Chapter 18
Blast From The Past
Tobias was walking headlong out of the virtual control room, quietly ignoring Jennifer's pleas to stop. She was a woman on a mission to get as close to Lyman Taggart as possible before there was no opportunity left to do so.
"Doctor Tobias, you have to stop," Jennifer said sharply.
"No, I don't, young one," Tobias replied, her eyes glassy and unseeing of the real world. "And if you want to see your friends alive and well again, you won't try to stop me."
"This isn't about your personal feelings toward Dread! People will die if you don't stop!"
Tobias gave a crooked, sad smile. "They're already dead where they stand. They're trapped in a giant coffin. Look for yourself."
The monitor in front of Chase lit up with a map of moving dots. Several blue dots represented the rebel team. The red dots, which numbered in the hundreds, showed the force bearing down on the team's position. They were outgunned and outnumbered.
"We don't have much time, Jennifer," Tobias said. "Your captain knew this might be a one-way trip, but I'm not ready to accept that yet. The only way they're going to make it out of there, especially with wounded, is if we pave the road for them. I've done all I can do from the control room. Now's the time to make the move for Taggart."
She sighed thoughtfully and added, "And I wouldn't mind putting a dent or two in Overmind while I was at it."
Jennifer could see the battle raging in the hall. She saw Kasich barely able to move, yet still firing at the approaching mechs. The flurry of weapons fire lit up the video screen in bright flashes that sometimes obliterated the scene. Indeed, there was not much time.
"Then we better get moving," Jennifer said in consent.
Tobias looked around her in the virtual world, taking note of the twelve patrol bugs that joined her in the hall.
"Come on, my little ones, let's go for a walk," she said, stepping forward. The bugs followed like puppies, eagerly moving with Tobias, carefully avoiding her simulated feet.
It was then that Jennifer realized that Tobias no longer possessed the mechanical leg in the computerized realm. She walked with whole legs. Chase imagined that the skull prosthetic was probably gone, too. After all, the virtual world was in Tobias' control, and she could be whatever she wanted in it. Her avatar was of her choosing, and she chose to be the way she once was.
Tobias stopped at a panel on the wall, looking for direction. The bugs stopped, too, crowding around and running up the wall to be near the panel. One crawled across the screen. Tobias gently pushed it out of the way.
"Well," the doctor said, "looks like we have to go to the next level. This should be interesting. I'm sure Overmind will be upset."
"It might shut down the system if it detects you."
"Unlikely. If the system is shut down, Taggart's brain is dead tissue, and Overmind will have no master. Its programming was designed to protect Taggart at all costs. It would just as soon allow me in and deal with the consequences than to abort the transfer."
"You always told me assumptions were dangerous."
"This isn't an assumption. I know what Overmind will do because I helped build the system Taggart is using to transfer himself."
Jennifer was dumbstruck with the shock of Tobias' revelation. "What?"
Tobias put the link on standby. She turned to Jennifer, blinking her eyes as she focused back on the real world's visage. "Add it to the list of sins, my dear. There are a lot more where that one came from, and some day, you'll find them all. Then, you'll have all the answers to the past you want."
"But you didn't know what you were designing, right?"
"Of course I did. Hell, I even entertained the thought of crossing over, myself, for a time. My intentions, though, were not like Lyman's. He wanted to rule the world. I just wanted to think faster."
Jennifer could not believe it. She knew Tobias had been deeply involved in the development of technology in Dread's empire, but she had no idea how integral her mentor had been in the implementation of ideas.
"We'll talk about this later," Tobias said. "Right now, we have to get those folks out of that hallway." Tobias turned to the console and reinitiated the virtual control.
The patrol bugs milled around her, waiting for their new friend to make a move. Once Tobias stepped forward, the bugs happily followed, their legs tittering off the false steel floors and echoing even in the console's speakers. One of them crawled up Tobias' back and settled low on the back of her shoulder for the ride. She did not shrug it off, instead letting it have its way.
She came to a new door in the hall, one that was modern and more Volcania-like in appearance. The bugs rattled ahead, opening the door in a welcoming gesture for their new friend.
"Hmmm," Tobias mused. "An all-access pass with these little guys. This could get fun."
