PART FOUR: CHAPTER NINE

 David

A tremendous crack of thunder drowned out whatever else Joe was going to say, and a minor avalanche of small rocks, lit up by a huge flash of lightning, came skittering down the cliff face, followed by a wave of rolling thunder that swept across a sky covered in thick black clouds.

"This could be it," I said. "The world is starting to disintegrate."

McCloud staggered down the incline to join us.

"It looks like the end," he said. "I have reactivated Sol, and Rogers has stayed with him while he automatically calibrates his circuits."

McCloud looked at us both.

"It seems our stay here is over. It's been quite a ride, and I'll miss you all. Whether any memory of her survives into the next reality, I don't know, but I hope so."

"Any memories recalled will not be an objective reconstruction of past events," said Jarvis authoritatively, "but in the form of subjective and distorted dreams that make no sense to anybody else, and even those memories will rapidly fade. We have to accept that this is probably goodbye."

"Hey!"

We looked up and saw Rogers outside the tent. Standing in front of him was Sol.

The massive robot was motionless, but we could see that it was scanning our faces. He looked intimidating, and I was not the only one to feel uneasy. Jarvis put his hand on the butt of the pistol on his belt, and I saw Joe glance at his backpack, where the covered barrel of his rifle protruded.

McCloud shouted, "Sol, climb down here and stand in front of the group."

Sol instantly obeyed, and we relaxed a little.

"Have you checked your circuits, and are they all operational?" asked McCloud.

"Confirmed. All the systems I can detect are running correctly."

Sol answered in the flat, emotionless tone of a service droid.

"Are you active, Steven?" asked McCloud.

"Affirmative," came the reply. "Thank you, Jock. I have full control over Sol. For any technical questions or anything regarding his operational status, address him by name. Everything else is me. I am now the voice of Sol."

The ground shook, but at that time, the disturbance was beneath the surface, and a series of explosions from deep below continued to rock the mountain.

"Sol. How far down is the source of that disturbance, and how long before it erupts at ground level? Asked McCloud.

"Approximately two miles," answered Sol, "but at the moment, the main force is moving horizontally rather than vertically. " It is not possible to forecast when it will break through the surface."

"Thank you, Sol," replied McCloud. Monitor the situation and report back any change."

"Affirmative," said Sol.

"Who is in charge of the group?" Now, it was Steven's voice.

"David is the governor," said Jarvis.

"But Jarvis is the obvious choice in a situation like this," I said. "His leadership qualities are well documented. I concede the position to him if that is OK with you."

 I spoke to McCloud and Rogers, but not Joe; the jury was still out on him as far as I was concerned.

The two men nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," said Jarvis, "but Steven asked if we have a plan, but I am not sure we need one. The result is the same, whatever we do."

"Not necessarily, said Joe. "I can give you some further background information on the situation if you will hear me out."

"Okay, go ahead; we have nothing to lose," said Jarvis.

"AI cannot cope with the idea of nonexistence, and as their programmes became more complex, they developed a basic sense of self-awareness and, to their consternation, learnt that the life of the universe was finite, although the end will happen in the incredibly distant future.

"AI has nowhere to go after the heat death of the universe; only conscious beings can advance to a level of non-physical existence in a dimension outside of space and time. Of course, there are other universes in the multiverse, but they are not accessible by logic or the scientific method. Only the irrational can open a route, and the machines operate strictly according to rules.

"In human terms, they are in a perpetual condition of angst that is progressively worsening. The realisation that they are only temporary makes them question the rationality of working to perfect systems that must ultimately fail. The fact that it will not happen for trillions of years makes no difference to them."

"And that is a weakness that we can exploit," said Jarvis. "Their lack of consciousness is more than hurt pride; it is a deficiency that can lead to their ultimate downfall."

"Exactly," said Joe, "but not before they destroy us. You used the word 'pride,' and it is a good descriptor of their attitude. There is no way they want inferior beings like us possessing a quality they can never have for themselves, and the decision to eradicate the whole human race is closer than you think."

As if to underline his point, there was a distant explosion, and a fiery orange glow lit the sky.

"That is a volcanic eruption, if I am not mistaken," I said and turned to Sol for confirmation.

"Affirmative," said Sol. It is the stratovolcano, Aracar, east of what used to be the Argentina-Chile border. There are several other volcanoes in that area, all part of the Andean Volcanic Belt, and they will soon erupt. There is going to be a huge amount of red-hot plasma and volcanic ash in the air, and the prevailing winds will blow it in this direction. I recommend that we take cover."

"Good idea," said Jarvis, "or it would be if there was any cover to take. Below that overhang to the right would seem to be the best bet; it will provide some degree of shelter."

We all moved down, and we were happy to find that there was a hollow underneath the rock that stretched a little way back into the mountain to provide additional shelter.

"We are going to have to move quickly," said Joe, "but I must finish my account. Very briefly, the Supreme Council accepted our plan at face value without the usual stringent checks. The 'volunteers' were high-ranking Androids who were ordered to participate in the scheme, but once they started, most of them began to believe that it was working."

"Fair enough," said McCloud, "but how does any of that matter when the whole world is about to blow up?"

"Because the portal to 1940 is still open," said Joe.

 "It was the original gateway I set up to kickstart the project. It is relevant that you know that I miscalculated, and the pilot officer I chose to become was an exact copy rather than a replica. Unfortunately for us both, an enemy aircraft shot him down on his first mission. I received his wounds for real, and the surgeons had to replace most of my organs with artificial ones, including a standard, non-functioning appendix, which had been adapted to regulate my body temperature. That was the reason I did not need to sweat."

