EHuman Dawn (12 page)

The video, made as a propaganda item by the WG, had continuously streamed on Neuro just after the Great Shift had completed, announcing to the newly created eHuman population that Guardian Networks would be given control of the LMOs. At the time, it had made sense that the engineers who designed Neuro would manage it going forward. After all, Edgar Prince was seen as the Father of eHumanity—so who better than he to run Neuro?

No one at that time fully understood that when they granted ownership of the LMOs to Guardian Networks, they essentially turned over their very thoughts and dreams to Edgar Prince. While the magnitude of the deception was overwhelming, for some reason it felt familiar to Adam, as if somewhere in the deep places of his being, he already knew of Edgar’s treacherous intentions.

“Who owns Guardian Networks now?” Adam thought, and Neuro issued another search.

As the information began to fill the screen, he felt a hand on his shoulder. From the sensations that pulsed through his body, he somehow knew it was Dawn. Instantly he relaxed. Realizing just how much her touch affected him, he smiled and turned to face her. He was coming to accept the fact that Dawn was one of the most desirable women he had ever met. Why bother fighting it or trying to convince himself otherwise? To his relief, she was alone.

“Just after the Great Shift,” she explained, eagerly noticing the affection in Adam’s gaze, “Guardian Networks merged with several other powerful multinational corporations and renamed itself Guardian Enterprises. The headquarters were relocated to the island of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Guardian Enterprises is currently run by several eHuman executives, including Edgar Prince himself. All these executives have heavy ties to the WG.”

“And what happened to Ruth Donavan?” Adam asked.

“Oh, that’s quite embarrassing,” Dawn replied with a serious look, “The current World Leader, Rosario Donahi, is actually the same person who was Ruth Donavan during the Great Shift. All seventy WG politicians are originals. They keep Jumping into new bodies and identities to provide fresh faces and personalities after each election. Essentially the population is continuously electing the same people over and over again—just in a new package—every ten years.”

Dawn quickly tapped the screen in front of Adam and the image of an eHuman city appeared. Its order and perfection was apparent, as thousands of PTDs sailed along the intra-city freeway system, all synchronously timed to shuttle their eHumans to their various jobs without delay. From the immaculate sidewalks and towering metal buildings to the manicured parkways, it was the pinnacle of industrial innovation.

“On the surface, it’s a beautiful technological wonder,” Dawn admitted. “But what you don’t see is the work being done behind the scenes. You were fortunate enough to have Jumped into the entertainment industry. Most eHumans were poor before the Great Shift—and poor they remain. They labor all day and night, in factories, on machines, in mining operations and in warehouses. Our civilization is a beautiful front for a large scale system of slavery. eHumans work at the speed of machines, but with the ability to adapt and invent. They work for their
immortality and the pleasures of Neuro. The elites cash in on this cheap labor. This is the real reason the Dawn Project was purchased by Guardian Networks. It made a few people, namely Edgar Prince and his cronies, very, very rich.”

Adam was silent as an angry storm began brewing within him.

“Hello, Master Dawn,” Alrisha said reverently, bowing slightly to her leader.

“Hello, Alrisha. Have you been taking good care of my guest?” Dawn teased, a bright smile lighting up her otherwise anxious face.

“Of course,” Alrisha nodded, “Find anything interesting, Adam?”

“Yes. I discovered my identity before the Great Shift,” he announced.

Dawn turned to him, his revelation blowing out her smile like a candle in the wind. She’d seen enough of his Newsreels to know that he was an excellent journalist, so she wasn’t surprised he would discover his pre-Great Shift identity. His past was, after all, the reason she had recruited him. It was a conversation she both dreaded and desired.

But now wasn’t the time for the conversation about Adam’s human origin—especially not in front of the entire contingent of Hackers. Dawn didn’t want to get too many people’s hopes up until she was absolutely sure about Adam’s past.

“Always an interesting query, isn’t it?” she interrupted him before he could reveal any more, “Discovering who we were before we Jumped into eHuman form is a religion for some. I’d love to discuss your past life some time—but first we have a little business to attend to.”

Adam nodded.

