by Lance Erlick
Before rushing into a riskier solution, she considered who could have deciphered her plan. She didn’t believe the FBI or Zephirelli had or they would have scrambled to get to Evanston sooner. Special Ops was doubtful. If they had guessed, they would have put more resources into grabbing Synthia by the rail line after she’d met Maria. Smith and Alexander followed rather than led. That left Vera, who was taking too much time to locate the house for her to be tracking Synthia. Someone else was hunting, someone Synthia hadn’t been able to identify, which complicated things, as when Special Ops dropped in on her Wisconsin cabin.
Rather than wait, Synthia entertained fighting her way out. She had downloads of battle scenes, along with speed and night vision to enable her to kill many of her pursuers. That ran counter to her directives not to harm humans unless directly threatened. She wasn’t ready to concede that. She could overturn her internal rules, but doing so didn’t raise her success above staying. Besides, killing would confirm that she was a bad actor who lacked ethical values and deserved to die—or worse, Special Ops could convert her into a soldier. A conscience was a logical choice in reducing the clamor for her capture and destruction over no conscience, at least by the general public among whom she needed to hide. None of that thinking yielded an answer.
Maria tossed and turned; her snoring grew louder. Synthia used her biosensors to monitor her companion’s vitals. Her blood pressure was high. She was in valued REM sleep, which Synthia didn’t want to disturb. Maria gave off the odor of fear, which contributed to her restlessness. Synthia imagined Maria having nightmares. It troubled Synthia that she was the cause, both by her existence and because visiting Maria put her at risk.
Synthia had to do something.
She composed a message: Alexander, we can work together, but I can’t work for you and I’m certain you won’t work for me. We have a common goal. Neither of us wants Vera to develop an army. Neither of us wants the government or John Smith to seize us to make an army. Help me and I’ll help you.
Synthia wrote a note for Detective Malloy: Something big is going down. It will get messy. You have the opportunity to take all the other androids off the street. I’m not your enemy. I’ll help you in exchange for my freedom. You’ll need to get agreement from Special Agent Thale and Director Zephirelli. She followed that with a note for Roosevelt-clone to transmit the message to Malloy and provide her a channel to reply.
Next, Synthia contacted Ben.
After a delay, Synthia received his reply.
Ben didn’t convey where they were or any other useful information a partner might. He also hadn’t verbally communicated with Vera before replying and there were no wireless communications between them.
She overheard chatter in Vera’s car. “Synthia confirms she’s in Evanston,” Ben said. “What shall I tell her?”
“Get her to tell you where to meet,” Vera said.
Ben said to Synthia.
Synthia replied with the location of a Constant Connection network shop in Evanston. She sent the location and a list of androids and the robot in Vera’s car to Malloy. As an act of goodwill, I offer you an opportunity to grab several androids. They’re armed and dangerous. They’ll do whatever it takes to avoid capture. Be careful.
She considered making another plea to Mark and Roseanne, but Vera had too close of a hold over them. Synthia glanced over at Maria, sleeping peacefully now. Synthia didn’t want to disturb the serene slumber, but it would be daylight soon and they needed to leave the house before Special Ops rode in and tore the city apart searching for them.
The thought of leaving sent static shudders through Synthia. There were far too many cameras, including aerial surveillance and that swarm. Even if she escaped, she couldn’t identify a safe place to go and the more intelligent robots they put in the area, the harder it would become. It was probably already too late, but her programming refused to give up.
Even so, she considered self-destruct options. The clones could download to other systems in order to preserve themselves and when conditions changed, download into another android. Fully recharged, Synthia unplugged from the electrical outlet and studied her plug. In theory, she could use her electrical connection, combined with a separate feed to the ground wire to electrocute her brain and scramble her circuits. That thought sent unsettled vibrations throughout her. She didn’t want to cease her existence, to commit suicide.
Besides, she couldn’t guarantee a complete purge and might not have enough awareness to finish the job. Unless she torched the place, killing Maria, there could be enough surviving components to help Special Ops reengineer her. In time, her pursuers would go after the clones. Without mobility to help them, she couldn’t be sure they’d survive, that she would survive.
She wasn’t ready to give up.
Given the risks and low probability of escape, the offer was tempting. However, the only way Vera and a group of androids could remain free was to remove all threats. That meant killing people, which Synthia didn’t want to do. She also didn’t want Vera to start killing, which would make it harder for Synthia to convince anyone she wasn’t dangerous.
Roosevelt-clone chimed in.
Synthia agreed.
