The Orb

by Tara Basi

  Peter checked his Headgear. “Yes, it’s ready. Is there any more Record?”

  She shook her head. “Tell me what the note says.”

  Peter wasn’t sure he wanted to tell Zip, not before he’d studied it carefully himself. Then, maybe he owed her; she’d just shared a horrific and personal journey. He cleared his throat and started reading aloud. “Peter, you can trust Zara. Stall Industries for two years, until the last week of March. Insist you need the deactivated AI body from my lab beyond the wall before you can reanimate my Record. Zara will take care of the Church. Don’t try to reanimate anyone else: it could be dangerous. The base code contains a highly focused and capable, but undetectable, AI cyber-weapon. If it’s activated, it’ll try and implement the plan. Afterwards, I’ll explain everything. All the technical details and the co-ordinates for my lab are attached. Love Petula.” Peter sighed. She always said she loved him. Why couldn’t he love her, even before she converted? Peter didn’t really know; maybe he was afraid of another betrayal, and he was right to be afraid. Her note was confusing; he needed to study it carefully when his mind was clear.

  “What does she mean ‘afterwards’?” Zip asked.

  Peter hadn’t picked up on that element of the note. He read it again and saw what Zip meant. Before he could speculate, an audio call beeped in his headset.

  “Bunny’s calling. You talk to it. I can’t,” Peter said to Zip.

  “Hello, Bunny, what’s happening?”

  “It’s Petula. Can I speak to Peter?”

  Peter slapped his head with both hands. “Petula?” He lurched forward. How? Reanimation? It was horrible to hear her name after everything he’d seen. The damn voice was so familiar, so intimate. “I watched Petula kill herself. Whatever you are, you’re not Petula.”

  “I’m sorry about Kiki, Peter. She was a very beautiful girl.”

  A capable and focused AI cyber-weapon. It could be dangerous.

  A little dark spot tugged at Peter’s mind. An ugly little realisation that wasn’t fully formed. “Answer me. What are you? How do you know about Kiki?”

  “Bunny was constantly copying my Record. Aren’t we all the Record of our lives. I’m Petula’s Record. I feel like Petula. I know everything she knew and everything Bunny knows. I know about Quattro. I’m so sorry, Peter.”

  If it’s activated.

  The little, inky realisation grew larger. Not enough to be fully realised. Enough to niggle. “What do you fucking want?”

  “You haven’t changed. Still the same self-centred hypocrite. You accepted Quattro was your daughter. Can’t you call me Petula?”

  “I said, what do you want?” Peter wearily repeated. Kiki was long dead, Petula even longer.

  “Peter, Petula loved you; I feel the same. Never mind. To business. The Orb Event is less than twelve hours away. Bring back the Tramp. No pretence. Restart where you left off. Bunny will assist remotely. Tell the Tramp the truth. After the Event, he might be the only one who can save the world.”

  Zip said, “You can’t be certain there will be an Event. If there is, what’s the Tramp supposed to do?”

  “Who are you?” Petula asked.

  “Zip, once Zara.”

  “Ah, my liberator. Well, Zip, if there’s no Event, I’ve wasted years. And I’ll probably kill myself again, and permanently. If there is an Event, then a few words from the Tramp might calm the situation. Suppose it disappears? Pilgrims will be terrified and confused. My weapons are losing control. Church and Industries are fighting back. What do you think they’ll do?”

  Zip’s face soured as she answered, “They’ll go to war.”

  “All I ask, Peter, is that you at least prepare the Tramp.”

  Peter stared at his feet, looking for answers, wishing he could get drunk and sleep through the Event. He wanted it to disappear or explode, anything as long as it left the world alone and took the Pilgrims and the Church with it. He was trembling. No, he wasn’t. It was Zip; she’d grabbed his shoulders and was shaking him.

  “You’ve got to do it, Peter. Simmons’s right. And I want to meet him.”

  How funny. It had fallen to him to resurrect their messiah at a time of great peril. It was like something out of the Old Testament. He laughed out loud, and the sound was foreign to his ears.

  “What’s so funny?” said Zip.

  “Everything and nothing. I’ve spent hours with him. He’s an ordinary man. More fallible and self-obsessed than you can imagine. I quite like him. He’s no Pilgrim, I can tell you that. Be careful what you wish for. He hates the Orb.”

