Upload

by Chris Gladstone

  "How dare you defy me." Williamson, his face twisting, half rose from his chair.

  Dear Luke, Kiera thought. Time for Plan B. In her mind, she conjured up the image of the android child that looked like Luke. She let the emotion swell inside her. She transformed the image into Luke and imagined him holding his arms out and pleading with her to take him home. She let the tears well, let them spill out, let herself dissolve into sobs. As she wallowed in the sadness, she said, "I'm…not sure…I want to…show you. It's going to make you so… angry. But it affects, it affects…all of us, so I have to. Please." She plumbed to the depth of her emotions and made it sound like she was pleading for her life. "Please…you have to look at it." She put the memory stick on the desk in front of him.

  Williamson sat down again. "Why?" His expression had changed to mild surprise.

  Luke jumped in. "Because somebody has published an upload program. You've been beaten to the post."

  Kiera felt her jaw drop.

  With a look of shock, Williamson snatched the stick and stuck it in the appropriate slot.

  She and Luke watched in silence as the file opened and the link uploaded.

  As well as playing on the desk in front of him, its images flooded onto the room's screens, displacing her mug shot.

  At first Williamson sat unmoving. The transmitted footage showed Lianna conducting the tour, and it had reached the section detailing the various pheromones. He sat frozen as the footage progressed through to the twelve android children. His face turned ashen. "How did you get this footage?" he snarled, rising to his feet, "I'm the only one that can authorise access to that section of my facility." His knuckles turned white as he clenched the edge of his desk.

  "It's live footage, being filmed as we speak by a plainclothes policewoman," Kiera said.

  Silence followed, punctuated only by the sound of Luke's heavy breathing. He met her eyes, and she gave him a reassuring half smile. To her relief, he took a deep breath and managed to compose himself.

  Kiera's attention snapped back to the policewoman's voice and the unmistakable lilt of Lianna, the android guide.

  Williamson, galvanised into action by fury, surged around the side of his desk and lunged at Kiera.

  "You little bitch! I'll teach you to play games with me."

  As his arm came up to strike her, Luke leapt towards him. At light speed, his hand shot forward, blocking Williamson's upraised arm, while the other hand slid under his armpit. He twisted around behind the man, taking the arm with him. Williamson whimpered in pain as Luke twisted his arm up behind his back and held it there effortlessly.

  "Settle down, and I'll let your arm go." Williamson tried to kick backwards, but Luke nimbly sidestepped and twisted the arm up further. "Stop! Just stop. Now, I'm going to walk you back to your chair, and I want you to sit down. Is that clear?"

  Williamson nodded.

  Luke turned him around and pushed him forward. Before he sat him down, Luke said, "Can you grab that piece of twine from the shelf over there please, Kiera? I don't trust him. He might bolt or try and have another go at you."

  Kiera, stunned by the unfolding spectacle said, "Wow! That was unexpected." She grabbed the piece of thick twine from the shelf. "Where did you learn to do that?" She grinned as she handed it to him.

  "Didn't I tell you I have a black belt in karate?" Luke pulled Williamson's other hand behind his back and bound them together. He pushed Williamson on to the chair.

  "Would have been nice to know, Luke." She stared down at Williamson.

  "Need-to-know, Kiera." Luke tapped his finger on his nose.

  Kiera snorted.

  Williamson looked up at them, red-faced. "You'll regret this as long as you live. I'll make sure you never work anywhere in AI again. I'll make your lives a misery. You'll be sorry that you were ever born. I'll…"

  His tirade ceased as the door to the office burst open, and three uniformed officers surged into the room, followed by Detective Harrington.

  "Thank God," Williamson said, "these two attacked me. They tied me up. I don't…"

  "Don't bother, Mr Williamson," Detective Harrington said, interrupting him. "We've been listening in on what's transpired here so I suggest you keep quiet."

  Kiera stepped out of the way and went and stood next to Luke.

