Rain Saga
Authors: Riley Barton
Rain Saga
By
Riley Barton
Rain Saga
© Riley Barton 2014
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Prologue
Twenty years ago the world changed forever. Almost overnight, the serene, blue sphere that was once our Earth was reduced to a dark green smudge shrouded in a blanket of torrential storms.
The blame for the catastrophe quickly fell on terrorists who had coordinated a cyber-attack on Cathedral: the Unitech cooperation’s primary hydrothermal reactor.
Cathedral was a marvel of technological engineering. Designed by Jack Anderson, the company’s founder, it was the first in a series of generators capable of powering an entire continent simply by harnessing the energy of super-heated, super-pressurized groundwater. Of course, as with so many other marvels of modern engineering, no one expected the devastating effect it could have if something were to go wrong.
The terrorists had planned to overload the reactor via an extremely aggressive computer virus. But Cathedral had been designed with thousands of fail-safe protocols, making it virtually impervious to any form of computer-born attack. Bishop, the reactor’s governing artificial intelligence unit, compensated for the terrorists’ meddling by turning the reactor’s main generator to full power. So instead of destroying itself as they’d hoped, Cathedral created a massive super storm that covered the entire planet.
Millions died in the flash floods. Millions more succumbed to disease.
For twenty years, mankind has battled for high ground—against the swamp and against themselves …
The year is 2119.
Chapter 1
“Treatment complete. You may get up now, Doctor McKelly.” The smooth monotone of Unitech’s central AI unit drifted through the speakers in the light-therapy ward, drawing Luna’s mind back to the present.
“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not a doctor, Alex? I’m just a researcher—I never even finished college!”
Alex was by far the most absentminded AI Luna had ever encountered in all of her eighteen years. Alexander Graham Bell II had been programmed by Jack Anderson in 2087, and in the thirty-plus years since he was first brought online, he’d been growing progressively more senile. He often confused current members of the Unitech staff with long-dead employees or famous historical figures. The best guess anyone had for why Alex was still lingering in the company’s computer network was that Mr. Edgard, the corporation’s president and CEO, must have kept him around for sentimental reasons.
The bright lights of the treatment bed dimmed, and the domed lid slowly eased open, releasing hot, dry air with a loud hiss.
Luna sat up and ran a hand through her hair, sending sweat splashing onto the glossy white treatment bed.
“I think it was a little hotter than normal today, Alex. Make a note of that and next time reduce the temperature by about eleven degrees, okay?”
“I will do what I can, Doctor.”
She shook her head and removed her tinted goggles. “I already told you, Alex, I’m not …You know what? Never mind. Call me whatever you want.”
Luna swung her legs over the edge of the treatment bed and gingerly walked across the tile floor to where she’d hung her clothes. She hurriedly slipped into her undergarments then reached for her white tank top and contoured black slacks, which she quickly pulled on over her petite frame.
She’d had too many problems with the treatment center’s doors in the past and didn’t want to take longer than necessary, just in case a certain AI unit forgot to light the
OCCUPIED
sign. Again. If there was one thing she hated more than having to undergo light-therapy in the buff every week, it was having someone walk in on her while she was doing so.
Luna lowered herself onto a low bench and pulled on her polished, rubberized shoes with considerable difficulty. It seemed like every time she climbed out of the light-therapy bed her feet were always a half size larger than when she’d first gone in.
Probably because Alex is always screwing up the temperature,
she mused, rummaging through the contents of her handbag in search of her makeup kit.
“Mirror please, Alex,” she said, having at last retrieved the well-worn cosmetics case from beneath several dozen sheets of crumpled research notes.
In response to her command, a flat black panel above the sink on the opposite wall lit and polarized. Her reflection stared back at her: fair skinned, five foot one, a little on the thin side. Wavy brown hair that hung just below her shoulders, which—no matter how hard she tried to straighten it—always came out curlier then she wanted.
Luna stared at her reflection, uncapped an eyeliner pencil, and applied the dark pigment. The dark mascara contrasted heavily with her fair complexion, making her eyes appear far larger than they really were.
“You look beautiful today, Doctor.”
“You say that to everyone, Alex. But thanks,” she replied, returning the makeup kit to her handbag.
“You are welcome. Will you be needing anything else today?”
Luna shook her head, pinning her hair into a loose bun. “Not today, thank you. I’ll be seeing you, Alex. Try not to cause any more trouble today, all right?”
“I shall do my best, Doctor McKelly.”
She reached for her black suit jacket and white, water-resistant overcoat—both of which she donned before slinging her handbag over her shoulder and walking to the door. “I’ll be back next week, same time as usual.”
