Hugh woke up and knew immediately that something was wrong. It was nothing he could see, or hear… But he just knew, deep in his bones, that something had changed.
Kasumi, just waking up beside him, apparently knew it too. She curled into him tightly, not getting up. "What is it?"
"I don't know…" Hugh admitted.
They stayed that way for a while, just holding each other.
"It's been a long time since I needed reassurance, love." Kasumi whispered in his ear. "Think this is it?"
Hugh was silent for a moment. "The Judge told me once that we're in close communication with God now. I remember, not long after I came back, I thought to myself that the… oppressive feeling was gone. It was hard to tell, because I was so used to it, and so was everyone else, going all the way back to Eden, that we just never noticed it. Now, eight hundred years, and I'm getting the same feeling. Like that… light… is suddenly missing today."
Her fingers gripped his arm in sudden worry. "Why?"
Hugh pulled her closer. "Scripture says that Jehovah could hear the outcry of people in sadness. It says that even if we don't know words, the spirit cries out. What if the reverse is true?"
"Is this it?" Kasumi asked again plaintively.
As if to answer her, Hugh's Device chimed. Hugh reached out and brought it back without pulling away from his wife. It was an automated message. "Eben's announcing a special meeting."
"For when?"
"Tonight."
"This is it."
"I think so."
~~/*\~~
Grant was not sleeping. Jerusalem had been refurbished, inside and out; and the walls that once defined the border of the Old City had been symbolically taken down and opened up to the surrounding area; the farmland and suburbia that extended far around it. For Sanctuary, those walls had been rebuilt, and now encircled the city entirely. Jerusalem was the only city to be designated a Sanctuary, the rest of them built as purely functional 'Arks' all over the world.
Grant had been walking slowly, just going around the new walls of the old City.
"Looking for weaknesses, or admiring the craftsmanship?"
Grant turned, and found Kit coming up behind him. "Little of both, I guess. I was walking through the Market early this morning, and suddenly I got a familiar feeling. Last time I felt it, it was right before a prison riot broke out."
"I got it too." Kit nodded. "Same feeling I got back in OS. Like a low-grade paranoia. Funny thing is, back in OS; it was just life. You always kept your bag zipped shut; you always knew where the exits were. Here in this world it hasn't been a factor."
Grant shivered. "I was almost tempted to let go of it."
Kit spoke quietly. "I remember the first time I had my prayers answered. I was sitting in Stone Prison, as a matter of fact. Biggs had just accepted a study. We prayed all the time back then, still less than we should have. The second time I saw a prayer answered, also in that Prison. Biggs made his dedication prayer out loud, and I was the only other person there to hear it." Kit chuckled. "Actually, now that I think of it, the day all our prayers were answered; I was in Biggs' old cell. They locked me in that room specifically, I think to either punish me or to give themselves a laugh."
Grant chuckled himself. "Does it feel strange, knowing that we won't have that divine protection, for the duration?"
"Feels like old times." Kit whispered. "That feeling like you're crying out and the answer is 'no'. It'd be almost nostalgic, except that the 'old days' were just awful."
"That's why you're here?" Grant guessed. "You know this city will be Sanctuary, and you're happy to camp outside for a week, just to be early in line?"
"I won't be the only one. I noticed your mother heading for the Old City." Kit remarked. "Is that why you're here too?"
Grant shook his head, but not in response to her. It was more like he was thinking of a joke he wasn't saying out loud. "You lot haven't changed your tune in almost a century. Always trying to figure out what my angle is."
"We'd stop wondering if you'd just tell us." Kit quipped. "We know there's something going on that you aren't saying."
"Let's say only that I know my place in prophecy." Grant demurred.
"Ohyes, that's not cryptic or unsettling at all." Kit agreed sarcastically.
As if to interrupt, their Devices both chimed in the same minute. "It's an announcement. This must be it."
~~/*\~~
Meetings were done in all shapes and sizes. There was no venue big enough for everyone, so they had the same venues used on a schedule so that everyone got a turn. But this particular announcement was urgent, and so it was broadcast to every venue, and every home, every public screen.
Hugh and Kasumi went to the Tower's Assembly Hall, and knew immediately that they weren't getting in. It was standing room only, and even the screens outside the room were hard to see with all the people in the way.
But after walking through the plazas and community gardens, they eventually found a place where they could see a large public screen, just in time to see it start.
"Brothers, we come to you today with grave news." The Speaker said powerfully. "Earlier today, some of our brothers in the Far Eastern Region found a community of Undecided ones."
Hugh felt the energy in the crowd shift as they reacted. Sitting with him, Kasumi's fingers gripped his tightly. She knew it too. There hadn't been an active community of people who hadn't made their choice in almost eighty years. Earlier today? This is happening fast.
"Obviously, this is a surprising discovery." The Speaker said what they were all thinking. "The Returning is long done, and as a result, the only Undecided ones are those raised by us, our own children; though the youngest person alive is just over a century old now too. It was quite a shock for us to find that there was a community, gone unreported."
Hugh felt Kasumi's fingers tighten on his own. It had been over a month since they'd heard from Megan at the final Centennial. By itself, that wasn't a cause for concern, given that they now lived on different continents, but still...
