《Out of the Way》 In Another Place A hot, angry wind keened around a circle of shattered towers where the ocean met the city. Once brilliant white, the cracked stumps had been fouled by the black smoke and gray ash staining everything. The city was dead. He had helped to kill it. The barest pinprick of dim sunlight glowed through a hellish red behind the clouds. Ash fell like snow over the broken barricades and fortifications. The angry wind flung it deeper still, obscuring signposts, spilling through destroyed windows and roofs to scour away or bury any signs of past life still adorning the city¡¯s bones. All along the horizon, the ocean boiled. Red glowing lava seared the surface in countless places. Black smoke spewed into the skies. An angry wind lashed the barren world again and again. All along the steaming water¡¯s edge, around the wreckage of the once-proud towers, stood the conquerors. Obediently they waited. Silently they stood watch, somehow seeing through eyes of milky-white, the pupils blinded beneath cataracted over. The conquerors gave no voice to their victory. Their numb faces displayed no joy. They trumpeted no victory music. Their mindless slaughter had come from no hatred nor insanity of their own. All that mattered, all they existed for now, was to ensure nothing stopped the arrival of the city¡¯s new rulers. As one, they gave unblinking, careful witness to the roiling waters inside the circle of toppled stone. Chains, each link the size of the tallest of the witnesses, reached towards the center, disappearing beneath the surface. Waves lapped the shore. The bodies of fish and other seafarers washed against the shore, boiled and sloughing apart against the stone. Occasionally, suddenly, violently, the chains tightened against the columns unleashing a groaning cacaphony. The witnesses would watch the far, submerged pillars tremble in time with the violence, and just as suddenly go slack once again. The great trapped thing contained within continued its struggle, was not yet broken. One witness stood atop the partially submerged wreckage of the pillar nearest to shore. There, he carefully observed any signs of the struggle hidden beneath the water. Standing sentinel in water up to his thighs his face remained slack, expressionless. His eyes never wavered from the violent surges, his breath rose and fell slow and sure. He stood silent, as he had for many days, but prepared to cry out, to act at the first hint of any possible escape. The chains above him snapped taut again with a ringing sound. A chip of stone shot down and cut his cheek below his eye. The chain held, and so too did this witness hold his gaze, and his tongue. The sun fell and rose, weaker than the day before, while far off on the horizon a spot of green light grew that much brighter. The great thing withing the circle of chain struggled unceasingly, but remained as surely trapped as when the witness and his kin first entombed it there. The sun fell and rose again, and again. The balance of the world shifted, bit by bit, day by day, towards a moment the witne ss knew was inevitable¡­ until one day the keening wind carried a new sound to the witness¡¯s ears: discordant cries and screams of joy from all their kin. Out on the horizon, where the green gleamed, the burning ocean heaved. A vortex of water ripped into the sky. Dark clouds were sucked down to meet it. A fine, white mist rose from the water where the forces met, and spun. The spot of jade-green light, brighter than the sun now, rose into the air within the whirling cauldron of mist and fog. The witness¡¯s heart flew into his throat and he staggered back, almost sinking to his knees. An explosion of love and joy shot through his body. ¡°They come!¡± the witness croaked through wind-blasted lips, heat-baked throat. The world had been cleansed, the unbelievers purged and the great thing captured and chained where They had commanded. Finally, as foretold, as was destined to happen, as had happened on so many worlds before this one, a Way was opening to bring them through! The great, imprisoned thing trapped beneath the waters sensed its end-time grow near. The chains whipped tight all across the circle. The ground beneath the witness¡¯s feet shook, toppling him to his knees. The witness smiled, tears spilling. ¡°They come!¡± he screamed again, tearing his smoke-seared throat. He began to weep, oblivious to his boiling flesh. A hum grew beneath the waves, rippling through his skin, through his bones. The man looked around, unsure what was happening. As he watched, several length of chains tore free from the now-submerged stone and exploded out of the water. The solid, gigantic lengths sliced through the air with the whine of a blade freed from a scabbard. Hundreds of feet of chain tore through the next ruined tower. And the next. And the next. The witness¡¯s compatriots struggled towards those shattered towers, heedless of the falling rubble that rained down, crushing some, paralyzing others and condemning more to sink beneath the waves. Those that survived the cataclysm crawled over stones the size of houses, hands spread wide, conjuring the energies imbued in them by their Masters, ready to spend themselves to keep the great thing in its place. The witness looked up as a chunk of tower cast its shadow over him, preparing to end his servitude and existence. He snarled up at the falling mountain. Green lightning shot from both hands and flew up into it. Thunder clapped as the bolts struck the enormous rock and shifted its course. It landed clear of him, but nature still extracted its due. A powerful wave of displaced water slammed into him, driving him further into the circle of towers and deep underwater¡­ into the reach of what was imprisoned there. The thing found him. There was no savaging by tooth or claw, only the gentlest of touch. Powerful muscles curled around his waist, again about his chest and finally its tip came to rest against the exposed skin of his neck. A red glow suffused the water. An explosion of red welled behind his cataracted eyes. Slowly, the white covering his eyes began to burn away. An explosion of pain wracked his body¨Cnot from any phsyi cal strike, but from memory. His memories, returned to him. A gift, freed from their bonds, returned to the witness. The pain that followed was his own, just as surely returned to him. The green orbs hovering above each of his palms, Their energies, winked out as this new warming power enfolded him. The white blinding his eyes and his heart continued to fall away. He spasmed with more quakes of pain, for reasons that had nothing to do with his impending death by drowning. In a flash, it all came back. All the memories he had forgotten, all the emotions they had buried, all the lessons he had learned in his life¡­ everything that made him who he was.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Everything he had abandoned in his pact with the devils. It all came flooding back as the great thing returned to him everything he had done in the name of those he served. The pain he had conjured. The lives he had ended. The worlds he had destroyed as their harbinger. He remembered it all. Freed from the lulling whispers of green and white cocooning his emotions, he felt it all. The green and white had pulsed immortal strength and surety and lies through his hands, all to work their will through him. Memories of world after world visited and conquered flooded back. Then his first life, in his first world, his home, his family ¨C their fate ¨C was unlocked and returned to him. Love. Pride. Loss. Shame. Faces of loved ones. Lessons learned from the cradle to what he had hoped would be a grave¨Cbut alas, wasn¡¯t. He remembered his father¡¯s face. The memory curdled, his father¡¯s face changing as the man who had taught him what he could be¡­as if he could see beyond the grave¡­see what he had become instead. His father¡¯s face twisted with sadness, pain, disgust. He knew why. At his darkest point he had chosen to numb the shame, to replace it with hate, with illusory purpose. To find reasons for the ugliness that colored his life. There, submerged and gently held by the great thing, his lungs wracking, chest close to bursting, his body -kept alive by lies and magicks for too long- welcomed death and