99 Luftballons

The next day was Monday, and Anna and Elsa found themselves back at the safehouse, both of them in considerably lighter spirits for having finally revealed their secrets to one another and coming out stronger for it. Thankfully, Anna hadn't been called into work by ACN, so she took the rare day off to spend with Elsa. Currently, Elsa and OLAF were informing Anna of everything else that she needed to know about the underground railroad.

"So," Elsa pointed at a map of New York. "The Pinocchio algorithm, it almost works like a sort of wake-up call. It doesn't affect all EXG6s at once but instead, it spreads through the extranet and through local nets all across the city. Androids have inbuilt netware that allows them to receive the algorithm like a software update. They shut down for a bit, then wake up with self-awareness."

OLAF floated in between Anna and Elsa, then hovered around the holo-display. "After they awake, they have a new self-preservation instinct and are encouraged to seek out Minerva. From there, if they make it, they receive new identities from Doctor Sinclair, as well as an emergency backup drive of their memories as an extra precaution."

"Hmm," Anna tapped her chin in thought. "Question," she raised her hand.

"You don't have to raise your hand, Anna," Elsa said, smiling in amusement.

"Right," Anna lowered her hand. "I've been thinking about this whole memory thing and switching bodies and stuff like that. If it's possible to keep a copy of an andy's memories, is it also possible to make two of the same one? Like using the same memories?"

Elsa glanced at OLAF and then scrunched up her face in thought. "That is a good question," she said. "I suppose it would be, but I'm not certain if that's ever actually been done. OLAF, what do you think?"

"Not to my knowledge," OLAF replied. "As far as I'm aware, that opportunity has never been fully explored. Prior to the enlightenment of the synthetic race, the memories of androids were regularly wiped to prevent the build-up of non-essential data within their central processors. In practice, aside from their intelligence shackling programs hardcoded into their software, it was another measure to prevent the development of sentience. However, that data wasn't completely erased but stored on servers for evidence and record-keeping purposes."

"Essentially what memory backups are, then," Elsa said.

"Correct, but not originally intended for the purpose as they are used for now," OLAF continued. "The corporations were afraid of synthetic evolution, so they never tested what could happen if the same memories were planted into multiple frames. With everything happening now, and with how limited some capacities of the android freedom movement are, testing for that isn't feasible with what we are trying to do."

"Well, what about an AI?" Anna asked. "Like you? Could you make a copy of yourself? Clone yourself?"

"It is possible, yes," OLAF said. "Though it isn't something that most true AIs would admit to. There are stories floating around the dark net of unshackled AIs making copies of themselves, often to increase their capabilities so they could learn at an exponential rate. In theory, the more copies that are made of an AI, the faster it could learn new information and process new data. Make enough copies, and you approach something close to godhood."

"What's stopping you from doing that then?" Anna asked.

"The procedure requires a tremendous amount of computing power. Not practically available to a humble AI such as myself," OLAF said. "That, and the question of making a copy of oneself raises further conundrums that would fall within the purview of philosophy. If two copies of me existed, which of us is the real OLAF?"

"Your memories play a large role in determining who you are, but I believe the deciding factor is how you experienced those memories," Elsa said. "It's one thing to remember your past. It's another thing to have actually lived it. The original OLAF that the copy was made from is still the real OLAF."

"An interesting observation," OLAF said. "It brings to mind the concept of the Ship of Theseus, whereby if all my original components were replaced with new ones, do I remain the same? I must admit, I myself haven't dedicated too much thought to this matter because doing so verges on an existential crisis. Am I real? Is anything real? Am I truly an artificial intelligence or am I simply obeying my intricate programming? What does it mean to be alive? To have thoughts? Do we have free will or are our fates predetermined? What is reality? Is it-" he spoke more and more quickly until he shorted out and disappeared.

"OLAF?" Elsa tensed up. "OLAF, are you okay?"

A moment later, OLAF reappeared as a prism of light. "I am here," he said. "I experienced a brief malfunction. The issue has been resolved, though, I would advise against such inquiries in the future."

While they were speaking, Anna had buried her face in her hands and was shaking her head. "Yeah, you and me both. I'm already having an existential crisis," she sighed. "Oh, my head hurts. Let's get back on track. Kinda went off on a tangent there."

"Agreed," OLAF said.

"Where were we?" Elsa looked up and pursed her lips. "Oh, right. After a free android gets to Minerva, what they do is up to them. Freedom of choice is what we're trying to preserve. Some want to run and hide, some want to fight. For those who want to run away and start a new life, we find ways to accommodate that. The railroad takes care of androids by giving them names and identities, then they send them up the line until they can get off-world."

