ED3N- on the Brink of Extinction

by J P Whitney

  “Captain, we’ve been attacked before. A little over a month ago, three guys came to steal food and supplies. They took our friend Eli hostage for a few minutes until we … uh … rescued him,” Tucker said stopping himself at the last minute to keep from admitting just how far they’d gone to eliminate the threat.

  “Eli huh,” Terry commented paying no attention to Tucker’s near admission, “that guy seems to be everywhere. Oh, that’s right, he was staying with a family in Oregon. Now the pieces are falling into place. A small world has gotten a lot smaller over the last few months.”

  “Have you seen him,” Bryce inquired worriedly.

  “Seen him? Hell, I found him nearly dead in the middle of the interstate a few hours outside of ED3N. Don’t think he had eaten since leaving your place. I hand-delivered him to the gate. And tried to warn him not to go, just as I’m doing for you. But he was hell-bent on seeing Ruth. Before we get sidetracked talking about Eli, why don’t you finish telling me about the attacks,” the captain stated, trying to get back on topic.

  “The first attack seemed random and uncoordinated. Just opportunistic thugs trying to take advantage of the situation. Cowards that found it easier to take from what they thought was a single, unarmed man than work the land for their own meals. My father made sure we were always prepared. Fortunately, we were next door and came to Eli’s aid,” Tucker said … Tommy’s absence left an acute hole in his heart as he recounted the event.

  The mention of the boy’s father triggered a memory from when Terry was still in ED3N, “and didn’t you have an encounter on the coast as well?”

  “Yeah,” Tucker said trying to swallow the lump that formed in his throat from dredging up old wounds, “a small band of men set an ambush on a narrow part of the road where a cliff overlooked the coastline. They used radios to coordinate their efforts. Seemed ex-military to us, maybe survivors from the Coast Guard? But even then we reacted quickly. Dad didn’t want us to become victims or live scared in this new world.”

  Terry averted his eyes respectfully while the boys fought back the tears in remembrance of their lost family members.

  Tucker cleared his throat after a few moments, ready to continue, “Well, the attack that drove us from home was much different. It was precise and surgical. They cut the power at the same moment the dogs went down. And the way they moved in the dark was eerie. Even though we were armed and they hadn’t spotted us yet, I had no doubt we’d fail miserably if we confronted them.”

  Terry didn’t want to admit it out loud, but the technology seemed to be the same deployed by ED3N to thwart the attack on the IT Center.

  “Captain Kendall, how did she know they were coming?” Bryce asked.

  “Who? ED3N?”

  “Yeah, ED3N warned us last night to evacuate immediately.” Tucker added, “a minute longer and we wouldn’t have made it out alive.”

  “I’m not sure exactly but it does seem like ED3N has kept a watchful eye on you. Probably keeping tabs on all survivors … at least those Ruth has been able to make contact with. But you’re safe now. As you can see we are well-armed, well-trained, and there really is strength in numbers these days. Probably no safer place left on earth,” Terry stated.

  “Except maybe in ED3N,” Tucker half questioned and half stated. “We have friends … hopefully on their way there now. I’ve got to at least warn them. And Eli. If he’s in some kind of danger, we need to help him,” Tucker said a little more urgently than he wanted to let on.

  “I think Eli has been in danger since day one. Even before he was living on the streets,” Terry shared cryptically.

  “What do you mean,” Bryce asked.

  “It’s a long confusing story. One that I’m still trying to piece together. I knew some of it already, but it got more complicated with the information ED3N shared once Eli reached the city. Maybe we can discuss it later,” Terry suggested trying to postpone the topic for now.

  “So you think Eli is in immediate danger?” If Terry was trying to ease their fears, it wasn’t working. At least not for Tucker.

