Teleporter

“Alright everyone, listen up. We’ve got an emergency situation and I don’t have time to go through this twice.” 

Federal Officer Dawn Casey shifted in the shadows as she tried to find a comfortable position. Leaning up against the back wall of the crowded Control Room, the tall blonde woman rubbed her eyes in exasperation as the heavyset Director Brandenburg of the Sydney Metropolitan Translocation Network clapped his hands.  

“As you all know, MetroNet has been the subject of a number of threats by the Integritas terrorist cult, who’ve declared that the state translocation service is some kind of crime against God,” continued the Director, his thick mustache bristling with indignation. “The President of the Oceanic Republics translocated in with his security detail less than an hour ago and we’ve just uncovered information that the Integs are planning some kind of attack. More than 12 million citizens use the MetroNet system every day, so this information does not leave the MetroNet facility. We don’t want to cause a public riot, d’yhear?”  

Liar, thought Officer Casey sourly. This information is weeks old. You didn’t do your homework until it was too late, and now you need to cover your arse.    

Taking her eyes off the sweaty director, the Federal Officer examined the room with practiced ease, taking in the details of a cheap government Control Room; bad lighting, stained workstations and frayed office chairs from which the mid-level MetroNet workers juggled the teleportation of millions of Sydney residents each day.  

“MetroNet’s staved off three previous attacks by the Integs in the last two years, and I’m not going to let our team be the one that drops the ball,” Brandenburg continued tersely. “For the newer members of staff, here’s the highlights. Back in 2197, a splinter group of the short-lived Southern Nazerene church appeared, their main belief being that translocational technology was unnatural. The Integs were just another bunch of superstitious nutjobs at first, but skip forward twenty years and we are now dealing with a bloody terrorist group who’ve set their sights on the foundation block of our economy.”  

Casey watched a few heads in the crowd nod and she was reminded of her old academy lecturer, but the sprightly old man who had lectured the first year recruits had the talent for saying as little as possible and as much as was needed, while Brandenburg droned angrily through names and dates that had very little to do with the unfolding emergency. As the sweaty figure spoke a polite yellow glyph floated over Casey’s vision and with a perfunctory nod the officer accepted the link request, her federal-issue implants connecting to MetroNet’s datavision. With a small flick of the officer’s fingers, Brandenburg’s tirade against the Integritas cult became a background blur as images of the cult’s previous attacks were projected directly onto her cornea.  

Eventually, one of the bulky director’s aides worked up the courage to cough meaningfully, and Brandenburg grimaced and brought his monologue to a close. 

“Ok then,” said Brandenburg, clapping his hand to bring up a grey and blue image in Casey’s data vision. “About a month ago our security feed picked up this cult member snooping around the edges of the MetroNet facility. After contacting the Oceania Federal Police, she has been identified as Katia Meltham, an ex-officer of the Feds.”  

Casey’s stomach twisted at the sound of Katia’s name. Using a series of passive finger gestures to zoom in the grey-blue image projected over her vision, the Federal Officer’s gaze traced the edge of the cultist’s chiseled, striking face. 

What happened to you, Kat? thought Dawn worriedly. Why are you doing this? 

Oblivious to the young woman’s discomfort, the MetroNet director nodded and brought up more images in the local data vision.  

“Officer Meltham had been assigned to investigate Integritas more than a year ago, but stopped reporting in after three months of a deep cover operation. Her superiors feared her identity had been comprised but the other officers sent to investigate also stopped reporting in. They had all been recruited into the cult – by Katia.” 

Casey tried not to wince as she flicked through familiar images of the ex-Federal Officer. Short, bony, and with a tendency to ignore orders she didn’t like, Casey remembered wondering how Katia had passed the strenuous entry tests as she watched the new recruit tie back her long brown hair in a tight bun.  

“It’s rude to stare,” remarked Katia with an arched eyebrow, taping up her knuckles and stretching her sinewy shoulders. 

“Oh, no, I wasn’t,” started Casey, but stuttered to a halt as the recruit held her with a crooked smile.  

“What? Think you can beat me?” asked the shorter woman, mimicking a few jabs and weaves as she warmed herself up. 

Casey felt a smile cross her lips and tied back her own blonde hair. 

“Let’s find out,” she replied. 

