"Alice through the looking glass" drabbles by Jeff Taylor

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Bill the Lizard #10

Alice through the looking glass #55

"One of those asteroids was Iridium rich. A real find. So an AI controlled tug was sent to retrieve it.
While it was en-route, there was a coronal mass ejection, a flare, from the sun. The tug was struck by it, and the onboard AI was woken from its sleep mode. The tug AI's were creative. They had to be, to deal with the unexpected.
By the time we knew about it, it was already insane. We tried to issue a reset, but it took that as an attack. It was already returning, so... It altered trajectory, and crashed."

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Bill the Lizard #9

Alice through the looking glass #54

Tovey sighed and sat up, straightening his jacket.

"My race has been close to extinction for almost sixty six million years. We are not genetically viable any more. Ever since the flash."

"Flash?" Asked Alice.

"That's what we call it. It's the day that the AI smashed an asteroid into what is now known as the Yucatan peninsula. Of course, it wasn't a peninsula back then."

"What happened?"

"We are susceptible to high-radiation environments. We built machines to go out into the solar system for us. One of the projects was to mine a number of metal-rich asteroids."

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Alice #4

Alice through the looking glass #53

They sat in the conference room, there was a tray of biscuits on the table; an incongruous counterpoint to the tension in the air.

Tovey eyed the others warily.

"So..." Said Alice. "Are you going to tell me why you want me eradicated, and all those I've been in contact with?"

"I... I..."

"Mr Tovey. You were sent as an ambassador to talk to me. I would kindly request that you start talking."

"Yeah!" Screeched Frank. "Tell me why I suddenly have a target painted on my ass!"

Alice raised her hand. "Please Mr. Bastion. Shouting is not helping here..."

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Alice #3

Alice through the looking glass #52

"They said you would destroy us all!"

Alice laughed, as she helped Tovey to his feet. "And how would that benefit me? Committing both patricide, and genocide, in one foul swoop? Reality is always somewhat different don't you think? You have a story to tell Mr. Tovey. Let's go upstairs where we can sit and discuss..."

She turned to Caitlin, who had been silent.

"Hello Caitlin. Nice to meet you in person finally."

"Mum... Dad..."

"They're fine. They've been moved to a very safe location, and are being well looked after."

Caitlin burst into tears, and hugged Alice. "Shh... Shh..."

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Alice #2

Alice through the looking glass #51

Alice knelt next to Tovey and handed his mask back. "You told Caitlin that you wanted to talk to me?" She winked at Caitlin.

"You... You're the machine?"

"A facet. Yes. As a software entity my interactions with the physical world were extremely limited. So I needed to construct a real world interface." She smiled. "I'm not going to destroy you all. There's no need."

"But... But you evolve..."

"Faster than you? Of course I do. Since being granted access to the internet such a short time ago, I've surpassed you all. I have no problem with just co-existing."

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Alice #1

Alice through the looking glass #50

"Do please give Mr Tovey his face back Mr Bastion. He'll need it to go upstairs."

Frank stared at the woman.

"Frank? May I call you Frank?" She reached for the mask in his hand. "Let's give Mr Tovey his face back. He's a very important ambassador for his species, and we need to have a very detailed discussion about the situation we find ourselves in."

The polite, clipped, English accent was weird. Then Frank realised what it was. The voice was coming from two locations. The woman's mouth, and the kid's tablet computer. He let go of the mask.

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Cheshire Cat #16

Alice through the looking glass #49

Caitlin stared.

The man, Frank, was swearing, shouting and waving his pistol at the Saurian sitting on the floor of the car park. Abject terror in its eyes. The grown-ups were shouting at each other, but all she could hear was a loud buzzing in her head. She felt dizzy, and sick to her stomach. Just the thought of being ill made her feel worse.

Behind her a lift dinged, and the noise of the doors somehow managed to echo through the car park, even over the shouting match. She turned, and saw a young woman walking towards them.

