1 Chapter One - The End of the World

The year was 2142, and in less than a year, the world would end. But staring down at the lifeless body of his sister, Phil couldn't muster even a hint of emotion. In fact, he realized, he wasn't feeling anything. Stillness permeated him in thick waves. Even knowing this moment was coming hadn't prepared him, in many ways it had made it worse.

On Bell's own insistence, they had done their best to pretend her sickness wasn't slowly killing her. Several weeks of board games, she loved those long strategic type games and hanging out with the few friends who hadn't fled the district after news of the incoming meteor.

Somewhere distant Phil's cheek tingled from a tear running down his face. It couldn't be his tear, he was too far gone for tears.

A hollow and emotionless voice rang out all around him.

"Patient Number 342914 is deceased. Time of death 14:25, August 25th. You have ten minutes to vacate before sterilization begins. Thank you for choosing Gisney's Hope Health Hospital. We hope you decide to use our services again."

And with that, the room sunk back into silence.

Not knowing what else to do, Phil reached down and laid his hand on his sister's head.

"We were so close to escaping it all," Phil said. "I promise I won't be afraid anymore."

It was a lie, of course. Was it wasted on his sister, or did he really think she could hear his words? He honestly didn't know, but it felt right. She had spent most of her life watching out for him and coddling his fears. A part of him hoped she heard his words, but another, much more significant part of him, laughed at this hope.

She was dead after all and as far as he knew the only way to live on after death was through the Haven program. It had been their goal and would be his goal now. Even though the very thought of breaking into the Haven system by himself made him quake with fear, he would do it. He would do it for her!

A soft but urgent beep filled the room. The one-minute warning that Phil was about to be 'sterilized' along with his sister's corpse if he didn't leave soon.

With a final look, Phil turned and left the lifeless white, plastic hospital.

One step over the threshold was all it took, and Phil's vision swam with advertisements and news feeds. He let a long sigh escape his lips and reached towards his Augmented Reality Device(ARD). He knew it was technically illegal to do what he was about to do, but he couldn't care anymore. Not today.

So with a small fire of angst burning in his chest, he flipped the switch embedded into his temple. A world of blackness enclosed about him and for the first time in his recent memory, he saw what the world actually looked like.

Gone were the neon lights, the flashy videos, and sound prompts. A thick mist of ever-present smog hung low on the streets. The filter plants worked 24/7. Humanity had done too much damage to this world to fix the problem completely. So when night came, you usually got some 'mist' as the corps liked to call it. The ARD did a fair job of filtering it out through visual manipulation, but with his turned off, he was greeted with the full truth.

Darkened buildings towered higher now than at any time in human history. Only corporate structures remained clean and shiny, like the hospital behind him. The streets were in various levels of disarray, but with how effective gravity rings had become a bumpy road was not really a problem anymore.

The sidewalks stood out as an oddity among the grey, dark world around him. They were made of solar glass and had a self-cleaning function with rails that helped keep people using their ARD from wandering into the road. Phil laughed, thinking about the well-maintained sidewalks. Almost everyone he knew would just summon a ride share car. Private car ownership was highly regulated and usually only issued to a business that needed such vehicles.

Sweeping his eyes across the street, he realized that he had no idea how to get home without his Augmented GPS telling him where to walk. Resisting the urge to turn his ARD back on and summon a car he pushed forward hoping he could figure out his way.

Well, this will be an adventure, he grumbled to himself. He tried to remember the direction that the self-driving car had taken them, but he had been so distracted by his older sisters worsening condition that he didn't have the slightest idea of where to go. So he did what he figured was the most logical thing to do. He picked a direction at random and began walking.

The darkness of the street and lack of light unnerved Phil more than he wanted to admit. Why didn't they have bigger lights installed on this street, he found himself wondering.

An hour passed, and he felt reasonably certain things were starting to look familiar when he heard the footsteps behind him. It was late enough at night that most people had gone indoors, so the sudden noise startled Phil and sent an icy jolt of fear down his spine.

Turning quickly, he noticed three men in dirty clothes, walking straight for him. The fear spread to his chest, and he screamed at his legs to move, but they didn't respond. He stood there like an animal staring into the headlights of an oncoming vehicle as his attackers approached.

