The Pandora Machine (The ABACUS Protocol Book 2)

  Chapter One

  The world spun around the confines of Vivian’s dormant mind, a mechanical humming boring into her ears. Or, were they alarm klaxons? She squirmed, stretching frozen muscles and ungluing her tongue from the roof of her mouth. Heaviness had settled itself into her limbs, and the red burning of a bright light overhead glowed through her eyelids. Had they left the Extra-Galactic Observatory yet? Did the rescue crews fix the problem?

  She began to drift back to the near-death of stasis sleep. Then, a spike of pain shot through her arm and restraints twisted against her arms and legs, snaring her into place. She struggled, trying in vain to pull her arms towards herself.

  “The patient is waking up, Doctor Powell,” announced a measured and feminine synthetic voice. Vivian flinched as gloved fingers grazed her forearm.

  “Thank you, Larissa, please notify the Council and make the arrangements to have her moved as soon as we’ve concluded here,” replied a woman, whose voice was dry and held the edge of age and fatigue.

  Vivian tried to force open her eyes. Parts of her last moments on the Extra-Galactic Observatory fluttered through her mind. She didn’t know why she was restrained in a hospital—their departure had seemed normal, until the alarm sounded.

  “Don’t move too much, sweetie,” the doctor said. “It won’t help, and if I decide to sedate you, it will put you back under for another month.” The machine jabbing into Vivian’s arm was removed, leaving a throbbing pain that crawled up and down her limb. She lay still as instructed, but her mind was jumbled and grasping at probabilities and theories.

  “Doctor, I will remind you that sedating her would be a violation of the Hippocratic Oath,” interjected the computer.

  “Don’t you tell me about the Hippocratic Oath, Larissa,” Doctor Powell spat. Vivian felt cold droplets settle on her skin. “Now, send the revised readings and do your job.”

  A breeze wafted over Vivian, and the door slammed. She tested the restraints, but they held fast.

  “The heaviness will pass in time, Vivian. You will be all right. Please do not be alarmed.” Larissa said, breaking the silence that formed after Doctor Powell had stormed out of the room. “But, don’t push too hard. A stasis pod malfunction is a serious medical emergency that requires careful observation and treatment.”

  Vivian tested the bonds again, only half-understanding what the computer said. Her voice was much like quIRK’s, but different. She expected to hear his calm, impassive voice at any moment, announcing wake-up time or paging her to lunch. Would there be chocolate pie? she wondered, before snapping back into reality as though her consciousness were an elastic band wound backwards in time.

  She took one deep breath, and then another. The air was thin and dry, laced with the scents of sterilization solutions and the byproducts of nanorobotic cleaning machines—devices found even in Aurora’s subterranean hospitals. Microbes transformed from dangerous pathogens into harmless floral-scented molecules. The throbbing in her arm persisted, sending tingles down her fingers. She willed them to wiggle, and they obeyed, the motion jerky and hesitant. Thoughts and memories became ordered and rational, and the initial panic of the doctor’s words faded into the heaviness that still laced her limbs and mind.

  “Take it slow, Vivian. You’re doing well,” Larissa intoned. “Breathe as deeply as you can, and focus on the memories you have from before you went into the pod. They will center you, and help you overcome stasis sickness.” Vivian had never encountered a supercomputer nurse before, but she was more inclined to trust it than a human. Programmed ethics couldn’t be broken, or even easily bent. Something was amiss with the way she was being treated, especially the restraints, but her tongue remained a useless slab of meat no matter how hard she tried to will herself to speak. Questions burned in the back of her mind, but the words could not come.

  Vivian pulled the memories back into her mind. The alarm. The soulless metal interior of the rescue ship. Alec’s toothy smile. quIRK saying goodbye. But, quIRK wasn’t gone, she had him, or at least a miniaturization of his mental processes tucked away in her bag. Her heart raced. What if they’d discovered him? She was done for if they found him, tucked away in a wooden flute case. The second sentient computer known to man, hiding away in her luggage. Had the stasis accident affected him, as well? She focused on that final moment before going to sleep—she had to remember if he was packed in a stasis chamber, or normal storage. She hoped it was the latter; a stasis malfunction severe enough to put her in the hospital would have likely destroyed the delicate patchwork of circuitry she had created for him.

