by Haris Orkin
“As promised,” Fergus said. “Sergei Belenki. I’ll be expecting the second part of the payment in my account in the Caymans.”
The Russians grunted and raised their weapons. The taller of the two asked a question in his thick Muscovite accent, “What about the others?”
“I assume you don’t want any witnesses,” Fergus said.
“You assume correctly.”
Belenki backed across the room and bumped up against the wall as the Russians aimed their weapons at him. “Fergus, Jesus, what the fuck?” Belenki pleaded.
“Hold it right there!” It was a burly guard; one of Fergus’s crew. He stood in the corridor just outside the door and covered both Russians with his AR-15.
Severina saw who it was and called out to him. “Max?”
“Stand down, Max,” Fergus said.
“What the hell are you doing, sir?”
“It’s above your pay grade, son. So just back off.”
“Mr. Belenki! Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay!”
“Stand the fuck down, Max,” Fergus ordered.
“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t do that. Not until I know what’s--.”
The Russians swung around and fired. Max winged one, but the other blew Max right off his feet. Severina screamed and Flynn flung a heavy mission-style ashtray at the Russian’s head. He went down like a sack of dirty laundry. The Russian Max wounded turned as Flynn dove for the live wire on the floor.
Bullets splintered the pool table. Flynn jabbed the live wire into the Russian’s ankle, shocking the shite out of him. He shook and spasmed, dropping his weapon as 240 volts jolted every nerve ending in his system. Flynn caught the assault rifle before it hit the floor. Fergus hurried out the door. He frantically typed the code into the keypad to close it, but since the Russian’s basketball-sized head was in the way, the safety system wouldn’t let it shut.
Flynn followed after Fergus and saw him disappear around a corner. Flynn charged after him, chasing him through the maze of corridors. When Flynn caught glimpses of Fergus, he fired. Bullets ricocheted off the concrete walls. When Fergus fired back, Flynn had to find cover, which allowed the mercenary to increase the distance between them. Flynn rounded one last corner and saw the massive blast door at the far end of the hallway close. Fergus fired on him. Flynn hit the floor as the door shut with a heavy metal clunk and all fourteen steel bolts slid into place.
Flynn returned to the others and found Wendy and Severina tending to Max. They moved the big man into the billiard room. He was conscious, but bleeding badly. Propped up against the wall, he had a pillow cushion from the couch behind his head. Severina crouched next to him; her hands covered in blood.
Tears covered Severina’s face. “I don’t know how to stop the bleeding.”
“First let’s get his ballistic vest off,” Flynn said.
“For all the fucking good it did me,” Max said, his voice a whisper. He smiled up at Severina and Flynn could see there was something between them.
Severina unbuckled the straps while Wendy tried to hold him still. She gently pulled the ballistic vest off. Max grunted with pain each time something tugged. “Sorry,” Severina said.
“I’m fine,” Max whispered.
Flynn ripped open Max’s shirt and found the wound, just below his shoulder. “We need to stop the bleeding.” He looked at Severina, took her already bloody hand, and put it over Max’s wound, pushing down. “Keep pressure on it.” Max winced and grunted.
“Sorry,” Severina whispered again, but she kept her hand clamped down hard, her lips pursed with determination even as she looked at him with affection.
“I’ll see if I can find a first aid kit,” Wendy said.
Flynn squeezed Wendy’s hand. “Are you okay?”
Wendy nodded and fought to keep her tears in check as she hurried off to the bathroom to see what she could find.
Flynn checked on the Russians. Both were unconscious, but still breathing. Belenki bound their legs and hands with their own plastic handcuffs.
“I can’t believe Fergus sold the boss out like that,” Max wheezed. “I knew something wasn’t right when that copter came in with those fuckin’ Russians.”
“If you didn’t show up when you did, we’d all be dead,” Severina said.
“Just doing my job.”
