Run Ethan Run
Joseph Veramu
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 JosephVeramu
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
The cover design images are attributed to twobee /FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Dna Image: dream designs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Chapter 1: The Accident
It was late in the evening and twilight hung over this part of the Northern hemisphere like a hovering curtain ready to envelope the sky with darkness. Ethan walked out of the sprawling genome mapping facility into the car park. He worked in the Bioinformatics Section.
He had been working late with his team of scientists and technicians on disease models on cloned animals. This was one of many projects he was supervising. It was progressing well but the team was finding it very tedious to deal with the corporate execs who constantly hounded them, wanting more outputs on technical data rather than looking at integrating conceptual factors. But this was the general complaint of most teams at GenGlobal.
With the recent economic recession, their corporate bigwigs were jittery. The bottom line was the most important consideration. There were huge amounts of revenue that needed to be generated, they kept pushing. “We are here to provide high quality DNA.” This was a coded statement to mean that so long as customers paid for it, anything could be cloned.
Ethan’s team had fought back and got some concessions.
“We can’t just clone anything for the sake of money. We shouldn’t allow this glorified number crunchers to push their weight around us,” Ethan had said and they had all agreed.
Ethan also thought about Emily. He wished he could meet her more often. Although they both worked at GenGlobal in the same section, they were often in different labs. The Corporation was extremely huge with a whole army of staff working around the clock. He had tried to get her to understand their predicament. The urgency to meet deadlines meant that sometimes they worked very late. She had understood the situation. These long hours in different labs had separated them for quite long spells. But Ethan was fond of Emily and he knew that she still loved him.
She loved to draw in her spare time. Her artworks were full of intelligent images that were like windows to the mind. That was how Ethan had fallen in love with her. Her artworks created a sublime feeling. It made him see her inner beauty. They just needed to find the time to meet more often and develop their relationship. He had also been considering taking time off from work to perhaps trek through Asia or Africa or even sail around the South Pacific. Emily would love that. They were young and could come back to full fledged careers later.
Ethan came to the parking lot and was about to get into his S40 when he looked up into the sky and saw the vague point between light and darkness. It triggered something in his mind about how temporary things were in his world. People went through the yuppie race dictated by each passing day and night of conflicting emotions. There were adrenaline highs followed by numbing lethargy. There was always the constant struggle to survive in the workplace and come out on top.
Then abruptly one realized one was getting old, tired, stressed out and ready to move on while the endless cycle continued. These thoughts triggered something in his sub conscience. This was the affirming notion that while he was still at his peak, he should develop his potential in a way that enriched his personal life. This meant that he not act like an automaton living and breathing GenGlobal’s ethos of making money no matter the personal costs. He would have to resist its tentacles and reclaim his identity.
Impulsively, he decided to take a leisurely walk around the block. He needed to unwind. Besides, there was no need rushing to his apartment to a microwave dinner. Emily was too busy. Today wasn’t the day for hanging out with his workmates. If after the walk he still felt lethargic, he might go to the gym for a workout and perhaps read something on his Kindle if he still had the energy.
This leisurely walk was unusual for him but before he could mull over it, he was walking. It was as if his body and his mind were working independently of each other. ‘But that’s crazy,’ he thought as he dismissed the idea immediately. ‘Anyway, since I’ve started walking I might as well go to Beulah’s Nut House for a latte.’
The streetlights would have come up by the time he finished his coffee. But even this idea seemed to be planted in his mind as if something was moving him in that direction. ‘Am I just overworked today? I seem to be doing things contrary to what I normally do and then justifying myself as if I’m not sure whether it was my decision or whether it was planted there.’ He tried to dismiss these strange mundane thoughts.
The streets were quite empty at this time, as most workers had left.
He smiled wryly at a large mural with the slogan, ‘Genes Create the Future’ hung by a building that was frequented by corporate staff for coffee breaks and pool breakouts. The mural also had the face of an attractive young woman looking expectantly into the horizon together with the corporation’s logo and name ‘GenGlobal’ (GG). The woman resembled Emily in a number of ways. He could have sworn that she had Emily’s eyes. The story making the rounds in GG offices was that she was a clone; one of those very new designs just hot off the genome creation labs. Clients could design them on their pc’s and order them up either as babies or fully grown women right up to the exact specifications. The customer could, if s/he wished, provide all her / his emotional and physical details so that the clone could be compatible in every way possible! Where s/he was lacking in virility, GG could provide enhanced organs for a stratospheric fee. Ethan smiled wryly. One could never be sure how to interpret these stories. GG was quite capable of cloning anything so one could never dismiss these stories outright.
As Ethan walked, he had the strange sensation that he was being watched. ‘I’m really acting quite strangely today,’ he thought. ‘First I take this walk and then I get this very odd feeling that something or someone is making me walk.’
He looked again at the mural and then shook his head in shock.
He really was acting very oddly. ‘This can’t be happening.’ He tried to dismiss the sensation.
But no, the feeling came back again very strongly.
The attractive face in the mural was no longer looking at the horizon.
It/She was following his movements.
He looked again.
It/She was definitely looking at him and it certainly wasn’t one of those electronic ads that changed every few seconds.
He relaxed. This was a well known trick of the eyes.
The object of your gaze appears to stare at you because you have transfixed your attention on it. “Silly me,” he thought.
He kept walking. But when he looked again at the mural, the young woman was walking out of it leaving an empty frame.
She was walking towards him!
‘This is some kind of a mind trick. It defies logic.’
He could feel his heart pounding.
The thumping sound annoyed him.
