Revenge of the chickens, p.31
Revenge of the Chickens, page 31
part #3 of Blocks Series
“More, if this is some sort of mad Ark Admin trap?”
The old man and the woman began an intense whispered conversation that Stuff couldn’t really hear. It grew in volume and sharpness before abruptly ending. “Stuff, we don’t believe you but we’ll let you take a couple of our people to this… base.”
Stuff let his shoulders relax, “Thank you.”
“Oh don’t thank me Stuff. They’re going to kill you if you’re lying. Still want to go?”
Stuff nodded.
“He’s crazy,” someone said.
“Probably. Put him back in the box and take him to Central Park tonight. We’ll see,” the woman answered.
“Take me to the Alice statue,” Stuff said.
“That figures, he’s as mad as a dormouse in a teapot.”
Stuff heard the shuffle of feet as everyone started leaving. Some kind soul offered him a straw. He sucked greedily. It was beautifully cold water. He wanted to ask about bathroom arrangements but thought that might be pushing his luck. They left him alone for a couple of hours; probably waiting for nightfall. Then another Samaritan, or the same one, took him to a bathroom. After relieving himself, his hands still tied and blindfolded they led him back to the room and put him in the box he’d arrived in. He recognised the feel and the smell, it was an old wooden packing crate. Somebody nailed the lid shut. It took all his willpower not to scream. The box was roughly loaded into a transport. An hour later the lid was wrenched open. The cool night air and the smell of grass rushed in. Two pulled him out and stood him up. His legs were weak and cramping after being confined and tied up for so long.
“Which way?” a young woman, obviously bored, asked.
“Take the blindfold off and untie me, I can’t do it like this,” Stuff said, holding out his bound hands.
“This is a waste of time, stick him back in the box and let’s get this over with,” an older man said.
“Well?” the woman asked.
Stuff dropped his hands, “Behind the statue, there’s a manhole. There’s a ladder. We go down.”
Stuff could hear shuffling and then grunting. “It’s here,” the man said.
“Wow, a manhole to a drain. Spooky,” the girl said.
“I’ll go first, then him,” the man said.
Stuff listened as the man clunked his way down the ladder. The girl pushed him towards the manhole. He dropped to his knees, felt his way and slowly started climbing down.
“There’s nothing down here, old pumps, pipes,” the man called up.
“Hurry up,” the girl said.
He reached the bottom, and the man pulled him roughly to one side. The woman joined them.
The girl punched him in the shoulder, “There’s nothing down here, you crazy old fool.”
“Trinity, we have guests,” Stuff said.
His companions gasped. Stuff couldn’t see but he knew that a panel had slid to one side revealing a short corridor leading to a goods lift.
Someone grabbed him forcefully under the arm, “Who were you talking to?” It was the man.
“Where does that lift go?” the girl asked.
“The entrance to the base. I’ll answer all your questions when we’re inside. Word of warning. It’s heavily defended. Don’t draw any weapons.”
“Yeah sure,” the man said and pushed him into the lift.
It descended a couple of floors and opened up.
“What’s that?” the man asked.
Stuff knew they were in a brightly lit chamber with a single console. “Security, it’s keyed to my DNA and you’re being watched.”
“Who’s watching?”
“Trinity, automated defences. There’ll be a welcome party. Don’t panic and don’t draw your weapons. They won’t hurt you.”
“Oh yeah, really?”
Stuff felt the barrel of a gun being pressed against his face.
“Stop that. We came here to find a base, with supplies. No point threatening him if it’s true. Untie him, take off the blindfold,” the woman said.
Nothing happened for a moment then the man grunted and cut away the plastic ties and took off his hood and blindfold. He was dazzled by the bright lights of the security room and his hands were trembling and ached horribly. When he’d recovered a little and his hands were steady enough, he laid his palm on the console and said, “Stuff, with two guests.”
“Acknowledged. Guests, please holster all weapons, and ensure the safeties are engaged,” a bland voice announced.
The man, an old grizzled fellow, still had his weapon drawn.
