Connected Infection

27. Paradigm Shift - Chapter 17.2

They pushed their chairs back with metallic scrapes, took their coffees and left the isolation of the interrogation room, re-entering the urgent chaos of the command centre.

'Coronel,' Popescu said as they approached Mendoza, who was seated at a desk poring over a sheaf of reports. 'What's the latest?'

He pointed to a cluster of high-ranking officers in conference on the other side of the room. 'A General de Ejército has arrived, with several Generals de Divisiones. They are now the commanding officers, and I am not included in their discussions. Instead, I have taken it upon myself to maintain contact with your offices in London while you were questioning the prisoner.'

Raven nodded. 'Good.'

'Digipaper is not working, so we are slowly being buried by all this wood paper coming through these machines,' Mendoza said, rustling the reports and indicating a bank of old faxes behind him. 'My soldiers are all complaining that they did not train to be secretaries.'

'Just give us some highlights,' Raven said.

Mendoza stood, holding one of the sheets. 'Much has come in. Many populations are turning Luddite overnight, burning anything with a chip in it, but this is more interesting. A large explosion has been witnessed at the Gobi Artificial Singularity Project in Mongolia, although the facility's power output has not been affected.'

'At least something is still working,' Popescu said. 'What happened?'

'The man in charge of the project, an Anthony Li, called the Mongolian government to let them know that their guards had to kill some infected workers attempting to sabotage the reactor. He has assured them that the power will remain on, and that they are checking the rest of their employees for infection now.'

'They'd better check fast,' Raven said. 'That place is an obvious target.'

'Indeed,' Mendoza said. 'And so, naturally, the Mongolian government offered to send in troops to help guard the facility. Mr Li refused the offer.'

'He did? Why?' Popescu asked.

'He stated that a military presence would unnerve the employees, risk bringing more infected people within proximity of the reactor, and also that it was in violation of the terms of the Project treaty.'

Raven frowned. 'I don't think Mr Li appreciates the severity of the situation.'

Mendoza nodded. 'I agree, Agent Raven. That place provides power for half the world. Its integrity is more important that the nerves of its employees, and the troops could be checked for infection just as the employees are.'

Popescu nodded. 'And as for the treaty, it isn't as if the Chinese were offering to send troops across the border. The Project is on Mongolian soil.'

Raven scratched his chin. 'Are the Mongolians investigating anyway?'

'The report doesn't say,' Mendoza told him.

Raven glanced at Popescu. 'Want to check that out?'

She shook her head. 'It's too far. I don't think we should stray too far from Casas Ibáñez. Besides, this Li might just be one of those by-the-book guys, and so long as the power is still on I don't think we need to worry too much.'

'Fine. Anything else, Mendoza?' Raven asked.

'Illegal air travel since the ban is still continuing. Most of it seems to be rich individuals attempting to get to what they see as safe ground, but UNAXI is receiving unconfirmed reports of other air traffic that does not appear on radar.'