Stand Against Infinity

By Aaron K. Redshaw

H662 has always tried to be a part of the solution, working hard for society and the goals given him by the government. Now he is beginning to see the tragic outcomes of his society, until he wavers on a knife edge of decision.
U2258 works in the largest building in the city, helping to bioengineer the future. But the current experiment has gone horribly wrong and it seems the government has decided not only to cover up their mistake, but they are going to put it into production, endangering everyone who will receive the upgrade.
These two, and others like them, launch out to find a place where they can get away from a world out of control. Finding in the end that the best way out, is by going back in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aaron K. Redshaw
• Release date: May 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310484308

Aaron K. Redshaw

Aaron K. Redshaw grew up in Scottsburg, Oregon but decided one day to take a hint from the geese. He now lives in Scotts Valley, California where he can work on his tan and admire other people's surfboards. He enjoys the company of his beautiful wife, his two gifted children, and one dusty beast of a car.Aaron's goal for writing is to create believable characters in fantasy or science fiction worlds that do not leave out the element of faith in a personal and loving God.He is an English teacher at a large public high school, the senior co-pastor of New Hope Church in Scotts Valley, CA (newhopesv.org), and a father and husband in a wonderful family which he hopes to someday patent.

Book preview

Stand Against Infinity

(Space to Stand)

Prequel to The Last Place to Stand

Aaron K. Redshaw

Stand Against Infinity

Copyright © 2015 by Aaron K. Redshaw

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Dedication: For those not content to leave well enough alone

Chapter 1

The technological wonder before H662 had never grown old. The building, itself a monument to what the best minds could create, stood at 65 floors of shiny, black, synthetic concrete, and every one of them working for the highest goal of mankind: to improve himself through technology.

Good morning, H662, said his foreman, his balding head shining with just a skiff of white hair on both sides. How long have you been in?

Going on three hours, sir. H662 ran his fingers through his short, cropped, black hair. I just barely beat A1103 this time.

And the sun is not yet up. Excellent work, excellent. You will certainly go places with that kind of work ethic. Where is my son anyway?

At his welding station, H662 said. His foreman moved on to check on A1103. H662 focused again on putting the thermal converter into place and sealing up the compartment. Next, before running the final test, he turned to a screen and checked his embedded chip to see if the numbers were in line with the current standards. The chip sat just behind his right ear, and he accessed its information hundreds of times per day. Much of it just for his job.

After scanning the screen, he flipped the switch and the testing began. He checked to make sure the pod did not shake unduly as it was put through a simulated speed test. After two minutes, he was done.

Thirty-five, he said to himself. Thirty-five today, and the sun is just clearing the horizon.

He heard the sound of the workroom door. From the narrow shoulders and his way of hunching over when he walked, he could tell it was G1193, the new guy. He came in the back door again, hoping the foreman would not see him. Didn’t he know there was a camera every few feet in here? How did he expect to keep his job if he kept this up?

H662 wondered at such people in an age where technology was always making advances. Take these transport pods, for instance. They were a work of art, driving at a speed up to 120 miles per hour and they never made a mistake. They never had an accident either, something he had heard used to be a common occurrence in the past.

Then there was the chip. It held an encyclopedic range of information, always accessible, and able to be modified by each person’s employer for job specific requirements. Why wouldn’t someone want to help improve such technology? By doing so he was improving mankind. His foreman often quoted the company work ethic: Don’t be part of the problem, be part of the solution, and H662 lived by that rule.

Chapter 2

He was finally going to do it. He had told himself a hundred times that he would, but now it was really happening. He was picking up his life and with it a new name: Chavez. He had heard the name mentioned in some historical chip index once and he liked the sound of it and so he picked it up, like picking up a fallen apple.

There was only one problem. They would be looking for him. The moment he didn’t show up to work that morning, they would send out a team of guards to pick him up. He never learned what they did with no shows at his job, but he suspected it couldn’t be good. This society did not value a person until they produced something. It was not that Chavez did not want to work. He just didn’t want to work for them. It was as if they took you in and made you one more cog in the machinery. He didn’t want to be a cog anymore. He wanted to be alive. He wanted to make decisions on his own. To do a thing because he had decided to do it rather than because it had been decided for him.

Thank goodness he had not received a wife yet. That would have been in only a few months