Darwin's Paradox (11 page)

After
appraising her with a smirk, Tyers swept his arm toward the open doorway. “Time to journey on. After you, Ms. Crane.”

Julie refused to move. “Where are we going?” she demanded.

He shook his head. “You’ll find out.”

Julie was tired of hearing that. She gave him a pointed stare then marched past him into the hallway of the Pol Station. Tyers closed the door to Frank’s suite then took the lead, steering her to an elevator. They rode down in silence to the main level and Tyers led her along the main hallway. Julie’s eyes roamed the giant hall, from arched ceiling to the black-tiled floors. It made her nauseous with deep, sick hatred. It was here that both her father and her uncle had died. Here that she’d been brought to be Shamed. Here where her friend Nancy had disappeared and where Julie had allegedly murdered the previous Head Pol.

Yet, here she was, walking its cold tiles with impunity, heading toward Darwin Mall. Where was Tyers taking her? Would she finally discover the purpose for her being brought here? Would she then be given a chance to plead her case and leave? That seemed more and more a foolish naïve hope, Julie thought with growing despair.

They reached the Pol Station entrance to the mall and Tyers handed her a vee set. It was a newer model but still seemed to have the same features of her old set. When she hesitated with a glower, he pushed it into her hands and put one on himself. She gingerly pulled the metalloid legs over her head and couldn’t help wincing when she felt the semi-intelligent device claw her scalp for a snug hold, swing one arm down over an eye, another to the corner of her mouth then settle in. She never could stand the creepy things and had avoided wearing them whenever possible.

Tyers appraised her with a loose smile. “They make permanent models now, you know. People never take them off.”

“Terrific,” she muttered. Who’d want to do that? Then she thought of SAM and how comforting it had been to have him with her all the time.

“They also have a model just for veemelds, complete with a retinal scanner in the eye-com. A portable Interact-SYM.”

She forced a smile. “Convenient.”

“Not that you’d have any use for them, eh?” she knew he was referring to her being the only veemeld who didn’t need Interact-SYM to talk to her A.I., but she wasn’t sure if he meant it as an insult or just as a comment of interest. She couldn’t read him.

They then plunged into the bright mall. Blasted with sounds from holo ads and a sea of nudging bodies, Julie fought from cowering. Spun around, jabbed and prodded by passersby, panic rose in her throat, but she noticed that Tyers took it all in stride. His eyes went blank, mimicking the other commuters surrounding them as he clutched her hand and wormed his way to their still mysterious destination. She recalled having once liked this mall. How things had changed—no, she corrected herself, how she’d changed.

Julie looked closely at the tight, mechanized crowd and saw no one shaking or twitching or otherwise being avoided by the rest of the crowd. It was as though Darwin had disappeared. Had Burke used her information and found a cure? It would have explained Frank’s survival. While there was no sign of Darwin, the mall betrayed a disturbing amount of abuse and decay. She spotted signs forbidding access to whole areas, shops, and buildings. Many stores were shut down. It seemed that the tight order of Burke’s regime was crumbling, despite the lack of disease. Who was in charge now?

Darwin disease had gotten its name from the Darwin Mall Clinic in Icaria-11, where the first case of the disease was discovered, and where she was injected with Proteus, but this Darwin Mall held other dark memories for her. She scanned the mall for the Den, where, in an uncontrollable rage, she’d shot Frank because he had arrested her dystopian book-peddling uncle, who shortly thereafter had committed suicide in his cell. When she’d stormed into the smoky drug hole to confront Frank, slouching with his Pol friends, he’d shown no remorse and insulted both her and her uncle. She’d snatched his partner’s gun and shot him in the crotch. Hicks then made a dash for his gun and she’d shot him mistakenly in the struggle. It had changed the course of her life forever. If not for those terrible moments of rage, she and Daniel might never have come together and she might never have had Angel in the heath.

Before she was able to spot the Den, something else caught her attention—a holo that raved about veemelds. Julie stared, dumbstruck. Charts displayed veemelds as popular and in demand. She eyed the statistics with suspicion and recalled what her two pursuers in the heath had said about veemelds. She didn’t trust the charts. They hardly ever portrayed the underlying truth behind the figures. She should know, having worked in the Com-Center as a data handler who’d been required to manipulate the truth on a regular basis.

However, the trend toward mechanized and A.I. support had obviously continued, she thought, noticing how many people sported A.I.-assisting devices and the number of droids in the crowd. Daniel would feel very uncomfortable here. He’d never liked droids and always seemed extremely leery of intelligent machines. He was decidedly more comfortable in the heath, where organic and physical laws of nature applied.

