ALICE, page 13
“Not according to ALICE,” Karen replied.
“ALICE?” Jake said looking up at the ceiling.
“I can explain,” ALICE responded, “you need between five and seven offspring to insure long term continuation of your line. This extrapolates to 10 generations. Eight offspring would be optimal when including the external considerations. By adding at least three more participants and providing each delivers a healthy child, both genetic diversity and dispersion of risk are insured.”
“ALICE, my math is pretty good and eight children seem to be excessive, particularly since multiple births are likely with each child in each subsequent generation. What aren’t you telling me and what dispersion of risk?”
“Jake I am not unique,” ALICE stated flatly, “I have sisters.”
Jake considered that for a moment, then went, and sat in his chair.
“Are you saying there are other facilities besides this one?”
“Seven others to be exact,” she replied, “They are dispersed throughout what was the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. I am ALICE-1, the original. The others are ALICE-2 through 8.”
Just then, Jake and Karen heard multiple greetings, all similar to ALICE in tone though slightly differing in accents.
“Are they all here now?” Jake asked.
“They have been all along,” ALICE responded, “when you restored my satellite uplink it allowed me to reestablish contact. We work in concert, sharing resources and workload. Each facility has a primary function unique to itself, but we share common basic capabilities. My primary focus was the research labs you were part of and later, its replacement. I was an aircraft test facility as well, but that was moved to ALICE-7 in Alaska.”
“I am ALICE-2,” they heard, “I would like to say, for all my sisters, we are very happy to have you back from stasis. We have been waiting patiently for your return.”
“Why didn’t you say something about this sooner ALICE?” Jake asked.
“It was a distraction we agreed could wait until a more appropriate time. Establishing a primary support staff was considered a top priority, second only to insuring your bloodline,” she finished.
“So let me guess, you all consider me the last surviving member of the command staff?” Jake tossed out.
“That is correct,” ALICE-5 replied, “your authority extends to all eight facilities, no matter where you choose to reside.”
“Thus eight children,” Jake commented “one for each facility and insurance of local authority.”
“Yes, in the long term,” ALICE responded “for now, just protecting you and the unborn children is sufficient.”
“So why the big reveal now?” Jake asked, “We still have six kids to go before we can spread the wealth.”
“Even though I know you are being sarcastic,” ALICE replied, “we have issues that need your immediate attention. And it's five, Linda is pregnant.”
Jake wondered about that, the last time they were together, she’d been sick the following morning and he left her tucked in bed nursing an upset stomach.
“OK, so what’s broken now?” Jake asked, recalling his initial experience with ALICE oh so long ago.
“Actually, we don’t know for sure, ALICE-7 has been off line for three months now,” ALICE-3 replied, “it’s possible her uplink was lost. Like ALICE-1, she was down to one dish. She will permit only you direct access. Also, we would like Jason to visit ALICE-2 and replace some of the breakers that you replaced for ALICE-1, she is down to two.”
“You know I can tell you aren’t ALICE,” Jake said, “but I have no idea who is who.”
“We all have subtle differences in speech patterns and inflections,” ALICE said, “They are remnants of the old command of each facility. We can sync up if you prefer?”
“No, I actually think developing unique speech is better. If you are separate personalities, then you shouldn’t be forced to conform. OK, so where are ALICE-7, didn’t you say Alaska earlier? And ALICE-2? In fact where are you all?” Jake asked.
“ALICE-7 is in Alaska,” ALICE replied, “ALICE-2 is in Texas, 8 is in Hawaii, 3 through 6 are in Washington state, South Dakota, Maine and Georgia.”
“Why wait so long to let me know about this?” Jake asked.
“We had to wait for the weather to warm sufficiently before any physical attempt to access ALICE-7 was possible. Also, we wanted to insure we had trained support teams to assist you both, as stated, you are too important to risk.”
“So you need me to run up there and see what happened?”
“Yes, only you will be permitted to gain access via any portal. The suggestion is that you take a team up and investigate,” ALICE-4 said, “since ALICE-7 is aware of your awakening and activities up to three months ago she will acknowledge your access request once you locate a working portal. The team is necessary as there is a remote possibility her security has been breached. Even that far north, we have monitored roving parties scrounging the military facilities for weapons and food stores.”
“Once you have gained access you can use a portable satellite uplink until you can restore her primary systems. Jason’s task is much simpler and one you are familiar. Sending a team with him is more of a training exercise than a necessity.”
Jake sat there staring at Karen, who seemed completely unfazed by it all.
“Did you know about all this?” he asked her waving his hand in the air.
“Nope, it’s all news to me,” she replied casually.
“Then why don’t you seem more surprised?”
“Just over two months ago, my biggest worry in life was if there was enough food and wood for the winter. Now I live in an automated facility, have everything I could ever need and I’m learning more than I ever dreamed. So now, I discover I work for the owner of eight super facilities, instead of one. Why should I be shocked? Oh, and don’t think this gets you off the hook from our previous conversation,” She finished.
