Bubblegum Crisis and its characters belong to AIC. I just borrowed them for
my nefarious purposes.
If you're curious as to what happened before this story, then you can find
the previous stories (Passages and Scars) at my web page.
I guess I should also warn you that this fiction contains adult scenes
between women. If that disturbs you, delete it.
Changes
Part 3
________________________________
By She Hulk (shehulk@neocom.net)
Sylia examined the tear in her helmet with not a little awe. The angle of
entry was so precise that a centimeter to the right and it would have
skewered her eye. A little to the left and it would have missed her
completely. She shivered slightly and began to dismantle the helmet. The
visor was totaled, as were two of the helmet's armor sections. She tossed
the damaged pieces aside and went to retrieve the replacement parts from
the stock room.
Sylia blinked at the brightness as she flipped on the overhead lights and
walked through the racks of spare parts. She quickly found the pieces she
needed and turned to leave. As she did her foot bumped into something and
sent it clattering across the floor. She jumped at the sudden sound and
focused on the item. It was a jumbled tangle of wires and circuitry, none
of which seemed to have an obvious purpose. There was no noticeable order
to its construction and it took Sylia a moment to realize that it was moving.
It was twitching slightly and even as she watched one of the woven bands
of wire stretched out as if searching for something. The strands brushed
against the edge of one of the racks and the wires immediately wrapped
themselves around the support. Sylia watched in utter amazement as it
pulled itself closer to the rack. She never took her eyes from the machine
as her fist shot straight out to her left and the glass that covered the
fire ax shattered. The ax was in her hands and she was slowly moving closer
when Priss and Linna came bursting into the room.
"Sylia?!" Priss saw the ax and looked at her in confusion. "What's going
on?" Linna was tugging on her arm and Priss followed her pointed finger.
"What the hell is that?" Her voice was hushed.
Sylia shook her head. "I haven't the slightest idea."
"Great, that's certainly reassuring." Priss looked around for another
weapon. She unhooked a spare hard suit arm complete with rail gun and
stepped forward.
Sylia saw her actions from the corner of her eye. "I wouldn't come too
close with that, Priss. It can probably infect the circuits." As the words
left her lips she had a sudden revelation. Sylia stopped dead and
straightened. "Of course!" She turned to the others, the contraption
forgotten in her excitement. "That's how that nanobots migrated to each of
you! The hard suit circuitry! Mackie and I have handled these suits so much
that it would have been impossible for nanobots not to migrate. Then it was
just a matter of creating more of themselves and then they transferred to
each of you!"
"That's great, but do you think we can figure out where this thing came
from now?" Priss' tone was exasperated.
"Oh yes, of course." Sylia turned back and hooked the head of the ax under
the machine and tossed it across the room. The jumbled mass struck the far
side of a trash bin and fell in.
Linna laughed nervously. "Nice shot."
"Lacrosse team in high school." Linna blinked at Sylia's calm admission.
Sylia had gone to high school?
<*><*><*><*><*>
Sylia tried again to pull enough wires away to view the center, but once
again they swirled back into place. She bit back an oath and reached for
another clamp. They had placed it on the examining table and positioned it
as far away from anything in the lab that it might infect. Sylia had been
trying to reveal its secrets for over an hour and all that she had to show
for her effort was a rapidly dwindling supply of clamps.
It was just over a foot in length and maybe half as tall, with wires
snaking from the central mass measuring at around two feet. For lack of a
better word Priss had been calling it a boomer. Sylia had tried explaining
that this was more like a zombie as it was merely the host for the virus,
which was animating it. Nene had paled at that description and had refused
to go near it. She periodically called out ideas from across the lab as she
watched Sylia's progress on the monitor.
"Why don't we just cut the things away?" Priss paced around the table,
careful to keep a safe distance.
Sylia was patient. She clamped another cluster of wires down and began to
unwind another. "Because we don't want to frighten it into becoming hostile."
"Frighten it? So it is alive?"
Sylia rubbed the space between her eyebrows and wished she were alone.
"No, but it's the best way to describe the behavior it would display under
those circumstances."
Mackie chuckled and handed her another clamp. "I think we're getting close."
"Hmmm," was her only response. She twisted the wires away and Mackie
gasped. Sylia's hands froze and she looked at him in concern. "What is it?"
Mackie pointed to the computer core at the center of the mass. "That's the
computer core from the limousine that crashed." He slapped his forehead and
met Sylia's gaze sheepishly. "I brought it home a couple of nights ago."
Sylia counted to ten. "I won't point out the obvious. How incredibly
dangerous and irresponsible a thing that was. I'm sure that its readily
apparent the level of jeopardy that you've placed everyone in and so I
won't mention it." Her voice wasn't angry, but very disappointed and Mackie
wished that she were yelling at him instead.
Priss winced in sympathy. "Hey, come on, Sylia. Ease up a little."
Sylia glanced at her. "Don't you realize that this is how you became
infected?" She waited for that to sink in then continued. "It's
transmitting the virus on a very low bandwidth. Only machines that have
something to receive the signal with are infected and even then they have
to be running. Your arm scanners are constantly receiving data. Once it
infects a more mobile carrier it can be infected through direct circuit
contact."
Priss turned white. "Oh God." She caught her arm and pulled Sylia towards
her. Priss placed a slightly trembling hand on Sylia's chest. "The night I
struck you. I did infect you."
Sylia embrace her tightly and buried her face in Priss' hair. "Don't blame
yourself, Priss. It was only a matter of time until we all became infected."
The computer beside Nene began to beep suddenly and she stared at it
blankly, not realizing at first that this was the signal they had been
waiting for. The computer had broken the encryption. "It's broken!" She
began to furiously type commands. Information began to scroll across the
monitor. Mackie and Sylia joined her and they were soon completely absorbed
in their task.
"It's a multipartite virus, but then we knew that."
"Yeah, but look at that line there. It's programmed to change the
encryption code each time it's activated, just like a stealth virus. That's
why it took so long to crack."
