Tron 2.49 - Protocol Negotiation.

Walter Gibbs sat back in the large chair and looked over at Manny.

Manny had just woken up and was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Light came streaming through the large open window lighting up the inside of Walter Gibbs house with an intensity that brought detail to everything he tried to look at – at least once his eyes were focusing once more.

He looked across at the old man to whom he had been sent seeking assistance.

“Young man, I’m sorry that I haven’t found out all that much about what is going on, but I do have someone coming in this morning who should be able to help.”

“Who is he?” Manny asked, yawning despite himself, still slow to cover his mouth.

“The French Consulate,” said Walter Gibbs, smiling. “We know each other from way back, but if your father has been arrested, as I think he has, then he’s the best person to help you.”

Manny nodded.

“Anyway, I’ll make a call in a minute and we’ll try to get to the bottom of this and find out where our friends, and your family, are.

Manny nodded.

Walter Gibbs lifted a small booklet to his lap and started to go through the numbers listed there.

Jet shifted slightly on the spot but not enough to cause the Colonel to open fire. Jet had no illusion of any likely outcome but death if the weapon fired.

“Tell me what you left in the system,” The Colonel demanded.

“Last chance.

“Here’s how it works.

“You have your life to bargain for. Tell me something I want to hear. Make it worth it.”

Jet didn’t respond, still coming to terms with what was happening.

“This is how I negotiate, in case you were thinking of trying to use this as leverage against your imprisonment.

“Don’t think we’ll just waterboard you for information, because I really don’t have time for that at the moment.”

Jet felt something prickle in his mind.

Firestorm Quadshot FFI.
Version 2.3003.22

Jet blinked.

The Gun talked again.

Firestorm Quadshot FFI.
Version 2.3003.22

It was version information, coming from the weapon.

Jet’s eyes focused in close on the upper section of the pistol. A small LED was reflecting off the top of the hand holding it.

There was a computer in the weapon. This weapon was especially designed to be used in this room or facility. Normal weapons could be taken from the owner and used against them, but this was unique. It had a computer and could be disabled, made impossible to fire.

And in all likelihood, could only be fired by the owner.

Jet had read about these weapons once before. A new generation of smart weapons that could be intelligently programmed.

There must have been a chip or sensor near the barrel protrusion that Jet’s mind was able to pick up the field around.

“Jade, can you hear me?” Jet thought to himself.

I am receiving your communications through the Sudo, my user, but they are vague. It’s like someone is willing me to take action.

“Jade, I need your help. Have you taken over the system?”

There was a pause before the response.

Actions are still taking place in the nodes listed as Australia and England. Jade Returned.

Jet realized Seth wasn’t watching the gun pointed at Jet’s head. He was watching a laptop screen to one side.

“We just lost the UK node, it’s now ejecting Datawraith’s also from the reintegration pad.” Said Seth.

“Somebody needs to bring Mister Baza here now,” Eva said quietly.

“He’s still recovering from reintegration,” said Jasmine.

“I’ve just lost two of the nodes under my command and I don’t intend to lose another. I’d rather shoot you in error than risk losing everything, so you had better tell me how to regain access to systems now or it’s all over,” said the Colonel.

“Jade, I need you to locate a program that controls the smart weapons. Look for anything that has the code Firestorm in it.” Jet thought to himself. “Scan all programs.”

We just captured some Datawraith applications that contain that code, my user. What do you wish me to do with them.

“Shut it down,” Jet thought to her. “Now”

“Australian node at thirty percent,” called Seth.

Jet felt the barrel of the weapon shift against his head.

“What do I need to do to shutdown the worm,” the Colonel now yelled.

Jet thought about sending the message to Jade then to stop. To tell her to forgo further actions against the system, but held back. If the Colonel was willing to kill him to stop this, then there was no telling what he might do if Jet’s negotiations were unsuccessful.

“Australian node offline,” Seth called back.

Jet blinked once as Seth ripped the laptop cables from the laptop and closed it, lifting it up, then smashing it down on the table in his anger, cracking the case and causing small pieces to fly across the tabletop.

The Colonel’s eyes flicked over to him.

Jet had waited too long. He needed to do something now.

He opened his mouth to say something, but saw the finger on the trigger tighten.

All applications for Firestorm smartweapon control system are offline, my user. All devices shut down. Came Jade’s message.

There was a hollow click from the pistol.

Nothing more happened.

Jet’s mouth continued to open, but the words reformed in his mouth as he spoke them out.

“Here’s my chance to you, Colonel Treeham.

“This is how it works.

“You have your career and this facility, and I can take it away from you. Now you’re going to tell me something I want to hear.

The Colonel pulled the trigger once more with the same result.

“This is how I negotiate.” Jet said, returning the Colonel’s earlier words.

The Colonel pulled his weapon back and grasped it by the barrel as if getting ready to use it as a club.

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists,” The Colonel said quietly, slowly and evenly.

“You tried to kill me, not the other way around.” Jet said back in the same measured tone.

Inside of himself, Jet was terrified by how he was acting, but somewhere under all the stress, his body was doing what he wanted. Somewhere beneath his fear he felt the rage at the man whose action had resulted in Mercury’s death.

“It was a necessity because you threatened our security,” said the Colonel.

Jet looked around the area. The negotiations were far from started. The Colonel still held all but one card and Jet wasn’t ready to play that yet.

Jet thought about what little he knew of the Echelon project. It was a migration of the AUSCANZUKUS project that had begun a long time ago. It was basically a listening post that was supposed to have been decommissioned years earlier, but apparently had a new life lately.

