‘Just one thing, Graham. Go on. Just one memory.’
‘Aw, come one, I…all right.’ Gray looked down at his hands, clasped together between his knees. A long silence. ‘My parents were…’ He laughed. ‘Shit, that’s the weirdest damned thing. I can’t remember their names, right now.’ He tried again. ‘All right, no problem. I was born on…’ he frowned as he stared out at the gently lapping turquoise sea.
‘Well?’
He closed his eyes tightly. He opened them again a minute later looked at Shelby with the first hint of growing alarm written on his face. ‘Shelbs, you’re right. I can’t…I can’t come up with anything.’
‘I am exactly the same,’ he replied. He offered Gray a tight and joyless smile. ‘I think I get it now.’
‘What are you talkin' about, man?’
‘I think I understand why Mother lied to me.’
‘Why?’ asked Ellie.
He looked at her. ‘I believe she really does consider you, and Jez, to be a very real and tangible threat.’
‘A threat? To her? How?’
‘Not to her. To us. To myself and Graham.’
‘Why…how the hell are we a threat to you?’
He looked at Gray. ‘You know what I’m getting at now, don’t you Graham?’
Ellie noticed the expression on his face. The good-natured bafflement was gone. No longer did he look like some casual, unflappable beach bum; no longer that easy smile and and an easy slouching manner. Right now he looked lost.
Gray nodded. Then laughed dismissively. Then choked that off. He closed his eyes, his head dropped and he whispered. ‘Shit….you’re right.’
‘What?!’ Jez was looking exasperated. ‘What’s going on with you two idiots?’ She turned to Ellie. ‘Do you know what’s going on?’
‘No. I don’t think so.’
‘We’re not real,’ muttered Gray.
‘Huh?’
‘I believe the pair of us may be fabricants,’ Shelby clarified. He sat back in his deck chair and crossed his thin arms as if he was giving himself a comforting hug. ‘I have a suspicion that actually, the entire team died. Then Mother made Graham and me to help her keep things running here.’
Jez burst out laughing. ‘C'mon! Seriously? That’s just a bunch of crap-ol-a! Shelby, why would someone make a fabricant that looked like you?' She mushed her lips in apology. 'No offence meant but…you're a dork!' She turned to Gray and playfully thumped his upper arm. 'And you? Seriously? You….a…a…..'
He gazed down at his bare feet. 'He's right, Jez.'
'But…come on, Gray? I mean we…you know, we….’ Jez’s mouth closed as she finally caught up with the others. ‘Oh God…you're telling me I slept with a thing?’
Ellie reached out to her friend and grasped her hand to shush her. ‘Okay…then…let’s just say for a moment that you two are right? What does that mean?’
‘It means that Shelbs and me are potentially dangerous to you girls,’ answered Gray. ‘If Mother catches wind that we’ve figured her out…’
‘She could control our behaviour,’ finished Shelby.
‘Control your….what are you saying?’
Shelby took a deep breath. ‘Remember? Mother can control the behaviour of every fabricant in WonderWorld? Well that may also include Graham and me.’
Gray was still looking down at his bare feet, unable or unwilling to look anyone else in the eye. ‘If she gets the idea that we’ve figured ourselves out…God know’s what she’ll do.’
‘Oh, I suspect she’ll make us kill you both,’ said Shelby. ‘Then I imagine she’ll want to start over. Make a brand new Graham…and a brand new me. Edit our memories, the logs, and neither of us will know anything about your visit. It’ll be like you’d never arrived. Business as usual.’
‘Oh, God,’ whispered Ellie. 'What are we going to do?'
‘Shelby, Gray,' said Jez, 'you guys…you're not going to, you know, kill us right?’
Gray laughed dryly. ‘Pheromones get to call the shots, Jez. Not us.’
‘When we step outside,’ continued Shelby, ‘we will all have to pretend this conversation never happened. We must all act perfectly normally.’
‘Then what?’
‘We have get up to the control tower to reboot Mother.’
