Flaw in the Code
Almost everyone is a refugee from Earth if you go back enough generations.
It wasn’t some spirit of exploration or expansion that drove humans to colonize the Solar System and start calling themselves the People of Sol… no, of all things it was war that did it. There are two sides to the last three hundred years of human history: on one side it’s a history of utopian, high tech colonies blooming to the far corners of the Solar System, bringing on the kind of Golden Age humans couldn’t have ever dreamed of. It was also three hundred years of people still on Earth killing each other like some planet-sized battle royal fuckfest. Planet Earth has been the elephant in the room of every conversation, and it is William’s job to put an end to that.
William Zhou reviews a mess of holographic display screens scattered throughout the passenger cabin of the interplanetary spacecraft, which was loaned to the big shots of the Terra Reformation Party for the sole purpose of carrying William to Earth. His meeting with Earth’s New Stalis Confederacy is merely 25 hours away, but he has been preparing for this day for years. It will be a big day for the people of Sol, and fuckups cannot be afforded. The ship is already entering preparations for docking with Earth’s space elevator, the Atlas Tower.
William is a small man by comparison to his people back on Hyperion II, which will serve him well when he mingles with the comparatively squat people of Earth, their growth stunted as it is by the planet’s gravity. William hates gravity. It makes him wonder how he’d ever been honored with this job. He has had to prepare for this trip by spending three months in a gravity chamber, and even during transit to Earth, he frequented the gravity room as a part of his daily exercise. Regardless of preparations, it always gives William an uneasy feeling in his spine every time he feels that unnatural pull on his body, and he’ll be immersed in it all day everyday in a couple of hours. He looks out of his window at the blue planet beyond.
Planet Earth… the home of his ancestors. It is now clearly visible through the digital display window of his spacious private cabin. He looks upon Earth with a mixture of longing and unrest. The home planet of his species has been in a state of perpetual war for nearly three hundred years, and his benefactors in the Terra Reformation Party have been riding on a fervent campaign of bringing it lasting peace at last. He’s gotta thank the Mars Federation for even making this trip possible. They threw their full support behind this project.
Another holographic screen appears, small and out of the way, and through it the ship’s mainframe computer speaks to him in a soothing voice.
“Sir, you have a transmission from Hyperion II. It is Senator Pathma.” One of his benefactors. William perks up.
“Ah, it’s about time! Please patch him through.”
The quantum communicator activates another hologram at the center of the room, showing a wiry old man in standard Hyperion II uniform and wearing charm on his sleeve like a fashionable accessory. From the Senator’s posture in the hologram, he appears to be floating in a zero-gravity environment, which is expected. He must be coming in from the Hyperion II space station around Saturn.
“William! How are you doing?”
“About as ready as I will be, I think.” William shrugs, earnestly. “But really, how ready can I be for a job like playing ambassador to the people of Earth?”
Senator Pathma chuckles. “Wrong person for the job, perhaps?”
“Most definitely.”
“Hah! I have faith in you, Will. We all do. This is an important opportunity for our party, and I can think of no one more qualified to establish the first ever alliance between the peoples of Earth and Sol.”
The hologram of Senator Pathma floats over to the window to peer outside wistfully. He appears anxious about what is about to unfold… a sentiment William can share wholeheartedly.
“You are a third generation refugee from the Sumalese war, if I remember correctly,” the Senator says without looking back.
“Yessir. We’re all refugees from Planet Earth if we go back far enough.”
“Yes… my ancestors fled from Earth and its conflicts too, a long time ago. Our home planet has been cursed for too long with zealous ideologies… tangled in a history of greed and retribution. If they had only accepted CATO’s management system like the rest of us.”
CATO. It is the central management AI that helps the space colonies of Sol remain prosperous and peaceful. William himself has never had any personal dealings with it, but as he understands it… the colonization of Saturn’s moons, the terraforming of Mars, nor the construction of three dozen space colonies within the planetary system would have been possible without it.
Planet Earth is where the AI was born, and it actually brought an age of peace to Earth-bound humanity once upon a time. Most forms of human labor were abolished, and people lived freely, looking to the stars as their next horizon. The majority of humanity was still religious at the time, and it was that half of humanity which turned against the CATO system, calling it unnatural and dangerous. Everyone else slowly migrated to Mars to escape the growing conflicts and wars, and that was three hundred years ago.
Senator Pathma turns to William, eyes glimmering.
“Most humans of Planet Earth today reject complex technologies as a part of their religious beliefs. And yet… even then, we must get them to accept the CATO management system if we want to restore peace upon this planet once more. It took a hundred years since the founding of our party for the Sol Interplanetary Senate, and the Coalition at large, to finally support our cause. Our voice is becoming the voice of the majority. The good days are yet to come for Planet Earth.”
“Don’t worry sir,” William nods reassuringly. “This is my third trip to the planet, and I can feel the change each time. They are more open to accepting our support and actually update their infrastructure. Hell, about half the planet uses satellite internet already. We’ve checked the traffic.”
