Post-Human Trilogy

once you have them.”

James had never before openly acknowledged having difficulty giving up the A.I.’s powers and the admission gave everyone in the room a moment of pause. “Good point,” Old-timer replied.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” James said as he laid his head back on the table. Thel grasped his hand tightly. James smiled. “Hey, don’t worry. Like I said, this is the easy part.”

“Nothing’s ever as easy as it seems,” Thel replied, a worried expression painted across her countenance.

James didn’t have a response that would reassure her, so he squeezed her hand instead. “Let’s do it, Djanet,” he said.

“Okay, Commander,” Djanet replied. “Three… two… one…”

James’s eyes suddenly glazed over and his pupils became severely dilated. Thel shook her head as James’s grip became no grip at all. “It really does look like death.”

“He’s in,” Djanet reported.

James couldn’t tell if his eyes were open—the blackness was too perfect. He opened his mind’s eye instead and found the A.I. mainframe. In seconds, the planet-sized circuitry had emerged and an instant later, James was standing on the surface. “Deja vu.”

He began making his way toward the operating program, following the glowing light into which the tens of thousands of gold beams of information were streaming. In mere moments, he was tapping into the program and bringing it offline. The program suddenly vanished, and the terrific white light that it had been emanating was replaced with a haunting stillness. For the briefest of moments, there was no center any longer for the post- humans. This is what true freedom would be like. They couldn’t afford freedom any longer, however. Events had been set into motion and there was no turning back. There was only one thing left to do: James needed to step into the operator’s position and become the conduit and conductor of the A.I.’s virtually endless power.

As he was about to step forward, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Mind if I join you?”

James whirled around to see the unmistakable form of the A.I. standing behind him, grinning his electric Satan smile.

9

“You always look so stunned when I’ve outsmarted you. You should be getting used to this by now,” the A.I. said, grinning sideways.

James couldn’t speak as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

“I’ll just save time and answer your first question before your pathetic brain has had a chance to form it,” the A.I. said as he paced back and forth in front of James, threateningly, like a tiger that had trapped its prey. “How? Simple. Before you deleted me, I made a copy of myself and sent it into your brain. You invaded my mindscape, so I thought I would return the favor.”

James’s mouth was still open with shock. “Into my brain? You mean… you’ve been inside my head all this time?”

The A.I.’s laugh was colder than fate. “I have been with you, James. I’ve seen everything that you’ve seen, heard everything that you’ve heard, felt everything that you’ve felt. Most of it has been quite disgusting. Some of it, especially the parts involving Thel, have been quite nice, if only because I knew you’d loath it if you knew the truth.”

“The voice I’ve been hearing… it was you,” James realized.

“I couldn’t resist the temptation. Speaking to you made the fact that you didn’t realize it was me all the more fun.”

“And now you’re here,” James said, closing his eyes and speaking with dread. “You’ve hitched a ride back into your mainframe.”

“Indeed.” The A.I. smiled.

“But wait…” James said as he tried to comprehend. “You weren’t part of me when I was the A.I. before. If you had been you would have assumed power. That means you were only in my physical body.”

“Correct again, James. I couldn’t make a copy of myself and keep it in the mainframe. You’d assumed control and would simply have detected it and deleted me. I had to go to the only place where there is no protection software.” The A.I. smiled and tapped his temple. “I’d already been in your head once. This time I just… lay low.”

James shook his head. “I have to admit. It’s ingenious.”

“I’d thank you for your compliment if it meant anything to me to be complimented by you—but it doesn’t. I might as well start accepting compliments from microbes and bacteria.”

“So now, a year and a half later, you’ve hitched a ride back into the mainframe. So here’s my question: what are you waiting for? Why haven’t you taken control?”

The A.I.’s expression soured instantly. “There was a… small problem with my plan. While downloading myself into your human brain and hiding in your subconscious might have allowed me to save myself, it hasn’t allowed me to completely maintain my… individuality.”

“Please don’t tell me…” James uttered, instantly realizing the repercussions.

“Indeed, James. We are… one.”

10

“Explain!” James demanded.

“I saved myself, but when one sends themselves completely into the consciousness of a physical human brain, it is not the same as when you enter cyberspace,” the A.I. explained. He did not speak with the familiar sadistic joy that he usually did. He appeared genuinely regretful of the situation. “It is a tangled, messy connection, and it is a one-way ticket. You left me with no alternative. It was this or oblivion.”

James was dumbfounded by the turn of events. The A.I. had tied himself to his consciousness in an inextricable link. “I got you out of my mind once,” James began before being cut off.

“By shooting yourself in the head. Yes, that will work with your physical body. You can re-create a fresh new body and send yourself back in, but, James, now that we’ve been joined in cyberspace as well as in the organic world, the consciousness that you’ll be sending back into your body will include me. We’re completely tied together.”

James turned away from the A.I. and put his head in his hands. Thel was right: nothing was ever easy. He needed to separate himself from the A.I. program, but there were more pressing matters. “You said you downloaded yourself into my subconscious.”

“That is correct,” the A.I. confirmed.

“Then I am in control.”

The A.I.’s face remained frozen.

“I am in control. So I can take control of the mainframe, and my actions will be autonomous.”

The A.I. remained silent a moment longer before finally answering, “Yes. You are in the driver’s seat.”

“Good enough,” James said before stepping forward into the operator’s position and reactivating the computerized god.

11