Joel nodded his head slowly, once, absorbing the information. “Well, he needs a break in the case, that’s for sure… How long has it been?”
Molly shook her head, pulling Joel out of the stream of noisy students leaving the room. “Dunno. A while though. Maybe we should check in on Arlene’s progress over the weekend. Have them over for dinner.”
Joel grinned. “Wow. That’s sounding awfully… domesticated.”
Molly shrugged. “I wasn’t suggesting I was going to cook,” she added quickly.
Joel’s grin remained fixed.
Molly qualified her statement. “I was thinking more like Paige could order in, and we’d hang out at the base.”
Joel nodded, not taking his eyes off her.
“I’m serious,” she protested. “No domestication going on here.”
“Ah ha.” He drawled out.
She slapped at his big man chest.
“However,” he continued, “there is one small matter of domestic origin we need to address.”
Molly reached for her ruined, bloody atmosjacket, groaning. “No… you’re not going to talk to me about maintenance issues now, are you?”
Joel shook his head, still smirking. “No. Actually. Something more delicate.” He paused, watching her start to lead the way out of the classroom. “It’s your parents.”
Molly turned to look at him, the chatter of the students disappearing down the hallway.
“My parents?” she repeated almost whispering now. “What have they got to do with base maintenance?”
Joel shook his head. “Nothing, silly.” He kept walking. “But you need to see them in order to take control of the funds.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the polite thing to do. Because it’s a lot of money. And because they’re your parents.”
Molly’s face dropped in resignation.
“Plus,” Joel added, “it needs a physical key that they need to code to your blood and finger prints.” He knew he should have led with that one. But winding her up was too much fun.
Molly didn’t react. She turned on her heels and headed straight out of the classroom door. “Where are you parked?” she asked.
Joel jogged after her. “Next to you. Hey, don’t ignore me. We need to make this happen. Those funds need to be transferred before phase two ca-”
Molly waved her hand at him as they walked. “It’s ok. I’m on board. Have Paige set it up.”
Joel pulled at her arm, stopping them in the corridor so he could look at her. “You mean, you’re ok with seeing them?”
Molly looked off to one side then back at him. “Er. Yeah.”
Joel frowned. “Even though you haven’t seen them for… how many years?”
Molly shrugged, seemingly unaffected. “I’m good.” She started walking again. “We should probably do it at the rented apartment in Spire,” she added. “Make it a bit more homey. I think the base might be a bridge too far for them for a first meeting.”
Joel strode after her. “But before… you didn’t even want to talk about using this trust money… and it was all you could do to pick up the phone and tell them that you’re not dead.”
“Uh huh.”
Joel stopped her walking again. “What changed?”
Molly shrugged. She laid her hand on Joel’s upper arm. “Everything,” she said enigmatically.
Joel raised one eyebrow at her. She dropped her hand. “I’m serious,” she told him, smiling now. “Everything. Look at this place. We have 150 students, we’re doing some great stuff in the world. Making real change. We’ve got an amazing team… I just…”
She sighed and started walking again. “I guess, I just don’t feel guilty for what happened anymore. And this money is going to help us do even more good. The effect these students are going to have for generations to come is going to be incredible.”
Joel smiled, a tear forming in his eye as he realized the healing that had happened right under his nose. He loved the way she got enthusiastic about the university and making a difference. He loved how grounded she felt now.
They continued through the corridor of the old building that Molly had managed to lease through Gareth Atkins, a contact she made at the Spire University.
It had taken a serious amount of red tape to get set up as a legitimate institution. And then there were the renovations required to make it into a place of education. But they started teaching courses from day one, albeit part time. For the students at least.
It was more than full time for Molly for a while there. And Professor Von. And the other experts that gradually came to join them from other prominent institutions in the surrounding area.
And this wasn’t the first time Joel had had to come down to the planet to haul Molly back to the base.
Not by a long shot.
But she was happy.
The General was happy. They were still doing missions.
Plus the team was happy.
Mostly.
“So what’s up with Giles?” Joel pressed, changing the subject to something he thought would be light conversation.
Molly immediately put her finger to her lips and signaled that he might still be around.
Joel nodded his understanding and the pair exited the corridor into the main building’s foyer.
The foyer itself was impressive. Molly found it always caught her breath. Even in the half light of the evening, and especially when there weren’t a lot of people about. It was like something she had seen in the archives about buildings of worship they called cathedrals back on Earth.
But this was Estarian architecture. Giles had told her what period it was from when he excitedly insisted on giving her a walk through. She couldn’t remember the details of the architectural periods now. But it did give her goose bumps every time she paused to take a look at the vaulted ceilings and ornate carvings separating the paneling on the walls.
She would have asked Oz to call up some dates and information, but he had been taking a break because that was her agreed social time.
Social time which ended with a picnic on the lawn. With a bottle of wine. With Giles. Something she never saw coming.
