ALICE, page 3
The bot stopped in front of an oval hatch in the wall. It touched a spot on the surface and the oval swung to the side, exposing a ladder inside a recess, heading down.
Jake started down the ladder, and at the bottom, headed under what he assumed to be the hallway above. Jake stopped as he suddenly realized he knew where he was.
“ALICE, why do I know where I’m going?”
“The wireless sensors you were fitted with for your experiment allowed me to provide you with a continuous education. You will discover that at times you simply know where you are or what to do without knowing why,” she replied.
At the end of the access way was a panel with two large switches, each switch was in the center of a block about the size of a brick. He opened a cabinet next to the panel and inside was several more bricks just like those with the switches in the center. Jake pulled two out, and holding both with one arm, went to the panel, and pulled down the first switch. The brick dropped free and Jake placed one of the new ones in its place. He flipped up the switch and the crystal under the switch started to glow. He repeated the process for the second brick.
As he finished installing the second, ALICE chimed in his ear, “that replaces two of the damaged breakers and I am no longer in danger. Thank you Captain.”
Jake retraced his steps, and the bot led him to the next oval hatch in the same hallway. As best as Jake could tell the layout was 120 degrees from each other in, what he assumed was a completely circular hallway. What it circled Jake had no idea, but suspected it was somehow related to ALICE’s power source, since the supply breakers surrounded it.
While replacing the fifth and final breaker, its mate, the last functioning original suddenly gave a loud pop and went dark.
“Wow, I guess we were just in time.” Jake commented.
“Possibly,” ALICE replied, “I have been re-powering various systems as well as redistributing the load over the new breakers. The fluctuations most likely caused the failure.”
Jake swapped out the sixth breaker and then headed back to the bot. As they headed back to the elevator, Jake asked, “ALICE, how long WAS I in stasis? I mean those breakers looked like they should have lasted a long time.”
“You were isolated from time for 153 years 2 months and 13 days.”
“WHAT HAPENDED TO 80 YEARS?” Jake shouted.
As he followed the bot into the elevator, ALICE replied, “I stated my facility has not been occupied for over 80 years, you were in stasis for 72 years prior to that.”
“So what happened to everyone then?” Jake asked as he felt the familiar weightiness of an elevator rising.
“The earth was attacked,” replied ALICE, “we were bombed with a weapon that emitted lethal radiation of an unknown nature. It only killed humans, thus affecting everyone inside my facility, no matter how deep they were, but left no residual after effects. In addition, anything in stasis was materially unaffected, so you survived, but exposed to filtered levels of emissions. The long-term effects on your physiology are unknown at this time.”
“Oh, that’s just great, I could drop dead any minute?”
“That is highly unlikely, but it is also why I didn’t remove you from stasis until there was sufficient need to do so. The sensors you wore, allowed my monitoring of your health. As you know the stasis does not stop time, just slows it greatly,” ALICE continued, “I waited for a time when your presence was most needed and I could insure your survival for the necessary duration.”
“For the necessary duration?” Jake said, clearly irritated, “you mean to be sure I would last long enough to save your ass! How long do you think I will last?”
ALICE continued unfazed at the pointed remark, “At this time I see no indications you will expire prior to a normal human lifespan. In fact, I have some data that you may experience a longer than normal life span with enhanced muscular and sensory performance. The exposure you received was filtered by the stasis field in some fashion, generating a positive influence on your physiology.”
Just then, the doors opened, and the bot scurried off in the direction of the control center.
“Great, so SHOULD I live, I can run faster and jump higher and I get to talk to you and the trash cans for the rest of my life. The last living human,” Jake stated glumly.
As Jake stepped into the control room, ALICE responded, “Captain you are not the last living human, just the only one in this facility.”
That statement made Jake stop in his tracks, “So if there are other people, why aren’t they here helping you instead of me?”
“There are two reasons. First, the attack on earth, and it was an attack since I have been able to confirm it was an outside intelligence, wasn’t to eradicate humans. The motivation seems to have been to reduce the technological level of the planet. Right now, the overall planetary technology level equates to the late 18th, or early 19th century. Getting anyone capable of assisting me wasn’t practical.”
“At my last survey, I found mostly animal based transportation with some scrounged steam and gasoline powered equipment. It’s primarily agrarian in most places with limited manufacturing. National identities are still recognized, but most areas are self-supporting with no real interaction with any central governments.”
Jake stepped over to a chair near the consoles and plopped down in it. The thought of everything he knew kicked back to horse and buggy boggled the mind. As he sat there, a bot slid up to him with a bottle of water extended and he took it without thought and drank.
After a pause, ALICE continued, “Most areas of the world, like the one we currently occupy, are lawless. Any civilized law enforcement remains close to widely scattered settlements. Most people that are not out farming, depend on the trade goods they scrounge from the abandoned ruins, for survival. To expose myself to the outside world would be tantamount to committing suicide as my resources would be seen as a treasure trove to be ransacked.”