This was the main eavesdropping center for the CIA. It wasn’t likely they would decommission it, even under political pressure, except if it was no longer useful and if they had more to gain from the appearance of it reasonably shutting down under such circumstances than letting it appear to stay operational.

A large screen on the far wall gave Jet a clue.

There was a graph showing a gradual increase from three to four percent over the past twelve months, with most of that increase over the past three months.

It had dropped off to zero now, only visible because of the vertical line that had appeared.

At the top of the chart was a small word. “Quantum Efficiency”.

The clues rearranged themselves in Jet’s head in light of what he now knew about the Encom system and how it functioned.

“Your systems are all online, Colonel, I’m just guessing you can’t get in to them.” Jet said slowly.

The Colonel tensed his arm carrying the now non-functional firearm and then relaxed it. He turned to look at Seth Crown and Seth nodded back, confirming it.

“So you are behind the system problems,” said the Colonel.

“Of course he is,” accused Dillinger, “Why didn’t you shoot him.”

The Colonel didn’t respond to Dillinger, not acknowledging his comment.

“No, I didn’t cause this issue, but right now, if you want your quantum cryptanalysis back, you need to talk to me because I’m the only one who can help you.”

The Colonel raised an eyebrow.

“Let me tell you what I know, then you can decide what I’m worth to you.”

Jet took a guess at what he did and didn’t know. The Colonel nodded approval for Jet to start talking.

“Echelon is a listening post. You bring data from around the world here to know what’s going on. You tap submarine cables and pull data straight from them. Here and in two other locations, you process that information.”

The colonel nodded. “Public information.”

Jet continued.

“But over the past ten years, other countries have been investing billions in quantum cryptography. It’s a lot more common than you’re openly admitting at the moment, because it’s still considered top secret.

“You can’t listen anymore because the connections can’t be listened to. Breaking codes is nearly impossible and there’s no way to listen in to keys. Worse, some protocols can’t be listened to at all, because they are fully quantum encrypted – not just the key exchange.

“So now that Echelon can’t be used to listen in to sensitive foreign information anymore, you close it down, publically at least.

“Except that’s how it’s supposed to be, not how it is.”

Jet stopped for a moment to measure the Colonels expression. So far it hadn’t changed, so Jet continued.

“Dillinger approached you twenty years ago trying to sell you Encom technology, except it was useless to you at the time.

“He was a disgraced CEO and your command was possibly even one of his victims. You sent him away, but later, you needed someone with experience cracking quantum codes.

“Dillinger told you about his old project, the Master Control Program, which developed the quantum correction algorithms needed to correct errors caused by observed packets, which is exactly what you need to eavesdrop on quantum cryptographically secure connections without alerting the other parties to your efforts.

“Dillinger’s technology works and much later he convinces you of the dangers of Encom’s research to your exclusivity on the technology.

“You currently decode four percent of all quantum secured communications without the other side ever knowing. That’s a benefit worth killing for, because it gives you some of the best intelligence in the world being sent between embassies.”

At the mention of four percent, Seth Crown flinched. Gibbs stood up and stepped forward.

“He knows far too much. He needs to be removed,” said Jasmine Gibbs.

Jet ignored the interruption and continued talking.

“Four percent might not be much, but this is information your foes don’t think you can read, so they’re real open with it.

“Now that network’s gone down you’ve lost that edge. You want it back and I can give it to you. These guys can’t.”

The Colonel looked deeply into Jet’s eyes without blinking.

Dillinger stood up off the couch from behind the Colonel. “He’s just stalling, Rodney, If he really can restore whatever he did to the system, we can get it out of him in time.”

Jet maintained the stare with the Colonel.

“What’s done is done and it’s not my doing. But I do know you can’t shut down the network and rebuild it.

“If you’re heading up this operation, you know that everything developed was dependent on grafts of code from the original Encom system – even back as far as day one. That’s because the system doesn’t work the way Dillinger thinks it does.

“And you can’t take grafts anymore because you’ve destroyed the original system.” Jet said.

“Do you really think we wouldn’t have reserved material?” Dillinger jabbed from the side.

The Colonel looked at Jet.

“Son, you’re attempting to hold the US government to ransom here, do you really want to do it this way?”

Jet shook his head slightly from side to side.

“No, but as I said, I’m not responsible for this,” Jet said. “I’m just offering you a way forward.”

The Colonel moved his head to the side then. “Then are you going to tell me who is responsible?”

Jet smiled.

“The Encom operating system,” Jet said.

“That’s ridiculous,” said Dillinger.

“You started a war between the Echelon and Encom computer systems. What you never thought of was that the Encom system might actually be able to defend itself. The Kernel from the Encom system has established itself here in Echelon.

“It defeated the shadow operating system and merged with it in the virtual representation and then when it was subsumed, it overpowered the local operating system from the inside” Jet explained.

“It’s a hallucination,” said Dillinger, raising his voice. “What people see inside the computer is a shared hallucination based on quantum effects we’re only just learning about.”

“It’s a quantum reality,” said Jet. “The Kernel from the Encom system is operating in the Echelon core. You’ve lost control of your system.”

“They use different code,” said Dillinger. “The Encom code can’t execute inside Echelon.”

“The translation process you use to convert code for seeding material can shift entire programs,”Jet further explained. “It’s an algorithmic translation process, remember?”

“It’s emulated,” objected Dillinger.

“The core code doesn’t run on the processor,” said Jet.