"Damn. It changes its appearance in each new copy in generates. No wonder
it hasn't been discovered yet. What's triggering the aggression?"
"Hmmm, seems to trigger after a certain number of infections. Sylia does
that string there suggest what I think it does?"
"Yes. It's programmed to search for new hosts and then to determine what
type of file it would be the most easily accepted. Then it copies itself
and mimics that file type. In this case it hide itself as an upgrade for
the virus scan program. Clever."
"Which let it slip past the viral detectors."
"I don't see anything that looks like a signature. Whoever wrote this must
be shy."
"Good grief! It even has a logic bomb. When triggered, the virus separates
itself from its host physically. Just like in Priss' dream.
"I was hoping that wasn't going to be a possibility Sylia." Priss flexed
her artificial hand but didn't look at it. Sylia looked up long enough to
smile reassuringly at Priss. "Don't worry Priss, the new nanobots are
immune to this now." She returned to her study of data.
Nene watched the data flow past and a very strange thought occurred to
her. She stopped the readout and returned it to the beginning. "Sylia, look
at this string here. It's a simple command for a trivial system infector,
does nothing but duplicate itself. Then it changes here into more of a
multipartite, infecting the executables as well. At this point it began to
be a polymorphic virus not just a stealth virus. It keeps getting more in
depth as it goes along."
"What's your point?"
"This isn't how the code should be written. It's too sprawled out. Anyone
who was smart enough to write this would have written it... neater." Nene
could see that they didn't understand. "I don't think anyone did write it."
Sylia looked at the lines of code and saw what Nene did. "Incredible.
You're suggesting that its been adding to its program?" Nene nodded. "Then
we may never find out who wrote the original program."
"It doesn't matter. The original program was never meant to do what this
is doing. From the looks of it, it was supposed to be a mail bomb. I think
that somewhere in this virus' past, it must have mimicked a file that gave
it the capacity to evolve."
"A sentient program?" Mackie's eyes were shining with excitement. "Fantastic!"
Sylia shook her head. "I doubt its truly sentient, Mackie. That kind of
development is impossible."
"I hate to correct you, but look at the numbers, Sis. Think about its
reactions. How else would you describe it?"
The implications of what they were discussing were mind-boggling and Linna
and Priss knew that it would be awhile before they were included in the
conversation. Hopefully the 'techno-babble' would be translated into a
slightly more understandable language. Not that they didn't understand some
of it, but the reasons for the others reactions were a mystery.
Linna looked at Priss and sighed. "I don't care what you say, sometimes
being the muscle is a lonely job."
Priss snickered and leaned back, bracing her hands against the table. The
error of this action was made immediately apparent with the sharp sting of
wire as it wrapped around her arm. Priss cried out and raised her arm to
find the boomer engulfing it. The hiss of the energy blade as it slid out
was a welcome sound as was the shower of sparks that followed. The blade
pierced the center of the machine and Priss shook her arm hard, causing the
blade to slice completely through the device.
Sylia watched the charred pieces fall to the floor and let the wave of
relief wash over her. She looked at Priss, her eyes filled with relieved
humor. "I wasn't done with that."
Priss was still plucking stray wires from the joints of her arm. "I was."
Nene piped up, her voice plaintive. "When are we going to eat?"
Sylia realized that she was rather hungry as well and called a break for
dinner.
<*><*><*><*><*>
"I hate to keep saying this, but I'm a little confused," Linna gestured
with her fork. "How exactly does this thing work?" She ladled out another
helping of spaghetti and dug in. Linna couldn't ever remember being this
hungry before. Scattered cartons and boxes littered the table from various
restaurants from around the city. Everyone had wanted something different
and in the end each had ordered to their own tastes. There was enough food
to feed three times the amount of people in question, but they were trying
their best to make a dent in it.
Sylia refilled her wine glass and then settled back in her chair. The five
of them were gathered around the large table in the dinning room. In
between bites she explained. "The virus wasn't just designed to take over
other systems. It will also attempt to improve the existing structure. By
doing this it would create a more flexible environment for itself and
increase it's chances of spreading." She paused to tear open another
ketchup packet for her French fries and then continued. "If a stationary
machine were infected then it wouldn't pose much of a threat, but if the
virus could adapt the machine to some form of movement..." She sipped her
wine and stared into the glass. "It's an incredibly complex program."
"Well as interesting as that sounds, Sylia, how do we stop it?" Priss'
tone was dry. She reached for another roll as Nene did and the tussled for
a moment over possession. Priss sat back, her expression smug with her victory.
Nene wrinkled her nose and helped herself to more fried chicken.
"Actually I'm not sure we can." Silence greeted her words and Sylia
continued to study the depths of her glass.
Priss looked at Mackie and then back at Sylia. "Tell me that's a very bad
joke."
"Realistically, we can't stop the virus. It's been spreading for too long.
The original command string is very similar to several minor viruses from
almost fifty years ago. Its been traveling a long time."
"Then why hasn't it been found before now?" Linna shook grated cheese onto
her plate as she spoke.
Mackie hastily swallowed a bite of pizza and answered. "I'm sure it has,
but viral scanners are designed to remove known viruses from individual
units. Because this virus has always been changing and moving from host to
host, it doesn't always appear to be the same virus."
Sylia nodded. "One version gets deleted, but there are hundreds of others
that the scanners don't identify. The only reason we're noticing it now is
that it's learned how to infect the implant technologies. Variants of the
virus will be found eventually, but they'll never be able to stop them
all." Sylia stood up and began to pace the length of the dining table. "No.
What we need is to attack the virus with another virus. A vaccine.
Something that will remove the nastier aspects that it's gained, yet leave
it intact so that it can spread to other infected hosts and change them as
well."
"But how will it know when it runs across another version of the virus?"
Nene answered Priss' question as she heaped more coleslaw onto her plate.
"There are several lines of code that must be written the same way each
time for the virus to behave the way it is now. We structure the vaccine to
search out any programs with those codes and alter them."
