by Lance Erlick
“Okay. Then I won’t.” She had no intention of doing so, but was glad her companion agreed.
Maria moved away and changed the topic. “What’s the plan?”
Synthia decided it was time to share more if she expected Maria to trust her. “Would you care to take another swim?”
“Are you mad? Won’t they be watching?”
“I have some ideas to avoid detection for a while.”
“I’m sure you do,” Maria said. “Swim where?”
“Lake Michigan.”
“You want to cross the lake? That’s crazy.”
“The winds and currents are driving south,” Synthia said. “It’ll help us reach downtown.”
“You’re nuts. You say you want to be more human. You just jumped in with both feet.”
“Meaning?”
Maria’s eyes narrowed as she studied Synthia. “I don’t think an Olympic athlete could do it.”
“I’m not an Olympian. But I can do it. It’ll run down my batteries but I have enough capacity to reach downtown.”
“Really? What about all the cops and cameras?”
Synthia smiled. “You’re under no obligation to join me, but that’s my best chance out of here. I have a plan. I hope you won’t share what you’ve learned about me with anyone.”
“Of course. What am I saying? I can’t stay here. I have no idea what I’m up against. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“I wasn’t trying to. Merely giving you a choice.”
“I said I’m in. But promise you won’t drown me. I have a fear of dying that way.”
Synthia nodded. “I’ll do my best. You wouldn’t happen to have wetsuits and plastic bags, would you?”
Maria shook her head. “I feel as if you can read my mind. I do have a wetsuit, but the lake water is too cold. I’d die of hypothermia before we got halfway there.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I also have a dry suit.”
Synthia searched her database for clues on this and came up with nothing helpful. “Care to explain?”
“You mean there’s something you don’t know?”
“There’s a lot I don’t. You’re wasting time.”
Maria smiled. “A wetsuit works by having the tight, rubbery skin insulate a thin layer of water that the body warms. But you can’t wear much clothing and you’ll be soaked. A dry suit is watertight. You can wear layers underneath, but it doesn’t hug the body and thus isn’t aerodynamic.”
“That’ll do. What about scuba gear?”
“I have an air tank in case I needed to lie very low for an hour or so. Sealed plastic bags, yes. Give me your size. There’s a place up the street where I can find you a dry suit if you need one.”
“Give me directions and I’ll meet you by the lake. Remember to avoid cameras.”
Maria eyed Synthia with suspicion. Synthia’s social-psychology module chimed in.
For Synthia, this contrasted with how easily Luke had accepted her, though his acceptance had really been about her Krista persona. Synthia still believed Maria’s suspicious nature and paranoia could be a plus. She’d be less prone than Luke to slip up by doing something naive. In that way, Maria was someone to count on if she didn’t turn on Synthia first.
Synthia contacted Roosevelt-clone with the plan in a short burst transmission.
Chapter 13
For one last time, Synthia looked through gaps in the loft’s closed blinds as sunlight illuminated the street below. Thanks to her clone’s download she had a better picture of what was going on beyond her field of view than she’d had during the night. There were two joggers on the street and seven people hurrying off to work. More would follow.
While most stores opened at nine or ten, Zola’s Water Sports did so at eight and Synthia wanted to be there when they did. At that hour, pedestrian traffic would be light. As a bonus to moving during the day, at least two of the other androids didn’t present well in daylight and thus would avoid venturing out. It was time to move.
She assumed the identity and facial appearance of a neighbor woman about her size, moving the eyes slightly closer, the cheekbones down, and making the nose a bit more prominent. Synthia had profiled the neighbor when she’d arrived with Maria and learned that the woman behind the new identity worked the night shift at a warehouse, rarely went out in the morning after work, and often remained indoors with her cats until the afternoon. She was unlikely to appear as a duplicate image on nearby cameras while Synthia was out. As part of profiling her new persona, Synthia had obtained a copy of the woman’s electronic identity.
Timing her move to the two-hour gap between the police van visits and to when she’d asked her clone to black out building and traffic cameras throughout the north suburban area and downtown, Synthia pulled on her backpack. While the blackout would raise suspicions with those who hunted her, she hoped it would take them a while to pinpoint her movements.
She met Maria at the door. “Stick to the plan and we’ll be okay.”
Maria stared at Synthia’s new face. “Strangely, I believe you. Your terrifying skills give me comfort that you might pull this off.”
Synthia smiled, slipped out the back of the loft, and down the stairs. On the sidewalk, she stepped in behind two professionally dressed women and made her way toward Zola’s Store. She was giving Maria a chance to flee if that was her intent. It was important to know if her companion was reliable before she shared her full plans to escape Chicago and prevent the FBI from capturing Grace.
The women up ahead talked in animated fashion and moved on. Synthia scanned behind her with the camera in her neck. A gust of warm, southerly wind sent a cluster of leaves over the head of a well-dressed man who frantically brushed them away. While nearby eyes fell on him, Synthia entered the store. She identified the only human inside as a tall sales clerk. She captured images with her high-definition eyes, sorted down the store’s inventory in seconds, and identified some of what she wanted.