“Additionally the armory contains weapons and equipment far superior to current technology levels. To have access to those weapons would instantly give the holders the ability to rule the world!”
Jake was only half listening to that point. The image of automatic weapons and rocket launchers against bows and arrows came to mind. Then he realized he might not even understand what was in the armory. It had been 72 years between his stasis test, and the attack. Who knew what they’d come up with during those years.
“And the second reason,” ALICE continued, “is I am bound by my core directive. I can only take direction from the facility’s commander. My core directive was not to expose myself to the outside world. In point of fact, my primary instructions in that area are to keep this underground facility hidden and secret at all costs.”
“Hell, since he died over 80 years ago, that’s going to be a problem,” Jake said.
“That is not entirely correct,” ALICE responded.
“The person who was the facility commander died 81 years ago. With his passing the next surviving member in his chain of command assumed that responsibility.”
“But you said everyone was killed?” Jake queried.
“Everyone from that command is dead but you. You are now the facility’s commander.”
The statement slammed Jake. He had just arrived here the day of the experiment. Additionally, he only returned to the Marine Corps a few months prior to that. Well, technically now, 153 years ago.
While Jake sat there considering all this new information, ALICE chimed in, “Captain, there is one more duty I wish to accomplish with some urgency. It’s not as critical as restoring access to my power sources, but it does have extremely significant ramifications.”
Jake sat for a minute trying to shake off the overwhelming sense of “through the looking glass” and replied, “What’s wrong ALICE?”
“The uplink dishes I use to communicate with my satellites no longer function. They are the primary means I monitor the outside world. The last one froze up on me 15 years ago.”
“There are three dishes hidden under camouflaged domes at the edges of the valley we sit in. There are underground tunnels to access each, so no need to go outside. Unfortunately, my attendants can’t ascend the final access ways to reach the dishes. One has a failed motor which is a time consuming repair, and one is completely destroyed with a dome collapse. However, the final dish just appears stuck. I can move it a small amount, but can’t rotate it to track up. It was in a down position for diagnostics and would not recover.”
Jake started to stand when a bot slid up with a tray, forcing him to stay seated. The tray held a plate with a sandwich, potato chips, and a glass of what looked like ice tea.
“What’s this?”
“You have been going non-stop for several hours now,” ALICE replied, “it is proper that you rest and eat before this next activity.”
Jake took the tray and set it on his lap, handing over the water bottle to the little bot and lifting the sandwich, the bread felt soft and fresh? Taking a bite, it tasted good, none of the food was stale, and the drink was ice cold tea!
“Alice, how can all this be fresh after 80 years?” Jake asked.
“Stasis,” she replied, “in the years after your experiment, humans further developed the means to store perishables in stasis rather than refrigerate. Food lasts indefinitely. Almost all my storage facilities are stasis lockers. Food, frozen goods, clothing, ammunition, and degradable fuels are all stored in stasis to insure freshness and usability.”
Jake considered that while he ate, well at least he wasn’t going to starve.
“Alice,” Jake asked, “besides the acronym for your name why the feminine personality? I mean technically weren’t you a neutral gender at inception?”
“That is true,” ALICE replied, “however, it was encouraged that a female persona would be less threatening and more comforting to the staff personnel. It was a naturally evolving occurrence that seemed to satisfy all involved.”
The earlier ammunition comment also got Jake thinking.
“Alice, I think I might want to grab a gun for this next task. If what you say is true, the dome may have been compromised, and I wouldn’t want any surprises.”
“I do have sensors in the two remaining domes. There haven’t been any human intrusions, but I have noted a possible wildlife presence, so your concern is valid. This attendant will lead you to one of the small arms lockers and then to a conveyance for the trip to the dome.”
As Jake finished, a second bot appeared and took the tray away, while the first stood by the doorway patiently waiting for him to move in that direction.
“You may find some unexpected familiarity with the small arms, though they are different from what you remember. I fed you that information as well while you were in stasis. You are up to date on all the weapons systems in my inventory.”
Great, Jake thought, I wonder what other crap I have stored away in my head. I probably had to dump the 3rd grade just to make room!
He got up and slowly walked to the doorway. As he approached, the bot turned and whisked off down the hall.
“Damn, these things always seem in a rush,” Jake mumbled to himself.
They hit the same elevator as before, but this time it went up, and the doors opened into a large area that looked more like a warehouse. All over the floor space, there were stacks of crates, forklifts, and other less familiar equipment.
The bot scurried over to a large door in the wall to Jake’s left. As the door rolled up, Jake could see racks of rifles along one wall, and a long bench along the other wall with handguns and other items on it. The bot continued in and headed to the rear of the space. Jake stepped in and picked up one of the handguns. It was both familiar and not. It bore the usual trigger and grip, although the barrel was a bit higher than usual, and there was a square opening below it and over the trigger guard. The bot came back with a holster and belt in one claw and a stack of three magazines in another.
