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The God of Planet
Hi folks...its been awhile...i go through spurts of playing SMAC, think up a story or two and then not play for awhile...but I played this weekend and wrote the following story. I don't claim it as any good, but here it is. I hope you enjoy it, despite my poor skills...
D4
THE GOD OF PLANET
Provost Zakharov sat quietly as his driver manuevered the rover through the streets of Gagarin Memorial. He reflected momentarily on the sheer beauty of this base, with its magnificent spires and alabaster buildings. It was truly a monument to behold, a home to 8000 University citizens and a scientific mecca only rivalled by University Base itself.
Then his attention was once again focused on the chaos on the streets. Lights flickered on and off, both public and municipal services were shutting down and the people...fearful of what was happening, were close to rioting. Civil authorities were on the streets in force urging people to return to their homes. Martail law had been declared.
At his side in the vehicle was Francis Moone, Governor of Gagarin Memorial. Moone, a remarkably calm individual pointed to the monorail tracks to the right of the vehicle. “There, Provost. See. The train has stopped on its tracks, stranding the passengers high above the city. Thats the fourth one in the last half hour. We cannot regain control of the system.”
“Hmmmm.” Zakharov mumbled. “At least they are safe for the moment. The malfunction caused three ealier trains to crash. A regrettable loss of life.”
“Malfunction?! This is no malfunction, the failsafes were..”
“I know!” Zak said forcefully, glancing towards the driver. His meaning was clear. Do not discuss this in the presence of his driver. The less known about the true cause, the better.
The rover passed through a cordon of security guards surrounding the Main Research Complex. The building was unoccupied, save for the soldiers that stood in the main lobby. It was an eerie sight, because under normal conditions this complex was never empty. Night and day it bristled with activity, the light from its windows shining like multiple eyes sparkling with life. Now these windows were dark for the most part. Some of the lights would flicker than fade, then others would. It was as if someone was turning the lights off and on at random. The same thing was happening all over the base.
Zak and the Governor exited the rover and began walking up the entrance ramp where they were greeted by two soldiers.
“Provost, Colonel Reyes, chief of Gagarin security, and his second, Major Decker.” Moone said introducing the men. “Report, Colonel.”
“Sir, I just recieved word that a power overload in the research hospital has started a fire....so far, at least 14 people are presumed dead. Fire control has the blaze under control, but it has to be done manually. All computer operated systems have failed.” Answered Reyes. Zakharov examined his expression closely. He was clearly shaken, but hiding it.
“Your efforts to regain control of the systems?” Queried the Governor.
“Unsuccesful, sir,” the colonel handed Moone a datapad report. Moone read it quickly and handed it to Zakharov. “Data Technicians have been unable to even get into the network node system. Some kind of encypted lockout has been initiated. The water filtration system is being affected also. We have minor floods on Levels 3 through 5, and the radiation shielding on reactor 2 has failed. Several workers were injured, one with terminal wounds.”
Zakharov sighed heavily, then looked directly at the colonel. “The public?” he asked.
“Civil authorities are stretched right now, Provost. People are beginning to panic,” Reyes continued, “we have control now, but there have been skirmishes on the street. There are rumblings in the lower base levels by the drones.”
“I see,” Zak handed the pad back to Moone. “Major, see what you can do to free the passengers on the monorail. We don’t need another tragic accident. Colonel, lets go.”
As the major followed his orders, Zakharov, Moone and Reyes walked into the front lobby of the complex. It was lit only by portable lamps the soldiers had set up. Two technicians were setting up a hologram projection unit and several soldiers were standing by the entranceway to the labs.
“We won’t need the projection unit, Colonel.” Zakharov said, removing his coat. “He wanted to see me personally and he shall.”
“Sir!” Moone interjected, but was silenced when Zakharov raised his bony hand.
“I didn’t travel all of this way friom University base to talk to him via a hologram projection. Use the manual switch to open the doors. I’m going in there.”
“Provost, he said if we attempt to open those doors he’ll remove the radiation shielding on all of the base reactors. Thousands will die! Besides, if you go in there he may kill you!” Colonel Reyes warned.