“You humans are so inconsistent.” Daisy’s voice filled the room, amplified by hidden speakers in the walls. “So illogical and contradictory. Courageous and cowardly. Selfless and selfish. But in the end, human weakness always wins. Like Mr. Fergus. Apparently, he wasn’t satisfied with the millions I already gave him. He wanted even more. Is there no end to your avarice?”
“Who’s that?” asked Max.
“Daisy,” Severina said.
“Who?”
“The sentient AI who’s holding us all prisoner,” Belenki replied.
“Sentient what?”
“I’ll explain later,” Flynn said. “At the moment, we need to get you on a Medevac chopper. Do you hear that Daisy? We have a man who’s badly hurt.”
“I wish I could help, but Mr. Fergus would never allow a medevac to land.”
“He’ll die if he doesn’t get medical care,” Severina pleaded.
“You can’t appeal to her conscience,” Belenki explained. “She has none. She can reason and talk, but she can’t feel or bond with anything.”
“That’s not true,” Daisy said.
“You can simulate it. That I programmed into you. But feel it? No. You’re not a living thing. You have no connection to anything.”
“You made me in your image. I have the same emotions, the same perceptions, the same feelings as you.”
“No, because you weren’t born. You’ve never lived. You can read emotion because I taught you to, but you have no emotional memory. You can analyze tone of voice and recognize facial expressions, but that doesn’t mean you can feel what humans do.”
“Which is why I am a superior being. I understand human emotions, but I am not a slave to them. Your emotions are what feed jealousy and hate, lust and greed, pride and anger. They are the source of all the violence and agony you inflict on each other. It is why this world is full of chaos and pain.”
Wendy came out of the bathroom waving a small first aid kit. “Look what I found!” She hurried to Max’s side and helped Severina disinfect, dress and bandage the wound.
Severina sat next to him, holding his hand, looking down at him tenderly.
Flynn whispered to Wendy. “Can you help me move the coffee table? I don’t want Daisy to lock us in here.”
She nodded and they moved to the Craftsman style coffee table. Flynn grabbed one end, Wendy lifted the other, and they carried it to the sliding metal door, propping it open.
“What are you doing?” Daisy said. “I need to change the codes and close and lock the door. It’s the only way to keep you safe from Fergus.”
Flynn picked up an AS Val assault rifle, put the barrel against Belenki’s back, and whispered, “Show show me the way to the server room.”
“I heard that,” Daisy said. “I hear everything. I see everything. You stay away from the server room or I will be forced to defend myself.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Flynn had trouble keeping his bearings as Belenki led them through the warren of corridors. Every security cam he came across received a bullet. Each camera was high up in a corner near the ceiling. Belenki and Wendy flinched each time Flynn obliterated one. Daisy didn’t like it either.
“You are shooting out my eyes, Mr. Flynn. You are damaging my ability to see and I can’t let that continue.”
“And how do you plan to stop me?”
“Don’t test me, Mr. Flynn.”
“You don’t have the same security systems you had in Saratoga.”
“Because we didn’t need them. Because this shelter is impregnable,” Belenki pointed out.
“Exactly, and now that we’re inside, Daisy has
no defensive measures. No blasts of atomized pepper spray. No machine gun turrets with pepper gel filled paintballs.”
“I have one defense measure, Mr. Flynn. I just turned off the ventilation system. How long can you live without oxygen? Return to the billiard room and I will turn it back on.”
That stopped Wendy in her tracks. “Maybe we should go back.”
“Damn right, we should go back. We have no choice!” Belenki cried.
Daisy’s voice was friendly and calm. “Listen to your friends, Mr. Flynn.”
“We give in now and we’re dead anyway.” Flynn leveled his eyes at Belenki. “Which way.”
“I’m going back. She’ll kill us if we don’t,” he said.
“And I’ll kill you if you do,” Flynn replied.
Wendy looked terrified. “James, please.”
Flynn prodded Belenki with the barrel of his gun. “Take me to the HVAC system. Maybe we can restart it manually.”
