Up Against It Part 20

To shut down life-support systems required a series of joint code entries by her and Tania. Tania brought her into the emergency shutdown area. Jane looked down at herself. Her avatar sat in something that looked like a flying kayak. Beside her, another neuter avatar rode a kayak with Tania's name and ID emblazoned on the side. Around them was the life support s.p.a.ce, filled with streams of light and arcane machineries. It reminded Jane of an impossibly complex and beautiful clockworks. Other kayakers were working in different parts of the clockworks. They were within Zekeston's computer system.

"Follow me." Tania led Jane through this mechanic's cathedral. The hum and the team's crisscrossing commands buzzed around them. The clamor made Jane feel dizzy. Was that an echo of her Voice she heard in the machine's grindings and murmurs?

A horrifying possibility occurred to her: what if the Voice was, was, or was caused by, the feral sapient? She didn't see how that could be-the feral was barely even aware of what humans or was caused by, the feral sapient? She didn't see how that could be-the feral was barely even aware of what humans were, were, much less comprehend their highly complex biology. How could it even begin to hack her neurochemistry? Still, she sensed a connection. She would have to ponder the question later. When there was time. much less comprehend their highly complex biology. How could it even begin to hack her neurochemistry? Still, she sensed a connection. She would have to ponder the question later. When there was time.

"There are five crucial systems we need to verify redundancies for before we lock them down." Tania spoke loudly. "The rest we can crash. Stand by while I run the checks, and then enter your code when I say to."

Once, twice, three times she waited while Tania tugged the machinery into lockdown; three times the "waiting" signal crept across her vision; three times she entered her own code and took another system offline. With each disconnection, more portions of the clockworks cathedral went dark and still.

She had expected an attack from the sapient. She mentioned this to Tania, who shrugged. "Distracted. It's resource-starved and fighting on a lot of fronts. Go ahead." She moved out of the way and Jane moved in, had her pattern scanned, and gave the command to shut down the fourth system.

On their way to the last station, Jane spotted another kayak in the distance, pacing them. She couldn't understand why it drew her attention; it was certainly possible that Tania had ordered someone to check on something nearby, but something about the other kayaker stood out. Something...

It came to her. The kayak had no identifiers on the side. No name or anything. That shouldn't be possible. It had to be an intruder.

Tania was ahead of her and couldn't see the other.

"Tania..." She pointed. "Who is that?"

"What?"

The instant she gestured, the other kayaker bolted past them. It was fast-no more than a blur. It was long gone by the time Jane burst into pursuit, but she could still track the cl.u.s.ters of bits it had disturbed on its way in. Tania's startled question trailed behind her, a fading string of phrases. She chased the other kayaker into the very deepest, chiming innards of the clockworks, down, down, and the humming and grinding became a song, a chorale, a hymn to the machine.

She cornered the other kayaker deep in, as deep as they could go without being code themselves. And she gaped: the kayaker had moved into the info stream... had become part of it.

A human couldn't do that. This was the sapient.

Tania came up behind her. "f.u.c.k me," she said in an awed tone.

"We've got to get to the fifth system," Jane said.

"It's led us right to it. See behind it?" Jane craned to see-the panel icon with its pattern of symbols was partly obscured by the datastream kayak. "It figured out where we were headed. It's trying to stop us." Then Tania whooped. "Jane, I'm getting a report.... The data link with the surface is down! We stopped it from completing its copy."

Sean's doing. Thank G.o.d! Thank G.o.d! The feral was contained. But Zekeston itself was still in terrible danger. The info-drenched kayaker burst into staccato Tonal_Z arpeggios. Fierce lavender energies surrounded her, and Jane's interface wavered. Briefly, meats.p.a.ce-the controlled pandemonium of Tania's webwork-overlay the clockworks cathedral. Tania deflected the digital attack and their views stabilized again. The kayaker tried again; again, Tania deflected. "Distract it!" she shouted. "I've got to get around behind it and finish the shutdown checks." The feral was contained. But Zekeston itself was still in terrible danger. The info-drenched kayaker burst into staccato Tonal_Z arpeggios. Fierce lavender energies surrounded her, and Jane's interface wavered. Briefly, meats.p.a.ce-the controlled pandemonium of Tania's webwork-overlay the clockworks cathedral. Tania deflected the digital attack and their views stabilized again. The kayaker tried again; again, Tania deflected. "Distract it!" she shouted. "I've got to get around behind it and finish the shutdown checks."

Jane moved toward the kayaker. Tania's avatar had grown long, rubbery arms and eyestalks, but couldn't get past to the panel; the feral disintegrated whatever projection she put forth.

Distract it, Jane thought; Jane thought; distract it! distract it! But how? But how?

She called up a Tonal_Z modal translator. She wasn't sure of the grammar: she would have to fake it as best she could.