  “I think ED3N sees him as a threat. Apparently, in a past life, Eli was the brains behind the system’s adaptive artificial intelligence system.” Sharing his information with the Olsens was helping some of the pieces to click in place so he decided to plow ahead. “Wait a minute. If ED3N was tracking Eli’s whereabouts, and he stayed with you for a while, then the system was likely monitoring potential threats to him and that’s why she warned you about the impending attack.” Terry wondered if Eli had a tracking device implanted in him. But even if he did, that still didn’t answer how ED3N knew the threat existed but at least some things were starting to make more sense.

  “Let me see if I’ve got this right,” Bryce said, “Eli, the same homeless man that stumbled onto our property with nothing more than a ratty backpack and spewing biblical prophecies. That Eli is a super brainiac? And what did you mean by ‘in a past life’?”

  “Yeah, I know it sounds far-fetched. But that’s nothing compared to why he has no knowledge of it.” Terry cleared his throat before continuing, “His memory was erased and replaced with a new identity and fake memories before he was dumped onto the streets.”

  That statement left the boys completely dumbfounded, but somehow Bryce found his voice first, “They can do that?”

  “Not can … did. We’ve had the technology for about a decade. I can’t remember who exactly but it was DOD or DARPA that sponsored the research and development of it. The theory I’m working on is Eli may be regaining some of his memories and that is what has drawn him to ED3N.”

  “But if ED3N sees Eli as a threat, then we need to get him out of there. And his knowledge might be useful to you right?” Tucker implored.

  “Like I said, his memory coming back is just a theory. Regardless, ED3N didn’t kill him on the spot and I doubt Ruth would allow it. But I can’t stress this strongly enough. I think the best course of action is for both of you to stay here,” Terry said with some frustration seeping into his tone, not able to understand why these civilians would intentionally want to get into that city after what he’d shared.

  “Captain, you’re all military here. Are you even set up to take on civilians? Wouldn’t we just get in the way? What purpose would we serve in your structure?” Tucker questioned.

  “I think you are underestimating your skills. Your family has survived where over six billion could not. I’m sure we could find jobs matched to your skill sets and you’re obviously comfortable with weapons, so being on a military base shouldn’t scare you.”

  “We’re not scared, but it seems you are circling the wagons and going into survival mode. Or do you have aspirations of creating a society again? And don’t you need both men and women to do that properly?” Tucker questioned in all sincerity.

  “You might not realize it but my troops have been working together for years and Vice President Shepard must have actually thought about this eventual outcome because nearly half of our population is women. A small percentage of women are on the security team so you might not have seen many yet. But women far outnumber men in our medical, communications, engineering, and logistics operations. The troops are even permitted to marry, as many have, just so long as they aren’t assigned to the same squad.”

  Bryce’s thoughts might not have gone down this path as he looked a bit confused as to why this was relevant information, but Tucker’s thoughts certainly had. Hearing the ratio of women to men in Terry’s ranks did put his mind at ease in that respect. Maybe this group could not only maintain some level of civility but eventually work on recreating a society as well. Whoever planned for this outcome did a pretty good job and apparently even had the Presidio as a backup plan should ED3N not succeed.

  Seeing Tucker relax a bit encouraged Terry to continue, “But what should address more of your concerns about our … planning efforts … is the fact we’re going to need to start food production again. And if I remember correctly, your fam
ily had a pretty successful farm in Oregon. You’d be skilled and valued members … helping ensure the very viability of our society moving forward.”

  This topic reminded Bryce of their mother and he thought she’d warm to the idea of starting food production. She had said to him once that the act of growing things always brought a sense of hope, even in their pampered lives prior to the virus outbreak. The ability to responsibly grow food for the family had a touch of magic to it.

  “So what is it you are actually doing here captain? Preparing for battle or rebuilding society,” Tucker still wanted to know.

  Terry took a moment to collect his thoughts before he answered.