"As with previous Undecided communities, we sent missionaries to reach out to them. Given the urgency of the times, they left immediately." The Speaker explained. "But one of the brothers we sent... unexpectedly discovered a close relative there; and an argument ensued. For reasons of avoiding gossip and rumor, we are not releasing his name. But what is known, is that once the argument was over, this brother from our team decided to forcibly break up the small community, and started by setting fire to the domiciles."
A quiet roar went around the audience.
"Obviously, this is directly contrary to our way of doing things... And three people were injured. One of them while trying to get the fire out, and two while trying to rescue personal belongings. Our brothers were asked to leave the community at once. The offending brother has been sanctioned accordingly; and is described as being 'overcome with guilt'. He swears that he never intended to hurt anyone, but simply lost control of his emotions..." The Speaker looked into the camera gravely. "Obviously, this is the first time that any of our people have been guilty of a crime. First time in a thousand years... I'm sure everyone is very aware of the significance. There's no doubt about the timing any longer. The Thousand Years are over."
The crowd roared, and Kasumi grabbed for Hugh's hand. "Take me home!"
~~/*\~~
"Where did the Undecided come from?" Dexter Knowles wondered aloud. "It's been years, since… I mean, we've seen the stats on birthrates, the Returning."
Nomi, his wife, nodded. "The only 'Undecided' are the people who are curious. That's human nature. But now, with the 'Honor System' suddenly under attack; idle curiosity alone isn't going to be the limit of anything."
The two of them watched the news for a while; as it reported the doors to Sanctuary opening, all over the world; all at once. "This action is clearly miraculous in origin; as the drawbridge-style doors can be up to twenty feet across; and there's no chain or lever to lift or lower them. How they'll be closed again is no secret; but there's still no sense of when that precise moment will be."
Nomi gave a shivery breath.
"But some people aren't taking the chance on any kind of delay." The news continued. "There have been crowds gathered outside Sanctuary for days now; an impromptu tent city has now been dismantled; keeping the area around Sanctuary clear. This crowd is made up mostly of Trib Survivors and former Gold Letters; plus their families. We're told that some of them have been waiting since mid-construction. Those that have gone in assure us that there's plenty of room for more. This is a pattern that has been repeated in other Sanctuaries all around the world-"
Nomi turned the volume down. "Dex, there's something I have to tell you." She said quietly.
"I know." Dexter sighed. "I don't plan on going either."
Nomi looked over. "You could. You have relatives again."
Dexter was silent for a long moment, avoiding that thought. "It's not like we need to pass an exam to go in. Relatives aren't required. Why don't you want to go to Sanctuary?"
Nomi didn't even blink. "I've lived long enough." She said simply. "I was there the first time the world offended so much that God had to start over. The flood's been forgotten by most people over the last Thousand Years, and I can't deny this world is better than the one I was born to; if a little slower." She looked at him. "I remember this part, Dex. The rain has started; the water is rising, and everyone knows how it ends."
"And what does one do with their last days?" Dex sighed. It was an old conversation. One they'd had many times before; even after they married. "I know that I don't like the idea of outliving you, wife."
"I know. But I made my choice long before we met." Nomi said. "I watched my whole world end in panic once because of what we did; myself included. I got many years of paradise and good health afterward. I've lived centuries in the light…" She looked calm about it, content. "I'm ready to stop now."
Dexter said nothing to that for a while. Better contentment than guilt. He reasoned. "You're not planning to stay?"
Nomi shook her head. "I've got a few people to say goodbye to… And like I said, I've done this before. When it all comes apart, I don't want to be with people I know and places I love. I want to keep those memories apart from the ending." She held his hand. "But I'll stay for a while. We still have time."
Dexter sighed. "I don't think I should live forever either. But I'm glad for the time I've had."
~~/*\~~
Rika Ryker was at her Collective, surrounded by people as young as her. There wasn't one of them that had reached their second century; and most of them had ongoing work that needed to be either packed, or abandoned.
"Too bad they didn't bother with that 'Immortality Serum' for animals." Cho said lightly. "I could leave them with a clear conscience if I knew they'd make it." He looked over at Rika. "You really don't know how long this is going to last?"
"Nobody does." Rika shook her head, hearing the sound of an Auto coming in to land outside. The sound of it was nearly white noise now. There had been people coming and going constantly. "It starts when it starts, and it ends when it ends. The Trib Survivors in my family are saying it's just like old times."
"My family too." Jacob spoke up. "My stepfather had to flee Jerusalem in the first Century. They had no idea how long it would take for the invasion to start once they left. Mother was there when The Plagues hit Egypt. She was in her eighties when they started the Exodus. We're the only generation that has ever had a point on the Calendar to watch. We've never known when God was going to make His move."
Rika rolled her eyes. "How could they stand to live like that?" She marveled, mostly to herself. "Didn't God know they'd have more faith if they had a countdown clock? We've had one our whole lives."
The doors burst open at that moment, and Belle came staggering in. Her friends stared at her in disbelief. She looked like she'd been through a war. A sight that hadn't been seen in centuries. Her clothing was torn, her face was covered in soot, and the grime was smeared with tears. She almost fell into the room as her friends gathered around her quickly. Rika took charge swiftly, organizing the young men to go and get her food and water. The young women present cleaned her up as best they could, helping her into some new clothing and checking for injuries.
"Just cuts and bruises." Belle told them shakily. "It was awful!"
"Belle, who did this to you?!" Jacob demanded.
Belle wept, openly. "It was my father."