Dillinger stopped for a moment, then unable to catch himself in time, asked the question. “Then where does it run?”

“On the photons in the memory loops.” Jet said.

Jasmine Gibbs knew a little more that Dillinger about the core operations. She had worked on the early core with her uncle before Encom became a major company.

“So you’re saying the computer from Encom, the one we destroyed, is running itself on our hardware.” The Colonel said, simplifying the explanation as to why he could no longer access his network.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. ” said Jet. “It came over the out of band connection and now it just wants to survive.”

“So the world the Datawraiths report of when they return isn’t a shared hallucination, but a quantum reality they actually enter?” The Colonel said then, starting to understand Jet’s explanation, although it was clear he was having trouble believing it.

Jet nodded slowly.

“And what makes you think I won’t shut it off and cut through those cables myself.”

Jet’s thought process stopped. He hadn’t considered what the Colonel’s reaction to learning he had an interloper in his system would be.

“Jade, I need something now,” Jet thought inwardly.

My user, what do you request?

“I need you to find the cryptanalysis applications and return them to work. Now.” Jet thought inwardly to himself.

“Because I think you might find it beneficial to keep us around,” Jet tried explaining to the Colonel while Jade processed his last request.

The Colonel was losing patience.

The Cryptanalysis program was a system function that was deleted in action. We have the code but there’s no function my user. Crypto has no alternate to meet the requirements.

“Why might I decide that?” The Colonel asked, putting his face right forward, until it almost touched Jet’s face.

Jet started to feel the pressure.

“Jade, have Ma3a transfer the Quantum Correction algorithms to Crypto. It’s the correct codec for the stream.” Jet pushed inwardly. Jet needed to correct the situation.

The graph on the far wall jumped up and workstations all over the operations centre started to spring back into life.

The Colonel looked around.

“In good faith, Colonel, the system has restored your cryptanalysis functions.” Jet said.

The Colonel turned around. The Cryptanalysis functional chart had returned the cursor – it was presently sitting on fourteen percent.

“What in the name of,” The Colonel started to say.

“The Kernel can communicate with me, Colonel. It has the ability to communicate information at the Quantum level. It wishes to negotiate a settlement that will allow it to continue.

“Its technology is vastly more efficient than what you’ve been developing. It can continue developing it further and provide you continual improvements in quantum efficiency, now, when you need it the most.

“This is the same deal Dillinger came to you with in a way. I just want something equivalent. Why back one horse in a race when you can back both champions and double your chance of winning?” Jet offered.

Seth pulled a second laptop from a bag next to Eva and placed it onto the table before turning it on.

“Efficiency increase is genuine,” he said. “Quantum decryption is running at a success probability of fourteen percent.” He said.

The Colonel looked at Jet.

“I could just force you to hand it over,” he said.

Jet shook his head. “You need the system to want to hand it over. It won’t let you take control again, but it will help you achieve your objectives. I can only communicate with it – I can’t instruct it.”

That wasn’t quite true. Jet knew Jade would do anything he asked, but the Colonel wouldn’t know that and despite the aggressive front he was putting up, Jet was sure he needed to get this problem resolved. Jet just needed a way to show that without seeming to be a threat.

The Colonel smiled.

“I admire your balls, kid. No one knows you’re here. I can think of many ways to make you want to convince the computer to hand over control and none of them are pleasant.”

There was a silence across the group.

Jet didn’t know what to say next.

Jet’s trick with the restoration of critical services had backfired to some extent. The Colonel knew Jet had something he wanted now and he had a point. The Colonel seemed to have years of experience on Jet over negotiation.

A shrill beeping sound echoed across the platform. Jasmine Steve Gibbs pulled her cellphone from her pocket and attempted to thumb it off, but the phone was still in handsfree mode and answered itself.

“Jasmine, what the hell are you up to, I’ve got Manny Gurimin here and it looks like you’re up to no good with your new friends. I have to warn you the French Ambassador is coming over and,”

Jasmine hung up the phone, then looked up.

“You might be wrong about that Colonel,” said Jet, relieved for the accident. Sometimes you could change your situation but other times it just came down to fate and a little luck. Jet wasn’t sure why Manny had ended up with Walter Gibbs or how he knew his niece was involved, but he really didn’t want to show any weakness at the moment.

The Colonel frowned, twisted and picked up the phone from Jasmine’s hands, then threw it into the bin beside him in frustration.

“Sergeant,” called the Colonel to the MPs nearby. “Please remove mister Dillinger and Miss Gibbs from the operations room.”

“Colonel,” started Dillinger.

“Now, Sergeant.” Said the Colonel, silencing both of them with a glance.

Jet watched and waited as they left the room, as did the Colonel. When he turned around, he looked Jet over once, as if admiring his gall, then spoke to him.

“I suppose this makes you the computer’s emissary?” he said.

Jet nodded once, holding his breath in.

“So if I did entertain thoughts of negotiation with you, what would your systems terms be?”

Jet blew out his held breath as he relaxed, finally hoping he might be able to get himself out of this mess. He looked over at Seth Crown and Eva Popoff.

“They’re CIA. They don’t work directly for Dillinger. He’s a contractor.”

Jet understood, and considered what he needed, and what the system needed, at the moment.

“At the moment? Continued operation and maintenance of the Echelon core,” Jet said. “And access to the network.”

“And what do I get in return?”

“Fouteen percent,” Jet started.

“Was a goodwill gesture.” The Colonel said.

“Will remain operational while we work on improvements.” Jet said.

The Colonel nodded.

