by Blade, CG
“Thank you Captain Dace, we’ve taken the liberty of reclaiming the items stolen from the Oval Office and returning the paintings and portraits to their proper walls maintaining historical accuracy. For some reason they were all found intact at a trailer park not far from here.” Petra and Jackie stepped into the newly renovated Oval Office for the first time since May.
“It doesn’t surprise me sir.” Petra replied.
“It sure is comforting to the scientists and everyone at the lab knowing you two are at the helm now sir.” Jackie said smiling shaking President Harrison’s hand and subconsciously winking at Vice President Connley. She straightened out her black skirt covering her nylons, removed her black overcoat, and handed it to a waiting staff member.
“Well we all, and by all I mean the American people, have you two to thank. None of us would be here without you.” President Harrison told them proudly with a big grin.
“Yes that’s true.” Connley added eagerly.
“Thank you sirs” Jackie said shaking the hand of the Vice President locking on to his brown eyes with hers. They stared into each other’s eyes for a split second. Connley grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand and began rubbing it hard under his suit jacket. He began rotating his arm around making a fist wincing in pain.
“You have joint trouble Rick?” Jackie asked him compassionately.
“Oh you know ever since the front door incident in Ohio.” He rolled his eyes staring Petra down playfully.
“Yes sir I remember.” Petra added, agreeing with Connley but not apologizing for the aforementioned incident.
“I am truly sorry you missed the Tri-Centennial celebration on July 4th Captain. I hope you will someday enjoy the visceral applause you received from the American people during that day. I believe Jackie uploaded it to your Blade Drive at the Med Lab the day after the ceremony.” President Harrison smiled proudly at Petra as a father for his favorite daughter.
“Thank you sir, I will view it the next time I sync with the network.”
President Roger Harrison invited Jackie and Petra to sit down on the sofa. The new White House staff immediately began serving coffee and biscuits. A female assistant chef politely interrupted the coffee pouring with a gift to Petra. It was a plate of Twinkies, which she gladly accepted devouring them within seconds. President Harrison waited for the staff to leave and sat next to them in a large white fabric covered wooden chair. Rick Connley seated himself next to Jackie on the sofa as they began their discussion. It was a different feeling being in this room now, Petra thought, even to someone with no emotional ties.
“Thank you both for coming today and although I do appreciate having you both here the real reason I called you is not of a kind nature and I must apologize. If you are prone to seizures or get nauseous easily then I must warn you not to watch. Don’t eat those biscuits Jackie until you watch this.” Harrison rolled his eyes, exhaling loudly, unbuttoning his black suit jacket while turning towards the wall next to his desk.
Jackie and Petra turned and looked at each other with obvious curiosity in their eyes, then nodded to Harrison to begin. Jackie slowly put the thin wafer biscuit she was holding back on the tray in front of her.
“This is it ladies.” Harrison instructed a Vidscreen to lower down in front of a wall next to his desk. Descending from the celling slowly was a ten-foot wide crystal Vidscreen. A video started playing after Harrison instructed it to “start Crimson”. A high-pitched noise disguised in computer or binary language began shrieking while the video started. Jackie covered her ears and squinted as the video and audio played. The piercing pieces of garbled sounds and language meant nothing to them. A large capital letter ‘C’ colored in flaming crimson and a fiery dripping font appeared on the screen. The video also included horrific slaughter and blood curdling screams of people and animals in a montage of the world’s worst serial killers and holocaustic acts in human history. It was disgusting and sickening as Harrison instructed it to stop at sixty seconds into the video. Jackie ran out of the room holding her mouth trying to contain the vomit in her esophagus now forcing its way up at the back of her throat. Harrison sighed heavily again and exhaled as Connelly got up to follow Jackie and make sure she was all right. The entire video, one minute and forty-five seconds long, actually caused the seizure of a Cabinet Member who was in the Oval Office at the first viewing.
“Petra that is reminiscent of RQMC.”