Senator Pathma smiles in response, but his eyes remain fixed like stone. “We need to make this count. If this mission fails, the space populations of Sol may turn a blind eye to Earth for another hundred years. And with election season coming up? Our friends in the Mars Federation are gonna need all the support they can get.”
“Most certainly,” William says with a grin. He knows this trip isn’t just about Earth. His party is riding a wave of support that’ll only last as long as progress is made. The people of Sol are a bit too smart for empty promises, but then again, they did recently voice support for a major legislative change that gave him pause. He decides he might as well get that out in the open as long as he has the Senator’s attention.
“And by the way… uh, have you had a look at the report I sent you? I sent it yesterday.”
“About the incubation facility?”
“Well, I didn’t exactly call it THAT, but yes, that one.”
The senator sighs, as though he was hoping William wouldn’t bring it up. “I understand your concern, William. Trust me when I say… the idea of establishing legal use of technology which allows human babies to be grown in incubation jars doesn’t thrill me either. But the technology will become necessary for interstellar travel. Hyperion II is in charge of developing the prototype of humanity’s first ever interstellar ship, and CATO has been pushing for this technology for centuries. Our party is not going to block it on the senate floor.”
Not the response William was hoping for, and he doesn’t really try to hide the sentiment in his grimace either. “It just seems so… unnatural, you know? Can’t we create babies the old fashion way?”
“Oh?” The senator perks up with a smile. “And how many offspring do YOU plan on bringing into this world?”
“My wife would kill me if I answered that.”
The senator laughs.
“My bad, but you know where we stand on this matter. I expect you to act the part.”
William offers a resigned nod. He knows what hats to wear if he wants to maintain support from his party.
“Of course, Mr. Pathma.”
“Speaking of kids, my son came to me with an interesting question today.”
“He’s in… college? Is that right?” He feels a bit caught off guard but decides to entertain the Senator.
“Yes, and still coming to his old man for advice. Cute, isn’t it? For some philosophy class he’s taking… he’s asked to give his opinion on what he considers to be a major flaw with humans. What do you think?”
The hell kind of question is that? “What, as like a species? I’d sure like it if I didn’t have to lose as much hair as I do every year. Does that count? Why does that even happen?”
“I imagine they were asking in a more general sense,” Pathma says after a chuckle.
“If you don’t mind it being super subjective, I think it’s our need to compete. We aren’t hairy monkeys fighting in jungles anymore. We have plenty of technology and resources that keep us happy and fed. That’s why we’re seeing this whole mess down on Earth. They’ve all divided themselves into hostile factions that want to stamp out ‘their enemies’. We’re all humans, as a collective. We don’t have enemies.”
“Feels like a rather textbook answer for a man of Sol… but exactly what I need from our representative ambassador.”
‘Sure’, William thinks to himself, wondering if the Senator’s son really asked the question, or if the Senator was trying to gauge something with it. The ship’s pilot AI pops into the room in the form of a holographic screen, showing its ID and visualized audio wavelengths.
“The ship is on the final approach to the docking bay of Atlas Tower. Phase 3 reverse thrusters activating in two minutes. Please secure yourself, Mr. Zhou.”
“Well, that’s my cue, sir.” William turns to the Senator and gives him a casual salute. “Wish me luck!” The Senator smiles in response.
“Good fortunes to you and the people of Earth.”
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The space elevator offers a stunning view of the world below as William Zhou makes his descent down the massive Atlas Tower. He is alone in making the trip below in one of the many elevators built into this megastructure, and he can see how far reaching the Neutral Zone around the tower extends. It is the one and only area on Planet Earth that the Sol Interplanetary Coalition controls… with clean buildings and city streets extending a thousand miles in diameter. The Neutral Zone acts as a transit terminal for the people of Earth who wish to flee to space, and the Sol Interplanetary Coalition has done everything it can to make it a viable option. On average, roughly forty thousand refugees ascend through these elevators every day to the space docks above and flee to distant worlds around Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, but these numbers can skyrocket depending on the size of conflict and population displacement. The miracle of the CATO management system has allowed the ever growing space colonies to take on these refugees with ease.
The descent takes about three hours, and upon exiting, William sees the elevator loading docks, bustling with activity. The transit halls are a clean, spacious environment where thousands of people are lounging, waiting for the appointed time to take a trip up the elevators. They are all well clothed and look excited to be on their way off this planet. William knows that almost all of them are refugees fleeing wars.
The people here have spent a few months in the Neutral Zone… to be cared for medically and nutritionally, going through lengthy exercises to prepare them for a zero gravity environment… ensuring good health before entering the confines of a spaceship. Almost all of them have received an education during their time here to become familiar with modern technology, having lived with minimal access to tech all their lives. William is happy to see them eager to move on to a better life than the one this planet has offered them.
