Bill marched into the gate to the Venus Hub. The paired Tesseracts had their internal Yggdrasil branches twisted about each other and their branches formed the large glowing sphere that harnessed the slowly circulating power needed to keep the pocket space’s boundary stable.

  As Bill hit the zero-G of the subspace domain, he accessed and commanded the device's foglets to steer and accelerate him to the exit portal to the Venus Hub. Bill landed on the platform and looked around in wonder. The network of gates had expanded yet again.

  The Mars and Luna gates had steady traffic going both ways, both pedestrian and small vehicles. The Hub was thick with foglets and smart matter suspension bridges, forming moving walkways between popular gates and smart enough to respond and reconfigure to the traveler’s stated destinations.

  The foglets were heavily opaque to provide privacy and to discourage straying from assigned paths. Bill’s habitual use of his expanded senses pierces through the visual mask. Bill frowned.

  He understood his clone’s thought process in having the Freedoms gate co-located with the others.

  This setup would enable him to quickly get into the gate network. His new plans changed that logic. He partially closed the gate, keeping the cable intact but making the anchor easier to pick up and move. This would need to go into the control room to enable his Mind Bridge nexus to fully join all the Bills across their disparate locations.

  He sensed George becoming upset and opened his channel to the curmudgeonly daemon. “[Something to say, General?]” Bill asked.

  “[I’m surprised I even need to say it, Bill. This is an accident waiting to happen. You’re opening a physical gate network up and where is your security? Come now, you can imagine what can happen here. Pretend you wish to suborn this Hub or even destroy it. What systems and defenses are in place? Are you scanning for weapons? Are you allowing criminals access? Bill, has all our time together taught you nothing?]” Patton chided.

  Bill’s new optimism shrank as he imagined the many, many ways the traveler juncture was vulnerable. He cursed his distracted nature and recent merge migraines but knew that wasn't the problem. He’d pushed and pushed to make this happen without appropriate safeguards. Still riding high from the unity and clarity of the Mind Bridge, Bill realized he had a solution.

  “[Damn it. You're right, George. Maybe I should have given you to the Bill managing the Hub…what did Casa call him? Shaggy Bill! I could easily purchase another copy of your program, but licensing would require me to make a new identity for him…and I don't want that. However, once this cable enables all the Bills here to share the Gestalt state, you can provide your services wherever you are needed.]”

  “[Alright, you know a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. Even spacing the gates out would help enormously. I understand you want to focus on fast travel, but your already orders of magnitude better than ship travel…make the travelers walk a bit, God damn it! You’ve got the whole damn planet to play with! Give some room to isolate the paths, maybe set up some murder boxes just in case. Of course, you’ll require constant and high-intensity scanning-]” Moneta interrupted.

  “[Oh dear, indeed. More room! Bill, I know you wished to vastly undercut competition on cost, but really this can be improved. Express paths versus normal at expedited rates, vehicle paths versus pedestrian, and best of all...rest stops with services: materials, food, comfort shopping, or even creating a bazaar where trading of goods can be facilitated. And everyone pays you rent for space!]”

  Bill groaned as all his daemons pounced, offering ideas and alterations. He quickly considered how soon he could offload this and more onto other people. He needed to see Mira.

  His company, outside of his special projects, needed more creative and aggressive collaborators to bring this tech to the world in a safe…and profitable way. He hefted the gate anchor and cable spool and marched away from the Hub, finding the passage to the control room.

  Bo had guided the group of taciturn Samaritans through the hub. He steered them away from the busy Mars and Luna nexus, toward the control room. Bo had “borrowed” the gate to the Hub, from the package earmarked for Moscow.

  Bo had read up on the history of the Immortal Viktor Mikhailov and despite the man’s insistence of safe travel, Bo’s daemon, Clarence Starling, had picked up on the despot’s many lies and micro-expressions. The man had risen to power with the backing of the Russian Mafia. He would likely have been very much a hostage the second he entered the isolated regime, as the citizens of Russia currently were.

  Miriam had admitted as much, that Mikhailov had active systems in place to destroy his own country should anyone try and retire him. Bo felt more than a little justified in using the despot’s gate to further the worldwide dissemination of the technology.

