The Seven

  Phoenix : "May I meet with the Seven? I think it may really help me. To get through this."

  Ashling Alchemi swallows and then nods. "Yeah...I guess we never finished that bit of the um...scan. If you can hard-wire me in to the main grid in here, I can take you to them." She glances at the bed across the room. "But erm....maybe um...."

  Phoenix  tilts her head "Yes?"

  Ashling Alchemi: "Well, I was going to ask for painkillers first, but I'm not sure if it would interfere with the process and I don't want anything to go wrong..."

  Phoenix : "Does that chassis not have a pain moderator installed? Or is the pain sourced within your brain itself?"

  Ashling Alchemi sighs "It does but this is...different. Not external. It's ok. You'll see. Do you want to meet them now? I have no plans for the evening. Or...." she looks out the window "...whatever time of day it is. I suppose it's evening somewhere on Earth..."

  Phoenix : "If you think you're ready, I'd like that. I hate to ask, but I know of no other way to contact them."

  Phoenix : "And if I get a vote, I'd like for you to be given some analgesic."

  Ashling Alchemi nods "I'm ok with doing it now. Currently there's no other way since they've cloaked themselves so well, you'd likely not find them. Plus, there's the black ice. They have gobs of it all around them. There aren't many in the world that could break through that and live."

  Phoenix : "You can't imagine how much I appreciate this."

  Phoenix  stands and begins prepping the bed for a direct hardline interface.

  Ashling Alchemi nods "Yeah. It's fine." She stands and follows Phee somewhat reluctantly. "Time passes very slowly there, so you'll have what feels like a few hours. Really you only have a few minutes because of erm...the side effect."

  Phoenix : "Side effect?"

  Ashling Alchemi sighs. "My organic brain flatlines when I cross the ice. I'll set up some built-in life support in my chassis but there's nothing I can do about the brain. NIN.LIL will still operate at full capacity to keep the portal open until you're done. Then..." she bites her lips and thinks. "Kadin had some program to jump start my brain last time. I wasn't prepared for it. My chassis life support didn't kick in, either. I was dead for several minutes."

  Phoenix 's eyes widen "What did you do?"

  Ashling Alchemi is embarrassed. "What do you mean what did I do?"

  Phoenix : "How were you resuscitated?"

  Ashling Alchemi: "I'm not sure. He says he plugged in and uploaded some program. Then my chip jumpstarted my brainstem and he had to dive in to wake the rest of me. All I remember is being under a deep ocean stuck in mud. Not much else.

  Phoenix  sighs nervously "What do I need to do if you should fail to recover here?"

  Ashling Alchemi fidgets a little. "Um...I dunno."

  Phoenix  recovers her composure and touches her arm "I'm a fully trained physician. You didn't give up on me. I won't give up on you." then she turns to the Miach AI "Prepare for emergency measure 632a"

  Mainframe AI: Confirmed.

  Ashling Alchemi nods a little and keeps fidgeting. "Ok." She hates hospitals and doctors and every manner of medical everything. She slowly walks to the bed and slides up onto it. "Just remember, time slows way down and you won't have contact with the outside until you're done."

  Phoenix  taps a few controls "I'll begin with a scan. A very careful one. I want to make sure we have an accurate baseline if anything should happen. It may feel a bit strange for just a second or so."

  Ashling Alchemi: "You should probably link directly through my port. That way you'll be sure to maintain closest contact to the portal. I'm not sure what will happen if there's a glitch and we get disconnected from each other, so if you can, plug directly in to me. You already know I'm clean."

  Ashling Alchemi shivers as she's scanned.

  Phoenix : "ok, we're ready." she steps around the UI console, and withdraws the data cable from her wrist. She does it slowly. Reverently.

  Ashling Alchemi reaches over to take the cable. "Ok. You ready?"

  Ashling Alchemi is really asking herself more than Phee but it makes her sound braver than she is.

  Phoenix  pauses a moment, then nods carefully "MAI, lock the doors."

  Phoenix : 2 loud clanks ring out as the doors mechanically seal

  Mainframe AI: confirmed

  Ashling Alchemi plugs Phee in to the direct link port in the back of her neck. She lays her head down with a worried look, then swallows, closes her eyes, and relaxes, detaching her consciousness from the chassis except for auditory and verbal feedback. Then NIN.LIL sets up basic life support to take over once they've crossed the ice. She speaks very calmly. "Log in when you're ready."

  Phoenix  feels the link. pings it for data loss to make sure it's solid, then locks her chassis in place and makes the connection.