  Petula spoke. “Peter, it doesn’t matter what the Tramp says. Chaos and war will probably come anyway. What do we have to lose?”

  “Everything. What if he thinks he’s Noah and it’s time to wipe the Earth clean?”

  Zip frowned. “When were you last outside the wall, Peter? The Earth’s already been wiped clean.”

  Peter sighed, “I’ll do what you ask. And what will you do, Petula?”

  “I’m going to the roof of the Cuboid to observe the Event, first hand. It’s been years since I’ve had the opportunity. I’ll be a witness. If something happens, I’ll know the Orb message is real and, maybe, there’ll be a new one.”

  “Jesus and the Tramp, woman, why can’t you just tell us what the bloody message is?” Zip shouted.

  “I can’t, not before I’m sure. The only way to be sure is for the countdown to expire and something to happen.”

  “Then what?” Zip asked.

  “Everyone everywhere will know what the Orb is saying. I hope it never gets sent.”

  Peter shook his head in disbelief. The woman, the thing, was crazy. Maybe they really would need the pragmatism of the Tramp before all of this was over. He had his own question for the so-called Petula. “Did Petula send Melisa, my wife, VRs of us?”

  “Peter, it was a long time ago. I was young, jealous. You said you’d leave her. Why didn’t you?” Petula said.

  The words wouldn’t come.

  Zip touched Peter’s arm. “Are you alright?”

  It didn’t matter anymore. “I’ll bring the Tramp back. I’ll need Bunny in the VR and someone to be Quattro.”

  “I’ll do it,” said Zip. “And then I’m going to the Cuboid. I want to be there if anything happens.”

  Peter was shocked. “Are you crazy? What about your family?”

  “Peter, you don’t understand. The world, London, is clinging on by its fingernails. So am I. You’ll look after them. If you can’t, a man called Q will. I feel very old. This is something I have to do. I’m not making any sense. I know. Tramp first.”

  Peter shrugged and nodded. The little dark spot in his mind expanded like a drop of ink falling onto blotting paper.

  It’ll try and implement the plan.

  Peter screamed at Petula, “You killed Kiki! Your damn AI manipulated K3 and Quattro to get to Mathew and Zip. You fucking bitch, you killed them both, Kiki and Melisa.”

  “Afterwards, Peter. Afterwards we can discuss anything and everything if we’re all still here. Goodbye, Peter.”

  Peter yelled, “Bitch!” but Petula had disconnected.

  “What are you talking about, Peter? How could she have anything to do with Kiki?”

  Peter screamed at Zip. “It did it. The AI. Petula’s AI cyber-weapon. It didn’t care who it murdered to assemble all the pieces. It was Quattro’s Whisperer. I’m going to kill Petula.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven – The Tramp, Peter and Zip

  Zip decided it was better to let Peter vent his anger on a bottle of whisky and sleep for a while before discussing the Tramp with him again. She was shaken up as well, not just by the unexpected intervention of Professor Simmons, although that was shocking enough. It was the trauma of reviewing her lost Record. Knowing some of the truth, that she hadn’t murdered Professor Simmons or tried to kill herself, was a comfort. Seeing herself living the life she used to was a terrible reminder of exactly what Zara had become. Her grandda
ughters would be better off never knowing the old Zara. Maybe Zip could be their friend. And it was sickening, knowing that Pip had been murdered so she could have a pretty body. Could she ever tell Bella? Should she?

  It was after midnight when Peter had fled the cellar and after two in the morning when he finally stopped ranting gibberish and fell unconscious. Zip decided to try and get a few hours’ sleep and hoped it wouldn’t be filled with nightmares. The Event wasn’t happening till nine in the evening.

  Headgear woke her at eight in the morning. She’d slept soundly, without the usual night terrors tormenting her. It was the best sleep she’d had in years. The kitchen was bustling with industry. Heather and Jane were carrying food and water away. Alice was scouring the cupboards, pulling out tins and dried goods and placing them on the worktop. She looked over when Zip entered.

  “You’re awake. Good, we’re stocking the bunker. There’s coffee and boiled eggs on the table. Where’s Peter?”

  A wave of panic flooded over Zip. “Jesus and the Tramp, you haven’t touched any of that kit in the cellar, have you?”

