The Quantum Brain (Pulse Science Fiction Series Book 2) (8 page)

Mark Spencer carried his tools up beyond the metal detectors on the ground floor and waited. The security guard approached him again. “Listen, we have a policy and it is nonnegotiable.”

“Shut up,” Mark said.

“Excuse me.” The man towered over the top of Mark.

Mark sneered and looked away. “You said you were calling Calvin Hall. So, call him. I’m here to do a job I was ordered to do that only I can do and you have no time to hire anyone else to do it. Me doing this for CDR is the only nonnegotiable, so stop wasting both our time by making me talk to you. Bring down Calvin and I’ll let him know how it is going to work.”

The guard was fuming, but stepped back away from Mark.

Calvin walked toward the detectors from the direction of the express elevator. “Tell me how it’s going to be then, Mr. Spencer.”

The other security guard turned away and returned to the detectors without waiting to see how the exchange was going to play out.

“Take me up to where I’m supposed to work,” Mark said.

“You have to leave your gear here and use CDR equipment,” Calvin Hall said.

Mark shook his head. “There is no time. I can do the work that needs to be done using the gear I have. I do not have time to relearn on a bunch of subpar CDR stuff bought off the shelf for your IT guys that aren’t fit to do what Miles Decker needs done.”

Calvin Hall shook his head. “That’s how it has to be. Leave your outside gear here, please.”

“Call Miles Decker and tell him you are turning me out because I need my own gear to do this job in the time it is needed,” Mark said. “Call him and tell him your ego has gotten in the way of completing the task Decker wants done. You are out of time, I am your only option, and I’m done dealing with you.”

“You get paid to do what you are told,” Calvin said.

“Wrong,” Mark said. “You get paid to do what you are told. I get paid because I’m the only one that can do what I do. I know that is tough on your ego, but I have no time to coddle you. Take me to where my work is needed or call Decker and tell him why he can’t have what he wants.”

“The rules are here for a reason,” Calvin said.

“The rules are there for people like you,” Mark said. “People like me tell you what I need in order to do the job only I can do for the only guy in this company whose opinion actually matters. But you decide what Miles Decker gets today, Calvin. Did he tell you to do what you could or did he tell you exactly what he expects to be done?”

“Follow me then, Mark.” Calvin turned and they entered the express elevator together.

As they rode up, Mark asked, “Is Dr. Kell joining us for this security work?”

“Just the two of us,” Calvin said.

“Where is Dr. Kell? I’m supposed to work through him. His opinion on the security actually matters, you know.”

Calvin’s jaw worked, but he continued to stare forward. “Dr. Kell’s location and activities at the moment are none of your business, Mr. Spencer. As you demanded, you have all that you need to do your job, so it is time to shut up and do it.”

“Don’t be sour, Calvin,” Mark said. “You should find a way to find joy in your work – even menial tasks like those assigned to you.”

The doors opened and they stepped out. Calvin used a security card to lead them through several sealed doors. Mark made a mental note of the turns they made. He looked around and noted the locations of windows beyond security doors.

Calvin stopped them in front of a bank of locked, vault doors. Mark turned and looked up at security cameras watching the doors and halls. He would have no trouble seeing exactly which one he needed to open later once they moved “It” in the chamber up behind one of these heavy doors. He had what he needed in the car to see that.

Mark began unloading equipment from his backpack and belt onto the tile floor. Calvin crossed his arms and leaned back against one of the walls across from the vaults. Mark paused and looked up to see Calvin glaring across and down at him.

“Is something wrong, Calvin?”

“Just doing my job – same as you.”

“You want to run and get me a soda or something?”

“No, I’ll be watching you the entire time,” Calvin said. “Then, I’ll walk you right back out of the building. The faster you finish the better it will be for all of us.”

Mark smiled as he opened the panel on the keypad next to him. “These have all been disabled as requested?”

“Yes,” Calvin said.

“Thank you.” Mark attached his clips to the leads and powered on his equipment. “The CDR system is set to receive new codes according to Mr. Decker’s specifications?”