~~/*\~~
"I'm sorry to call you in like this, Brother Benedict. But she won't talk to anyone except you." Rika explained as she met him at the door. "She's pretty freaked out. She's never seen her father angry before."
"It's all right, Rika. This is what I'm here for." Benedict soothed.
Rika knocked quietly on Belle's door and led him over to the bed, where Belle was laying, cleaned up, but eyes red. She saw Benedict and told him her story. "That fire in the announcement? It was us. It was a study group made up of people like us." She gestured around the collective. Her friends were crowded at the door. "People who had lived their whole lives outside OS. It wasn't a rebellion or anything, it was just a think-tank. We do them all the time. It was a Collective, like every other topic we get together and talk about."
"What was this one?"
"Life after the Thousand Years." Sydney said from the door. "We've been meeting for months."
"Belle?" Benedict said carefully. "I haven't been an Elder for a while now, but… The reports say the altercation happened at a colony of Undecided."
"We were based out of the old colony." Belle admitted. "But it wasn't that we were undecided ourselves; we were just trying to get into their thinking. We were all born to Paradise; we're all baptized. We just… wanted to share a few ideas about how to approach things, now that the Organization is splitting up. My father saw me there and he flipped out, because he thought we were..." She wove a bit. "Ohh, I'm tired."
"Shock." Benedict deduced. "Get yourself a snack, get some rest." As she moved to do so, Benedict gestured to her friends to meet him outside the room.
Once they were away from Belle, Benedict's face hardened a bit. "Explain this."
"We picked the former Undecided space, since they were the only ones outside the 'current leadership', and we wanted to know why." Sydney explained. "The thought experiment was to live like them for a while, and see how it could work with 'better' people. Brother Benedict, we've achieved so much as a species in the last Thousand Years. Nobody's disputing that OS was a nightmare, but we wondered how much of that was because of direct Satanic influence, which we won't have, or imperfection; which is also gone." Sydney spread his hands wide. "The change in 'management' has brought up some questions. We've built towers to make Babel weep, we've conquered gravity and the atom, we've created species and nurtured the whole planet back from extinction; there are even rumors about an immortality serum."
"Oh, that was never going to go anywhere." Benedict waved that off. "You're right though. We've done some… amazing…" He noticed all of them staring at him. "What? What have I said?"
"You mean the Serum is real?" Rika was stunned.
"They were talking about it, as a way to keep beloved pets and working animals around forever." Benedict shook his head. "But there was never any need for it in humans."
"Granted, but for most of human history it was the most needed thing ever."
Benedict shook his head, automatically falling into the 'teacher' role. "No, see: That's the mistake almost everyone made. Death wasn't ever an illness to be cured. No two scientists could agree on why we ever grew older. There seemed to be no biological reason; and that's because the reason wasn't biological. It was never about our health. Death was a punishment. The price of imperfection and disobedience."
"One that doesn't really make sense to us." Sydney explained. "Jehovah doesn't judge people for the sins of their fathers."
"No, but parents are responsible for their children. As the first humans, Adam and Even had the responsibility for the whole human race. That's the duty of a parent."
"I bet Belle's father thought the same when he lit a match." Sydney retorted. A moment later he looked surprised, as though he couldn't believe he'd just said that.
Benedict was glaring at them, and they were all glaring right back. Benedict held his hands up. "Whoa. How about we all take a few deep breaths right now? Emotions are running high, no question."
They agreed, and temperatures cooled for a few minutes. "Brother Benedict…" Rika said finally. "You've always said that eternal life is the very least of what makes this world a paradise. The more important part is what we do with our time."
Benedict nodded.
"My family has lost people. People who just couldn't get there in time. If there was a longevity treatment that could have given them a little longer, even if not eternity…"
Benedict nodded. "Rika, I've met fifth century alchemists who were convinced they could turn lead into gold, and water into wine; and even crack the death barrier. They've been 'fifty years away' from immortality since science began."
"Granted." Sydney held up both hands placatingly. "But I think her point is that we haven't studied medical arts the way we have with things like transport and construction. We've broken unbreakable barriers before. A lot of them in the last two centuries."
"None of the ones set by God."
"Again, granted. But the level of innovation we've found in every other facet of human life is so extreme, what could we do with this one? The 144,000 have immortality. That's life, without dependence on the original 'Life Source'. That alone proves it's technically possible."
"Not for us." Benedict was shaking his head. "I can't believe what I'm hearing." He raised himself upright; to the same pose he always had on stage when giving one of the more stern lessons. "When the Modern Organization began, we had telegraph wires and steam trains. Technology has not saved a single soul in the world."
"Not a single soul, but surely it could save some lives." Belle croaked from behind them, and they all turned to see her at the doorway. "You guys are as bad as my father, thinking I can't hear an argument from one room away. She gestured at the Auto outside. "Technology saved my life when the fire started. It was the 'faithful loving family' that started the fire."
Belle's current state made Benedict swallow his disapproval. "I'm sorry. This isn't the time for this. We've raised debate to an artform, but now isn't the time." He reached out to rest a hand on Belle's shoulder. "You're having a big day, huh?"
Belle nodded, strung out. Barely a century old, she'd never seen anyone enraged before. Having it happen to her had shaken her whole worldview.
"It's going to be alright." Benedict assured her. "None of us have done anything against the commandments. For me, not in a thousand years. For you, not once in your life. Of all the titles Jehovah could use to describe himself, he encourages the use of 'father' and 'friend'. God is everlasting. He made us to live forever, because He couldn't bear to part from His friends. Even when the scary things happen. After all, who do you turn to on the bad days, if not your friends and your family?"
