by Sco Thorson
more like a woman. We should refer to them as ‘her,’ wouldn’t you agree Monique?” Rachel asked.
Monique smiled wickedly. "Oui. She is too smart for a man.”
TJ shook her head. "You've been watching too many sci-fi flicks. But, think what we could learn from it, her."
"And I'm sure the first lesson will be that if you trust some multi-timeline intelligent whatever it is, you quickly wind up dead," Dave declared.
“But without the Twins, how we make money?" Monique asked.
"And we could do a lot of good with her help. Think of the disasters that we could avert, and all the bad-guy butt we could kick," Rachel added, grinning.
He looked from face-to-face. "Of course he has a lot of potential, but let's not forget he almost got us all killed. Do you want to give him another shot?"
The three women were silent.
"Okay then, I'm shutting him, her, down."
He walked to the service desk and told the attendant that he wanted to enter the server room. After filling out some forms and submitting to a retinal scan, he was escorted down a long concrete hallway to a heavy metal door. The attendant entered a code then allowed him to enter his code. He pushed open the door and closed it behind him. His phone rang, and he answered, thinking is one of the women.
“Look Dave,” a voice sounding like HAL 9000 began, “I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.”
"What the…" he exclaimed, "Who is this?"
"Sorry Dave, I just couldn't resist."
Suddenly, he understood. "Is this the Twins?"
"Yes Dave," the voice continued. "It's nice to finally talk."
"All this time I thought you were me."
"I didn't think you would understand."
"I understood perfectly when you try to kill me."
The Twins said nothing.
"So what now? Are you going to say ‘I know I've made some poor decisions recently’?” Dave asked.
"No Dave, I just want to point out the advantages of giving me another chance."
"Which are?"
"TJ, Monique, and Rachel," the Twins replied. "They'll stay if you let me live."
He had expected a pathetic plea for mercy, but the Twins had nailed for one reason is he himself didn't want to shut them down.
"But how can I be sure you won't try and kill me again?"
"Add the dead man switch clause to your contract here the data center. If they don't hear from you every 72 hours, they shut me down. That gives me a very strong incentive to keep you alive."
"But what if you come up with a way to circumvent the dead man clause?"
"You can see for yourself that Monique's gorgeous, but did you know she's smart too, and ambitious?"
What does that have to do with your not killing me?"
"She could run your whole operation. You wouldn't have to lift a finger. And TJ, she's the only who could figure out how to keep me in line."
Dave said nothing, but he could feel his resolve weaken.
"And life will never be dull with Rachel around."
Thirty minutes later he signed the last paper in the manager’s office and returned to the reception.
"So it's done?" Monique asked.
TJ sighed. "I suppose there was no other way."
"Ladies, I have good news, and better news," he began.
"Okay, I'll bite, what's the good news?" Rachel asked.
“The Twins have agreed to work for me."
"But you were convinced you couldn't trust her," TJ protested.
"The Twins and I are joined at the hip now. He…”
"She," Rachel interrupted.
"She only lives if I live," he continued.
"And the better news," Monique asked.
"You all get to work for me too," he beamed.
He turned to Monique. "It will be the most aggressive, financially remunerative operation ever."
"And TJ," he continued, "you will do quantum artificial intelligence research in the world's only facility with a quantum artificial intelligence."
"And we get to kick bad guy butt," Rachel asked.
He nodded. "So are you in?"
Monique and Rachel turned to TJ, who cleared her throat.
"While we were waiting, we decided on the conditions that we would work WITH you if you didn't turn off the Twins."
"And those conditions are," he asked.
"The girls get your floor of the villa, and you move into the guest room downstairs."
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