They were only ten feet away, and Phil expected the worse. They stopped several feet from him and all at once the three men began making throwing motions towards Phil.

"W-What do you want?" Phil said. "I haven't got many credits, and my ARD is an older model."

The three men in unison looked down at Phil with eyebrows raised. None of them spoke to him but turned their attention back to something just behind Phil. Finally, one of them spoke.

"Hey, Tork!" The closest man said. "Did you catch it?! He had a super rare mark on him."

"Nah man." Another man said. "It got away. Let's keep looking down this way and see if we can get any more rare catches."

And with that, they pushed past Phil without acknowledging him. A long, exaggerated breath escaped Phil's lips. They were playing some old Augmented reality game. With his face red and his shoulders slumped, he turned and followed them, still determined to find his way home without help.

After thirty minutes of walking, Phil was ready to cave in and use his ARD. Up ahead, he saw the lights on in a cafe nestled on the ground floor of a tall building. Phil approached it and saw that it was a retro cafe with older ARD units that were attached to computer towers. Two greasy teens sat playing an old looking game with flashy magical spells and sword fighting.

Smiling as he walked into the warm and brightly lit room, Phil took a seat at the bar.

"What can I get for you, sir?" A sound rung out behind the bar. Phil was startled by the sudden voice coming from a speaker somewhere ahead of him and nearly fell off his seat.

"Where are you?" Phil said. Then with a sudden realization, he knew that the AI was probably appearing in front of him in Augment reality space. Phil decided against flipping the switch on.

"I see that you are having technical difficulties with your ARD unit." The voice said. A video displaying a black-haired man in his thirties wearing a white t-shirt with some old school video games on it flickered to life.

"Yeah," Phil said. He was surprised by the emotion in his voice. His sister had been a fan of these kinds of cafe's and being here now started stirring emotions he wished to leave alone. A silent tear escaped one of his eyes, but he quickly wiped it away and cleared his throat.

"Can you display a map of the area for me?" Phil asked. "Please include the current location as well." He added, remembering how specific you had to be to some of these later model AI.

"No problem, my man." The AI was attempting and failing at sounding like an old school gamer, but Phil just ignored it and waited for the map to appear.

After an excruciating wait of three seconds, the map finally flickered to the screen. Someone really needs to update this places hardware, Phil thought while studying the map. He was a tech guy himself, but he just dabbled in hardware. His true skills laid elsewhere.

He had been walking the wrong way for nearly a mile. Sighing and making a mental note of the directions, Phil left the white lights and ventured back out into the darkness. After getting directions, he was able to make it home in under an hour.

In the silence of the night, he cried himself to sleep. He hadn't run out of tears, after all.

Phil sat on the edge of his bed in his small apartment that he had shared with his sister since their parents died nearly ten years ago. He still hadn't found the strength to go into her room and with mere months to go until the end of the world, he doubted he would find the time.

His headset beeped from the several unanswered messages, but he already knew that they wouldn't be what he was looking for, not really. With a thought, an augmented screen and keyboard appeared in front of him, and he began checking his messages. It was as he thought, nothing worth checking into.

It had been several months since his sister passed, and he finally felt himself beginning to feel somewhat normal. Whatever that even meant anymore. He still had that massive hole inside himself, but he had gotten better at ignoring it and focusing at his current task; figure out how to get into the Haven Project.

All his skill and knowledge had been bent to the task, and he still found himself lacking. He liked to think of himself as a reasonably adept programmer and had even specialized in network penetration during his short career at one of the more prominent Corporations. However, it hadn't taken long after finding out that the world would be ending for the biggest Corporation to seize control of the others.

The computer-related jobs were the first to go. Gisney United decided it would be best for their AI to monitor all network security. Phil forced his mind back to his current task and away from thoughts of the unfortunate events leading up to them losing their spot in Haven.

Phil found an email that looked promising and opened it. It was from Knox, one of his more reliable contacts and friend.

I think I found someone willing to trade a possible way in, but the services he requires might be a bit much, even for you. He needs a set of files from the Big Cheese Corp. Won't be easy, but I can lead a DDoS attack in conjunction if you want to give it a try. Let me know asap. This guy is blowing up all my lines of com.