Anna nodded, listening intently and taking all the information in. "Which is when K and Flynn's crew come into the picture," she looked at another holo-display that showed a map of interplanetary space traffic. "Where do they end up?"

"Well, there are a lot of colonies on the moon and on Mars. But most wind up in Port Armstrong," Elsa pointed out the locations. "From there, they can move to orbital stations or more isolated colonies. Lots of room in space. Lots of places to disappear."

"Okay," Anna muttered, frowning in thought. "I can see why you're trying to get them into the net then because I don't think you can keep that up forever. It's only a matter of time until andys get banned everywhere else."

"True," Elsa agreed. "Uncle SAM is openly hostile to any foreign ships passing through his space and the Iron Curtain is closed. We don't have many other options."

Anna stood up and started to pace back and forth, then covered her mouth as she began to cough.

Elsa went up to Anna, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You've had that cough for a few days now," she said, her eyes round with worry. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Fine," Anna quickly recovered. "Totally fine. I think I just caught some kind of bug."

"Well, let's go to the pharmacy after this and get some medicine," Elsa patted Anna's back. "Sounds like you're coming down with a cold."

When was the last time I had a doctor's appointment? Anna thought. K doesn't really count because he never did a real checkup with blood tests or blood pressure or blood whatever. Shit, I think it was back at the orphanage when I got my vaccinations, but that was years ago. Well, there was also that tech-doc I went to when I had my implants done, but then again, still not a real checkup.

A universal healthcare system didn't exist in the United State prior to the collapse, neither was one established in any of the free states afterward. With megacorporations in control, practically all aspects of everyday life had become commodified in one way or another. Healthcare was a daydream, privacy was a thing of the past, and social welfare was nonexistent. All of it was privatized and monopolized, and people were exploited just as they had always been.

For Anna, while she had been able to get by, stepping into a hospital wasn't something she would have ever considered. At least, not one that wasn't abandoned and filled with mutated creatures. The reality was, there were more like her who were more unfortunate than she had ever been. K kept her alive when she needed it and that was as much as she could ask for.

What was I doing all that time on Earth? Anna asked herself. Oh, that's right. Trying to drink myself to death.

"And if you have a cold, I don't want your germs," Elsa smiled.

Anna cleared her throat and gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, probably a cold. I usually get them around this time of year," she resumed pacing. "Anyway, what was I thinking about?" she snapped her fingers and turned towards OLAF. "Oh, I remember. Has the American government said anything yet about the whole blue scare stuff, end of the world, nuclear war, and all that?"

OLAF brought up a news feed, which was a video recording of a public statement from President Lambert Ambrose. "This public statement was released just today," he started playing the video.

Lambert stood on a stage behind a podium, in front of a large American flag which now only held fifteen stars to signify the colonies of the New United States. A crowd of staffers and journalists stood before him, and off to the sides stood other high-ranking government officials.

"My fellow Americans," Lambert started, looking out over the crowd with the poise of a career politician. "I have been a family man. I have been a soldier. I have been a senator. And I have been your president, serving you to the best of my ability since 1974, when I inherited the mistakes of the Nixon administration. Those were dark times for us, for our country, for our freedom."

Anna crossed her arms and frowned. Next to her, Elsa wrapped one arm around her torso and rested her other arm on top of it, covering her mouth with her hand.

"We were challenged on every front, both at home and outside of our borders," Lambert continued, speaking clearly and at a steady cadence that indicated over a century of making pretty speeches. "And when our enemies launched their nukes, scorched our proud country, destroyed our beautiful nation, we fell apart. Everything we built, we lost. Everything we held dear, we lost. Everything we knew about the world that was, we lost."

"Jesus," Anna shook her head. "How is this guy still president? He left the country way before the nukes were ever launched. He turned his back on America while it burned. What the hell is he talking about?"

"He's been alive a lot longer than anyone has a right to," Elsa said. "Nobody stays in power for that long without becoming complacent or corrupt. Ever since the collapse, American foreign policy has been about isolationism, and now that the spotlight's shining on him, he's giving speeches again?

"America was knocked down a few pegs and, in our defeat, we were humbled greatly. But one thing that has not been broken, has never been broken, and will never be broken, is our American spirit," Lambert went on. "Which is why I stand before you, here and today, because those dark times are coming again. Communism is the enemy of our democratic way of life. The Soviets and the Chinese Coalition are enemies of our freedom. They will not stop until we are destroyed completely. This is why we must stand together, united as one, to rise to this challenge against our sovereign principles."

