“He didn’t seem to like humans when I talked to him,” Kari said.
“That seems circumstantial,” David said. “He just might not have liked you.”
Kari closed the video feed and returned her vision to the real world. She didn’t need to see any more. She looked over to David, who had apparently returned his vision to reality as well. Ever since she had seen Adrian standing next to John, adrenaline had replaced her terror.
“Sorry . . . it’s just my major. I’ve been trained to look for the data.”
“Oooh, a fancy college man,” Ruth said. “No wonder Professor has the sweets for you.”
“You’re right,” Kari said. “We need the motive. Why would he order the attack on his own lab, hide it from Christina until after it was over, while possibly even taking his own life in the process?”
“Maybe he feared Fai?” Motorcad said. “Read a little too much League of Humanity handbook online or something?”
“He simply could have shut her down,” Kari said. “He had the clearance and power to do it.”
“Unless he didn’t want anyone to reproduce another Fai,” Motorcad said.
“That might add up,” David said. “But we think that Christina found out about the plan afterward and played along with it. Why?”
“She knew the only way to get an AI now was to get Fai back,” Motorcad said. “That explains why she’s been hunting down Kari so aggressively.”
Kari listened to David and Motorcad argue back and forth. It was good stuff, plausible even, but it just didn’t feel right.
Are there any hackers out there who would destroy their life’s work like that, even if it had the power to destroy humanity? I didn’t delete my hacking drones. Joseth knew his nanobots were too dangerous to let anyone else have them and he didn’t destroy the designs. No. We aren’t wired that way. Adrian can look down at me all he wants, but we share the passion for creation. In fact, as much as I consider Fai to be my sister or friend, he would be even more emotionally tied to her.
“There’s another AI,” Kari said.
The room went silent.
“What?” Fai asked.
“There’s another AI,” Kari said. “Adrian created another AI.”
The words poured from her mouth infinitely slower than ramifications were being processed in her mind. How did I not see this?
“What are you talking about?” Motorcad asked.
“They found us in London,” Kari said. “They shouldn’t have been able to do it that quickly.”
“That is a fascinating theory . . .” Fai said.
“I mean, we have other theories about how that happened,” David said.
“Adrian created another AI, but this one was off the books. I don’t know why, but he felt like he needed to protect it.”
“How does Christina fit in?” Motorcad asked.
“I don’t know.”
“If we’re going to make a convincing story, we have to have proof that paints the entire picture,” David said.
“I don’t care about the story,” Kari said. “I just watched that massacre nine times in a row. All I want is justice. Adrian did this and if he’s still alive, he is going to face justice.”
Kari knew the people in the room still had their doubts, but no one voiced them. Instead they all silently supported her.
“So what do we do now?” Motorcad asked. “Figure out if he’s still breathing? Track him down? Find the other AI?”
“All of the above. If my theory is right, I know exactly where they will both be. Do we have any drones with enough power to make it to Colorado?”
“It should have been a sufficient amount of time,” Fai said.
“All right, here we go,” Kari said.
Everyone in the farmhouse had reassembled after parting ways while the drones flew to the Vision research lab in Colorado. Kari had been excited to fly in right away to test her theories, but Fai had cautioned her to let the drones sit in the local environment for a while. Jared and Ruth had protested about not wanting to wait any longer, but Fai had the better argument.
She had claimed that if there were another AI involved, and it didn’t have the same limitations that Fai experienced, it would be smart enough to evaluate the drones’ temperature, wear, energy levels, and other indicators and use that to roughly trace the drones back to the farmhouse. I’ve hacked people off less than that before.
“Finally,” Ruth said. “I thought I was going to have spend another hour trying to hack Russian mafia databases.”
“We’ll still want that information,” David said. “Even if Kari is right about the second AI and Adrian, we’ll want to find the mercenaries if possible.”
“Boo!” Ruth said, but she was too interested in the feed to draw out a battle over nothing, like she usually did.
Two of the delivery type drones they had used to fly here hovered outside the Vision research lab. The concrete barrier that used to block the road had been destroyed and removed. It didn’t affect the drones as they could simply fly over any barriers, but an auto-auto would now be able to drive into the cave without stopping. Everything else was as she first remembered seeing it.
Kari took her time inspecting the area before she decided to fly the first drone slowly into the cave. She didn’t fly in too quickly, as she wanted to know exactly how far she was able to go without being hindered. It also gave her an opportunity to try to take stock of what she might be up against if she needed to storm the lab in the future.
The drone glided down the long, dark tunnel, doing its best to work with the available light, but little was broadcasted across the video stream. Kari pushed the drone forward, closer to the destroyed glass lobby. Down the cave, Kari could see light from where the research lab truly began.
The drone dropped offline.
“What happened?” David asked.
“I don’t know . . .it just . . . stopped.”
“Too far in the tunnel?” Jared asked.
“Don’t be stupid,” Ruth said.
“EMP?” Motorcad asked.
“Maybe,” Kari said. “I’m going to try the other drone.”
She flew the second drone in faster, unable to control her curiosity. It didn’t take long for it to reach the point where the first drone had gone offline. Kari stopped it just outside where the other drone had gone offline.
