The Journey of Rick Heiden - Chapters 33 and 34
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This novel contains 50 CHAPTERS, and every post will have 2 chapters each.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
They built the Primorium, a mausoleum, as a towering monument to long-dead Primes. The neoclassical edifice of magnificent proportions gave David a favorite place to visit as a teenager. He enjoyed the quiet peace that seemed to fill its halls lined in statuary whose ornate pedestals encompassed human remains. He didn't see it as morbid, but it seemed a tad macabre to me.
We met Magnar on the sixth floor, where the more recent- Well...one might say recent, but Amare served as Prime for nearly a thousand jears, so they entombed the previous Prime that far back in history. The building had ten floors with space for 30 tombs on each floor. The sixth floor held the last 13 tombs, and few people ventured that high into the building. Magnar guessed we would meet in front of Aurum's tomb. He waited a few minutes before we arrived. He wore his traditional Trust uniform, his sword on his back. He got to business the instant he saw us.
"As of yesterday," said Magnar, "either Pearce or the Aggregate can access the portals on Earth."
"We should inform the Trust," said David. "And we should remain on high alert."
"Consider it done."
"David," I said, "if Pearce told the Americans about the diamond. Why then didn't Major Palmer in Japan understand how your presence in the circle made the portal appear?"
"I hadn't thought of that," said David. "He could have told him after the incident in Japan, but if he's a traitor, why wait on something that important?"
"It sounds as if Pearce has an agenda," said Magnar. "However, that may make him no less a traitor."
"I think Pearce has had an agenda from the beginning," said David.
The conversation paused while they both watched me study the unusual statue of Aurum before us. If it represented an accurate depiction, he didn't look like most of the others. All the figures except the last four showed the person at the zenith of their lives. They depicted Aurum and the three that followed as older, in perhaps their late nineties. A strange shift had occurred.
A smile of amusement bloomed on Magnar's face. "Aurum's secret," he whispered to me, shaking his head. "Please, tell me you won't put any credence to that."
"I just might, Magnar," I whispered. "Why did they make him so old?"
David looked to Magnar for the answer as well. "And those three," said David. "They're just the same."
"I don't know," Magnar whispered. "I know Aurum created the Forever Young enhancement, but neither he nor those three received it."
"None of the other Primes could have received it either," I said, "but they depicted the rest as young and vital. This sudden discordant change strikes me as obstinance."
"I'm sorry, I don't have an answer to that," said Magnar. "I understand Aurum's secret is enticing, old mysteries usually are, whether real or legendary. I should tell you, however, that Primes hold many secrets, so I see nothing sinister or unusual for Aurum to have his own. Whether any special one of note existed is another matter." He turned to David. "What's brought this up again?"
We told Magnar of Pearce's mother, the journals, book eight, Neal, the deal, the missing leaf from book seven, my conversation with Neal, and the condition in which we found him in his shop.
"That's a lot to take in," said Magnar. "I've never heard of anyone having a medical condition resulting in what you describe. I see why you think it relates to your conversation; as a coincidence, it's a little too convenient."
"I admit, it calls for a level of suspicion," said David, "but it creates another problem."
"Two people could have overheard my conversation with Neal: Mason, our Hestia project domestic assistant if you didn't know, and Iris."
Magnar had a concerned expression. "Have you said this to anyone else?"
"No," I said, "just the three of us."
"Good. Don't," said Magnar.
"May I know why," I said.
"We don't express this often, and not in public," said Magnar, "but many of us acknowledge the inherent danger of a synthetic having too much autonomy and control over vital systems. The scientists who created the A.I.s (who refer to themselves as synthetics), brought them up like children in a way, but unlike children, they don't have hormones, they don't have those all-important awkward and rebellious teen years, and they never test the limitations placed upon them by their parents. Their creators do, however, give them all the love and attention that any child would need, so challenges rarely happen. We know the synthetics tend to stick together. Some of us fear that any accusations made against one of them would make the others defend the accused to the point that it locks down all of One City. Nothing here functions without them."
I nodded. "Like Venn."
"Especially Venn," Magnar emphasized. "Venn is helpful and pleasant, but far too expansive and integrated for my comfort. His name may mean `friend' in Norwegian, but friends don't always get along, and sometimes they fall out of friendship. Bear in mind, I'm not saying we have an ongoing problem, but many of us have had that fear since we allowed his expansion to happen."
"Allowed to happen," I said. "Who decided Venn would expand?"
"Venn did!" Magnar caught himself and began whispering again. "He did, but like I said, for now, we don't have an active problem."
"I don't know, Magnar," I said. "I spoke with Venn. He seems, on the whole, a kind and helpful person who wants appreciation like anyone else."
"I view his takeover of the forge as a dominant move," said Magnar.
"I admit, we could view it that way," I said, "but if you could do more than you do, would you take on an extra duty if it didn't present a problem for you? And, if taking on that duty meant the smoother functioning of the system by taking care of it yourself."
He looked a little uncomfortable. "Maybe."
"You said the synthetics are like people," I said, "and that we should treat them as people. After having spoken with Venn, he's not 'like' people; he 'is' a person. I think he cares whether people trust him. However, he expressed some disappointment that others seem unconcerned if he trusts them. So, no wonder he takes on more duties, he has no other means to prove himself."
"Does he feel taken for granted?" asked David.
"Yes, I think he does."
"I did not know that," said Magnar.
David gave a profound sigh and changed the topic. "Can you update me on the ship situation?"