“The Oceania Federal Police have classified the operation as not for public consumption,” growled Brandenburg. “Flooding MetroNet with Federal Officers would cause the Integs to flee, but we’ve been sent Meltham’s previous partner, Officer Dawn Casey, who can help us talk Meltham round.” 

Now we’re the liars too, brooded Dawn. The Feds just didn’t want to public embarrassment of admitting they’d lost one of their agents to a backwoods cult.  

Shaking her head free of the unwelcome thought, the young woman stepped forward. 

“Thank you, Director Brandenburg,” she started, stepping forward, but if the heavyset figure noticed he paid no heed. 

“Now all three of the previous attacks by the Integs have been against MetroNet’s power grid,” continued the Director, bringing up a schematic into the group Data Vision with a flick of his wrist. “The explosives were crude, but if Meltham makes it through to the Boson Ring a charge could potentially cause a wild catalytic reaction of the energy information, effectively shutting down the entire system. But we’ll be ready for her. We’re going to place security squads-” 

“Director, with respect, that’s not where Meltham is going to hit,” said Officer Casey, stepping forward until she was in full view of the assembled staff. “I know this woman. She understands you have the advantage, and the first thing she’s going to do is level the playing field. If you just-” 

“Thank you Officer Casey, but I think I have some experience dealing with Integ terrorists,” barked Brandenburg, his mustache bristling as he glared at the young woman. “When we have former officer Meltham cornered, we will call you in to talk her down, and see if she will give herself up peacefully. Until then you will remain here in the Control Room.”  

The officer’s lip curled and she stepped forward, ready to pull out her badge. However Director Brandenburg puffed out his chest walked towards the silver-walled translocation hub in the corner of the room.  

“Don’t forget you’re only here in an advisory capacity, Officer,” he called over his shoulder, calling his team to join him in the dull white box with a snap of his fingers.  

As the group disappeared into a silvery haze Dawn felt the rage flare but quashed it just as quickly, holding herself tense and ready as the memories of a dozen similar situations washed over her.  

“Screw them all,” snapped Katia in the blonde woman’s memories, slouching over the bar and throwing back a shot after another excruciating briefing session. “The useless old bastards have no right to relegate us to the observation. We earned a place on point team.” 

“Control yourself, Kat,” growled Dawn, unzipping her jacket and ordering a drink from the barman with a nod. “Every success is still a step. They can’t hold us back forever.”  

“They won’t if I have anything to do about it, D,” replied Katia, glaring at her own reflection in the small mirror set behind the bar. “One day they’re all going to see.” 

The officer shook herself free of the angry memory and turned to the nearest workstation, inhabited by a pale young man who looked up at her nervously.  

“Can you help me?” asked Casey gently, her eyes flicking over the flimsy label stuck to the side of the desk. “Gareth, is it? Or do you prefer Gary? Look, your director is chasing the wrong lead.”  

“How do you mean ma’am?” asked the young man. 

“Katia Meltham isn’t going after the power source,” replied the blonde woman. “I know how she thinks. The first thing she’ll do is blind us. Where would you go to attack the security feed?”  

“Well, here,” answered Gary, looking at the door in worry. 

“Too many people, too much of a risk,” said Casey, shaking her head. “Where else?”  

The Control Room worker frowned and called up a hologram of the MetroNet facility, which flickered a little until he sighed and thumped the edge of the projector.  

“There is one other place,” said Gary slowly, homing in on a small junction of corridors. “This is the backup security room. If the Integs take it they might be able to interrupt our security cameras.”  

“That’s where she’ll be,” nodded the Officer, standing up and offering the administration worker an invite to her data vision with a circular motion across her wrist. “Can you guide me to that location?”  

Gary nodded and with a series of furiously typed commands a bright green path lit up on Casey’s data vision, a glowing breadcrumb trail leading to the now-vacant translocation hub. 

“Thank you,” called the blonde woman as she felt the familiar sensation of the translocation field wrap around her. The world flickered black and grey but as her vision cleared Casey immediately thumbed the handle of her firearm, bringing up a black and yellow glyph with an ammo count in her data vision to signal the weapon was now live. The Officer briefly considered trying to call for more backup but as she launched out of the hub but as turned the corner a knife flashed in her peripheral vision and all thought was shut down as her instincts took over.  

