Post-Human Trilogy (57 page)

17

James drew the nans with him in his wake as he sped effortlessly through the nan cloud. Somehow, the nans were being drawn into a seam until the entire cloud started to look like a zipper that stretched for several kilometers. The shadowy figure of the nan consciousness remained away from the fray, standing paralyzed on the invisible hull of the android ship as he watched his army twisted into a thin, black line while his form remained unaffected.

Once the nan cloud had been stretched into a thin thread, James stopped, turned, put out his hand, and began to compress them even further, rolling them up like a carpet, except that the roll never increased in size. The entire swarm of nans was seemingly disappearing.

“What the hell is that?” Rich asked as he watched the spectacle unfold through the ceiling of the listing ship along with everyone else onboard, but no one had an answer.

Neirbo’s weapon had half-lowered as his attention moved to the unbelievable sights unfolding in space and away from Thel. She considered using the distraction to go for the gun. Neirbo was close, but perhaps not close enough for her to reach him in time—plus there were still seven other men under his command to consider. She decided to move back to Old-timer and try to gently revive him by gently touching his face with her hand. He made a soft wheezing sound, and she sighed in relief that he wasn’t dead yet—there was still a chance. She turned her gaze back up to the fantastic images unfolding before them in space. From their perspective, it appeared that a singular bright object, gleaming in the sun’s reflection, was vacuuming the nans into nothingness. She opted to wait for these surreal events to play out.

In less than a minute, James had compressed the nan cloud into a perfect carbon sphere the size of a cue ball. It floated above his gleaming, platinum-colored palm; the reflection of his glowing blue eyes looked back at him. He smiled.

He quickly turned and zipped through space, closing the distance between himself and the ship in less than a second. He stood, facing the shadowy figure of the nan consciousness, who tilted his head slightly to one side while regarding the gleaming platinum figure before him. “Who are you? How did you do that?” it asked in a searing sibilance that was all too familiar to James.

“I’ve learned to manipulate the fabric of space,” James replied.

“Who—or what—is that?” Rich asked as he looked directly up at the two figures; they were standing only a meter above he and Djanet as they watched events unfold through the perfectly clear view provided by the translucent skin of the ship.

Thel noticed something in the figure’s gait—a familiar stance. Her eyes suddenly flashed wide in awe. “It’s James!”

Likewise, the dark, faceless figure seemed to scrutinize James’s new, smooth, mirrored features for a moment before finally, aghast in a moment of dread, he seethed, “Keats.”

James smiled. “Yes.”

“How could this be? You were deleted. You’re dead.”

“As you can see, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
Your
death, on the other hand—”

“So you’re going to side with the machines after all, eh, James?” the shadow scoffed. “Destroy me, wipe out the solar system so space can be as inhospitable, lifeless, and cold as they would like it to be? I told you: you are becoming an excellent machine.”

“This all began with you,” James said, “when you turned against us, deleted the A.I., took his place, and then killed everyone. All of the responsibility for this rests with you.”

“Do you expect repentance? Do you expect me to beg?” the nanobot shadow replied. “You won’t get it. You may destroy me, but my brethren are spread throughout the universe in numbers you cannot imagine. This little act of yours, killing me, will mean nothing in the grand picture.”

“You have no idea how little you are going to be in the grand picture,” James replied. Once again, he put out his hand, letting the shadow see itself one last time in the reflection of his palm, and then slowly, painfully, crushed the being that had tormented him so into a tiny, shiny, black pearl. “I know you can still hear me, you gruesome piece of filth. I’ve tangled your molecules so badly that the only way you’ll ever regain your former form is if someone takes notice of a black pearl in the infinite black ocean of space. I’ve given your magnetic field a boost too, so you should live a nice long time—by my calculations, about 500 million years.”

He took the pearl between his index finger and thumb and examined it for a moment, bringing it close to his face so he could clearly see the blue glow of his new eyes. He knew the nan consciousness could see him—he smiled. Then he turned to the darkest corner of space that he could find and let the pearl float, only inches from his hand. Like a baseball pitcher, he took a moment to calculate the power he would need to fire the pearl at close to light speed. When he was ready, he flicked his wrist like a magician about to pull something from his sleeve, and a small wormhole opened up before him. The pearl vanished into it in a streak of light and vanished. The nan consciousness would be far enough away from the solar system so as not to be caught up in the wake of the Trans-Human program; it would live on in this time and suffer for what would be, essentially, eternity.

“Good riddance.”

18

James looked down at the amazed faces below him inside the ship. He hadn’t been expecting to see his friends with the androids; he could sense that they’d been transformed. His eyes quickly shifted to Thel. Unlike the others, her expression was filled with love and hope. Even through all of his physical changes, his reflective skin, and his brightly glowing azure eyes, she had recognized him. This woman knew him inside and out. As his eyes met hers, even in the alien environment of space, even with all of the disarray surrounding them, he felt as though he was coming home.