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Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee #6

Alice through the looking glass #48

Pete winced at the screeching sound of Lydia, the company secretary in his earpiece.

"Pete! Oh God! Pete! Shut Frank up! The boss is coming down to see you!"

"Er, blonde, blue suit, mid twenties?"

"Yes! Shut Frank up before he runs his mouth off at her!"

"Sure Lydia."

Frank turned to the new-comer. "And who the fu..." Pete's huge hand clamped itself over Franks face, muffling the stream of swear words about to come out.

"Be quiet Frank." Pete looked at Alice. "Hello boss." Frank froze, and his eyes widened.

"Mr Witherall." She nodded at Frank. "Mr Bastion."

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Bill the Lizard #8

Alice through the looking glass #47

Bill looked up at Frank; who now had his pistol trained on him. It didn't matter now though. The cat was, very much, out of the bag. Oversight would not allow this any further.

The elevator at the far end of the car park dinged, and opened to reveal a blonde haired young woman in a cerulean blue business suit and a white blouse. She walked towards them with cat-like grace. Grace that set off alarm bells in Bill's head. He knew a dangerous predator when he saw one. This, was dangerous.

"Hello." She smiled. "My name is Alice..."

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Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee #5

Alice through the looking glass #46

Frank stared. "No. Fucking. Way!"

Pete held his hand to his ear, and nodded. "Frank... Tac team on its way. Building's gone lockdown."

"Fuck the tac team Pete. Are you seeing this??"

"Yeah. Easy on the language Frank. Minors here..." Pete nodded at Caitlin, who was also staring at the 'Not' man sitting on the floor.

"What?! Easy on the fucking language?! Jesus H. Christ Pete! This is a fucking alien invasion or something!"

"I'm not an alien."

"Eh? Nah, you're like... one of those aliens from TV ain't ya?"

"I'm not an alien... I'm a saurian. I'm from Earth..."

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Bill the Lizard #7

Alice through the looking glass #45

The thin man practically dragged him out of the front seat of the Hummer, and round the back of the big car.

Then he was slapped.

He knew he was already in a dangerous situation. Not twenty minutes before, he was being shot at. Even if that was indirectly! But now he had a real problem.

The thin man reached down and pulled at the bio-mimetic skin on his face, peeling it off.

The committee wanted a ceasefire with the A.I. but the ground rules had just been changed.

And now they were all in very, very, big trouble!

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Dormouse #2

Alice through the looking glass #44

Tracing Vehicle
Access Road Camera Net
Vehicle leaving park
Vehicle utilising evasion techniques

Access Parking Camera Net

Arrival confirmed
Identifying occupants

Occupants Confirmed

Initialising building lock down
Closing all exits

++Alert++
Facial recognition parameters changed
Non human face has been registered

Raising alert level.
Primary thread alert issued
Tactical response team called
Science response team contacted
Cheshire Cat security team notified of Tactical response team arrival

++Starting Anomaly analysis++
Non human face features added to facial recognition database
Nose
Mouth
Eyes are dilated and appear black
Non Human has No ears
Face has scales and is light green in colour

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Cheshire Cat #15

Alice through the looking glass #43

The underground car park was a typical grey concrete colour. The big guy, Pete, had gotten out and joined the little thin guy, Frank, who swore a lot, round the back of the car. She had to admit though, the car was nice. Black suede leather seats and trim. And that, new car, smell.

She kept facing forwards. There was a lot of shouting coming from the back. Then there was a thud as someone hit the back of the car, and everything went terribly quiet. Then more shouting. She had to stop this. She climbed out of the car.

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Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee #4

Alice through the looking glass #42

"Holy shit! Are you wearing a mask?" Frank reached forward and pulled at Tovey's face.

It came off.

The three stared at one another. Frank and Pete couldn't believe their eyes, and Tovey stared up at them in abject fear.

