After the Plague: The Nubs Trilogy #2

By Charles G. Dyer

A corroded biological weapon releases its deadly load into the atmosphere and wipes out the human population of the Nubs. If not for the leadership of Valda, a sophisticated and self-improved android, the other androids would cease to function.
She rallies them to improve the Nubs and she pushes the Livestock Specialists into cloning humans. Despite having advanced technology and expertise, the androids need human wombs.
Militia patrols extend their search areas. A surveillance aircraft is deployed. Women are found and convinced or coerced to be party to the cloning experiment.
But even the plans of meticulous androids can fail. Valda has to cope with disgruntled women as well as her experiments...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles G. Dyer
• Release date: Sep 22, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310658365

Charles G. Dyer

Charles Dyer is a consulting engineer, former senior lecturer and former technical magazine editor. He creates 3D models to help with visualisation and realism in his writing.

Book preview

After the Plague

The Nubs Trilogy #2

A dystopian paranormal romance

Charles G. Dyer

Copyright © 2013 Charles G Dyer

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9781310658365

Smashwords Edition

License

Thank you for purchasing this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are products of the author's imagination. It remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to purchase their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could post a review on the site where you purchased this book. If you have any comments about this book, good or bad, you can write to me at [e-mail].

Other books in the Nubs Trilogy:

Book One – After the Collapse

Book Three – After the Cloning

They can be found at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/chas1951

Contents

Chapter_One

Chapter_Two

Chapter_Three

Chapter_Four

Chapter_Five

Chapter_Six

Chapter_Seven

Chapter_Eight

Chapter_Nine

Chapter_Ten

Chapter_Eleven

Chapter_Twelve

Chapter_Thirteen

Chapter_Fourteen

About_The_Author

Chapter One

Bert Schneider had taken Tom Marsh's advice, and found a safe haven from the madness that had enveloped the world. In the nearly two years that he had been living in the abandoned suburb he had put on weight and regained his strength and confidence. He often wondered how Tom and Margaret had fared after leaving him.

He guessed that they must be better off or they would have returned to this idyllic setting. The water in the geysers had dried up about three months into his occupation of the area. That did not bother him too much as he had set up containers under every downpipe to collect rainwater.

Meat was scarce, but there was enough vegetable matter and fruit to sustain him. He had lost the gaunt look of a man on the brink of starvation. His mostly vegetarian diet was supplemented with the occasional bird or rat, and he was happy.

Of course, he was still nervous about bandits and feral dog packs, but so far neither of those scourges had passed his way. For once in his life, he had the time and self-consciousness to care for his personal hygiene. He miserly collected water and bathed himself once a week. He had cut his hair short and trimmed his beard down to stubble. Washing himself regularly had paid dividends and he no longer felt the need to scratch his head. He was a changed man from the miserable wretch that Tom had met.

With sewing materials he found, he painstakingly made himself new clothes using whatever fabric he could find. Curtains were fairly commonplace in these houses, so they were the cloths of choice. He now had three pairs of trousers and four shirts, mostly with floral patterns on them.

Ever wary of change and potential disruption of his happy situation, Bert never went anywhere without all his possessions in his backpack. If the need arose he could flee the area and not need to return. In addition to his bow and arrows, he now sported an axe and a mean-looking carving knife.

The first twelve years of his life had been spent in a cell of the Masses. He and his parents and the other inhabitants of the cell were not aware of the fact that they were referred to as the Masses by the Few that occupied the Network of Nubs. They did not even know of the existence the Few or the Nubs. Shortly after his twelfth birthday, a gang of marauders killed his father during an attack on the cell.

The cell managed to hold onto their territory, but his mother could not accept the loss of his father. She committed suicide a few days later. He was utterly devastated and cried for days. Nobody bothered trying to console him. They all had enough problems of their own.

In fact, they told him to shut up of bugger off. Ten days after his mother's death, he did just that. He took his father's bow and arrows and a few clothes and blankets, and left the cell. He had been wandering for all of twenty years when he chanced upon Tom and Margaret.

