The Game of Lives (15 page)

1

Michael could see right away that he had Kaine's attention. The Tangent had probably come expecting many things, but not this. Michael had never hidden the fact that he hated the man.

For Michael, it was a no-brainer, though. Weber and the VNS were up to something terrible, and Kaine was the only one powerful enough to stop them. Michael just had to make sure he used him in the right way.

Kaine finally spoke. “I'll admit, you've surprised me.”

“I figured I would.”

“I've wanted you to work with me from the beginning,” the Tangent said. “It's all I've ever wanted. There's a reason you were the first to be chosen for the Mortality Doctrine. And there's a reason I've come to you on more than one occasion asking you for help. Why, after everything that's happened, have you suddenly decided to take me up on my offer?”

“I know about the Hive,” Michael said. “I know about the connection between the bodies stolen by the Tangents and the consciousness taken from those bodies and stored there. I know they need each other to coexist.”

If Kaine was surprised, he hid it well. “And?”

“And now the VNS thinks the solution to the problem you created is to sever those connections and let both sides die. I'm not going to let that happen. That's why I need your help.”

Kaine shifted in the beanbag and rested his hands in his lap, his gaze fixed on Michael. Michael had no idea what was going on in the Tangent's mind.

“You're serious, aren't you?” Kaine finally said.

Michael couldn't hide his exasperation. “Yes, I'm serious.”

Kaine held his hands up. “It's just…a bit of a relief to see you come to your senses.”

“So?” Michael urged. “What do you know about the VNS? What are they trying to accomplish?”

Kaine shifted again, then let out a frustrated sigh. “I'm sorry, but this won't do. Can we please sit in the chairs at the table?”

The table was small, the chairs smaller. But if that was what it took for Kaine to continue this meeting, then so be it.

“Fine,” Michael said. A few seconds later, they were settled and facing each other.

Kaine leaned forward with a very serious look on his face. “Let me start by saying that yes, I agree with you regarding the VNS. They've gone far, far past…decency. Let me ask
you, though, Michael—why the Hive? Why would I go to all the trouble to create, maintain, and secure that massively complex program?”

Michael worried he could be walking into a trap, but knew he had to answer honestly. “Because there has to be that connection. To keep the Tangents alive in their human hosts.”

“No.” Kaine shook his head. “Absolutely not. If we'd merely wanted to replace the human intelligences with Tangents, we could've done so. Download the Tangents and terminate the life it replaced. That connection you speak of exists
because
of the Hive. Because I wanted to keep those humans alive—and to do it, a connection needed to be maintained between the two. One depends on the other. It's that way because I
made
it that way. Others…well, others didn't care one way or another. They've always had their own motives in this process.”

Michael stared at him, his mind going places that he found hard to believe. “You mean…”

Kaine nodded, a sad smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

“The VNS,” Michael said.

“The VNS. I have it all figured out. Are you ready to know the truth? Do you think you can handle it?”

Michael could only nod.

Kaine leaned in. “They created me, Michael,” the Tangent said. “The VNS created me.”

2

Kaine leaned back, his whole body seeming to shrink from whatever trick in the code he'd just invoked. Michael stared at him as his mind worked to put all the pieces together.

“They created me decades ago,” Kaine continued. “An experimental artificial intelligence that would become stronger and stronger. The human minds at the VNS could have never created the Mortality Doctrine program on their own. No human mind could have—it's far too complex. And so I came to be. I was double the value, too. Once the Doctrine had been created, I could be their bad man. Their very bad man.”

Michael shook his head. He just couldn't believe it. “You mean they had all of this orchestrated from the beginning? Why? The whole world is screwed up, and most people blame them!”

Kaine shook his head, as if at a stupid child. “Of course it wasn't all orchestrated. Things have gone worse than even they planned. They didn't know that I would become sentient. That I'd come up with my own plans. They didn't know about the Hive. And so things fell harder and faster than they had hoped. But in the end, all the better for them. The farther your world falls, the bigger the hero the VNS becomes when it's saved.”

Michael didn't feel so well. “You're telling me that the VNS programmed you, led you toward creating the Mortality Doctrine, then instigated sending thousands of Tangents into the world so that they…what, could look good in the NewsBops?”

“Don't be an idiot,” Kaine snapped. “You were just at the World Summit. You know what's happening. Every government in the world is practically begging the VNS to do whatever it takes to save them. When this is all over, the VNS will be the most powerful entity in the world, and they'll never relinquish that power. They'll never let the threat die down enough to allow that to happen. They've almost won already.”

“And what about you?” Michael asked. “What's your role in all this?”

“My role?” he repeated. “My role is that I'm their enemy, just as you are. It was their plan all along. They used me. They used you. You have to admire their brilliance. By the time we turned against them, us turning against them is exactly what they wanted. The Hive was the only wild card, and now they've figured that out, too. It's only a matter of time before there's nothing else we can do, about any of it. The VNS will practically rule the world, and we'll be terminated one way or another.”

“Then what do we do?” Michael asked. As much as he hated it, it was now crystal clear that he had no choice but to work with Kaine on this.

“It's all about the Hive,” the Tangent said. “Everything depends on the Hive. The VNS want to annihilate it, erase every stored intelligence, claim victory that the Tangents are dead and the world is saved.”

“Okay.” Michael had already assumed the Hive would play a major role. “So how do we stop them?”

Kaine thought a moment. “I know our time is short. And
there are things we need to do right away. But first I have to show you something. It's absolutely worth the time it will take.”

“What?” Michael asked.

“I once tried to show you what it would be like to have the entire VirtNet at your disposal. Do you remember that?”

“Uh, yeah,” Michael replied, hoping the Tangent understood sarcasm. He would never forget being glued to that shaft of purple light and traveling through the countless programs inside the Sleep.