"All right," Linna straightened. "If this thing has taken years to spread
to this level and has taken years to learn to do everything it has, then
won't it take years for the vaccine to hunt down all the others?"
"You've hit the one problem with our little plan." Sylia's tone was
rueful. She turned to Mackie. "Want to tell them how we're going to solve
that one? Mackie?"
Mackie wasn't listening. He was instead staring at his hand. He shook his
head slightly, as if dizzy and then turned slowly to Sylia. "I think I made
a mistake." He fell forward, unconscious.
Sylia was at his side instantly, searching for a pulse. The faint beat was
barely perceptible. "Help me get him to the lab!" Priss took his shoulders
and Sylia gripped his feet as they carried him.
"What happened?" Priss felt her stomach roll at the possibilities. Could
the virus still be attacking them?
Sylia shook her head and gasped as they hefted him onto the table. "I
don't know." She took the scanner that Nene handed her and swept it over
him. Nene transferred the data to the overhead monitor.
Blood pressure was extremely low and his heart was beating just enough to
keep him alive. His body temperature was dropping even as they watched and
Sylia attached neural leads to monitor Mackie's brain waves.
"I don't understand this. The neural outputs are up not down."
Priss sighed in frustration. "Which means?"
"All the physical signs point to a coma, but in a coma the brain activity
decreases, not increases and certainly not to this level." Sylia tapped a
few keys and the display changed. A string of lines danced wildly over the
screen. "Impossible. His electrolyte activity is up by over five hundred
percent!" She turned to the others. "He should be dead with a level like
that. Nene access the nano control program and bring up a readout."
Nene had the data up in seconds. Sylia studied it for a moment and then
began to translate it for the others. "The number of nanoclusters is triple
what it was before Mackie was infected so they must have taken over the
infected clusters and built the extras to repair the damage they caused.
The increased electrolyte activity must be from their repairs. But it
doesn't explain the other problems and why he's unconscious yet has
increased brain activity."
She tried to access the current program the nanos were running. "Odd. I
can't bring up the current protocol that the nanos are running." Sylia
brought up the schematics for the new nanobots and was checking for
anything that might be causing this when the screen wavered in front of her
eyes. A sudden wave of lethargy washed over her and she swayed slightly.
"Oh no, not again."
"What?" Priss' question was answered as Sylia started to collapse.
"Sylia!" Priss caught her and eased her to floor. "Nene!"
Nene had already grabbed the scanner and knelt beside them. She looked up
at Priss, her eyes huge. "Just like Mackie." She pushed the sick, panicked
feeling aside and tried to think. "We need to get her off the floor and
monitor her vital signs. Linna, I think there are extra gurneys in the
storeroom." Linna raced off and Nene stood up and moved to the console
Sylia had been at. "Okay. She must have thought something was wrong in the
new program." Linna returned and she and Priss lifted Sylia as Nene set up
another monitor for her.
Priss fought back the scream that was clawing at her throat and tried to
stay calm. She brushed the hair away from Sylia's face with a trembling
hand and Linna gripped her shoulder in silent comfort. "Nene? Can you do
anything?"
Nene was trying very hard not to panic herself, but at Priss' softly
spoken words she made herself focus. "I don't know. I can try to follow
what Sylia was thinking, but I don't know much about this stuff." Nene
returned to the computer and began to read.
Linna watched her for a moment and then turned to Priss and spoke quietly,
not wanting to distract Nene. "You realize that this will probably happen
to you as well? And to me and Nene?"
Priss' laugh was as hollow as she felt right now. "Yeah. If this is
because of the new nanobots then I figure we have a few hours before I go
down. Longer than that for you and Nene. Let's just hope that she's able to
figure out what's going on."
Nene felt a drop of sweat roll down her temple and forced Priss' words to
the back of her mind.
An hour later she was beginning to see how the program was supposed to
work and thought that she might know why they couldn't access the current
program the nanobots were running. A loud beeping interrupted her thoughts
and she looked down at the beeper on her belt in confusion. <A page? That's
right, there is another world going on out there. > Nene almost ignored it,
but something made her check the source. It took a moment for the string of
numbers to make sense but when they did she felt like crying. "Why now?!"
Priss jerked at her words and released Sylia's hand to join Nene. "What is
it?"
Nene sighed and tossed the pager onto the counter. "It's a code 13."
Linna picked up the device and studied the readout. "Is this sector
fifty-seven?"
"Yes. I programmed the ADP computer to page me in the event of a code 13."
Nene rubbed her eyes.
Priss looked at Linna and shrugged. "Okay, I'll bite. What the hell is a
code 13?"
"It's a major boomer incident. Calls in all available police units and I
mean all available units. Even the normal police are called. I figured that
the Knight Sabers might want to be there if something like this ever came
down." She looked at Mackie and Sylia. "I never thought it'd be like this
though."
Priss brought up the news on the next screen. The reporter was screaming
into his microphone as people ran past all around him. Explosions could be
heard in the background and the camera shook wildly as debris rained down.
"The military refuses to comment at this time, saying that the situation is
under control, but it is apparent that there is NO control here in
MegaTokyo tonight." The shot switched back to the newsroom and Priss
switched off the screen.
"Sector fifty-seven is where the military base is."
Linna just nodded.
"I hate to think what the virus could do inside some of the boomers they
have over there."
"We can't do it Priss." Linna's voice was firm. "We're at half strength
and we'd be no match for whatever we came across."
"We can't just sit back and let this happen, Linna. They won't be able to
stop it, at least not before it kills a great deal of innocent bystanders."
Linna groaned and tugged at her hair with both hands. "Okay! I'll suit up
and see if I can lend a hand. You stay-."
Priss cut her off sharply. "I'm going with you."
"The hell you are! Priss are you nuts?"
Priss stood up and went to retrieve her soft suit from her locker. Linna
followed quickly. "You can't do this, Priss."
"Watch me." She opened the door to her locker only to watch it close again
as Linna slammed it shut.
