The Orb

by Tara Basi

She looked surprised by his question. “Haven’t they told you what’s going on with the Orb?”

  It was Peter’s turn to be surprised. “The Orb?”

  “Look, we don’t have time. It’s probably best if you bring back Professor Simmons first,” Zip said, and turned away as if bent on pointlessly exploring the lab.

  Peter was furious. He wanted answers. He was about to protest when his Headgear pinged, advising him he had mail from a local, secure and hidden server. He recognised the method. The message had originated from one of the special tools he’d installed in Zip’s Headgear to track and communicate with Quattro after Mathew had stolen her away. It had to be from Zip. She was using it to communicate with him. Instinctively, he checked the message for anything malevolent. It was safe. Peter looked around, fearing Industries had detected their exchange and that the Suit would appear along with a squad of troopers. Nothing happened. The Suit didn’t know. He opened it eagerly, praying it would be an escape plan, and was immediately disappointed. It wasn’t a message at all. It was a program. He was about to close it when he suddenly recognised the code. It was a message encrypted using a cypher he and Professor Simmons had developed to communicate when they’d wanted to evade Industries’ constant scrutiny. A casual inspection would suggest they were only exchanging fragments of software. Peter couldn’t help smiling. Most of the messages they’d exchanged using the code were amorous and sweet. Was this note from beyond the grave? And where did Zip get hold of it? The content would take some time to decipher.

  Further examination was interrupted by Bunny announcing, “The VR is ready.”

  “Goodbye, Peter, it seems our time is up,” Quattro said, startling Peter. Did she get the same message as well?

  All these secrets and confusion would have to be dealt with later; the Suit wouldn’t tolerate any delays. He entered the VR, and he was as he was in the real lab. The Suit appeared nearby.

  “Are you ready? Shall I initiate the Record?” said Bunny.

  “Get on with it, Peter,” said the Suit. “Time is short. We need to know what the hell this Orb Event is all about.”

  “Go ahead,” Peter said, wondering what the Suit was talking about. He’d soon find out as he braced himself for an encounter with his long-dead lover.

  Nothing happened.

  “This had better not be a trick, Peter. Where is the—?”

  The Suit stopped speaking abruptly. It was frozen solid and suspended in mid-air. He had become so used to its constant billowing and fluttering movements, he thought it might have died. Had the VR failed? He exited the VR, back to the real lab, and found the Suit in exactly the same pose and completely inert. An unpleasant banging noise drew Peter’s attention away from the Suit.

  Quattro had collapsed in an ugly tangle of metal limbs, inhumanly positioned. One leg was impossibly wrapped around her neck, another grotesquely encircled her waist, and her arms were knotted together behind her back. Quattro was banging her head against a steel desk, slowly and deliberately, pounding out a steady drum beat.

  Peter hurled himself in her direction. “Quattro!” he screamed.

  By the time he’d reached her side, she was completely still. He kept on screaming her name. She didn’t respond. Desperately, he clawed at her limbs, hoping to untangle them and maybe restore some sign of life. A butterfly might have had more impact on a granite boulder. The blood flowed freely from his torn fingers as he grabbed at her inert body, smearing the mercury sheen of her reflective skin with dark brown stains. His useless efforts slowed and then stopped altogether.

  Gentle hands pulled an emotionally drained and exhausted Peter to his feet. He turned away from the grotesque manikin Quattro had become to see Zip trying to comfort him.

  “Get off me!” he snapped. He pushed her away, stumbled over to where Bunny was standing and whispered hoarsely, “Bunny, where’s Quattro? What happened?”

  “That iteration of Kiki has ceased functioning,” Bunny said.

  “What?” Peter screamed, as he wiped his sleeve across his tear-filled eyes.

  “The Record triggered cyber-weapon Alpha. It terminated Quattro. Something I think she had anticipated.”

  Peter fell to his knees and howled like a dog before screaming at Bunny, “You made me kill her, again! I’ll see you all in hell!”

  Before he could do anything else, he felt a sharp prick in the side of his neck and tipped forward into a waiting blackness.

  Chapter Twenty-Five – Zip and Friends

  Bunny caught Peter as he slumped forward then lifted him up in its arms and tenderly deposited him on a cot.