Casey darted back, sizing up two Integritas cultists in loose green robes that brandished their knives and were already moving to circle her. Behind them, Casey made out a third figure hunched over a portable workstation inside the windowed security room, typing furiously with one hand and flicking through holographic projections of security systems with the other.  

“Oh hell!” grunted the Federal officer, ducking another blow and trying to free her weapon. Instead of the clumsy, slow attacks Casey had fended off in dozen different encounters over the years, their cultists before her were sharp and disciplined, forcing the officer back.  

Kat trained them, Casey realized, recognizing the former officer’s nimble fighting style as the green-robed cultists pressed their advantage.  

“Enough!” barked the blonde woman, yanking out her firearm and firing at both cultists in one smooth movement. The Integritas followers yelped and collapsed onto the floor, blood pooling from the perfectly placed shots to the skull.  

The Federal Officer held her weapon ready as she rounded on the third Integritas cultist still working feverishly in the security room. The figure was still robes but to Casey the stature and movement of the cultist was horribly familiar. 

“Freeze, Kat!” yelled Casey, sighting on the small woman through the doorway. However the moment the blonde woman spoke the security door slammed shut, locking the Federal Officer out. The blonde woman jerked back in surprise and walked up to the security window, tempted to shoot off a solid slug but already knowing the transteel glass was bullet-proof. As Casey did so the green-robed cultist looked up from the workstation, pulled back her hood and chuckled. 

Casey stared at her former partner, taking in the familiar toothy grin and noting new scars that the sinewy woman had accrued during her absence. On the other side of the glass, Katia cocked her head to the side and tapped a pattern on her ear. Casey resisted the urge to smile as she remembered the private channel they had once set up, and held her weapon steady as she switched channels with her free hand. 

“Hello D,” said Katia, her face wrinkling up with glee as Casey’s datavision confirmed the link. “It’s so good to finally see you.”  

“Kat, what are you doing here?” whispered Casey furiously. “What the hell happened to you?” 

“Oh, Kat died,” replied the former officer cheerfully. “Although for convenience I still use her name. I remember you, though. I wanted the chance to talk before I destroy MetroNet.”  

“Why?” hissed Casey. “I get the reference that you’ve left your old life behind, but how did this happen? Did they drug you – torture you? Bribe you? What could Integritas offer that we couldn’t?”  

“Nothing. The Feds walked around with a permanent stick up their ass, but I don’t think Katia Meltham hated them,” shrugged the green-clad woman, turning back to her work station and continuing to type.  

“But you need to understand,” Katia continued, her fingers dancing over the workstation keyboard, “The Kat you worked with for years really is dead and gone. And with the changes I’m going to make today, you’ll all see what translocation has been doing to us for years now.” 

“Officer Casey, where the hell are you?” spluttered a new voice in Casey’s earpiece, the new channel glyph flashing an angry red in the blonde woman’s datavision. “The cameras have gone dark and you’re prancing about somewhere.”  

“Shove it, Brandenburg, I’m trying to save your ass,” the Federal Officer hissed, switching the MetroNet Director off with an angry flick if her fingers. On the other side of the security glass, Katia typed in a final command and nodded in satisfaction as a door behind her slid open.  

“Kat, stop! Please!” yelled Casey, banging on the glass with her free hand. “If you don’t give yourself up, I’ll have to put you down!” 

The former Federal officer winked as she backed out the rear door.  

“What?” she replied. “Think you can beat me?”  

Casey swore and turned back to the hallway, frowning as she tried to sort through the strange conversation with her former partner. In her datavision, the angry red symbol flashed once again.  

“Officer Casey, report!” snapped the MetroNet Director in the young woman’s ear. “We haven’t seen any Integs at the Boson Ring. Have they abandoned the attack? Where are you?”  

“Meltham isn’t going after the power source,” replied Casey, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to concentrate. “She said something about exposing translocation.” 

“She’s going after the schematics?” asked Gary, the technician’s glyph a soft green pulse in the Officer’s datavision. “She could get those anywhere. It’s not like it’s a secret technology.”  

“No,” murmured Casey slowly, pacing up and down the narrow hall. “She’s going after the code. She’s going to reprogram the system itself.” 

“What do you mean, woman?” snapped Brandenburg, the fear edging into his voice.  