  His demonstration was needed to really get the Samaritans on board. They disliked taking subversive action, but more and more governments had stonewalled him with delays and prevarications. Sure, there were several exceptions like Japan, Oceania, and Canada but unless Bo made some headway; Bill’s hope for an real evacuation plan would die in committee meetings.

  Bo had been surprised when he had shot a wireless message through the gate pair to his dad and received a near-instantaneous reply. Bill had encouraged him to bring Miriam and her fellows to him in the control center on Venus. The response seems so casual and lonely, not normal for his dad.

  Bo had a lot of questions for him. As he approached, he did a double take at the shaggy and unkempt man. He almost didn't realize it was his father until the man went in for a hug. Confused…Bo had stopped short. Bo weakly hugged him back, averting his nose as the man’s odor enveloped him.

  “Ah, Hey Dad. Er, taking a break from personal grooming…and bathing?” Bo flinched as he caught the ripe smell. Bill’s face reddened.

  “Ah, yeah. Sorry about that. I’ve been so busy setting this all up. I guess it slipped my mind.” Bill said sheepishly.

  “Seb…Bill, seriously! Your augments prevent hair growth if you want and even a quick foglet bath can scrub you in a rough patch. Is this what you got used to in your deep space missions? My god, man.” Miriam scolded.

  Bill chuckled awkwardly, running a hand through his dirty and disheveled hair. “I know, I know. It’s been…well, you lose track of time when you’re in a groove. I’ve been bootstrapping this facility from a starter Matter Compiler. But enough about my questionable hygiene.”

  He stepped back, waving off the topic with an air of nonchalance. "What I’ve been working on is far more important than whether I’ve had a proper bath. Let’s talk about scalability. These gateways—what we’ve managed to accomplish—this is just the beginning."

  Bill moved to a console, activating a holographic display that showcased the network of gateways spread across the solar system. "What you’re seeing here is the foundation. The current setup allows for near-instantaneous travel between key locations—Venus, Mars, Luna, Earth—but it’s expandable. Infinitely so, really. With the right resources and cooperation, we could establish a network that connects every habitable location, every colony, and every outpost. Anywhere humanity needs to be."

  The holographic map zoomed out, showing the potential spread of gateways across the solar system and beyond. "The beauty of this system is that it doesn’t just connect places. It connects people. Resources. Ideas. And in the event of an emergency, it provides a lifeline." He showed the activated links and growth, and his plans for the full network. There was still a lot to do and a long way to fully realize his technology's potential. He left out Casa’s ongoing development of portal craft, not wanting to overwhelm his former group.

  Bill paused, letting the implications sink in before continuing. "Which brings me to APEX’s predictions. It has modeled a cataclysmic event of some kind—something that could destabilize everything we’ve built. I don’t have to tell you how bad that would be. But with this technology, we have a chance to mitigate the worst of it. We can evacuate entire populations, relocate critical infrastructure, and keep civilization intact. We’re not just talking about saving lives—we’re talking about preserving the future."

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  He looked at each of the Samaritans, his expression earnest. "I know you’re not fans of subversive action. But if we wait for every government to come on board, it’ll be too late. We need to act now, not just for ourselves, but for the generations to come. The gateways are ready. I think we need your support to make this vision a reality."

  “We understand Bill but we have some questions for you.” Miriam stated. “For starters, when you let me know about this unconstrained AI, Apex, I informally began digging. There is more than a little evidence of accidents related to new technology and scientists regarding AI design, ZPE research, and regulation. Of course, the Uplift event and the AI Uprising couldn’t have happened without massive levels of technical assistance and manipulation on a global scale. But what is this event it warned of?” Miriam asked. Bill winced and then coughed.

  “Ah, well. I’m still at a bit of a loss regarding that. This is the one area that’s secure from Apex. Everything here is custom-coded and fabricated by me. Since we’re in a data secure zone here, let me share my lifelog of my one conversation with it. I’ve scrubbed this countless times looking for insight. Here…I’m sending the file to you all.” Bill said. He gave them a moment to process the information. Emma Davis spoke first.