Jennifer checked on the status of the battle raging in the hall. Power and the team were still in the firefight of their lives, doing their best to hang on until something could be done to get them out of their situation.
"We need to hurry," she informed Tobias. "I don't think they'll be able to hang on much longer."
"We're almost there," Tobias said calmly as she made her way down a darkened corridor.
"Almost where?"
"The belly of the whale," the doctor answered.
And they were. The hallway opened up into a large chamber that seemed impossibly high. In the center sat Overmind, round and pulsating with a orange-tinted light. A thick fog surrounded it, as though the machine were deep in thought. The mechanical gyrators circled it rhythmically, almost caressing its shell.
Tobias stood captivated, looking up at the enormous sphere.
"I don't remember Overmind being so large," Jennifer commented, nearly whispering, a habit from another lifetime when she was in the Dread Youth and was once ordered to appear before Dread and Overmind.
"It's not," Tobias said, full-voiced. "That's its ego you're seeing. Overmind thinks it's larger than life, and in this world, it makes sure that all the beings and machines around it know who's boss."
Jennifer viewed the scene on the monitor. She could see no other doors, no other way out of the room. Tobias had come in through the only entrance.
"I don't see Dread," the corporal said.
"Oh, he's here," Tobias said confidently. "He's just in the middle of being grown, that's all." She stared intently at Overmind's seething form.
It suddenly dawned on Jennifer what Tobias meant, and it was shocking and bewildering all at the same time. "He's incubating."
"This certainly would answer the question about the chicken and the egg, wouldn't it?"
"So what happens when Dread . . . hatches? Does Overmind go away?"
"Well, there's certainly not room enough for the two of them in here, but I'm betting Lyman has other plans. Even if he completes his transfer, he'll still need a lesser computer to do the mundane things. I suspect those tasks will be beneath Lyman, and he'll count on Overmind to do business as usual."
"How do we get in, or how does Dread get out?"
"The bell seems to be out of order. Perhaps we should knock three times."
Jennifer was puzzled. "We should do what?"
Tobias dismissed the question. "Nevermind," she said. "Let's see what we can see around Overmind's toes."
She walked forward. The patrol bugs tapped ahead, merrily presenting their guest to Overmind. There was a chattering sound as they communicated their find to the machine in charge. While they were busy doing that, Tobias walked the foundation of Overmind's base, her body occasionally becoming enveloped in the mist that surrounded it. She ran her hand along the smooth metal of the base, stopping when she felt an abnormality and examining it. She continued the process amid the chatter of the patrol bugs to Overmind. If the master machine was paying attention, it was not showing any sign of alarm at an intruder.
Tobias stopped abruptly, her hand pressed firmly against the metal base. She looked back at the bugs, which were still desperately trying to communicate with Overmind. Their information seemed to be falling on deaf ears.
"Found it," Tobias announced.
"Found what?"
"The door to destiny, my dear child."
Tobias pushed against the metal with both hands. A rectangular seam of light appeared, silhouetting Tobias as the glow grew. Tobias squinted in the real world against the simulated light, her brain convincing her optical nerve of the sights of the virtual landscape.
Jennifer glanced at the screen monitoring Tobias' vital signs. All levels had increased – blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. It was possible that it was all from the anticipation of the moment, but Jennifer silently worried that the strain of the connection with Dread's virtual world was becoming too much for an aging human body. Tobias' brain believed that what happened in the cyber world was no different had it happened in the real world. It was as real as could be to her gray matter. So, too, would any damage that occurred inside the artificial world.
Jennifer had seen it before. Dread used the concept time and time again to torture his victims in order to extract information. She saw it firsthand with one of the Sandtown captives, Galen. Dread tortured the man by mind alone until a secret was revealed that led to the deaths of so many. Others were digitized in brutal fashion for Overmind's consumption.
Tobias pushed harder on the doorway until it vanished into the bright light. She stood there, adjusting to the new scene. The world beyond the door was filled with more fog, swirling against a moderate wind that whipped the mist into tiny vortexes. Tobias looked up, the video screen accommodating her wish and showing the internal environment that was Overmind. Dark clouds roiled overhead. Flashes of lighting streaked wildly across a phantom sky. The tempo of the discharges was manic, with no rhyme or reason.
