by John Conroe
Tanya sat on the sofa, legs curled under her, notebook computer open and resting on her lap, like she had just gotten up for the day. It was late afternoon, so maybe she had at that. She smiled and patted the open space next to her.
I took the spot, slightly uncomfortable, not just because my stomach was off. Chris sat in an armchair that seemed to be made from heavy crate wood, kind of square and solid.
“We thought is was time to touch base a bit. See how things are going and all that. The company is young and moving fast, but it seems to me that your first week or so has brought things at light speed, no?” Tanya asked.
“You could say that,” I admitted. “Right from the first moment I set foot in the building.”
“At the risk of being stating the obvious, your skills are already world-class and you’ve contributed more in your first days here than perhaps anyone other than Tanya,” Chris said, smiling. “We just want to see how you’re feeling about everything?”
“Well, it’s been exciting. And interesting. I haven’t really had time to process everything, but I think I’ve already learned a lot that I never counted on,” I said.
“Like what?” Tanya asked.
“The use of magic in programming, for one. I mean, I’ve always used it as a diagnostic tool and to pry out passwords and stuff, but never to directly input magically enhanced programs. Also, I’m learning about working with Darkkin, and more about weres,” I said.
“Any concerns?” Chris asked.
“Well, we already talked about the programming thing,” I said. He nodded.
“Tanya and I have talked about that and we should have cleared that up with you. It’s essentially your abilities and knowledge. We couldn’t reproduce your software if we wanted to,” Chris said.
“Maybe not yet, but there are Circles that could do it, I think,” I said.
“Like who?” Tanya asked.
“My mother and aunt’s circle, the Irwins, could do it. They’re in town, by the way.”
“Oh?” Tanya asked, sitting up and exchanging a glance with Chris.
“So is Caeco and her paranormal FBI team. I lent them a hand, well really, I lent her a hand but they had been brought in on a case that seemed to have a supernatural barrier. Turned out to be a really pissed-off ghost related to the case. Anyway, after I left them, I got waylaid by a full circle of my relatives from Ireland,” I said.
“What happened?” Chris asked.
“They wanted to talk and so they found a way to isolate me from most of my powers. They’re trying to convince me to spend time with them. After a bit, they let me slip away without putting up a fight, but I think they’ll only get more insistent. Anyway, I think they could do the programming thing. They’ve certainly got the skill and power.”
“You never told us?” Tanya said, frowning. Even that looked pretty on her.
“Well, I handled it and I won’t get tricked again. But maybe I should try to contact them and see if any of their circle has programming experience. Ireland’s big in the software industry, you know,” I said.
“You would talk to your estranged circle to see if you could give them the secret of magically enhanced programs so that they might work for us?” Chris asked.
“Well, when you say it like that, I just sound like a moron,” I said, realizing it was true.
“Actually, it sounds incredibly generous, but maybe too much,” Tanya said, smiling. “Let’s worry about keeping you safe from the circle, not giving them the financial windfall of a lifetime. This magic software is pretty powerful stuff.”
“Which brings me to my biggest concern,” I said. They looked attentive, but I didn’t know quite how to lay it out without maybe insulting them.
“Just say it, Declan,” Chris said, reading my hesitation.
“I’m concerned about the quantum computing project,” I said. Tanya pulled back a tiny bit, her frown reappearing. “We already have major trouble with the Anvil program. If it got into a fully functional quantum computer, it would be game over. And I don’t trust the guy you put in charge of the project—Susskins.”
“Well, there, you got it out,” Chris said with a smile. Tanya wasn’t smiling, though. She was still frowning.
“How are we going to combat Anvil or programs like it unless we step up our game? And Declan, we are far from the only group to be on this quest,” she said.
“I know that. Frankly, I don’t know enough about it to judge your progress, but I really, really don’t trust Dr. Susskins,” I told her. Chris was watching her and she glanced his way before answering me.
“Susskins is arguably the top guy in the field. Having him on our team puts us further ahead of anyone else. Nika spends much of her time checking up on his loyalty,” she said, obviously a bit put out by my observations.
“Hey babe, we asked him and he answered. Frankly, after fighting with Anvil, he’d be an idiot not to have doubts about a more powerful computing platform in the hands of rogue artificial intelligence,” Chris said.
“So if I have no doubts, then I’m an idiot?” she asked him, her tone getting a little too real for my comfort.
“Really? You can’t read me better than that?” he asked her, his own tone mild. Their staring continued for a few moments that seemed like hours. Finally, she exhaled and leaned back, tension running out of her.
“I am perhaps too sensitive on this subject,” she admitted, looking at her hands. I noticed that her short, sharp nails were painted a burgundy red. Like the color of old blood.
She glanced up and caught my eyes. “My apologies, Declan. As Chris said, we asked and you spoke your feelings. I have a lot invested in this project. A lot of time and energy.”