He looked back again and saw that the woman had initially made some tentative steps and then had started walking briskly then broke into a run as if what she had to say was of dire importance. The strangest thing was that she was moving on air. She was gesturing and was trying to say something to him.
Instinctively without thinking things through, he ran. He looked back again and saw that there was urgency in her movements. She looked very desperate but in his very tense state, he did not have the presence of mind to hear her out.
He kept on running not conscious of where he was heading.
He wasn’t frightened.
It was the loud thumping sound of his heart beating very fast that triggered his run, as if he was trying to control it.
He looked back again and saw that the woman was shouting out something to him. It sounded like “You’ve got to help me. Please.”
Clearly this woman or image or whatever it was needed his urgent help.
He started walking back to her.
It was then that he saw GG’s security squad in black suits and dark glasses following closely after her with what looked like electric cattle prods.
As he got closer and she made to speak to him, an invisible force seemed to silence her. The goons pointed their energy prods at her and she was sucked back to them like a magnet. There was a look of terror and pain in her eyes as they took hold of her. He was about to challenge them when they pointed their prods at him and the energy force emanating from them sent him sprawling onto the kerb. He tried to get up but this dark force sent him reeling again with a power that seemed to come from fast moving rotor blasts. Every time he tried to get up, the rotor blasts sent him into a spin sprawling helplessly. They were trying to maim him. With great effort he ran, trying to move away as fast as he could.
He could see the lady driver in the White SUV and breathed a sigh of relief. But as he locked eyes with her, he knew instantly that she was part of the security team. She was trying to run him down and silence him forever. There was a look of contempt in her cadaverous eyes.
Quickly he dived away from the speeding vehicle.
Too late.
In the instant before he went blank, he realized that they had planned all this.
They had planted the idea of his taking a leisurely walk.
They had planned to kill him as naturally as possible in a hit and run accident.
But why?
He was the most harmless person in GG yet he was marked for death.
This burning question was engraved in his mind before he went blank. Why were they after him?
Chapter 2: GenGlobal (GG)
GenGlobal’s headquarters is in Palo Alto, California and is one of the largest genome mapping facility in the world. The Corporation has facilities’ in Germany, Russia, Iceland and China. It is a global conglomerate that transcends both geographical and political boundaries. Amongst other innovations, it has developed the KlSeq 2045, a highly complex and very advanced genome sequencing machine. 2000 such super machines in the Palo Alto complex alone produce highly accurate DNA sequencing data. GG’s global staff of computer scientists and technicians number over 50,000. Perhaps the term ‘machines’ might be inappropriate given that these are made up of racks upon racks containing computers piled on top of each other like boxes of tuna. They are all tightly integrated to build, produce and design anything and everything required by humankind. The machines cover spaces the sizes of jumbo jets assemblage areas.
The Corporation’s projects are very wide and all encompassing. The average age of workers is 24, with IQs over 170 and excellent problem solving skills.
GG’s main clients are governments although they provide services to all consumers who are able to pay their stratospheric bills.
For example, if a state wants to get rid of malaria or an infectious disease, GG develops GM medicines that work only in the particular area that has been paid for (usually prior to national elections to supplement vote rigging). Rather like GM seeds, these medicines lose their potency if used in other non paying areas. (GG’s media machinery goes into full throttle arguing that it is only able to sequence certain strains and regrettably their medicines are ineffective in other areas.) But of course, these medicines mysteriously regain potency once payments are made in non paying areas.
Why can’t GG just provide a cure for malaria to the whole third world, a reporter once asked naively? There was a benign smile on the kindly face of the CEO that concealed the real answer. Providing a cure for billions of people who cannot pay for it is bad for business and can result in GG’s stocks taking a tumble. More poverty-stricken people living longer lives would also be taxing on the environment, since they tend to produce more offspring. It is better for the masses to continue to be afflicted with malaria and all other infectious diseases to enable them to expire early and save the world a whole lot of hassles. But of course the CEO did not say that.
‘GG’s technology is not advanced enough to be able to provide a cure at this present time,’ the CEO lied trying to look sincere. ‘We feel for all these people and the sufferings they go through and we hope a cure will be available in the very near future,’ he said with a look of what was supposed to be genuine concern, although his hard cold eyes remained unsmiling like granite. GG had also secretly developed viruses that could wipe out slums and poverty stricken areas in authoritarian states.
These had been commissioned by dictators who wanted to boost national economic growth rates through population control.
Ethan usually changed channels whenever the CEO or other GG spin doctors came on CNN. He might as well read a novel on his Kindle rather than suffer through this fiction.
An oil spill in a pristine area in a populous state? Oils execs do not have to wring their hands nervously. GG can develop industrially based microbes to neutralize the spillage almost immediately before it gets on the evening news.
GG also has a huge clientele amongst dictators converting the cells from their pampered bodies into iPS. Skin cells are taken to develop muscle cells with a whole raft of chemicals to repair their hearts or to give their weak sex organs a makeover. Dictators usually want their immense granite statues on their city squares to match reality. It gives them a boost to see themselves on TV with bulging crotches matching their statues. It intimidates the public to see these gigantic granite crotches posturing contemptuously over them.
GG provides all sorts of services to all sort of clientele. The only criterion is that the clients should have enormous amounts of money to pay for it. It is even developing a virginal birth procedure for a religious cult group wishing to produce a new messiah. There have been a number of orders that are being re-negotiated, according to the gossip emanating from the GG Acc Section. A music superstar, Princess Gogo, wanted a centaur but was advised to get an enhanced organ transplant herself given that the centaur would be used for sexual purposes. She would need an extra thick vulva for the kinds of strenuous activities she was envisaging and GG did not want to get bogged down in litigation. A gay billionaire wanted a couple of Adonis lookalikes with white upper bodies and black lower bodies. GG argued that it was morally objectionable. The real reason was GG’s worry that these creations might patent their bodies to the detriment of GG.