“Think about it,” replied the Federal officer, turning back towards the translocation hub. “If she destroys MetroNet we’ll just build another. But if she messes with the core program, she could send people to the wrong locations, or to arrive inside out-” 

“Or not all,” finished Gary sombrely. 

“Well done D!” whispered Katia from the privacy of her secret channel. “I knew you’d figure it out.”  

“But why, Kat?” replied Dawn. “You know I’m going to stop you. We still control this facility.”  

“Do you think so? It’s just like that time at St. Albans, D. You can’t keep me out.”  

The private channel abruptly went dead, leaving a painful whine in the Federal Officer’s ear as she frantically sorted through dozens of different missions with her former partner. Finally a memory surfaced; the pair of them waiting in a dark alley opposite an abandoned medical facility that had been used as a clandestine drug lab, the officers leaning in together for warmth as they waited for the point team to force open the security doors. 

“I’ve set the TL to take you directly to the Server Room,” started Gary, but was interrupted by MetroNet Director. 

“What are you doing, Technician Barker? You do not take unilateral action. I am in control of this situation.”  

“You’re not even close,” replied Casey, dismissing Brandenburg’s red glyph with a nod. 

“Gary, I don’t think Meltham is going straight to the server room,” the blonde woman continued, stepping into the silvery translocation hub. “She knows we can shut the Server Room doors, and it will cost her precious time to force them open. I think she’s already one step ahead. Meltham took control of the cameras. Next she’ll go after the security doors.” 

“Well, they’re all controlled from here,” replied Gary.  

“But what about, I don’t know, maintenance or emergencies?”  

The soft green glyph paused as Casey leant against the silvery inner wall of the translocation hub.  

“You’re right,” said Gary fearfully. “There is a security door override – an emergency protocol, accessed where the basement doors lead into the escape tunnels. It was meant to be a fail-safe if the Boson Ring destabilized. And right now there’s an active login.”  

“Take me there,” ordered Casey, and walls around her dissolved in a silvery flash.  

When the blonde woman’s vision cleared, she was greeted with the sight of a cavernous hallway, one taken up entirely by a set of black metal security doors. Tiny in comparison, a trio of green Integritas cultists were crouched around a hole in the floor, where a red security grate had been levered open and thick cables sprouted forth to connect with a portable workstation.  

“Hands in the air!” yelled the Federal Officer, her weapon ready in her hands and taking aim at the group. However the cultists sprang away, scattering from the workstation in a burst of green as Casey struggled to keep them all in view.  

Casey didn’t hesitate, managing to clip a cultist in a hot red flash from her gun before she was mobbed by the other two. The Federal Officer whipped her firearm around and managed to take down one of the other green-robed figures before the weapon was knocked from her hand. Casey tried to size up her opponent but the cultist was too fast, pushing her back with a savage combination of blows. Snarling, the blonde woman ducked past the attacks and countered with her own, receiving an elbow to her cheekbone that momentarily robbed her of all thought. With a final burst of energy, Casey pushed her tiring body forward, flipping her attacker over and slamming his skull into the concrete floor.  

Dazed, tired, Casey’s breath sounded strangely loud in her ears as she picked up her weapon, stumbled over to the portable workstation and tapped her ear to activate Katia’s private channel.  

“Kat, why are you doing this to me?” she groaned, staring at the churning lines of code. 

The former officer’s glyph blinked thoughtfully while Casey gingerly touched her bruised cheekbone and began to type.  

“Call it selfishness,” the former officer finally replied. “Katia Meltham is dead, but there are parts of her life I just can’t let go. I need to do this, D. But with everything you and Katia had been through together – I also need to you to understand why.”  

“Well, you’ve failed,” said Casey, allowing herself a satisfied grin as she entered a final command. “I’ve altered the emergency protocol to keep all the security doors closed. It doesn’t matter where you log in, there’s no way you’re accessing the Server Room. It’s over Kat – give yourself up.”  

Katia’s chuckle buzzed in Casey’s earpiece.  

“Oh D, you always were so predictable,” the former officer replied. “Did you really think I would try and race you down to the security door override in the basement? I’m already in the Server Room. And now no-one else can get in here to stop me.”  

“God damn it!” swore the Federal Officer, angrily flicking off the channel and hiding her head in her hands. “God dammit!” 