  “Job one was to defuse the situation in ED3N and get my team into a safe environment before more lives were lost. I’d say mission accomplished on that front. But I’m not sure what structure we want to form now. It’s actually nice talking to civilians about it to tell you the truth. Getting a chance to contemplate the options before the troops start asking for orders. Hmm, it’s rather ironic actually.”

  “What is,” Bryce inquired.

  “Well, ED3N used to issue the ‘tasks’ to everyone within the city. It was very efficient. The jobs were typically well aligned to people’s skills and experience but still provided opportunities to learn. And military personnel tend to do best when they have orders to follow. The troops still looked up to me as their leader because I was the first one appointed to the security team and helped recruit many of them. But while we were in the city there really wasn’t much use for rank. We did what needed to be done, had ample opportunity for input, and while busy … we were also what I guess you’d call content.

  But now, I’ll have to properly assume command to help maintain order. And give them a sense of purpose.”

  “You seem well suited for the job,” Tucker observed, “a rare combination of thoughtful and practical.”

  That’s what Ruth had said too, Terry thought as he reflected on a discussion they had about how their respective futures might play out once the city was online and the gates opened to refugees. But that was before he saw what ED3N was capable of and his troops took matters into their own hands. His fate was tied to those that couldn’t bring themselves to fully trust the technology. For the safety of those now under his command, and those still in the city, the only option left was relocating to The Presidio. Was Terry well suited to run a military operation? Absolutely. But he wasn’t political and had doubts about forming a city. And that was exactly what was needed, otherwise what was the point? Could the human race continue and rebuild … as just a military community? If only Lieutenant Simpson hadn’t attacked the IT Center … and ED3N wasn’t so … all-powerful.

  Coming out of the brief introspective trance, Terry said, “The answer to your question is both. I’m circling the wagons, as you put it, to create a safe environment, but it’s so we can get on with the difficult stage of planning for the future.”

  Terry let that hang in the air for a while. He thought he was making good points but Tucker still looked conflicted.

  “No offense sir, but if the group that attacked us in Oregon has significant numbers behind them … I’m not sure conventional tactics and weapons are going to very effective,” Tucker volunteered as delicately as he could.

  “Don’t worry about us son. Outside of ED3N, it would take at least a thousand highly trained soldiers with advanced weapons to give us much of a fight. I have approximately 3000 on this base and most have been battled hardened in one way or another. All of our tanks, artillery, and drones are based on the latest technology, some of which haven’t even seen the battlefield yet. And we’ve been monitoring governments and militaries since the outbreak. Other than us, I don’t think anything organized and much larger than a family unit has survived. Maybe a few small, remote communities,” Terry said trying to further assuage their fears.

  Tucker wasn’t sure he wanted to share his next thought, but it wasn’t just the captain he was trying to convince. He needed his brother to understand why he couldn’t stay. And Terry had shared the secret about the military’s ability to erase minds … so what the hell. Might as well pile some of his own craziness into the mix.

  “You mentioned seeing our blog site. Did you read in there how Bryce and I shared similar dreams with Eli? Dreams about ED3N?”

  “Yes, I remember something about that. Was it possible Eli said things that influenced you at a subconscious level once he joined you?”

  “No. They began for us before he arrived. That was why we were so surprised when we found his journal which read like a transcript of our dreams,” Tucker replied.

  “Strange, but OK. How are the dreams relevant at this point,” Terry asked?

  “They’ve …. started again for me. But not about Ruth or ED3N this time.” Tucker couldn’t look the captain in the eye any longer.

  “OK, I’ll take the bait. What did you dream about this time?”

  “I saw the Golden Gate Bridge sink into the bay,” Tucker almost whispered.

  Bryce took a deep breath and added, “And thousands of troops cut down. By some sort of energy weapon I think. Did you see that too,” he asked urgently grabbing Tucker’s arm to make his brother look at him.

  “Yeah. I saw it,” Tucker confirmed. “But why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I didn’t remember the dream until just a few minutes ago ... when I saw the bridge. Why didn’t you say anything,” Bryce countered?