  “He’ll sleep for several hours,” Bunny announced to no one in particular.

  Zip sat on a chair next to the cot and checked Peter’s pulse. It was steady.

  “What just happened?” she demanded, looking up at Bunny.

  “As planned, Alpha has taken control of Industries’ systems via the Suit’s VR interface. Beta and Alpha are now linked. This Kiki did not survive the detonation.”

  Zip was shocked at Bunny’s indifference. “This Kiki?”

  “Peter has Kiki’s Record. He could bring her back, a K5 if you will.”

  Zip shuddered. “I don’t think that will give Peter any comfort. Was Alpha hiding in Peter’s Headgear? Why did it kill Quattro?”

  “At this time, I can say no more about Alpha.”

  Zip groaned aloud and clenched her fists. Nothing made any sense.

  Over the next few hours, Bunny didn’t reveal much more to Zip than Beta had already told her in Paris. According to Bunny, an Orb Event was less than seventy-two hours away, and Bunny’s priority was to ensure the safe evacuation of central London. Bunny informed Zip that Alpha in London would remain largely dormant if Industries implemented the plan, just as Beta was keeping the Church honest in Paris. Bunny didn’t know or wouldn’t tell her where the real Professors Simmons’ Record was. Whatever Industries thought was Professor Simmons’ Record was just another trigger.

  Zip wasn’t going to learn any more until her own Record of the missing week was recovered, or at least some part of it. Headgear said an initial period would be available for review in a few more hours. And since Alpha had taken over Orb Industries’ systems, her Net connection had been restored. She made a number of calls.

  Alice sounded desperate when Zip contacted her. Rumours of some sort of imminent terrorist attack were already spreading through the levels. Industries was evacuating the inner London population, around and under the Orb, to the old God-War shelters below the Great Wall. Alice was shrewd enough to understand that moving that many people into the shelters at such short notice would kill many, even if they didn’t panic. She grabbed at Zip’s offer of help without hesitation. Zip contacted her only other friends. Unsurprisingly, the Quartermaster decided to stay where he was. Surprisingly, Bremer decided to join Q. He didn’t want to be out in the Greenbelt, out in the open, exposed, to whatever might happen.

  Bella had her own ideas. “It’s a very kind offer, dear, but I’ve heard a rumour out of Paris. It’s not a terrorist attack. It’s going to be an Orb Event. I have to be there. I have to see it. No matter what. You understand?”

  Zip sighed. She knew immediately that Bella wouldn’t be dissuaded, but she had to try. “The Waves aren’t running, Bella; the Cuboid will be locked down.”

  “Don’t you worry about me, dear. Go and look after your family. I won’t be alone.”

  Zip realised what Bella was saying and shivered. How many Pilgrims were already heading for the Orb?

  “Be safe, Bella. I’ll be in touch.”

  She disconnected and looked around for Bunny. There were two identical, shiny machines standing side by side, unmoving, silent. “Bunny?”

  The one on the left answered. The other had to be Mathew. “Yes?”

  “I’m leaving, and I’m taking Peter. He has a house in the Greenbelt with a secure cellar. It should be safe there.”

  “This lab could be even safer. It�
��s directly under the Orb but protected by kilometres of bedrock.”

  Zip hesitated for a moment then shook her head. “You don’t really know, do you? I don’t want to end up buried alive.”

  “Bunny can arrange an escort and transportation by Industries. You and Peter will be under Alpha’s protection while it remains in control.”

  “Good. Get industries to send a security team to collect my daughter and grandchildren and bring them to Peter’s house.”

  “It has been ordered.”

  “Thanks.” Zip started to turn away and then remembered her conversation with Bella. “I think a lot of Pilgrims might try and reach the Orb. The rumour of an imminent Orb Event has leaked.”

  “Bunny will investigate.”

  The sound of the lab’s lift doors opening grabbed her attention. The six troopers who’d brought them had returned. Two marched over to the cot where Peter was sleeping and loaded him onto a stretcher. Other troopers collected various pieces of equipment. The stretcher bearers re-joined their comrades, and the whole group returned to the lift and waited with the doors open.