craved the oblivion it would bring. He yearned, feeling the shame, for this final act of cowardice. Not yet. The voice blossomed in his head. Warm, rumbling and kind, where they were cold, cruel, uncaring. This new warmth pulsed through the flesh wrapping around him, the very tip now resting against his heart and from there coursing into all of him. Escape from this realm will not end your pain. Images flashed through his mind, a succession of wailing mothers, tortured fathers, slaughtered innocents, over and over, world after world, atrocity after atrocity. The dizzying chain of images continued, uncountable numbers whose lives he had decimated without pause or question. Escape will but seal your legacy. Sensations joined the images. The heat of a home burning, the barred doorway aflame as the cries of those inside turned to shrieks of pain. Blood trickling down his hands. Little bones shattering beneath his boot. He could feel it all now. The memories and feelings strobed through his head, lashed his soul, ripped at his festered heart. He screamed, bubbling the last of his life-giving air into the water. Then the visions froze again on his father¡¯s face. Atone, the rumbling voice urged. Make right what you can. The water darkened as the great thing brought him closer. Buried beneath the disgust, his father¡¯s eyes softened with forgiveness. He reached a hand out to his son. Escape? The rumbling voice grew louder, demanding, shaking through his body, his bones. Or Atone? In his mind¡¯s eye, he reached out for his father¡¯s hand. Atone, he chose. The world flashed brighter through his closed eyelids. He opened his eyes. Taller than his body, a cat¡¯s eye of liquid gold blinked open again, reflecting what light was left in the word, adding more of its own, catching him in its gaze. The voice came again, issuing a promise in his heart and mind. The contact was overwhelming, sense-shattering and also gentle and soothing. There is still good in you. His heart twisted in his chest. Could he make things right again? A searing pain pressed through his flesh into his heart, where the great thing held him. Know this: we are not forever stained. His blood pumped faster in his veins. New thoughts filled him. Not joy, but something good, and clean. Perhaps¡­ hope? A bolt of green lightning stabbed into the great eye, and it turned away. The thing released its hold on him, disappearing deeper into the water. Cold fingers dug into him, tore him away from the thing¡¯s reach, dragged him up to the surface. The fingers flung him callously against the white rubble of the tower he had been left to defend. Coughing up seawater, he crawled to his knees and blinked away salty tears, blinked more against the searing heat of the air. His fellow witness stood just ahead of him. More approached from all sides, their hands raised wide and wreathed in crackling green energies. He saw the world again¡­ and for the first time. Volcanoes spewed poison on the horizon. The ocean boiled. Ash soiled even the great white towers, like yellowed and broken teeth. And out on the horizon the vortex, the storm, the orb of green all grew larger by the second in the heart of the Way. He looked at this through eyes no longer blinded with hate. He saw all this with a soul no longer numbed by magicks. He saw what he had wrought and sobbed. Without words, with mindless, insect-like coordination, more of his kind approached. He heard them chant, saw the energies between their hands grow. As one, they sunk their hands into the water. A vibration shuddered through it, through his skin, through his bones: the great thing, roaring in pain. No more! he thought, gathering power in his own hands and hurling it at the closest former kin. The one that had saved him from the grasp of the great thing stiffened, then sank, lifeless, beneath the water, red lightning still coiling around his body. He stared at his hands, already glowing fiery red again, but wasted no time trying to understand: he loosed two more bolts into the soldier in the water to his left, then attacked the one to his right. As one, all the others turned to him, pulling their hands from the water. The great thing¡¯s roar of pain ceased, and wave after wave of immeasurable power surge through him, filling him up. He splayed one palm wide and a thin sheen of red welled up in a half-circle between him and the others. He punched his other hand forward, roaring. A thick jet of flame arced across the water and slammed into the chain affixed to a pillar. The stone exploded, decapitating one of the servants, crushing another against another tower, smashing a third beneath the waves, sending a fourth flying far into the sky. Green lightning hit his wall of flame. The pain of it sizzled through, instantly charring his fingertips. His fingers fell numb under the onslaught of energies. As one, all the servants turned and showered him with hate, pain and the promise of his end... his escape. Dimly, over the power coursing through his veins, through his thoughts, through his once-again-feeling heart struggling to defend against the blows of icy hate, he felt an indescribable wave of rage ripple out in atop the waves from the horizon. A promised victory blew apart like smoke. A wave of unending hunger raged at being denied. The Eldritch power that had been rising like a sun, began to fade. Their Way was crumbling! A small victory. A small atonement before his end. He smiled, feeling something like peace. It was worth the cost. The servants wailed as one, staring out to sea in shock. Silence stretched, and then, one by one, they again turned their energies against him. The warmth in his heart denied the cold and fury of the attack. His body could not do the same. He splayed both hands wide. They trembled with the effort. He turned his head away from burning, blinding, sparking green energies. He did not see what caused the water to fill the air with explosive force. He did not see what powerful form lifted another of their servants into the air, tossing him into the dead city. He did not see what sprayed a torrent of flame into the servant that had been creeping up behind him. He wished he had not seen the cruel knife in the attacker¡¯s hand -the knife meant for his back- melt away as easily as the flesh from bone beneath that onslaught of flame. He wished he had not seen the skin and bones of the hand holding the knife evaporate. rest of the body blow away like cinders beneath the great onslaught of flame. He collapsed on the rocks, his strength spent, the shock of this atrocity and the many others before this one settling on him, weighing down on him like a mountain. Color bled from the world. Instinctively, some part of him tried to hold on, both curious and fearful of what awaited him in the next realm. The air around him shook and for a moment the smoke was gone. He could breathe something clean. One deep breath, before his end. The air tasted cool, sweet. Was that because of the powerful frame bursting out of the water on powerful wings? Or because he had done one last good thing? He closed his eyes. His stand, his act of atonement, barely a drop in the ocean of his debt, tasted even sweeter than his last breath. The world grew quiet. The lapping of the water lulling him as his body began to still itself. There was no more pain. His body seemed distant. Quiet now, and, soon, peace? Escape would but seal your legacy, the voice warned again, in his mind. Would you have this be your final reckoning? No. That thought was unbearable. His body shuddered, revolted against it. He tried to move, but his savaged body couldn¡¯t respond. Panic gripped him. ¡°Please, help me,¡± he choked, his voice sounding as broken as his body. ¡°Help me try,¡± he pleaded. ¡°Help me me fill the ocean, first!