“Lunch as a metaphor for something as technical as atomic forces. I think I’m starting to see.” She wasn’t.
“Okay, good.” Zachary seemed less nervous. “But an ionic bond is formed when part of atom A is completely lost in atom B, and vice versa. They don’t just share electrons. The ionic attraction is so totally overwhelming that the two become one.”
Jane concentrated with everything she had, calling on all her magical ability to see connections where none seemed to exist, and concluded that, “Sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Zachary sighed. “It’s just that I was hoping we had, well, the right kind of bond. I just want to know. I really like working with you, but I don’t have enough data to test my hypothesis.”
Jane crossed her arms. “You’re testing a hypothesis?”
“We’re scientists. We develop hypotheses and test them against data. Stimulus and response.”
“Scientific method. I see.” Jane smiled. Now the connections were becoming clear. “So the hypothesis you’re proposing is…”
Zachary quickly mumbled, “That the bond between us is ionic.”
Jane almost laughed. He was so cute. “And how would you suggest we collect data?”
“An experiment. I provide a stimulus, and we test your response. If the response is negative, the hypothesis is incorrect. The bond between us is covalent.”
“What does it prove if it’s positive?” Jane’s heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s.
“According to scientific method, you can never prove a hypothesis. You can only disprove it. If the response is positive, it only means that we failed to disprove that our bond is ionic.”
Jane nodded. This was looking up. “So what’s the experiment?”
“I actually got the idea from something you said. I’ll ask to hold your hand. If we have an ionic bond, you’ll agree.”
“And if we have a covalent bond?”
Zachary stared at his feet and quietly said, “You’ll punch me in the stomach.”
“Solid reasoning.”
“I was afraid of that.”
“I suggest we proceed.”
Zachary’s eyes opened wide. “Really?”
“Really. I believe the first step in the scientific method is to phrase the test in the form of a question.”
“Okay.” Zachary held out his hand. “Would you punch me in the stomach if I try to hold your hand?”
Jane blinked. Then she smiled. “No.”
Zachary’s face lit up like a solar flare. “A positive reaction.”
“Very positive,” Jane said. “But I’m afraid we’ve proved nothing. I need more data.” She slowly reached out.
Zachary’s fingertips touched hers. He brushed them lightly across the top of her nails. “Agreed.”
Jane sighed when he wrapped her hand in his. So soft. So gentle. His grip tightened slightly. Then he slowly released her hand, and they gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Wow,” Zachary whispered. “This is a good experiment.”
Jane’s heart pounded as though she had run a marathon. “We should confirm the results.” She took Zachary by the hand and leaned in to him. “Come on. We have a maze to memorize.”
Zachary grinned. “I love science.”
As they moved through the corridor hand in hand, her nerves lighting at his touch, she wondered about her dad’s advice. Would giving up her secret really build Zachary’s trust? Would he still “love science” even if he knew she was the reason he went to jail?
What if Dad was wrong? Their ionic bond would break. They wouldn’t have any kind of bond at all. Everything holding them together now would shatter forever. Could she take that chance?
Chapter Nineteen
Zach
Sunlight beamed through the glass ceiling of the pleasantly warm Complex Cafe. It was nearly empty, with the exception of the robots and the few tables they waited. Zach sat with the real Jane at a corner table after walking hand in hand through the simulated underground with holo-Jane. It was a good use of their time. Zach had memorized the layout and identified several areas that were big enough to house the weapon, but that wasn’t foremost on his mind.
“Any chance we could run the experiment again?”
Jane looked up from her latte and blushed.
“I’m not sure how to interpret a change of face color.”
“It just means that simulated data is inconclusive. Theoretically, the real thing should be more convincing.”
“Meaning?”
“Maybe we can try again without the simulator.”
Zach’s heart skipped a beat.
His phone pinged, and he ignored it. “My schedule is open the rest of the day.”
“Except for the debriefing that starts in five minutes.”
“Can’t they debrief without us?” It pinged again. A waiter-bot in a suit moved closer to their table, its gait very smooth. Zach could hear it taking orders from the nearby table. Sounded remarkably human. Not tinny like Robby the Drinkbot from his first day at the Complex.
“They want to know what we learned in the simulation.”
“Really?” Zach grinned. “We’re going to tell them how much I love scientific method?” Another annoying ping.
“No, Zachary, we’re going to tell them about the underground. Are you going to see who’s messaging you?”
Zach shook his head and leaned toward Jane. “I’m busy. I think we have time to rerun the experiment before the debriefing.” He slid his hand across the table toward hers.
Just then Zach noticed Parker approaching from the café entrance. “Or not.” He quickly pulled back from Jane. Parker nudged the waiter-bot on his way past and motioned toward Zach and Jane. It nodded and held up a be-there-in-a-sec finger.
“Did the simulation go as planned?” Parker asked as he took his seat beside Jane.
“Better,” Zach said before he could stop himself.
“Better? Really?” Parker’s face became uncharacteristically bright. “Tell me about it.”