Info, she sang: she sang: I =- I =- Tonal_Z did not have proper names; she had to make something up. Tonal_Z did not have proper names; she had to make something up. What the h.e.l.l. What the h.e.l.l. I = SheHearsVoices. I = SheHearsVoices.

The feral kayaker's surprise was palpable; its a.s.saults faltered, ever so briefly. Tania's tentacles slipped in toward the panel.

Query, Jane went on: Jane went on: Who = you? That's all. Who = you? That's all.

Info: I = BitManSinger. Command: Cancel... Something; what? Life support something. Something; what? Life support something. Cancel life-support shutdown sequence! Cancel life-support shutdown sequence! it ordered her. it ordered her. That's all. That's all.

Sorry. No can do.

The feral had spotted Tania's tentacles and was blasting them with digital shredders. But Tania had already secured herself to the panel and partially shielded her connection from attack.

Command, Jane countered; again she struggled to find the right Tonal_Z phrases: Jane countered; again she struggled to find the right Tonal_Z phrases: Cancel attack! That's all. Cancel attack! That's all.

"How's it coming?" she asked Tania.

"Almost there... keep at it..."

Info, the sapient was saying: the sapient was saying: Permission denied. That's all. Permission denied. That's all.

Permission denied, eh? While they were singing to each other, it launched all kinds of digital attacks, which Tania's shields barely deflected. While they were singing to each other, it launched all kinds of digital attacks, which Tania's shields barely deflected.

What the h.e.l.l, she thought; she thought; it couldn't hurt. it couldn't hurt. Urgent command: cancel attack at-time this, or, Info: I will cancel you! That's all. Urgent command: cancel attack at-time this, or, Info: I will cancel you! That's all.

Another brief pause. Then came a blitz. Jane's view of the clockworks sputtered and blinked out. A second later she was swept back into her waves.p.a.ce. "Enter your shutdown code!" Tania urged. "Hurry!"

Jane maneuvered in fits and starts across the blasted clockworks wavescape to the input icons. The feral-pure energy now-blasted her barriers. She tried not to flinch from the blows-it can't really hurt me; I'm not a digital being-dove into the tumult, found the panel by feel, and input the code.

"Requiescat in pace," she muttered, and pressed the b.u.t.ton.

18.

People crammed into the emergency room. They waited in lines, or were strapped to the walls with compresses, bandages, and ice packs, or were moved around on gurneys. The triage medics took one look at Ian, loaded him onto a stretcher, and whisked him away. Amaya, Kam, and Geoff clung to the waiting area ropeworks, silent, while the old man spoke to the doctors and dealt with the paperwork.

In a few moments, Moriarty came over. "These fine folks want to check you over, once things settle down a bit. It'll be a few moments. In the meantime, why don't you call your families and check in?" He tossed a link to Geoff. "Communications are still FUBAR, but I have priority access."

"Thanks," Geoff said. He clicked the comm link, and punched in his dad's code. The call went through. It was audio only, and the line had a lot of noise.

His dad's voice quavered. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Dad, it's me." Geoff's own voice wobbled a bit, too. "Are you OK? Is Mom there?"

"She's here. We're both all right." Then, before Geoff had even a second to register relief, his father started in. "Where the h.e.l.l have you been? Why aren't you calling on your own line?"

"Dad, I'm sorry... the lines are down. But I'm all right."

"'All right.' All right? All right? We've been worried sick about you! I've been trying to reach you all night! What have you been off doing? Joyriding on that d.a.m.n bike of yours? All you had to do was call! After what happened to your brother, don't you think you could show a little consideration? Your mother has been beside herself! I saw the originating number and thought they were calling me to tell me you were We've been worried sick about you! I've been trying to reach you all night! What have you been off doing? Joyriding on that d.a.m.n bike of yours? All you had to do was call! After what happened to your brother, don't you think you could show a little consideration? Your mother has been beside herself! I saw the originating number and thought they were calling me to tell me you were dead dead!"

By this time, his father was screaming at him. Geoff could only hang there and take it. Worse, when they found out Geoff had been fighting machines out in the Hollow, and heard what had happened to Ian, Dad and Mom would have to be sc.r.a.ped off the bulkheads.

Amaya and Kam were looking at him; they couldn't hear his dad but they could see his expression. He closed his eyes, tuning out his dad's hateful words. It never mattered what he did; he got s.h.i.t for it.

"I'm at the hospital," Geoff said finally, when his dad paused to take a breath. He resisted the impulse to yell, because a machine just pulled my friend's arm off, you a.s.shole! because a machine just pulled my friend's arm off, you a.s.shole! "They just want to check me over. I'll be home in about an hour. OK... gotta go... bye." "They just want to check me over. I'll be home in about an hour. OK... gotta go... bye."

He hung up before his dad could reply.

A medic waved him over to be examined. He went with her, even though he knew he was fine. She smiled at him as they floated together down the hospital corridor. "You're that biker that saved the ice!"

