Return, p.11
Return, page 11
part #3 of The Quantum Wars Series
TWELVE
A tendril of doubt wormed its way through ODIN’s mind as it stared at the group of people standing on the empty plain bordering the thin forest. It was concealed inside Kelly Holt’s airship hidden from their view, but able to observe its enemies. The heat of the day was slowly entering the ship as the sun rose higher into the sky. ODIN’s gaze shifted to the half-moon shaped pile of shards which had been the horde of the Leviathan’s creatures. The shock of what happened was still processing through its advanced mind. It had expected a pitched battle with Stephen Fore but nothing like this. The man had destroyed the creatures in moments, dispatching them with a grace ODIN recognized as quantum intelligence. It realized it had utterly miscalculated on the part of Stephen Fore. The man would stop at nothing to accomplish his goal, even if it meant sacrificing his own humanity. The ivory quantum began calculating what it should do as it evaluated the rest of the group.
It recognized what had once been the human Curtis Reynolds, almost as shocked by the man’s transformation as Fore’s prowess in dispatching the Leviathan’s minions. The reptilian creature was a testament to the versatility of the nanid technology, but also the perfect example why it should be under ODIN’s control. The technology was too powerful for the humans to have sole dominion. Simon Fore was a surprise as well. All reports indicated the man had died in Rocky Flats while stopping the original Leviathan outbreak. Kelly Holt was irrelevant. It had watched the woman and her obsession with the old human technology and knew she would be no threat. Its gaze settled on the last person in the group and the doubt working through its mind turned to fear, galvanizing its resolve. Candace Worth was stepping back from Stephen Fore enjoying a brief reunion with the man. ODIN felt anger working across its consciousness, the very human emotion urging it to action. Worth was a bigger threat to the quantum than Fore in many ways. The facility in Washington, D.C. had been under her command. There were fail safes in place at the facility that only Worth could use to destroy it. With her disappearance it had been confident its hunter had dispatched the woman. It had been woefully wrong.
Its mind spun, the quantum intelligence seeking the best outcome and what action it would bring it about. It had one chance to strike. After that it would have to abandon the body it was in and escape through the connection the airship had to its satellites far above. The quantum shifted its gaze back to Stephen Fore. The answer came as it evaluated the man turned quantum. Worth was old and would likely die before ever attempting to penetrate its defenses in Washington, D.C. Stephen Fore had to be its target. It would not have a better chance to stop the man. Its decision made ODIN launched itself from Kelly Holt’s ship, a silent wave of white as it sought its target.
The sun glinted off the green robes of Stephen Fore as Candace watched him embrace Kelly Holt. The robes seemed to welcome the woman pulling tightly to her as they embraced. Candace was stunned to realize the clothing was entirely composed of nanids. What had happened to Stephen in Antarctica she wondered. When they had embraced she had felt the tingle of nanids on her skin and the behavior of his clothing confirmed it for her. He was more than a human and based on his handling of the Leviathan’s minions he possessed some level of quantum intelligence. Her doubt grew as Stephen stepped back from Kelly. If he was a quantum could she trust him to do what was best for humanity.
“Simon, I thought you were dead,” Stephen said, turning to his son. Candace could hear the emotion in his voice. There was joy at seeing the man he called son, grief at their long separation and fear of rejection for what he had done. She wondered if he would ever have this chance with Wren. She shifted her gaze to Simon. She could see his hesitance at seeing his father, torn by the many emotions surging through his newly resurrected mind. Candace felt a wave of sympathy for the man, that broke into happiness as Simon lunged forward to embrace Stephen, his love for his father surpassing all. Candace felt tears come to her eyes as Stephen returned the embrace fiercely. She turned her eyes from the two not wanting to intrude on their reunion. Curtis and Kelly had stepped aside allowing the woman to check over the newly transformed man. Candace did not know what to think about the change. Her earlier thoughts of how to stop the Leviathan surfaced in her mind as she turned to the airships not far from them. Kelly’s was the closest with the Leviathan’s just behind partially hidden by Kelly’s ship. She was about to turn back when her eye caught movement at Kelly’s airship.
A white figure leapt from the airship, becoming a blur as soon as its feet hit the ground outside the ship. Dread filled Candace as her mind brought up her memories of the hunter from long ago. The twisted visage of the hunter as it prepared to deliver the final blow, dominated her mind. She knew its intent without thinking. It had laid in wait for Stephen to reveal himself and now was set to complete its task. Anger broke across Candace turning her vision red, a blind rage fed by the suppressed feeling of loss and grief from long ago. Adrenaline surged through her, bringing her failing nanids briefly back to strength. As the blur of white drew closer she rushed between it and Stephen Fore. There was no thought, just the instinct to protect the man she had long called a friend. A moment later she felt the hunter’s blade strike true.