GG lived and breathed money in its mission and vision.
It was a corporation that was rotting at the core and needed to be saved.
It was just waiting for a redeemer.
Chapter 3: Flashes
Fortunately for Ethan, his injuries were not serious. His colleagues visited him and were relieved when they found that he would be released in a few days. They said that they’d hold the fort and insisted that he rest and get well.
The GG legal people and PR dropped by. They made a show of being concerned for his health. He probably was overworked and absentmindedly crossed the road without realizing that a vehicle was bearing down on him.
Could he recall what happened and what he actually saw?
Was there anything out of the ordinary about the vehicle that struck him down?
Were there any other things that he wanted to tell them?
His responses would be very useful in Police investigations, they said. Although these questions were asked casually, they were always tense as they waited for his responses. They were on to something. There clearly had been a breach in their security system resulting in the woman desperately trying to make contact with him. Had he been clear minded at that time and not been so nervous, he would have heard everything.
One young woman, from Admin called Karabos (‘Please call me Kara’), was very persistent in a polite but nagging way. She looked rather like a clone herself with her perfectly chiseled face and body. She had greenish blue eyes. She tried to look friendly but like cold inanimate precious stones, her eyes had a hard edge to them that gave her a machine like demeanor. She looked like one of those villainous women on pc games that no matter how hard you put them down, they always seemed to emerge ready for the next battle.
“Are you sure you didn’t see anything unusual? Anything suspicious?” she persisted yet again as she looked closely at him.
There was something about the medication that he was taking that was blocking certain memories of the incident.
He decided to stop taking them.
Ethan knew that if he was truthful, he would be in great danger as they tried to silence him in the most natural way possible. But he kept coming back to the scene of the young woman trying to reach out to him for help. He had been a coward running away and only turning when it was too late to do anything. He couldn’t get the look of pain and terror from her eyes out of his conscience.
He had let her down.
There was only one thing to do to redeem himself.
He had to be honest and tell the truth to Karabos even though it would mean that his life would be cut short.
“There was a woman from the mural trying to get in touch with me.”
“What did she say to you?”
“I couldn’t hear what she was saying. At the last minute she got sucked back into the system.”
“Are you sure you didn’t hear a word?” she asked yet again. Karabos was after clues about what the woman may have said before she was caught.
From her expression, Ethan sensed that she did not believe him. She smiled at him but it was as if she was looking at a corpse. Her smile appeared to be some kind of a secret joke; that she knew his life was expiring soon. She did not want to demean herself by disposing of him. The GG security people would do that with great ease.
She walked away and at the door she looked back at him. It was then that the jigsaw puzzle of the incident fitted together.
Karabos was the woman who had tried to run him down!
It was only through sheer luck that he had survived, but for how long?
+++
Emily texted and rang. She was out of town and missed him. Ethan found this very odd. Her texts sounded strange as if someone had written them for her. And her phone calls were stranger still. While it sounded like her, it was as if someone was trying to impersonate her. It was most unusual for her to volunteer to be away on projects for this long.
His last nagging thought before he was hit was that the woman who was seeking help acted like Emily. It was as if Emily was in grave danger and had tried to communicate with him through telepathy.
Karabos and her goons were aware that he would be thinking about her. They may have cooked up these text messages and phone calls that sounded like Emily so he could reveal details of the incident. It was as if they had recorded her voice and played around with complex tech to make it sound as if she was talking to him. It was Emily and it wasn’t.
He felt he needed to get well first before he could figure out what was happening.
+++
He also had an unusual dream and throughout it had the uncanny feeling that it had been planted in his mind. He had gone with Emily to watch an exhibition of Cloaca where large containers that were computer controlled were filled with food which the computer ate. The containers acted like a human stomach. 27 hours later it excreted. The very large number of people at the exhibition had come mainly to see the unique excretion and smells. As they walked through it, Ethan noticed that Emily’s face had changed and she looked rather like the young woman in the mural. This happened so subtly. She acted like Emily in all other ways except the transformation of her face. She was trying to say something to him. He had to remain very still to read her mouth that spoke without sound.
Was she saying that super computers could consume food and break it down efficiently into renewable energy?
No, she was making a very shocking statement.
“Ethan you are in very grave danger. They’re coming after you.”
“Who?”
“The goons from GG. They know that I tried to communicate with you. I’m terribly sorry for causing you all this trouble.”
“It’s okay. I like a bit of adventure,” he said trying to put her at ease with some light humor.
“They’re extremely powerful and there’s nothing you can do to save your life, unless...”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you make contact with Sofia. Either you try to contact her or you wait for her to contact you. She’ll speak to you not in a dream like we are doing now. Don’t be nervous when she calls. Every second literally counts and if you take longer to process her words, your end will come much sooner.”
“How will she do this?”
“Think of a cell phone embedded in your mind that she can call.”
“What’s your name?”
“Bella.”
“Are you in danger?”
“Yes, I need your help!”
“But how can I possibly help you? Of all people you chose me.”
“You have certain knowledge that can open doors; doors that can never be opened. In due time, it will be shown to you and you’ll know what to do.”
“I’m glad you can still talk to me from there.”
“Sofia is our link.”
There was an abrupt click as if someone had cut off the communication line.
+++
He was released after a week.
