The softwire : Virus on Orbis 1 (21 page)

“So you banished the Space Jumpers from Orbis — you turned your backs on the people who protected you for thousands and thousands of years.”

Theylor bowed both heads in shame. “I am afraid that is correct, but we still remain in constant contact with them.”

“That’s obvious. But what does all of this have to do with me?”

“All Space Jumpers are softwires. They could protect the central computer from sabotage or outside attack, but they could also access it at will. This was also one of the reasons they made the Citizens so nervous. They didn’t want anyone poking around inside their computer like that.”

“But that’s what you think is happening now?”

“Yes. We believe someone in the Trading Council is manipulating the central computer, but we have no way of proving this. We cannot use a Space Jumper to protect the computer without breaking our agreement with the Council.”

“Didn’t you break the Council’s agreement by working with the Space Jumpers at all?”

“Space Jumpers have intervened only in matters of life and death. Otherwise we have only counseled with them. Putting them in control of the central computer would be a direct breach of our agreement.”

“But Theylor, I don’t think the Council is controlling the computer. I think it’s a virus.”

Theylor seemed confused.

“I am sorry, Johnny, but that is just not possible,” Theylor said, shaking his heads.

“But it’s true; I’ve seen it!”

“When?”

“In my dreams when I hook up to the dream-enhancement equipment, or whenever I go deep into the computer. I saw it walk straight through the security seal that you were so proud of. It didn’t even stop. I never told you because I didn’t think you would believe me.”

“You should have spoken of this earlier. If this is true, then the council has created something that will truly threaten the existence of Orbis. If they can control the central computer, they will control us.”

Theylor tapped on the O-dat at the table and bypassed the menu. More strange symbols formed on the screen, which I recognized as the Keepers’ language. He worked with the screen as I just sat and watched him. Finally, I broke the silence.

“You still haven’t explained how this involves me.”

Theylor looked up. “You can enter the computer for us and protect it from the Council, even more than a Space Jumper. You can act as our final defense.”

I didn’t want to be involved, but this seemed like a simple task. “That’s not a big deal,” I said. “I can do it during my rec spoke.”

In fact, I actually liked the idea of having something important to do on Orbis, and it would give me time to prove them wrong and expose the virus.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Theylor said. “You would have to be in the computer longer than your recreational spoke.”

“You’ll have to take that up with Weegin. I don’t mind getting out of a few work spokes.”

“I’m afraid you don’t understand. We want you to live inside the computer.”

“What do you mean? Forever? Always? Could I come out and see Ketheria?”

“I am afraid not. Once you’ve disconnected from your physical existence, your body will die shortly after.”

“No way, Theylor. I’m sorry, but no way.”

Theylor just continued to look at me. I had come here because I thought he was going to help me. But something on his face told me otherwise.

“I don’t have a choice, do I? You’re only here to warn me,” I said.

I stared in disbelief as Theylor nodded both his heads.

“Drapling is preparing the outline of the decree as we speak. There is talk of war, and the Keepers must move swiftly.”

This was not happening. “What if I run away?” I asked him. “Yes, you could help me, Theylor. Please. I could escape. I’ll go far away from here. I’ll take Ketheria with me.”

“You asked about this when you first arrived. I’m afraid if you run, the punishment would still be the same.”

“You mean death?”

Theylor nodded his heads again. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The café was spinning around me.

“How long do I have?” I asked him.

“Three or four cycles, maybe. No more than a phase, I am afraid. This should be enough time to put your affairs in order,” Theylor said.

“My affairs!” I stood up. “This is a death sentence. You want me to go around and tell everyone good-bye? See ya later? Look me up on an O-dat every once in a while!”

I sat back down hard. In my pocket was the makeshift locket Ketheria had given me. I pulled out the pictures of my parents and stared at their faces locked inside the organic polymer.
Is this what they wanted for me?
I just wouldn’t believe it.

“I do not comprehend your level of anger,” Theylor said. “You still have your debt to pay to Orbis.”

“With my life? No one said I had to pay with my life.”

“You will still be able to communicate with others that connect with the computer, and you will have a rewarding life guarding the sanctity of Orbis 1,” Theylor offered.

I put the picture back in my pocket and leaned over the table. “I hate to be the one to inform you, but I really don’t care about Orbis right now. I don’t care about you or the Keepers or the stupid deal they made with the Trading Council. I know most people around here don’t think a human is worth much, but I do. Figure something else out!”

I stormed out of the Earth News Café and ran straight into Charlie, Albert, and Rose.

“Whoa there, big fella. What’s the rush?” Charlie said.

I didn’t say anything, just walked around them. Ketheria was standing behind them with Max and Theodore.

I picked up my pace and walked through the Trading Hall. I never looked back, but I knew my friends would follow. I didn’t know if I wanted them there or not. I didn’t know anything at that moment. Nothing made sense. Nothing mattered. Everything was out of focus inside my head.

“JT, wait up! Please!” Max yelled.

I turned around. Albert and Rose were gone, but Charlie was with Ketheria and my friends. They stood there, with the green and blue lights from the trading chambers bouncing off the back of their heads, staring at me like I was an alien. My stomach flipped. I did not want to leave them.

“What’s the big rush?” Max said, catching up to me.

“Nothing. I . . . I didn’t see you there.” I swallowed hard. I did not want them to see me cry.

“Is everything all right, son?” Charlie asked. Ketheria took my hand. I did not want to look her in the eyes.

“Charlie showed us some really awesome places in the trading chambers,” Theodore said. “You’ve got to see them.”

“Sure, maybe next phase.”
If I’m not living in the central computer by then,
I thought.