The door clicked, then slid open, “Very well, Doctor McKelly. I will try to be here when you return.”
She smiled,
Oh right, Alex. Like you could go anywhere even if you wanted to.
Stepping into the hallway, she adjusted her coat, and then walked briskly down the corridor toward the building’s main lift. Her polished black shoes clicking against the white floor tiles with each step. She stepped into the elevator and the doors slid shut as she pressed the flashing blue button marked
GARAGE
. An instant later the lift began its smooth decent to the treatment ward’s subterranean parking lot.
Luna absently hummed along to the soft melody drifting from the elevator’s speakers as she reached into her coat pocket for her all-purpose headset: Internet, personal AI unit, home theater system, music, and phone—all in one handy, two-inch package.
She reached up and placed the small device over her right ear and addressed the AI housed within its compact circuitry: “Ada, can you call Bridget for me?”
“Of course, Miss Luna,” the smooth female voice replied.
Luna listened to the synthesized ringtone until it was interrupted mid-jingle by a cheerful voice: “Hello? This is Bridget Chavé.”
“Hey, Bridget. It’s me. I was wondering if you still wanted to get together tonight.”
“Oh, hi, Luna! Sorry, my caller ID is out again. Um … sure. I think I can still make it. I’m just finishing up some last minute paperwork. Where do you want to go?”
Luna thought about it for a second before replying, “How does pizza and a movie back at my place sound? I’m not in a very original mood right now.”
Bridget laughed, “That’s fine. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
“Sounds good,” Luna replied, stepping out of the elevator into the dimly lit parking garage. “I’ll order the pizza and find out what’s on tonight. See you in a bit.”
“Right. I’ll see you then.”
The line went dead with a muted
click,
and Ada’s artificial voice returned: “Do you need help locating your vehicle, Miss Luna?”
“No. I can take it from here. Thanks though,” Luna replied. She walked casually down the rows of parked cars until she reached her navy blue BMW three seater parked beneath one of the garage’s florescent lights. Unitech had provided the sleek, state-of-the-art vehicle when she was first hired. It was Luna’s baby. One of the many perks of working for Mr. Saul Edgard’s multi-billion-dollar company.
Luna walked to the side of the car and typed in her seven-digit security code on the door panel. The locks disengaged with a thud, and she pulled the latch, tipping the hydraulic door forward on its single, disc-like hinge.
She slid into the car and settled herself behind the vehicle’s centrally oriented steering consul, the dark-gray leather seat adjusting to fit the contours of her body. The door rocked back and resealed itself as she reached into her coat pocket and fished around for her keycard.
Her fingers wrapped around the first object she encountered, but she let go when she realized she was holding her emergency inhaler.
Nope, not it. Come on key, where—ah, there we go.
She pulled the homemade keychain from her pocket and slid the card into the ignition. Instantly the BMW came to life. Its electric engine began to purr softly in the background as the dashboard lights switched on and illuminated the speedometer, collision alert, environmental controls, and charge gauge
—
along with a handful of other instruments and knobs.
Luna pressed one of the glowing buttons on the left-hand side of the console, and the sweeping curve of the tinted windshield immediately polarized in adjustment to the dim outside light. Instantly everything within a half-mile radius snapped into focus, appearing exactly as it would during the day without the aid of the car’s powerful L.E.D headlights.
The vehicle’s built-in computer projected a holographic image of the car parked directly behind the BMW onto the lower right-hand corner of the windshield: a mandatory safety feature carried over from the late twenty-first century. However, Luna had no need for the rear camera, so she turned it off. In its place a holographic display of a road and its dividing lines appeared, centering itself directly over the lines painted on the floor of the garage.
Luna eased the car out onto the aisle leading to the parking lot’s main entrance. She gripped the contoured wheel lightly and steered the car up a slight incline out onto the road winding its way through the sprawling Unitech complex.
To either side of the four-lane road, massive buildings stretched into the black, stormy sky. Each building held labs, offices, and factories as well as the expansive DNA archives and cloning facilities responsible for preserving the genetic legacy of Earth’s once-diverse ecosystem. High above the towering structures, Luna could just make out the dim, pulsating glow of the Unitech complex’s energized rain barrier.
A distant lightning strike flashed across the night sky, illuminating the massive cage of reinforced metallic girders and struts that made up the skeleton of the barrier. These web-like supports also provided the rain barrier’s energized-glass umbrella with the power it needed to keep the rain
—
mostly
—
at bay. The occasional drizzle managed to work its way through every once in a while, but considering it had been functioning nonstop for nearly twenty years, the hastily erected shield had done its job remarkably well.