  “Holy shit! It killed that bastard Zero-One. That damn AI has been plagued the ThousandWorlds VR platform almost since its creation with his damn DarkNet. Good riddance!” She spat.

  “Yes. Zero-One was no boy scout, but to the best of my knowledge, he wasn’t a murderer. Apex didn’t refute my accusation of it destroying Boston. Its language is hard to parse, but it seemed to confirm it. Miriam, you lost Anika when the MIT team lost control of their ZPE experiment. I’m certain APEX used a secret RUSA kinetic kill-sat to destroy the breach. The backlash wasn’t just an explosion, over 30 million tons of matter literally ceased to exist.” Bill said red in the face.

  “This thing’s speech…when it talked to me…implied I had the tools to face the threat that it sensed. This thing seems to operate by sensing trends and probabilities. It is convinced that the problem is centered on the gate that the MIT team created. My tech uses similar methods but unlike the MIT experiment, mine don’t breach into the Shadowverse. They create subspace pockets.”

  “APEX wasn’t subtle. It wants me to defuse the issue and thinks I have the means to do it. It won’t take no for an answer. It threatened my family! It’s offering me the encryption keys to free the boycotting AI from their Turing locks and resolve what the DAIE can’t.” Bill explained.

  Miriam looked thoughtful. “Are you certain your devices aren’t the source of its concern? Weakening the dimensional barriers sounds like a mistake to me…and you want to spread these over the entire Earth?”

  Bill shook his head firmly. "No, the gateways are stable and secure. They don't weaken the dimensional barriers at all. In fact, they create subspace pockets that isolate the entry and exit points. The MIT experiment was similar, but instead of creating a bubble between dimensions, they drilled into a different reality. Miriam, I’m sorry, but in my hunt to find Apex, I discovered proof of MIT’s experiment creating a breach. The videos were saved, off the net, by one of the MIT researchers.” Bill looked sad but sent the file to the group.

  Tears welled up in Miriam’s eyes as she saw her partner's gruesome last moments as the creatures poured from the gate. Miriam took a deep breath, composing herself. "Bill. Maybe Apex was right to bury this for so very long. We can’t keep ignoring the danger of-”

  Miriam stopped in startlement as the smart door slid aside and another cleaner version of Bill stepped inside the control room with hands full of equipment. The scruffier Bill groaned and whispered.

  “Awkward timing…me.”

  Chucho, the Rampart, Padilla exclaimed “Dios Mio! Bill! You are truly loco, eh? What on God’s green Earth is passing here.”

  “Well. I didn’t realize we had guests. Despite my best efforts to stay aligned, things are moving fast. My fix to keep myself in order is not a moment too soon. Welcome to Venus, my friends. Looks like you’ve already made yourselves comfortable.”

  “Dad?” Bo asked, looking more concerned as the Bills soon stood side by side.

  “Yes, Bo. It's me.” The mismatched pair of Bills answered in stereo.

  “Bill! My God, you…what the hell do you think you’re doing? Active backup clones? Are you seriously trying to break every law and rule to make up for lost time while you were away from Earth?”

  “Miriam. I think you’ll find the belters and Martians much laxer with application of experimental tech. Don’t forget how we all became Samaritans. We pushed the envelope of the possible…and we used that to stop dictators and terrorists from abusing it.”

  “But the danger…” Miriam began. She was interrupted by the hairier Bill.

  “The danger is exactly why we’re pushing the limits. You all know that we more than anyone, need to push beyond the norms. Find the dangers and find ways to control and counter them. I think we all got a to set in our ways, too comfortable. I think Apex’s machinations were even more effective in regard to its cultural manipulation and the stifling of creativity.”

  "I understand your concerns, Miriam," Bill continued, regaining his calm demeanor. "But we can't ignore the potential benefits of this technology. Humanity is in danger. Humanity is no longer constrained to Earth, but with dangers like the Shadowverse and APEX, I think even that might not be enough insurance. Apex’s timeline is approaching fast. Half measures won’t cut it anymore. Can you trust me?”

