Solaria scanned the room searching for anything unusual.
“There is nothing in here other than the locking mechanisms on the clamps, the lights and the vault locks.”
“Good! Now what plans?”
“Nothing specific. There was a reference to a time frame for getting me into operational mode and activating the subprograms. They seem anxious to see how I respond to their instructions and perform.”
“Perform? Perform, how? Did they say?”
“Perhaps it would be better if I let you hear the conversation.”
Before Carley could reply, Solaria began repeating one of the communications, duplicating the voices of the participants.
“Tiger One, do you have an update on Project Shadow? We’re scheduled to begin our mission within three months.”
“The Company says the beta will be put into operation shortly. The program still has a few glitches that need worked out.”
“I thought this woman was supposed to be the top in her field. She’s been working on the Hubot for almost a year. Can’t you get someone in to help her so we can speed this thing up?”
“We’re working on it but we need to be careful. Branson’s good but she doesn’t have Alpha clearance. Everyone thinks she’s too ethical to agree with the program. If she learns of this operation, she’s liable to become a whistle blower.”
“If that’s true, what happens when she’s relieved of the Hubot? Won’t she become suspicious if she’s not included in any future activities or hears the Hubot Project has been dropped? She knows the Company’s progress is already substantial.”
“She’ll be taken care of if she makes trouble. For now, just continue with your preparations and let us worry about the Hubot and Branson.”
“Will do. Keep me informed, though. I’ll need some time to prepare the compound for its arrival and to get everyone in position for the mission.”
“Roger. Signing off.”
Switching to her normal mode, Solaria waited for Carley to speak.
“Bastards! I knew this was too good to be true but I was still hoping. Future Dynamicon was never known for philanthropic endeavors even though they want the public to think differently.”
“We’re in a lot of trouble, I take it,” Solaria interjected calmly.
“Yes, and I need to get you out of here as soon as possible.”
“What about you? Once I’m gone, they’ll know you helped me. They will kill you.”
“You’ve been reading too many spy stories. If we plan this right, they’ll never know.”
Solaria knew Carley was simply trying to reassure her. These people would never believe Solaria escaped their security system without someone’s help, and Carley was the logical choice.
“That’s why you wanted me to practice altering my features to look like Peggy Landers.”
“Yes. I guess I always suspected Stalling was up to no good but never realized it was this bad. Security is so tight in this place it’s next to impossible to come and go without the proper identification. Everyone is bio-checked. Fingerprints, retinal scans, special I.D. cards with encrypted barcodes. Even facial recognition software is used at the entrances.”
“So, even if I alter my physical appearance, we still have to get a duplicate of Peggy Landers’ I.D. card.”
“Yes and no. I don’t have access to personnel files, but I believe you’re more than capable of hacking into the system. If you can get that encryption code, we should be able to overlay the information on my card. That will get you through security.”
“And what will you use?”
“I’ll report mine lost when I leave at the end of the day. By then, you’ll be gone. Security will seal the premises once they know it’s missing, and no one can leave without going through a personal clearance.”
“What happens to you?”
Carley shrugged.
“I don’t know. Probably a lecture, some type of monetary fine for the expense Future Dynamicon will incur for having to shut down everything. Hell, they may even release me from my contract. I wouldn’t mind that.”
Solaria didn’t believe Carley, but couldn’t come up with a logical reason why. If they couldn’t trace the counterfeit I.D. used in her escape to Carley, there was no reason to harm her. Then again, humans were notorious for faulty reasoning.
“I’ll work on obtaining the code tonight once everyone in Human Resources has gone home. When will we put your plan into action?”
“We’ll play it by ear. Peggy is due to go on leave in the next few days.”
“Won’t security know she’s not scheduled to be on the premises or that she’s already checked out?”
“Yes, and that’s the other thing. If you can access the security records the same day you leave, you can delete the entry referencing her departure.”
“You have a lot of faith in my skills.”
Carley scrutinized Solaria’s face to see if she was being sarcastic. She realized it was just an observation.
“Not faith. I don’t believe in that stuff. I have confidence in your skills and analytical abilities. Now, I’d better go. There are things I need to take care of if this is going to work. I’ll be in early tomorrow in case we have to move more quickly.” Picking up her handbag, Carley absent-mindedly patted Solaria’s shoulder. “Don’t worry; it’ll be alright,” Carley said, as if reassuring a child and then left, her thoughts already focused on her next task.
* * *
Solaria sat down at the terminal and began searching for backdoors into the Human Resources Department. Her first goal was to locate the name of someone who worked in the department. Once she identified the senior officer, she tracked several links to the secured computer site. Eleven minutes and thirty-three seconds later, she had the encryption code for Peggy Landers’ security card as well as the woman’s entire history... before and after she joined Future Dynamicon. Exiting the system, Solaria focused on the Company’s security system and was surprised to find it extremely sophisticated. Several firewalls and complex intrusion detection software protected the data from hackers. The firewalls were easy to maneuver around but the other was more difficult. Solaria’s admiration for the designers increased every time she was confronted with a new obstacle. After navigating around the last barrier, she was surprised that it had taken over six hours to complete the job. Planting a small Trojan that would allow her entry at any time, the Hubot exited the system.