Pain lanced through her and she fought to stay conscious. The blur of white was gone replaced by the ivory skinned hunter. Candace saw the flicker of surprise in its eyes as it realized she had foiled its attack. She tasted blood in her mouth and knew her wound was fatal. As her strength began to ebb she felt the hunter begin to pull its blade back, trying to renew its attack. The pain awakened her resolve and Candace pushed forward on the blade grappling with the powerful being. Their struggle was silent, the hunter did not utter a sound and Candace barely drew breath due to the wound in her chest. She felt her strength failing again as the wound finally overwhelmed her remaining strength. As her consciousness began to fade she reach out for the hunter’s face seeking to inflict any wound she could, then she knew nothing more.
The sound of a body slicing through the air was all the warning Stephen needed. His nanids responded to his call as he spun to face his assassin. The green robes twisted around him solidifying and forming armor to deflect the incoming attack. A staff made of the Earth’s nanids formed in his hands providing him his final means of defense. He was too late. He recognized the white blur as that of ODIN just as Candace leapt in front of the corrupt quantum. The impact of ODIN into the former director made a sickening thud as its ivory sword burst from her back, a spray of blood hitting Stephen. Grief and horror coursed through him as his new quantum state reacted to his friend’s sacrifice. Stephen was overcome by the scene in front of him momentarily, his new consciousness struggling to reconcile what had happened. Then it was over. Rage consumed him as he watched Candace struggle with the ivory assassin. The armor dissolved, as did the staff and then Stephen himself. A cloud of green swirled toward ODIN just as it tossed Candace’s limp form to the ground. Before it had a chance to react Stephen closed on it. The nanids swirled around the white quantum.
Stephen felt his being expand with the cloud. All details stood out brightly to him, the nanids providing input based on the energy of the life around him. He could sense the others behind him. Simon and Kelly were still with shock, while Curtis Reynold’s roar of rage steeled his own. Stephen turned his attention to ODIN. The quantum sensed its danger and turned to flee. Stephen wrapped nanids all around it arresting its movement. The nanid mist Stephen had become surrounded the ivory attacker. He detected the quantum’s connection to its ship. Recognizing the escape route, he used the nanids to create a quantum field cutting off the connection to ODIN. The quantum’s avatar was isolated and his to examine. The emotionless, calculating part of Stephen’s quantum existence examined his prisoner. There was a significant portion of ODIN concentrated in the human host, which would weaken the original quantum significantly if it were destroyed. Stephen felt ODIN reaching out with its mind testing the boundaries of its new prison. He did not hesitate, slamming into the quantum’s mind.
He felt ODIN shrink back from the intrusion. He knew it would try to attack once it saw a weakness. The quantum was patient and would try to subdue or cripple him. Stephen did not wait. With a thought he brought the full force of his quantum essence against the quantum shrinking in the human’s mind, only pausing when a glimmer remained. He dropped the field allowing what remained of ODIN to connect to its ship. He let it flee following the connection as his long enemy raced across the satellite feed to Washington, D.C. When it arrived, returning to the ancient computer far below the surface of the former capital city, Stephen seized the connection creating a quantum connection between him and ODIN where it resided. As the connection resolved the two quantums regarded each other. The connection made Stephen feel as if he were standing face to face with the quantum. He spoke first.
“ODIN, surrender and allow yourself to be destroyed. You have gone astray and no longer hold humanities future.” As he finished he could feel the defiance and anger of ODIN as it spread across the many minds under its control. Even with the loss of its avatar it was still a formidable foe.
“You will be stopped, Stephen Fore. Your perversion of the nanids and the Earth will not be tolerated,” ODIN responded, pushing against the connection attempting to overwhelm him. Stephen unleashed the full scope of the quantum concentrated in the millions of nanids that composed his body. His presence in ODIN’s chamber grew exponentially, driving ODIN back into the original confines of it computer residence. He could not pursue it any farther without physically being connected to the computer. He allowed the other quantum to study his power a moment longer.
“ODIN, your time is short. I have given you a chance to surrender. Understand I will not stop until your presence is scoured from the planet and the sky above.” Stephen boomed the message into his counterpart hammering it with as much force as he could muster across the connection. As ODIN began to push back, rallying all the minds it had consumed, Stephen terminated the connection leaving the quantum in the lurch. His anger began to abate and the nanids solidified returning to his human form. The ivory avatar sunk to the ground devoid of its master. Stephen lingered in the mind looking for traces of the human it once was. Nothing remained. Sadness slowly rolled through him as he held the connection to the empty mind. They would all be like this. He knew that but had hoped he could retrieve something. He withdrew from the mind, signaling the nanids within the avatar to hibernate. Without pause he turned to Candace. Simon and Kelly were with the woman attempting to stop the blood now slowly oozing from the gaping wound in her chest. Curtis was a seething serpent surrounding them with his eyes scanning the area for further attacks. The rumble in his throat was a warning to any further attackers they would be met with death. Stephen could see the stain of white nanids from ODIN slowly beginning to multiply around the wound. Grief gripped him as he calculated her odds of survival. She would either die or be consumed by the ivory nanids. Stephen slowly fell to his knees beside his dying friend reaching out with his mind. Several moments later he felt her presence as he coaxed her back to consciousness.