  “Slow your breathing, Vivian. You’re going to hyperventilate,” Larissa said, interrupting Vivian’s thoughts. “Stay calm, don’t worry about your current situation. You need to be healthy before we can do anything.” She’s better at this than quIRK ever was, Vivian thought, with a twinge of guilt. quIRK had been her friend, however eccentric he had been. She hoped that he’d managed to evade the audit team. She remembered them now, too, along with her friends. Alec the goofball. Robert the scientist, even the cats—Lepton and Muon.The diabolical Bryce Zimmer.

  Vivian pried her eyes open, and was immediately blinded by the lights in the ceiling. She clamped her eyes shut, spots dancing across her field of vision.

  “I will dim the lights. You are doing very well, Vivian. Look around the room, and remember to breathe slowly and deeply as you acclimate,” Larissa said. Compared to quIRK’s impassive monotone, she gave the illusion of being sentient, though Vivian doubted that was the case.

  Vivian coaxed her eyes open again, and let them wander around the small, darkened room. Her vision was blurry despite the adaptive eye lenses she’d had fitted as a child, and she blinked, hard, several times in an attempt to clear the fuzziness. She could make out a holographic display dominating the far wall, its mix of colors and shapes shining brightly like a holo-billboard she’d seen in passing on the Epsilon Eridani hub, months ago. Could it have been a year ago? Many years? Turning her attention to herself, Vivian saw that she was lying under a thin hospital blanket, and her arms and feet were secured to the railing of the bed by leathery plastic restraints. They were as strong as steel, but would cause little damage to the limbs if she were to struggle. A machine sat to the right of her aching arm—it had many wires, each attached to an electrode or a needle. She shuddered and looked away.

  The rest of the room was empty. A lonely white bench sat next to the door, across from a wide window. Outside the window lay a vast city of low-rise white buildings interspersed with trees and crisscrossed by translucent aerial tubes the round pods that could only be the orbital taxis she’d seen in vids. The sky was deep blue and laced with clouds. Vivian had never seen anything like it. The sea lay beyond city’s coast line, stretching out into the horizon. A large moon hung just over the sea, its faint white surface pocked and scarred with craters. The vista was incredible, as mind-shattering as that first time she’d looked into the heart of the Milky Way galaxy. She wished she were outside, so she could stand under the yellow sun, and gaze up at a night sky unobscured by the auroras burning across the stars.

  “Where?” she tried to speak. The word caught in her throat and her swollen tongue slurred the word almost beyond recognition.

  “You’re in the Earth Memorial New Damascus Superhospital,” Larissa began. “We’re located in the capital city of Jasmine. This is a secure wing that specializes in intensive care for patients who require special protective protocols to be in place. You are not a prisoner, but the New Damascus Science Authority believed it was prudent to limit access to you while you’re in recovery.”

 
So, she was on New Damascus, and apparently not in custody despite her restraints. But, who were they protecting her from? So many questions tumbled through her jumbled mind. What questions would Larissa answer? She had to have rules concerning information dissemination, and confidentiality. Maybe Bryce got away, she thought with a sudden shudder.

  “Why am I here?” Vivian forced the words out, daring her mouth and throat to deny her. She’d been through enough, she wanted answers and an explanation so she could be on her way to the Ithaca colony’s new observatory and her latest job.

  “Your stasis pod experienced a mechanical malfunction and was set to deep space mode, a setting designed for sleep periods of over fifty years,” Larissa paused, allowing Vivian an instant to process this new information. “As you spent only four months in stasis, the wake-up period was abrupt and dangerous. Had you not been close to a hospital, the neural stress and resultant cardiac arrest would have killed you. Fortunately, you were in excellent physical condition and were able to recover more quickly than expected; you only took six weeks to come out of the recuperative coma that followed all of your nanosurgeries.”

