{{TRANSCRIPT OF DIALOGUE FROM BASE 231.8
STATUS: SECURITY LEVEL 1
DATE: 26.03.10
TOPIC: STATUS REPORT ON SUBJECTS
A: Their progress is astonishing, even considering what they are.
B: You sound surprised. You shouldn't be - we designed them, after all. They're just fulfilling their design specifications.
A: I know, but it's still disturbing, to talk to them, and hear them say the things they do. They're still a few years from full operational capability, but command is already using the ideas that they're coming up with. It's astonishing to think what their capabilities will be later, if just in the test phase they're already coming up with ideas we can use.
B: So? They were built to be geniuses, to be instantly aware. Command never wanted them to be kids, so they were born more mature than most adults. It's a sign of our success that they are able to function so well.
A: I know, but still... Did you hear that Five's defense system for Command Central has been accepted and will be put into operation?
B: I heard. It was an excellent system, although all of their designs were superior to what's in place now. What's wrong with that?
A: Nothing. It's just... When I saw the vid of his report, with that little face describing the different ways that people can be killed, in case of a breech... don't you think it's creepy?
B: No. That's just efficiency. I don't understand you... they're everything we designed them to be, and now that's making you uneasy.
A: It was different when we were designing them, then it was just gene sequences on a page, now that I'm staring at the... the things we've created, I'm not sure. They're not even human.
B: They weren't supposed to be. Humans might feel sorrow, pity, or regret - they won't. They look harmless, but once their training is complete, they'll kill without mercy. Combat training begins in a few weeks, you know.
A: I know. They've already got the equivalent of multiple masters degrees in a number of useful subjects, as well as all having training in the arts, although only with material that Command felt was appropriate. They should be able to fit in anywhere they want to be, or rather, anywhere we station them.
B: Four's reaction to some of the music was funny.
A: Funny? He looked like he was going to cry.
B: He'll be cured of that, I just didn't think that the music meant anything.
A: It was beautiful, some of the best composition ever to come out of Earth. I don't view his emotions in that case as a weakness.
B: Well Command does. He is to be cured of that in the next few weeks, before combat training begins.
A: Michael won't be happy with that. I think he's really developing an affection for them.
B: Michael is no longer our problem.
A: What?!
B: He is no longer part of our organization.
A: Since when?! He's just an assistant, but he's been invaluable to me. What has he done to warrant dismissal?
B: Nothing. Command didn't dismiss him. He's disappeared.
A: What?
B: I've heard that he may have joined the rebels in the colonies. He was always opposing the way we trained them, especially the emotional blocks. Command has been trying to find him, to eliminate him, but so far they haven't had any luck.
[SILENCE]
You know he's a great danger to the project. He doesn't know much about the genetics, but he does know what they look like and what they can do. I'd be careful, or you might be considered to be the same sort of danger he is.
A: I'll be careful. I just think we should be careful with them - a lot of damage could be done if we misstep. You know about the changes we've found that Karen made. If they find out...
B: How would they find out? Less than a dozen people know about it, and they're all above suspicion. Unlike Michael. Maybe their first true mission will be to find and destroy Michael.
A: All I'm saying is that we should be careful. We're playing God here.
B: We have the right. I never heard that the old boy had a copyright on creation.
[NOTE: due to increasing emotional instability, it was later found to be necessary to eliminate 'A' to preserve the integrity of the project]}}
----------
One stared with interest at the screens in front of him. On it were the results of sensors attached to Four's head. For fifty-seven minutes now, there'd been no change in the waves that represented his thought patterns. Now his enhanced eyes detected a slight change even before the computers could pick it up. "It's changing - Four's breaking," One told Mem, and moved to the console that would release his comrade from the chamber where he was being trained. They were all taking their turns, teaching themselves to withstand that sort of torture. Mem had said that they all had to be able to last at least an hour in the chamber without breaking, so far One was the only one to have reached that level, but Four was almost there now. Each time he entered the chamber, he lasted a little bit longer than the previous time before his brain waves started to change, a sure sign that he was about to break.
"No, not yet," Mem told him, his eyes fixed on the screen that displayed the interior of the chamber.
One frowned ever so slightly, then remembered to wipe the expression off of his face. What was Mem trying to do? Exposure after those first changes could have permanent detrimental effects on Four's mind.
A minute slowly passed, and Four's brainwaves grew more and more erratic. It would be obvious to anyone who walked in now that there was something seriously wrong now. One stared at the screens, his hands hovering uncertainly above the controls, unsure of where his duty lie. They had been instructed to act to preserve themselves and each other if necessary from damage, so that they could continue to serve the Alliance and people, but he also had a duty to obey Mem at all times. As the seconds continued to pass, he asked, "Sir?"