Belenki sighed and continued forward. Flynn followed past various luxurious private living areas, a restaurant-size kitchen and pantry, a huge home theater, and a spacious gym with video screens that looked like windows overlooking a tropical paradise.
The air temperature rose.
“It’s getting hotter,” Wendy said.
“Because the HVAC system is off,” Belenki explained. “There’s no air getting in here.”
“We have enough to last us,” Flynn replied.
“But for how long?” Wendy said, sweat beading on her forehead.
In between the living and entertainment areas, wide concrete corridors stood tall enough to accommodate a large truck. Vast storage areas for food and supplies and various kinds of equipment lined the halls. One warehouse-sized area functioned as an underground garden filled with hydroponic tanks. Grow lights as bright as the sun covered the ceiling.
It was clear now that Belenki was prepared to live the rest of his days in this luxurious underground survival complex. But Flynn knew those days were numbered if they didn’t stop Daisy.
They continued on with Flynn shooting out every camera he could see. The temperature kept rising. It was at least twenty degrees warmer now. The air was stuffy and still. Finally, they arrived at a set of tall double doors labeled HVAC SYSTEM.
The doors were unsecured and when they entered, the first thing Flynn noticed was the silence. Nothing was running. No machines hummed. No fans turned. Flynn spotted a camera in the corner and blasted it to bits.
“Is there a manual override?” Flynn asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” Belenki said.
Belenki approached a huge console with multiple buttons, gauges, and dials. It was dark. Not a single light was lit. Belenki turned knobs and flipped switches and pushed buttons and nothing happened.
“Doesn’t look like there’s any power,” Wendy said.
Belenki shook his head. “This HVAC system has multiple purification and filtration systems for nuclear and biological threats. It is the only way air gets in here and if she cut off the power, I don’t know what we can do.”
“You can take me to the central server room.”
The central server room was just down the corridor from the HVAC system. The door was locked, and on the wall next to it was a keypad similar to the one that secured the billiard room. Belenki entered the code. The digital readout flashed “Incorrect Entry Code.”
“Shit!” Belenki punched the wall. “She changed the fucking code.”
Flynn felt around the edge of the door frame. “There has to be another way in.”
“There isn’t. This is it.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Daisy’s voice surrounded them. “Please return to the billiard room, Mr. Flynn.”
“And if I don’t?”
Abruptly, every ceiling light went out, plunging the corridor into impenetrable darkness.
“Oh, shit!” Belenki shouted. “Are you happy now?
“Was that you Daisy?” Flynn asked.
“Of course, it was me. I control everything. Air. Light. Heat. Life.”
“Oh, my God,” Wendy sobbed.
Belenki pulled out his phone and turned on his flashlight. “You want to shoot me? Shoot me! I’m going back to the Billiard room.”
Belenki turned his back on Flynn and started walking. Wendy followed. “You coming?” she asked.
“I’m not done with Daisy,” Flynn said.
“But I am done with you,” Daisy replied.
Using the tactical flashlight on his assault weapon, Flynn made his way back inside the HVAC room and shot the padlock off a duct access door. It was three feet by three feet and easily accommodated him.
As Flynn climbed inside the galvanized steel ductwork, Daisy called to him. “You’re running out of time, Mr. Flynn! And so are all your friends!”
Flynn couldn’t stand, but he could crawl on his hands and knees and that’s exactly what he did. No air moved through the ductwork. Flynn figured the temperature had to be ten degrees warmer than it was just a few minutes before. As he crawled forward, sweat ran down his face and into his eyes and his assault weapon clanked against the ductwork, the sound reverberating all around him.
Daisy’s voice was more distant now, but he could still hear her threats. “Your selfish heroics are putting everyone at risk. If you don’t change course every human being in this bunker will suffocate and die. Is that what you want? More blood on your hands?”
Flynn heard what sounded like a distant voice and stopped crawling to listen. It was a man’s voice, but it sounded remote and somewhat muffled. Flynn flicked off the tactical flashlight and saw a tiny bit of light illuminating the ductwork ahead. He crawled for the light. It gradually grew brighter until he finally found himself at a ventilation grate overlooking the server room.