¡± The flapping of great wings washed cooling, clean air across his dying body. The ground shook as the great thing dropped to the ground. He felt himself lifted from the rocks, cradled gently. Come, Lukan. Powerful muscles tensed, and Lukan watched the world fall away. The ocean, waves already calming, black smoke dispelled, hurtled below them. Only the storm of cloud and fog still churned ahead of them. They soared through the air towards the portal. Though summoned by his former Masters it now mercifully free of the eldritch green heralding their arrival. The sacrifice of the great thing had been the key to that. Lukan smiled viciously: when he had freed it, he had denied them their Way. Soon, the mist crowded out the murdered world. Not long after, blackness took him as the great thing beat its wings and carried him towards the center of the the storm. The great thing held Lukan gently, and its power filled him again, healing his body and feeding the hope now planted in his soul: the hope that each day forward was another chance to repay another measure of the debt he owed. One drop at a time, for as much time as he had. The world faded away completely, with Lukan¡¯s last awareness carrying him the promise of the great thing. Rest, now. Together, we will find a Way. A Grand Experiment Mount Lago Complex: Subterranean Level 8 Mount Lago, Pasayten Wilderness, Oregon Monday, April 8th, 10:15 AM sure not I¡¯m Project Tanj¨­ Morales. What a blowhard. down I¡¯m Here we go, Multiple realities. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. just and much Cards on the Table Mount Lago Complex Monday. 8:16 PM ¡°What the hell is this?¡± Sam Katsuyama tossed a folder down on oDNI Department Chief Arthur Kale''s desk. Beside her, Nariko Yoshida stood with her ams on her hips. The display of frustration was the equivalent of outrage for the quiet scientist. Arthur leaned over the desk, opening the folder and peering down over the top of his glasses, his manner equal parts disinterested and ignorant. Sam folded her arms and stared coolly down at the man. Kale was technically her partner -or at least, the government signing authority on this particular USA/Katsuyama corporation joint venture- but since the second he''d stepped off the elevator into Mount Lago Complex, the man seemed to be doing anything and everything he could to make her life more difficult. Then, before they''d even unpacked their bags, an airman delivered her a sealed notice that the oDNI was activating a security clause buried in the ''Project Tanj¨­'' contract and moving up the launch by four full days. The oDNI -the Office of the Director of National Intelligence- was a shadow organization. Sam always knew they¡¯d play a layered game of bullshit, but she should have paid more attention to her internal alarm bells and released Kastsuyama Corporation¡¯s lawyers long before this. First, Uncle Sam paid the asking price. Project Tanj¨­ was a multi-billion dollar project, and America¡¯s bean-counters hadn¡¯t even asked for a discount. Next, they¡¯d signed the contract too quicky. Uncle Sam¡¯s lawyers always demanded changes to contract language, if for no other reason than to let whichever Senator on the appropriations committee brag that he was ¡®governing effectively¡¯ by insisting Katsuyama Corp buy American paint, or hire domestic coders in support roles, or at least funnel cafeteria catering to a company in their constituency. This time, there was none of that. Then -just six weeks before launch- they moved Project Tanj¨­ from a sensible server center in Silicon Valley to Mount Lago ¨C a dilapidated cold war era bunker hidden in the mountains of Oregon, a bear¡¯s-fart away from the Canadian border. They used a standard security clause in the contract and and cited National Security to punt the operation to Mount Lago, but Sam thought their argument smelled like a bear¡¯s fart too. Mount Lago also smelled pretty bad: it reeked of bleach, diesel and forty years years of neglect. ¡°This appears to be computer code, Miss Katsuyama.¡± He answered vaguely. ¡°How observant of you, Mr. Kale.¡± She placed her fingertips onto the top page, and slowly fanned the pages open. ¡°On this particular paper, Doctor Yoshida has printed out a couple thousand lines of code. Kale looked over the code. ¡°Why bring it to me? I¡¯m not a programmer.¡± ¡°That code that was uploaded into my footballs half an hour ago!¡± Doctor Nariko Yoshida hissed behind her. ¡°By one of your techs!¡± Sam waved a hand at Nari to shut her up. ¡°You co-own the array, but the footballs are Katsuyama property.¡± Arthur waved his hands in the air over the papers. ¡°If this is operational material you really should be talking to Doctor Morales'' team,¡± he said affably, playing the incompetent bureaucrat perfectly. Sam shook her head. ¡°Nice try, but we cornered the analyst who uploaded this code and he told me you ordered him to do it!¡± Arthur leaned back and sighed. ¡°Ah.¡± Nariko walked around the table. ¡°What is the meaning of this!¡± Art smiled placatingly. ¡°Our contract clearly states your corporation and my government are both free to submit modifications up to twelve hours before initialization.¡± Sam''s smile was all teeth and anger. She stabbed the air between her and Art. ¡°Both sides may submit mods to the array code, not the footballs!¡± Nariko said, her voice tight with anger. ¡°You injected an entire subroutine into the footballs the night before launch without even telling us!¡± ¡°What is it, ¡®Art¡¯?¡± Sam demanded. ¡°Some senator got nervous so you slipped us a little Stuxnet?¡± Stuxnet was infamous in the security world. Coder or not, Arthur Kale would get the reference. Stuxnet was a computer virus-precisely, a worm- released by the US and Israel. It spread for years, infecting devices across the internet. It was harmless code, unless an infected device included one specif ic system: the supervisory control and data acqusition -SCADA- system, used by just one country: Iran. Years later the worm paid off, delaying Iranian nuclear weapons development by decades. Art''s smile was cold and malicious. ¡°I''m sure there was a simple miscommunication.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°You lying prick!¡± Nariko snarled. Sam blinked. She hadn''t heard Nariko Yoshida _this_ pissed in years--not since Nari caught her shacking up in her godmother¡¯s mansion with Nate Findlay one spring break. And her godmother wasn''t done. ¡°You pushed thousands of lines of code into irreplaceable property without even telling me!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a guest here, Doctor!¡± Art stood abruptly, pushing his body close to the table. Sam recognized the predictable male posturing and interrupted him before he could work up a full head of toxically masculine steam. Sam leaned over the table and shoved the pages of code off to rain down around Art, surprising him half-way through his power play. ¡°Don''t pull that shit with me,¡± Sam growled. ¡°We¡¯re equal partners! You provide the facility and funds, we provide the proprietary tech and research, and access to her brain. Without Doctor Nariko Yoshida, there is no Project Tanj¨­. I approved every clause, every word in that contract, ''Art'', and trust me: you just opened a can of whoop-ass!¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure your lawyers will get your pound of flesh, but that will take years. In the meantime, read your contract. Our government has purview over national security. Think of this code as¡­insurance.¡± He knew a lot more than he was saying. Sam narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°You materially changed the parameters of a multi-billion project without permission or negotiation,¡± she told him. ¡°We have cause to put a hold on the entire launch. You just cost oDNI and Uncle Sam massive cost overruns--something the senate appropriations committee does not want in the media in an election year!¡± The threatening curl of his lip evaporated. A coldly calculating expression replaced the feigned outrage. To Sam, that was far more chilling than any attempt at intimidation. ¡°Again, Ms. Katsuyama: National Security. There will be no hold on the project, our code will stay in the footballs as long as they remain on US soil and you will not be delaying the launch.¡± Art took a breath, and let a small smile play on his lips. ¡°To ensure Katsuyama¡¯s representatives don¡¯t leak any _other_ aspects of this project, the secure lines to the surface have been shut off.