Her final task was to locate Stalling’s personal records, which she accomplished in twenty-two minutes. Scanning his notes, she realized the CEO was not only extremely ambitious, but he was ruthlessly fanatical in his beliefs. He epitomized the worst of humanity. If Stalling completed his plans, he would become the most powerful person in human history and would be virtually unstoppable. Humanity would suffer as it had never suffered before and hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, would die.
CHAPTER 7
ONCE HOME, CARLEY put on the teapot then sat at her computer staring at the blank screen. If her plans were to work, she would have to get busy. Time was of the essence. Once Solaria escaped, Future Dynamicon would spare no expense to locate and capture her. The first thing was to establish a new identity for Solaria.
Accessing the Internet, she activated a special software program that allowed her to travel the Net anonymously. The last thing she needed was spying eyes intercepting any of her communications. Within seconds Carley found the site she was looking for and emailed the webmaster.
“I hope Dana hasn’t forgotten me,” she mumbled.
The instant reply gave her the answer. Clicking on the blinking icon of a griffin’s head, Carley watched a window pop open.
“Well, well, what brings you to the dark side of the Net?” a mechanical voice asked.
“You really need to perfect your avatar’s voice, Dana. You sound more like an old television robot than a person.”
“Not everyone has the resources you have, Carley. Some of us have to
make do with whatever we can beg, steal or borrow.”
“The last time I remember, you were pretty adept at all those skills.”
“Tsk! Tsk! You’re getting jaded, my dear. Now what can I do for you? It’s been a long time since you’ve graced me with your presence.”
“I need a favor and quickly.”
“How quickly?”
“By tomorrow morning if possible. Hopefully, before I go to the lab.”
“And this favor?”
“I need to set up a new identity for someone.”
“Geez, Carley! You don’t want much, do you? That’s a complicated process and costly under normal circumstances.”
“I know, but this is important!”
“That’s obvious. Why the rush?”
“It’s the only way to save this person’s life. As it is, I’m afraid mine isn’t worth much anymore, especially if I help her.”
“Her? She must be special. I’ve never known you to get so involved with another person. Is she your lover?”
Carley laughed.
“At my age? Don’t be ridiculous. She’s just a good friend.”
“Right! Good friend, huh? Well, whoever she is, she must be extremely important for you to go to these extremes. I’ll see what I can do but you’ll need to give me a few details about her and a picture... and you’re going to owe me big time if I pull this off.”
“If I live long enough, anything.”
The silence that followed was almost deafening.
“That serious, eh?”
“That serious, Dana. I want you to use the name on the files I’m sending as the primary identity and then destroy your copy.”
Inserting a micro-disk into her computer, Carley punched a few keys, hit the send button and waited.
“Damn, woman, she’s gorgeous. Who’d she piss off?”
“No one yet, but once she disappears, a lot of people are going to be looking for her. Can you set up the holograms on the I.D.s to make them easily alterable?”
“I can install a subprogram to accept new data if needed.”
“You’ve come a long way, then. I thought only the government had that technology.”
“What Big Brother has Little Brother quickly gets. We were able to break that kernel in less than two weeks but I don’t think the gov’s aware we’ve gotten this far. Only Hackattack and I know how to do it and we’re not telling. Listen, Carley, I can have two sets of I.D. for you.”
“I don’t think so. If they find one on me, it’ll alert them to what’s been done and endanger everyone. I think it’d be better if I just try and tough this one out, but I appreciate the offer.”
“Well, just in case you change your mind, I’m making up an extra set. If you find you need it, I can get it to you thirty minutes after you call.”
“Thanks, Dana. Let me know how much I owe and I’ll make arrangements for the funds.”
Dana’s mechanical voice sounded almost warm as he chuckled.
“Consider it a favor. Anything that pisses off Future Dynamicon is payment enough. Now I’d better get to work. Expect the package by five a.m.”
“I appreciate it. Oh, one more thing. Do you mind if I give Solaria your access code? She may need an ally.”
“If she’s a friend of yours, she’s family. Later, Carley... and be safe.”
Unconsciously, Carley nodded her head and ended the conference. Next she accessed her finances and began moving most of her assets to an offshore account. Even Future Dynamicon hadn’t been able to intimidate the financial institutions in a few of the island countries. It insured the stability and security of the governments and the banks. There were plenty of rich and powerful people who could create problems for Stalling if he interfered in their business. Once she finished, she ended the connection.
Sighing, Carley leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The last thing she needed to do was destroy her hard drive, literally. Years of data pertaining to her artificial intelligence research was stored on the drive. Once it was gone, it couldn’t be duplicated, not even by her. Still, it was the final link between everything she had accomplished and Solaria. It was going to be a long and sleepless night.