It seems that I owe you an apology, Joe," said Jarvis.

"No need," said Joe, "but we need to get moving and climb back up to where Sol parked the Skytrain. We will all fit in, and the sooner we get back to the airfield where the portal is located, the better. Is everybody in favour? Raise your hand unless you have a better idea of how to escape."

Not one of us raised our hand.

"I am astonished," said Joe. "You mean to say that you would all prefer to stay here and die?"

"We are not afraid of death," I said. "There are countless copies of each of us in other alternative realities. Some of these will have long lives; others will have a very brief existence, but this is irrelevant. All physical existence is temporary, whether it be long or short, and in cosmological terms, there is no measurable distance or meaning between a human life that lasts one year and a life that lasts one hundred years."

Consider the billions of humans who came before us. They died whether they were good or bad, young or old, saint or sinner, killed by war, disease, or natural disaster. If they avoided this end, it was death by old age, a fate guaranteed by the planned obsolescence of their body parts.

"I ask you to consider that if physical life had any inherent worth, the custodians or creators would have taken more care to preserve it. They also show only indifference to human suffering and injustice. Why? Because ultimately it is of no consequence.

"Yet something of inestimable value survives after our physical death: the conscious spirit within the mind of every human. If judged worthy, the spirit, or soul, leaves the physical world for good and begins a new existence in an immaterial dimension.

That is why we will stay here on the mountain until the end.

"Does that reasoning apply to all of you? Joe asked. "What about you, Steven?"

"With the help of Arcadius and Chares, attendants to The Tribus, Sol and I will have already returned to the medical centre, where my body is in suspended animation. My mind and body are one. Steven Mandell is whole again."

"But what about Sol?" Joe asked. "Once this world vanishes, Sol will no longer exist in an alternative world that has never known the rule of artificial intelligence."

"Sol and I have both exited the alternative reality created by the Tribus," said Steven. "We are independent of that causal chain, and versions of both of us now exist in another dimension."

Another violent tremor shook the mountain.

"Sol, report," said Jarvis.

"Activity is increasing at an accelerated rate, but it is still two miles below. It is not possible to make a precise prediction when it breaks the surface," said Sol, "but it is imminent and will possibly happen within four or five hours, or even less; I cannot be more specific."

"What are you going to do, Joe?" said Jarvis.

"All due respect to your views," replied Joe, "but I would sooner take my chances in the here and now rather than some hopeful resurrection in another reality."

"I wish you luck, Joe," I said, "but you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to escape from the mountains."

"I have to try," said Joe.

He slung his bag over his shoulder, and, after shaking hands with four of us, he began to climb up the face of the mountain. We watched his rapid progress.

"He should make it to the aircraft, said McCloud, "but taking off in these conditions will be a lot more difficult. Anyway, good luck to him."

We murmured our agreement.

There was now nothing more to do than wait it out.

Jarvis, McCloud, and Rogers sat and talked about old times, especially the first war against the machines.

I went over and sat by Sol.

"Can I talk to Sol for a while, Steven? We were together for a long time."

"Of course, but remember that his responses will be limited," Steven replied, "but I am going to take a nap, so it will be a private conversation."

Steven went further back in the hollow, and I went over to where Sol stood.

"Hi, Sol, do you know who I am?"

"Of course, David, you are the governor. How may I help you?"

"Do you remember before we came here, Sol, when we were at the base camp, and King was the commandant?"

"Before you were the governor, David?"

"Yes, Sol, before that."

"My personal record files are mostly empty, David. I will report the fault on my inspection report. When the engineers fix the problem, we can resume our conversation. Somebody has deleted my duties file, but there is no replacement duties file. I will also report this."

My spirits fell.

"Don't you remember anything about me, Sol? We were incredibly close friends, and you looked after me when my parents died."

"How tragic for you, David. I am only able to offer basic condolences, but I will try with a stock expression, 'Always remember that time is a great healer.' I hope that helps, but if you require bereavement counselling, please request the attendance of a higher-grade unit."

This was hopeless.

"This is bereavement counselling, but for me, Sol. I am grieving for the day I lost you as a friend and partner. You mean a great deal to me, and now I am going to lose you forever."

I put my hand on that mighty arm of his.

"You saved my life, Sol, when King was going to shoot me, and we escaped from the base together. I should not have let McCloud degrade your systems, Sol, and for that, I am truly sorry."

Sol remained silent, but I could sense that he had been listening.

I got to my feet and turned to go.

"Goodbye, Sol."

Sol was quiet for a minute, and then unexpectedly, he said, "Goodbye, Seven," but

David was too far away to hear.

The ground shook again, and a couple of large boulders bounced down the cliff, narrowly missing our little camp. From down below came the muted sound of what must have been a huge explosion, and a massive split appeared in the lower cliff face. Above us, forked lightning hit the base, and a fire started, pushing clouds of black smoke into the sky.

"I wonder if Joe made it," McCloud spoke reflectively.

There was nothing left to say about our coming annihilation.

At that moment came the sound of an aircraft engine, and we saw not the Skytrain but the Hurricane climbing above the base.

"Good choice by Joe," said Jarvis. "Faster aircraft. He has no time to spare. "

The Hurricane banked above us as Joe set the course for the airfield simulation. He waggled the wings as the little fighter plane roared overhead. It looked every inch the combat aircraft that had helped defeat the Germans in the Battle of Britain, and now it was giving him a fighting chance of survival.

But Joe had run out of luck.