“Yes it is Ter.”
“What the hell is it Captain?” Harrison asked pulling a handkerchief out of his lapel pocket and wiping away the sweat that was now beading up on his forehead and his palms. He looked sick and pale now. He was holding his stomach swallowing many times trying to keep his vomit from going past his throat and ending up in his own mouth.
“Mr. President I believe this is Ramacellerated Quantum Memory Code. It is quantum physics programming. RQMC virtual memory programming combined with chemicals and elements. It produces actual Cobalt mass in the real world. It is essentially how I was reproduced or regrown or what Cobalt actually is sir. The programming replicates the Big Bang or Higgs-Boson God particle discovered in Geneva at the Large Hadron Collider without having to use the physical collider itself. This RQMC type of programming produces living breathing things out of virtual memory code. It works on the same principle as a 3D printer but on a cellular and biological level, and on a much bigger scale. In layman’s terms sir, a substance containing a Cobalt mineral solution and RQMC programming binds my DNA memory structure together. Different scientists working towards the same goal trying to help wounded veterans re-grow limbs discovered it and it all came together at the Meredith facility three years ago. Dr. Siebert and Dr. Sanders were able to advance at a quicker pace by using the theories of Dr. Judson, Emily sir, the Pseudosynth whose programming I ended yesterday at the lab. It was filled with the Crimson liquid sir. The real Dr. Emily Judson was the one who helped develop the RQMC theory years ago.”
“Holy shit Captain you killed another one?”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha he said shit.”
“Ter that’s quite enough thanks.” Petra was trying to contain the binary laughter coming out of her own head as she concentrated on her conversation with the President.
“Yes Petra.”
“Problem Captain?”
“No sir.” She quickly resumed her reply to President Harrison. “We all agree whoever is behind all of this is probably is not done yet and this video just proved our point. We haven’t figured out where the Pseudosynth was transmitting the signal to but we will formulate a plan to track it down.”
“So what the hell does this video mean and where in God’s name is the real Dr. Judson?”
“I cannot give you an answer on either subject yet sir.”
“Petra I do not believe the video may be nothing more than a distraction. There is nothing there but pixels and crystal resolution.”
“Yes Ter I believe you are correct. Sir would you mind stepping out of the room, I would like to view this in its entirety and record it for our files. I don’t want you getting sick.”
“Yes by all means Captain, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes or so. Let me go check on Dr. Siebert.”
“Yes sir. Oh, and can you tell me how you acquired this sir, the video?”
“It came by drone Captain—dropped off right at our front door by a Rayson Delivery Service drone in this box.” Harrison handed Petra a one-inch square velvet covered hinged crimson box that he pulled from a drawer in his desk. It looked like a ring box one would give to a loved one or fiancé.
“Captain if you wouldn’t mind I would like to keep all of this as quiet as possible. That is why I called you two here today.”
“Yes sir.”
“It’s a new dawn and a new era in America and the people are finally starting to settle down and get back to a somewhat normal life. We are finally filling the vacant seats in the House and the Senate again. Right now, the American Armed Forces are just skelet
on crews and we are doing our best to get them operational as quickly as possible. The American currency has finally stopped hemorrhaging and the dollar is on the rise again. What we do not need right now is another damn fiasco like the last one. I had the Attorney General and the Treasury Department look into where they funneled the money to from here. The trail went cold in The Grand Cayman Islands. It just stops there. I really don’t think I will be of any help to you on that subject Captain.”
“Thank you sir and I’ll try my best to keep this situation contained.”
“You’re welcome Captain Dace and good luck.” Harrison quickly saluted her. She snapped to attention, returning the respectful gesture. He started to walk towards the door.
“Sir...?”
“Yes Captain?” He grabbed the door handle and simultaneously turned back around to look at her.
“Thank you for the promotion sir.”
“You’re welcome Captain you deserved it…you and Ter.”