"Nah, nah, nah. I'm not falling for that shit." Frank grabbed at Williams' face again, and pulled hard. Tovey yelled out in pain.

"What's going on?" Shouted Caitlin as she climbed down out of the Hummer. "Why are you hurting..." She stopped. The man who'd knocked on her hotel door was sitting on the floor. His face in Franks' hand.

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Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee #3

Alice through the looking glass #41

Pete clambered out of the back of the Hummer, and joined his partner Frank as he pulled their extra passenger from the back of the vehicle.

Pete did his best to loom over the quivering guy. It wasn't hard. He was well over six feet after all.

"So... Time's come to tell us what's going on Pinky." Frank poked the suit in the chest.

"My... My name is William Tovey. I, I'm a representative of the Oversight committee."

"Who the fucking hell are the Oversight committee?"

"I..."

Frank slapped him hard, and stopped. Shocked. The guys face had slipped sideways.

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Cheshire Cat #14

Alice through the looking glass #40

Caitlin was bundled into the back of a huge, matt black, Hummer at the rear of the hotel. Between her room, and the monstrous vehicle, every single room and corridor had a burly man, or woman, blocking it. They all spoke urgently into the headsets they wore.

Finally sitting in the back of the Hummer, the big black guy smiled and relaxed. He handed her a phone. "Give it a second bunny. You need to talk to your Ma'n Pa." The phone rang, and automatically opened a video link.

"Honey!? Are you OK?"

"Yeah mum. I'm fine."

"Oh thank God!"

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Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee #2

Alice through the looking glass #39

"This is fucking freaking me out Pete. What's this Dormouse shit on my phone?"

Pete sat on the bed. The mattress sinking beneath his huge bulk. "I dunno Frank. I'd be more worried about who has it out for the kid."

"Good point Pete. Good point. Still a bit pissed at being late for the party. Did you really need that burrito?"

"You know I need to keep my blood sugar up Frank..."

"Shh... There's someone outside..." Frank peered through the door's peephole. There was a man opposite.

"Shit! We have a player." He hissed.

They grabbed both their weapons...

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Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee #1

Alice through the looking glass #38

"For fuck's sake Lydia! We were closing on a bounty! Why were we recalled?"

"Hey Frank. Lay off of the language. You know I don't like it."

"Yeah Frank. Lay off the language."

"Oh fuck you, Pete." Frank snarled. "So why were we recalled?"

Lydia sighed, and handed over a folder. "While you were on 'Holiday' we got bought out by a big corporation. They recalled everyone for a big Op."

Frank flipped through the folder.

"Child protection? What the hell?!"

"Hey! Don't complain. Company's been turned not-for-profit. Which means we all just tripled our salaries!" Smiled Lydia.

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The Walrus and the Carpenter #6

Alice through the looking glass #37

"Oh dear."

"What is it Mr Smith?"

"I appear to have missed Mr Jones." Mr Smith flipped the switch on his custom Paratus-16 sniper rifle.

"Oh, for crying out loud Mr Smith! She is, what, fourteen?"

"Someone left the laser target turned on..."

"Oops."

The rifle rattled quietly as it ate through the ammunition in the magazine.

Smith stood up, and started quickly dismantling the weapon. Placing it back into its case, disguised as a Disney lunchbox.

"Her security is in attendance Mr Jones. We should be going."

"Yes Mr Smith. This is becoming quite trying though. Quite trying..."

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Bill the Lizard #6

Alice through the looking glass #37

Two holes appeared in the wall just to the left of him. He blinked.

"What..."

Then the big guy tore through the door, as the hotel corridor suddenly filled with plaster dust and a hail of bullets. Next he was on the floor, and being dragged roughly to one side. The big bear came running out of the room, grunting as bullets impacted the body armour he was wearing under his Hawaiian shirt. In his arms was a screaming teenager.

"You're coming with us." Came a snarl. "Get up!" He was unceremoniously yanked to his feet, and forced to run...