Rebound (2 page)

Chapter 4: Sofia makes contact

Mason felt weak, dejected, and worried about the bug implanted in his brain. There was a static sound within his right ear and he heard a voice whispering, “Mason, Stella will make contact soon.”

“How will she do this?”

“It’s like having an encrypted cell phone embedded in your brain that she can call.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sofia. We need your help!”

“But how can I possibly help? This bug…”

“We can over ride its audio system in short bursts.”

“Of all people, you chose me.”

“Mason, you are that rare being. A seemingly insignificant scientist who takes on Babylon Corp. Of course it’s an almost impossible mission but it’s your fighting spirit that we admire.”

“Is Stella fine?”

Sofia ignored the question, “You have certain knowledge that can open portals. You need to open one. In due time, it will be shown and you’ll know what to do.”

“Are you a clone?”

“No and I’m not human either.”

“If you’re not human and not a clone then are you a sentient machine?”

There was an abrupt click as if someone had cut off the communication line.

Chapter 5: Waiting

This is just crazy, Ryan thought. How is she going to meet me if the Babylon Corp people are also following?

He found it odd though that the parade went through his favorite watering hole. He felt foolish walking along with the parade and detoured knowing that she would make contact. It would also not raise suspicion for those following him.

He sat in his favorite bar with its glass walls that gave him a bird’s eye view of the city. Electric vehicles moved on roads or whirred through the defined spaces between buildings and above them.

Ryan was worried with Beckett the 18 year old part time bartender looking intently at the ad clip on the huge screen. It spoke seductively of clones that could be hired for domestic or industrial work. There was a demand for regenerated limbs and organs.

”Feeling fatigued and aimless? You now have the chance to acquire a regenerated organ. This is the chance of a lifetime to have a super body beyond your wildest dreams.”

Ryan and Beckett had known each other since they had lived in foster homes. He was moonlighting as a bartender while doing Uni tech studies. They went to the same gym. They shared many tech games and played hoops in their free time. He had looked after Ryan’s apartment when he was out of the city on assignments. They were like brothers. Beckett looked longingly at the body parts being displayed. “I’d do anything to get one of those new things!” he said.

“Impress your girlfriends and partners. Try out the new faculties....”

“To impress your girlfriend?” Ryan asked wearily

“Why the fancy language about ‘faculties’? Why can’t they say ‘dicks’?”

“You lack culture,” Ryan teased him.

“The faculty generates its own energy so you always have an erection anytime you want to feel intimate.”

“I don’t need culture to get it up in that thing,” Beckett laughed.

“Next you’ll want a cloned girlfriend.”

“Oh come on Ryan, I bet you want one of those organs too.”

“To order, simply transmit your authorized blip to process your payment details.”

He felt sorry for Beckett. “It’s probably all part of a huge racket.”

“Keep your voice down,” he whispered. “They were here a few days ago.”

“Who?”

“Some of the Babylon security people.”

“What did they say?”

“A high grade clone has run.”

Ryan couldn’t help smiling. Although Stella had not specifically told him to detour to the bar it seemed natural that when her second message or call came, he would probably meet her in another building or place patronized by BC staff.

“Not only that, there was also talk of this clone making contact with a tech guy at GenGlobal.”

He tried to look as calm as possible. “Now why would she do that?”

“This tech guy is connected in some ways to Babylon Corp. No specifics but apparently he received confidential stuff they want back.”

“Kind of odd that they were so open with this infor.”

“They talk all the time over here. There are some unhappy people there just going through the motions.”

They were coming after him.

He also knew that it was only a matter of time before Stella was caught. She had a tracking device inbuilt in her brain. It was installed just for situations like this. All clones had them and none had ever escaped. Had she managed to evade them? The thought gave him a pleasant feeling.

There was a whirring sound as a hovercraft came close to the building’s landing space. “Won’t be surprised if that’s Blumont coming for a drink.”

Ryan turned to Beckett, “Don’t you dare order a regenerated organ. It ain’t worth it.”

“There you go again. Why can’t you say dick?” he laughed.