"I gave you an order, One. You will obey." Mem was still staring at the screen, watching Four as he huddled in the center of the chamber, covering his head with his arms. One knew from experience that it would do him no good, but also that it was almost impossible to convince your mind and body that when you were inside. The lights were so bright that they could be easily seen even through closed eyes, and the screeching noises were enhanced with subsonics that grated on the ears. And, of course, there were other, more subtle elements.
As Four passed fifty-nine minutes, the com beeped, and One heard Three's voice. "He's reached the level, One. Pay attention," there was a hint of rebuke in his voice, and a sharp edge. "Get him out of there."
Mem casually reached over to the com, never taking his eyes off the screen. There was a pleased expression on his face, and he was smiling to himself as he said, "One's obeying my orders, Three. Leave Four in there until I say otherwise." There was a long silence on the com, and finally Mem glanced down at it and said, "Is that understood, Three?" There was a dangerous element in his voice, for all that it had been exceedingly pleasant. Three should have responded immediately.
"Yes sir."
"Time now?" Mem asked, returning his gaze to the screen. There was a strange, intense expression on his face, as if he was enjoying Four's discomfort. No, that couldn't be it, he was merely glad to be performing his duty to the Alliance in training them. That had to be it.
"Fifty-nine minutes, forty-eight seconds," One responded automatically, watching the now wildly erratic brainwaves. Then he noticed a slight blip on another monitor, one that was registering a part of the brain that he'd never seen active before. There was only the slightest flash, then it was gone, so quickly that even he wasn't sure he'd seen it. But in the next five seconds Four's brain waves became markedly less erratic, almost getting close to normal again. A minute passed, then another, and another. At sixty-four minutes Four's brainwaves swerved dangerously again.
Finally Mem said, "Enough."
Instantly One reacted, shutting off the various aspects of the chamber and opening the doors to allow the others in. Now he looked at the screen, and saw that Three had to lift Four off the ground and carry him out of the chamber.
Mem noticed him watching the screen. "You wondered why I held Four to go last," he said with a knowing smile. "I was pleased with your performance today." One felt a surge of pleasure that he had served the Alliance well, but it was somewhat dampened by his concern for Four. Mem noticed that, as well. "Four has not been permanently damaged," he noted. "He has been showing some... distressing tendencies lately, which must be eliminated immediately. There are some who are questioning his dedication to the Alliance."
One sucked in his breath. "No sir!" he blurted out, horrified by the thought.
"I didn't give you leave to speak," Mem reminded him.
One pressed his lips together and remained silent until Mem nodded his approval and gave One permission to speak. "Four would never do anything but his best for the Alliance," One said.
Mem sniffed. "Perhaps. But there are parts of his attitude that need correcting. See to it that it never happens with you."
"Yes sir."
-----------
Three years after she transmitted her original application, Rina sat amidst a number of computer screens. On one of them were a series of diplomas from various colleges, confirming her masters and doctorate degrees in a number of fields, ranging from diplomacy to medicine to military history. She'd flown through the required courses and had completed all of her schooling in three years, instead of the usual six or eight that most people took. Now, although she still attended school and was officially in second grade, her attention was drawn to other matters.
On the second screen was a medical report, and below that, the result of a blood analysis, right down to a genetic scan. On the third screen was a news article about a terrorist attack on a school made by the rebels in the colonies, and below that, another sheet with information on that same attack, written from a different perspective.
As Jules walked up behind her, he knew that she was aware of his presence. Without removing her eyes from the screen with the blood test on it, she said, "Hello, father." The screen was simply running through the entire report, all thirty pages of it, at a rate of a page every eight seconds. He knew that this morning she'd already read several large books on genetics after her first reading told her very little because she didn't understand the terminology used.
"Hello." He waited patiently for the report to finish screening. When it did, she turned to look at him, and he continued. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. I'm going to stay out of school for a few weeks, though. Word spread very quickly about my accident, and it will look strange if I return to school immediately."
"I've already arranged for your homework to be sent here. I had to agree to hire a tutor for the month that you'll be out, though." He sighed. "It was the best I could do. They were going to send a tutor from the school."
"You're qualified to tutor me," Rina said thoughtfully. "It's only addition and subtraction and a little bit of the alphabet. Tell them you helped me keep up, and then I won't have to waste my time with a tutor. I'll do the homework before I go to bed tonight."
He nodded, looking not at all surprised to hear his seven-year-old daughter talking this way. He had known for years that there was something very special and different about his adopted daughter, and had helped her hide her unique talents for the first few years, so that she wouldn't find herself the subject of a study, until she took responsibility for that chore. Aside from asking for his people to procure fake identification for her occasionally (and she hadn't done that in over a year - he didn't want to know what she was doing about it now) she never asked or needed any help.
