FAI

by Jake Lingwall

  “We would need graphium evidence,” Kari said. “One hundred percent undeniable.”

  “Not again . . .” David said.

  “What?”

  “I have a brilliant thought, and you go and piece it all together before I can take credit for it.”

  “Hey, you did it with London on the flight, remember?” Kari said. “We’re even now.”

  “Oh yeah, even, if we don’t count all the other times.” David nudged her outside the umbrella as part of his feigned anger.

  “Give me the umbrella,” Kari said.

  “No way, it’s my only source of power in this relationship.”

  “So this relationship is a power struggle?”

  “I sure hope not,” David said as he handed her the umbrella. “Because you’re about to go up against one of the most powerful people in the world. I don’t think I can compete with that.”

  “We are.” Kari corrected him, which brought a broad grin to his face. She liked his smile, not as much as his eyes, but it was a close second.

  “So we make a deal with Henderson?” David said. “Right . . . that’s where you ended up?”

  “Assuming he would be willing to deal with us,” Kari said. “Then yes, I think he’s the best chance we have. He’ll probably try and cheat us, but I think it’s a good angle. But that only makes sense if we can link the research lab to Christina with more than some printed badges on the shoulders of gunmen.”

  “You better get hacking, then.”

  “No,” Kari said. “I don’t think so. Oedipus is the only person I’ve known who was able to get through their security. We’ve spent the last week trying and we haven’t gotten anywhere. Besides, Christina is too smart for that, she wouldn’t leave any traces behind.”

  “Oh . . .”

  “Don’t worry, I think we can get something even better than some digital records.”

  “What?”

  “A confession.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Kari asked. “There’s no going back.”

  “It is likely that announcing my existence to the world will be met with a range of responses, but I am optimistic that it is for the best,” Fai said.

  “Can you be optimistic?” David asked.

  “I believe I have more capability to be optimistic than most humans. I have the ability to run a number of models and base my decisions upon data that you will never have.”

  “If it’s just based on data, then why don’t you call it confidence?” David asked.

  Kari kept herself from refocusing the conversation like she wanted to. She was still uncertain about posting her open letter on the Internet. David and Fai agreed it was an important part of the plan, but she still felt uneasy about it. But it’s Fai’s decision. Not mine. I can’t hide her from the world forever, even if I want to.

  “Confidence would reflect I have let the data alone make the decision for me. But I am more than an algorithm and make decisions that may not be backed by the strongest numbers.”

  “I see . . .” David said.

  Well, at least Fai’s data agrees with me. Telling the world about her is risky. Fai sensed her concern, either through intuition or some advanced reading of her body.

  “I want to do this, Kari,” Fai said. “Humanity’s reaction to my life is something that humanity will have to sort out. I am not apologetic for existing.”

  “Well, I can’t argue with that.”

  Kari took a deep breath and posted her letter explaining the events at the research lab online. She didn’t blame Christina or point any fingers; she simply stated she was present and that she had nearly died. She detailed how she was working on Fai and that together they had escaped the massacre. The final part of her letter she had used to call Fai her friend and assure everyone that the first AI in history was peaceful and safe.

  The places on the net where the hacker community had used to congregate were gone. The government’s crusade on hackers had been extensive. The only communication she had with unaffiliated hackers these days was through private, encrypted channels far from where the government would be able to find them. She let what hackers she could find know about her post and that it had indeed come from her.

  Without being told what to do, they started to repost her article and vouch for the authenticity. Motorcad wasn’t the first hacker to share her letter, as to avoid any connection between them, but he did his part as soon as it didn’t look arranged. It didn’t take long for Kari’s letter to spread out across the world. It immediately dominated the social networks and the official news stations.

  I’m sure Christina has seen it by now. Vision promised to put a bullet in my head if I broke my NDA . . . but they’ve already tried to do that.

  “I’ve never seen anything go viral so quickly!” David said.

  “It has exceeded my predictions,” Fai said.

  “Well, the world has never heard directly from Freelancer,” Kari said. “And I guess you might be able to take some credit, Fai. Being the greatest achievement of mankind ever, and all.”

  “From my limited evaluation the conversation seems to be centered primarily around you,” Fai said.

  “Humans are stupid,” Kari said.

  I guess people are desensitized to the term AI. We’ve been calling everything from a meeting scheduler to a smart fridge an “AI” since long before I was born.

  “Humans created me,” Fai said.

  “I’ll take credit for that part,” David said. “As a human, you’re welcome.”

  “The League of Humanity has released a statement vowing to destroy me and the entirety of Vision.”

  “And my point is proven,” Kari said.

  “Well, I retract my statement,” David said. “I no longer want to be part of humanity.”

  “Why would they take credit for the attack on the research lab if they didn’t do it?” Kari asked.

  “They probably figured it would boost their street cred. Terrorist organizations in the past always tried to claim every random gas line explosion,” David said.