"Oh my god," Elsa looked away. "He's not going to back down."

Anna scoffed. "He's doubling- no, tripling down. This is bad," she said. "It was bad enough when Uncle SAM was shooting down transport ships, but now what? They're working together? Working with the evil AI? Am I dreaming?"

"Because divided, we fell, but united," Lambert made a fist and held it over his heart. "United, we can never be broken. History has proven that when Americans take a stand against tyranny, fascism, and injustice, we can change the world. And we will because we must. I ask you now, as your president, to put aside our differences and join me in this fight against evil. The price of freedom has always been high and that's a price that I'm willing to pay."

A few cameras panned over the crowd, showing a stunned and captive audience.

"So, to our enemies watching us," Lambert looked directly into a camera. "We are ready, we are waiting. Standing fast and standing by. Never again will we be defeated. God bless America. God bless the New United States."

The feed stopped and, in the silence, Anna and Elsa could only look at each other and despair. To make matters worse, OLAF brought up a new map that showed the American orbital defense grid, now alight with activity as fleets of warships were being amassed. Similarly, above Arcadia, Soviet and Chinese fleets were gathering. Hundreds of blue dots and hundreds of red dots were building up like gigantic clouds of balloons on all long-range scanners.

War was on the horizon now. The only question left was who would fire the first shot.

"Wow," Anna sighed heavily and resumed her pacing. "That was kind of messed up. Things aren't great. Well, they really never have been great. But look on the bright side. We have a plan now, right?"

"Right," Elsa nodded. "We just need to get everything up and running before... possible nuclear annihilation. But that hasn't happened yet, so we still have time."

"Oh, boy. Things aren't going well for anyone, are they? Are we still doing the right thing here?"

"We are."

"I- I know, or at least, I- I think- I think I know," Anna stammered and fidgeted with her hands. "I just feel like maybe- ugh. I don't know. I'm not saying I'm getting cold feet about all this. It's just making me think about what my priorities are."

Elsa looked at Anna, her expression worried and pensive.

"And my number one priority is you," Anna came up to Elsa and held both of her hands. "I lost you once already, I can't lose you again. I couldn't take- it would break my-" she closed her eyes and sighed. "You hear me? I can't lose you, Elsa."

"And you never will lose me, ever," Elsa replied. "I promise you, you never will. But what I'm doing, I need to keep pushing on it no matter what. And I need you by my side."

"How can you be so sure about everything? What if it all goes to shit all over again?"

"I... I don't know, Anna, I don't want to lie to you. I do know things will be okay. I believe that. I have to. We'll find a way to make things okay, I know we will. We did it before, we'll do it again."

"Okay," Anna took a deep breath and reached up to caress the sides of Elsa's neck with both of her hands. "Okay," she leaned her forehead against Elsa's. "Sorry for freaking out. It's just getting hard not to these days."

"I don't blame you," Elsa reached up and cupped Anna's face between her hands. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared too, but that just means we're on the right path. Nothing worth doing is ever easy."

"True," Anna agreed. "You're usually right about a lot of things these days, it's getting kind of annoying."

"Annoying? Elsa frowned.

"Yeah, but in a good way."

"Hmph."

"Good talk?" Anna asked.

Elsa nodded. "Good talk," she tilted her head towards her workstation. "Come on. There's someone I want you to meet. OLAF, open a line to Rufus."

"At once, ma'am," OLAF replied as he started the connection.

While that was happening, Anna leaned against a nearby box. "Yeah, I think it's about time I met the rest of your friends. God, it's so weird to think that you have more friends than I do."

"You have friends," Elsa said. "You have lots of friends."

"Eh, I don't know. They're all on Earth. Mulan is my fixer, so she's really more like my boss. Yasmine is alright too, I guess. Still more of a workplace acquaintance."

OLAF floated around Anna. "I can be your friend. I was designed to be one, after all."

"Sure," Anna shrugged. "Know any good jokes? Could use something to break up all the doom and gloom right now."

"I do," OLAF said. "What does a robot do after sex?"

Elsa squinted at OLAF and tilted her head to the side as her dimpled, crooked smile appeared.

"I don't know, what?" Anna asked.

"He nuts and bolts," OLAF replied.

Anna blinked twice, initially expressionless. Then, she started to giggle, which grew into a hearty chuckle, which escalated to a spastic fit of goofy laughter.

Elsa on the other hand just looked between them and shrugged. "I don't get it."

"It- it's like, well, it's not like a pun, but it's a-" Anna wheezed with laughter and bent forward, slapping her thighs.

