The Facilitator (11 page)

When he’d finished, she looked around. “Well, hi, folks. I’m Martine TwoSeven.” She spoke to the room and the several people there. “I’m of no matter, apparently.”

John grinned. “He is so wrong. And we are going to bring that to his attention. Immediately.”

She straightened beside him. “I can’t wait.”

Chapter Nine

It was confusing, being in not only a new place but also in a different reality. Martine found herself disoriented now and again, not physically but psychologically. Just accepting the concept that she existed in a different
when
made her eyes want to cross, and even though she was fascinated by Theta and its denizens, there were still moments when she wondered if it was all a dream…

…or if John’s facilitation of her had worked as advertised and she was really, one hundred percent dead.

He had chuckled when she’d made that comment. “I know, it’s completely outrageous, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “I’m having trouble grasping it.”

“We all do. Theta has been in existence for several generations now.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her to a room he told her was theirs.

Martine knew she should spend some time familiarizing herself with her new accommodations. But her mind was darting around like a drunken lightning bug trapped in a bottle. She pretty much ignored the room and focused on John, who was still talking.

“Those of us here share a certain chromosomal structure, a characteristic which makes us unique. It has to do with DNA replication and circular chromosomes—”

“Oh,” she interrupted. “
Theta
. Theta-type replication. I remember running across that somewhere…”

“Yes. That’s where the name came from, I guess. It has to do with the way our brains are put together which permits us to transfer our consciousness…” He frowned. “Damn. There’s really no easy way to explain it.”

She rested a finger on his lips. “Then don’t try. We’re here. We have a self-assigned job to do and then we’ll see what happens next. For now, just kiss me.”

“I can do that.” He grinned. And did. Several times. Most enthusiastically.

Then they drew apart, the knowledge of unfinished business lying heavily on their shoulders.

“I won’t kill him, John. I wouldn’t even if I could. That will make me no better than him and his cohorts.”

“I understand.” John’s face sobered. “But I could kill him simply for what he made you do. That doesn’t even take into account what he might have made other facilitators do or what he would have asked of them. The man is without conscience, Martine.”

“Yes, but he’s every bit as much a tool as I was. If this had all been his idea, I’d say yes. Exterminate him. But his strings are being pulled by Shanxi. Those are the ones we should be looking at.”

John frowned. “We are. But as yet we haven’t found a way in. They’re good. Very good. And we’re pretty sure they know about Theta. Their security procedures make our federal facilities look like a fragile spider web ready to disintegrate at a single touch.” He looked frustrated. “There’s too few of us in Theta. We need more, but…well, we’re limited in our numbers. It’s very annoying.”

“So we deal with the one threat we can reach for now. Do you have any ideas, John? How do we even
do
what we have to do?”

He nodded. “Come on. You’ll see when we get there.”

She followed him, knowing that her feet were moving, she was walking, breathing, doing all the autonomic activities her body expected.

What she didn’t know was how many of them were merely signals being sent to a certain brain cell and how many of them were actually happening. And the brain cell specific to headaches was still active because that line of thought was apparently giving her one.

She turned her mind away from the complexities of the universe, which she would never fully understand, and toward more mundane matters. Like ensuring the eventual destruction of Director William Williams II.

John led her to the end of a corridor and stopped in front of a door bearing the Theta symbol. He took her hand in his. “When we pass through this door, our corporeal bodies will disappear and we will become, in essence, clouds of energy. We will still be us, because that’s what we are, fundamentally. We are all collections of unique energies.”

“Okay.” She nodded. It made sense…so far.

“In this energy form, we can travel anywhere there’s a digital network. Go anywhere, see anything or anyone, absorb any data we choose to absorb and, of course, manipulate any data we choose to manipulate.”

“Sort of like a…a…free-thinking data signal?”

John considered that. “Um, yeah. I guess so.”

“You know, I’m surprised that Theta isn’t filled with physicists and cosmologists.”

