Dante

  “I can state it for you very straightly: human beings are not through evolving. And if we are going to survive as a species, we're going to have to do things that allow us to keep on evolving. And that's it. It's a very simple statement.”

  --Frank Herbert

  “We know what we are, but not what we may be.”

  --William Shakespeare

  “The end of the world?” I ask Keiron. There isn’t a trace of doubt in my voice. Uncle Keiron doesn’t have time for games or guesswork. If he says it’s happening, it’s happening. But what he means by that…

  “Civilization as we’ve known it is finished, Dante.” Keiron looks at me with those calm, all-seeing eyes. “Whether it’s the end of us as a species is what’s in question.”

  “Finished?” I ask. “How?”

  “You know the public reasons, and those are enough for now. The Transgenic Wars, the Cold Peace, the AI Ascension? All pieces of a larger pattern. And, of course, you were on the Island during the Sneeze.”

  I nod, expressionless, but the memory of that crystalline flask shattering on the flagstones in front of me returns like a spike to my brain and a lance through my heart. I push it away, instinctively.

  I know I wasn’t to blame. None of us were. But seeing a bioweapon of that power detonated so casually in front of me… I’ve spent half a decade wondering what would have happened if I’d just been a bit smarter, a bit faster.

  If I’d simply caught the cylinder. No one died, at least. Not yet. Not officially.

  But I don’t doubt there’s more they aren’t telling us.

  I nod again. “I remember.”

  “Good.” Keiron pauses, searching my face again.

  “Official word is the Sneeze was harmless,” I say. “And that we’ve weathered the other things. Everyone who lived through them, anyway.”

  Keiron nods. “Unfortunately, there’s a bit more to each of them than the official story. Unofficially, there’s a simultaneous convergence of AI, emerging technology and enhanced humans. Events ranging from the AI Ascension to the Sneeze aren’t the proximate cause so much as they are harbingers of what’s to come.”

  “What is to come?” I ask. It’s an obvious straight line, but one worth asking.

  “We have no idea. The power being unlocked is beyond anything anyone can understand, even the early artificial superintelligences analyzing the consequences for us. We do have a few… unconventional methods to get glimpses of what’s coming. That, combined with logical extrapolation and a few superintelligences – living and artificial – helped us anticipate a few possible outcomes.

  “And turning points.”

  My eyes narrow as I assess him. His body language gives away nothing unintended, but that’s no problem. Keiron wants me to read this next bit.

  “And you think I’m about to step into one of those turning points.”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “You already have. It’s just about to get far-more intense.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “You’re going to meet someone soon. Someone critical. No one will be forcing that meeting, but by the nature of…” Keiron shakes his head. “Let’s just say you will meet them.”

  “Okay. And this person is…”

  Keiron raises a hand to forestall me. “Best you don’t know in advance,” he tells me. “What you need to know is that you’ll instinctively want to help them. Go with that impulse. Don’t let it override your good sense, but follow your instincts and lend them your aid.”

  “No further hints,” I comment, not really expecting any.

  “We don’t want to color your judgement,” Keiron admits. “Or lead you to overthink things. Just know that in every model we have of every foreseeable future, when you’re working with them, everything works out far better than when you do not.”

  “So, how will I know when I’ve found them?”

  “Oh, you’ll know.”

  ***

  Keiron doesn’t tell me anything more, but instead takes his leave, letting me stew over this in silence as his SUVs and semi roll away.

  Keiron never plays games, so if he’s leaving me in the dark right now, it’s for a reason.

  Still, I resolve to get on campus as soon as possible, hit my classes, check out my completely unnecessary dorm room, and catch up with the Aspect cousins as quickly as possible. If I’m going to meet this crucial mystery man or woman soon, it’s probably in the course of my prescheduled first week of school. Getting everywhere faster should get me in contact that much faster as well.

  Or so I hope.

  I grab Foresight and Lyrica before leaving, and have her text the Aspects to let them know my AIs are working on the images and our lost time from last night. I have them both keep an eye out for anything which might be unusual, be it a threat, a hint of this mysterious contact I’m searching for, or whatever else.

  My morning classes seem easy enough, but this is literally our first real day of class, and even the most-ambitious professors are basically laying out the syllabus and assigning reading and coursework. Simple enough, but everyone is hinting that the better you are, the more you’ll be challenged in turn.

  Which sounds perfect, actually. Though I wonder how much this “mission” my uncle has given me will preoccupy my time.

  Then again, if the world literally ends, how well I do on the midterms probably won’t be as critical as most students think.

  I grab some lunch from an on-campus café, and carry my drink and sandwich into my dorm, Orin Hall.

  ***

  “Oh, hello,” I say, raising a hand in a half wave. “Dante Alistaire. And you’re?”

  “Cerise Kress,” she says with a smile. “I’m your RA, if you need one.”

  I shrug. “I’m using the room to store things on campus,” I admit. “And the parking space. But I’m living at my uncle’s house in Havenwood, not here.”

  “Then you should be a lot less trouble than most of your dormmates,” Cerise replies, her smile undimmed. “And I see you’ve already registered. Anything else I can help you with?

  “Anything I should know for tomorrow?”

  “School’s starts unofficially,” Cerise says, “once we get past all the meet and greets. And tomorrow’s a new day.”

  So, no, then. “Tomorrow’s what we make of it, then,” I say agreeably, glancing around my empty dorm room. “See you then.”

  ***

  I trot back out again.

  No, no sudden conviction I desperately needed to help Cerise or, for that matter, anyone else I’ve met today. So the only option is to keep hitting my classes and to keep looking.

  Given Keiron’s certainty I’d meet them soon, a radical divergence from my planned schedule seems pointless. They’re almost certainly here already, or will be soon. Driving to Vegas or something will only pull me away when they do show up. And with no idea who they are, I have no notion of which direction to dash off in, regardless.

  I breeze through my afternoon classes, not distracted by my task, but keenly aware of everything instead – my fellow students, my professors, my professors’ lectures, and anything else which came up.

  Nothing.

  I check my texts, and chat with Lyrica. Apparently she and the others have a number of ideas we could test when it comes to restoring my memory – many of which rest on my unusual, Enhanced physiology, my normally photographic memory, or both.

  But one in particular amounts to dropping me into a floatation tank, getting into a deep meditative state, then into a self-hypnotic state to boost memory, and then showing me Astra’s photos in sequence.

  It’s interesting, but better still, they have those tanks on campus, and doing it here instead of at Barry’s keeps me on campus and still mingling with the student body.

  I decide to try it and tell Lyrica to give the Aspects the heads up. They can join me or not, but I’d like to get started.

  Suddenly, time feels short.

  There’s a float center on campus for the students, not to mention a few more tanks in the basement of every dorm. If the brochures are to be believed, they’ve spared no expense in giving their student body every advantage possible.

  And the more I see, the more I believe them.

  And so, after about 15 more minutes, I’m standing in a shower, rapidly scrubbing off before hopping in the tank.

  I clear my mind, and float in silence. And my memories remain, in fact, silent. After bobbing in the silent darkness, I go shower again and head out. Still without a clue.

  And I wonder what the person I’m supposed to meet is up to, right now.

  “Huh. So this is where you ended up.” The voice pipes up behind me, familiar, and I turn.

  A white-haired girl looking dazzling in the bright sun grins back at me. Once again, she’s all in white. “Not who you’re expecting?” she asks.

  And I stare right back at her.

  Ghost.

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