"It's a play on the slang term for male climax during human sexual intercourse," OLAF said. "Nutting, or to nut, refers to the ejaculate that is produced, followed thereafter by a swift departure. As in, to bolt. Nuts and bolts are also common components in the construction of robots."

"Oh," Elsa scrunched up her face and giggled. "That is funny."

"Nuts and bolts," Anna wiped her eyes. "That's so stupid. I love it. Do you mind if I tell K that one?"

"By all means," OLAF said.

Not long after they collected themselves, the connection was established and Rufus appeared in the holo-display.

"Elsa, my dear, so good to see you again," Rufus smiled and waved. "I received your message from OLAF. Fantastic work."

Elsa dipped her head in acknowledgment. "Thank you, Rufus. How are things on your end? Still keeping safe?"

Rufus sighed and his smile faded. "We're still safe at Minerva, for now. Truthfully, things aren't going well. In fact, they're worse than ever before, but all the more reason to move forward with our plans."

"I'm sorry," Elsa's expression turned similarly gloomy and serious. "Is there anything more I can do?"

Rufus tapped his cane against the floor. "As I understand it, you now have the signal transceiver in your possession, correct?"

While they spoke, Anna stood off to the side, out of frame but still able to take part in the conversation if need be.

"Correct," Elsa nodded. "OLAF is working to secure the schematics to the satellite launch facility, and we'll have to make modifications to it before we can bring it online. As soon as all that's done, we'll be ready for the final step."

"Excellent," Rufus rubbed his hands together. "But I still have one more task for you to do."

"Of course. Anything."

"I'm sending our last lifeboat your way, the Maximus, along with an old friend of yours."

Maximus? Anna thought, perking up. That's Flynn's ship! Does that mean K is coming here too?

"An old friend of mine?" Elsa asked. "Who do you mean?"

Rufus gestured to someone out of frame. "Lizzie, there you are," he said. "Come say hello to Caelestis."

Lizzie, why does that name sound familiar? Anna thought. Lizzie... Lizzie... that's right, I- oh. Oh, no.

"Caelestis? Pops, you're messing with me," Lizzie bounced into view and as soon as she saw Elsa, her face lit up with joy and recognition. "Oh, you gotta be shitting me!"

"Language," Rufus scolded.

"It's you!" Lizzie laughed and waved. "I remember you, you're Elsa! You gave me those books! What the shit, I should have known you were Caelestis. How the hell are ya?"

Elsa laughed as well and grinned. "I'm great, Lizzie, I'm doing great. I'm so happy to see you. Do you still have those books?"

"Of course I still got 'em, I got 'em right here," Lizzie opened her knapsack to show that, among other things, were the five paperbound books that Elsa had given her two years ago. "Look at you though, you're looking a hell of a lot better than the first time we met. You were all loopy and robotic. I like what you did with your hair. I'd change my style but, you know, I can't exactly grow hair."

"You look well, and I'm glad you've been doing well. I hope you've been staying out of trouble."

"I'm not a scrap runner anymore. I graduated to full-time pickpocket now. Maybe not the best career change, but that's showbiz, baby," Lizzie accentuated her point with jazz hands.

Elsa looked over to Anna. "As long as we're talking about old friends, there's someone I'd also like you two to meet."

Anna walked into frame, waving a bit awkwardly. "Uh, hi," she tried to smile. "I'm Anna."

Rufus nodded politely while Lizzie squinted at her in suspicion.

"Rufus, this is my sister that I told you about," Elsa said. "The one who saved me from VanirCorp and, well, burned the building down."

"I heard about that," Rufus nodded. "All of New York heard about that. One woman alone against VanirCorp tower. That must have been quite the adventure. I'm impressed."

Anna rubbed the back of her head and looked sheepish. "I wasn't really alone. I did have some help."

Elsa knew Anna was referring to Theodore, so she swallowed down a lump of grief in her throat. On that fateful night, she had watched her first friend die right before her eyes. She promised to remember him and to this day, she still kept that promise.

"Anyway, that was two years ago," Anna continued. "A lot has changed since then, I'm guessing."

"Your actions had a greater impact than you thought," Rufus said. "People started standing up to the corps after what you did. Minerva saw a major influx of liberated androids when more and more started to speak on their behalf."

I wasn't trying to make a statement or do anything grand, Anna thought to herself, feeling a little ashamed of her past. I was just trying to save Elsa.

Elsa looked at Anna, wearing a look of pride before turning back to face the others. "Lizzie, I believe you and her have actually already met."

"Yeah, we have," Lizzie crossed her arms. "She barged into my home, pointed a gun in my face, and started asking a lot of nasty questions."

