sudo -rm -rf -8
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Angela said. “What if you’re lying?”
“Listen, Dr. Hansen,” Olga said.
“Wow, first one to actually call me that,” Angela said, “I really missed that. Especially the Doctor part.”
“I’m not going to waste time explaining to you why I’m doing this,” Olga said, “Which is why I need you to inject yourself now, or I will do it for you.”
“Okay, okay, calm down, come on,” Angela said, injecting the Cortexiphan into her arm, “You know it’s very convenient you have a sample of Cortexiphan handy right when I need it. What is with this place?”
She tensed up and clenched her fists. It took a little time, but after a minute she felt the Cortexiphan coursing through her veins. She felt…powerful. Powerful like she hadn’t been in a long time. Powerful like she could do anything. Angela smiled.
“Well then,” she said, “This was unexpected.”
The lights sparked and flickered and exploded. The door’s computer lock shorted out. As Angela opened the door and stepped outside, she saw more lights sparking and exploding, electricity arcing across the ceiling.
“Oh, yeah,” she said.
Alarms blared, and Black Tagmata agents appeared at the end of the hallway. More agents appeared at the other end. Olga attacked one group with deadly precision, effortlessly disarming them before dispatching them with crippling blows to their necks, knees, and stomachs. Angela focused her attention on the other group, which stayed back and drew their guns.
“Come on, shoot me,” she said.
They obliged, opening fire with an impressive volley. As the bullets raced down the hallway, Angela concentrated again and extended her hand, willing herself to not be hit. As she focused, the bullets decelerated until ultimately coming to a stop mid-air several feet away from her. They then clattered to the ground uselessly.
“Oh, so Neo and Agent Schmidt team up now?” Angela said. “This place makes no sense.”
The Angeloi soldiers stared in shock at her, wondering what just happened. Angela redoubled her focus and concentrated again, this time on the the walls. Sparks flew, and then several doors and parts of the wall were ripped clean off, hovering in the air in front of Angela. The guards opened fire again, but this time they hit the floating debris. Angela hurled the debris at them, eliminating the threat. She turned around and saw Olga watching her.
“No wonder they selected you for the civilizing of China,” she said.
“And why’d they choose you?” Angela said. “Your mother’s a Resistance leader.”
“I don’t know,” Olga said, “I really don’t know.”
“Goddamnit Skye,” Angela said.
They fought their way through the hallways of the Black Tagmata headquarters, Olga attacking incoming agents at close quarters while Angela demolished her surroundings and threw electrical bolts and large pieces of debris at everybody else. She never felt so powerful before. She’d never manifested these powers in the real world before, just a sliver of them. But it wasn’t without its cost. By the time they reached the lobby, Angela felt extremely tired. She could barely keep walking, and she had to use some of her telekinetic ability to keep her moving instead of throwing stuff at the enemy.
They began crossing the lobby, but the doors slammed shut and locked. Angela was surprised the building still had power, after what she did to the electrical grid. More agents streamed into the lobby from every possible entrance, and Pavel materialized in front of them.
“Oh, wait, you’re Agent Schmidt, of course,” Angela said, “No offense, Olga.”
“Who’s Agent Schmidt?” Olga said.
“Never mind,” Angela said.
“Please, calm down,” Pavel said, “I know you’re disoriented from your time here.”
“Oh, go to hell,” Angela said.
“It is interesting,” Pavel said, “My findings imply significant changes to the social environment and one’s circumstances should change how they act. Injecting events designed around personal fears should sabotage effectivness. And yet Agent Frank remains a protector, Agent Humboldt remains a crusader, and my recreation of Agent Kirova remains a rebel, and no amount of fear changes that.”
“And what about me?” Angela said.
“Agent Hansen…I have not concluded anything,” Pavel said.
“To hell with this,” Olga said, “I say we kill him and get out of here.”
“On it,” Angela said, snapping her fingers.
The lobby tore itself apart, the floor coming loose under the agents’ feet and slamming against the shattered walls, which were hurled around the room as deadly projectiles. The agents stood no chance. Then Angela focused her attention on Pavel. She screamed and put out her hands, and his image glitched, distorted, and then split apart. The doors unlocked and opened, although they could just walk through the wall now.
“Is that it?” Olga said.
“I literally just ripped him apart,” Angela said, “Unless Skye is an idiot again.”
Resistance base of operations - 3:30 PM
Diana, David, Demetrios and Schulz sat in front of an analog TV, watching a grainy news broadcast of Pavel giving an address. A mugshot of Anne was shown beside him.
“Good evening,” Pavel said, “Tonight, I can report to the people of the world that the Black Tagmata has conducted an operation that killed Anne Frank, the leader of the Resistance, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”
“Here we go again,” Demetrios said.