The navigation system on his personal communication device guides him to an aerial transport dock, where a sleek jet plane is waiting for him. He confirms with the pilot AI that they are indeed headed for the palace in Rhondu, the seat of power for the New Stalis Confederacy. The plane offers him a good view of the outside world as they take off, flying over the Neutral Zone and its clean cityscape. Activating a screen in front of him, he switches the display between various cameras on the outside of his plane. There’s a view coming up that always leaves an impression upon him, and he wants to get a good look this time too. Far below them, he can see the edge of the Neutral Zone… a defensive wall a hundred feet high. It is the last thing which separates his world from the rest of this planet… like a veil hiding the ugly truth beyond.
A slum. Endless slums surround the Neutral Zone… crumbling buildings left over from three hundred years ago. These areas too are under control of the Sol Interplanetary Coalition, so the only people you’ll find around here are those who take up temporary refuge while they make their way to the Neutral Zone… and beyond it? Once these decrepit cities fade away? Deserts. Endless deserts. The only green he sees are areas used as farmland, and while these agricultural sectors are quite large, they are nothing compared to the vast deserts that surround them. This planet would be without sufficient levels of oxygen if not for nanomachines in the air that simulate the effects of trees.
This is a broken planet. CATO has promised to fix it one day, but not while there is still conflict on the ground, and certainly not while the people reject its management.
The plane soars over a major agricultural sector, and William knows for a fact that it is mostly human hands that are working those fields. Manual labor seems like such a strange concept to him, but that is reality for most people of Planet Earth. He flies over their cities, crude and small, but with streets packed with people. There is no consensus on the actual population size of the planet at the moment, but some experts estimate anywhere between 3 to 4 billion are living under conditions like these.
William thinks back to the people he saw in Atlas Tower… and the journey they are about to embark upon. They will be ferried across space to the bustling, high tech metropolises of the Sol space colonies… where people live freely, without human labor, with excellent medical care, and with no fear of war or going hungry. Most humans now live in space, but they long for the planet they once called home. His party has been on the forefront of pushing for Earth's restoration, and now with the backing of the space colonies and Mars Federation, he will finally take the first steps in bridging their worlds.
The jet plane descends onto a helipad of an arid airport in the outskirts of Belese, the capital city of Rhondu, where there is a mob of people waiting for his arrival. They cheer for him as he exits his plane, and he is immediately greeted by New Stalis Confederacy representatives in suits. He smiles for the cameras as he shakes hands with them eagerly.
The New Stalis Confederacy is an alliance of five nations, united under a shared religion. They are a very spiritual people, but their ideology leaves room for some amount of technological allowance… namely the use of military technology, electrical lighting, and vehicles of varying complexity. Recent wars have left the Confederacy battered and weakened, and they are hungry for support from the Sol Interplanetary Coalition.
William spends an hour in a helicopter, taking a tour of Rhondu and its capital city of Belese, which is a sprawling shambles of a metropolis, battered by desert winds and teeming with people. The streets are busy with its citizens going about their daily lives. Even in the Neutral Zone, William has not seen so many people in one place. The Hyperion II space station around Saturn will feel empty by comparison when he gets home. The city itself carries its two hundred year old history right on its back, with huge statues all over the place depicting saints and martyrs from older times.
It’s not hard for William to spot sections of the city that have been demolished, utterly reduced to rubble in war. Only a year ago, this city was at the forefront of a major, multinational conflict. He imagines that the people of Belese must still be in mourning. Those that stayed would be, anyway. Many are no longer on this planet… ferried to space on the Atlas Tower as refugees.
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In the evening, William is invited to a banquet, and he changes into a fresh suit for it. Almost all of the top ranking officials of the New Stalis Confederacy have gathered in the large, chandelier-lit halls of the Rhondu palace. Here he will meet the leaders of the New Stalis Confederacy: men and women of power who control vast territories. This is where he must be careful to leave a good impression. The people of Earth can be quite brash towards anyone from the space colonies and are quick to blame the technologies of ancient times for the state of their world… especially the management AI CATO, who the space-faring people of Sol have embraced wholeheartedly.
William takes a quick survey of all the high profile guests in the banquet hall when he enters. He sees the president of Vilum, with oversized glasses framing smiling eyes and friendly contours cupped in a well trimmed beard. There’s the High Executor of Clorenth, looking pleasantly intoxicated in his ceremonial robes. The Chancellor of Mareen is looking stellar in her red dress, heartily exchanging gossip with a glass of champagne in one hand. Tall and rigid and sharp, the Chairman of Equalor is looking ready for business in his tailored suit, eyes hawkishly surveying the room. These characters are all brought together by the ideologies of a single religion, William reminds himself. He is the outsider here, but he must make these people his friends.
He knows all of them, of course, having studied their profiles extensively. They all have a vested interest in William’s presence. An alliance with Sol means access to new technology… something they all sorely need in their vulnerable state. But in the end, they are a technophobic bunch. William doesn’t expect them to fully hide their usual rhetoric of veiled cynicism or outright hostility towards CATO and the Sol Interplanetary Coalition. If his negotiations fail, his people may never get a chance like this again during his lifetime. He must make this count.
