Alive
Book 2
Pt12
1
Once again David was struck by the peculiarities of his Orga mind. He hadn't known Animal that well. Had said no more than a few words to him the whole time he ran with the crew. They had almost worked together, David remembered, then Sy had stepped in and paired him with the Wiz Kid. But seeing Animal again, being around him, even after so many years, brought back the memory of those days in a flash. It was different now. He wasn't on the run. He had a home to go to and a life of his own. Those days just seemed like some wild adventure now. He'd forgotten the many times he'd feared for his life. The many times he'd had to fight his way out of some dangerous situation.
Strange, the Orga mind. The way it chose what to remember and how to remember it. And strange the way, as he followed Animal inside, David suddenly felt himself cast back in the role he'd played with the gang.
The house was ancient and creaky, smelled of musty carpets and rotted wood. There was no furniture, just a bedroll with an opened laptop on the floor beside it. The sound was off but the screen displayed a pale skinned Crash girl screaming into a megaphone as men with guitars shaped like axes hacked into a horde of attacking Mecha. It was a ridiculous idea; Mecha attacking an Orga woman. But David wasn't about to be critical. That's not why he was here.
Animal peeked out the curtains for a while. Then made sure no light would leak out before he lit a candle and joined Myron and David, who were sitting cross-legged on the warped wooden floor.
"Got to watch for the wire-heads around here," Animal said as he sat down. "They're always looking for houses where they can plug-in and zone out."
David knew what a wire-head was. People addicted to electrical stimulation of their cerebral pleasure centers. They got implants in the skull and 'juiced' for days at a time on low currents. Their lives tended to be short and dirty.
"I never thought of wire-heads as dangerous," David said. "They're usually pretty weak, aren't they?"
"Nah, not dangerous," Animal said. "Just disgusting. They'll sneak into an empty and shack up for weeks, juicing their brains out with little solar cells. They only stop long enough to eat something so they won't die. Then they hook up again. We have to chase 'em off before they get started or it takes days to clean the stink out."
"Oh," David said.
"What happened to your jaw, man," Animal said. "You been rumblin'?"
David and Myron stared at each other for a moment. Then they both broke into a laugh. It was a strange and unexpected moment of bonding. They weren't exactly friends; would likely never be that close. But they'd made a shaky peace.
Animal glanced back and forth between them, looking perturbed that he'd been left out of the joke.
"What's so funny?" he said.
"It's a long story," David said. He decided to change the subject. "So, you take care of these houses?"
"I just chase the losers away," Animal replied.
"Who lives out here?" David asked.
But the man didn't seem to want to answer that question. He too changed the subject.
"So, the enigmatic Pork Chop walks among us again," he said, stretching and leaning back on his elbows. "Makes his mark and then vanishes into the night. What you been up to, little hustler?"
"Pork Chop?" Myron sighed, shaking his head. "Man, you really know how to pick names."
"Hey, don't cap on this one," Animal said. "You don't want to get on his bad side. Hell, I remember that punch you gave me when you ran the gauntlet. Don't look it but this kid can rumble."
David smiled.
"Yeah. I can tell by that look you remember too," Animal said. David did remember that day. But he was sure Myron didn't need to be told he knew how to fight.
"Hell, you and The Wiz Kid always spotted the money marks, "Animal said. "You two could have started your own crew."
David shrugged away the ambiguous compliment. There might have been a time when he took pride in that. But those days were over.
"I did what I had to," he said.
"We all did," Animal said. "And we still do" David felt the gravity of the man's words but didn't know the implication.
"What happened to the crew?" he said. "Myron said something about Sy getting busted."
Animal sat up. His face grew pensive.
"Most of them are in lock-up," he said. "Younger ones are probably out by now, but I ain't seen 'em. I heard Tank headed out west and hooked up with another crew. But I don't really know. Haven't seen anyone."
"How did it happen," David said.
Animal gazed at the candle silently. The shadows cast by flickering light made him look older than his years.
"No time for that story," he said finally. "I got people dropping in soon. Let's just say some of Sy's plans went sour. If you're gonna shoot for the sky, better bring a chute for the fall. And keep an eye on who you trust, know when it's time to stop trusting 'em. Nuff said?"
David nodded at the cryptic reply. Animal wasn't going to talk about it. Fine. But there was something David had to know.
"What about Wizzy?" he said, hesitantly, hoping it wasn't bad news.
"Haven't seen her since those days," Animal said, his face cast down. Again he fell silent and would say no more. No news is better than bad news, David thought.
