“Yes,” Aldous confirmed. “One of their largest, and it’s headed for us.”
Rich shrugged. “Thanks, Captain Obvious. All their ships are headed for us. What makes that one—”
“No, I don’t mean it is headed for Earth. I mean I’ve already calculated its exact trajectory. That ship, which is two-thirds the size of our moon, is headed directly for us, Richard. Directly for this spot on Earth.”
The temporary relief Rich had felt was instantly replaced with a dread so heavy that it felt heavier than the android collective that had previously covered his magnetic canopy. “Wait. Are-are you saying—”
“Richard, it is headed on a collision course. The androids are taking no chances. They are going to ram the mainframe. Even I can’t repel an object of that magnitude.”
“Oh no,” Rich whispered.
“Make no mistake, this will be an Earth-destroying event. We are experiencing the final moments of life after a three-billion-year reign. Less than five minutes from now, it’ll all be over.”
26
“That answer’s simply just unacceptable,” James responded to the candidate.
“I understand,” the candidate replied in a tone that seemed sympathetic, “but I have no other answer to give.”
“What about you?” James asked the A.I., turning to the figure that had always had an answer in the past. “We need options.”
“I agree,” the A.I. replied. He pointed to the gate, still glowing white, partially obscured by the china cabinet. “I don’t believe that is one of them.”
James nodded. “Understandably. If we’re cut off from the mainframe, then the exits are almost certainly cut off too. Our patterns are likely to be destroyed if we try to cross, and the only way we’d know for sure is if one of us tried it and either made it successfully or…” he paused for a moment before finishing, “…disappeared. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly like the idea of using myself as a guinea pig.”
“What about the candidate?” Thel asked.
All three men in the room turned to her, shocked by the suggestion, the candidate even taking a defensive step back toward the wall.
“No! Thel!” James retorted. “He’s a conscious entity—”
Thel sighed and rolled her eyes. “No, I didn’t mean that—obviously.” She turned to the candidate. “We’ve all been cut down to size, but the test gives him the ability to manipulate code in the sim. If he can look into the inner workings of the program, he might be able to determine if the gateway is still open—”
“And if it’s locked, he might be able to unlock it,” the A.I. realized.
Thel nodded before turning to James to shoot him a look.
“Uh...sorry,” he said to her.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the candidate cut in. “I’ve never seen any code for the sim.”
James turned to the candidate. “You teleported out of the car, locked the doors, and drove us off the bridge. If you did all that, you can certainly—”
“But I didn’t! I didn’t do those things,” the candidate replied. “It was all controlled…I was controlled.”
“What do you mean?” the A.I. asked, his eyes narrowed, intrigued. “Controlled by whom?”
“My visitor, the stranger,” the candidate replied.
“How did this happen?” Thel questioned suspiciously. “How did this so-called stranger infiltrate the sim without any of us seeing him?” She turned to the candidate. “And when did he speak with you? Before or after Kali informed you that you were in a sim?”
“After,” the candidate replied. “I got out of bed, desperate to get away from Kali. My intention was to head out, to anywhere that was open, and clear my head. I went down to my car, but when I reached the ground floor, there was a stranger standing in the rain, blocking my path. I immediately knew he was waiting for me—there was something unreal about him—and I became more frightened of him than I was of Kali. I tried the elevator icon in my aug glasses, but it wouldn’t work, and then when I looked outside again…the stranger had stopped the world.”
“Stopped it?” Thel reacted, confused.
The candidate nodded. “Yes. The rain was frozen in place. There wasn’t a sound. I couldn’t see his face, it was hidden by the darkness, but I knew I couldn’t escape. He waited and I went to him.”
“What did he say to you?” the A.I. asked.
“He told me that I was about to meet three people.” The candidate turned to Thel. “He said I’d meet a woman first, and that woman would take me to meet two men.” He turned back to the A.I. “He told me that you were good people, but that you were going to lie to me. He said the lie was part of a test, and that, although the three of you wouldn’t hurt me, it was important that I behaved as though I believed you would. He told me that, though the three of you were lying because you thought you were serving a greater good, I would have to lie to you to serve the true good. He said, time and time again, that his purpose is...higher.”