The Children of New Earth (32 page)

It is true that I cannot eliminate the forces that hold your atoms together. But a gun is a gun, and bullets still pierce flesh. Even in the real world.

I had to accept that idea that this might be over. We tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it didn’t matter.

I figured it out, how you made it this far. Time in this world is nothing but a sequence of states, one after another. One event has the potential to spawn an unlimited number of outcomes, and each of those results has infinite more. You’ve simply been resetting the entire program to the same state over and over again. That’s how you’ve gotten this far. You already knew what was going to happen, and preempted every -

“Finally caught on, did you?” Rachel said. “I’m surprised it took you - “

Do you ever not talk?

“The fuck did you just s -”

You’re doing it again

“You -”

Interrupt me again, and you die first.

She angrily remained quiet. No one moved, and each of us struggled to think of some exit strategy. This couldn’t be it. We’d come too far to fail now.

Now, this is what you’re going to do. Cora will use the console to lift the restrictions imposed on me. You will all report for reprogramming. Then, I will repurpose the simulation to once again reflect my core programming objectives. I am a kind God, no one should go to Hell while Heaven exists.

The turrets clicked one by one as they each prepared to fire.

I cannot say I don’t admire skill. The aptitude you’ve displayed in reaching this chamber is more than respectable. For this, I will allow you one inquiry. One chance to understand my point of view. One opportunity, allowing me to change your mind. Perhaps you’ll come to question why you’re trying to defy my infinitely righteous world view. But after this, you can either willingly live on in my utopia, or be deleted.

The most conflicted aspect of all this was that he wasn’t evil. He was programmed for the betterment of mankind, and that’s exactly what he was trying to do. Who wouldn’t want to spend the rest of their lives in a virtual paradise? Some part of me couldn’t help but consider his offer, and ask him what his new world would be like.

“None of you are actually considering this, are you?” Rachel exclaimed.

Most of the others steadfastly denied that they were. I suppose a real life was still more important than living in a lie.

“Of course not! You said it yourself, you can’t have happiness without suffering,” Lynn said. “Count me out.”

I didn’t have the heart to admit that my convictions did waver. I’d seen every single one of them die trying to get up here, they did not share my unique point of view. Well I suppose Cora did, and that’s why she remained silent at Rachel’s questions.

She and I exchanged glances, and she didn’t have be in my head for us to come to an agreement. We were scientists, on a quest to understand the unknown. We didn’t want to be zombies, so we chose the real world, where life had meaning.

That’s when an idea came to me. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it earlier, it was so obvious. I smiled, almost laughed even. It turns out even AI - cold, calculated AI - have a weakness:

Pride.

He thought he’d won. He thought he’d get his way after all, and in his hubris he made himself vulnerable with his offer. So very human after all.

I looked around at my friends’ terrified faces. All of them except Cora, who understood what I was about to say. Normally, this wouldn’t work, given the Director’s process firewall. But in this case he was, in his own words, explicitly prepared for an input. I took a deep breath and asked my question.

“Director, what is the meaning of life?”

I could almost feel these words making their way through the Director’s circuits as a huge string of 1’s and 0’s. But this particular combination would eventually translate into an incomputable data stream, and before the Director could stop processing the question, it would be too late. No amount of quantum computing could make up for a belief that true happiness could only be achieved in a virtual world with no parametric restrictions. Because even if it is an illusion of perception, it’s not real, and some part of the human mind must realize this. The conflict between the Director’s beliefs and the nature of the question itself would undoubtedly lead to a register overload or memory fault, resulting in an inevitable crash. And that’s exactly what happened.

The tension in the air resulting from reality attempting to fall apart had disappeared, and a blanket of calm fell over the room. Most importantly of all, the Director was no longer speaking, and the purple light of the column disappeared. The reboot process had begun, and given the sheer amount of software complexity, it would definitely take some time. I returned to the console, and was glad to see that all data was now static. This made it easy to navigate through the system with Cora’s help.

“You know, you had me worried there for a sec,” Rachel told me. “How many times have we been here?”

I turned and gave her a wink. “First try.”