Jane reached beneath her chair and pulled up a folder. She began shuffling through papers as though she was searching for something. “We didn’t…I mean I didn’t…”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Parker, we didn’t do the self-defense lesson,” Zach said. “It was my fault. I know she’s supposed to work with me on that, but I really wanted to study the layout of the underground, so I pushed until she gave in. I promise we’ll go back to the simulator after this meeting. Like, straight back. No stops. We still have a lot of work to do.”
Jane gave him an eyebrow raise. “As it happens, going to the underground was very gratifying. It answered questions we both had. Zachary is kind to take the blame, but what we did was completely mutual. I’m as guilty as he is.”
Nice to hear.
Parker flipped his palm up. “That’s all very touching, but did you learn anything useful?”
“Yes,” they said in unison.
Zach looked at Jane. “Yes,” he repeated, “we know the structure of the underground. I think I know where they keep the weapon.”
“That’s good, because we have a big problem.” Anna’s voice made Zach jump. He’d expected the robot.
He turned and saw Anna and Mike standing next to them.
“Where are Nolan and Mina?” Jane asked.
“Analyzing the mathematical models,” Anna said. “They said they’d be right here.”
The waiter-bot had finally made its way to the table and proceeded to pull out seats for Mike and Anna. Then it turned to Parker. “May I get you your usual, sir?”
The robot stood nearly six feet tall, had dark brown, neatly combed hair, and wore Oxford shoes with a suit and tie. “If my memory serves me correctly, Mr. Parker, you prefer tonic water with a sprig of mint.”
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“Thank you, Frederick,” Parker said casually. “If your memory didn’t serve you correctly, I’d be worried.”
Frederick?
“As would I, sir.” Frederick’s face ratcheted into a grin. He turned to Jane. “Water infused with electrolytes and essence of coconut?”
Jane smiled at the machine like it was a long-lost friend. “Thank you, Fred.”
When Frederick had left to retrieve the table’s orders, Zach put his hand to his forehead. “I have so much to learn. Robots in human clothes? Does it make them feel important?”
“It’s all about atmosphere,” Jane said. “In a symbiotic environment, the more human our robots appear, the more they fit in with the rest of us. Our reaction to them provides the Mastermind Complex roboticists with clues for how to make them more and more realistic. Frederick is one of the more advanced models, with a molded human face, programmed voice inflection, and facial expressions that are as smooth as mechanically possible.”
“And a good memory for drinks,” Zach said.
Jane rolled her eyes. “One day, we hope to build a robot that is indistinguishable from a human. We’ve already succeeded with the artificial intelligence portion.”
“LYDIA,” Zach said.
“Think of the possibilities.”
“Speaking of…LYDIA gave us a Code Red,” Mike interrupted. “She found a serious threat against a small town.”
“North Korea again?” Zach asked. Memories of the video flashed through his mind.
Anna shook her head. “U.S.”
“Somewhere in Montana,” Mike said.
“Montana is huge.” Jane’s eyes flashed to Parker. “We need to find out which town. We have to warn them.”
Parker sat stone-faced.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Anna said. “They’re hitting it in three days.”
“Three days?” Zach did a quick calculation and inhaled sharply. Why hadn’t he seen it before? “The MegaFlare.”
“The what?” Jane’s eyebrows raised.
“The massive solar flare that the geomagnetic community is studying. They call it the MegaFlare. It erupts today. That means a geomagnetic storm will be here in three days. This changes everything.”
“Why?” Jane asked.
“Because it makes no sense. Even a proton cannon won’t burn a hole in the ozone during a geomagnetic storm. Too much energy in the atmosphere. The pulsed particle beam won’t hold. It will be dispersed so badly by the storm that it won’t have enough energy to punch a hole through Styrofoam. The weapon can’t be a proton cannon.”
“What if it is?” Jane asked. “Maybe they aren’t blowing a hole in the ozone. Maybe they’re shooting directly at Montana.”
“They’d have to do it from space. Too much curvature in the Earth between here and Montana. A proton cannon shoots in a straight line. The weapon has to be something else.”
“With a timeline this short, Piper Dane will lead you right to it,” Parker said.
He seemed extremely certain. Zach had the distinct impression that Parker was leaving something out. “Why would she do that?”
“Don’t you find it odd that Piper turned you down then changed her story? Her juvie visits were not coincidence. She targeted you. You have skills the Halo Agents don’t. I don’t believe they can use the weapon without you.”
“Piper never changed her story,” Zach said.
“You didn’t check your messages, did you?” Mike shot him an I-knew-it look.
“What messages? Wait, you read my messages?”
“I asked him to monitor your phone,” Parker said.
“You hacked your own brother?” Zach shot back an I-don’t-freakin-believe-it look.
“Just following orders, dude” Mike said. “Good thing, too. She sounded urgent. Take a look.”
Zach grabbed his phone and pulled up his messages. Three unread. “Piper says she was impressed with the way I handled myself at the Geomagnetic Convention and convinced Mamont that I would make a good addition to his space program. He wants to meet me.”
“We can’t send Zachary in yet,” Jane said. “We’re not ready.”