Harrison exited the room quickly shutting the door behind him.
“Petra you are logical in your thinking that we can track the drone’s delivery sources and destinations the day it was sent here but it will probably give us a false positive. The user information will probably not be accurate. We have found this in the past with cryptic messages and misinformation.”
“Yes Ter you’re probably correct in that assumption. Can we decipher the actual RQMC programming structure on this video to find its source? Maybe we might find where it was made and the Vidscreen terminal that was used to make it?”
“It is a possibility Petra. We need to decompress the audio and video and examine its codex separately. There are now two leads available to us. Pseudosynth Emily we currently have at the lab and this video.”
“Why go through all of this work Ter? What are they doing? What do they hope to achieve now that there are no more Pseudosynths running the White House and no more money to steal?”
“There is only one way to find out Petra.”
“Start Crimson,” Petra watched the video scroll in front of her pulsating cobalt irises as she began to view the carnage and bloodbath. The horrific scenes and piercing audio did not faze her as she studied and recorded it. She walked over to the Vidscreen 105 seconds later, pulled the small Comset microchip out of a slot in the side of the crystal display, and crushed it in the palm of her hand until it was sparkling dust. She let the remaining pieces fall into a refuse container on her way to the closed door of the Oval Office.
Chapter 4
TWISTABLE
“Your vagina is flushed.”
“EXCUSE me?”
“Oh-no.”
“Stay out of this Ter.”
“Yes Petra.”
Petra was scanning Jackie’s body temperature as the Aeolus Cruiser they were traveling in was hovering back towards Meredith. The fall colors of the countryside flickered throughout the vehicle as it quickly headed north. “Your vagina is flushed. Its average temperature is now at ninety-nine degrees. Your areolas are extended and are also putting out more heat than usual and your feet and hands are colder at ninety-six degrees. This is a normal indication of lust or love.”
“Holy shit Petra, are you kidding me right now?”
“Ha-ha-ha she said shit.”
Petra rolled her eyes and she let out a big sigh. “No Jackie I am not kidding. You are also showing outward physical signs of affection towards Vice President Rick Connley. Your spinal column is arching at greater angles than usual and your lips and cheeks are more noticeably flushed than normal. Your body is preparing for copulation.” Petra could smell the scent of sexual pheromones in the tightly sealed Cruiser.
“I helped to create a fucking monster! Of course my cheeks are flushed I’m…I’m embarrassed right now!” Jackie instructed the soundproof screen between them and Carl, Cooper’s driver, to close while they discussed her anatomy in detail. She could hear Carl snickering to himself as the screen closed.
“I am not sure if I should be laughing. I believe Jackie is angry.”
“I am neither condoning nor condemning the fact that you are in love or lust. I am merely stating the scientific facts that are presented to me by my programming.”
“Okay—okay now that you bring it up he is really cute and I would like to jump his—but for God sakes stop scanning my vagina! I did ask Rick to tour Meredith when he gets a chance but please do not say anything to anyone about my parts! Anyway, I don’t have the time for a man in my life or a relationship; I’ve got you and our project to worry about.”
“Okay Jackie. You subconsciously call him Rick. I would apologize but you left that part of my emotional programming out and I cannot. Please do not be offended as I am only stating what is obvious to my visual indicators and new thermal sub-programming.” Petra was satisfied and slightly grinning to herself as Jackie tried to cover up her lady parts with her overcoat, decreasing least you don’t have X-Ray eyes for God sakes!”
“Yet…” Petra told her under her breath as she stared at Jackie squirming in her seat.
“So what is our next plan of attack?” Jackie asked trying to step off the subject of her sexual desires and body temperature and change the direction of their conversation.
“Ter and I have agreed that we need to start decoding the video. We also need to examine the Pseudosynth. I hope you have not destroyed it yet.”
“No we haven’t destroyed it. What do you think that sickening video is all about?” Jackie was reaching into her coat pocket searching for another breath mint.