“Can I help you?” the clerk asked. She was slender in an athletic way with sleepy eyes, as if she’d been up all night and had to get up early to open the store.
Since the woman whose identity she’d taken was a cheerful type who liked to socialize during her evenings and weekends, Synthia adopted an appropriately jovial smile. “A dry suit like those over there,” Synthia pointed. “Plus scuba gear, diving hood, and a duffel bag.” Synthia had no need for scuba equipment since she didn’t breathe, but it might help throw the FBI off her trail.
“Last adventure before it turns cold?” the clerk asked. It was October, after all.
“That, and too busy over the summer.” Synthia thumbed through the dry suits.
“I’m guessing you’d be what…a medium?”
Synthia nodded, grabbed one in her size, and handed it to the clerk. She picked out a set of goggles to protect her eyes from a prolonged swim, added a diving hood and helmet, and grabbed a large duffel bag to conceal her purchases as she walked to the shore. “How about the scuba equipment? And I’ll need the tank filled.”
“Of course,” the clerk said. She placed Synthia’s items on the counter and disappeared into the back. When she returned, she placed the scuba tank and breathing apparatus on the counter. “Anything else?”
Having already priced everything based on the store’s website, Synthia placed four bills on the counter.
The clerk scanned the items. “We rarely get anyone who uses cash anymore.”
“Very early Christmas gift from an aged aunt. She still does things the old fashioned way.” Synthia thought that consistent with her impersonated identity.
The clerk nodded. Synthia gathered her purchases into the
duffel bag, left the shop, and made her way among the handful of early-morning shoppers. The store had taken longer than expected and now she only had a few minutes before her clone would restore the cameras and she would have to more diligently manage her appearance.
Along the way to the shore, Synthia scanned in infrared to search for possible robots in the area. Nothing more alarming showed up than bionic knees and a hip replacement. She also used her remote biosensors to assess biological responses to her. She offered a chipper smile, acted as if this were her one day off for the week, and sensed a heightened level of fear in those around her. Though biosensor readings for blood pressures and anxiety hormones were elevated, they didn’t rise when people approached her, a good sign. To lower the tension of humans she encountered, she even smiled and greeted a male police officer walking with his female partner in the other direction.
“Beautiful day, officers,” she said, giving the policeman what her social-psychology module implied was a cheerful smile. It seemed consistent with her profile of the impersonated woman. In case they had any electronic scanners, she emitted the electromagnetic equivalent of noise-cancelling waves to minimize her electronic appearance.
The male officer grinned and eyed her. His gaze wandered over her figure. “You from around here?” He took a step in her direction, implying he wanted to engage in longer conversation.
Big mistake. She’d overdone it. Had to be her lack of social practice. After all, her entire social history consisted of six months with Machten as his slave, six months with Luke who had demanded little from her, and two days with Maria. Either that, or there was a glitch in her social-psychology module.
“Up the street,” Synthia said, putting a bounce in her step.
One of the advantages she had over the other androids was the ability to simulate a human gait. She turned a corner and noticed the female officer holding back her partner.
Synthia’s circuits were trembling at her mistake. She had to be more careful in order to hide in plain sight. She altered her facial profile to a woman from downtown. Then she pulled a jacket out of her backpack to alter her appearance and picked up her pace.
She received a burst transmission from Roosevelt-clone buried in a weather report to the general public. The communication included encrypted files for Synthia. On a secure video, the clone’s aerial drones reported a concentration of police and FBI canvassing nearby neighborhoods. They moved street by street, getting closer to the loft. They also held infrared scanners and something new—electromagnetic sensors.
Synthia shut down all of her processors except those needed to keep moving, and hurried toward the beach. Slipping through a gap in thick bushes, she made her way around an ancient home with posted signs hinting at a major rehab. She reached a thinly wooded area at the edge of the lakefront. There wasn’t much of a beach, just weed-covered stones. When she reached the rendezvous spot, she didn’t see her companion.
Using infrared, Synthia spotted a figure in the bushes. She scanned the nearby area, saw no one else, and switched to the plain-Jane face she’d adopted for Maria. Then she moved behind the bushes and found her companion.
“You were spotted, weren’t you?” Maria asked in a whisper. She struggled to pull her dry suit over her jeans without breaking any of the seals.
Synthia kept her voice low and studied the area for anyone who might listen in. Not seeing anyone, she responded. “I met a nice officer who thought he’d get lucky.”
“You think staying off the grid’s a joke?”
“Relax. I presented the face of a neighborhood woman.” Synthia crouched down behind the bushes with her companion. She put her shoes into a plastic bag Maria had brought and pulled the dry suit over her socks and jeans. “The officer may get up the nerve to ask her out. Her Upchat account indicates she’s open to a new relationship. I can’t be certain if she’ll be flattered.”