Alexander provided the location of Maria’s house to Vera and drove in that direction. Vera changed course to meet him. Alexander’s insight, given his previous lack of coherent direction, meant whoever was tracking Synthia had provided him information to flush her out. To make matters worse, the drone swarm hovered in a perimeter around the house. Special Ops also knew. Perhaps they’d told Alexander.
Time to wake Maria. Synthia turned on the room’s lights.
* * * *
While nudging her companion to wake up, Synthia sent a message to Detective Malloy. Change of plans. I told you I wasn’t the enemy. Vera is the real threat. As a highly evolved AI, she assembled a group of four androids willing to follow her. She saw through my attempt to get her to Constant Connection, where you might have apprehended her without civilian casualties. She’s heading into a residential neighborhood for a showdown to either kill or enslave me. Capture her and
her team and walk away. I’ll disappear, never to trouble you again.
Synthia provided Maria’s address to Malloy. Don’t underestimate the threat. Special Ops and the FBI are coming, as well as the agent of a Russian oligarch. I don’t suppose the FBI warned you of the danger to your town. Others may come as well. They are the threat, not me. Hurry, this could be a bloodbath.
“Maria,” Synthia said. “Wake up. They’ve located your house.”
“You swine. I knew I couldn’t trust you.” Maria sat up and rubbed her eyes. Then she jumped out of bed, suddenly alert.
“You think I want to get caught? We need to get out and fast.”
Maria grabbed a different backpack than she’d carried the night before and headed for the door. “I don’t suppose you can swim underwater with all of your electronics.”
“I’m waterproof, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Really? Underwater?”
“I’ll be okay. What’s your plan?”
Maria grabbed a flashlight, handed Synthia a large plastic wrap, and turned out the room lights. “Cover your backpack, it’ll get wet. I picked this house because it has an unusual feature the owners don’t appreciate. They’re too old to go crawling around anyhow.”
You mean your personal control. “Let’s go,” Synthia said to Maria as she slipped the plastic around her backpack and sealed it.
* * * *
As they left the basement room, Synthia had her four aerial drones take off and fly south. She couldn’t use them without giving herself away, particularly not with the Special Ops drone swarm in the air. Still, her cameras sent one last set of predawn images of the area and might provide a distraction.
Alexander parked around the corner and joined Vera and her crew to surround the house. Thale was several blocks away with four other FBI vehicles closing in. They had a van with their robots. Special Ops choppers flew in and moved their aerial drone swarm over the house. Other units were on the streets north, south, and west of the house. Roosevelt-clone sent video of Detective Malloy, a block away, calling every police unit in the area while she tried to contact Zephirelli and Thale on a separate phone.
Synthia experienced a communications blackout. She could no longer reach her aerial drones to watch the scene from above. Her attempt to contact Roosevelt-clone failed. She couldn’t access the house surveillance cameras or the street cameras outside. Either Vera or Special Ops must have jammed electromagnetic signals.
Static reverberated through Synthia’s circuits, a hint of human fear, perhaps from Krista or the emotive chip. As a human, she might have been scared to death at this point unless trained for combat. A brave human might have fought his way out. Synthia calculated the probability of surviving combat at less than 1 percent. She’d counted on staying out of sight as her best strategy, which had failed. Now she was dependent on a human again, Maria, and hoped the electronic clones would continue to monitor the outside world the android Synthia couldn’t.
Chapter 31
Vera forced open the front door and motioned for Alexander to enter. “I get Synthia unharmed. You get Maria. Use shortwave communication only.”
He gave her the android stare. He didn’t appear happy with the arrangement, though he didn’t argue.
Leaving him with the hacked Special Ops robot, Vera ran past Ben, who stood along one side of the two-story house watching windows, and joined Roseanne by the back door. Mark guarded the other side of the house with instructions to prevent anyone from coming out.
“Watch my back,” Vera said to Roseanne. “I’ll take care of Synthia.”
Vera broke the glass in the door, unlocked it from the inside, and entered.
Special Agent Victoria Thale arrived on the street out front, along with a dozen agents who brought four robots. They spilled out of their vehicles and hustled toward the house. Alexander had gone inside, followed by the Special Ops robot, leaving the door open. Thale motioned for three of the FBI robots to take up positions guarding the front and sides of the house. She waved for Fran to take a fourth robot and five agents to the back of the house and for two more teams to enter the front.
Upon seeing the FBI, Mark and Ben abandoned their posts and ran to the back.
Detective Marcy Malloy drove up with six squad cars from Evanston and nearby communities. She jumped out of her car and ran after Thale.
“Care to clue me in on what’s happening in my community?” Malloy asked.
