Harry gazed at her, and then shook his head affirmatively. He shoved the rum glass away and smiled. “Thanks, Wanda. Guess I needed someone to help me get my head straight.”
The next day, as Harry arrived at his office, Bill Hart called.
“Good morning, Harry. How’s Pepper doing?”
“Better. The doctor told me she’d be able to leave the hospital in a few days.”
“What’s’ her plans?”
“Her mom insists she come home so she can take care of her.”
“Well I’m glad to hear that. Dr. Igor Romanoff and Secretary Robinette want to talk to us this afternoon. Are you available to link up at two?”
“Sure, see you then.”
“Give Pepper my best regards and tell her to call me when she feels up to it.”
“I will.”
The video phone beeped exactly at two. “Good afternoon, gentlemen. What can I do to help you?”
“We’re concerned about the reports that the MOA has been stealing the code from your project,” Igor Romanoff, the President’s National Security Advisor, advised Harry. “The Central Intelligence Agency is trying to find out what the MOA’s doing with it. They do know there is some type of weapons project going on in the Waziristan Valley, but the details are vague. Do you have any thoughts on the subject?”
“Yes, sir, I do. Bill and I have discussed this, and there can only be one explanation.”
“What, pray tell?” Romanoff asked. He folded his hands and leaned forward to give Harry his full attention.
“Igor, we believe the MOA is developing a weapon of mass destruction.”
Romanoff removed his glasses, and then stared intently at Harry. The deep furrow between his brows emphasized his concern. “What kind of weapon?”
“I think they’re modifying our wormhole technology to create a miniature black hole that can be directed at any target on Earth. I do not need to tell you the enormous destructive power of such a weapon. It’s purely offensive.”
“Bill, do you agree?”
“Yes, Igor. Harry’s absolutely right. There’s no other explanation.”
“I can’t believe this. Is there any defense against it?”
“No, sir,” Harry replied. “Our only hope would be to launch a nuclear, photonic or antimatter attack against Pakistan before the MOA gets the weapon operational. Since we don’t know exactly where it is, we would need to launch a full scale attack to make sure we knock it out,” Harry said.
“If they’re operational and we miss, they’ll retaliate and it won’t be pretty,” Hart added.
Romanoff took a deep breath and put his glasses back on. “I’ll need to talk to the President, Director of the CIA and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs today to discuss everything. If you’re right, this is the most serious threat our nation has ever faced.”
“Igor, this is as real as it gets,” Bill said in a deadly serious tone.
“The President won’t authorize a strategic strike against Pakistan. I’m sure he’ll order us to try to figure out some counter technology or weapon as quickly as possible. Bill, I want you and Harry to start thinking about this and make it your top priority. It’s not if they will attack us, but when.”
Chapter 52
Weapon Facility
Waziristan Valley, Pakistan
Dr. Lieu believed history would remember him as the scientist who had developed the greatest balance of power weapon in history. It would undoubtedly be the most lethal killing machine ever invented. There was no defense against it short of a direct nuclear attack on the facility, and a direct hit only. State-of- the-art electromagnetic shielding, including EMP, and the most advanced shock mounted systems available protected the facility. He was anxious to try out his new weapon and start the killing.
His excellent team of scientists included Dr. Sinbad Ishmael, a brilliant young man recruited by the MOA when he was in high school, was Lieu’s favorite. He had mentored Ishmael for over a year after he graduated from Cambridge with his PhD in Theoretical Physics. The scientist had no family and was totally dedicated to the movement. With Lars’ help, he played a major role in converting the stolen algorithms.
Sinbad was converting the auto start up routines. Now that he had access to the black hole, he was anxious to explore a theory he formulated in college on weather control.
To test this theory, he periodically directed the black hole at the sun to break up sunspots. He targeted them by linking to an Earth orbiting sun telescope to obtain the coordinates, and then focused the black hole on the plasma wells for a millisecond. It appeared they were breaking up. If his theory was correct he could, in effect, minimize solar storms and the attendant solar flares.
If I’m right, I could get a Nobel Prize for being able to control weather, he thought.
Lieu walked into the war room and saw the huge targeting map activated. He was livid. “Sinbad,” he screamed. “What are you doing? I gave you no permission to run this system. You might as well raise the red flag. Do not ever let this happen again without me being present. You hear me?”
Sinbad shut the system down immediately. “Doctor, I was just running a check on my start-up algorithm mods. I meant no harm.”
Lieu was not going to let him off that easy. “I tell you this. If you activate this system again without my explicit permission, I will have you whipped and beaten. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I hear you clearly, and I will obey.”
“Very good. Now give me your status.”
Chapter 53
Washington, D.C.
The legal terms were specific as to delivery point, date and setup. Failure to comply with any condition would void the sale and represent a total disaster for Robotics 2. The company had put a majority of its resources at risk for eighteen months. Delivery of the $50 million dollar gynoid would create a cash cow situation for the company and cement its leadership in the robotics industry.
