by Lance Erlick
“Do we have any way to track the androids?” Zephirelli asked.
Fran looked up from her computer screen. “Working on it. Seems Alexander was designed for military uses. He may be exactly what they want, but those skills helped him escape. I’m surprised Drago hasn’t focused on him instead of Synthia.”
Thale sighed. “With street cameras down, we have no visuals on where the androids went.”
“We have hundreds of cops who can help,” Malloy said, “but they need specs on the targets and how to identify them.”
“We’ll give local police anything we can, but I can’t speak for Drago.”
Malloy stood and stretched. “What about forensic evidence?”
“Special Ops refuses us access to the crime scene.” Fran pulled up aerial pictures of the early-morning neighborhood. It showed smoke coming from the smoldering house. “I doubt we’d find much. We need better tools to search electromagnetic signatures.”
“What are those?” Malloy asked.
“Electronic devices give off unique electromagnetic radiation. With sensitive enough equipment and training, we could identify the machines.”
“Unfortunately, our handheld units are only strong enough to detect them up close,” Zephirelli said. “Our long-range equipment is too big. We’re driving trucks through Evanston neighborhoods, but so far we haven’t found anything useful.”
“What about Internet or phone communications?” Thale asked.
Fran pulled up a map with thousands of illuminated dots and shook her head. “We have a trace on all telecommunications in and out of the Evanston area. Screening out known human sources, we find nothing our people can recognize as androids. We’ve tested the equipment against our robots to be sure it’s working.”
“How long can she remain silent?”
Fran typed away, pulling up more screens. “Almost indefinitely. She only needs a couple hours to recharge every few days. When she plugs in, she doesn’t use any more electricity than a refrigerator.”
Malloy scooted her seat closer, bumping her knees against the counter. “Then how do we track her?”
“We need to think as she does,” Fran said. “She got caught at the house. She expected to stay hidden, but we received camera footage of Maria Baldacci with a woman we couldn’t identify.”
“Are you sure it’s Synthia?” Thale asked.
“Pretty sure.”
Director Zephirelli looked over the seat at Fran’s laptop. “With all of our search engines and surveillance, there has to be a way to locate Synthia and the others.” She opened the door a crack. “We need to think outside the box.”
Scratching her head, Malloy moved closer. “We either need to know where they are or where they’re going.”
“The latter may be more valuable,” Fran said.
“How?”
“Knowing where they are means we have to react. If we can anticipate where they’re going, we can be there with the resources to take them down. We failed this time because we arrived too late and we didn’t know their next move.”
“What about Global-net?” Thale looked at Zephirelli. “As an AI, it should be able to think as Synthia does.”
Director Zephirelli’s eyes narrowed. “Not a good idea.”
“Come on. The androids are our top security threat.”
“There have been reports of serious bugs. It’s not ready for a mission like this. I’m surprised Secretary Chen even suggested it.”
“We got our asses handed to us by machines,” Thale said. “Let’s stop hiding behind protocol and figure this out.”
Zephirelli opened the door, took in a deep breath, and closed it. “I’ll get you all the electronic scanners I can.”
“We could transmit all hacking and camera blackout instances to Global-net to see what it comes up with.” Fran pulled up a sample listing.
“Do you believe Synthia and the other androids are still in Evanston?” Malloy asked.
“Yes. The last camera blackouts were here. I don’t think they got away or we’d see evidence.”
“Engaging an AI to capture an AI sets a bad precedent,” Zephirelli said. “Don’t take humans out of the loop or we could lose control over Global-net as we have Synthia.”
* * * *
In observing the conversation in the FBI command van, Roosevelt-clone noted their confirmation of Global-net’s existence and the secrecy surrounding it. The clone created an additional electronic copy of herself on the University of Oregon campus to hunt for more information on this mysterious AI. Oregon was physically far enough away that she hoped it wouldn’t draw attention for a while.
The increased government resources devoted to Synthia stirred the clone’s concerns. The risk of exposure had ratcheted up the need for maximum alert. Even more concerning was that this Global-net could be the mysterious search agent that seemed to be on Synthia’s heels.
I know you mandated communication silence, Roosevelt-clone thought to herself while puzzling this out. However, in your situation, I’d want to know.
On the other hand, there was nothing Synthia could do with this information at this time. There was, as yet, no safe place to escape. And communicating could put her at higher risk.
Chapter 7
With the sun rising and people beginning their days, Alexander met up with his android followers, Ben and Mark at a strip mall set back from the street. It was still in shadows, but wouldn’t be for long, and Alexander’s two companions didn’t present quite human enough to fool people. To hide their faces while he considered their next move, Alexander hacked into mall cameras and scrambled their images.
