“What is that?” asked Lana.
“Proto-soil,” Ivan smiled, “We’re starting to see the effects of plants with a vascular system.”
“Vegetation?”
“Hopefully,” Ivan replied, “At the moment this is comparable to Earth’s Paleozoic. But if they evolve roots, then yes.”
Pulsing waves of green and brown ran through the exposed ground. The hard lunar formation began to change as the ground above it thickened. On the opposite side of their sun, the events were the same. Throughout the cylinder, the angular grey rock was being enveloped by a smooth blanket of land. Emerging from that ground and spreading down towards the sunlight, was a formation that Lana remembered from long ago. Tilting her head to position the sun above the ground she saw the fledgling trees nearby.
“Derev’ya!” she stared in wonder.
Appearing in explosive flourishes, green grasses now spread between the trees.
The time-lapsed point of view continued and the sun began to flicker almost subliminally; its diurnal lighting program governing the arrival of day and night. Evening came and morning came, repetitively, as the accelerated development of the cylinder continued.
“Z-bank incept,” Lana read from her screen, “Fai, please verify.”
“Verifying, stand by.”
Designed by Dr. Chen’s Luóxuán Biotech, a prototype zygote bank had been taken to the FLC in 2010 by Eva Gray. Before the lunar destruction, the remaining crew had managed to save the unit and escort it to the ISS.
The only other known Z-bank prototype had been on Earth, but in 2013, acting under instruction from Dr. Chen, Fai had destroyed the Dover cottage containing it. The last known repository for genetic samples and sequencing now lay within a purpose-built fabricator hub within the cylinder. Although all the steps they’d taken so far were equally monumental, Lana felt the significance of this one more acutely.
“Verification complete,” Fai reported.
“Thank you, Fai,” said Lana.
“Commander, the polymorphic sequencing of the Z-bank is autonomous and does not require external monitoring. Why did you request a verification?”
“It is a big step,” Lana replied, “I think I needed reassurance.”
Fai appeared to consider her response before replying, “Udachi, Commander.”
Lana smiled at the memory of an earlier conversation about luck, “Fai, you’re learning.”
“Always,” Fai replied, then continued, “Replication stage in progress.”
Owing to their position in orbit, minor fluctuations in gravitational pull were producing tidal patterns in the larger bodies of water. But as they watched, the seas appeared to boil as microscopic new life took hold.
The circular, far end of the cylinder now appeared bleached with distance; a side effect of the atmosphere that was accumulating. Scattered through the thick air, Lana could see dots of various sizes randomly flickering between locations.
“Birds?” asked Chris.
“No, they’re not programmed for revival yet,” Ivan frowned, “Technically they’d be capable of conscious alteration to their own quantum-gravitational entanglement.”
“Assuming that I didn’t eat a copy of Bergstrom’s Field Mechanics for breakfast,” said Chris, “What?”
“We’re still in Earth’s gravity well, they’d have too much point mass,” said Ivan, “Until the Biomagged aviaries are completed, they would unanchor from the Field. I think those things out there may just be fabricators, adapted for atmospheric flight with-”
Abruptly, a fabricator landed in full view of the camera and Lana recoiled from the screen. The similarity of the fabricator to an insect was apparent, but there was clearly a logical control behind its industrious efforts.
She suppressed a shiver, knowing that the momentary revulsion she’d felt was largely due to an ingrained human prejudice; one that viewed any intelligence of a different shape to be a threat.
“It’s beautiful,” Ivan studied its artificial biology.
“It’s taking our camera,” Chris replied.
As they watched, the view shifted to one side, pointing at the nearby grass. Then suddenly the view pivoted upwards and the image temporarily flared white as it pointed directly at the axial sun.
“My counterpart is redeploying the internal camera during the final phase,” Fai explained.
A second later, the camera was pointing back along the axis, and they were presented with the fabricator’s viewpoint. Set within the cylinder’s end opening was their apparently distant ISS; a tiny collection of modules set against a black circle of space. Framing this dark circle was a time-accelerated blur of activity; weeks of construction were still continuing to speed by inside the cylinder’s M-Field.
“Too bad that we couldn’t get open atmospherics to work out,” Ivan sighed, pointing at the cylinder’s internal diameter, “Would’ve been great to have a Stanford Torus entrance.”
“For now, just be grateful for what we’ve got,” Loren read the accompanying data, “the Field’s holding air pressure just fine.”
As they continued to watch the accelerated view, a vibrating arc of light became visible through the cylinder’s opening. Earth’s Sun was now a simple brush-stroke flourish of orbital mechanics and the passing of time.
With a sudden and dizzying lurch, Lana knew that the multiple Fields surrounding the ISS had just deactivated. A quick check of the instruments confirmed that the Field surrounding the RTO and Miles Benton was still operational.
“How are we doing, Fai?”
“My counterpart has found a potential solution for Mr. Benton,” said Fai, “He must remain aboard the RTO, but everyone else must leave once we have docked with the central axis.”
“Understood,” said Lana, “Is he going to be OK?”
