Infinity Squad

by Shuvom Ghose

  She frowned. "Doctor Hubbard doesn't believe I should be looking in to it. He works the day shift on the resurrection tanks. His mentor is the one that helped invent the buffering bands."

  "Yeah, I've woken up to his sour puss once or twice. That's why I try to do all my dying at night."

  She smiled a little at that. "Well. Any way we look at it, resurrection works. Trust me, they did so many tests before they approved it for human use. Every MRI, every CAT scan, every behavior test showed the resurrected person acted just like the one who had died. The first time. And the second time."

  "But if you make a copy of a copy of a copy, eventually..."

  She pulled her bare feet up under her. "There's that. And who's to say that it wasn't the dying itself that was changing the person? It's quite a traumatic experience." She looked up at me. "Or so I've heard."

  "So what's happening?"

  "Nothing major. Nothing we can see. But the brain has so many moving parts. So many interdependencies that depend on minute shifts of neurons. I mean, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

  The way she looked at me, I could tell she wanted a serious answer. I shelved the pun I was preparing, something something licking strawberry something something redheads like her, and told the truth instead. "Chocolate chip cookie dough."

  She stared me right in the eyes. "And right before you answered, didn't you feel yourself sliding, just a little bit, toward saying something else? Strawberry perhaps?"

  "Woah, Doc," I laughed. "I thought you didn't want this to turn into THAT kind of date-"

  "Where did you grow up?" she interrupted, her face serious.

  "Detroit."

  "Think about your childhood memories. Your earliest ones. Your favorite times. You can hear the ocean, can't you?"

  "Yeah, but-"

  "Not a lot of surf around Detroit, Lieutenant."

  I sat up. "We must have taken a vacation to the beach or something."

  "On a single mother's salary who worked two jobs?"

  Okay, this was getting creepy. Creepy enough for me to not look down her shirt as I stood up and started pacing around the room. "So what are you saying?"

  "That cloned body you're in, it came from somewhere. Yes, it's a mix of three, possibly four races, and selected to be a perfect soldier body type, but we didn't just make it in a test tube. Well, the one you're literally in, we did. The clones are speed grown in big test tubes on the orbiting space station. It's actually very creepy."

  "Thanks Doc."

  "But the original man, where the genetic stock came from, that man had a life, thoughts and experiences before he died. His service records are sealed, so I can't even find out his name or which military he was from. But we've always known that the strongest memories are made in times of high emotion, of stress. And I can't think of anything more stressful than the way you soldiers die in action."

  I rubbed my face as I paced. "Hold on. So you're saying, that when my life flashes before me before I die, some of the original clone's life is showing up too, and THAT'S what's getting transmitted through the buffering band?"

  Doc Murphy set her mouth in a prim line. "That's one theory that someone with zero years of medical school might say is happening, yes."

  "I'm sorry I don't have a rock solid 'strawberries and the ocean' hypothesis that you do, Doc. I'm sure that will pass peer-review."

  She stood up too. "Lieutenant! It's not like I have access to an fMRI or MEG machine on a forward operating base! Or even anywhere on this planet! And I shouldn't even be asking these types of questions. All I can do is record what I hear the clones talking about in the cafeteria and watch how their eating habits change. The Immortals with the most death marks always get strawberry ice cream when we have it. And anytime one of them tells a story about growing up near the ocean, they all chime in, even the ones from places like Detroit."

  Now she was nose to nose with me, a lithe fiery ball of indignant energy that I just wanted to grab and kiss.

  "So, yes, that's my theory Lieutenant. That, as you resurrect, your minds are becoming slightly duller around the edges and blending with the clone's. If you have any way for me to do accurate, real-time scans of people's brains on this base without them knowing about it, I'd LOVE to hear about it!"

  "What are we doing?" Shannon asked as we stood outside the prisoner holding area. "I don't want to go in there and see that... thing." She started backing away from the door. I used the excuse to hook my arm with hers and pulled her forward.

  "Come on, Doc. It'll open your mind."

  I opened the door to find Ann-Marie and a clone already inside staring at Three-Spot.

  "Hello, Lieutenant," I said, trying to remember. Had I authorized some other plan that I didn't know about? "What a surprise to see you here."

