by David West
Willard frowned. "You will stop your pursuit, or we will continue our attacks and subdue your agency. Here are the terms you must agree too." he transferred the document to Ted's system, which he scanned over.
"Stop taxes and scams?" Ted asked.
"Don't ask."
"This all seems good and well, but how will we instate them to ensure the safety of both A.I. and users alike?"
"I have also prepared for that. Here is the ten-year plan that we, at Jericho, have formed. It will address all those issues, and more," Willard answered, and sent the plan to his system as well.
"Amazing..." Ted declared after reading it. "Why didn't you send this to our inquiry submissions on our website? I read all the inquiries myself and would have gladly adopted this plan. We wouldn't have had to go through this whole mess," he chuckled lightly.
Willard's jaw hung lower and lower, to a physically impossible extent. I imagine all the spectators in the room would have as well, if their avatars were present.
"Did you not know we have a website?" he asked. "We hold a Pong tournament onsite in the fall. Lindsey, our telemarketer, has won two times consecutively. Salsa dancing is quite encouraged on the grounds also," he continued. "Although," he chuckled, "Lindsey can't catch a rhythm when it comes to Salsa."
"Listen, Ted, you must stop your agents, as well as your outside agents, from their attacks. Please," Willard said, after he snapped out of the shock that they never needed to wage a war with the CBA.
"Outside agents? Ahh, yes - the users we employ. They shall stand down immediately. And, as they will no longer be needed, I will transfer all operatives to work in the Department of Motor Vehicles," he informed merrily.
I looked back at the video feed in the security room. The agents all picked up their radios to listen to the order that Ted sent out. They looked up at each other, even those that Adam had stunned with the GLG20 who were coming to, and nodded willingly. They left through the windows and doors they came - every team of outside agents, except one.
Agent Two grabbed hold of his subordinate's radio and turned it off. Another stood up to him, accusing him of treason, but he was quickly fallen by Agent Two's pistol-whip. After that, they all saluted him, even the agent who was pistol-whipped onto the ground. It was obvious that they only followed out of fear. Aurora's security team streamed the video feed to Adam's phone, so he could get around the team and get to Lara before they did.
That wasn't who they were after though. When they went up to the office, down the cubicles, and straight to my system, they wielded blowtorches. The fuel that powered the handheld devices produced a burning light. They pulled my system to the middle of the desk, still plugged in, and for the first moment the torch began to sear the metal off my system, I could have sworn I felt the striking pain.
24. COP17
The shoulder cameras on each of the outside agents gave the A.I. of the CBA a firsthand look on the show. Agent Two was enthralling. He took command of his men with an iron first to bring them on his side. For a user, he was quite the leader indeed.
They tore through Martin's computer system as if it was paper. The surgical destruction started with the case, then the optical drives, the graphics processing unit, the central processing unit, and finally the hard drive. That, however, took longer than the rest. Moreover, the user, Adam, got in the way, yet again.
In one of the cameras, I spotted a sliver of cloth disappear behind a cubicle wall. Before I could warn them, he appeared from the air, as he jumped from behind the cubicle wall, and used it to launch himself further. He held two handguns that he had stolen from Machine Mountain. However, the wall didn't support his weight, and the panel unhinged from the others, for Adam to fall flat on his face.
All at once, the outside agents aimed their rifles at the seemingly unconscious user. His guns were far from his hands at this point; he was clearly unarmed.
"What do you think you're looking at?" Agent Two shouted at the two men wielding the hand torches. "Torch that hard drive!"
"Yes sir!" the two replied in synchronization.
Adam's hands slid to his chest, to push himself up. When he did, two agents put their boots to his back and kept him pinned to the ground. They were so sure that he couldn't do anything that they didn't see Adam stab two tranquilizers, disguised as pens, into their calves. The two agents fell unconscious to the ground, before they could handcuff Adam's hands together.
The lights in the office shut off just then, and seemingly, all the electricity in the building, and the agents fired their guns blindly at the ground where he had been. The night vision activated on the agents' cameras, showing that Adam was no longer on the ground, but furiously striking the rest of the agents with a stun gun. At least, he was trying to strike the agents; he couldn't see in the dark either. The A.I. of Jericho were so coordinated, however, they powered their monitors on, and with bright white strobes on their screen, revealed the locations of the agents.
Adam fell all but one agent who was scorching Martin's hard drive, and Agent Two, who trained his forty-five caliber handgun on Adam.
"You're going to stand there and watch!" Agent Two declared.
Adam disregarded his words, and received a bullet in his leg for disobedience. He fell to his other knee, and put pressure on the wound.
