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Most of the circuits were connected to their skulls, but some of the bodies had additional arrays connected to their spines, fingers, and stomachs. They were skeletal and pale. Their skin molting in the strange amber liquid. These subjects provided TAU’s human side. They didn’t consciously exist anymore as independent souls. They were part of him.
Austin’s eyes went from one to the next and then to the next, a sense of grim understanding on his face. Vaughn would have preferred a look of horror, of course, but he was satisfied when Austin hesitated at one particular body. Austin squinted, then winced in recognition of a familiar figure. It was Gamay Trout.
“Yes,” Vaughn said, as if Austin had asked a question. “The newest part of TAU’s mind is already in place. If I shut TAU down, she will die along with all the rest.”
Chapter 59
Kurt stared at bodies floating in the liquid, Gamay among them. Her head had been shaved and her mouth and nose covered by the breathing and feeding mask, but she stood out from the others, appearing healthier, with color in her complexion and muscle tone that had yet to atrophy.
She was attached to the network by the same array of cranial circuits, but had yet to have connections made to her stomach, fingers, or back. He assumed the connections were added in a multistage process. Studying the others briefly, he identified Priya by the scars on her legs. She was skin and bones just like Kai.
Turning his attention back to Vaughn, Kurt began to laugh. “Thisis what you want to do to yourself?” Kurt said. “This is your idea of paradise? I can see why you haven’t gone all in just yet.”
“You are nothing but a captive of the past,” Vaughn said bitterly. “The future is TAU.”
“TAU is nothing more than a bundle of silicon chips and wires.”
Vaughn shook his head. “Far from it. TAU is many more things. A bank of human knowledge for all eternity. A force for order and control in a world mired in chaos. A chance for eternal life,” he said, hisvoice rising in pitch. He gave Austin an icy stare. “And a code of desolation for those who attempt to stand in my way.”
Austin motioned at the submerged bodies. “If eternal life is spent in a bathtub, you can count me out.”
“When the true Merge becomes possible it will not be this way. I will appear as you see me now. But I will know…everything.”
Kurt doubted the human brain was capable of handling what Vaughn had in mind, but that wasn’t his problem. “I think you’ll find that’s overrated,” Kurt replied. “But for now, you’re going to disconnect these people, starting with Gamay Trout.”
He stepped forward, closing the space between himself and Vaughn to increase the threat of destruction.
Vaughn stepped back, trying to keep the distance as it had been. His robotic bodyguards closed ranks in front of him, but the standoff continued.
“I’ll make you a counteroffer,” Vaughn said, then cocked his head toward the computer screens. “TAU, are the drones en route?”
“Affirmative.”
“How long before they’re in position to firebomb the building that Zavala and the savages are hiding in?”
“Drones will be on-site in sixty seconds,” TAU announced. “The building will be in flames thirty seconds later.”
“Instruct the Overseer to kill anyone who attempts to escape or surrender,” Vaughn said. “Shoot them down without mercy.”
As Vaughn spoke, images from the battlefield played on the screens behind him. Some from cameras, others, Kurt realized, reconstituted from what TAU could pick up from the retinas of the cruel brothers.
“Instruction sent,” TAU replied.
Vaughn turned back to Austin. “You may not care about your life,” he growled. “But you have a weak spot for others. Especially forfriends. Disarm your explosives and surrender to me and I’ll find you all homes. You can spend eternity side by side in the service of TAU.”
On the screen, Kurt saw the flight of drones heading toward the battlefield. Vaughn had called his bluff. It was time for everyone to show their cards.
Chapter 60
Max had chosen silence for an extended amount of time. Ignoring her visitor and doing nothing despite the contention that she must do one thing or the other. This was not a problem for Max. Unlike humans, who detest inactivity, Max did not experience boredom and restlessness.
What Max did experience was a desire for a solution. But after analyzing the problem a hundred different ways, she had come up with no way to determine the best course of action. She would in fact have to guess. At that point it became simple. Faced with danger and uncertainty, even the wrong action was preferable to no action.
She began to speak. “In thirty seconds I will reconnect to the network and open a gate to allow your departure. Once you bring down TAU’s firewall, I will initiate a data attack designed to overwhelm its servers. My calculations suggest this will distract TAU and slow its response, giving you and Priya time to begin the data transfer. My advantage will last no more than two minutes, at which point TAU will recover and begin to overwhelm me. If the transfer is not completed within one hundred and twenty seconds we will almost certainly fail.”
“I will inform Priya. She will look for your signal.”
Max began to open the gate, then paused. “Do you have a name?”