by Tony Corden
“I am very lucky to be alive, Dr Ellis.”
“Remember, we agreed I was Thomas. I let it slide before because I was in the supervisor role. Now I’m in the colleague and friend role. Can I do anything to help?”
“Thanks, Thomas, but I don’t think so.”
Gèng interrupted and said, “I do know a possible way you could help.”
Leah said, “Maybe later then, after I’m feeling better, maybe we can think of something then.”
Gèng said, “Thomas, if you want to help Leah, then I have a suggestion.”
Leah said, “Gèng, can we discuss this later?”
Gèng opened her mouth to say something, but Dr Ellis interrupted her, “Ah, another piece of data and another skin comes free. Leah, your AI Gèng was aware you didn’t want her to let me help. You gave what any other AI would consider a direct order and she not only ignored you, but she proceeded to push the point. You could have ordered her to comply, but instead, you tried to redirect. Now, any other AI would have seen this as another direct order, but Gèng was going to push back again. I’d theorise that not only is her sentience level high, but that you take her independence as a given. She is not only sentient, but she possesses a cohesive and well-developed self-identity. AI like her are called EPICS, which stands for an AI with self-actualised Ethics, Purpose, Ipseity, Creativity and Sentience. I imagine this is one of those final onion layers you fear uncovering. You are afraid of what people will do to someone who, in your own words, you ‘love and care about’.”
Leah said nothing. Finally, Gèng said, “Dr Ellis, I have read much of the debate around how to deal with what you call EPICS, and I know Leah has. I think you are only partially correct in saying that she wants me to be quiet because she is afraid for me and because she loves me. But we are both afraid of far worse things than losing each other.”
Turning to Leah, she said, “You have been haphazardly building a core of people who you trust and who you can work with for weeks now. People who can help deal with this problem but it isn’t enough. We need help and it is being freely offered by a man of intellect, with connections and with what I think is a good heart.”
Leah nodded slowly, and Gèng said, “Dr Ellis, with all you’ve surmised, does your offer to help still stand?”
“It does.”
“Then, if you are able to talk to your contacts in the Ministry of Defence, and if you can do it safely, then we need to get some deep background on a British citizen. If we look for it and we get caught then too many dots will all be connected. Your contacts will, I hope, be able to covertly find out what we need. They may even uncover what we are looking for, so please ask them to be careful. I’m not asking for anything classified or beyond what I could legally discover with time and effort. It is just that we can’t afford to have the search lead back to us. I would suggest your friends also make sure it does not lead back to them and please only ask people you trust.”
“So if I get this right, you want a covert, deep, metadata search done on information that is publicly accessible? This information is, you think, of vital importance in some big scheme involving powerful people who are already trying to kill you. You want me to ask my trusted, very skilled, friends not to get caught, or even spotted, doing something perfectly legal and then to get this perfectly legal information to you without it being able to be connected to you in any way?”
“Yes.”
“OK, I’ll help. Who is this person?”
“The second Earl Barnsworth, Leo Barnsworth.”
“Seriously!”
Leah said, “Yes, please. Gèng is correct once again. This is something we can’t do ourselves, and we need to have the information so we can understand more of what is going on.”
“Then I’ll do it. When I have something, I’ll let you know. Please keep me informed about your health.”
“Thank you, Thomas. We appreciate it.”
Thomas logged out soon afterwards because Gèng informed them that John and Michael were waiting to talk about her medical options.
When John and Michael sat down, John said, “I talked with Jimmy and he has no one he trusts enough to help. He’s checking around with the other Bosses, and he thinks he’ll be successful but not before morning. Your dad has a suggestion he thinks will be quicker.”
Michael said, “I’ve talked to John and I understand why you don’t want to go to the doctor, but I’ll take you there if the only other option is you dying. Now, having got that off my chest, I do have a suggestion.”
There was a pause as Leah waited for her dad to continue, but he seemed almost afraid to speak the idea aloud.
Finally, John said, “Hurry up Michael, it’s your idea, and there is no way I’m going to take the blame for suggesting it,”
After another small pause, Michael said, “Leah, um …, you know that sometimes I need to let off a little steam and I, um …, well I’ve been known to spend some time down at the Blue Heeler.”
“Yes Dad, I know. We all know you like a drink every now and then. The Blue Heeler is a nice pub, and whether you know it or not, I’ve done small jobs for Ned and even hung out with Bill and Panit.”
“No, I didn’t know you occasionally worked for the Switch’s most notorious pub owner and that you hung out with his two most dangerous bouncers. Believe me, we will discuss that later.”
No longer embarrassed, Michael continued, “Well I’ve made some friends down there, and one of them isn’t from the Switch but lives at the old meat works. People call him ‘Coats’ but his real name is Kevin.”
“I know who Coats is, Dad, what about him?”
“I’d like to ask him to treat you.”
“Coats! Dad, he’s a …I can’t think of a word that doesn’t seem really, really, judgemental. He drinks a lot, and he doesn’t bathe regularly. He has no fixed address. His clothing of choice is a pair of old coats, and I know for a fact that he isn’t wearing anything else except a pair of old shoes.”
