Duality quantum gate boo.., p.11
Duality (Quantum Gate Book 2), page 11
“Everything okay?” Frees asked as she joined the others.
“Yep, never better. Max hasn’t killed her yet so I think it’s going as well as we could ever hope.”
“Who is Max?” Shin asked.
“She’s one of the people who I turned,” Arista said. “She’s not a big fan of humans but sticks around because she can’t stand the idea of going back to her old life.”
“Which was?”
“I think she was programmed as some kind of antisocial person. Always poor, always down on their luck. I haven’t been able to get a lot out of her.”
“So you have more people helping you?” Shin asked. “How many?”
“Only Max and one other,” Frees said. “Not a lot of people want to fight for to save their own race. Even after Arista’s changed them.”
“That is sad,” Shin said. “I could never imagine not wanting to help. It is my lifeblood.”
“Well, you’ve helped us plenty, my friend.”
“Speaking of which,” Arista said. “Would you be interested in helping us to get to Hogo-sha?”
Shin’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know how I can. I don’t have weapons like you do.”
He probably just meant Frees as he looked at his hand when he said it. And why wouldn’t he? He hadn’t seen Arista’s weapon in action yet. No one had. She was equal parts excited and terrified of what it might do. Sy had said only use it when necessary because it could cause significant damage. Unnecessary damage if used in the wrong situation. Not to mention she was still getting used to actually having a hand again. To touch and grab things again, and feel those sensations travel down her arm and up to her brain. It was the best feeling in the world she could imagine.
“But you know this area? I’m not sure I could find my way out of here without you,” Arista said. It was a lie of course; the Device had mapped their entire route. She could find her way out of here with her eyes closed. But she hoped to inflate his confidence. If he knew as much about the rest of this city as he did about this one small section, he could be invaluable.
“True. I do have geographical knowledge.” Shin bowed his head for a moment, silent. Arista wanted to prod him again but a look from Frees told her to wait.
“Okay. Yes. I can help you reach Hogo-sha. It is not too far and I know where the Peacekeepers live. We can make it.”
“Where they live?” Frees asked.
“Yes. As in, where they are rooted.”
“Where they are stationed!” Arista said, taking a step forward. “Got it.”
Shin smiled. “Hogo-sha is in the top of his tower. Top floor. Obtaining access will be difficult. But possible. With continuous effort.”
“The top of the tower? Not the basement?” Arista asked, widening her eyes.
Shin shook his head.
Why had she automatically assumed all the AI’s were in the same place? They were individuals after all, so perhaps it made sense they kept themselves in different locations.
“I am curious,” Shin said as she was thinking. “You said Hogo-sha keeps humans?”
“I said he might. Charlie did,” Arista said, that familiar pit developing in her stomach. She’d gotten some temporary relief when it looked like they might not reach Hogo-sha; but now it was a possibility again. A strong one.
“If he does, what will you do?” Shin asked.
“I don’t think I have a choice. I’ll have to save them.”
“What?” Frees said, turning to her in alarm. “How are you going to save them? We don’t exactly have access to a transport. And even if we did how would we keep them alive? Keep them fed? We can barely do that for you.”
“We can’t just leave them there. And I can’t kill them again, Frees, I just—” She slapped her new hand over her mouth a second too late. The material hurt, but she barely felt it as her eyes slid to Shin.
“You…killed your own people?” Shin asked, his gaze not wavering from her.
“I didn’t have a choice at the time,” Arista said. “I didn’t know how to save them. And leaving them alive meant Charlie had something over me. Something he could exploit.”
“So. You killed them to save yourself?”
“Yes. And Frees. And everyone else from ever having to deal with a Peacekeeper again. Once the current line runs out they’ll be extinguished forever. At least in North America.”
“Unless Hogo-sha keeps making them. He could send more over to make up the difference.”
“Which is why I suspect he has them. And something else. Something that keeps me from influencing them. I want to know what it is.”
Shin thought a moment then shrugged. He looked at Frees. “Don’t look at me, I don’t have a clue,” he replied.
SIXTEEN
They ended up taking a different way out of Shin’s hideout back to the surface, through a series of tunnels Arista wouldn’t have even known were there had Shin not showed them. He kept them away from the most crowded areas, only venturing out into the streets when it was necessary. The city was alight with neon and activity. From the edges of the alleys the glow of the city permeated everything. It was almost like they were inside one large machine instead of a city. Arista couldn’t even tell how tall the towers reached; they seemed to morph into the starless sky.
“This way,” Shin said, leading them down a deserted street. All the shops and businesses were long closed and boarded up.
“More efficiency?” Arista asked.
“Hogo-sha is always making changes. Shutting things down. Consolidating. Our city’s power grid has increased in efficiency by twelve percent over the past year.” Shin turned back to them. “I monitor all.”
It was odd. Seeing a street so empty and desolate so close to the bustling activity. But Arista was thankful for it. Otherwise they’d have to move among the throngs out there. And according to Shin there was a good chance Peacekeepers had been placed at strategic points around the city.