¡± Leak? Negligence? Sam straightened up off the table, replaying their conversation in her head. Kale had switched gears too fast. Neither the threat of financial consequences -millions of dollars of consequences- or of revealing government shenanigans had slowed him down at all. She''d missed something. Sam and her godmother had caught the code injection in real time. Sam alway s included real time programming alerts in the contracts her godmother pursued, and that healthy suspicion frequently caught their contract partners pulling something funny...but never anything as serious or expansive as clandestinely inserting entire new sub-programs behind her back. ¡°You planned this all along,¡± Sam told him. It wasn''t a question. ¡°This is the reason for pushing up the launch.¡± The confident, shrewd expression that had replaced Art''s threatening posture did not waver. ¡°It¡¯s one reason.¡± Sam recognized the equivocation and knew instantly there were others factors at play. A competitor in the AI space? A threat to the program? She didn¡¯t have enough information to know how to play it with Kale. ¡°What''s in this code?¡± Nari demanded. ¡°I believe that discussion,¡± he told them, adopting a brittle tone, ¡°is now above your security clearance.¡± Nari''s chest shook a little as she drew a huge breath. Sam could feel her godmother closing in on a full-blown meltdown. She turned and put a hand on her shoulder. They shared a quiet look, and Nari nodded. She took another breath and walked over to the door. Sam turned back to their project partner. ¡°You took four days off the countdown, and you''re blaming Katsuyama corporation for it?¡± Sam took her job seriously: Nariko Yoshida had spent her career creating tools that made the world a better place. They also made Katsuyama corporation one of the world¡¯s wealthiest and most powerful. Every contract Sam and her team negotiated for her godmother¡¯s work served those twin goals. AI research started in the billions. Not even the mighty Katsuyama Corporation could bear those costs alone. Sam''s godmother''s insistence on a set of core values that would guide any collaborations further restricted potential partners to a handful of nations with public commitments to human rights and policies in keeping with Nari''s moral code. Sam had learned long ago that when Uncle Sam was involved, there was always a catch, so she and her team had spent months on contract language and contingency clauses to prevent bullshit like this. Sam had gotten very good at protecting Nariko''s vision. But she had missed something, and Art Kale knew it. Sam could read it on his smug face. Kale reached under his desk for his shoulder bag and drew out a tablet. He powered it on, tapped in a password, then held the white card on a lanyard around his neck to the screen. He swiped the screen a few times and dropped the tablet onto the table. ¡°I assume you recognize Dr. Polter?¡± Nari edged up to stand beside Sam, and the two women stared down at an image of Polter, the most senior member of Nari''s research team, standing at an airport coffee kiosk. ''Gate D'' was painted on the wall behind him. Sam recognized the gate. It was the one she had led the Katsuyama delegation out of when they arrived at Seattle International seven days ago. Art reached over and tapped the screen. The image flowed into motion. She watched Polter pour cream into a cardboard co ffee cup, and press the lid on top. Then she watched him withdraw a slim hard drive from his jacket and slip it between the whole milk and soy on the kiosk counter. ¡°Daniel?¡± Nariko asked, her voice incredulous. ¡°Doctor Daniel Polter has been charged under the espionage act,¡± Kale informed them. ¡°This morning he was taken to Seattle and arraigned in a closed FISA court.¡± Sam felt the air leave her lungs. ¡°This happened the day before we were helo''d to Mount Lago,¡± she ground out. Art smiled. ¡°Yes, Ms. Katsuyama.¡± ¡°You sat on this for a week,¡± she realized. Art''s smile grew. ¡°Yes we did, Ms. Katsuyama.¡± ¡°What will happen to him?¡± Nari asked. ¡°He will spend years in prison if he tells us who he is working for, Doctor.¡± He picked up his tablet and turned it off. ¡°He won''t see daylight for a decade if he does not.¡± Nari shrank in on herself. She turned away and covered her mouth with a hand. Nariko Yoshida was a two-time Nobel nominated physicist and artificial intelligence researcher. Katsuyama corporation had invested years in half a dozen obscure fields or research, and now that research and its resulting patents were about to usher in a _literal_ quantum leap in Artificial Intelligence. But that was before the oDNI caught a Katsuyama employee committing treason. It was a potentially actionable failure and it utterly destroyed Sam''s threat to give oDNI a black eye in public. This was a takeover attempt, Sam realized, a chill. They want the project for themselves. ¡°You let him work on this project knowing he was¡­compromised ,¡± Sam realized. ¡°We suspected it two months ago. It¡¯s one of the reasons we moved the project to this facility.¡± Art shrugged. ¡°We could only prove it after you vetted him and flew him here. After he walked in Mount Lago Complex it didn''t matter when we grabbed him: this entire facility is air-gapped. We could take our time.¡± ¡°You left him in play in case we caught you pulling this shit with the code?¡± Art tossed the tablet in his bag and slung it over his shoulder. ¡°No, Ms. Katsuyama, we left him in play in hopes he would lead us to any other traitors _you_ had foolishly employed.¡± He smiled, showing a lot of teeth. ¡°Though I''m sure the blowback from hiring and vetting a traitor will incentivize you to...see your way to accepting the new code injection.¡± ¡°Don''t count on it!¡± Sam told him. She realized the oDNI had no intention of informing them about tr ue purpose of the new subroutine. This was a takeover attempt. Art walked around the desk and shrugged. ¡°I''m sure you''ll have a change of heart when you meet with the Deputy Director.¡± Sam turned. ¡°Brewster''s here?¡± oDNI¡¯s Deputy Director had the ear of the President, who had personally signed off on the use of intelligence ¡®black budget¡¯ funds to build Nari¡¯s creation. Her day was getting better and better. ¡°He arrived early this morning.¡± Art''s smile widened as he opened the door. ¡°More games!¡± Sam snapped. ¡°Why was I not notified a senior official was coming to observe the launch?¡± ¡°I was as surprised as you are, ladies,¡± Kale mocked, abandoning sincerity. ¡°But you know how slowly government bureaucracies crawl. I''m sure his office will reach out in...¡± Kale looked at his watch. ¡°Oh, sometime in the next eleven hours.¡± He dropped his hand, dropped his smile and dropped the pretense of caring. ¡°You can let yourselves out, ladies. I need my beauty sleep.¡± He disappeared through the door, his voice trailing behind. ¡°We make history in twelve hours!¡± What are our Options? Barely resisting the urge to kick the departing Arthur Kale in the ass, Sam hauled an apoplectic Nariko out of the oDNI Chief¡¯s office and straight onto the elevator. She took them down a floor to the living quarters. ¡°Whatever they¡¯re doing-¡± Nariko stam mered as Sam dragged her out of the elevator. ¡°Not yet.¡± Sam ground out. ¡°Don¡¯t say another word in public.¡± Sam¡¯s first stop on Sub-Level 5 was Suyao Zhang¡¯s door. ¡°Hiyori,¡± Nariko began again as Sam knocked on Zhang¡¯s door. ¡°You have to stop-¡± ¡°_You_ have to shut up until you we get in your room and scan for bugs!¡± Sam told her. ¡°We negotiated a privacy clause but it only covers our rooms. Anything you say out here is property of the US government.¡± The teeny lawyer opened the door with her hair in ponytails, her pants off and her wireless earbuds nestled in her ears. ¡°Oh, hey boss,¡± Suyao panted, dancing in the doorway to music only she could hear. Suyao pulled her curly, raven-black hair out of her eyes and got a good look at their faces. She straightened up and killed the tinny pop music leaking out of her ear canals with a tap. ¡°What happened, and what¡¯s our exposure?¡± ¡°Put your pants on,¡± Sam told the lawyer. ¡°Be in Nari¡¯s room in five minutes.