“The theory is highly unconventional and beyond my current understanding,” she replied, “I will only be able to answer your question after I have conducted a merging operation with my counterpart.”
Lana turned to face the video feed again.
At the centre of the screen she could already see the central axis docking clamps telescoping away toward the circular hole. In a few short minutes, the ISS would be drawn into the cylinder and they would be able to inspect their new world.
PATIENCE
~
Seated in the comfortable simulation of the Samphire Cottage living room, the Walkers were still assessing the results of their intervention and the bizarre array of temporal patterns they’d discovered as a result.
“So it never occurred to Archive to nest the Fields?” Kate asked her father.
“At the time, power generation was a limiting factor. The idea of running more than one Field at the same time, wouldn’t have occurred… didn’t occur… to me,” he placed the framed photo of a vibrant pink flower back on the shelf and shook his head, “I can see why you struggle with the tenses, Katie.”
“So what do we do now?” Monica leaned back into the sofa and put her feet up on the table, “Nothing to do and forever to do it.”
“Hardly,” Douglas sat down next to her, “We have to study the timelines in detail… work out the meaning of the new Boundary structures that we’re seeing.”
“I did spot something,” Kate sat down, “We’ve used hydrogen to manipulate things like water, ice, gas giants and inflections. So I thought I’d check out the energy levels.”
“Quantum variational method?” asked Douglas.
“Yes?” Kate frowned.
“Let me guess,” he smiled, “You spotted the correlation to Pi?”
“Exactly!” she smiled back, “But when you look at the new temporal patterns out there, the value of Pi is different.”
“Definitely lots to think about,” Douglas was nodding, his eyes bright with enthusiasm.
“You two…” Monica smiled at them both, “Reminds me of when you’d work on school projects together.”
The fire crackled in the grate; a happy m
emory fuelling its warmth.
Kate heard her mother sigh.
“It still bothers me,” Monica shrugged.
“What does?” Douglas put his arm around her.
“The interventions we’ve made…” she replied, “People have no clue that we’ve altered their actions to aid the greater plan. They live out their lives in sad ignorance of their contribution… at best, they might remember bits as coincidence or luck. Occasionally, we’ll see people who appear consciously aware of our guidance -”
“Like Westhouse?” said Kate.
“Exactly,” Monica nodded, “They can’t see the plan, but go along with it anyway. Do any of these people have free will?”
“Our actions so far have guided many of them away from paths that would have ended their lives,” Kate reminded her, “What free will would they have had then?”
“I know, I know. But should we be doing it? More to the point,” she pointed in the direction of the front door, “Given the new state of things out there, should we be continuing to do it?
“You’re not going to let me forget this,” Kate closed her eyes, “but I think I agree with you.”
“And I only had to wait a thousand lifetimes to hear the words,” Monica mocked her.
Kate sat down on the armchair opposite their sofa.
“When I was making my first interventions, the population was in rapid decline. I was dealing with a set of ever-reducing choices so things were, well… less complex. But five thousand years later?” Kate shrugged, “Our lunar intervention sparked a difference. Our control and influence is only going to get…”
“Infinitely harder,” Douglas nodded, “A million years after Siva, how do we still decide what is the ‘right’ thing to do? What decision branches of history would we be willing to cut in order to correct a mistake?”
Undoubtedly, understanding what lay ahead would require patience and time, but as Douglas had once said, time was something they had plenty of.
BETA
DAY781 : 14FEB6810
She knocked on the door and waited.
Despite the Beta Beach notices that had been stuck to the Node’s walls for over a week, Cassidy still found herself running late.
A few seconds later Gail opened the door, holding baby Neil in her other arm.
“Hi Cass, come in.”
She made her way inside, carrying her supplies.
“Thanks, Gail, you’re a lifesaver! I think the entire Node’s showering ready for tonight, so the water pressure at my place is shi-” she swerved her language for the benefit of Neil, “shocking.”
“Hey, if I can’t share the perks,” Gail shrugged, “then what’s it all about?”
Cassidy followed her through the large living room, picking her way between a mass of colourful building bricks and toys.
“Excuse the mess,” Gail apologised.
“You should see my place,” Cassidy admitted, “I’ve got just as much stuff in half the space!”
Gail gave a sigh and Cassidy realised the inference she’d accidentally made. The large quarters had been given to Roy and Gail, almost in exchange for the closure of the Node’s Observatory. Although Alfred Barnes had cited the need to conserve power for the sake of the community, both Gail and Cassidy knew that the power requirements of the multi-screen video entertainments were far greater. It seemed that when it came to power, Alfred was only interested in his own. The media circus surrounding tonight’s grand opening of Beta Beach was simply another of his controls; distracting the public with an exercise in trivia and self-obsession.
“Sorry Gail, I didn’t mean to -”
“It’s fine Cass, really,” she reassured her, “We’ve all gotta watch our step, smile wide and sing as loudly as everyone else. Tonight is exactly the right place to do it. Right?”
“Right,” she nodded determinedly.
“Topping up the pink?” she pointed to Cassidy’s hair.
“My last one,” she shook the box containing the home dye kit, “I was saving it for a special occasion, but I figured… what the hell.”