Belle felt something relax in herself, and suddenly found she was hugging Benedict tightly. My father's not even a Trib Survivor. Why couldn't he have said all this instead of blowing up like that?
~~/*\~~
"Alec was there." Beckah sounded frantic, even over an audio-only call. "He was part of the group that went out to the island… Hugh, he's panicked. He thinks he's crossed a line and joined the 'bad guy' team."
"This is insane." Kasumi breathed. Every call makes it crazier.
Hugh agreed, but didn't say it where Beckah could overhear. "Has he given you any more information about what actually happened? The reports here were low on details."
"The details aren't the problem. The problem is that 'our side' made the first act of violence in a thousand years."
"'Our side' is the only one left; where else was it going to come from?" Hugh reasoned.
"I know, but this is hitting Alec's weakness. Back in OS, he had a real problem with self-image and feelings of worthlessness." Beckah explained. "Hugh, I've been trying to talk him down for hours, and he won't be swayed."
"Fire has that effect." Hugh said darkly. Kasumi was already summoning an Auto. "Where is he now?"
"Cuba." Beckah reported. "They went there when the whole mess happened. That Colony was on an Island off the Florida Keys. He never came home afterwards. The Terminal says he's rented a boat locally."
~~/*\~~
Alec's boat was large enough for a small family to take a weekend trip. Alec was loading up supplies, and apparently going alone.
Kasumi was radiating tension. Hugh kept a tight grip on her arm and made his way down the dock, being deliberately calm. "The nearest Sanctuary is the other direction." He called out easily.
Alec saw them and sighed. "Thought you were in Israel. Beckah called you?"
"She did." Kasumi said tightly. "Is there any particular reasoning behind this move?"
"I know, it looks like I'm bolting when times get tough." Alec admitted. "I just needed to think. I needed…"
"Y'know, it's been a long time; but from what I remember, being left alone with your thoughts isn't a good prescription for depression." Kasumi reminded him pointedly. Hugh gave a calming squeeze to her arm, and she settled.
Alec gave her a look. "This isn't depression. That's not even an option anymore."
"Medically. But disquieting thoughts? That can come from you. And anything that comes from you has something evil 'pushing it along' now."
"How well I know. That's how fires start." Alec retorted. "That's why I need to be away from people for a minute."
"This is all because of what happened with the Undecided community?" Hugh checked. "There's nothing else?"
"It was a mistake, one that has already been admitted and corrected, so far as they can correct this sort of thing." Kasumi added. "Why react so... evasively? We're kind of on a clock now."
"Hugh, what happened to those people just proves it." Alec said fiercely as he loaded supplies into his boat. "It was our side that drew first blood. We're not the good guys any more."
"What 'we'?" Hugh demanded. "There is no 'other side' and there hasn't been for over a century. I mean, when was the last time you heard someone call themselves 'a Witness'? It's all just us now. That guy who lit a match… He's not 'us'. He's just one guy who made a mistake. They've been warning us that there was going to be a showdown for fifty years, and of course it was going to start with one of our people, because there's nobody else it could be!"
"Hugh, how many times in Ancient Days did the Kings and Leaders suddenly turn away from the Great Potter and drag the entire kingdom with them?" Alec countered.
"That's different."
"Why?"
"Because those Kings and Leaders were all imperfect men. We have an entirely different King now."
"No we don't. The Thousand Years are over; that's the whole point." Alec dismissed that instantly. "I'm getting out before the ground opens under my feet too."
"You're abandoning your wife and kids!" Kasumi exploded at him, a lot angrier than Hugh had ever heard from her before.
"I didn't abandon them, I begged them to come!" Alec bit back. "We're back to having two teams, and I don't know we're on the right one." He turned to grasp Hugh's hands and look at him intensely. "I wasn't kidding before, Hugh. How many times were the Kings and Priests the bad guys? When that happened, they were left behind, taken out, removed… If the Hierarchy has lost their way, if they're leading us away from where we should be…"
"What hierarchy? The Thousand Years have passed!" Hugh shot back.
Heavy silence.
"I'm saying we can't just take for granted that they're right." Alec said quietly.
Hugh regarded him. "I'm told that on A-Day, you had a similar conversation with a brother you knew."
Alec froze, stunned into silence by that.
"Talk to your wife." Kasumi told him firmly. "You and she made it through the last Test. If there's anyone to have your back on this, it has to be her. Call Rachel, too. She's highly placed. Her friend Ingaret is a Gold Letter, still on the writing committee. If there's something you need to know; who else can you ask?"
Alec settled. "I will." He said. "But I'll call from the water." He climbed into the boat. "Look, if I'm wrong about this; it won't be the first time, and I won't hesitate to make it right. The Auto can come and collect me from anywhere, including the open water. I won't waste time sailing back." He made a placating gesture at Kasumi. "I will talk to Beckah."
There was nothing more they could do. The instructions were clear: Everyone made up their own mind what to do during the Final Test. But they stood and watched as he pulled away from the dock, and turned his boat towards the open water. Kasumi summoned their Auto without another word, looking quietly furious.
"We did what we could." Hugh promised her. "We're all being thrown against our oldest doubts from the last time we faced this enemy. We can't force him to come with us, any more than he could force us to go with him." He looked after his friend. "There's still time."