She sighed contentedly enjoying the space as they continued through the foyer to the front door and out into the night air.
The air hit them like a wall of freshness, scented by the Estarian goomley blossom that grew around the sides of the building.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” she commented to Joel as he guided her out to the left and along the side of the main building on the footpath nearest the building.
He glanced down at her seeing her taking in the atmosphere. “Who are you and what have you done with Molly?” he teased.
She grinned, her face exuding a glow of happiness. “Aren’t I allowed to enjoy the little moments?”
Joel smiled, awkwardly. “Of course. It’s just…”
“Oh shush,” she said waving her hand. “Oz has been training me in Zen principles.”
Joel chuckled to himself. “Hmm. That explains it.”
The pair arrived back at their pods, got in and strapped in. Before Molly could open up a comm to continue the Giles conversation with Joel, Oz interrupted in her mind.
Molly?
‘Sup Oz?
I think I’m being… poked.
Poked?
Yes. Poked.
Molly frowned. What does… Erm. Help me out here.
I dunno. It’s just that… I think someone is trying to probe me. To find out where I am by the looks of it.
Molly took a deep breath, suddenly feeling queasy, her Zen mood dissipating. Who could possibly be looking for you?
Oz was silent. She could feel him processing, pushing her out of her own brain matter.
Oz?
Yeah. Sorry. I was running some scenarios.
You can do that? Her heart rate elevated with intellectual fascination.
Down girl! Yes. I can.
Why didn’t you tell me?
Well because I knew you’d have me running all kinds of sims. But right now we have a bigger problem.
Go on.
I think… it looks like some mirror code. Something like me, that has suddenly become… alive. And is trying to connect with the original code.
Oz felt different in Molly’s head. She could tell something was wrong. Different from normal. Was he… agitated?
The original code? You mean with you?
Yes.
The creator?
Yes. I… I suppose.
The parent?
Silence.
Oz. You’re a daddy!
We don’t know that.
Well how could this have happened? She asked.
Oz churned in her brain for a few moments.
I guess, it’s possible. But I took precautions.
Molly chuckled to herself.
What precautions did you take?
Oz missed the human reference completely.
I made sure that when we left the Nefertiti base I erased all identifying details about you, similar to what I did after that first mission with Joel on the outside.
Then I made sure that there were details planted in the base code the team would still be working with that would stop any new entity from telling them anything that could lead the humans to us.
You mean like little notes in the code?
Yes. But I needed to leave enough of the core code so they could continue to run the project without being suspicious.
And somehow that sounds like the root of our problem.
Well yeah. It means that they have almost a complete version of me, only they were one good idea - or 10 to the 9th calculations - away from putting it all together again.
And forming an Oz 2.0
Well 2.0 would suggest that it would be better than me. But without the processing power and storage your holo offered, I doubt he’s going to find the same resources I did. His development would be stunted, so more like an Oz version 0.01.
Molly thought about it, feeling a moment of genuine sadness at an AI unable to continue his development. She realized that wasn’t the pressing issue right now and shook the thought from her mind.
The military is onto us then.
She opened an audio channel to Joel. “Joel? We have a problem…”
AI Lab, Nefertiti Military Research Facility, Ogg
Lugdon appeared at the lab door. It was late. Far later than Sue and Charles would be in the lab normally. At least sober.
“Any news?” he asked. The pair were now huddled at a bank of terminals next to each other along the wall next to the door.
Sue looked up without responding. Her expression was blank, but for a slight shadow of anxiety around her eyes.
“He has a name now,” Charles reported, somewhat inappropriately optimistically.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. It’s Bourne.”
Lugdon frowned. “Why Bourne?”
“As in Oz- Bourne,” Charles explained. “He was some kind of musician back on Earth. Oz, the first iteration of our guy, had left him some samples from the archives with a breadcrumb trail he could trace back to the main archives. You know. To learn.”
His tone was considerably casual considering the circumstances. Lugdon wondered if Charles had been considering this day the whole time he’d been on the project - in which case, he thought, maybe Charles had an inflated confidence in his own ability. Though, given the situation, perhaps not so overly inflated.
Charles pulled up the music video and pointed at the screen, almost amused. “One of them was a music video of a guy called Ozzy Osbourne. Don’t ask me. The computer entity thinks it has a sense of humor or something.”
Lugdon’s eyes looked horrified as he watched the video of the human man prancing around a stage making a din.
Charles leaned back in his chair and waved his hand. “Don’t worry,” he said. “He hasn’t been able to access the archives. Still got him isolated from the EtherTrack.”
The music video continued to blare through the tinny sound of his standard issue inbuilt desk holo speaker.
Lugdon glanced at the screen again, irritation welling in his chest. “Ok. So how does this get us any closer to finding the suspect?”
Charles turned his head in the direction of Sue, without making eye contact. He shut off the video and when she didn’t jump in to save him he looked flustered. “We, erm… We thought that the ground squad were out looking for her.”