She was brilliant - her IQ scores were literally off the chart, and as far as they could tell, she had a perfect memory - she never forgot anything she saw, heard, or thought. She could and had described in great detail the man who brought her to the orphanage when she was just a few weeks old, and hadn't forgotten anything since then. But beyond that, she was mature. She'd never gone through the normal stages a child went through, never cried because she was frightened, and never asked her father about the realities of life. The only thing she'd ever come to him with was confusion about how different she was, when she realized it, at the age of two. He hadn't had any answers for her, other that to tell her that he loved her.
He'd long since resigned himself to the fact that she'd never turn to him for reassurance because a boy had laughed at her, never hear the sound of juvenile laughter echoing through the halls of his home. Rina had few friends, and got together with them only often enough so that she didn't gain the attention of the school psychologists for anti-social behavior. She was so far beyond her classmates, both intellectually and emotionally, that she viewed them as children and not contemporaries. Her father and his colleagues were her contemporaries, and even so, he retained no illusions that he or any other person he'd met could keep up with her intellectually. It left her isolated, but there wasn't much he or she could do about it. She couldn't help it that she was so different, and trying to get along with her classmates, trying to understand their arguments and play and childish ambitions, that only frustrated her.
The only thing he could do for her was talk to her. He was intelligent, and could have gone into any field he wanted, so he was able to converse intelligently with her on a number of topics, so that she remained healthy emotionally. He saw right away how easy it would be for her to become so isolated that she started thinking of herself as something more than other people, and to lose her sense of morality, so he encouraged her to study philosophy in her free time, and spent many hours debating her findings. So far, it seemed to be working, and she had a strong moral compass that guided her at all times, making it possible for her to live a life full of deception without allowing the lies that protected her to be a guide for the way she conducted the rest of her activities. Still, he worried, and whenever she asked to talk to him, he always managed to make time.
His wife had died almost immediately after he adopted Riana, so aside from a few of the servants and the doctor who treated her, he was the only one she could really talk to. He worried about this, too, and had suggested that she try to find someone else, but as far as he knew, she hadn't done anything about his suggestion.
"I'll do that. What are you looking at?"
"My medical records, blood work, and I'm researching the terrorist attack on the school."
"That was horrible," he said, scanning the article. He didn't know where, but she'd managed to find some rather graphic pictures of the school, or what was left of it. There were pieces of bodies everywhere, and many of them belonged to children. He shuddered, imagining one of the bodies to be Rina's. Despite all of her peculiarities, she was his daughter, and he loved her dearly.
"Yes, it was," she said in a soft voice that also sounded a little strained.
"I am supposed to keep relations between the Alpha colony and Earth calm, but when I see things like this, it makes me want to leave the colonies to fend for themselves. The Rebels must be monsters... I can see where they'd be frustrated by the way the Earth controls the colonies, but resorting to such barbarism to convey their message..."
"The Rebels didn't do it," she said in an even softer voice. He glanced down at her round face. She was a native of the colonies, so had the albino coloring all colonists shared. White hair, pale skin, and eyes so light a blue as to appear almost totally white, she looked almost ghostlike in the dark room, illuminated by the light from the computer screens. Even at seven, while she still had some baby fat on her, it was clear that she would grow into a beauty.
"What? It says here that the Rebels are taking responsibility for the bombing, and that such attacks will continue until Earth allows the colonies some independence."
"It was a set up. The Rebels had nothing to do with it, but it was made to look that way so that the Rebels would lose sympathy with the general public."
"How do you know this?" Jules asked, horror tingeing his voice. This was the first time he'd ever heard of something like this, but now that he thought about it, he could very easily see the Earth Alliance setting up the Rebels like that. They were both a political and military organization, and utilized both aspects of that power. While the military repressed the colonists, the political organization was busy churning out propaganda to convince the colonists that all of this was in their best interest. He had spoken out against the repression on occasion, because he saw the results of it every day in the colonies, but it was a dangerous thing to talk about - more than one politician's career had been suddenly cut short when they tried to push for less interference in the colonies. So it was easy to imagine the propaganda machine pretending to be the Rebels so they could be blamed for all manner of mischief, but he would never have imagined that they would go so far as to kill that many innocents in order to change public opinion.
On the other hand, he had never known Rina to make a mistake like this.
"I hacked into the Earth Alliance's main computer." The casual tone of her voice belied the impossible nature of the statement she had just presented. The Earth Alliance's main computers were supposed to be perfectly guarded against intruders of any kind. "They set up the entire thing through some secret project. I can't get in there - yet - but whoever did this was good. They researched the types of explosives the Rebels usually use, and the message was sent along the exact same channels that the Rebels use to deliver messages. Whoever it was even informed a news crew of the event just minutes before it took place, so the news crew beat the military police and emergency rescue crews to the site. That's how they managed to get so many pictures before the police arrived. It guaranteed that there would be high exposure of how horrible the devastation actually was. Very good."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Positive. Look." She turned the screen to face him, and he saw that it was indeed from the Earth Alliance's computer, with the words 'TOP SECRET' in bold scrawled across the top. It said that something called Project Titan had been used to set up the bombing, but that all of the actual work had been done by agents in another sector. What followed was a detailed description of all the steps taken to ensure the bloodiest strike in order to enrage the public, and how the Rebel transmission was faked.
Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach, and sat down in a chair. "They attacked a school in order to make people hate the Rebels..." he muttered, ideas on what he could do flashing through his mind. He couldn't just go on living with this information and not do anything about it. He was remembering other things, rumors he had discounted as false, rumors about brutal actions by the military against the colonies who had dared to protest openly. He'd always thought that the Alliance had excesses, but he'd always thought that those excesses were explained by the fact that they were fighting the Rebels, who were known to be bloody and without restraint. Now he wondered if they were as bloody as he'd always believed, wondered how many of the brutal, savage acts that had been blamed on the Rebels had been set up by the Alliance, in order to justify their excesses.
"You can't do anything," Rina said, tears running down her face as she seemed to read his mind. "If you try to go public, they'll intercept the transmission and arrest you. You can't tell anyone, because sooner or later it will get back to them and then they'll kill you. They've done it before."
"I have to do something!"
"I... I may be able to help the Rebels," she said, staring at her hands. Jules saw immediately what she was proposing.
"They'd never trust you," he said softly. "First of all, you're seven. And you're my daughter. I work for the Earth Alliance..." he trailed off, wondering if he could continue to work for them, now that he knew what he knew.
"You have to keep working for them," she said. "If you quit, they'll wonder why. The people here, they don't trust you, but they do think that you're not trying to hurt them. The Rebels won't trust me, but I have no intention of ever meeting them. Their security is worse than the Alliances - I can break in easily and leave a message for them."
"Saying what?"
"I could warn them. The Alliance is planning a strike tomorrow night at one of the places they store weapons and supplies. If I warn them now, they could evacuate the place in time."
Jules was silent. He knew, had known, for some time that whatever field his daughter finally decided to apply herself to would benefit greatly, and that that gain would be the loss of any other field she considered. She had a very well rounded education now, and could do anything she wanted. He'd always been careful to keep her out of his politics, not wanting to influence her choice in what she wanted to do. Now it seemed that it hadn't made a difference. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? As soon as you knowingly contact the Rebels without informing the government, you become a criminal. If anyone ever found out, I wouldn't be able to protect you. You can't ever go back from a decision like this." If she were anyone else, he would have been horrified about a child making a decision like this, but Rina wasn't and had never been a child. She knew what she was getting into.
"Actually, I've already broken the law by getting into their computer system. And yes, I am sure. I've been doing some research about the Rebels, and about the Alliance. There are things they've done..." she broke off for a moment, blinking away tears. "I know that I should never hurt people because I'm stronger, but this isn't about hurting people. This is about helping the colonists, and to do that I have to attack the Alliance. I... I am your daughter, but I am also a colonist."
"I would never want you to think that you being my daughter means that you have to condone the actions of the Alliance. I can't condone them, and..." he cut himself off. Rina had been right when she said nothing would be accomplished by his resignation. The Rebels would certainly never trust him, and the chances of him being able to change anything from Earth were slight, once his reputation was destroyed, and he could be sure that the propaganda artists would take care of that.
"Thank you, father." She got up out of her chair, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you. You're the best father a person could have. I have to do this. The Alliance is wrong - the colonies are ready for independence, and the colonists are my people. They deserve freedom, and I want to help them. Do you understand?"
"If you ever need anything, just ask." He knew that the chances of that were slight, but he wanted her to understand that now that he knew the truth, he would support any actions she might take against the Alliance. He would do his best to protect those in the Alpha colony, as he always had, this time knowing the truth, but he couldn't take any overt action. His daughter, his brilliant daughter would be able to help the Rebels directly though, even if they never saw her.
"Thank you," she gave him another kiss, then slid back into her seat. She turned to the screen that still displayed her diplomas and cleared it. "It may take a while to hack into their system," she murmured to herself, then suddenly looked up. "Father?"
Jules, who had been about to leave her, paused. "Yes?"
"There is something you could do. I need to learn how to protect myself." Her eyes assumed a faraway look for a moment, and he wondered what she was planning for the future. "I need to have someone to teach me how to use a gun, and how to fight without one."
"I'll start looking for someone we can trust right away."
"Actually, I have someone in mind, but you'll have to contact them. Can you do that?"
He nodded. "Give me the name, and I'll contact them first thing tomorrow morning."
"Thanks." She turned back to the screen, her hands immediately flying across the keys.
Well, there's the first part, and there were the boys. There will be more of them in the next section, I promise!
