AndroDigm Park 2067

by JMJ Williamson

  “I’m here to see Sneider.”

  “He doesn’t want to see you.”

  “Then I’ll arrest him.”

  They raised their weapons.

  “That’s not a very clever move. I can have a hundred marshals here to take every one of you. I just want to speak to Sneider.”

  For a moment, the only sound was the wind rustling some leaves in a nearby tree. And then a man came out of the ranch wearing a similar yellow gown. Shelby recognised him as Sneider. Shelby moved towards him.

  One of the men cocked his weapon.

  Sneider waved his hand downwards and his men lowered their weapons. “Marshal Shelby, what is it you want?”

  “I want to know what your involvement was in Diane Chambers’s murder.”

  “Who?”

  “Diane Chambers, the CEO of AndroDigm.”

  “That bitch. I didn’t know she was dead. You’ve made my day.”

  “So do you deny any involvement in her murder?”

  “AndroDigm and the other cyber companies create abominations: androids and cybernetic argumentations. But we do not condone murder. It is against God’s law and we are God-abiding people.”

  “Then why the weapons?”

  “We have a right to protect our privacy and keep out Satan’s influence from our community. Satan may have won in the Cities, with its worship of hedonism and cybernetic abominations, but this is a bastion of purity and godliness.”

  “You have never conducted direct or violent action against the cyber companies?”

  He smiled. “I didn’t say that. I welcome those that have the courage to make a stand against those vile companies.”

  “Including breaking the law?”

  “I am bound by divine law. Not the laws of man.”

  “How about taking direct action against the directors and personnel of the cyber companies?”

  “A grey area. But all men are capable of redemption. Even those in the employ of those vile companies. We will expose them for what they are, but we do not advocate violence.”

  “Were you present at the demonstration organised by AAA when Diane Chambers was killed?”

  “Oh, the AAA demonstration. No. I was here all day, and I have a hundred followers who could swear to it. AAA is not an organisation we support. It has no religious beliefs; just a disagreement about the economics of using cyber technology.”

  Shelby was getting nowhere. There was no connection he could make between the Diane Chambers’s murder and the cult other than their disdain for cyber businesses. And from what he had seen, Sneider believed in his religious purpose.

  “Thank you for your candour,” said Shelby. “We’re finished for now.”

  “Wouldn’t you like to stay a little longer and learn about our ways? You strike me as a man of principle. We could do with people like you.”

  “No thank you.”

  He grabbed Shelby’s arm. “But I insist. At least break bread with us.”

  Shelby looked around him. Sneider’s followers didn’t look too friendly.

  He turned to Sneider. “There’s a fifty-millimetre canon trained on your head right now with a hair trigger. I wouldn’t want it to go off.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You want a demonstration?” Shelby sighed. “All right... Light it up, Jess.”

  A second later, the fuel tank behind them burst into flames.

  “Now do you believe me?”

  Sneider released his arm and smiled at him. “Good day, Marshal.” He turned and headed back to the ranch house and his men followed him.

  Shelby returned to the heli-car.

  “Any luck?” said Jess.

  “It will require a lot more than luck to solve who’s behind this case. The True Believers are a load of religious psychos, but I don’t think they are behind the murder of Diane Chambers.”

  * * *

  The following day, Shelby was looking through the recordings of the murder again. This time he focused on the attack on the land vehicle. He picked out the faces taking part in the demonstration. Most were youngsters, but some of the faces belonged to older men whose physical appearance looked out of place. They looked like ‘heavies’. Maybe they were there to lend physical force to the attack.

  Shelby opened the Chambers’s case file and found the identities of the men from police statements. They were all members of the Transport Union.

  In the afternoon, Shelby decided to pay Bill Sykes, the leader of the Transport Union, a visit at the union’s headquarters in downtown Angel City.

  He flashed his badge at the receptionist and headed directly to the door with Bill Sykes name on it.

  “Come in, Marshal,” said Sykes. “What can I do for you?”

  “Your men were at the AAA Demonstration, where Diane Chambers was murdered.”

  “I heard about that. Tragic.”

  “So why were your men there?”

  “Isn’t it obvious — we were demonstrating — exercising our civil rights and showing solidarity with the members of the AAA. We had nothing to do with that woman’s murder.”

  “You had a strong enough motive. Thousands of your workers have lost their jobs to android replacements from AndroDigm.”

  Bill Sykes laughed. “Are you kidding. AndroDigm and Ms Chambers are the best thing to have happened to this union. Our union membership has doubled since they started deploying androids. Why would I want to upset that?”

  “But your members are losing jobs. Doesn’t that bother you?”

  “Of course it does. But it reinforces our political campaign for the government to provide a basic citizen’s income to everyone whether they are employed or not.”

  “I thought that idea died a death years ago.”

  “Not anymore. The politicians have woken up to the fact you can’t have economy where all the goods and services are produced by androids and no one has any employment income to buy them. The obvious solution is to pay people a basic citizen’s income whether they work or not.”

  “The demonstration got out of control. Were your men there to provide the muscle?”