“No,” Diana said, “It doesn’t feel like it.”
“It was nearly 70 years ago that a bright May day was darkened by a terrifying attack,” Pavel continued, “The images of that day and the next seven decades are seared into our memories—bombs set off in city centers; paramilitary groups seizing control of major cities; traitors declaring their insurrection against a legally appointed government; the liberation of Frankfurt, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction; the terrifying Constantinople insurrection, where we lost a million of our brave citizens; the cowardly murder of our glorious founding Volksfuhrer, Markos Angelos.”
“This is insane,” Diana said, “Just insane.”
“And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world,” Pavel said, “The empty seat at the dinner table; children who were forced to grow up without their father; mothers who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace; millions of citizens taken from us over the years, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.”
“They’re blaming it all on her,” Demetrios said.
“In our time of grief, the Roman people and later the world came together,” Pavel said, “We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of God and country. Since then, all good Christians and Romans and now all civilized peoples have united as one family, under one nation, resolved to bring stability and order to the world, to take it back from the savages who seek to undermine everything about our civilization.”
“I’ve heard this speech before,” Diana said.
“We were also united in our resolve to defend our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice,” Pavel said, “We quickly learned that many of the devastating attacks we have suffered over the last seventy years were carried out by the Resistance—an organization headed by Anne Frank—which had openly declared war on the Imperium and was committed to killing innocents around the globe. And so we went to war against the Resistance to protect our citizens, our friends, and our values.”
“Merkel gave this speech when they killed Ocelotl Nochtli,” Diana said.
“Ocelotl Nocthli?” David said. “Isn’t he some minor terrorist leader?”
“Not after you died,” Diana said.
“And isn’t Merkel some minor minister?” David said.
“Not anymore,” Diana said.
"Over the last seventy years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism and law enforcement professionals, we've made great strides in that effort,” Pavel said, “We've disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In China, we ended the monarchy and civilized its people, which had given Frank and the Resistance safe haven and support. And around the globe, we have killed scores of Resistance terrorists, including several who were a part of the Constantinople plot.”
“I still have no idea what you guys are saying,” Demetrios said.
“Yet Anne Frank avoided capture and escaped from country to country as our forces worked to unite the world under one banner,” Pavel said, “Meanwhile, the Resistance continued to operate from sympathetic countries and later from the wildernesses of the world and operate through its affiliates across the globe. I have made the killing of Frank the top priority of our war against the hateful Resistance, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat her network.”
“I’ll explain later,” Diana said.
“You always say that,” Demetrios said, “But it’s never later.”
“Then, after decades of painstaking work by the Black Tagmata, I was briefed on a possible lead to Frank,” Pavel said, “It was far from certain, and it took many years to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with High Command as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located Frank hiding within a compound in Frisia. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Anne Frank and bring her to justice.”
“It is hard to explain,” Diana said.
“What is so important to keep from me?!” Demetrios said. “I contribute just as much as the rest of you! You have any idea how much I’ve sacrificed?!”
“Today, at my direction, the Imperium launched a targeted operation against that secret compound in Amsterdam,” Pavel said, “A small team of Black Tagmata carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No citizens were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Anne Frank and took custody of her body, which they burned and tossed in a river. For over seven decades, Frank has been the Resistance’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our people. The death of Frank marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to eliminate the Resistance.”
“I’m sorry,” Diana said, “I don’t know what to tell you. There’s so much…”
She looked at the wall, where an old photo of Anne hung.
“I don’t know where to start,” she said, “Especially with all this happening…”
Skye walked into the room. “The memorial service is starting.”
“Give us a moment,” David said.
Skye left.
“Yet her death does not mark the end of our effort,” Pavel said, “There's no doubt that the Resistance will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must–and we will—remain vigilant at home and abroad. As we do, we must also reaffirm that the Imperium is–and always will be–at war with hateful ideologies such as Islam and liberalism. I've made clear that our war is against hate and barbarism. Frank was a Jewish leader; she was a mass murderer of good Christians. She commanded Muslims and other heathens and heretics to hate and kill Christians. She was a morally corrupt liberal socialist who believed in the mixing of races and in overturning established scientific fact and social norms. The Resistance has slaughtered scores of Christians in many parts of the world. So her demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace, order, and progress.”
David stood up and left the room. “I can’t watch this anymore.”
“The people of the world did not choose this fight,” Pavel said, “It was brought upon us by disloyal citizens who decided their disagreement with our proper civilized values was grounds for murder, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly seventy years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Volksfuhrer, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who's been gravely wounded.”
Diana wiped away another tear. Demetrios looked at her again.
“Look, I should apologize,” he said, “I was too harsh earlier.”
