The presentations go on, each one more horrifying than the last in how they want to twist and pervert Father’s legacy. Disintegration clouds, delayed action assassinations, excruciators, nano-plagues, and human puppetry are just scratching the surface. Fortunately, none of them—not one—has a working nanobot anywhere near the scale they would need to make any of their ideas a reality. None of the competing designs are even close, though given time or some of our units to reverse engineer, they’d probably get it eventually. I regret the tech licensing that we did for Antonio Campos, even though with the limited control scheme we released, most of these horrific options wouldn’t work.
Dr. Morozov is speaking, a particularly painful presentation both from his terrible English and grotesque ideas. I feel around the room. All the guests have spoken now except Max, whose vitals are showing even more extreme agitation than my siblings.
Finally the Russian concludes his presentation. I carefully refrain from sighing in relief. General Liu takes the podium. He speaks in Chinese with Yang Song translating into English next to him.
“The potential for both profit and power from this technology is unlimited. The age of governments is drawing to a close, and a new age is dawning, an age where a single man with the right tools can stand victorious against armies. We have the knowledge, we have the will, we only lacked the key. Until today.”
Oh, so that’s what this is all about. It’s time to take over the world. Or overthrow it. Or something else equally stupid.
“The Butler family and their SynTech corporation have possessed the essential ingredient to remaking the world for decades. They have squandered it under the leadership of Tom Butler. They have hoarded this priceless treasure, using it for barely profitable medical ventures while hiding in a closed citadel in America, only recently emerging to do anything with the precious powers they possess.”
He waits a moment for the applause to die down. I get a sick sensation like I’ve just been punched in the gut. My sibs don’t look like they’re doing any better.
“Children,” he says slowly, running his eyes along our row of chairs, “this is your opportunity to renounce the legacy of inaction that your father embodied.” He pauses for effect. “You have made great strides in coming here, and now it is time to share the gift you have received from your father with those who can bring it to its full potential. I understand that not all of you will be able to join us. Some of you will be too indoctrinated in your limited and outdated worldviews. I give each of you the opportunity now to join in the future that begins in this room today.”
He waits expectantly, looking first at me, then at Evan, then on down the row, taking a long look at each of my siblings until his gaze reaches Louise. He’s clearly hoping that one of us will take him up on his offer.
“General Liu,” I say from my seat after a minute of uncomfortable silence. “With all due respect, we have a different vision for what our technology can mean for the world. I don’t think you’ll find that any of us are on board for what we’ve seen here today.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
He gives me a long look, then sweeps his eyes along the row again. “Do you all feel this way?” he asks slowly.
Every one of my siblings nods.
“You’re certain?” he prods. “I would very much prefer to have your willing cooperation.”
We all give him hard stares.
“That is unfortunate,” he says coldly, turning away and walking to the corner of the room. The silence in the room fills me with dread. I’m afraid we’re going to need to fight our way out of here. I start pulling my bots near.
To Evan: Lethal or non-lethal?
He looks my way and then I hear a distant clack of high heels on tile. My flow of bots feel someone familiar coming down the hallway. My many eyes recognize Dorothy James walking down the hallway toward the conference room. She’s the last person I want to see at this point. A large purse hangs from one hand, and in the crook of her other arm she’s holding a box the size of a toaster. It’s got a hard casing with what looks like a small antenna array on top. I reach in to see what it might be.
And then nothing. My extended senses go numb. My whole cloud is gone.
Not broken. just gone. My communication with the bots is disrupted somehow. If this goes on for a minute more, they’ll all time out and lobotomize themselves. I see my siblings looking confused as I turn to look at the big double doors behind us.
The clacking of her heels announces her entry into the room. Dressed neatly in a black pantsuit, hair immaculately coiffed, she walks in through the double doors at the rear of the room with all the confidence of a rock star strutting onto the stage before a cheering crowd. But no one is cheering, the room is silent except for the clack-clack of each of her steps.
“I told you that they wouldn’t take the easy way, Liu,” she pronounces. “So now we’ll do it my way.”
The icy venom of her voice echoes through the silent room.
“What did you do?” Chad demands, standing up from his seat by the aisle and turning towards her. He’s got a level of fury on his face I’ve never seen before from anyone.
“A suite of broad spectrum jammers,” she says flippantly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “They hit every frequency range that your nanobot hardware can speak on. Don’t worry, we’ll only need it for a few minutes until your clouds time out. In the meantime, I want you to be very certain of how serious I am. Please, pay close attention, children.”
She steps towards the center of the room, into the aisle between the last row of chairs.
“Chad, look at how you’ve grown up!” The saccharin she puts in her voice is galling. “So tall, strong, and handsome now. It’s good to see you back in charge of your siblings. You always were the little leader, weren’t you? I was afraid you’d let that upstart lost child usurp you.”
“Dorothy,” he says hotly, stepping up from his seat on the front row and into the center aisle to confront her. She sets her purse down on an empty seat on the last row, then reaches into it as he speaks, pulling something out that she puts into each of her ears. Earplugs?
“I don’t know what you think you’re going to accomplish,” Chad shouts, “but you should know—”
She pulls a large pistol from her purse, aims it at his head, and pulls the trigger. The room explodes with the sound of the shot as the back of Chad’s skull evaporates, splattering the podium behind him with his blood and brains.