  Vivian gasped. It was impossible, the trip from the Extra-Galactic Observatory to New Damascus only took slightly over four weeks. “Four months?” she managed to ask.

  “The rescue vessel’s progress was delayed by an unforeseen event,” came the reply.

  “Event?” Vivian asked. Her tongue was loosening, but her throat was still raspy.

  “That information is classified pending an investigation from the New Damascus Science Authority.” Vivian was grateful for the effects of the stasis accident now—she could not have contained her shock and culpability otherwise. They must have found quIRK, she realized, and her heart fell into the hollow of her stomach.

  “When do I go to Ithaca?” she asked, hoping that she could get as far away from that investigation as possible. The frontier would be the ideal place for her.

  “You have been placed on indefinite leave pending the results of the investigation. You must remain on New Damascus as a witness and a person of interest who will, if necessary, appear before the tribunal, and also at the trial and inquest into the administration of Bryce Zimmer.”

  “How long will that take?” A tear trickled down her face, and she shuddered at the mention of Bryce, the man who’d tried to kill her multiple times. Only quIRK’s intervention had saved her then, and it seemed that the megalomaniac was going to have another chance to ruin her.

  “Don’t cry, Vivian.” Larissa’s voice cut through the hollow place inside Vivian’s stomach. “I am familiar with the station’s incident reports, and he can’t hurt you again. Not here. That’s over, and there will always be work and assignments for a talented young woman like you. There is no date for the formal hearings to begin, and I recommend that you focus on getting well before becoming part of the investigation into Bryce Zimmer’s administration.”

  Vivian only nodded, and took a shaky breath. This was not the future she’d had in mind for herself. At least Larissa had interpreted her body language as a form of post-traumatic stress, rather than the fear of her own crimes being exposed. Vivian believed that she’d done nothing wrong in helping quIRK escape the station and quIRK’s demise, but she knew that the majority of humanity would condemn her for saving one artificial life.

  All there was for her to do now was rest, and try to come to terms with the fact that over five months of her life had vanished in a stasis-induced coma. She’d never liked the idea of stasis, or the uncomfortable questions about the continuity of life that frequent stasis travel implied. But, to lose a third of a year was unfathomable.

  It was something she was going to have to get used to, because for the moment her life was put on hold pending some bureaucratic tribunal. How could the deepest friendship she’d ever had be a crime?

  Vivian hoped they would blame it all on Bryce.

  Chapter Two

  Vivian sat on the bench by the door, gazing out the window into the depths of the blue sky. She found that it was the sky, rather than the sea, that calmed her nerves. It had been about eight hours since she’d woken up, and only after a great deal of pleading did Larissa finally release her restraints and let her move to the bench. The door was still locked—Vivian couldn’t leave the room—but the view would keep her entertained for the moment.

  Vivian was still wearing a simple hospital gown, its beige tones blended with the off-peach walls of her room. The holo-display next to the window was a mess of readings, charts, and other medical information. She didn’t have a clue what any of it meant, but she was comforted by the upward trend on all of her vital statistics.

  “How am I doing, Larissa?” Vivian asked.

  “You are doing very well, Vivian,” the computer replied. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, all of your readings are improving.”

  Vivian nodded. “Shouldn’t I be weak? I did spend six weeks in a coma.”

  “We can medically prevent muscle atrophy, Vivian. It’s very similar to stasis. Your good level of physical fitness helped you recover more quickly than the norm.”

  “Why don’t I have any scars?”

  “Nanorobots performed your surgeries. After injection, I directed their work remotely.”

  Vivian shuddered. “Machines, inside of me?” She rubbed her arms.

  “Don’t worry, Vivian. They were deactivated after use, and they decayed within a few hours.”