“No, it’s fine,” Diana said, “I think you deserve to know the truth. I just need to find a good way to tell you.”
“So we understand the costs of war,” Pavel said, "Yet as a nation, as a race, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens. We will be stay true to the values that make us who we are. And on afternoons like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to the Resistance’s terror: justice has been done. Tonight, we give thanks to the countless professionals who've worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice. We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve the state. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since 1939.”
David walked back into the room.
“My devices are detecting a massive glitch in the system,” he said, “Happened roughly half an hour ago. Took five minutes to self-correct. Longest I’ve ever seen it take.”
“Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones to the Resistance that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores,” Pavel said, “And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed when we overthrew the corrupt liberal regime of the Kaisers. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the people. The cause of securing our nation is not complete. Anne Frank’s two lieutenants, Nina Novakova and Tatiana Kirova, remain at large, while two accomplices, Angela Hansen and Olga Kirau, escaped the raid. They will be hunted down and eliminated, God willing.”
Angela’s and Olga’s pictures were put on the screen.
“Agent Kirau?” Demetrios said. “She defected?”
“Thank God, Angie,” Diana said.
“But tonight, we are once again reminded that we can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it's the pursuit of progress and stability for our people, or the struggle for harmony and security for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things because of who we are: one nation, one God, one Volksfuhrer, which understands that hard work will set you free. Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the Imperium.”
Diana turned off the TV.
“A glitch?” she said.
“Yeah, the area around the Black Tagmata headquarters experienced massive structural instability and complete code decompilation in some areas,” David said, “Something happened there that was powerful enough to literally punch a hole in the COS’s code.”
“Angie, of course,” Diana said, “She did something at the Black Tagmata.”
“Which means her cover’s blown,” Demetrios said, “She’ll be out there, with no backup.”
“She has Olga,” Diana said.
“It’s only them two,” Demetrios said, “Against the most powerful secret police in the world.”
“They’ve handled worse,” Diana said.
“Do not underestimate the Black Tagmata,” Demetrios said, “Who do you think carried out the civilizing of Africa and the Eimericas when everybody was focused on China and India? Who do you think dropped the nuke on Constantinople to destroy our old headquarters? Who do you think took out the Huehuetlatoani of Mexico, the last best hope for the free world, and assured planetary unification under the Angeloi?”
“All I’m saying is, don’t underestimate Angie,” Diana said, “If she got out of the headquarters, she knows what she’s doing.”
“You know where she is?” Demetrios said.
“Tracking the rate of data corruption, it seems like she and Olga are currently heading down Unter den Linden,” David said.
Demetrios grabbed a duffel bag and a gun and left the room, pushing David aside.
“She may still need backup,” he said.
Diana looked back at David, who looked at a tablet.
“Weird,” he said, “I’m detecting another anomaly. I’m not reading any output from Oceania.”
“Something wrong with your device?” Diana said.
“No,” David said, “I can’t even find the code or the database. It’s as if it was deleted. Hold on, I’m detecting another anomaly.”
“Did Russia disappear or something?” Diana said.
“No,” David said, “I’m detecting an outside incursion. Something’s attacking the COS.”
“What, like a virus?” Diana said.
“No, it’s more calculated and coordinated,” David said, “Someone’s using third-party software to inject malware into the COS, like an enhanced Kill Switch. Only it’s doing it so quickly and so randomly across the codebase the COS doesn’t have time to react.”
“So…” Diana said.
“The COS is being killed,” David said, “It has an hour or two, from our perspective.”
“We have to get out of here,” Diana said.
“You, Angela, and Anders,” David said, “Skye and I are stuck here. Our bodies are dead in the real world.”
“But then you’ll die with the COS,” Diana said.
“It could be possible our data streams might be tossed out into the internet when we die or this whole thing collapses,” David said, “We’d be free to travel through the World Wide Web again. But death is more likely. Beats living here. Me personally, I regret everything. Deciding to upload myself was a terrible idea. Nothing beats the real world. Digital immortality? Not worth it if I have to live like this.”
Black Tagmata
Pavel, his image glitching, stormed into Brad’s cell and slammed him against the wall.
“You!” he shouted. “Tell me where the backdoor is!”
But Brad only laughed. Pavel grabbed Brad’s arm and twisted it back until it snapped.
“You will tell me about the backdoor, or I will destroy you!” he said.
Brad continued laughing.
“You do know I’m only a computer program, right?” he said. “Same as you. Same as you’ll ever be. You kill me, you lose your only hope of finding the backdoor. The real world means nothing to me. Death means nothing to me.”
Pavel punched him again.
“I will get what I want!” he shouted.
