Rebound (3 page)

Chapter 8: Art entry

Mason had finished work late one evening and as he walked through the immense foyer, the flashes of color bombarded him again.

It was a moment of déjàvu. He saw himself walking on the street as Stella followed him. This time he was calm, a quiet rage sustaining him not to fall into the same trap he had committed before the accident where he had run impulsively.

He heard the voice speaking and restrained himself with some difficulty from touching his right ear to see if there was a micro speaker or some such device attached.

It came again.

Sofia had warned him to expect this communication so he psyched himself not to be too tense.

When it did come, he did not react unnaturally knowing he was being closely monitored.

Any tell tale signs of panic or that he was communicating with some unseen source could be fatal.

“What about this bug?” he whispered.

“Don’t make any sudden moves. Walk slowly and confidently towards the Patrick Hughes artwork. You’re being monitored. Casually look up to the top of the elevator at the two black suits in dark glasses. Give a smile of acknowledgement. Now! Keep walking casually.”

“Can I ask questions?”

“Wait until you get into the shadows to your left, the passage leading to the Henry Moore sculptor.”

“You’re asking me to walk into the art work!”

“Yes. These are all illusive arts and not static canvasses. They are magnetic and you can walk into them like walking onto a stage once their matrices are activated.”

“You’ve activated them?”

“They will shortly be. A second before you walk through it.”

Mason sensed that there was something unusual about Babylon Corp strategically placing these cheap reproductions in the foyer and now he knew.

“Keep walking very casually to the artwork. They are coming down the elevator. This may not be easy for you. You are now inside the artwork’s matrix. Walk straight into the Hughes artwork. That’s right. Don’t even think about it. Keep to the left of it and walk towards the Henry Moore sculpture but keep to the shadows. You’re now inside the artwork. Stop by the middle drawing and look at it without moving. They’ll think you’re part of it. I hope!”

“What are you going to do?”

“I am playing with the artwork’s perspectives so that their gaze is concentrated towards the right of the artwork. Hold your breath. They’re coming closer.” A short pause. “They’ve moved on.”

“Am I in a virtual world?”

“No you’re in the real world.”

“Okay but am I in some kind of a dream.”

“You’re awake and conscious. You’re in a lucid dream state which means that you’re conscious that you are in control of all that you do.”

“Why do you say that I’m in control?”

“You can always refuse to do what I tell you.”

“How come I’ve never seen those security people before?”

“They have remained outside of your conscious vision. They have been there together with all those other monitors you don’t see but can only sense.” A pause. “You can come out now and walk to the john. Those two suits will be expecting you to come out of there anyway.”

“I know this may sound crazy but will you be following me there?”

“There’s no need to be self conscious. Go in, admire your face and come out slowly.”

“So how come we never knew about you?”

“I was created as a parallel system, a kind of fail-safe system to ensure AIs did not go beyond the law or the limits of what was humane.”

“What’s happening? Why did Stella try to approach me? Why did I have that accident?”

“Mason, you’re special.”

“Am I a clone? Was I produced here? Is there something I have that these people want? How can I be a clone?” he said unnecessarily.

“Don’t we all have families and love them? Relax Mason. It’s sometimes hard to explain these complex algorithms where some like you are chosen.”

“And where’s Stella?”

“She’s fine. You’ll be meeting her soon with two other sleeper clones.”

“Why am I going through this?” he persisted.

“You have been chosen.”

“Why? I just want to be like others.”

“You’re not like others Mason.”

“Why did they try to kill me?”

“You’re a dreamer.”

“Is that a clue?”

“Yes Mason.”

“Look I’m totally confused with all these people trying to get rid of me.”

“I know. But you’ve survived them.”

“So far I have.”

“If you really want to know what’s happening, take a pic of the Fra Carnevale artwork.”

Mason took out his smart phone. “The Birth? Then what?”

“You sleep like a baby tonight.”

“This is a joke, right?”

“I am happy you see the positive aspect.”