“Not to mention money,” Chris said, smiling slightly.
“Yeah, there is that too,” she said with a shrug. “I think quantum computing is inevitable, just as I think true sentient AI is inevitable. The genie is out of the bottle, so to speak. My goal is to guide it so that the outcome is beneficial instead of catastrophic,” she said.
“Yes, you are probably right on both counts,” I said. “But if Anvil is any example, then we are going too fast without learning how to create benevolent AI. Susskins strikes me as brilliant and amoral. Take it from a guy who carries a semi-sentient entity inside him, one that was written by a woman who was just as brilliant and decidedly more than amoral.”
Semi-sentient? I’ve been aware longer than your country has existed. Moron.
Hush. No comments from the peanut gallery, please.
My face must have reflected my internal conversation. “Everything okay?” Chris asked.
“Sorrow was voicing his opinion of my classification of him. It wasn’t complimentary,” I said.
“I forget that you carry that within you. My apologies. You, of all people, have a right to mistrust fabricated intelligence,” Tanya said.
Fabricated? I’m not a quilt. I was Crafted with consummate skill and exquisite precision. Peasant!
They both raised eyebrows at my expression. “Sorrow is chatty today. Much to say on the topic,” I said. “Anyway, I just have some concerns.”
“Your views are perhaps more enlightened than anyone else’s,” Tanya said. “Am I wrong, or have you reached some accord with Sorrow? You seem to handle it better all the time,” she noted.
“Accord might be too strong a term. More of a general understanding,” I said, keeping all of Sorrow’s insults and unflattering opinions to myself.
My phone chose that moment to buzz loudly. Of course, they both heard it. Probably could hear spiders farting in the far corners of the room. Speaking of which, my stomach rumbled again.
“Go ahead and check your phone, Declan. Might be important,” Chris said.
I did just that. “It’s an update from Caeco. Seems that the ghost’s body was a patient of the doctor that they suspected in the case. They were able to shake his story up and his lawyer is looking for a deal. So they were a big help to the New York
office. She’s thanking me for making her look good,” I said as I read the text. Then I felt a frown form. Before they could ask, I told them about her little add-on at the end. “She also mentions that one of our classmates got hired by that Department of Anomalous Activity. Do you remember T.J.?” I asked.
“The kid with the spider robot at the last game?” Chris asked.
“That’s him. He’s got a gift with technology. His work is magic resistant,” I said.
“But your avatar beat him by touching him,” Tanya noted.
“Yeah, it took direct contact. Our other spells just bounced off. Had to use indirect magic or, in my case, touch the shell of the bot. He was bragging to our friend Ashley about getting this big job working on secret government stuff. He’s got a thing for her. Said he’s not coming back in the fall. Ashley told Jetta, and Jetta told Caeco.”
“This worries you?” Tanya asked.
“Yeah. Wouldn’t they be the kind of department that would make stuff like Thing One and Thing Two?”
“That’s a troubling point, Declan,” Tanya said. “How would you combat a resistant centipede?”
“I gotta give it some thought,” I said.
“Fair enough. Please do. And please think more on the quantum project if you would?” she asked.
I said my goodbyes and slipped out the door, ignoring a silent Dave. My brain was churning a mile a second as I trudged down the long hall to the elevator. A potential answer came to me as I stopped by the call button. What would I do? What could I do? To start with, I could call for help. I didn’t know if it would arrive before the next attack; hell, I wasn’t sure it could even hear my call from this far, let alone travel the distance. But it was worth a shot. No time or place like the present. I was on the bottom level of the building, feet planted on concrete that likely sat on bedrock.
Closing my eyes, I let my head fall forward, chin to chest, while I framed my mental message and pulled Earth energy to me. Then I pushed it out in a ball of power, sending it north through the earth below me. It left in a rush, a pulse of raw power that ran through the ground like a tremor. Now I’d just have to wait and see. And work on other defenses against a possibly enhanced pede. Who knows, maybe my fears were way off base. I mean, what the hell did I know anyway? My innards rolled over again just as the elevator opened, the internal urgency ramping up. I headed inside and punched my floor’s button. Hopefully I’d make it to my apartment in time.
Chapter 29 - Chris
After our unsettling conversation with Declan, I was able to convince Tanya to have her breakfast. Her feeding had been erratic of late, but this time, she fed with a vengeance. I thought the day had arrived when she would finally suck me dry.
She suddenly pulled back, burped lightly, and covered her mouth with one hand. “Full,” she said. Me, I was just trying to breathe.
“Am I pushing too hard for this project?” she asked.
“He has a valid point. Quantum computing will change everything. It would blow the doors off every supercomputer in the world. As a host for a rogue AI, it could be apocalyptic. As we keep forgetting, he carries the original artificial intelligence inside him, so he has unique insight.”
“You said that Barbiel mentioned something about him changing the book?” she asked.