“Put it away,” the woman said.
She was rangy but pretty, young for a Real, barely twenty. She couldn’t have FMS.
The old guy scanned the room one more time and then slowly applied the safety and slid his weapon back into a holster under his arm.
“Come,” Stuff said. He walked towards the blank wall behind the console, it slid back to reveal a passageway to a circular blast door. It swung open as they approached. Beyond, Trinity was waiting flanked by two fully armed Crushers gently throbbing with the vibration of their idling engines.
“Welcome back. I was concerned. You have been successful?” Trinity was dressed as the Ark Administrator was always attired, in a black turban, neat black suit, crisp white shirt and a bowtie of a luminous blue.
The girl staggered backwards, “Whoa, what the hell are those?”
“Crushers,” the grizzled old man said as his hand immediately went for his holster.
The great machines’ weapons shot up and began to spin and whine.
“Don’t,” the woman yelled.
Reluctantly, the old man moved his hand away from his weapon and let it fall to his side.
“Everything is as I said. Trinity is on our side now. The base is full of armaments like those,” Stuff said, nodding at the throbbing robots who were slowly lowering their fearsome and gradually quieting weapons.
“What now?” the woman asked.
“Trinity will give you a quick tour. Then go back, tell them what you’ve seen. If my terms are agreeable, you can move in immediately and a month later I’ll turn over the base and everything in it to your leaders.”
It took a number of visits for the Reals to be convinced. They came in small groups, looked over the base and left. Each time he could tell that they were slightly more senior, and asked more pertinent questions but Stuff didn’t have the time. On the fourth of these inspections, Stuff confronted the leader of the latest tour group. “That’s enough. No further access till I’ve met with your full council, here in the base. You have till tomorrow midnight, then I’m locking you out for good.”
The woman leading the latest group didn’t answer, she wasn’t in a position to agree to anything. From the way she was studying Stuff, he guessed she was trying to figure out if he was bluffing. They left. A few hours later the Reals' leader, Maggie, called him on a secure audio link that they’d set up. “What’s the rush Stuff? It’ll be years before we get back to Earth. Why do you want us in the base?”
Stuff groaned and put his head in his hands. Time was running out. A week had passed since the Ark had left Eden. Reference wouldn’t be quiet for much longer. “We’re not going to Earth. Every one over twenty-five will be dead in a month. The rest will wish they were. We have a small window to try and fight back. You have to be here; we have to work together. You’re no use to me out there. You have eight hours left.” Stuff hung up. He wasn’t interested in her reply.
About twenty Reals turned up a little later. Some were obviously guards. He’d never seen any of them before, except for Maggie. He recognised her from the broadcast straight away. If she’d come, then at least some of the Reals’ council had to have come with her. They tried to enter with their weapons hot. Stuff wasn’t backing down. “Safeties on, weapons stowed. No exceptions.”
“What are you afraid of Stuff?” Maggie asked.
“That you’ll all be killed. The Crushers are just for show.” Stuff was standing next to Trinity, and they were flanked by two of the monstrous machines with whining weapons. “There are laser turrets in the roof and more in the walls. They’re autonomous and will fire if they believe I am under threat.”
The guards immediately tensed and started scanning their surroundings. They spotted a few of the almost invisible laser pods buried in the concrete. They were all slowly rotating to keep the Reals in their sights.
Maggie’s face hardened, “You never mentioned turrets before.”
Stuff laughed, “Your people have visited three floors in this base, there are twenty-one. There’s lots I haven’t… mentioned.”
She put her hand on the barrel of the weapon the closest guard was holding and pressed it down. The others slowly lowered and then stowed their weapons. “Okay, we’re here now. What happens next?”
“Follow me,” Stuff said and walked away. After a little hesitation, they trailed after him. The Crushers pounded along at the rear.
