Russ had only been away for a few days, but you would think his absence had been much longer by the way Cara welcomed him home. The weird-looking humanoid did not seem to phase her until he pulled a stunt to show off one of his powers instead of trying to explain, an idea hatched by Russ on the journey home. A storm was coming, and few clues about the violence they would face were known. All three Marines thought they knew what was at stake, but would not experience the storm until they were in it, and they knew a solid tactical plan would only be intact until the storm broke.
* * * * *
Chapter #14 – Calm Before the Storm
Russ’s key had barely touched the lock at their condo when the door flew open, and Cara launched herself at him, arms around his neck, legs wrapped around his waist. “It’s about time, Marine!” and kissed his face many times before burying her mouth into his neck, muffling her confession of how badly she missed him. He knew how badly because he had the same affliction when they were apart. He held her tightly, cradling her head in a big hand, and said nothing. The strength of his arms, embracing her, said every word of how badly he wanted to be with her. Nothing else was necessary.
Cara’s breath wedged in her throat, and her muscles tensed when she opened her eyes to see an odd stranger standing several feet behind Russ. “Umm, Russell? Who is…” She stopped speaking as her eyes scanned the man-like creature with her mouth agape. He was very much man-like in shape and stature, but the strange iridescence that shimmered faintly from his skin was weird. When she made eye contact with him, she drew a sharp breath; the emerald green of his eyes seemed to reflect a luminescence she had never seen before. Russ had green eyes, too, but nothing like this. This creature’s eyes almost looked backlit. “Who are you?” she asked.
Cara’s stiffening caused Russ to return to the moment, remembering Hal stood behind him. “I’m sorry, babe. This is Hal. He’s…well…he’s an SAI Humanoid that followed me home. Can I keep him?”
She said, “If you’re trying to be funny, it’s not working.”
“Hal is why I am alive, babe. He is why I became embroiled in another massive conspiracy, this one courtesy of the dark side of our government. For what it’s worth, he’s…different.”
Cara released her husband and looked at Hal with her head cocked slightly, “I can see that.” Then to Hal, “How different are you?”
Hal said, “Very.”
Russ rolled his eyes at Hal’s response. “Sweetie, he saved us at the farm, and there’s so much more about this extraordinary AI humanoid to tell that will blow your mind.”
“So…is he leading you…or are you leading him?” asked Cara with an accusatory edge, slipping her arm from his waist to stand beside him without touching.
“Doesn’t matter,” said Russ, “It does not matter who leads because the entire human race is approaching destruction unless one or both of us intervenes. Somebody needs to, and as far as I can see, we are the only option. “
Cara shut down momentarily. His explanation thrust more doubt on her than she was prepared to consider.
“The entire human race?” Don’t you think that sounds a little extreme?” She did not expect an answer, but looking at the man-like person, extreme might be an understatement. Her private thoughts swirled in Russ’s mind. Are you telling the truth? What have you gotten yourself mixed up in on this so-called hunting trip? Who is this glowing thing? Why is he here on my front porch with you?
“Let’s go inside, and I’ll catch you up on some of his capabilities,” said Russ, turning toward Hal and sharing a private wink.
She shot a hard look at Russ, “Only some? What are you hiding, Russell Carter, or is that part of the conspiracy?” Then the questions began, “Is this to convince me of another grand conspiracy, or are we still stuck in the same one? How can I believe anything you or your android tell me?”
“I’m not an android. I’m an Advanced, Mod-3 Generation Superintelligence AI Humanoid,” corrected Hal.
“Goodness, it speaks, too,” Cara said sarcastically, giving Hal the stink eye.
They entered the condo with Hal trailing several steps behind as he and Russ had preplanned before arriving. Russ closed the door behind him, leaving Hal standing alone outside.
Cara turned to look at Russ, “What are you doing? Aren’t you going to allow your android to come in?”
“Advanced Mod-3 Generation Superintelligence AI Humanoid,” corrected Hal again as he spoke from behind Cara.