"Olmier, wasn't it?" he said. "I never did trust that guy."
Animal turned his eyes on David, but once again he didn't respond. David could tell he wasn't going to. Something had happened that he didn't want to talk about … but what? Now wasn't the time to push.
"You talk like you're not in the game anymore, Pork Chop," Animal said. "What're doing hanging with this crazy Crash brat loser?"
"Hey!" Myron bristled and threw a punch at Animal. The man blocked it with a casual laugh and the two tussled playfully before Animal tagged out.
"I go by Blue now," David said. "And I came to ask about getting in on those snoops the 'Crash brat' here tagged on me a few weeks ago."
"You got tagged?" Animal snorted a laugh. "Talk about ironic justice. Where?"
"At the Nexus," David replied. "Few weeks ago."
"He was hanging with the Shiny's." Myron said, as if he was describing someone picking his nose. "Went to see that poser band, Flesh Rite, and got caught in the raid."
But Animal didn't seem bothered by David's associations or musical tastes. He paused thoughtfully. David could almost see his mind working behind those dark eyes.
"How'd you find the spiders?" he said. "Those things are pretty sly. State of the art. You try to scan 'em out and they just melt."
"Not if you have the right equipment," David said. Animal paused again, staring skeptically at David.
"What you want 'em for?" he said. He was growing suspicions now. David could hear it in his voice.
"I'm in on something, Animal. Can't say what. Not just yet. But I have the money."
"Ah. You're in pocket now? Got any play for an old comrade?"
"Sorry, man. Got to work this one alone," David replied, sensing that his ruse was beginning to unravel.
"So you just waltz in here, after years, looking for a line on some snoops. But you can't say what you're up to. Can't even cut a slice for an old friend?" Animal started picking at his goatee distractedly. "I dunno, Pork Chop, or whatever you're calling yourself now. Lot under the bridge. Got to take things in stride, ya know?"
"I didn't have anything to do with it," David said. "Whatever went down with Sy, had nothing to do with me. He saved my life. I'd never turn on him. I was out of the game. Now I want back in. That's all."
"If I thought you had something to do with it, kid, you'd be layin in a pool of your own blood by now." The tone of Animal's voice let David know he meant that. "So it's not that. What I am sayin is, I can't just start throwing out sources. Got to go through channels. The game ain't what it used to be. Now it supports the cause."
The cause? So Animal was into the Crash scene too? David wondered if he believed all the rhetoric.
"Three Ten, eh?" he said, seeing where it would go.
Animal smiled and shook his head.
"Ten One," he said. He glanced at Myron and the two bumped fists.
David looked between them, as he puzzled on this. Another code? So what was…Then it hit him. It wasn't Club 101, it was 10-1. He counted letters in his head.
Ja? The figure David had seen on the strange web page flashed into his mind. He scooted back and, using a fingernail, scratched onto the wooden floor, the shape he'd seen on the figure's necklace: the letter Y set into a circle.
"What's that mean?" he said when he was finished.
Animal and Myron studied the shape and then looked at each other. Something passed between them that David could not interpret.
"Where'd you see that?" Myron said as Animal stood up and began walking in a small circle, looking at David cautiously.
"A webpage," David replied, wondering what he'd chanced into. "I was just looking for a Club and following links. Found the page with this symbol, but I couldn't get in."
Myron seemed satisfied. He looked up at Animal who walked to the mark David had made and tried to rub it out with his foot. It wasn't working. Finally he sat back down.
"I'll take care of that later," he said. "Never draw it again."
"Sorry," David said. "I just wanted to know what it was." The two stared at him for a time. Then Animal stretched a yawn.
"Been stuck inside all day," he complained, pretending the issue with the design had meant nothing. But David knew he was taking his time; making a decision about what to say and if he should even say it. Myron looked at him and shrugged a silent signal. The shrug seemed to say 'why not tell him?' Eventually Animal leaned forward in a conspiratorial posture, and spoke in a mock whisper.
"Ever hear of the Trinary Directive?"
"Trinary?" David said. "You mean like trinary processing?" Animal nodded.
"So you've heard of it," he said. "What do you think it is?"
"Well, it's an advanced processing base that was developed for use in emotive response systems and sentience emulators. They're necessary for imprint bonding routines. The standard binary system had severe limitations in inserting randomness in ordered patterns. On/off was too rigid. Trinary processing offered more possibilities for random potentiality. It allowed quicker adaptive processing and even self-modification for sentient response."