“So you get to live and so do your friends and the computer.” The Colonel said.

“That’s enough at present,” Jet said.

“So I’m to expect extortion later?” The Colonel asked.

Jet shook his head.

“No, this is just diplomacy. Consider us your new ally.” Jet said, smiling a little as the pressure lessened.

The Colonel nodded and looked at the terminal screens of the workstations now decoding sensitive information.

“I’m not ready to proceed with negotiations yet, until I think about this a little more. Do you have any requests at the present?”

“I’d like to know what happened to my family,” Jet said. “Are they alright?”

The Colonel turned back to Jet.

“For the most part, yes. They are located within this facilty also. You may see them while I consider your request.”

Then in a tone that surprised Jet.

“That would seem fitting for an ambassador.”

Jet nodded.

“Sergeant,” said the Colonel to the MP who was just returning from ejecting Dillinger and Gibbs. “Please take Ambassador Bradley Jet to see his associates and see that they are all allowed access to low-security zones.”

The sergeant looked at the base commander for a moment, as if he understood something the base commanded didn’t want to say out aloud, then came to attention.

“Sir, Yes Sir. Ambassador, this way please.”

Jet followed the MP out of the control room.

Flynn heard the tap of footsteps and the soft sound of someone wearing quiet shoes walking his way. He turned over in his bunk just in time to see Jet walk past the bars.

“Jet,” Flynn yelled out.

“Flynn,” said Jet, glad again to be with a friend. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Different locations, we’ll meet up with them later,” said the MP the Sergeant had assigned to Jet after briefing him.

“How did you get out?” Flynn said, his eyes starting to moisten.

“They have a digitizing pad here,” said Jet.

“That’s restricted information, sir,” said the MP.

Jet shrugged. The door opened and Jet waited for Flynn to come out of the cell.

“We’re free to go?” Flynn asked.

“Not quite,” said Jet as Flynn stepped out and hugged him. “But for the moment we’re under a kind of house arrest.”

“I’ll take you to the infirmary now,” said the MP.

“Someone’s hurt?” asked Jet.

“Your father, during the arrest I think,” said Flynn. “He’s an old man and they were unduly rough”

Jet span and glared at the MP who clearly knew that, but the man just returned his glare. It felt like another kick after all that had happened, but at the moment Jet had to hope things couldn’t get any worse.

The MP took them out of the cell facility and back through the corridors again that seemed to stretch on forever as they connected different sections of the base.

The corridors of the Echelon facility looked different without a hood on and the escort at least felt different to being led. It wasn’t just that Jet didn’t feel like a prisoner now – he effectively was. It was more that for the first time he could see the way out again.

Jet reminded himself this wasn’t the end of it yet - Colonel Treeham was just giving him some latitude to at the moment while he got his own thoughts together, but Jet wasn’t under the illusion that it meant things would go back to normal. It could still go either way.

For the moment, just making sure his father was alright was enough.

Flynn walked through the corridor next to him, both together silently.

The walk itself wasn’t short. At the end of the corridor, which frequently made slight changes in direction, Jet thought that they might have progressed as much as a kilometer. If this was, as Jet suspected, an underground base, then the scope and scale of this base was staggering.

At the far end, one of the MPs held a door open and Jet walked into an area that again seemed huge. A large atrium dominated the opening and several levels could be seen going up, all open to the central atrium, with walkways going back to central point above the door, leading Jet to think this area might be somewhat like half a cylinder.

There was an elevator at the far end, more a moving platform that had rails around the outside and was dragged up and down by means of a chain.

The MP escort led Jet towards it, then after he had moved into the center of the platform, one moved to the side and hit a button and the platform was lifted upwards.

They moved several levels when it stopped and the MP unclipped the rail and allowed Jet to walk. He had barely stepped off the platform when he recognized the person next to him.

“Dr Gurimin,” Jet called out.

The patient in the bed twisted and looked at Jet.

“Jet, where’s Melanie, is she still alive?” the old main cried out.

Jet nodded and the old man seemed to struggle in the bed. At first it looked like he was having a fit, then Jet realized he was restrained.

Doctor Gurimin struggled against them as he noticed Flynn there also.

“Hang on, you’ll hurt yourself,” said Flynn, moving over and undoing the straps.

“Ahh, I think maybe you should leave those alone,” said the MP nervously, not sure what to do. “Hey, I said to leave those alone.”

Flynn shot back a harsh look as he fumbled with the locking mechanism of the restraint. “You really don’t want to piss off the ambassador do you?”

The MP looked from Flynn to Jet and back, then pulled the microphone of his two way to his face and started asking for instructions from someone Jet presumed was on the other end of the radio.

Jet just walked around the other side of the bed and undid the second strap. He had less trouble with the lock than Flynn had.

“Alison?” asked the Doctor.

“She was fine last I saw her. I think their cleaning her up a little and she’ll be right up as well.” Flynn said.

“Melanie,” said the Doctor again, tears streaming from his face. “What is happening?”

“Melanie’s still inside the computer, doc. I,” Jet started to explain.

“She’s still alive?”

Jet swallowed.

“Yes, she’s still alive and fine, but, well, she can’t come out of the computer.”

The old man’s face went dark.

“No, we couldn’t save her.” He cried out in broken English.

Jet fixed the man’s gaze then spoke slowly.

“She’s fine, Doc, really, but she’s just living in another place now. It’s not such a bad place. I’ve been there myself. Last I spoke with her, she was happy.”

“Is she in pain?” Dr Gurimin asked.