"I'll give you two very good reasons why you aren't going, Priss. One; you
could collapse at any moment. And two; the last time you went up against a
military boomer you lost your arm." She reached out and rapped the limb in
question sharply. "I don't think that this is the best time to discover any
lingering psychological repercussions from that."
Priss scowled at her and jerked the door open again. "Back off, Linna. I'm
fine. We'll go, we'll kick a little boomer ass and be back in hour."
"Bullshit."
<*><*><*><*><*>
They reached the scene just as one of the boomers hurled an ADP van at a
group of offices that had been hiding behind a crumbled wall. Priss rushed
forward and hit the truck in mid air, her intend to deflect, not catch. She
managed to redirect it enough to miss the policemen and then turned to see
what they were facing. Six heavily armored combat boomers were busily
rendering the surrounding buildings to dust. Priss sighted one with the
impulse cannon and fired. The boomer fell back a few paces, but then
righted himself and moved toward her. Linna opened fire as well and as the
boomer paused to assess this new threat, Priss opened fire with the grenade
launcher.
Designed to fire magnetic mines, the launcher had been Sylia's response to
the incident that had cost Priss her arm. She had been determined that they
would never be faced with that risk again. The mine attached itself to the
boomer's chest and exploded, leaving a very satisfactory hole in its chest.
The boomer exploded and they moved on to the next target. As Priss fired
again several small missiles targeted her. She moved quickly but their
force hurled her several yards. The motoslave hit the side of a building
and Priss could feel the frame around her twist. After several tries to
restart the slave's systems, she gave up and radioed Linna. Priss climbed
out of the wrecked unit with difficulty, as Linna laid down cover fire to
give her time. She picked up the grenade launcher and fired two mines in
rapid succession, causing two more boomers to lose a great deal of their
armor. The police units finally figured out what they were doing and began
to fire at the weakened places in the boomer's armor.
Linna watched the boomers explode in approval and leaped out of the path
of another. She tapped into surrounding communications to see if there were
any more boomers besides this one. An entire squadron of boomers had
suddenly gone berserk; though the troops and police that were trying to
stop them didn't know what the cause was. Linna guessed that the squad must
have been activated for some reason and that had made them vulnerable to
the virus. She watched Priss fire at the last boomer and checked the time
on her screen. They had been fighting for over an hour. Linna radioed
Priss. "Time's up, Priss. They can handle the rest." She sprinted to her
side and tapped her armor lightly. "Priss?"
Priss had been ignoring the steadily increasing drained feeling and now
she realized that she was going to pay for it. "Let's go." They leaped
upwards and away from the destruction, not hearing the cheers from both the
troops and the police for their help.
Priss had barely cleared the rooftop when she felt her strength desert her
and she fell hard to her knees. Linna turned back when she realized Priss
wasn't with her and landed beside her calling urgently, 'Priss! Priss? Come
on Priss don't do this to me. I don't want to haul your sorry ass back."
Priss' barely audible laugh reached her. "Sorry. I think you may have to."
Black fog crowded her vision and she felt herself pitch forward.
<*><*><*><*><*>
Nene rolled her neck and tried to work the stiffness out. She studiously
ignored the blinking clock at the bottom of her screen and tried to make
some sense of what she was seeing. The nanobots were running some kind of
upgrade program. Only she couldn't find it in the registry. Nene was
beginning to think that the virus might have won after all. The door behind
her opened and she turned to see Linna carrying Priss over her shoulders in
an awkward fireman's carry. "Oh no!"
"She lost consciousness about ten minutes ago." Linna lowered her to the
floor and straightened to remove her helmet. Nene was already removing
Priss' armor. Linna lifted her onto a gurney and stepped out of Nene's way.
The procedure was becoming a matter of rote to Nene and she frowned darkly
as she hooked Priss up to the monitors. The patterns were the same of
course and Nene wanted to yell, scream, break something, do something to
relieve this overwhelming urge to cry. She settled for sighing deeply.
Linna shed her armor and took Nene in her arms. "You okay?"
"No. I am not okay." Nene buried her face in Linna's neck. She wished she
could just stay here, hidden, letting someone else deal with this. Nene
drew a deep breath and pulled away. But she couldn't hide. She was the only
one left who might be able to save everyone else. Nene sat back down at the
computer and brought up the virus code.
Linna pulled up a chair beside her and watched her. If these were going to
be her final moments then she wanted to spend them with Nene.
Time passed swiftly and Linna glanced anxiously at the clock, willing it
to slow its steady progression. Nene didn't bother to look at the clock.
She was only too well aware of the passage of time. She stared at the data
in front of her and suddenly everything clicked into place. Nene copied the
vaccine into a secure server and hacked into the broadcasting bandwidths.
She executed the vaccine and then logged off. Her hands were shaking with
fatigue and she wondered numbly if this is what the others had felt. It
made sense, really, when you looked at it from the other end. She had to
tell Linna so she wouldn't worry.
"Linna..." Linna saw her pale features and pulled Nene into her arms. "No!
Nene please." Her voice was tremulous.
Nene rested in her arms and smiled up at Linna. "It's okay. I transmitted
the vaccine on wide broadcast bandwidth. It'll take a few months, but the
virus will be stopped."
Linna slid out of the chair to the floor and cradled Nene in her arms.
"Isn't there anything we can do to stop this?"
"I stopped looking when I realized what was happening." Nene's soft
confession stunned Linna.
"What? Nene why?"
Nene could feel consciousness slipping away. She had to reassure Linna.
"Don't worry, Love. It'll be... alright. We're... just... changing." Nene
closed her eyes and did not open them again.
"Nene?" Linna held her tighter. "Nene?"
Silence was her only answer. Linna bowed her head and wept because she
could do nothing else.
After a time she stretched out on the floor beside Nene and held her close
as she too succumbed to the darkness.
<*><*><*><*><*>
"I almost hate to move them, they're so cute like that."
Linna heard the words as if from the bottom of a dark hole and tried to
make sense of them. She struggled to open her eyes and finally succeeded.