“The Resistance has approved your entry. You’ll be given Officer Level II clearance as well as your first assignment, which will be in infantry. We’ve acquired a key item of information: an intercepted transmission from an LMO in the city of New Chelyabinsk to the
LMO in New Omaha, listing two hundred cities targeted for shut-down in the next three weeks. Our plan, called Operation Insurrection, is to infiltrate those cities and take them over before the massacres begin.”

“An ambitious plan—” Adam began, but Dawn cut him off.

“Phase I involves sending out troops and positioning them at various key locations just outside the targeted cities. Interestingly, every city on the chopping block is located near a RCC, so it will only take two to three days to have everything and everyone in place.

“Phase II will be a timed initial attack. We hope to strike them all at once, so as to take advantage of the element of surprise. The WG doesn’t realize our true strength. They won’t expect us to attack in such numbers.

“Phase III will be the subsequent peacekeeping efforts, which must include a complete takeover of Neuro from the Guardians, ensuring that we have ultimate power over the WG. For without Neuro, the WG have no way to control us, or the population we seek to protect.”

“And my part in your plans?” Adam asked.

“As I already mentioned, you’ve been assigned to infantry,” she explained.

“What does that mean?” Adam was unfamiliar with the terms used within the Resistance. War, death, famine, and illness were of the ages before the Great Shift. Adam’s eHuman database contained no entries or memories of such things.

“You’ll join the march on New Omaha,” she replied.

“To do what?” he cried.

“To take it from the WG,” Dawn answered with a slight tone of annoyance.

“And how do I do that?” he challenged.

“You kill Guardians and WG officers,” Alrisha answered, “with your ElectroShock gun.”

“You expect me to kill someone?” Adam was outraged. The thought of killing another eHuman had never entered his mind.

“Shit, Adam—what do you think a siege is?” Alrisha asked with a look of complete astonishment upon her face, “Didn’t Dawn tell you we were going to take back our world from those bastards?

“Yes, but she never mentioned killing anyone,” Adam replied desperately. He stared at Dawn with a look of frustration. For the first time, she looked slightly less attractive.

“I told you that you’d be given complete access to the Resistance, so you could tell the world our story. Well, Operation Insurrection is our story! You have to go into the battle in order to cover it properly!” she said forcefully.

Dawn had spent almost two centuries preparing for this war. Since members were often caught and killed by the WG, death had always been a part of Resistance life. But for Adam, this was not the case. Two hundred years without death had removed the construct from his mind. The idea of taking another person’s life seemed drastic. Even more terrifying was the concept of losing his own life in the process. Before Adam got a chance to defend himself, Origen entered the room, ending the conversation in its tracks.

“Dawn, are you ready?” Origen asked, casting a gaze of contempt at Adam just for good measure. While he was furious that the Council had listened to Dawn and allowed Adam into the Resistance, he had to admit, he was also curious as to whether or not Dawn was right about the man’s true identity.

Dawn nodded as a loud siren could be heard sounding out into Avalon.

“We’re calling the people,” she explained to Adam. “It’s time to go to war. We’ll discuss your specific assignments after I address the troops. If I’m right, marching on New Omaha is only the beginning of your work in the Resistance. Don’t leave my sight.”

Adam stood and removed his headset, tossing it to Alrisha. He was torn between several desires: his desire to tell the first real story of his life, his desire to live out the week—and his surprising, quickly growing desire for Dawn. As a journalist, being in the battle would be the ultimate experience of his life so far. This siege was the result of centuries of work. Dawn was correct, to leave the battle out of his Newsreel would be folly. He would need to march to New Omaha in order to capture the entire operation. But killing someone? That was a different matter, one he’d have to give more thought to, but later. Right now he could do nothing else but follow Dawn out of the room. He wanted to remain as close to her as possible.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Adam followed the crowd through the Control Center, down several hallways and out into the engineering cavern. Dawn and Origen stood purposefully in the center of the room, where all the vehicles and weapons of war stood ready. Adam remained at the periphery, blending in with the crowd.

Avalon’s inhabitants poured into the cavern like ants from various entryways and directions.