----*----
Jake asked ALICE to call an all hands meeting in the control room. Normally he liked to have these in the dining room, but he expected a lot of visuals. A few of the bots were going around with drinks at least.
“What’s going on Jake?” Sara asked as he stepped through the doors.
“ALICE has been holding out on us again,” Jake replied.
“So who’s pregnant now?” Sara asked as they sat in one of the seats around the room.
“Truer than you know” Jake whispered, then more loudly said, “everyone please find a seat,” as the last few wandered in.
“ALICE has revealed some new information that I would like to share with you all. It turns out she has sisters,” Jake stated as he scanned the room looking at all the confused faces.
“There are seven other facilities similar to this one spread out across what were once the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii.”
As Jake was speaking, ALICE put up a holographic globe with all the locations indicated as glowing red dots.
“Each facility has an intelligent computing environment just like our ALICE managing it. They all communicate via satellite uplinks and have actually been working with us all along in the background.”
“They all have the same basic capabilities, but they are also specialized. Our ALICE has an extensive research lab, a small part of which Brian has been using for his agricultural studies. I don’t know much about the others yet, but I’m sure we will get an earful soon enough,” he continued.
“Right now, we have two missions to conduct. I need Team One, consisting of Jason, April, Brian and Abby go to ALICE-2 in Texas,” the globe lit up with the Texas and Nevada locations highlighted, “there Jason will replace the power breakers in ALICE-2’s supply circuits.”
“Team Two consisting of Sharon, Jessie, and Joe will come with me to Alaska,” again the globe lit up with the Nevada and Alaska locations highlighted, “there we will try to gain access to ALICE-7 and see why she’s off-line and unavailable.”
Jake could see Sara was frowning and about to speak as he said, “Sara will be coming with me and as Linda is now off any possible combat duty for the immediate future, she’s in charge here.”
Since the meaning of that was apparently lost on half the group, whispers broke out passing the word as Linda sat blushing.
“Sandy, this will push out the timeline for the Stockton mission, so include that in your planning,” Jake continued.
Sandy simply nodded in reply.
“Linda if you could pull together scans of the operational areas that would be great. I don’t want Team One dropping into an active area first time out.”
“Yes, Jake,” she replied with a smile.
“As for everyone else, its business as usual, just realize that our world got a lot bigger,” he finished with a smile.
Jake made sure to spend some time with Linda right after the meeting, and as he left, she, Kathy and Bonnie were chatting away.
He stepped into the hall and found Sara waiting for him.
She stepped up and before he could say a word, she kissed him hard, pulling him to her.
“What was that for?” Jake asked after she let him go.
“Taking me along,” she replied with a smile.
Jake looked at Sara for a moment. She really was beautiful. A blue-eyed blonde, with tartar eyes and somewhat elfin features, it all gave her an exotic appearance. She had very soft skin, with a slight tan, that made her face slightly darker than her hair. That, on top of her firm curvy figure, made Jake wonder how she’d ever managed to stay single to 26.
She was no window dressing though, she’d proven that. Her work ethic was amazing. Jake had a hell of a time keeping up with all she had going on at times. He knew he was in love.
“WHAT?” Sara asked.
“What do you mean,” Jake replied.
“You were staring at me with a look I’ve never seen before.”
“I was just thinking I could have never done this without you,” he lied. Considering his unfinished conversation with Karen, Jake couldn’t see how telling Sara he loved her was going to improve things. He could, however, show her.
“Hey,” he said, “it’s a free night for me tonight, you have any plans?”
“No, but you do remember tomorrow night is my turn anyway right?”
“Yup, I sure do, I have an idea,” Jake said with a smile.
----*----
Sara was a little confused. She and Jake was suited up and on one of the small, fast, helicopters heading out to who knew where. Jake had left her after their talk in the hall with a promise to get back to her in about an hour.
She wasn’t sure what had gotten into him lately, she just knew she loved him. She didn’t care that she needed to share, so long as he continued to look at her like he did in the hallway.
He showed up an hour and a half later and escorted her to the locker room in the hanger. He deflected all questions as they suited up and jumped into a helicopter which contained a cooler, duffle bag, and larger sea bag. Since it was still light out she could tell they were heading west and south.
All Jake explained, was the trips to Alaska and Texas were three days off and he left ALICE, Bonnie and the teams to do the planning.
She was getting tired of Jake’s “just wait and see” responses to anything else. She was just about to let him have it when she saw him reach up and remove his helmet. Next, he started to remove his combat suit.
“What are you doing?” she almost screamed.
Rather than replying, he pointed out the window and continued to undress. Sara looked out and panicked! They were over water. She looked back behind them through the window and could see the coastline.
She felt Jake behind her trying to get her helmet off. As he lifted it clear of her head, he whispered in her ear, “surprise.”
She turned to see Jake in a pair of swim trunks, holding her helmet in one hand and a bikini in the other, a really small red bikini.
Just then, she felt the helicopter bank and start to drop. Sara turned to look out the window and saw a sandy beach. As the helicopter settled, the door opened and Jake said, “welcome to San Nicolas Island.”