“I believe so.”

“I hear hesitation,” Mark said. “Are you lying or you don’t understand what I am asking you?”

“I know what you are asking and I believe the system is set like you said,” Calvin said.

“I’m not sure why you insist on watching,” Mark said. “Even if I was inclined to try something, what makes you think you have the capability of knowing what I am doing once you see it?”

“Just do your job,” Calvin said.

Mark finished and closed up before moving to the next lock. He used his left hand to do the basic work on the tablet, but opened a second screen on the device still down in the open pocket of his backpack with the other hand.

His personal feed of CDR’s system came up. He adjusted something up inside the open lock. Mark cut his eyes to look at Calvin Hall in the periphery. He had drawn the security chief’s attention away from the pack. Mark turned his head down toward the device out in the open on the floor, but he moved his eyes to look in the open pocket of the pack.

There was no data coming from “It” down in the labs. They had shut off that experiment. Mark assumed they were preparing to move the chamber up into one of these vaults once the locks were updated. With the integration into the CDR main system, Mark assumed that Miles Decker wanted to be able to override the locks from wherever in the world he was. Decker would now be able to shutdown the keypads and keep everyone out or open them himself. With the new upgrades, Mark would be able to do the same and that is what really mattered.

Mark unhooked and closed up. He moved to the third keypad and hooked into that one as well. Calvin Hall moved down the wall to watch Mark. Mark Spencer adjusted his backpack on the floor so he could see in the pocket again as he applied the leads inside the locks.

He was running a scan on the security locks on the doors leading to the vaults.

Mark had seen the video uplink between Miles Decker and Dr. Kell with Calvin Hall. Thomas Kell had looked so nervous. Calvin Hall appeared rigid and hostile as ever, but Decker had put Hall in his place right from the beginning of the conversation. That was when Mark knew he had an opening to push Calvin around and do what he needed to do. Mark had rewound and watched that part three times before he left for CDR finally.

He had not watched the video live, but after the Russian had saved him from flying away in the last minor wave, Mark decided to check and see what there was to find out about his new mission. The video call had been very telling. Decker’s files told even more.

Miles Decker was in some sort of bunker. He was sending his soldiers and pawns around the world to continue fighting and working as he hid in his hole waiting for it all to be over. That was typical of the wealthy, Mark thought. They saw their power as the right to wield sway over the life and death of others. Mark understood power, but he saw his power as real. He had come in and conquered CDR’s systems from the inside. His power was legitimate because he took it instead of inheriting it. He did not feel bad about stealing from a man like Miles Decker or a company like CDR at all.

The Q2 project was almost as interesting as “It.” As far as Mark could tell, CDR was planning to unleash an army of robots around the world. They were going to conquer the world in their own way. They were planning on coming out on top once all this was over. To be fair, Mark was planning exactly the same thing.

In his feed inside the dark pocket of his backpack, Mark saw that data from the Q1 was being fed to all the factories around the world. As they were pumping out body after body of their lines of androids, the engineers were also working feverishly on a new operating system based on “It.”

Mark shook his head as he moved down to the fourth lock. Calvin Hall stayed in position and was now behind him where Mark could not see him out of the corner of his eye. He felt sweat on his forehead and an itchy rash around the base of his neck.

There was no way they were going to be able to complete Q2 in time. They were going to work right up until the gravitational wave without success and then there was no telling what would still be standing after it was all over.

Of course, Mark was sure no one else was going to have time to discover the cause of the gravitational waves much less be able to calculate the final one in time. They had though. Maybe CDR was going to pull off a technological miracle before the deadline too.

Mark Spencer started to wonder if they would not be able to find him too once that started looking for who took “It.”

Calvin Hall spoke behind Mark and Mark startled at the sound of Calvin’s voice. “Are you putting in a backdoor for yourself, Mr. Spencer? Is that what little weasel hackers like you do?”

Mark shut off the second device inside the pocket of his backpack. He looked over his shoulder at Calvin Hall with the big man’s arms crossed and a disgusted smile twisted over his lips.