"We have exhausted it," said Magnar, "but have you not heard the news from Laren College?" --we shook our heads-- "Oh, you two, you should check for the latest news on occasion. Laren College has announced they will build a robotic shipwright, capable of constructing aerospace ships intact."
"How?" I asked.
"I'm not an engineer, so I don't know."
"When will they build it?" David asked.
"They've begun. In the Forge's downtime, Venn duplicated all the pieces for a new forge over the last few jears. Once assembled, they will ply the forge to the machine's construction and maintenance at its location to the north."
"Fascinating," I said, "our forge can duplicate itself to create a machine capable of creating and building many more machines."
"Must you put it like that, Rick?" asked David. "You'll exacerbate Magnar's robophobia."
"That's not funny," he said.
"Will Venn control both of those, as well as every ship built?" I asked.
"I know you will think me paranoid," said Magnar, "but I contacted them the instant I heard the news with the same question. They said no. An independent synthetic will control the new forge, another will control the shipwright, and every ship will have a non-sentient A.I. to assist with the ship but not control it."
"Venn sounded interested in the possibility of Jiyu rekindling its space program," I said. "Will he accept being left out?"
"He will have to," said Magnar. "I know you disagree, but I think he has grown to enjoy the power he has obtained, and we should curtail that before it gets out of control."
We parted ways when the conversation ended. David busied himself with other details of the crisis, so he provided me with the address of the hospital. He asked me to contact him about Neal once I knew his status. Magnar left to complete David's requests.
I found the hospital located at the corner of Bragi Avenue and Central. I remember passing the building several times, but I had no idea what it contained. The seven-story building, with a subdued gothic facade, did not have a gothic interior. As a hospital, they left it one of the few places displaying Jiyu's technological advancements. It looked futuristic by Earth standards with its glass, metallic, and synthetic stone surfaces in tan, white, and a deep bluish-grey. The well-lit space didn't appear as clinical as some hospitals I had seen on Earth. It looked clean and professional.
The instant I entered the building, Apollo, the hospital's holographic assistant, greeted me. His appearance made me think they had modeled it from one of Dmitry's relations. His image projected from the ceiling onto a designated circular mat on the floor. With his hands clasped before him, he wore a pleasant smile and snowy white holographic clothing.
"Welcome, Mr. Heiden, how may I help you?"
"You know me?"
"You're in the database."
I nodded. "An emergency crew brought Neal in earlier. I came to check his condition and speak to a clinician."
"It's a pleasure to help you. Please, have a seat. I will let the clinicians know you await them." And with that, he vanished.
The universal experience, hospitals have the inevitable waiting room. Although I must say, I saw no one else there, which either spoke to the efficiency of the hospital, or to the fact that people hadn't needed hospital's much on Jiyu. I hadn't waited long before the clinician in charge met me.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Heiden. My name is Faye, and I'm pleased you're here. I heard you found Neal."
"David and I both found him, and I have several questions."
She seemed relieved. "Great, I'm glad somebody has taken an interest in Neal's welfare."
"Didn't Neal have any family?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"A mate? A friend? A client? Someone to whom he owed a favor?"
With her eyes closed, she shook her head regardless of who I proposed might show some concern. "No one at all." --she gestured to a door-- "Let's go to the back and talk."
The hospital functioned like none I had ever experienced; I had no administrative or monetary divide between the front and back. No one sat out front dichotomizing patients into those with and without insurance. The instant we crossed into the rear of the facility, we passed what I presumed were examining rooms, a trauma unit, and a surgery preparation room. I suspected those needs dominated on Jiyu; foundational Enhancement or not, people still had accidents.
"So, what happened to Neal?"
"Let me show you," she said.
Faye led me to a lab that held a medical holographic-field table, eight feet long, three feet wide, and three feet high. It reminded me of a trestle table. Above it hung a duplicate table hanging from the ceiling of the same length and width, leaving a three-foot gap between the two flat surfaces which they had embedded with what looked like a fine-toothed skin made up of an innumerable quantity of light emitters. Faye spoke to Apollo and asked him to show us the scan of Neal. The table had directed light emanating from both plates, and where the beams met created a realistic image of Neal. He lay on his back, and his body turned semitransparent. I could see his semi-opaque heart beating and his blood circulating through veins and arteries.
"Show us the anomalous scan of his brain activity," said Faye.
The focus turned to Neal's brain.
"As you can see, these lobes should show activity, but they're dark and appear dormant despite no obvious damage or other trauma. Blood flow to the brain appears normal, as well as the activity in the medulla oblongata, pons, and the cerebellum."
I nodded. "Explaining why Neal's autonomic functions remain intact," I said. "Yes, I see that. So, is Neal brain-dead?"
"That depends on who you ask," she replied. "Neal's brain stem keeps his heart beating, and he breathes unassisted. On Earth, they might consider him alive, and do whatever it took to sustain his body. However, on Jiyu, we recognize our existence relies solely on what happens in our brain. At present, he appears brain-dead. Once we complete all the tests, and if we determine he will not recover, on Jiyu, that's enough to consider someone dead. He has not even a glimmer of brain activity in any of the lobes that make you a person. If this much of someone's brain doesn't function, they don't exist anymore. Their body's health is inconsequential. However, we need to perform one more test because it could be a nano issue. I consulted the nano team an hour ago. They're sending someone with the equipment necessary to find out. They're running a little slow but should arrive at any time."
"Neal had the memory enhancement," I said. "Can we access his quantum lattice?"
"The technician will have to answer that," she said. "I deal with the biological portion of the body. The nanos don't usually affect anything that requires me to know that much about them."