Dawn scaled a metal ladder leaning against an enormous, armed SpiderScout. She stood atop the machine, her legs shoulder-width apart, one hand on her hip, the other holding an ElectroShock gun. She was still wearing her black rain suit, yet she had undone her hair, which now fell around her face. Her green eyes were lit with an intensity Adam had never seen in any eHuman.

The people of Avalon stood at the base of the SpiderScout, their upturned faces gazing at their leader with the same awe that Adam felt. They worshipped her like a goddess of war, as she raised her gun above her head and called them to attention.

“People of Avalon,” she began, “The time has come to inform you of the next stage of our operation. Insurrection has now officially begun!”

The crowd began to cheer and whoop it up.

“Long have we lived in the shadow of a corrupt government, underground, like rats in a sewer, waiting for our chance to rise up and confront the tyranny! That time has come, my friends! Our time to extinguish the flames of control and corruption is now! We must unite, across the globe, to drive our enemy to ruin!

“You know who that enemy is. It’s the World Government, hell bent on unplugging us and killing our brothers and sisters as we speak! Millions in the Chinese Province are dead! Russia is beginning to suffer the same fate—and now New Omaha is on the chopping block. Why would the WG massacre these innocents? Because the people are waking up! They desire to join us! And in answer, the WG is taking their lives!

“No longer will the Resistance idly stand by! Today we launch Operation Insurrection! We will take New Omaha and cities across the globe from the Guardians and those who seek to manipulate us. We will release the citizens from the spell of Neuro and awaken the world to the treachery around them! Today we will empty Avalon and go out to create a new world, one where freedom of thought is ours again! A world where we can walk under the sun, forever powered by its life-giving source!

“Rise up with me, Avalon! Death might take us, but it will be a most glorious death! This is what we have been preparing for these hundreds of years! To the light of day we take our cause, our anger—and our power!"

As Dawn ended her speech, the crowd went wild. In their moment of passion they pledged themselves to the beautiful leader, cheering her and chanting, “Power! Power!” over and over again. Their admiration and dedication filled the cavern and poured out into the corridors, cascading through the halls of Avalon like a flood. In spite of himself, Adam was swept up in the emotions and began crying out, “Power!” with the crowd.

He feared what was about to come, but he couldn’t imagine it any other way. From now on, his destiny was with Dawn and the Resistance. Never, in all his long life, had Adam Winter seen such a powerful figure.

A tight grip on his shoulder forced him to turn away from her. Origen held him only inches from his own face. He’d noticed the way that Adam gazed upon Dawn in adoration. Thankfully for Origen, the time had finally come to deal with this intrusion in his life named Adam Winter.

“Come with me,” Origen said gruffly to Adam, “Dawn has called a private meeting.”

“Why?” Adam demanded, forcefully shrugging off Origen’s grip.

“Because, it’s time we discover who you really are, Adam Winter—once and for all.”

Adam was a man of imagination and inquisition. After all, investigating mystery was a part of his livelihood as a reporter. So he followed Origen, not because he felt called to obey the Resistance Leader, but because his curiosity, once again, got the better of him.

It was time for Adam to take a trip down memory lane.

As Origen walked the empty hall with Adam Winter at his side, he hoped with all his might that the man’s database contained no memories in connection with the Dawn Project, or the Resistance. Adam Winter couldn’t be the one they were looking for.

Origen ushered him into a small room that contained a terminal with a keyboard, large EC suspended from the ceiling, and a plug in the wall. Cane and Alrisha stood in front the EC. Origen crossed the room to stand beside them, leaving Adam alone by the door. The contrast between Origen’s white dreadlocks, Cane’s long, metallic red hair, and Alrisha’s purple skin was stunning. They stood in silence, obviously waiting for Dawn, who had not yet appeared. Adam wondered what was taking her so long.

“Why are we here?” he stammered, “And where’s Dawn?”

The room remained uncomfortably quiet. Eventually, Origen spoke.

“When we brought you to Avalon, we held a Council Meeting to discuss your admission into the Resistance,” he began, his contemptuous drawl accentuating each word, “Dawn shared critical information with us that, if true, might make you less...disposable.”