  Detective Harrington faced the fuming man. "Logan Williamson, you are under arrest for possession of objectionable goods, namely, the instruments for engagement in obscene activities. You are also charged with illegal tampering with android circuitry to circumvent the normal safeguards to allow them to engage in illegal activity. You are also charged with the manufacture and supply of illegal substances. Further charges are pending and will be determined on the basis of the evidence gathered. Cuff him and caution him, please officers." He turned to Kiera and Luke. "Let's step outside, you two, while my men proceed." He headed out the door.

  Kiera and Luke followed him into the passage. After they'd gone a short distance, the detective turned and held out his hand to Luke. "I'm Detective Inspector John Harrington, head of the Special Crimes Unit. Nice to put a face to the voice."

  Luke shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too, detective."

  "I need you to come down to the hub and make a statement tomorrow, if that's okay, Luke."

  "Sure, I'd be happy to."

  "How did it all go, Detective Harrington?" Kiera asked.

  "The timing worked perfectly. Our operative's computer wizardry proved invaluable in getting us into Sentioids Inc. unobstructed. We seized all the various androids, including the guide, and they're being loaded into trucks as we speak. We've also confiscated his computers and all of his records. There were several computers and storage drives in Williamson's apartment––and they've been seized as well. There also appears to be some interesting material in cloud storage. All in all, thanks to you two, the operation has been a total success. I don't need to detain you any further, so you can pack up and leave. We'll be in touch later." He walked back to Williamson's door.

  Kiera took off up the passage. She needed to get away before Luke started to ask questions. But he caught up to her, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her to a halt.

  "What the Bloody Zark was it that Williamson just showed us, Kiera?"

  "I don't want to talk about it. Not here, and definitely not now, okay?" She scowled and folded her arms.

  "No. It's not okay. You need to tell me about it. For the second day in a row, I've been emotionally ambushed. You promised there wouldn't be any more secrets between us." Luke's voice rose in anger. "It's not good enough Kiera. Williamson said you'd killed someone."

  "Keep your voice down, Luke," Kiera hissed, "I was ambushed as well." She sighed. "I'll explain, when I'm good and ready. Now let's just pack up and go home. I just want to get out of here."

  As they were about to enter their respective offices, two policemen, holding Williamson securely, emerged from his room and proceeded to frogmarch him down the passageway.

  Detective Harrington and another officer followed them out. The detective closed Williamson's door, and headed down the hallway. Suddenly, he turned and strode back to Kiera and Luke. He held his hand out to Kiera.

  When Kiera took it, he said, "Thanks for finally being your father's daughter Kiera, I think you have well and truly redeemed yourself."

  When Kiera let go his hand he turned to Luke. "See you tomorrow, Luke. I'll be in touch later." He smiled, saluted, trotted off down the passage and disappeared around the corner.

  "Was that about what Williamson just showed us?" Luke glared at her.

  "Yes." Her anger had mellowed. "And I will tell you everything when we get home, okay?"

  "Okay." He started towards his door. Before he opened it, he turned to look at Kiera. "I love you Kiera."

  "I love you too, Luke." She slipped inside her room.

  Chapter 21

  Kiera didn't feel like talking, so they rode home in the trans-car in silence. Luke had a solemn expression an
d refused to meet her eyes. By the time they reached the apartment, it was around 11 o'clock. They dumped their bags next to the lounge chair.

  "Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving," Kiera asked.

  "We could have some toast."

  Kiera wrinkled her nose.

  "Or we could nip down the local coffee shop for something more exotic," Luke said.

  "I don't feel like going out again. You go and get something. Surprise me." She flopped onto the lounge.

  "Okay, I won't be long. Perhaps you could make us a cup of tea while I'm gone." He slipped out the door, closing it quietly.

  By the time he got back, he found two cups of tea waiting on the coffee table in front of the lounge chair.

  "So, what did you get?" Kiera looked up at him, smiling.

  "I got a couple of jam doughnuts for myself, and I got this for you." He placed a second bag on the table in front of her. "I'll grab us a couple of plates." He disappeared into the kitchen.