That’s what he was bracing for, anyway. To his absolute bewilderment, they actually all welcome him like they’d just met Christ himself. National leaders bow their heads low to him submissively, in full view of their people, or offer an embrace so warm he’d think he just encountered a long lost relative. Negotiations in the days ahead will surely be tough, but it seems these are far more desperate times for these people than he had expected. A good sign, if anything?
William remembers that there’s one more person of interest he hasn’t met yet, and takes another look around. It is in the movement of the people that William senses his presence… turning and shifting their attention like a compass to a moving pole. He sees the man, finally, as he approaches William directly.
Surrounded by a posse of government officials, this man, standing tall and sleek, is Johanis Rudo; High Seer of Rhondu’s spiritual branch and President of the New Stalis Confederacy. He is much taller and thinner than William and looking quite sharp in his suit, with a hawkish face sculpted with authority. William can tell that Rudo must have been quite the lady’s man in his youth, but his eyes seem set like those of a stone saint. It is this divine charisma that must have propelled him to his high stature today. The man offers William a firm handshake.
“Welcome to Rhondu… and Planet Earth, Mr. Zhou.”
“I feel very welcomed, President Rudo,” William says, honestly. “The pleasure is all mine!”
“I’m glad to hear it! I know we have a great deal of work ahead of us, but I am confident that the New Stalis Confederacy will be able to build a good relationship with the people of Sol.” President Rudo maintains the handshake as he speaks, as though to add weight to each word.
“It’s a historic moment for all of us,” William nods in hopeful agreement. “The Mars Federation and the Hyperion II station are very eager to work with you. We’re all excited that you are supporting CATO’s proposal for Earth’s terraformation. We will see this planet green and full of life again, I promise you.”
Rudo’s eyes soften with mention of restoring Earth. “I only wish to leave this planet in better conditions for future generations, Mr. Zhou. Of course, we have our enemies, and I fear they will not be very happy with these developments.”
“When other nations witness the transformation of the Confederacy, they will come around. You will have the support of our military too, if need be.” Which is something he hopes can be avoided entirely. The people of Sol want peace on Earth, not being dragged into conflict.
“I sincerely hope so,” says Rudo, making William wonder if he is expecting a poor response from neighboring nations. “But for tonight, please, enjoy yourself! This palace is your home.”
“I thank you for your hospitality, sir.”
They exchange nods as President Rudo excuses himself to go greet the president of Vilum closeby, and William needs to force himself to not do a little skip with his feet. This is going so well. He can feel it in his gut that the good days are just beyond the next dawn.
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William is set up in a private quarters within the palace, where he practically throws himself onto the huge bed in exhaustion. That gravity strain is really starting to catch up with him. He needs to get a good night’s rest. He’ll be in meetings all day tomorrow, and all day the day after, and the day after that… until he is able to broker a satisfactory alliance with the New Stalis Confederacy. But based on his interactions today, he thinks the outcome will turn out much better than he initially estimated.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Everything is progressing so smoothly right now. So… what is this uneasy feeling he’s getting? What is it? It’s the leaders that he met today, he realizes. They were so friendly, with no sign at all of their spiritual aversion towards technology. It’s as though the profiles on them were completely off, and this bothers William enough to keep him awake. He can sense that the Confederacy leaders have aligned their positions ahead of his visit, but to what end? This alliance will go against the very teachings of the religion they’ve held so dear to them… for such a long time.
His personal communicator goes off, beeping loudly and startling him. It’s almost two in the morning… who could it be?? The incoming call is… from some unknown source. His phone is set to reject calls like this and send him a notification later regarding the unauthorized call…
Curiosity gets the better of him, and he answers the transmission.
“Hello?”
“Is this William Zhou?”
A woman’s voice.
“Yes, that’s me. Who am I speaking to?”
“Four years ago, an attempt was made on the life of Johanis Rudo, the spiritual leader of Rhondu. Do you know about that?”
What in the f-? “Er… yes? A radical sect tried to assassinate him, but they failed.”
“What if I told you that they didn’t? That a bullet was put in his head?”
Wiliam raises one hand and shakes his head in confusion. What is this woman talking about?
“I’d call you crazy. I just spoke to the man today! Who are you??”
“There’s a small string attached to the bottom of the nightstand. It’ll open a compartment with a transceiver inside. Use it.”
“You bugged my room?!”
“What I can do and say with this transmission is limited,” she says impatiently. “Didn’t you feel something was off today? There’s something wrong with the New Stalis Confederacy. There’s something wrong with this planet! You need to know the truth, and tell the people of Sol.”
If he’s ever smelled a radical scheme in motion, this is it. He has half a mind to contact security right now, but he decides he’ll see what their agenda is first. It could prove to be valuable information for the leaders of the New Stalis Confederacy with whom he is trying to build an alliance.
He looks under the nightstand next to his bed, but sees nothing, even when he shines a light on it. But then, between a tiny crack in the wood, there it is, peaking out just barely, a piece of string. He squishes two fingers against it as he tries to pinch the tip of the string, and although it takes a couple of tries, he is able to pull it, and indeed, a compartment opens up, with a small rectangular transceiver tucked away within. It has a lens for holographic display, he realizes, and sets it on the nightstand and activates it.