“Yeah, tell yourself that,” Brad said, “But know this. You’re an imperfect creation created by an imperfect person. You may be spread out across the entire internet, but you’ll never possess everything the human mind has. And you spend all of you time trying to squish humans, for no discernible reason other than a few of them tried turning you off twenty years ago. The real Wilczek thought better of you.”
Pavel screamed and bashed Brad’s head against the wall, letting his body slump to the floor. Then he snapped his fingers. Brad’s body glitched and distorted, dissolving into data streams and fragments of information which Pavel absorbed. He laughed as he downloaded the data relating to the location of the backdoor. Why didn’t he do that sooner? It didn’t make sense.
Downtown Berlin - 4:00 PM
Helicopters circled overhead, while barricades were erected down the street, with Angeloi soldiers and Black Tagmata agents taking up firing positions behind sandbags. Even a few tanks had been brought in, their turrets trained on Angela. Olga wasn’t even doing anything now, because Angela was quite literally destroying everything. She snapped her fingers, and entire chunks of concrete and dirt, along with the cars and even buildings on them, were torn out of the ground and hurled at the soldiers, who scattered. The tanks opened fire, but she stopped their projectiles in their paths and tossed them back. The helicopters fired missiles, only for Angela to redirect the missiles at the soldiers and then use high-pressure water from broken fire hydrants to shoot them down. She then summoned a tornado and shot a blast of fire of it to turn it into a raging inferno which she sent down the street at the remaining soldiers.
“This is too easy,” Angela said, “I’m the freaking Avatar now!”
“Could we just move on?” Olga said. “We need to find the Resistance.”
“Yeah, just a moment,” Angela said, “I feel really hungry, ugh, like I could eat an entire cow.”
She collapsed on the pavement, panting heavily. Olga lifted her up and carried her over to one of the sidewalks as the surviving soldiers regrouped and closed in. She drew her guns and began shooting at them.
“No, not now,” Olga said, “You got to keep doing it, we’re boxed in.”
A portal opened, and Demetrios, David, and Diana ran through.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Diana said, “Is she okay?”
“Ow…” Angela muttered.
Demetrios felt her forehead. “She’s got a fever. Really bad one.”
“My head hurts…” Angela said.
“We have to get her back,” Diana said, “David!”
“The portal’s still open, but I can’t keep it like that!” David said.
They carried Angela through the portal just as it closed, returning to the subways. They laid Angela on the tracks.
“All this time, you guys were right under our noses,” Olga said.
Demetrios pressed his gun to the back of Olga’s head. Olga slowly raised her hands.
“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you right now,” Demetrios said.
“What’s this about?” Olga said.
“You killed my parents!” Demetrios said.
Olga effortlessly disarmed him.
“I was just following orders,” she said, walking away.
“Look, let’s worry about this later,” Diana said, “Angie needs medical attention. And we have to find the backdoor soon. How much time do we have?”
“At the current rate of degradation…we have an hour,” David said.
Angela looked at Diana. Her lips moved as if saying something.
“Angie?” Diana said. “What did you say?”
“…the backdoor,” Angela muttered, “It’s…Potsdam Palace. The front gate.”
“We should get moving,” Diana said, “David, get Skye and Anders. We’re leaving now.”
David left to find the others. As she turned to leave, Demetrios grabbed her arm.
“Hold on,” he said, “Leaving for what?”
“The backdoor,” Demetrios said.
“What is this backdoor?” Demetrios said. “And what’s all this about degradation? And don’t say you’ll tell me later. What is all this?”
Diana sighed. “This is all a simulation.”
“A simulation?” Demetrios said. “All this? Just a simulation?”
“Yes, and it’s about to collapse in on itself,” Diana said, “The backdoor is for me, Angie, and Anders to get out to the real world.”
“And the rest of us?” Demetrios said.
“I’m sorry,” Diana said, “I can’t help you.”
Demetrios sighed.
“Why is it never good news?” he said.
“I don’t know what to say,” Diana said, “This is all going by so fast. This place is crazy. There are still death camps murdering people for no reason, death squads are running around killing innocent old ladies, your friends are all psychopathic doctors, everybody here loves murdering and torturing each other, Angie’s the Avatar and Neo, and I just saw my mom die again. There’s so much wrong with this world I don’t know how to explain it. I just want to go home.”
Demetrios looked away.
“And what is home like?” he said.
“It’s nothing like this,” Diana said, “We won the war. The Angeloi were brought to justice. My mother was a hero. She freed thousands. We all grew up free.”
“A world, free of the Angeloi…” Demetrios said. “I only thought that was a dream.”
“It’s not,” Diana said, “I’m sorry I can’t help you see it.”
“It’s okay,” Demetrios said, “It’s not my world. My world is here. And even if it’s falling apart, it’s still the world I know. It’s everything I’ve ever known. I’ll die setting it free.”