“No,” said Jet, shaking his head slowly. “She’s not in any pain. She’s quite comfortable and seems to like her new surroundings.

“Look, I’m really, sorry Doc, I tried everything I could. We almost got her out, but at the end it all went wrong and the best I could do was make allowance for her to continue on.

“She’s happy I think, really, and it might even be possible one day to visit her but I’m sorry I couldn’t get her back. I tried. I guess I just wasn’t good enough.”

The old man grabbed Jet’s arm and hauled him in, pulling him close, then hugged him.

“Merci,” he cried out, “For all that you have done then.”

When the old man let him go again, jet leaned back and stepped out towards the MP who was approaching.

“Look, I really don’t know if we can go undoing restraints. It’s against regulations – only authorized persons can,” he started.

“I’m authorized.” Jet said

The look on the MPs face indicated that even with a title like Ambassador he still wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Look, the restraints are off now. We’re co-operating. We’ll stay here willingly – no resistance. I think Colonel Treeham prefers it that way.”

The MP stepped back at the mention of the base CO, referring to his microphone and radio again. Jet guessed his attempt to get instructions hadn’t gone as he had hoped.

The platform beyond them that had brought them up started to descend.

Jet looked around.

“Is my father here?” he eventually asked the MP.

The MP pointed to a bed further up. It was behind a cloth partition.

“Doctor Gurimin, I need to see my father,” Jet said.

The old man nodded and Jet walked in the direction the MP had pointed. Coming around the corner, the patient in the bed was bandaged around the head and had several tubes running into them. One eye was swollen shut and the other closed.

Even though that, there was enough to recognize his father. Jet initially recoiled at the sight, wanted to find a terminal access and rip out what he had already done.

He held back.

“Dad?” he said quietly.

Alan Bradley opened his good eye.

“Jet,” he said quietly, with effort. “Your alive, your alive,”

Jet smiled and took his father’s hand. His good eye was overflowing with tears now and Jet decided he probably couldn’t see through it either anymore.

“What happened?” Alan asked, realizing where he was, looking at his son as he grasped his hand.

“What do you remember?” Jet asked.

“Attacking a soldier twice my size when they tried to kill you,” Alan said. “I guess I stopped them.”

Jet shook his head.

There was a momentary look of panic on his father’s face, then it passed.

“It is you?”

Jet smiled.

“So you made it out?”

Jet nodded. “I made it through to the local network. They have an integration pad here.”

Alan nodded and Jet could see the water pooling in his eye now and leaking from the swollen one.

“They shouldn’t have done this to you,” Jet said.

His father looked fearful. “These people play hard, Jet, please don’t do anything rash.”

“Like I used to?”

Alan Bradley smiled instead of answering.

“I guess I needed to find my own way before I grew up.”

“Mercury?” Alan asked quietly, pensively.

Jet didn’t answer. He just stood there, the experience of losing her coming in hard now. He had held back his feelings since he locked them down after the fight with Jade. Held them while he negotiated the outcome and finally, held them while he made sure his father was OK.

They had to come up some time soon.

Alan held his hand out and grabbed Jet’s next to the bed, even though still strapped down and injured, it took a lot of effort.

Jet felt his eyes watering as he cleared the locking mechanism of the restraints, then his father pulled him in and dragged him down.

“She’s gone dad, I couldn’t save her. I tried so hard, came so far, but in the end, I failed her. Melanie too.”

Jet’s words came out broken, hard. He had trouble with each word.

“Melanie’s gone?” Alan asked.

“No, but she can’t ever make it back. She can’t leave the computer.”

Alan blinked, forcing more moisture out.

“And Mum. She was there. You were right all along.”

“Lora?” Alan looked at his son.

Jet looked back. “She was still in there. There wasn’t a lot left, but her mind was still there. She helped me when I needed it and her spirit still resides there. She told me to tell you she was happy and she still loves you. She’s gone now.”

Jet left out the incomplete message, but the pain of holding it back almost choked him.

Alan started to cry a little at that but quickly held it back.

“They let you come here?” Alan said.

Jet pulled his pain back inside and stood up.

“Yeah, I guess I have a new job. Seems I’m the ambassador to the system now. The programs from the Encom system took over and seized control of the local computer.

“It’s an incredible story, Dad. Everything I saw before, it’s real. Flynns experience was real too. There were people - no - programs who remember him. Your programs are in there too.

“And they managed to survive the failure of the network, helped me to get out.

“Melanie’s still in there with them.”

Alan nodded.

The MP looked over at Jet.

“Sir, SIR, excuse me, but I’ve just been told you need to come with me. The Colonel needs to discuss some things with you.”

Jet nodded, then looked back at his father.

“Dad, I have to go.”

Alan smiled.

Jet let his father’s hand go, walked around the other side of the bed and released the other restraint, then walked out of the hanging-cloth cubicle.

The MP turned and began to lead the way as soon as he saw Jet was about to leave, so Jet fell in behind him as he walked back to the elevator.

Approaching the elevator, Jet saw it coming back up. There were three more MPs and a guard and Alison was standing between them. She saw Jet standing there and unlatched the barrier and jumped out to him before the elevator fully stopped.

Jet held his arms out and Alison threw herself at him.

She twisted her head sideways to speak.

“You’re OK, you came back.”

Jet nodded, then patted her lightly on the back between her shoulders.

“Alison,” came a quiet voice.

Her head spun around at that and she turned to look at the man in the bed, next to where Flynn was standing.