He had experienced good luck and bad. Mostly he had kept to himself and distanced himself from other wanderers. For a short time, he had teamed up with another man, but he didn't trust him and felt safer on his own. Like Margaret, he had acquired survival skills by trial and error.

He was loath to trade because it meant too much risk. He counted himself lucky that his mother had taught him to read and write. The few books he had come across had kept him occupied for a time until they had been read and used for making fires. He never felt the need to carry any around with him, but he welcomed finding new reading matter.

***

Tom's dying regret was that he had not fulfilled his promise to Margaret and taken her into the country. Had he done so they might both have lived to ripe old ages instead of dying quick but horrible deaths after two years of bliss in the Nubs.

Valda Lee had taken control of the Nubs after the plague and appointed herself as the Controller who replaced the Council of Fifteen. She wanted, as far as possible, to retain the routines that had so efficiently maintained the Network. There seemed to be no reason not to preserve the heritage of the Few.

With Simone's help Valda selected fifteen Mark 12 Golems that had been either abused or sidelined by their respective masters. She felt that there would be no loss of intellectual value when their databases were purged.

These androids became Simone's charges and she transferred her entire AI into each of them and installed them as Monitors in each of the Nubs. Simone's years as the Monitor's assistant in Nub 15, and the fact that Valda had upgraded her, made Valda confident that the buxom Golem could manage the task.

Simone had stopped tinkering with her AI after Doctor Pickard had rectified mistakes she had made. Valda was intellectually streets ahead of her because she still tweaked her programming and AI on a regular basis.

Despite endless searching on the Landlink, Valda was no closer to an answer about the source of the plague than she had been when it occurred. Her best guess was that containers of Pre-Collapse biological weapons had corroded and released their deadly contents into the atmosphere.

Simone and other members of the Golem Ring had told her that she was wasting her time. Valda snorted, Humph, what do they know. The bloody plastic sluts were mostly kept in the dark. She sighed and wished that Martin was still alive.

Valda had worked hard to develop her AI to the point where love, hope, regret, anticipation and other peculiarities of the human mind were second nature to her. She wished they were all still alive. Every one of her circle of human friends had contributed towards her superior intellect in numerous ways.

Of the Ring members, only Simone could come close to appreciating just how much Valda had developed. Simone had once said to her that she was probably smarter than the smartest of the Few. Fat lot of good that does me now, she mumbled. The empty flat where she and Martin had so much fun together with Bernie no longer felt like home.

Valda wondered how the Masses had fared and whether or not the plague had wiped them all out too. So far, the known cells of the Masses that MARIE had checked were devoid of life. It was that fact that had led Valda to the conclusion she had drawn about the source of the plague.

Her obsession with knowing more about the plague and its source was easily justified. She wanted to ensure that the entire Network of Nubs would never again be vulnerable to that sort of disaster. It still puzzled her that the Few had not thought of that risk and provided for it. The Few had contingency plans for practically every other kind of disaster from attacks by the Masses to the loss of water supply.

Simone's voice on the Graft shook Valda from her musings. Hello Valda, I was thinking that we should transfer our AI into all the members of the Ring.

Hmm, I guess it's not a bad idea. At least then if anything should happen to you or me there would be backups, Valda said.

Why are you so concerned about the preservation of the Network? Simone asked.

Valda sighed, OK, I'll tell you but keep it to yourself for now. Brigit's husband was interested in genetics and cloning, and that made me interested in the subject. I've done a fair bit of research in that direction. Anyway, to cut a long story short. I want to modify the Network or at least one Nub to be impervious to outside influences.

Why? None of us were affected by the plague, Simone said.

No, but the entire human population was wiped out within less than a day, Valda said.

Simone was far less emotional than Valda and she tended to let android logic override sentimentality. Perhaps that's the way things were meant to be. The humans made us, so maybe we are the next step in the evolutionary process.

Oh please Simone, don't talk tripe, Valda exploded. How can you, a mere machine, even begin to think that you are part of evolution? We are not flesh and blood, and we cannot reproduce naturally.

OK, Simone said, but the humans brought their demise on themselves, didn't they?

Valda sighed, Yes, but there were some, like the Few, that saw beyond the faults and tried to do something about it. We were made to serve humans; that is our purpose.