STATUS: SECURITY LEVEL 1
DATE: 26.03.10
TOPIC: STATUS REPORT ON SUBJECTS
A: Their progress is astonishing, even considering what they are.
B: You sound surprised. You shouldn't be - we designed them, after all. They're just fulfilling their design specifications.
A: I know, but it's still disturbing, to talk to them, and hear them say the things they do. They're still a few years from full operational capability, but command is already using the ideas that they're coming up with. It's astonishing to think what their capabilities will be later, if just in the test phase they're already coming up with ideas we can use.
B: So? They were built to be geniuses, to be instantly aware. Command never wanted them to be kids, so they were born more mature than most adults. It's a sign of our success that they are able to function so well.
A: I know, but still... Did you hear that Five's defense system for Command Central has been accepted and will be put into operation?
B: I heard. It was an excellent system, although all of their designs were superior to what's in place now. What's wrong with that?
A: Nothing. It's just... When I saw the vid of his report, with that little face describing the different ways that people can be killed, in case of a breech... don't you think it's creepy?
B: No. That's just efficiency. I don't understand you... they're everything we designed them to be, and now that's making you uneasy.
A: It was different when we were designing them, then it was just gene sequences on a page, now that I'm staring at the... the things we've created, I'm not sure. They're not even human.
B: They weren't supposed to be. Humans might feel sorrow, pity, or regret - they won't. They look harmless, but once their training is complete, they'll kill without mercy. Combat training begins in a few weeks, you know.
A: I know. They've already got the equivalent of multiple masters degrees in a number of useful subjects, as well as all having training in the arts, although only with material that Command felt was appropriate. They should be able to fit in anywhere they want to be, or rather, anywhere we station them.
B: Four's reaction to some of the music was funny.
A: Funny? He looked like he was going to cry.
B: He'll be cured of that, I just didn't think that the music meant anything.
A: It was beautiful, some of the best composition ever to come out of Earth. I don't view his emotions in that case as a weakness.
B: Well Command does. He is to be cured of that in the next few weeks, before combat training begins.
A: Michael won't be happy with that. I think he's really developing an affection for them.
B: Michael is no longer our problem.
A: What?!
B: He is no longer part of our organization.
A: Since when?! He's just an assistant, but he's been invaluable to me. What has he done to warrant dismissal?
B: Nothing. Command didn't dismiss him. He's disappeared.
A: What?
B: I've heard that he may have joined the rebels in the colonies. He was always opposing the way we trained them, especially the emotional blocks. Command has been trying to find him, to eliminate him, but so far they haven't had any luck.
[SILENCE]
You know he's a great danger to the project. He doesn't know much about the genetics, but he does know what they look like and what they can do. I'd be careful, or you might be considered to be the same sort of danger he is.
A: I'll be careful. I just think we should be careful with them - a lot of damage could be done if we misstep. You know about the changes we've found that Karen made. If they find out...
B: How would they find out? Less than a dozen people know about it, and they're all above suspicion. Unlike Michael. Maybe their first true mission will be to find and destroy Michael.
A: All I'm saying is that we should be careful. We're playing God here.
B: We have the right. I never heard that the old boy had a copyright on creation.
[NOTE: due to increasing emotional instability, it was later found to be necessary to eliminate 'A' to preserve the integrity of the project]}}
----------
One stared with interest at the screens in front of him. On it were the results of sensors attached to Four's head. For fifty-seven minutes now, there'd been no change in the waves that represented his thought patterns. Now his enhanced eyes detected a slight change even before the computers could pick it up. "It's changing - Four's breaking," One told Mem, and moved to the console that would release his comrade from the chamber where he was being trained. They were all taking their turns, teaching themselves to withstand that sort of torture. Mem had said that they all had to be able to last at least an hour in the chamber without breaking, so far One was the only one to have reached that level, but Four was almost there now. Each time he entered the chamber, he lasted a little bit longer than the previous time before his brain waves started to change, a sure sign that he was about to break.
"No, not yet," Mem told him, his eyes fixed on the screen that displayed the interior of the chamber.
One frowned ever so slightly, then remembered to wipe the expression off of his face. What was Mem trying to do? Exposure after those first changes could have permanent detrimental effects on Four's mind.
A minute slowly passed, and Four's brainwaves grew more and more erratic. It would be obvious to anyone who walked in now that there was something seriously wrong now. One stared at the screens, his hands hovering uncertainly above the controls, unsure of where his duty lie. They had been instructed to act to preserve themselves and each other if necessary from damage, so that they could continue to serve the Alliance and people, but he also had a duty to obey Mem at all times. As the seconds continued to pass, he asked, "Sir?"
