SECTOR 10 (The CLOUD 2)

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

The Chief Software Engineer, Naoto, has been unable to control the steady fallout at Delphi Corp. since Bartram's been away. Yasmine and himself are part of a thinning leadership that's failing their staff. Total immersion seems completely lost in another reality, and the few volunteers who have strong vital signs aren't psychologically responsive. They are lost within Pangaea, and the situation is forcing Naoto to reveal more of their failures to Bartram, who's on a trip to Central California. The other, less responsive scientists in total immersion, carry a cold, featureless countenance that is close to death. Yet, Naoto is confident that each mishap is a step in the right direction. He still believes there is a way to rescue them. For Naoto, AIS Aladdin is his only source of information since it has been crossing the dreaded Wall time and again.

The software of Bartram's cloud computing server is transmitting uncontrolled poison, or decaying radiation from Pangaea fields, where teleportation modules are being fanned over with gusts of fierce winds. This is the same poison of contaminated, withering plants and reptiles that's being swept in cacophonies of dust and wind that blows over Pangea's docking stations where the cosmic internet is stationed around its periphery. Faint whistles of soiled air fill the hollowed silence for miles, crackling under the sun like the dim reaction of a chemist's most potent reactions before infinitesimal particles eventually end up as light rays in Delphi Corp. machines.

As the cosmic web's signal makes its way to Delphi Corp. from Pangaea teleportation modules, the pesticide repellant spray and diode lights from machines near farming towns spread active radiation through spray chemicals altered by the cloud server computers. It is spreading disease onto insects and plants alike, spraying the genomic mutation that's proliferating like cancer. With each new application, fields have gradually deteriorated with parallel toxicity. Strands of DNA are being corrupted at the cellular level from the deadly pesticide spray. Lettuce is only the beginning, now that reports are filing in from all over the country where people are contracting a coma-inducing reaction from the mess proliferating in stomachs.

Death tolls are rising, and Bartram's hands are tied by law enforcement. With food recall and subsequent famine ensuing, massive agricultural import and export restrictions are being leveled in Washington to make market relations even more tumultuous. The financial market is nearing collapse as the meager twenty percent of imports can't sustain a failing domestic product. The remaining farmers who've been spared from Delphi Corp.'s blunder can't keep up with the demand for non-lethal, non-genetically modified crops. Bartram's personal hunt to correct the problem is noble, but his place is in the scientific strategy of his company, not making corrections to national policy.

On a quaint farm in a Salinas homestead, the procurer of select meats and lettuce for Dave's Diner gives Bartram goosebumps from seeing his massive acreage of land in danger. While Bartram observes all the farmer's livestock grazing ahead in one section, and fields of lettuce in another, the farmer and Bartram leave room for negotiation; something that may slow down some of the damage that's already happened.

The farmer and Bartram shake hands. "How do ya' do? I'd be Samson. I've heard a lot about ya' Mr. Bartram. These here motorheads are some of the best I've experienced, but I'm sorry to say it's contaminating my crop yield."

"I know," Bartram replies. "I want to take a stroll through these fields, maybe see for myself."

"Sure thing, Mr. Bartram. How ya'll do over there at the nation's capital anyway? I've heard that there's a chance we could all be closing shop if they have it their way."

Bartram disregards the bugging thoughts of the volunteers stuck in total immersion, for the time being. Rather, he offers himself up for assistance since this problem is making people like Sampson lose their livelihoods. Bartram has convinced himself of the soundness of his security systems, but maybe it isn't so safe after all for Delphi Corp., he's sure of it. He's unknowingly opened an unforeseen portal that gives unsecured access to parallel worlds.