He felt his face heat up. "Yeah."

He could tell by how she looked at him sidelong that she liked him, and that if he showed interest, he might end up with her digits. But he couldn't bring himself to. That empty s.p.a.ce Carl's death had planted in his chest seemed to be expanding, like a noiseless explosion in him. It was consuming him from the inside out. He had no room or heart for anything else.

19.

The shutdown interface winked out. Jane looked across meats.p.a.ce at Tania. The projection of the construct still hovered in the room's middle. It was fraying, segment by segment, into haze. In seconds only burning blotches remained in Jane's vision. The team members were cheering.

Jane carefully threaded her way through the forest of lead wires to Marty. He looked haggard. He held up a finger as she started to speak, and made some gestures in-wave.

"There." With a sigh, he turned to her. "Everyone notified."

"Good. Now go check on Ceci, and get some rest."

"Thanks, Chief." He left.

Tania was conferring with a tiny knot of her team leaders. Tania looked haggard and shaken: a belated reaction to the stress of the past few hours.

"Well?"

"Backup life-support systems are coming online," Tania reported. "We won't know full status for a bit, but so far the critical ones seem to be OK."

"The sapient?"

"It's gone-from our systems, at least. I'm awaiting confirmation from the Upside-Down team, but I'm reasonably confident we got it out of theirs, too."

Michaela, the Upside-Down team leader, flickered into view even as she spoke. "Phase Three complete. It's gone."

"You're sure?" Tania asked.

The woman nodded. "The copy up here never reached full sapience. We've deleted it all, and they are wiping and reinstalling from backups to make certain it hasn't buried any bits or pieces that are going to give us trouble later."

Tania sagged with a sigh. She saw Jane looking at her, and gave her a salute. "One feral sapient removed from the computer systems, as ordered."

Jane clapped her shoulder. "Good work."

"Upside-Down's data is trashed," Michaela told them. "They've lost nearly three days' worth of 'Stroiders' material and they're pretty upset."

Jane replied, "Don't worry about it. That's my job."

"That's why they pay you the big bucks," Tania muttered.

Jane chuckled. Speaking of big bucks: "Did we capture it alive?"

Tania replied, "I'm about to check. Thondu is supposed to be finishing up with the captive version. Care to join me?"

The trap system was only a few hand- and footsprings down the shaft. On the way they dodged trash, globules of unidentified, dirty liquid-probably unprogrammed a.s.semblers-and debris that swirled gently skew-wards in the microgee air currents. Zekeston had stabilized at an orientation to Phocaea's gravity such that "down" in this sector was actually about forty-five degrees off of the down they were used to. Jane thought again of Xuan and the clan, and prayed they had reached safety.

They entered. Thondu was wrapping up his harp, clinging to a wall cord, because the room was bare of webworks or Velcro strips: of everything, in fact, except a suspended tank with a cl.u.s.ter of interconnected biocomputers inside. He looked like h.e.l.l: sweat-drenched, clothing askew, face gaunt, eyes sunken with exhaustion, shoulders hunched. His hands were claws; his fingertips bloodied.

"Well?" Tania said, gesturing at the processor globes. "Is it in there?"

He puffed out his cheeks, eyeing the tank. "It's not answering."

"No..." Tania looked aghast. "Are you sure?"

In answer he pulled out his harp, brought his Tonal_Z interfaces up again, and plinked out a rough melody.

Info: I = MeatManHarper. Query: BitManSinger, you = at-place what, at-time this? That's all.

The difference in the quality of his playing now versus the first time was striking. He winced with every pluck of the strings, and left red smears on them. Jane felt a twinge of sympathy.

Once finished, he stilled the strings and they waited. Seconds ticked by. He repeated the query. No response. He tried a different musical phrase: Command: BitManSinger, respond! That's all. Command: BitManSinger, respond! That's all.

Still nothing.

Urgent Command: BitManSinger, respond! That's all.

After a minute or two, he gave Tania a regretful look.

"We must be missing too many of the proper linkages. Or perhaps some small but crucial module was overlooked...."

"Maybe it's just in shock," Jane said, "or hiding."

Thondu shook his head. "Ever since the connection with the larger system was severed, this copy has been inactive. It couldn't maintain its ident.i.ty-formation without some minimum level of activity. It's gone." He spread his b.l.o.o.d.y hands. "My regrets."

Tania turned away. Jane rubbed her eyes, which burned with fatigue. Her own doom lay before her, tomorrow, in her meeting with her boss.

"There's still a chance," Tania said. "Still a chance that we can recover enough information from the Upside-Down team's work to get it going again."

Jane could tell from the look in her eyes that she did not hold out a great deal of hope.

"How long?"

"Let me get back to you on that." Tania paused. "I'm sorry. I know you were counting on a live extraction."