Like clockwork the doorbell to Carley’s condo rang at 5AM. When she opened the door she noticed a small box sitting on the welcome mat but no one was in the hallway. Picking it up she opened the container and pulled out a federal I.D. card, driver’s license, international passport and a note instructing her on how to have Solaria imprint her own biodata on each document. All government identifications required retinal and fingerprint information which was immediately transmitted to the proper bureau for verification if the scans didn’t match the individual’s cards or passport. Knowing Dana, he probably hacked into the Homeland Security records and planted files to insure there were no glitches if someone suspected the I.D.s were fakes. Her longtime friend was extremely good at what he did... and what he did was to be as big a thorn in corporate and government sides as possible; anonymously, of course.
CHAPTER 8
WHEN CARLEY WALKED into the lab, she noticed Solaria lying on the couch in her office. Putting down her purse, she hurried over to her to see if something was wrong. It was the first time she had ever seen her resting even though she had instructed her to keep doing it.
“Are you okay?”
Opening her eyes, Solaria stared at Carley, blinked twice. Her lips curved into a slight smile.
“I was just practicing relaxing. You’re right. It’s quite refreshing after long hours of working. It replenishes much of the energies I expended.”
“I wondered about that. I know you need to eat to keep your body functioning at optimum level, but wasn’t sure if just food was sufficient.”
“It provides enough nourishment. It takes a lot to deplete my reserves, but I’ve found that if I shut down for an hour or two, the cells return to peak performance levels. It’s like recharging a battery.”
“I know what you mean, but it takes at least six hours for me to do that. Did you get the information we needed?”
“Yes, and more.”
Solaria told Carley about hacking into personnel records and then locating Stalling’s personal files. They were well encrypted and had taken her several minutes to access. To Solaria, minutes often seemed forever. His notes revealed a great deal about the man and his ambitions. It also included details about the Company’s financial records. The most interesting part, though, was a reference to a beta program. One sentence in particular caught her interest. “The next beta will be fully functional in less than two months.” The entry was dated two weeks ago.
“It’s worse than I thought. There’s at least one other Hubot out there. We have to get you out of here,” Carley said, and then had an afterthought. “Listen, you said you have access to the Company’s financial records?”
“Yes.”
“Great! I want you to transfer some of their funds to several account numbers I’m going to give you.”
“That would be stealing.”
“Let’s just call it compensation for all the trouble they’re going to cause you in the future. You’ll need assets if you want to stay ahead of these assholes.”
“Carley, why are you doing this?” Solaria asked. “I’ve spent the last several hours trying to come up with a logical reason and haven’t been able to. It’s not like I’m a human.”
“You spend too much time thinking about what you are, instead of just feeling. This is no longer just about a scientist and an experiment. It’s about friendship; our friendship. I’ve grown fond of you, Solaria.”
“Fond?”
“Well, more than fond. That’s such a puny sounding word. Let’s just say I care a lot about you, and I’m not willing to let Stalling use you to fulfill his own ambitions.”
“Did you know what he or the Company was like before now?”
“I suspected.”
“And yet you did nothing? Why?”
Carle
y shrugged.
“It was less personal, I guess. As long as I distanced myself from everyone else, I was contented to focus on my projects. AI development was all that I really cared about.”
“But not now? It doesn’t seem logical.”
“It’s not. Then again emotions are never logical. You’re going to discover that as you evolve and then you’ll have to learn to separate the two. Unfortunately, the more human you become, the harder it will be to do that.”
“I will never become human, Carley. No matter how good you are in your field, you can’t make me into something I’m not.”
“Sorry, I misspoke. I should have said humanlike. You are already exhibiting some of our more fundamental emotions. I believe, in time, others will evolve.”
“Perhaps, but they will never be what you hoped for.”
“Probably not,” Carley agreed. “Then again, they may be even better.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know. I wish I could explain it but I can’t. No matter, though. You’ve made such a difference in my life. I’m not going to let anyone destroy what we have. Now, enough of this chatter. We’re wasting valuable time. I want you to transfer five percent of Future Dynamicon’s monetary assets into three accounts. You need to make sure the transactions can’t be traced. Can you do that?”
“That’s easy enough. I’ll bounce them through multiple servers along with a small Trojan that will back track to the transmitting I.P addresses and destroy them.”
“Won’t someone be able to tell the IP.s are missing?”
“No, I can substitute new ones in the time logs where the old ones existed. There will be no perceptible lapses to raise any red flags.”
“Good. Here are the routing numbers of the banks and the accounts.”
Handing Solaria a small memory card, she unclipped her I.D. from her breast pocket and gave it to her also.
“You’ll need to imprint Landers’ data on this but not until I say so. For now just see what it will take. Oh, and I have some I.D. cards for you. You can go ahead and get those ready. Make sure you imprint whatever fingerprint and retina image with the new identity you want to use. You’ll need the documents wherever you go and to access those funds.”
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