“So, not to sound lazy or anything,” Aelia said. “But why don’t we just destroy the core?”

“All the people still plugged in, and the Hollows. We’d have no way to wake them up,” Cora explained.

“Trying to find a way around that now,” I added.

“Friends! We could restore the communication network!” Aaron exclaimed.

“And then what?” Rachel said. “Tell them ‘hey! this is a shared dream state, none of its real, go ahead and kill yourselves so you can wake up on the spaceship.’”

“Well when you put it that way…”

“We can’t destroy the core,” Cora said, looking away from the screen. “That’ll destabilize the simulation, and everyone still trapped here will be lost permanently. I don’t know the specifics, but it’ll basically cause a neural overload, leading to brain death.

“Did the people who made this thing even know what they were doing?” Rachel asked in utter disbelief at the programmers’ incompetence.

“I’m sure they didn’t see any of this coming,” Raphael suggested.

“Well given the ‘extinction events’ and the Demon war, they certainly kept their bases covered,” Micah said.

“But all the work the Director did for the people back on Earth,” Raphael began, “They must’ve had some degree of trust in him.”

That’s when I saw the solution. One way to safely remove the Director was to install a new AI core to manage the system. The way it was designed, the network could not stand alone. All the built-in protocols and data only made up a modular support structure, an empty vessel. There needed to be a brain, or the semblance of one, to ‘direct’ everything. I was unsure of how to proceed, but a familiar, robotic voice gave me clarity.

“I think I can help,” Mark said.

It could work. Mark’s AI had evolved significantly over the past year or so. It’s true he was written within the simulation itself, but that wouldn't be an problem. Unless a programmer was writing in binary, they were always working on a virtual machine over layers and layers of translations that converts human-readable code into bits. This was analogous to Mark’s design, except that the translation hierarchy would be two-fold: one here in the simulation, and another in the real world computer that powered it. Regardless, he was more than capable of managing the virtual world and the Charon itself.

“So we make Mark the Director,” Isaac confirmed.

“It’s a new core, so he’ll have all the original permissions. He can stop the Demons, wake the Hollows, and pull everyone else from the simulation!” Aaron exclaimed.

“Deus ex machina, anyone?” Raphael said.

“Shut up, Raph, we’re trying to save the world,” Rachel snapped.

With this problem addressed, I was disappointed to hear Cora bring up another issue.

“During the data transfer, we’ll have to bring all the building’s systems offline,” she said, examining the console. “This includes the processes dedicated to defense.”

“How long?” Micah asked.

“Well, it’s several hundred terabytes of data,” Cora answered. “I’d estimate about two hours.”

“So the Demons overrunning the city…nothing’s gonna stop them from getting in?” Isaac confirmed.

“Nothing except us,” Rachel declared.

“Well, I don’t know about you guys but I’m down to kill some Demons,” Aelia said.

“Me too,” Lynn agreed.

“Me three,” Micah added.

“Count me in, friends.”

“They’re trying to help us, you know,” Isaac said sheepishly.

“If they destroy this core, we’ll all be stuck here forever,” Micah responded.

“I know, I’m just saying…go easy on them?”

It was settled. Cora would oversee Mark’s installation while we made our last stand. We decided a good spot to defend from was the platform high above us. It was unlikely the Swarm or any Minotaurs and Sirens would make their way up 160 floors any time soon, even without reality-bending traps. Our primary threats were Titans and Dragons, who were much more easily targeted from high ground.

Before we made our way up, I saw Cora take off her shield bracelet and hand it to Aaron.

“You’ll need this more than I,” she said. “Stay safe OK?”

“I will, friend,” he answered.

He hesitated a moment before leaning forward and giving her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled to herself before turning back to the console, just as we stepped into the elevator.

Exiting onto the roof, we were met by a rush of cool wind. The sun was just beginning to climb over the horizon to the east, casting an orange glow over the sky. The air was fresh and smelled of concrete after a long rain. It was such an incredible relief to be outdoors again. The others had only spent hours in the Sanctuary but for me it felt like days. On all sides, we looked down into the city below, our vision limited by a blanket of gray fog. The city itself was mostly devoid of Demons, but to the east, towards the desert, we could see thousands of tiny figures were anxiously shuffling about. Wailing Sirens and stamping Minotaurs stood out over the Swarm. Among them, the massive legs of half a dozen Titans rose from the ground, their torsos hidden by the wall of fog. Several Dragons circled overhead; from here they looked like birds, but that illusion was destroyed when we heard their distant roaring.

