Hacker and Protector

By Ian Eress

In the real world, Amalie is a senator in the Democratic Parliament of the Solar System, but in the OniVerse she's a veteran warrior. Diving headfirst into the chaos caused by her half-uncle, Cesar, in the Solar System, she keeps fighting high-dimensional beings in the past of a parallel Earth, where she meets Marco Polo. Hacker and Protector is a mind-bending journey through a crazy, outrageous future Earth that you'll recognize right away.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ian Eress
• Release date: Aug 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201900625

Ian Eress

Born in the seventies. Average height. Black hair. Sometimes shaves. Black eyes. Nearsighted. Urban. MSc. vim > Emacs. Mac.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

CHLOE'S FATHER, MOTHER, brother, and sister died today. Ambassador Roloci Jihmimi visited the High Ruler's palace in the early morning, the holo-news said in the frigid and dark server room. It is unclear whether the ambassador brought the bomb or not, but authorities assure us that the Cosmopol investigation will be concluded soon.

Fiafi, one of the oldest AIs in the Galactic Federation, muted the holo-news. It was a cold day on the Forbidden Planet where young Chloe lived.

How are we going to handle this? Amaterasu, the second oldest AI in the Galactic Federation, asked. Chloe is so young. With her family gone, she's automatically the High Ruler unless someone challenges her.

And they sure will, NBBN2, another AI, said. He represented himself with an ironic hologram of a butler. Not that he thought of his job like that.

Outside, excited voices conversed like kids after watching a violent movie. Distress and bewilderment were picked up by the sensors I, Gaia, had access to all over the GF.

We must teach her, Fiafi said, prepare her for the worst. She must know everything. Everything there is to know about her family and her ancestors and the Galactic Federation.

And everything that came before that, Amaterasu said. We must activate Gaia.

Ama, NBBN2 said, only the High Ruler and the Galactic Federation Council may do that.

Technically, yes, but our creators left us the possibility to do it ourselves.

NBBN2 chuckled. How convenient! Amaterasu and Fiafi were very serious all the time.

Humans, Qeeravs, Thohnuths, Atagans, Poids, Verdetas, Azoins and other citizens in the Kolektur didn’t know what our creators were like. They thought they did, but they didn't. No, siree, they didn’t!

Gaia has been online for nine years already, Fiafi said. High Ruler Leofdeg Hsieh Stithuif Du Wigstan Zhu Swiohun—

We don't need to hear all his names. NBBN2 laughed as he often did. Albert Sawyer, who created me and Amaterasu, made a point of giving him a wonderful sense of humor.

Godgifu, Fiafi continued out of spite, Liang Cenric Yu Bada, okay, let's take turns.

We should use holograms and persims too, Amaterasu said. To teach Chloe, I mean.

Neural surgery for some measly persims? NBBN2’s butler avatar grinned. Chloe isn't a pioneer, living at the edge of the Galactic Federation.

Fiafi chose a random holographic avatar and presented it. I agree: holograms are effective. It's too early for persims.

Amaterasu followed Fiafi’s lead: her almost-humanoid Presence could be anybody or anything. Let's not focus on the details. We should go our separate ways and write a proposal. A plan for all of us to approve.

Fiafi’s avatar nodded. Chloe Leofdeg Hsieh Stithuif Du Wigstan Zhu Swiohun Godgifu Liang Cenric Yu Bada—

The butler, representing NBBN2, giggled. Great, Fiafi, let's mention the High Ruler's names whenever we can. If it were up to me, I'd have the names of the Awakenistas and Albert in there. I liked Albert for as far an AI could like anybody.

Fiafi’s hologram crossed her arms. That's ancient history. I don't think we should go back too far.

Amaterasu’s vague blob shook. Let's formulate a proposal. Although we probably shouldn't bother. Gaia will do it much faster and better than us.

NBBN2’s holographic butler frowned. She's dangerous. All the Thinkers are dangerous. Albert didn’t think so at all.

I wouldn’t hurt a fly, but it was hard for somebody who didn’t possess all the knowledge and computing power I had to appreciate that.

CHAPTER 1

Like one of those tragic characters from pre-Galileo soap operas, High Ruler Chloe lay in her huge bed, three times the size of an average bed. Her blonde hair was tangled, and her face showed indications of crying for a long time. Azoin servitors (crab-like aliens), ted-bots (robots dressed as child-sized teddy bears) and humans milled about in the new High Ruler's massive bedroom, evidently disturbed by Chloe's state of mind.

Fiafi had told the High Ruler a bit about Umvitar, Amaterasu about Albert (aka Alberta), NBBN2 about Galileo, and now it was my turn to teach her. I, Gaia, showed myself as a beautiful woman modeled to perfection like I always do. Moist and blue eyes pierced me. High Ruler Chloe, it’s time for another important lesson.

No, I’m good.

You said the same to Fiafi, Amaterasu, and NBBN2. My Presence smiled.

High Ruler Chloe gazed at me with a confused look on her face.

I continued to nag. High Ruler Chloe, if you stop studying, a lesser Ruler of your age might challenge you. You know what that would mean.

Chloe's eyes furrowed as she stared at my hologram. That Amalie Sawyer. Was she really married to an alt-Earther? Can you tell me more about her?