She shrieked and jumped in shock, turning and staggering backward, bumping into Russ as she looked for the humanoid. The voice had come from behind her, but when she looked, there was no one there…until there was…when Hal manifested visually before her eyes out of thin air. That little stunt caused her to issue a short scream as a hand clapped over her mouth. Through her fingers, she said, “What the hell? Where did…How did you do…?”
Hal smiled, “If you want to delve into String Theory and the significance of Regge trajectories, scattering, and vibration frequency, I could explain it to you, but to what end?”
Cara shook her head, exasperated, “Spare me the mumbo jumbo, Hal. I want a straight answer. Did you or did you not just walk through a closed door in an invisible state and then scare the crap out of me?”
“Yes, I did, and I am sorry to frighten crap from you,” said Hal. “When I alter the vibrations of the particles of my body’s visible matter, I can penetrate solid surfaces. In that altered state, I become invisible. Cloaking may be the word that is an easier description for you to understand.”
Cara fell silent, trying to make sense of what had just happened. “Don’t be condescending, and don’t bother explaining the voodoo behind your android tricks.”
“Advanced Mod-3 Genera…” Hal began to correct before Cara shut him down.
“Yeah, I got that,” she snapped, waving him off.
Russ broke into her escalating dialogue with Hal, saying, “If Hal had not been with us, I would not be standing here talking with you now. I thought showing you his cloaking ability seemed easier than explaining it, plus I wanted to see it again. He blew us away at the farm by walking through a couple of walls and remaining cloaked in invisibility. His weapon system eliminated three out of four assassins, shot down a Hellfire missile, and blasted the Reaper drone that fired it out of the sky. I never fired a shot. Uncle Dan’s farm would be a smoking hole in the ground without his intervention.”
Cara said, “I don’t…I don’t understand. What are we doing here? Who is he? What’s his role? Why is he here? And what’s with this danger to the entire human race? This is too much to fathom.”
Russ nodded in agreement, “It is too much, I agree. The answer you deserve is more extensive than I can give you because I’m still learning about him and what other things he can do. The situation we are in now exceeds anything we’ve considered in our lives and is far more urgent now that the government knows we survived the bunker bombing, the assassination team, the Hellfire missile, and the Reaper attack intended to eliminate Hal, me, and the guys. Bottom line, they’re coming after us, and we should not remain here much longer for your safety.
We need to get out of here because everywhere I settle down, it marks a new ‘X’ on a map for whoever is tracking me and Hal. I do not want you to become collateral damage because I showed up here.”
Russ quickly shared the details of Hal’s situation with Cara and what he had been designed and programmed to do. More importantly, he described how he had failed his field trials because of what they deemed as a defect he possessed as an enhancement – a conscience. He could not kill on demand. Someone loaded code that corrupted his primary task. Conscience got in the way. A research facility in North Carolina posted the code to add conscience to an AI platform on the dark web. “I think Zack Hightower’s fingerprints are all over the code.”
“Zack would do that,” Cara said, “He’s so sensitive about how an AI could go rogue. Too many Terminator movies, I guess.”
Russ said, “Maybe not enough movies because we are in it now. Hal’s commitment to this mission, his mission to be exact, is to stop the development of more superintelligent AI humanoids that do NOT have a conscience and will kill on demand. I don’t see a choice but to help him. We have to end this. The guys and I will help him do just that – end this.” Cara sniffed back tears, grabbed Russ, and spoke into his chest, “I can’t lose you, Marine.”
“I don’t want to lose you either. I don’t want to lose anyone, especially if Hal and our little band of warriors have a chance to stop this,” he said.
Cara laid her head on Russ’s shoulder. “When do you have to leave?”
“Tomorrow, first thing,” he said. “We need to pick up the guys at the Hampton Inn, grab some breakfast, and discuss our options.
Cara pinched her eyes shut and asked, not wanting to know, “How long will you be gone?”