“It is RQMC complete and intact.”
“What! How in the hell did they get our programming code?”
“I do not know but it is obvious they are sending a message of some kind and knew I would know what the video is. They have it and they want us to know they have it. I am still not convinced that, whoever they are, they have the capability to use it to its fullest capacity since there is no other facility such as ours in the world.”
“So the Pseudosynth Emily—ah now I get it. It could have been stolen by the real Emily before she left the facility in whatever form she was in or her replacement at some point in time.”
“Do not forget that Dreama was at the facility long before Emily arrived last May. Either one of them could have taken our strings of programming code out in pieces or transmitted it all at once over a great period of time as we discussed when we found out Dreama was a Pseudosynth.” Petra opened a black bag sitting next to her and offered Jackie a Twinkie. The two of them sat and ate the sweet cream filled yellow sponge cakes while discussing the next move on the twisted tilting chessboard that had become their lives once again.
Tuesday October 13th 2:00 PM
“How are my girls doing?” The baritone voice coming out of the Vidset sitting on the beautiful granite kitchen counter asked. A digitally synthesized voice was running through a modulator to mask the user’s identity. A holographic flaming crimson colored capital letter ‘C’ was slowly spinning around four inches off the top of the Vidset. Emily and Dreama were leaning over the kitchen counter in their newly acquired Hawaiian mansion when they heard a knock at the front door.
“I’ll get it!” Dreama told them eagerly as she threw a sarong over her bikinied bottom. The crimson top she was wearing barely covered up her breasts as she tried to stifle them with her hands. As she scooted to the front door, she could see an outline of a person through the frosted glass. They were leaning forward with cupped hands trying to get a peek inside of the house. Dreama opened the door a crack.
“Hello there—Miss?”
“Delphine, Delphine LaLaurie, and you are?”
“Hi Miss I’m Dean Leuthold with Island Realty.” Dean extended his hand out to her through the crack in the door and the two shook pleasantly. He could not contain his curiosity, trying to peer past her into the interior of the mansion. Stepping outside she closed him off from the rest of the house. The door closed behind her and she used her feminine fr
ontal assault in the hopes he would get the message.
“Miss LaLaurie have you by any chance seen my partner Miss Kukani, Leila the one showing you this property yesterday?” The bottom corner of his Hawaiian print aloha shirt blew up in the breeze and his black sunglasses were shining in the afternoon sun. He tilted his head down to get a better look at her assets over the top of his shades.
“No I’m sorry Dean I haven’t seen her at all. My sister and I are renting the property from a friend so why would we need a Realtor?”
“Miss LaLaurie I know for a fact she was here. Our reality sign is sticking out of the trash can around the corner of this house!”
Dreama was twirling her long auburn hair with her right forefinger while she gave him an innocent but sexy grin. Her toes were pointing in at each other as she slowly licked her lips eyeing him down changing her demeanor to one of an adolescent malcontent. “Why don’t you come inside and I’ll show you she isn’t here at all—nowhere at all—Deano.” Dreama turned and opened the front door slowly, accidently dropping her sarong from around her waist as she walked inside the front foyer. She slowly bent over arching her back to pick it up as Dean followed her curves with his eyes never straying far from her young physique. He took his sandals off inside the front door and set his keys and sunglasses on a small wooden table next to the living room area. “So you see she isn’t here.” Dreama turned around quickly to face him and freed her perfectly tanned globes from their nylon and polyester prisons slowly stepping towards him as he eyed her lasciviously. He had the look of a dog anticipating a juicy steak bone that was dangling in front him.
“There we go now—good boy—good boy.” Emily said as she came from behind him and shoved a needle deep into his neck, waiting until the warm crimson liquid had left the barrel of the syringe and flowed deep into his veins. He fought very little as they both caught him as he fell, setting him on the couch in the living room. He was staining the powder blue couch with a mixture of blood and liquid seeping from the injection sight at the back of his neck.