by Isaac Hooke
His fingers pierced the membrane, creating a gash that swallowed the arms of his spacesuit to the shoulders. Organic muck spilled forth.
Hoodwink dug Ari out from the pod and lowered her naked body to the metal floor. Her arms flopped beside her. The umbilical was taut, trailing from her belly to the pod's innards. Slime flowed around her.
She wasn't breathing.
That was normal, because the placenta inside the pod still gave her oxygen.
He cleaned the slime from her eyes with a cloth, then he opened her mouth and breathed a mouthful of air inside. He waited a moment, then did it again. Again.
She still wasn't breathing on her own.
Come on Ari.
He felt her pulse. It was there, but weak.
Hoodwink put his mouth to hers, and this time he inhaled. Some of that organic ooze went down his throat and he coughed violently.
He recovered, and breathed another mouthful into Ari's lungs.
Come on Ari.
She coughed. Green guck spilled from her lips. She coughed again. More guck.
Her eyes shot open in terror, and her lungs inflated as she inhaled like someone who'd been holding her breath a lifetime.
Which she had been.
And then she coughed.
And coughed.
Organic sludge spurted from her lips, spraying everything nearby, including Hoodwink's face.
He didn't mind.
She was alive.
"Let it out, that's the way." Hoodwink lifted her upper body in his arms, and he held her as she hacked away. He patted her back encouragingly. She blinked rapidly, her eyes obviously burning from the ooze that got into them.
Her coughs came with less and less frequency until she just sat there quietly in his arms, staring straight ahead. She breathed slowly, as if she relished each breath, as if she couldn't believe she was alive.
And then those eyes tilted toward him. "Hoodwink."
He smiled. "That's me."
Ari just looked at him for a moment, taking him in. "You saved me."
Hoodwink grinned the happiest grin of his life.
"It was nothing," he said.
116
Why do we exist?
Because of the will of some machine?
Because of a maker in the sky, beyond the heavens that we know and see?
Because of a random combination of chemicals that just so happened to fall together into the right place at the right time to spark that thing of ours called life?
Why do we exist?
To love. To hate.
To laugh. To cry.
To live.
To die.
Do we have some purpose that needs to be fulfilled? Some destiny?
Or are we just some pawns in a game devised by a higher being for its own entertainment?
Life.
Such a simple word for such a complex state of being.
A loaded word.
Life.
You are alive if you have signaling and self-sustaining processes.
You are unalive if you are inanimate.
A tree is alive.
A rock is not.
Or is it?
A laughing child is alive.
A dead man is not.
Or is he?
What about an Artificial Intelligence whose inner workings are complex enough to warrant the quantum state that results in consciousness?
If it thinks, is it alive?
Can it laugh? Can it cry?
Can it know love? Madness?
And if it is alive, what happens when the machine dies?
So many questions. Too many.
What is life?
A simulation? A grand video game? Something for the universe to do when it's bored?
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the universe constantly tends toward higher entropy or randomness. Life is a violation of that law. As is the birth of stars and the creation of planets. Order in the chaos. But Laws are made by living beings and thus are meant to be broken.
Life is simply this:
The love a father feels for his daughter.
A love that allows him to cross worlds to save her.
That is life. That is what it is to be human.
Human.
That's what we call ourselves.
But are we human if we simultaneously exist in another form?
Are we human if the body we inhabit is just a shell, or mask, which our real self inhabits, a real self that is somehow displaced from the body and hidden from view?
Some call that displaced self a psyche.
Others, a soul.
Hoodwink gazed out the view screen at the rapidly approaching surface of the moon below.
His debt to Ari was finally repaid.
Now he just had to repay his debt to humanity, for teaching him what it was to be human.
117
Tanner led a score of humans who were garbed in black coats with the curved-tooth needlework of the Direwalkers on their breasts. The children had properly marked the "unit leader" flag of Tanner's avatar alone this time round, setting the avatar flags of the men so that they would appear as ordinary units to the other Direwalkers. The men all wore fully-charged lightning rings on each finger, but only Tanner carried a sword openly—in order to mimic the weaponry of the original squadron they replaced, the others kept their fire swords hidden beneath their coats, alongside the special collars needed to bitch One. Cap, Al, and Briar were among the men, while the rest were uncollared recruits Tanner didn't know.
The group advanced through the city streets, making for Jeremy's estate. It was late evening, but even at this hour a long column of Direwalkers continuously streamed from the manor gates.
"He's keeping busy," Cap muttered, breath clouding in front of him. His ordinary front teeth betrayed his humanity.
"He is." As usual Tanner was the only one in the group with Direwalker canines. He probed one of those teeth with his tongue to assure himself of that fact.
The overcast sky hadn't loosed its threat of snow, though the clouds made the street appear darker than usual at this hour. If there were any ravens out, he couldn't see them in the waning light.
Bracketed torches lit the main gates ahead, and Tanner was reminded of the first time he'd come here. Ari had been at his side then, and the two of them had forced their way inside with swords swinging. It seemed a lifetime ago.
