Tech Planet (Project NightStorm Book 2) Page 8
"The doctor still has him sedated, he didn't say how the healing was going. You know Tidal, should be back on his feet in the next couple of days."
"Any progress with the engines?"
"I've got the new guy looking at them, its quite a challenge for him and perhaps a good learning experience. The AI assistant is a great help although we've not made much progress."
"Get Ray to help, he's had some experience of complex machines," Arri said.
He turned his attention to the envelope he had brought with him to the bridge, he fished out the paper contents carefully examining the inside for anything trapped or hidden.
The papers were joined together by a twisted thin tube of metal. Meticulously he committed every word to his memory, along with every line and distinguishing feature of the woman's face.
"Going off shift sir," Jenkins interrupted his train of thought.
"OK have a great evening," Arri said, his attention disappearing back into the paperwork. He was puzzled why Walker had provided him with the details on paper. With a few taps on the wrist device, he sent a message to March requesting a briefing in the breakout room in five.
"We have to acquire a memory from a woman who will be at a party this evening, for an umm friend who will then provide us with permits. These permits give unlimited access to the world below, which will come in handy in our search for a replacement part for Marcus," Arri said.
"OK, how do we acquire this memory?" March asked.
"We need to get me close so I can look into her eyes and make the connection, use my training to search for and copy the memory."
"How does that even work?" March asked.
"Firstly it's not magic, let me try to explain."
March leaned forward looking intently at Arri.
"This is just between us," Arri said.
"I won't breathe a word to anyone."
"In every citizen of civilised space there is a manipulation that happens prior to birth, whether its an injection into the mother or a beam during a scan I don't know. Into the baby entangled atoms are inserted, the purpose of which to enable every sense to be recorded on a life server."
"Wait what?" March said.
"Everything we see, touch, taste, hear is recorded and sent to a server, known as a life server. As I understand it, it's almost impossible to hack yet we worked out how to do it. We can piggy back on the entanglement down to the life server and search through the memories."
"And you have to look directly into their eyes?" March asked.
"As far as I know, it's like making a connection."
"How did you learn how to do this?" March asked her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"It wasn't so much learnt as an upgrade. I did my basic training with the Marine units and must have shown some aptitude they needed. They offered an all expenses paid upgrade so I said why not. I did the training and a few missions before I joined up with Niko and the Orion."
"And your OK with taking someone's memories routing around in their life?"
"Depends on the situation, but I gave up the life of an intelligence operative and joined up with Niko," Arri said. "It never sat right with me stealing peoples most intimate thoughts, yet if you could to save a life, to help a friend."
March stood up and walked over to the coffee dispenser, pouring a cup of dark liquid. She took a sip, and looked back at Arri, studying his face intently.
"Can you change or erase memories?"
"From the life server yes, not from a person's hippocampus. A person's memories are there own, the servers are top secret known only to a few at the very top of NovaSec. The government doesn't even know."
"How could this happen?" March asked.
"From my understanding two hundred years ago a corporation that is now long dead decided to create the life server program. An advanced networking program captured most of the population details and tricked them into signing up to crazy legal contracts. Our military became concerned infiltrated the company and destroyed it from within, but they saw the advantage of recording everything, every citizen saw, heard and touched."
"If people knew there would be rebellion," March said.
"How would you prove it? Say I went on Galx-News and told them what I've told you, they would discredit me in an instant, I would be the conspiracy junkie, unhinged from one too many missions."
"You're going to take her memory?"
"Copy it yes, you know me I would do anything for my friends and Marcus is in trouble. The last time I saw him he was so helpless. We have to find out what was taken from him and why. Get it back if possible or find a replacement," Arri said, meeting March's gaze.
"So whats the plan?" March asked.
"From the paper work Walker gave me."
"Who's Walker?"
"The executive who's providing the permits, the party is taking place in a few hours. We need to scout out the establishment, find out what kind of disguise we will need. I do have an invite to the party, so access is not a problem."
"What does the invite say about the dress code?" March asked.
"Umm," Arri tapped at his wrist device pulling up the mailed invite, "dress code smart, so I guess that rules out combat armour."
"I picked up a few things from the shopping complex that might help," March said. She reached into her pocket and produced a small container two circles connected by a thick bar. Her other hand rummaged on her other side producing a series of items that she placed carefully on the table.
"We can dress up for the party, use the invites to get in, that leaves getting time alone with the woman to access her memories and find the one that's needed," Arri said.
"That little container is for you, an antique, it should help with your overlay situation," March said, breaking Arri's train of thought.
The small double circular container was made from a stainless steal, it had a very smooth texture and a small button. Arri applied pressure, the small lid popped open revealing the contents within. He raised a questioning eyebrow towards March.
"Contact lens, that project a display into the eye. I figured you could connect it to your W D. All you have to do is put those small circular lenses on to your eyeballs."
