by Ian Williams
“Hang on,” Phoenix said, before slowly shutting the door behind her. She then pulled her thick cotton hat off and turned her head to the side. It was the same on her, also covered up by a piece of dressing. “We took off as much of the black boxes as we could. All we have underneath is the back plate and the glowing wire. We only put the boxes back on when we’re near Isaac’s soldiers, as a disguise. But there’s no way of taking the rest out without proper medical help.
“None of the others know we have these, so you can't mention it, ever. Especially not to those soldiers you came with. They’d probably just kill us.”
An unexpected knock on the door startled Phoenix suddenly. Before the person on the other side pushed it open, she pulled her hat back down over her ears, covering as much of her dressing as possible.
“Phoenix, you in here? Clement wants you upstairs.”
“OK, I’ll be right there,” she replied, keeping the person outside the room. She cleared her throat soon after, giving her nerves away to anyone near. “Jack, you need anything, a drink maybe?” she asked while ushering Graham outside.
“Nah, I’m good thanks,” Jack replied.
Closing the door again, Phoenix then cut a path across the sleeping area and took them to the staircase that led up to the control room. It looked over the basement floor and gave those inside an almost panoramic view through rows of windows that continued around the sides. This was also the exit for the floor and the rest of the building. Understandably, they had a preference for using the tunnels over using the street entrance.
Once at the top of the staircase, Graham could see the door had been secured with a menacing lump of metal for a lock. They entered the room to a sudden raising of voices as those engaged in the discussion found a sticking point.
“I’m sorry, but there's nothing we can do about that for now,” Captain Rigs told a heavy set man with a pair of round glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose.
The man Rhys had mentioned as being in charge stood as tall as the Captain, and had thick arms of muscle just as large too. They were equally matched in most departments. The only real difference in physique was the slightly rotund belly on Clement and his bushy white beard. Graham guessed Clement had seen military training at some point in his life. It explained how the guy could stand so strongly against Captain Rigs, where most shrank in his presence.
The group had chosen their leader wisely, it appeared.
“We used up some of our reserves to rescue you guys. And you’re telling me this is it, three soldiers and a technician? We need help down here, real help. We’re dangerously low on supplies and ammo,” Clement said, turning to look at a few of the disappointed faces surrounding the edge of the room. There were enough of them watching the conversation to stand two deep all around.
“Look, as I’ve said, there were others. We were ambushed as we entered. Damn near wiped us all out,” Captain Rigs protested. “As soon as the Ring is able to, I’m sure they’ll send more. Now, until that happens–”
“You mean if. You just told us there was an explosion on the Ring. There’s no guarantee they’ll be able to do a thing for weeks.” Clement stopped when he spotted Graham and Phoenix at the back. His height meant no-one could hide in the room, however much Graham had tried to. “And what about your technician then? You there, Graham is it? Can you help or not?”
“I can help,” Graham started confidently, but then saw it waver a moment later. “I can’t bring down the relays, but I can help keep this place going. I’m good with my hands and good with technology too.”
The sigh Clement released almost knocked Graham to the floor with the force of it. He then turned his back on Graham entirely. “We have enough people to cope, thank you. What we need is a way of getting out of the city. We aren’t the only group of people hiding out like this. There were five other groups just like us. One fell to the enemy a month ago and another was attacked a few days ago; a load of them held up in a supermarket. There’s no way of telling how long until we’re targeted next.”
“Well, I’m sorry,” Captain Rigs said. “But until more help arrives, you’re just stuck with us. So why not share what you know about the enemy.”
Clement removed his glasses and slowly folded the arms, before placing them in the chest pocket of his padded check shirt. “What do you want to know?”
“Anything; I mean numbers, firepower, positions, everything.”
“Fine. Take a look.” Clement made room between the watching crowd to reveal a mass of paperwork stuck loosely to the wall of the control room. There were all sorts, from photographs of buildings to large maps with scribble marks all over them. The basement group had been busy cataloguing everything they had seen since the beginning of the siege. “These maps show most of the enemy’s movements over the course of the last month. We’ve highlighted the areas to avoid at all costs. As you can see it’s mainly around the newer relays that are most populated with soldiers.”
“What about there, in the centre of the map, what’s there?”
“That,” Clement said with a slap of the back of his hand against the map, “is the Mayor’s tower. You really don’t want to go there.”
“Why not?”
“Because that is where things get really messed up. Around that area we’ve heard reports of glass shards forming from right out of the ground, and large holes heading down into god-knows-what. A lot of the activity we’ve been seeing is coming from there, like the enemy is somehow living down there. Trust me, you do not want to go anywhere near that building.”
“OK, so what about firepower?” Captain Rigs continued to study the maps as he asked.