“I care for you Beckett. You’re like a brother. I just don’t want anything happening.”

Someone was approaching. “Can you turn away and act disinterested like you had one too many?” Beckett said quickly with a pleasant smile relishing the chance to order Ryan around.

“Hi tough guy,” It was Blumont from Babylon Transport. “You’ve been looking at those ads for energy packed dicks?”

“The clones are pretty.”

“They all look like angels with all the high tech they have in those labs,” Blumont said as he chewed gum noisily.

“I’d do anything to be stranded somewhere with one of them.”

“Don’t even dream about it.”

“Cheer up Blumont. Can’t you take a joke?” Beckett said good naturedly.

“Do your job. You’re too horny for your own good. Get me something strong to drink.”

He mixed Blumont’s favorite drink and couldn’t help saying, “Heard one of the clones ran off.”

This comment irritated Blumont, “You’re making that drink too strong again!” (Beckett gingerly put in a few ice cubes.) He mellowed down after taking the second sip.“Some of them probably want some adventure before they get caught,” he cackled.

“Now you’re beginning to sound horny,” Beckett laughed.

“It’s the things you put in my drink.” He was enjoying himself. His receiver clacked abruptly and he looked up.

“Better get going.”

“Thanks for sharing,” Beckett said unnecessarily,

“I don’t mind. Besides BC owns this joint and all the buildings in these parts. Probably owns you too.” He stood up and finished his drink. “But you probably know that already.”

Beckett made sure the hovercraft had left before casually going to Ryan and whispering, “What did he mean by BC owning me?”

“Probably a joke that you are a kind of sleeper clone. Your guess is as good as mine,” Ryan laughed.

“How did you know the escapee was a woman? I don’t recall mentioning it?”

“You’re forever talking about cloned body parts and cloned girls and something must have led to another and I assumed it was a woman.”

“I’ll level with you. It doesn’t sound convincing if the Babylon people cotton up to you. You be careful.”

Chapter 6: Flashes

Mason was released after a week and he knew he was under constant surveillance. He often saw flashes of color. This happened whenever he thought about the BC slogan,
‘Genes create the future’
or the image of Stella or the stabbing pain of the vehicle’s impact. He wondered whether these flashes were due to the drugs that had been given to him in intensive care. It should have worn off by now. He had been careful not to let anyone know about these extra sensory perceptions.

He went about his work at BC and waited for Karabos and her goons to come back.

Nothing happened.

The flashes of colored lights kept coming.

He assumed that they would disappear after a week.

But the flashes continued. It bombarded his mind and intensified with every passing day. Sofia had hinted that there was a concealed communication system that could not be detected by the bug in his head. Perhaps the flashes were a kind of smokescreen.

He also noticed that he was reacting to the large art reproductions that stood demurely in the gigantic entrance hall made up of vast interlinked rooms at the BC complex.

It was the standing joke at BC that a corporation worth a trillion dollars could only afford cheap reproductions to bring life to its bland walls.

Mason found his own reactions strange.

Since he was so familiar with the art works, he had hardly taken notice

Staff and visitors tolerated them without looking. This was a polite form of contempt.

He noticed that whenever he shot them a cursory unconscious glance as he walked in or out, the artworks seemed to reach out. He had the overwhelming feeling that he was being watched from within them. They seemed to beckon with some urgency.

‘I’m not going crazy. I’m just overworked,’ he thought as he looked directly into the Patrick Hughes artwork, which was the one closer to him. ‘I’ll prove it.’

Slowly he walked towards it. As he did so, the artwork lost its 3D perception and he no longer saw the illusion that he had initially seen from a distance.

Within the Hughes artwork, the Henry Moore sculpture was closer and he had the sensation that he could almost walk into it. This was the perception he felt; that the artwork provided a virtual entry. But as he got closer, he realized it was not as close as the Picasso and the Van Gogh portraits within the artwork.

‘I’m imagining things. Got to get a hold of myself.’

He began to chuckle.

Karabos was not following him around. There was no further trace of her.

But he was absolutely mistaken.

