King of All I Survey
Chapter 170: There is no Such Thing as Magic

Chapter 170: There is no Such Thing as Magic

The door to the decontamination suite of reactor six opened and Luca, Abadi, and two technicians emerged. I greeted them as they exited, shaking hands with the two technicians and thanking them for their work inside. Turning to Abadi, I said, "Khaled, I have some news, can we find Vernydub? I want you both to hear this directly."

"Yes, of course. He should be in Administrative Building Two at the moment. Should I be worried? Bad news?"

"No, no. There’s nothing to worry about. We’re going to remove the mines on the plant’s grounds and establish a half mile safety perimeter and deny access to Russian forces. We’re going to park some confiscated Russian vehicles within that perimeter, but well away from the plant itself. I just want everyone to be aware of what’s happening outside. Before long, we’ll be able to let people leave the buildings and go outside without any fear of Russian aggression as long as they stay within our perimeter. But not just yet. We need to make sure everything is one hundred percent safe first."

Abadi looked at me side-long as we walked, one eyebrow raised. "Really? You can keep the grounds safe from any Russian attack? Drones, artillery, snipers even?"

"Yes, but as I said it may take a little time."

"Hmmm." We walked through the brickwork corridors in silence for a brief minute while heading for the junction that would offer a route to Administration Building 2. Finally, Khaled asked, "What are your beliefs about God, Timothy Bailey?"

The question surprised me. Honestly, I hadn’t really spent much time thinking about the subject, except to wonder if perhaps a being like Joe Torres, a super capable quantum AI using the entire structure of the universe as its hardware backbone, having come into existence with the universe itself, might in fact, be a god, or the equivalent of one. I could hardly say that to Khaled, though. I sensed from his question that he was probably a religious man who might be offended by my musings about AI’s and gods. So, I answered honestly. "I really don’t know. It’s a confusing thing to think about. I’m pretty sure there is some universal presence greater than myself, or any of us, but exactly what its nature might be... I’m not sure."

Khaled nodded, "You fit the role of The Seeker. One who is curious but has not yet found the path of true faith to guide you."

"Hmmm..." I replied as noncommittally as I could. "Honestly, Khaled Abadi, my friend, I have so many things to think about right now, I cannot afford the distraction of trying to figure out my religious beliefs. So I keep in mind that I must always strive to do the most good I can for the most people. I do my best to avoid harming others, though I do not always succeed. I have failed epically in this on several occasions. I only hope to learn to be better with every failure."

"Wise words, from one so young."

A moment of panic washed over me, did he know I was only eight years old, hiding in an adult android form? Then I realized that the android was made to look like it was in its early twenties, and someone like Khaled, perhaps fifty years old or more, might consider the early twenties to be still very young. I resumed breathing, although I really didn’t need to in this android form.

Finally, we arrived at Oleksandr Vernydub’s office in Admin Building 2. The door was open. He was reading through a report on his computer screen. He looked up as we entered, his face tired and carrying a deep sadness.

"Gentlemen," he said, "what can I do for you?"

"Is everything ok?" I asked, "You look worried?"

He sighed heavily, "Nothing new. It’s just that the plant is in such poor condition, all of our back-ups and safety protocols are gone. The Russians have really put this place in deep trouble. It would take several years to get it into condition to safely resume operation. One of the cooling towers is so badly damaged it would have to be entirely rebuilt."

"I see. Perhaps, my people can help with some of that. We have some particular skill in rapid construction and nuclear energy."

"I am happy for any help we can get."

"I’ll ask Luca Mueller, my project leader, to meet with you and figure out which repairs, reconstruction should be prioritized." I offered. "But that’s not why we’re here. I have some news regarding the Russians outside the plant that I wanted to share with the two of you. You can share it with the rest of the staff afterward as you see fit."

Oleksandr leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

I explained that we were establishing a safety perimeter, removing mines and enemy soldiers from the area, and that we would be temporarily housing some captured equipment within the perimeter but away from the plant facilities. I told them about the impending Russian attack and assured them that we would be able to counter it long before it came near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. I told them of the Russian orders regarding the lives of the nuclear technicians within Zaporizhzhia. Vernydub scowled at this.

"They’d better shoot us! We will not peacefully let them have this plant again! If we have to fight with sticks and stones against Kalashnikovs, we will fight to the last man!" He looked at his office wall. I saw a ceremonial sword with a plaque hanging there. My great-grandfather would be proud to have his Cossack sword blooded again." His eyes were smoldering and the muscled in his arm knotted.

"Oleksandr, please. I’m sure you would get a few with such a beautiful weapon and the Cossack spirit of your ancestors, but I assure you that no Russian soldier will set foot within our security perimeter. The plant and the staff are safe."

He gave me an appraising look. "Ordinarily, I would doubt such a claim. The men you returned from Russian prisons, however, have told me an interesting tale. One minute, they say, they were in their cells or prison yard, or wherever they were being kept in Russia, and then suddenly they were back here in the turbine building surrounded by hundred of fellow prisoners, with your men shouting orders and welcoming them home to safety. It was like magic, they say. Will you use the same magic against the Russian army?"

I kept my face carefully neutral. It was much easier in the android body since I could disconnect facial reactions from my emotions with a single mental command. "We’ve hired Penn and Teller, David Copperfield, and David Blaine as consultants. Very expensive, but worth every penny based on the results so far, wouldn’t you say?" I let a smile grow across my face.

Khaled and Oleksandr at first looked shocked, then realized I was joking. Both men burst out laughing. I guess, it took them a few seconds to recognize the American names as stage magicians. "Ha!" Oleksandr burst out, "What you are saying is a good magician never reveals his tricks!"

I smiled even more broadly, "Exactly so," I replied. "In the coming few days, we expect significant progress in ending the conflict here in Ukraine and re-establishing peace and security. I cannot have news of anything I’ve said here leaking outside this plant, so all communications from here will be monitored and censored until things are resolved and secrecy is no longer needed. Speaking of which, I have had my people go through the computer systems and communications systems with the plant and they have found and removed all sorts of Russian monitoring programs and backdoor accesses. The systems are secure again. They had even installed programs allowing them to over-ride safety procedures and feed false data to the plant’s operations to cause critical failures at will."

Abadi nodded, "We found evidence of some tampering in the control systems, but did not have the expertise to meddle with it for fear of triggering some fail-safe reaction."

Vernydub scowled again, "Do they not realize that a meltdown would spew radioactive isotopes not just in this area, but through a broad section of the neighboring Russian territory, many thousands of Russian villagers would be exposed!"

I sighed, "They know. They just don’t care. We are actively tracing the source of these orders jeopardizing the lives of civilians, so we can offer evidence of war crimes against those responsible."

Vernydub face showed his surprise. "Volkov, The Wolf, is responsible, of course. He will launch his nuclear missiles before he allows himself to be taken to trial! You’re wasting your time." Then his face sobered as he considered, "Unless your magicians have taught you another disappearing trick..."

I tried to look earnestly serious, "Just so we’re clear, there is no such thing as magic." Then I gave an exaggerated wink.

Vernydub chuckled, "Absolutely," he agreed with a wink of his own, "no such thing as magic."