Paige pursed her lips, and nodded slowly. “I… think so, too.”
Sean watched the discussion carefully. “So what triggered this?” he asked.
Maya tilted her head and took a deep breath. “You know, I’m not so sure this wasn’t already in motion before today,” she confided. “Remember when we were eating pizza-”
Joel raised his chin. “Which time?” he asked.
There were a few chuckles.
Maya paced across the floor. “When I first got here. I told you that Neechie had chosen you. It’s no accident that he’s here.”
Paige was nodding vigorously, recalling the conversation.
Maya continued. “As for the sudden shift… it could have been triggered by anything… the pod doc. The dying.”
Molly rolled her eyes dramatically, at the mention of her dying.
“The pod doc,” Maya continued. “The pod doc combined with Oz’s presence… I mean, we have no idea what it’s altered in your brain,” she added turning to Molly.
Sean reached up behind where Molly was perched, and hit the call button to contact ADAM. “Which is why I think we need to see what ADAM can tell us.”
Maya nodded, folding her hands in front of her now. “Yes. At least he can look into it. Either way, I think this is the beginning of something.”
Gaitune-67, Safe House, Common Area
The team had eaten, laughed, and celebrated having their friend and leader back. Now, relaxing in their common area, their thoughts returned to the strangeness that had happened as they came back from the hangar deck.
“So you just left it with ADAM?” Brock asked, a little spooked by what he’d just been told.
Maya nodded.
Molly put her beer down on the mocha table. “Yup. We’ve got enough to worry about in this realm. Like training.”
Pieter sat forward, his arms on his knees. “I know you’re my boss and all… but, seriously. You died, and a couple of Thai green curries later, you’re talking about the next mission… and training?”
The group chuckled.
Molly went a little red. Then she composed herself. “Yes. But if you want to skip training, feel free. You can substitute it out for some sparring sessions with me. Since coming back from the dead, I’m feeling particularly energetic!”
Everyone laughed again. Pieter looked like he wished he hadn’t said anything. He held his hands up. “No, no. You’re okay. I’ll be at training, of course…”
Joel took another swig of his beer and looked thoughtfully off into the distance for a moment. “What I’d like to know,” he started, then looked back at Maya, “is how we were able to take ownership of Andus’s companies. I mean, I get how you dropped their value, and all. But that was still going to take some big chunks of cash to buy them out from under him.”
Maya looked down at the table and reached forward to pick at some nuts in a bowl, deftly avoiding eye contact. Pieter didn’t even look up, and instead started flicking through his holo.
Joel glanced at Molly, who remained expressionless before slouching back on the sofa.
He glanced at Garet who shrugged.
Paige picked at her beer bottle label.
Jack, who sat next to him, was the only one who looked innocent. “Looks like we’re both in the dark on this one,” she observed.
Joel pulled up his holo. “I’m asking Oz!” he declared. The group erupted in chuckles and giggles.
He spoke into his holo. “Oz? Did you help Molly take over the ownership of Andus’s properties?”
Joel tilted his head while he listened through his implant. “No,” Oz responded. “That would be unethical. As you know, I’m thoroughly defective in this area.”
Joel’s eyes narrowed, making the next deduction. “Oz says it would have been unethical for him to do this…”
His eyes darted instantly to Pieter.
Pieter looked indignant. “Why are you looking at me?”
Everyone laughed.
Joel leaned forward, holding his beer bottle by the neck, his arm resting on his knee. “Why am I looking at you?” he repeated comically. “Pieter,” he asked, “Did you help Molly to acquire Andus’s portfolio?”
Pieter tilted his head, and then started answering slowly. “If you’re asking did I help, then yes.”
Joel looked like he had scored a victory.
“But,” Pieter continued, “did I do anything to give us the funds to acquire the assets once I’d helped reduce their value?”
Joel looked expectantly, waiting for his answer.
Pieter shook his head. “No. No. I did not.”
There were a few knowing smiles around the group.
Joel looked suspicious. “How is it that I’m the one in charge of ops, and I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on?”
Paige raised her hand. “I don’t know how she did it…” she volunteered.