  Vivian looked down at her arms. “When can I leave, Larissa?” Even if her employment was on hold, she was eager to go somewhere, maybe visit Alec, wherever he was. Calypso Station, maybe.

  “Doctor Powell will need to approve my recommendation after I have concluded my observation period.”

  “You’re the one who makes the recommendations? How does that work?” Vivian was curious about how much autonomy they would allow a medical supercomputer.

  “My qualifications and specifications would be of interest to you professionally as well as personally, if you would prefer that I elaborate.”

  “Please do,” replied Vivian. She might not be quIRK, but Larissa could be a friend to her—as much of a friend as a non-sentient supercomputer could be.

  “I am based on post-ABACUS technology, “Larissa said. Vivian’s eyes were drawn to a flash on the holoscreen for an instant. “I feature the most advanced psychological programming, as well as having access to the most advanced medical equipment and knowledge in the galaxy. Built three years ago, I have comparable processing power to the deep-space quIRK units that you are familiar with, but with improved personality stability and bedside manner. In an emergency, I can replace a doctor. However, my recommendations are meant to supplement, rather than replace human judgment.”

  “So, you’re based on quIRK?” Vivian had suspected that she used similar programming, but she had no idea that a hospital would require the processing power of a deep-space telescope. It did make sense, if you assumed that the human body possessed a similar level of complexity to a galaxy or nebula.

  “In a manner of speaking, I am an evolution of quIRK,” Larissa replied. Vivian smirked at that. “I uphold the values of the Hippocratic Oath, and ensure the smooth functioning of the hospital, as well as anticipate threats to public health based on galactic trends and reports. Because of my increased stability, I do not require bi-yearly memory purges and many of the more draconian implementations of the ABACUS Protocol.”

  “But, do you like cats? What’s your favorite color?” Vivian snickered at the thought of a cat-crazed hospital AI arguing about antiblue.

  “Cats and other companion animals are an important part of the healing process. If you like, I can have one brought to your room now that you’re awake. My favorite color is blue, like the sea. It is helpful to pick a color that humans can perceive. As pleasant as I find antired, starting arguments with patients is not my prerogative.”

  Vivian’s eyes went wide. “You really are an evolution of quIRK. I think he
picked fights with Alec on purpose!”

  “Your friend, Alec Stone?”

  “He’s here? Is he okay?” Vivian bounded to her feet and grasped the door handle. It didn’t budge, but she persisted.

  “Alec was discharged on arrival and proceeded to Calypso, but only after being escorted to the orbital taxi by security,” Larissa said. “He didn’t want to leave you here, alone. A confrontational individual, but a very loyal friend to you.” Despite being a disembodied voice, Larissa’s words compelled Vivian to relax, and her grip on the door handle relaxed.

  “Was he all right?”

  “He was unharmed, but demanded that I personally inform him the moment you woke up. I sent the message six hours ago, but it is still early in the morning in the Epsilon Eridani system.”

  “Can I talk to—?” Vivian began, but she was cut off as the door opened. A tall, spindly older woman walked through, glaring down the bridge of her nose over a pair of brown-framed glasses. Her cold blue eyes locked on Vivian’s, and Vivian resisted the urge to shudder. She wondered why a doctor wouldn’t opt for adaptive vision correction treatments.

  “It’s about time you opened the door, Larissa. What were you talking about in here?” The woman’s tone hadn’t improved from earlier in the day.

  “There appears to be a mechanical malfunction in the locking circuitry. This is a secure ward, all malfunctions result in lockdown.” Vivian swallowed, hard. Mechanical malfunction was the word quIRK had used to obfuscate his sentience, and Bryce’s sabotage.

  “Why have you not contacted a custodian to repair it?” Doctor Powell asked Larissa

  “All custodians are currently busy on higher priority tasks.”

  “My patients always take priority from now on,” the doctor growled. “While you’re at it, do something about all those chain letters I keep getting. I hate cats!” Vivian sank down on the bench, and tried her best to become invisible.

  “I will adjust the filters accordingly, Doctor Powell.”