Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework (42 page)

She went through her instructions in her
head, only to find a perfect memory of them there.

“Just make sure you pop that into your comm
unit when you get out of this guided dream,” Minh remarked with a
smirk.

“This is all real, those things will really
happen,” she said, mostly to herself.

“Damn straight. You’re going to discover
things about this galaxy that are going to get you thinking big.
You and everyone from Freeground grew up in an isolated little can,
and it’s time you all opened your eyes so you can really be a part
of things. Jake’s done it already. He was forced to.” Minh stopped
playing for a moment and tipped his hat up. “Now on to the really
important stuff.”

“What? Telling me that a group of elitists
on Earth decided to feed information to Lister Hampon and his
friends wasn’t big enough?” Ayan asked. “They had to see the
Holocaust Virus coming, they had to know what he’d-“

“The other option would have led to humanity
losing control of its fate. Now humanity has a chance, and people
will start seeing the upcoming war for what it is - a just one.
Besides, the Holocaust Virus was supposed to be a little program
based on Alice’s code that gave the gears a kick, made artificial
intelligences less reliable so several of the participants in a
coming galactic war would back down. Collins found the secret to
creating a virus that would take control of the Eden Fleet at the
same time, and things got crazy,” Minh sighed. “Bad crazy. No,
General Collins and Lister Hampon overdid it, and before Collins
could start corrections or put Hampon back on a leash, Gabriel
Meunez bashed his brains in. It was still the solution, but applied
with too heavy a hand.”

“You think so?” Ayan replied.

“That virus was supposed to get humans
moving, spread out, not kill billions. The whole mess wasn't even
supposed to be blamed on Valent.” For a moment Minh allowed himself
to get distracted as he performed a more difficult part of the
piece. Around him the environment changed slightly. Several of the
ships faded away to be replaced by others. In the distance two
large docking towers appeared. Each of them showed signs of damage.
Repair platforms were being lifted into place by shuttles. There
had been fighting, but more progress than was evident before. Minh
silenced his strings suddenly and continued. "Kerry, the previous
holder of the Victory Machine who was killed in a collapse in Mount
Elbrus sent information to Hampon because he knew that, one way or
another, he'd do what had to be done. Unfortunately, the bearer of
the Victory Machine doesn't send instructions, just flashes like
I’m doing now, or much less, like lines of text and fortune cookie
length prophecies. Hampon's best method of countering the dark
future the Victory Machine predicted was to create this Order of
Eden and offer it as a refuge to people as they tried to escape the
Holocaust Virus. The game is rigged, always was."

“There had to be another way to avert
galactic warfare.”

"Well, before Alice became human there were
several options. Her transition changed the rules. That's why it
helped Collins and Hampon place themselves in that company when
Vindyne fell. It only took a few years for them to become important
people in Regent Galactic. They're good at serving greedy needs,
those two. Then Alice came along and gave destiny a kick in the ass
again. Funny thing about destiny, it's a great big lie.
Near-certainty is more accurate. Even death is getting pretty hard
to predict. Oh, and Wheeler’s unlocked Collins’ memories, the ones
with the predictions. That’s changed things so much that the game
may as well have taken on a spinning wheel with bonus prizes. Just
don’t get the apathy slice on your spin, or you’ll be caught out in
the open. Dead for sure. Anyway, back to Alice, because she’s the
real spinner.

“Just when we thought we simplified the
whole situation, Alice handed a few alien eggs over to an exile and
suddenly the edxians got involved. Talk about a game changer. That
darkness the Child Prophet keeps on squawking about is as real as
this guitar. Well, actually more real, since I'm just a mental
representation. You get the gist."

"So Regent Galactic and our old enemies from
Vindyne are really doing all this to save humanity?" Ayan asked in
disbelief.