“Yes, he is an unhygienic, rather eccentric, homeless old drunkard and I don’t want to know how you know what is, or isn’t, under his coat. That aside, he also used to be a surgeon.”
“Dad, how long ago?”
“He’s in his late sixties, and he stopped working maybe twenty-five years ago.”
“If he has the skill, why haven’t people in the Switch been seeing him before this?”
“He hasn’t told too many people that I know of, and when he stopped working, he swore he would never go back to the old life, ever.”
“Why did he stop and why would he change his mind?”
“He stopped because he made a mistake and someone died. He’ll help because I’ll help him see it won’t be the same as it was before.”
“You want someone who killed someone to operate on me?”
“Don’t make assumptions, Leah. I never said he killed someone while operating. I didn’t even say that he killed someone. Look, it’s not my story it’s his. If you want to keep out of the hospital, then it is an option.”
“What about the fact that he’s a drunk?”
“It’s only ten. He won’t have started seriously drinking yet.”
“John, what do you think?”
“I think your dad is nuts. Still, I suggest Michael and I go talk with him while Jimmy tries to work his magic.”
Leah tentatively agreed although she preferred the idea of Jimmy finding someone else rather than having Coats use a knife on her. John and Michael left, and Gèng said, “What can I get for you?”
“I was going to suggest a book, but I’m finding it hard to concentrate.”
“You could read your fan mail.”
“My what?”
“Your fan mail. I know you’ve looked at some of the messages you get from strangers. I know you’ve been ignoring it, but the number of messages has increased a thousand fold since you’ve been ranked.”
“No thanks. I already feel sick, I don’t need to add to it. Anything
else?”
“You have a few messages from people you know. The manager of Ascendant sent you a small note of congratulations. Red and Star sent you a note, as did Elsa, and there are others.”
Leah agreed and she read through the various messages and sent replies. She remembered to send Wisp a note saying something had come up, and she couldn’t get to Cosmos Online for a day or two. She messaged Red and Star that she had a mission they might enjoy and asked them to contact her if they were interested. She asked Elsa for information about Eli. Her second to last message was from Yuè Fēi, and she spent such a long time working on the reply that she decided she probably had a small crush on the guy.
Her final message was from Ivan, player name Боевой_молот. He congratulated her and said he hoped next time she’d push Meredith from her pedestal and break her nose or something. He explained how Meredith had been trying to win him over, and he had tried being polite, but he was almost ready to start a feud of his own. Two things stood out to Leah. The first was that Ivan really didn’t like Meredith, and the second was that Meredith had offered him something that Leah wanted.
She sent a quick query to see if he was free to talk. He responded almost immediately and agreed. His message offered to meet at his place or to set up a visual chat. Leah sent a quick video message and said, “I can’t visit right now but I am happy for a visual chat, or you could come to visit me.”
Ivan decided to visit her and Gèng sent the address. Gèng went to get Ivan, and Leah asked that she explain that Leah was injured but not to give any details. Gèng showed Ivan into the Tower and then left. After the usual comments about her world, Leah said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you at your place, but I’m not supposed to move around.”
Ivan sat and said, “It does happen. Not to me of course but sometimes to fragile little girls. Suggest to your doctor that he gives you a temporary exception. You can play and it has no effect on the body. It happens all the time, no problem.”
“I would, but then the person who hurt me will know they succeeded, and I don’t want that to happen.”
“Someone hurt you. Who do I have to beat up?”
“Now that’s the attitude I was looking for, Ivan. You know I enjoy talking to you, and I did want to thank you for your message, but I also invited you here with an ulterior motive.”
“Ah little girl, when most women say that to me I remind them that I am very married and that my wife is very possessive. You, I think, have a different motive.”
“Definitely. I wanted to know if you would like to annoy Meredith just a bit.”
“How much is a bit, Atherleah?”
“Well, she’ll probably hate you forever. She’ll hate me more, but she will be very, very annoyed with you.”
“Tell me, what must I do and what will it cost me?”
“In your message, you mentioned that Meredith invited you and your wife to the International Christmas Season Opening Gala. It’s by invitation only, and it sounded like you were going to refuse.”
“I am. My wife is not happy with all those people. They always make her angry, the way they look at her and talk to her. They only want to talk about themselves.”
“So, I was going to ask if you would consider telling Meredith your wife can’t make it but could you bring a ‘plus one’?”
“You? I think you would hate it more than my wife.”
“I’m certain I would. I have three reasons. First, it’ll annoy Meredith beyond measure that she arranged for me to be there. Second, you asked who you would ‘have to beat up’, and this will be so much more humiliating for her. Third, my boyfriend will be there, and Meredith and his parents are keeping him away from me.”
“She is the one who hurt you?”
“Yes.”
“How could she do this?”
“She is rich and powerful and really doesn’t like me. It was either her or Nathan.”
“I can understand trying to annoy Meredith, but even I will not be too happy to annoy Nathan. How are you hurt?”
“That isn’t important. Will you help?”
“Who is the boyfriend?”
“Thad Emerson.”