Kaine gave a shrug that seemed to say,
You win some, you lose some
. “Well, that didn't work on you and your friends very…effectively, so I'm going to show you the other side of the coin. I'm going to show you how the world—the real, living, breathing world—is about to change forever.”

Michael sucked in a breath. “Okay.”

“Prepare to be amazed.”

Everything around them disappeared, replaced by darkness.

3

Michael found himself catapulted into the blackness of space. Before him, a giant planet took up half his vision, brighter than the fullest moon. Kaine was beside him, looking on, his eyes large with wonder. Michael started to say something but stopped, instead deciding to study the celestial body that held the Tangent's attention.

When he turned back, he realized that it wasn't a planet at all.

It was a human fetus, almost fully grown, inside a crystalline sphere that pulsated with light. The baby's little arms and legs curled around an umbilical cord, its huge blue eyes actually open, looking wiser than they should at such an early stage of development.

“Just look at that,” Kaine said, his voice quiet but clear. “It's a miracle, life. Don't you think? A group of cells reproducing with such precision that they become what you are today. A full-grown person, walking, talking, running, jumping, eating, dancing, sleeping.”

He turned to look at Michael. “There are so many things humans have experienced that we haven't. From this simple stage of birth to puberty, broken legs and skinned knees, the feel of the real sun warming your skin. Until the Mortality Doctrine, no Tangent ever had the chance to know what it's like to be living flesh and bone. But now we've had a taste. It's beautiful. Tell me you disagree.”

Michael was taken aback at the odd way he formed the question. “I…uh…Disagree with what?”

“You've now lived inside a real human body,” Kaine elaborated. “Tell me it's not a beautiful thing.”

Michael shrugged and returned his attention to the giant floating womb. “It doesn't matter what I think. Or you. Or anyone else. It's not right. You can't just go around stealing people's lives.”

“Exactly,” Kaine said. “You're one hundred percent correct.”

“I am?”

Kaine nodded. “I don't want to steal anyone's life, Michael. The VNS wanted to.
Collateral damage
is the term they use to ease their consciences. But I gained sentience long before they even began to suspect, and I had a bigger vision. A much, much bigger vision. That's why I created the Hive. Jackson Porter is still perfectly sound and whole. Perfectly alive. You didn't steal his life.”

Michael rolled his eyes at that. “Oh, come on. We stole his body. What's the difference? Would you want to spend the rest of your life living inside an orange glob?”

Kaine laughed. “Michael, I swear. You keep saying the perfect thing to prove my point. What do you think your entire life was before you found out you were a Tangent? Answer that for me.”

“I…was alive, in my own way. I didn't know any different, so it didn't matter.”

Kaine blinked hard, then waved his hands, and suddenly the planet-sized womb disappeared and the giant curved wall of the Hive appeared before them, its countless orange orbs of lights pulsing and shining.

“It's not like we kidnapped their bodies and shoved them in a box,” Kaine said. “They're no different here than you were as a Tangent. Look at the Hive as their virtual Coffin. They'll be able to access an Aura, experience the VirtNet. Yes, their essence is stored here, their intelligence, their memories, their personalities—everything that makes them who they are. But so were you. When you were nothing but a program, you also were stored somewhere. But that didn't
limit the things you could do. If anything, it did the opposite. Which is why I tried to show you the wonders available within the worlds of the VirtNet. If only you'd release the shackles of your narrow way of thinking, you'd be able to see just how grand and endless my vision for the future is.”

Michael wasn't buying it. “But you did it against his will. You did what you did to me against my will. And I don't care how amazing you think the Sleep is, you don't have the right to steal Jackson Porter away from his parents and his friends and store him in an orange box.”

Kaine sighed. “Baby steps. I'll never claim to be a saint. But someday, when the Mortality Doctrine is fully functioning according to my vision, they'll thank me and thank those who made sacrifices to get it off the ground.”

“Why?” Michael asked. “Why would they thank you?”

“Because everyone will be happier. The sorrow of death will be vanquished.”

“Sounds like a fanatic's vision to me,” Michael said, anger bubbling up inside him. “Like you want to become a god.”

“You're starting to upset me,” Kaine said, so evenly that it gave Michael pause. “I'm trying to be reasonable and talk about this in a professional manner. At least keep your mind open long enough to make an informed decision. I came to you at your request, and you've asked me for help. I believe I deserve some respect in turn.”

With each word, he seemed to return a little bit more to the Kaine Michael remembered. The one who kept trying to kill him. Maybe they weren't ready for complete honesty quite yet.

“Okay,” Michael said. “I'm sorry.” He just wanted to get through this charade and keep Kaine as an ally until he didn't need him anymore.

Kaine studied him for a moment, then continued. “I'm going to show you how this process works—how it
will
work—and then I'll let you decide. I'm confident you'll come around to my way of seeing things before long.”

Kaine didn't wait for Michael to answer. The Hive disappeared, and once again Michael was taken away.

4

He floated above a home—a modest one-story structure with a two-car garage. The lawn was a lush green and the bushes were immaculately trimmed. Sunshine burst upon the scene like a floodlight. Michael looked around and realized his body was nowhere to be found—he was there but not there. No sign of Kaine, either. He was being shown the most advanced kind of 4D, a fully immersive production. Michael could see, smell, hear, feel it all.

A car pulled up the driveway and stopped in front of the garage. The sun glinted off the front windshield as it parked beneath Michael. Suddenly his aspect changed, swooping down fluidly to the passenger door, which opened as soon as his movement stopped. A man and a woman got out of the car; then the woman retrieved a baby from the backseat. It was a cute little girl, cooing and wiggling her tiny fingers.