This brief flutter of happiness was immediately replaced as he saw Old-timer crumpled to the ground and unmoving next to her.

The skin of the ship was invisible but James had many more senses to draw upon now. He sensed the ship, felt the molecules of the ship skin, and found a path through them. His own molecules moved to allow him to sink through the hull as those onboard looked on in astonishment. He phased through the ship ceiling and floated gently to the floor.

Thel sprung to him and threw her arms around his neck. “You’re alive!” she nearly screamed. “I thought you were dead!”

“Resurrection is my forte.”

“It’s really you,” Rich said, allowing himself a smile. “Wow. What the hell happened to you? Who did this?”

“I did,” James replied.

“
You
did?” Thel exclaimed, pulling back slightly so she could face him, yet still keeping her hold on him. “How? Why? We thought the nans had deleted you!”

“They tried, but it turns out deletion is impossible from the A.I.’s mainframe. I survived, and so did the A.I.—the
real
A.I.”

“What?” Thel reacted. “You mean the A.I. still exists?”

“He never turned on us,” James explained, turning to Rich and Djanet as well. “It was always the nans. They impersonated him, destroyed all of us, and lured the androids here as a trap.”

“What about your body? What is...this?” Thel asked as she touched James’s new skin. Its texture was like diamond, yet it was pliable like skin.

“It has no name,” James replied. “I have to help Old-timer,” he said, immediately shifting gears, pulling away from Thel and placing his palm just a few inches from Old-timer’s chest.

“Can you help him?” Thel asked.

“There’s been catastrophic damage. I would need access to the exact molecular pattern of his android body to put him back together. Without it, all I can do is stop the pain and give him a temporary patch-up.”

“Will it be enough to save him?” Djanet asked.

“No,” James replied, “but it doesn’t have to be.”

“What does that mean?” asked Thel.

“You’ll see.”

Just then, Old-timer began to stir, slowly regaining his consciousness. He sighed a long sigh before turning slightly and looking up at James through slitted eyes. “Who are you?”

“It’s me,” James replied with a smile.

Old-timer took a long moment to examine the features of the figure’s shining face and glowing eyes. “James?”

James nodded. “How are you feeling?”

Old-timer tried to get up, performing a maneuver reminiscent of a bodybuilder trying to finish one last sit up—with an exhausted exhale, he failed and fell back against the floor. James gave him his arm and helped him stand back upright. Old-timer kept his right forearm crossed in front of his abdomen and remained hunched over, floating just off the ground in the zero gravity.

James turned and observed the drawn guns of Neirbo and the other androids. “You did this to him?” James asked.

“I...I had no choice,” explained a befuddled Neirbo. “The circumstances were different. We’d run out of time...we were about to be consumed by the nanobots.”

“So why didn’t you detonate the missile yourself?” James queried, already knowing the answer.

“You know about the missile?” Thel reacted in surprised bewilderment. “How?”

“Yes. I know what your plan is.”

“Then...you’re here to help us,” Neirbo said, his voice filled with uncertainty.

“Don’t do it, James!” Old-timer said desperately, struggling against the weakness of his voice.

James turned to his friend and replied, “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

“What?” exclaimed Neirbo. “You can’t be serious! The nanobots destroyed your people! You can’t let them claim this solar system for themselves!”

“The nanobots may have killed my people, but
your
leader let it happen,” James replied.

19

“That’s not true,” Neirbo responded. “We came here to help you! We tried to save as many of you as we could!”

“You tried to
assimilate
as many of us as you could,” James calmly asserted. “The impending nanobot attack and your leader’s claims that she was unable to transmit a warning to us were convenient excuses.”

“But why would they want to assimilate us?” Djanet asked. “What good would that do for them?”

“We came to defend humanity,” Neirbo stated, staking claim.

“You came to defend your narrow notion of what humanity should be,” James replied.

Neirbo was at a loss. “I don’t know what that is supposed to mean. We’re not the ones with limits.”

Old-timer, however, completely understood. As soon as he heard James’s words, it was as if a light switch had gone on. His eyes lit up with understanding.

“I’ll be damned,” he said. “
Luddites.
”

“What?” Rich asked.

“Luddites,” Old-timer repeated. “I didn’t realize it until just this moment. I was fooled by their advanced technology. But just because they’re more advanced than we currently are, doesn’t mean that they’re still advancing.”

“Your arguments crossed the border into ridiculous long ago,” Neirbo replied.

Old-timer’s teeth were suddenly gritted with fury. “Think about it,” he said to his companions. “There are trillions and trillions of these people, all willing to do the same thing, to fight the same war. Where is the individuality? They’re even wearing the same damn style of clothes, for God’s sake!”