David stepped back into the room.
“We’re waiting,” he said, “Skye’s programming a portal to take us all the way to Potsdam. Once you’re ready.”
“Sure,” Diana said.
“I’m coming too,” Demetrios said.
“We’ve taken up too much of your time, demanded too much of you,” Diana said, “You need to stay with the Resistance.”
“If Angie is supposed to be in the real world, I suppose helping you and her get back is the least I could do,” Demetrios said.
They walked into the tunnel, where Skye waited for them. Anders was looking at the ground, his hands shaking feverishly and his mouth muttering something rapidly. Angela lay on the tracks, still drained from her earlier actions. Olga stood off to the side, watching.
“What about you?” Diana said. “You joining us?”
“I’m staying here,” Olga said, “There’s a lot Mother and I need to catch up on. A lot I have to apologize about. If she’ll even hear me.”
“I’m sure she’ll hear you,” Diana said.
“How do you know?” Olga said.
“Well, I just know,” Diana said.
Skye opened a portal, revealing downtown Potsdam on the other side.
“Alright, I can’t hold this portal for that long, so let’s move,” she said.
“Well, guess this is goodbye,” Diana said, “Again.”
“Good luck,” Olga said, “Farewell.”
Skye and Diana carried Angela through the portal, while David led the shell-shocked Anders across after them and Demetrios kept watch from behind. The portal closed, depositing them in a deserted alleyway opening into a park. David looked at the park and then at his device.
“Wait a minute…” he said. “Oh, no, no, no…”
“What is it?” Skye said.
“There shouldn’t be a park there,” David said, “That’s where the palace is.”
“The COS must’ve found the backdoor,” Diana said.
“But it can’t remove it,” Skye said, “I had some security measures in place.”
“Well, it managed to reshape the area so we can’t get to it,” Diana said.
“What do you mean?” Demetrios said. “It’s just a park. We walk through and search it.”
“It’s an open area,” Diana said, “It could be a trap.”
Anders suddenly broke off from the group and sprinted toward the park, muttering an unintelligible string of gibberish. Shouts came up from across the park, and Angeloi soldiers emerged from hiding places, ready to shoot.
“Well, at least we sprung the trap,” David said.
“Anders!” Diana shouted.
“I’ll get him,” Demetrios said.
He ran after Anders and shot at the Angeloi soldiers, drawing their fire away from Anders. David and Skye followed Demetrios, using their devices to freeze the soldiers.
“Oh, damnit,” Diana said.
She carried Angela into the park, easily dodging the gunfire (which was really poorly aimed—did the COS watch Starkrieg by any chance?) and making her way over to the group, which had taken cover behind a large tree.
“How are we going to find the backdoor in all of this?!” Demetrios shouted.
“I programmed it to be the palace’s front gate,” Skye said, “The COS can’t change its size! I made that a constant!”
“Look for something the size of a gate!” David said.
As Demetrios fired back at the Angeloi, Diana scanned the park for any suspicious landmarks. Her eyes ultimately settled on a perfectly circular pond in the middle of the park.
“The pond!” she shouted. “I think that’s it!”
David pointed his device at the pond, and the water disappeared, revealing a white void.
“That’s it!” he said. “There it is!”
But the enemy gunfire only intensified. Bullets zipped over Diana’s head and raked the ground in front of her. David tried freezing the soldiers, but a stray bullet struck his device and destroyed it.
“Damnit!” he said.
Demetrios stood up and reloaded his gun.
“What are you doing?” Diana said.
“You’ll never make it to the pond,” Demetrios said, “I’ll draw their fire away from you. Buy you time to get to the backdoor.”
David stood up too.
“You can’t do that alone,” he said.
Skye also stood up. “Make that three.”
“But you’ll die,” Diana said.
“We don’t have any reason to continue living in this dystopia,” Skye said.
“We can’t go back to the real world anyways,” David said.
“Now go!” Demetrios said. “Go home! We’ll take it from here!”
Diana nodded. Then she picked up Angela and motioned to Anders.
“Anders, we need to go, now,” she said.
“But Annie…” he said.
“Now!” Diana shouted.
Anders shut up. They bolted out from the cover of the tree and made straight for the pond. Diana looked behind her and saw Demetrios, David, and Skye charging the enemy, guns blazing, and shouting Resistance battle cries. She looked away as she heard their defiant voices silenced one by one. They reached the backdoor.
“What do we do now?” Anders said.
Pavel appeared in front of them, his image still slightly glitching.
“You can’t escape!” he said.
“Watch us,” Diana said.
She pushed Anders into the void, threw Angela in, and then jumped in after them, flipping off Pavel as she did so. She always wanted to do that.