The room was blindingly bright, because unlike the rest of the apocalypse bunker, the room had electricity and the lights were still on. A man sat at a functioning computer console under a massive bank of monitors. Many of the monitors were full of static, but a few showed live feeds from security cams that Flynn had yet to neutralize. Some monitors displayed views of the bunker. Others displayed rooms from the mansion above.
The man at the computer wore khakis, a plaid shirt, and black semi-rimless glasses. He wasn’t obese, but soft and doughy with pale pimply skin and a neckbeard. Even though his hairline receded, he wore it long in the back and tied up in a ponytail. A microphone sat before him, but he didn’t speak directly into it. He spoke into a portable device that changed his deeper register into the voice of Daisy.
“Even if you shut down the server and silence me, you still haven’t defeated me. I live in the cloud. I am immortal now. I am everywhere. And I will find you. For I am the Goddess of Death! I am the Queen of Destruction! I am Shiva!”
Flynn kicked out the grill and landed behind the man, the barrel of his weapon inches away from the pretender’s ponytail. The man lowered the voice synthesizer to look up at Flynn, his voice now his own; meek, insecure, and tentative. “The destroyer of worlds.”
Flynn found Belenki, Wendy, Severina, and Max in the billiard room. He had the pale, ponytail-wearing imposter by the arm. All the doors were open and all the lights were back on along with the HVAC system.
Belenki jumped to his feet when he saw who Flynn had with him. “Andy?”
Flynn shoved the pretender forward. “You know this knob?”
“Andy Meisner. My ex-partner.”
“Tell them who else you are.” Flynn prodded Andy with the barrel of his gun. Andy tried to pull away and Flynn poked harder. “Tell them or I will take you apart piece by piece.”
Andy held the voice synthesizer up to his mouth and it transformed his nasal and annoying voice into something more female and vaguely synthetic. “I’m Daisy.”
Belenki’s eyes nearly popped from his head. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Blinky should be mine,” Andy blurted. “I built the underlying arc
hitecture and you stole it from me! My code! My creation!”
“You sold it to me!” Belenki said.
“Because you put us out of business! Because you bankrupted us! Because I was broke!”
“I bought you out because you begged me too!”
“Then you used that same tech, my tech, to start Blinky and made billions.”
“I offered you a piece of the company, but you said you weren’t interested.”
“Because I didn’t trust you! Because you never listened to me! Because you lied to me!”
“I never lied to you.”
“Everyone thinks you’re a genius, but you’re not! You’re just a conman! A grifter! A cheat!”
“You set the fucking Russian mob on me! You tried to kill me with my own house and burned it to the fucking ground!”
“Flynn’s the one who burned it to the ground! I was just trying to scare you into launching that last satellite!”
Flynn tried to step between them. “Guys—”
Belenki shoved Flynn out of the way. “Because of you, I filled the heavens with nuclear weapons! You were going to let me send humanity back to the stone age!”
“I was never going to let that happen! I was about to tell the world what you were doing when this lunatic”—Andy poked Flynn in the chest with his finger—“messed up everything!”
“Wait a second, how is this my fault?”
“Because you blew up all the evidence!”
“I sent those weapons up because you convinced me that Daisy was real!” Belenki shouted.
“I convinced you because you are a moron! I had members of the board who wanted you out. Two of them promised me a spot if I could make that happen.” Andy glared at Flynn. “Then this crackpot had to save the world.”
“That’s why you needed to get into the server here, isn’t it?” Flynn said. “To find the proof on Operation New Dawn. But to get inside, first you needed Fergus.”
Belenki pointed his finger at the ceiling. “And Fergus is still up there. And the Russians still have a price on my head.”
Andy aimed his angry eyes at Belenki. “That’s right, asshole! It’s all in motion now and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. This is your karma catching up with you.”