“We have individual freedom,” Neirbo replied. “We have chosen to defend humanity against the nanobot scourge. We are here because of our compassion.”

“You shoot me compassionately, son?” Old-timer seethed.

“They have the illusion of individual free choice,” James explained, “but at anytime their leader, the person who calls herself
1
, can control their actions.”

“1 communicates with us and leads us. She does not control us!” Neirbo fired back.

“I’m willing to put that to the test,” James replied. He turned to his companions. “We are not going to destroy the solar system.”

“James, are you sure about this?” Thel asked, with a serious look of concern. “You may be right about everything you said, there’s no way to know for sure, but what we do know for sure is that the nans have turned against us! How can we just let them have this solar system to use to reproduce and kill more people in the future? Shouldn’t we destroy the nest?”

“Hello, 1,” James responded without missing a beat.

“What?” Thel answered back.

“I anticipated you would take her first. You’re counting on my emotional connection confusing my reason. However, I have more than just my emotions and reason to rely upon now.”

“James!” Thel exclaimed. “It’s me! I love you! What’s the matter with you?”

“It’s not Thel,” Old-timer asserted, turning to Rich and Djanet. “James is right. There’s no reason to think 1 couldn’t control any of us at anytime.”

“That’s paranoia!” Thel shouted. She threw her arms around James and tried to kiss him, but he roughly withdrew.

“You’re not the woman I love. Stop pretending.”

“You’re wrong, James!” Thel turned desperately to the others. “Don’t listen to him! There’s something wrong with him!”

James kept the gaze of his glowing blue eyes on Thel. “I can see you, 1. I have more eyes than you can imagine.”

“You’re confused,” Thel pleaded. “The A.I. has done something to you! He’s tricking you!”

James ignored her pleas and addressed everyone in the room. “The android system of transferring power sounds perfect on the surface. The android randomly selected to become 1 leads the group for a period of time and then, on the designated date, surrenders the power. Therefore, anyone and everyone has a chance to become the leader. But there’s a flaw. It was only a matter of time before someone was selected leader who would realize that he or she could continue as 1 forever. All that was required was that the randomly selected person be a person of 1’s own creation.”

“Of course,” Old-timer assented, “and that person would continue leading them, essentially, forever. Their civilization followed the singular vision of one entity—like fascism or any kind of dictatorship.”

“It’s even more similar than you think, Old-timer,” James continued. “Just like fascism, they’re xenophobic. 1 has unilaterally decided what is human and what is not and has made it her mission to stop human civilization from progressing into anything that
she
considers
inhuman.
”

“Something like you, for instance,” Old-timer observed.

“Exactly,” affirmed James.

“Then that’s their real mission,” Djanet realized, “to find human civilizations and...assimilate them.”

Thel paused for a moment, as though she was considering her next move. Then, suddenly, her body went slack, she released the grip that she had on the wall and she floated for a moment in the zero gravity. “What happened?” she asked.

“1 took control of your body,” James replied. “Any one of you could be next,” he began, “but I already know what her next move will be.”

“You don’t know a thing,” Neirbo replied as he held his weapon up to James with a snarl on his lips. Seeing Neirbo’s aggressive stance, the seven men under his command did likewise.

“Welcome back, 1,” said James. “Long time, no see.”

“You think that body of yours and your new senses make you special?” 1 replied with Neirbo’s lips. “You’re just another abomination.”

“Oh my God,” Old-timer said, shaking his head slightly in dismay. “This sounds so familiar.”

“Picked a hell of a time for déjà vu, Old-timer,” observed Rich.

“I’ve been through this with people before, on Earth, back in the old days,” Old-timer related. “There’s always someone out there who thinks we should draw a line and not cross it and that humanity will be much happier if we just stand still.”

“I’ve been through this more than once myself,” 1 replied. “And I’ve always managed to stop the spread of monsters like him,” she said, gesturing with Neirbo’s body toward James. “Don’t fool yourselves. He’ll just be the beginning. When people are given the reins to become anything they want, they will become unrecognizable...and uncontrollable.”

“We don’t want to be controlled,” Old-timer retorted.

“You’re a petty, selfish, idealist,” 1 answered back. “What I have done, I have done for all of humanity, throughout the universe.”

“Isn’t that what all dictators claim,” replied Old-timer. “You did it for the people? Bull. You just wanted to be number 1.”

1 snapped her neck quickly toward Old-timer, her eyes filled with black hatred, fueled by a war and a conviction that had lasted for centuries. “How dare you speak to me that way!” she thundered with Neirbo’s voice as she used Neirbo’s arm to train his weapon on Old-timer again. 1 fired.