“He inferred that Declan was mellowing it out or something. That the book corrupted everyone it touched until now,” I said.
“Have we done everything we can to protect it?” she questioned, referring to the special project.
“As far as I know. Plus, we don’t actually have a functioning computer,” I pointed out.
“Susskins wants Declan on the project. He told both Chet and me that he has some ideas of ways that magic might stabilize the qubits. He actually got excited,” she said.
I tried to picture the sarcastic egomaniac getting excited. My imagination wasn’t up to the task.
“As far as I know, we’ve done everything conceivable to protect the computing center. Now, I have to run to make my drop-off with Deckert’s spook,” I said.
“How will he get Cuttle’s phone or tablet to you and Declan?” she asked.
“Your lawyers and analysts found out what kind of phone he carries. The model comes standard with a data sharing application that transfers stuff like photos to similar phones through wi-fi or Bluetooth or something. Declan preloaded the virus into an identical model so Mark will just need to get near Cuttle’s phone for, like, a few seconds,” I said.
“Wouldn’t Cuttle have to unlock his phone for that to work?”
“He would unless the magically enhanced version can hijack the other phone at will,” I said.
“Glad he’s on our side,” she said.
“Right? How many people could handle his power without becoming a monster? It boggles the mind.”
“How many could handle our power and remain as we have?” she asked with a smile.
“Point to the hot vampire,” I said, leaning down for a lingering kiss goodbye.
“Go. Before I drag you into my lair, never to be seen again,” she said, eyes lidded.
“Right. Leaving. Willpower fading. Must go now,” I said robotically as I backed away. She pouted, which froze me in my tracks, then grinned and waved me away.
The drop-off was set for a coffee-and-bagel place a couple of blocks from the Tower. The compact spy was already at an outdoor table, sipping coffee and reading a paper. I grabbed the table next to his, setting my own paper on the edge. A waitress wandered over to get my order and froze when she recognized me, eyes wide and mouth open.
“Oh my God. You’re him. Right? You’re actually you?” she babbled, which caused people to turn and look.
“Ah yeah, I guess I am. Can I get a large mocha latte with extra whipped cream on top?” I asked. Other people were staring and pointing. The waitress finally processed my request and rushed back inside the shop. I took my phone out and went to set it on the table, accidentally knocking off the folded paper and the doctored phone it contained. It fell by Mark’s feet and he folded his own paper before reaching down to pick up mine.
“Here ya go, Mr. Hammer,” he said, smirking as he adroitly switched papers and gave me back his. “Enjoy your morning.” He got up and walked away, carrying my paper and his coffee.
Moments later, the waitress was back, followed by her manager plus about a dozen more people. The manager held a large latte in his hand, his eyes huge as he gave it to me. “It’s an honor sir,” he said.
Honestly, I hate this part. How do celebrities stand it? But he was very sincere, as were the people around him. Cell phones came up to snap pictures or videos. I pulled out a twenty and went to hand it to him, but he waved it away. I nodded my thanks but tucked the twenty under the sugar dispenser on my table and stood up to leave. A black Ford SUV pulled up to the curb and the rear window powered down. Deckert gave me a brisk nod, then went back to scanning his surroundings.
“Damn phone! It’s all froze up!” someone said. “Mine too,” another voice chimed in. At least four others agreed. A flash of Declan telling me about Anvil in the lobby with the interns’ phones came to me. It was all I needed to get me up and moving. Traffic was starting to slow as people driving noticed the commotion at the shop. I slid into the back of the Ford and the driver, Stevens, pulled smoothly into traffic like a veteran taxi driver.
“Watch everything,” I said, unable to stop my voice from deepening as Grim took over. “That damn program is here.”
The stoplight ahead of us had just turned green. Now it flashed through yellow to red. Cars screeched to a stop, drivers yelling at each other over the sudden confusion. Stevens slammed us to a halt.
“Shit, it’s trapping us here,” Deckert said, head pivoting. Grim expanded my senses, reaching out into the world around us. Traffic confusion, staring people, busy people, honking cars, the stench of hot engines and scorched antifreeze, garbage odors from the garbage truck next to us, a whiff of gas, a child yelling at
another child, a couple arguing. Wait. Gas?
“Everyone out of the car,” Grim ordered. They obeyed, the smell getting stronger as we cleared the vehicle. The street had four lanes. Our car was closest to the sidewalk, the garbage truck near the centerline, big front tire rolled right up on a manhole cover.
People were still pointing and aiming phones at us, well, me mostly. Deckert and I herded Stevens and the third bodyguard toward the sidewalk. The driver of the garbage truck gaped at me. The ground shook once. Then exploded, manhole cover lifting straight up under the truck, as did the asphalt. The street split open right at the far white line on the other side of the street, almost directly under the heavy waste hauler. Split open and lifted the truck.