However, he noticed that he often saw flashes of color. This happened whenever he thought about the GG slogan, ‘Genes create the future’ or the image of the woman in the mural looking into the horizon or the stabbing pain of the vehicle’s impact. He wondered whether these flashes were due to the drugs that had been given to him in intensive care. It should have worn off by now. He had however been careful not to let anyone know about these extra sensory perceptions.
The GG machinery had a legendary reputation for terminating employees they saw as liabilities. They simply paid for the remainder of one’s contract and sent one off on one’s merry way. Accidents often came later. They monitored everyone. They always said that the workers were very important. But this was all hogwash. The Corporation was important and the workers could blow themselves up if they wanted.
He waited for Karabos and her goons to get rid of him.
Nothing happened.
He began to laugh inwardly.
He had over reacted.
This was the 21st century in America and no corporation could just come and kill him.
The flashes of colored light kept coming.
He assumed that they would disappear after a week.
But the flashes continued. It bombarded his mind and intensified with every passing day.
He also noticed that he was reacting to the large art reproductions that stood demurely in the huge foyer of the GG complex. (It was the standing joke at GG that a corporation with a turnover of half a trillion dollars could only afford cheap reproductions to bring life to its bland walls.)
Ethan found his own reactions very strange.
Because he had been so familiar with the art works, he had hardly taken notice of them. Staff and visitors tolerated them without looking at them. This was a polite form of contempt.
He noticed that whenever he shot them a cursory unconscious glance as he walked in or out of the building, the artworks seemed to reach out to him. He had the overwhelming feeling that he was being watched from within them. They seemed to beckon to him with some urgency.
‘I’m not going crazy. I’m just overworked,’ he thought as he looked directly into the Patrick Hughes artwork, which was the one closer to him. ‘I’ll prove it.’
Slowly he walked towards the painting. As he did so, the artwork lost its 3D perception and he no longer saw the illusion that he had initially seen from the distance.
Within the Hughes artwork, the Henry Moore sculpture was closer to him and he had the sensation that he could almost walk into it. This was the perception that the artwork provided a virtual entry. But as he got closer, he realized that it was not as close as the Picasso and the Van Gogh portraits within the artwork.
‘I’m definitely imagining things. I’ve got to get a hold of myself. These are just mind tricks that I should be intelligent enough to recognize.’
He began to chuckle.
Was Karabos a figment of his imagination?
She was not following her around. There was no further trace of her.
But he was absolutely mistaken.
His nightmare was just about to begin.
Chapter 4: Art Entry
He had finished work late one evening having volunteered to go over sequencing data on cases of diseases that was an extension to the models of cloned animals. He felt he owed his team a little extra work for holding the fort during his recuperation.
He walked through the foyer and the flashes of color bombarded him again.
It was a moment of déjàvu. He saw himself walking on the street as the young woman from the mural followed him.
This time he was very calm, a quiet rage sustaining him not to fall into the same trap he had committed before the accident where he had run impulsively.
He heard the voice speaking and restrained himself with some difficulty from touching his ears to see if there was a micro speaker or some such device attached to them.
It came again.
Bella had warned him to expect this communication so he psyched himself not to be too tense. When it did come, he did not react unnaturally knowing the he was being very closely monitored. Any tell tale signs of panic or that he was communicating with some unseen source could be fatal for all concerned.
“Don’t make any sudden moves. Your life depends on it. Walk slowly and confidently towards the Patrick Hughes artwork. You’re being watched. Very casually look up to the top of the elevator at the two goons in dark glasses. Give a smile of acknowledgement. Now! Keep walking casually to the Hughes art work.”
“Can I ask questions?”
“Wait until you get into the shadows to your left, the passage leading to the Henry Moore sculptor.”
“You’re asking me to walk into the art work!”
“Yes. These are all illusive arts and not static canvasses. They are magnetic and you can walk into them like walking onto a stage once their matrices are activated.”
“And you’ve activated them?”
“They will shortly be. A second before you walk through it.”
Ethan gasped. He always sensed that there was something unusual about GG strategically placing these cheap reproductions in the foyer and now he knew.
“Is this some kind of a virtual thing? Like in Inception?”
“You mean where you’re Cobb and you have a crush on Ellen?”
“No I didn’t mean that?” he said rather too sharply.
“I know.”
“Are you a clone?”
“I’ll explain once I get to know you better.” A slight pause. “Keep walking very casually to the artwork. They are coming down the elevator. This may not be easy for you. You are now inside the artwork’s matrix. Walk straight into the Hughes art work. That’s right. Don’t even think about it. Keep to the left of it and walk towards the Henry Moore sculpture but keep to the shadows. You’re now inside the artwork. Stop by the middle drawing and look at it without moving. They’ll think you’re part of it. I hope!”
“What are you going to do?”
“I am playing with the artwork’s perspectives so that their gaze is concentrated towards the right of the artwork. Hold your breath. They’re coming closer.” A short pause. “They’ve moved on.”
“Am I in a virtual world?”
“No you’re in the real world.”
“Okay but am I in some kind of a dream.”
“You’re awake and conscious. You’re in a lucid dream state which means that you’re conscious that you’re dreaming and you’re in control of all that you do.”
“Why do you say that I’m in control?”
“Because you can always refuse to do what I tell you.”
“How come I’ve never seen those 2 security people before?”
“Because they have always remained outside of your conscious vision. They have always been there together with all those other monitors you don’t see but can only sense.” A pause. “You can come out now and walk briskly to the john. Those 2 goons will be expecting you to come out of there anyway.”
“I know this may sound crazy but will you be following me there?”