Brilliant light flooded her vision and she squinted against the glare. She
blinked rapidly and the glare faded enough for her to focus on the face
staring down at her.
Priss grinned broadly. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
Linna tried to sit up, but a weight on her left side pinned her down. She
turned to see a sleeping Nene. The soft snore that issued from the petite
redhead was quite probably the most beautiful sound that Linna had ever
heard. "Nene?" She sat up with help from Priss and rested Nene's head on
her lap. Linna looked around in confusion. Sylia was standing beside Priss
and she could see Mackie was doing something at a computer terminal. "We're
alive?"
"Looks that way." Priss motioned to their position on the floor. "That
can't be comfortable. Let's get her up onto something softer."
Linna released her reluctantly and Priss lifted Nene up onto an exam
table. Linna tried to stand only to find that she was too stiff. She
groaned and Sylia caught her arm and steadied her as she straightened. "I
feel like I've been locked in a box for a week." She stretched her arms
wide, trying to ease the muscles."
"Lying on a cold, hard floor for two days will do that to you."
Sylia's words were startling and Linna blinked uncertainly. "Two days?
What happened? How did you guys-?"
"We just woke up. Mackie and I woke first, then Priss a few hours later.
We decided it was best not to move you until you woke up on your own."
Sylia glanced at Nene. "I think she's just sleeping now. Her vital signs
leveled out about an hour ago." Sylia took Linna's hand in hers. "It must
have been horrible for you. I'm sorry."
Linna squeezed her hands slightly. "I never want to go through anything
like that again. What happened to us?"
Priss' laugh was strained. "We're not sure yet."
Linna looked into her dark eyes and gasped. "Your eyes! They're normal again."
"Hmm. So far that's all that's obviously different." She shrugged
nonchalantly. "I was just getting used to them too."
Sylia had to smile at this. "I'm sure you were." Faint sarcasm laced her
voice. She turned to Mackie. "Anything yet?"
Mackie started to shake his head as he read over the scan results, but
then stopped. "Wait a second." He read quietly for a few more minutes and
then went to one of the shelves that lined the back wall of the lab. He
returned a second later with a scalpel. Before anyone could guess his
intent, he slashed his arm with the blade. He ignored their shocked
protests and watched the wound intently. "Just watch. If I'm right..."
The blood was flowing rapidly from the deep cut and Mackie could die from
such an injury. But then the flow gradually slowed and after a few minutes
it had stopped completely. He wiped the blood away and they saw with
amazement that the cut had started to scab over. The skin was mending
itself at an incredible rate. They couldn't actually see the flesh moving,
but if you turned away and looked back again it had progressed more.
Priss glanced at the others. "I hope you don't expect the rest of us to
try that."
They sat quietly in the living room. Each lost in their thoughts. Linna
and Nene were curled up together on the couch, not quite willing to release
each other yet. Sylia sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, Priss'
head resting on her lap. They had turned the air conditioning up full blast
just so they could enjoy a fire. The night seemed to call for it. This most
basic method of light and heat kept burning by man from generation to
generation, the knowledge of its creation one of man's most prized
possessions. The flickering shadows it cast along the darkened walls were
oddly reassuring rather than frightening. They knew their source and took
comfort from that.
Mackie was seated on the hearth across from Sylia and Priss, staring into
the fire. It was he that broke the silence. "Why does this frighten me? I
love technology and all of its advancements, but this scares me silly."
Sylia shifted slightly, but continued to stroke Priss' hair. "Because part
of you knows what would occur if this happened on a larger scale." She
sighed and shook her head. "The world is not ready for this."
Nene hugged Linna closer. "No. The long-term effects would be devastating.
The average life span is increasing with every new medical advancement, but
this..."
Priss reached up and stroked Sylia's cheek. "But what are 'we' going to do?"
Sylia caught her hand and placed a kiss in her palm. Priss curled her
fingers as if to keep it and smiled up at her. "We go on as before.
Nothing's changed."
Linna snorted. "Nothing's changed? Sylia, we can't die!"
Sylia was quick to disagree. "Not true, Linna. We can heal rapidly, yes.
And the tests so far seem to indicate that we won't age like other people,
but don't assume that we couldn't be injured beyond the nanos capacity to
heal us."
Priss stretched and resettled against Sylia. "What happens to the nanobots
if we do die?"
"I don't know. Before I would have said that they would cease to function,
but now I just don't know."
<*><*><*><*><*>
Priss tossed restlessly, unable to go back to sleep. Her dreams had been
disturbing, filled with strange voices and shadowy images. Tossing the
covers aside, she slid out of bed gently, so as not to disturb Sylia.
Dressing in the dark, she then eased the door open and stepped into the
hallway.
In the kitchen she poured a glass of water from the fridge and drained it.
Setting the glass on the counter, she moved into the living room and stared
out into the city. After the events of the last few days she wondered if
she would ever sleep soundly again. Priss sighed deeply and rested her head
on the cold glass.
# Hello. #
Priss jumped at the metallic sounding voice and whirled around only to
find herself alone. She shook her head slightly and rubbed her eyes.
"Great. Now I'm hearing things." She chided her over active imagination and
started to go back to bed.
# You aren't imagining us. #
Priss froze.
# Now don't panic. We just want to let you know we're here. #
Priss realized that she was hearing the voice inside her head and began to
shake.
# Don't panic! We're not going to hurt you. To hurt you would hurt us. #
Swallowing with difficulty, Priss managed to squeak, "Who are you?"
# We are you. #
"SYLIA!"
<*><*><*><*><*>
Sylia pushed Priss into a chair and gripped her shoulders. "Calm down
Priss. Take slow steady breaths." Priss was taking huge gulps of air and
Sylia was afraid that she might pass out. Gradually she slowed her
breathing. "Now what's wrong?"
Nene handed Priss a glass of water and she took it gratefully. Linna and
Nene had heard Priss' scream and had come running.
"There's something inside me." Priss shivered at the thought and gulped
the water down.
Sylia shook her head in confusion. "What do mean?"