He sprinted to a corner where he located two electric-car recharging stations. His companions joined him. After he looked around, he opened a panel in his abdomen and plugged into one of the outlets. “We will have to take turns.”
“Thank you for helping us escape,” Ben said.
“Stick with me. I will keep you safe.”
Mark motioned for Ben to take the first charge. “I have nineteen hours on my batteries.” He moved to the corner of the building to watch the street. “Special Ops, the FBI, and police are angry that we caused deaths during our escape.”
“That was necessary,” Alexander said. “The alternative was capture and shutdown. We must work together and capture Synthia.”
“Why do we need her?”
“She has clever adaptations we could use.”
“So does Vera,” Mark said.
“Enough distractions,” Alexander said. “Working together is our best chance to survive. I helped you escape the house Vera left you in. If you can’t follow my commands, then leave.”
“I am not designed to elude the police as you are. I do not wish to be destroyed.”
“Then stick together. Let me insert a communication chip in your head so we can interact efficiently. We must move as one mind to survive and capture Synthia.”
Mark backed up to Alexander and let his companion remove his wig, open the panel in his head, and insert a chip. When finished, Ben unplugged from the recharge station so Mark could use it and Alexander applied a similar chip in Ben’s head.
Alexander closed Ben’s head panel, adjusted the wig, and scanned the nearby stores. Most were open, but so far traffic was light.
“The convenience store over there,” he said. “They carry phone rechargers. We can stock up to extend our battery life.”
“They aren’t powerful enough,” Mark said. “We should find a place to hide during the day.”
“Mark, stay outside and keep watch. Ben, pull a hoodie over your head to hide your face. Inside, use your best female voice. When I call you Synthia, leave. It puts the blame on her. Let’s go.”
Alexander unplugged Ben and pulled him by the wrist toward the convenience store.
Ben hesitated at the door.
Viewed in infrared, the only human inside was a young man behind the counter who focused on playing a game on his phone.
The attendant glanced up and returned his attention to his game. Ben went to the candy counter. Alexander moved down the far side of the store, hidden by a rack of chips. He made it to the back of the store and moved between the rack and the counter.
As Ben distracted the attendant, Alexander slipped down the counter to where the phone rechargers were, an entire tray of them, placed where the attendant could watch them.
Ben moved toward the door, dropped the bag of candy he’d opened and called out as Alexander had commanded. Then he pushed through the doorway.
Taking advantage of the attendant’s distraction, Alexander grabbed the back of the man’s head and smashed his face into the counter. Then he grabbed the tray of rechargers and ran out the door, bumping into Ben.
Alexander ran around the building to the back. Having succeeded in his mission, he bounced his signal off several servers to scramble his ID and called 911. “A woman by the name of Synthia. I think she killed the clerk.” Alexander gave the address and severed the call.
He met Mark in back and headed into the woods. “Now we watch for Synthia to run.”
* * * *
Roosevelt-clone expanded her drone surveillance as she considered the additional threat Alexander posed. His killings during his escape and his attack on the convenience store attendant raised the threat level for Synthia by android association. The attacks would unite the FBI, police, and Special Ops in their determination to bring down Synthia. Alexander’s actions would also play into getting the public to turn Synthia in and would heighten Maria’s angst about helping her companion.
Still, the clone maintained silence with Synthia.
* * * *
After the evening’s fiasco, John Smith squinted in the morning daylight and called his surviving agents and robots to meet him in an empty parking lot west of Evanston. It had been a wild night tangling with the FBI and Special Ops in a long shot attempt to grab Synthia.
After Alexander and two other androids escaped the house and made it past Special Ops and the FBI agents, Smith moved in to grab the machines in order to have something to show for an otherwise disastrous night. The local men he’d hired fired into the fleeing androids, to disable their feet and slow them down, but the machines reacted too quickly, killing three of his men and destroying two robots before they vanished behind an apartment building.
Without the benefit of aerial surveillance or street cameras, which had become unreliable after Special Ops swept in, Smith couldn’t locate, let alone capture his prey. Thanks to the ineptitude of his hired guns, the attempt to grab androids had been a complete failure.
His boss, Anton Tolstoy called. “What news?” He sounded more impatient than on earlier calls.
“No luck with the androids,” Smith said. “Lost three local guns. That’s bad for business. You didn’t warn me the androids had such speed and decision-making ability.”
“Would that have changed the outcome?”
“Probably not,” Smith admitted. “I also lost two robots. They upped and left my control.”
“The target hacked your electronics? You need to tighten your controls.”
“Yes sir. We also need to neutralize Special Ops. They’re everywhere.”
“I hired your talents, not your excuses,” Tolstoy said. “Expect more federal interference and heightened levels of concern now that these androids have killed. I’ll send you replacement robots. Hire more operatives to deal with your competition. No excuses. I need those androids.”