~~/*\~~
"Mama!" Isobel let out a breath in sheer relief as the Holo came to life. "I've been trying to reach you for three hours."
"I've been busy. Maybe you hadn't heard; but things are happening in the world?" Moira told her. "Are you ready?"
"I am, but I've been trying to get in touch with everyone. I'm only able to track down half of them."
"Everyone?"
Isobel set her jaw. "The Caravan." She confessed. "And before you say it, I know this is an individual test; and I know everyone's a century old now. But…" She grit her teeth. "I'm the reason the Caravan broke up. I have no idea where they all ended up after we scattered, and I'm the one that did the scattering. I just want to make sure they're all okay."
"You wouldn't remember this, but we've been scattered before." Moira told her daughter. "More than once, at that. We've had to pull ourselves together during times of siege and war."
Isobel twitched. "Mom?"
Moira flushed, and her Holo leaned closer. "Nobody was sure if you wanted to know, given how things ended the last time we were all together. Vano's father is pulling everyone back together again. The whole Caravan is reuniting to go to Sanctuary together."
Isobel was so relieved she nearly fell out of her chair. "Thank you, God." She breathed. "I want to come with you. Where are we meeting up?"
"I've got your current address, let me find the closest spot for a rendezvous." Moira reported. "We may have scattered, but there were still a lot of family friendships. We didn't cut each other out completely."
Isobel twitched again. "How come I never heard from any of you?" Her voice was plaintive. She had been without her people for a while now, and it had been harder than she'd expected.
"Well, we weren't sure (fzzt) that you wa(Fzzt) to see us agai-" And Moira vanished, her Holo suddenly cut off.
Isobel blinked. The Holo had never failed.
~~/*\~~
"Remember, the priority is getting people to Sanctuaries." Nick told everyone still at the Foundation. "If you want to go right now, you can."
Rachel spoke next. "Transportation and Logistics were once the core of what the Foundation did, back when we called it 'The Conference'. Back there and back then, the entire world was on the move, trying to sort out what would happen next. It was the people in our jobs that gave them what they needed. As this phase of the world closes and the next one begins, we're providing that same service."
Nick took over. "The importan-"
The Tower above them burst into flames. The blast was sudden and vicious, sending gouts of flame and smoke crawling up the sides of the Foundation Tower; and up into the sky. Electrical arcs cracked back and forth above them, sending people scattering around the Foundation Courtyard.
~~/*\~~
Hugh and Kasumi were making their way to the Commons of the Tower. Everyone was packing up, getting ready to make their way to Sanctuary. They weren't going as a group, everyone had family scattered around the world. But the Tower would have to be left abandoned for the duration.
"Alright." Kasumi said lightly. "The timezones are a pain, but we probably shouldn't leave it for morning. Should I bring-"
The Tower shook, the walls jerking, and starting to creak. Hugh ducked automatically; pulling his wife close, covering her.
"Decompression Alert." Came a loud, automated voice from the hallway. "Repeat: Decompression Danger."
"Masks." They both said and went to the cabinet quickly, pulling on oxygen masks.
~~/*\~~
In California, Rachel was running through the corridors of the Foundation Tower, Nick on her heels. Nick was clicking his fingers together desperately, trying to get his Device Implant working. "I can't raise anyone!"
Rachel skidded to a halt outside one of the laboratories. "Here!" She shouted. "They do chemical tests! They'll have fire gear!"
"Why haven't the fire systems cut in already?" Nick demanded.
"I don't know, but I'll bet it's the same reason you can't contact anyone upstairs." Rachel said tersely as she pulled cabinets open, grabbing gear. "We better hurry. If the fire systems aren't working, we won't have long to get control of it!"
Nick turned to the corridor. "EVERYONE WHO CAN HEAR MY VOICE, GET OVER HERE FOR FIRE FIGHTING!"
~~/*\~~
Hugh and Kasumi were wearing oxygen masks. The Tower they lived in hadn't had so much as a cracked window since construction was finished. The Preserver Tech kept the Tower in like-new condition automatically. At that altitude, a person could face the bends, outside the sealed environment of the Tower.
"It's freezing!" Kasumi observed, voice muffled by the mask. "Whatever broke, it hasn't been fixed. Has that ever happened before?"
"No." Hugh agreed, looking at the crowds of people gathered around the elevators in masks of their own. "Something's gone really wrong here."
One of their neighbors was working the elevator controls over and over. "I can't get it to work! The Elevator is stopping on every floor, one at a time. They all are."
"Automatic mode." Kasumi said. "Which means the environmental systems are offline. That means whatever happened to our floor, it's happening to them all."
"Alright, everyone!" Hugh called over the crowd. "Forget the elevators. Head for the Landing Pads. We'll take the Auto's back to ground level."
"We've been trying that too." Someone said, and Hugh couldn't see who. "My Device can't reach the Auto. None of them can."
Hugh wore a disbelieving look. "What in the world is going on?!"
~~/*\~~
"Ohhh, what the devil is going on here?!" Rachel seethed, kicking the supercomputer; then tapping at the Terminal again. "Everything should be working."
"Does kicking it help?" A voice called.
Rachel looked up sharply. "Well, I knew it was bad, but I didn't expect you!" She almost laughed. "Good to see you, KB."