"Are you serious?" March nodded her head, "All you want me to do is put those onto my eye. How do you get them off."
March sent Arri a video of how to apply the tiny eye enhancements and remove them.
"All you have to do is stick your finger into your eye ball," March said a smile on her lips. It was her first sign of emotion since the discussion about mind hacking.
Arri watch the video, moving the slider back with his finger and replaying the part where the contacts were applied, he shuddered inwardly, this would take some getting used to. He closed the lid of the small container and transferred it to his pocket, he would experiment later with how to wear them and the setup with his personal computer device.
"Check out the nano spray can, this is tech they scavenged from the planet. Simply spray it over any surface then use the app. Enables you to create a clothing disguise from the nano bots. I am actually wearing my combat armour right now," March said.
Arri looked closely at her, "honestly I can't tell," he reached out and touched the side of her arm. It was cool to the touch and solid.
"Impressive isn't it. There are some restrictions you can't wear a helmet or gloves, the design of the boots needs to cover their large size so dress shoes are out. "
"They found this on the planet below?" Arri asked.
"In one of the dungeons yes, they had to adapt the tech but that's what the Cross's engineers are for. I found out that most of the advanced technology comes from the dungeons and not the AI worlds its self. What they get from that is materials, many rare and precious metals."
"OK, get some rest, tonight we take a step towards helping Marcus."
The layers of the combat suit felt familiar, like putting on a favourite jumper or coat. The armour offered th
e best protection money could buy as well as enhancing strength, agility and healing. In a strange way to Arri, it felt like coming home.
"Are you sure you don't need me to come," Ray asked as he gently sprayed the out side of Arri's battle armour.
"I'm taking March, maybe next time," Arri said.
"Well I'm great at parties, I once had three bottles of Attic red."
"Impressive your still alive, go on."
"Well I can't actually remember anything about the party," Ray let out a long chuckle, "by all accounts it was a great night. There finished, now the instructions say you need to link the bots to the app." Ray made a small gesture in front of his chest.
Arri's suit changed colour becoming the default dark grey that the app was set to. Ray worked on the outline of the fake clothing. Moving sliders from one side to the other to get a feel for how the program worked. Go too far one way and it looked like air had somehow been trapped, go the other way and the bots became skin-tight showing the outline of the armour beneath.
"Now that doesn't look too bad," Ray said. "I modelled the design on my work set up from my corporate days. I think it looks really good even if I do say so myself. Red tie, white shirt, grey over suit. Not sure what I can do about those boots. Shoes would go better, perhaps if I adjust this bit here."
"You're up next time we get to go to a party. March is unhappy with me at the moment, I hope by going on this mission we will get a chance to talk about it," Arri said.
"Hey, you're the captain you don't need to explain all your decisions to me. Just the ones that might get me killed," Ray said giving Arri a grin.
"Does it look too bulky?" Arri asked.
"You look like you've been in the gym a lot, maybe taken some muscle builders," Ray said.
Arri checked his clock the time to leave for the party got ever closer. He was not looking forward to this next part, placing the contacts on his eyeballs. The small circle looked tiny on the tip of his finger, he marvelled at the curve of its design.
It took him a while to control his blinking once he did he was able to slide the lens on to his eye. He handshake the devices and waited for the display to appear. It was different from the overlay, this was physical light projected into his eye, the overlay was a concept within the mind. The old contacts had a basic form of the neural interface a way for him to command what was happening on screen with his thoughts. He started to experiment to become fluent in its use. After a few minutes, he had mastered the basic controls.
"Time to go steal a memory."
11
Party
Arri held the small cube container in the palm of his hand. A quick squeeze released the catch popping the lid open. The inside was filled with a very fine powder like substance. He blew gently scattering the particles to the wind. The almost imperceivable cloud formed around his head. He winked at March.
"Dust selfie, great for taking social feeds in the third person. With a little modification you have a camera system that can fly movie like around a room," Arri said.
"I know how they work," March said, "I can even do the equation that puts the single points of light back together into a picture, advanced maths." She stuck the tip of her tongue out at him.
Since the revelation into how he was able to obtain people's memories, March had been avoiding him. He had never told anyone before about the life servers, there were of course conspiracy theories and even footage claimed to be of the facility, most people thought it was impossible.
The images from the selfie projected back into his contacts. Controlling the display was very different from the intuitive overlay, he had to form each thought very clearly and almost project it to the front of his head for it to work. The picture moved to the corner of his vision.
It was raining again inside the space station, thick heavy water that hammered down overflowing off walkways and sky roads. The outside of the club where the party was to be held was at least protected. A short solid looking canopy under which two door attendants checked tickets. They were dressed in what Arri had come to realise was pretty standard station fashion, large combat style boots, long flowing jackets and skin-tight undershirts. They had the name of the club wrote largely on their chests, 'The Smart Gin'.