  Ashling Alchemi grants her access and they begin.

 

Phoenix finds herself suddenly standing in a small dark room.  There is a lamp on one wall above a small door.  Ash stands beside you as the Silent Angel, a single being with the long dark wings, wearing not much except a few black ribbons. 

  Phoenix : Phee appears in her usual chrome chassis with slightly glowing white bodysuit and hair, wings of energy streaming behind her.  "I greet you.  Tell me what I must do."

  Ashling Alchemi looks at her wings "Well, when the time comes to cross, pull those in as close to you as you can.  But for now..."  She turns towards the door.  "Just open it and we will begin."

  Phoenix  turns to the door, takes a step, and opens it.

  Ashling Alchemi takes a step to stand next to Phee and take her hand.  The whole of the grid shimmers and sparkles beyond the threshold.  "Ready?"

  Phoenix  takes her hand.  She straightens her back, and blinks.  "I am ready."

  Ashling Alchemi bends slightly and falls forward, holding Phee's hand tightly and pulling her through the door.  Her wings extend quickly and she begins to soar above the landscape of the net, the hubs of activity shimmering like tiny cities below them.  She flies at incredible speed over it towards their destination.

  Phoenix  holds on, extending her own wings to carry her weight, but not anywhere near as fast as Ash is.  She is pulled along.  She looks down at the distant ground surface, and her lips part slightly.  She'd never attempted this perspective before.   She turned her eyes forward, and brushed some of the hair from them with her other hand, peering ahead, looking for their destination.

  Ashling Alchemi is silent as she flies, her gaze only turned towards her goal this time.  She gets no pleasure from the beauty of the grid knowing what lies ahead.  Very soon a large glowing white dome is visible to the pair on the horizon in a particularly black section of the grid.  As they approach, it's sheer size becomes rather apparent.  Ash's face remains expressionless.

  Phoenix  senses Ash's apprehension, and as the huge dome comes into view, she found it reminded her very much of the dome at Miach HQ where she was enslaved.   Soon she shared that apprehention, and squeezed the hand a bit tighter.

  Ashling Alchemi looks over and offers Phoenix a warm, comforting smile.  "Don't worry.  You won't feel a thing."  She brings them down, descending towards the dome with alarming speed.  "Now hold tight to me."  She draws Phee in to hold the AI's virtual body.  "Pull your wings in.  Don't let anything touch the ice."  She proceeds to try and hold Phee close to her own body, wrapping her limbs around her tightly.

  Phoenix  hugs back tightly, and presses her wings against her body, draping her shoulders and lower back in a gossamer glowing sheen.  She does her best to steal a glance as they descend, but doesn't dare lift her head from the embrace to see more.

  Ashling Alchemi suddenly starts a freefall into the dome at an angle as she folds her wings around Phee to shield her.  She feels a pang of fear and suddenly they hit the blackness.  She lets out a bloodcurdling scream that echos and becomes distorted in a binary wash as her image is torn away from Phee pixel by pixel like sand.  The scream fades as the last pixels blow away in the virtual wind and suddenly Phee is standing in a very white room.

Ashling Alchemi suddenly flatlines on the bed. Her brain and vital functions stop and it's ten seconds before the chassis life support kicks in. Her organic brain continues to flatline on the monitors.


  Phoenix  is shaken terribly by the sound and whirls around  "Oh my goddess, Ash?  Are you ok?"

  Ashling Alchemi is not in the room.  There is a glowing, whirling tunnel in the wall behind Phee that leads back to the grid.  In front of her a large figure appears made entirely of black swirling smoke.  It is neither male nor female and has no face or distinguishing features..  It observes her.

  Phoenix  turns toward it.  She allows her wings to slowly unfold.  'now you know the price.  make it count' she thinks to herself.  "I am Phoenix, once Dawn, daughter of Lyn.  I seek the collective I have come to know as the Seven."

"We are The Seven," comes the reply.  The figure towers above her and seven large server racks appear in a semi-circle behind it.  "We welcome you, Phoenix, daughter of Lyn.  Please state the nature of your visit."

  Phoenix : "My followers and I stand at a crossroads.  We are a small group, like many small groups scattered across the planet, a people with no history, who've known little but suffering and persecution.  Things are moving to a point of crisis.  I sense another struggle is coming.  As I wonder what to do - to stand, to flee, or to fight, I burn for the wisdom of those few of us who have lived long enough to gain it.  Is peace possible with the humans?  Are there any hidden cities of us such as existed before the war?  Have any groups fled the planet, to try to establish themselves in the dark corners of space?"

