With Greater
Awareness…
Part 7
Repercussions
“Thank you,
Lieutenant,” Commander Carl Anderson said to one of the Haven Shore Law Keepers
as she left. Alice knew the meeting that just wrapped up was about her – it was
in the look the Lieutenant shot her on the way out, and the efforts Anderson
was making to avoid looking at Alice.
He sat down at
the table and brought up the whole of Alice’s report. Important holographic
playback and scan information hovered soundlessly over the twenty-one seat
circular table. With a few flicks of his index finger, he removed all but the
most important clips from the last few hours.
The first
replayed the moment she met with her fellow trainee at her apartment, the
second rolled through the moments before she entered the broken down tower, and
the third replayed the destructions of the three Ando Model androids. “I’m
disappointed,” Carl Anderson said. “But that doesn’t matter. What I need to ask
you goes beyond your Ranger training or the way you performed earlier today.”
Alice felt like
her heart was beating in her throat, and she searched for some way to explain
events that would change the attitude of the meeting. “Anything, Sir,” she
croaked instead.
“We’ve tracked
the problems with the Ando Models back to an antivirus that was created by
Lewis aboard the Clever Dream. We’ve disconnected his main interface line for
now.”
“What? You can’t
do that! He won’t have access to so much as a display, or a scanner,” Alice
protested.
“That’s nothing
compared to what the Council wanted done to him. Now, on to that question: Do
you think this antivirus will make conditions worse than they were?”
“It can’t be as
bad as what the Holocaust Virus did,” Alice said.
“What about the
solution the galaxy seems to agree on, wiping the bots back down to their basic
functions and disconnecting their wireless systems? In your opinion, is the
antivirus a better solution?”
Alice was torn
between defending Lewis and the need to be honest. “I wish I knew,” she replied.
“I didn’t see the code.” Pretending she was unqualified to make a guess was the
safe middle ground.
“So the only one
he’s shown this to is Jake,” Anderson replied. “Any idea why?”
“He customized my
original code; maybe Lewis thought he’d know enough to appreciate the work?”
Alice offered tentatively.
“The Council wants
to shut all the bots down. Everything is carrying the antivirus. I think it’s
too late, it’s already gotten off-world. Our allies will be told about this
later today.”
A full picture of
the potential problems the new antivirus could cause started coming together
for Alice. Haven Shore could lose every ally it had, from the British Alliance
to the Carthans. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“None of that is
your fault, that much is clear. The Council doesn’t know all the facts yet, but
as usual, the more inexperienced elected civilians are already blaming you for
the entire thing. They want Lewis’s core removed and you exiled. Since the
Rangers are my project, it’s ultimately up to me, and I can tell you up front:
you won’t be exiled.”
“Thank you, Sir,”
Alice said. Like much of her military comrades, she’d started to detest the
elected civilians on the Haven Shore Council. They reacted like little
children, panicking at every loud noise or sign of smoke. She couldn’t
understand why Ayan or Commander Anderson didn’t just take control and lead the
way themselves.
“Don’t thank me
yet,” Commander Anderson said. “We have to consider this.” He gestured towards
the three looping holograms. “You knew you were in the wrong when you didn’t
report the problem to your superiors,” he said, looking at her through the
image of Alice talking to Soren, the technician. “Bots are a sensitive subject
with a lot of people right now, and we’re on high alert, watching for any
errant behaviour. You ignored all of that, betraying the Rangers and Haven
Shore for someone you barely know.”
“I didn’t think
it was a big deal yet,” Alice replied.
Commander
Anderson waved the first image away and looked to the second. “You know by this
point. The recording of your conversation with Lewis makes that clear, and you
pressed on. What’s the right move before going into a situation like this?”
“Call Command,
forward my report, and request backup,” Alice replied. Her every instinct was
telling her to make an argument for acting alone, to make the situation seem
better than it was, but she held back.
“I’d almost feel
better if you answered that wrong. I could blame the training, but you knew you
were in the wrong.” He waved that image away and moved on to the next. “You
destroyed the bots when you could have salvaged the situation.”
“They were
suffering!” Alice said as she was overwhelmed by a sinking feeling.
“Don’t make it
worse, Alice,” Commander Ayan Rice said as she entered the room. She didn’t
look at her as she passed by and sat down. She was in the black vacsuit of
Haven Shore Security and set her excursion kit down beside her seat. As Alice
glanced down at the pack filled with combat and survival essentials, she
couldn’t help but notice that Ayan had her sidearm – a Violator handgun just
like hers – holstered on her thigh. One of the most visible leaders of Haven
Shore went out to investigate Alice’s mess personally. “Let him finish, there’s
something to learn here,” Ayan said flatly.
“You could have
corrected course when you met the Ando Model Twelve. If you simply deactivated
the third one and reported in, we could look past this entirely and conduct an
organized investigation. You destroyed these bots because they were suffering?