"Great punch line, isn't it? Our oppressors
are actually doing all this for our own good. Looked like it was
going to work for a while too, but then some idiot freed Eve and
threw the whole thing off-balance again. The Child Prophet version
of Hampon tried to regain control of her, but that's not going so
well. He knows that the future gets pretty dark and disorderly if
she's put back in the box or dropped into a sun. Eve could be
pretty important, but she's a coin toss at best, with heads being a
force of preservation on the human side, and tails being a force of
ignorant entitlement - like an angry teenager taking all her angst
out on the galaxy with a few billion metal followers. You know
what’s really funny? Alice is at it again! Only, this time it’s
just her memories, but who could have predicted that? Anyway,
before you start asking me questions about
her
I’ll move on,
since I can’t tell you a damn thing about the most randomizing
factor in this whole mess. If it weren’t for Alice, all this would
be a lot easier, but she keeps things exciting, doesn’t she? Back
to the point: As I relay this information to you, your short and
long-term future is changing. You must have the most malleable mind
in the entire galaxy. That might have something to do with the fact
that you're still all soft from the womb, less than a year
old."

Ayan didn't know why exactly, but that last
statement irked her so hard she found herself turning red. "I can
remember decades just like I lived them. Sometimes I feel just
like-"

"Someone else," Minh insisted. “No
regressing now. Time and experience will make it pretty clear that
you've got inclinations all your own. Don’t try to fool yourself
into thinking that you’re having a singular experience either,
going through so many changes all at once that it’s almost unfair.
Happens to us all, only most of us call it high school. Then
there’s Jacob Valent, who happens to be going through the same
thing. He’s got a head start, and that’s going to be helpful to
you.”

"I know, and I’ve taken a few mental notes
watching him when I could. I can’t help but think that the first
Ayan wouldn’t do any different than I have over the past couple of
months though,” Ayan retorted.

"That's the problem. You're listening to
precedent instead of instinct. It’s just like your phobia of
heights. If you acknowledged that you were afraid of heights for a
good reason - because it's healthy to stay away from high places -
you might be able to get over that fear long enough to stand on the
ledge and enjoy the view once in a while."

"Are you sure you're not the real Minh?"
Ayan asked, crossing her arms. That was exactly the kind of advice
she'd expect from him at his finest moments: leading and
cryptic.

"I'm a manifestation of your expectations of
your quirky buddy. I could be a toad wearing a crown, for all it
matters, only you wouldn't expect much from a tiny amphibian, even
if he were royalty. Besides, Minh's much more entertaining." He
plucked the first few notes of 'Flight Of The Bumblebee' before
clearing his throat and continuing. "We keep on wandering off
topic, so back we go. For a while, everyone thought Jacob Valent
was the rogue element, and Hampon couldn't help but poke at him
from a distance, see if he could get him to do tricks with that
framework system of his, but then things shifted again. Funny thing
about that, too; everyone seemed to expect Captain Valent to pick
up a banner and lead a war against Regent Galactic, but he kept on
getting distracted. That is, until recently.”

“Now I’m the rogue element?”

“Really? You haven’t figured out who the
rogue element is?” he asked wryly.

“Alice,” Ayan said. “Is she coming
back?”

“I refuse to confirm or deny, but I’ll
insinuate all day. You may not be as much fun as the rogue element,
but you’re better in oh, so many ways. You’re at the centre of
things without being as unpredictable as a schizophrenic cat on
stims. The rogue element is out there, it’ll do what it does and
we’ll do what we can to work around it. The higher ups are tired of
trying to control anything that unpredictable. They were even wrong
about who the rogue element was for years. It turns out Valent was
on a pretty straight path all along.”

“What do I do with this information? I can't
see how I can change anything in the Order of Eden from light years
away," Ayan said, growing impatient. "Especially if Eve is awake.
I'm not even going to get into asking about the hows and whys
behind that one."

"Make sure Jake doesn't get any bright ideas
about direct revenge on the higher ups. There's no end to the anger
he has for the Order of Eden and their leaders. From what the
Machine can see, there's nothing wrong with him going after them
indirectly. On the other hand, if he ever stands in front of
Hampon, the Child Prophet, or Eve, Jake could literally become a
different person. I can’t tell you what will happen to him because
the Victory Machine can’t calculate it, and that’s rare. This thing
can calculate sky luge tournament standings eight years in advance
and be ninety eight point six percent correct, so when it can’t see
the possible outcomes of something, it’s a big deal. Worst case
scenario: Jake kills Eve, or Hampon and humanity’s chances of
surviving the next century go down the crapper. Best case scenario:
Jacob Valent is transformed by the experience, and his path changes
drastically. Somewhere in between is just as likely, but do you
really want to take the chance?”