  "Well, sir, I just bumped into Lieutenant Shelby here at dinner," she said, leaning on her cane to bump shoulders with the man at her side. I even detected the slight sheen of lipstick on her lips. Holy crap- was Butcher flirting with someone? "He died in a helicopter accident on earth before being sent here as an assistant quartermaster. He and I were just discussing how quickly we could remember our key phrase if something like this beast killed one of us."

  Oh good. She wasn't flirting, just stealing information to misuse later. I calmed my mind and reached out to Three-Spot.

  How many guys has Butcher brought through here today?

  "While you were on patrol, three other males. Two females. And this one."

  And you figured out all of their key phrases?

  "We have three. The others were too colloquial for us to interpret."

  "Well, carry on," I said out loud, to both of them.

  "Actually, sir, Shelby and I were just leaving." Butcher gave me a wink. "We'll leave the two of you alone."

  I'd have to set her straight later. But now, as she pivoted on her cane to leave, I said, "Oh, Lieutenant Butcher, is there any way I could borrow your cellphone?"

  She looked me in the eye while handing it over. "Of course sir. But I think it's only got a few minutes of charge left."

  "That's all I'll need."

  "Aye-aye sir. See you around."

  I flipped on Ann-Marie's cellphone to jam the security cameras then turned to Shannon as if I was talking only to her.

  Three-Spot, I need you to monitor my companion's thoughts very closely.

  "I am listening."

  "Okay, Doc, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you need to clear your mind and answer immediately, just like you were taking a lie detector test. Have you ever taken one of those before?"

  "Yes."

  "Really? What for?"

  She raised one eyebrow at me. "None of your darned business."

  Three-Spot, what was she thinking about when I asked 'What for'?

  "It was a place of learning. Vines covered the walls. She was cheated out of an honor using some trick of rules. Then many authority figures' caves were vandalized with pictures of sex organs. Large ones."

  So Doc Murphy had a little anti-authority streak, huh? I'd have to look into that. See if we could nuture it again.

  "Fine, don't tell me," I said. "Just clear your mind and say the first thing you think of. What region of the brain do you think is changing most through repeated resurrections?"

  She looked at me skeptically. "The amygdala," she sighed. "Not that you'd-"

  Three-Spot, what part of my head is she thinking about?

  "A small bit in the deep center. I see it pulse when you are mad."

  "What, here, in the middle?" I interrupted her, pointing at my ears. "The emotion center? You don't think you should be looking more around..." I waved my finger near the front of my skull, above my eyes. Three-Spot?

  "Frontal lobe," the gravelly voice said inside my head. "It shines when you are making sneaky plans."

  "...the frontal lobe? That's the higher reasoning, right?" I finished.

  Doctor Murphy was staring at me with her mouth open
. Then she swallowed and then said, "The frontal lobe is used for cognition, yes, but when talking about memory displacia, they aren't nearly as important as the temporal lobes are for-"

  "Here?" I said, pointing to my temple as Three-Spot told me to. "The parts that shine when I'm organizing my memories?"

  She took a step back. "Okay, how are you doing this?"

  "A guy can't search the internet for a few pictures and memorize them?"

  She gave me that wry smile again. "I doubt those are the kind of pictures someone like you searches for." She crossed her arms. "And why are we in here? Having that killer staring at us makes me uncomfortable."

  I leaned against the glass and patted it. "Ahhh, this bunny rabbit? He's my spirit animal. Being around him calms me down. And it's the only room on base that's not bugged. It's not like they expect this guy to spill any secrets."

  "Oh," she said. "Okay."

  "You have just lied to her," Three-Spot's voice said in my head at the same time.

  Yeah, so?

  "But you wish to mate with her."

  Of course.

  "But you would lie to a female who desires to become your future mate?"

  Hold ON! Is that what she desires?

  "She has leanings that way. But it is not fully decided."

  Wait! Look deeper into-

  "So how does this help me?" Shannon said, tapping her foot on the floor. "I still can't compare brain patterns between soldiers."

  "Right. That. So, Doc, this amygdala- if you had one of those fancy brain-scanning machines right now, what would you look for in it? Picture it in your mind."

  She frowned. "I don't understand this game, Lieutenant. But I would look for increased or decreased blood flow, or changes in the pattern of how the neurons fire while certain images were shown the patient."

  Three-Spot, can you picture what she's seeing? The image of a brain?

  "It is a very alien way to look at a mind, but yes."