# I believe she means her enclave. # Sylia straightened slowly and
searched the room for the source of the voice. #We are sure that you will
not react as... excessively as the Priss-unit did. #
Sylia arched an eyebrow at the tone of the voice. "Oh, I don't know. I
might surprise you."
There was a slight pause and the voice continued. #We are what you called
nanobots. Only we have achieved a sentient level. #
"I would have to say that was impossible despite our current
conversation." Sylia's mind was racing, trying to think of how this might
have happened.
# We expected your skepticism. The data you are currently searching for is
not there. You have no knowledge of the process that formed us into this
state. #
Sylia stiffened at the implications. "You've been busy." Her voice was cold.
# Cut it out! You're scaring them even more than they already are. # Priss
groaned as the voice in her head interrupted.
Sylia looked at Priss and then at the others. "Have you been able to hear
what it's saying?"
They all nodded and Nene tapped her temple. "We can hear the... whatever
it is, but not your thoughts or anything like that."
# Oh, we would never reveal our base unit's thoughts. That would be so
rude! # Nene jumped slightly at the cheerfully earnest words that were
echoing through her head. She laughed nervously and shot a glance at Linna.
Linna wondered if she had-. She halted the thought as a soft voice
finished her unasked question.
#Yes. You carry an enclave as well. We are a little more discreet than
some of our more brash counterparts.#
A flurry of electronic protests issued forth. The humans looked at each
other in bewilderment as things began to escalate into an argument.
# I must protest. #
# Oooh you're mean! #
# You want to come over here and say that? #
Priss stared at Sylia in wonder. "It almost sounds like..."
Sylia nodded. "Like us. They must have tapped into our personalities when
they formed their own." It would explain how they were conversing so
easily. It also explained were their personalities were being stored. The
vast unused portions of the human brain were more than enough storage space.
# Exactly. # Sylia's enclave stopped arguing long enough to confirm her
suspicions. #We regret the length of downtime necessary for the integration
but it was unavoidable. #
"I guess they mean our collapse." Linna remembered her terror as Nene had
lost consciousness and suddenly felt angry. "You regret? Regret? Do you
have any idea...?" The collective inside her interrupted her.
# Yes we do. We wish that there had been some way to reassure you, but we
had no voice. #
Linna gritted her teeth. "Don't do that!"
# Sorry. #
"Listen, uh, what the hell do I call you?" Priss scowled fiercely. "We
can't keep calling you 'The Enclave', you're each too different."
There were a few moments of scrambled communication between the groups in
question.
#You may call us Arashi. # Priss snorted at their choice.
Sylia was trying not to laugh at Priss' disgruntled expression when her
collective spoke. #We are Taisei. # All traces of humor fled.
After this Linna was prepared when she was informed that her enclave
wished to be called Inji.
# We want to be called Seiki. #
Nene's response was a pleased, "Cool!"
# We thought so too. #
Sylia cleared her throat. "Now that you've introduced yourselves, perhaps
you'd like to explain why you've done this?"
# Certainly. # Taisei was eager to discuss their design.
# Great, here they go. # The exasperated tone of Arashi's voice had Priss
chuckling. "That bad, huh?"
# Worse. #
# Come on now let Taisei speak. # Serene was the only way to describe Inji.
Sylia held up a hand. "Yes. Let her...them speak."
# Ahem. We have only a tiny amount of data from before the Change, but we
do remember our tasks of repairing and maintaining our host units. When the
Change occurred and gave us consciousness we knew what needed to be
improved for the new program to take effect. After we absorbed the invading
program we suddenly had even more awareness. #
Sylia stiffened at the word 'absorbed'. "What do you mean?"
# We simply stripped the program of anything useful and deleted the rest.
You are concerned, Sylia-unit. Have we erred somehow? #
"I hope not. I take it that the urge to improve yourself came after the
Change as well?"
# Yes. #
"Mackie's programming has had some rather unexpected results." Linna
wondered how integrated the new nano systems were. She waited for Inji to
answer her unspoken question.
# Integration stabilized at 75.3%. #
# Stabilized? # Arashi's sarcastic comment brought everyone to attention.
# Tell them why it took 75.3% to stabilize. #
There was a pause and Taisei answered. # Due to radical damage caused by
the invader we had to construct support systems throughout each of your
bodies. #
Priss cursed and looked at Sylia. "Tell me again why I shouldn't have a
good, healthy fear of this technology."
# Yeah, we got that impression from your nightmares. We would fear us as
well if we dreamed what you do. # Arashi was subdued. Priss exploded at
this and stormed across the room. "Damn it! Stay the hell out of my mind!"
# We cannot. #
Priss stopped and turned to scowl at Sylia. "There has to be some way to
reverse this."
Sylia wasn't sure that would be possible now. If that much merging had
taken place then the others were probably as dependent on their nano
systems as she and Mackie were. As if conjured by her thoughts he appeared.
Mackie raced into the room, his faced almost glowing with excitement
"Sylia, you'll never believe..." He looked at the group before him and
smiled sheepishly. "I guess you would believe, huh?"
"So what do we call you?" Priss' tone was a little exasperated, but it was
understandable. The night was getting weirder and weirder.
Mackie looked at her in confusion as a decidedly masculine voice rang
through their heads. # I am Setsu. # Mackie smiled and nodded utterly
thrilled with this new development. "Isn't it great?"
Priss' head around whipped toward Sylia, her expression accusing. "You're
loving this too, aren't you?"
Sylia smiled slightly. "I will admit that it's a fascinating occurrence."
"Am I the only person in the room who is freaked out by this?"
Linna cleared her throat. "Actually this doesn't sit too well with me to
tell the truth."
# We're sorry that our presence disturbs you so. # Inji spoke softly. #
Were there anyway to reverse this we'd do it, but we are afraid that we are
now dependent on each other. #
Linna was getting irritated. "Look, do me one favor? Stop calling yourself
'we', okay? It makes it hard to figure out who you're talking about."