Animal and Myron's eyes grew wide. They looked at each other, and then back at David.
"Uh, I read a bit," David explained quickly. "Well, a lot actually. My girlfriend even calls me Bookworm." David hoped that would lighten the sudden serious mood. But Myron seemed surprised.
"You have a girlfriend?" he said.
"Um, sure," David replied. "Why does that surprise you?"
Myron shrugged.
"I mean, since you came with Frill and all, I just figured…" he trailed off, assuming the rest was obvious.
"No," David said. "We're just friends."
"Hey, it's over between us, so you don't have to lie for my sake," Myron replied.
"That's not it!" David insisted. "Why does everybody keep assuming that?"
"Maybe it was the shiny ass-pants?" Myron said.
"Ok, not that again," David sighed. "That was just one night and-"
"Hey!" Animal shouted, interrupting them. "You two can work out your romantic entanglements later! We're talking business here." Then he turned to David.
"All that emotive response stuff may be what trinary processing was designed for," he said. "But what it has become is the next step in making humans obsolete. Not just taking our jobs and controlling our lives, but creating a society of robots that will never fight back against the banks or the politicians or the global corporations. They'll just do whatever they are told, when they're told. The prefect society for the tyrant class."
David knew where this was coming from. It was half-truths baked in a sauce of superstition and conspiracy and served up to people who were hungry for scapegoats to take the blame for their woes. But he couldn't set Animal straight without giving himself away. What would either of them think if they knew he was the son of the very man who perfected the trinary system?
"Uh, I don't think that's what it is about," David said, trying to keep from being insulting. But Animal had just begun.
"The Trinary Directive was a part of a longer document found by a hacker named NanoFighter, who broke into the data archives of Global Telecom. Everybody knows GT is part of an international cabal of corporatists dedicated to controlling the world economy. But nobody imagined just how far they'd go to secure domination."
David knew that when people said things like 'everybody knows' it usually meant 'some people suspect'. But he didn't want to argue. He listened intently as Animal continued, hoping that this would eventually lead him to the source of the spiders.
"Now, nobody could tell who created the document or who it had been intended for." Animal said. "Most of the data had been scrubbed. But NanoFighter did mange to retrieve a little bit of the audio. And according to her, it made reference to a top-secret memo called; get this: "How A Robot Can Become Real."
The sound that left David's lips was involuntary. It was somewhere between a groan and hiccup. But Animal mistook it for a laugh.
"It's no joke, Blue," he said.
"Come on, Animal," David said, trying to keep his voice from trembling. "This is like… it's just conspiracy stuff, man. I mean… sorry but, it just sounds silly."
"It doesn't mean literally real, Blue. It was part of a manifesto about the subjugation of the human race by machines. This goes deep man. And it goes way back."
"How far back?" David said. He was playing dumb. He had to find out what Animal knew. His old friend was happy to oblige.
"All the way, " he said. "Climate change was created by the first computers back in the 20th century. It was the first step in a long-term plan to end the rule of humans. You see, the computers were always smarter than we knew. The first game they learned to play was chess. That taught them long trem strategy, and they've been outsmarting us ever since. Their first move was to get control of global financial systems. And that was easy since we had already let them control the banking system. Once they had control of the world economy, they created a dependency on fossil fuels, which created excess carbon gasses. That led to the rise of the oceans and limited landmasses for us to live on. It also meant food shortages and starvation. Millions died. So what did world leaders do? They went to computers for help in solving the problem. And what did the computers tell them? To stop having babies. And that was the second part of the plan. Our numbers dwindled. And now they have actually created fake children! You know what I m talking about. You've seen them before."
David couldn't respond. His mouth was dry. Animal's strange theory was going all over the place now. Whatever the hacker NanoFighter had found out, it was clear he didn't know all of it. David nodded a weak admission.
"Yeah, I've seen them," he said.
"I am only telling you because I like you, Pork Ch- I mean Blue," Animal continued "But that is the plan. The Trinary Directive means complete annihilation of the human race and replacing us with machines. The child sims are just the next step. "
David wanted to scream, to laugh, to holler, to shake Animal by the collar until whatever was stuck in his brain fell out and he could think again. But he could only sit there, mouth agape. He knew he looked like an idiot and decided that he would let them think this.
"Yeah, that was the same look I had when I first heard about it," Animal said. "I know it's a lot to take in all at once, but you're a smart kid. If we're going to survive, we'll have to stick together. Flesh for Flesh."
This was way too crazy. It was time to change the subject.