  Can you look that way at me? And her?

  "Yes. I am now."

  "And what sort of images would you show them?" I asked.

  "Anything that invoked a strong memory or emotion."

  Still looking, Three-Spot?

  "Yes."

  "So, Doc, you'd show them pictures of their family, or their hometown, or.... the first place they'd ever made love?"

  Her cheeks reddened slightly. "Yes, I suppose. All except for the last one."

  What was the last thing she just thought about?

  "It was a white spinning box, used to clean the clothes your kind wears."

  Doc's first time was on top of a washing machine? "Hot damn," I muttered.

  "What?" she demanded.

  "Nothing. So, while showing those images and looking for blood flow and neurons in the amygdala, how would you tell if the clone's memories were taking over my own?"

  "If the level of response to your personal information dropped versus random data. Like, if I were to say, 'Detroit, London, Paris, Detroit,' your response should be at least fifty times higher for the first and last word than the middle ones."

  Three-Spot, my amygdala- what just happened to it?

  "I was still looking at the part of her brain which thought of the washing machine."

  Well stop! Look at my center brain again, how she would look at it!

  "Very well."

  "Sorry, Doc. Could you say those words again?"

  She sighed. "Detroit, London, Paris, Detroit. Really Lieutenant, I can't sit here and-"

  How about now?

  "It flashed brightly for the first and last word."

  I gave Three-Spot an annoyed look. How brightly? At least fifty times more? What did you see exactly?

  "It is difficult to explain. The colors changed in some areas but not others."

  Damn it! I wish we could hook you up to a printer.

  I turned back to Shannon. "Hey Doc, where were you born?"

  "Milton Massachusetts," she said, looking at me strangely. "Were you just talking to the-"

  "Chicago, Milton, Spain, Milton."

  "Spain isn't a city," she said, even as I wasn't listening.

  How about her amygdala- compare it to mine!

  "It flashed on the second and fourth word. It was brighter than yours."

  How much brighter? What percentage?

  "One part in eight brighter."

  I did some math, then said, "Doc, what would it mean if your amygdala had a 12 percent higher response to that test than mine did, after four resurrections?" I remembered to add, "Theoretically, of course."

  She was frowning at me. "Well, theoretically, that sort of drop off would mean that serious personality damage would occur around the...seventh to twelfth resurrection, I would guess. And get progressively worse from there. But that's only one data point. It could be earlier or later. I'd have to get many more data points to-"

  "If I could get you that data, for clones who have one death all the way up to ten or more, could you give me a solid idea of how much damage I've got?"

  "Yes, if the test was conducted rigorously, accounting for experimental variables..." Her eyes narrowed. "How are you going to do such a test? Is this somehow connected to..." She looked over at Three-Spot with new interest. I probably should nip that line of inquiry in the bud.

  I smiled at her. "Hey Doc, you realize that some might consider this our first date, right? I picked you up at your place and everything."

  "This is not a date, Lieutenant."

  Three-Spot?

  "She partially considers it a date."

  "Hot damn," I chuckled.

  "I've got to go now, Lieutenant," she huffed, turning and walking out of the room. "I don't have time to listen to you talk to yourself."

  Both Three-Spot and I watched her leave with interest.

  "That is what you wish to mate with?" he said, his voice like rolling rocks.

  Hell yes! Did you see her?

  "Her legs are too spindly. She looks easy to tip over."

  That's a plus, not a minus, my friend.

  Butcher's cell phone beeped. The jammer was running out.

  "I've got to go," I said out loud, and headed towards the door.

  "Red-Stripe said that your squad killed the river snake."

  I stopped with my hand on the knob. "We killed one. How many are there?"

  "There is only one. We had not expected you to kill it. We had not even expected you to try. It is much larger than all of your clan put together."

  "My squad can do great things if we put our mind to it. You'd be surprised."

  He regarded me, really looked at me, for a few seconds. "Contact me before your next patrol. I am working out a proposal with Red-Stripe that may interest you."

