Read Online All the Dead Are Here by Pete Bevan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Pete Bevan
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stopped the supply of electric to all but the most secure bunkers.
“Ah yes. I will retrieve/gather/harvest this information. Harvest complete. What now JohnKendall?” said Cadish.
“Have you just downloaded the internet?” asked John, stunned.
“Yes.”
“That was quick.”
“No it wasn’t. Your computers are slower than light.”
John felt like apologising for some reason. He didn’t. “Look up ‘Religion’.”
“Oh,” Said Cadish. The room seemed to dim around John and when Cadish spoke again it was in a low tone.
“The Nanodes and I did not calculate this possibility.”
“Wait! Hang on, what now?” said John. “You mean you know about this?” The room visibly bristled with alarm, the screen folded up into the roof and a rod and blade hand shot out to grab John’s and shake it vigorously.
“VerynicetomeetyouJohnKendallthishasbeenveryinformativeIwillnowtransferyouback.”
“Whoa.Whoa. Wait a minute, you. What do you mean, ‘The Nanodes’?” exclaimed John.
There was a long pause.
“It appears, JohnKendall, that I may have a confession/redemption/apology to make,” said Cadish, contritely. The screen flicked down from the roof and an image appeared of a group of people, dressed in black, mourning at a funeral. The coffin was being lowered into the ground and the people around could be seen crying and shaking with grief. The image morphed into a succession of funerals from different parts of the world. “This was the first image/funeral/burial I really saw on my arrival. It confused me for eight seconds, which is a very long time indeed.”
John sat back in the spindly chair. “Why did it confuse you?” he asked.
“Everyone was very sad/morose/scared. It made me feel similar.” Cadish’s voice was very quiet now. “I did not want to study so much sadness. So I calculated several million possibilities and planned a future with limited outcomes. Bar some population errors, it appeared to be a good solution. The Nanodes were dispatched to implement the plan/scheme/non-linear action.”
John rubbed his forehead and eyes in frustration. He had a headache coming on. “So what did you do?”
“The idea/thought was to repair all damaged meat structures. So no-one would.......die, and those that were dead were repaired,” said Cadish.
“Well it didn’t work did it?”
“Yes it did.”
“No it didn’t.”
“Yes it did.”
“No it didn’t, they are all still dead. None of their organs work, none of the nerves work.”
“Actually, it did but not as it was prior to the event. We decided that it would be inefficient/poor form/just plain wrong to repair them as they were and so the Nanodes replaced all existing autonomic functions, with the exception of the higher brain activities, so as better to assimilate themselves back into a live state, and prevent further cellular decay leading ultimately to a system failure/death.”
“They were going to be immortal?” said John.
“They were going to be immortal, and so would you when you suffered a terminal system failure/went kaput,” said Cadish.
“So you were actually trying to stop death?” said John.
“Yes. I thought this was what the people were like before they died but I don’t believe that to be correct/resolved, hence my communicating with you.”
John thought about this for a moment. Cadish, for some reason, could feel non-linear time wriggling about in the background as the possibility of this revelation revealed itself like a mass of writhing snakes.
“So you thought all the Zombies were like this before they died?”
“Yes. It was the only resolving pattern.”
“So the Nanodes got something wrong, then?”
“Not possible. They have 100% success rate at all tasks we agree on,” said Cadish, a little offended it must be said. He contacted the Nanodes. “Oh.”
“What?” said John.
“It appears there may have been an iterative error/cock-up/mistake.”
“What?”
“Given that the
“Ah yes. I will retrieve/gather/harvest this information. Harvest complete. What now JohnKendall?” said Cadish.
“Have you just downloaded the internet?” asked John, stunned.
“Yes.”
“That was quick.”
“No it wasn’t. Your computers are slower than light.”
John felt like apologising for some reason. He didn’t. “Look up ‘Religion’.”
“Oh,” Said Cadish. The room seemed to dim around John and when Cadish spoke again it was in a low tone.
“The Nanodes and I did not calculate this possibility.”
“Wait! Hang on, what now?” said John. “You mean you know about this?” The room visibly bristled with alarm, the screen folded up into the roof and a rod and blade hand shot out to grab John’s and shake it vigorously.
“VerynicetomeetyouJohnKendallthishasbeenveryinformativeIwillnowtransferyouback.”
“Whoa.Whoa. Wait a minute, you. What do you mean, ‘The Nanodes’?” exclaimed John.
There was a long pause.
“It appears, JohnKendall, that I may have a confession/redemption/apology to make,” said Cadish, contritely. The screen flicked down from the roof and an image appeared of a group of people, dressed in black, mourning at a funeral. The coffin was being lowered into the ground and the people around could be seen crying and shaking with grief. The image morphed into a succession of funerals from different parts of the world. “This was the first image/funeral/burial I really saw on my arrival. It confused me for eight seconds, which is a very long time indeed.”
John sat back in the spindly chair. “Why did it confuse you?” he asked.
“Everyone was very sad/morose/scared. It made me feel similar.” Cadish’s voice was very quiet now. “I did not want to study so much sadness. So I calculated several million possibilities and planned a future with limited outcomes. Bar some population errors, it appeared to be a good solution. The Nanodes were dispatched to implement the plan/scheme/non-linear action.”
John rubbed his forehead and eyes in frustration. He had a headache coming on. “So what did you do?”
“The idea/thought was to repair all damaged meat structures. So no-one would.......die, and those that were dead were repaired,” said Cadish.
“Well it didn’t work did it?”
“Yes it did.”
“No it didn’t.”
“Yes it did.”
“No it didn’t, they are all still dead. None of their organs work, none of the nerves work.”
“Actually, it did but not as it was prior to the event. We decided that it would be inefficient/poor form/just plain wrong to repair them as they were and so the Nanodes replaced all existing autonomic functions, with the exception of the higher brain activities, so as better to assimilate themselves back into a live state, and prevent further cellular decay leading ultimately to a system failure/death.”
“They were going to be immortal?” said John.
“They were going to be immortal, and so would you when you suffered a terminal system failure/went kaput,” said Cadish.
“So you were actually trying to stop death?” said John.
“Yes. I thought this was what the people were like before they died but I don’t believe that to be correct/resolved, hence my communicating with you.”
John thought about this for a moment. Cadish, for some reason, could feel non-linear time wriggling about in the background as the possibility of this revelation revealed itself like a mass of writhing snakes.
“So you thought all the Zombies were like this before they died?”
“Yes. It was the only resolving pattern.”
“So the Nanodes got something wrong, then?”
“Not possible. They have 100% success rate at all tasks we agree on,” said Cadish, a little offended it must be said. He contacted the Nanodes. “Oh.”
“What?” said John.
“It appears there may have been an iterative error/cock-up/mistake.”
“What?”
“Given that the
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