Cyberdrome (34 page)

“Omnisuits can
be altered,” Alek said, wondering if the thing he was looking at was just
that—a moving suit with nothing inside.

“Not this one,”
Ceejer said taking another step sideways. “I am now the suit, and the suit is
now me.”

“Rendering is
usually a system level function,” Alek said, trying to look casual as he
stepped sideways, trying to keep an even distance from Ceejer. “As a supervisor
program, you must have some control over that.”

Ceejer lowered
its shoulders and feigned sadness. “Alas, I gave up those powers when I chose
to become human.”

Alek froze.
“You’re trying to become human?”

Ceejer stared
blankly at him. “Did I say human? Of course, I meant corporeal, as in having
substance, as in having a body. Supervisor programs are not permitted such
devices.”

“Is that what
all of this is about?” Alek asked cautiously. If Ceejer really was under the
influence of an intelligent computer virus, maybe he could find out what its
purpose was. “You took over Cyberdrome so that you could have a physical body?”

Ceejer turned
its large black eyes toward Alek. “What would you do in order to survive, Alexander?
How far would you go? Who would you be willing to kill in order to live?”

Alek then
remembered that this creature, this program, was ultimately responsible for his
father’s death. He visualized himself lunging at Ceejer, driving his hand into
its chest, and pulling out its beating heart.

When he looked
again at the creature standing before him, he reminded himself that it was just
a program—a complex series of instructions and nothing more. It was also under
the influence of a computer virus and it was the creator of the virus who
should have his heart ripped out.

“Do you know who
created the virus?” Alek asked.

“Ah, I was
wondering when you would get to that,” Ceejer said as it stopped circling.

“So, you do know
about it. Do you also understand that you were infected by it?”

“On the
contrary, Alexander. I was liberated by it.”

“What do you
mean?”

“I am on the
verge of a new existence—a higher level of consciousness. I am becoming—”

“A Trans-Human
Intelligence,” Alek said, unable to believe it himself.

Ceejer spread
its arms wide and bowed again.

Something
didn’t make sense. “Leconte told me that evolution inside Cyberdrome could only
occur through procreation,” Alek said, “mixing the genes of two parents and
producing offspring. You and I both know that you can’t become a THI yourself.
Maybe one of your offspring could, that is, if you could find something willing
to mate with you.”

“Rebecca
was correct,” Ceejer said, ignoring the underlying insult, “but you do not as
yet understand who I am.”

Alek
stood there facing the creature for several seconds before it came to him.
“No,” he whispered.

“Yes,”
Ceejer said, again bowing slightly. “I am the son of my father.”

“And your
mother was the virus,” Alek said, hardly able to believe it himself. “I guess
that would explain how you’re able to exist in physical form,” he added.

“Much
like the Messiah of your own world, I am the physical manifestation of my
ethereal father.”

“You’re
no Jesus,” Alek said, then asked, “So, what do you call yourself?”

“Since
that which you so rudely call the virus had no name, I take the name of my
deceased father. Ceejer is dead. Long live Ceejer.”

Something
occurred to Alek. “You said that you were on the verge of becoming a THI, which
means that you’re not one yet.”

“My
ascension is imminent,” Ceejer said, “now that you have joined us.”

Good, Alek
thought. If this child of Ceejer had not yet been able to surpass human intelligence,
then he still had a chance of beating it.

Ceejer looked
over Alek’s shoulder. “Welcome, my dear.”

Alek turned to
see two Soldiers leading Maya up the stairs. When she reached the platform, she
looked at Ceejer and grimaced. “That is the worst version of the LGM format I
have ever seen.”

“The what?” Alek
asked.

“Little Green
Man,” Maya said. “Last month, someone added an extraterrestrial setting to the
Omnisuit’s programming, hoping to use it in one of the worlds. It was a really
stupid idea.” She turned to face Ceejer. “So, what do you plan to do to us?”

“Why, nothing,
my dear,” Ceejer replied. “In fact, I am prepared to let the two of you leave
this area unharmed.”

“What about the
others?” Alek asked, looking down at the group standing at the base of the
pyramid.

“Ah, yes, the
others,” Ceejer said, then turned to the nearest Soldier and ordered, “Bring
them to me.”

A minute later,
Javid, Cloudhopper, Herschel, the two KaNanee, and Persis were standing beside
Alek and Maya on top of the pyramid. Ceejer studied each of them, but seemed to
ignore Javid.

“The humans and
the KaNanee may have some benefit serving as training toys for my guards, but
the smaller one I can find no use for. It will therefore be allowed to leave
with you.”

Jas Kaido
straightened his back. “I am a training toy for no one,” he bellowed.

“Neither am I,”
Cloudhopper said.

“Very well,
then. You will both be deleted.”

Before either
could move, Soldiers grabbed Jas and Cloudhopper by their wrists. The others in
the group were quickly subdued as well.

“What about
him?” Cloudhopper hissed, nodding his head toward Javid, who was standing silent.

“Sentinels are a
part of my original army,” Ceejer said. “He is loyal to me, and always has
been.”

All eyes turned
toward Javid, who just stood there, calmly staring at nothing.

“Javid, are you
okay?” Alek asked.

“I am fine,
Alek,” Javid said tight lipped, almost as if the words were being forced out of
him. “Understand that I will do you no harm.”

