“But your parents approved changing you into nannites. Mom doesn’t approve of any modification. I mean, she’s really into ‘natural’ you know?” Rachel’s castle moved up a space, leaving it a straight shot to put Marguerite’s fortress in check. The pawn had been in the way before.
“What an old fogie,” Marguerite said, looking at the board. “I think I’m going to have to start using a program to play you. You’re getting ready to beat me again.”
“I’m sorry, Marguerite,” Rachel said. “But, well, you’re so much better at physical stuff than I am it’s only fair that I be better at chess.”
“I suppose,” the nannite girl sighed. “Frankly… this being nannites isn’t all its cracked up to be. I mean… there’s a lot different you know? Can’t go some of the places I used to be able to. Not really… feeling the same. The emotions just feel… unnatural, you know?”
“Well, no I don’t,” Rachel said looking up at her friend. “But…”
“Rach…” Marguerite said, her face tightening. “Rach… some-thing’s happening…” Marguerite reached out her hand to her friend as it started to fade. “Rach… help… me… please…”
Rachel reached for her friend’s hand as Marguerite faded, wondering what could have gone wrong. But before she could get across the oversized board Marguerite had faded fully. In a moment all that was left was a mound of bluish dust.
“Marguerite! Marguerite?! MOM!”
Donna Forsceen found herself going nearly forty kilometers per hour in a flat dive through the air as the power-ski under her failed. Not expecting to actually hit the water, she was knocked half unconscious by the impact. On flailing back to the surface she looked around at the vast expanse of water and screamed.
“Genie!” she yelled, paddling around in circles. She had never been a particularly good swimmer; it wasn’t necessary if you used power properly, but at the moment nothing seemed to be working.
“Genie!” she yelled again, lying flat in the swells and willing a power-up to drive her towards Hawaii a hundred miles to the north. Still nothing happened.
“Genie?” she said more quietly, looking around. A wave came up and slapped her in the face. She sank again and then clawed her way to the surface looking around in desperation. “Anybody? Help,” she said quietly.
It was happening throughout the world as in an instant power was diverted wherever possible into the battle between the two factions of the Council. And, as it was, every being that did not have a specific coded quantity of power and that was power dependent found itself in critical danger. Researchers in the photosphere of the sun disappeared before they knew anything had failed, as did others working in magma chambers. Swimmers in the deeps of the oceans, dependent upon the personal protection fields for their survival, persons flying wingless under power, thousands across the globe suddenly found themselves in situations in which without power there was no chance to survive.
For others, the Fall would take longer.
“What happened to her?” Rachel asked.
Daneh looked at the pile of powder and shrugged. “There’s been some sort of power failure. All the force doors are open, the holograms are gone and genie’s not replying. I can’t even send a message. There’s just… nothing. I think that’s what happened to her. She’s nannites. No power means… no Marguerite.”
“She’s… dead?” Rachel asked. She’d gotten over the tears but they welled up again at that question.
“Dead’s one of those things that’s pretty hard to define when you start talking about nannite creatures, honey. Was she alive? Did she ‘die’ when she was Changed? If you’re talking about her soul, you’ll have to ask a priest.”
“I’m talking about the part that is my friend, Mother,” Rachel replied astringently. “If we can find power for her can we… bring her back?”
“Ah, that.” Daneh’s brow creased in thought. “It depends on the design of the nannites. I think her parents probably didn’t stint so they probably have a fixed memory system. Likely if she gets power again she’ll just come right back to the moment she lost it with no knowledge of the intervening conditions.” The mother shrugged as she looked at her daughter. “It depends why the power went off. I can’t imagine what could have happened to cause this. It’s impossible. I can’t even get ahold of Sheida.”
“What are we going to do?” Rachel asked, looking around as if finally realizing that something terrible had occurred besides her friend crumbling before her eyes. “Without power…”
“Where’s the food going to come from?” Daneh said with a nod. “Good question. I suppose we could try to train Azure to hunt for us. But it’s surely going to come back on…”
“People of the world…”
The image appeared to every surviving person who had not moved far from their position since the beginning of the war. The Net, of necessity, had to track every person’s location so that it could provide them with their needs. And it was possible for a council member to use that information. As, in fact, Paul Bowman had done.
“People of the world,” he said, each of the avatars addressing persons personally. “A time of great danger is upon us. A faction of the Council, led by Sheida Ghorbani, has attempted to wrest control of the Net from the rest of the Council in a wholly undemocratic form. The Council is now split into two fighting factions. Minjie Jiaqi, Ragspurr, Chansa Mulengela, Celine Reinshafen and myself constitute the New Destiny group.
“It is clear that the human race is approaching a collapse caused by declining birthrates and the challenge caused by unlimited Change. When we attempted to redress some of these problems we were repeatedly confronted by the intransigence of Ghorbani and her conservatives. Finally the disagreement reached the point of outright warfare, instigated, need I add, by the evil Ghorbani.
“Now, due to the intransigence and antihuman actions of Ghorbani and her Changed minions, the power network is in collapse and persons throughout the world are threatened with the ancient evils of famine and disease. All because of one woman and a few beings so Changed as to be nothing but aliens.
“I call on all right-thinking peoples to rise up against this evil and throw down Ghorbani and her ilk, to arise as humans should and support the right-thinking faction.
“I call upon you to do your utmost to ensure a better future for all true humans.
“Good day.”
“What the hell did that mean?” Rachel gasped as the avatar winked out.
“Oh, holy God,” Daneh whispered in reply. “No. God no!”
“Mother?”
“Read between the lines, girl!” Daneh snapped. “ ‘The challenge of unlimited Change,’ ‘antihuman actions,’ ‘Changed nothing but aliens,’ ‘it is clear that the human race is approaching a collapse…’ ” She hissed through her teeth and snarled. “That bastard!”
“But, Mom, you don’t like Change!” Rachel snapped.
“I don’t like the damage it does to humans,” Daneh said. “He’s a bigot. There’s a huge difference. And now he’s in a war with my sister.”