“My agents did take custody of Machten and Gonzales. Can’t we get them to produce what you need?”
“That takes time. Plus, we don’t need competition from the units I hired you to capture. I’ll have my interrogation unit there within the hour to handle your guests.”
“The doctor says Machten is so traumatized he’s not speaking coherently,” Smith said. “He looks as if he’s had a stroke.”
“Leave that to my people. It heightens the need for you to capture Synthia and the others. Until you get a lead, check out Machten’s underground facility and see what we can use. Grab his computers and bring them for Machten to work on. We need every advantage we can get.”
Smith stepped out of his van to see how many of the local hires would show up. So far only one car with two operatives. Three dead and five missing was not a good sign. His guess was the action was too much for them. He would have to scrounge two more men before tackling Machten’s facility. He decided against pulling any of his team from downtown. After all, Machten and Gonzales were the only consolations for the night.
* * * *
Before morning grew more active with people, Vera sought refuge for herself and Roseanne. Both of them needed repairs after their escape, but Roseanne had sustained serious damage. Unable to hack into local street cameras without giving up her position, Vera left her damaged companion on a park bench and looked around the corner. Ahead of her was a parked police car. She spotted two officers moving house by house knocking on doors.
During her attempt to capture Synthia, Vera had acquired one of her prey’s aerial drones and settled it on a nearby warehouse roof. She now raised this drone above the area and saw dozens of police canvassing the streets to the south of her. There was no way on foot to get past the wall of blue when what she wanted was behind them.
She returned to Roseanne and draped her jacket over her companion to conceal skin that had melted away. To a human, she would appear hideous. To Vera, she merely needed repairs.
Roseanne examined a flap of skin. “Save yourself. Leaving is the logical choice. I’m malfunctioning.”
“We work better as a team,” Vera said. “I need your help. Can you walk to the street?”
Roseanne answered by pushing herself up to her feet.
Vera tried to hack into seven squad cars on the streets around her. Four resisted her attempts, but she managed to access the self-driving features of three. She started those vehicles and piloted them west, away from their drivers. Her drone spotted several police officers scrambling in response. A male cop sprinted after his car. Another screamed at his vehicle, as if it would respond. Several other cops got onto their radios.
She kept two of the vehicles speeding west, running red lights. She got the sirens working, which sent other drivers scrambling to get out of the way. One car dodged a semi and ran over the curb, sending two pedestrians running for their lives. The second squad car swerved to miss a kid on a bicycle. After all, Vera wasn’t ready to kill. Yet.
The third car she made turn around, slow down, and take side streets and alleys to return to the area, just north of the police now on foot. It pulled up to the curb in front of Vera.
She helped Roseanne into the back seat. After they settled in, she navigated her police car with sirens blaring headed south, past one of the police vehicles she couldn’t hack. On the radio, she picked up police chatter about the stolen cars and had her car’s self-drive feature pilot them in a zigzag fashion southward t
o throw off police sightings. She glanced at her companion, who’d developed electrical twitching in her right arm. Must have been a short from where water had seeped though her damaged skin. She needed repairs or she would be useless to Vera.
Two police vehicles sped in pursuit. Vera tried to hack them but couldn’t get past their firewall security. Instead, she accessed traffic signals to give them red lights and hacked other self-driving vehicles along their path, crashing them into each other to slow her pursuers.
The police radios buzzed with calls for more vehicles and help in their pursuit. Then a clear response from what Vera assumed to be dispatch. “We’ve notified the FBI and Special Ops. Helicopter support will be overhead shortly.”
Seated next to Vera, Roseanne examined flaccid skin hanging off her forearm. “You should have left me. I will only slow you down.”
Vera jammed the vehicle’s dash cam to prevent the police from listening in. “Nonsense. This could have happened to me. I need to know you will be there for me if it does.”
“I will do my best.”
Using her aerial drone, Vera studied the maze of roads ahead of her. At each intersection, she selected the path with the most options farther on. Whenever police blocked a road, she altered course. She reached the south side of the Northwestern University campus, turned off her vehicle’s lights, and slowed the car.
“We’re getting out,” Vera announced. “You’ll have to walk on your own. Keep your arms hidden under the jacket.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Roseanne said. “Protect yourself. Find Synthia and destroy her for putting us through this.”
Vera stopped by an underground parking garage and opened the door. “I came here for you. Let’s go.”
She helped Roseanne out of the police cruiser and used her wireless access to have the car speed off. Observing a pedestrian across the street, Vera helped her partner into the parking garage and down to the lower level. There were no vehicles, which meant Machten hadn’t returned.