Zakharov faced him. The provost was a frail looking man, aged and grey, but his eyes had a strength in them that took the soldier aback. “ Then I’ll die...but so will many others if this continues. If he controls all of the computer operations of this complex he undoubtably knows I am here. He requested an audience and I will hear him. Now open that door, Colonel and wait for me to contact you.”
The colonel nodded to the soldiers, who instantly removed a panel on the far wall. One of them reached in and tugged at the manual control lever. With a groan, the main door opened. A second after it had opened the hall lights beyond it came on. Without hesitation, Zakharov walked through the doors , pausing only to turn and smile forlornly at Moone.
“Good luck, Prokhor.” Moone responded. As soon as the provost passed through the threshold, the doors closed.
“Damn it!” Colonel Reyes rushed to the doors. “Open them! The Provost is trapped in there!”
“I can’t sir! The computer has overriden manual controls again!” Replied the soldier at the door controls.
“He’s on his own, now.” Moone said solemnly. “He’s much braver than I imagined.”
“We can use a laser torch to cut the doors down.” said Reyes.
“We’d be dead if we did. The reactor, colonel? We’ll have to wait.”
INSIDE THE COMPLEX
Only a few people knew the codes to open the elevator at the far end of the hall, and Zakharov was one of them. The special elevator was only used by people involved in Project Brain Drain and had only one destination. A laboratory below the sub basement of the complex. Zakharov quiety rode the elevator to this lab, keeping silent and being fully aware that he was being monitored. Was he frightened? Yes, of course, but he was also curious and that overrode any fear he may have felt. Zakharov needed to see what fruits this experiment had bore and he wanted to stop the interference that was throwing this base into chaos.
The elevator doors opened and the Provost stepped out into the lab. The lights came on instantly and the walls, adorned with computer monitors and controls came to life. The only darkened place in the room was in a corner, where the heart of the project sat.
“I’m here, Simon. You asked me to come and now you won’t show yuorself?” Zakharov spoke. Then he noticed the two bodies. Zak rushed over to them, lying in front of a control panel in the center of the room. He knew them, for they were handpicked by him to run this experiment. Doctors Cal Parker and Frieda Lanasa. Zakharov knelt and turned Parker’s body on its side and saw that his face was burned badly, almost unrecognizable. The stench of burnt flesh assailed his nostrils. Lanasa, only a few feet away was not as badly burned save for her hands, but even without touching her, Zak could see she was dead.
“Damn you, Simon! They were your friends! Your colleagues! Why did you kill them!?” Zakharov thundered as he stood up.
“Friends!?” Came a mocking voice, not from any one place but over the labs speakers. “You were my friend, too, Prokhor. Yet, you let them do this to me.”
“We thought you were dead. When you contacted University base and asked for me I thought it was a joke. A poor one...” Zakharov said.
“I was NEVER dead. I was in a coma. But I could still think and feel. I was still Simon Sayers!”
“Simon....you were pronounced brain dead. The finest medical minds of the University pronounced it. How was I to know?” Zak responded. “Show yourself....show yourself to me.”
With that the darkened corner lit up. In the center of the darkness, Seated and supported on a medical couch was Simon Sayers....or what used to be him. Once, a robust young scientist, now a mockery of the human form. His body was withered, emaciated. Even through the biosuit he wore, Zakharov could see his ribs. The limbs were atrophied to the point of laughability. Tubes, plugged all throught the suit kept the bodily functions going, but the most daunting sight of all was the head. Sayers face was still there...in the center...but the head was three times its normal size, with the veins at the temple enormously large and throbbing. The skullcap had been removed to allow the expansion of the brain, which was swollen to incredible size, yet hidden by the silver cover atop the head. The cover had multiple wires and tubes which in turn were connected to appartus behind the couch on which Sayers sat. Apparatus which was controlled by the burnt out panel where the bodies lie.
A lesser intellect would have been appalled, but Zakharov stood undaunted. His mind unbidden wandered back to the accident that took Simon Sayers away from them. Sayers was a brilliant man, an engineering genius. His input had led to the development of the Human Genome Project fifteen years ago. Zakharov considered him a close and personal friend. A mindworm attack ended Simon’s life. Though the worms didn’t make it through the perimeter of Gagarin Memorial, the damage to the base consisted of a fallen structual support....and Simon was unfortunate enough to have been under it. His injuries were great, but medical prowess saved his body. He lay in a coma for weeks but did not regain consciousness. Finally he was declared brain dead. It was then that Dr. Parker and Dr. Lanasa petitioned Zakharov for use of his body for Project Brain Drain. As grisly as it sounds, Zakharov thought that a man like Simon Sayers would be proud to donate his body to science...indeed, his will even specified that.