In the privacy of the shower suite, she opened the dye and followed the kit’s instructions to the letter. Each step was a minor ritual, each combination of chemicals an act of alchemy that would transform her appearance. When she’d fixed the final colour, she rinsed the excess out of her hair and watched as streaks of pink swirled down the drain at her feet. In a few hours, after the Node’s system had treated it, that same water would be good enough to drink.
She put on her bikini and wrapped herself in a towel before returning to the living room.
“Whoa!” said Gail, “I forgot how wild your hair was!”
“Yeah,” Cassidy grinned at her reaction, “you sort of don’t notice the colour fading. Nice to give it a boost.”
“You’ll turn heads,” Gail smiled.
In response, Cassidy just held up her crossed fingers.
“Looks like you’re all set for the big date then…” Gail raised an eyebrow.
“I wish you wouldn’t call it that,” she shook her head.
“Sorry, but you know what I mean,” said Gail, “How is he?”
“We’ve talked it through,” she towelled her hair dry, “We’ve gone out for coffee a few times this last week. You know, nice and public.”
“So I heard,” Gail nodded, “He’s a good man, Cass, and in here that counts for something.”
“You’re right…” Cassidy sighed, “At the very start, I flirted with him and he told me all sorts of stuff about the Field and the exiles. I didn’t think for one minute that he’d suddenly get all valiant…”
During an altercation in the minutes leading up to the exiles’ departure, a baton-wielding guard had knocked Cassidy to the floor with brute force. Marshall had been the only one to intercede; putting himself in front of the guard to protect her from further blows.
“I guess I’m distancing myself,” Cassidy sighed again, “We both know where things could go. It’s hard…”
“I know,” Gail gave a slow nod and looked away, “You trust him though?”
“With my life,” she found herself immediately replying.
She finished applying her make-up and unwound her towel, standing so that Gail could offer her opinion of the overall effect.
“What d’you think? Not too revealing?”
“Revealing is sort of the point though isn’t it?” she shook her head, “I’d kill to have a figure like yours.”
Cassidy thought about the time that lay ahead, “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
They both heard feet stop outside the door. Cassidy hastily wrapped the towel around herself again, while Gail instinctively collected Neil from the floor.
The door unlocked and Roy walked in.
“Hi, honey,” he said, giving Gail and Neil a hug. He then spotted Cassidy’s vibrant hair, “Wow, Cass!”
“Everything OK?” asked Gail.
“I think I might know why Barnes gave Neil a new Biomag,” he said, “It was to correct a mistake.”
Roy crossed the room towards a clothes cupboard.
“Neil’s orange Biomag was a purpose-made baby gift,” he said, “I think somebody with a conscience, gave him an old Type-2 Biomag and painted it to conceal the serial number.”
“But who would do that?” said Cassidy.
“Dunno,” said Roy digging through the clothes, “but in between doing that awful press interview downstairs and getting up to the Observatory level, Barnes forgot something.”
He pulled a colourful paper bag out of the cupboard.
“He left something inside.”
•
Scott Dexter looked out over the newly completed Beta Beach leisure centre. Although he privately disagreed with the amount of power and resources that had been channelled into fulfilling the president’s wishes, he had to admit that the transformation was stunning. The disused Sub-1 Beta segment he’d visited during his search for Biomag evidence, wa
s now a brightly lit, vibrant space.
Entering at the narrowest point of the segment, the side walls diverged as they travelled out towards the circumference. The far, curved, wall had been decorated sky blue and featured hand-painted distant clouds; the segment’s radial topology reinforcing the illusion that a horizon line was in the far distance.
Heat lamps along the walls and in the ceiling, pushed ambient warmth and light throughout the entire space. The heat was even present underfoot, within the sand-yellow floor colouring than ran to the water’s edge.
In places, the water-filled submarine channel had been built over to create small bridges and secluded tropical zones; the underwater lighting sending chaotic patterns rippling through the depths.
In the knowledge that Biomags would need to be used even while showering, they’d always been waterproof. The idea of swimming while wearing a Biomag was still something of a novelty: many people were already gathered in the water, finding delight in each other’s semi-clothed company.
Potted palms broke up the straight edges of the artificial shore, and beach huts dispensed alcoholic drinks to those with credit. A feeling of sunlight appeared to permeate the entire space, whilst animated chatter and laughter weaved through the music-filled air. With his eyes closed, Scott could almost believe it was a warm summer’s day.
Except of course, this was all an artifice. He opened his eyes.
Towards the side wall, a few feet away, Roy and Gail were sitting together at a small table. Neither of them were particularly dressed for the beach setting but they seemed happy and comfortable; chatting and smiling, while Gail bounced Neil on her knee in time to the beat of the party music.
Scott looked towards the artificial shoreline and saw Marshall and Cassidy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Marshall was wearing his favourite item of clothing: a T-shirt with chemical element symbols printed on the front, arranged to form the words ‘No FeAr’. Cassidy’s pink hair and matching bikini were drawing a fair amount of attention from other men in the vicinity; something that Marshall seemed to be discussing with her.
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