The doctor drank it all in with a look of curiosity that was tinged with awe. "Oh my," she said, looking up at the chaos. "We are a bit busy, aren't we?"
She moved forward in the mist, stepping into the unknown. She walked in a straight path, at times blinded by the mist until she came to a clearing. There was something there, but its details were not discernable until she got closer. It was a human form, curled in a fetal position. Black clothing distinguished the figure from the blowing white mist.
Tobias approached carefully. She stood over the body, looking down at it with disgust.
"Get up, Lyman," she groused.
Still the figure did not move.
"Get up," she said again, this time more forcefully.
The figure stirred and turned over onto his back. Lyman Taggart lay there, blinking as though awakening from a long sleep. His skullcap was gone. Like Tobias, he existed in the virtual world with no prosthetics. His body was reborn, free from injury and artificial devices. When he realized who was standing over him, he sprang to his feet and stepped away quickly.
He took a moment to take in the woman before him. "Helene," he said with disgust. "I should have known."
Tobias rolled her eyes, dismissing his drama. "Oh, please. You had no clue. I was a piece of garbage the last time you thought about me."
Taggart was seething with anger. "What do you want?"
"Neither you nor I have the time for a complete list, but I'll settle for Overmind powering down some mechs for me."
Taggart was incredulous. "And if I don't?"
"If you don't," Tobias said in a sugary voice, "I can unleash some bugs on you that aren't going to appreciate the fact that you're in here."
Taggart gave a smile that dripped irony. "Is that all?"
She circled Taggart with slow steps. He remained still.
"I would imagine that old cue ball has its hands full trying to make you a microchip and controlling a couple thousand mechs all at once. It's like juggling kittens, if you ask me. No time to talk to some little bugs who are prattling on about an old friend like me showing up after five years."
She faced him squarely again. "You, on the other hand, are a foreigner here. You're a parasite they're designed to eat. And believe me, they do seem hungry today."
The bug that had hitched a ride to the chamber moved over the top of Tobias' shoulder for a look at Dread. One of its legs began nervously tapping on her cloak, as if to notify her there was a problem. She glanced at it out of the corner of her eye and smiled.
"Starving, actually," she added.
Taggart tried to look nonplussed. "You forget where you are, Helene. This is my world now, not yours."
"It's not yours yet, Lyman. You're nothing but an unwelcome visitor."
The bug's leg tapped faster, more urgently.
"If that is what you choose to believe," Taggart replied. He stepped forward and reached to touch the bug, stroking its back gently as if it were a pet. He smiled at it with admiration. "You've been gone too long to know everything here is under my command."
"Really? Why don't you try giving Overmind a yodel. I'll bet you don't get a reply."
Jennifer watched the scene play out on the screens, suddenly bothered by twinges of pain that told her the methylendorphin was losing its power. The pain was increasing by the second, but she held it in, not wanting to disturb the confrontation between Tobias and Taggart. There was no time to interrupt them. Whatever the doctor was doing was going to have to happen fast if there was to be a chance of getting Jon and his team out alive. All she could do was watch and hope that Tobias would succeed.
"Why don't you leave, Helene? You can't win here. I will complete the transfer, and I will rule this world in the name of the machine. There's nothing you can do to stop me," Taggart said in a cajoling voice.
She smiled contritely. "Nice offer, but I know how this works, remember? I built this place. I know what happens if I walk out that doorway."
"You have my word nothing will happen to you."
Her eyebrows rose in amusement, and she let loose with a chuckle. "I think I'll take a big pass on that offer. Your word hasn't meant a damn in years."
Jennifer felt a sense of panic. "What happens if you walk out the door?" she asked Tobias quietly, masking the pain she felt.
"I know," Tobias said in reply to both worlds, "that if either one of us walks out that door before the transfer is complete, Overmind shuts down, severing all connections and most likely killing both of us. By the time it figures out its mistake, it'll be too late."
"You don't have the nerve, Helene. You never did, and I doubt you have it now."