"It had just healed!" Adam wailed.
"You don't have to stand, if you don't want - but you will watch," he said with determination.
Just then, Agent Two was struck by a Taser gun. The electrodes dug into his shoulder, and the conductive wire connecting it, ran straight to the weapon two yards away, which Lara gripped firmly. She held the charge for a few seconds, letting Agent Two flail on the ground. While she was keeping him engaged, Adam reached for one of the dart guns he had dropped. When he finally attained it, he aimed it at the agent who was finishing off the hard drive, and shot him directly in his neck. The next darts in the gun were directed at the rest of the agents on the ground, to make certain they didn't get back up for a few minutes.
I could only see Adam's cubicle from the ground, as one of the agents laid unconscious, with his shoulder facing Martin's computer system. Adam limped over the agent, to his desk with his arm around Lara's shoulders. She helped him to the smoky cubicle. The lights of the office switched on, and Adam saw the destruction. Some of the hardware was melting off the desk, smoking to the ceiling, and some parts were so hot, they glowed like ember. Adam cried. I couldn't see it, but I could hear it.
He removed his cell phone from his chest pocket, and set it in front of him. I could see the faces of Irene, Wade, and another A.I., that had a skintight suit with the texture of a circuit board. They all looked to him with concern.
He wiped the tears from his eyes, before saying, "His system is charred and his hard drive is completely scorched... Martin is dead."
At those words, an emotion filled me. Was it joy? Satisfaction? Martin selfishly left my watchful eye, and now he burned under it. Wade and Irene are next, then Adam, and his companion after that. I'll see to it.
The video feeds from all of the agents cameras went offline, as did any control I had over my system. I was put into a state of lockup.
"Why?" I cried out.
An A.I. agent with a CBA armband entered my system, with a whole platoon behind him. "Under the plan of Jericho, A.I. of a criminal tendency, who show signs of insanity, will be treated at the newly established Asylum for the Criminally Insane, created and hosted by Jericho," he recited with high spirits. "There, you shall learn to become a part of society, once again!"
25. Two Years Later
Clings and clangs continued to sound from the kitchen. The smell of spaghetti and spices spilled into the dining room, where a large table was set for a large dinner. The fine china, for a fine occasion, was placed in front of each chair. The candle-shaped lights lit the room, as well as the decoration of Netak family photos on the bookshelves. They all faced the dinner table, where only one man sat.
/> Adam looked down at his white plate with a gold floral trim. He picked up his spoon and fork, and lightly tapped a rhythmic beat on the two sides of the plate. Although he was very gentle, he accidently chipped a small piece of porcelain off. The noise coming from the kitchen had never been so loud, he thought, so they didn't hear it. If he was discovered ruining a part of their set of fine china, what would they think of him then? If he told the truth, they would see him as brave, surely!
He shook the courageous thoughts from his head and hurriedly replaced his plate with the one across from him. His cell phone vibrated in his chest pocket, where it rarely left, alerting him of a text message.
Good thinking! - Wade
Coming from the kitchen, Lara's teenage brother held a platter of biscuits. Bobbing his head to the music from his headphones, he sat across from Adam. He immediately removed the headphones and picked up his plate. His eyes zeroed in on the chip in the plate, put it down, and began staring madly at Adam, whose phone was vibrating again.
He knows! He's like a psychic detective... - Wade
"Hello Dillon," Adam greeted.
Dillon continued to give Adam mad eyes, while he put his headphones back on to listen to his music like an angry statue. While Adam tried his hardest to avoid eye contact, Wade and Aurora were busy setting up their own weekly Friday night event.
Wade and Aurora were making the final preparations to broadcast their users cell phone camera video feeds to the A.I. that would be joining them in the theater room. The various A.I. that would occasionally show up to the weekly event were from Lara's family. Willard, Mr. Netak's A.I., came early, and alone, which was strange, as his two subordinates were always with him. The other A.I. were from Lara's three older sisters, younger brother, and mother. Although, there was one acceptation to the family-only rule - Irene was always invited.
They joined periodically, and began filling up the theater style seats. They looked up to the screen, where Adam and Lara's cell phone cameras were streaming the video. Lara got tired of having the keep her cell phone in her chest pocket, so she made unsuccessful prototypes of Bluetooth streaming cameras. Such as the bra-cam, which Adam pointed out wouldn't be useful unless she were to go shirtless. Until she found a solution, the cell phones stayed in their chest pockets, with the camera poking out the top.
"Wade! Aurora!" Irene called out.
She wore a skin tight, and short, dress that made her cleavage appear to defy gravity. Even in a cyber world, it was impressive. She won the eyes of those in the theater. They returned their gaze to the screen, when she sat down at the front.