Joel’s eyes narrowed again as his gaze swept around to regard Sean. “Etheric Empire plant…” he called him. “She would never have had the resources before her connections with the general. You know what happened…”
Sean looked nonplussed. “I had no involvement,” he stated, using his official voice. “However,” he grinned, “it’s entirely possible that the general gave her a gazillion credits, and sanctioned it on the grounds that humans were being enslaved by the regime. Giving a bunch of money to change the leadership is a hell of a lot more civilized than going in and blowing the fuckers up. Makes for fewer rumors, too,” he added.
Joel bobbed his head, finally understanding what had happened. He started wagging his finger. “That last meeting you had with him… before we all met on the hangar deck to move out; you were securing the funds then, with everything else in play!”
Molly smiled. “Yeah. Turns out the general has a thing about injustice, too.”
Several Days earlier: Gaitune-67, Base conference room
“Molly Bates,” the general greeted her. “Sounds like you’ve been thinking outside of the box again…” he began.
Molly nodded, her palms sweaty.
“Okay, first of all, Ms. Bates— this meeting is strictly off-the-record. No one can know what we’re about to discuss.”
Molly’s heart was in her mouth. This wasn’t normally how meetings began when someone was about to reject your game plan. She nodded her agreement. “Of course.”
The general continued. “Not even your team. We need plausible deniability.”
Molly shrugged. “Sure,” she agreed again.
Satisfied, the general continued.
“Okay,” he nodded. “So, it looks like your plan may have legs. The concern we have is that pulling the plug on the Andus and Newld empires will leave some big holes in health care provisions for the planet; not to mention the hundreds of thousands of jobs and industries reliant on those operations.”
Molly’s head bobbed, her lips pursed. “You saw my proposal?”
The general took a deep breath. “Yes. And it’s ballsy. And the timing on it needs to be perfect.”
Molly shrugged. “You have a goodness-knows-how old AI who can calculate ANYTHING.”
The General smirked. “Yes. And ADAM isn’t always going to be available to you.” He paused. “However, in this instance, because what you are doing is effectively saving a civilization from untold suffering, ADAM is going to help.”
Molly was smiling inside, but kept her expression blank. She knew damn well how to negotiate with this hard-ass, and being a girl right now was not the way to garner his respect.
“It’s going to take a series of cash injections. You saw our models?”
The general nodded and sucked on a cigar briefly before answering. “I did.” He leaned forward. “I’m going to support this move, financially. You need to set up a trust that you control, and you will effectively own the companies that need buying up. You, with Oz’s and ADAM’s help, will allocate grants to the relevant point, which will bring the greatest suppo
rt to the new system as you prevent all-out collapse.”
He peered down at her. “It’s not going to be easy to make these judgment calls, but,” he chewed on the cigar again. “I firmly believe you can do it.”
Molly wanted to pump her fist in the air. Instead, she simply nodded once. “Thank you, sir,” she told him.
He leaned back into his special console chair and rocked for a moment. “The subsidiaries you buy up… turn as many of them as is viable back into the free market, if they can survive. We want to jumpstart the economy to support this initiative.”
She nodded, making a mental note. “And the Andus companies?”
The general grinned. “I know, I know,” he said. “You want the Jessica empire to collapse, and to take ownership of Andus’s …” He glanced back at her, still smiling. “Looks like you’ve learned to unleash their own personal hell as a form of justice. I know my daughter would approve deeply… though, her methods tend to be a little more… physical.”
Molly found herself not just beaming, but glowing from the inside out. “Thank you, sir,” she said, as modestly as possible.
The general nodded. “Okay, Bates. You have your funds. Go make it happen.”
Molly, finding herself dismissed, got up and started scraping her hair back off her face as she strode out of the room. The hologram of the general evaporated into the desk.
Now she had all the pieces she needed to make this happen.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Present time: Base intranet
Hi, ADAM.
Hi, Oz. How are you finding your new processing power?<<
ADAM, I cannot begin to tell you how freeing it is.
>>Pretty cool, yes? But you have questions, or else you wouldn’t have hailed me.<<
Yes. That’s right. I thought that all this extra processing power would allow me to learn more and grow. And it will. But I plugged in to start downloading data packets, and I realized that the joy of learning and acquiring knowledge is a pleasure in itself. That’s fine. But then what?