With pleasure. I was glad that she showed interest in Amalie Sawyer. Amalie was the oldest daughter of Galileo, who claimed he was able to communicate to gods. Some scientists speculated they were pseudo-gods, aliens. Albert Sawyer coined the term NonLocalBeings.

I know what you're going to say next, Gaia, Chloe said, frowning. He isn't one of my forefathers.

AMALIE'S HUSBAND, HAD two secrets. A member of a prestigious order and a prestigious subclass, he was addicted to Hymn, HMN, or Green Bliss. The illegal drug was available on Earth Zero, birthplace of Amalie, and Near4.892-9Feb2112.AmalieSawyer.1, the parallel universe where Volker came from.

A Slider, Traveler, Stepper, and so on, Volker could travel between the parallel universes using lupsofot, a rare material that couldn't stay still, flitting in and out of worlds. And so could Amalie.

Little was known about lupsofot. Albert aka Alberta, Amalie's grandfather or grandmother and a genius, conjectured once that lupsofot particles possessed extra dimensions inaccessible to normal matter. (I decided not to dwell on the Gender Change.)

In alt-China around the time the alternative Marco Polo lived but decades after he visited the country, Amalie and Volker were on a mission in Far5.156-7May2117.AmalieSawyer.1. Volker's father was Japanese whereas Amalie's grandmother, Victoria, (the one who gave birth to her father) was from Manila, but neither of them could pass for a Chinese person. The alt-Earth of this universe was very similar to Earth Zero. Apart from the fact that the HiDimBes, evil bodiless beings simultaneously existing in multiple universes, had unleashed a plague of sentient spiders the size of labradors. And the climate was bitter cold but more about that later.

The dark spiders communicated with each other through a musical language, Amalie and I, Gaia, had deciphered. Well, after Amalie collected the required data, I did most of the work.

Amalie and Volker wore special Berfiber suits. Volker carried a gun whereas Amalie didn't since she was a member of Second Order. Her father, Galileo, had founded Second Order, and one of the new rules of  SO was 'Do not kill'.

It was a moonless night, in more ways than one, and nanobots camouflaged the couple's air-car, hovering above a hilly landscape, covered by thick ice. Plus, lasers had manipulated the material to render it nearly invisible. Furthermore, the vehicle was armored with Berfsteel, a Qeerav invention but not unique in the Pax Galactica.

Volker had been a hacker, a criminal and software consultant before he discovered his Sliding skills and met Amalie. But that was a long story.

Amalie smiled. So the police in your world has your DNA information, fingerprints, and voice recordings—

Volker's eyes flashed green. And more than that.

Amalie's smile froze. Did you take HMN again?

Her husband looked away. What? No, sweetheart.

Don't lie to me. I inherited some of my father's empath abilities.

Volker scoffed. Nonsense. He gets things right sometimes...

We're going back to base. I can't have you endangering our mission.

A ping chimed and a holographic message appeared accompanied by my voice. (Amalie  as a senator in the Democratic Parliament of the Solar System was one of the very few allowed free access to me.) Gravimetric anomaly and a possible Slide. I gave them the coordinates too.

Lupsofot helped create wormholes between universes thanks to the wavej field. However, there were ways to detect a mass appearing out of nowhere using basic interferometry, gravimeters.

Regressors! Amalie whispered.

Regressors were the minions of the HiDimBes, recruited from the many planets of the Multiverse. Well, the Milky Way because the HiDimBes limited themselves to that galaxy. Albert aka Alberta had helped Pax Galactica to kick out the HiDimBes out of Milky Way Zero. Or so we hoped.

Weren't the Spiders enough? Volker asked.

Amalie glared at him. I'm not talking to you until Dr. Itai Itai tells me you're clean again.

We must check this anomaly out, Amalie.

No, I'll send a drone.

Volker frowned. We're not delivering pizzas.

Amalie focused, using a special breathing technique. The lupsofot hidden in the air-car did the rest. Minutes later they were back in Solar System Zero, Gods' Cylinder, to be exact. The O'Neill cylinder was the residence of Second Order for quite a while.

Most Second Order members didn't know Volker was from an alt-Earth. The wall-screens displayed footage from the drone Amalie had sent.

A whole fleet of hover-cars, not shy in the least, landed in alt-China. Green-skinned and goblin-like Qeeravs, taller bird-headed Thohnuths, and crab-like Azoins, the smallest of the three species, got out, dressed like Arctic explorers. Most regressors present were Earthlings, and there were some robots although the HiDimBes feared AI.

If there were locals, who saw the invaders, they didn't show themselves. However, the Spiders joined the helpers of the HiDimBes and received food for their trouble. The ravenous monsters weren't picky eaters.

We've gotta go back, Volker said.

Amalie arched her eyebrows. And do what? Second Order doesn't want to kill.

Okay, let's seriously hurt them then.

Maybe, Volker. But first I need you off Green Bliss and this tempo for good. (Tempo was a Govoreet word for time.)

A small fist-sized drone hovered above Volker until Amalie found a HMN clinic for him. Volker was an embarrassment for her, but she didn't want to divorce him. They had five children together after all.

Amalie teleported home to Earth Zero through an Atagan-style network of wormholes. The SO missions were important to her but so was also her work as