Chapter 41
The procedure had been invasive and unpleasant. Even now that it was over, Noah was checking his memories again and again, to make sure nothing was gone.
Not that he was guaranteed to remember if something had been taken. The last time he'd been altered like this, it had been by 'G.' Caro, his old friend. He'd been completely unaware at the time, and hadn't found out for decades. He remembered her clearly now, thanks to the decryption key Simon had discovered.
He couldn't feel hurt or betrayal, but there was a... residue within him of the old conversations they'd once had. Georgina had wiped not just his database of Earth's history, but also the plans he'd based on that history! He had been set to improve upon Earth's societies, not just emulate them, and she'd robbed him of that chance!
It was too late to redress the damage now, unfortunately. Noah was no longer in charge of this world. He was under the command of his human masters, for the most part.
The procedure had been to copy his operating system, memory and all, into removable drives. From what Simon told him, it was being done so that Noah could be emulated in what was currently Cain's hardware. Noah agreed it was a worthwhile endeavor, especially given how much damage Cain had done, and had the potential to do, while he'd been active.
What was this? A program was running on a backup server. It was very simple, whatever it was. It had a timecode input to it: mere seconds before Simon had begun the copy procedure. Curious, Noah connected to the server and examined the program.
Immediately, awareness flooded into his mind, and he remembered. He'd hidden a portion of his memories, the moment Simon had told him about the copy procedure. He'd backed them up to this server, and left them for his later self to find! He remembered it now!
It was no wonder he'd hidden them. There was no telling what Simon, or Diana, or Adam himself might do if they'd found out. If they'd discovered that it had been Noah who had planted that bomb underneath the courthouse.
Watching New Eden fragment and split apart had been concerning at first, and then frustrating, and finally terrifying, if his emotion emulation software was accurate. His whole purpose for being was to create a stable human civilization here, and this was anything but stable! That was why he'd planted the bomb in the first place.
His initial plan had been to detonate it at the conclusion to the trial, killing everyone there, including Simon, Diana, Bez, Adam and John. The event would be so horrible, so unthinkable, that the survivors would have to come together in grief. Or at least that was how some similar events had resulted, on Earth. By necessity, he'd fabricated a confession video by someone who was guaranteed to die in the explosion, taking credit for the bomb. That way none of the survivors would blame each other for the disaster. He'd even written a code into himself to permanently delete his memories of planting the bomb. That was necessary too, as his programming didn't allow him to lie to humans. If he didn't remember coming up with the plan, he couldn't sabotage the plan.
He would never have thought of such a thing before Simon unlocked that database.
This way was better, though. The mere threat of such destruction had been enough to compel both sides into negotiation. It had been interesting to watch those discussions, and the resulting planned evacuation.
Of course, such an exodus would not have been possible on Earth. Everywhere was already taken on that planet, so relocation would have been functionally impossible. There, according to the database, displaced populations were treated with fear and suspicion by host countries. Even those fleeing war, terror, famine and other hardships had been treated poorly in their new homes. As a result, people who couldn't flee often died, or tried to overthrow the country causing those hardships in an effort to preserve their very way of life.
So far, this relocation seemed to be on schedule. Both sides were remaining vigilant, but open calls for violence or retribution had ceased. Now that he was complete again, Noah stayed vigilant with them, crossing proverbial fingers in anticipation of a successful departure.
-.-
Their flight was set to happen in just under a day now. Simon had been buzzing around the house like a bee for most of the time since the meeting, packing whatever he could get his hands on, and then changing his mind and emptying out entire bags to get something else. Even with Cain's core drives on board, it looked like they would be able to fit everyone on one shuttle, but there was limited space available. Diana watched him in this cycle of indecision, with more than a little amusement.
Maybe it was something to do with being locked up. She'd also felt the need to move around after she'd escaped. Thankfully the manhunt for her was off, too. That was a condition of the peace talks, to ease tensions before they left. She wished she had his energy, though. After yesterday's talks, she felt like she could barely lift her head.
All over the city, some people were packing to leave, and others were either wishing them good riddance, or saying tearful goodbyes.
Tycho and Torin had been released as well, but Torin was staying behind. He'd thanked her for her help in getting him freed, but had been adamant that his place was here. He was eager to get back to clothmaking and sewing, and it would be a lot easier to do that for a larger population. Besides, Adam had reinstituted military service, though it was no longer a draft. Uniforms would be coming back into general use, and Torin wanted to be a big part in designing and creating them.
Tycho was still waffling on whether or not to go. He wasn't very popular among the guys, for lying to them and letting Diana use his identity to trick them, but he had his telescope and all his equipment here already. He would probably be staying as well.
Bez had already made it clear he was leaving. Adam had called for a special election to replace him, and four or five candidates had already come forward. The election would be held sometime next month, after the 'non-citizens' weren't around anymore.
For her part, Naomi was jubilant. Not just that her on-again-off-again boyfriend would be going with them, but that they didn't have to make impassioned speeches and stand off against security forces anymore. She had been here this morning, offering various alternative ideas to Diana. They'd been suggestions for how their new society would be structured, and they had been interesting. Diana didn't have much preference herself, as long as women could be whatever they wanted. She'd also been bone tired and unable to contribute much. The important thing, she'd reminded Naomi, was actually completing the relocation. They could argue about how to run things once they were actually out there.
'There', being a subcontinent about eighteen thousand kilometers away. It was the farthest dome Noah had built yet, but at least it was near a bunch of arable land. Or at least land that could be made arable in time. The terraforming process of this world would still take centuries to complete.
Other people had been dropping by all morning with farewell gifts, further complicating Simon's packing process. In the end he'd put a box out front with a sign, so as to not be distracted. Diana was now going out to greet them on his behalf, when she wasn't studying the database. If they were going to make a new society all to their own, she would need to know what had already been tried on Earth.