¡± Without waiting for Suyao to answer, Sam tugged Nariko by the arm down the hall to her godmother¡¯s room. As soon as they were inside, Nari ran to her laptop. Sam didn¡¯t have to look to know she was reopening the file with the code oDNI had injected into Katsuyama Corporation¡¯s QEC¡¯s¡­_Nariko¡¯s_ footballs. It took just over three minutes for Sam to run a skinny black box over the metal walls, under and around the double bed, inside, around and behind the metal locker, desk, small circular table and ventilation grates in the room. She tossed the device on the bed. ¡°We¡¯re clear,¡± she told her godmother. Buried in the code now, Nariko only grunted. Sam sat on the corner of the bed, watching Nari work. The woman sat at a small table in a formed plastic chair Sam bet was stolen from the base commissary. The seven member Katsuyama team all had rooms with double beds and attached bathrooms, but nineteen-sixties decor hadn¡¯t been designed for computers or tablets or workstations. Or for eating in privacy, Sam grumped silently. The food in the commissary was technically edible, but she¡¯d brought additional provisions to make eating less painful. However, all that food was still stored in the public dining area. Sam could murder a burger, but stress eating would have to wait until she solved this pickle of a problem for Nari. Waiting for Suyao, she stared again at the grey paint peeling from the bare walls. Brighter squares of paint showed where decorations had hung in bygone days. She tried to pretend away the smell of diesel, rust and lead-based paint. Tried to pretend her nose hadn¡¯t been ringing the alarm bell about that unholy trifecta since the moment she walked off the elevators, deep underground, beneath a decaying old barn on an otherwise beautiful and empty hilltop. Mount Lago had been maintained only due to the American security establishment¡¯s policies on preparedness and paranoia. When oDNI had insisted on a secret location for the test, Sam herself had chosen this as the least bad option. ¡®Least bad¡¯ did not mean ¡®good¡¯, however. Part nuclear bunker and part redundant node in America¡¯s cold war early warning system , Mount Lago was now one of the country¡¯s infamous ¡®black sites¡¯: a government facility whose very existence was kept secret from the public. Even though the base had no current technology, defense systems or active mission, Sam¡¯s entire team had been required to sign NDA¡¯s forbidding them from revealing its existence. Well, Sam admitted to herself, it might not be much to look at, but it was the best place she could find for Nari, for Project Tanj¨­. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Sam heard Suyao¡¯s musical knock on the door. She took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts as she crossed the room. ¡°Get in here,¡± she said as she opened the door. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot to go over.¡± Ten minutes later, Sam¡¯s top lawyer put down her copy of the contract and told Sam what she already knew. ¡°They¡¯ve got us by the balls.¡± Sam arched one eyebrow. ¡°Is that a legal term?¡± Suyao Zhang was very skilled, very professional. So much so, Sam often forgot how different her personality was behind closed doors. ¡°In this case it is, yeah.¡± Suyao sighed, taking off her glasses. ¡°Then find me another legal term,¡± shouted Sam. ¡°How do we stop them from inserting god-knows-what code into Junior hours before we flip the switch?¡± ¡°Not junior, the QEC¡¯s,¡± Nari said automatically, still not breaking focus on the screen. ¡°And you know I don¡¯t like the nickname ¡®Junior¡¯.¡± Suyao looked confused, and annoyed about being confused. ¡°The footballs!¡± Sam corrected herself. ¡°Which we own,¡± Suyao said firmly. ¡°Which apparently doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Sam spat. ¡°It does!¡± Nari wailed. ¡°We don¡¯t know what their code code does! It could slow down the array, lock us out of the QEC¡¯s or even¡­shut the QEC¡¯s off.¡± Sam went cold. There were only two footballs in the world, and the Quantum Entanglements within each required careful calibrations and a steady stream of clean, regulated electricity. If the calibrations were off, or the electricity interrupted, the Quantum Entanglements within could cease to exist. ¡°Suyao,¡± Sam pleaded, ¡°we have to purge this code. The football¡¯s are Nari¡¯s life¡¯s work.¡± Suyao¡¯s eyes darted guiltily to Nari, then back to Sam. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that doesn¡¯t matter as long as we¡¯re stuck down here.¡± Sam closed her eyes and bit back a scream. She took a deep breath. ¡°And why is that?¡± ¡°Three reasons.¡± Suyao raised a hand and extended one finger. ¡°One: You agreed to move the base.¡± Sam shrugged. ¡°They requested the move as protection against a credible espionage threat. This place isn¡¯t the Hilton, but-¡± ¡°By accepting the change of venue, you accepted there was a credible risk of industrial espionage.¡± Sam thought it over and sagged. ¡°I did?¡± ¡°Worse still, accepting the move to Mount Lago tacitly acknowledged a credible _national security threat_,¡± Suyao lectured her. ¡°That triggered a _huge_ loophole.¡± The lawyer held up another finger. ¡°Two: Katsuyama demanded non-binding arbitration on all _non-security_ related contractual terms like we always do¨Cbut anything to do with national security lets them slap us with-¡± ¡°-a gag order,¡± Sam finished for her, growling out the words. ¡°Yup,¡± Suyao nodded. ¡°¡¯The USA reserves any and all means to secure its sovereign access to nationally vital information provided to ,or derived from the operation of, Project Tanj¨­.¡¯¡± She said. ¡°We get IP rights to sell or license everything¡­ everything they don¡¯t declare a national secret first, that is.¡± ¡°Fact is,¡± Suyao said, pacing back and forth and chewing one arm of her glasses. ¡°We got a great deal on the IP, but¡­¡± She held up one finger again. ¡°We accepted there was a viable security threat.¡± She held up the second finger again. ¡°We let them decide how to handle security threats.¡± ¡°You said three reasons,¡± Sam prompted her. ¡°RIght, yeah.¡± Suyao held up a third finger. ¡°Daniel Polter, caught on camera stealing proprietary information. Katsuyama vouched for him. That killed any chance for us to wiggle out from under their national security carve-out.¡± Suyao stopped pacing and chewed harder on her glasses. ¡°That¡¯s strike three, and that¡¯s the game. There¡¯s no legal way to stop them from inserting this code. They can claim it won¡¯t affect the work product, just allow them to protect the program¡­ and when we ask them how, they can just put on their mirrored sunglasses and hide behind national security.¡± Sam screamed something filthy in Japanese. Sam saw Suyaou out, then dragged the other plastic chair around the table to sit next to her godmother. ¡°Polter nuked any bargaining strength we had to fight this code injection.¡± Nari stayed quiet, so Sam kept talking. ¡°If we delay the launch until we understand the code, they can take the corporation for bIllions, maybe seize your patents.¡± ¡°Mmh,¡± Nari grunted, her fingers twitching on the trackpad as she scrolled through line after line of code on the screen. ¡°Anything?¡± Sam asked, her frustration bubbling to the surface. Finally, Nariko looked away from her laptop sceen and rubbed her eyes. She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s very clean code. Well written. Internecine ¨C practically byzantine ¨C but as far as I can tell, it doesn¡¯t _do_ anything.¡± ¡°Which means you¡¯re missing something.¡± ¡°Which means I¡¯m missing something,¡± Nari agreed. She reached out and violently slammed her laptops¡¯ screen down¨Cbut halfway through the swing she relented. SIlently, she swung the screen open again and leaned forward, wincing into the bright screen. Her fingers twitched as she scrolled again through line after line of code. Nari¡¯s hands stopped scrawling on the trackpad and pounded the keyboard. Sam¡¯s eyes open ed and she lifted her cheek off her hand, where she¡¯d propped it before falling asleep. She looked at the time displayed on Nari¡¯s screen. 10:48 pm. The meeting with Kale had been almost three hours ago. ¡°You figured it out?¡± Sam asked, rubbing at her eyes. Nari ignored her. Her mouth moved silently as she read the code on the screen. Sam waited, watching the fingers she¡¯d known all her life trace over three more lines of code before finally, trembling, they gently closed the laptop. Sam straightened in her chair as her godmother turned and looked at her through eyes pinched with pain. ¡°It¡¯s a death sentence!