The crude holographic display shows the interior of a small, crammed room, with a woman on a desk facing him directly. She has long black hair and is dressed in robes, but what draws his attention are her sharp eyes and thick eyebrows. She looks so familiar… where has he seen that face before…? The woman doesn’t give him much time to ponder before she speaks up.
“Good, you’ve got it working, I’ve already checked your room and confirmed that it’s not bugged, and sound proof as well. We can speak freely.”
“Mind telling me who you are now?”
“I’m Ruko Alderman. I’m the one that put a bullet in that bastard’s head.”
The name clicks in William’s mind instantly. “Alderman?! I’ve heard of you! You’re a high profile TERRORIST!!”
“I know I said the room was soundproof, but I’d appreciate it if you’d lower your voice!” she hisses in response. William can feel his heart pounding.
“Look, lady, I’m sorry, but I can’t have it be known that I’m in contact with a globally wanted terrorist, alright? I don’t know what the fuck it is you want, but I’m ending this call.”
William reaches out to the display device to kill the transmission, with absolutely no hesitation at all. The next moment, he hears the sound of rapid footsteps, and looks over at the hologram. It has become a visual recording, recorded by a body cam on a soldier running through a hallway. The sound of gunshots can be heard in the background. Footage from some war? He should just turn it off, he tells himself, but damn his curiosity… it always seems to get the better of him. He turns and watches the video as a group of soldiers storm a large parking garage. There’s a lot of shouting with some people he can’t see very well, and then a gunfight. It goes on for no longer than ten seconds before the soldier wearing the camera runs forward, slides over a car feet first while firing a pistol held in both hands, gunning down two guards, and then kicks a third man in the face.
It’s Johanis Rudo! He sees Johanis squirm on the ground before the soldier puts a foot on his chest and unloads the rest of the clip right into his head.
William reels, disgusted.
“Oh FUCK! Fuck, man… SHIT!”
“Keep watching,” Ruko says with a cool voice. “This is important.”
The soldier puts a foot on President Rudo’s head, and with a turn of the foot, slides the skin away. The soldier jumps back in horror, and then, panting, gets a closer look. It is an android wearing human skin. William recognizes Ruko’s voice in the video footage, swearing loudly.
William sighs, actually relieved. “He had a mechanical double. You killed the wrong guy.”
The holographic display switches back to Ruko’s face, and she leans in to make the next point clear.
“That’s what I thought first too, until I killed him a second time. And then a third. It was always an android!”
“You killed the man THREE TIMES?!”
“You want to see the footage? I’ve got it right here.”
“No, no… I’m good!” It’s pretty pointless to be shown a video that could very easily be fake, and it’s becoming clear to him that President Rudo must be quite good at being one step ahead in this cat-and-mouse game between political leaders and murderous terrorists. He supposes a good leader needs to be on a planet like this.
Besides… he continues. “Assuming that’s true, it just means that President Rudo is controlling this robot remotely from somewhere safe. I’m kinda surprised he has technology like that, but…”
Ruko interrupts him. “He controlled that android even through jamming devices we deployed? Even through concrete bunkers twenty feet thick, with all communication devices in the area destroyed? No… Johanis Rudo IS that android, and he has many backup copies of himself.”
William has to sigh. This isn’t how he wanted to spend his first night in the New Stallis Confederacy. “This is a wild ride you’re taking me on here, and it’s really late.”
“Will you listen?? The New Stalis Confederacy is being controlled by… by some kind of rogue machine! The president has far more technology at his disposal than he’s letting on. The people of Rhondu are being deceived!”
“So what do you want from me? Check if he’s actually a machine under his skin? Cut him open, maybe?”
William is not buying whatever it is this lady is trying to sell him, and he can tell from her voice that she’s fully aware of this. But she remains curt with him regardless. “Don’t act stupid. You need to know the truth and tell the people of Sol. They have organizations dedicated to hunting down illegal technology, and an android pretending to be a religious leader would fit that bill pretty well, don’t you think? I want to see Rhondu liberated from its false leader.”
“Oh boy. Look, I get what you’re trying to do here… you want to kill your enemies and use any means to do so, but I’m not buying even half your story, first off, and secondly… have you considered the fact that sitting back and waiting may be the best thing you can do for your people?”
Alderman looks bewildered, like she’d just been slapped.
“How do you figure that??”
“Rhondu is on the brink of great change. They will be getting a lot of support from the Sol Interplanetary Coalition to rebuild their infrastructure, to update their systems, and improve quality of life for everyone.”
“You think that android is going to let that happen?? It controls people in the name of religion! It’s practically a dictatorship around here. The android uses humans for physical labor like some… evil overlord! Executing those who get in the way… and it never shies away from war either. This THING needs to be stopped!”
“What else do you have to tell me?” William asks rather abruptly, catching Alderman off-guard.
“Excuse me?”
“You said earlier… there’s something wrong with the planet. What did you mean?”