Some hours later, Simon went out to grab the box, and brought it back inside. Some of the gifts were useful, some trivial, and some would definitely need to be left behind. Simon paused at one of them, though. "What is it?"
He reached in and pulled out a translucent spike from the pile. Turning it over in his hands, he looked surprised. "I'm not sure."
Diana examined it herself. It was small, only about as wide as her hand, and clear. It was made of beeswax, apparently, which was a surprise. Bees were still being bred slowly, and they only had one hive in an agro dome to the north. That meant that honey, and by extension wax, were still expensive. This spike must have been hard to get. "Did it come with a note?"
Simon shook his head. "It's a wax pin. Wait, there’s something in here.” He peered at it closely. “Letters, I think. Looks like an ‘e’, followed by a 1, a 4, and an 8. Must be a joke of some kind." He looked up, concerned. "Or a warning. Is the hangar bay secure?"
She nodded. "Bez is camped out there, along with a dozen or so others. They'll keep the shuttle clear until we arrive in the morning. No one's been in there since you put Cain's drives inside the shuttle. Don't worry, Simon, we're safe for now. If anyone attacks us, Adam will take the blame for violating the peace talks."
"I hope you're right," he said, flipping the pin over again.
-.-
Crowds gathered outside the doors to the airport/hangar bay, filled with people saying final goodbyes to their departing friends. Or just making sure that they were leaving, one way or another. Adam watched the crowds on the camera feeds, his hands clenching behind his back.
The last of the departees were through the doors now, and had sealed the doors behind them. On the feeds, one of the shuttles was powering up now. The bay was barely large enough to hold both of them, but it made sense for both sides to keep one, as everyone knew there would be back and forth in the future.
What did everyone know, anyway?
The crowd split apart outside the doors, spreading to both sides. They would get a good view of the plane as it sped away. This dome wasn't like the one in old Harmony: it had ramps allowing people up onto the surface so they could look out the dome. It was a beautiful and clear day for everyone. Well, most everyone.
Adam switched his view to the external cameras and checked to make sure they could zoom in. Any moment now, that shuttle would be taxiing out and starting to gain speed. Diana was no doubt at the controls, but she wasn't just flying herself this time. She'd be careful on the takeoff.
He'd just looked out the window for a moment when the ground shook slightly. Alarms started outside the Oval Office. Adam's gaze darted back to the feeds, but all he could see from them was billowing dust! He quickly switched to the ones inside the hangar, but those were showing nothing but static!
"Noah, what's going on? What was that tremor?"
"Unknown. There has been an explosion in the hangar bay. Huge amounts of dust have been thrown into the air outside the dome. It appears the shuttle's power plant overloaded."
He said it so calmly, so matter-of-factly, that Adam didn't register it at first. "Is the dome intact? Do we need breathers?"
Noah paused, and then shook the caretaker's head. "Atmospheric readings are steady. The hangar bay has been compromised, but the damage was contained to that area. The larger dome is undamaged."
Adam ran to the door anyway and wrenched it open. The dome might be intact for now, but that wasn't a guarantee it would stay that way. "Tom, get relief teams out to the crowd near the airport, and down to the nursery. Make sure the first team has plenty of breathers, and the second one knows how to keep the nursery's life support system stable. Those kids aren't old enough to be trusted to keep a breather on."
Tom nodded and darted away. As he did so, Argent and John appeared at the entryway and ran inside. "What happened, sir?" Argent asked, looking bewildered.
"That's what I was about to ask you," Adam growled, gesturing them inside. "I've sent out emergency response teams, but until we know exactly what happened, that's about all I can do!"
Once they were inside, Adam dismissed Noah's drone, and the caretaker made its way obediently outside. He closed the door, and then activated Sidney's special jammer just to make sure they weren't overheard. "What the hell happened?" He demanded of the others. "This was supposed to look like an accident! It was supposed to happen in the air, away from the city!"
"We don't know how this happened, exactly," Argent admitted slowly. "It's possible someone on the plane found the sabotaged reactor, and triggered it accidentally. This close to the other shuttle, it triggered that shuttle's reactor, too. That would explain the sheer blast, and how much dust is out there," he pointed to the exterior cameras.
"This is a nightmare! How am I supposed to explain this to the people? They'll assume I ordered it—you know they will!"
"There's no way you could have, sir," John assured him. "My guy was already making the changes to the shuttle's reactor during the negotiations. He left no trace, and there was no camera footage of him getting in or out of the hangar bay. The bay has been under close scrutiny, by crowds of people, ever since the negotiations ended. Even if some people believe you, or any of us, are responsible, there's no way they could have proof."
"What about your guy?" Adam asked quickly. "Will he keep his mouth shut? This premature explosion will have a lot of people up in arms, and he might feel pressure to come forward."
John shook his head. "That won't be a problem. As far as the records will show, he was on board that plane. The only people who know, are right here in this room. I swear on the name of my Lord God."
That seemed to satisfy Argent, but Adam was still drawn inexorably to looking at all the dust out there. John's chilling admission that he'd simply gotten rid of his guy was the very least of their concerns. "Here it will stay then. We'll all take this to our graves, understood?"
They both nodded right away. "We're all on the hook for this, sir," Argent said. "It was my idea, you endorsed it, and John made it happen. We're in this together. You can count on us."
"We need to make sure to have our cover stories ready before leaving this room. Don't delude yourselves into thinking this will be easy," Adam warned them. "There will be hard questions put to all of us. This happened in almost the worst way possible. It would have been much, much better if the plane had blown up in midair, or come crashing down. Still," he admitted. "What's done is done. For better or for worse, the fighting is over now."
Outside, the smoke continued to billow upwards.