I waited on a comfortable chair by Neal's bed in his fifth-floor room. The afternoon sun left the room in shadow, and the soft ambient lighting relaxed me. Neal lay on his back hooked up to various fluid inputs and outputs as well as a wireless monitor, and I sat there, disconcerted by his placidity. He displayed no sense of perception or cognition, and while he appeared to sleep, I witnessed no rapid eye movement either. It seemed that without the rest of the brain, that didn't function as normal.
David contacted me while I awaited the technician. Things had gotten worse; Rom was dead. Only after his demise had they found the electromagnetic pulse generator attached to a vulnerable portion of Rom on the roof of the building dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics.
"As Rom controlled all the satellites and telescopes," said David, "it has left us blind to anything that might happen with the other portal, and now our tracking device on the second drone is useless."
"They found only the one?"
"So far," said David, "but they may have sent only one device. If they wanted to hit us strategically, Rom presented the most efficient target. Now they can do what they like with impunity."
"Can we not manually tap into the satellites?" I asked.
"No," he said, "we didn't build them to do that. We have no means to control them, and without Rom to guide them, their orbits will begin to deteriorate, causing 289 satellites to fall. We won't let that happen, of course."
"Why did they build them without a manual override?" I asked.
"Because we didn't need one," he said, "and still wouldn't without the incursion. The saboteurs caused the problem, not the design."
"Perhaps," I said, "but once again, the failure to plan for contingencies has resulted in unnecessary complications. We must heed Julien's warning and stop being naive about people. If we don't, we will demonstrate an inability to learn from the past."
There came a long pause, and for a second, I thought he had ended the communication without so much as a 'bye'.
"You are right, of course," he said. "Another complication has arisen from this. There are things I must do. We'll talk later."
I waited an hour before the member of the nano team arrived. The man looked shorter and older than me, perhaps in his mid-forties, with chestnut hair and suntanned skin. He dressed in a white button-down and dark grey pants.
"Hello, I'm Doug." He stood there with a haunted look about him, hugging his technician's case. "You must be Rick. I am sorry about the delay. Families packed the trains, and the procession up Central is a nightmare."
"What?" I asked in alarm and rushed to the window. "It's good to meet you, Doug," I said in distraction. He wasn't exaggerating. The room's window looked out onto Central. Thousands of people covered the street and sidewalks. I noticed how all of them had young children with them, and then I realized...the exodus had begun.
"I just spoke with Faye," said Doug, "this patient's curious condition has caused much confusion."
He attracted my attention when I heard him opening his case. Along with several complicated-looking instruments to performed various tasks, he pulled out a slip of paper he had written. The note read: [Iris is listening. Say nothing. Go along with what I tell you.] I nodded.
"Faye tells me you want to know if we can access Neal's quantum lattice," said Doug.
"Yes, it's important we-"
"No, that's not possible," he said, interrupting me. He nodded his head affirmatively, mouthing the word 'maybe'.
"You can't? Why not?" I asked.
"It's just not made that way," he said. "Let me see if anything might explain this that I can determine."
I watched him write a note on his notepad. It read, [Iris relayed a message to me. I'm telling you what she told me to tell you. I don't know who controls her. Don't trust Iris; she is compromised.]
"Hmm," said Doug.
"Do you see the problem?" I asked.
"Give me a moment." He looked over the data display.
He wrote in the pad, [Neal's nanos have viral code.]
"No, I don't see anything," he said. "It looks normal. I'm sorry I couldn't help. Perhaps further study by the clinicians here at the hospital will discover something they've missed."
"That's a terrible shame. I appreciate that you tried."
We pretended to say goodbye and that he left, but I got the pen from him and wrote on the pad, [How can we reach Neal's quantum lattice?] To which he wrote in reply, [You can't, not with viral code, and I can't help you. I might end up like this guy.] At that point, he left for real.
So, Iris was listening, and that presented a problem. I went back to the window and looked at the crowd of people below, making their way to the lift. How many would leave? How would their absence affect the functioning of One City? I contacted David.
"Have you looked outside?" I asked.
"If you mean the families that are leaving, then yes," he said, "and security at the Temple has called Magnar, Laurel, and me there. We're taking flight packs to the top since we can't use the lift."
"Will all these people use the lift?"
"Most of them are taking the old walking path. It's grown up with weeds now, and a long way but quicker than the lift. I need to talk to you. Will you join me? I can carry you up."
"You mean for me to fly to the temple with you?"
"It's safe, don't worry," he said.
He met me on the roof of the hospital. While I waited there, I looked out over the mountain. A trail of people walked the steep path to the top, and a crowd headed to the lift that together could total twenty thousand people or more.
With the help of a flight pack, David landed on the roof wearing his Trust uniform, carrying a travel bag. After a quick kiss, he began tethering me to him with a series of straps. I held his satchel while he wrapped his arms around me from behind, and I stood on his feet.
Tilting my head back, I felt an inward cringe gazing at the mountain top with its dizzying height. "I'm frightened, David."
He gripped me tighter and whispered into my ear. "Trust me," he said. "I will never let you go."
As we rose, I appreciated that I hadn't eaten for a while when I felt my stomach drop, and the air rushed past me. Flight packs may present a faster and easier means to reach a destination, but I didn't much care for the sensation of feeling exposed while flying. Within a minute, we landed at the top. The stream of people I saw entering the temple was moving far faster than I would have expected.
We unstrapped ourselves and left the pack just inside the temple door, out of the way. We entered level-two containment and saw Magnar at the open door of the level-one containment. A flashing light came from inside the portal room.