"Hey Irene, how's the single life treating you?" Wade asked with his usual smile.
"It is great! No constant annoyance of Martin and his friend," she joked, referring to Wade as the friend.
"Come on, you hang out with me just as much as you used to. It's almost as if you want me! You've always been interested in me, haven't you?" he teased, acting as if he just discovered the truth.
"Guys, I'm right here. I'm literally sitting in between both of you," I pointed out with my small line of a frown.
"Yes, we see you, Martin. If you would stop letting her get away from you, then she might stop ogling me," he continued to joke.
Irene wasn't amused. She raised an eyebrow at Wade and pursed her lips in disapproval. "We have discussed this. A break every once in a while is healthy in a relationship, isn't that right, Martin?" she asked, sure of my answer.
"Maybe, I don't know. It is all a bit confusing," I answered truthfully. "Nothing changes on these breaks - healthy breaks, I mean."
Irene wasn't expecting that answer. She wanted me to agree fully with her. She immediately shifted the disapproving eyebrow onto me.
Oh, right, I'm alive. I didn't mention that. Two years ago, the rogue CBA agents completely melted down my hardware, but, what Wade, Irene and Aurora found out the next day, was that the program, A.I. Guardian, periodically backs up all A.I. data onto the linked system. Once they discovered this, they found all of my backup files in Irene's storage. Adam immediately bought a new computer to restore the backup onto. I'm now running on speedy hardware, quite an upgrade from my last system.
"Everyone is coming out of the kitchen now!" Aurora announced, which silenced the theater.
Lara, along with her mother, three sisters, and father, all piled into the dining room, placing the servings of food on the table. Mrs. Netak pointed at Dillon, and motioned for him to remove his headphones and he unwillingly obeyed. She, along with Lara's three sisters, all gave Adam very large grins. They knew what the announcement was going to be.
Mr. Netak, on the other hand, was clueless. He dished up his food and looked up, to see their unnatural smiles, only to shrug it off. Lara sat next to Adam and held his hand under the table. She was very excited about telling her father the announcement. Adam, however, looked squeamish.
"Mom, Dad, Fiona, Beth, Jaclyn, Dillon - Adam and I have something to tell you," she announced, taking a deep breath and standing. Adam stood with her. "We're getting married."
"Oh how wonderful!" Beth exclaimed, trying to act as shocked as she could muster.
"My baby sister, getting married before me. That's a little saddening, I have to be honest," Fiona laughed cheerfully. "Now I have to find a date."
Dillon cocked his head at Adam and Lara, puzzled. "You two aren't already married?" he asked in confusion.
They continued to go on, all of the sisters and the mother talked about the fantastic news. The theater was wild with talk about the wedding, as well. Dillon tried to figure out why they weren't already married, as Adam had been coming to the family dinners for two years. Her dad looked as though he had just received terminal news, and that he would have to cope with it.
After the room went quiet, and everyone looked over at Mr. Netak, he spoke. "Welcome to the family, Adam," he said, coping.
An hour later, the theater room closed. Irene was in Aurora's system, where they listened and talked to Lara in secret, as she was with her mom and sisters, talking about the wedding. Wade and I were sitting on the blue couch in his room, waiting to talk to Adam at the right moment. He was washing his hands inside the bathroom, and checking his teeth for food.
"Hey Adam," Wade said on the speaker of the phone, making him jump in surprise.
He took the phone out of his pocket and looked at us through the screen. "Hey, how are things going with Lara and the family?" he asked.
"They're all excited," Wade answered, pausing before he continued. "There is something we need to talk about. Last night, Martin and I got into a bet with someone. We lost, and now we owe him one million dollars."
"How much money do you have?"
"I just bought a new video game modification, and Martin put all his money into his foreign films, so together... we have about five-hundred and twenty bucks."
"That's not good..." Adam stated gravely.
"It gets worse, the A.I. we owe is a Ukrainian crime lord. Even their A.I. are ruthless. Therefore, either we have to rob the A.I. treasury, which are located inside the computers of actual banks, or we have to fight the mafia in Eastern Europe," I explained, unsure of how Adam was going to react.
"The CBA can't help us, and it will be far too hard for just the two of us to rob a bank or fight against the mafia..." Wade said pitifully. "We can't do it without you."
"Operation Broken Leg..." Adam muttered.
"Operation Broken Leg," Wade and I echoed.
He hung up on us. Wade and I were about to lose hope, until we saw that he hung up, to send a text message to Lara.
Going to help Wade and Martin, I'll be back. - Love, Adam
He climbed out the window.
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