  “We’re not vandals. No, we haven’t touched it. There’s plenty of room to stack stuff against the other walls. What’s the big deal anyway?”

  “Peter and I have something we have to do before the Event. We’ll need that kit. I’ll go and find him.” Zip decided that telling Alice about their plan to reanimate the Tramp would not be helpful. She poured a couple of mugs of coffee and went in search of Peter. He was still asleep, sprawled across the bed where she’d left him, cursing Petula as he’d drifted off into an inebriated slumber. Zip roughly shook him awake. She’d grown tired of his endless histrionics, though grateful for his company during the Replay. Peter dragged himself into a sitting position, groaning and coughing as he did.

  “Please, hangover pill,” Peter said, pointing at a bedside cabinet.

  Zip put down the coffee mugs and pulled open the cabinet drawer to find a large collection of drugs. She rifled through the dozen or so little plastic bottles till she found what she was looking for. Removing one orange tablet, she threw it at Peter then offered him a mug of coffee. Peter took the coffee in one hand and, with the other, searched the blanket clumsily for the pill till he found it and popped the little life saver into his mouth, chased by a long draught of coffee.

  “How are you feeling, Peter?” Zip asked, with little sympathy.

  “I feel wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.”

  “Really? You were distraught last night, crying and cursing like a lunatic.”

  “How did you feel when you found out you hadn’t murdered Petula or cut your own throat?”

  “Good. It felt good, Peter.”

  “Exactly. That’s how I feel now I’ve had a chance to think it through and I know I didn’t kill Kiki. The Ks weren’t my fault. I’m not a murderer, nor is Bunny.”

  Zip didn’t want to argue with Peter. He’d obviously convinced himself Petula was somehow responsible. It didn’t make any sense to her. Her priority was bringing back the Tramp and then getting a jump-jet back to the Cuboid for the Event.

  “I’m glad for you, Peter. I know it was driving you crazy. But time’s running out; we have to bring the Tramp back. Remember?”

  “Oh, I remember. Petula will get her Tramp. Then, if the Orb doesn’t kill her, I will.”

  Peter went to the bathroom. Zip sat on the bed, sipping on her coffee and wondered how she’d react to meeting the Tramp – her prophet, the man who’d given the Revelation and the Administration to the world and changed everything forever. It was a surreal thought. He’d been dead for more than twenty years. It would be like meeting Jesus. That didn’t sound right to Zip. No, not Jesus. The Tramp was more like a modern-day Siddhartha Gautama. She had so many questions for the Tramp. Questions Zip knew mustn’t be asked. Her Revelation, her interpretation and her consequential actions were her own and unique to her. Her beliefs could not be discussed with anyone, not even the Tramp. The Revelation was clear: only a Pilgrim’s actions in the world should be judged, not their internal and private beliefs or their words.

  Twenty minutes later, Peter emerged from the bathroom, shaved and dressed. He looked less haggard than she’d ever seen him. He waved for Zip to follow him as he headed towards the top of the house rather than the cellar. It was a part of the house Zip hadn’t visited.

  The whole top oblong was mainly glass and completely open plan. To the north, past the trees, was London’s skyline, which should have been dominated by the Cuboid. The Cuboid had disappeared. Bunny had turned its walls to glass. She could just make out the bright blue crest of the Orb above the surrounding towers. It was a skyline no one had seen for decades. For the Pilgrims encamped around the Cuboid, the sight of an unfettered Orb must be overwhelming. Zip couldn’t wait to see it for herself and witness the Event first hand. Finally, she might find out what the alien object was saying; maybe the message would explain why it was here, what it wanted.

  Zip was drawn away from her thoughts and the view by a question from Peter.

  “You haven’t told me what you did after you left the Cuboid Hotel. How did you end up in the lab?”

  She gave Peter a short account of her adventures: chasing after Quattro, nearly being murdered by Creep and then being forced to retrieve Professor Simmons’ Record for the Church. Finally, she tried to explain the cyber-weapons, Alpha and Beta.

  “It’s exactly as I thought; the bitch hid a weapon in your Headgear and another in the reanimation infrastructure. You’re fortunate to be alive.”

  “That Creep was a murderous little shit.”

  “No, not Creep. After that, when you were back in Paris and Beta was triggered, it could have fried your Headgear and a big chunk of your brain. You’re lucky Petula didn’t kill you as well.”