His nightmare was just about to begin.

Chapter 7: Ryan’s meeting

Ryan’s phone blipped. “Walk to the Willard Hotel in the next block. 2510.”

He hesitated momentarily then moved forward. It was owned by Babylon Corp.

“This is just plain crazy,” he couldn’t help muttering as he came to the elevator.

“Your level please?” a disjointed voice asked.

“25,” he couldn’t believe that Stella would be so naïve to choose such an obvious hiding place.

The standard room was nondescript, just the kind that any traveler moving from place to place would book.

He looked around quickly at any hint of a clue; anything that would ring a bell in his memory bank.

There was a photo on the coffee table. It showed a more youthful Ryan and two other figures; one of whom looked like a younger versions of Beckett. That was odd. The correlation seemed to be zero. But it nagged him and he was irritated that they were pictured together. It was as if Stella was invading his privacy. The phrase, “I move a little faster than time,” was the caption. He was surprised she knew of his obsession for bending time. He had surfed endlessly about the topic and was planning to try out one of the illegal time bending machines on offer in the dark net. He wasn’t even sure it worked.

“It doesn’t work like a time machine. Save your money,” Stella whispered from the partially open bathroom. The air was still and everything was deathly silent. “You have so many questions but we don’t have much time.”

“Enlighten me”

“You and all of us here are part of a conspiracy.”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“On one level BC has secretly embedded clones in society for harvesting or other uses later. On a positive level, we are also part of a plan to support a sentient super intelligent machine overcome the BC conspiracy.”

“So what’s this got to do with me?”

“A lot actually. Let me start by saying there is a struggle for control in Babylon.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“You are needed.”

“What I don’t understand is how I fit into this jigsaw?”

“You are a sleeper clone embedded in society and activated when the need arises. They have many like you all over the globe.”

“You’re taking me from under their noses,” he whistled.

“Don’t under estimate yourself. All systems have their flaws,” she was chiding him.

“I don’t buy that stuff about me being a clone.”

“I don’t expect you to believe it. Sofia has been sending stuff to you over the years to prepare you for this moment.”

“I didn’t ask for it.”

“She banked on the notion that you’re sick of the system that pulls you down.”

“I’m overwhelmed.”

“They have locked on to our coordinates so you will have to make a choice. You can walk away in which case BC will come and retrieve you. They have legal papers; you are their property. Or you can help me.”

“Whose Sofia?

“A sentient machine.”

Ryan still did not look convinced.

“You’ve always been intrigued with two things. Artificial intelligence and bending time. Follow me and you will be part of the process.”

“I can’t still get over the clone thing. I remember everything about my life.”

“I checked through your memory bank. It has all kinds of detailed records of your foster home, kindy, mid school, high school. It also shows you’re horny. Since high school you’ve had eight flings. They fell madly in love with you but you hated yourself because you wanted to move on.”

“You hacked my records.”

Stella went on as if she had not heard him, “You tattooed the initials of Girls 3 and 7 on the back of your right lower leg. I think it is one of those frivolous things that guys do when they are bored.”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

“Your biggest dream now is meet your ideal one who would be number 9.”

“You’re dreaming.”

“All those memories were implanted to make you look as humanly normal as possible in case people became suspicious. You spent all your life in a clone lab at Babylon Corp and three years ago, almost at the time you started receiving those communications, you were embedded into society.”

“But I did tattoo their initials more than three years ago.”

“They are not there. Don’t check now, we don’t have time. By the way your friend is also a sleeper. Embedded almost at the same time as you.”

“Beckett? Won’t he be in danger?”

“We’ll get to him soon. He’s up for harvesting.”

“This is crazy and to think he wanted a regenerated organ.”

“Sleeper cells like him are supposed to provide them. Like you they don’t have families and won’t be missed.”

“How about the foster home?”

“A shell holding run by Babylon. Observe that you all live, study or work in places owned by Babylon. Even the places you hang out in or the things you like to watch or play are owned by the company.”

“That’s sick.”