Project Brain Drain as it was codenamed was a pioneering step towards digital sentience. Dr. Lanasa took years of using special chemical and radiaton treatments to keep reanimate and grow the brain...and even though these treatments atrophied the body the biosuit kept it alive...only to support life to the grey matter. The plan was to use the living brain as a central processor for a computer. Only, the mind was not gone as the scientists thought it was. Simon was still alive in there and now he had awoken.
“How could you do this too me, Prokhor?” Simon asked, though his voice was full of anger. “Trapped in this useless body! Connected to a computer! Did you need a weapon against the Cybernetic Consciousness that much!?”
“As a scientist, you know how useful digital sentience can be,” Zakharov responded calmly, “and yes, if need be, as a defensive weapon. Aki-Zeta Five possesse it, but we do not fully understand it. Dr. Parker felt he could recreate and control it. We thought you were dead, Simon...no atrocity was meant to be upon your person.”
“Ah, yes, a weapon.” Simon whispered. “Well, your weapon is alive.” Simon’s body did not move. It could not. But his eyes followed Zakharov as the old man fiddled with the control panel. “I burnt that out you know.”
Zakharov looked up at Simon, his face impassive. “Only the control circuitry. I can still see the readouts on the monitor, Simon. You’ve been very busy.”
“Yes,” Simon smiled, grimly. “Only Parker and Lanasa were here when the realized my mind was alive. The other technicians were called in when they knew this. Thats why I caused the monorail crash. I got two of them, the others were are still stuck on a train I stopped.”
“So you can control the trains. You didn’t have to kill thouse people to prove that.” Zak didn’t look up, instead he studied the monitor.
“I control more than that, old friend. It was a simple matter to gain control of this building...and then spread out to the major control systems of this base. Within an hour I will have total control over every system, every network node in Gagarin Memorial. Within a day I will be able to control every node the University has!”
“And what do you intend to do with that power?” Zakharov said, still hunched at the monitor. “It seems that no computer lockout can stop you. I can see now that you are quickly gaining control over any interconnected system.”
“Oh, and they’re all interconnected, aren’t they Prokhor?” Simon sneered. “Revenge isn’t my ultimate goal...though I will have it. I will be a GOD!”
Zakharov did look up with that last statement. He chuckled, “A God!? Ha! You are a man! Like me, like the rest of us! You’re not even the man I knew, just a twisted version of him! The Simon I knew would never kill his fellow men as you did!”
“Nevertheless, you will soon bow down before me. The University is mine, Zakharov. I can kill everyone in this base right now, if I so wish it! I can release the radiation controls condemning you all to a painful death, or open the atmosphere vents and let Planet’s own air into the base! And by tomorrow I’ll be able to that too every single base you possess.”
Zakharov walked slowly over to another control panel, one that was within a mere three meters of Simon.
He pretended to be examining the computer readouts of Simons progress, but his real intent was to get out of his line of sight. It was with great shock that he saw that Simon could at least turn his head.
“You won’t find a control panel for the computer in here that works, Prokhor.” Simon grinned evilly at him. I burnt them out when Parker tried to stop me from controlling the system! And yes, I purposely made the charge strong enough to kill him. I might have spared Lanasa, but she was so close to him that she was killed as well. Sad, really. A God does need worshippers.”
“I have no intention of disconnecting you from the network, Simon. I know you could kill me the same way if the computer controls did work. I know you would have killed many people if I had come down here with a weapon or if the security force attempted to come in here.” Zakharov sighed, heavily. “And you’re right. The only way to stop you from controlling the system would be to destroy the base. I cannot do that. What do you want of me?”
“You will prepare to make an announcement to the populace. You will tell them what you have done to me, and inform them of my power. Then you will relinquish control of the University to me. I am the NEW GOD OF PLANET!”