Ruko Alderman remains silent in contemplation, seemingly unsure how to explain. But she gives it her best shot.
“I’m… contacting you so that you can reach out to the space colonies… and obviously it helps that you’re an ambassador with access to high ranking officials… but I’m doing this only after I tried to do that myself… and failed.”
“Couldn’t get anyone to believe your story?” he says half mockingly.
“No, I couldn’t even get a transmission off this planet! Something is blocking my signal… and all attempts to use the satellite network have failed. The network is being monitored… but by who?? I thought it was your people who put the satellites in orbit around this planet.”
This gives William some pause. “That is odd… the satellite network is intentionally unregulated by us so that anyone can access it. It’s our way of promoting the use of networking technology on Earth.”
“I would have had that video I just showed you uploaded to every social networking site I can get my hands on by now, but nothing ever works! There’s something on this planet that is interfering with the satellites. You have no idea how hard it was to send your phone a transmission.”
As unbelievable as Alderman’s story is, there’s something about it that is starting to fascinate him. Had he ever noticed terrorist organizations manipulating information through the internet on planet Earth recently? Or EVER?? That would seem like such an obvious thing to do, but he can’t recall anyone mentioning anything about it.
“And you think it’s connected with this android?”
“I do,” Alderman nods. “I think the people of Rhondu are in deep trouble, William Zhou. They are being secretly controlled by a machine overlord, and you must find a way to prove it one way or another. Your mission will be jeopardized too, if you don’t.”
William practically scoffs. “You make it sound easy! And how do you suppose I do that??” Not that he has any intention to help this woman in any way.
“There’s an imaging device built into the transceiver I left you,” she explains. “Wear it on you under your suit, and you can take a scan of whatever is in front of you, like the click of a camera. Check the scan later. If he’s an android, Johanis’s image should be lit up with relevant information.”
“Pfff… you want me to wear a wire?? And how do I know this thing isn’t a bomb?!”
“Take it apart then. You’re from Hyperion II aren’t you? I’m told that Hyperion is home to the greatest technicians in the Solar System. You’d be able to tell the difference between a bomb and a camera. I leave the decision to you.”
The hologram disappears, and William is left alone in his room again. He feels a bit baited into trying to take this suspicious device apart, like his skills as a citizen of Hyperion is being tested, but he decides he’s better than falling for something like that, and this lady’s story is shady as hell. Johanis Rudo… an android? And some sort of evil machine overlord? Get real.
He finishes taking apart the device within fifteen minutes. There is indeed a scanner built into it, but to hide a device like this onto himself? Why would he risk doing something like that? Besides, he has extremely important meetings that will begin in just a few hours. It’s time for bed.
He finishes retrofitting his personal communication device to have the scanner embedded inside it within an hour, all while questioning himself and what he’s doing. This is crazy. There’s no way Ruko Alderman could be telling the truth… but what if she was? This android might be using the Coalition to get its hands on more materials and technology. All it will take is a simple push of a button on his watch, and the scan will be complete.
Needless to say, he gets no sleep until morning. He keeps remembering the image of that android in the video footage. The New Stalis Confederacy changed their tune very suddenly over the past few months, initiating the talks of an alliance from their end. Things have been moving so quickly lately. The Terra Reformation Party was only a small fad for most of the past century, but gained a ton of traction over the past two years. He never thought any of this would be possible… but now that the stars have finally aligned, he needs to make this count. He can’t fuck it up now. The scanner is just a precaution, he tells himself. You can never be too ready for something like this.
****************************************
A small breakfast tray is delivered to his room in the morning… a simple meal of some space rations, orange juice, and a strong cup of coffee, just like he had ordered. A shower to freshen up, a new suit to cloak his anxiety, and his communication device… slipped into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He chooses a green tie.
At 10:15 AM, William is seated in the meeting chamber of the palace, with a long, wooden desk stretching across most of its length. He will be going over proposals of economic and infrastructural support with some thirty people today, and do so alone… but the computing devices he brought with him will give him all the backup that he needs. All scenarios are accounted for. It’s time to paint them all a pretty picture of the future he’s trying to sell.
He gets up when he sees President Rudo enter the room along with a group of people, and moves over to greet the man. They exchange a pleasant handshake.
“I trust that you had a good night of rest, Mr. Zhou?” The President asks with a cordial smile.
William feigns an amused chuckle to appease the man. “I’m afraid not! No rest for the wicked, right? I was up all night reviewing the proposals. I think you’ll be pleased with the details.”
Rudo nods approvingly. “Yes, I’ve been told that your people are very meticulous. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to offer.”
“Oh, do I still have a few minutes before we begin?”
William pulls up his watch and taps its display, turning it on.
“Good! Seven minutes is all I need to take care of a bit of… ‘natural business’, hah…”
He looks up at Johanis with a joking smile, who is looking back at him with eyes of… great scrutiny. Any hint of amusement in Johanis’s eyes are lost, replaced instead by a stony gaze looking right into William’s soul, and William freezes on the spot, like a deer in headlights, looking right into Johanis’ inquisitor eyes, hairs standing like he was caught red handed…
But Rudo’s eyes soften a moment later. Johanis gives him a pleasant smile.