  Zip winced; she remembered the terrible headaches she’d had when the lights went out in her Church cell. Still, she’d survived and here they were. “Wasn’t it all worth the risk?”

  Peter screwed up his face. “Remember telling me that AI technology is banned for a reason?”

  Zip nodded. “Yes, of course.”

  He shook his head and ground his teeth. “Petula released very dangerous and ruthless AI weapons into the world. The one hiding in the reanimation technology that Orb Industries gave me recruited Mathew to kill Kiki just to get to you, for the sake of the mission. At least you knew you were involved with something dangerous. Kiki had no idea. She wasn’t asked. My daughter was only bait to that damn weapon.”

  Zip gently squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Peter. I’m not sure I completely understand.”

  “Petula’s cyber-weapon, Alpha, killed Kiki and Quattro.” Peter grinned. It wasn’t an amused expression. His eyes were angry. “She’s going to pay.”

  Zip wondered if Peter was right or deluding himself. Someone or something had always been pulling the strings, dragging her and Mathew into this mess. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. And Quattro knew so much about Zara. Maybe it was her mysterious Whisperer? Was that Alpha all along?

  Her Headgear pinged a warning; time was not on their side. “No time now. Let’s get back to the Tramp.”

  Peter nodded and rolled his eyes before saying, “Bunny is ready.”

  “Bunny?”

  “It’s an essential part of maintaining the VR’s continuity.”

  Zip’s eyes widened. “Bunny’s in the VR? Never mind. How does this work, Peter? Aren’t we going to the cellar?”

  “Unnecessary. We can do it all from here. We need a Net link for Bunny to participate and for the Tramp to speak to the world, if that’s what happens.”

  Before they began, Zip had one nagging question about Peter and the Tramp. “Why did you bring the Tramp back? What was Industries up to?”

  “They wanted him to denounce the Church. We failed. Out of the blue, Quattro got him to curse the Orb. And that was good enough for Industries.”

  She was shocked. The Tramp had been very car
eful never to deny or confirm the Orb was God. The Revelation contained only a passing reference to the Orb as a catalyst for the Tramp’s insights. An outright denial of the Orb’s divinity by the Tramp would be as shocking to the vast majority of Pilgrims as the old Pope announcing he was in a homosexual relationship with a minor.

  “Peter, you’re playing with fire again. Jesus and the Tramp, why’d you do it?”

  “Why did you give Professor Simmons’ Record to the Church? You knew what they were going to do with it. You didn’t know it wasn’t her genuine Record.”

  Zip’s excuse was the same as Peter’s. She could only nod.

  “I’ll replay the last few minutes we had with the Tramp,” said Peter. “You’ll see what happened. When we restart, you’ll need to stand in for Kiki. You’ll look like her and sound like her. Remember, for the Tramp, no time will have passed. Focus on the conversation between Kiki and the Tramp, and finish Kiki’s conversation as quickly as you can, then just observe. We’ll tell the Tramp the truth and what we want from him. He may not believe us, or the VR could fail. If it fails, we’ll have to start over, and then he’s unlikely to be ready for the Event.”

  Zip didn’t want to be rushed into something so profound. “No, Peter, I want to see the whole VR, from the beginning. And I’m not just an observer; this means more to me than it ever will to you. I want to be properly prepared.”

  “It’ll take hours, unless you speed it up, and I suggest you do. Maybe it’ll help; at least you’ll have some idea of why we have to be careful. Sit down and I’ll connect you.”

  Zip sat down in an armchair, and Peter connected her Headgear to the VR Replay.

  “You’ll have a third-person view. The usual commands will allow you to move the camera, zoom and change the Replay speed. Are you ready?”

  Was Zip ready to meet her saviour? She was going to anyway, ready or not. Zip signalled to Peter and the Replay started.

  At first, she couldn’t get over just seeing and hearing the Tramp. The setting, and what was going on, was almost irrelevant. Gradually, her attention widened. The only other people in the VR were Peter and a very beautiful older woman she didn’t know. Both were dressed in old-fashioned, Industries trooper uniforms. Later, when events had moved to an Industries’ meeting room, Kiki joined them. She looked lovely, full of life. It was hard to believe she was being played by a dead version of herself that was more machine than human.