t sleep. She sat up and looked around at those around her. They were under a building in what used to be a parking garage. It was cold and dark, but there were burning barrels with fire in them, so she walked over to one and warmed up her hands. A lady who had been standing at another barrel approached her. “So, you're the one who came to us last night then. I heard that you had decided you wanted a different life. Well, we can offer you that, that’s for sure. My name's Iris,” she said. Iris held out a hand and shook hers. “And what is your name, dearie?” she asked.

  “X213,” said X213.

  “Well now,” she said, “I see you still use one of those silly ID's. If you want to live with us, and eat with us, you should pick a sensible name like the others around here. “My name, Iris, means what's in your eye. I have always liked my eyes, so that's why I named myself that. Some people name themselves after the characters in books. Some like to make up a name because they want it to sound a certain way. I just like eyes. That's all.”

  X213 had never heard someone talk so much. It was different than the feeds, because feeds don't look at you and they don’t require an immediate response.

  Iris could see that X213 was troubled. “Well, you don't have to pick the name just yet,” she said. “I can tell you it usually takes at least a couple of days. You want to pick one you like and that seems regal or simple or has a meaning you enjoy.” They sat and stared at the fire in the barrel. Then Iris touched her arm. “Well, better start packing.”