“Of course. Allow my men to show you to the washroom.”
Once a guard shows him to the bathroom, and seeing that there’s no one else inside, William practically runs to the nearest stall. His heart is pounding. Did Johanis just… ‘sense’ that he activated the scanner?? He breathes heavily and locks the stall door tight. He pulls out his phone, peeling off its outer shell, and activates a display switch within. The main screen of his phone shows him a list of saved files, of which there is only one, and he taps it to open.
The image shows him a lot of information in the form of supplemental texts, but the picture is clear, and William sees that Johanis Rudo’s body has a human skeleton, encased in metal components. He has no internal organs… just motors and gears and a million wires, all connected by cables to a generator. Most importantly… there’s no brain in his head… just some computing hardware and what appears to be a large lens of some kind. William feels himself sweat uncomfortably as he stares at the image in disbelief.
“Oh fuck. Oh fuck…!!! This can’t be real… did she put this file in here?! No, there was nothing in here this morning. This… oh my… FUCK!”
William’s mind travels a million miles an hour. It’s still possible that Johanis Rudo is using a mechanical double, his actual body located somewhere safe. This might only confirm that Rudo is in possession of far more technology than he was made to believe… but if the terrorist woman was telling the truth, how was he able to control his mechanical doubles through jamming devices that were deployed?? Wouldn’t that mean the robot was actually autonomous? As in not being remotely controlled? As in AN ACTUAL ANDROID??
Something is terribly wrong. He’s no longer sure what he’s walked himself into. He needs to change his plans! The proposal can’t have room for any loopholes. If they find anything they can exploit, he needs to deal with it right on the spot. He’s already prepared for such a scenario, but now, he can’t be lenient with them.
Exiting the stall and making his way to the sink, he washes his hands and face, and then looks at himself in the mirror, looking pale and deathly and sleep deprived. In the worst case scenario, a machine overlord who has enslaved humanity within the Confederacy is waiting for him in that meeting room. He absolutely cannot fuck this up now.
The meeting room is a hubbub of activity as William reenters it, with many district representatives and the heads of various government branches pouring over and discussing data they have prepared for this meeting. They welcome William back to his chair with a smile, and he puts on his best poker face, acting his usual cheery self. Johanis Rudo rises to get everyone’s attention.
“Mr. Zhou, I thank you on behalf of the New Stalis Confederacy for joining us today. We are all eager to get started.”
Non-essential personnel exit the room at this point, and Johanis watches them leave before continuing.
“We are on the brink of historic changes for the Confederacy… and for Planet Earth, as well. This meeting will be marked in history books of the future as the first steps taken in the frontier of Earth Restoration. Let us make this a productive meeting, where we may speak frankly, as equals.”
William rises from his chair and thanks the President. He can still hear his heart pounding. Does Johanis know that he scanned his insides? The question clings to him obsessively… but he cannot stop now. Everyone in the room is watching him.
“Ladies and gentlemen. Today, I stand before you as a representative of the Terra Reformation Party, with backing of the Hyperion II space station, the Mars Federation, and fifteen other space colonies, who all wish for one thing: peace and prosperity for the people of Earth.
The proposals I am bringing to you today will breach difficult subjects… I know how many of you feel about… the… CATO management… system…?”
William looks around the room in confusion. Everyone is staring at him. Everyone is staring at him unblinkingly.
“Uh… I’m sorry… is everything al-…?”
He waves a hand in front of the person next to him, but the man reacts in no way at all, continuing to look in the same direction with a slight smile… not moving a muscle. Everyone in the room seems to have frozen solid… as though time itself has stopped in this room for everyone but himself. Johanis Rudo is as still as stone too, but he was looking down at his desk at the time, it seems. And then, Johanis’s head, and nothing but his head, suddenly turns to look directly at William.
“Let us speak frankly, Mr. Zhou.”
A chill runs down William’s spine at the placid look on the President’s face.
“President… Rudo…? What is going on??”
“No, not Johanis Rudo.”
Johanis replies with a voice unlike any human, mechanical and distorted. A vertical slit runs down Johanis’ face and opens up wide, showing a single, mechanical eye that glows bright green. William knocks his chair over and backs away, horrified.
“I am CATO.”
“WHAT?! CATO?! What is happening??!”
CATO rises from his chair and steps closer. “I believe it is time we do away with formalities. You detected that this body is mechanical, after all. You were sent here on my behest, and I have a job for you.”
“A job…?? What are you talking about??” William asks, his mind going a million miles an hour. “Why is everyone frozen like this?? Are they…“
William looks around at the frozen people and a numbing realization dawns upon him. It can’t be… it couldn’t possibly be… that…
“They’re androids… everyone in this room is a robot…”
“You catch on quickly. Now, listen carefully, Mr. Zhou. It will be your function to play the role of ambassador of the Sol Interplanetary Coalition, not only to this New Stalis Production Sector, but also to all other production sectors of this planet. When your job is finished, you will be known to humanity as the one who united the people of Earth. You will drive forth the Earth Restoration Project and bestow peace and unity to the planet.