“Do you expect a lot of resistance when we arrive at the tower?” Arista asked.
“Yes. He will be ready. But I know another way in.”
They walked for another couple of blocks, the Device taking note of the route and certain landmarks. The complexity of the streets was nothing like Chicago which was laid out in a relatively simple grid pattern. Osaka consisted of clusters of streets in all directions, five-way stops, diagonals, curves and turns and streets that came back on themselves. It seemed the topography of the city had determined its layout instead of the other way around. Without the Device she would have easily been lost.
“There it is,” Shin said, pointing to a large building in the distance. Unlike the others around it, it supported no neon signs or anything to make it stand out other than its height. It was taller than she could comprehend and looked as if someone had stacked a group of very tall, flat mirrors on top of each other. She could easily make out open areas within the structure itself, she assumed to cut down on swaying since it was so high. It was a wonder she’d missed it when they first arrived, something that massive should have been visible from any part of the city.
“Impressive.” Frees stared up at it.
“Even more impressive when you know humans built it,” Shin said. “One of their last. Hogo-sha maintains it very well.” They both turned to look at Arista at the same time.
“What?” she asked, a shiver running down her back.
“Well?” Frees grinned. “Don’t you feel proud your people did that?”
She rolled her eyes, trying not to indulge him. “I guess. I’m more concerned with what they did after that.” Pre-war humans. Always trying to make things bigger and better. And then they had to go and mess with artificial intelligence. At least they’d survived. At least they’d learned from their mistakes. Sy was proof enough of that.
“How do we get in?” Frees said, giving up and returning his gaze to the building. “It looks like a glass fortress.”
“Crystal City,” Shin said. “The building is connected to many other surrounding buildings with tunnels underneath. We will use one of these tunnels to get in.”
“Won’t those be guarded?” Arista asked. “I mean Hogo-sha knows we’re here. Won’t he have every access point covered?”
“They are on rotation,” Shin replied. “We will have to be fast. But we can make it. Do you need anything else before we enter? No going back.”
She shook her head. Better to do this and get it over with now. Her hand was wet with perspiration and she had to keep wiping it on her jeans. Please don’t have any humans. Please just make this easy.
Shin nodded. He led them through another alleyway that ran parallel to their target. They entered through what seemed to be a deserted office building and moved down into the basement level. It reminded Arista of Frees’ apartment back in Chicago. Back when she’d been terrified of going into the darkness. Thankfully she’d gotten better about her claustrophobia. All that time in the hyperloop stations going back and forth had eased her anxiety. This was no picnic either but at least she wasn’t outside hyperventilating.
They followed a series of long, dimly-lit hallways. According to her GLS they were approaching their target, albeit slowly. The tunnels seemed to wind around the structure, rather than lead straight in, almost like an old circular labyrinth of ancient Greek legend. Shin stopped them twice for what seemed like no reason at first, only for Arista to hear faint footsteps in the distance. Shin motioned for them both to be silent as they waited. Finally, they moved into the basement of the building itself.
“Funny,” Arista whispered. “If this was back home we’d have him by now.”
“When we get in there you use your weapon on him, I’ll take out the supports holding him up,” Frees said. “Shin, you help us find the CPU. I don’t want to leave anything behind.” Shin nodded. “I will stay out of your way.”
“Where now?” Arista whispered.
Shin pointed to the far end of the basement. “Elevators. There are three banks. No direct path. You have to take one up to sky lobby one, then transfer. Then to sky lobby two for another transfer which takes you to the top.”
“And what are the odds of Peacekeepers on the sky lobbies?” Frees asked.
Shin shrugged. “Maybe fifty percent?”
Frees looked at Arista.
“Or we take the stairs,” said Shin. “One hundred sixty-five floors.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” she said. “The elevators will get us there faster. It would take me four hours to climb that high by foot. We need to do this now before he gets the idea to set up a force field around himself or something. There’s never going to be a perfect opportunity.”
Frees nodded. She hated doing this to him; he just wasn’t designed to take on his own people, despite how many times he’d done it in the past. She could see it chipping away at him. She would just have to do it. She finally had the capability.
“Elevators it is.”
“I will check them first,” Shin said, trotting over to the bank of four elevators.
“What’s he going to do if a Peacekeeper comes out of one of those things?” Arista asked Frees. He only shrugged but she noticed his palm was flat. He’d activated the felp. Should she do the same? Sy had said she needed to hold her thumb and pinkie finger together for two seconds to power up the weapon. And then just flex her hand to fire. No, she didn’t want to do it yet. She might have a nervous tremor or twitch. Or she might forget it was on and try to brush her hair out of her face, burning off her nose. She didn’t need to lose any more body parts.
“All clear,” Shin called.
The ride up to the first sky lobby was fast with no sign of Peacekeepers, which Arista found odd. Perhaps Hogo-sha was so confident in his ability to protect the outside of his fortress he didn’t see the need for internal protection. But still, it gnawed at her.