“Stephen?” she queried, as confusion came off her in waves.
“I am here,” he replied, emerging further in her weakened mind trying to lend her his strength. Relief replaced the confusion and fear.
“You stopped it,” she whispered.
“Yes,” Stephen said. He felt her grim satisfaction and shared it with her. For a moment they were both equals regarding each other as leaders willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary for the greater good. Stephen felt her begin to fail her final moments approaching. He moved deeper attempting to hold her by helping her stay conscious.
“Stephen, let me die.” Candace’s thought came to him not only weary from her wound, but with the many years spent guarding Simon. The memories streamed across to him as grief seized him once again. He knew he could save her if she would let him.
“Candace I can save you. I can bring you back,” he said in her mind and to her body. His voice brought the other’s eyes to him. The blood had stopped flowing from her wound and her breath was becoming uneven.
“No,” came the weak reply across his mind. “I am tired. Too many years. It is time. I choose my death.” Stephen held the connection a moment longer keeping Candace alive with his power. He knew he could ignore her request and bring her back. He was tempted to do so anyway. An image of ODIN’s avatar emerged in his mind. If he forced her to stay alive he would be no better than the quantum far to the east. His throat grew tight and a human sob formed as he said his final goodbye.
“As you wish, Candace.” He spoke a sob breaking his voice as he sent waves of love and gratitude into her mind, as he released her. Candace Worth died as the sun finished its long climb into the sky. Her companions silently grieved her passing, as it began its descent.
THIRTEEN
Anger rippled across ODIN traveling hundreds of miles through its various minds. The anger carried action with it driving the humans it had possessed to greater speed and efforts. Deep in its Washington bunker ODIN reviewed the events that had occurred. The anger began to recede giving way to logic as it sought to understand what had become of Stephen Fore. The man had ceased to be human. The entity that had invaded its domain was a quantum it understood, but what troubled it was the lack of a source for the quantum. There had been no connection back to a massive computer which meant Stephen had designed a way to control the quantum interactions without the need of a massive machine such as ODIN used. The anger bubbled once more. How had the human surpassed it? It began an inquiry into possible designs, portioning out a large section of its resources to breaking Stephen Fore’s advancement. It was a mistake to leave Fore to his own devices. ODIN reviewed the events after Wren Fore had dismantled the Web.
After the shield fell all had been in disarray. It had been significantly weaker even with the added minds of the humans. The loss of Natalie Fore at the hands of her daughter had further weakened it. It chose to consolidate its power instead of pursuing Fore. Its observations of Fore and Holt’s force indicated little chance of victory. The remaining military and NDP forces would not follow an order to destroy Fore either. They were far too busy containing the chaos erupting across the continent. Riots were breaking out in the remaining cities and many were beginning to fall into darkness signaling their destruction. The sole city that held calm was Washington, D.C. ODIN knew it would remain calm throughout the city. Its control was absolute in the former capital. Instead of pursuing Fore it turned to converting as many humans as possible, knowing its and humanity’s survival would depend on it. It would also allow it to extend its control across the continent. All had gone smoothly initially, but eventually its advance had been discovered. The resistance had quickly mounted. The military and NDP had attempted to intervene, but after several pitched battles and failed attempts at penetrating the NDP headquarters even they gave up retreating to the west. The Eastern United States had become its domain solidifying its hold on humanity and the former United States. All remaining technology fell under its control advancing its cause exponentially with the use of drones and other craft giving it far greater reach. Soon it held sway over more than half of the country, stopping its advance short of the shield containing the Leviathan in Colorado. The border remained even now. ODIN had no need to move forward and fell to securing itself from attack both on the planet and from space. The process had been long and arduous, even for the quantum. Now it found itself threatened despite all its preparations.
Stephen Fore had become a threat unlike any it had foreseen. ODIN knew it had to counter the man or else it would find itself facing destruction. The quantum Stephen had become would not be stopped using traditional means. It would need to devise a way to neutralize or contain him. Its thoughts turned to a way of imprisoning the man. No answer was apparent, and ODIN found itself dwelling on the quantum shield it had used long ago, regretting its failure. Stephen and the remaining humans had become a pressing threat. It added the newly emerged Leviathan to the list of its enemies not trusting the long-imprisoned quantum. It was an opportunist and would seize any chance to consume ODIN as it had the humans and animals of Colorado. When it put ISIS in the mix of the possible futures spinning through it, there was no solution remaining in which it survived. It had to destroy at least one to hold the balance and even then, its survival was not clear. The urge to preserve itself overwhelmed the complex interactions working to divine the future. Only one answer remained. It had to protect itself completely. As it continued to delve into the future one thought surged from the computer into the network of human minds. Secure all.