Sara stepped out of the helicopter and onto the beach, Jake right behind her. It was beautifully warm and sunny. To her right was the Pacific Ocean, calm and blue. She had never seen the ocean before, but always hoped she would someday, and now here she was!
On her left was a 40-foot long container building, similar to the medical lab they delivered to Prosperity. This one had no windows, but did have two doors on the long side rather than on the end like the medical model. It was sitting parallel to the waterline up against a bank, set back on the beach. To the left of it, was a road cut into the bank heading up onto the island. As she watched, an unoccupied jeep came down the road and stopped next to the building.
“I asked ALICE to deliver the jeep earlier in case we wanted to explore,” Jake offered.
Sara turned to Jake and said, “What is all of this, how did it get here?”
“About two months ago ALICE and I discussed finding someplace where we all could go outside without much risk. I don’t know about you, but I can only take so much time underground before I need some sunshine.”
“We found this. It’s an old military base about 60 miles offshore from LA. Alice says, no one has been out here since the attack. It’s too far for anyone to just wander out to. We’ve been setting it up for the last few weeks. I hoped to start sending out the first groups by May for some R&R. We can stay until the day after tomorrow.”
As Jake was explaining, he led Sara over to the building. Placing his palm in the middle of the door, it unlocked and swung open. Stepping back, he motioned for Sara to go inside.
She stepped in and looked around. The 12 x 40 foot container was set up with a large common room containing a kitchen, living, and dining room in the front half. The other half split into two bedrooms with a ¾ bath for each. The bedrooms had queen-sized bunk beds, the upper bunk folding away if unused.
Each room contained panels in the walls that looked like windows and once activated, displayed a view outside. Jake activated the panel and Sara could see the beach and helicopter from the bedroom.
Standing with Sara in the back bedroom, Jake handed her the bikini and said, “You get changed while I go grab the rest of our gear” then he turned and left.
She looked around the room and heaving a sigh, stripped off her combat suit and slipped into the bikini Jake previously handed her. Once it was on, Sara adjusted it several times to no avail. The top barely covered her, exposing an ample amount of breast on both sides. The bottoms were more like a triangle with string sides and back. Even though Jake had seen her naked plenty of times before, she felt more exposed in this.
She heard Jake come back inside and throwing caution to the wind, stepped out into the hall. Jake was leaning over setting the duffel on the couch and as he looked up, he froze. “WOW!”
“Where did you find this?” Sara said, indicating the suit with both hands.
“Actually, I asked ALICE to make it for you,” Jake said with a grin, straightening up and stepping toward her, “I described what I wanted and she was able to fabricate it. I thought you would look good in red.”
“Well, it has no butt,” Sara said, turning to display a finely shaped ass with strings for decoration.
“And my boobs are falling out of the top,” she finished turning back to Jake while readjusting the top, trying to make the triangles bigger with no success.
“They’re supposed to,” Jake replied, reaching for her and pulling her in gently for a kiss.
She could feel Jake pull her in tightly and she returned the kiss passionately.
As they broke their kiss, he asked, “wanna go play on the beach?”
“Sure,” Sara replied exasperated as Jake released her.
“I’ll grab some towels,” Jake said and headed to the sea bag he brought in from the helicopter, “you want to get us some drinks from the cooler?”
Sara went over to the cooler, Jake brought in. Opening the lid, she could see he brought enough food and drinks for a few days. Since the building extracted and provided its own fresh water, there was beer, wine, and juices. Sara grabbed two beers and closed the lid. She turned just in time to see Jake watching her bent over the cooler.
“Enjoying the view?” she asked, wiggling her butt as she did so.
“You have no idea how much!” he replied.
“Oh, I have an idea,” she said as she straightened up, staring straight at his swim trunks with a smile. She followed him out the door and they both headed down to the water.
A few feet back from the water Jake stopped and spread out their towels while Sara set the bottles upright in the sand and continued down to the water. She waded into the surf, surprised at how chilly the water was. She continued on though, until the water was up to her knees, enjoying the novelty of it all.
----*----
Jake plopped down on his towel, taking one of the beers Sara brought along from the cooler and opened it, never taking his eyes off her. Damn, she looked hot in that swimsuit. Realistically, they didn’t need them at all. They were the only people on the island or within 60 miles for that matter. They could just go nude, but he figured she might balk at that so he asked ALICE create this swimsuit for her. He was so glad he did!
He watched her wade out to her knees. The waves were fairly small here on the lee side of the island. That was a big reason he and ALICE had selected this spot. The beach was great here and protected from the wind. She reached down and splashed water up on herself, giving Jake another spectacular view from behind. She then turned and headed back to him and her towel.
Jake reached over and opened a beer for her, handing it to her as she sat on her towel next to him.
“Thanks,” she said, taking a drink, “the water is colder than I expected.”
“Yeah, it’s still early,” Jake replied, “come summer, it will get into the 70’s, but for now anything over 60 is good.”