“Are you sure you’re all right? Come on back to the café. Albert has some funny stories about Big Bertha. He spends a lot of time trying to crack those ones and zeros,” Charlie said.

“I really just want to go home. Maybe you’re right, I’m . . .”

Ketheria looked at me strangely. She squeezed my hand tighter.

“What did you say?” I asked Charlie.

“The ones and zeros, computer code — old computer code. It’s a joke. Not like the computer here on Orbis, which works with light, but, you know, like the computers back home.”

“Some central-computer functions still use binary code,” Theodore interrupted.

“I’m sure they do,” said Charlie, “but on Earth everything was based on ones and zeros.”

“Like the number ten?” I said.

“Well, a little, in the sense that a one next to a zero looks like a ten, but I mean —”

“What are you getting at?” Max said.

I was dumbfounded. Why hadn’t I seen this before? She had left it right in front of me.

“The little girl in my dream. I always see the number ten,” I whispered to Max.

“You all right, Johnny?” Charlie asked again. But my mind was going a kilometer a second. It took everything just to stand up.

The little girl was trying to tell me something.

At first I refused Charlie’s offer of walking us to the spaceway, but Charlie would not take no for an answer.

“The dark brings out a whole new breed of aliens,” Charlie cautioned. “Besides, I have to take the spaceway anyway.”

I could tell by the look on Ketheria’s face that Charlie was fibbing. All I need to do is look at Ketheria to know if someone is lying. She has a knack for smelling an untruth, but we let Charlie walk with us all the same. Besides, Max and Ketheria enjoyed his company. They loved his crazy stories about that funny town called Chicago. And I needed time to think.

Night on Orbis is only a little darker than the day. As we walked to the spaceway, I concentrated on the stars in the deepest corner of the universe. I wondered how much longer I would get to see them.

“Are you thinking about the little girl in your dreams?” Theodore asked, breaking my trance. I glared at Max, who shrugged sheepishly.

“I might have mentioned something,” she said, looking away.

“Having bad dreams, are we, son?” Charlie asked.

“JT thinks there is someone in the computer causing the problems, not the Keepers or the Trading Council,” Theodore said.

“The computer would identify any foreign code and assimilate it or destroy it,” Charlie said. “The computer’s been around a helluva long time. It knows a lot.”

“Can it know everything, though?” I asked. “I mean, could there be something it doesn’t know? Someone or something?”

“I don’t know how,” he said.

Charlie helped Ketheria into the spaceway. She had done it so many times now I think she only let people help her for the attention.

“You know, Johnny, the Keepers and the Citizens have been going at it for some time. Especially the Trading Council. I don’t know of anything the computer did not catch. If there’s something or someone messing with it, it has to be one of those two,” Charlie said, as the spaceway headed toward Weegin’s World.

“Don’t you live the other way, Charlie?” Theodore asked.

“That’s all right, I’ve got nothing to do anyway.”

I trusted Charlie, but something in my stomach told me he was wrong. When I was on the
Renaissance,
some of the kids did not believe that the computer could talk to me, and I had put up with years of abuse from people like Switzer and Dalton. It was the same thing now. I knew what I’d seen — I just needed to prove it.

Charlie rode with us all the way back to Weegin’s World. Ketheria gave Charlie a hug before he left, and Max promised we’d come back to the café on our next rec cycle.

“You’re gonna come, too, right?” he said to me.

“Sure,” I told him.

Charlie put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You may not see it right now, Johnny, but our presence here is good for mankind. There’s no way our species will survive if humans don’t head to the stars like we did. Think of us as pioneers.”

I looked up at Charlie as he stood tall and puffed out his chest, trying to make me laugh. I wanted to tell him about how the Keepers were going to make me live inside the central computer and I would never see any of them again. I wanted to ask him if I could escape from the ring. I wanted help, but I didn’t want any more people involved.

“Promise me you’ll come by tomorrow,” Charlie said. “For me.”

“I will. Thanks, Charlie,” I said, and headed inside.

We entered the first interior dome with little fanfare. As usual, our vests automatically granted us access through the door. We walked under the warm yellow light that illuminated the foyer, and crossed the walkway high above the sorting-bay floor.

“I thought Weegin might lock us out,” Max said.

“No, he’d just deduct chits from us,” Theodore said.

None of it mattered to me anymore.

Max tapped on the control panel that activated the energy beam that served as the walkway. The blue light beam shot across the sorting bay and connected to the other side. Even at this late hour the robotic cranes continued to work as we crossed.

That’s when I heard a scream.

“What was that, JT?” Theodore asked. Ketheria snuggled close to me.

“I think it was Weegin.”

“Look,” Max said, pointing up several levels to Weegin’s office, perched high above the factory.

“He’s not alone,” I said.

I could see Weegin’s silhouette through the office glass. Three other figures stood next to him. One held Weegin up as he kicked his feet in the air. The shapes of the other figures were undeniable.

“That’s a Neewalker with him,” Max said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Max and Ketheria both started back across the walkway.

“We can’t,” I said, and moved toward the elevator shaft.

“Johnny, this is not our fight. Let Weegin handle his own shady deals,” Theodore said.

“It’s my fight, too, I’m afraid. More than you know. The ring is in trouble, and whether I like it or not — whether
we
like it or not — I have to help him,” I told them. “Maybe you can take Ketheria back to her room.”

“You don’t know that this has to do with the central computer, JT. Weegin could be up to no good all on his own,” Max said.

“She’s right,” Theodore added.

I looked at Ketheria, but she shook her head. I knew that whatever Weegin was up to somehow involved me.