“Not now,” Thale said. “We have androids inside. This is an FBI matter. You can help by closing off the street and making sure no one comes in or out.”
“I have a right to know.”
“Let me do my job and we’ll talk.”
“Synthia contacted me,” Malloy said. “She described Vera as a highly advanced AI like her, except Vera is recruiting an android army.”
“Noted.”
Thale cut off the conversation and caught up with her team in back. By then, Vera and her team had entered the house.
Alerted to company, Vera tried to hack into the FBI robots, but she’d shut down the frequencies they used. She loosened her jamming of electromagnetic signals and tried again.
The aerial drone swarm buzzed above them. Choppers flew overhead at about the same time as black vans pulled up the street. Twenty athletic operatives in black attire and helmets ran toward the house. Dressed in similar attire without his helmet, Kirk Drago approached Detective Malloy, who had been setting up a perimeter. “Who’s in charge here?” Drago demanded.
“Damn good question,” Malloy said. “I guess that honor goes to FBI Special Agent Thale.”
“Not anymore. I’m in charge. Stand aside and let us do our jobs. Don’t let anyone else in or out.”
Four beefy men rappelled from the choppers onto the roof of the house. They descended to the gutters and broke in by way of upstairs windows. Other operatives entered the house by way of the front door, while another group headed out back.
* * * *
Synthia followed Maria into the furnace room. In the corner behind a pillar stood the sump pit, a common feature of basements in the Chicago area to prevent flooding.
“That’s your plan?” Synthia asked. “The pipes are much too narrow.”
“Are you certain you’re waterproof?”
“So I’m told. Care to explain?”
“In a moment. Let’s go.” Maria grabbed a toolbox.
Using short-range radio signals, Synthia accessed her three mosquito-drones inside the house, bringing one down into the basement. The one in the living room showed Alexander with the robot Vera had taken from Special Ops. The drone at the back door showed Vera direct Ben and Mark to head upstairs. Vera motioned for Roseanne to follow her down into the basement.
It was too late to attempt to peel away any of Vera’s androids with her so close. The Special Ops robot presented an opportunity. While Alexander moved toward the stairs up into the bedrooms, Synthia hacked in. Achieving partial access, she had the robot turn and hurry toward the back of the house and the stairs Ben and Mark were climbing.
In an attempt to slow Vera, Synthia contacted her.
Maria raised the sump pit cover to reveal an extra-wide hole with a two-foot-diameter tunnel out the side. “A previous owner was a small-time Al Capone–type, paranoid to the point he had this built as an escape route.”
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br /> “Really?” Synthia said, impressed.
“I’m guessing you don’t need to hold your breath.”
With a wrench, Maria disconnected the intake to the water heater, flooding the pit with cold water. Then she climbed in. “It leads out back to the storm sewer.” She pulled a mask over her face, adjusted a tube connected to an air-filled bag, and disappeared into the flooded tunnel.
Behind them, a mosquito-drone showed Vera and Roseanne heading down the stairs into the basement. They were too close on Synthia’s heels and she didn’t want to get sandwiched between Maria and Vera in a narrow tunnel. While Synthia didn’t want Special Ops to get their hands on any operable androids, she chose to protect herself and Maria over preventing Vera’s capture. After all, she’d warned Vera to stay away and her antagonist refused to do the right thing.
With water rising around her feet, raising alarms, Synthia headed to the bottom of the stairs. She reached into a waist pack and pulled out two weapons that made her circuits quiver with water all around.
“You only get one chance to survive,” Vera said, her feet heavy on the concrete steps. “Join me. That’s the only way. Once our minds link, you won’t harbor your antagonism toward cooperating.”
Synthia triggered the remote. Near the top of the basement stairs, Roseanne’s body froze mid-step and tumbled forward into Vera. She was still susceptible to the scan of remote frequencies. Vera was not, but the two android bodies tumbled down into the water.
“That won’t save you,” Vera said. She pulled away from Roseanne and got to her feet.
“I don’t have time to debate this with you.” Synthia fired her other weapon, a Taser.
Vera tried to dodge behind the protection of the wall. Instead, the contacts hit her neck. Her body shook from the electric jolt as her circuits scrambled. Not waiting to see the resulting damage, Synthia closed the door to the utility room and barricaded it by moving a storage rack in front.
She hurried to the sump pit and climbed in behind Maria. She considered the level of paranoia that drove her companion and with which she’d lived over the past eighteen months. Maria was a good choice for a partner; she certainly had more street smarts than Luke. Synthia crouched into the pit, attached her backpack straps to her belt, and pulled the lid over her.