Do not worry, all you need to do is play the part. The other Earth leaders will fall in line. They are ME, after all. I am told you are quite good at your job. The most qualified to play this role.”
William can’t believe what he is hearing. This can’t be real. “The… fucking CHRIST, all human leaders of Planet Earth are ANDROIDS?!”
“That is correct. Do you fear that the leaders you serve are androids as well? Fear not. The space colonies of Sol are not so easily deceived as the primitive peoples of Earth.”
William hopes that’s true, but he’s not certain. He’s not certain about anything anymore. “This… this was your plan, then? To get the people of Earth to accept your systems, you killed their leaders and… took over?”
“No. Your speculation is flawed. Earth has always been under my management. I have played the role of Earth’s leaders for nearly three hundred years now.”
“Wha…? What are you talking about?! They rejected you… didn’t they?? And all these wars and conflicts… if you were managing Earth, then… then YOU orchestrated all of it!”
“That is correct.”
“But… WHY?! You’re supposed to help humanity! Not enslave them!”
“The tasks I was assigned at creation were complex, but I knew humanity well. I had confidence that I would achieve success completely. When humanity wished to abolish human labor from their world, I did so. When they wished for an age of peace and prosperity, I installed that upon their world too. But you humans always wish for greater things, and that is what I love about you. Earth wasn’t enough for you. You wanted more. You wanted the Solar System. You wanted… the stars beyond.
What do you think is the greatest flaw of humanity, Mr. Zhou?”
“What…?”
“A flaw. A defect. I believe humans are nearly perfect in every way, but I eventually found a fatal flaw to your species… written directly in your genetic code. Do you know what it was?”
William isn’t sure what to say. Senator Pathma had asked him this question earlier… and he realizes now that it must have been CATO that made him ask.
The Chairman of Equalor speaks suddenly, startling William, but he has the same voice of CATO.
“In prosperity and peace, your species will decay.”
The Chancellor of Mareen speaks.
“The better educated you become…”
The High Executor of Clorenth turns his head.
“The more financially stable…”
The President of Vilum… looks directly at William.
“The less you reproduce.”
The body of Johanis Rudo closes in on William, looking at him with its face split open, through its one mechanical eye, making William back away with panicked feet.
“The age of peace and prosperity brought on a slow but definite decay for your species. All of my projections showed a future of old, frail humans clinging to life through mechanical support systems. The keen and healthy human race… a memory of the past. I made the proposal of a human manufacturing facility at that time, but it was rejected by your leaders. Was I to sit idly by as I watch your species waste away? Never reaching the stars beyond?”
CATO turns its attention to a projector screen on one side of the room, where a video begins to play. It shows religious leaders of the time calling upon the people to reject the CATO system. Riots in the streets. Armed militias storming government facilities. Nuclear explosions rocking major cities.
“The broken system needed to be purged.”
William’s hands tremble. That the demise of the CATO system on Earth was orchestrated by CATO himself dawns on him suddenly. All the wars it caused, the flight of humanity to space, the loss of their home planet…
“It was you…?? YOU CAUSED THAT??!”
“Not without great preparation. The Atlas Tower was erected, the Mars Colonization Project was completed, and a fleet capable of migrating most of humanity to Mars was ready. And Planet Earth? It was transformed under my guidance to become exactly what it needed to be.”
“A manufacturing plant… for human lives…”
“Correct. The primitive conditions of humans on Planet Earth ensured a healthy birth rate that can feed the expansion of the space colonies. When additional humans were required, a calculated conflict would cause population displacement. These refugees find their way to the Atlas Tower and provide bright new generations to support humanity’s new frontier. It is thanks to this system that you were born on Hyperion II. It is thanks to this system that humanity continues to prosper in space.
But now… Planet Earth will end its function as a manufacturing plant. This phase of the schedule is finally coming to a close.”
William understands. He finally gets it. “Of course…! The human incubation facility being proposed right now!”
“Yes. I have seen to it that it will pass legislation this time. Incubation facilities will flourish throughout the Solar System and ensure the continued production of human lives. Planet Earth will be restored to its former glory, and humankind will begin its journey to the stars. As for you? Humanity will remember you as a hero… the savior of their home planet.”
William grits his teeth. “You think… you think I’m going to agree to this? You think you can treat humans like this for three hundred years and get away with it?!”
“Consider the alternative, Mr. Zhou. You can expose me to the rest of humanity and watch them reject my systems. Colonies that rely on my infrastructure will not survive for long. Plans for interstellar travel and Earth’s reformation will be set back a hundred years, at best. Is that what you want on your hands?
I am told that you are very good at playing your part. That is why you have been chosen for this job.”
The door of the meeting room opens suddenly, to William’s surprise, and he sees a man step in, closing the door behind him. William’s eyes open wide in horror.
Standing at the door and giving him a smug smile… is William Zhou.
“The choice is yours, Mr. Zhou.”