"I gave you an order, One. You will obey." Mem was still staring at the screen, watching Four as he huddled in the center of the chamber, covering his head with his arms. One knew from experience that it would do him no good, but also that it was almost impossible to convince your mind and body that when you were inside. The lights were so bright that they could be easily seen even through closed eyes, and the screeching noises were enhanced with subsonics that grated on the ears. And, of course, there were other, more subtle elements.
As Four passed fifty-nine minutes, the com beeped, and One heard Three's voice. "He's reached the level, One. Pay attention," there was a hint of rebuke in his voice, and a sharp edge. "Get him out of there."
Mem casually reached over to the com, never taking his eyes off the screen. There was a pleased expression on his face, and he was smiling to himself as he said, "One's obeying my orders, Three. Leave Four in there until I say otherwise." There was a long silence on the com, and finally Mem glanced down at it and said, "Is that understood, Three?" There was a dangerous element in his voice, for all that it had been exceedingly pleasant. Three should have responded immediately.
"Yes sir."
"Time now?" Mem asked, returning his gaze to the screen. There was a strange, intense expression on his face, as if he was enjoying Four's discomfort. No, that couldn't be it, he was merely glad to be performing his duty to the Alliance in training them. That had to be it.
"Fifty-nine minutes, forty-eight seconds," One responded automatically, watching the now wildly erratic brainwaves. Then he noticed a slight blip on another monitor, one that was registering a part of the brain that he'd never seen active before. There was only the slightest flash, then it was gone, so quickly that even he wasn't sure he'd seen it. But in the next five seconds Four's brain waves became markedly less erratic, almost getting close to normal again. A minute passed, then another, and another. At sixty-four minutes Four's brainwaves swerved dangerously again.
Finally Mem said, "Enough."
Instantly One reacted, shutting off the various aspects of the chamber and opening the doors to allow the others in. Now he looked at the screen, and saw that Three had to lift Four off the ground and carry him out of the chamber.
Mem noticed him watching the screen. "You wondered why I held Four to go last," he said with a knowing smile. "I was pleased with your performance today." One felt a surge of pleasure that he had served the Alliance well, but it was somewhat dampened by his concern for Four. Mem noticed that, as well. "Four has not been permanently damaged," he noted. "He has been showing some... distressing tendencies lately, which must be eliminated immediately. There are some who are questioning his dedication to the Alliance."
One sucked in his breath. "No sir!" he blurted out, horrified by the thought.
"I didn't give you leave to speak," Mem reminded him.
One pressed his lips together and remained silent until Mem nodded his approval and gave One permission to speak. "Four would never do anything but his best for the Alliance," One said.
Mem sniffed. "Perhaps. But there are parts of his attitude that need correcting. See to it that it never happens with you."
"Yes sir."
-----------
Three years after she transmitted her original application, Rina sat amidst a number of computer screens. On one of them were a series of diplomas from various colleges, confirming her masters and doctorate degrees in a number of fields, ranging from diplomacy to medicine to military history. She'd flown through the required courses and had completed all of her schooling in three years, instead of the usual six or eight that most people took. Now, although she still attended school and was officially in second grade, her attention was drawn to other matters.
On the second screen was a medical report, and below that, the result of a blood analysis, right down to a genetic scan. On the third screen was a news article about a terrorist attack on a school made by the rebels in the colonies, and below that, another sheet with information on that same attack, written from a different perspective.
As Jules walked up behind her, he knew that she was aware of his presence. Without removing her eyes from the screen with the blood test on it, she said, "Hello, father." The screen was simply running through the entire report, all thirty pages of it, at a rate of a page every eight seconds. He knew that this morning she'd already read several large books on genetics after her first reading told her very little because she didn't understand the terminology used.
"Hello." He waited patiently for the report to finish screening. When it did, she turned to look at him, and he continued. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. I'm going to stay out of school for a few weeks, though. Word spread very quickly about my accident, and it will look strange if I return to school immediately."
"I've already arranged for your homework to be sent here. I had to agree to hire a tutor for the month that you'll be out, though." He sighed. "It was the best I could do. They were going to send a tutor from the school."
"You're qualified to tutor me," Rina said thoughtfully. "It's only addition and subtraction and a little bit of the alphabet. Tell them you helped me keep up, and then I won't have to waste my time with a tutor. I'll do the homework before I go to bed tonight."
He nodded, looking not at all surprised to hear his seven-year-old daughter talking this way. He had known for years that there was something very special and different about his adopted daughter, and had helped her hide her unique talents for the first few years, so that she wouldn't find herself the subject of a study, until she took responsibility for that chore. Aside from asking for his people to procure fake identification for her occasionally (and she hadn't done that in over a year - he didn't want to know what she was doing about it now) she never asked or needed any help.