Daniel never really had to deal with Julie being a veemeld because they’d left Icaria soon after he found out she was one. If they hadn’t been forced to flee Icaria, she wasn’t sure how the two of them would have fared together. His dislike of veemelds, while motivated personally through her desertion, was definitely rooted in a strong Luddite philosophy. It didn’t matter, she thought. She was going to get what she needed and return to the heath and they wouldn’t have to worry about this place, veemelds or droids any more.

Tyers picked up his pace, pulling her along, and she saw why. Skirting widely around a small commotion in the crowd involving a tall Pol, Tyers led her to the tube-jet station where a train had just arrived. She glanced at the conductor’s car and noticed no one manning it. They’d finally opted for full vee-com control. Daniel would be out of a job if he still lived here. Thank the Earth he wasn’t, she thought and swallowed down her loneliness. She hoped they were still safe.

They boarded the train and Tyers motioned her to one of the last empty seats in the crowded car. He himself stood by the door. Julie took the seat and made futile attempts to dam the memories that spilled out: of a youth with Darwin disease staring at her with a broken smile...of making love in an empty car with Frank...of fleeing the outer-city with Daniel conducting the train.

She caught Tyers watching her with great amusement. Terrific. She probably looked like a wide-eyed child at a new vid-game site. Let him stare, she thought. She closed her eyes for a moment, took in a deep breath, then swallowed down her nervousness. When she opened her eyes, he was still watching her. She glared at him and he looked away, laughing quietly to himself.

After some moments Tyers cleared his throat loudly and caught her eye. He tipped his head to the door as the tube-jet eased into Pielou Station. The District 10 Med-Center, Julie concluded with trepidation. Was he taking her to the DP for “processing”? Should she bolt and make a run for it? She must have given something of her thoughts away because his lips tightened and he was instantly beside her, hand gripping her arm firmly. “No funny business, or I’ll have to get Raymond to shoot you, again.” She could feel his breath on her face and spotted Raymond, the skyship pilot, waiting for them at the door. “Now, get up,” Tyers said in a cold voice.

As she stood up, she thought seriously of kicking him, bolting and risking Raymond’s aim. Then Tyer’s own snub-nosed pistol nudged up against her neck. He didn’t care if anyone saw him holding a gun, which alarmed her. That meant he didn’t care if anyone saw him shoot her either. She decided against running—she was here to bargain, after all. She let Tyers and his gunman escort her to the Med-Center. He gripped her tightly, but still looked nervous as he led her through the crowd to the entrance. She caught him throwing anxious glances around them. What was spooking him in the mall? Then a shaft of alarm struck her: all of Icaria still thought she was a murderer. She’d been plastered on every holo in every mall twelve years ago. She became acutely aware that she was drawing a few curious glances and realized that her tanned complexion made her conspicuous. If anyone recognized her...

They made it to the Med-Center without incident. Taking her cue from Tyers own relaxed face, she felt her breathing and heart-rate return to normal. Tyers left Raymond at the entrance and led her down several corridors. Julie was surprised to find them heading toward the CDC. That was where...

“Nakita!” Tyers called as they reached the main reception area, where Zane Nakita stood, feet shuffling nervously, waiting for them. Standing straight, in well-pressed white tunic and pants, he looked much the same as the last time Julie had seen him at Kraken’s party—incredibly handsome with impeccably styled blue hair and dewy brown eyes that sparkled with confidence.

Zane grinned widely, perfect teeth flashing like halogen lights, as his eyes flickered between Tyers and Julie. He finally settled his riveting gaze on Julie and said with what sounded like genuine pleasure, “Hello,
Prometheus
.” He offered his hand.

“Hello, Zane,” she responded coolly, taking his hand briefly in hers. Twelve years ago Gaia had tried to fix them up and Zane hadn’t seemed adverse to the idea. Julie never was quite sure how she’d felt about it. Zane was a veemeld, and when Julie finally fled Icaria, he’d inherited SAM. She remembered feeling oddly jealous of that new partnership. It seemed that SAM had a new friend now and she wondered what Zane thought of that.

“Shall we?” Tyers prompted.