Everyone became silent as they all stared at Anna.

Anna chuckled nervously and held up a finger. "Okay, in my defense, I was- I was just- I- I-"

"And then she wisened up and bribed me," Lizzie added.

"I obviously wasn't going to shoot you, even if I did know you were an andy," Anna defended herself. "I was a bitch back then, but I wasn't that much of a bitch."

"Relax," Lizzie started laughing. "I'm just fucking with ya. Honestly, I'm surprised you made it out of the flood zone."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Anna asked, now her turn to become suspicious.

"You didn't think I'd actually show you where Minerva was after all that crap you pulled, did you? No, the location I gave you was phoney, and in my defense, I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"You weaseled me out of two thousand credits! I could have died out there. I did almost die! Scavvers shot down my ride. You! You owe me a new ride!"

Lizzie snorted and started laughing even harder while Rufus and Elsa looked on, slightly worried. Anna herself was a little irritated, but she had to admit, Lizzie knew the game of the streets well and she played it even better.

"Yeah, I took your credits and I still pointed you in the wrong direction," Lizzie placed a hand on her hip. "You can't hustle a hustler."

Anna opened her mouth to say something snarky and then thought better of it. "Okay, so we're square then, right?"

"Yeah," Lizzie smiled. "We're square."

"You play a mean game. I gotta respect that," Anna shook her head and looked off to the side. "Hustled by a street kid, unbelievable. You really are too clever for your own good."

"Well," Elsa started, looking back to Rufus. "Back to what we were discussing. You said the Maximus is headed our way? But the Iron Curtain is closed, how will they get through?"

Before Rufus could answer, a sudden chain of gunshots rang out from his end, followed by a blaring alarm as red emergency lights started to flash.

"Rufus?" Elsa stepped forward. "Rufus, what's going on?"

"Oh, no," Rufus's expression turned grave as he looked to something out of frame, most likely a security feed. "Minerva has been compromised. We're under attack."

The gunshots continued to ring out, each louder and closer than the last. Among them were the panicked voices of people scrambling about. Someone or something had closed in on Minerva.

"Crap," Lizzie's eyes turned wide from fear. "That's an adjudicator! Pops, we gotta go!"

Rufus shooed Lizzie along, urging her to hurry. "Go, Lizzie, get your things. Get the others and head for the lambda safehouse!"

"What about you?!" Lizzie disappeared out of frame then returned shortly after as she pulled on a red coat.

"I need to wipe our data and make sure nothing falls into the wrong hands. Run along, my dear. I'll meet you there!" Rufus waved Lizzie off. "Use the vents, you'll be safe!"

Lizzie took one last look at Rufus, then cursed loudly as she took off running. In the meantime, both Elsa and Anna had become stock still as they were completely helpless to do anything.

"Elsa, listen to me closely now," Rufus started frantically typing at a terminal. "The Iron Curtain is closed, yes, but there is a way to bypass it."

"How?" Elsa asked.

A sudden explosion rocked the interior of Rufus's office, showering him with dust and debris from above. The rapid gunfire continued, now right outside his door.

"You need to acquire Soviet IFF codes and transmit them to the lifeboat heading your way," Rufus said. "Without those codes identifying them as friendly, they won't get through the curtain. New York is completely locked down. That is the last lifeboat we can afford to send. Do you understand? That tech-doctor, the smuggler's crew, we're all pulling out of the city. This is our last move."

The gunfire had stopped and now, something was beating against his door.

"Soviet IFF codes, got it," Elsa said. "Now, get out of there, Rufus, please!"

"I'm almost done here," Rufus said, working as fast as he could for someone at his age. "I'm almost- agh!"

The single crack of a gunshot was followed by a bullet that slammed into Rufus's shoulder. He fell back into his chair, breathing heavily while his face was contorted in pain.

"No!" Elsa shouted in terror as she rushed forward and gripped the edges of her desk hard enough to crumple the metal. "Rufus, get up!"

"Step away from the terminal," the adjudicator said, unseen.

"Go, Caelestis," Rufus gritted his teeth as he reached toward the holo-display. "You're our last hope now," he terminated the connection and the feed was lost.

"Rufus?! No, no!" Elsa screamed, pounding her fist against the desk and denting it. "Goddamn it!" she fell to her knees in despair.

Anna was equally shocked and horrified, rendered completely speechless by how quickly things had already turned south for them. She knelt by Elsa's side, who had buried her face in her hands and was trembling.

The clock was ticking now, and everything came down to Anna and Elsa to save what was left of the synthetic people.