“They don’t know how to party like we do.” John grinned. “Ready?”

“Wait.” She reached out and touched his arm. “Where are we going? What are we going to do? Shouldn’t we have a plan or something? Can we communicate as energy clouds or whatever?”

“Don’t worry.” He took her hand in his and linked their fingers. “You’ll see.”

He opened the door and led her through.

Colors
.

Once again Martine fell into a whirlpool of colors, but this time they were familiar, comforting and as reassuring as a warm bath. She immediately re-discovered her ability to
think
her way around, even though she maintained her connection with John. They had no hands to link anymore, but molecules of their energies clung lovingly.

The only sounds she could distinguish were soft hums, interspersed with a gentle whirr and something which could have been a song sung by wheels on a metal track.

They moved onward, John seeming to know where he was going.

And he did. Within moments they had paused, and Martine realized she was looking
out
from inside Director William’s data screen. Once again there was brief disorientation, then she simply stared at the man himself as he moved around his office attending to details.

He was older than she’d imagined, more wrinkled. He must filter his image thoroughly before leaving messages. His environment was luxurious in the extreme, and even as that thought came to her she sensed information around her pertaining to his finances.

It was close to sickening. So much money, and large chunks of it coming from Shanxi. He was in their pocket, no doubt about it.

She felt John next to her, knew he was seeing and sensing all that she saw and felt. Then he moved and she found her attention being directed out of the monitor and into the director.

She followed the indication, realizing that her energies weren’t bound inside the equipment.

There was a momentary check and then they were in something warm and red, pulsing around them, ebbing and flowing.

With a tiny bolt of shock, Martine realized they were
inside
the director’s body and that John knew exactly where he was going.

The director’s heart.

Colors she recognized greeted her.
“His heart. It’s a digital replicant
.
”

“Yes. Prototype.”
John had heard her.
“Look here.”

She followed him to the largest chamber and saw the beginnings of digital decay.
“It’s beginning to collapse.”

“And that’s exactly what we need.”
John moved to the spot on the wall of the cavity and touched it.
“He’s doomed. Not by us, but by his own technology.”
Dark spots began to spread.

Martine watched and then let John lead her away, out of Williams and back into the digital cortex of Eternal Tranquility.
“Is that all we’re going to do?”

“It is sufficient. Watch.”

Martine did just that and, from their ideal viewing location, they saw Williams stagger and go pale.

“Director Williams. This is an alert from the Shanxi Cardiac System. Your cardiac-replication unit, number one-four-three-dash-zero, is reporting functional errors. Please contact the nearest Shanxi Medical Facility at the earliest possible moment. This is not a test. I repeat. This is not a test. Please report to…”

The man stumbled to his desk and slapped his hand down on a button, silencing the alarm. Then he hit another one. “Wendy. Ready my plane immediately and contact the Hong Kong Shanxi Medical Center. Tell them to have a room ready for me. I will be arriving within…” he glanced at his massive grandfather clock, “…within three hours or so. And forward the Cardiac Replicant error message, will you?”

There was a brief pause. “I have done as your requested, Director. I have a response from the Medical Facility.”

“And?”

“Would you like me to read it, sir?”

“Of course I would, you fucking pixel-brained imbecile.” Williams was sweating.

“Very good, sir. Dr. Heng, Chief Cardiac Specialist, has sent the following response. Attention Director Williams. It is our utmost sadness to notify you that your digital Cardiac Replicant, number one-four-three-dash-zero, is reporting errors that are terminal in nature. We are unable to effect a repair and do not, at this time, have a suitable unit for replacement.”

Martine watched as Williams sagged deeply into his chair and lifted his hand to his throat as if unable to catch his breath. The message continued.

“Our estimate is that in seventy-two hours, margin of error plus or minus forty-five minutes, your unit will cease to function. We apologize for being unable to assist in this matter. We do have many other fine products you might be interested in and would be pleased to forward our latest digital catalog for your perusal. Our highly trained personnel are ready to assist you. We are always at your service. Have a nice day.”