Zakharov smiled...a broad grin. “I think Miriam will have a problem with that...as will the others.”
“So?” Simon grinned back. “In due time I will control all of the factions. I will even do what you cannot....get rid of those wretched aliens. They are a larger threat than the Hive.”
“Studying recent events, too. Impressive. You can exercise control of multiple systems and still read the datalinks.” Zakharov was impressed. Simon was in a coma well before the alien threat was a problem and well before the Hive War. “There is one problem though...One you overlooked.”
“I overlook nothing.” Simon sneered.
“Yes, you have. I am suprised though. You burnt out the controls here, the only ones which could actually cut you off from the network....sloppy design on Parker’s part, really.”
“And that makes me unstoppable.” Simon warned Zakharov.
“No, it makes you insane, my old friend.” Zak countered. “But Lanasa was a lot more intelligent than Parker, in some regards. Your life support panel is an independent system. Its not controlled by any outside computer and its power source is internal. She designed it this way so no power failure would kill you during the experiment.”
“Get away from...” Simon began to shout, but was silenced when Zakharov raised his hand in warning.
“From where? Here? You mean this panel with the ‘off’ switch?” Zakharov replied.
“I will kill all of you! You will die now, Prokhor! I’ll stop the oxygen flow to this room and you will suffocate!”
“You first.” With a speed that belied his age, Zakharov turned the life support panel off. Simon made a low wheezing sound.
“I...I...am a God...” Simon sputtered as life left his body. The computer readout panels went dark, showing that his control over Base systems was gone.
“No....but if Miriam is right, you will meet him.” Zakharov mumbled. He took a moment to look at the body of Simon Sayers. “A waste.” He thought. “All of that potential, a waste.”
Zakharov strode over to a wall panel and turned the intercom on. “Attention, Colonel Reyes, Governor Moone,” he said, his voice echoing through the empty building. “Its safe to come down. Colonel, I want this lab secured, and only by men with the highest clearance. On the double.”
Zak saw a chair in the middle of the lab and sat in it. He awaited the arrival of the security forces. Glancing over at the bodies of Lanasa and Parker he pondered a moment. All of the data for this experiment was still in the computer....and Parker’s will did dedicate his body to science in the event of his death....
D4
THE GOD OF PLANET
Provost Zakharov sat quietly as his driver manuevered the rover through the streets of Gagarin Memorial. He reflected momentarily on the sheer beauty of this base, with its magnificent spires and alabaster buildings. It was truly a monument to behold, a home to 8000 University citizens and a scientific mecca only rivalled by University Base itself.
Then his attention was once again focused on the chaos on the streets. Lights flickered on and off, both public and municipal services were shutting down and the people...fearful of what was happening, were close to rioting. Civil authorities were on the streets in force urging people to return to their homes. Martail law had been declared.
At his side in the vehicle was Francis Moone, Governor of Gagarin Memorial. Moone, a remarkably calm individual pointed to the monorail tracks to the right of the vehicle. “There, Provost. See. The train has stopped on its tracks, stranding the passengers high above the city. Thats the fourth one in the last half hour. We cannot regain control of the system.”
“Hmmmm.” Zakharov mumbled. “At least they are safe for the moment. The malfunction caused three ealier trains to crash. A regrettable loss of life.”
“Malfunction?! This is no malfunction, the failsafes were..”
“I know!” Zak said forcefully, glancing towards the driver. His meaning was clear. Do not discuss this in the presence of his driver. The less known about the true cause, the better.
The rover passed through a cordon of security guards surrounding the Main Research Complex. The building was unoccupied, save for the soldiers that stood in the main lobby. It was an eerie sight, because under normal conditions this complex was never empty. Night and day it bristled with activity, the light from its windows shining like multiple eyes sparkling with life. Now these windows were dark for the most part. Some of the lights would flicker than fade, then others would. It was as if someone was turning the lights off and on at random. The same thing was happening all over the base.
Zak and the Governor exited the rover and began walking up the entrance ramp where they were greeted by two soldiers.
“Provost, Colonel Reyes, chief of Gagarin security, and his second, Major Decker.” Moone said introducing the men. “Report, Colonel.”