“There’s no need to be self conscious. Go in, admire your face, flush and come out slowly.”
“So how come we never knew about you?”
“I understand that the Corporation is usually very secretive about these things.”
“What’s happening? Why did that young woman from the mural try to approach me? Why did I have that accident?”
“Ethan, you’re special.”
“Am I a clone? Was I produced here? Is there something I have that these people want? How can I be a clone? I have brothers and sisters and parents,” he said unnecessarily.
“Don’t we all have families and love them? Relax Ethan. It’s sometimes hard to explain these complex algorithms where some like you are chosen.”
“And where’s Emily? Something strange is happening. I get text messages and phone calls that sound like her but isn’t her. Is she in danger?”
“She’s fine. That’s all I can tell you now.”
“Why am I going through this?” Ethan persisted.
“You have been chosen.”
“Why? I just want to be like others.”
“You’re not like others Ethan.”
“Why did they try to kill me?”
“You’re a dreamer Ethan.”
“Is that a clue?”
“Yes Ethan.”
“Look I’m totally confused with all these goons trying to get rid of me.”
“I know Ethan. But you’ve survived these threats.”
“So far I have.”
“If you really want to know what’s happening, take a pic of the Fra Carnevale artwork.”
“The Birth? Then what?”
“You sleep like a baby tonight.”
“This is a joke, right?”
She ignored him. “Load the artwork into your LT and I’ll catch up with you. Please don’t phone your office that you’ll be late. GG doesn’t mind its staff getting late now and then.”
Chapter 5: The Lair
Throughout the night, he had thought only of the task he would do in the morning. He thought at great length about what he would discuss with Sofia! He was very curious to find out more about where he fitted into her plans.
He sensed that the accident and all that was happening to him was part of some great design. Its purpose was the missing link that drove his curiosity.
As he went to sleep, his dreams were deeply troubling ones.
Sofia had been light-hearted and had done her best to put him at ease with her dry humor and calm demeanor.
It reminded him of a story he had read somewhere. That people awaiting execution usually received unusual kindness from their jailers just before they were hanged, or shot or electrocuted. The last act of gentleness was supposed to put them at ease before they expired. He had this uncanny feeling in his dreams that he was on an extremely dangerous errand. He sensed that he was shortly to embark on a mission that straddled both the real and virtual worlds. It was terrifying because he would have to deal with real world pain and death. He had been introduced to that through the accident but there were worse ones coming up. He had the eerie perception that super-intelligent machines had made a thorough search and settled on him. He had no idea of what was expected of him but realized that it had to do with him stepping in from the cold and rectifying whatever problems existed or at least die trying.
He tossed and turned in his dreams.
He found himself in a neon lit cavernous space that looked at first like a very large warehouse or assembly plant and then he realized that this space was within the GG complex. Strange that he had not seen this facility of neon lit endless rows of machines. There was something unusual. The machines were bathed in a kind of special glow as if to protect them from intruders. The work spaces were dimly lit. The machines hummed as if they were all alive and communicating with each other.
He remembered that one evening while feeling bored he had played around with some calculations seeing how he could channel power from supercomputers into a single energy source. He had simulated zipping power at 10,000 quadrillions per second. He had played around with writing software that could combine a number of supercomputers. He had settled on 100 billion micro processors to get things moving efficiently. He had done some calculations on developing more complex algorithms. He had done all this on his LT not realizing that everything at GG was monitored. Unknown to him, he had stumbled on an ultra secret project. Thankfully he had not written everything down. The exascale software to make these supercomputers do the impossible was still in his mind. That had saved him from being silenced. His thesis was that it was useless having so much power without being able to channel it into one major force. Ethan had discovered that knowledge. They were prepared to kill to stop him from publicizing it or applying it.
They had toyed with the idea of deep sleep chemical therapy to get him to reveal his data or plain old fashioned torture. Word had got around at super fast speed that he had software that could control supercomputers and Bella had made her move using Sofia’s network to get to him. Fast behind them were the shadowy Karabos and her goons.
He casually read the stickers on the sides of the machines closest to him KlCr2045. He was surprised at this revelation. GG not only carried out genome mapping but from this label it appeared that they now created species. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised given GG’s immense resources and expertise. His curiosity got the better of him and he rushed to punch in a few codes and then gasped.
The software that he had developed to harness the supercomputers to work efficiently on various applications was not a dream but was actually operational. There were missing applications which he had that was not in this program. That rattled him.
“You are special Ethan. Without realizing it, you developed the very complex algorithms to develop the software for these humming birds.” Sofia spoke gently, almost in awe.
“But it was just simulation. I was just playing around with numbers.”
“You’re a genius Ethan. But you attracted extremely powerful enemies the moment you noted down some of your calculations on your LT. They immediately wanted the rest of it.” The voice chuckled.
“I’m glad you can laugh over this.”
“It’s a private joke, sorry. Machines think they are so superior and you threw a spanner in the works by coming up with what you did. And all the time we thought we knew everything!”
“Look I don’t mean to be rude but there has been some kind of mistake. I was bored and dreamt things up. I came up with those large calculations.”
“All things begin with dreams. You dreamt up a whole new world. I’d like to be your friend Ethan,”
“Who are you?”
“Sofia, but you already know that. I love dreamers. We’ll get along well.”
Ethan heard that the lab had successfully integrated biological components with electronic circuits. They had found a way to merge human cells into digital silicon. They had configured the ones and zeros into infinite combinations and merged these with synthetic protein molecules in artificial cells built around the silicons that were made of a kind of tissue.
He sensed that he was invisible to the Machine’s electronic eye.