“They prefer to use the term
efficient
. Notice that you have never been sick in your life.”

“It’s kind of weird hearing my whole history being aired in public.”

She ignored the comment. “They want to silence all of you. I shouldn’t have said all this in one sitting but thought you might be interested. We don’t have time. A BC security hovercraft is closing in. You can stay here where they will retrieve you or come with me.”

“How are you leaving?”

“By jumping of course,” she said casually.

“Out of a 25 storey building?”

“It’s not as hard as it looks,” she said blithely.

“I’ll come. I still haven’t heard your story. Besides, you’d probably be number 9 on my ideal list.”

“I don’t think we planted that memory,” she smiled.

There was a loud whirring sound of a military grade hovercraft getting closer and the windows shattered.

She dived at Ryan and in the same movement shot at three of the SWAT team who had coming crashing in with a weapon he didn’t realize she had all the time. “You must trust me,” she said looking into his eyes. She held his reluctant hand and jumped with him into the air just as the room exploded into a fireball from a rocket propelled laser device. They landed unceremoniously on top of each other on the back seat of an open-air mini hovercraft. The elderly couple were too surprised to say anything. How did she know that it would be stationed at exactly that point?

Before they (and Ryan) could react, she held his hand again and they jumped to another vehicle below them driven by a young adult with an attractive teenage girl for company. Bullets whizzed past them a few seconds after they had jumped. He looked very intensely at Stella. “Don’t get frisky. Her dad knows,” she said. Before the young man could say anything, they jumped onto the ground. More bullets followed them. But they all seemed to be a few seconds late as if she anticipated their moves.

They walked briskly down the block moving in and out of shops until they reached a huge department store with a large display of mannequins advertising everything from clothes and accessories.

He sensed what she was thinking.

“That’s right we’re going to be mannequins. This place will be swarming very soon with those goons.” They walked casually in like a young loving couple towards the window display and very quickly she went through an opening on the side pulling him in not a moment too soon as the first backup team rushed in. They took beanies from the other mannequins. They were in a display of mountain climbing equipment. She stood deathly still in front while Ryan stood behind her almost as if he was an appendage to the star attraction! A bald man with jowls and heavyset eyes that were filled with lustful longing looked at her from outside. She tried to frighten him by gazing fiercely. That made him hornier. At one point she lifted one of her legs in the posture of one of the other mannequins and the man almost fainted. He looked transfixed as he hugged the glass display. It seemed like he was going to unhitch his pants and rub himself on the glass. From the corner of his eyes, Ryan nervously watched the BC security team scan the area and then move off in the opposite direction. Just as he was hyperventilating, Stella gave an almighty kick to the glass display. The bald man stumbled inwards in shock and landed amongst the other window displays. She walked out almost instantly like a rare bird being freed from its glass cage holding an incredulous Ryan by the hand and smiling benignly at passersby.

A mini security drone went to check the broken glass and she held Ryan in a lovers embrace amongst the crowd. Their faces were partially obscured by the beanies. As it went overhead, she kissed him as they continued walking like frisky lovers in a hurry to find a room. The security detail surmised that the man had been infatuated with the mannequins and had broken the glass. Later there would be a routine check of the security cameras but by then they would have moved further away.

Ryan looked smitten after the whirlwind kiss. “This has changed my whole outlook on clones.”

“You’re not thinking of making me number 9, are you?” They both laughed.

He suddenly realized what was happening. She knew what was going to happen before it happened.

“Not quite true,” she corrected him as if reading his thoughts. “There are always two main options in any given event. We’re lucky that the options are currently in our favor.”

She went from one block to another doubling back and then going forward in directions that seemed random. Ryan couldn’t help feeling impressed and just hoped there would be more intimate options.

“We will run out of options at some point. That usually happens.”

“The only option I’d really love is to follow you around,” he smiled.

“Don’t wish for something you don’t know. It’s going to get nasty,” she said drily. “We have to go back to Mason. He will help us get back into the BC clone facility.” She explained Mason’s role.

“But that’s going to be suicidal!”

“With Sofia helping us we should get in.”