She was brilliant - her IQ scores were literally off the chart, and as far as they could tell, she had a perfect memory - she never forgot anything she saw, heard, or thought. She could and had described in great detail the man who brought her to the orphanage when she was just a few weeks old, and hadn't forgotten anything since then. But beyond that, she was mature. She'd never gone through the normal stages a child went through, never cried because she was frightened, and never asked her father about the realities of life. The only thing she'd ever come to him with was confusion about how different she was, when she realized it, at the age of two. He hadn't had any answers for her, other that to tell her that he loved her.
He'd long since resigned himself to the fact that she'd never turn to him for reassurance because a boy had laughed at her, never hear the sound of juvenile laughter echoing through the halls of his home. Rina had few friends, and got together with them only often enough so that she didn't gain the attention of the school psychologists for anti-social behavior. She was so far beyond her classmates, both intellectually and emotionally, that she viewed them as children and not contemporaries. Her father and his colleagues were her contemporaries, and even so, he retained no illusions that he or any other person he'd met could keep up with her intellectually. It left her isolated, but there wasn't much he or she could do about it. She couldn't help it that she was so different, and trying to get along with her classmates, trying to understand their arguments and play and childish ambitions, that only frustrated her.
The only thing he could do for her was talk to her. He was intelligent, and could have gone into any field he wanted, so he was able to converse intelligently with her on a number of topics, so that she remained healthy emotionally. He saw right away how easy it would be for her to become so isolated that she started thinking of herself as something more than other people, and to lose her sense of morality, so he encouraged her to study philosophy in her free time, and spent many hours debating her findings. So far, it seemed to be working, and she had a strong moral compass that guided her at all times, making it possible for her to live a life full of deception without allowing the lies that protected her to be a guide for the way she conducted the rest of her activities. Still, he worried, and whenever she asked to talk to him, he always managed to make time.
His wife had died almost immediately after he adopted Riana, so aside from a few of the servants and the doctor who treated her, he was the only one she could really talk to. He worried about this, too, and had suggested that she try to find someone else, but as far as he knew, she hadn't done anything about his suggestion.
"I'll do that. What are you looking at?"
"My medical records, blood work, and I'm researching the terrorist attack on the school."
"That was horrible," he said, scanning the article. He didn't know where, but she'd managed to find some rather graphic pictures of the school, or what was left of it. There were pieces of bodies everywhere, and many of them belonged to children. He shuddered, imagining one of the bodies to be Rina's. Despite all of her peculiarities, she was his daughter, and he loved her dearly.
"Yes, it was," she said in a soft voice that also sounded a little strained.
"I am supposed to keep relations between the Alpha colony and Earth calm, but when I see things like this, it makes me want to leave the colonies to fend for themselves. The Rebels must be monsters... I can see where they'd be frustrated by the way the Earth controls the colonies, but resorting to such barbarism to convey their message..."
"The Rebels didn't do it," she said in an even softer voice. He glanced down at her round face. She was a native of the colonies, so had the albino coloring all colonists shared. White hair, pale skin, and eyes so light a blue as to appear almost totally white, she looked almost ghostlike in the dark room, illuminated by the light from the computer screens. Even at seven, while she still had some baby fat on her, it was clear that she would grow into a beauty.
"What? It says here that the Rebels are taking responsibility for the bombing, and that such attacks will continue until Earth allows the colonies some independence."
"It was a set up. The Rebels had nothing to do with it, but it was made to look that way so that the Rebels would lose sympathy with the general public."
"How do you know this?" Jules asked, horror tingeing his voice. This was the first time he'd ever heard of something like this, but now that he thought about it, he could very easily see the Earth Alliance setting up the Rebels like that. They were both a political and military organization, and utilized both aspects of that power. While the military repressed the colonists, the political organization was busy churning out propaganda to convince the colonists that all of this was in their best interest. He had spoken out against the repression on occasion, because he saw the results of it every day in the colonies, but it was a dangerous thing to talk about - more than one politician's career had been suddenly cut short when they tried to push for less interference in the colonies. So it was easy to imagine the propaganda machine pretending to be the Rebels so they could be blamed for all manner of mischief, but he would never have imagined that they would go so far as to kill that many innocents in order to change public opinion.
On the other hand, he had never known Rina to make a mistake like this.
"I hacked into the Earth Alliance's main computer." The casual tone of her voice belied the impossible nature of the statement she had just presented. The Earth Alliance's main computers were supposed to be perfectly guarded against intruders of any kind. "They set up the entire thing through some secret project. I can't get in there - yet - but whoever did this was good. They researched the types of explosives the Rebels usually use, and the message was sent along the exact same channels that the Rebels use to deliver messages. Whoever it was even informed a news crew of the event just minutes before it took place, so the news crew beat the military police and emergency rescue crews to the site. That's how they managed to get so many pictures before the police arrived. It guaranteed that there would be high exposure of how horrible the devastation actually was. Very good."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Positive. Look." She turned the screen to face him, and he saw that it was indeed from the Earth Alliance's computer, with the words 'TOP SECRET' in bold scrawled across the top. It said that something called Project Titan had been used to set up the bombing, but that all of the actual work had been done by agents in another sector. What followed was a detailed description of all the steps taken to ensure the bloodiest strike in order to enrage the public, and how the Rebel transmission was faked.
Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach, and sat down in a chair. "They attacked a school in order to make people hate the Rebels..." he muttered, ideas on what he could do flashing through his mind. He couldn't just go on living with this information and not do anything about it. He was remembering other things, rumors he had discounted as false, rumors about brutal actions by the military against the colonies who had dared to protest openly. He'd always thought that the Alliance had excesses, but he'd always thought that those excesses were explained by the fact that they were fighting the Rebels, who were known to be bloody and without restraint. Now he wondered if they were as bloody as he'd always believed, wondered how many of the brutal, savage acts that had been blamed on the Rebels had been set up by the Alliance, in order to justify their excesses.
"You can't do anything," Rina said, tears running down her face as she seemed to read his mind. "If you try to go public, they'll intercept the transmission and arrest you. You can't tell anyone, because sooner or later it will get back to them and then they'll kill you. They've done it before."
"I have to do something!"
"I... I may be able to help the Rebels," she said, staring at her hands. Jules saw immediately what she was proposing.
"They'd never trust you," he said softly. "First of all, you're seven. And you're my daughter. I work for the Earth Alliance..." he trailed off, wondering if he could continue to work for them, now that he knew what he knew.
"You have to keep working for them," she said. "If you quit, they'll wonder why. The people here, they don't trust you, but they do think that you're not trying to hurt them. The Rebels won't trust me, but I have no intention of ever meeting them. Their security is worse than the Alliances - I can break in easily and leave a message for them."
"Saying what?"
"I could warn them. The Alliance is planning a strike tomorrow night at one of the places they store weapons and supplies. If I warn them now, they could evacuate the place in time."
Jules was silent. He knew, had known, for some time that whatever field his daughter finally decided to apply herself to would benefit greatly, and that that gain would be the loss of any other field she considered. She had a very well rounded education now, and could do anything she wanted. He'd always been careful to keep her out of his politics, not wanting to influence her choice in what she wanted to do. Now it seemed that it hadn't made a difference. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? As soon as you knowingly contact the Rebels without informing the government, you become a criminal. If anyone ever found out, I wouldn't be able to protect you. You can't ever go back from a decision like this." If she were anyone else, he would have been horrified about a child making a decision like this, but Rina wasn't and had never been a child. She knew what she was getting into.
"Actually, I've already broken the law by getting into their computer system. And yes, I am sure. I've been doing some research about the Rebels, and about the Alliance. There are things they've done..." she broke off for a moment, blinking away tears. "I know that I should never hurt people because I'm stronger, but this isn't about hurting people. This is about helping the colonists, and to do that I have to attack the Alliance. I... I am your daughter, but I am also a colonist."
"I would never want you to think that you being my daughter means that you have to condone the actions of the Alliance. I can't condone them, and..." he cut himself off. Rina had been right when she said nothing would be accomplished by his resignation. The Rebels would certainly never trust him, and the chances of him being able to change anything from Earth were slight, once his reputation was destroyed, and he could be sure that the propaganda artists would take care of that.
"Thank you, father." She got up out of her chair, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you. You're the best father a person could have. I have to do this. The Alliance is wrong - the colonies are ready for independence, and the colonists are my people. They deserve freedom, and I want to help them. Do you understand?"
"If you ever need anything, just ask." He knew that the chances of that were slight, but he wanted her to understand that now that he knew the truth, he would support any actions she might take against the Alliance. He would do his best to protect those in the Alpha colony, as he always had, this time knowing the truth, but he couldn't take any overt action. His daughter, his brilliant daughter would be able to help the Rebels directly though, even if they never saw her.
"Thank you," she gave him another kiss, then slid back into her seat. She turned to the screen that still displayed her diplomas and cleared it. "It may take a while to hack into their system," she murmured to herself, then suddenly looked up. "Father?"
Jules, who had been about to leave her, paused. "Yes?"
"There is something you could do. I need to learn how to protect myself." Her eyes assumed a faraway look for a moment, and he wondered what she was planning for the future. "I need to have someone to teach me how to use a gun, and how to fight without one."
"I'll start looking for someone we can trust right away."
"Actually, I have someone in mind, but you'll have to contact them. Can you do that?"
He nodded. "Give me the name, and I'll contact them first thing tomorrow morning."
"Thanks." She turned back to the screen, her hands immediately flying across the keys.
Well, there's the first part, and there were the boys. There will be more of them in the next section, I promise!