“Ms Casey, what’s happening?” asked Gary, his glyph pulsing nervously. “The doors are all locked tight. No-one’s getting in or out.”  

“Officer Casey!” roared Brandenburg in her other ear. “What have you done? My team is trapped down here. Whose side are you on? Technician Barker, prepare to teleport my team to Officer Casey’s location-” 

“Don’t!” yelled the blonde woman, struggling to her feet. “Meltham played me. She’s locked in the Server Room doing God knows what to the TL program. Gary, how far away am I from Katia’s location?” 

“Only a few minutes, if you run,” came the reply. “But the doors are still stuck shut. Do you want me to send the path to your data vision?”  

“No,” said Casey, shaking her head in resignation as she stumbled back to the silvery booth at the far end of the hall. “Use the translocation hub. If there’s still time to stop her, then it’s worth the risk.”  

“And if not?” asked Gary fearfully.  

“Then I’ll probably be dead before I realize it,” replied the blonde woman, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt the familiar buzz of teleportation.  

When Casey’s vision cleared, she looked down from a wide set of stairs at a central platform, surrounded on all sides by colossal banks of supercomputers, the components glistening in their transteel silos of liquid coolant. Casey could make out the access doors beyond the cooling stacks, illuminated in a warning red glow. In the center of the space stood a large workstation, over which Katia Meltham was patiently typing.  

“Put up your hands and back away, Kat,” rasped Casey, the officer’s voice suddenly dry in her throat. “This madness is over.” 

“The madness has going on for years,” replied Katia with a crooked smile. “I’m just the one who’s going to expose it.”  

“Hands up! Now!” yelled the blonde woman, raising her weapon threateningly.  

Katia raised an eyebrow in surprise.  

“You gonna shoot me, D?” she asked, cocking her head as she stepped towards the Federal Officer. “After all we’ve been through together?” 

“If I have to, Kat. Please, talk to me. Why are you doing this?”  

“Because translocation is killing people, Dawn,” replied Katia, the bravado slipping away until Casey was faced with an expression of pure horror.  

“Have you ever really thought about it?” continued the green-robed woman urgently. “People- families, go into a TL booth and their bodies are dissolved. The energy information is transferred and new bodies reassembled. But what walks out of the other side?”  

“The copy versus the original?” spat Casey. “Come on, Kat. This is an argument for first-years.”  

“I used to think so too, until Integritas showed me.”  

“Showed you what?” snapped the Federal Officer. 

“It’s alright, Officer Casey, I’ve found a workaround on the security door, you just-” started Gary, but was silenced as Casey reached up and switched the earpiece off.  

The blonde woman sighted along her firearm at the wiry young woman in front of her and tried to blink away the hot prickly pain growing in her eyes. 

“Kat, this stops here,” said Casey. “Give yourself up. I don’t want to shoot you.” 

Katia’s mouth twitched into a smile as she looked over the Federal Officer’s shoulder.  

“Really?” she replied. “What about her?” 

Casey span about on instinct, making out the shape of another woman raising her pistol to fire as she emerged from the cooling stacks. The Federal Officer’s training took over and she placed a single perfect shot in the newcomer’s forehead.  

“Do you see now?” came Katia Meltham’s voice, as Casey looked down at her attacker in horror. “Do you understand what translocation has done to us?”  

Lying in a pool of blood was Officer Dawn Casey, her eyes glazed and the weapon still clutched in her hand.  

“What did you do?” whispered Casey, feeling the word lurch and shake around her.  

“I stopped MetroNet from dissolving people in the translocation hubs when they teleport,” came Katia’s voice, and the Federal Officer felt the cultist slowly take the weapon out of trembling hands. “Who’s the original and who’s the copy? Now people won’t be able to look away. They’ll have to see.”  

Numb, Casey reached up and switched ear earpiece back on, flooding her senses with screams and confusion.  

“Multiple logins by the same user–” 

“Fighting has broken out all over the city-” 

“Who has the backup commands? We need-” 

“You’re not the Director! I’m the Director! Arrest that impostor!”  

“Reports the President’s security team is being fired upon by an identical team-” 

The Federal Officer flopped down onto her knees and Katia joined her, wrapping her sinewy arms around the blonde woman and holding their faces close. Casey wondered whose tears felt hot against her cheek, and all she could hear was the madness edging into their laughter.