John drew her away.
“We’re done here. Come on.”

They drifted through the colors and the streams of digitized pulses, the hums and vibrations and the other indescribable things that comprised their strange realm. It was almost languorous now, and Martine had time to absorb the technological beauty surrounding her.

It was, in all probability, a precisely and infinitely perfect world, an assemblage of data flowing in a universe all its own. And she was part of it, which was pretty fuckin’ awesome.

They arrived back at their portal and passed through, reassembling themselves into their more normal forms. If there was such a thing as a normal form anymore. Martine wasn’t quite sure.

“What did we do?” She stared at John, unable to move until he’d answered her question.

“We hurried matters along, Martine. His replicant heart was failing. We didn’t do that, the creators did. Shanxi, from the sound of his call. We—I—simply accelerated the process. He now knows he has seventy-two hours left. What he chooses to do with them will determine how he is remembered.” John looked somber. “I doubt he will choose very wisely.”

“It’s poetic justice, I suppose. He manipulated me into killing for him. We sort of manipulated his own heart into killing him.”

“If it makes you feel better to think of it that way, then sure.” John grinned. “I still would have preferred to explode every damn cell in his body, but that’s just me.”

She grinned back. “Bloodthirsty little bunch of energy, aren’t you?”

“Where you’re concerned? You bet.” He hugged her. “Let’s go home.”

“Where’s that?”

“Our rooms for now. There’s more I have to show you, but it can wait for a while. We deserve some downtime.”

Obediently she walked beside him, content, at peace for one of the few times she could recall. They’d done what needed to be done, and now they were together. Life, however it could be described and whatever reality it was, had turned out to be pretty good.

And when they were naked and joined, sweating and trembling in each other’s arms, it was more than pretty good. It was freakin’ fantastic.

Some time later, when Martine had managed to acclimate her brain to her new environment, John woke her early with a teasing kiss to her navel.

“Mmm.” She stretched and moaned with sleepy pleasure.

“Wake up, love. I have something to show you today.”

“I saw it last night. It’s really nice.” She rolled over and tucked her head into the pillow.

“Not that.” He chuckled and tugged the pillow away, making her groan. “Come on. This is important. Really important.”

His comment was followed by a sound smack on her now-bare buttocks and she jumped. “Shit, John. Do that again and there will be payback.” Laughing, she lunged for him, only to be captured by two strong arms.

He grabbed her, holding her tight. “I love you so much. Feel free to take your revenge any time. But today is important. What I must show you will change so much…”

Something in his tone woke her better than anything else could have, and she stilled in his embrace. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, most definitely. Yes, everything’s okay. But we have some decisions to make and today’s the day we make ’em.”

“Uhh…”

“It’ll be all right, Martine. I promise. Just go get dressed. The sooner we do this, the better.”

Curious, and more than a little apprehensive, Martine did as he said…dressed herself and followed him as he left their quarters. This time he headed downward, to an area of Theta she hadn’t seen. It was darker here, almost musty, as if few people came this way.

Another door barred their progress and John stopped.

“Beyond this door you will find answers to some of your questions, but probably more questions to which there are no answers.”

“Very Zen, dude.” Martine tried not to reveal her nerves, but John was definitely making her jumpy.

“I will be with you, Martine. Always. Never doubt that.”

She relaxed and reached out to touch him, taking her usual delight and comfort in his warmth. “I know. I feel the same way. You’re part of me, John. Without you there is nothing.”

“Then let’s go.”

He opened the door and they stepped into their energy free-fall. Used to it now, Martine realized this was a different matrix, a much different data stream than the ones she’d experienced up to now.

Dark pastels drifted past, leisurely and muted. There were few sounds—those she caught were like silk falling on snow. It was peaceful, quiet and a little too tranquil for her tastes, but not unpleasant.