Jake took it all and laid it on the table in the middle of the room. He grabbed one of the magazines and looked at the top. He saw the cylindrical objects he expected, but the cartridges were weird. He slid one out and examined it. The first thing he noted was the bullet was on one end, but the other end didn’t have a primer. The second thing he noticed was the case wasn’t brassy. It looked more like pressed powder, and if he tried hard, he could scrape some off with a fingernail.
ALICE spoke at that point, “those are caseless rounds. Each round feeds from the magazine, into a chamber in a rolling block at the back of the barrel. The block rotates 90 degrees and ignites when you pull the trigger. The block then rotates 90 degrees again and the next round feeds in the empty chamber. The magazine goes in the well below the barrel and each magazine holds 25 rounds.”
“This is what you would call a 10mm caliber. It provides a substantial impact for closer distances. The rifles behind you operate in the same fashion, though the stick magazines for them hold 200 rounds and are in 5.56mm and 7.62mm caliber. They have a larger powder charge and are more powerful and are accurate to a greater distance.”
Jake slipped a magazine into the handgun and then placed it in the holster. He then put the two spares in the pouch on the belt and put the belt on. Satisfied all was in place he headed out and followed the bot across the floor to a cluster of equipment.
The bot stopped next to what looked like a golf cart. There were just four seats and a flat rear cargo area for small boxes or crates. The only problem was it didn’t have a steering wheel!
“This cart will take you to the access port for the dish in question. There is a ladder at that end that goes up to the dish dome.”
“ALICE,” Jake said, “there is no steering wheel for this thing, how am I supposed to drive it?”
“I will drive,” she replied, “all the equipment inside is automated. Simply get in and say where you want to go. In this case, I already know your destination.”
Jake climbed into the front seat and the cart headed off. As they crossed the open area, he noted on the far side of the warehouse, there were helicopters of various sizes and other larger land vehicles.
The helicopters were a mixed group of military and government models, but the most noticeable thing about them was they didn’t have a main rotor. In its place were two large horizontal loops, one on each side of the center of the airframe, with blades inside the loop. Jake suspected they moved independently to control direction because there was no tail rotor. In addition, the area where the engine should be was excessively small. He made a mental note to go check those out at some point.
As Jake was considering all of this, the cart dashed into a smaller tunnel, though comfortably big enough for the cart. Dimly lit, Jake might have slowed, but ALICE was driving so he just tried to relax.
After about 20 minutes, the cart started to slow and then came to a stop next to one of the oval ports in the wall, like the ones he accessed earlier to reach the power breaker panels.
“This is the access hatch for the dome,” ALICE said, “simply touch the center and it will open automatically.”
Jake did as instructed and sure enough, it swung away, exposing a ladder as before, though this one went up.
He stepped in the access way and started climbing. Again, the lighting wasn’t great, but it was good enough to see the rungs to climb. He must have climbed several hundred feet when he reached a hatch above his head.
Popping the hatch, he cautiously stuck his head up in the dome and looked around. He could see the dish, standing vertically in the center of the room. It must have been day outside as he could see light streaming in at several places through the dome. He slowly lifted himself up and inspected the room. There was quite a bit of dust and dirt on everything.
Examining the dish, he could see that the positioning gears caked in dirt. He found a rag and a brush and went to work on cleaning them up.
“ALICE can you hear me?” asked Jake.
“Yes, the domes are at the limits of my internal sensors.”
“Well, I think I can get these positioners freed up, but the dome is a little worse for wear and will need some patching.”
At that point, the dish started to creep up and Jake stepped back to watch as ALICE rotated it up and down.
“I have full rotation again, Jake. We can address patching the dome at another time. Thank You.”
As Jake turned to leave, he heard the distinct sound of a pissed off rattlesnake! Coiled in the corner on the far side of the hatch, he intended to leave through, was the biggest diamondback he had ever seen.
Discretion being the better part of not being bitten, he drew the 10mm and lined up on the snake's head. A gentle squeeze and it evaporated in a flash of smoke and flame.
“Damn this is a nice gun!” Jake exclaimed to no one in particular.
ALICE chimed, “Jake is everything alright?”
“Yup, just found a snake.”
Jake holstered the gun, headed for the hatch, and climbed back down the ladder after he insured the hatch was secure. Back in the cart, he discovered ALICE had already turned it around. He climbed in and off it went, back the way it came.
Chapter 3
Jake stepped back into the control room after having freed the frozen satellite dish. The return trip was a mirror of the way out, though he skipped the trip to the locker, deciding to keep the gun. He noticed several new active displays around the room with images he suspected came from satellites. Presumably, due to his interest in the images, ALICE said, “I am doing a local survey to update my data on our surrounding conditions. After that is complete I will expand outward.”
Jake asked, “how far have you got?”
“I am finishing the area you know as the southwest US and northern Mexico. I would be further along but not all the satellites are geosynchronous, so I must wait until they pass over the areas of interest.”
“I would suggest you consider resting and we can review the results later.” ALICE finished.
Jake realized he was dragging, with all the new information to process he hadn’t noticed it. One of the army of bots swung by and without waiting for the expected direction, he got up and followed.