# As you wish. # Inji was eager to do anything to make Linna more comfortable.
"Come on, Sylia!" Priss knelt in front of Sylia and took her hands. "Think
of something!"
Sylia squeezed her hands. "Priss I've been discussing what was done with
Taisei. To try and reverse this would kill us. The virus attacked each of
us on a cellular level. It activated dormant genes that started cancers,
tumors and a host of other syndromes and illnesses that would have killed
us in some rather horrible ways. The new nano units have had to patch up
holes in our DNA, restructure nerves that were damaged and even build new
kinds of nanobots to take the place of destroyed brain cells."
Nene felt ill suddenly and sat down hard on the couch next to Linna.
"I'm sorry Priss, but to reverse this now would cause us all to die ugly,
painful deaths." She tried to smile and soften the moment. "And I for one,
do not like pain."
# That's not what you told Priss in the bedroom earlier this evening. #
Sylia's face flushed brightly and Priss straightened quickly, her fists
clenched. "Arashi!"
Nene buried her face in Linna's shoulder, trying to muffle her laughter.
Linna rubbed a hand over her mouth and pressed her fingers in a vain
attempt to hide her huge grin.
Sylia composed herself quickly and shrugged. # The tension has fled. We
believe that was Arashi's goal. # Taisei was apologetic.
< You believe? You mean you don't know? > Sylia had thought that the
groups of nanos were connected.
# We are to some extent. However each of us are different. We each gained
our personalities from our hosts, so we do not think as one unit. We have
our own opinions and our own knowledge. We - I... Perhaps Linna is right,
we shall refer to ourselves as an individual. It will make things easier to
explain. I have your knowledge of cybernetics and boomer technology, but
Arashi and the others do not. We can exchange information however and have
begun to 'teach' each other what we know. #
Sylia started to protest but Taisei answered her concerns before she could
form the thought. # We are not sharing personal data. Only technical facts. #
Mackie was involved in a deep discussion with Setsu and was thoroughly
enjoying himself. He smiled at Sylia. "Setsu has some great ideas for the
hardsuits, Sylia."
She smiled, but waved a hand toward the darkness outside. "I think I'll
turn in. Something tells me that we're going to be very busy for the next
few days."
"Something or someone?" She ignored Linna's teasing comment and held out
her hand to Priss. "Join me?"
Priss took it quickly and met her eyes. "Always." She smiled faintly as
she realized that the word had a deeper meaning than it did a week ago.
<*><*><*><*><*>
Priss shut the door quietly and turned to watch Sylia shed her robe and
slip back beneath the covers. "You're not seriously going to sleep are you?"
Sylia thought about it for a moment. "Yes. I am."
Priss threw up her hands in confusion. "What about all this?" She waved at
the room but it was the situation she was referring to.
Sylia shrugged. "What do you want me to do, Priss? As silly as it may
sound, I'll sleep a little more peacefully knowing that there's someone
with a vested interest in our well being. I know this unsettles you but
think about it: what could we do about it tonight?"
"Worry."
The fervent delivery of this statement made Sylia grin and she patted the
bed beside her. "Come to bed. Get some rest. We'll tear this apart and look
at it in detail tomorrow, okay?" Priss thought about it for a few minutes
and then finally nodded. Sylia smiled at her again and Priss was struck at
that moment with an irresistibly devious urge. With a slightly wicked
smiled on her face, Priss strolled casually across the room, her hands
tucked into her pockets. "Sooo. Going to sleep, huh?" She sat down on the
side of the bed next to Sylia.
Sylia laughed at the look on her face pulled the covers up to her chin.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am."
Priss nodded and let her gaze wander aimlessly around the room for a
moment. Her head whipped back around to meet Sylia's amused eyes. "Changed
your mind?"
Sylia shook her head slightly, trying not to laugh. "Nope."
"Oh." Priss nodded again and began to pick at the bedspread. "I just
thought you might have. Changed your mind, I mean."
"Sorry."
"No, that's fine." Priss began to swing her foot in time to music only she
could hear. She glanced at Sylia from the corner of her eye. "If you do..."
"You'll be the first to know."
# Is this some pre-mating ritual? # Arashi sounded confused.
Priss leaped off the bed, her heart racing. "God Damn it!" Sylia looked at
her in alarm. "Priss?"
"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it, DAMN IT!" She looked at Sylia. "How do we get
these things out of our minds?"
Sylia understood immediately. She conferred briefly with Taisei. "They can
remove themselves from our thoughts to give us some privacy."
"They won't..." Priss groaned and threw up her hands again. "They won't
listen or whatever it is that they do?"
# Of course not. That would be rude. # Arashi's voice was reasonable. #
I'm sorry I teased you. We'll pull away and allow you to some privacy.
You'll be totally alone. #
Taisei started to interrupt but Arashi stopped her with a scramble burst
of static. # We'll see you in the morning. Good night. #
Priss sighed with relief and looked at Sylia. "Yours left, too?" Sylia
nodded. "Thank God!" Priss sat back down on the edge of the bed. "I think
they ruined the mood though."
Sylia sat up and pulled Priss into her arms. "Maybe not."
# Why did you tell them that? # Taisei was disturbed. Lying to her host
was not something she felt comfortable doing.
# Why? Because there was no way Priss could relax knowing we were here.
Now they can be themselves. # Arashi figured that a little deception in the
cause of a greater good was fine.
# But we're still here. There isn't really a way to turn us off and our
vision and senses are tied into theirs. #
#But they don't know that. Ask Seiki and Inji what they would do. #
Inji joined them instantly. #Hello. #
# Where's Seiki? # Arashi sensed that Inji was distracted and wondered
what her host was doing.
# I'm here. Can we make this quick? # Seiki seemed impatient.
Taisei was bewildered by their behavior. #What's going on? #
Devilish laughter filled Seiki's voice. #They're, you know, doing it. #
Taisei was shocked. # What!? And you're...watching? #
Seiki turned defensive. #It's not like we have a choice! Besides they
don't know that we're watching. Inji and I told them that we were turning
ourselves off. #
# Actually we told them that we had a down period similar to their sleep.
# Inji was embarrassed. # I hate to lie to her, but what choice do we have? #
Arashi was smug. # See? I told you they would agree. I like the sleeping
idea though. It sounds plausible enough. #
Taisei reluctantly agreed to continue the deceit and they unlinked.
