Ramez Naam - Apex

And they took it, took its threads, stretched them out, lifted them up, separated them, brought them back together a hundred fold, a thousand fold, entwined, a tapestry. They took his sketch of plan, made it richer, deeper, a painting. They reached into him and took from him what they needed, more gently this time, mindful of what they’d done to him weeks ago. He felt the things they took. The million minds he still had addresses for from the pings of his bots. He felt new connections made. To the mesh that Rangan and his friends had developed, to the combat tools he’d written, so very different from this plan, to Shiva’s tools for assimilating and processing data from millions of minds, to Shiva’s fleet of low earth orbit satellites.

They wove them all together and it was more than a painting, it was a multi-dimensional object, a sculpture that extended through space and time and higher dimensions yet. And he could see the shape of it, see how all the pieces of this plan fit, and he was momentarily awed that he’d brought even the sketch, even the seed.

And then they were lowering him, letting him down and out, gently, and wrapping him in love, bathing him in love.

And then he was out. And the stars were flaming in the sky. And there were tears on every face. And the night was bright. And the grass was green. And the smells were rich.

“We’ll leave for Thailand immediately,” Ananda said. “This is best done with a concentrated node in one place to anchor things.”

Kade nodded.

And he would leave for Shanghai. Where the most amazing woman the world had ever seen, the most amazing being the world had ever seen, might be reborn at any instant, at the very height of her insanity, bent on conquering the planet.

Where it was his job to stop her.

100

Childish Things

Sunday 2041.01.20

Zhi Li padded quietly into the kitchen in bare feet and nothing else, leaving Lu Song sleeping, to make herself some tea.

The faint light that preceded the sun came in through the broad southern windows of her home. Out those windows, through the one-way glass that protected her privacy, she could see the first hints of light on the wide green lawn, the first hints of color on Lake Dianshan.

She loved this time of day best of all. Especially here, at her home, in the western suburbs beyond Shanghai. Lu Song could have his penthouse in the bright lights of the Pudong. She loved her garden, her hectares, her lakefront, her view of what remained of nature.

She held the mug of tea in her hands, letting its warmth comfort her.

Sleep didn’t come easy these days. Nothing did.

“Hey,” she heard.

She turned, and Lu Song was there, smiling at her.

She tried to smile back. She wasn’t sure she succeeded.

He came up and embraced her, and she put the mug of tea down to allow it.

“You need some fun, lover,” he said.

“Is that what I need?” she wondered aloud, her face nuzzled against his chest.

Lu Song’s voice turned mischievous. “I can think of some other ideas,” he said.

She knew that tone. That tone led to trouble.

Trouble they were both experts at creating.

“How about…” he paused. “That cute waiter from the restaurant last week, eh? I bet he’d amuse you for a while.”

Zhi Li shook her head mutely against his chest.

“Oh, I see,” he said. “It was the hostess who was more your type. I doubt she’s ever been with a woman before, but…” He chuckled.

“Lu Song,” she protested.

“Oh, one’s not enough, eh?” he joked. “We could have them both, I’m sure. They could sing and dance for you, or–”

“That was the young me!” Zhi Li said. “I’m older now.”

Lu Song laughed. “That was you as of three months ago! And you’re twenty-six!”

Zhi Li pushed back from her lover so she could look him in the eye.

“Our times make demands of us, lover,” she told him. “There’s a time to put away childish things. And to focus on what needs doing.”

A sound startled her, then. The door opening. Feet running. She turned, to face it. Lu Song stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body.

“Madame!” she heard Keylani say.

Zhi Li stepped out from behind Lu Song, naked, as he was.

Keylani stood there, a slate in her hand, breathing heavily. Qi and Dai were on either side of her, fully dressed in their black suits. They politely averted their heads, though they’d seen this and so much worse through her discreetly hidden episodes of debauchery.

“Madame!” Keylani said again, staring her in the eyes. “You’re starting a revolution!”

Keylani played it for her again, a capture sent to her by a fan.

The warrior princess, Zhi Li, raised her sword. The camera zoomed out, revealing a plain full heroes. “China, take to the streets! Rise, China! Rise!”

She felt goose bumps on her skin. Her hair stood on end.

“And this has spread…?”

“Everywhere!” Keylani said. “Millions of viewers! Billboards! Posters in the subways! Building sides! Phones! Everywhere! And not just you, Madame!” Keylani looked at Lu Song. “It’s everyone. All of the Peace and Harmony Friends. All inciting riot.”

Zhi Li stared at the video as it played and played: the snippet of Sun Liu, saying the people would revolt; the sneering, unflattering-as-possible clip of Bo Jintao saying he was in control.

Did even Bo Jintao ever look and sound so villainous?

“Madame!” Keylani said. “Should we issue a denial? We can record a public statement, distance you from this!”

Zhi Li turned and looked at Lu Song.

His face was pale. He knew exactly what she was thinking.

“We’ll be executed,” he whispered.

Zhi Li smiled at her lover. “Or we’ll be heroes forever.”

Lu Song stared at her, tried to work his mouth, and finally gave her the tiniest of silent nods.

How she loved this man.

Zhi Li turned back to Qi and Dai.

“Boys,” she said. Then she changed her mind. “Qi, Dai, look at me.” They turned, surprised, after everything, all their loyalty, and looked at her.

Zhi Li pursed her lips. “Gentlemen,” she said. “I’m about to do something unwise. If you want to opt out, you’re free to go. I won’t hold it against you.”

They turned and looked at each other, and shrugged.

“Your unwise decisions have always turned out pretty well in the past,” Qi said.

“We’re with you now,” Dai finished.

Zhi Li grinned.

“The same goes for you, Keylani,” she told her secretary. “But first, help me find a costume! And a sword!”

“We’re cut off,” Gao Yang said.

Bo Jintao tried to pull up the aerial view of the protests again.

NO DATA.

NO DATA.

His brow furrowed.

He tapped keys, tried to use the terminal to contact General Ouyang.

NO CONNECTION.

His face grew red.

He tried Deputy Minister Ho at the Ministry of State Security.

NO CONNECTION.

“What the hell is going on?” he exploded.

“It’s everything, Premier!” Gao said. “All the systems are down. It’s an electronic attack. And the flow of people into the streets has increased. Hundreds of thousands are marching for Tiananmen Square!”

Bo Jintao paled. He was here, in Zhongnanhai, in the heart of China, the complex where the Politburo Standing Committee ruled the nation from, the imperial park started by Emperor Zhangzong, almost a thousand years ago…

But also almost immediately adjacent to Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace.

With just a single wall and the garrison here, and the troops already hard pressed to contain the existing protesters in Tiananmen Square.