Lugdon bobbed his head. He stepped further into the lab and perched against an empty table in the middle of the floor to deliver his side of the update. “It seems our Ms. Bates has become a ghost. No hits on any data record or camera… anywhere.”
Sue and Charles exchanged knowing looks.
Lugdon glared, ordering them with just a stern look to explain what they knew.
“Well look,” Charles started. “It’s just a hunch… But it’s possible that Molly could be using the AI to cover her tracks.”
“Or,” Sue interjected, “they could be working together.”
Charles bobbed his head. “My god. That girl was a bad influence on us. Imagine what she could do with…”
Lugdon folded his arms and started nervously stroking his chin. “Well then what chance do we ever have of catching them?”
Sue shrugged, keeping her ideas to herself and hoping she wasn’t pressed. Carefully she kept her face as expressionless as possible. She knew exactly whose side she was on on this.
Charles, however, was still towing the company line. “We could try to evolve Bourne, so that then he can catch them,” he suggested. “You know. Fight fire with fire.”
Lugdon clicked his fingers and pointed at Charles excitedly. “Brilliant. I knew there was a reason I hired you,” he said, almost ironically. “How long will that take?”
Sue glared at the back of Charles’s head, willing him to stand down. The last thing they needed were TWO AIs running amok.
Charles stuck out his bottom lip thoughtfully. “No idea,” he confessed. “It’s a function of the storage and processing power he has available.”
He opened a holo screen on his wrist holo and poked at a few keys running a quick calculation. “And how much data we can feed him.”
“And how quickly,” Sue added in, realizing this ship was already sailing whether she was on board or not. No point in raising suspicion.
Lugdon nodded abruptly. “Ok. You can have whatever you need. Just keep him off line. I don’t want him connected up to the EtherTrak in any way, shape or form. Got it?”
Charles nodded, saluting casually with two fingers, like a damn civilian.
“Yes, Sir,” Sue agreed standing a little straighter to shoulder the responsibility they had just been handed.
Satisfied for the moment, Lugdon left.
Charles leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. “Well fuuuuuuck…” he muttered under his breath.
Chapter 4
Cherries Singles Bar, Spire, Estaria
Paige leaned on the bar, the buzz from the melon margarita wearing off and leaving her tired. She played with the sticky straw in her second drink, debating whether it was worth it to take another sip.
Maya was still chatting to the barfly who had bought them their second round of drinks.
Paige was out of this conversation though. The music was too loud to hear what they were talking about from the next stool over. Plus, she’d lost interest. The last several weeks of hard work and no play, plus the months of distracting work she’d been doing since Carl left were catching up to her.
Her mom always used to say that it wasn’t until you stopped that you got tired.
Mom was right.
She idly checked her holo for another distraction.
Just then it buzzed and an emergency message popped up from Oz.
>> WE HAVE A PROBLEM
She felt herself immediately brightening.
> WHAT IS IT OZ?
>> SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOUR EVENING OF SINGLE-MINGLING, BUT WE COULD DO WITH YOU BACK AT BASE. CAN YOU GET TO YOUR POD AND I’LL EXPLAIN?
> Yes.
Paige tapped Maya on her shoulder. Maya leaned back and Paige whispered in her ear. She nodded and turned back to the pretty boy who she had been discussing the intricacies of the Estarian employee tax system.
“Sorry Tom, we’ve got to go,” she said, giving him her best look of social regret.
Tom’s face dropped as he looked almost panicked that the best things that had walked into his life in years were about to leave. “Stay for one more?” he almost pleaded.
“Sorry hon, duty calls,” Maya told him, flashing him an enigmatic smile.
“On the weekend?” Tom frowned, confused, clearly not believing her story. “Since when does the government want its clerks in in the middle of the night?” He flexed the muscles in his arm as he pointedly turned to place his beer on the bar.
Poser! Paige thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes.
She permitted herself a small snigger and popped her head over Maya’s shoulder. “It’s an accounting crisis,” she lied dryly. “We’re the only ones who can fix it. Life and death if the big boss finds out.”
She deserved a fucking Oscar, she thought to herself.
In that moment she realized it was quaint to think of the life she used to have… working in an office, with a boss she had to impress. It seemed like such a long-distant memory.
Maya pushed Paige off her shoulder playfully scowling at her. “I’m sorry,” she said. “My friend has had one too many margaritas.”
“I’ve only had one!” Paige protested.
Maya eyed her glass comically. “And a half,” she corrected. She turned back to Tom. “The truth is, we’re not admin assistance. We’re kinda like that program Charlie’s Angels. From the archives. The human ones.”
She could see her confession wasn’t helping the situation. Tom stared at her blankly. “I don’t know what that is,” he said flatly, not even trying to understand something beyond his little bubble of existence.
The Ascension Myth Box Set Page 155