"And I doubt you know what's going on inside your own fortress. Oh, that's right," she said mockingly, "you and Overmind haven't exactly been gabbing during all this. In fact, you're very much alone in here, aren't you? Cold, afraid here in this place."
"Afraid?" he laughed. "Hardly. I'm only paying my penance for being human. Soon, I will have paid my debt and I will be stronger than you could possibly imagine. The process is almost complete. You're too late."
"Not if I make sure Overmind pours what's left of your brain down the same garbage chute you threw me down all those years ago. Not if you're lunch to these little guys." She took a turn at stroking the bug's back.
Jennifer pushed down the now excruciating pain in her body. "Doctor Tobias," she breathed. "What are you doing?"
Tobias ignored the question. "It ends here, Lyman. You're done hurting people. Like you, I have a penance to pay for the past. And like you, it is here I pay the price."
Jennifer heard footfalls in the hallway. Holcomb. It had to be Holcomb. She turned just in time to see a pressure door close over and lock. Holcomb's face appeared in the tiny window. He pounded on it, calling to Tobias repeatedly, ordering the door to be opened. Jennifer reached for the controls on the panel to open the door, but the computer rejected the command. Tobias had locked it.
Chase was losing control over the pain. She slumped down in the chair, trying to ease the pressure on her torso. It did little to help the explosions erupting with each heartbeat.
Taggart eyed Tobias suspiciously. "You wouldn't dare."
"And why wouldn't I? Do you think I'm afraid to die? I've done that already, Lyman. I know what awaits me. To tell you the truth, it's really not that bad. Very quiet, actually. Peaceful. I'm ready to go there again."
"That can be arranged," Taggart sneered slyly. "Just say the word."
Tobias grinned. "Let's play hide and seek, Lyman. I'm it."
With that, she dashed out of his sight and into the mist. All Jennifer could see was waves of the fog as it passed through Tobias' range of vision. Her own vision blurred slightly as she battled against the sudden weakness that enveloped her. It owned her, like a master. She could barely keep her eyes open to watch the transactions on the screen. Tobias moved quickly, calling out to Dread as she swam through the mist.
"Lyman," Tobias called, "I know where I am. Do you?"
There was no reply.
Tobias ran through the mist with purpose, as though she had a sense of exactly where she was going. Jennifer's vision, though hazy with ache, was clear enough to see Tobias find the doorway to Overmind's incubator. Its border glowed with electrical impulses that fluctuated around its perimeter. Tobias eyed it, studying it.
Taggart's frantic footsteps echoed off the chamber walls. Tobias turned to face him. He stopped short of tackling her, not wanting to risk her accidentally falling through the portal.
"Helene!" he yelled, panicked. "Don't you dare," he warned, pointing a menacing finger at her.
"Or what, Lyman? I told you, it ends here."
Jennifer reached out for Tobias, but was so weak that the doctor was able to push her hand away much too easily. The pilot's heart pounded hard, thundering in her ears. Her entire body was on fire, aching fiercely and uncontrollably. She looked back toward the pressure door, willing Holcomb to break through it at any moment.
"Ready? Let's count it down. Three."
Taggart took a step toward her. "Helene," he said, threateningly. "Think of what you're doing. We can rule this world together." He held out his hand to her.
"Two." She took a step backward toward the portal.
Jennifer tried once more to reach out to Tobias but could find no more strength.
"Helene!" Taggart screamed, fully realizing she was not kidding at all.
She smiled with a look of satisfaction. "One."
With that, she fell backward through the portal, falling in the real world to the back of her chair. The screens went black as the connection to Dread's world was severed.
"No," Jennifer whispered weakly, reaching out with a weakened hand to Tobias once again but missing her arm entirely, despair overwhelming her.
The pressure door slid open. Holcomb sprinted to Tobias' side. He stopped short, unsure of what to do. He could not remove the data rod from her head. That would surely mean death. Then he looked down at the monitors, realizing in a panic that the connection had already been severed.
"Helene!" he exclaimed in terror. His fingers went to her neck, trying to find a pulse. "God, no . . ."
His shoulders slumped when he found no sign of life. A med tech rushed into the room to assist Holcomb, coming to Tobias' side, prepared to administer care. He stopped her with a shake of his head.
Tobias was dead.