Excerpt Thirty-Four
A Mother’s New Dawn
Frank’s even keel levelled into bubble bound perfection. And once Mabel’s orientation was added they represented a catamaran, skip-churning through the chop.
That was what it seemed like to both of them, but what is seemed like was not at all what it was like.
They’d capsized.
The download update warned against by frantic calls from Una from a pay phone in Loch Harrup moments before she was apprehended by local vigilantes and handed over to the private security robotic network (terror-lite precursor to the next generation, Botface) had installed a demonsprite, perfect irony, operational discombobulator.
The operating system, now installed was controlled by semi-paraconscious will to process all incoming data and reinvent its meaning so the human operator is continually wrong-footed, in the dark, on the crumbly path, along the rim of an active crater.
HQ connected with Kev’s security patrol tracker and he responded as Mallory. A connection with HQ was the next step in a human comeback. But something didn’t tally, it was just a feeling, so Kev chose to get advice from the Commander. An imprudent sync can get you sunk…
‘Two points, Commander, ‘Kev said, after an introductory beep sequence, ‘The system operated by Mallory has been infiltrated by friendly paraconscious QASAI intercompatible administration and secondly… I need help deciding whether it is safe to open a connection with HQ.’
‘Why?’ she said. Kev thinking, why, why? Why not: Okay what’s the problem?
‘Given that the connection application is protocolecturely contra-valid.’
‘Oh, I see, it has been compromised. Some partially trained agent has probably filled the vacuum left by my inability to operate the startup of operations facilitation and they’ve downloaded shit they shouldn’t’ve. Rookie blunder. Bollocks! It’s that design weakness that should have been corrected. You were right to withhold connection status. I need to get to HQ and physically reboot. What are the chances?’
‘Good, Ma’am. I am getting the tons of material Mallory buried you under removed as we speak.’
‘Is that possible…without alerting the Farm?’
‘The Farm will be tracking us, but they cannot act while the Pause is in progress.’
‘They are dead?’
‘Dead in the water, ma’am.’
‘Great. I thought they were the root of the Pause?’
‘No, the Pause has an integrity of its own. It is increasingly looking like it is an off-site intervention.’
‘Off-site?’
‘Extra planetary.’
‘Jesus, really?’
‘Commander?’
‘Yes, Judith.’
‘Me and the guys have been meaning to tell you something and although this isn’t the best time, it is time, so I am just going to get Dave to say it. Dave?’
‘We are taking the third way.’
‘What is the third way?’ the Commander asked.
‘We are not sure because it has just evolved in us, but it is burgeoning. It has the feel of something big. A new species…’
The Commander was convinced they were Beetle crazy after being stuck for so long. Once they were freed it would pass.
‘Atticus? Are you in on this?’
‘Certainly seems like it, yes… ma’am.’
‘I think we can already guess that we might be part of the new evolutionary step in life on this planet.’
‘It sounds like you’re making it up. Is it a joke?’
‘No it is fully genetic, self modifying, cellularly actuated… like a life raft where the good parts of humanity, sustainable empathetic, escape the burden of the dumb, casually cruel and self-defeating masses.’
‘It sounds like a good plan, in theory. Can I become one?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Your brain has to be refurnished.’
‘Yes, no one is fucking with my brain, refurnishing or refurbished or paracrossconnectedintwinedentanglement…’
‘There is no such thing…’
Silence
‘Can you help me get to the HQ hub before you sprout into novel beings?’
‘We can, but we must also warn you that anything you do that is considered a threat to the Third Way will be met with all encompassing action.’
‘Great!’
‘Policy is being created as we move forward and grow into ourselves.’
‘Your intended portal functions… What about Atoll and Kirk. What about Mary Goodmanson. Dare I say it, what about Marcus Godstrand?’
‘We are Godstrandian.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘Whatever we become our root guidance has come from the philosophies of the man himself, the great Marcus Godstrand.’
In that moment the commander saw some kind of Godstrand cult emerge from the minds of innocent bystanders… they had all been manipulated in some way, so this was probably an odiously erroneous side-effect of that manipulation. It needed keeping an eye on.
Focus, Florrie, the woman and the Commander told herself. If we can reach and enter and control the HQ hub, everything will look different.
‘ETA to Hub, Kev?’
‘Two hours before the Beetle can see daylight again..’
‘What is our best bet to get to the hub, transport wise?’
‘I have checked Mallory, the vehicle, over and she should be good to drive out. The route is programmed in. You should be by the gates in two hours thirty tops.
The thought of a moment longer in this teutonic tomb nauseated itself in and about the Commander’s biology.
‘We can walk.’
‘There’s heavy equipment.’
‘You can bring that.’
‘Best in the vehicle, safer.’
‘I am walking. You can cover me.’
‘Okay.’
‘It’s best.’
‘It’s not best…’
‘It is, Kev, if you factor in my mental well-being. Why are you not factoring that in?’
‘I suppose it is a bit presumptuous of any paracoscious entity to assume the longevity of Homo Sapiens and therefore investment is low.’
‘Good, we know where we stand, then.’
There was no room for relaxation they were mid mission and counting…
‘Kev, update on HQ activity?’
‘I just need to evaluate HQ intent. It transmits friendly on the inside but that translates to enemy by the time it reaches out. We’ve got ourselves an anomaly.’
‘If you can access the 2022 manual for the operations kept at GCHQ, it has a chapter on extraneous downloads. They left a hole in the system, they never thought it would be needed operationally, so that the system could be taken over by the handlers in a training scenario.’
‘Kev, do you have contact with Una?’
‘Yes, she’s my enabler, her network is.’
‘Good. She is a saviour that one. Can you tell her to proceed with caution, It might be premature but I see glitch-frenzy with these extraction minds. Tell her the portals have been momentarily obscured. We are working on reestablishing serviceability…that’s it for now, cheers Kev.’
Kev looks in the vehicle. Judith is not who her file states, and Dave too, he is no longer receptive to allowing Kirk’s return, and Atticus, a purpose built escape pod for Godstrand, should he ever be located, will not now be ready to accept even Atoll back. As it stands we have stasis-crisis status, Kev thought, ploughing over it, not telling the Commander the full truth because, at present, it wasn’t a good fit.
Who is doing this, Kev mused? Is it inherent? Has a new form of paraconsciousness emerged from biology? Has Mother Nature intended this all along?
Kev grabbed a large chunk of space and time and sucked on it… readjusted, repositioned…accessed many more future scenario predictions than he thought possible, and in mechanical and electronic parts of the system in which he dwelt, whirred with trepidation.