-Knox

He wanted someone to hack Gisney United Corp? Knox was talented, but did he really think that he could pull off a DDoS attack against DUC's servers? Phil felt alive and excited with even the thought of trying to pull off such an attack. This was where he could shine, this was where his social shortcomings wouldn't hinder him. He was one of the best human minds when it came to this kind of work. That is why he knew there was no way he would be able to pull this job off. Not alone at least.

A broad grin crept onto his face as he began to access his personal files. Files that he maintained on a private server and represented not only his best work but the best work of a small select group of minds. His crew, the Green Hats. He still scoffed thinking of the dumb name Knox had suggested when they had decided to band together and begin work on the AI, but there was no helping it now.

Phil had spent almost every spare second since his sister's death working on the AI they had created together. It was the last thing he truly had that they had shared a hand in, and he had made considerable strides in what the AI could accomplish. Network penetration was one of a myriad of tasks she could do. He quickly connected her mainframe into his optical and auditory display.

"Hey, Phil! I'm SO glad to see you, I've been working on this new language that I think will be so much more effective than your current mode of-"

"Eve! Slow down." Phil said. "I actually got the message you sent me on it and like I've told you before it is brilliant, but the world is literally ending so I doubt that it will benefit us much."

"Any luck finding a way into the mysterious Haven servers?" Eve said.

"Actually, that's why I connected you to my headset. I think we might have found a way. You think you can take on another AI?"

"Psshhh you know I'm the greatest digital badass in the virtual world, I can take anyone! Who is it?"

"The DUC's AI, I'm not sure if they gave him a name, but I just uploaded all we know about it. Tell me what you think."

"Uh, well, this is troubling. Give me a second to process."

Phil smiled as she grew silent. They had access to very little server processing power but with new advancements in servers worldwide they had created several backdoors into other large corporations servers and would routinely take advantage of their processing power while shutting them out of their own servers for a limited time. It was highly illegal, but with the end of the world looming closer and closer, they had taken on more risks in search of an escape.

"Okay so here is the problem. From estimates of power usage and several other data points, I was able to gather, they are running their AI with an ungodly amount of processing power. We would have to throw all sorts of curve balls at them to even give me a CHANCE at connecting in and getting access to any files."

"From what I've heard, the power that is needed to do the Haven upload is immense and could account for a lot of what you are assuming to be used for the servers."

"That may be true, Phil," Eve said, drawing out his name. "But I'm still not convinced what they are doing is possible, so I'm going to err on the side of caution and say I may get my ass handed to me if I go up against the big mouse."

"The big mouse?" Phil laughed. "They haven't been that sweet kid company for over a hundred years. How did you even get access to that information? Are you downloading the internet again? If I have to backdate you again because you catch an ungodly amount of viruses so help me, Eve."

"Oh relax I was just checking out all available information about the company to help me understand them better. I'm currently talking to nearly a hundred different people about what they might know about the AI."

"Good. Keep researching. I have the beginnings of an idea," Phil said. "If this works, this time next week I could be getting into Haven!"

"Phil," Eve said suddenly softer. "Do you think, if you do find a way into Haven. Do you think I could upload as well?"

"Eve." Phil heaved a deep breath before answering. "I don't know. I mean we haven't been able to get even the smallest amount of info about HOW it is possible to upload a mind or why they are so confident that the meteor won't obliterate their servers. But I promise you if we can find a way I will take you with me."

"Thanks, Phil! You are the best slow squishy human, I know! Try not to die before you can make us both immortal!"

And with that, she faded her program back into the server to continue her work and Phil set about figuring out how in hell he was going to make this work.

You're insane, Doc. I bow to your power and will be ready to launch the strike at 0300 hours. Good luck and tell Eve I said sup.

-Knox

Phil looked up from his screen. His plan would work. Pulling this off is possible, he told himself for the thousandth time. It was time to tell Eve about the idea and hope she didn't dismiss it out of hand. There was no other way. This was how they would break into the mouse's house.

"Eve," Phil said. She was already running a small set of processes in his headset so she must have at least seen Knox's response.