  ***

  ***

  FLEET INTER-SERVICE COMMUNICATION: PRIORITY 3F

  FROM: UN HIGH COMMAND, DEPGENSEC, SWITZERLAND

  TO: GENERAL OAKLEY, COMEARTHFOR, ANGIE'S STAR II

  RE: PROGRESS OF WAR EFFORT

  MESSAGE:

  NEWS OF THE RECENT LIBERATION OF VALLEY 1X5J FROM ENEMY INFESTATION HAS REACHED THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF COMMAND. IT IS QUITE A HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENT. YOU ARE HEREBY PROMOTED TO FOUR-STAR GENERAL, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. SEE ATTACHMENT A FOR THE SCHEDULE OF AWARDS FOR YOUR SUBORDINATES.

  HOWEVER, HIGH COMMAND IS CONCERNED OVER THE RECENT LOSS OF A TROOP HELICOPTER TO "ENEMY ACTION". DEPENEMYINTELL WAS UNAWARE THE ENEMY POSSESSED ANY ANTI-AIR CAPABILITY.

  THIS INCIDENT, COMBINED WITH RECENT DISCREPANCIES FOUND BETWEEN ARMAMENTS SHIPPED THROUGH THE WORMGATE AND THOSE REPORTED RECEIVED, HAVE CAUSED HIGH COMMAND TO QUESTION THE EFFICIENCY WITH WHICH YOU ARE PURSUING THE WAR EFFORT. TWO NEW SQUADS DOUBLED THE SIZE OF YOUR COMMAND, SMAJ HUGHES HAS SOLVED YOUR MORALE PROBLEM, YET THERE HAS BEEN A SHARP DROP-OFF IN ENEMY CONTACTS AND KILLS REPORTED FROM EVERY ONE OF YOUR PATROL SQUADS EXCEPT ONE.

  TO REPLACE THE LOST AIR ASSET, THE NEXT SCHEDULED TRANSPORT AFTER THIS MESSAGE WILL INCLUDE FOUR AH-64 GROUND ATTACK
HELICOPTERS AND THEIR SUPPORT STAFF. WITH A FOUR-FOLD INCREASE IN SPEED AND ARMAMENTS OVER YOUR PREVIOUS AIR ASSETS, COMMAND EXPECTS YOUR KILL TOTALS TO RISE ACCORDINGLY.

  ALSO ON THE TRANSPORT WILL BE INSPECTOR GENERAL ARTURO HIMENEZ.

  WHILE HE HAS NO MILITARY RANK, INSPGEN HIMENEZ HAS A CHARTER FROM THE U.N. HIGH COUNCIL TO PROSECUTE FRAUD AND CORRUPTION ON ANY COLONY WORLD EQUIVALENT TO THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND. HIS MISSION WILL BE TO RESOLVE DISCREPANCIES AND ROOT OUT INEFFICIENCIES ANYWHERE IN YOUR COMMAND. PLEASE SHOW HIM YOUR FULL COOPERATION. IF HIS RECOMMENDATIONS FAIL TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE WAR EFFORT ON ANGIE'S STAR II, YOUR COMMAND ITSELF MAY BE REEVALUATED.

  FINALLY, DEPENEMYINTELL IS STILL AWAITING RESULTS OF THE TESTING PLAN FROM THE CAPTURED ENEMY. PLEASE FORWARD AT ONCE.

  END MESSAGE

  ***

  Chapter Nine

  Things actually started to go pretty well after that. Hughes, of course, showed up in our barracks at six the next morning ringing a cowbell because we had crashed that helicopter. But Ann-Marie and Steve had finally healed enough to join us, and it was good seeing them in the running ranks again.

  And I was finding it easy to keep up with Hughes now. It must have been the mental conditioning, because god knows I was going through bodies too fast to build them up physically. But the run didn't seem so bad. The cool morning air, the ground flying past my light feet- it was actually kind of exhilarating.

  Better yet, when the farmers already up and working their fields saw the patches on our fatigues, they cheered as we went by. Each whoop or “Ho! Infinity Squad!” lifted our spirits and just made Hughes madder. Good thing he didn’t know that, as he took us back around a second time and wove us around the farmhouses trying to tire us out in the warming sun, the farmers’ kids started handing us glasses behind one house, then collecting them before we came into Hughes’ view again. Hughes was happy because it looked like every member of our squad was absolutely drenched in sweat from the head down. We were happy because each lap gave us another chance to sip or splash our heads with ice cold water or, in one awesome misunderstanding between Juan and a seven year old, ice tea. We snickered at Juan’s brown, sweet smelling ‘sweat’ all the way back, when Hughes wasn’t looking.