“Sir, I just recieved word that a power overload in the research hospital has started a fire....so far, at least 14 people are presumed dead. Fire control has the blaze under control, but it has to be done manually. All computer operated systems have failed.” Answered Reyes. Zakharov examined his expression closely. He was clearly shaken, but hiding it.
“Your efforts to regain control of the systems?” Queried the Governor.
“Unsuccesful, sir,” the colonel handed Moone a datapad report. Moone read it quickly and handed it to Zakharov. “Data Technicians have been unable to even get into the network node system. Some kind of encypted lockout has been initiated. The water filtration system is being affected also. We have minor floods on Levels 3 through 5, and the radiation shielding on reactor 2 has failed. Several workers were injured, one with terminal wounds.”
Zakharov sighed heavily, then looked directly at the colonel. “The public?” he asked.
“Civil authorities are stretched right now, Provost. People are beginning to panic,” Reyes continued, “we have control now, but there have been skirmishes on the street. There are rumblings in the lower base levels by the drones.”
“I see,” Zak handed the pad back to Moone. “Major, see what you can do to free the passengers on the monorail. We don’t need another tragic accident. Colonel, lets go.”
As the major followed his orders, Zakharov, Moone and Reyes walked into the front lobby of the complex. It was lit only by portable lamps the soldiers had set up. Two technicians were setting up a hologram projection unit and several soldiers were standing by the entranceway to the labs.
“We won’t need the projection unit, Colonel.” Zakharov said, removing his coat. “He wanted to see me personally and he shall.”
“Sir!” Moone interjected, but was silenced when Zakharov raised his bony hand.
“I didn’t travel all of this way friom University base to talk to him via a hologram projection. Use the manual switch to open the doors. I’m going in there.”
“Provost, he said if we attempt to open those doors he’ll remove the radiation shielding on all of the base reactors. Thousands will die! Besides, if you go in there he may kill you!” Colonel Reyes warned.
Zakharov faced him. The provost was a frail looking man, aged and grey, but his eyes had a strength in them that took the soldier aback. “ Then I’ll die...but so will many others if this continues. If he controls all of the computer operations of this complex he undoubtably knows I am here. He requested an audience and I will hear him. Now open that door, Colonel and wait for me to contact you.”
The colonel nodded to the soldiers, who instantly removed a panel on the far wall. One of them reached in and tugged at the manual control lever. With a groan, the main door opened. A second after it had opened the hall lights beyond it came on. Without hesitation, Zakharov walked through the doors , pausing only to turn and smile forlornly at Moone.
“Good luck, Prokhor.” Moone responded. As soon as the provost passed through the threshold, the doors closed.
“Damn it!” Colonel Reyes rushed to the doors. “Open them! The Provost is trapped in there!”
“I can’t sir! The computer has overriden manual controls again!” Replied the soldier at the door controls.
“He’s on his own, now.” Moone said solemnly. “He’s much braver than I imagined.”
“We can use a laser torch to cut the doors down.” said Reyes.
“We’d be dead if we did. The reactor, colonel? We’ll have to wait.”
INSIDE THE COMPLEX
Only a few people knew the codes to open the elevator at the far end of the hall, and Zakharov was one of them. The special elevator was only used by people involved in Project Brain Drain and had only one destination. A laboratory below the sub basement of the complex. Zakharov quiety rode the elevator to this lab, keeping silent and being fully aware that he was being monitored. Was he frightened? Yes, of course, but he was also curious and that overrode any fear he may have felt. Zakharov needed to see what fruits this experiment had bore and he wanted to stop the interference that was throwing this base into chaos.
The elevator doors opened and the Provost stepped out into the lab. The lights came on instantly and the walls, adorned with computer monitors and controls came to life. The only darkened place in the room was in a corner, where the heart of the project sat.
“I’m here, Simon. You asked me to come and now you won’t show yuorself?” Zakharov spoke. Then he noticed the two bodies. Zak rushed over to them, lying in front of a control panel in the center of the room. He knew them, for they were handpicked by him to run this experiment. Doctors Cal Parker and Frieda Lanasa. Zakharov knelt and turned Parker’s body on its side and saw that his face was burned badly, almost unrecognizable. The stench of burnt flesh assailed his nostrils. Lanasa, only a few feet away was not as badly burned save for her hands, but even without touching her, Zak could see she was dead.