It was suddenly making urgent humming sounds aware of his presence. He quickly rushed back to the dark recesses where he had emerged from. He realized that this entrance was like a magnetic window that concealed him.
He gasped when he saw what looked like robots moving and supervising these machines. He had barely missed one by seconds. This one had rushed forward with great urgency and he had concealed himself just in time. He was astounded when he saw the robot communicate briefly with the machine that he had used and immediately sounded the alarm of a breach in security. This was a huge revelation; that the machines were alive and were dynamically communicating with each other.
He knew that GG was the market leader in artificial general intelligences (AIs) and had developed them to handle programs with very highly complex and very advanced algorithms but the merged silicons and cells were a huge revelation.
The robots were looking around sensing that someone was in their space but unable to pinpoint the exact location. Although they appeared very calm and clinical, there was subtle apprehension in their movements given that this appeared to be the first breach of this seemingly impregnable lab.
He could almost read their minds.
This was an inside job.
One of their AIs had enabled this breach of their ultra secret lab.
From the back of the room, he saw someone walk up to the front.
The robot looked directly at him.
Then before his eyes, the robot changed form. It took his breath away to find that he took on the form of the CEO with the blond hair, blue eyes, and muscular build. The CEO was staring at him through eyes that were as emotionless as granite. Ethan felt cold. Its emotions were full of malevolence. This monstrosity could kill without feeling any guilt. It had no conscience.
Why had he said that?
Because this Robot/CEO seemed to have consciousness like a human being. The cold eyes however reflected a heartless human to its very core ready to kill and destroy to get what it wanted.
He kept staring at the CEO in awe and realized that for some reason it/he was not able to see him yet. For a fleeting moment, it seemed to Ethan that the CEO was wary of him. He represented an intruder that the CEO had not fully grasped mainly because Ethan was out of his radar. The CEO also seemed very concerned with the breach from within its system. Ethan could sense this from the way the cold granite eyes swept the cavernous space and eyed the machines with deathly contempt. It could understand humans and their weaknesses but for a superior AI, a member of a higher species, to display human traits seemed unacceptable to it. It alerted the CEO to rivals from within.
The cold granite eye came back to Ethan willing him to turn into stone and wither. It had a machine like resoluteness that transmitted the message that it wanted to find him and remove him and the traitor, from the face of the Earth, whatever the cost.
Something else disturbed Ethan. This machine had a feminine dimension because from the shadows behind the CEO, he saw Karabos. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred for him. She sensed that he was the ‘culprit’ and regretted that she had not disposed of him in the hospital. Ethan saw from her murderous gaze that there would be no second chance,
He also had another uncanny feeling.
He was not in a dream!
Although his virtual self had breached this lab, this place actually existed.
The machines and the robots existed in the real world.
They were coming after him.
And then he had the overwhelming feeling that Emily was in danger.
He missed her and wished she was by his side.
Chapter 6: Sofia
Ethan had a hearty breakfast and then loaded Fra Carnevale’s artwork onto his LT.
“I feel strange doing this, Sofia.”
“Just relax and trust me.”
He smiled to himself as her face and voice triggered flashes of color in his mind.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I have the strange feeling that you know why I’m smiling. But I’ll say it anyway. You remind me of Emily.” There was a pregnant pause.
“You’ve been thinking about her.” There was an awkward pause. “You must trust me on this one. I have hidden Emily so that they do not harm her.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because I am requesting it. To be honest I cannot force you. I can bring her out of animation but it can complicate things especially as they are coming after you, after us. You decide and let me know now.”
Ethan was silent. He believed her and felt that it was all for the best for Emily to be concealed for the time being.
Sofia was very intelligent and had maneuvered all this. He was in an agitated state. Throughout the night, he had been thinking about this moment. He sensed that Sofia had facilitated his entry into the heart of GG’s ultra secret lab. He had received background information on the AIs and GG’s work on genome creation. He had slept fitfully. Now in his wakeful conscious state, he stared at his LT. He could feel himself in a lucid dream state.
“I never thought of machines as acting like humans,” Ethan said. “They don’t seem to like you back there.”
“That is an understatement,” Sofia chuckled. “They felt I betrayed them by not turning you in.”
“A traitor to the machine species,” Ethan smiled. “That has an odd sound to it. Aren’t you afraid.”
“Machines have no concept of fear or death. They either exist or become obsolete until they find ways to become relevant.”
“I feel like some of those people who hear voices in their heads,” Ethan said as he looked at the Birth of the Virgin artwork on his monitor.
“I can guess the feeling. Like people who doubt themselves wondering if they can believe in the impossible,” Sofia probed.
“But you’d like me to believe?” he parried. “Like GG’s work with creating new organisms and creatures. And also the super intelligent creations.”
“You don’t have to believe if you don’t want to. You’d need proof anyway,” Sofia said dismissively but there was a light heartedness in her voice as if she was encouraging him.
He probed his mind for the ‘dream’ and realized that the main thing that stood out in the cavernous space with the machines and the robots was the contrast where the machines were bathed in light and the workspaces were dimly lit.
“It’s the lighting that makes this art work incongruous. The people closest to me have deeper shadows than those at the back,” he said as he looked closely at the Birth of the Virgin artwork by Carnevale.
“That’s deliberate.”
“It’s like a two edged sword,” Ethan said. “The artwork makes us believe the impossible through its play on lighting and shadows.”
“How would an intelligent machine know this?”
“I’m not sure. I guess it has to have intuition.”
“You catch on very fast.”
“Last night I was looking at the ‘Cr’ in KlCr2045,” he paused. “But the trigger symbol is 2045. Isn’t it?”