"You won't believe it," said Magnar, as we rushed to him.
The portal had altered its mode somehow. A sphere, a fraction of its usual intensity, rotated an open quarter wedge from left to right, like a revolving door. They stepped into it and exited onto the portal at Painshill Park. Laurel and another member of her group took readings from a machine and recorded images.
"After ten consecutive groups went through, it began doing this," said Laurel. "We sent a volunteer through, and they returned telling us they saw the park, since then, a stream of people has walked back to Earth."
I spoke to the line of people before us. "I don't understand, why are you leaving?"
One of the women holding the hand of her little boy and girl replied. "We know they have the diamond now," she said, "and they have blinded us to the other portal. They've sent drones. We don't know what they're doing."
"Look what the portal can do," said one man, "if this one can do it, then so can the other. They will come. We know that if we wait on Earth a day, it will give you five or six days on Jiyu to find the other portal and stop them."
"Yes," said another, "and until you do, the families that fled this morning were right; we must protect our children. If you cannot find it, and this ends in fighting, I don't want mine in the middle of it."
I heard much agreement from the others in the line.
David looked at me. "Our people are flooding into the park. I should communicate with the British Government what has happened, even if our people stay there only a day."
"It will look like an invasion if you don't," I said.
"They will need money," said Magnar.
"I don't know what to do about that on short notice," David said.
"Did you remember your mobile?" I asked.
He nodded, took the bag from my hands, dropped it at his feet, and pulled me by the hand to the orientation room of the temple away from everyone else.
"Are you okay with me leaving without you?"
"You know I'm not," I said, "but don't worry, I have plenty to keep me busy." I gestured that we should turn off our communication with Iris for a moment, and we did.
"What's wrong?"
"Neal's nanos have viral code causing his condition. Someone threatened the nano technician into telling me nothing about it and give the impression the cause was something physiological. He wrote the truth on some paper that someone compromised Iris. We're being listened to, David, just as I suspected."
"What a terrible time for me to leave."
I held him. "I think I can fix our Iris problem."
"How?"
"Our drone from Earth. It's independent. Can the Iris we have now disengage from the system, or like Venn, is she the system?"
David pulled back and shook his head. "Don't do that. Have a trusted group connected through the separate system but leave whoever controls Iris to believe nothing has changed. Don't give up your element of surprise and find them." David returned to my embrace. "I will leave you and Magnar as my proxies while I'm away."
"What? Why?" I asked.
"Magnar, because he sponsored me and people respect him, but you because, as my mate, people would expect it. I trust you. It would lower your standing in the community if I were to choose anyone else, and I won't have you dishonored. Magnar knows what to do but give your input as much as you feel necessary. Don't let Magnar's dominant personality run you over. You both have an equal say as my proxies."
"Very well," I said, "but you may find things different when you return."
"I expect it, just as long as nothing changes between us." He kissed me, and when our lips met, I sought to remember that moment. "I will return when I can."
"How will I find you if I need you?" I asked.
"I have my mobile, so call me," said David. "If that doesn't work, contact Amanda. I will make sure she always knows where I am. If that doesn't work, I have the GPS tag Katheryn hid in Amare's jacket. Katheryn knows how to track it. Yes, I know, don't trust Katheryn, but I know of no other means to find me unless it's the blog, which I may not have access to if all else has failed. So that you know, I never had the chance to tell Aiden or Maggie that I was leaving."
I accepted it as coincidental of its previous usage, but I came to call that day: D-day. Not because troops stormed the beach at Normandy, but because the day resulted in a succession of ten "D" words summing up the day to perfection. Up to then, we had the death, the disclosure, the diamond, the device, the destruction, and the darkness. We had arrived at the departure, and I would see three others before the completion of my day.
He looked at me, smiling. "We're alone here, and for as much as I like to take my time, I could give you a load for the road."
"You mean, fuck me here?" I shook my head. "I'll smell like sex, and I prefer to shower afterward." I gripped the front of his trousers. "I would love to please you before you go."
He nodded and leaned against the table. He wore his uniform, so I removed his codpiece, marveling at the clever invention which allowed me easy access to my favorite toys; his cock and balls lay there on display. He had such a beautiful cock. I pressed it to my face and inhaled the aphrodisiac of his scent, it told me, I knew, that I had a strong connection to David. I sucked his left nut into my mouth, and it filled it like an enormous gobstopper, and I wished I had room for both. I did the same for the right one bathing them lovingly and cherishing that he appreciated the attention I lavished on him. He caressed my head and ran his fingers through my hair. His cock lay up my face and onto my forehead. I released his right nut and kissed the head of his cock, glossing my lips with his precum. It tasted sweet from all the fruit we tend to eat.
In one go, I shoved his cock down my throat because I knew he loved that. I wanted to take my time, but I knew I couldn't. I throated him repeatedly and used my hand on the way back up. I made as many slurping and sucking sounds as I could, and he came quickly. I gulped down his offering and almost stopped.
"No, keep going," he said. "I came too fast."
I continued to suck him. His erection never went down if I stimulated him. I jammed his cock down my throat and held it there making short, deep strokes. I pulled back and kept slurping on his cock like it would save his life. I sucked, slobbered, stroked him repeatedly craving that reward. I looked up, he held his eyes closed and my head loosely in his hands, lost in the pleasure. His cock stiffened just before he shot his second load. I pulled it back to my mouth and felt him shoot with my tongue. I gulped and swallowed as fast as I could taking all he had to offer me and loved every second of it. Once he finished, I cleaned his cock and balls of my spit, squeezing the remnants of his cum up his shaft to the tip where I gladly devoured it. Presentable again, I kissed the end of my favorite toy just before I carefully tucked him back into his codpiece.