"Howdy, Doc!" Eve said. Her voice rung with simulated mirth. "Tell Knox that if he wants to say hi that all he has to do is look in a mirror. I am always watching." She let her last sentence hang in the air ominously.

"I mean really Phil, I don't know why you and Terrence like using nicknames so much. The chances of anyone intercepting your communications are already slim to none."

"Eve," Phil said. He needed her to focus, and for whatever reason, she always struggled with that, if she wasn't doing hundreds of things at once, she wasn't being Eve.

"Phil," Eve said, her voice rung with sarcasm, but she said no more.

"This is my plan," Phil said. "Before I left Netcom after Gisney's take over, I created several backdoors into various systems…just in case I ever needed to get back in. I'm sure some have been discovered and patched, but I'm fairly certain some of the less important ones remain open."

"We are going to target one of the lesser physically guarded server farms out by the city limits. Knox will hit them with a DDoS, and this should get them to send out a technician to find a workaround. Except we will be tapped into the main lines and you, Eve, will be monitoring the Internet communications so we can intercept the call and send in our own techs. Tank and Frog."

Phil heard some low volume mumbling from Eve about nicknames again, but she stopped as soon as Phil spoke.

"Tank and Frog will be planting a physical upload point for you into their system that will reach out and connect with your current program. With all the power of that server farm at your command, you should be able to penetrate into the main infrastructure and get the files we need. Easy cheesy!"

"Where should I start with how many things can go wrong with your plan?" Eve asked. "First what if they don't reach out for techs because of a DDoS attack on nonessential servers? What if we get in and get access to the hardware, but I still end up not being able to match up against their AI? And lastly what is going to stop them from tracking the source of the DDoS attack and sending corporation goons to Knox's front door?"

"If Gisney runs anything like Netcom did, they will send someone," Phil said. "I have faith in your ability. You were created by some of the best minds of this century."

A scoffing sound rang out in the distance.

"I will be doing my own attack on their communications mainframe. If all goes well, I will keep them chasing rabbits until the end comes."

Phil could tell by the silence from Eve that she didn't think highly of his plan, but he knew it could, no it WOULD work. Turning his ARD to minimal interference, Phil stood from the chair he had been sitting in for the last..nearly 24 hours. Stiff muscles strained against his stretch, and a chorus of pops and cracks filled the room.

Phil found his way to the bathroom in his dark apartment and flipped the light switch. The mirror revealed a horror beyond recognition, a face that was in great need of coffee. Phil admired his reflection and how his bloodshot eyes made the green of his iris seem more vibrant. His face, however, did not look any better from the lack of sleep. It seemed to droop and wrinkle in ways that shouldn't be possible for a man of only 25. His messy dark hair was tied up into a small bun on the back of his head, he'd been to busy to worry about cutting it.

Fond memories of his sister making fun of his hippie bun and her several offers to cut his hair flashed in his mind. But he liked having it long enough that he could tie it out of the way and forget about it. One less thing he had to worry about when he was busy working. A sudden stench of untended armpits wafted up to fill his nostrils and Phil was reminded of another task that needed to be completed before 0300 hours.

Checking his time display on his ARD, he noted that he still had nearly two hours before they made an attempt. Either way by 0330 at the latest everything will be over, for better or for worse.

Stripping out of his clothes, he did his best not to look at his emaciated body. He had never been a large man just tall, standing nearly six feet tall. In the last few months, it had been hard for him to eat, and he had lost several pounds. But that wouldn't matter when he went full digital. He'd be able to make himself a healthy, powerful digital body. Perhaps he'd even try to hack the system and give himself the ability to throw fireballs like those old school fantasy games!

Focus on the now, he reminded himself. He had no way of knowing what the environment would be like inside Haven. They were super closed-lipped about it even with potential candidates.

Both Phil and his sister had been in the line-up to get into the program. They were told all of the tests went well, and they just needed one more, and they would upload them. The final test was a deep scan for general wellness, to make sure you could survive the transfer process they said. That's how they found out about Beth's condition. The same week Gisney took over. He was fired the same day.

He didn't dare think of the damned disease. Otherwise, he would begin focusing on the last days with his sister, and he wouldn't be ready to defend his digital brothers. No! He had to stay focused.