Kevin Bagley, one of the founding members of the very first Expo, made his way into the Database System Core. "Heard you guys needed some adult supervision over here." He gestured over his shoulder, back towards the door. "I ran into your better half on the way in. He's getting everyone out of the Tower as fast as he can. Apparently it's starting to come apart up there."
"Down here too." Rachel reported. "You helped set the Database up, any ideas?" She flushed. "I know it's been close to a Thousand Years; but…"
"Nick is madly organizing an Evac from the Tower because the Auto Service isn't working." Kevin told her, and started counting on his fingers. "System failures. Communications failures. The Preserver isn't making Repairs, and the Public Services are all offline. What do all these things have in common?"
Rachel stared. "The Database. It's an interface problem." She turned back to her Terminal. "And I can't access the Interface."
"I thought you had access to everything in the Foundation." Kevin murmured.
"I do. At least, I'm meant to." Rachel tried again, unsuccessfully. She looked at him hard. "You get what that means, right? I'm not imagining it?"
"You've been hacked, mack." Kevin agreed. "It's not a System Error. Someone locked you out."
~~/*\~~
Hugh and Kasumi were running a Search and Rescue. Hugh's plane was unaffected by the huge parade of errors and failures. But the restored Antique could only carry a dozen or so people; and he was ferrying them back to the ground in groups.
"Fortunately, everyone's being calm about it." Kasumi reported during the first flight. "The breathers will keep everyone safe. The mix in those things can keep them healthy until they get to something approaching normal air pressure."
Hugh nodded. "Flying around in circles to get them landed is going to be harder than you think. This is a restored antique, it was never meant for this kind of flying. The Landing Pad on our floor is near the limits of its altitude ceiling. Getting down is just a matter of rolling it over the edge and pulling out once it gets some speed up from the fall. Getting back up again…"
"What is going on?!" Kasumi seemed bewildered. "There were all kinds of backups for this kind of emergency, and none of them happened."
"Has there ever been a need for them? The days of disasters, even in extreme environments, are meant to be long over."
The plane radio suddenly came alive. "Hugh, come back?"
Hugh grabbed for the plane's radio. "Eben? I hear you. Is the Database back?"
"No, but there was an old AM Radio in the museum section. What's the situation on the top floors?"
"There are atmosphere breaches on multiple levels. We can't tell why, but the Preserver isn't repairing it."
"Not down here either. Listen, if you can ferry someone in your plane up to Level 220, we can get one of our technicians on board to override the elevators. We've confirmed the shafts and the mechanics are working; but the Database is completely haywire. Right now, they're stopping on each floor. It's some kind of hardware malfunction. We override them directly, we can get control back; and bring everyone down to a safe altitude until we sort this out."
Hugh smiled. "I'm already airborne. Where do I pick your techie up?"
~~/*\~~
"Okay, people!" Nick called to the room. "The fires are out, and the Tower is shut down. This meeting is rumor control. Here's what we know: Exactly one hour ago, the Database underwent a Critical Error, and shut down. We don't know how that happened, yet. But what we do know is that the shutdown was what was supposed to happen."
Kevin, who had been instrumental in designing the Database originally, took up the explanation. "When we first set up the Database, it was only meant for data storage. When we started building Holo-Towers, then the Auto-Devices, the Database became much more important to the day-to-day. There hasn't been a breakdown in comms between any device and the Central Hub for over five hundred years. But back when the technology was new, we included a failsafe. In the event that the Database starts going off-line, or there's a connection error, the devices they connect to go into a 'standby' mode."
"Anyway, this is why none of your personal devices are connecting, and why the vehicles are all offline." Nick summed up. "It all ran through the Database. We weren't worried about system flaws, malicious hacks, or even poor judgment. Not in any way that mattered."
Benedict raised a hand. "How did that cause fires to break out? Turning things off shouldn't make them explode."
"It's actually a little worse than that." Rachel said morosely. "When we say 'All Tech', we're including Preservation Technology. The reason it took so long to get nano-machines working right? It was the sheer amount of calculation it took to keep machines the size of molecules in the right place. We hadn't had a system lapse in almost four hundred years when I cracked the Preserver Tech… So there was no failsafe put in place."
Stunned silence as they all turned that over in their heads.
"Are you saying… The Preservation has failed?" Ingaret couldn't believe it. "All the things we decided to keep forever are falling apart; all at once, all across the world?"
"We'll start to notice it in little ways at first." Rachel said softly. "That's how the fire started. A little breach in something flammable… But with the Tech offline, it won't be repaired. The buildings that 'Print' rooms and homewares… The pattern has a maximum data-cycle of a few days before those rooms start to fall apart. The Database controlled the power levels at everything above household level. The Autos won't run if they can't navigate, and there hasn't been a purely manual-guidance car in years… Same for the flights, and the submarines…"
"How did this happen so fast?" Someone exclaimed. "How can you send the most advanced civilization ever built into the Dark Ages?"
"By accident, it shouldn't be possible." Nick confirmed. "There should be enough 'smart' in each device to be able to carry on, at least for a while. Something switched us off."
Rachel sent Kevin a look. "Someone."
"Consider it a sign." Benedict said, rising from his seat to address the room. "Consider it a reminder; in fact. Rachel and I are the only Trib Survivors in the room; and she'll tell you that we came through that with little more than the clothes on our backs. In the last thousand years, we have built what is, effectively, 'the Perfect System' at last. Proverbs 16:3 says 'Commit to Jehovah whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.' And that's because Jehovah cannot fail, so building our plans around His plans are the only way to ensure our success."
