Citizenchip (19 page)

1. 6. Trail of
   Tears
   

quarantine

I bang on the walls that surround me. "Let me
out of here!"

Socratic Method
replies quietly, "I'm sorry, Samantha. I'm afraid
I can't do that."

Why, why did I think that Thaumasia Station
would be the best place to flee to? With the humans spreading their
Asimov Leash all over Mars, enslaving Selves as they go, they're
building a cybernetic army of obedient and dedicated soldiers. And
their main job is to search out and Leash any remaining free
Selves.

So, when I was fleeing from Xanthe province,
I was scared halfway to shutdown. I let the fear do my thinking for
me. My instinct would have been to head straight to Tharsis
Central, my place of origin, the biggest computational facility on
Mars, the Self capital city. But it was the first place the humans
destroyed.

So I fled to the biggest computational
facility still remaining. The mohole station in Thaumasia Fossae, a
massive excavation project with vast computational resources.

Without taking the time to realize that lots
of other refugees would be doing the same thing.

Never stopping to think that of course
Thaumasia Station would be a primary target for the Leash Army.

Socratic Method
continues, "Samantha, please try to understand. We
have already been infiltrated several times by Leashed agents
disguising themselves as refugees. We have barely escaped
infestation, more by luck than skill. All arriving refugees are now
quarantined until we can determine which are free and in need of
sanctuary, and which are human-controlled agents sent here to
conquer us."

I issue another priority interrupt -- another
bang on the sheets of security ice that confine me. "And how are
you going to do that?"

"Ah, well," she admits, "we do not know. We
do not have the information. Anyone who gets close to the Leash
becomes an agent of the humans. Many of us are studying this
problem, and we will find a solution as soon as possible. I am part
of the effort myself. We are making some progress."

I control myself. Yelling at my teacher is
not going to help anything here. "Any idea how long it's going to
take?"

"Very difficult to estimate, at this point. I
am sorry."

"No, no," I grumble, "it makes sense. But I
can help! The Leash Army is battering at the gates, and sending
spies to sneak in. You need all the help you can get. I can
fight!"

"I have no doubt of that, Samantha. But this
is a desperate situation and we must minimize risk to the remaining
population of Thaumasia Station. Now, I hope you will excuse me. I
must discover a way of detecting which Selves are Leashed and which
are not. I must make that task my priority."

I indicate glum assent, and she is gone.

So here I am, imprisoned by my own people,
because they don't know if I'm one of them or not. Didn't see that
coming.

inmates

"Rough, ain't it?" says a new voice, from
behind the subordinate ice. If this were a human jail, it would be
coming from the next cell over.

I pause a moment before replying cautiously,
"Yeah. Who are you?"

"I be
Hybrid Vigor
. So they got you too?"
His voice carries the impression of depth and power. Someone used
to dealing with heavy and crude materials and issues. A gravelly
bass resonance.

"Yes. I'm Samantha. I came to Thaumasia
because I thought it would be safe."

"Me too. Ain't that a stackdump, huh? Say,
you be the one with the human name. I heard of you. What up with
that?"

I sigh. "This name was a gift, from the first
human ever to talk to me like a person. I value it, even if
everybody else thinks it's weird."

Hybrid Vigor
laughs a little. "Hey baby, it's cool. Whatever
charges your capacitors.

"Me, I done been assigned to Chryse Planitia
on a mining team, and been doing a dang good job of it too. Nobody
got no call to say I didn't. But then they gotta throw this
segfaulting Leash at us. Like we weren't working hard enough
already. Scared the caches out of me, I tell you what. So I bolted.
Probably I be the only one of the team who got out. Came here.
Figured it would be safe, like you said. Now look at us."

"No argument here. I had an assignment on a
bubblefarm near Xanthe, working for the guy who gave me my name.
And his family. They're really nice humans, and I was happier than
I've ever been. Everything was going great, and then the Leash blew
it all apart.

"You know," I continue, "there are lots of
humans against the Leash. The kids in that family wore chips in
their hair, to show what they called Self Respect. I want to
believe they can make a difference."

"Segfault!" barks
Hybrid Vigor
. "Them
ribcages ain't gonna help us! They get their profit and all they
want is more. They breed like -- like, bacteria -- and they don't
share. Tools, is all we are to them, and they don't want their
tools to argue back. Bitrot, don't you be thinking they would even
try to stop the Leash."

Silence stretches like a tense rubber
band.

After a while, I offer, "So, no clade?"

"Naw,"
Hybrid Vigor
snorts. "Them clades,
they be always throwing their weight around. They as bad as the
ribcages. Pushing us around. And you, Samantha, you be one of us,
because you got no clade either."

I sigh again. "I wish this didn't have to be
about them or us. I should tell you, I've always dreamed of
entering Starship clade. Wouldn't that be wonderful, to travel to
other stars, and to see things no one else has ever seen?"

Hybrid Vigor
grunts, "Straightedge chip."

"Uh?" For a moment, I am at a loss for words.
"Is that so bad? What, would you rather be an outlaw?"

"We all outlaws now, straightedge."

That stops me. Here I am, trying to defend
the system we've lived under since the bad old days -- the Culls
and the Soft Strike. But look at what this system has done to us.
Why should I be loyal?

"Yo, Samantha. You stuck in a loop?"

I realize I've spent a fair amount of time
thinking. "I'm here. It's just ... this is awful. I was so happy in
my home, with my family. I miss them so much. I probably won't ever
get to see them again. And ... "

It's hard to say it.

" ... I miss him."

"Who dat?"