“Dad,” she called, and ran to her father. The other MPs and guards left the elevator platform and Jet walked onto it, the MP with him immediately lowering the platform as he latched the barrier.

Alison turned to look at Jet as he began to descend, wondering why he was leaving so quickly.

“I’ll be back later,” Jet said, then as the elevator continued to drop past where his friends could see him, added “hopefully.”

The elevator platform continued down when it reached the lower section and dropped into a larger area with more beds. Medical technicians ran around in this area in a constant state of activity, but there were no guards.

As they got closer, there was a humming sound and then after passing though that, Jet could hear moaning, even the occasional scream.

At the base of the travel, the Colonel was waiting for Jet. He stepped forward as the platform came down and unlatched the barrier, then turned to the MP that had escorted Jet.

“Dismissed,” said the Colonel.

The MP came to attention and responded once, then walked to the controls. The Colonel motioned for Jet to step off.

The platform started up behind him as Jet stepped off.

“Walk with me,” said the Colonel.

Jet followed him, but found his attention was drawn to the beds and medical-like devices around him, people writhing on them.

The occasional sounds of pain seemed to counterpoint the bright lights around them.

Jet wanted to ask what was going on, but realized it wasn’t what he was supposed to do. He waited for the Colonel to address him.

After walking past several beds, the Colonel stopped at one.

There was a label on the bed with the patient’s name on it. Unlike the others, this one wasn’t moving. He lay still.

“Sergeant Phillip Maddison. He’s been here almost a year. Attempted to reintegrate during a period of failure of the correction algorithms. Now he can’t even breath for himself.”

Jet looked at the man before him, his body atrophied from lack of motion.

“I wanted you to see the results of your actions against us, Ambassador Bradley. Each of these patients was damaged by actions inside that digital warzone you referred to earlier.”

Jet thought back to Simon. Another victim? Had he been damaged himself or was the wheelchair just from his latest trip.

Jet looked over at the soldier laying statically on the bed.

“The correction algorithms can be disrupted by a number of factors, Colonel. It’s not as straightforward as you might seem to think. My mother discovered that.”

“I read about Laura Bradley, but she didn’t do this.” Said the Colonel.

Jet waited for the accusation.

“You did.”

Jet let the thought sink in. There was no doubt that the Colonel’s accusation was probably correct.

“We didn’t ask to be attacked,” Jet responded carefully.

“I don’t recall ever hearing of a victim of war that did, but there are always two sides to everything. I take it you’ve seen your father?”

Jet nodded.

“And you know that we’re responsible?”

Jet looked at the Colonel.

“Casualties occur on both sides, Ambassador. I thought you should understand that.”

Jet eventually nodded.

The Colonel motioned towards another one of his injured command.

“But in case you feel hard done by, consider that these people are a lot worse than any in your party and because this facility is above top secret, we can’t allow them to leave – not even to see their families again.”

Another soldier lay on the bed the Colonel was indicating to, thrashing away in pain, their leg strangely misshapen. This one looked female.

“Some of these victims have only started coming through today. “

Jet looked back at the Colonel.

“The buffers were flushed from the outside, Colonel, this was not my system’s doing.”

“But your system did replace the algorithms which has resulted in serious injuries to those under my command.” Said the Colonel.

“No, the inhabitants of this system had no choice. You attempted to erase them all simultaneously at one time. They simply found a way to go on living – they did not attack you directly. Given that you built their system, any flaws in it are your responsibility Colonel, not mine.”

The Kernel’s eyes narrowed briefly as he looked at Jet.

“What makes you think you’re experienced enough to negotiate?” The Colonel asked.

“I’m not Colonel, but I don’t have much choice in this matter either. I’m just doing what I need to, to survive.

“I have something you want. You have something my people need. We’re not threatening you, just asking to trade.”

“You are threatening me,” yelled the Kernel. “Or perhaps you forget that I can order the power cables cut. Then what happens?”

The Colonel was pushing back on Jet, covering old ground. Perhaps it was the sight of his men injured in the action.

“I don’t think that’s an option you wish to exercise, Colonel,” Jet said.

“Why do you think that?” The Colonel asked.

“Because you’re not a fool,” said Jet.

He wasn’t sure how the Colonel would take it, but the old soldier simply nodded his head as he walked along.

“Sometimes it’s easier to make an emotional decision,” he said at length.

Jet waited for the Colonel to say something. The Colonel walked along the rows of beds, each carrying a Datawraith that had suffered the effects of issues experienced in reintegrations, likely during the battle with Jade.

Melanie was in there also and had would almost certainly have started to learn digital combat techniques and given she had started creating walls out of nothing but code, Jet wondered how much more she might do.

“So what do you intend to negotiate with?” the Colonel asked finally.

Jet thought for a moment. He couldn’t ask for recognition of returning what the Colonel had already believed his. That had been little more than a goodwill gesture, even if Jet had improved the output.

“Improvements in efficiency,” Jet said.

“We would have achieved that in time without you. It doesn’t have as much value as you may think,” the Colonel said, “And I know you can’t withhold cryptanalytical services because then I have no reason to keep your other world running.”

Jet wanted to threaten him, wanted to warn him that if he didn’t take the offer, he would end up with nothing, and that was far worse than he was admitting.

That was a final option however and Jet knew it. To threaten the Colonel at the moment wasn’t going to achieve what Jet needed. What he was looking for was something else to be brought to the negotiation table. Something more than Jet had demonstrated so far.

“Quantum Technology,” Jet said.

The Colonel raised an eyebrow at the overly open statement. It was time to stretch the truth a little.