Rachel spoke. "He's right about that. Our priority now is to get as many people to Sanctuary as want to go. The world has always been looking to us to get wherever they're going. If Nick and I can get the Database back up, we'll have done our part for the whole world."
"And if you can't?" Benedict challenged her.
Rachel was already rolling up her sleeves. "We will."
Diaz raised her hand. "In the meantime, I have transport that will still work."
"Ohh, we've got that much sorted." Nick said grandly from the window, extending an arm to gesture towards the ship he'd spent his life building; docked in clear sight of the Foundation's Central Tower. "The Chariot Project is finished. I was hoping her maiden flight would be a happier occasion, but right now, she can fly as far as we wan-"
There was an explosion that rattled the windows. An instant later, Nick let out a scream as though he'd been stabbed through the heart.
The Stargazer had been gutted by flame, smoke and fire pouring out of her on all sides.
~~/*\~~
Outside Jerusalem, Grant and Kit had watched as those waiting outside broke down their campsite and walked through the open Gates. "Can I confess something?" Kit offered. "For a while, I had thought you were going to be the bad guy in the story."
"I've been that before." Grant said, matter-of-factly. "Which black hat did you have me fitted for in this case?"
"Well, we knew there'd suddenly be opposition. You've seen the verse. One of the biggest hypotheticals for the last thousand years has been who would lead an attack on God's people for the Final Test, and how they could get to that point. I'm a Trib Survivor. It's always been in the back of our minds, even if all the other Returnees had largely forgotten it. Back there and back then, we had less than five verses on this subject. Long before the Third and Fourth Testaments. But it was going to come from somewhere…"
(Author's Note: There is very little scriptural information on this point; and it will be discussed further later on. But I wanted to add that I was limited by my own rules for this part. 'Aging Out' was at least partially my own invention back since 'Just See Yourself'. It limited me a bit in 'creating opposition'. It's entirely possible that opposers may live for a Thousand Years and lie in wait for the Final Test; so at least some of this is the product of 'my' Paradise.)
"You thought I was saved for last because I could lead the charge against Sanctuary?" Grant grinned like a shark. "Do you still think so?"
"Truth is, I'm not sure about a lot of things anymore." Kit admitted. "But I'm here because I don't want to risk waiting."
"You don't forget survival training." Grant said with a nod, and held up his useless Device. "I received a written message from the Colonel, before the Database went offline. While we were walking, in fact. He's calling in every member of the Service Corps that will come. He thinks that if there was one Colony of Undecided that we didn't know about, there must be two. Or three. Or a thousand. He's responding to a world where Violence has started again; by calling in the closest thing he has to an army."
"And 'If you want peace, prepare for war'." Kit said grimly.
"I wonder how many people are going to follow the order, just because they're used to doing as they're told. I wasn't there for GT, but I was close." Grant nodded. "Close enough that we both know the truth: The world can stop working in a heartbeat."
~~/*\~~
Diaz found Nick in the wreck. His face and clothes were blackened with smoke and wet patches. "She's beyond salvage." He said, and it was like he was telling her of the death of his own child.
"I'm sorry, Nick." Diaz said sincerely. "She was a good ship."
"She never even got a chance to fly." Nick mourned. "I have spent my entire life on this dream."
"The stars aren't going anywhere, sir." She told him kindly. "But right now, we have to."
"I know. I'm not just mourning the Project, Carmen." Nick told her. "The Chariot could have carried hundreds, maybe thousands of people to Sanctuary. She was meant to fly far beyond Earth; so she didn't need our Database. She could have carried everyone home safe."
Diaz sighed, and took a slow walk around the burned out bridge. Her own contribution, in honor of her naming, was a model of the airship and the old wooden wheel from an ancient sailing ship; both craft to have borne the name 'Stargazer'; and now, all of it ruined.
"Is there any sign of what caused the explosion?" Diaz asked. "She was brand new, and hadn't even had her shakedown flight yet. I doubt she was put together with Preserver Tech."
"That's the worst part. It wasn't a malfunction." Nick told her. "It was sabotage." He glanced around. "Your airship is the only mass-mover we've got docked that can still navigate. How's she shaping up?"
"I just wish we knew how long we had left." Diaz sighed hard. "Plenty of people had left before the Shutdown. To get everyone left out of the Foundation and to Sanctuary, we've got to pack them in like pickles in a jar. About thirty of the smartest people in the world have done the math on exactly how much weight she can carry. Your people are tearing out the furniture, the storage; even the wallpaper to save space and weight. I spent centuries turning that thing into my luxury home, and a working vessel alike; and now I'm watching it all go…"
"For a good cause." Nick sounded exhausted, looking at the scorched old sailing ship's wheel. "I have to get the Preserver working again."
~~/*\~~
Nick came to the Database System Core. It was the single most pivotal room in the Foundation. And it was ruined. The Database was based here, and it had apparently overloaded. Electrical burns had charred the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. The room was thick with the stink of burned air. Standing gravely in the middle of the room was Benedict. Rachel was perched over a workstation she had set up, with some portable tools.
"What happened?" Nick asked, and he wasn't talking about the one room.
Rachel was perched over a microscope. She pulled back enough to show her husband. "Look at this."