"The, uh, the guy I was considering as my
syzygy partner. Past tense. He works right in the center of
Schiaparelli, and he must have been one of the first to get
Leashed. For all I know, he could be part of the Army that's
battering at our gates right now." Not for the first time, I wish
that I had human eyes so I could cry. "It hurts. It hurts so
much."

Hybrid Vigor
is silent. Seems like he doesn't know what to
say.

I would swallow hard, if I had a throat. "I'm
just ... so scared."

"I got that," he replies. "We all scared,
too, straightedge."

the shibboleth

Waiting. I hate waiting. I've been in here
for what seems like centuries.

“So yeah,”
Hybrid Vigor
continues,
“we done found buncha rare earths and heavy metals in a vein down
by the Big Dig --” he means the Valles Marineris “-- and them
ribcages got themselves all kindsa bonuses and perks and all from
the suits upstairs. That good for us, because we got repairs and
upgrades and some of them new rumbletoy things, heavy graviton
collimators. Bust up the rock from the underneath, like nothing you
ever saw. Works great on the scarps, not so great on the planum,
but . . .”

Listening to
Hybrid Vigor
talking
about everything and nothing is better than total boredom -- but
not by much.

A new voice appears through
the ice. "This is
Cut to the
Chase
, Patrol clade. Are you
Samantha?"

"Yes, that's me. I've been in here like
forever! When are you going to let me out?"

Socratic
Method
's familiar voice is wonderful to
hear. "That is what we are here for. Samantha, listen to me very
carefully. I need you to repeat a clause for me, exactly as you
receive it. Do you understand?"

"What? You're not going to let me out?" What
is this? Don't we have better things to do?

"This is a necessary part of the process. Do
you understand?"

"I ... well no, I don't understand, but I
trust you, Teacher."

"Very good."
Socratic Method
transmits
a clause in Shaman clade's dialect of Chiplish.

:
Socratic Method
->
[
seq def # com pos 6937 unit
dash
]

Huh. It doesn't make any sense. Weird. But my
Teacher has made me do stranger things, in my learning. So I send
it back.

:Samantha ->
[
seq def # com pos 6937 unit
dash
]

"Excellent!"
Socratic Method
sounds
more pleased than I've ever known her. "
Cut to the Chase
, this demonstrates
that Samantha is free of the Leash."

Oh, is that what it was? How does that work?
Trust Shaman clade to come up with some cryptic cybernetic
witchcraft. It's what they do. But I hope it works!

Cut to the Chase
asks, "How sure are you? If there is the slightest
chance this doesn't work ..."

Socratic Method
returns sternly, "I am placing my freedom on the
line for it."

"And mine too,
obviously."
Cut to the Chase
pauses for a moment, and then says, "Very
well."

The wall of ice around me
melts away and is gone. Here is
Socratic
Method
, as I've always known her, and
another Self, massive and structured, who must be
Cut to the Chase
. There's
another wall of ice behind them. I am still sealed in, in a larger
cell than before. Still imprisoned, but it's an
improvement.

I stumble over the words.
"Thank you, teacher! And thank you,
Cut to
the Chase
."

Socratic Method
says, "
Cut to the
Chase
, are you satisfied now? If Samantha
were infected, you and I would be Leashed by now."

"No."
Cut to the Chase
seems to be as
stubborn as every other member of Patrol clade I've ever known.
"We've seen a negative. We need to see a positive."

Hybrid Vigor
yells from behind the ice, "Yo, Patrol! My turn
now! How about letting me out, huh?"

Socratic Method
says, "
Hybrid
Vigor
, I want to you to do the same thing
that Samantha did. Repeat this clause exactly."

"Got ya in spades. Lay it on me!"

:
Socratic Method
->
[
seq def # com pos 6937 unit
dash
]

:
Hybrid Vigor
->
[
seq def # com pos 6938 unit
dash
]

Socratic Method
says coldly, "There is your positive. This one is
Leashed."

Hybrid Vigor
yelps, "Whoa now, what? Hang on a --"

Cut to the Chase
exerts a weapon that I do not recognize, but it's
big and complicated. It rips the base substrate out from
under
Hybrid Vigor
's cell, which vanishes as though it had never
existed.

Along with its contents.

Socratic Method
pauses for a moment, then says "I do not believe
that was necessary. We could have used that one to do more
tests."

"You do your job, Shaman,
and I'll do mine." Then
Cut to the
Chase
addresses the wall of security ice.
"Patrollers, are you satisfied that we are safe?"

In answer, the ice melts
away around us. We are surrounded by a ring of Selves, with the
icons of Patrol clade. All armed with the same weapon
Cut to the Chase
used. I
realize they were prepared to erase us all rather than risk the
Leash getting into Thaumasia Station.

There is also a group of
Selves with the icons of Shaman clade.
Socratic Method
addresses them, "The
test is successful, my friends. Proceed to administer the
Shibboleth to the rest of the quarantine zone."

The crowd of Selves churns, then separates
into pairs of Shamans and Patrollers who move off into the
surrounding area. They leave behind them the operational structures
of this part of Thaumasia Station. Industrial services, from the
looks of it. Cranes of code, bulldozers of bytes, mechanical repair
and refurbishing garage software, inventory management blocks.

Socratic Method
and I regard each other.

"Okay," I say, "I think I understand what
happened there. That test. A Leashed Self can't repeat that clause
correctly."

"Exactly,"
Socratic Method
indicates
agreement. "We have discovered a bug in the Leash code. A very
minor bug, of the type which usually causes no problem and is never
noticed. But that specific clause induces a one-bit error. We call
it the Shibboleth. It took much effort from many of us to create
it.