“No, definitely not,” Ayan replied.

“Neither would I. There’s another thing. You
have to send him on his way and put as much distance between you
and him as you can for the next few days at least. It’s the only
way to make sure he’s not in the wrong place at the wrong time. If
you two get back together - and the chances are likely, trust me –
he’ll be burdened by guilt. He’ll focus on taking revenge on
Wheeler, Thurge, and everyone else who was involved in that android
that looked like him. You’ll have trouble with him too, the memory
of being assaulted by something that looked so much like him is
still fresh, it’s too soon.”

“I know the difference, it was obvious,”
Ayan protested.

“The subconscious is like Supersticky,
things stick to it until you break out the brand-name solvent,
which is always sold separately, damn those corporate geniuses.
You’ll process your encounter with Android Jacob, but it’ll take
some time away from the real Jacob. What’s more important to
consider is how being with Jake will affect his thinking. He’ll be
focusing on you when he should be coordinating with a team. If he
doesn’t link up with a dependable crew and focus on being part of a
competent group, if he’s focused on you instead, his future gets
real dark. You’ll have to take care of him, and that’ll darken your
world too. You leave him, and he finds a good crowd. Well, good by
his standards, anyway." Minh-Chu began playing the Hall Of The
Mountain King as he continued.

“We’re just about to find our way back to
each other,” Ayan said. “I can send him away for a few days, I
don’t have to leave him.”

“If he sees you as a his damsel if you’re in
trouble, it will distract him from a whole chain of events he has
to forge. Sometimes the military policy of non-fraternization is
the right one. Someone once said; if you truly love someone, you
must set them free. If it’s meant to be, they’ll return. Trust.
Just trust.”

“How long?” Ayan asked. “How long do I have
to stay away?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Minh-Chu said.
“Here’s a real spoiler for you: you need time away too. You’re
changing so fast that you need to have a few new experiences.
You’ll be a different woman from week to week for a while, and when
you come though, you’re going to be just amazing. If you get tied
down to Jake it’ll be like turning the reverse thrusters up to
full, and that won’t do you any good. This breakup is a good thing,
it feels like crap now, but you’ll see. Go it without him awhile,
you’ll thank me. Well, you won’t be able to find me to thank me,
but you get the point.”

“I’ll try,” Ayan said. “I’ll break it off
with him and test your theory.”

"Speaking of lone agents, if Liam Grady gets
his hands on the Victory Machine, it's game over for pretty much
everyone you know. There are too many potential bearers at this
point, the Victory Machine is too exposed. The few people from
Citadel who are responsible for that thing are pulling the plug,
and they need you to find the next bearer and tell them to shut
this thing down. You’ll know who to send when the time comes. It’s
just not Liam Grady. We don't need someone like him, with all his
pure intentions, to pick it up and start trying to straighten all
the proper twisty lines that make the universe an interesting, yet
survivable, place. Look at the mess we made, and we actually
improved things compared to the first future we glimpsed through
this doohickey."

"But millions, sorry, billions of people are
dead because of instructions-"

"Information, the Machine only offers
information," Minh corrected, picking a sour note.

"All right, because of the information you
provided to Hampon and Collins they arranged for the murders of
billions of people. I saw it myself, on Pandem. It was so horrible
that I can't watch the forensic playback."

"The other options were worse. Even so,
we're shutting it down. Even an artful cheater can’t say how the
dice will land every time they're thrown. You’re central to how
things are going to turn out in this corner of the galaxy. Don't
let the past get in the way of what you have to do now. At this
moment you have the people, the resources, and the political weight
to accomplish a lot,” Minh said humourlessly as he stood and slung
his guitar across his back.