  “We’re a transport union. Our members are by nature physically strong. What do you expect? Maybe they got a little excited like the rest of the demonstrators. But they weren’t responsible for the death of that woman.”

  Shelby glared at the man.

  “Marshal, I know these men. They’re real men with real families. They’re the type of men that wouldn’t think of doing that kind of thing to a woman. They’ve all given statements to the police. If you want, I’ll call them in now and you can talk to them yourself.”

  “All right.”

  Shelby met the men and interviewed them throughout the afternoon. They were all family men, with no prior convictions. Most of them were distressed by what happened at the demonstration and were eager to help. However much Shelby probed, there was no evidence or motive that he could identify. Shelby realised it was unlikely that the transport union had any involvement in the murder. And by the same reasoning, it was unlikely that any other union might be involved. He was going down a blind alley.

  Shelby returned to his office.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  On Friday morning, Shelby and Scarlet flew to AndroDigm Park in the heli-car. It took a full hour from Angel City. As Shelby approached AndroDigm Park, he started to appreciate the size of the park. It covered over twenty square miles, perhaps half the size of comparable theme parks. But unlike other theme parks, AndroDigm Park was designed for only a handful of the super-rich to act out their personal fantasies. There had been much speculation in the media about the plans for the park, but few details were known. And AndroDigm preferred to keep it that way.

  Prior to their arrival, Shelby had done his background checks on Jordan Jeffries. He was a wealthy man who had connections to the rich and famous. Diane Chambers had promoted him to Chief Operating Officer before her demise. Whether such a promotion was warranted or not was dif
ficult to tell as they were romantically connected. There were some rumours that he had connections with the Angel City underworld. But nothing had ever been proven.

  Miss Peabody, Jordan Jeffries’s personal assistant, met them on landing. She welcomed them and took them in what looked like an oversized golf buggy across the site, through a tunnel, and into a ten storey building that was the park’s Initialisation Centre. There they met Jordan Jeffries, a barrel-sized man, impeccably dressed and with a permanent smile on his face. He reminded Shelby of a salesman he had once known who could sell anything to anyone.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss Miss Chambers,” he said. “It’s awful. Diane was a brilliant scientist, an astute businesswoman, a wonderful person, and close friend. She is sadly missed.”

  “Thank you,” said Scarlet. “We’re hoping you might help us in our investigation into the circumstances of her death. As I mentioned when I called, Mr Shelby is a special marshal.”

  “I will do whatever I can to help. But first I would like to introduce you to the Board and our management team here. They are eager to meet you and learn of your plans for AndroDigm. As you know, before Diane’s death, I was her Chief Operating Officer. Since her death, the Board appointed me Acting CEO until a new CEO could be appointed. But of course, now you have the power to appoint whoever you wish.”

  “Thank you. I would like to meet the Board and hear your plans for the future.”

  Jordan Jeffries took them to the boardroom and introduced them to each of the Board members. Each member in turn gave a brief overview of their functional area, before Scarlet was asked for her thoughts.

  “I have a lot to learn about your activities and that will take time. But to put your minds at rest, I have no desire to get involved in the day-to-day operations of the business or make any immediate changes. I am not a business woman, and I have full confidence in Mr Jeffries to continue running the business as CEO.”

  “Thank you,” said Jordan Jeffries. “I had planned a tour of the park to show you what we are doing. It won’t take long, or if you are busy we could schedule another date.”

  “I’m more interested in the technical aspects of my mother’s research. I understand she was working on a secret project. Could you explain what the project was about?”

  Jordan Jeffries paused to think. “She worked on many projects here, but more recently she worked on a project to download an image of the human memory through a human-cyber interface to a cyber environment.”

  “You mean an android?”

  “That’s one possible application. But it could be any data storage vehicle. I understand she was close to achieving it.”

  “So her death means the technology is lost?”

  “Not completely. The first stage of the project was successful. We were able to download those human memories associated with dreams. That’s very important for the park. She developed the technology to scan people’s minds to find the dreams they most crave.”

  “You’ve scanned people’s dreams?”

  “Absolutely. We first perform a brain scan on someone and download the images of the person’s dream memory. We analyse it, and we use the information to create a fantasy world for the person which matches their dream desires.”

  “That’s pretty amazing.”

  “It’s only the dream memory that is downloaded. All your other thoughts and memories are left alone.”

  “Even so, scanning our dreams? What would the public think?”

  “That’s why I need your discretion. This information is not for public consumption. Not yet.”

  “You say you create a dream world. How?”

  “That’s what the park is about. Say you have a dream about dragons, and other mystical creatures. We can create them using the android technology. So the person can live out his or her fantasy in the real world. Think about it. Want to be a pirate, the captain of a space ship, travel to distant planets, or back to ancient Rome. We can do it. We can replicate anyone’s most ardent dream. Let me show you some of the cast.”

  He led them down a corridor into a vast room populated with android creatures: dragons, aliens, demons, pirates and other fantasy characters.

  “I’ve seen some of these creatures before,” said Scarlet. “At Lucifer’s Pleasure Cave.”

  “Yes, we supply theatrical creatures to a variety of different entertainment businesses. The Park will just take that technology one stride further.”