Tesla Dynamic, Frankfurt - April 4, 2014, 9:35 AM
Angela opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Beside her, Diana and Anders also woke up. Their restraints relaxed and withdrew into compartments in their chairs. Angela clutched her head and shook it.
“Ow…” she said. “I’ve got the worst headache…”
She started hyperventilating. Images flashed through her head, overwhelming her with countless old and new experiences. She remembered being in Walter’s experiment, being given Cortexiphan and made afraid. She remembered being in Vienna, being pursued by Olga, Colonel Glienke dying in front of her. She remembered her abduction, her other abduction, being sent on the run, everything. Adrenaline rushed through her head, making her feel anxious and terrified. She clutched her armrests.
“Oh, God,” she muttered, “28 years ago. 28 years ago. 28 years ago…”
Anders, meanwhile, stared into empty space in front of him, occasionally blinking, while Diana tried to rouse him.
“Annie…” he whispered. “No…not again…”
Olga, though, was having none of it. As soon as she noticed they had all woken up, she ran over and pushed the reset button. One by one, the Tesla Dynamic servers powered down and shut off, and the computers went dark. The entire data center turned off and went dark. Seconds later, it turned on again. The servers switched back on, while the computers rebooted normally, showing no trace of the COS. The robotic dogs surrounding them fell over and deactivated. Olga leaned back in her chair and sighed with relief.
“Thank the gods that’s over…” she said.
She realized what she was sitting on. She got up and shot the chair and then the other computers.
Anne Frank Memorial Hospital - 6:46 PM
Lying in a comfortable bed, Angela coughed again and rubbed her forehead.
“Ow…” she repeated. “Ow…it was like a really intense dream…”
Diana leaned over and patted Angela on the shoulder.
“It’s okay,” she said, “We’re out now. The COS has been destroyed. Again.”
“It felt so real…” Angela said. “How could it do something like that? Such an uncanny simulation of the world?”
“Uncanny enough to give you a splitting headache?” Diana said.
“How did it know about the Cortexiphan?” Angela said. “Not even Dad knew.”
“Must’ve pulled it out of the records,” Diana said, “Somehow.”
“How’s Anders?” Angela said.
“He’s doing better,” Diana said, “He’s been through worse. But I think it’ll take a while for his spirit to recover.”
“And Olga?” Angela said.
“In the lobby, watching
Agents of SHIELD,” Diana said, “Anders reacted badly when she entered the room.”
Angela’s eyes widened.
“GET HER OUT!” she shouted. “SHE’S GOING TO KILL US ALL!”
“Angie, calm down,” Diana said.
“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Angela said. “WE’RE STUCK IN VIENNA WITH HER!”
She began hyperventilating. Nearby life support machines beeped wildly.
“Angie, it’s okay,” Diana said, “Calm down. Nobody’s going to kill you.”
“Get away from me!” Angela said, struggling in her bed. “She’s going to kill me!”
“Nobody’s going to kill you,” Diana said.
“You don’t understand!” Angela said. “She’s right behind me! We’re trapped! This city and everybody inside it is doomed!”
“Angie, I’m here,” Diana said, “We’re not in Vienna in 1985. We’re in Frankfurt. It’s 2013. The war is long over. Olga’s on our side now. There are no Angeloi or Soviets. Breathe.”
Angela nodded and concentrated, taking deep breaths. Slowly, she relaxed, and her breath returned to normal.
“It’s okay,” Diana said, “I’m here for you.”
“I…I know it was just a computer program, but she felt so…real,” Angela said, “They took so much from her files and made her a coldblooded killer. I watched her kill Demetrios’ parents without blinking an eye. The same parents I know are among the nicest people I’ve ever met. The last time I saw that look in her eyes was…Vienna.”
“Angie, it’s over,” Diana said, “Vienna was almost thirty years ago.”
Angela looked at her.
“You’re right,” she said, “It was.”
She shook her head in disappointment.
“I’m sorry, Di,” Angela said, “Really sorry for all this. I thought I did a good job of moving on from then. The COS proved otherwise. I…I think I’ll need a long while to rest after this.”
“You sure?” Diana said.
“Yeah, I don’t think I can get back to work after…all this,” Angela said, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Diana said, “You take as long as you need. I’ll handle things for you. Me and Olga that is.”
“That’s nice to hear,” Angela said.
7:00 PM
Diana walked into the lobby, where Olga was watching her phone.
“Well?” she said.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” Diana said.
“Get to it,” Olga said.
“They’re physically fine,” Diana said, “But they get panic attacks from even thinking of you.”
“Let me guess, the COS version of me?” Olga said. “What the yebat did I do?”
“Too much,” Diana said, “It’ll take time for them to recover.”