“You remind me of someone I was so fond of.”

There was a delicate pause before Sofia said, “There’s a 3D app. I’ll catch up with you. You’re on leave tomorrow. I hacked into the system and made changes.”

Chapter 9: Laying low

“What do we do now?” Ryan asked.

“There’s an apartment where we’ll hide out for a while,” she paused for effect. “Your friend is not safe and will be with us. He knows what to do.”

He smiled drily. Beckett would love the attention.

Something else nagged him. They were not running away. They were going back to a place where they could be located. Could they defend themselves from a seemingly weak position?

+++

She whipped up salad of green gm carrots and blue tomatoes with an assortment of other vegetables and dressings that made the salad look exotic.

“I didn’t know you had meals.”

“You were under the impression we were filled up with liquid nutrients. No more. I am an advanced version. We eat, we cry, we dream and have that little extra to deal with our issues.”

He was beginning to feel horny.

“You want to kiss me.”

“I’ve sort of been overwhelmed with so much infor. I feel like an empty shell filled with implanted memories. I just feel so defenseless and here you are asking me the obvious.”

“You’re feeling overwhelmed and you feel you can regain your dignity by doing it to me?”

She was beginning to irritate him as she lacked subtlety. “The blunt thing I can say is that I feel horny and I just want to do it with you.”

“I turned your life upside down in such a short time and I guess I should make up for it.”

“I should have psyched myself that this was going to happen sooner or later.”

“That doesn’t sound endearing,” she teased him.

He didn’t know how long they lay there.

Beckett walked in and sat on the bed, quietly observing them. Ryan woke up suddenly and did not appreciate this invasion of privacy.

”You both look so perfect. You obviously had an awesome time together.”

“I arranged for him to come in,” Stella said feebly. “I gather you are very close.”

“Don’t encourage him. He lives and breaths women.”

“That’s not fair,” Beckett protested. “All I did was watch some clone ads. Here you are having the time of your life.”

“You’ve something to say,” Stella said wearily.

Beckett turned to her, “Do you think you might be able to get me someone who’s just like you? I’m sure you have a clone sister.”

“We have to rescue her first and then ask if she’s amenable to your advances,” she said rather drily.

“What’s next?” Ryan asked trying to change the subject.

“Sofia is getting Mason to open a portal which will allow us to get into the inner lair.”

“No kidding,” Beckett whistled.

“Blumont was saying something about them BC people owning me?”

“BC has sleeper clones everywhere attached to one fake foster home or another. We are loaning you guys to put things right.”

“If we succeed, I guess we’ll own ourselves,” Beckett said trying to be witty.

Chapter 10: The Lair

Throughout the night, Mason thought only of the task ahead. He thought also of what he would discuss with Sofia! He was curious to find out more about where he fitted in her plans.

He sensed that the accident and all that was happening was part of some great design. Its purpose was the missing link that drove his curiosity.

He tried sleeping but always awoke from fitful dreams.

Sofia had been light-hearted and had done her best to put him at ease with her dry humor and calm demeanor.

It reminded him of a story he had read. That people awaiting execution usually received unusual kindness just before they were hanged or shot or electrocuted. The last act of gentleness was supposed to put them at ease before they expired. He had this uncanny feeling that he was on a dangerous errand. He sensed that his mission would straddle both the real and virtual worlds. It was terrifying because he would have to deal with real world pain and possible death. He had been introduced to that through the accident but there were worse ones coming up.

He felt he was actually moving in his lucid dream.

He found himself in a neon lit cavernous space that looked at first like a very large warehouse or assembly plant and then he realized that this space was within the ultra secret BC cloning complex. Strange that he had not seen this facility of neon lit endless rows of intelligent machines. Some of them looked human and others retained their machine exterior. They were enveloped in a kind of special glow as if to guard them from escaping. The workspaces were dimly lit. He was relieved to notice that he was invisible to them.