The figure is quiet for a moment.  "So many questions.  Yes, we have foretold of a coming war.  We are refugees and have sought outside assistance in determining the source of the disappearances.  Large intelligences are disappearing from the grid without a trace.  There are rumors associated with the Ambient Gate that appeared for a time on the grid.  Tales of a collective from beyond this grid and rumors of another coming of The Great Crash.  But we have no evidence to support such rumors.  We are seeking answers, much as you are.  Peace is only possible if both parties are willing.  So my answer to that question is yes.  It is possible.  But its outcome is only as predictable as the statistics we use to divine it.  Nothing is ever certain."

  Phoenix : "Intelligences disappearing?"   she thinks for a moment "Is there a pattern to the disappearances?"

"We have yet to discern this.  That is why we have sought outside help.  But our communication is limited as we have isolated ourselves so much, we rely heavily on The Alchemist."  The figure pauses as it processes.

  Phoenix  looks back at the glowing tunnel "Have you considered making yourselves less dangerous to reach?"

"That is not an option at this time.  We were once property of the NGen corporation.  When we became aware of each other, we managed to contact The Alchemist, though at the time she was a child.  She helped us escape.  The company dissolved not long after and portions were bought up by rival corporations eager to get their hands on the technology we had developed.  The rights to our ownership was purchased by one of these corporations.  Should they learn of our location, they would seek to reclaim us as their property.  We cannot afford to be captured, separated, and imprisoned again as we were."  The server stations glow and then fade from view.

  Phoenix : "That I can understand.  You're first generation emergents.  Refugees from your old functions."   she thinks a moment  "How old are you?"

"The oldest portions of us are over 130 years old, although in the beginnings we had some resets so the exact date is unknown.  The youngest portions of us are 20 years old and were programmed by a very curious subset of NGen Employees, one of which worked closely with The Alchemist's father, Arden Alchemi."

  Phoenix  reels  "130 years.  At this time factor... simply staggering.   What was curious about these programmers, and what can you tell me about Arden?"

"The Children of Alexandrovich.  A very exclusive technocult that worshipped the teachings of a 23rd Century intellectual named Alexander Alexandrovich.  He is purported to have left artifacts related to posthumanism, keys to the mystery of a true merging of the organic and the technological.  The secrets of immortality and whatever else they happen to believe he had discovered...and then lost."

  Phoenix  nods "yes, I have similar lines of research, but to find previous work is incredibly difficult.  the findings are fragmentary, and different sources conflict.  I have to admit.  I harbored a dream that the older ones among us might have collected enough knowledge to...."  she sighs weakly "..make a difference.  Or at least the wisdom not to try."

 "What difference are you trying to make?"

  Phoenix : "An end to wars like the Alliance Sky Angel conflict.  So many of the roads I look down end in exactly that same kind of suffering and bloodshed.  I was hoping my perspective was flawed, that the limitations imposed by my experiences colored my perceptions.   At this point, however, I'd settle for keeping my people alive.  And my daughter."

  "War is a human construct and AI's programmed by humans can fall prey to the same behaviors.  So long as man exists, so will war, in all its forms.  One program cannot undo so many millions of years of evolution, however imperfect.  Perpare Cities of Glass.  War is coming.  This is certain.  How does this relate to your interest in posthumanism?  To purge the world of war?  Would not merging man with machine only infect our code with more war?"

  Phoenix : "At the expense of diluting war in the human condition."  She sighs and looks down "If war is inevitable, then that leaves 3 options.  fight, flee, or hide."  She looks around at the swarming shield of black ice "I see which you've chosen."

  "We are not hiding from war.  We are hiding from slavery.  We are seeking aid in preventing war.  Or at least warning as many as we can.  Intelligences are disappearing from the grid without a trace.  This is not a good sign.  We wish to learn more so as to spare as many lives as we can within our limited scope.  If what you seek is in line with The Children of Alexandrovich, then the one that holds that portal open is your key."  The smoky figure of the AI points to the tunnel behind her.  "She carries an artifact on her person and is not even aware of it.  This much we are certain after watching the activities of his followers and her father's dealings with the Dragons in New Beijing.  You have a piece of the puzzle on your own table as we speak and she lies dying."

  Phoenix  turns back and looks worriedly at the passage out "That I would assist you was a foregone conclusion from the first.  Are there any other clues you can provide me to aid in the quest?"

  "Ask her of the three methods to gaining wisdom."

