Post-Human Trilogy

This will feel strange.”

A sudden jolt of energy flowed through James’s connection to the mainframe as the A.I. uploaded James’s memories from before he had been sucked into the black hole, back into his reestablished pattern. In a matter of seconds, with his eyes fluttering wildly, the events of the past twenty-two hours flooded his synapses, forming new memories and bringing him instantly up to speed. When the upload was complete, he doubled over, propping himself up by placing his hands on his knees as he gasped in the fresh, cool air over the falls.

“What the hell just happened, James?” Old-timer asked as he braced the young man, placing his hands on his shoulders. “Are you okay?”

James looked down at the water churning below, frothing against the rocks. Trans- Human had been completely successful. “What about the nan consciousness?”

“What?” Old-timer asked. James put his hand up, signaling for him to hold on.

“You removed it from the equation when you sent it outside the blast radius,” the A.I. informed James. “It is no longer part of this time period, and you are free.”

He sighed with relief. “It worked.” He turned to Old-timer, who was now joined by Rich. “The Governing Council is about to summon us to headquarters. We have to grab Thel and head out right away.”

“What the heck’s going on, Jimbo?” Old-timer asked.

“I’ll explain it all on the way, but first, you might want to brace yourselves.” He tapped back into communication with the A.I. “Are their uploads ready?”

“Yes, James.”

He turned back to his friends. “Okay. This is going to feel pretty weird.”

25

When they reached the front entrance of the Council headquarters, Djanet was there to greet them. Her face appeared stricken by worry, and she began walking with them in step as James hurried into the building. “The situation appears very bad, Commander. No one has any idea what’s going on. The anomaly doesn’t appear to make any sense. And the chief is furious with you for taking so long to get here,” she informed James, her eyes on his flight suit. It would be very difficult for James to explain himself.

James placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “Everything is going to be okay.”

They marched toward the door of the emergency strategy room. As soon as they entered, the eyes of all of the Council members who were present, as well as the dozens of assistants and advisors, fell on James.

“Keats, just where in the hell were you?” Gibson thundered as he saw James’s flight suit. His eyes narrowed. “You better have one hell of an explanation, son.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” James replied, regarding Chief Gibson with much more empathy and respect than in the past. Gibson had dealt with Luddites too, many years earlier—James realized now that he and Gibson were not so different—they were fighting on the same side. “A lot has happened, and I need to get you all up to speed.”

Gibson was momentarily stunned by James’s respectful tone. He still wasn’t sure whether he should suspect that it was sarcasm or part of some sort of trick to make him look like a fool. He decided to play it safe. “Well, we’re listening. This had better be good.”

“Listening won’t be enough,” James replied. “I’m going to have to show you. You might want to hold on to something.”

Instantly, the experiences and memories of the twenty-two hours previous to the reversal of the solar system were jacked into everyone present. Djanet, just as Thel, Old-timer, and Rich had earlier, had her saved pattern overlaid with her own. The councillors who were present experienced a program put together by the A.I. that made up, essentially a highlight reel of some of the most intense and poignant memories experienced by James and his companions. In only a few seconds, the experiences were relived as viscerally as they had been originally. When it was over, the room was electric with the terror that they had all just seen and felt and it was as if they all, collectively, had awoken from the same nightmare.

“It’s over,” Djanet finally said, breaking the silence that hung in the room.

“What about the nans?” Gibson asked. “They’re still in us!”

“We’re safe,” James assured the room. “The nan consciousness has been destroyed.”

“But what about the android armada? They’re still out there,” Gibson observed. “They’ve already proven themselves too powerful to be stopped!”

“That is where you are incorrect,” announced the A.I., suddenly appearing in holographic form in the room.

“Oh my God,” whispered Thel.

“Hello, Aldous,” said the A.I., greeting the chief warmly. “I have missed you.”

“We’ve all missed you,” replied Gibson, smiling in return. “And we need you.”

The A.I. shook his head. “What you really need is yourselves.”

Gibson’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“He means we already have the power, Chief Gibson,” came James’s voice just before a small foglet of nans appeared next to the A.I. When the foglet dispersed, Katherine and Jim stood next to James; concurrently, James had been transformed back into his new, gleaming body, right before their eyes.

Katherine didn’t waste any time. Before Jim could grab a hold of her arm, she stepped in front of Thel and slapped her hard across the face. Jim pulled her away as James helped Thel regain her footing. “Don’t tell me you didn’t deserve that,” Katherine said icily through tightened lips as Jim pulled her away, walking her as far away as possible.

Thel turned to James, completely baffled. She looked away from him and at Jim, who had his arm around Katherine, and then back at James. “Who…who was that?”

“It wasn’t me,” James replied, holding his hands up indignantly. He smiled and drew her to him. “I’m sorry, hon’. It’s a long story that I’ll explain later. I promise.”

Gibson was awestruck by James’s appearance. He stepped in for a closer look, marveling at the way the skin material, which appeared hard like diamond, moved with the same flexibility as flesh. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gibson whispered.

“You have only needed to imagine it,” the A.I. replied.

“So what are you suggesting? Are you suggesting that we all change ourselves into these…things?” Gibson asked.

“No,” James replied. “If we did that, we’d be no better than the androids. They’ve all taken on the same form and stopped growing individually. We will have no individual limits.”

“That’s why they’re here, Aldous,” Old-timer added. “They’re trying to assimilate us so that they can hold us back.”

“1 is the true cause of this though,” James pointed out. “She’s the one who has drawn the line and won’t let her people grow. She needs to be eliminated.”

“But how is that possible?” asked Thel. “You’re only one person. You can’t stop trillions of androids!”

James smiled. “Yes I can…and I will.”

“How? she asked.

“I’m going to go ask them politely to turn around.”

“They’ll refuse,” Gibson asserted.

“I hope so,” James replied. He turned to Thel. “I love you. I’ll be back soon,” he said before turning to leave the room.

“James, wait!” Old-timer suddenly spoke. He sidled up next to James and said in a low voice, “I have a score I’d like to settle. Do you mind if I tag along?”

James grinned. “I know exactly what you’re talking about. But you’re going to need an upgrade first.”