  “That was quick. How long before my family gets to Peter’s house?”

  “They’ll be following right behind. A matter of minutes.”

  “Great.”

  Peter was in the lift along with a stack of advanced-looking electronics.

  “What’s the kit for? How do we keep in touch?”

  “Reanimation equipment and all of Peter’s work on the VR. We may yet need the Tramp. Bunny has added Bunny’s contact details to your Headgear.”

  Zip choked and coughed; she felt dizzy, as if she’d been struck. “Jesus and the Tramp, he really did it? He brought back the Tramp? What did the Tramp say? This had better not get out. Not now. Who knows how Pilgrims will react. I’m not really sure I know how I feel.”

  “Industries can no longer access the Tramp’s Record or Peter’s VR sessions with the Tramp. Only Peter and Bunny have access. Peter can explain.”

  She snatched a glance at Quattro and immediately turned away. Even if it was only an inert machine, its pose was grotesque. “What about Quattro? Won’t Peter need her body? I mean, he might want to bury it or something. Or bring her back?”

  “That body housing is urgently required by Bunny. Reanimation rehabilitation must first occur in a human VR setting. An AI body may be appropriate later.”

  Zip took a deep breath. It was all getting to be too much. Quattro was dead. Poor Quattro; she’d liked the girl. Zip nodded and started to leave when she realised she’d completely forgotten about Mathew.

  “Are you coming?”

  “No. Data exchange with Bunny is incomplete.”

  She smiled. Bunny hadn’t just been talking to her. “Good luck,” Zip said to Mathew. She wasn’t offended when he didn’t respond. She’d have been surprised if he had.

  Zip joined the troopers and an unconscious Peter in the lift. There was less than sixty-four hours to the Event.

  The lift journey to the surface was long and tedious. Her ex-guards were silent throughout, and Peter didn’t stir. It left plenty of time for Zip to replay key Record moments from the time Peter first appeared in her office. The only missing piece was the blocked Record of her meeting with Quattro in his cellar. It didn’t matter. It was obvious Zip didn’t have all the pieces of the puzzle, and what she had made little sense. Peter probably had other bits of the jigsaw. He might already know who killed Kiki and why. He must certainly know what Industries was up to with the Tramp Record. Maybe when the first fragment of her restored Record was returned, they’d find the edges of the puzzle.

  Eventually, the doors opened onto a large hangar. Sitting near the open hangar doors were a number of Industries jump-jets, their engines turning over lazily. There was nothing visible through the open rectangle except blue sky. For once, it wasn’t raining. With their heads bowed, Zip and the rest of her group ran across the stone floor towards the waiting jet. In moments, her transportation had lifted off and was flying slowly towards the blue rectangle.

  They emerged some two thirds up the outside wall of the Cuboid. Spread out below her was Hyde Park. Directly ahead lay London’s inner cityscape of show towers and mansions. Further on was the ring of the Clear and Safe. In the bright sunshine, it sparkled like a necklace of gold encrusted with islands of green emeralds. The whole panorama was bounded by the Great Wall of black slate.

  Something was wrong. Zip put her face close to the door glass and looked down at the park. It was dotted with different colours, as though the grass had developed measles. The multi-hued dots got denser the further out she looked, and all the little dots were converging on the Cuboid. Thousands, hundreds of thousands, of naked Pilgrims were assembling to await the Orb Event. Something had to be done. She contacted Bunny.

  “Has Industries seen what’s happening in the park?”

  “Bunny has become aware. It appears many Pilgrims in London are refusing to be evacuated and are making their way towards the Cuboid. Even with the central lifts and all of the inbound transport shut down, they aren’t deterred. They are climbing the emergency stairs and walking.”

  “We’ve got to do something.”

  “There are also a large number of Pilgrims who have breached the Church barricade to the Channel Tunnel at Calais and are heading towards the Nexus on foot. The Church has now regained control, but up to a million Pilgrims may already have entered the tunnel.”

  “Can’t the Church or Industries stop them?”

  “Not without the use of force.”

  Zip was exasperated; the evacuation was going into reverse. Vast numbers could be at risk. “Isn’t there anything we can do? Between Alpha and Beta, you control the world.”