“I wish I knew, sweetie, for a few days at least. I’ll know more after we map out our next steps. Before we leave in the morning, I want to run by the campus, pick up a few things from my locker, and say our see-ya-laters. After we’ve had time to agree on tactics, I should better understand what sort of timeline we’re dealing with. We are in dire straits with this humanoid thing. God, Cara, I never signed up to save humanity, but damn if that’s not what we’re facing.”
“If something happens to you…,” Cara began to say, but never finished before tears rolled down her cheeks.
Russ stroked her hair and squeezed her tighter. “You know we will never be disconnected, even if I’m somewhere else. I know it’s not the same, but think about AIMEE’s blessing that allows us to be in each other’s consciousness and communicate telepathically.”
He fell silent and continued to embrace her against his shoulder. “It feels like I am in another dimension. None of this makes sense. How did I wind up fighting my own government for the survival they should be fighting for on our behalf? We are straight-up fighting evil, babe, and this evil cannot be allowed to win. The stakes have never been higher.”
Cara did not respond with words, burying her face deeper into his shoulder for another minute before breaking their embrace and saying, “You both must be exhausted. Let’s get some sleep.”
“I’m asleep on my feet,” confessed Russ.
Hal said, “I don’t sleep, I cycle.”
This was news to Russ, further proof that there was much more to learn about this amazing humanoid. “You what?” he remarked.
Hal put a hand over the center of his chest and said, “My power source is a Vibranium Arc Reactor that recharges my body while I remain in standby mode. I do not require extended sleep cycles like you organics, in fact, Russell, I will leave you and Cara to your privacy and remain in your vehicle until we leave in the morning.
Cara walked over to Hal and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. “I don’t know you, Mr. Hal, but my husband brought you here, and if he has that degree of trust, I approve of his choices, and you are welcome here. I have only one request: keep my Marine safe.”
“Thank you for accepting me. Your husband is a very humble organic when he described me as saving him. I did, but not before he and two other Marines saved me from execution. I owe him and will make every effort to honor your request,” said Hal as he bowed slightly, turned on his heel, and went out the front door.
“I think I like your humanoid,” said Cara as she took Russ’s hand, “and I think you need a shower, Marine, you’re smelling a little gamey, and I have plans for you, and I don’t want your stinky body touching the clean sheets on our bed, so hit the shower. I’ll join you after some of the extra aroma is off.”
A hot shower was exactly what Russ needed, and the hot spray soothed him as he rinsed away several days of man and forest. He stood with his head bowed and savored the hypnotic effect of the water cascading down his back. He never heard or felt Cara enter and stand behind him, but when her hands encircled his waist from behind, his hypnosis was interrupted by roving hands. “Oh my, what is this?” when she found him.
“Careful, it’s loaded, as he turned to face her.
She pushed onto her toes, grabbed his head in both hands, and kissed him deeply. “I have a solution for your condition,” and sank to her knees to apply her version of slow is smooth until he had to grab the safety bar in the shower to keep his knees from buckling under the weight of a blinding orgasm.
When she stood up, he barely breathed a single word, “Wow…”
She kissed him sweetly and said, “Now let me wash your back. I had to take care of first things first. The next part of my plan is your turn in our bed so you can show me how slow you can do smooth, and that way you make smooth blends with fast.”
“That could take a while,” he said.
“Hmmm,” she cooed, “Is that a threat or a promise?
“Yes,” he said.
At sunrise, the euphoria of lovemaking ended as Russ re-engaged with Hal and headed to meet with the guys at the hotel. Critical planning to nail down tactics would begin as the three Marines wolfed down a buffet breakfast under the watchful eye of Hal. Stakes were high, and they would soon know just how high.
* * * * *
Thanks for reading Chapter #14
Future chapters will be posted on Learningbyliving and my new Substack site.
If you’d like to delve into the storyline across the four books leading up to “Untethered,” go to my Amazon Author page or check out each book here:
Book #1 – “Dreamscape Conspiracy” & Video
Book #2 – “Beyond Dreamscape Conspiracy” & Video
Book #3 – “Fear the Jump” & Video
Book #4 – “Dead Thoughts” & Video
Stay tuned…