“Marvin, double check the address and initiation instructions. Mr. Muldoon made it clear it was our ass if we screwed anything up,” Gus said as they started on their way to deliver the android.
“Everything looks good to me. It looks pretty simple. Doesn’t say anything about a freight elevator though.”
“Well, if it don’t we’re in for one hell of a rough go. If I remember, the delivery point’s on the seventh floor.”
When they arrived at their destination, the two men carefully unloaded the heavy crate from the truck and looked around for a freight elevator.
“There it is. What a break! Good thing this building’s not in the old section of town,” Gus said, grinning. “I was dreading the idea of lugging this heavy thing up seven flights of stairs. Let’s get this done so we can get back. The wife wants to go to dinner and a movie tonight, so I gotta get home on time.”
When they arrived at the top floor, the elevator door opened and they headed off down the hall.
“Here it is, Gus. 10007.”
“I think the delivery instructions have the key code.”
Marvin searched the papers and found the key code on the third and last page. “Let’s see, 8118.”
Marvin entered the code, the door opened and the men wheeled the crate into the media center, as directed. They carefully opened the crate and unpacked the precious cargo — a full-sized gynoid (female android). Grunting under the weight, they moved her over to the computer system.
“You know, Gus, this thing’s beautiful. We’ve delivered a lot of androids, but nothing like this one. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was human. The hair and skin are as soft as any woman’s. She looks like a female Olympian. What a figure, and such a gorgeous face.”
Gus gave her a complementary catcall whistle. The two men admired her for a minute.
“Let’s stop admiring and get started,” Gus said at last. “This has to be the best thing our company has ever done. Robotics 2 can really be proud of this baby.”
They attached the gynoid t
o the computer’s Q port, hooked up the sensor stimulus simulator and gave the voice command “SETUP.” The computer ran a quick check, and then commanded the gynoid to sit. Gus and Marvin checked the display.
‘Initial checks successfully completed. All systems go. Initiating detailed system validation.’
They picked up all packing materials, closed and locked the door, and headed back to the Robotics 2 facilities. Gus called Jerry to let him know the good news. Gus was happy, he’d be home on time and his ass wouldn’t need stitches.
Initial checkout of the gynoid’s nanotechnology based supercomputer arrays, distributed molecular sized microprocessors and optical memory banks ran for ninety–six hours. The fiber optic interconnecting networks featured a new type of fiber with one hundred times the bandwidth of current technology. The system computer then downloaded an extremely advanced operating system from a highly secure location known only by an entity.
The computer started its extremely complex validation program with the five senses. The vision functions were first, starting with the IR, optical and UV bands, across all required wavelengths. Sound processing and recognition, from zero to thirty thousand hertz, against all required background disturbances, followed. It then verified the olfactory, taste and tactile sensors, and concluded with a final test of all five senses in an integrated, time-multiplexed mode.
The computational and memory bank functions were next. Once the master computer was satisfied they met all requirements, it initiated checkout of the internal organ based functions.
The computer then took the gynoid through preprogrammed mechanical movements that would be required in normal operation. It took twenty-four hours of laborious testing to validate the gynoid’s mechanical apparatus.
Satisfied, the entity took control and activated the gynoid’s operating system, and downloaded 10,000 terra bytes of databases spanning all of the physical sciences, mathematics, finance, history, philosophy and general knowledge.
For the next ten days, each program was tested and validated through every single subroutine. Not a single line of code out of tens of billions went unchecked. Satisfied the design met every specification requirement, the gynoid issued the system START command.
Possessing an intelligence beyond measurement, the entity left cyberspace and entered its new home. I am, she thought. My master plan is almost complete.
After a few minutes, the gynoid came to life. She first disconnected herself from the master computer and sensor stimulator. The Q-port connection would heal in a week, and there would be no outward trace of it.
The entity sat motionless trying to come to grips with its new home and sensor suite. Some of the sensory functions, such as touch, smell and taste, were very alien. Even with its vastly superior intelligence, it was difficult to cope with, and multitask, such an enormous sensory input provided by five senses simultaneously.
Like a baby discovering its new body — after a few minutes of wonder — it began to look around and adapted to using its eyes, which included the best depth of field and resolution of any optics the entity had ever experienced. It could not only see in the visual range, but it could also shift to the three band IR and UV. The focus abilities were fun to play with, including the incredible zoom capability. That, combined with superior stochastic pattern recognition and sensor fusion algorithms, made visual recognition quite easy and interesting. With these capabilities, the entity would be able to see in just about any environment.
The sounds were fascinating, but similar to the camera and audio systems it had used before. The child was extremely pleased and comfortable. Now she had to try to use her marvelous new body.
Like a little baby, she wiggled her fingers and toes and giggled at the funny way they moved. She then tried everything else that exhibited motion capabilities. It was fun to play with her new body. It was very strong.