  Kiera opened the bag. Inside were two chocolate éclairs filled with cream.

  Luke came back with two small plates and some paper towels. He sat down, and they both sat eating in silence.

  Kiera sipped her tea. She had already demolished the first éclair. She put her cup down, wiped her hands on the paper towel and turned to him.

  He'd just bitten into the second doughnut.

  She smiled; he had sugar all over his chin.

  "What?"

  "I love you." She leaned over and kissed his sugary lips. "Now, let's talk." She sighed, where to start? Perhaps the mug shot. No, she'd start from the beginning. "So," she began, "I'd just turned sixteen when I first started uni. I'd been classified as exceptionally intelligent so they accelerated me through school. Towards the end of my final school year Dad had an affair with one of his work colleagues and decided to leave my mother after twenty years of marriage."

  Luke's face softened. "Great Universe! That must have been hard on you both."

  "It left Mum devastated. The affair had gone on for over a year and she'd had absolutely no idea. Neither had I." Kiera inspected her hands. "So they decided on divorce and Dad agreed to move out and leave Mum with the house. I had to move up to Perth to start my course at UWA, which made it worse for both of us. I stayed at St Catherine's College. In hindsight, I would have been better off in an apartment by myself, but Dad wouldn't pay for it, and Mum certainly couldn't have afforded it." She picked up her cup and took a few more sips of tea before continuing. "I just got angrier and angrier about the whole thing, and I started drinking heavily. I became friendly with another girl at St Catherine's College. She was also into heavy drinking, so we sort of egged one another on. Anyway, I started skipping classes, mostly because Lisa and I were up until the early hours partying. Study took a back seat to having a good time and getting blind drunk every night." Kiera paused, picked up the second éclair and took a bite.

  What would Luke make of all this? Would he be able to handle what she was going to tell him? He appeared calm at the moment. But he gave himself away by running his hand through his hair. He grabbed the paper towel after realising he'd put sugar everywhere. After he'd wiped his hands, he looked up at her expectantly.

  "What happened next?"

  "I found out Dad had bought a jazzy new sports car. So one night we got plastered and went to his place at about three in the morning. Lisa was experienced in hotwiring cars, so she got it started in no time. We took it up to Kings Park and tore around the roads inside the park. It was a rainy night with poor visibility; we came hurtling around a bend and I lost control. We ended up hitting a tree and rolling. I'm not sure how many times we rolled. It was all pretty much a blur." Kiera lapsed into silence and stared off into the distance.

  Luke reached over and grasped her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

  She gave him a sad smile.

  "So…what happened next?" Luke prompted.

  "Lisa didn't like seatbelts. She was thrown out onto the verge and ended up horribly injured. Oh, Luke. It should have been me, it was my fault." Kiera sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye with her finger.

  Luke put his arms around her, "Why did you feel it should have been you?"

  "If I hadn't been so angry at Dad, we wouldn't have pinched his car. None of it would have happened. Lisa would still be alive. I'm directly to blame because I was driving. It haunts me, Luke, and I can't forgive myself." Kiera wiped away more tears.

  "From what you've told me, it sounds like you were both on a path to self-destruction. You were hurting badly and didn't have the maturity to deal with it. Kiera, you were just a teenager, away from home for the first time and trying to make sense of a difficult situation. It sounds like you didn't have a lot of support." He smoothed her hair and patted her face.

  "She didn't die outright, Luke." Kiera sniffed. "She ended up on life support, but in the end her parents made the decision to allow the doctors to switch it off and let her go. They wouldn't let me see her, Luke, so I never got to say goodbye." Tears began to run down her face and she fished in her pocket for a handkerchief to wipe her eyes.

  Luke put his arm around her shoulders. "Were you hurt in the rollover, Kiera?"

  Dear Luke, his face held such love and concern. Kiera kissed him gently, before answering. "No, I ended up suspended in my seatbelt. I managed to release it and crawl out of the car."