Mark looked away and moved down to the fifth lock to continue the process.

Calvin spoke again. “I took the liberty of looking into you. I know what you are. You are a fraud. You are a mole that gets into companies and uses that access to leak off profit.”

Mark swallowed and braced himself as he kept his back to Calvin Hall. “You should go report all your ironclad evidence to your superiors. It shouldn’t be difficult since everyone in this building including myself is your superior in every way.”

“Maybe I will report you then,” Calvin said.

“Stop deflecting,” Mark said.

“Excuse me.”

“You heard me,” Mark said. “I am busy with actual work, you troll. I don’t have time to suffer fools. If you really looked me up, you found nothing of the sort, so shut up and let me work.”

“Because you hide your tracks so well?”

“Because there is nothing to find. This is a situation where what you do is meaningless. CDR has nothing I want except my fee which I’m sure is well over a year’s salary for you which I have been paid twice now in as many weeks. You are looking for trouble because trouble is all that gives your life meaning. You are upset because I am a guy the company needs. They need me so desperately that I can walk over the top of you to come do my important job like you aren’t even there. I know that bothers you and ruffles your feathers, but that’s just how it is. I wish Dr. Kell was here. He is much more pleasant than you.”

“Maybe he does not see you for what you really are,” Calvin Hall said.

“He is more pleasant than you because his job actually matters, so he does not feel the need to flex and present the way you apparently do.”

“Let’s get finished up here so that we can get out of each other’s lives,” Calvin said.

Mark closed up his equipment. “I need to go down to the servers now.”

“Why?” Calvin asked.

Mark sighed. “I’m doing what Miles Decker needs done. I could try to explain how all of this works and why, but the gravitational wave would be here and long gone by then. It’s above your pay grade and intellect. Take me down to the servers now, Calvin.”

They turned and moved back toward the elevators.

Thomas Kell shoved more clothes into the duffle bag on his bed in his apartment. He rifled through to check his toiletries again. This made no sense. He couldn’t wrap his brain around any of it. He supposed it didn’t matter what he had packed in his bag once the world flew apart. How did one pack for the apocalypse anyway?

Thomas took out his phone and tried Seth’s number again as he walked out of the bedroom and down the hall. As it rang, Thomas lifted more pictures off his wall and shoved them into a low cabinet with other loose ends. He closed the cupboard and wrapped the rubber band around the handles to bind them closed. He had no idea if they would stay closed.

Voicemail picked up again and Thomas said, “Seth, as soon as you get a signal, as soon as you hear this, call me, for goodness sake. I can try to get to them too. If you are trapped somewhere in traffic, get to a secure location and let me try. I know I’m closer. I just need their address or directions. Please, let me help. I know I have let you down before, but I will help with this. I left work and I’m ready to go. If you’ll just go somewhere safe, I’ll try. I promise. Call me. Call me back now and let me know where you are.”

Thomas hung up and pocketed his phone again. He looked around the barren apartment. His eyes darted from side to side looking for anything loose or sharp that might fly loose when the wave came.

He also tried to think where he would have an address for his niece and her mother. Thomas thought she might have remarried, but he couldn’t remember. He wanted to say they lived in Nebraska, but he didn’t know for sure. He probably couldn’t find his brother’s address in Arizona if he had to.

Thomas walked over to a standing cabinet and undid the latch. He flipped through notebooks without finding anything useful. He had scientific details, but nothing on his family.

Thomas took out the power drill with the screwdriver attachment on it. He checked the screws through the feet of the cabinet into the floor. They were tight and the drill made a grinding sound as he tested them. He probably had ruined the value of the cabinet and he was not getting his deposit back on the apartment now. This was all assuming that world would still be here once this was all over. He put the drill back into the cabinet and latched it closed.