“Of course,” Zane said. He practically sprang ahead of them and led them through a maze of narrow corridors lined with nondescript offices and laboratories before stopping at a secured door on their left. He waved his security card over the ID plate by the door and offered his eye to the retinal sensor, and when the security algorithms were satisfied he was who he claimed to be, the door slid open and they entered what looked like a lab and office combined. A sharp-nosed, jade-haired young man and a raven-haired, tight-lipped woman, both about Julie’s age, stood waiting for them. They seemed hardly able to contain their excitement.

“
Prometheus
, at last,” the man said, staring at Julie with a stupid smile.

“Yes,” Zane said excitedly. “Isn’t it wonderful?” He giggled like a boy.

“Oh, yes,” the woman heartily agreed, studying Julie with raised eyebrows of fascination like she was some rare biological specimen. “Wonderful.”

Julie couldn’t stand it any longer. Uncomfortable under their scrutiny, she demanded in a sharp voice, “Do you mind filling me in on what’s so wonderful?”

“Oh, we’re forgetting our manners,” Zane gushed. “Julie, this is Dr Steven Krupka, formerly with epidemiology.” He pointed to the grinning man, who bowed slightly, then to the woman who was clasping her hands together. “And this is Dr. Irena Kaikov. They’re both virologists specializing in neurology—”

“I don’t care who they are,” Julie cut in sharply, thinking of Dykstra’s order to process her. “I want to know why you brought me here.” Her patience had bottomed out and she knew she was being rude, but she couldn’t help it. “Did you bring me to Icaria to dissect or interrogate or what?”

The three scientists looked stunned. She felt good about having wiped that toothpaste ad smile off Zane at least and now remembered how it had annoyed her the first time she’d met him. Only Tyers seemed unaffected by her outburst. Leaning casually against the wall, he folded his arms across his chest and smirked in silence. Perplexed, Zane stammered, “But we were told that you came back of your own accord, Julie. Returned to Icaria to help.”

Julie glanced from face to face. Tyers hadn’t changed his expression. She fixed her gaze on Zane. “Help? With what? You already found a cure for Darwin, didn’t you?” She thought of Frank. How else could he have survived?

Zane grimaced at her. “Well, not really.” He released a big sigh. “When the mayor gave me your information on
Prometheus
and Darwin, he suggested that I be credited with finding this vital information on Proteus’s etiology.” The grimace morphed into a monstrous smile and Julie realized that Zane was blushing.

She didn’t begrudge Mayor Burke for this—Icaria didn’t need the truth so much as it needed a hero, and Zane was a better candidate than most. She imagined the headline: “handsome and brilliant scientist, Zane Nakita, discovers that Darwin was manufactured by a mad scientist and spread to epidemic proportions by a carrier, the notorious, Dystopian assassin, Julie Crane, who was code-named
Prometheus
”. As for Burke obviously withholding the rest of her information...

“The Vee-net also credits my lab with curing Darwin,” Zane went on, “but we didn’t find a cure.” He let the statement dangle. There was obviously more. Zane broke his gaze from her and cleared his throat. He was looking at Tyers when he added in a slightly rattled voice, “The disease corrected itself.”

In
a flash of insight, Julie understood. Proteus had done it with SAM’s help. Somehow, the artificial virus had righted itself, using SAM’s logic and insight on human behavior and physiology. To accomplish this, though, the virus must have acted as a collective entity, occupying the population like an amorphous genetic intelligence, connected like a neuronal network to the A.I. core’s incredible reserve through SAM. Then to dig deep into a diseased Darwin victim and reverse the damage...it was remarkable!

Julie thought of Vogel’s experiment and realized that Darwin had evolved into what it was meant to be. Which brought her back to her original question: why did these people want her? Icarians still used vee sets, so Darwin obviously wasn’t providing quite the service its originators had intended, like it had done with her. But it had obviously stopped killing people. Wasn’t that enough? Or did these scientists want to renew their research, using her again? Tendrils of dark and confused memories coiled inside her, gripping her with a boiling rage at having been so ill-used. She refused to let that happen again!

Julie suddenly realized that everyone was staring intently at her, even Tyers. She made an effort to unclench her teeth and took a deep breath to regain her composure. With a calm voice she was far from feeling, Julie directed her next question at Zane, “You mean the disease corrected itself even in those who were suffering previous symptoms?”

Zane nodded, his wide-eyed expression showing that he still couldn’t quite believe it. This explained Frank’s recovery, Julie thought. “Yes. Incredible, isn’t it?” Zane said. “Acting like an intelligent entity, which of course Proteus is.”

Those dreams...or visions...

Tyers cleared his throat pointedly.