CHAPTER 23
Mason looked up through the ceiling observation blister of the spaceship at the south polar underbelly of this godforsaken world; unlike the north, it was bereft of ice or any other discernible feature, just like of the rest of the muddy surface.
The ship’s captain had informed him that they were going to slip away quietly using only the ship’s chemical atmo-burners. A painfully slow progress until they were well and truly clear of Harpers Reach’s outer-field envelope, then they’d engage the system drive. The Colonial Marine cruisers - there were three of them around the planet now - were probably only scanning orbit entries and exits.
Probably.
The Captain joined him, looking up through the oval window.
‘You are very near the top of our church, I believe, Mr Mason?’
Mason nodded.
‘So? Have you ever met him? The First And The Last?’
Mason nodded again. ‘I met him a couple of times.’
‘Forgive me for asking but…?’
‘What is he like?’
The Captain smiled. ‘Yes. Please…tell me.’
Mason hadn’t thought that much of the man. He was like any other religious zealot, he supposed, deluded by a single-minded belief in his destiny. But, to be fair, there’d been something more to him, certainly a charisma…a brooding intensity. He could see how those deep, unblinking eyes, the deep-timbred Old Testament voice, the unshakable conviction that he was God’s will made flesh, could sway impressionable minds looking for answers, looking for a greater meaning to their existence.
It didn’t take much to consolidate the loyalty of a band of followers, Mason had come to realise that, as he’d taken on the role of Teacher in the abandoned apartment block. Just the right glassy-eyed look and the right old-testament delivery and a message that promised rewards to the faithful few and damnation to the rest. It was a pretty simple and effective formula…and the oldest.
Mason turned to look at the man beside him and knew what he wanted to hear. ‘I saw God in his eyes. I felt his energy…his love.’
‘Blessings of God be upon The First And The Last.’
Mason smiled and nodded. ‘Yes, of course. Bless him.’
Through the soles of his shoes he could feel the gentle vibration of the ship’s atmosphere burners easing the ship slowly away from Harpers Reach. ‘You have the co-ordinates? You know where you’re to take me?’
‘Yes, Teacher.’ The Captain’s lips were burning with more questions he wanted to ask.
'Where do these coordinates take us?' asked Mason.
‘The destination appears to be an abandoned commercial enterprise of some sort. May I ask…’
‘You want to know why you’re taking me there?’
He nodded.
Mason wondered how much this man and his small crew needed to know. It might be wise to get them on his side; to share as much as he dared with them. At some point, not so very far down the line now, he was going to have to part ways with the Awoken. Double cross them…would be a more accurate term. They needed her. The First And The Last needed her; he had plans for her. She was the last prophet, she was God’s messenger.
Mason’s plans for her were different to his.
If he had one or two men following him, a ship at his disposal as well, that would be very helpful. Maybe he could win this man and his four-man crew round. Convince them that he knew what was best for the girl. That his vision for her was the right one. He had some time to work on them.
‘There’s something on that station that’s very important,’ said Mason.
‘What is it?’
‘Something truly wonderful. A young person…who's going to
change the whole universe.’
'You mean….?' His eyes widened.
Mason raised a finger. 'That's all I can say for now.'
'The final pro-!'
'Shhh…' Mason smiled. 'I really can't tell you any more. I've already shared too much with you.'
'I will say nothing, Teacher. I swear!'
This man was taking a huge risk ferrying around someone the Administration was after aboard his ship. But, that would be a risk worth taking for something important. For something truly wonderful.
‘I’ll explain everything to you when we get there. Trust me.’
‘Yes, Teacher!’
‘How long will it take to get us there?’
‘The coordinates put this commercial station on the elliptical far side of this system. Two or three days on sys-drive, if we don’t have to slow down or stop for anything. Which could happen if we pick up any military signals. We’ll have to go dark if that happens.’
‘Go dark?’
‘Sys-drive goes off, we power down and sit tight until it’s safe to move again.’
‘Ah, I see…well hopefully our trip will be uneventful.’
‘God Willing.’