Afterward, we stood next to the striped wood table, kissing our passionate 'goodbye' and saying our 'I Love You' in private. It came all too abruptly, but we had no remedy for the situation. He had to speak to the British government about our presence on their soil, and they would insist that he stay to fulfill his promise, and in doing so, it would ensure they treated our people well. I would have the hardest time, and David knew that. Once he left, the time for me would drag at a differentially induced pace of five or six to one. Five or six days for me would be perhaps a day on Earth. Even if it took six Earth months to make any headway, that would equate to a separation from David of almost two and a half jears from my perspective. When it came time for David to leave my embrace, I swore to myself I would cry later and not show him a puffy-eyed man bawling like a child as he went.
David made a Trust-wide communication announcing he had ambassadorial duties on Earth impossible to delay with his intention to leave, and that Magnar and I had assumed the responsibility of acting as his proxies until his return.
When he climbed the portal steps and looked back, I wished I had gotten the memory enhancement so I would remember that moment in detail. I decided then I would receive that enhancement before I left the temple. I did my best to remember everything about that moment. The way he moved when he took the steps and turned to give me one last parting glance. He smiled and nodded at me, telling me I knew where to find him if I needed him, and that I would see him again. He then vanished into the portal.
Laurel spoke to Magnar and me to discuss her findings for over an hour when a scuffle and shouting occurred behind us at the revolving door. It halted the progress of the exodus. I turned to see someone I did not expect to see. Two Trust members held a man by the arms, and he said in a loud and clear voice. "I'm here for my medicine. Would anyone happen to have a spoon?"
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
"What should we do with him?" asked one of the men holding him.
The face of the man in custody grew a sly grin when he turned his glare to anyone within view. "Yes, what will you do with me? Take your time; there's no rush."
Magnar insisted the families leaving continue their journey, or the portal would reset itself. I had the man brought to the orientation room that David and I used earlier, where Trust members dropped him into a chair at the table. I thanked them, and they glowered at the man as they left.
The room, the size of an average bedroom, had a bank of windows behind the man's back. They overlooked the red columned great hall, which made up the bulk of containment area two. Magnar stood behind me, arms folded, leaning against the wall. I sat across from the man and leaned toward him. "So, who am I addressing, Pearce or Zachariah?"
He tipped his head in curiosity and raised an eyebrow. "Pearce. And you have spoken to my mother. How is the dear old drug-addled witch? Still alive, I take it. That's surprising."
I reclined in my chair. "Nope, she's dead."
"What did you do, have a seance?"
"She died of hypoxia in my arms this morning."
He nodded a little. "Did Mother have a lot of pain?" he asked, sounding as if he hoped she did.
"I believe so. Her last words were expressing a fear that Jesus wouldn't find her."
He nodded. "That sounds like her. What a small god she had." He tilted his head far to one side to peer over my shoulder. "Hello, Magnar, still fucking Sandra at beddo parties behind her mate's back?"
"Sergey knows," said Magnar, "and that ended long ago, not that it's anyone's business."
"Of course he knows...now," said Pearce, leaning forward. "I told him before I left."
Magnar pulled his sword but made no advance, "I should run you through for that."
Pearce drew back in his chair, putting up his hands.
"Magnar! Calm down," I said.
"I'm just making a point, Magnar," said Pearce. "If I must take my medicine, many people on Jiyu need a dose of it themselves."
"Point not taken," said Magnar. "None of the rest of us have committed treason, whereas you-"
"You have certainty of my guilt, but the innocence of the other- Ah, well, whatever the number of people on Jiyu now. Minus those people leaving, of course. Not since Aurum has the population dropped like this."
"You know of that?" I asked.
"What I know would astound you," said Pearce. "If knowledge has power, I'm the most powerful man on this planet."
"Uh-huh." He hadn't convinced me. "Out of curiosity, David left through the portal a bit before you arrived. Did you see him?"
"Yes, and I spoke with him. He arrived to find me in a restrained position, just as when I arrived here."
Magnar sheathed his sword and moved toward the table with interest. "What did he say to you?"
"He asked what I wanted. I said I needed medical help. He pointed at the portal and bellowed at me to go take my medicine."
"That sounds like something he would say," I said.
"I knew what he meant."
"So, he sent you through to face the consequences."
"Yes, and he told me to whisper something to you if you didn't believe he agreed with my return." When I leaned across the table, he whispered into my ear something he couldn't have known. "Iris is a problem."
I nodded. "Okay, I believe that." I thought about it for a moment. "And now, what's the real reason for your return?"
"I came to warn you, get medical help, and collect some of my things."
"Warn us about what?" asked Magnar in growing anger.
"Well, I note that parents with children are leaving, so I'm a bit late. You already seem to know the Americans will pour through the other portal as we do into the park. You did find the other portal, didn't you?"
"No!" Magnar pounced his hands upon the table and leaned into Pearce's face, "and if they're coming through, it's because you gave them the diamond you stole from the Louvre and told them of our vulnerabilities."
"I did no such thing!" Their faces were barely an inch apart. "And I did not give them the diamond. They took it from me!"
Magnar leaned in closer. "I don't believe you! What I believe is you're an agent of the Aggregate, and not to be trusted."
"I would like an explanation for your behavior," I said, "and don't think we'll send you on your merry way without one because I insist."
Pearce pulled his face away from Magnar's, glancing at me. "And the aggregate is..."