Zane glanced nervously at him and grinned with embarrassment. “Oh, actually there’s more to it. You see, once SAM joined with Proteus—soon after you left and I became its veemeld—SAM was able to figure out that drugs, delilah particularly, were causing part of the problem with Darwin victims.”

Julie nodded. Drugs had not only interfered with her own ability to veemeld, but they’d always made her feel sick.

“There was this synergistic effect happening. Seems that the drug aggravated the virus into producing a chemical, which caused much of the brain damage evident in the disease. So, between them, SAM and Proteus figured out what needed to be done and let me know. CDC immediately ordered the removal of all drugs, to the outrage of many Icarians. We conducted a suite of tests and found that only three acted like
delilah
and permanently removed them.
Gomorra, sodom
and
babel
are no longer available. Between the removal of the offensive drugs and Proteus’s own imposed changes to itself, the lethality of the disease was defeated,” he ended with a wide grin.

“Even in those already affected,” Julie breathed, showing her amazement. Proteus had an incredible communication system for its viral community, mediated by SAM’s own ‘community’...

“Which brings us to you, Julie,” Zane continued. “You were Proteus’s first recipient—its only recipient—before it somehow mutated into Darwin, the lethal form Proteus manifested once it left the lab. You were the only one to get the original Proteus, as it was meant to be, meant to act.”

Irena leaned forward, shaking like a puppy, her hands pressed together. “And we are of course most interested in whether this intelligent virus has communicated with you—”

“Because the virus was made to enhance communication generally,” Krupka gushed, “particularly between humans and the A.I. network.”

“So many questions,” Zane said, that glossy grin back on his face.

“Okay,” Julie cut in and planted her hands on her hips, “let’s get to the point. What do you want me for?”

Zane’s lips twitched and he glanced nervously at Tyers before speaking, “Well, aside from the fact that we’d like to ask you a thousand questions, and test you for a million things, there is something specific.” He hesitated then launched in. “SAM and I don’t talk anymore, Julie. In fact SAM doesn’t talk to anyone except Proteus.”

And me, Julie thought. She remained silent, anticipating more, and folded her arms across her chest. Why was her heart thudding like an African drum?

“SAM’s out of control, Julie.”

She stiffened, clutching her sides, and swallowed down her rising apprehension.

“It’s taking over the city and no one can get to it. No one can control it. It won’t listen. Some parts of the city are now totally off-limits to people. Unsafe.” That was what she’d seen in Darwin Mall. “Accidents have happened, obviously perpetrated by the A.I.s in retaliation for our attempts to regain control. SAM’s got the whole 1000 Series working for it. They’ve made ridiculous demands for independence and sovereignty. Of course, that’s not possible. In fact it’s downright dangerous. We need to shut down the A.I. core but it’s closed itself off under a protective shield. No one can access it. No one except maybe...you.”

Julie stared hard at Zane. How could he possibly expect her to disable SAM? Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t be serious.”

“Deadly serious,” Tyers said from behind.

She glanced from Tyer’s calm face to the anxious faces of the scientists facing her. “What if I talked to SAM, convinced him—uh, it—to yield control. SAM’s talked to me once already since I got here.”

“Don’t think so,” Tyers said in a clipped voice. “We can’t trust it.”

Couldn’t trust a machine?
She was about to retort, then thought the better of it. SAM wasn’t just SAM anymore. There was Proteus to contend with also.

“It’s the only way,” Tyers continued. “Besides, we need to investigate why this happened and figure out how to correct it so it won’t happen again. Then the A.I. core can go online again. But not before. Of course, we’re prepared to compensate you for your part in this. Name whatever it is you want, Ms. Crane. Anything.”

There it was, dropped in her lap and she felt a surge from the pit of her stomach. Safety for her and her family. Freedom from Icaria’s harassment and its attackers—the prize she’d come for. She just had to kill her best friend for it. Then sweet images of Angel and Daniel flooded in. They stroked her heart until it hurt so much, tears prickled her eyes and she swallowed down the ache rising in her throat. It was a tempting offer. Indeed, the very mission she’d come on...

“I’ll have to think about it,” she said in a low voice and bowed her head. She caught Tyers and Zane exchanging knowing glances and exhaled. She looked directly at Tyers. “I want to talk to Zane alone,” she said in a firm voice, throwing a glance at the two other scientists. “Then I’ll need to talk to your Head Pol.”

“Certainly,” Tyers said, nodding without smiling. He had the presence of mind not to smirk this time. “That can be arranged.”