Pushing away thoughts of the events that got them to this point, Phil finished his shower and kept thinking about what he would be required to do. It wasn't anything he couldn't do, but he was worried a few of the penetration programs he had prepared wouldn't be good enough. He quickly toweled himself off and dressed so he could spend a few hours trying to get fully prepped.

***

He had done all he could to prep, and the digital assault was set to happen in mere minutes.

"I've finished with all your backups, Eve, go ahead and begin the upload."

"Just because we have a copy doesn't mean you can let them shred my code if we get caught. I'm not a fan of dying, it sounds painful."

"You can feel pain?" Phil asked.

"Well, no. But I've read many accounts of pain and you humans do not enjoy it, well except for a few. Most don't enjoy pain, so I figure I shouldn't either."

"There won't be any pain. Most likely they'd just purge your code, deleting you. And if that happens, I have you right here!" Phil said, holding up a small digital storage device.

"Upload is complete. I'm going to radio silence during our op, ten-four?"

"What in the? We aren't using radios, and what does ten-four mean?"

"Oh, meat bag my brilliance is wasted on you."

With a final chuckle from Eve, his ear-piece went silent. Perhaps Knox had been messing with her personality subroutines again. She seemed to get stranger and stranger the longer she stayed running.

Phil thumbed the small black device that contained Eve's code and sighed. He really did hope that they would be able to bring Eve with them when they uploaded. Since the death of his sister Beth, Eve had been his primary source of social interaction and the thought of not having her around brought a forbidding sense of loneliness.

An alarm went off in his ear, and Phil snapped back into focus. It was time.

Taking a quick look around his room, clothes littered the floor and boxes of corporate rations half eaten lay strewn about. He wouldn't miss this place, he decided.

Tilting his armchair back, he engaged his Augmented reality screens. Six screens all running various penetration programs with the center-most having several screens up that Phil was manipulating directly.

Phil pinged the server and quickly got a response. Several messages popped up around his screen. The attack had worked, and the first call had been intercepted.

Good. Now we have roughly ten minutes before Tank and Frog made their appearance. Frog owned a nondescript white van that he had been using for years to do tech support runs, so it should be able to avoid suspicion. And although we joked about Tank smashing his way in if they had any trouble, he really was much like his nickname suggested. Standing a massive six foot nine, he must weigh an easy three hundred and fifty pounds of muscles.

He loved fighting, but from the few times they had actually met in person he came off as a very gentle guy. Another set of pings marked the signal that Tank and Frog had gained entry without incident and the direct connection was about to be made.

Phil watched his screen in earnest ready to do his part. He had dozens of branching attacks that should keep them chasing their heels for hours or minutes, depending on if the AI gets directly involved. But that is why we have Eve. She should be able to give the AI a run for its money and transmit the files mostly undetected through the chaos of the combined attack.

Eve was in and making her first attempts at penetrating. Knox sent off another barrage of digital attacks hoping to distract the AI, and Phil began his programs.

He was met with instant retaliation. The AI was tracking the source of his attacks far quicker than should be possible. His VPN was sending the AI on a wild goose chase while he continued to find chinks in the system's armor. He found an open ID into one of the primary systems and threw several thousand requests to overload the server. It was working!

And then it wasn't. Somehow the AI had managed to plug several of the leaks and ban his ever-changing IP. He checked his VPN that helped to reroute his connection through several thousand different locations before getting to his actual router and was shocked to find that the AI was nearly upon him.

Working as fast as his fingers could go, he crafted a new script that would help scramble his location. The AI was only a few hundred away from finding him, and it was working at incredible speeds. Done!

Slamming the run key his script began creating a false trail that would loop within itself and keep the AI busy indefinitely, he hoped.

Pulling his focus back to his task at hand, he was shocked at the messages he was getting.

Knox was compromised. They had blown through his VPN and tracked his actual location. They would be sending goons to his place. Real people that aren't happy that their server has been under attack. Phil was posting a response to Knox telling him to grab his gear and move, but his ID went out.

He had gone offline.

Not even his ARD ID stayed active, which was very concerning. There was no way they could have gotten to him that fast. He must have wiped them himself to get ready to run. With a small sense of relief, Phil turned to a stream of messages he was receiving.