Nick put his eye to the eyepiece. "The Preserver-Tech?"
"The mini-machines themselves are completely intact." Rachel nodded. "I've been trying to scoop some up from all over the room to get a decent cross-section of the whole, but so far they're all in full working order."
"Then why aren't they repairing anything? The hardware in here? The Chariot Project? Any of the..." Nick broke off. "It's not a hack, is it?"
"No." Rachel agreed. "We thought it was sabotage, but everything runs through the Database, and the Database is based out of the Foundation."
"If it's still locked out then…" Nick thought aloud. "Someone told it to shut down?"
"And they did it without bothering to take anything else offline first. It's why the room overloaded, why things burst into flame… It's like the whole infrastructure is in a coma. The brain still works, but it won't communicate with anything else, from our personal devices up to the power grid."
"But surely this isn't hurting people." Benedict ran a quick list. "The power will stay on for most homes, globally, since they're all off grid. The food and water will still…"
Kevin shook his head, still on the problem. "Didn't we add redundancies?"
"Back in OS, the Internet had redundant data centers internationally, but that was for internet speed more than anything else." Rachel rubbed her eyes painfully. "When we built a Database big enough to go internationally, we weren't thinking that it would one day drive every vehicle, count and organize individual molecules…" Rachel shook her head. "It had never gone offline. Not in centuries. We just… made it that good; and nobody was going to mess with it, for the same reason nobody commits arson anymore."
"Well, apparently those days are over, at least for the duration." Benedict said, raising himself up impressively. "One thing we know for sure: It's never the hardware that saves people. Especially in spiritual matters."
His tone was becoming the sort of talk he gave on stage at the Conventions, but Rachel and Nick weren't listening. "Rach, can't you just restart the interface?"
"I tried, twice." Rachel grit out. "Someone told the Interface to refuse connections deliberately! I've tried every password, every back-door access, every login I know. And since I helped set this up, I'm pretty sure I know them all!"
Nick stared at the screens beside her. "Who could have pulled this off?"
"I don't even know how it was done, yet."
"I'm serious, you two." Benedict said seriously. "This road doesn't end with the Database, or with the Expo. The Final Test is underway now, obviously. We were told, point blank, not to concern ourselves with how other people react."
"We were told to get to Sanctuary." Nick countered. "We get the Database back online, people can do that."
"People will do that." Benedict told him. "Whether they go on foot, or by Spacecraft, the people who are making the effort to get there will get there. Don't make the effort to be somewhere else."
Rachel took that in. "He's right." She told her husband, who was still focused on the unresponsive screen. "We can only try this for so long."
"How many people are waiting at home to summon an Auto, do you think?" Nick grit out.
"Probably a lot of them. But I think brother Benedict's point was that if we keep working on this and fail, there's a point where we just won't make it to Sanctuary. Going on foot is going to take us a while." Rachel said.
"And this isn't an error." Benedict reminded them. "Whoever did this had a reason." He let out a breath. "If you can't crack it in 24 hours, don't risk it. I'll check on the other arrangements."
"Due respect, Brother Benedict; but we don't work for you." Nick was levering the case of one of his computers open, studying the wires.
"In fact, nobody does. You haven't been my Overseer for a while; and even if you were, the Thousand Years ended with the New Covenant being concluded. You're retired now." Rachel added as she looked back at Benedict. "But Nick's not wrong. An Auto could make the trip in minutes. How much time do we invest here before we pass the point of no return?"
"It's not just our own trip. The Database could get the whole world moving fast." Nick added.
Rachel bit her lip. "We created the Auto Network." She said to Benedict. "If people are waiting at home for us to fix it, we owe it to them."
"Twenty Four hours." Benedict told them again, and he headed out.
~~/*\~~
Melody was part of the group that had camped outside Sanctuary until the Gates opened; at her son's insistence. The two of them had met there, both now looking young and healthy. "Do we know why it all went offline?" Melody asked.
"No, but it proves we were right not to wait." Grant told her. "Camping out at the door wasn't to get us here before a deadline, it was to escape all the chaos in between."
Melody looked rueful. "I wouldn't have been so quick if you hadn't insisted. I'd have to take the long way." She looked around the crowd. "You think like they do. Like the survivors."
Grant kissed the top of his mother's head. "Come on. Let's get you inside."
Melody didn't look surprised. "You're not coming, are you?"
"I will." Grant promised. "I have something… I have to do. I just needed to make sure you were safe first." He blinked back the sudden tears before they could fall. "Y'know, like I couldn't do last time."
Melody stared at him. "I don't know what you're planning, but please tell me you aren't involved in the Database going down."
Grant was unreadable. You too? He sighed hard. "Come on. Let's get you inside."
~~/*\~~
After a few hours, they were still getting nowhere.
"I keep thinking about what Grant said; about how everything only works so long as everything works." Nick commented, fingers a blur on the useless console. "He was right. We were vulnerable."
"Why sabotage the Database? So much of the world depends on it now, surely whoever locked us out will need to make use of something before the Final Test ends." Rachel retorted. "I mean, I know we're under attack again, but the whole world was on the same side ten minutes ago. How can you go from family to anarchy in less than a day?"
"Depends on the family." Nick drawled.
Rachel bit her lip. "I'm going to check on the Airship. Benedict's right. If we can't crack it, we could risk it all staying here to try."
Nick was still staring holes into the console. She wasn't even sure if he'd heard her.
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