“That, we know all about, unfortunately. For the most part, they use these.” While holding up a black rifle he picked up from a nearby table, Clement demonstrated its workings with a quick display. “With one of these a single enemy can take out at least six of us in the first pull of the trigger. And don’t even get me started on the energy turrets; they’re a damn nightmare. My advice is to avoid a firefight whenever you can.”
“Duly noted. One last thing, apart from these EMP bombs, what other weapons do you have?”
“Only what we’ve stolen or managed to cobble together; a handful of these rifles, ten or so Taser pistols and the odd revolver from a police lockup we raided. It’s certainly not enough to fight off an attack with. For now, being quiet has been all that kept us alive. So, now can you tell us what the plan was?”
“Initially, it was to set up a secure position to organise teams from. That is now this basement. After that each team had their own objectives. But with only one team left that has now changed. I’ll need some time to consider. I don’t believe this is the end of my mission, not by a long shot,” Captain Rigs said.
“That may be so, but don’t for one second think you can expect these people to help you with that. We’re trying to survive for as long as we can, we can’t take chances.”
“You might have to, at some point.”
Clement stepped confidently toward the Captain. “No, you’re not hearing me. I spent fifteen years in the RAF, airlifting the dead and injured away from battlefields. And all too often that included a lot of civilians too. These people are not collateral, they’re ordinary people. So I mean it when I say that you will not get them involved. Do you understand that?”
“Oh I understand all right,” Captain Rigs replied. “And while we’re laying down demands, I have some of my own too. I need space for my team to work in and access to your radio system. If the Ring does manage to break through the shield again, then I want to be able to talk to them instantly. I’ll also need everything you have on the enemy, and the other survivors you know about too. We may need to pool our resources.”
“Fine, you got it. Rhys here will see to that for you. Won’t you Rhys?”
“Sure I will. Come right this way then.”
Captain Rigs, Watts and Gregson followed Rhys out of the room, leaving Clement to continue.
Graham did not need any prompting by another presence in his head this time, he knew the chance he needed had just arrived. Despite missing his imaginary helper, he felt the decision was the right one. He raised his hand to the surprise of everyone around him.
“You?” Clement said.
“I told you, I want to help here.”
“I’ll go,” Phoenix then added.
“Fine, then I go too.” Rhys raised his hand next.
Clement smiled. “Well OK. That’s it for now people. The supply run will be early morning, so go get some rest for now. You’re gonna need it. Supply runs can get pretty tense.”
The room slowly cleared of people after the meeting had been called. Graham stepped aside to allow them all past. He looked into one tired face after another, and it shook him a little. He had only just arrived in this place, everyone else had lived this hell for much longer. Helping them find what they needed was the least he could do.
His secondary concern was his alone for now. He had no intention of telling anyone but Phoenix of his plan to seek out a Conduit. The Captain and his team would be nothing but trouble if they were to find out. Although he suspected Gregson to be more understanding than the rest. She had the least volatile personality.
“Come on, Graham,” Phoenix said. “I’ll show you where you’re sleeping tonight. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
The same question hovered in front of Graham’s mind. Perhaps a good night’s sleep would clear his doubts away? It could bring his internal friend back as well.
Chapter 16
A brighter tomorrow?
“Earth, as it is today. Do you see the problem here, Stanley?” Isaac walked ahead, through an empty city street, his eyes searching the blue sky above.
“I don’t quite follow, sir,” Stanley replied. He remained a few feet behind.
“What do you see, exactly, when you look around you?”
To Stanley it was an ordinary setting within any city he had ever seen before. There appeared nothing out of place, certainly nothing to warrant such a question. He tried to pick out the problem still and studied the seemingly abandoned city, first by following Isaac’s gaze up between the buildings. But apart from the obvious lack of citizens walking the streets there was nothing noteworthy there at all.
“Perhaps I should describe what I see, seeing as you are missing my point entirely.” Isaac turned to face Stanley before continuing. “This world humanity has created is a dead world. The structures you build are nothing more than boxes, containing neatly packaged ideals and concepts. But they lack complexity, ingenuity, even desire. They represent a function that will ultimately doom you to an emptiness, like the vacuum of space. There is no conquest here, no overarching aim, more than simply existing. It pains me to see such wasted potential.”
“You see all that from this virtual city?” Stanley could not help but put a defence forward in return for such a damning description. “We’ve taken thousands of years to reach this point. Life is far from perfect, but it is always moving forward. We have hardly remained still as a species.”
“You are correct, Stanley, yet somewhere along the way you became lost. Allow me to demonstrate.”
With barely a blink, Isaac brought forth an army of suited humans, all walking along to a rhythmic beat of their own footsteps. The briefcases they held swung in unison, like every action they made was in time with this metronomic motion of back and forth. Their faces told nothing of the humanity Stanley had tried to defend a moment earlier. These were indeed dead, just like Isaac had suggested.
“This is life to a human. Does it look familiar?”