  “Same here. Seeing the bridge must have triggered the memory. But it wasn’t like a dream at all. It was more like déjà vu,” Tucker said.

  Terry preferred tangible logic and lots of facts to base his decisions on as lives were usually at stake. All this clairvoyant dream crap was making the hairs on his body stand on end like he had stuck his finger in a light socket. But the boys’ dreams had proven true on other occasions so he decided they at least believed what they were saying … he just wasn’t sure how much credence to give it. But he had to see how much detail they thought they knew.

  “The thousands you saw cut down, they were my troops? Is it possible you saw the attackers being eliminated?”

  “Things weren’t really sequential in the dream. There was a tower-like device mounted to vehicles. I think it was an antenna of some sort. It was shaped like, well, it was shaped like the Washington monument. But the pyramid at the top had a dish and it swept back and forth. It reminded me of the all-seeing-eye on the back of the dollar bill. People dropped like flies wherever it pointed. I don’t know if it was thousands of bodies but they were lying everywhere. That’s how I remember it anyway,” Tucker said.

  “And Bryce, what do you remember about the bridge? Were there explosions?”

  “No, I didn’t see explosions. I heard cables snapping and the middle section twisted and then it just splashed into the bay,” Bryce said rubbing a hand across his eyes and forehead as though it physically hurt to recall the memory.

  Tucker nodded in agreement.

  Terry couldn’t believe he was interrogating these kids about their dreams, or déjà vu, but continued with this improbable line of questioning, this time directed at Tucker, “Could you see how many people were attacking or what they looked like?”

  “No. I never saw them or their movements. It was just flashes of different scenes.”

  This time it was Bryce nodding in agreement but he stopped suddenly and put his hand to his nose. It was bleeding slightly.

  “What the hell?!?” Tucker exclaimed. His had begun to bleed as well.

  Tucker was absolutely stunned and getting that fight or flight feeling again, but wiped his nose on his sleeve and somehow managed to stammer, “Captain … did you talk to ED3N … about the threat? About this group that is hunting the families in our old community? Could they be the same group we see coming here? A kind of strike force?”

  “We knew someone was systematically going through farms in your area. We believed they were locating the farms based on IP ad
dresses that participated in your blog … similar to how the FBI might sniff out illegal online activity. But advanced weaponry was never brought up.”

  The conversation halted. Everyone was so quiet only the wind and waves could be heard crashing along the rocks.

  “Captain, would you mind giving us a few minutes alone?” Tucker asked politely. Their next steps could have dire consequences and he wanted an honest and open discussion with Bryce; without outside influence.

  “Yes, of course. If you need anything, I’ll be back at HQ,” Terry said and stepped onto the walking trail. Before leaving he turned and added, “Please don’t take too long. I don’t like you out here on your own at the moment, especially if your visions are accurate. I need to ready the troops for battle.”

  When Terry was sufficiently out of earshot, Bryce began, “So we’re sharing dreams again. Do you think this place is safe?”

  Tucker shook his head, “I did initially, but not after seeing the bridge. Something big is coming and I don’t want to be here when it arrives.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to get that feeling you have in nightmares when something bad is chasing you and no matter how much you scream or struggle your feet just won’t move. Feels like something is chasing us and running to the next state didn’t discourage them,” Bryce added disturbingly.

  “So, do you think we’ll be safe at ED3N?”

  “According to the captain, it sounds like the city has its own formable advanced weaponry and a wall. And we’re not soldiers. I mean we’re not in conflict with ED3N over who should be in charge. The ED3N community sounds a lot safer than being on this hill … regardless of how many troops are patrolling the Presidio,” Tucker said.

  “Besides, where else could we go? Home is not an option and we only have food and supplies for a few days. I really don’t want to become a scavenger just trying to survive among the multitudes of dead in these big cities. I’d rather die than live like that.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Bryce said nervously.