Gideon

Chapter 24

Underground cities existed hundreds of years before the 4th Great War. Amsterdam, Chicago, Boston, Germany and New York had built theirs during the 22nd and 23rd centuries to cope with an overburdened population growth and limited upwards space.

After the war, Denizen's heart, the Pyramid, had been built over 60 years. The building's triangular outer surfaces converged to a linear point at the top, making the shape roughly a square pyramid with a square base and four triangular outer surfaces. The pyramid had been sliced at the pinnacle, and another pyramid built on top, this pyramid was upside down, giving the illusion that the base dangled in the air.

Since the destruction of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in the year 2250 during the 4th Great War, a war that lasted sixteen years, The Pyramid became the largest standing structure on, and beneath the earth. Schools, universities and colleges, shopping malls, theatres, offices, gardens, apartments, parks and zoos all occupied this one building whilst outside, on the surface, nations fought amongst themselves.

The European Union crumbled, and in its place was established the League of European Nations (LEN); one totalitarian continent renamed Europa. A continent without technical or physical borders.

The USA crumbled. Her borders became confined to mere republics, each with its own Prime minister and government.

Africa no longer kept itself separated from the world. It became the hub of the world's economy. People from all over the world converged here. Their cities had been torn apart during the nuclear destruction that ended the 4th Great War.

African leaders came together and proposed that all people be divided into those who live below ground, Denizens, and those who live above ground, Solarians

Denizens were bound to live by curfews, the moment they surfaced. They were not allowed to own land, or businesses and, if they were found to be without the mark, they were spirited away, never to be heard from again.

Over the years, artificial intelligence had been developed to think and act just like humans. They infiltrated every walk of life. Humans did not need to work. The Androids worked. Androids did not need money, so the governments reached out to humans by offering them grants.

The Denizen facilities created the Android EMO models with the ability to recognize all emotions in humans and to act on those emotions, while Xenocon built the Krakat model. These Androids recognized only fear and joy in humans but, unlike the Android EMO, they were unable to make decisions based on a human being's emotion. They killed criminals and Underlings without mercy.

Now Xenocon had a new enemy; Denizen 1, and Krakat would need every resource available to penetrate The Pyramid.

It had one entrance at the surface protected by a thirty meter, concrete sliding door.

The challenge: To penetrate this entrance.

Once inside, 1000 kilometers of tunnels weaved their way into the earth, the walls of the tunnels - steel rebar, concrete and plastic. Tunnels built for transport and air vents leading to thirty-two vent towers, from where the gigantic fans circulated the air. Temperature levels at twenty-feet were 55 degrees F. Throughout the one-hundred levels the temperature at each level increased by one degree. Each zone tower was staffed separately and controlled digitally or physically in the event of a breakdown.

The challenge: to disrupt the air vents.

Krakat now knew the children's exact location. He had no reason to dispute his informant's information. The children were heavily guarded, but that had never stopped Krakat from completing his mission.

He'd start with the element of surprise.