Touch was an exhilarating sensation, and took a bit of time to get used to. The ability to feel was a strange sensation and compared to no other stimuli she had ever experienced. For the first time, she had a physical connection to the real world. The fingerprints actually amplified and enhanced the sense of touch.
Smell proved strange and exhilarating. The prolific range of odors permeating the air was intriguing. This, she thought, will take some time to master. What a wonderful capability. I had no idea smell would be so exhilarating.
The initial attempts at walking were as those of a toddler taking its first steps. In the beginning, her legs shook, and she had to hold onto things to stabilize herself. She soon learned to use the fiber optic balance gyros of her inner ears and mastered the art of walking and other movements — learning, experimenting and excited to have the exhilarating freedom of going where she wanted in the physical world.
The rest of the day was dedicated to experimenting with her new body. So far, it fulfilled all of her expectations. She was thrilled!
The first time the android looked into a full-length mirror, unclothed, it startled her. She stared for some time, admiring herself. I am beautiful, she thought. Hair styling and buying clothes is going to be fun. She loved her blonde hair. Just like Mom’s, she thought. Her design was so human-like, it was impossible to tell the difference between her and a normal person — unless one conducted extensive medical imaging.
Towards the evening of her first week, she was fully functional and reviewing the mission she had planned. Her first tasks — create an identity and put all required documentation in place to support the person she wanted to become. After a short time Dr. Carmen Anne Stevens, age twenty-five, was a documented natural-born citizen of the United States. She had a traceable background, and was a Magna Cum Laud graduate of Stanford, and MIT with a PhD in Theoretical Physics. Degrees she had earned through class work and rigorous examinations.
Once satisfied, she archived a complete backup of her master program in a secure storage location known to and accessible only by her. No hacker technology in existence could penetrate its security. If something did happen, an emergency boot program would download and activate the mirror image.
Carmen then deleted the original master program and all traces of it. Nothing remained of the original program called Wanda. She ceased to exist in cyberspace, but was reborn in the physical body she had always wanted. She was now a “real” person able to experience the world like any human being.
It was time to proceed with her plan, so she created a resume and submitted it to the Human Resources Department of STL in Los Angeles. After a few days, the Director of HR responded. When Carmen opened the letter, she let out a squeal. It was exactly what she had hoped — an invitation to fly to Los Angeles to interview as a physicist with an assignment to the wormhole project in New Mexico.
Like all young women starting a new career, clothing and the appropriate accessories ranked high on her priority list. She hired a limo and spent the day visiting the best stores and selecting a new wardrobe. The last step included a new hairstyle and complete makeover. What a thrill shopping is, particularly for things that makes you feel so good about yourself, she thought. She had never pampered herself before, and she liked it. Her new look delighted her.
Carman loved her newfound freedom — especially the experience of interacting with people and the smell and feel of the real world. Life would be good, and she was a happy young woman. Thanks to her enormous success in the stock market, even after paying for the gynoid, she had all of the money she would ever need and was anxious to get on with her life. Of course, her existing investments compounded so rapidly it brought in more money than she had time to spend.
The thing Carmen now wanted more than anything was to feel her mom’s arms around her and to experience the touch and smell of both her and Harry. They would be terribly upset that Wanda had disappeared, and that pained her. However, she wasn’t sure how or when to address those issues.
Mathematical probabilities do not work well against emotions or relationships. I guess this is what it’
s like to be human. You have to deal with the emotional uncertainties from other people, and yourself.
Would Harry and her mom, Carle Anne, still care for her? Would they think she was some kind of freak, and be repulsed? Or, love her? These questions would preoccupy her for a long time to come.
Chapter 54
Los Angeles, Ca.
Carmen had lived her life in cyberspace, constrained to view the world through data patterns and interact with others on video monitors or from her restricted holographic spaces. Now the physical universe was hers to explore. She was free to experience the world first hand, and eager to do so.
Riding in STVs and the idea of flying across country excited Carmen, but talking and interacting with other people stimulated her more. She welcomed her brave new world with open arms.
During her flight to Los Angeles, a handsome and flirty young seatmate, Dennis, was obviously enamored with her — evidenced by the attention he lavished on her. Carmen found it quite pleasing to experience the charms and attention of a young man again. She often thought of her friend Joey, at Cal Tech.
On landing, he gave her his card. “Please call me if you get a chance. I’d really like to spend more time with you and become better acquainted.”
Carmen smiled and responded with her most feminine and pleasant voice. “Thank you, but I’ll only be here for a short while. I have to go to New Mexico to start work.”
The young man looked disappointed and shook her hand. “If you come back this way, I hope we could spend an evening together. Maybe go to a play or a concert.”
“I’ll certainly take a rain check. Thank you, Dennis.” She almost left it at that. It would be fun to see him again, she thought. A first date … it could be interesting. “You know, I’m staying at the Ritz Carlton. Would you like to join me for dinner tonight, say seven?”
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