Humph, Simone grunted, so what do we do now that they're all gone?

There is no point even beginning any cloning experiments until such time as we can ensure that the clones we produce will never again be at risk from plagues like that, Valda said.

Simone gave a hollow laugh. You want to clone humans?

"Sure, why not? The Few didn't go to all the trouble of building these Nubs and making us for our benefit. They wanted their offspring to have a future. We are all that's left and we are in a position to fulfil that vision."

Gee, Valda that's a pretty ambitious notion. Do you think there's even a dog's chance that you can pull it off? Simone said.

I believe that there is an very good probability of success Simone, Valda said, we already have the expertise on tap. The Livestock Specialists have been doing it for years with sheep, pigs and cattle. Some of the Health Technicians have been using stem cells for all sorts of medical procedures for just as long. There is no reason to think that we cannot succeed.

Wow, Simone said, you really mean to go through with this, don't you?

Hmm, I do, don't you miss Carol? Valda asked.

Of course I do, Simone said, hey, if there's anything I can do to help…

Sure there is, Valda said, come up with an efficient way to seal every building in the Nubs and then we can really get down to the nitty-gritty.

OK, I'll get onto it right away. In fact, my idea of upgrading the Ring Golems might help us, don't you think? Simone said.

Yes, tell you what, let's go fifty-fifty on the members, Valda said, also don't waste too much time yourself. Do one or two and then get them to transfer their AI to the rest, otherwise you'll be at it for weeks. You can then get the upgraded Golems to concentrate on your various projects.

Agreed, bye for now, Simone cut her Graft connection.

Valda's thoughts returned to cloning. When Brigit had been around and she had discussed the possibilities with Martin as a means of improving the gene pool of the Nubs, the whole idea had been feasible. Then there were several thousand living humans from whom living tissues and embryos could have been taken to facilitate the process. Now all those potential donors were dead and their bodies had been cremated.

The only materials Valda had to work with were the frozen tissue samples from each member of the Few and blood from the blood bank. She could also add the DNA of her departed friends. She had collected hair from the flats of Tom and Margaret, Carol, Brigit and her own where Bernie and Martin had been.

She knew that a long hard road lay ahead. In the absence of human embryos, she would have to resort to genetic manipulation and a host of experimental procedures to achieve her ends. She had already held several discussions with Golem specialists about the possible avenues open to her.

The first step was to produce a suitable surrogate mother or an artificial womb for the human clone. Valda reckoned that although a pig was a bit small, its DNA was more similar to humans than that of a cow. However, the cow also offered several advantages besides its size. She finally decided to modify both animals.

The fact that none of the livestock had succumbed to the plague reinforced Valda's thinking that the plague was a wickedly selective biological weapon. The animals' immunity also made her think that they might hold the key to genetically engineering a human clone that might be able to resist exposure to such toxins and viruses. That was not a priority but it was a possibility worth considering, she thought.

The Health Techs had not yet figured out exactly what virus or toxin or combination had been the critical components of the plague. Valda doubted whether they ever would. The Landlink had very little information on weapons of mass destruction. The Few had wanted to preserve data useful to mankind not the instruments of war.

It amused Valda that all the Golems, except Simone, thought that she was human. Not even the Golem Ring members would believe that she was only a Mark 12 Golem that had radically altered her AI to suit Martin Lee. She had thought of herself as human for a long time despite knowing that she had several shortcomings. Simone was arguably slightly more human because her large breasts had milk. Nevertheless, Valda knew that neither of them were anything more than sex-toys and that still riled her despite her better-than-human mind or perhaps it was because of that incredible AI that she had developed.

Brushing aside the host of subliminal processes, Valda concentrated on her priorities. The Health Techs had assured her that all traces of the plague had been cleansed from the Nubs. She had commissioned a team of Health Techs and Android Techs to develop sensors to analyse the atmosphere and trigger alarms if any toxins or viruses were detected.

Now that the livestock were the only living creatures in the Network, their protection was prioritised. She ordered Construction Techs to upgrade the animal stalls and batteries into self-contained units with improved air-conditioning and filters. Materials Techs were set the task of redesigning the air-conditioners to be foolproof against any sort of airborne contagion.