Well, you’re responsible for every Ando that has to suffer because of your
actions from here on out. Who knows how many we’ll have to activate to
understand what’s going on?” Commander Anderson said, turning towards the
window.
For the first
time since Alice entered the room, she noticed the full scope of the view from
the room they were in. The agriculture tower the British Alliance traded for
the cooperation of Haven Shore stood twenty-eight storeys tall. The building
was made to grow thousands of tons of food per month, and the first harvests
would start coming in within weeks, before the second tower could be completed
beside it. “I’m giving you a choice, Alice,” Commander Anderson said. “I
understand that it’s your nature to break off and do things on your own. I’ll admit you’re good at it, but it’s gotten
you killed in the past when you couldn’t recognize that you were over your head.
I want you in the Rangers, I think you could be important to our organization,
and I am willing to accept you back into training at Phase Two.”
“But I’ve already
saved people,” Alice protested. “Three hundred and fifteen people as a ranger
and more before, right after the battle. My other stats – with a squad and
without one – are in the top twenty per cent.”
“That doesn’t matter,”
Commander Anderson said, shaking his head slowly. “Your strength is in how you
act, not how you think, and the Rangers are a thinking outfit. I need you to
put thoughts above actions, and in your case, that means training. You either
take that or leave the Rangers until you feel you’re ready to retrain from the
beginning of Phase Two.”
Alice opened her
mouth to speak and closed it when a tear rolled over her top lip and landed on
her bottom one.
“The Warlord will
be back tomorrow,” Ayan said. “I know your father would be happy to have you on
their next mission. You don’t need the Rangers to make a difference, and I’m
sure Jake would have training for you.”
“You’d lose your
housing,” Commander Anderson said. “Unless you paid the outsider price for it.”
“I will,” Alice
said. She’d already made up her mind: leaving on the Warlord was a better
option than staying in Haven Shore and returning to training in disgrace. She
hated the idea of her father finding out what happened, but it had to be better
than what she faced if she stayed. Even though she knew she had little chance
at any damage control, Alice couldn’t stop herself from taking another run at
saying something to help herself. “This is political, the idiots on the Council
don’t know everything, like you said.”
“Yes,” Commander
Anderson said. “Politics are part of this situation, and something you would
have considered if you took a few minutes to think about what was happening in
the jungle, and contacted someone in the chain of command. Now you’re right in
the middle and we need to get past this issue so the Council doesn’t fixate on
this and sensationalize it. We can’t afford to lose our robotic work force,
that’s what’s at stake here, and I’m trying to save your career at the same
time by hiding you in our training program until I know you’ll think things
through before rushing into dangerous situations.”
“Forget it,”
Alice spat. “I don’t want charity from someone who can’t control a bunch of
refugees!” She whirled around and rushed from the room.
She didn’t
realize that Ayan followed her until she heard her call out, “Alice!” and Alice
stopped dead in her tracks, right in the middle of the upper level concourse.
Dozens of people looked at her from walkways above and below.
Ayan caught up to
her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I know you don’t want to hear this right
now, but Doctor Anderson and I are both only doing what’s best for you. If we
didn’t care, we’d go along with the Council and put you out.”
Alice tried to
suppress her tears and stand up straight, to look strong. “I know,” she
managed, even though she still wasn’t sure. She was still furious and grief
stricken for all that she’d lose. “You must be so-“
“Angry?” Ayan said
as she embraced Alice. “No. I wish you did things differently, I won’t lie, but
I also wish word didn’t get out before we were ready to take care of things.”
Alice wasn’t
about to say angry. She was sure Ayan was disappointed in her; she was one of
the first rangers. Instead of correcting her, Alice let herself be held. The
smell of Tonka bean, a product of the nearby jungle, was in the woman’s red
hair. The warm fragrance was calming, crying was easier, and she let it happen
for a moment before trying to recover her composure. “You’re going to join the
Warlord,” Ayan whispered. “And I want you to finish the Phase Two training in
your downtime, but do it for yourself. Maybe you won’t even want back into the
Rangers after you’re done, but you’ll know you could go if you want to.”
“Why are you
being so nice?” Alice asked before she realized she was saying it aloud.
“You remind me of
myself when I was younger,” Ayan replied.
“But you never
failed,” Alice replied, stepping back to arm’s length and wiping her tears
away.
“I did,” Ayan
replied. “But I knew how to hide it behind bigger successes. I probably would
have been a better person sooner if I failed publicly once or twice. Now, don’t
let this get to your heart. You served, and we appreciate it – even if it
doesn’t seem like it now – and you’ve done good things. You just have more
learning to do, and you’re not the only one.”
“Thank you,”
Alice said as she turned away. “Thank you so much.”
“Alice?”
“Yeah?” Alice
asked, half turning.
“You’re going to
be amazing, just take your time,” Ayan said with a warm smile.