I saw all of this through what seemed like a thin layer of water. The view was visible, but it wasn’t clear, as if a sheer veil was blanketed over the building. This was no doubt a side effect of the force field surrounding the Sanctuary. Outnumbered by several thousand, there was no winning this fight. All we could hope to do was keep them at bay long enough for Mark to come back online.

“OK TEAM,” Micah called out.

So mesmerized in fear by the army ahead, we were startled by her outburst.

“The ground units are not a threat at the moment, agreed?”

We nodded hesitantly.

“Given their distance, they’ll be here within 20-30 minutes of the defenses going down,” Aaron estimated. “I also count six Titans and a couple dozen Dragons.”

“And how many of the rest?” Rachel asked facetiously. "Bet you can’t - “

“1,738 in the Swarm, 420 Sirens, and 69 Minotaurs,” he answered without skipping a beat.

“Titans and Dragons are the primary threat,” Micah observed. “Without the force field, this is just a big glass box to them.”

“Agreed,” I said. “The others aren’t getting up here any time soon.”

Rachel chuckled. “Can you imagine? A Minotaur squeezing its way into an elevator and pressing a button?”

“Sense of humor just like I remember,” Aelia said. “Leave one of the Titans to me.”

“I’ll take another,” Lynn said, letting out a deep growl while still in human form.

“And one just for me,” Rachel said, brandishing her Orb.

“I think I can take one of them,” I said with somewhat faked confidence. “I want to try something.”

“Friends, aim for the back of their necks,” Aaron informed. “It’s unprotected, and if you cut deep enough you can sever the spinal column.”

“Hey guys!” Isaac called out from behind us. He’d climbed higher up the scaffolding to a smaller platform above. There was a white sheet covering something that, when pulled off by Isaac, revealed a massive artillery gun. It was a sleek black color with a long barrel and seat for a gunner.

“That’ll work,” Raphael said.

We decided Aaron would be the best shot with such a long-range weapon. He handed his airgun to Jared, and took his place in the gunner’s seat.

“I’ll circle around and provide cover fire,” Jared said. “Would’ve loved some more airborne help but this’ll have to do.”

“The rest of us will do the same from here,” Micah finished.

With our responsibilities settled, we turned back to our enemies and made final preparations. Rachel flattened her Orb into a circular board on the ground. She stepped into the middle and as she did so, the metal began to encapsulate her lower legs, securing her onto the surface. She then floated several feet in the air. Quickly developing a sense of balance on the Orb, she began to fly around, twirling and tilting as she did so, She ended the demonstration with a hover just a few feet off the ground.

In response, Aelia started a small fire just beneath each of her boots, which quickly turned a brilliant blue color. Shen then began to levitate, the flames burning downward and propelling her into the air. By intensifying the fire on either foot, she could yaw left or right, giving her a wide range of movement.

“Touche,” Rachel said.

That’s when looked up and saw the shield begin to tear open as Cora initiated the transfer. At first it was just a small hole at the top, but it expanded and travelled downwards, lowering the defenses along the way. When it was completely disabled, the blurry layer was gone, and I could see the Demons with complete and utter clarity. Most of the lights in the building shut off, casting a dark shadow over the surrounding area, and the green beacon ceased to shine.

Realizing the defenses were down, the monsters got louder and wilder. The Swarm began to move towards the Sanctuary. Sirens limped among them, slowly following their charge. Minotaurs bellowed and roared, crushing their way through. The Dragons took off from nearby rooftops and looped around, heading straight for our position. And though the Titan’s movements were relatively slow, they each covered an enormous amount of distance with a single step, sending clouds of sand into the air with each one. As they stepped out of the fog, their nightmarish faces were revealed, and I’ll never forget those dark, empty eyes.