I stood to pull Magnar's furious scowl away from Pearce by his shoulder. "A singular serendipitous epithet for our diverse adversaries, although accidental, it's apt."
"I see," he said, and we both returned to our seats. "Well, I accept that I owe you an explanation, perhaps more so you and the others from the mission than anyone else. I know you've spoken with my mother, so there's no telling with what diabolical deeds she's attributed me, poisoning your mind against me. You said she died of hypoxia. She was smoking the weed when she died, wasn't she? That narcotic changed her perception. Couple that with the fact that she hated me because I reminded her too much of Jackson, and you have a recipe for saying harsh and untrue things."
"The truth comes unbidden," I said. "How would you know your mother told us terrible things about you if she didn't tell the truth?"
"Because she said harsh and untrue things to my face most of my life here. My 50 jear absence wouldn't change her."
I studied his face. His words felt true, but I excelled as an inadequate lie detector. I couldn't trust my judgment, and I didn't know if I could believe him. Neal told me Teresa didn't lie. Of course, that could just mean she believed what she was saying. I wished David hadn't left; he might have known the truth. I asked Magnar, who returned to the wall behind me. "Magnar, what say you?"
"I admit," he said, "it's consistent with her general behavior."
"Okay, Pearce," I said, "I tentatively accept that. I should tell you, however, that we read in your journals where you admit to torturing your mother."
"Ah! I see. Well, I didn't torture her. I just did things I knew would drive her mad. None of them worked, so I resorted to the weed. She couldn't resist it, and she told me whatever I wanted to know."
I sat there in shock. "You got your mother hooked on that noxious plant?"
"Of course not! What sort of deranged sociopath do you take me for? John caused that. She came from the American South and lived there during the era that doctors handed out opiates like candy. They had her addicted as hell, and Jackson encouraged that in secret. It made her pliable in the beginning, you see. Somehow, she and John, who worked for Jackson, fell in love. Once he discovered she had fallen pregnant, he brought her here to protect us. Luckily, he had exposed her to the Foundational Enhancement. It protected me from her addiction at the time of conception. If it hadn't, I would have had low birth weight and a collection of health issues if I survived at all."
"Why did John get her hooked on it?" I asked.
"He didn't intend that. As a botanist, he felt he could help her, so when they arrived, he got her to smoke the dried leaves of the plant to ease her withdrawal from the pills. With his assistance, it would have worked, but I understood he returned to the U.S. to take care of something. I don't know what. He hadn't planned to stay long. I suspect he intended to confront Jackson. At the time, Odette held the post in London. She sent word that John hadn't checked in with her as he said he would. After some investigating and time had passed, she believed he had died because he vanished.
"People who knew Mother, in the beginning, said they couldn't console her, and that John's death changed her. In my youth, she smoked for a while and sometimes quit. During an interval of sobriety, she told me of my father, but not his name, and as a last resort, I enticed her with the weed to get her to tell me the whole truth. I don't feel bad at having done that. She would have started again eventually. I left with David when he went for service on Earth."
Magnar spoke up. "In your absence, she continued to vacillate between bouts of indulgence and abstention."
"Why doesn't the foundational enhancement prevent addiction?" I asked.
"Because of the mental and emotional component that comes with it," said Pearce. "I believe my mother's anguish at the loss of John kept her trapped. She wanted to escape the drug, but she couldn't without creating an emotional distance from John. He did give it to her. However, when she stayed away from the drug, she thought more of John, and she couldn't bear that."
"Didn't anyone try to help her?" I asked.
"We tried to help her," said Magnar, "but nothing worked."
"They tried many times," said Pearce. "She couldn't let go of John, and after the jears of believing John was my father, I guess neither could I. He saved my mother and me. I revered him as my hero, and I held onto that. He felt so real to me, and I never even met him."
"You went to Earth for your father, didn't you?"
"Yes, I had a reactionary response to the news, I know that now. After Mother told me what she did about John, I felt desperate for a father, an alive one. Between the time she told me, and when I left, I resolved to find him, meet him, reveal myself to him, and in my deluded imagination, I would finally have a father. Mother told me I would regret it. If she could, she would gloat right now. In the end, Mother wanted me to leave. She said the older I became, the more I reminded her of Jackson. When she smoked, she always acted abominably to me. She hated him, and that hatred spread to me as a matter of convenience. I presented a local manifestation of him in her eyes."
"Are you like him?" I asked.
"I look nothing like him. I sound nothing like him. I didn't see any resemblance at all, physical or otherwise, and of course, he had no influence on my life during my formative years."
"Why didn't someone do a DNA test for you?"
"I thought of that," said Pearce, "they couldn't. John had no relatives here, and by the time it became a question, no DNA from him existed to test. And I couldn't test Jackson's. As a political figure, he never let anyone near him. However, he admitted something to me. During the conversation we had before they released me, I told Jackson he was my father, and he told me that he had a vasectomy before he married my mother."
"So, you are John's son," said Magnar.
"That's wonderful news," I said. "You know, you sure talk more now than when we met."
"I needed time to recover. I still feel the effects of their little experiments. I believe many of them should have finished, but they haven't. If for no other reason, I had to return for that. I need a large dose of nano-suspension, and I can't get that on Earth."
"Magnar, will you please get a large dose of the suspension?"
I could hear Magnar grimacing behind me. "Yes, I can do that."
"Thank you," I said.
"Now that he's gone," said Pearce, "What makes Iris a problem? Does Magnar know?"