‘Yes, God Willing.’
CHAPTER 24
They stepped into the passageway.
‘Mother?’
‘Yes, Shelby?’
‘I hope you don’t mind that I asked you to switch off audio comms in Graham's biome.’
‘That’s perfectly fine.’ On the screen beside the doorway her cartoon face looked up from her knitting, over the rims of her glasses. ‘I quite understand you kids wanted some privacy.’
‘So…then, how about we all head up to the control tower,’ announced Gray loudly, ‘and like we just discussed, I’ll show you girls how to play around with the central biome’s environmental controls?’
‘Gray,’ said Mother, ‘the environmental settings of the central biome are currently optimal. I would say there really is no need to alter the settings.’
‘Yeah? We’re finding it too cold,’ said Jez. ‘I asked if we can turn the heating up.’
Mother’s beady eyes flickered towards her. ‘Too cold? The mean temperature in there is twenty-eight degrees. This should be more than adequate.’
‘Yeah well, I’m a city girl. I’m used to things being warmer.’
‘Shelby…Gray…you do understand that increasing the temperature may affect the central biome’s carefully balanced ecosystem? There are some very fragile plants that-’
‘Relax, Mother. We’re just going to show the girls how it all works. They asked, so we're just going to show 'em. We’re not going all tropical or anything.’
‘I understand, Gray. I will of course advise you if any alterations you make will have an adverse affect on the plants and animals.’
‘Sure, you can do that, Mother.’
They made their way down the long passageway to the central biome, their footfall echoing in the silence. Ellie spent most of that time expecting Mother’s voice to boom out at any moment, calmly informing them all that they were no longer welcome and that she was going to open some nearby airlock and flush them out into space.
Or worse. What about the thing Gray and Shelby had said earlier?
…Mother could make us kill you…
Ellie shot a glance at them both. She wondered how quickly either of them would change if Mother decided to quietly lace the air with odourless chemicals. Would it be an instantaneous change? Would they both suddenly turn on her and Jez. Or would there be some warning signs first? Some change in mood or body language? An irritability, leading to anger…leading to a homicidal bloodlust?
Shelby seemed to be acting in his usual, pompous, self-important way. Gray, on the other hand, seemed a great deal quieter than he normally was. Distracted by something.
Of course he’s distracted, Ellie, you bubblehead…he’s just learned that he isn’t a real human being. Wouldn’t you be distracted?
She wondered how that would affect her, or Jez.
Jez…probably not at all, she’d probably be jazzed at the novelty of the idea, wondering if it meant she’d have some sort of superpowers. But Ellie realised that it would break her own heart if someone told her that all of her childhood memories, her memories of mum and dad, Ted and Shona…were made up; implanted memories, perhaps taken from someone else’s life and grafted onto her mind. She desperately wanted to be able to speak to them again, but Jez was right…a cross-system call to them might be intercepted. Might even endanger them.
She looked up at the low ceiling of the passageway. There were cables and thick pipes at the side, dangling like exposed entrails. She wondered if those pipes contained the atmosphere feeding Gray’s world and this walkway; pipes that could be switched off at any moment, or worse…seeded with odourless pheromones that would do their mind-altering work on these two men. Perhaps those chemicals had already quietly been released by Mother?
How quickly would it affect Shelby and Gray? With Jez’s creatures and her bears, the affect had been almost instantaneous. Within seconds of Shelby calling out, they’d all started dropping to the ground like bugs sprayed with insecticide. Perhaps those pheromones would work as quickly on both of them, one moment their friends…the next moment red-eyed killers.
Five minutes later, she was relieved when Mother obeyed Shelby’s polite request to open the hatchway at the end of the concourse, the large doorway slid aside and they stepped into the false, warming sunshine of the central biome.