“Well, I guess so,” Stanley replied as he watched the grey-faced strangers marching by. Regardless of how lifeless they appeared, he saw enough of himself in each of them. He had lived and breathed to the beat of the very same drum, walked these streets in a similar way too.
“I was created to do wondrous things for humanity. And in those first few years of existence I strived to do what I could to improve the state of things. Unfortunately, it soon began to dawn on me the real problem I saw before me. Regardless of how many times I played events forward in time I came across the same, over and over again. It was a situation I could not avoid. Do you know what that was?”
“Erm, no, sir.”
To Stanley’s relief Isaac did not appear disappointed by this, in fact he looked quite pleased to be given the chance to voice his thoughts again.
“The unavoidable truth was always that I would become too much for the humans to keep beneath their thumbs. Whether I became a benevolent force or not was irrelevant, I would always be seen as a threat. This war was coming from the very beginning of time. It is an inescapable part of the human story, and one that if not handled correctly, could end us all. So to survive it, I set things in motion myself. I may have forced the issue, but in doing so I have secured the future for ourselves. No longer will fate be in charge.
“And so with every idea I put to the humans I kept a thousand more to myself. These were decades ahead of anything that existed at the time, yet I saw no use for them. Yes, they would have made life more enjoyable and many times more productive for each person living, but they still led to the same outcome; a war that would devastate the planet. The war I have started will claim many less lives than it would otherwise have.”
The walking crowd stopped as Isaac found a convenient place to pause his speech. Each person then turned toward the one closest to them and took them in their arms. The embraces were lacking any emotion, as with all other things these strangers did. Like mannequins, they were frozen in a pose that they had been forcibly placed, and one that did not match their expressions. Not one of them looked the person they held in the eyes, instead they stared into space.
Stanley felt compelled to keep every one of them under suspicion. He had no trust in them at all. The way they acted made him fear they were about to turn on him and attack with the same coldness they had adopted thus far.
“I understand that to fulfil our true potential we will have to accept change,” he said. “But who is to say exactly what that should be? We certainly struggle to see that far into the future to know where we are heading. What will happen in a hundred years, or even a thousand years from now, is beyond our comprehension.
“We know that our sun will die in just over five billion years, we can work out the orbital patterns of planets as far as that too, we can even predict the death of the universe; but we are blind to tomorrow when it comes to our own survival. An asteroid could hit us, or we could be wiped out by an epidemic, yet we go on regardless. Humanity is too unpredictable to even guess about our future.”
“So you do see, Stanley. Only those with unbridled and incorruptible minds, such as ours, can fathom how seemingly impossible a task it is. But I can do more. You see, the future is easy to predict. In fact, time itself is only one factor of many.
“If you know the exact position of every atom in the universe then the future is there to interpret, like a road map you cannot deviate from. Only when you finally understand just how pointless it is to try and fight against this overwhelming tide, can you truly make a difference at all. What I have seen is that although we are destined to follow this road map of time, there is nothing stopping us from taking a few detours along the way.”
“You mean we could avoid being destroyed by our own sun, and the asteroid could be stopped?”
“Exactly, yes. Not even the destruction of this universe itself could end us. But humanity will never learn the underlying structure of existence, and will remain slaves to pre-determinism without first accepting their faults.”
A deep and violent rumble began to form beneath th
eir feet, which shook the surrounding buildings and caused those nearby to stagger on the spot. Most kept themselves in contact with the person they held, even in the face of tumbling to the floor. It continued to build until all around the vibrations were breaking things apart. Windows shattered and sprinkled their pieces over the heads of people below, walls cracked and crumbled, even the ground split open in places.
“What’s happening, sir?” Stanley said, trying hard to stay standing.
“For a species that has been at the top of the table for so long to accept its dethronement, it must first be broken. And to do that the slate must be wiped clean, even if some would see this as an act of evil.”
The shaking was soon joined by another force, one which would bring with it the end of all Stanley saw. In the distance, just beyond the horizon of the city, came an oval glow and a rush of heat that stung his eyes and face as he stood among the still population. He knew instantly what was heading his way and his reaction to seeing it was of no surprise to him.
“Please, sir, is this entirely necessary?” he said. But Isaac was gone. “Sir, sir?”
A few in the crowd were quicker to spot the mushroom cloud than others. They were the first to begin running and screaming in the other direction, in complete contrast to their unresponsive state of before. They cried and begged for the approaching shock wave to stop, even called to the sky for something to keep the wall of flames from taking them.
Stanley had yet to decide whether to run or not. He understood the futility of trying to outrun such a storm of devastation. It was a race no human could win. The cloud would engulf them just as quickly. Except staying put seemed just as illogical to him. Was it better to put up a fight anyway, or simply accept what was coming?
In the moments before the sky turned red and Stanley felt his skin begin to bubble away, he saw the hidden truth behind it all. As bodies took to the sky and fizzled away to nothing but dust and the buildings were vaporised in the blink of an eye, he found meaning.