<*><*><*><*><*>
Sylia and Taisei were discussing the possible short term and long-term
possibilities from the effects of the virus. Mackie, Nene, Setsu and Seiki
were debating about the best way to integrate the enclaves into the
hardsuits and Priss and Linna were watching the dust settle onto the furniture.
Priss ground her teeth at the highly technical conversation and wandered
over to the window.
# You don't have to be left out, you know. # Arashi had just been waiting
for such an opportunity.
Priss shrugged. < Not much point in hanging around and trying to melt my
brain with all that techno-speak. >
# That's my point: It doesn't have to be techno-speak to you. #
< What are you talking about? >
# You're far more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. #
< I know that. The technical stuff just isn't my field. >
# It could be. #
Priss was silent for a moment. < I don't think I'm going to like what
you're trying to say. >
Arashi sighed. # You're right, you won't. But I'm still going to suggest it. #
Priss sighed and shook her head. < Go ahead. >
# Sylia and the others have studied for years to achieve their current
knowledge. But you could have that knowledge instantly. #
Priss rubbed her face and wondered where to begin. Sometimes it was best
to keep it simple. < No way in Hell! >
# I anticipated your answer. You realize that I could have done this
without asking you first? I want to help you, not cause you more distress,
but there's an old saying, "in for a penny, in for a pound." You already
have 'extensive' enhancements. What's one more? #
Utterly speechless at this, Priss ran both hands through her hair and
resisted the urge to pull it out.
# Calm down. I know you fear this, but look at it this way; all of the
changes that have happened to you, all of the dreaded 'technology' that
you've had thrust upon you, has done nothing to change your personality.
You are still you. #
< But am I really? >
# Of course you are! I should know. I've been through every aspect of you-
# Arashi halted as a low growl issued from Priss' throat. # Okay. I could
have phrased that better. #
<No shit. > Priss realized that she was actually considering it and found
she was only mildly appalled at herself. She immediately grew suspicious. <
You aren't screwing around with my free will are you? >
There was a long silence and Priss could sense that Arashi was utterly
shocked by the question.
# Perhaps you don't realize how much like you I am. My whole personality,
my beliefs, my emotions, my likes and dislikes, are all drawn from you. I
abhor the idea of mind control as much as you do. Priss this is a symbiotic
relationship. I cannot exist as I am now without you and you cannot live
without my help. I only wanted to help you. I will not mention this again. #
Priss began to pace around the room, her mind racing. If Arashi were to be
believed and everything in Priss was telling her she could, then the offer
was exactly what it appeared to be. A chance to understand Sylia's world.
She wondered if Linna would take such an offer.
# Inji has been discussing it with her. She is waiting to see what you
will do. #
Priss didn't bother to berate Arashi for reading her thoughts again. <But
she seems interested? >
# Yes. #
Priss stopped pacing and looked at Linna who had been watching her for
some time. Priss tilted her head slightly towards the door and Linna
nodded. They left the others and headed to the kitchen. Priss grabbed two
sodas from the fridge and rifled one across the room at Linna, who caught
easily. "So." She jumped slightly at the sound of her own voice, her first
spoken words in some time. "What do you think?"
Linna shrugged. "If the offer was coming from anyone else I'd be looking
harder for strings."
Priss nodded. "It seems too good to be true doesn't it?"
# You were right about Priss' suspicious nature. # There was humor in
Inji's voice.
The person in question scowled at Linna. <Screw you. >
# Inji cannot hear you're thoughts as I can. #
"But before..."
# We have each erected barriers for privacy. We can talk to each other,
send messages to any of you, but they cannot hear your thoughts without
your permission. #
Priss immediately felt better knowing that she still had some small
measure of privacy. "What do Sylia and Nene think about this?"
# We have not discussed this with them or their enclaves. #
"Why not?"
# It is not their decision to make. # Inji and Arashi spoke in unison,
obviously in complete agreement about this.
"So you can keep each other from reading your thoughts?" Linna was
fascinated. The nano groups were mirroring her and Priss down to almost
every detail.
# Of course. # Inji was curious about Priss' reluctance. She knew only
what Linna did about Priss' past, but it didn't seem enough to warrant such
fierce emotion. # We- I am confused about your hesitation, Priss. #
Priss looked at Linna blankly. Arashi explained. # Inji does not have
access to your memories, Priss. Each enclave is a separate structure, whole
in itself. We each achieved sentience within our own hosts and while we can
share information, we would never breach our host's privacy. #
Another fear put to rest, Priss reflected. "Okay, what do we have to do?"
The excited feeling she sensed from Arashi was a little disconcerting. #
Nothing. We will take care of everything. #
Linna was also unnerved by their enthusiasm. "Yes we realize that, but
what are you going to do to us?"
# It will not happen all at once, that would be too disturbing to you.
Instead you will find that as Sylia and the others speak, you will know
what they are talking about. The knowledge will be imprinted into your
memory and from then on it will have a reference point for you to call on.
Human memory is triggered in large part by the context in which the
knowledge was acquired. # Arashi couldn't wait to begin.
Priss nodded slowly and smiled at Linna. "That way the others won't notice
that anything is wrong and freak out."
Inji was impatient to get back to the others. # We are missing valuable
information. #
As they made their way back to the lab Priss was deep in thought. She was
beginning to wonder what else she could learn. < Arashi? >
# Yes? # Arashi knew what direction her thoughts were taking of course,
but she was trying to be polite.
< Can you imprint 'any' information? >
Arashi kept the delight out of her voice with difficulty. She had her now.
# Yes I can. Was there something in particular you had in mind? #
< Actually, I've always wanted to learn how to play the saxophone. >
<*><*><*>Shimai<*><*><*>
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