  “It’s amazing,” said Shelby.

  Scarlet’s eyes opened wide. “Incredible,” she said.

  “I’ve had a thought,” said Jordan Jeffries. “Rather than tour the park in a vehicle, why not experience the magic of the park the way it was intended. We are in the process of beta testing the park’s technology and have two celebrities to be the first to experience their wildest fantasy here. I want you to join our celebrities and see what the park is all about. It’s only fitting that Diane’s daughter experiences the Park the way it was meant to be. And of course, the invitation is extended to you as well, Mr Shelby.”

  “Wow,” said Scarlet. “When do we start?”

  Shelby wasn’t sure whether to accept, but Scarlet was more than enthusiastic. So he nodded agreement.

  “Right now,” said Jordan Jeffries. “Miss Peabody will take you to the lab for initial dream scanning. We will also need to construct an exact android replica of your body. Don’t worry about it for now. I will explain how it all works on your return in a few days time.”

  Miss Peabody had been standing in silence behind them. “This way Mr Shelby and Miss Chambers.”

  Shelby turned to Jordan Jeffries. “Just one further question about Diane. Were there any business competitors that would have benefited from her demise?”

  “Not really. There are other large cyber-tech businesses, like Human Hybrid Technologies. But the nature of our relationship is collaboration rather than competion. No, no one in the industry wanted to see Diane gone.”

  Jordan Jeffries smiled and said goodbye.

  They followed Miss Peabody to a room with the label ‘Data Capture’ on the door. Inside a young female doctor in a white coat welcomed them and introduced herself as Doctor Thexly.

  Two raised metal circular platforms stood in the middle of the floor and surrounding each were numerous camera-like units suspended from a fixed circular overhead gantry. Also around the platform was a circular bank of desks with a dozen operators working on the monitors.

  “This is our scanning facility where we take a full 3D body image of you. This is essential to ensure your replicant looks exactly like you. There’s a changing room over there. Please remove your clothes and leave them in the booth. There’s a gown provided,” she said, pointing to two booths.

  “So we have to be naked for the scan?” said Scarlet.

  “How else can we make a perfect replicant of your body? Don’t worry. Everyone here is a qualified clinician. They’re needed to operate the cameras and software. If you want, I could ask them to leave the room, but we need at least one operator present.”

  “That’s not necessary. It doesn’t bother me,” said Scarlet.

  Scarlet and Shelby undressed in the booths and returned wearing white gowns. Shelby was the first to be scanned. He dropped the gown and stood in the middle of the first circular platform and the cameras and lasers whirled around him, taking millions of pictures. To the right of him a 3D hologram of him was projected onto the centre of the circle. Shelby looked at the 3D image of himself. It seemed weird to see himself.

  “Perfect,” said Doctor Thexly. “Now you Scarlet.”

  Shelby slipped on his gown and stood back.

  She dropped her gown, stood on the centre of circle, and was scanned the same way. Shelby couldn’t help but stare. She was beautiful. Why hadn’t he noticed before?

  A 3D hologram of her appeared on the second circle.

  Doctor Thexly smiled at her. “Perfect”

  Scarlet bent down to pick up her gown
and slipped it on.

  “Now all we need to do are the neural scans. Follow me,” said Doctor Thexly.

  She led them through to a second room. Inside there were several chairs that reminded Shelby of those found in dental practices. Just above the chairs hung electronic headsets with cables fed from the ceiling.

  “Please sit down and put the headsets on,” said Doctor Thexly. “There is no need to worry. It’s very straight forward and you won’t notice how quickly the time passes.”

  Shelby sat down and put on the set. It reminded him of a virtual reality device. Inside was a screen with the word ‘Welcome’ and an avatar that resembled a cartoon character of Doctor Thexly.

  The avatar spoke to him. “Relax. All we want you to do is go to sleep and dream. I know you can’t just fall asleep and start dreaming. So we’ll help you with our dream juice. You should feel a small prick on your arm, and then it’s off to dreamland. Start counting 10, 9, 8…”

  The next thing Selby experienced was waking. Someone removed his headset. He blinked in the strong light and then managed to focus on Doctor Thexly. She smiled at him.

  “All over,” she said. “We have lots of dream data to process.”

  Across the room, Scarlet was taking off her headset. Shelby looked at his watch. Three hours had passed. He yawned and stretched his arms. He felt like he had woken in the middle of the night. His senses weren’t fully operational yet.

  “Both of you can dress now and relax in the recovery room, next door. It has drinks and refreshments. It should take about twenty minutes for your senses to return to normal after such a deep REM sleep.” Doctor Thexly led them into the recovery room where their clothes were laid out for them.

  “What happens now?” said Scarlet.

  “In a few days, we’ll invite you back to the park and we’ll be ready for you for your fantasy adventure. You’ll be staying overnight, so bring an overnight bag with you. You’ll also meet our celebrity guests. We have two film stars joining you. It will be a lot of fun.”

  “Anything else?” said Shelby.

  “A couple of things. On the medical front, we will need access to your computer medical records. We give all our guests a full medical and a psych test before they experience their fantasies.”