Inhuman(112)

Satisfied, Aldous continued, “James and the A.I. won’t leave anything to chance, and since they can both be immersed in a sim and be on guard in the real world at the same time, they won’t give a second thought to participating in the test of the entity they believe will be the most important being ever created. Before that happens, I’ll need your help to create a trapdoor program sophisticated enough to trap their core matrix programs within the sim. They’d detect anything we could come up with before they immerse, but I’ll be in position to insert it into the sim after they’ve begun their test.”

“And then Earth will be ours for the taking,” 1 concluded.

Aldous nodded, somewhat regretfully. “It’s not what I want…I loved the world I’d helped create. But I knew we never truly were immortal—that a fuse had been lit—and that this day would come. This is the only way I can save my people.” He leaned forward and spoke with deadly intensity. “And I mean that, 1. All of my people must be saved. If even one person is lost, it will be a tragedy.”

“If you come through in the way you describe,” 1 replied, “that shouldn’t be a problem. There is one problem that I can see with your plan, however.”

“Which is?” Aldous inquired.

“James Keats is not the only superhuman. Craig Emilson has also abandoned his post-human body for one that will be…problematic.”

Old-timer was stunned to be hearing his name come up in dealings of the devils. “He already used his new superhuman powers to assault one of our collective. I’m confident we can neutralize him, but I can’t guarantee—”

Aldous waved her concerns away with his hand, as he launched into further elaboration of his plan. “I’ve already taken Craig’s situation into consideration. Craig Emilson has to be separated from the rest of the post-humans, which is a scenario I can set into motion with a simple conversation. I’ll distract him with a mission that will both guarantee that he won’t be on Earth when the assimilation begins, therefore unable to help his wife, and will also cause James and the A.I. to accelerate their plans to immerse in the test simulation of the Trans-human candidate. As long as you come through with your promise to assimilate everyone on Earth quickly and efficiently, Craig will find himself cut off from his wife, and I can guarantee that he’ll try to find her before she’s awakened in her android form.”

“How can you know that?”

“It’s obvious,” Aldous said, his expression mirroring his words perfectly. “There’s no way that he’d allow his wife to awaken to what he perceives to be torture. He also no longer needs a magnetic field to fly through space, so he’ll be the only person who can pass as an android, and his abilities will make him the only person who could plausibly think he could succeed in such an undertaking.”

1 nodded. “That could work. I could personally lure him into our Constructor vessel, surround him with limitless soldiers willing to sacrifice themselves to make sure he’s assimilated, and eventually the numbers will overwhelm him. Is something like that what you were thinking?”

“It’s not much of a sacrifice for the androids,” Aldous replied. “I’ve already worked out that you’re immortals. The androids Craig is sure to terminate in that scenario will be rebuilt and live on, just as the massive waves of attack forces you unleash in your assimilations.

“They’re rescue forces,” 1 corrected, “as I’m sure you now understand.”

Aldous sighed. “I do. However, it may be difficult for my people to understand. The situation requires the abandonment of ethical norms…ethical norms that most people, even the intellectually enhanced post-humans, won’t understand. As a result, it’s imperative that it never be known that I aided you in the assimilation. It must be plausible and, therefore, accepted by my people that you, and you alone, cleverly inserted a trapdoor into the simulation and cut James and the A.I. off from humanity. You won’t kill them, as would be the smartest move for you strategically, because you’re actually noble.”

“Ah, thank you for taking my public relations into consideration,” 1 replied in a mild jest, leaving what they both knew unsaid: It was Aldous’s public reputation that he was really concerned with.

“The truth is,” Aldous began, having difficulty as he forced out the admission that was the most painful for him, “that I can’t trust my wife. I love her, but she shares the same character deficiencies that hurt James and Craig and make them so easy to manipulate.” He sighed, closing his eyes as he did so, the regret clearly deeply seeded in him. “The irony is that I love her for her goodness. I love her for her honor. I love her for her stubbornness. But…my ethics are too advanced for them.” He lifted his eyelids. “I’ll need an assimilator. I’ll take her the night before it begins. I don’t want her to be afraid. I’ll explain it to her afterward that her memory of the assimilation was wiped. She’ll be spared the worst of it, and never know I had anything to do with it.”