¡± Power Play 10:56 PM Sam-with Nari and two nervous MP¡¯s in tow-knocked on every door on the sub-level until she found the right one. Deputy Director Cameron Brewster looked decidedly unlike a man with the ear of the President when he opened the last door in the hall, furthest from the elevator. He was sweating and dressed in a damp ¡®Annapolis¡¯ t-shirt and jogging pants. Brewster dismissed the guards and waved Sam and Nari into his room. It looked identical to Sam and Nari¡¯s, save for a skipping rope on the table. He unscrewed the glass water bottle in his hand and upended it. Only after gulping it dry did he greet them. ¡°Ms. Katsuyama,¡± he said, a little breathily but recovering from his workout fast. ¡°Doctor Yoshida.¡± He waved at his table and two plastic chairs. ¡°Please, sit.¡± Both women stayed by the door. Brewster brushed damp blonde hair off his forehead. ¡°You¡¯re upset about the code,¡± he guessed, and rubbed sweat off his upper lip onto his left shoulder of his t-shirt. ¡°Why are you killing the project before it even launches?¡± Sam asked him. He sat at the foot of his bed and put his hands on his knees. He nodded thoughtfully, and answered. ¡°The code¡¯s not a bomb, but a throttle: it will let us slow down or stop traffic through your ¡®footballs¡¯ into our array.¡± ¡°You mean cut off oxygen to its brain!¡± Nari snorted scornfully. ¡°You fear it, but you couldn¡¯t let anyone else have it.¡± Brewster nodded. ¡°That¡¯s about the size of it.¡± Sam changed her mind and sat down. ¡°You paid billions for a shot at creating the first real artificial intelligence the world has ever seen¡­and you¡¯re ready to kill it before it can have its first thought?¡± The Deputy Director put two fingers against his neck and stared at his watch, counting his heartbeat. ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Frightened children,¡± Nari spat. Brewster didn¡¯t answer immediately. He waited until he finished counting and frowned slightly at the heart rate he¡¯d calculated. Then his face cleared up and he met Nari¡¯s furious glare. ¡°You¡¯re a genius, Doctor Yoshida. A truly gifted physicist. You also put a gun to our head and asked us to provide the bullets. It¡¯s not unreasonable for us to want a measure of protection.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have to accept the contract!¡± Nari said. ¡°There were other countries eager to-¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Brewster said, cutting her off. ¡°We couldn¡¯t risk the kind of power we¡¯re talking about falling into the wrong hands.¡± Nari wore a look that Sam recognized from a hundred meeting with clients. She was a brilliant woman, but she never troubled herself to understand the paranoia involved in running a country or a corporation. That was what Nari had her for. ¡°If it works, the balance of power swings in their favor, not someone else¡¯s,¡± Sam explained. ¡°If things go bad, they want their finger on the trigger because they don¡¯t trust anyone else.¡± ¡°I have no doubt it will work,¡± Brewster said. ¡°I saw the data you harvested from the test run. Congratulations. Truly.¡± Nari bunched her shoulders in frustration. ¡°After decades of trying, hundreds of tests, I¡¯ve only ever stabilized these two Enganglements.¡± Sam watched Nari¡¯s hands fold together as she pleaded with the man to understand what was at stake. ¡°If you destroy them, we may never capture another viable pattern in our lifetimes!¡± ¡°I hope I don¡¯t have to do that.¡± Brewster told her. His face was serious, tinged with awe, but of course Sam didn ¡¯t trust it to be genuine. ¡°Did you know this isn¡¯t my first trip to Mount Lago? I¡¯ve been here twice this month to inspect your server array. It¡¯s¡­breathtaking!¡± He reached down and untied his running shoes. ¡°Morales ran me through the physics.¡± He laughed, carefully removing the pristine condition running shoes and stuffing the laces inside each one. ¡°I don¡¯t understand a damn thing that man says, but when he says you¡¯re about to change the world I believe him.¡± ¡°Then you should know we¡¯ve only got one chance, Deputy Director,¡± Sam said. ¡°At least let¡¯s hold off on the second test,¡± Nari suggested. ¡°We can keep the second entanglement safe for future-¡± Brewster shook his head. ¡°Not possible. The first entanglement is too small to keep the computing edge we¡¯re paying you billions for, and there are other¡­interested parties¡­ we need to stay ahead of.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Why commit the second football if you¡¯re so worried about the outcome?¡± Sam asked. Brewster looked from Sam to Nari. He shrugged, as if coming to a decision. ¡°Polter was compromised by someone who knows a lot about Quantum Entanglement,¡± he told them. Nari froze. ¡°Compromised?¡± She took a step closer. ¡°Someone was forcing him to-¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know for certain yet,¡± Brewster answered, ¡°but our immediate concern is what steps this group might take to stop our Array from coming online, or¡­¡± Brewster licked his lips. Sam saw genuine hesitation in the moment before he continued. ¡°Or even hijacking it.¡± ¡°How?¡± Sam¡¯s eyebrows raised. ¡°We¡¯ll leave it here if you¡¯re worried about the football¡¯s security. Where could be safer? Just disconnect the second football until we can figure out a way to put your mind at ease.¡± Nari gasped, putting something together. ¡°He doesn¡¯t mean physically hijack the entanglement, he means metaphysically hijack it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a possibility,¡± he agreed. Sam thought furiously. ¡°You think someone¡¯s planning a ¨Cwhat, a multidimensional heist?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know, but this code will allow us flexibility in our response if need should arise.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Sam spat. ¡°The ¡®flexibility to give the array a lobotomy, or slow the array down, or destroy the Entanglement altogether. Why do you think we¡¯ll let you do any of those things?¡± ¡°Frankly, we¡¯re not giving you much choice,¡± Brewster said matter-of-factly. ¡°I¡¯m sure reparations and apologies will be made after the fact.¡± Brewster put his fists against the small of his back and stretched. ¡°But my orders are to rig the larger entanglement with this failsafe before it can be compromised.¡± Sam heard a pop from Brewster¡¯s back, and then the man sighed with relief. He opened his eyes and momentarily looked embarrassed. He stood straighter. ¡°My apologies. I know this is a very serious situation. I understand there will be consequences to my government¡¯s position, but I assure you, Dr. Morales has been crystal clear about how unique and important this work is.¡± Brewster stood, carrying his pristine sneakers over to a bag hung on the wall beside the steel lockers found in all the quarters in Mount Lago. He returned and stood respectfully with his hands folded behind his back. ¡°I¡¯m a fan. I¡¯m genuinely excited to see you turn what Ms. Katsuyama calls ¡®Junior-¡¯¡± ¡°I hate that name,¡± Sam¡¯s godmother muttered. ¡°-into something we have never seen before,¡± the Deputy Director continued. ¡°Phase 2 will begin, with our code alterations in place, in just over ten hours¡¯ time.¡± Sam felt like screaming, but she had no cards to play. Nari looked like she wanted to scratch the man¡¯s eyes out, but Brewster was still brave enough to step closer. ¡°I meant what I said, Dr. Yoshida,¡± Brewster said. ¡°I congratulate you on proving twenty years of research. You have seen your Quantum Entanglement theory become reality. Today, you bested the workload of every computer ever constructed. What will you make reality tomorrow?¡± Brewster¡¯s face clouded. ¡°And that is why we need control.¡± ¡°A bomb in its brain, you mean!¡± Nari advanced on the Deputy Director. ¡°You stand there congratulating me and you¡¯re already plotting to kill it!¡± Brewster didn¡¯t flinch from Nariko¡¯s rage. ¡°It will be my privilege and honor to stand in that room with you tomorrow. I believe you will create the world¡¯s first true Artificial Intelligence.¡± he said softly, and smiled at her. ¡°And it must be done. Now, by us, and under our control.