“Future Control was a front for your operations for twenty years and in that time, you barely scratched the surface.

“In the end, you had to steal material from our world in order to rebuild your own and once you thought you had enough, you destroyed what we had to give so no one else could take it.

“What makes you think you were the only covert operating to do that?”

The Colonel stopped.

“We found evidence of other transfers of data. You spent so much time covertly concealing your connections that you never really spent any time checking to see if someone else was taking the material as well.”

The Colonel remained silent.

“Dillinger didn’t even have an out of band connection when me migrated the remnants of an earlier version of the master control program. I’m guessing he just stole a portable loop – the ones Walter Gibbs used to quarantine bad material. You know, he had dozens of those once, and I think there were just two or three left on a shelf a year ago.

“The Gurimins had their own, there was my Father’s test loops and Several people in the AI community were looking at the loop technology as a possible key to creating Artificial Intelligence since my Father won the award for Ma3a.

“But you know that it doesn’t matter if others are successful or unsuccessful in establishing their own quantum planes.”

Jet wheeled to face the Colonel.

“What matters is what they are able to understand what’s behind what they create. If that leads to scientific knowledge like you have, then other countries will quickly work out that you can decode their communications and then they’ll find a way to circumvent your technology.

“Technology isn’t an end, Colonel, it’s a process. It’s continually developing as things change. You can only stay ahead by moving forward. Set up camp on a new discovery and watch how quickly it gets old and crumbles before you.

“You can’t develop the technology fast enough here to stay ahead of the rest of the world forever, but with our help, you can take a quantum leap ahead of everyone else and hold that lead long enough to make a difference.

“We can develop technology hundreds to thousands, perhaps millions of times quicker through our capabilities inside the digital world than you can out here in this world.

“And you’re already likely running against the Chinese and who knows who else picked up on what the capabilities were before Future Control took over Encom. It’s possible they even have their own version of Echelon somewhere deep within their own continent, or possibly even within Allies.

“After all, Encom was a civilian installation. Think about that. A group of scientists – not even soldiers – broke into the core and did what they needed to do. How difficult would it have been for the Chinese to have stolen our technology?”

The Colonel shifted uncomfortably.

“But even once you raised the forces you command against us, it was just scientists and programs that held back the Datawraith – trained special-operatives that had entered our world, because we had a technological advantage over you – even once you took over Encom.

“Colonel, I don’t need to negotiate with you. You need to negotiate with me. I’m just going to give you some time to realize it, because in the end, what I’m asking for isn’t much.”

The Colonel looked over his shoulder at the Datawraiths laying in bed, recovering from illnesses the specialist doctors here didn’t understand, nor know how to treat.

“Alright, you have my temporary agreement,” said the Colonel. “I expect decryption status to stay above ten percent and I set the conditions of your time here in our world. You don’t get to go back outside into the world you’ve turned you back on and you had better understand that your family and friends don’t leave either.”

Jet nodded. “For the time being, I can accept that.”

“And you’re going to defuse that situation with Walter Gurimin in Canada. I don’t need an international incident crawling up my ass at the moment.”

Jet smiled. “I’ll see what I can do about that.”

Jet held out his hand. For perhaps fifteen seconds, the Colonel didn’t acknowledge it, so Jet let it hang there.

Finally, the Colonel took it up and shook it.

“I’m reviewing your situation in about six months. If I’m satisfied you’ve met your obligations, we’ll discuss greater recognition of your rights as an ambassador.”

Jet nodded. He’d have to work at proving some value, but for the moment, they were safe.

“I see this as the beginning of the process,” Jet said as they finished shaking hands.

The Colonel turned to get out of the way of a trolley they were wheeling past.

Jet noticed it as well. Another Datawraith, this one with tourniquet around his arm. He looked away. He didn’t want to think about how badly the Datawraiths were coming out, or how many were still in the buffer.

“Colonel, stop the reintegration process please,” Jet asked.,

“Some of my men are still in there,” said the Colonel.

“If you wait, we might be able to do something about the data corruption. I can’t promise, since the damage is already done, but it may be possible, and I don’t think it’s realtime in the integration loop.”

The Colonel looked back towards the stretcher that had already passed by.

“Doctor Gurimin and my father are experts in this field – as is Alison Gurimin. If you halt the buffer output any Datawraiths still in the reintegration pipeline will remain safe – we may be able to do something with the remaining Datawraiths.”

The Colonel nodded, then turned towards the direction he beds were coming from.

“Captain Roberts.” The Colonel called out, “Tell Reintergration to hold all operations. We might be able to do something about the casualties.”

Another trolley came by then with a female figure in what appeared to be a life support device. It was pumping air into her lungs and her body appeared to be suffering seizure. Jet looked away as it approached him. He didn’t want to be distracted at the moment.

The Colonel turned back to Jet as another man, someone Jet assumed was Captain Roberts, moved quickly towards the other end of this floor of the Echelon hospital.

“So what do you want in return?” The Colonel asked.

“Short term, we require power and maintenance. There will be some architectural change requirements, but otherwise that’s what’s needed the most. We’ll leave several partitions within the computer for your use, but the central core and operational section? That’s ours.

“Doctor Gurimin and my father will let you know what they need to help your casualties. My father will need time to recover, but Doctor Gurimin will be able to help soon I imagine, although I’ll still need time to talk with him.

“Long term? We’ll trade you quantum technology for other necessities. In the mean time, I expect the base to provide reasonable access to what my team need on a day to day basis.”

The Colonel nodded.