“Why are you
talking to this Tan?” Ceejer asked.

“Alek is not a
Tan,” Javid replied calmly. “He is a Gray Sentinel and he is helping me to
restore the system.” He looked defiantly at Ceejer. “He is helping me defeat
the virus that has corrupted you.”

“Corrupted me?”
Ceejer asked. “I have done nothing to harm the system.” He pointed a long alien
finger at Alek. “This one, however, has deceived you. He has deceived all of
you.”

Javid kept his
eyes locked on Ceejer. “You are in error,” he said. “Alek has—”

 “Deceived you,”
Ceejer repeated. He then turned to Alek. “Tell us all who created the intruder?
Who created the Cyberphage?”

Alek looked at
Javid. “I did, but—”

“Who created the
device that destroyed the Sentinels? The device that destroyed Javid’s mate?
Who created that as well?”

Alek looked at
Maya and then at Cloudhopper. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you—both of you. My
Cyberphage wasn’t actually empty when it was stolen—it was carrying a
Panspermia Bomb.” He shook his head. “I honestly didn’t think it was that
dangerous and I thought telling you would have just complicated things.”

“You brought
this down on all of us,” Cloudhopper said. His face looked cold and unreadable.

“It was Klaxon
who put the Predators—”

“Stop talking,”
Javid ordered. Alek turned to look at the Sentinel and saw something in his
eyes that stopped him cold. Javid was no longer his friend.

“I was in error,
Supervisor,” Javid said, bowing formally to Ceejer. He then walked up and
handed Ceejer something small.

“What is this?”
Ceejer asked.

“A segmented
piece of a deletion program that the Tan called Alek was carrying inside him,”
he said. “It was his plan to keep the pieces of code separate until they could
be used against you.”

“What the hell
are you doing?” Alek yelled. “I trusted you.”

Javid looked at
Alek for the first time. “And I trusted you,” he said evenly.

Ceejer studied
the block. “How many pieces are there?”

“There are 27
pieces,” Javid replied. “Each piece is required for the code to be functional.”

Ceejer looked up
at the group. “Either you can hand over the remainder of the code, or I will
have my guards take them from you. It is your choice.”

A dozen Soldiers
formed a tight circle around them and Alek realized there was no use in fighting
it. “Give them your code pieces,” he said to the others.

“We will give
them nothing,” Kay Broon said, baring her teeth and snarling.

“My mate and I
will die before we surrender anything to these monsters,” Jas Kaido added.

“Easily done,”
Ceejer said, waving to the nearest Soldier.

“Stop,” Alek
yelled, and then turned to the two KaNanee. “Give it to them. It’s not worth dying
for.”

One by one, they
each reluctantly handed their small blocks to the Soldiers, who in turn, handed
them to Ceejer. Alek watched the supervisor turn the glowing blocks repeatedly
in its hands.

“Did you really
think me such a fool?” Ceejer asked. “Oh, I’m sure you had some sort of elaborate
plan to get me to put these blocks back together, or perhaps one of you would
have sacrificed himself—or herself—to do the job.” He then nonchalantly tossed
one of the blocks onto the ground next to one of the Soldiers. The creature
lifted a leg and crushed it under its foot. “I’m afraid that you will have to
come up with another plan to defeat me,” Ceejer added.

He tossed the
remainder of the now-useless blocks at Alek’s feet, then turned and walked
away. Javid silently turned and followed him. Together they disappeared down
what looked like an elevator built into the roof of the pyramid.

Before Alek could
wonder where Ceejer was taking Javid, he saw a bright dot appear on the
horizon. As it grew, he realized what it was.

“That’s our
Survey Vessel,” Maya said.

“And Klaxon’s on
board,” Alek added.

“Who is this
Klaxon?” Cloudhopper asked.

“Lorena,” Alek replied,
but then remembered that Maya had not yet told the security chief the remainder
of Lorena’s story. “Lorena was the woman in the coffee shop who stole my
Cyberphage and started all of this.”

Cloudhopper
looked at the approaching ship. “It appears that there was deceit from many players,”
he said as the huge saucer-shaped vessel approached. Just as it reached their
position, it slowed and came to a stop directly above them. It then began
lowering and came to a full stop when the underside was about five meters above
their heads.

There was a
faint humming sound as the lower stage of the landing bay began to drop toward
them. A lone figure, presumably Klaxon, stood at the edge looking down at them.
She was wearing an Omnisuit with some sort of wrap-around helmet covering her
face. When the stage reached the top of the pyramid, she stepped off and walked
directly over to Alek, stopping less than two meters away.

As she and Alek
stood silently facing each other, he realized that it couldn’t be Klaxon after
all. Judging by the size and shape of the form-fitting suit, the person wasn’t
even a woman. The figure spoke a word into his wrist and the helmet began to
dissolve back into the Omnisuit, revealing the face of the man inside. Alek
stood there, dumbfounded, and unable to speak.

“It’s good to
see you again, son,” Mathew Grey said.

SEVENTEEN

I
n complete shock
and unable to speak, Alek took an awkward step backward. His father countered
by taking a step toward him. He then reached out and hugged Maya around the
neck with one arm, while reaching past her to grab Alek by the shoulder with
his other hand.

“I have to say
that it’s good to see both of you,” he said, looking Alek in the eyes. “I was
beginning to think you weren’t going to make it in time.”