Thomas felt his pocket vibrate and he pulled his phone free. As he looked at the screen, his face fell. It was CDR again. Thomas declined the call for the tenth time and put it back into his pocket. He was doing to CDR what his brother was doing to him. That was assuming Seth was even getting a signal. Lines were jammed all around the world like never before. Thomas had been watching the chaos on TV and saw lines of traffic jams that crossed entire states even with the curfews.

Smart people were tying down inside bunkers and secure buildings. Thomas was packing his bag and preparing to join his brother on a suicide mission to Nebraska. He thought it was Nebraska.

Thomas sat down on the couch. It creaked, but did not budge where it was bound to the floor now. He could not even remember Seth’s ex wife’s name. They had met a couple times, but it had been years. Not long after they were married and long before they were divorced. Thomas had only seen the girl when she was a baby and then again when she first started walking. If he had sent birthday cards, he would at least have an address.

The girl’s name was Mary or Martha. He shook his head. Maybe Ruth. It was something from the Bible.

He couldn’t find an address. He couldn’t remember names. Even if any of them did survive this disaster, he wouldn’t have enough information to begin looking.

Thomas stood up and pulled out his phone again. He tried Seth’s number and approached the television. As the line rang, he pulled at the straps that held his flat screen secured. The TV jostled, but remained in place. He looked at his empty bookshelves and though about the boxes tied down in the guest bedroom. He thought that he should probably check those again.

His bed was strapped to the floor in his bedroom and he had a bag packed on his bed. His car was in a parking garage a few blocks away. It had been stored and he wasn’t even sure anyone was manning the garage now to get his car out. Why would they be? Did he think he was going to take a bus to Nebraska on the off chance that his family was somewhere in that state? Was he going to walk?

There was no time left. He knew this as he listened to the phone ring. As his brother’s voice message picked up and man’s voice seemed calm and cheerful telling Thomas to leave a message again, Thomas knew he had no intention of going anywhere. He never planned to run off to help his brother or his family. He had gone through the motions of packing a bag because deep down he wanted to be the guy that would do those things. Seth was the guy that ran out to save people against all hope and reason. Thomas was the guy that tried to talk people out of it.

The beep sounded over the phone and Thomas said, “Seth, listen. We are out of time. I don’t know if you are getting my messages or ever will, but there’s no time left. You need to help your family by being alive for them after all of this is over. You need to find a safe place and tie down now because this thing is coming and it will be bad. I’ll help you find them after this is all over, but you have to be alive for us to do that. So, please, get to shelter right now wherever you are. I love you, man. Be safe.”

There was a harsh beep and a woman’s voice said, “The mailbox you are trying to reach is full.”

Thomas hung up and tears stung his eyes. That seemed like information that would have been useful before he tried to leave a message. He turned away from the TV without turning it on. He didn’t want to know what was going on out there.

“Eve,” he said out loud. “Her name is Eve.”

The tears came heavier as he finally remembered the name of a niece he might never see again.

He walked over to the window of his apartment and looked out. The streets were nearly empty. A few people ran around the corner on a sidewalk below and then they were gone.

He looked up at the sky and realized there were no planes. The sky was silent. It was eerie. It reminded him of right after the September Eleventh attacks when all the planes were grounded for a while. The sky felt empty. He remembered thinking at the time that this was how it would be if the world ever ended. He wondered if the skies would stay empty this time.

Motion between the buildings in the distance caught his attention. He saw debris and objects that looked like cars lifting into the air. Thomas grabbed hold of the edges of his window. Was this it? Had he lost track of time. He wanted to look at his watch, but he held on afraid to let go.

Glass shattered and flew out and up into the air in the distance. Mark heard car alarms and saw everything falling back toward the Earth.

He had felt nothing. Whatever that was had not reached his section of the city. That told him this was not the big one. He looked at his watch. The time was getting close though.

He could not save his family, but he could do his job at CDR. He could have a job after all of this was over.

He looked back out and saw dark smoke rising in the distance in the affected section of the city. He did not know what was burning, but soon it might be the whole world and there would be no one to put it out. No one would be able to save them no matter how many androids CDR had tried to build.

Thomas turned and ran toward the front door of his apartment.