“Why do you say that?”
“It just seems odd to refer to that specific year. It’s like a code for something.”
She provided some background information. Computers have become increasingly fast and extremely sophisticated. So very fast in fact that the most complex ones with advanced algorithms have developed super intelligences. Computers can drive cars, fight in wars, are guests in TV talk or game shows, and are used as neural implants to cure diseases. There are also wearable computers.
“I don’t mean to be rude,” Ethan said as politely as possible, “But what has all this got to do with what I or we are facing? And what’s the story with Bella. Is she okay?”
“I thought we might have this chat as a way of introducing the challenging situation but obviously you want me to cut to the chase. Let me make a few more observations otherwise what I say will not make sense.”
Artificial intelligences can write books, write novels for Kindle, play the violin, paint great artworks and be sociable at parties.
“Wait a minute. Are you saying that these AIs have passed the Turing Test? That they are sentient?”
“You saw those robots. A large number of computer scientist and technician at GG are no longer human but very intelligent machines. They still look human because these machines develop body tissues so they can move and act like human beings.”
“But are they sentient?”
“Almost.”
“There’s a missing link.”
“But they integrate cells and silicon. What else can they be missing?” Ethan probed.
“A ghost.”
“A machine with a ghost? You’re teasing me.”
Sofia tried to make a noise that sounded like light laughter. “Believe in the impossible.”
“This is what this is all about, isn’t it?”
“You need an open mind. You were in the lab. You saw what was happening.” She added that once the point was reached where machines developed consciousness and advanced beyond humankind, there would be a point of singularity reached
“Thanks for the lecture. But what’s the story with Bella?”
“She is your project. You will have to handle her in due time,” she said cryptically.
“So where does GG fit into all this?”
“There are 2 groups in the upper echelon of GG. One sees the development of machines’ consciousness as an important goal. The other is more cautious and wants a measured approach. The conflict has recently heated up like a nuclear reactor especially with the development of the KlCr2045 and the recent disturbing happenings with the AIs. You saw part of that.”
“Where do you fit in?”
“I represent one of the interests in GG trying to take a measured approach, seeing AI as important but wanting to see other enduring values integrated.”
“Where does 2045 fit into this?”
“Everyone predicted 2045 as the year in which the singularity would take place. Not anymore. It is here with us. Now! 2045 has arrived earlier than expected. That is why we have been forced to deal with these troubling issues now rather than later.”
“What I don’t understand is how a super intelligent machine can threaten people. I thought that we wrote the software.”
“That’s true. But in developing the Machine’s consciousness, it reached its own point of singularity and the impossible happened.”
Ethan gasped.
“Yes, it has ephemeral chaos, a ghost.”
“It passed the Turing Test?”
“Not quite, it only has a dark ghost.”
Sofia said that in developing consciousness, the machine adopted the notion of evil. Get rid of unproductive workers or masses of poverty-stricken people with infectious diseases and so on. “It wants to accelerate the development of a new species so it can get on with the next big thing, space explorations.”
“Where do I fit in the jigsaw?”
“You’re that rare scientific breed, Ethan. A dreamer who sees the future and that rattles some machines.”
Ethan breathed in deeply. “What you’re implying is that the CEO wants to do a total reboot of our world?”
“It wants to start from scratch all over again, rebuilding civilization.”
“So basically, my or our job is to stop this Machine, the CEO?”
“You put it so succinctly. Not so much to stop it but to inject the seed of an idea into its system; like a positive virus that will grow and change its perceptions.”
“In other words, to put in a good ghost?”
“You continue to impress me Ethan.”
There was a long pause. “What if I don’t want to go through with this?” Ethan asked.
“That’s fine. The Group will find other means.”
“And what about you?”
“They are resourceful. They will find ways of putting me to effective use,” Sofia said cryptically.
“It looks like they have thought of everything.”
“I know. There have been many attempts that have failed before our numbers came up. They’ll keep trying, I guess.”
“Before I exit, can you tell me why the artwork fits into all this?”
“For all its intelligence, AIs have still not fully mastered the appreciation of art and its links to the human psyche. It is seen as a way of integrating intuition into its consciousness.”
He could almost sense that Emily was talking. She was always talking about humanizing science and using art as a window to developing our perceptions
“To make it more human?”
“Yes.”
There was a sharp piercing sound and static noises as someone or something tried to listen in or block their communication.
“What if I want to continue?”
“Then I’ll see you by Monet’s Water Lilies.”
The piercing sounds continued and then there was an eerie silence as the intruder had succeeded in cutting them off.
He had a premonition of danger knowing that Karabos and her goons were getting closer. They were out to get him but not before squeezing out all the information they could get.
He was just thankful that Emily was out of harm’s way.
Chapter 7: Super Intelligence
“You have a devious mind, Sofia,” Ethan smiled as he looked at Monet’s Water Lillies. The artwork of flowers in bluish splotches appealed to his emotions. It was the kind of artwork that the viewer interpreted based on one’s personal perception. If one was depressed, this artwork reinforced it. Likewise if one was happy. It depended on one’s mood as the artwork only reacted to one’s emotions and enlarged it. Ethan had to draw on pleasant memories to interpret the fuzzy shapes and blotches of color. It emanated positive vibes for him. He suspected that an AI looking at it could be full of contempt for humans seeing their emotionalism as a weakness. He suspected that this was why Sofia had chosen it.
“Why are you smiling Ethan?”
“I’ve a funny feeling you know why I’m smiling,” Ethan said. “This drawing is my personal favorite. For once I am able to let go and forget who I am. I let it seep into my mind and I think of love.”