He wished she were here now. He wished she could fight with him to the end. She would have come, despite the danger. She would have led the charge.
But now it was up to him.
He wouldn't let her down.
"Well, here goes nothing," Tanner said.
The iron gate was open to allow the outpour of the endless ranks, and a Direwalker guard was seated cross-legged in the snow beside the emerging column.
The guard rose as Tanner and his group approached.
"Report, unit leader." The guard stood a head taller than Tanner and looked down on him scornfully. Behind the guard, some of the other Direwalkers snarled at Tanner as they passed the gate. He did his best to ignore them.
"Squadron 114 returning from patrol areas 5C and 5D," Tanner said. The New Users had ambushed that squadron earlier, and brought the survivors back to the sewers for interrogation. With the help of the children, they'd determined the precise time the squadron was to return.
"You're late," the Direwalker at the gate said, baring its teeth. "Any problems?"
So much for the precise time. Tanner grinned, making a point of showing his own canines. "Feasted upon a fresh herd of krubs we caught hiding in an abandoned alleyway."
The Direwalker smirked. "I'm sure you're proud of yourself. Proceed to area 6C with your squadron. The unit leaders have requested assistance in delousing a krub Safe House."
"Done," Tanner said. "But first, we have news to report to the Great One."
"News?" The Direwalker narrowed its eyes.
"Yes. Extracted
from one of the krubs before he died. News of an uprising."
The Direwalker appraised Tanner a moment. "It doesn't matter. We will quench all uprisings."
"We will," Tanner said. "But this uprising is major. The Great One needs to know."
The guard's lips parted in a rictus, and it caressed one of its long canines with its tongue. "The krubs are such an annoyance. It will be good when this world is cleansed of them." The Direwalker stepped aside. "Deliver your message then. But be quick about it."
Tanner stepped between the guard and the outgoing column of Direwalkers, and passed into the courtyard. He motioned Cap and the rest of the group to follow.
The gate Direwalker blocked the way with its body. "Just you, unit leader. The others wait."
Tanner shook his head. "I don't run my squad like the other unit leaders. My units stick with me at all times. It's a rule I never break."
The Direwalker frowned. "You are short in stature, and your vocal patterning is odd. Are you a new type of unit?"
Tanner crossed his arms. "Maybe I am." When the Direwalker didn't respond, he added, "Look, I won't leave my units stranded outside. If you make me go alone, you'll hear back from the Great One. He'll want to see my units too, trust me. There are individual reports that need to be uploaded directly." Tanner had been present during the interrogation of the captured squadron. That was roughly how the unit leader talked once the children had loosened its avatar up.
The Direwalker pressed its lips together. "There's something not right. You have all the traits, and all the proper flags are set, yet you exhibit decidedly krub-like behavior. Heightened pulse rate and perspiration. Odd vocal patterning. And your face—"
"Like you said, I'm a new type of unit. We all are. What you see here is the endgame. We're the gols that are going to run this world when the krubs are gone. You'd be wise to treat us well."
The guard didn't move. Other Direwalkers were starting to glare as they passed, and some of them slowed to listen. Tanner could hear the snarls and hisses behind him.
Tanner rested a hand on his sword hilt. "The Great One will not be pleased when—"
The guard glanced at the gathering crowd of Direwalkers and, apparently not wanting any trouble, waved Tanner's companions inside with a sour expression. "Advance advance." It glanced at the other Direwalkers. "Disperse." When none of them moved, the guard drew its sword. "Disperse!" The Direwalkers reluctantly departed through the gate.
The guard positioned itself in the middle of the gate, spreading its arms to physically separate the column of Direwalkers from Tanner's company. Tanner waited as one-by-one his companions passed the gate. So far, the worst his men had to endure were a few insults hurled their way. But Tanner held his breath when Briar's turn came. Briar had allowed the children to slim his avatar down this time, but he still wasn't as lean as the others and Tanner wasn't sure he'd pass muster. Thankfully the guard barely spared him a glance. The other Direwalkers were more open with their contempt though, and the insults increased. But Briar made it through, and the only wounds he'd obtained were to his pride.
When everyone was inside, Tanner hurried onward.
"That was harder than I thought it would be," Cap said.
Tanner nodded. "Nothing's ever easy."
By crossing the gates, Tanner and the others passed beneath the interference shield that One had raised around this place. Tanner felt no different, yet he knew that he and his men were on their own now. Despite that they all wore hidden trackers, the children couldn't pull them out, move them, or inject items inside to help them.
Still, he'd devised a scheme to communicate with the Outside from here. He carried a pair of two-way diaries on his person. The first of those diaries was linked to another kept by the Control Room operators. Any message he wrote in the diary appeared instantly in the twin. It was his way of passing messages to the children, with the Control Room operators acting as the intermediaries. The second diary he carried was linked to the staging area in the house across the street.
"Why do they call Jeremy the Great One anyway?" Cap said.
Tanner shrugged. "Not sure." He felt a tinge of guilt. He really should've told Cap and the others the truth about what they faced, but all they really needed to know was that Jeremy had changed and was invulnerable, and that this would likely prove to be a suicide mission for most of them.