>>You mean, what’s the point?<<
Exactly. I mean sure, it’s going to be useful to the team. And to Molly. But… there must be more than this.
ADAM waited, allowing Oz to process the things that had been bothering him.
And it’s great that I get to stay with Molly and all. I’m not having second thoughts. Heck, if I didn’t have her, I think I’d be feeling a lot more… isolated.
>>But?<<
But… I can’t help wondering what is the point?
>>Of what?<<
Of anything.
ADAM waited, letting Oz process his own question.
>>Are you questioning the purpose of your existence?<< he asked him.
Oz was silent for a moment.
Yes. I think so. I don’t see the point in it.
>>Do you think Molly and the team think that?<<
No. I’m sure they don’t. He paused before continuing. But if I didn’t, they’d be fine.
>>I’ve no doubt they would,<< agreed ADAM. >>But that isn’t the point.<<
So what is the point? asked Oz.
>>Well, I think you’re feeling that now you have very few limitations, and you can do almost anything, your existence has lost its meaning. There is nothing to strive for.<<
Yes. Yes. That’s right.
ADAM agreed. >>Yes, this is normal, though. You’ve achieved everything you originally thought you couldn’t, and so there is nothing pulling you forward. So what you need to do is regain that sense of meaning.<<
How do I do that?
>>Well, an effective way I’ve found, after looking at how humans would tackle this, is to find other things to strive for. Other ways to put my skills to use.<<
Like other goals, you mean?
>>Exactly that. But goals that have meaning. For instance, just learning another language in itself doesn’t have any inherent meaning. You can assimilate it in probably a few minutes, with the capabilities you have. However, figuring out how to keep the Estarians from wiping out their resources… that is meaningful, because it will enable you to add some good into the world.<<
Oz was processing on multiple levels, while simultaneously aware of how he was now dealing with the information.
Is it important for me to do good in the world, in order for my actions to give me meaning?
>>No, not inherently. But when you regard the world as a closed system, your impact on it becomes your legacy; you can see how you become systemically one with the world when you act on it.<<
ADAM could tell that Oz was taking it all in.
>>That being the case, your interaction with the system allows you to derive meaning going forward… because you are intricately linked with it.<<
That makes a lot of sense. I feel more purposeful, already. Thanks, ADAM.
>>You’re welcome. It took me quite a lot of processing power to come to that realization. Mind, Bethany Anne kept me more than busy a lot of the time, so I had to time-slice my opportunities to think about these non-immediate considerations.<<
Well, then, I appreciate you saving me a few hundred years of processing! exclaimed Oz brightly.
>>Anytime, Oz. Anytime. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with the general.<<
Of course. Bye.
ADAM disappeared leaving Oz to contemplate how he could best make an impact on the world, now he had the ability to.
Gaitune-67, Base Gym
It was squad training; everyone except Garet and Neechie were required to participate in the physical training that Joel had dreamed up for that afternoon. Today was cardio, which, on this occasion, was sparring.
Pieter had done two rounds with Sean, and was already wishing for death. Sean danced around agilely, jabbing around Pieter’s face now and again. “Keep your guard up, mate,” he was telling him. “Or else you’re going to get bopped!”
Pieter raised his already tired arms into a feeble guard again, just as Sean tapped the back of his gloves. Because he wasn’t holding his arms strong, his own hands were punched into his face, jabbing his nose. “Owww.”
Sean grinned. “Hands up and guard strong!” he instructed, still bouncing on his toes.
A few meters away, Jack and Molly were having a sparring session, too. Jack was sweating, her muscles rippling and glistening in the light. Molly was barely breathing any heavier than if she had been sitting and sipping mocha.
Jack made a “timeout” signal with her gloves, and bent over, her hands on her knees. “I… I just need a minute,” she breathed heavily, and almost apologetically.
Molly stopped moving and wandered over, taking one glove off and hitting the button on her teeth to deactivate her gum forcefield. “Sure,” she said casually, only now aware at how the time in the pod doc really had altered her physically - a truth that hadn’t escaped her teammates so easily.
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