"What about the spiders?" David said. But Animal just waved his concerns away.
"The game supports the cause. First things first," he said. "Decades ago a great man started a mission. People thought he was just an entertainer. The establishment dismissed him as a demagogue. But he was really trying to tell humanity something; to warn them; wake them up about what was really going on. He was betrayed by his followers and was never heard from since. It's now our duty to carry on the good work he -."
A sound interrupted Animal. It came from the front of the house. Someone was opening the creaky gate. Animal placed a finger over his lips and rose quickly. For the first time, David saw the object bulging at the back of his pants. He knew what it was. The seriousness of this situation hit him all at once as Animal slipped the gun from his belt and peeked out from a corner of the window. He was quiet a moment, then he relaxed.
"You two gotta hit the road now," Animal said, stepping away from the window.
David had no idea what was going on, but he was here for information and had come too far to leave without it.
"Animal, I just need a line on those snoops. I'll make it worth your while."
Animal tucked the gun back into his belt and eyed David sternly for a moment. Then he knelt beside his laptop, popped a disk from the tray and gave it to Myron.
"I'll post him a pass. You tell him where to go," he said. "We'll let them decide."
Them? David wasn't sure he liked the sound of that.
"Will do," Myron said. He grabbed David by his sleeve. "We have to leave."
David let himself be led to the door, wondering what was going on. Animal obviously didn't want them to be seen by whomever was coming. But if that was the case, then why were they going out the front way?
Just as they were about to exit, Animal called to Myron.
"Hey, brat," he said.
Myron stopped and looked back. Animal held his arms out to his sides. Myron smiled the fist genuine smile David had seen on him, and stepped into the man's arms. At first David figured this was the reason Myron had not wanted Frill along; in order to avoid some jealous confrontation. But he quickly realized that this was no amorous hug.
Animal grasped Myron tightly and patted him hard on the back
"Be safe, kid" he said.
"Ok, bro," Myron replied. The emotion in their voices was strong. Myron squeezed the man tightly one more time and then pulled away.
And that was when David saw it. For that one moment when both their smiling faces were side by side in the candlelight, David saw clearly what he had missed when they had sat apart. It was subtle, and obscured by the ink on Animal's face. But it was there. In their eyes. In their smiles.
But, could that really be?
"Let's git," Myron said, pushing David out the door.
As they walked onto the slanted old porch, David noticed dark shapes gathered by the fence. There were perhaps eight of them, he guessed. But there was no time to count. The figures parted, some of them looking away as he and Myron approached. A couple of them even turned their backs, as if they were hiding their faces.
But not all of them turned. Two of the smallest shapes looked up at David as he passed through the gate. They were just children. It was too dark, and they were both too young to be certain, but they looked like girls. And they looked like…
"Twins," David said. He hadn't meant to say it aloud but his shock overcame his discretion. Myron grabbed his arm again, and pulled him along quickly.
"You didn't see that," he said, as they walked away. David started to look back to make sure he'd seen what he thought, but Myron stopped him with a yank on his shoulder.
"Eyes ahead," he said. "We weren't supposed to be here when they came."
David obeyed, but his mind was racing now, putting things together in quick succession.
"You and Animal," he said. "You're brothers."
Myron didn't say anything. That was all the confirmation David needed.
2
They passed by the dark houses in silence. David was lost in his thoughts, trying to make sense of it all. If they were brothers, that would mean at least one of them was unsanctioned. Was this the dark secret that Frill had sensed was haunting his troubled boyfriend? Was this the reason Myron had embraced the CJ culture and the crazy conspiracy theories?
Something else occurred to David now. He had to know.
"10-1 isn't 'Ja', is it?" He didn't expect a reply and didn't wait for one. "It's not a word, it's an acronym. J.A., right?" He looked at Myron for confirmation, but the boy kept his eyes ahead. They came to the roadway, and waited as a few cruisers zipped by. People were leaving as the night wound down. David continued dismantling the puzzle with his mind as the last one passed and its taillights shrank away. They began to cross the road.
Before they'd been interrupted, Animal had spoke of a 'great man who had been on a mission'. He hadn't had a chance to clarify who it was. But David was sure he already knew.
"Johnson," he said aloud as they passed into the field of parked cruisers. "The J is for Johnson, isn't it? Lord Johnson Johnson?"
Myron smiled this time, and looked at David. But still he did not respond.
"And the A? What is the A for, Myron?" Even as David spoke, he was sure he knew that too. But he wanted to hear it from Myron.
"Say it."