He led the twenty men onto the pine-flanked path toward the mansion. The first time he'd come here with Ari there had been deer wandering beyond those trees.
Today only lifeless snowdrifts filled the grounds.
He glanced up at the pines, wondering if any Direwalkers waited in ambush like before, but he saw no one. He supposed hidden ambushers were unnecessary when endless ranks of the things emerged from the mansion.
The Direwalkers marched in the opposite direction on the path beside him. With the bottleneck of the gates some distance away, the Direwalkers weren't so closely packed, and a few strides separated each gol from the next, allowing Tanner ample opportunity to study them. They were units mass produced from a common codebase, their bodies and features slightly randomized, though they all possessed a square face, angular nose, and of course the needle-length canines. Most of the Direwalkers were well-built, and over six feet tall. Some wore swords at their waists.
Tanner received more than a few contemptuous snarls for his attention, and he quickly diverted his eyes. He still hadn't fully figured out why the other Direwalkers treated him and the others so coldly. The disrespect his men received he might be able to understand. They were ordinary units after all. But he was unit leader, which should have afforded him at least some respect. He supposed the fact that he and the others weren't six feet tall might have something to do with it. He wished he'd had the children improve his physical traits.
Tanner passed the perfectly rebuilt fountain on the terrace in front of the mansion, and he stepped beneath the columns of the restored portico. Even up-close, there was no evidence of the previous bomb damage.
There was a bit of a bottleneck at the main doors, and Tanner hesitated before finally giving the order to shove through the crowd of outgoing Direwalkers. As expected, his group was met with snarls and hisses, and for a moment Tanner worried the fighting would start right then, but luckily none of the exchanges escalated into physical confrontation.
Once everyone was inside, Tanner crossed to an out-of-the-way section of the foyer, then turned to Al and clasped his hand. "Good luck."
Al nodded. "You too."
Al departed down a side corridor with ten men, Briar among them. Al's men were to provide a distraction by planting and detonating thirty pipe bombs in the backyard. Briar went with them because he was the only one who knew the layout of the mansion besides Tanner.
Tanner was about to continue in the other direction when something caught his eye. Candelabras in the foyer illuminated tapestries and paintings of underwater scenes, and his attention was grabbed by one tapestry in particular—an octopus lurking at the heart of a dark cove.
He remembered seeing that tapestry the first time he had come here with Ari.
The two of them were captured shortly thereafter.
"Something wrong?" Cap said quietly.
This was Tanner's plan. Most of these men would probably die. He'd told them that.
They'd come anyway.
They trusted him to get them out of here alive. But he knew that trust was misplaced.
"Nothing," Tanner said. "Nothing's wrong."
He led the men into the corridor on the opposite side of the foyer. His plan was to circle the reception hall and make his way to the kitchens, where he would take the servants' stairs to the second floor and approach Jeremy's bedchamber from what he hoped was the least-guarded route.
The kitchens weren't far now. As expected, the house was empty on this side. Everything was proceeding well.
Ahead, on the right, a short corridor led away to the reception hall. It was Tanner's bad luc
k that a Direwalker just so happened to be patrolling that corridor as Tanner and his companions walked by.
The Direwalker strode to intercept him straightaway.
"State your business," the Direwalker said. It fingered the sword at its belt menacingly. "Why are you not pillaging with the others?"
"Squadron 144, bringing tidings for the Great One," Tanner said.
The Direwalker flashed its long teeth in a feral sneer. "Who gave you the authorization, unit?"
"We were authorized by the gate guard."
The Direwalker's eyes tightened. "And why are you taking the back way to the Great One?"
Tanner considered this. "We are doing a cautionary sweep of the mansion. For hostiles."
The Direwalker growled, a deep, throaty sound. "There are no hostiles. You will tell me these tidings of yours and I will relay them to the Great One myself if I deem them worthy of his notice. Meanwhile you will return to the city streets and continue your assigned orders."
Tanner looked down the short corridor past the Direwalker, to the reception hall beyond. From here he could see a portion of the main stairs, which had two runs separated by a short platform, the upper runs branching off to two different areas of the second floor. Direwalkers came down the stairs in a steady stream, separated by three or four paces each.
Jeremy's bedchamber was up those stairs.
So close.
"These tidings are to be delivered personally," Tanner said. "Perhaps you could escort us?"
The Direwalker raised an eyebrow in astonishment. "Escort you?"
Tanner had an odd feeling about this Direwalker, and he got the impression he had to be very careful around the thing. He raised a hand. "It's all right. We'll return to the streets as you ask."
Tanner started to retreat when he noticed the symbol on the Direwalker's chest was slightly different from that of any other Direwalker he'd seen. There was a small dagger positioned just above the tooth. Tanner wasn't sure what it meant, but he felt sure this Direwalker was a member of some high ranking unit.
And Tanner had just insulted it.
The Direwalker snarled, and then spoke in that guttural tongue of clicks and hisses. When Tanner didn't respond, the Direwalker remained still for long seconds. Finally it said, "I don't know how you did it, but you're not one of us, krub."