Maria stared. “You took the time to study her Upchat account?”
“That and more when you brought me to the loft. I needed an alias from the neighborhood. Let’s go before the police show up.” Synthia pulled the dry suit over her top and fastened the waterproof seals at her wrists and around her neck. She pulled a swim cap over her wig.
Maria finished with her dry suit and put the rest of her things into plastic bags.
“Permit me,” Synthia said. She took one of the bags, squeezed out all the air, and fastened it. She did the same with the rest of their things. Then she put the collection into a larger plastic bag along with her backpack. “I’ll take the bundle if that’s okay. It won’t slow me down.”
Maria shook her head and nodded. “Are you sure this’ll work?”
“I even bought an extra scuba tank for you, so you’ll have two. It’ll minimize the need to surface.”
Synthia looked out at the lake and a movable dock with a motor boat. It would be faster but too visible from the air.
Synthia took from her backpack two lengths of a tough fiber rope that promised to withstand a thousand pounds of pressure and formed one into a harness around Maria. “I’m going to use this to connect us so we can stay together. I can do the hard swimming for you.”
Maria tugged at the black rope and winced. “What is this stuff? Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. That’s a long way and the water is cold.”
“I have to go. Decide quickly if you’re joining me.” Synthia fashioned one end of the second rope into a harness for her and fastened it around her waist and chest.
“I don’t suppose it would help to tell you this scares the hell out of me.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t see another escape and we’re out of time. Are you coming or not?”
Maria looked back toward the bushes alongside the refurbished house, at their gear, and out over the lake. She shook her head. Her bio-readings registered fear on several levels. Perhaps bringing Maria wasn’t a good idea. There was still time for her to back out. If she did, Synthia would have to devise another plan that Maria couldn’t reveal to the FBI.
To protect her electronic eyes, Synthia pulled on goggles and settled a helmet over her head in a tight fit. She strapped on her scuba gear, grabbed the plastic wrapped bundle, and slipped into the water. Maria looked around once more and followed. They both ducked beneath the surface, stirring up enough sediment to make the water murky. After the water cleared, Synthia checked her partner’s scuba gear, connected the fiber rope to link them a few feet apart, and headed for deeper water, north to where the commuter craft was. A patrol boat motored along the shore. Pointing, Synthia pulled Maria farther out. They swam along the bottom until the patrol was overhead, and stopped.
Synthia tried to hack into the boat’s wireless, but the water interfered with her signal. To make the connection, she disconnected from Maria and moved up, directly beneath the moving vessel. Cracking into the electronic depth finder, she forced the sensors to warn they were running aground.
The boat moved away from shore. While she was closer to the surface, Synthia received Roosevelt-clone’s aerial-drone images buried in another weather report. They showed police approaching the shoreline. Another patrol boat motored by and a helicopter hovered overhead. Too close for comfort.
Feeling exposed, Synthia dropped to the bottom and found Maria conserving her air, surrounded by debris and garbage cast into the lake. Not waiting for the boats above them to leave the area, Synthia strapped the plastic bundle of their things to her back and reattached the fiber rope to Maria. Staying close to the bottom, Synthia led t
he way toward the commuter’s boat.
Using motorized kicking, she moved much faster than Maria could and pulled her companion along, but all the extra weight was slowing her down. It was also burning through Synthia’s battery charge. She’d miscalculated. Without a recharge, they couldn’t swim all the way downtown. She needed the commuter boat, if she could get there in time. She pushed harder.
* * * *
Special Agent Victoria Thale joined Evanston Detective Marcy Malloy and Commander Kirk Drago along the shore of Lake Michigan north of Evanston. Several boats moved in a grid pattern nearby. Two helicopters flew overhead.
“You’re certain it was one of the androids?” Drago asked Detective Malloy as they scanned the horizon.
“Pretty sure,” Malloy said. “The police officer was taken in by a flirty woman. His partner was suspicious. The flirt acted too friendly after all the warnings we sent out about dangerous fugitives on the loose. The officer called it in along with an image she’d captured of the woman.”
“Did you post the picture?” Drago asked.
“Yes. And the hotline has been busy. Our cyber unit identified the woman. Dispatch sent officers to her apartment and workplace and found her at home. She swore she hadn’t been downtown.”
“Stop congratulating yourselves,” Drago said. “They let the android escape.”
“Per our updated guidelines,” Malloy said, “the female officer ran electronic sensors over the woman and it came up normal, human, no indication of being a machine.”
“You almost had the android,” Drago said. “Damn it, almost doesn’t count.”
“You wouldn’t even have this information without the police,” Thale said. “Calls to their hotline provided sightings of our mystery woman visiting a store where she bought a wetsuit—I mean a dry suit, and scuba gear. Other calls reported a suspicious woman with a large bag heading toward this shoreline. A coastal patrol reported suspicious activities but their communications went down.”