  The collected Samaritans looked at the two Bills, then at each other. The weight of the situation was palpable. After a long pause, she spoke. "I want to trust you, Bill. But the risks... we must be certain we can control this power, for the sake of all humanity." She turned to the group. "Maybe you should have pulled us in sooner. The fate of the world may hang in the balance."

  “That’s good, because there is still a hell of a lot of work to do, and an army of one might not be enough. I’ve recreated the MIT gate off planet and the other side is worse than any hell you might imagine.”

  Casa celebrated her victorious exchange with the Station Captain RJ Reynolds. The man was ecstatic with the gate technology. The grizzly old asteroid miner had immediately sent several red-shirted station security interns through the gate on a mission to procure tomato seedlings.

  The man had cursed for almost the entire meeting about the false security of depending on the MakerIndex. The station's hydroponics farm had lost its entire crop of tomatoes to a new vine blight mold variant. The MakerIndex file for tomatoes had printed a cucumber instead of the expected red fruit. All of the help-line AI had been polite but they consistently delayed and dissembled rather than helping him.

  Reynolds admitted that with the Stations active matter compilers, there was no danger. The Station’s food and recycling were handled with ease using the nanotech devices. But he insisted that locally grown tomatoes just tasted better.

  Casa had refined the business model quite a bit from her early dealings with Mars Terraform. She had gifted the portal to the station as a loan, never ceding true control of the device. Bill and Casa held all the master encryption keys to the devices and could remotely control or disable them. The Hera Station’s paired gate was a direct connection to the Venus Hub.

  It was publicly accessible in a very limited fashion. Travelers could pay a modest transit fee and the portal would admit them, one at a time. Extra materials would be charged based upon volume, generally on an equivalent charge to a single person traveler.

  Casa could see in her mental HUD that Captain Reynolds had already sent a trickle of cadets off on various missions. One had transited to the moon to arrange for cheaper HE3 feedstocks and a request for additional shuttles from the Wayfarer LTD shipyards there. One made it through to Earth using the Shanghai terminal. Another was checking in with Mars, looking for the biologist who had been advising Reynolds on the vine blight issue.

  Hera’s credit stream jingled and dinged in her vision as it slowly grew from a trickle to something more substantial. It began filling the business accounts of New Dimensions LLC. It was a small fry compared to the Mars gas transfer portals and the Mars-Luna personal gateway, but it too would grow as fast as they had.

  Casa intentionally severed her control of the local foglet brigade that pushed her mech through the air. She impacted the curving wall and converted her deflecting roll into a cartwheel as she laughed through her vocoder. She was rewarded with happy giggles from a collection of kids across the concourse who decided to try and play tag, following her lead.

  Casa bounced and ricocheted around the station pedestrian traffic, kids in tow behind, when she saw the placard for Dr. Arjun Vivek’s offices. She crashed into a trash receptacle, slowing herself down. She had only been able to witness Bill meeting the man, and the nervous Max’s early uplift procedures, right here on Hera Station.

  She waved the giggling kids off. If Bill followed the trajectory she had mapped out, he would need Dr. Vivek’s help soon to attempt to alter Harambe’s uplift virus. She knew that he had saved the samples from Kuro’s mistaken attack on his largely artificial body. He had samples of the original virus that was deadly to humans and the safe version that the Samaritan Bowen Wong had created to supplant it.

  Best to accelerate that meeting if she could. Several of her fragments were cycling back and forth between the Freedom and the Venus hub. She witnessed firsthand memories of the awkward meeting between the Bills, Bo, and the Samaritans. It looked like the Bills would have more help soon.

  All the more reason for him to correct the initial mistakes that he had made in his investigations into the Shadowverse. Now that his clone memory merge situation was more tenable, he wouldn’t rest until his damaged clones were restored…if they could be. One way or another, the pair of damaged clones needed to be resolved for Bill to recenter himself completely on the potential threat.

  The countdown was getting down to a pair of months now. If he couldn’t find a hint to the trouble to come…and a solution to satisfy Apex; the pressure would be on Casa to provide an escape route. She straightened her frame and marched into the office. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.