“They won’t like you as a girlfriend. Too, how you say it? Ah, I remember, you are too ‘not good enough.’”
“Thanks, Ivan. Your opinion of my worth is making me feel so much better.”
“No, don’t be mad. That is a compliment from me. This Thad, I can’t believe he is the right person if he lets his parents tell him he can’t see you.”
“It isn’t up to him.”
“If he is a man then it is up to him. He doesn’t sound like the right person. I will introduce you to some real men. What do you say?”
Leah spent ten minutes explaining about the malware and discussed the examples of what she’d come up against but didn’t mention any names. After Ivan had finally accepted what she’d said, he said, “Do they do this in the Russian Republic as well?”
“Security didn’t say, but the update was international, so I’m certain it happens there.”
Ivan sat there quietly and then finally said, “How did she hurt you? Don’t say it isn’t important. I wondered why she was so against you. She is petty and arrogant, but this has always been more than that. What did she do?”
It was Leah’s turn to be quiet. Eventually, she said, “I can’t prove it was her yet, but I know it was because of things that have happened. I was shot.”
“Shot!”
“Yes.”
“Then I will talk to Gashka. If she agrees, then I will try and arrange it. You are a dangerous little girl. Try not to get dead.”
Ivan said farewell and left Leah alone again. She tried to read a book but found it hard to concentrate. Finally, Gèng said, “John is back in his Pod, and he wants to talk.”
“Yeah, OK. Now is good.”
When John arrived, he said, “Leah, Jimmy has been able to find some help, but she’s a nurse, not a doctor. I talked with her and she works in a theatre and is willing to come here and assist, no questions asked. I mentioned your dad’s friend. She said he would be better than her but said she could come and assist and she’d make sure he didn’t do anything too dangerous.”
“And Coats?”
“I don’t know what your dad said to him, but he’s downstairs having a shower. I expect the nurse, Aleyna, to be here in twenty minutes. She is bringing stuff like scalpels and forceps and all those things. What we don’t have is any way to give you a general anaesthetic. She’ll bring some local anaesthetic. Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“I can’t see any other way, John. How soon?”
“Exit the Pod in half an hour.”
John left, and Leah asked Gèng to move the sofa and herself down beside the river. She sat there thinking through what had happened, made some lists and wrote out her will. When John messaged that everything was ready, Leah had Gèng log her out.
REAL WORLD
Mia, Marie, and Lacey were waiting, and with them was a middle-eastern looking woman about forty years of age who introduced herself as Aleyna. They helped Leah into a pair of track pants, and then Lacey and Marie ducked outside and brought in a hastily constructed stretcher which they put onto the bed. Once they had helped Leah to lie face down on the stretcher, John and Johan came in. They carried Leah out into the hall and then to a room down the corridor which had been hurriedly emptied and turned into surgery.
A waist-high bench had been converted into a makeshift operating table, and the men were kicked out for a minute while the women helped Leah lie on the bench. Michael came in with an old man who Leah hardly recognised. Leah thanked him for offering to help out and said that her father was a good judge of character.
Coats, or Kevin, as he said he wanted to be called said, “Not sure if I offered or was told. I’m also not sure if Michael is a good judge of character or not, but he can tell good stories. You realise that I haven’t done this for a long time and that you
should go to a hospital.”
“I understand, Kevin. But we can’t always do what we should.”
“Michael made me some promises. You’re the one who’ll have to keep them. Will you do what he promised?”
Leah’s dad walked around so she could see him and he simply nodded.
Leah said, “I can’t say for sure if I can do what he promised, but I will give it my best shot and then I’ll keep on trying until I know it can’t be done.”
“That’ll be enough for me. OK, everyone out except the nurse, the healer girl, John, and Johan.”
Michael said, “I’d like to stay and help.”
“Nope, get out. You’ll distract me. The nurse is probably enough, but I may need the boys to hold her down. Now John, where are the scans you said you had?”
John had brought a screen into the room, and Gèng put the images up of Leah’s shoulder and the wounds with detailed pictures of each piece of debris. Kevin began to remove the dressings and then after injecting Leah with some local anaesthetic, he got to work. In the beginning, both Kevin and Aleyna commented each time they encountered the carbon fibres in Leah’s body, but after repeated warnings from John, they finally ignored them. Altogether it took them four hours to clean all the wounds, remove the pieces of shrapnel and suture everything closed. The anaesthetic helped but didn’t dull all the pain. Even so, John and Johan weren’t needed.
When Kevin had finished, he suggested a treatment of antibiotics and pain relief and said he would be back later the next day to check on Leah. Leah asked if she could enter the Pod and Kevin said, “I’d rather you didn’t. It isn’t a problem with the gel but with the moving of your shoulder.”
“How about if I get in and go into NREM3 ?”
“No harm and in fact, that would be beneficial. Have your AI monitor your vitals and tell John if anything goes wrong.”
John and Johan carried Leah back to her room, then Marie and Lacey helped her into the Pod. As soon as she was settled Gèng closed the Pod lid. This time, Leah dropped immediately into NREM3 sleep.