“Damn you, Simon! They were your friends! Your colleagues! Why did you kill them!?” Zakharov thundered as he stood up.
“Friends!?” Came a mocking voice, not from any one place but over the labs speakers. “You were my friend, too, Prokhor. Yet, you let them do this to me.”
“We thought you were dead. When you contacted University base and asked for me I thought it was a joke. A poor one...” Zakharov said.
“I was NEVER dead. I was in a coma. But I could still think and feel. I was still Simon Sayers!”
“Simon....you were pronounced brain dead. The finest medical minds of the University pronounced it. How was I to know?” Zak responded. “Show yourself....show yourself to me.”
With that the darkened corner lit up. In the center of the darkness, Seated and supported on a medical couch was Simon Sayers....or what used to be him. Once, a robust young scientist, now a mockery of the human form. His body was withered, emaciated. Even through the biosuit he wore, Zakharov could see his ribs. The limbs were atrophied to the point of laughability. Tubes, plugged all throught the suit kept the bodily functions going, but the most daunting sight of all was the head. Sayers face was still there...in the center...but the head was three times its normal size, with the veins at the temple enormously large and throbbing. The skullcap had been removed to allow the expansion of the brain, which was swollen to incredible size, yet hidden by the silver cover atop the head. The cover had multiple wires and tubes which in turn were connected to appartus behind the couch on which Sayers sat. Apparatus which was controlled by the burnt out panel where the bodies lie.
A lesser intellect would have been appalled, but Zakharov stood undaunted. His mind unbidden wandered back to the accident that took Simon Sayers away from them. Sayers was a brilliant man, an engineering genius. His input had led to the development of the Human Genome Project fifteen years ago. Zakharov considered him a close and personal friend. A mindworm attack ended Simon’s life. Though the worms didn’t make it through the perimeter of Gagarin Memorial, the damage to the base consisted of a fallen structual support....and Simon was unfortunate enough to have been under it. His injuries were great, but medical prowess saved his body. He lay in a coma for weeks but did not regain consciousness. Finally he was declared brain dead. It was then that Dr. Parker and Dr. Lanasa petitioned Zakharov for use of his body for Project Brain Drain. As grisly as it sounds, Zakharov thought that a man like Simon Sayers would be proud to donate his body to science...indeed, his will even specified that.
Project Brain Drain as it was codenamed was a pioneering step towards digital sentience. Dr. Lanasa took years of using special chemical and radiaton treatments to keep reanimate and grow the brain...and even though these treatments atrophied the body the biosuit kept it alive...only to support life to the grey matter. The plan was to use the living brain as a central processor for a computer. Only, the mind was not gone as the scientists thought it was. Simon was still alive in there and now he had awoken.
“How could you do this too me, Prokhor?” Simon asked, though his voice was full of anger. “Trapped in this useless body! Connected to a computer! Did you need a weapon against the Cybernetic Consciousness that much!?”
“As a scientist, you know how useful digital sentience can be,” Zakharov responded calmly, “and yes, if need be, as a defensive weapon. Aki-Zeta Five possesse it, but we do not fully understand it. Dr. Parker felt he could recreate and control it. We thought you were dead, Simon...no atrocity was meant to be upon your person.”
“Ah, yes, a weapon.” Simon whispered. “Well, your weapon is alive.” Simon’s body did not move. It could not. But his eyes followed Zakharov as the old man fiddled with the control panel. “I burnt that out you know.”
Zakharov looked up at Simon, his face impassive. “Only the control circuitry. I can still see the readouts on the monitor, Simon. You’ve been very busy.”
“Yes,” Simon smiled, grimly. “Only Parker and Lanasa were here when the realized my mind was alive. The other technicians were called in when they knew this. Thats why I caused the monorail crash. I got two of them, the others were are still stuck on a train I stopped.”
“So you can control the trains. You didn’t have to kill thouse people to prove that.” Zak didn’t look up, instead he studied the monitor.
“I control more than that, old friend. It was a simple matter to gain control of this building...and then spread out to the major control systems of this base. Within an hour I will have total control over every system, every network node in Gagarin Memorial. Within a day I will be able to control every node the University has!”