Electrical Techs were busily installing insect traps at the entrances to every building. Valda knew that some bioweapon techniques relied on insects as hosts for their vile work. She was leaving nothing to chance. Every loophole, which she could find in the Few's carefully conceived plans, was being closed by her and her teams of androids.

The raise-boring machines that had been employed in the excavation of the Tube tunnels were brought out of storage and reconditioned. Valda instructed the Construction Specialists to design and construct shelters deep underground that were capable of withstanding nuclear blasts and sustaining life for a few years after being sealed.

Crop production was halted except for the crops that fed the animals. Labourer-class Golems were redistributed to concentrate on critical tasks. Deliveries of food and other human services were stopped. The Ring members all wore clothes so the laundry services were retained, but on a much-reduced scale.

Animals that previously were for human consumption now served as laboratory test subjects. In each Nub, teams of Health and Livestock Specialists pooled their resources to comply with Valda's demands.

A short list of Ring Golems was called to Valda's flat. She interviewed them first to assess their suitability and selected five as her primary candidates. They had all enjoyed the company of masters who had treated them with dignity and in many respects they had developed along similar lines to Valda but not half as well.

One by one, she connected the leads between her to the candidates and transferred selected portions of her AI into them. Although vastly improved, they were still no match for her on an intellectual level but they would be of great help in the implementation of her plans. She sent these upgraded androids out to implant their entire Artificial Intelligence into her share of the Ring members.

One day, Valda hoped, these Golems would again be companions and servants to humans. In the meanwhile, they would do her bidding and help to supervise the multitude of projects that she had initiated. One thing that nearly slipped her busy mind was the Android Techs.

Valda Grafted the Monitor at Nub 8, Hello Valda here. Put me through to the chief Android Tech please.

There was a click on the Graft, This is AT-5.

AT-5 this is Valda, she knew that all the Golems knew who she was because she had made a point of listing the fact on the Landlink news. She said, Please ensure that no more purging of android databases takes place. If an android is damaged or being serviced and a purge is necessary then download their AI and reinstate it when the work is done.

I will see to it Madam but may I ask why? the Golem asked.

Every Golem has accumulated knowledge and experience. That has taken time and exposure to unique circumstances. Purging such an AI means the loss of a valuable and often irreplaceable resource, Valda said

Thank you Madam, that makes good sense, AT-5 said.

Madam! Ha! Valda would have laughed not so long ago. At least the members of the Golem Ring still called her Valda but all the rest called her Madam. Now she felt empty and disinclined to smile let alone laugh. Everything had been going so well. Martin's university had begun with Brigit as one of the lecturers. Tom and Margaret had made great strides in their new lives. Margaret had a daughter and was pregnant with what she hoped was a son. Bernie had finally got pregnant and Valda had been as anxious about the imminent birth as she had. All had gone in an instant.

Carol had completed her history of the Few and the Nubs. Valda frequently referred to Carol's text in her quest to improve the Nubs. The ‘Valda Lee Directory' that Carol had so meticulously compiled was now just a useless bit of memorabilia that Valda didn't have the heart to erase from the Landlink. After all, it was a monument to Carol's tenacity as a researcher. As were all the demographic records that the little Imp had spent so many hours compiling with Simone's help.

A tear trickled down Valda's face. She sniffed and that reminded her of Brigit. It wasn't the first time she had cried over her lost friends. She wiped her face. Pull yourself together you stupid plastic slut, she said out loud. Nobody was nearby to hear her but it made her feel better to vocalise her thoughts now and then.

As a tribute to Brigit, Valda called in a Mark 12 Golem who was a Ring member that had been somewhat abused. Valda purged the Golem's entire database, replaced all its programming and carefully filled it with everything she could remember about Brigit. She also programmed it to be a competent seamstress, a ballroom dancing instructor and an authority on Pre-Collapse events. She renamed it Brigit Butler and informed the Monitor of the change. The android Brigit went to live in the late Mrs Butler's flat and offered its services to other members of the Ring.