“We have no choice,” Parker said. “Mamont won’t wait. Zachary, I would like you to contact Piper and confirm your meeting. Anna, you and Michael will prepare communications. I want eyes and ears on Zachary the entire time he’s inside. Zachary, the instant you find the weapon, report back so I can get you out and send in senior agents. Jane, take over. I’m expecting a call.”
Parker slid his chair back and walked out of the café without another word.
“Wow,” Zach said. “When he makes up his mind, it’s full steam ahead. Now what?”
“Now…” Jane took a deep breath. “We go full steam ahead. Anna, Zachary can’t have ear buds like at the Convention. He needs something undetectable. What do you have?”
Mike held up a slim black object. “Just finished building it.”
“It’s a watch.” Zach took the device from Mike. “Retro Bond?”
“Better. It’s a tracking device and live feed com link. We’ll see what you see and hear what you hear. We’ll be able to find you with our own watches. I made them out of titanium. They’re extremely tough. Should hold up to anything.”
Zach put the watch on. “Let’s test it.”
Mike held up a finger and walked out of the room.
I’m whispering. Mike’s voice echoed in Zach’s head. Whisper, whisper, whisper. Can you hear me?
“Wow.” Zach put his hands on his temples. “I heard you inside my brain. It’s like a telepathy device.”
Closest thing on the market, Mike said. The watch’s body transmits through the carpus. Vibrations follow your skeletal density.
“You sound like Nolan.” Zach turned his hand over. “The watch sends vibrations from my wrist to my skull through my bones?”
Exactly, Mike said. Your cranium makes the perfect echo chamber. You’ll hear everything we say, we’ll hear everything you say. And the watch face is a video feed. It’s even better than I expected. I can see that Jane is staring at you. Very tenderly, dude. What did you not tell me about the simulations?
“Now you sound like Mike. So shut up.” Zach glanced toward Jane. She smiled at him like he was the only person in the room. But there was fear in her eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
Jane’s smile weakened. “It’s showtime. A little nervous, that’s all.”
That’s when it hit him. The fate of an entire city rested on his shoulders.
And she didn’t think the ex-con could save it.
Chapter Twenty
Jane
Jane’s heart banged like a sledgehammer.
“Three days,” Zachary said, staring into her eyes. “I’m a little nervous, too. But I can handle it.”
She could do this.
Could she do this? Dad said she’d know when the time was right. Jane wasn’t sure this was it.
Michael walked back into the café with Mina and Nolan trailing behind.
“What now?” Michael asked as he dropped into his chair.
Think, Jane. Pull it together. “Mina, where are you and Nolan with Grace O’Hanson’s mathematical models? I need to know what sort of criminals Mamont has recruited. We have to get Zachary in and out of HAVOC unharmed.”
“The models weren’t what we thought,” Mina said. “They don’t predict criminal behavior patterns. Much worse.”
“What?” Jane said.
Nolan shook his head and stared directly at Zachary. “They predict how long it will take for people with certain personality types to have their wills broken by a machine. Guess what it’s called.”
“Blackbody.” Zachary grimaced. Then his eyes widened. “Wait, you mean the Blackbody was created by HAVOC?”
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br /> “It seems so,” Nolan said.
“But that means…”
“Ace worked for HAVOC.” Nolan’s face was blank, like the words shocked him. “The Blackbody was part of their recruiting program. They wanted only the survivors.”
“Blackbody.” Jane had no idea what that meant, but the agonized expression on Zachary’s face told her enough to make the connection. “The machine they used to torture you?”
Zachary nodded. “Compliments of my favorite juvie guard.”
“The mathematical models were well documented,” Nolan said. “I mean, the development notes were almost like a diary. The first place the Blackbody was tested was Montana State Prison. Your guard, Ace? He worked there before he went to the juvie detention center.”
Montana State Prison? That was not what Jane wanted to hear.
Nolan glowered. “I found everything I need to take this sadist down, Zach. After what he did to you, believe me, I’m taking this to the authorities.”
“Montana?” Jane interrupted. “You’re certain this happened at the state prison?”
“It seemed odd to me, too.” Mina nodded. “But then I looked deeper, and there was a big controversy a year ago. The prison was accused of conducting experiments on inmates, but it was thrown out of court. They have a spotless record.”
“That’s because nobody ever saw these notes,” Nolan said. “I’m about to change that.”
“No time, Nol.” Zachary shook his head. “Concentrate on the mission. We’ll worry about Ace later.”
“I’m not letting him get away with this,” Nolan argued.
Nolan continued bickering, but his voice faded into the background as Jane began to panic. Montana State Prison…it was so obvious.
She turned to Zachary. “HAVOC’s target is Deer Lodge, Montana.”
“Dear what?” Zachary shook his head. “Never heard of it.”
“The Montana State Prison is in Deer Lodge.” And so was Grandma. “Somebody inside the prison must be on to HAVOC. That’s why Ace moved to the juvie center.”
“Mamont wants to wipe out the prison,” Zachary said. “And take the town with it.”
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