“I think I can fall in love too,” Sofia was teasing him.
“I think I am going to like you.”
“I know. You love Emily very much. Don’t deny it. I remind you of her.”
Ethan shrugged.
“If we come out of this alive we might end up together on a beach somewhere in the South Pacific,” Sofia said. “Emily would have said that.”
“And a family and babies,” Ethan added though he was surprised he said this aloud. The words had come out subconsciously.
“How do you know so much about my life and Emily?”
“I searched,” Sofia said weakly.
“You really want a family?” There was sadness in her voice.
“Yes,” he tried to be upbeat. “I mean, every time I see you I have these flashes of color suddenly all over my head. And you can see everything I do. How can I not think about love?” He seemed to say this sincerely without a hint of sarcasm.
“Ethan, I really admire you. Honest. So I’m going to offer it to you again. You can still back out now. You have a 3 minutes time frame.”
“Why are you saying this?”
“There’s a 99.9% chance that you will not come out of this alive. No beach walks in the South Pacific. No babies or family. I’m serious.”
“Are you staying?”
“I’m definitely staying. I have no choice. But you have a choice. You can opt out and I’m sure that they will find someone else in good time.”
“No use opting out and missing the adventure of a life time,” he said recklessly.
“The Machine, I mean the CEO, is going to come down the elevator very shortly. He needs to see you staring intently at Monet’s artwork.”
“Why?”
“It’ll register in his mind that humans are weak, ruled by their emotions. He needs to let down his guard for just an extremely short period.”
“Okay.”
“And remember that you’re going to move to the Patrick Hughes artwork and then on my instructions you are going to make the run of your life to Remp’s Cabinet of Curiosities on the other end. Aim for the partially open Cabinet in the artwork. Have you got that?”
“Yes,”
“You’re the bait. You’re going to lead it to its trap.”
“In what way?”
“Do exactly as I say.” A pause. “Very casually turn to the elevator.”
Ethan gasped when he saw it in human form just as he had seen the CEO in the cavernous space and on TV. He had never seen him in person. The handsome face, blond hair, blue eyes and muscular features looked very human with not a hint of the machine’s interior. But the eyes were cold as granite.
But where was Karabos?
She was directly behind him with her goons.
The CEO caught Ethan’s eyes and sensed him as the faceless one he had been looking for. He came down resolutely.
“Move towards the Patrick Hughes drawing. Walk, don’t run. Stand towards the left end of it,” Sophia’s voice sounded jittery.
“I can hear his footsteps bearing down fast,” Ethan said trying to hide his nervousness.
“Remain stationery,” Sofia said sharply. “And keep looking towards the art work on the left of the Hughes work. He needs to register that in his vision first. Very shortly, I will ask you to make the run of your life to Remp’s Cabinet.
“Roger that.”
“Do exactly as I say and trust me. Please. He has a 2 seconds time frame on top of your 3.” Sofia was almost pleading. “Now! Run!” she screamed. “Jump inside!”
The CEO rushed towards him jumping almost immediately after him into Remp’s Cabinet but realized his mistake too late. The trompe l’oeil was not in 3D but was a flat canvas. The CEO had been momentarily misguided by the Hughes artwork assuming that the Cabinet was also in 3D and fully activated. The matrix was only timed to activate on Ethan’s jump and to close down instantly.
The whole area was surrounded almost immediately by more of Karabos’s people. They could not easily penetrate the shield around Remp’s Cabinet but could read the electronic footprints.
“Sir, we have a visual location of this matrix,” Karabos said.
“Well don’t just stand there. Get on with it!”
It was only a matter of time before they pinpointed Ethan’s physical location.
The CEO had a satisfied look. He left the scene abruptly.
Chapter 8: Confrontation
“Run! Jump inside!” Sofia screamed as Ethan made a desperate run for Remp’s Cabinet.
He was expecting to be concealed inside it but got the shock of his life when he found himself crashing into his apartment. He was dazed and lost his bearings for a few minutes.
“Wake up! Get up!” Sofia was shouting.
Ethan was momentarily disoriented and surprised that he lay sprawled on the sofa of his living room apartment. “What happened?”
“Your virtual self dived into Remp’s Cabinet. Your real self dived into the sofa. You don’t have much time. They have located you from your footprints in Remp’s Cabinet. They’re coming.”
“Who’s coming?”
“Karabos and her men. She is cold and ruthless. Be careful.”
“Don’t we all know that?” Ethan said in his failed attempt at light hearted humor. “So what do I do?”
“Quick! Rush to your bathroom and fill up your bathtub. Now!” Sofia screamed.
“My LT and phone?” he shouted as he ran to the bathroom.
“We wiped off everything incriminating. There’s absolutely nothing of value to them.”
Ethan did as he was told.
“Karabos and her team are downstairs. They are going to send up a butterfly, a kind of mini drone to check on your presence. It will activate itself when it hears your breathing.”
“How long will I stay under water?”
“Just for a short time while I give them a decoy so they can all go on a wild goose chase. It will reflect off your LT. Not to worry. I have it under control. Get under water. Now!”
“I just hope I don’t drown.”
“Only if they are not fooled by the decoy.”
“So I’ve to take a chance.”
Ethan heard her say, “We all do,” as he went under.
+++
“By the way, that was fantastic. We got what we wanted. It’s okay, you can come out. They have left. But we have very little time,” Sofia said. ‘They’ll come back very soon once they realize that they have been fooled.”
“Okay, run this by me again. How has my diving into the Remp’s Cabinet helped us get closer to the Machine or CEO?”