  “Bunny. It’s Bunny. I am not a ‘you’.”

  “Who cares. Listen, Bunny, can’t you get the Church to make an announcement, call the Pilgrims back, order them to leave?”

  “Bunny cares. You do not care to be called Zara.”

  What a prima donna, Zip thought. It’s worried about some existential identity crisis when millions of lives are in danger. There wasn’t really any other choice, she had to work with Bunny; it had control of Alpha and Beta and, through them, all of Church and Industries’ resources. Maybe Peter could do something, but he would be out for hours yet, and even then, he might be in no fit state to help. Zip swallowed, ground her teeth and admitted defeat. “Bunny, sorry.”

  “Thank you for understanding. It is unlikely the Pilgrims will listen, though Beta and Alpha will issue regular warnings and deny an Orb Event is pending.”

  Zip knew that wasn’t going to work, not if Bella’s reaction to the Orb rumour was typical. “Look, Bunny, it may be time to tell the truth.”

  “What does Zip suggest?”

  “Confirm there may be an Event, tell them about the countdown. At least they won’t panic about being late and start a stampede. And make arrangements. Get facilities into Hyde Park: food, water, sanitation. Open the Nexus, let the Pilgrims in the tunnel come through and occupy the stationary Waves. Keep the Cuboid sealed. It might provide some sort of protection.”

  “Will this not make the problem worse?”

  “It shouldn’t if the tunnel, Heathrow and the wall are all sealed.”

  “Agreed. However, many Pilgrims in London who have not yet decided to come to the Cuboid, they may regard this approach as an invitation.”

  “Give them an alternative. Make the Orb live VR feeds public and tell Pilgrims the safest option is to witness the Event in an Orb Church or on their Headgear. Some might turn back, especially if they know the Cuboid is definitely going to remain sealed.”

  “Bunny will consult with Industries and Church experts.”

  Zip couldn’t argue with that. “Fine, just be quick. I’m looking down at the park now and it’s filling up.”

  Zip rested her head against the glass and closed her eyes. The higher pitch of the engines as they switched to hover and started descending w
oke her up. She’d been asleep for less than ten minutes. It wasn’t that far to Peter’s house by jet. She looked down at Peter’s beautiful house and garden, which was rising to meet the jet. The two kissed, and they were on the ground. The troopers carried the equipment to Peter’s basement, and then they took the still unconscious Peter inside.

  With Peter being looked after, Zip stayed in the garden. According to Alice’s Headgear signal, she was on her way and not that far out. A few moments later, the troopers marched out of the house and re-boarded their jump-jet. Zip’s gaze followed the near-silent machine as it lifted vertically into the sky and streaked away towards the Cuboid. In seconds, it was barely visible. Zip turned her attention back to scanning the skies for Alice. It wasn’t too long before she caught the faint sound of an approaching whirlybird. The stealth-less commercial transport set down in Peter’s garden with an earth-shaking rumble, stirring dusty soil and leaves and the smells of manure and grass. Zip headed towards the aircraft. Her tail had crept out from under her dress and was waving a greeting. The copter’s door opened, revealing Alice, dishevelled and looking worried. Gingerly, she stepped down from the helicopter and threw her arms around Zip, gathering her up in a tight embrace. After a few moments, Alice released her mother, smiled and wrinkled up her nose. “You smell.”

  “Been wearing this dress for a while,” Zip answered, and looked down at the once-beautiful piece. It was probably ruined. Maybe it could be rescued if Peter had a high-end garment cleaner. Then she remembered she didn’t have anything else real to wear. There was always her holo-gear. She hoped Industries had had the good sense to put the heating on in the house and stock the kitchen. It was freezing in the garden, and she was starving. Zip smiled; it was nice to have the momentary diversion of trivial worries.

  Together the two women helped the girls out of the copter, and Zip led them all towards the house. Even though Jane was nearly twenty and the oldest, she looked more frightened than her eleven-year-old sister, Heather, who seemed to be enjoying events.

  “Oh, my Orb, what an amazing house. Is the garden real?” Heather said to anyone who might be listening.