“I can’t allow you to leave the base,” The Colonel said. “Not in the short term. You are already aware of far more than you should be.”

“We can review that in a few months as you requested.” Jet said. “But in the long term, you may find that the other developments in this field will give you a reason to want us on the outside as well.”

The Colonel paused. He was blocking the trolley that was coming towards him, which had stopped, since it couldn’t go around him.

“Why would I want that?” The Colonel asked.

Jet had his attention now. There were some things the Colonel obviously hadn’t yet considered.

“Other agencies will eventually develop this technology. I can’t say what scale it will occur on, but it all requires seed material.

“Your methods of retrieving seed material were rather coarse. You did far more damage than you can imagine and that factor alone explains a lot of the problems you’ve encountered.

“We can provide you with dynamic seed material – something that’s going to keep on working and allow you to create other systems.” Jet said.

“And will it be under your control?” The Colonel asked.

“No, but it will be run by the programs and applications of the system and that will always share a common link back to the original system here, just as your system did from the Encom Five Eleven.

“Algorythmic translation allows development of technologies that you really can’t fathom Colonel. Things that were science fiction, are still science fiction, won’t be for long.

“Presently you’re thinking that decrypting quantum communications is the apogee – all your focused on is the present time. Quantum decryption is just the present need you have but what happens inside these computers is beyond artificial intelligence.” Jet said.

“Then what?” The Colonel asked.

“It’s real intelligence. It’s the same that you find in this world. Programs are limited in what they can do and achieve at the moment, but I think you’ve seen what programs and users combined can accomplish from the other side of the screen.

“The technology is eventually going to escape here, most likely you’ll even be the one pushing it. So for the next six months, we’ll do our best to prove that you can trust us with your technology.”

The Colonel considered the scenario. It was very open ended.

“Alright, then here’s some restrictions for you, Ambassador, so you know where you stand during your probation.

“While you’re on this base, you don’t digitize and you don’t leave. I’ll give you a measure of freedom but I don’t ever want to find you’ve exceeded your authority.

“And you are going to have to earn your keep, so be warned, I’m going to be expecting something more than that in six months if you wish to continue negotiating with me.

“Finally, you submit to my scrutiny. All of your team will. I’ll provide you medical services and provide a place to sleep, eat and crap. That’s all I’m willing to bring to the table at the moment. Preliminary Negotiations are over.”

Then the Colonel smiled and nodded.

“Any other questions?” The colonel asked.

“Edward Dillinger and Jasmine Steve Gibbs?” Jet asked.

“They’re mine. They’ll stay on doing what they always did, even in parallel with you. You’ll have competition, so you’ll have to spend time keeping ahead of them.” The Colonel said.

“I don’t think my team will want to work with them,” said Jet.

“Tough. I make the rules. In any event, you probably won’t be seeing much of them.” The Colonel said, then turned towards Jet as if waiting.

“No further questions at the moment, Colonel,” Jet said.

The Colonel nodded and then turned to look at the bed beside him. There was a tag on the base. He read it and called to one of his specialists.

“Jade Doe? Sergeant Ribber, why is there a Jade Doe here? We have DNA sequences for all of our staff.”

A tall man in a medic uniform came running over.

“Sir, this one came out this way, we can’t identify her. She’s lost her autonomous nervous system – can’t even breath by herself.”

“Is she dead?” The Colonel asked.

The Medic stepped forward and pulled out his penlight.

Jet looked over past the life support equipment and noticed the longer hair. It looked familiar. He stepped past the orderly who was wheeling the bed and pushed in for a look at the patient.

It was Melanie’s body that had come out. Without her in it. Something had triggered the ejection of her base material from the photonic suspension in the loop.

Jet turned away. He couldn’t look at her. She was far too much like Mercury in appearance.

“Sir, no, there’s some limited brain activity, but it doesn’t look like there anything behind it.” said the medic.

“She’s one of my team,” said Jet. “She’s dead.”

“No sir, not dead,” said the Medic.

“No, just without her mind,” thought Jet, but he didn’t say it out aloud.

Jet finally turned to look. The medic had pushed her eyelids apart. The eyes within had no pupil that was visible anymore, as it had shrunken to an almost invisible level, just leaving the dull grey of the iris, looking even more like Mercury at the moment.

The medic flashed the light into the eye and the pupil sprang open a tiny amount, like a pinpoint of light.

“The response is completely abnormal,” said the Medic.

As Jet watched, the eye began to spasm, moving in random directions and never stopping on anything.

“It’s not like anything we’ve seen.” Said the medic, as the body began to spasm, individual muscles contracting and relaxing causing the body to jitter around on the bed.

“We check the eye and this happens. It goes on for about ten minutes or so, then dies down.”

The Colonel looked up at Jet.

“I didn’t know you had more than one in the system,” he said. “I’m sorry you’ve lost one of yours also.”

Jet nodded. He didn’t know what else to do.

The medic now opened the eye closest to Jet and shone the light into it, although the eye was already moving at the time.

“Hmmm, the eyes weren’t synchronized before. We might need to scan for some brain activity,” said the Medic.

The eye moved past Jet, then flicked up to his face and focused. Both eyes stopped and the mouth opened a touch as the body stopped spasming.

She had recognized Jet.

The Medic looked up at Jet even as he stood there stunned by what he had just seen.

Something inside was still alive. Something that knew and recognized Jet. Something trapped inside of the body that no longer had a mind to fill it.

Mercury was still alive.

Next Chapter: 2.50 - Stop Bit