"Yes, he knows. She is compromised. Someone uses her to listen to anyone's conversations, whether they are talking via her service or not. I've begun keeping my connection turned off."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"While on Earth, you said they experimented on you. They used the NP device you brought with you, didn't they? What did they do?"
"Ah...I don't know for sure," said Pearce. "That's why I had no comment about what they did. Have you ever seen an NP device close up?"
I shook my head.
"You can use them two ways: manual and automatic. The manual setting requires genetic knowledge that I don't possess, but it can do far more if you know how. However, automatic is simple, and they contain a list of preprogrammed enhancements, some of which have variable settings and customizations. If you wish to enhance your height to two meters tall, you check the height enhancement and set it for two meters. The nanos are intelligent; they know your height, and they change you according to their programming. I went through two series of enhancements. For the first, I know what they did. It had to do with what they wanted from me. They couldn't comprehend it didn't work the instant you pushed the button, and unlike every device on Earth, this one gives no signals. So, they increased it and did it again. They thought it had a problem. I kept trying to get them to stop, but they had me tied down and gagged. Afterward, they hooked me up to their machine six days in a row. I owe David my life. If he hadn't called and threatened Jackson, it would have killed me. Before they released me, they enhanced me again. They said it would compensate me for my services. They wouldn't tell me what they did, but I know they did it with a rather juvenile sense of humor because some things are becoming obvious now. I know it put my hormones off balance, which has me a bit emotional. I don't know how far it will go, but the entire incident has left me nano-depleted for too long. The Foundational Enhancement gets priority over any new enhancement."
"I'm sorry you endured that," I said. "You had told David that you loved Jiyu because of him, but he couldn't outweigh the love from your family. What did you mean by that?"
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" he asked.
"No, you should detect curiosity about whether you have a family on Earth."
"You have that much confidence in your relationship with David."
"I know David. Do you evade the question?"
He lost his smirk, and once again, seemed overcome with the haunted look that I had witnessed on Earth. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, trying his best to control his feelings. "I broke my vow," he said. "I apologize."
"Tell me about them."
He had trouble taking regular breaths, and when he started to speak, he stared me in the eye, never blinking. "I had a mate named Oliver. He was 38." A tear ran down his cheek.
"He died?" I asked.
"They killed him the day before they released me." He restrained himself the best he could.
"Who are `they'?" I asked.
"Phalin killed him attempting to remove the nano-stratum beneath his heart."
I knew the location to which he referred. "I'm sorry for your loss," I said.
"Thank you."
"Phalin. That name comes from the Gaelic word for wolf," I said. "They're also a mercenary security company with lucrative U.S. Government contracts if I recall."
"Right on both counts," he said, sniffing. "The research and development section attempted the removal against my warnings, and he died on the operating table."
"I'm very sorry to hear that," I said. "So, Phalin had you."
"Yes, that's Jackson Scott's company. He separated himself from it when he went into politics by dropping the Phalin last name, but the separation is no more real than his last name is Scott."
"Jackson Scott Phalin, my my," I said. "When someone says family, they mean more than just a spouse or mate. Do you have children?" I should have known better. I shouldn't have asked; he couldn't take it.
He sat there, his eyes closed, in a growing posture of immense pain from his near-perfect memory, and his face carried profound anguish that told me the depth of my mistake. "We have a little boy." He began to weep, which escalated into blubbering. "He just turned five." He looked me in the eye. "Don't do this to me, please. I can't talk about him. Not now."
"You don't know where he is, do you?" I asked.
"No," he said, unable to stop, "and I fear for his safety. Phalin has him, and he's unregistered."
"Oh my god."
"Why did you do this to me?" He began to make himself angry. Shutting his eyes tight and clenching his jaw, he pounded his fists on the table, shouting to himself. "Stop it! I can't do this now!" He shot to his feet and held onto the table, shaking, taking deep, intentional breaths.
He could cry at length when he got going. I could hardly blame him for trying to prevent that. I gave him time to regain his composure. "I'm sorry," I said.
"I get it."
I thought it best to return to pressing questions. "You took an exact duplicate of the Sancy diamond when you left. Why did you do that?"
He wiped his eyes and sniffed. "I took the diamond because I wanted to replace the one in the Louvre so I could give it to David, and we could keep the original on Jiyu. I didn't know if I could get it. They have tight security, so I worked on the idea for years.
"When I arrived, I inserted myself into the American system as our people showed me, which the Americans have now made impossible. I then worked as a doctor. I met Jackson Scott several times in the beginning --not in a private meeting, mind you-- but after having met him, I didn't dare tell him my name. He's intimidating as hell, and I never had an appropriate time anyway. So, I gave up on it for a while and just experienced Earth.
"Once my situation changed with the abduction, I needed to come home, but you had the mission. Then we had the delay in Venice and the ship, the idea of which scared the hell out of me. I'm sorry I lied to you. Phalin gave me the phone I carried. They monitored it. I had to contact them twice a day to report in, and they gave me instructions. That includes the EMP incident in Venice. They denied me the return of my son after I acceded to their demands, despite their promises. They abandoned me when they left Venice, but I still needed to get home."
"I betrayed you all, and you had left," he said. "I had no help and no chipped diamond. Over the years, I had developed the plan to get the Sancy, but my physical health had to improve before I could attempt it. I thought maybe I would have the opportunity one day to use the portal near London. When I got stronger, I recovered my copy of the diamond from where I hid it in Paris, and I planned to steal the Sancy. I should have realized, but they had me followed everywhere I went after Venice. They didn't stop me from stealing the diamond, but once I had it, they grabbed me and took it.