The second elevator was just as quick, taking them up fifty-five floors in under forty seconds. Arista’s ears popped on the way up. She hadn’t thought about lack of atmosphere. If the building was high enough and not climate controlled, she might have an issue breathing. Reflexively she took three deep breaths, prompting a glance from Frees.
“Okay?” he asked.
She nodded, staring straight ahead. There would definitely be Peacekeepers on this level. And she would have to be the one to kill them. If changing them didn’t work anymore, it was their only choice to get to Hogo-sha.
The doors opened and Shin peered out into the hallway. “Still clear,” he said. “I see no one.”
Arista bit her lip. “Something’s not right. We should have seen someone by now.”
“I think tonight, luck is on our side,” Shin replied, making his way into the sky lobby quietly. “We are almost there.” He led them to another bank of elevators.
“Does this feel right to you?” she asked Frees. All of her senses felt like they’d been dialed to eleven. Sights, sounds…everything was sharper.
“I trust him,” he replied. “He wants the same things we do. Let’s just get this over with.”
Shin stood inside the elevator, waiting for them. Arista followed Frees in, trying not to drag her feet. “When we get to the top, he should be in a large room close to the elevators. When you have finished with him, call me and I will pick the CPU. Then we’ll go.”
Arista nodded, her heart hammering in her chest as the elevator rose the final fifty-five floors. Get in, take him down. Check for humans. Get out. That’s all there was to it, right? Simple.
The elevator doors opened. Shin stuck his head out then pulled it right back in. “Down to the left,” he said, pointing. “You’ll have to blast through the doors. Protected by code.”
Arista looked at Frees. How could he not see the strangeness in all this? Could she be the one who was being obtuse here? What if her ambivalence toward the machines was making more of this than there actually was? Shin had said he would get them here uninterrupted; it was what he was best at. And he’d delivered. Now it was their turn. Perhaps what was really bothering her was the time had finally come and she would have to make a choice. Save the humans or let them die again. She still wasn’t sure she could make that choice.
“Let’s do it.” Frees stepped out into the hall.
Arista took one last look at Shin and followed, pressing her thumb and pinkie together. Her arm froze up for a second, then relaxed. That must have been the weapon activating. Now all she needed to do was not flex it until they were inside. She glanced back, Shin stared at them from inside the elevator, his head just beyond the edge. She turned, watching Frees and wishing she had as much confidence as he was projecting at the moment. He strode up to the small pad beside the door, aimed the felp and fired. The unit shut down and the doors made an audible click.
Arista drew three more deep breaths, ready to make this happen. One way or another, Hogo-sha was done for.
Frees placed his hand on one of the handles. “Ready?” he asked. She nodded. “Let’s go.” He pulled the door open and checked the other side before slipping in. She was right behind him with her arm extended, looking for any Peacekeepers Hogo-sha might be keeping as guards, but seeing none.
They stood in a large, two-floor circular room. The back third of the wall was all glass looking out on the city while the other two walls were covered by built-in shelves stacked high with books. Above them, a second-floor circular ring ran the perimeter of the shelves and then the glass, with two staircases on either side leading up.
And there, in the middle, was a giant sphere attached to the ceiling.
The sphere reminded her of Charlie; it was covered in small little greebles and devices, as well as hundreds of lights, all blinking on and off in random patterns. At the very bottom of the sphere was a series of cables running down to an opening in the floor. Exactly as it had been back in Chicago.
“It’s a library,” Arista said, taking it all in.
“We don’t have time to look,” Frees whispered. “Let’s take care of this. It looks like it is suspended from the ceiling by three support struts. I’ll take those. He’s probably already alerted the Peacekeepers so let’s make it fast.”
If Hogo-sha was anything like Charlie it meant he couldn’t speak on his own. He was primarily a processing unit, designed to be immobile.
Frees climbed the stairs on one side, taking them four at a time to take aim at the supports. The lights on Hogo-sha flickered faster. He clearly knew he was in danger. Arista walked to the middle of the room, her arm raised up. But her eye wandered. If there were humans in here where was Hogo-sha hiding them?” Charlie had kept a secret compartment built off to the side of his main chamber. It didn’t look like there was room for anything like that in here.
“Ready?” Frees called from the upper level.
Before she could respond someone grabbed her arm, yanking it down and pulled her into a bear hug. “Frees!” she yelled. She turned to see who had grabbed her. These Peacekeepers were much too quiet! How had he…?
“Shin?” she asked, seeing the familiar face behind her.
“I am sorry, Arista. I do not wish to hurt you.” His voice was even, non-threatening.
Frees raced to the edge of the banister, staring down. “Shin, what are you doing?” he yelled. “Don’t tell me you work for them?”
“Not exactly, no. I am Hogo-sha.” He looked back at Arista. “It is me.”
SEVENTEEN
Arista shouldn’t have been surprised. Everything about this, ever since he showed up in that alley had felt too easy. He just happened to have a place for them to rest. And they hadn’t seen a Peacekeeper since their initial arrival. Now it all made sense. Hogo-sha had wanted them to reach this place. So he’d made it as easy as possible.