¡± The guards dogged their steps all the way back to Nariko¡¯s room. They said nothing to each other even after the door was closed and locked behind them. Sam collected her little black box and scanned for bugs again. Nariko returned to her laptop and buried herself in code. Tense minutes passed until Sam was as certain as she could be that no one was listening in on their conversation. With a sigh she sat down beside Nariko, whose fingers danced on the keyboard. Her face was grim, her mouth set in in a flat line. ¡°Brewster¡¯s political,¡± Sam said quietly, speaking more for herself than Nariko, ¡°but I think he¡¯s being straight with us.¡± She slumped in the chair. The unyielding plastic hurt her back, but she pushed harder against it. ¡°It¡¯s an arms race. I never think of it that way but that¡¯s the mentality we¡¯re facing.¡± Nariko kept typing. ¡°I can see their point,¡± Sam said grudgingly. ¡°Whether Polter willingly sold us out or he¡¯s acting under duress, either way we botched our security.¡± Nothing but a flurry of typing from her godmother. Her hands slapped hard against the keys. ¡°So, this is happening.¡± ¡°Yes it is,¡± Nariko snarled, ¡°but it¡¯s happening my way.¡± Sam turned her body. She knew that tone, and it set off warning bells. ¡°What does that mean?¡± Nari typed a new command and a long string of characters filled the screen. ¡°It means, we launch tomorrow, but not with any goddamn kill switch!¡± Sam leaned closer, her face wrinkled with confusion. ¡°How, exactly, are you going to make that happen?¡± Sam saw the flowing white text on its black background reflected in her godmother¡¯s eyes. ¡°I have a back door.¡± Sam jerked straight. ¡°You built a backdoor into the footballs?¡± ¡°And once I delete their code, I¡¯m locking all the doors!¡± Sam put her hand on Nari¡¯s forearm. ¡°Listen to me: if you cross them on this you¡¯ll never work again. They¡¯ll destroy your career, hell, they could throw you in prison!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Nari said, her words light, absent all the stress and pain that had filled her until just now. She looked at Sam. ¡°I have a duty, Hiyori.¡± Sam knew and loved her godmother. It didn¡¯t matter what she said, she wasn¡¯t going to stop her. That left two options: turn her over to Brewster¡­ or help. ¡°God, why do you have to be such a saint?¡± Nari laughed, recognizing the oft-repeated expression of surrender from a lifetime of past arguments. ¡°Not a saint,¡± Nari said, her smile growing. ¡°A scientist. We have higher standards.¡± Sam shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her godmother was going to get her name in all the history books, right alongside Pasteur, Curie, Einstein¡­while she was headed for unemployment. Or jail. After her mother died, Nariko had become the next best thing. She had rearranged her life around Sam, protected her from her father and saved her from self-destructing a dozen times. She loved Nariko, and Nariko needed to do this. Which meant Sam needed to do this. ¡°They¡¯re never going to let us out of here,¡± Sam groaned. ¡°Well, maybe just to throw is in a deeper pit later on!¡± Then she cracked her knuckles. ¡°Take me through every step. We¡¯re not leaving anything to chance.¡¯ Sam could kill a burger Mt. Lago Complex Sub-Level 4 Tuesday, 2:51 AM After two hours staring at industrial grey paint peeling off the wall a foot from her bunk, Sam accepted the one thing she wouldn¡¯t see again tonight was sleep. And no way was she spending another hour pacing this room. There was no way to wait patiently to screw over the superpower before they could screw you. I¡¯m going to jail, Sam thought. For the rest of my life. Below that repeating thought and accompanying terror was another side of her: the side that wouldn¡¯t back down. Couldn¡¯t back down, not with everything Nariko had built at stake. Sam hopped of the bunk, drawing her plaid lumberjack shirt across her cold body and buttoning it up for good measure. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± she murmured. They had worked everything out. She was a billionaire¡¯s daughter, and Nariko was world famous. You didn¡¯t disappear nepo-hires and magazine-covering scientists. Daddy could give away her office. She¡¯d find another job. Nariko might be teaching cutting edge physics at a community college, buthe was willing to be blackballed by scientists and funders, to make this happen. Suyao maybe would need to change her underwear when she found out about this in the morning, but she¡¯d keep the Americans at bay. She¡¯d get us out of this. Right? ¡°I said, ¡®it¡¯ll be fine!¡± Sam blew her hair out of her face. ¡°I could kill a burger,¡± she growled at the hair that fell right back over her eyes. The thought of food cut through some of the fog, and food didn¡¯t have to wait until breakfast. She hadn¡¯t been locked in her room¡­yet. She opened the drab steel locker beside her bunk and rummaged for her fleece lined pants. She hopped one one foot, pulling on her socks. Damn, the floor was cold! Then again, that was the point of building a secret government base under a mountain: plenty of cold, plenty of water, plenty of privacy. She hopped again and stuffed her legs into pants, silently cursing Katsuyama Corporations scientific crown jewel -AKA her godmother- for taking this contract. ¡°Because that¡¯s what the world needs,¡± Sam grumbled while snatching her sneakers from the floor by the door. ¡°More water-gulping AI computer farms!¡± She opened the heavy door with a grunt. Sam immediately felt bad for being petty. This was ¡®not-enough-sleep-Sam¡¯ ¡®talking. Nariko Yoshida had married physics and computational math into an entirely new field of study. What she¡¯d accomplished was brilliant. Like Nari always was, Sam thought. It wasn¡¯t her god-mother¡¯s fault if the world took every brilliant thing and made it dividend-fodder for stockholders or weaponized it for governments. Sam smiled through a yawn. Consequences aside? If this test worked, Nariko had pulled off a miracle¡­one that no doubt would make her old man even richer. That killed the smile. She stuffed one shoe in her armpit and leaned over to stuff the other one on. ¡°Burger!¡± she growled. She was making her bleary way down the hall to the left when she saw the first of the big blue pipes pop out of the wall and join a bunch of other-colored pipes and electrical conduit. Wrong way, she reminded herself and sucessfully jammed her second, freezing, foot into the sneaker before doing an about face and heading ba k towards the elevator. The new pipes had been installed just for her geeky-godmother¡¯s science test. The paint on the blue pipe was new. An entire system of pipes had been installed throughout the facility just for this test, designed to reroute cool mountain runoff far below, to cool the servers a small army of US Army Corps of Engineers had spent last month installing. The Engineers had disappeared a couple days after Sam and Nari¡¯s arrival, leaving the underground facility feeling even more lonely and unpleasant than it had when they had arrived. Sam shuffled past her room -again- and down the hall the right way. At the other end of the long haul, she summoned the elevator and prepared for a long wait. Two stories down on Sub-Level 5, three minutes and several wrong turns later, Sam found the commissary and pushed through swinging doors revealing rows of utilitarian seating from fifty years ago. She blocked out the buzz and flicker of the fluorescent bulbs that someone had left on overnight and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she stomped her way toward the kitchen. Why, oh why, did she pick this place for the project? Yes, they needed a lot of water to cool the servers, which nearby mountain streams in Oregon¡¯s Okanogan Range provided. The runoff from said mountains could provide the embarrassing amount of water it took to cool the servers. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Also, they needed a lot of shielding to block stray particles that could ruin the scientific purity of the tests, and a hole in the ground with mountains all around fit the bill. Last but not least, their US partners wanted to keep this avenue of research completely to themselves - which required secrecy. But two weeks in the bottom of a long-shut-down cold war bunker? There were much nicer places she could have gone to tank her career. ¡°Godmother, you owe me so much,¡± she grumbled. She had only been here six days, not even halfway through the two weeks, before everything had gone to shit. Six days of watching her godmother, her assistants and Uncle Sam¡¯s scientists performing mindless systems checks. Six days of boredom waiting for Nariko¡¯s real tests to begin. Si x days with no cell reception. Six days a _long_ elevator ride below the surface. She pounded through the next set of swinging doors and froze. A soldier was sitting on the stainless steel prep table in the center of the kitchen. His back was leaned up against an industrial dishwasher, and in his hands were wrapped around-- She stomped up to the table and grabbed the pint container of Chocolate Almond Espresso ice cream in his hands. Her Chocolate Almond Espresso ice cream. The soldier held onto the sweating cardboard container and met her eyes, surprised. She glared at him. ¡°That¡¯s mine!¡± The guy smiled, but kept his grip. ¡°I wondered why they had good junk food stocked.¡± She tugged at the ice cream. The man held on, and grinned. ¡°Darius Webb,¡± he said. ¡°Pissed off!¡± she snapped back. His grin widened and he shoved one last spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. Then, let go of the tub and put his hands up to either side of his head in mock surrender. She turned her back on the man and grabbed her own spoon from the circular container build into a shelf below the open service window looking out into the commissary. She closed her mouth around a heaping spoonful, and stared out at the empty seating. ¡°Nice to meet you, Pissed Off,¡± Darius said lightly. Sugar now pleasing her taste buds, Sam leaned against the counter and looked at the man mock-saluting her with the now-empty spoon. Webb looked like an air-force poster boy: he wore his hair in a buzz cut with a severe fade, dark-blue workout pants and the dark skin of his arms -just a little darker than Sam¡¯s- stretched the seams of his pale blue air-force t-shirt with the service¡¯s iconic wings embossed over his heart. The workout clothes weren¡¯t new but they were spotless, and the man moved easily in them. He looked to be in his early thirties. She caught his eyes efficiently evaluating her in return. She decided she didn¡¯t mind the once-over¡­ then remembered she was wearing her big, plaid shirt and fuzzy-lined yoga pants. What the hell, let him look. She kept looking, too. Even in the relaxed posture, something about him seemed coiled, prepared to move, but¡­kind? Interesting. Usually Sam got annoyed around soldiers, but this one¡¯s smile -a smile that talked her down from high alert - was brash, cocky, full of humor, genuine. ¡°Sam-¡± she started. ¡°-Katsuyama,¡± Webb finished. ¡°Project admin for the corporation of the same name. I¡¯ve been briefed.¡± One eyebrow quirked up. ¡°The file never mentioned Chocolate Almond Espresso, though.¡± She laughed, pleased that he was unfazed by her last name. ¡°No? And here I thought the government knew everything.¡± Webb pushed himself lightly off the counter, landing silently. ¡°They know plenty,¡± he said, a dark look passed over his face, then disappeared to reveal his sunny disposition once again. ¡°They don¡¯t share much with the help, is all.¡± ¡®The help?¡¯ The he way he said it convinced Sam: there was a story there. but she decided not to ask so soon after the ice cream debacle. ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡± she asked instead, looking down and digging into her ice cream again. ¡°Never sleep much,¡± he answered, and held his hand out. ¡°Sometimes raiding the fridge helps.¡± He looked at the ice cream and back to Sam. ¡°Don¡¯t think so,¡± she told him, and walked around the prep table in the middle of the room to unlatch the massive walk-in freezer door. ¡°You can get your own.¡± She pointed with her spoon at the plastic wrapped pallet front-and-center of the freezer. Webb walked up to join her, slowing and whistling when he realized the pallet was stacked with hundreds of the luxury-brand ice cream cartons. ¡°Forbes called me a supply chain mastermind,¡± Sam told him. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Webb said, and ripped through the plastic wrap to free a carton for himself. ¡°Sorry for before,¡± Sam said, closing the walk-in freezer. ¡°Shitty sleep and bad dreams make me a bitch,¡± she said. Webb had just popped the cover off the ice cream when she mentioned her nightmare. He looked up, his eyes sympathetic. ¡°Nightmares huh? Me, too.¡± She gestured around them with her hands. ¡°What about this five star resort-¡± she began¡­ Webb laughed, digging out a spoonful of the good stuff inside as he finished her thought. ¡°-could inspire bad dreams?¡± He wrapped his lips around the spoon and pulled it out empty, talking around its cold payload. ¡°I surely do not know.¡± She laughed too, and carved another mouthful from her container. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be scared of me or something?¡± ¡°Well, they told me the prodigal daughter would be here to represent, but I guess I was expecting someone¡­¡± She raised both eyebrows, curious to see how he finished his comment. ¡°Meaner looking?¡± She mock-glared at him and waved her hands up and down her body. ¡°Don¡¯t let the power-suit fool you, I¡¯m mean enough.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Webb chuckled. ¡° You look it, too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe I oughta wear this little number on my next board meeting.¡± The mention of a board meeting reminded her what was about to happen. The way Webb beamed at her made Sam ponder how the US penal system handled conjugal visits. ¡°There you are!¡± shouted a new voice. Sam jumped, both surprised and annoyed by the new interruption. She grew considerably more annoyed to see Doctor Morales stagger through the door, out of breath. His eyes bulged wide and lips pressed tight. Morales looked pretty much the opposite of Webb: pale from too much lab-work, thin heading towards emaciated and every aspect of his being _frowned_ at her whenever they met. Being ¡®the suit¡¯ that ran point for Nariko Yoshida, Sam was used to a certain degree of coolness from government and business people negotiating for her services¡­ but they weren¡¯t usually offensive about it. From the first time she¡¯d met him, in a restaurant in Tokyo during the initial negotiations, Morales had been full of himself, fawned over Nariko, outright dismissive of Sam¡¯s role in the negotiations, rude to the wait staff at every turn and in every other way completely insufferable. Alas, there were few entities with deep enough pockets to foot the bill her godmother¡¯s research required, and so she¡¯d built up a tolerance to some pretty horrible behavior. Morales, though? He set a new standard. ¡°Here we are, Doctor,¡± Webb agreed with Morales in a pained, but good-natured tone. She glanced sidelong at Webb, and he shrugged. Also not a fan of the good doctor, Sam deduced. Morales made ¡®hurry up¡¯ gestures with both hands and wheezed his way back out the door. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Sam shook her head. ¡°That guy!¡± Sam said. ¡°That guy,¡± Webb agreed. ¡°We need to go!¡± Morale¡¯s voice squeaked from the commissary. ¡°Now!¡± Sam froze, remembering what she and Nari were about to do. She tossed the ice cream back into the freezer by the door and ran out the hall after him. ¡°Coming, Doctor,¡± Webb called after Morales, a pained, polite tone to his voice. Sam grinned at the gently mocking tone, and the look he shared with you¡­ then her grin dried up. She decided she would have liked to get to know Webb. _No way that was happening, now._ ¡°C¡¯mon, c¡¯mon, c¡¯mon!¡± Doctor Morales was already at the end of the hall, inside the far elevator. ¡°I need to be onsite for this!¡± Sam¡¯s brain was chanting ¡®oh shit!¡¯ on repeat, but externally she cocked an eyebrow at Webb as they joined him inside. ¡°Onsite for what? It¡¯s the middle of the night.¡± ¡°To tell your mad scientist to stand down,¡± Morales muttered angrily. ¡°She started the field test without us! Good thing I do my best thinking at night and saw the array coming online on my computer.¡± ¡°This is his best thinking?¡± Webb whispered to Sam. She swallowed hard, an icy fist squeezing her stomach. Her godmother had begun their mission without her!