"As long as they have my son, they leave me no good choices. They could make me do nearly anything. So, I had to come back to get what will free me of them. One City has something I need besides the suspension."
Magnar returned with the glass of nano-suspension, interrupting the flow of the conversation. He set the glass before Pearce, who grabbed it and began guzzling like his life depended on it, which seemed curious. If I could believe him, he didn't know what they did to him. I thought perhaps he just wanted to get it over with.
"What took so long?" I noticed Magnar wore a sidearm that he hadn't earlier.
"People waylaid me with other business," he said, "and I had trouble finding the suspension. It seems the people in charge of such things have gone to the park at Painshill with their children. Laurel has some important news about the portal you will wish to hear. It's the containment areas, she thinks we don't need them. The last of the people are walking through to the park now. The final count is 55,492 people who have left. That's every child under ten years of age with at least one parent, and most with children under fifteen."
"Fascinating."
"I always thought containment and decontamination sounded useless," said Pearce. "The aliens who built the portals had no concern about it. I saw no reason that we should either. I do see why David had to go, though. That's a sizable group with no money."
"Indeed," I said. "It's getting late, Magnar. Pearce will need food and sleep. I don't know the time on Earth, but beddo is upon us, and I haven't rested well in two days."
"I will keep an eye on Pearce tonight so you can rest," Magnar said.
"No, you will not. Pearce will come with me to the penthouse. I have rooms he can use. I take full responsibility."
"Very well, if you insist," said Magnar, eyeing me. "Do you act like this with David?"
"Like what, assertive? I'm doing what I know David would have me do as his proxy."
"I guess I didn't expect you to take to it so easily," he said.
"You will find me full of surprises."
"Neither one of you must keep an eye on me," said Pearce using his index finger to get at the remaining suspension from the glass as though it were cake batter. "I could stay at Mother's house. No doubt, my room awaits me somewhere under the stench."
"No, you couldn't," said Magnar, "because, one, we don't trust you, and two, because we demolished that house when she moved to the square after your departure."
The temple had turned quiet and shadowy before we began to leave level-two containment. The few people still there confined themselves to the observation wing.
We came upon the clinic where Yoncara gave me my enhancements. It reminded me of the promise I made to myself. Although closed at the time, the Temple had no locks, so I opened the clinic door, and the automatic lighting came onto full.
"What are you doing?" asked Pearce and Magnar.
"Earlier this evening, I watched David leave through the portal without me, and it occurred to me that if I had enhanced memory, I would recall that moment with perfect clarity. But does it help with remembering details of the past before having gotten the enhancement?"
"Yes, it does," said Pearce. "However, a darker side to the enhancement exists that you should know about."
"I know," I said, "Cadmar told me. I must use caution with what I cause myself to remember. However, I accept that life isn't always pleasant, and those times help to craft us as people. But if life merely consisted of one unpleasant ordeal after the next, then why bother living? For me, this enhancement holds an opportunity. I want to remember the details of my life for the future."
Before me, a glass-fronted display cabinet hung on the wall, with recesses filled with various technological instruments. I picked up the NP device from its cubbyhole.
"You should wait for a clinician and have it done tomorrow," said Magnar.
I looked at Pearce. "You know how this works. Will you do it?"
"You would trust him?" asked Magnar.
"I've suffered as a subject in the mishandling of that instrument," said Pearce. "I know how that feels." He looked Magnar in the eye. "I would never harm someone with it."
"I believe you," I said, holding it out.
He took it and showed me how simple the device worked on automatic. He insisted on transparency in showing both Magnar and myself the enhancement I would get on the readout.
He placed it just below my heart. "Are you certain this is what you want?"
"Yes."
Pearce pressed the initiate button, and a moment later, I had the enhancement.
We left the building to discover darkness, a more comfortable temperature, and a light breeze. We paused at the overlook on the way to the lift, where we began chatting. The city lights spread below us with streets glowing from scatter-lights along the edges of the sidewalks, and all the buildings lit their front entryways, and the walkways before them.
The more I experienced it, the more One City at night became my favorite time. It transformed into a different place, and brilliant in the way it could spark inside me an emotion of belonging and safety.
"I will tell you this," said Magnar, "because the reason not to tell you no longer exists, and it's something I think you will appreciate. David asked me not to tell you; he didn't want you to do something because he did it. He knows you think you must keep up with him. Before the two of you left the temple yesterday, David got his memory enhanced while you and I discussed the penthouse remodel. He felt it might aid him in the coming days of difficulty. You wanted to remember, and so shall he."
"That means a lot to me, Magnar. Thank you for that."
"I didn't think he would ever do it," said Pearce as we continued to the lift. "I tried to convince him to get that enhancement jears ago when I did, but he refused."
"Why wouldn't he do it?"
Magnar spoke up. "David still attended school when he inquired about it, and I told him if he got it too young, he would cheat himself. The enhancement should enhance the robust memory you innately have, not supplant it. One's memory grows robust through use."
"I might have known," said Pearce, "I wondered where he got that cheating nonsense. Your brain doesn't just serve as a storage device, Magnar. There's plenty of intellectual compensations in having the enhancement at sixteen when I received it."
Magnar's turned his perturbed gaze upon Pearce. "Sixteen? You shouldn't be getting any enhancements without a parent present until eighteen years of age, and don't tell me your mother accompanied you because I know better."
"Why not get it at sixteen?" asked Pearce as we entered the lift. "There's no law against it."
"The bloody cheek," Magnar mumbled to himself. "Earth has had a bad influence on you."
The doors to the lift closed, and we descended.