The inside of the club was packed with bodies as the latest in dance-rock music pumped out sending vibrations through the floor itself. While outside every shop had neon signs, where the very air itself turned bright pulsing with every beat of the music. At the back wall of the club, a bar dispensed drinks with people rushing to get their hands on any kind of liquid. The centre of the club boasted a raised dance platform where several performers jerked their bodies under the influence of the music.
Arri noticed the patrons were people of all ages and all races enjoying the nightlife together. He cast his eyes around for the bouncers, to find them lurking at the edges of the club. Their eyes covered with dark shades, hands hovering close to the firearm protection. If you got into a fight in here you might not make it out alive.
The party Arri and March needed to attend was set in the VIP area. They had to force their way past a sea of people, in this place, there was no personal space. Arri used elbows and sheer size not to mention the enhanced strength his suit provided to make it through, March followed closely in the whole he created.
They handed their tickets to a particularly evil looking bouncer. Then walked up the short staircase that appeared to be cut into the wall behind him. Along one side of the stairs a wooden hand rail glowed white. Near the top they passed a sonic barrier and the loud music of the dance floor vanished to be replaced by conversation with just a hint of light classical music in the background.
Arri directed the selfie dust to do a sweep of the room, controlling it to first fly high. The image beamed back was clear, the top floor was circular in shape, a small bar sat like an island in the centre. There was much more space, room to walk and mingle with other guests.
"What can I get you to drink?" Arri asked.
"Iced water will be fine," March said, she had replaced her combat clothes with a single long flowing dress, like Arri's this was made from the nanomaterial and hid her combat suit below.
Arri concentrated for a moment pulling up the bars ordering App, he picked the drinks he wanted, then selected the payment method and with a thought pressed one little button. Almost before he had finished his order he was walking over to the bar to collect. The drinks were presented to him on a tray that seemed to descend from somewhere up high inside the bar. There were bar staff fulfilling drink orders and talking to those customers who wanted some form of social interaction. If you wanted to remain un-noticed this was the best way to buy drinks.
"Do you mind if I ask who your backing," the stranger asked. The voice belonged to a fair-haired eagle like woman, who wore a wide-brimmed hat.
"Backing?" Arri asked.
"In the trade vote, stay with the current or tear everything up and see what happens."
"There are advantages to the way things are, taking a leap into the unknown can be scary," Arri said.
"So you want things to stay the same," she smiled at him and extended a hand, "my friends call me Books, cos I read a lot in case you wondered."
"Arri, so Books what is it you do?"
"Professional adventurer and dungeon buster. Me and my cats venture into new dungeon finds and bust any traps, kill any monsters."
"Sounds dangerous," Arri said taking a sip of his drink, from the corner of his eye he could see March chatting to a very handsome looking man.
"Well, not been killed yet, although I've only worked on level one dungeons. Got a new job tomorrow for a level three. Problem is I'm light on crew, if you know anybody looking for a job?"
"What's the advantage of going in first?"
"Well, you get first look at the cache, get to pull one item before anyone else. I've heard tells of busters being set for life after one item from a level three."
"If I can get my permits a
rranged this evening Me and my friend would be happy to join up with you to help bust the dungeon." Arri waved his arm in March's direction.
"Here are my contact details, let me know when you've got your permits sorted," Books said, sending a contact card electronically at Arri.
The man before March was almost physically perfect. Long purple hair pulled back in a ponytail, dark flawless skin and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. He had long billowing sleeves that flowed around his body in a shadow of his movements.
"My lady, I am Tra Kalai and it is my honour to make your acquaintance, may I ask which side of the dispute you fall on?"
"I've given it a lot of thought but I am still stuck trying to make a decision perhaps you could provide some advice?" March said.
"It would be my honour. For too long we have been stuck with a system that enables certain individuals to become very rich, while the rest of us struggle for scraps at the bottom. Change is needed the agreements we have in place with the other corporations are flawed and should be ripped up. The only way to do this is to tear up what we have and force them to negotiate anew, when they see their profits hit, their materials stuck on the docks they will come around quickly and agree to better terms."
"Wouldn't this cause problems for people already struggling under the current conditions, if everything is put on hold while this is sorted out?" March asked.
"A small amount of hardship for the greater good is needed, I am sure they will understand."
"Do you think the vote will go your way?"
"I can almost guarantee it," Kalai said hand gently patting his stomach.
"How can I help?" March asked.
"We could always use the money to prop up our vote if you would care to make a small donation."
"Perhaps we could discuss this over a drink, my friend seems to have disappeared with mine," March said.
Arri watched as the image of the bar's upper floor zoomed around him, bodies and faces taken in by the flow of the camera. He spotted his target, she was sat in an alcove at the rear of the VIP area, she had her own roped off part. A strange muscle-bound humanoid clipped and un-clipped the robe keeping the steady stream of guests in an orderly line.