When Jugger had left with Martha and Ben and he was alone, it struck him what an enormous task he’d taken on. Stuff had no idea where to start or what to do. Trinity had suggested establishing an operations centre in the base under Central Park. It had never occurred to him that it had been copied, along with the rest of Manhattan when Eva was fashioning the inside of the Ark. Like everything else in the Ark it was a perfect copy, right down to level twenty-one where it abruptly cut off. Only the upper half of the truncated floor had been re-created. It was foreshortened by the real Block floor separating the New New York Level from the one below. It still left plenty of space and facilities.
He led them to the conference room that was so familiar and held such powerful memories from his childhood. Stuff recalled the fierce arguments. Jugger and Mina were constantly fighting about whether to fight the Blocks or flee. It wasn’t easy back then and in the end they lost. It wasn’t going to be any easier now, and they were likely to lose again.
Stuff guessed that the two people that took seats at the long table beside Maggie were her council members. The rest of the Reals stayed standing and took up positions around the perimeter of the room. Maggie sat at one end of the table, he took the other end where his small team were already assembled.
“Introductions first,” Stuff said, turning to his right. “Ted, he’s the best computer scientist in the Ark.”
Ted was a twenty something, lanky, nervous egg-head, who rarely made eye contact and wasn’t comfortable around people. He spent most of his time with Trinity. Ted was staring fixedly at his tightly clasped hands resting on the table. He didn’t look up, when he mumbled a quiet, “Hello.”
“And Daisy you know. She’s been researching the mass movement of people and supplies, we have detailed plans and have assembled the necessary equipment.”
Daisy was beaming. It occurred to Stuff that this was probably the first time that she’d ever met anyone senior in the Reals, let alone their leaders. Daisy had proved to be as much of a rock in the base as she’d been in the school. Even though she’d only been down here a week, she’d quickly mastered the inventory systems and started working on the evacuation plans.
Stuff looked over to Trinity, standing at the back of the room. “You all know the ex-Ark Administrator. It knows everything there is to know about the Ark and the reality behind the Ark.”
“It, we most definitely don’t trust,” the older man in Maggie’s team said.
Maggie smiled, “Don, military head. Specialism is insurgency and asymmetric warfare.”
Don was a gaunt leather-faced guy with crewcut grey hair, watery eyes and a fat nose criss-crossed with spidery red veins. He was scowling at Trinity.
“Don, no problem. We’ll have to earn each other’s trust,” Stuff said.
“Bill, our propaganda specialist.” Maggie indicated a tubby, enthusiastically smiling middle-aged man with bright eyes and floppy blond hair.
“Great to meet you Stuff. Fantastic setup.”
“Thank you Bill. I’m going to need your help soon. I have a broadcast to make.”
Maggie scowled, “What broadcast? And, no offence Ted, we know Daisy, but can he be trusted?”
“Trinity smuggled Ted out of an FMS internment camp. So yes, he can be trusted.”
Don snorted, “If we trust Trinity.”
Maggie was still studying Ted, “He’s too young for FMS. What was he doing in a camp?”
“Parents had FMS. They’re rounding up whole families now. He got separated, somehow.”
Maggie didn’t look entirely happy but Stuff guessed she was satisfied, for now.
“And what about this damn broadcast?” Don growled.
Stuff didn’t want to argue, “Let’s discuss the broadcast later. There’s more urgent matters.”
“We’re listening,” Maggie said.
Stuff clenched and unclenched his fists under the table. It took a second to control his rising anger. Every time Maggie spoke he thought about Lilly and Ben and what that woman had done to them.
Maggie frowned, “Stuff? Something wrong?”
He told himself again that Ben and Lilly weren’t Maggie’s fault. The enemy was the Block. It was time to start educating the Reals on the reality of their situation. “Ted?”
Ted coughed and coughed again before looking up. His hands were shaking a little more than they usually did when he had to engage with anyone, let alone an audience as large as this. He slowly got to his feet and walked to the front of the room. Trinity joined him. They stood either side of a large screen. Ted started mumbling something.
Don waved his hand, “I can’t hear a damn thing. Can you speak up?”