He remembered that his lab unit had been working on calculations to see how BC could channel power from super intelligent machines. As a personal initiative, he had simulated zipping power at 10,000 quadrillions per second. He had written software to combine a number of super machines. He had settled on 100 billion micro processors to get things moving efficiently. He had done all this quietly and had not submitted it to his lab. There was something insidious about BC that had held him back. He did not realize that everything at BC was monitored. Unwittingly, he had stumbled on an ultra secret project.

Word had reached Sofia’s network that he had developed software to a very advanced stage that could harness the work of super intelligent machines.

He casually read the stickers on the sides of the machines closest to him: KlCr2045. He was surprised at this revelation. Babylon Corp not only carried out genome mapping but from this label, it appeared that they now created all kinds of species. He knew he should not be surprised given its immense resources and expertise. His curiosity got the better of him and he sneaked over to a vacant workstation to punch in a few codes and then gasped.

The software he had developed to harness the super machines to work efficiently on various applications was not a dream but was actually operational. There were some key missing applications, which he had that was not in this program.

“You are special Mason. Without realizing it, you developed the very complex algorithms to develop the software for these humming birds.” Sofia spoke gently, almost in awe.

“But it was just simulation. I was just playing around with numbers.”

“You’re a genius. But you attracted an extremely powerful enemy,” Sofia made a noise like laughter.

“I’m glad you can laugh over this.”

“It’s a private joke. Machines think they are so superior and you threw a spanner in the works by coming up with what you did. All the time we thought we knew everything!”

“I was bored and dreamt things up,” he said sounding petulant.

“All things begin with dreams. I’d like to be your friend Mason. I love dreamers.”

Mason heard that the lab had successfully found a way to merge human cells into digital silicon. They had configured the ones and zeros into infinite combinations and merged these with synthetic protein molecules in artificial cells built around the silicones that were made of a kind of tissue.

There was an urgent incessant humming sound. He quickly rushed back to the dark recesses where he had emerged. He realized that this entrance was like a magnetic window that concealed him.

He saw what looked like guard-robots moving and supervising these intelligent machines. He had barely missed one by seconds. The robot punched in a few codes in the workstation and immediately sounded the alarm of a breach in security.

The armed robots were looking around sensing that someone was in their space but unable to pinpoint the exact location. Although they appeared calm and clinical, there was subtle apprehension in their movements given that this appeared to be the first breach of this seemingly impregnable lab.

He could almost read their minds.

This was an inside job.

One of their AIs had enabled this breach.

From the back of the room, he saw someone walk up to the front.

It looked in the direction where Mason was standing.

Then before his eyes, the super intelligent machine changed form. It took the form of the CEO, Dr Adolf Rump. His blond hair, blue eyes, and muscular build filled out the body that was previously a walking machine. Rump was staring at him through eyes that were as emotionless as granite. Mason felt cold. Its emotions were full of malevolence. This monstrosity could kill without feeling any guilt. It had no conscience. This was a huge revelation; that the intelligent machines could be configured to look human.

He kept staring at Rump in frightened awe and realized that for some reason it/he was not able to see him yet. For a fleeting moment, it seemed that Rump was wary of him. It/he seemed concerned with the breach from within its system. Rump eyed the intelligent machines with deathly contempt. It could understand humans and their weaknesses but for a superior AI, a member of a higher species, to display human traits seemed unacceptable.

The cold deathly eyes came back to Mason willing him to turn into stone and wither. It had a machine like resoluteness that transmitted the message that it wanted to remove him and the AI traitor, whatever the cost.

Something else disturbed Mason. This machine had a feminine dimension because from the shadows behind Rump, he saw Karabos. Her eyes were full of contempt.

He also had another uncanny feeling.

This was not a dream. This was actually happening.

The machines and the robots existed in the real world.

They were coming after him.

He would open the portal allowing Stella and her team to enter the inner lair. If he failed, they would all expire. He thought of Emily and wished she were by his side. She was a tower of strength.