Smoke on the Water

"I've done it Maxwell, I'm in..."

* * *

Babbage sat on an island, remote from everything. He had constructed this as his get-away, no one could reach him here.

He sat unmoving, thinking. He had been sat like this for some time now. He was pondering several questions. He wondered why they had killed Sam, and where Ada had gone. It had not taken him long to work out that she was one of Sam's creations. She was so much like him, a perfect match. Had he found love? He also wondered where she had gone.

He sighed, but still remained, as the water around him lapped up at the beach. Several of the head programmers had tried to get to him; he had seen the boats. All of them had failed to miss the minefield, their links being removed completely as they were blown out of the water. A few had tried sending messages but Babbage ignored them, he was busy.

There were the usual number of people trying to hack into him. None had succeeded yet; if they missed the minefield then he could hit them hard with just a raise of his 'hand'. They were no match for him in here. Not on his own territory, not where it mattered.

His eyes moved across the horizon, looking for the blip he had sensed, another intruder into his world of ideas. A boat, fast and sleek, was moving quickly. It passed through the outer mines as if they were not there. This person was good, and they were headed right for the island. Could it be her? No, she is probably gone, destroyed when they killed Sam. He would have to avenge her, eventually. But first, this intruder.

With a thought, several mines exploded around the boat. It rocked and wavered, losing speed, but it still continued. Damn, they were good, they kept the link open - it had slowed them though. With a gesture from Babbage, the palm trees on the island changed to show their true shapes, large organic cannons. They tracked the boat as it limped the remaining few yards through the outer mines. With loud retorts the cannons fired volley after volley. In the clouds from their shots, the boat was obscured. Babbage did not like to resort to this kind of defence, but this sort of static was expected when you used it.

When finally the cloud had cleared enough, he could see the boat slowly sinking beneath the waves. But this had not stopped whoever it was - they were still moving, walking upon the water. This time the cannon did not fire, instead the sand moved and shimmered as giant security program crabs emerged and scuttled towards the sea. They slipped under the waves on their way towards the figure. He still could not make out who it was - they were shrouded in a dark mist - but they were getting close now.

Damn! How were they doing this? Was it another AI? Had they finally decided he was obsolete and sent the next generation in to remove him so they could start again? No. It would not get to him.

He watched as the crab's claws bit into the mist, only to pass through and the figure to reform. It reached out and he could hear the sounds of electric energy arcing; a flash and a crab was sinking again. Others leaped from the water at the figure. It grabbed and threw them away, out to sea. They didn't come back.

The figure had finished with Babbage's final security system, so Babbage had only one option left. He waited until the figure was close enough and then, with great reluctance, he opened his arms and spoke the words, "Fire Wall!"

As if the sea around the island were not water, but petrol hit by a spark, it ignited. The fire spread from the island outwards, the ring of flames hundreds of feet high. The power and heat were intense; Babbage could hear the swearing and cursing of the people in the computer room on the other side, as boards burned out and those in the virtual office were hit by the electrical feedback.

Babbage watched as the fire engulfed the entire stretch of water, as far as the eye could see. It was absolute. With that done, Babbage sat back down to complete his thinking as the fires burned themselves out. He had just got himself comfortable when he realised that there was still some movement from where the figure had been. He stood again and peered at the area. About halfway between where the figure had been and the island was the figure. It seemed to be limping, and as he watched it fell to its knees. It crawled and crawled, and Babbage watched, a little amazed to see this. It got to within a hundred yards and stopped. It pushed itself back up to a semi-standing position and then the veil of mist was dropped.

For a few nanoseconds, Babbage found himself looking into the face of Ada, and then it faded away.

Babbage's scream could not be heard by anyone.

Paul Taylor, 11/10/01

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