Ted cleared his throat and started again, “The Ark was never run by Trinity. There’s a sophisticated computer system called Reference. It runs everything. It’s part of the fabric of the Ark.”
Don’s eyes narrowed, “I’ve never heard of this Reference.”
“Me neither, till Trinity showed it to me. It’s utterly amazing, far beyond our capabilities.”
Don screwed up his face, “What about the President, Ark Administration, isn’t that who we’re fighting? Who cares about a damn computer?”
Stuff interrupted, “Don, the President, Ark Administration, have no power and know less about what’s going on than you do. And you don’t know the truth of the FMS visions. Eva’s dead. Reference is executing her final commands.”
Don smirked, “So you say.”
“Indulge me Don, for a little longer.”
Don threw up his hands, “Fine. A little longer.”
“Ted, please.”
“The only reason we have any chance against Reference is because of Eva. She’s got ninety-nine percent of its capacity devoted to solving some incredibly complex calculations no one understands. So, it's slower, easier to hack. At the periphery. Even so, we have no chance of beating even one percent of Reference. None at all.”
Bill look confused, “What final commands?”
Don slapped his hand on the table, “Well thanks a bunch Ted, that’s really inspiring. And its total BS. With the arsenal you’ve got down here, my boys and girls can take over the Ark any time we choose, force the President to tell us the truth.”
“Don’s right, we take over the Ark. Get everyone out of interment. There’s kids in there, people are dying,” Maggie said.
Ted looked close to tears, he was panting. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. “It won’t make any difference. Who you free, who you save, who you kill. Not a blind bit of difference.”
Don jumped up, his face was red and his fists were clenched. “Maybe not to you Ted, but those people in internment would sure welcome getting out.”
Ted was trembling, he tried to speak but he couldn’t get the words out.
Stuff intervened, “Thanks Ted. It’s okay. Trinity, tell them.”
“Eva’s last orders to Reference were to remake the Yard in the Ark. You won’t know exactly what that is but you have the memories of Block life, the horrible nightmares. It will involve a mass cull of the over-twenty-fives and enslavement of the remaining population in horrific conditions. No one will be spared, Real or Ark loyalist. Reference will start slowly, beginning with Anton’s Observatory. When it disappears, you’ll know the purge has begun. From then on an Ark Level will disappear every day, maybe faster. We can’t stop it.”
Don banged his fist on the table. “This is ridiculous. Even suppose you’re telling the truth, you’re not offering us any hope, a way out, a chance of beating this, this… Reference.”
Stuff looked to Ted. Their eyes met. Ted nodded and stood up. “The Ark is a spaceship, a huge spaceship. We need Reference to fly it. Keep it working. But all we need is its autonomous capabilities not its higher intellect. If we can disconnect its… brains, we control the Ark. The attacks will end. We’ll win.”
Don rolled his eyes.
Maggie was shaking her head.
Bill looked puzzled, “Then do it Ted. What are we waiting for?”
Ted hunched his shoulders and sighed, “We have a plan. Trick Reference into diverting a hundred percent of its intellect to solving Eva’s equations. Then it’ll be easy to hack.”
Bill raised an eyebrow, “Yes, and?”
“We haven’t figured out how… yet. But it’s possible, we’re close. Very close. There’ll be a window when Reference starts building the Yard. It’ll be vulnerable. We need some time.”
Bill chewed at his lip, “It’s all theory, isn’t it? You don’t really know.”
Ted lowered his gaze and didn’t answer. He stumbled back to his seat and sat down without looking at anyone.
Stuff worried that they were losing Don and Bill. Maggie’s doubts were obvious, but she was still listening. “Yes, it’s a theory, and it’s our best hope. We need to slow Reference down, distract it. Buy Ted and Trinity the time they need. Daisy?”
Daisy stood up. “I didn’t believe some of this at first. It’s all true. Trinity can create portals on each Level, it calls them Block doors. They instantly transport people from one Level to another.”
Don threw his hands up, “Now we’ve got magic doors. You people are out of your minds.”