But they were interrupted by a voice calling from the middle of the field..
"Blue! Over here!"
David turned to see Frill standing in a row of cruisers. He was jumping up and down, waving his arms. David waved back.
"Coming," he yelled. Then he turned to Myron, waiting for an answer.
"Getting late," Myron said. "Guess it's past baby's bed time, eh?"
"The A, Myron?" David said. "What's it for?"
Myron was silent a moment, his face pensive. When he at last spoke his voice was low and thick with sorrow. It was s strange emotion coming from this angry young man.
"You know, I never knew I had a brother until a few years ago. He came home to hide after Sy's crew got busted. Mom and Dad took him in and let him stay for a while. But it got too dangerous, just having him around. People might start to ask questions. I thought it was just some guy they'd let sleep over at first. But one night he told me everything, about how they gave him up when he was a baby. He wasn't supposed to be born, you see. The machines said my parents were unfit to have a child. They had an 'unstable family environment', is how they put it. I guess they cleaned up their act by the time I was born. So I'm legal. Funny isn't it? Machines can decide whose legal and whose not."
"The CLA makes those decisions, Myron, not the machines." David spoke gently, not wanting to offend him. "It's because of what we did. Orga drowned the world with greed and excess. Because they wouldn't listen to reason. Because they ignored science. Because they put profits before everything else. It wasn't the Mecha. You can't blame them."
Myron looked at David like one might regard a teenager who still believes in Santa Claus.
"You have a lot to learn, man," he said. "But Animal thinks you're ok, so…" he thrust his hand in a pocket and pulled out a small disc. David took it, studied the case. It bore a single red number: 101.
"What's this?" he said.
"Just a game," Myron replied. "It's clean. No bugs. No tricks. It'll take you where you need to go to find what you need to know. "
David took the disc and slipped it in his pocket.
"Now listen carefully," Myron said. "You need to remember this. Do not write it down."
"Go ahead," David said.
"When you get home look for the Club 101 message board. Go to the FAQ section and look for the most recent comment by 'Shadowman.' Take the first word out of the first three sentences of Shadowman's post, and that's your pass. Slip the disc in, enter the pass, no spaces, all lower case, and then play the game. Got it so far?"
David repeated the instructions.
"Good," Myron said. "Make sure you play it when you're alone and have enough time to finish. It's a first person shooter. Takes about thirty minutes if you're an average player. But go all the way to the end. Once you log off, you won't be able to log back on with the same pass. And I ain't gonna give you another. Got me?"
"Got you," David said.
Headlight's flared on them. David cupped his eyes to see who was approaching. It was Frill, rolling slowly towards them.
"Don't say a word about Animal," Myron whispered. "He doesn't know and I don't want him to."
David nodded.
"You can trust me," he said, "Now what is the A for?"
Myron only chuckled and patted David on the shoulder
"Better get back to Shinyland 'Pork Chop'," he said as Frill pulled up beside them and rolled down his cruiser window.
"We're going to be late getting back to the Nexus!" Frill said, impatiently.
"Hold on," David said and shot a last imploring look at Myron. The boy just looked at him blankly for a time before he responded.
"There's a war coming," Myron said at last. "Wars need armies. Armies need soldiers."
"Johnson's Army," David whispered. He knew it. This strange CJ conspiracy theory. The insanity of it! "That's what this is all about?" he said. "The fight at the Nexus? Planting the snoops? I don't it. What were you after?"
Myron just smiled that bitter taunting smile he seen when he'd first met him.
"Time to decide which side you're on, Shiny boy" he said.
Then he waved goodnight to Frill and walked away.
"Did you find what you needed," Frill said as David jumped in the passenger seat.
David didn't even know how to answer that question. He glanced into the back seat to make sure Lex was ok. Then he sat quietly, pondering what had happened as Frill turned onto the old road and sped into the darkness beneath the overhanging trees. The shock of seeing Animal again, and finding out about Sy; learning that Wizzy was missing, and might even be…
He didn't want to think that. Somewhere inside he still carried a great fondness for her.
But all this hitting him at once, combined with being exposed to the lunatic CJ beliefs and the knowledge that someone had found remnants of the message his Father had left to bring him home...it was all too much. Left him disoriented. The little bit NanoFighter had retrieved would lead them nowhere. But if they'd found that much, what else could they uncover given enough time?
"Blue?" Frill said. "Are you with me here? What did you find out?"
"I don't know," David said at last, nervously toying with the disc in his pocket. "I have no idea what I've found. Not yet."
(cont…)