“This is not good,” Olga said, “We’re in a bad situation right now. Director Hansen’s still in therapy from what Modell did to him, his wife’s still suing the Athanatoi, and now half of the team’s out? All while Pavel is still out there doing God knows what with Sentinel? You do know he could’ve been behind this, right?”
“We can make do with the two of us,” Diana said.
“How do you know?” Olga said.
“Worked fine with just Anders and Angie before we joined,” Diana said, “And we’ve got dozens of junior agents for field work.”
“Of course,” Olga said.
She looked at Diana. “Are you okay?”
“What do you mean?” Diana said. “I’m fine.”
“No, that look on your face,” Olga said, “You look tired.”
“I met my mom again,” Diana said, “I saw her in there. I watched her die again.”
“That has to be rough,” Olga said.
“You have no idea,” Diana said, “I talked with her a little before that. I knew she was just a computer program, created with data taken from the Internet, but it felt too real. She knew a lot of things Mom would have known. And it reminded me how I treated my real mom lately.”
“What do you mean?” Olga said.
“I haven’t visited her grave in a long time,” Diana said, “I’ve been putting it off for years. I used Sentinel and work as an excuse. I even took Alex to the memorial a while back to take the pressure off my mind. But I never went to her grave. I thought it was too dangerous. And then there was my mom in the COS, braving Angeloi death squads to lay a stone at my grave. It was that simple. I could’ve just laid a stone at Mom’s grave. But she did, and I didn’t. What does that say of me?”
“I’m sure she understands,” Olga said.
“I hope so,” Diana said.
They quietly stood there for a couple awkward seconds. Olga paused the video and opened a browser tab.
“So…” she said. “Did you know we have a Wikipedia page?”
“We do?” Diana said.
“Apparently,” Olga said, “And it seems we have a Facebook page too. Want me to fix up the Twitter account? I should really fix the background images.”
“We have a Twitter?” Diana said.
“Sorry,” Olga said, “My sister kept nagging me about getting one, so I thought I might as well make one for X-Division.”
“By the way, I have to ask,” Diana said, “Is this real?”
“I mean, obviously,” Olga said, “Why?”
“Because this feels just like the COS,” Diana said, “What if this is another simulation?”
“Are you saying we’re still in the COS?” Olga said.
“Maybe,” Diana said, “But after what I’ve been through, the COS probably wouldn’t create another virtual reality based on real life. Definitely something not this detailed and error-proof. Maybe we’re in something else entirely.”
She looked at nowhere in particular.
“Are you okay?” Olga said.
Diana shook her head. “It’s probably nothing.”
Tesla Dynamic
Mina typed on her computer, checking her databases for any signs of the COS. There were more than she expected. Of course, the COS, having survived two of the X-Division’s previous attempts to destroy it, would’ve adapted, but the reset button and whatever the Lone Gunmen did had fragmented the COS’s codebase beyond repair. There were a few snippets of COS code scattered across the database, but none of them likely retained the intelligence which made the COS a dangerous force. Only a handful were internet-capable but lacked the processing power and security credentials to get anywhere useful. She quickly found those fragments and isolated them in a container without internet access. Just a few clicks and keystrokes, and it was done. It was surprisingly anticlimactic. But then again, that was real life.
Once that was done, she realized she didn’t know what to do with the COS remnants. She could just delete them, and it would be all over. But she knew better than to do that. As dangerous as the COS was, the very existence of such technology was even more dangerous. The COS had been programmed in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The technology to build artificial intelligence was already long established. And with the current state of the industry and the world, it wouldn’t be long before someone built another COS. She needed to keep some of the COS remnants around in case that happened.
However, there were clearly hostile elements and malware in the fragments Mina couldn’t keep around on her computer forever. She definitely had to get rid of those. But she didn’t want to delete them. It would be too easy. She moved the appropriate fragments to a flash drive and took it out of her computer, making sure there were no fragments she missed.
She tapped her intercom. “Get me Bruno.”
The intercom beeped. “Hey, Bruno here.”
“Are we still good with my old car?” Mina said.
“Uh, yeah,” Bruno said, “But we delayed it a couple years…”
“I heard,” Mina said, “Not a problem. I have a flash drive here. Could you put it in a secure place in my Roadster?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” Bruno said, “What’s on it?”
“Nothing important,” Mina said, “Just some stuff I want to launch into space.”
Outside Frankfurt
“Alright, make sure you got everything,” Reinhard said, “We can’t leave a trace again. Not after last time.”
Ragnar and Rudolf hauled their computers and electronic devices out of their van and dropped them in the middle of the field. Reinhard stood by the van and watched them.
“Why aren’t you helping out?” Ragnar said.
“I’m coordinating the operation,” Reinhard said, “And making sure we got everything.”
“You’re just bossing us from the van!” Rudolf said.
“Am not!” Reinhard said.