  "You may have been driving Kiera, but if you weren't hurt you need to ask yourself if Lisa would have survived if she'd been wearing a seatbelt. If the answer is yes, you weren't responsible for her death. You didn't force her not to put a seatbelt on, did you?"

  Kiera stared at him. She'd never thought about it. A coronial enquiry had given a finding of accidental death.

  "What happened after that?" Luke asked.

  "The police arrested me. That's where the mug shot came from. But because I was a juvenile and had no previous record, Dad managed to pull strings. He was a senior detective at the time. The police made allowances because of the road conditions and the mitigating circumstances. They were persuaded not to pursue a charge of dangerous driving on the condition that I participate in an anger management course, so I was assigned a youth worker for counselling."

  "So that's how you met Jack."

  She caught the slight sneer in Luke's voice. She sighed. "Yes. We grew close––like brother and sister." She hoped he could relate to a brother and sister love, but his expression still conveyed a lack of conviction. "He helped me so much, Luke. He gave me the support I needed."

  Luke frowned.

  "We remained staunch friends after I left the program, until he went off to a new job in Melbourne. We exchanged emails for a while but it gradually got less and less, and we eventually lost touch with one another. Fortunately for us, I was able to track him down by contacting his previous employer. I didn't know he'd moved back to Perth." She picked up Luke's hand, holding it in between both of hers. "We were never involved in a relationship, Luke. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

  Luke sat and regarded her with a serious expression.

  "Perhaps not from your point of view, but it's the way he looks at you, Kiera. He's in love with you." He gazed at her intently.

  "What? Jack? Absolutely not. I told you we are just like brother and sister."

  "That's not what I saw, Kiera. You need to open your eyes. Why do you think he's always so eager to help you?"

  "Because he's a really nice guy, and we're good friends," Kiera insisted, looking down at her plate.

  "I can only tell you what I see," Luke said, standing and picking up the empty plates.

  "Well, I don't agree. Are you sure it's not just jealousy on your part?"

  Luke took the plates into the kitchen without speaking. When he came back he said, "I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree. I don't want us to argue about it. Okay?" He stood with his hands on his hips.

  Kiera swallowed her anger and said simply, "Okay."

  Lu
ke embraced her. "We are both a bit tense, but I think I can think of a remedy for that.'' He grinned.

  "Mmm, you still taste of sugar. At least we agree on something." She pulled him towards the bedroom door. "Let's get naked."

  Chapter 22

  It took the police six months to sort through all the evidence. In spite of fast tracking, nine months went by before the trial commenced. One of the difficulties had been determining the offences and criminal charges, some would set precedents for the future.

  It had been a complex, gruelling period for Luke and Kiera. The trial itself had lasted for months. Their careers were in a hiatus and their futures uncertain. They were only required to be at the trial for one day to give their testimonies. Detective Harrington made sure they were protected from the media scrum. On his advice, they stayed away from the rest of the proceedings. Detective Harrington emailed through a summary of the trial's proceedings every evening.

  Luke had taken a part-time job on an AI helpdesk, and Kiera had found temporary work tutoring at the University of Western Australia while waiting for the trial to commence and for its duration. It had at least helped to pass the time and generate a little income.

  Detective Harrington rang with the news of a verdict. After nine days, during which the jury had been summoned back and spoken to by the presiding judge twice, they had come to a decision. Logan Williamson and his company Sentioids Inc. were found guilty of all charges. The judge reserved his decision on sentencing due to the number and seriousness of the offences. It took another three months before sentence was passed.

  Luke and Kiera took the day off to enable them to catch the live coverage of Williamson's sentencing and the judge's summation. They sat on the lounge in Luke's apartment to watch on the big screen.

  Kiera sat bolt upright as the footage began. Aware of the tension building inside himself, Luke reached over, took Kiera's hand in his, and gave it a gentle squeeze. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  "Well, this will be interesting." Kiera said, as she gave his hand a couple of quick squeezes back. Luke knew she was trying to sound nonchalant.