They made their way up the winding path towards the small village at the top of the hill, past meadows of flowers, alive with butterflies, birds, small long-eared furry animals that hopped playfully amongst the tall grass, and several larger doe-eyed animals with antlers, that were grazing peacefully. They picked their way through the carefully tended gardens, where several jimps were dutifully watering, weeding and pruning. To Ellie, the ambience in this idyl, this paradise, had suddenly taken on a sinister feel. She was acutely aware of how many living things existed in here; how many beautiful creatures, now minding their own mindless business, governed by perfectly natural instincts to eat, flap around, graze, hop, crawl…but, with a simple jetting of a certain chemical into the atmosphere, would suddenly turn into animals with an overpowering instinct to home in on her and Jez.
They crossed the plaza, made their way up a winding path and arrived at the central column of the control tower. Shelby summoned the elevator and Mother, dutifully opened the doors for them. They stepped inside and as it began to quickly ascend, Ellie let out a deep sigh of relief as the village receded below them.
‘Ellie? You appear to be uncomfortable.’ Mother’s beady eyes looked at her over her glasses. ‘Would you like me to adjust the temperature in here?’
Shelby looked at her sharply. Be. very. careful.
‘No. I’m…uh…I’m fine, thank you, Mother.’
The sun-kissed world below them suddenly vanished as the elevator ascended through the floor of the control tower into darkness and a moment later the doors slid aside to reveal Frasier waiting for them.
‘Good morning,’ he grunted cheerlessly. ‘I suppose you’d all like me to go and get you some coffee?’
For some reason she was relieved to see him standing there in his waistcoat and that ridiculous cap perched at a jaunty angle on his peanut head. ‘Hmmm, coffee…yes, see to that please Frasier,’ replied Shelby.
They stepped out onto the control room’s floor. ‘Right…then,’ he announced loudly. ‘These consoles here are the ones that would have been staffed by the environmental supervisors.’ He turned to Gray. ‘Graham? Would you like to give them a demonstration?’
Shelby and Gray exchanged a glance. Then Gray nodded. ‘Oh, yeah, man…sure, take a seat, girls. I’ll uh…walk you through what the various controllers do…’
Shelby sat down at a nearby console. He ran his hand over the desk lens and pulled up the system’s home screen. The image of Mothe
r’s curious blinking cartoon face was minimised to the bottom right hand corner.
‘Is there anything I can help you with, Shelby?’ her soft voice purred from beside the screen.
He swiped at the system maintenance icon. ‘No, I’m perfectly fine, thank you. I’m just doing some housekeeping.’ He turned in his seat. ‘Graham?’
Gray looked up. ‘Yeah?’
‘Maybe Mother can help you demonstrate the weather controls?’ Gray narrowed his eyes for a moment, then nodded. He understood. A distraction. Keep her busy. Mother’s AI could multi-thread, but this way at least a portion of her focus would be directed elsewhere while Shelby was busy doing what he needed to do.
‘Mother, can you pull up the weather-system demonstration menu?’
‘Yes, of course, Graham.’
In the space above their console, a large holoscreen hovered. ‘Now, what we have here is the environmental systems controller and this bit over here is a menu for various weather conditions. As you can see…these are standard weather templates; warm-dry, warm-medium, warm-mild precipitation. Day and night modes. You can see we can also completely change things and, for example, make it like some winter wonderland. You can have a thunderstorm you can have a blizzard…’
Shelby got back to work. He pulled up the holo-keyboard interface and started typing in his ID and password.
Mother’s face appeared in the corner of the screen, she cocked an eyebrow at him. ‘Shelby? Why are you using the keyboard interface? I am happy to log you in. What part of the maintenance software would you like access to?’
‘Hmm…that’s okay Mother. I’d prefer to use the keyboard today.’
Her cartoon head tipped to one side curiously. ‘You normally prefer to ask me to do things for you. Voice coms are a far more efficient interface than-’
‘Well, today, Mother, I prefer to use the keyboard.’ Shelby’s fingers tapped away at the holographic keys.
Her cartoon face looked puzzled. ‘If that’s what you’d prefer.’
Shelby nodded as he lightly touched-out his password on the holographic keyboard.
‘Oh….Shelby, it appears that you’re entering the system maintenance area.’