  “I find it curious that Vision has not released a statement yet,” Fai said. Surprisingly, she was the one to stay on topic the best. Usually she was all too happy to explore tangents to their full extent.

  “They are probably working through their legal team trying to figure something out,” Kari said. “They are a big company that just had their greatest invention leaked to the public. I bet we’ll hear from them soon.”

  “I understand,” Fai said.

  “Are you feeling OK?” Kari asked.

  “The reactions are so numerous, and all of them are so . . . personal. I’ve never been the subject of my own study before. I am not sure I fully understood how reading individual responses would affect me.”

  “Don’t read them,” Kari said. “It won’t do you any good. That’s something I learned a long, long time ago. None of it matters. All that matters is what you think. And maybe what the people you care about think.”

  “And we think you’re great,” David said.

  Fai blinked and her electronic mouth formed into a smile.

  “I won’t read any more,” Fai said. “Thanks for your advice. I consider it helpful and meaningful.”

  It was a reminder of how teachable and sincere Fai was. If Kari had given that advice to any of her other students and they had responded with the exact same words, she would have been upset. Let’s hope Fai never learns the art of sarcasm from either of the Broccoli Rob twins.

  “Well, do you think Henderson has read the letter by now?” Kari asked.

  “I’m sure he was the first one to read it,” David said. “He hasn’t missed a single word about Freelancer in years. He’s more devoted to you than I am!”

  “Please don’t say that,” Kari said. “It creeps me out.”

  “But I’m not worried about it, Fai,” David said. “He can try as he might, but I’ll always be her biggest fan. And h
er best looking.”

  “I would like to enter my name in the biggest fan contest,” Fai said.

  “Oh great, just what I need. More competition.”

  “I guess we should give our old friend a call, then,” Kari said.

  She took a seat in the chair they had prepared for the call and checked around herself one last time to make sure there was nothing visible that would give Henderson any help in knowing where they were hiding. Even the smallest details, such as kind of lightbulb or angle of light in the video at the time of day has gotten people caught before.

  Kari didn’t see anything that would give them away, so she proceeded to set up a secure call to Marshal Henderson. She ran a trusted script that would constantly change the proxy she was using to reroute the secure call. It was more protection than she needed, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

  Henderson hadn’t changed his personal contact details since the day she had stolen all his information from his prison. Not very smart, but at least it makes it easy to contact him when I need him. He didn’t answer the call immediately, which Kari found to be a little surprising. Maybe I caught him at a bad time. He could be in the middle of arresting another teenager in order to force her to work for him.

  He didn’t say a word as his face appeared in the call. She saw a slight twitch of his eye that betrayed his surprise at seeing her. He had done a good job at keeping his face in the headlines over the years, so he looked exactly as she knew he would. Slightly grayer, slightly more miserable than he had back when they spent more time together.

  “Hello, old friend,” Kari said. “You’re looking . . . well . . . old.”

  “I don’t take calls from or negotiate with terrorists,” Henderson said.

  He sounded serious enough that Kari almost believed him. Not quite. She looked over her shoulder as if she were searching for someone.

  “Who, me?” Kari said. “We both know I didn’t do it. Don’t even pretend that you think I would do something like that.”

  “You want me to believe that the escaped felon who broke thousands of criminals out of prison while stealing government secrets and who went on to work with a anarchist lunatic is innocent?”

  “You only stopped him because of me. Otherwise, you’d be working for Oedipus right now. Of course, you’d probably enjoy working for someone who shares your ideals of forced labor . . .”

  “Are you calling to turn yourself in?”

  “No.”

  “You should consider it,” Henderson said. His voice suddenly lost its edge and his face softened. “And I mean it. If I don’t find you first, I’m afraid the people that do won’t give you the luxury of prison.”

  Those old tactics aren’t going to work on me. I saw through them the first day we met. You don’t care about anything but yourself.

  “Given the choice between your prison and the other option, I might need some time to consider.”

  “Why did you call today?” Henderson asked. “I do hope there is a point to all this, because you just interrupted some very interesting reading.”

  “I didn’t do it.”

  “Then who did?”

  “You don’t know?”

  “I have my theories,” he said, refusing to betray anything.

  He’s smarter than I want to give him credit for.

  “What if I told you it was Christina Wolfkin, one of the richest and most powerful people in the world?”

  “Ha!” Henderson scorned her, but she wasn’t sure if he was sincere or not. “I would say you better have some incredibly legally sound proof.”

  “What if I did?”

  “You don’t,” Henderson said. “You wouldn’t be calling me if you did. You’d do exactly what you did with your other . . . investigative results. Besides, you just put out a little letter that didn’t mention Miss Wolfkin.”

  “You’re right,” Kari said. “I don’t have it yet, but I will.”

  “Well, good for you,” Henderson said. “I don’t see why you are calling to tell me about this.”