“And what do you intend to do with that power?” Zakharov said, still hunched at the monitor. “It seems that no computer lockout can stop you. I can see now that you are quickly gaining control over any interconnected system.”
“Oh, and they’re all interconnected, aren’t they Prokhor?” Simon sneered. “Revenge isn’t my ultimate goal...though I will have it. I will be a GOD!”
Zakharov did look up with that last statement. He chuckled, “A God!? Ha! You are a man! Like me, like the rest of us! You’re not even the man I knew, just a twisted version of him! The Simon I knew would never kill his fellow men as you did!”
“Nevertheless, you will soon bow down before me. The University is mine, Zakharov. I can kill everyone in this base right now, if I so wish it! I can release the radiation controls condemning you all to a painful death, or open the atmosphere vents and let Planet’s own air into the base! And by tomorrow I’ll be able to that too every single base you possess.”
Zakharov walked slowly over to another control panel, one that was within a mere three meters of Simon.
He pretended to be examining the computer readouts of Simons progress, but his real intent was to get out of his line of sight. It was with great shock that he saw that Simon could at least turn his head.
“You won’t find a control panel for the computer in here that works, Prokhor.” Simon grinned evilly at him. I burnt them out when Parker tried to stop me from controlling the system! And yes, I purposely made the charge strong enough to kill him. I might have spared Lanasa, but she was so close to him that she was killed as well. Sad, really. A God does need worshippers.”
“I have no intention of disconnecting you from the network, Simon. I know you could kill me the same way if the computer controls did work. I know you would have killed many people if I had come down here with a weapon or if the security force attempted to come in here.” Zakharov sighed, heavily. “And you’re right. The only way to stop you from controlling the system would be to destroy the base. I cannot do that. What do you want of me?”
“You will prepare to make an announcement to the populace. You will tell them what you have done to me, and inform them of my power. Then you will relinquish control of the University to me. I am the NEW GOD OF PLANET!”
Zakharov smiled...a broad grin. “I think Miriam will have a problem with that...as will the others.”
“So?” Simon grinned back. “In due time I will control all of the factions. I will even do what you cannot....get rid of those wretched aliens. They are a larger threat than the Hive.”
“Studying recent events, too. Impressive. You can exercise control of multiple systems and still read the datalinks.” Zakharov was impressed. Simon was in a coma well before the alien threat was a problem and well before the Hive War. “There is one problem though...One you overlooked.”
“I overlook nothing.” Simon sneered.
“Yes, you have. I am suprised though. You burnt out the controls here, the only ones which could actually cut you off from the network....sloppy design on Parker’s part, really.”
“And that makes me unstoppable.” Simon warned Zakharov.
“No, it makes you insane, my old friend.” Zak countered. “But Lanasa was a lot more intelligent than Parker, in some regards. Your life support panel is an independent system. Its not controlled by any outside computer and its power source is internal. She designed it this way so no power failure would kill you during the experiment.”
“Get away from...” Simon began to shout, but was silenced when Zakharov raised his hand in warning.
“From where? Here? You mean this panel with the ‘off’ switch?” Zakharov replied.
“I will kill all of you! You will die now, Prokhor! I’ll stop the oxygen flow to this room and you will suffocate!”
“You first.” With a speed that belied his age, Zakharov turned the life support panel off. Simon made a low wheezing sound.
“I...I...am a God...” Simon sputtered as life left his body. The computer readout panels went dark, showing that his control over Base systems was gone.
“No....but if Miriam is right, you will meet him.” Zakharov mumbled. He took a moment to look at the body of Simon Sayers. “A waste.” He thought. “All of that potential, a waste.”
Zakharov strode over to a wall panel and turned the intercom on. “Attention, Colonel Reyes, Governor Moone,” he said, his voice echoing through the empty building. “Its safe to come down. Colonel, I want this lab secured, and only by men with the highest clearance. On the double.”
Zak saw a chair in the middle of the lab and sat in it. He awaited the arrival of the security forces. Glancing over at the bodies of Lanasa and Parker he pondered a moment. All of the data for this experiment was still in the computer....and Parker’s will did dedicate his body to science in the event of his death....