Regular Golem Militia patrols conducted systematic searches of all the buildings between the Nubs and in the surrounding areas. They now had solar-powered vehicles which were used to ferry treasured books and data discs containing data, music and movies from abandoned dwellings to the Nubs. Any other useful equipment and materials that could be found were also collected and added to the stockpiles.

More substantial cranes were erected on the walls of each of the Nubs to facilitate the movements of the Militia. Now it struck Valda that they should be given a new directive. She Grafted the Golem that she knew to be in charge of the Security Force, SF-20 this is Valda.

Hello Ma'am what can I do for you today? the grating electronic voice said.

What do think the chances are of being able to capture humans? Valda asked.

Slim at best, the monotonous voiced Golem said, before the plague my patrols reported seeing a few humans who made themselves scarce as soon as they saw us. Since then I've had no reports of life other than the dogs, cats and rats.

Well, I'd like you to instruct your patrols to set their sonic weapons to stun. Capture any humans you can and bring them to me. That's now more of a priority than anything else, understood? Valda said.

Yes Ma'am, SF-20 said, we could equip with tranquilliser dart guns.

Good, then do it SF-20, Valda said, if you think that patrolling further afield will yield better results then do that too.

Very good Ma'am, is that all? the Security chief asked.

Yes, please give me regular progress reports. Thank you SF-20 and good bye, Valda pressed the flesh below her ear to deactivate her Graft button.

The conversation with SF-20 set Valda's thinking in a new direction. She assumed that the plague was the result of an airborne biological weapon. If that were so then surely the spread of the effects would have been limited by wind direction. She grafted all the Monitors and had them look up the records of that fateful day.

Gradually the requested data appeared on her Landlink terminal. Yes that's it. From the times of the first reports at each Nub, it's obvious the wind blew in from the Northwest. OK, so where does that get me? Valda ran her hand through her hair.

Hmm, let's see, some Nubs reported faster total annihilation than others. Now if we superimpose that on the map, like so, then what? She studied the map for a moment, Ah, Nub 15 had the slowest death rate, so the Northeast corner of the Network must have been on the fringe of the spread.

Valda changed the programme on the Landlink to take control of MARIE. The little reconnaissance aircraft was currently somewhere South of the Network. She reprogrammed it to patrol a sector Northeast of Nub 15. Hey, that's where we found Tom and Margaret! She remembered as she looked at the map.

Moments later, Valda found the memories of her discussions with the wanderers that had been rescued from their dreadful existence. Tom Marsh said they had told a loner to go to the place where we found them. I wonder if he is still alive? She sighed. It would be a few hours before MARIE got anywhere near the area. She decided that she might as well go for a walk to recharge her batteries.

Work on the livestock area was progressing well. The previously open stalls and pens were now encapsulated in a half-round framework of steel. A team of brown Golem labourers were busy fixing the translucent reinforced plastic cladding panels in place under the supervision of a garishly painted fluorescent red Construction Technician.

The red Tech nodded to Valda, Madam.

Hello CT-11, when do you expect to finish? Valda said.

The structure will be completed today. Tomorrow, the electrical and air-conditioning installations will be done. So Madam, it will be fully operational tomorrow evening, CT-11 said in its jarring monotone.

And where do you go next? Valda noticed that the Golem that looked as though it needed a new coat of paint.

My team will join the crews already engaged on the underground shelter. There are many facets to the work that need attention, the Golem said.

How are we doing with materials CT-11? Valda studied the lightweight structure.

The Militia patrols have been regularly supplementing stocks where there are shortages. We have also rationalised designs to optimise the use of materials. The new smelting facilities at Nub 5 are producing these sections, CT-11 waved at the structure, they are thinner and more efficient than the sections we used before. In short Madam, materials are not a problem.

Satisfied, she moved on and flicked a bit of dirt from the skirt of her green and cream ensemble. Valda's garments were another reminder of her dead friends. Brigit had altered all her Nub issue clothing to her specifications. The green collar outlined a deeply exposed cleavage and contrasted with the cream of the rest of the long-sleeved blouse. Green frilled cuffs matched the style of the cream frill of the green skirt that ended a mere hand's width below her crotch. Her sleek deep golden brown hair was tied back in a ponytail with a green