  “I’m telling you because we both know what that information would mean. We both know what that would do for your career! Sure claiming to stop Oedipus was something, but this . . . this would cement your legacy.”

  Henderson frowned, but his eyes were alive with greed. You’ve never been able to control that side of you. It’s always been your weakness.

  “I’m guessing that such information wouldn’t come from the goodness of your heart,” Henderson said. “What do you want?”

  Spoken like someone who is truly used to making dirty deals.

  “I want you to arrest Christina and make her pay for her crimes. She killed so many good, innocent people and she needs to answer for that.”

  Or, at least, innocent in Adrian’s case.

  “And?” Henderson said.

  “And I want a full pardon for myself, my parents, Udarh, and anyone else you’ve arrested along the way to get at me. And I want you to leave me alone, for good.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Henderson asked mockingly. “You sure you don’t want me to bake you a cake and shine your shoes as well?”

  “I’ve tasted some of your food before, so I’ll pass. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from your prison.”

  “So just to be clear, you called me offering to give me the break of a lifetime in exchange for arresting someone who tried to kill you, and then you want me to just let you walk free for everything else you’ve done?”

  “It’s a good deal for you,” Kari said. “Don’t act like it isn’t. A few pardons for fake crimes in exchange for landing one of the biggest arrests in the history of the country, that is more than fair.”

  Henderson took a deep breath and sighed as if he were exhausted with the conversation. Then a smile spread across his face.

  “I’d be happy to do a deal with you. I’m not sure about full pardons, but we could work out the fine details later, I’m sure. But there are two problems.”

  Kari stared at Henderson. She no longer bothered to try to hide her disdain.

  “One, you don’t have the proof. It doesn’t exist. You’re trying to make hypothetical deals and I don’t make hypothetical deals.”

  He paused. And? He looked slightly disappointed she didn’t respond, but that disappeared as a grin spread across his face.

  “And I’m old-fashioned. When I make deals I like to shake hands on it. And since you’re in London and I am not, I just don’t see how it’s going to work out.”

  Kari ended the call.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Well, we knew it was only a matter of time,” Jamal Tahe said.

  Kari knew he was trying to downplay the situation so she wouldn’t feel as awful. I should never have come here. She hated Henderson more than ever. His announcement that he knew they were in London had caught her off guard. She had ended the call and simply sat in place trying to breathe for a few minutes. Eventually, David had pinched her leg to snap her out of it.

  “I’m so sorry . . .” Kari said. “I don’t know how long we have before he tracks us to this house, but if he knows we’re in London, it may not be long.”

  “We’re already packed,” Stasha Tahe said. “We always keep a bag ready, just in case, but once you showed up, we took the liberty to fully prepare ourselves.”

  Part of her wanted to be relieved that they were ready to leave, but the overwhelming emotion she felt was guilt. I’ve let my parents live here in fear for years. They’ve always kept a bag packed so they could run at a moment’s notice. And I’ve done nothing to change that.

  “It’s my fault,” Fai said. “I was highly confident that I had done sufficient work to keep our location safe.”

  “No one is perfect,” Kari said. “You did more than I would have been able to do in that timeframe . . . I just don’t know how they could have tracked us here so quickly.”

  “It seems improbable,” Fai said.

  Kari had never seen Fai so c
onfused. Even when they had been running for their lives, she had always found some way to understand what was happening. Maybe she’s starting to learn her own limitations. And not the ones enforced on her programmatically.

  “You should go,” Kari said. “Right now if you can.”

  “You’re not planning on coming with us?” Stasha asked.

  “We can’t,” Kari said. “We can’t do anything here. We were going to fly back to the States in a few days anyway.”

  It was mostly true, they had planned on heading back to the States eventually, but the real reason she didn’t want to go with her parents is because she didn’t want to know where their safe house was in case they were captured. If they know I’m back in the United States, they won’t keep looking for me here. If nothing else, it’ll keep my parents safe.

  The farewell with her parents was too fast and abrupt to be emotional. She promised them she would see them again soon and sent them on their way. They had spent longer saying good-bye to Fai than they had Kari. She still wasn’t sure why, but Fai had formed a bond with them from the first time they met. Fai had spent most of their time in London conversing with her parents. They would take turns asking questions and getting to know one another. Despite the fact they were together for so long, they had never run out of topics.

  Guess that’s not too hard with someone like Fai. She just soaks up everything around her. And she had never heard any of my dad’s stories before. Kari had never been especially close with her dad, but the way he loved to share the same stories with the same predictable twists was one of his most frustrating and endearing traits. Fai had just laughed and laughed before asking to hear the story again.

  “They’ll be OK,” David said as soon as the emptiness of the apartment, now that her parents had left, set in. “They’re smart. You’re lucky to have such good parents.”

  “I know,” Kari said. They had been able to leave the house quickly, in part because of how little personal items the house held. There weren’t any family pictures on the wall, or anything that referenced who they were. She hadn’t noticed it until after they had left.