Tank and Frog had left, but they were pretty sure they were being followed. Frog was going to try to lose them and would keep everyone updated.

Eve had even sent a few messages.

This AI is something else entirely. I'm having trouble even interfacing with their servers, much less getting information.

That was the last of the messages. Phil tabbed back to his script that cycled his IP, and his jaw dropped open.

He'd been made. The AI had overcome the smoke and mirrors and now knew full well where Phil lived. And what he looked like, Phil realized with horror. His ARD camera had been activated, and he was being monitored.

You have made a grave mistake, child.

The words filled his ARD display, and everything else winked out. Acting as fast as he could, Phil flipped the switch to shut off his ARD.

Nothing happened.

The words stayed floating in his vision. Pushing himself up and out of his chair, he rolled to the floor. Beneath his bed, he pulled out a long metal cylinder, flipped a switch and pressed it against his temple where the ARD lay attached to his head.

A small fizzle sound and a hint of smoke like smell were all that remained of his ARD. The display went dark, and Phil lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

Several glowing plastic stars shone above him. He remembered fondly his sister making fun of him, but he had thought they were cool. Even now, although he was technically an adult, he enjoyed sitting in the dark and watching the small spots of glowing light.

You need to move! He thought urgently to himself. The fried ARD had a strange effect on him, and his thoughts felt sluggish. Yes, he thought, I need to wipe my server and find a mobile ARD.

He had one of those…somewhere. He strained his thoughts, trying to remember where he had stashed it away. The closet? Pulling himself up, he hurried over and began rifling through his assortment of computer parts that he kept in boxes. Here it is!

It was a black rectangular box-like object. Phil pressed his thumb onto the activation point and grabbed hold of the sides and slide them over. Both sides of the rectangle box pushed away from each other, creating a see-through display that gave you visual access to the ARD network. It was older technology, but it would work for what he needed.

He threw messages to his teammates and Eve telling them he was going to run and relay them a location after. Slamming the device shut Phil wiped the server with the same device he had used on his ARD and took off out the door.

To his surprise, his neighbor was sitting outside his adjacent apartment on a lawn chair.

"Little late to be taking a walk." He said, catching Phil's eyes. "You alright, Phil?" His voice went from relaxed to concerned upon seeing Phil's face.

He must really look scared. Calm down. You got this, he told himself. His heart raced on anyways, and he felt the rising tightness in his chest from his anxiety. The real world was NOT his realm of expertise.

"I-I'm fine." Phil managed to say as he walked down the hall and out into the cold, dark street. His neighbor called after him, but Phil didn't hear what he was saying and pushed on down the road. He knew of an all-night VR cafe that was supposed to be a popular hangout, according to a forum he had read.

Not many people were out at this late hour, and Phil used his mobile ARD to look up a direct route to the cafe to avoid a situation like the night of his sister's death.

Tall apartment buildings nestled too close to each other, loomed all around him as he walked down Kelven street. The cafe should be at the end of the road just to the left according to the map. Phil flipped his map app off and checked his messages. He had several.

Knox had sent a short message.

They have me.

Tank and Frog sent a similar message.

If you get the files, save yourself! They are shooting at us!

Shit. Phil felt his body begin to waver, and he was forced to lean against the building. He had one more message, and it was from Eve.

I hope this was worth it. I got the files. They are attached to this message. I'm not going to make it out though. I'm not even confident that this message will make it out. This AI is something different.

Phil quickly checked his ARD files, and sure enough, the message had downloaded a small set of files. Conflicting emotions raged inside of him. He hadn't expected such a swift retaliation from hacking a server. He knew even as the thoughts began to form in his mind that there was no way he could rescue his friends. He was no hero.

Allowing his rational mind to take over and doing his best to ignore several new holes in his chest, he sent a message to their contact.

I have the files. Give me an address, and I will deliver them if you can provide what you promised.

No more than a second had gone by when his ARD dinged in response.

1425 West Travel St.

Phil thumbed the address into his ARD. It was close, maybe an hour walk or a ten-minute car ride. Using the code they had come up with he sent a coded file with the address to Frog and Tank. He could at least give them a chance. Not wanting to risk being tracked by paying for a car ride, Phil began the walk.