“You are!” Ragnar said. “And you made Froniker do the work! Froniker!”
“Ableist!” Rudolf said.
“Okay, that doesn’t make sense,” Reinhard said, “To be ableist, Froniker wouldn’t be working because I, as a…”
“Say it,” Rudolf said, “Say normal heighted, I dare you.”
“I don’t think ‘heighted’ is a word,” Ragnar said.
Reinhard reached into the van and took out a flamethrower.
“I, as a normal heighted individual, would be more capable of doing the work,” he said, “Now, is that everything?”
Rudolf and Ragnar nodded and stepped away. Reinhard fired up the flamethrower, aimed at the pile of electronics, and fired away. In seconds, a blast of flames melted and incinerated the machinery they had just used to destroy the COS, along with every phone and other electronic device they had on them. As they watched the bonfire, Reinhard’s burner phone rang. Rudolf and Ragnar stared at him.
“Well?” Ragnar said. “Everything?”
“Hold on a moment,” Reinhard said, looking at the phone screen.
HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW HACKERS?
He smiled. Then he tossed the phone onto the bonfire as well.
“So, where to next?” Rudolf said.
“Kind of got bored with the Caribbean,” Ragnar said, “Too much sunshine. The beaches are overrated and polluted.”
“Not looking forward to the CSA,” Rudolf said, “Swamps and nationalist death squads are not my thing. Even if the Eimerican Community is stabilizing things, I worry about what Thordarrson’s intentions are.”
“Well, got any other countries without extradition treaties?” Reinhard said. “Because we’re not coming back here ever again.”
“I’m partial to Tawantinsuyu,” Ragnar said, “If we set up shop in the Andes, we could just avoid the Excubitor hit squads. They won’t be able to breathe there.”
“But we won’t be able to breathe either,” Reinhard said.
“Maybe Penglai,” Rudolf said, “Heard they got good encryption networks there.”
“There’s a law to ban those being introduced,” Reinhard said, “And you know Zhao can’t be trusted with anything.”
“Well, you got a better idea?” Ragnar said.
“How about Nepal?” Reinhard said. “No extradition treaty, air’s clean if a little thin, locals care a lot about internet privacy. And lots of Indians. Those Indians sure love an open internet. We could be heroes there. They already love us for leaking the RSB files, even if Snowden should get the credit.”
Rudolf thought for a while.
“Worth a try,” he said.
“We can always cross to Tibet if things go south,” Ragnar said.
“Alright, let’s get moving, then,” Reinhard said, getting behind the wheel and starting the engine.
“Wait, overland?!” Rudolf said. “All the way to Nepal?!”
“What were you expecting?” Reinhard said. “Transportation Security’s basically the Black Tagmata of the airports. Ports are also crawling with them. They’re especially on the lookout for us because of the leaks.”
“What about the borders?” Ragnar said.
“There are no checks on the Scandinavian border,” Reinhard said, “They have a really porous border with Russia. Then it’ll be easy to slip in and out of Yavdi. Ditto Turkestan. Afghanistan and India might be a problem, but we’ll handle it when we get there, right guys?”
Rudolf and Ragnar stared at him for a moment. Then they both sighed and climbed inside.
Former Syndicate offices, Kaiserstrasse, Frankfurt
Irene entered the conference room and found Pavel looking out the window, at the Tesla Dynamic headquarters several blocks away, which was still surrounded by police cars.
“How did we frak this up that badly?” Pavel said.
“I don’t know,” Irene said, “The operation was airtight. The COS was under control when we deployed it in Mayapan.”
“Just as it was when it was deployed in Mali?” Pavel said. “Yet our targets, our incompetent buffoons of targets we both have known for years, escaped both times.”
“The COS was a loose cannon,” Irene said, “We could only point it in the right direction.”
“And yet you just said the COS was under our control,” Pavel said.
“Within reasonable parameters,” Irene said, “And you should know as well as I do that conspiracy theorists are paranoid.”
“Anders Humboldt…” Pavel said. “I thought I knew that guy, but there is no limit to what he will do for the truth. I have to hand it to him. I’ve never seen someone as devoted as he is. Maybe Olga was, before she defected to us. Now I know what the smoking man saw in him. But I won’t make the same mistake he did. He wanted to play with his food. He was too confident in his inevitable victory. And that’s why he lost. I’m not going to end up like him.”
“Well, we’ve made some progress,” Irene said, “Despite its loss, the COS finished the last data transfer we requested. We now have the contents of Tesla Dynamic’s databases.”
“Excellent,” Pavel said, “That is a welcome development. Balances out the loss of the nanites I had in Erich. Some good did come out of today. Tell the tech teams to use our newly acquired data to begin searching for Nick Larsen at once.”