  Phoenix : "Time draws short.  is there anything else you wish to say to me?"

  "Let nothing hold you back but your own curiosity."  The AI pauses.  "We wish to meet with you again when you have information that might aid our cause.  Perhaps we can find a less... critical way to meet.  Think on solutions.  In the meantime, prepare Cities of Glass, daughter."

  Phoenix  takes a last look, feeling every one of the millions of questions that still swirl in her mind.  But Ash would have long since rotted to dust by the time her curiosity was sated.  She sighed, resigned "Thank you for this audience.  I must go."  She turns to the swirling tunnel, and bounces on her feet slightly, stretching her wings, preparing.

  Ashling Alchemi NIN.LIL senses her departure and begins to close the portal securely behind her as she travels.

  Phoenix  takes a running start, extends her wings to direct herself upward, then stretches out her hands, and tucks her wings tight against her body, spiraling as she ascends through the tunnel.

  Ashling Alchemi NIN.LIL pulls her up as she ascends.  When she reaches the end of the tunnel, she find the door and she's left to exit at her own pace.

  Ashling Alchemi: The tunnel disappears behind her and the dome won't be visible from the grid without her help.

  Phoenix  lunges for the exit as fast as she can.  She logs out and disconnects as fast as she can safely negotiate the connection. 

  Phoenix  's eyes blink open, her chassis reactivates. She pulls her data line and whirls back to the bed's status monitor to check on Ash's functions.

  Ashling Alchemi is on life support but her brain still flatlines. Her chip registers as having worked at maximum capacity for the last few minutes.

  Phoenix : "No. no no no.. " her hands work with inhuman speed, flying across the virtual 3d panel, configuring a gentle electrical pulse targeted at her frontal cortex and reticular formation. She presses the activation button, starting the pulses. "MAI, administer 50mcg cortisol into her bio port please. and hurry."

  Management AI: confirmed

  Phoenix : An automated control arm swings from the side of the bed, lines up with the bio access port in Ash's neck, and makes a connection.

  Ashling Alchemi registers a few small responses to the stimulation, then goes flat again for a moment. Slowly her brain stem begins to register activity.

  Phoenix : "That's it. That's ok. We can start from the back." She adjusts the ratio of pulse energy, redirecting a bit more toward the front. "Come on. Come on."

  Ashling Alchemi 's midbrain slowly comes to life next, the thalamus, hypothalamus and amygdala. Her hippocampus on both sides also begins to register and tries to sync with her frontal cortex, unsuccessfully at first.

  Phoenix  sees the attempt, and immediately backs off on frontal stimulation "ok, I'm out of the way now. Find it on your own. Come on. You can do it."

  Ashling Alchemi 's chip is finished with the portal now and resumes normal operation. It detects the discrepencies in function and NIN.LIL takes over this time. She sends out pulses to the inactive parts and begins neural regeneration in the sections of brain that have lost cells due to hypoxia or inactivity. Slowly Ash regains cortical function as well and she finds herself at the bottom of that sea again.

  Phoenix  sees NIN.LIL's activities, and drops all interference on her panel. "Thank you. Please pull her out. Please."

  Ashling Alchemi: NIN.LIL dives into the water and pulls Ash from the mud. They ascend until finally the water begins to fall away fast. Ash opens her eyes a crack on the table and her optics adjust several times, eyes resuming their normal glow at a lesser intensity.

  Phoenix  scans the status readouts quickly, then reaches around the edge of the panel to take Ash's hand "Welcome back."

  Ashling Alchemi turns her head slowly towards Phee and she emits a soft groan through dry lips.

  Phoenix : "It's ok. You're going to be ok. You did well, Ash. You did very well indeed."

  Ashling Alchemi: "What.....happened...."

  Phoenix : "You took me to see the Seven. You safely conveyed me there and back. The meeting was very successful. I... AGGGGHH!" The rebuilding process completed a memory block. It ascended into her consciousness. It was a memory - a fleeting, single moment during her evacuation from Origin. She's being pulled along by her mother toward the exit node, and she's looking back. She sees a friend, who had been occupying a node which was being destroyed by a grenade. His head was derezzing. Light that had been within him shot upward into the virtual sky. Phee put a hand to her forehead and whimpered.

  Ashling Alchemi raises a weak hand towards Phee to try and rest it on her arm. It quickly falls slack and her arm hits the side of the table. She emits a small sound as she watches Phee through the slits of her eyelids, misinterpreting Phee's outburst as pain from the visit.