“It’s still there!” David said. “I can see it!”
The first drone was hovering in midair exactly where Kari had lost contact with it.
“What does that mean?” Ruth asked.
“Communication bubble,” Kari said. “Around the research lab. It’s blocking everything coming in and out. They must have set one up inside. Only way to guarantee no one from the outside can hack them.”
“Is that left from the investigation?” Ruth asked.
“Don’t be stupid,” Jared said, before he groaned.
“It might be . . .” Kari said. She was about to voice her frustration when suddenly the first done came back online. “It’s down!”
Kari pushed the drone forward, toward the lobby. It raced toward the light and caught a glimpse of a fully restored lobby free of any blast holes or blood. A wave of large, unidentified drones rushed at her just before the camera feed dropped off.
“Any questions?” Kari asked.
“Yeah, why would they completely restore the lobby, have a communication bubble switch on and off, and have an army of killer drones sitting in a seemingly abandoned research lab?” Jared asked.
Kari’s heart was beating fast and heavy. She frowned as she returned her vision once again to the real world. She knew her target now, the silent enemy that had taken so many lives, and nearly her own.
“Jared, for the last time, don’t be stupid,” Ruth said. “The only question is, how can we help, Professor?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“This took me years to put together,” Motorcad said. “My parents were supportive at first, though
t it was just some hobby that I would grow out of. They were fascinated at first, but as I earned more money and my manufacturing capacity grew, they started to worry.”
He finished unlocking the old, dusty barn door and pulled it open proudly. Inside of the barn, Kari could see printers lining the walls. It wasn’t as orderly as her factory had been, but it was impressive in scale. And I thought I was the only one who built their own factory.
“They even staged an intervention once. Surprised me, sat me down, and tried to tell me there was more to life and that I should be more well rounded.”
“How’d that work for them?” Kari asked as she stepped inside the barn. The printers were in good condition, and from what she could see, most of them were well stocked with materials. They weren’t the latest models, but they were still high-end printers capable of printing nearly any devices of a moderate size.
“Not well,” Motorcad said. “I bought the farm out from under them. Told them to leave. And they did . . .”
His voice faded off as he inadvertently ventured into deeply personal matters. She didn’t get the sense that it was a conversation he wished to continue, so she let it go. Besides, we have more pressing issues to work on. If there is another AI, it grows smarter and more powerful every day. We’re going to need all this barn has to give and more.
“Pretty impressive,” Kari said. “All this.”
She walked up to the closest printer and blew the dust off it. Running her hands over it delicately.
“Thanks,” Motorcad said. “When things got a little too exciting, it was the hardest thing to leave behind. I swore I’d come back to it someday.”
“And now you have. This is good, really good. Can they print the EMP guns?”
“Should be able to. Won’t be able to print out nanobots, but should be able to get us most of everything else that we need.”
“Good. We’ll need more materials than this . . . Do you still have local contacts to source it?”
“If you mean, order like I would anything else and have it dropped off, than yes. But I’m not sure that’s going to work anymore. Not if that other AI is half as smart as Fai.”
“Oh. I had something like this back in North Carolina, but I had to be a little more careful. I had to find ways to get materials without people knowing it was me.”
“Sounds like a headache.”
“We’ll need to figure something out. Maybe we can send Ruth and Jared to wherever we can get stuff like this locally. We can have them buy it in person, keep any transactional data local.”
“Sounds like you’ve already figured it out,” Motorcad said.
“Except I don’t have any money,” Kari said. “Clients don’t seem to pay when you don’t work for them anymore . . .”
“Darn, well there goes that.”
“Nate . . .”
“What? Don’t you ‘Nate’ me, Professor.”
“Come on, I know you have the money. I’ve never asked for a penny through all this. I’ve paid more than my fair share . . .”
“And that’s why I’ve loved to have you as a business partner.”
She refused to crack a smile. Instead she just glared at him.
“Fine! But you owe me.”
“I’m already eternally in your debt, Caddyboy,” Kari said. “Just add it to my tab.”
“I’ll let the others know what’s going on. I guess you want to get to work out here?” Motorcad said with a sigh.
“Thanks,” Kari said. “I appreciate . . . everything.”
“Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like this is end or something. It’s just a little mad scientist and an AI. Nothing you can’t handle.”
“You know you’re not coming with me, right?” Kari asked.
“Of course not, someone has to run the school, just in case. I get it.”
“Thank you,” Kari said.
“But don’t even think about getting yourself in more trouble. There’s no way I’m giving a speech at graduation. I’m the fun teacher, you’re the boring one that gives speeches.”
She smiled at that and he left her alone in the barn. She connected to the printers and activated them all, ordering them to warm up. We have a lot of printing to do.
“This . . . isn’t what I expected,” David said.
“I started with the usual mix of drones, but it just didn’t feel right. Not for this, so I recycled them all,” Kari said.
She closed her development environment and looked over to David. He was carrying a bag of food, which he held up as a peace offering to her. I don’t really get that upset when I get interrupted that I need a peace offering, do I?
“Motorcad says it’s pretty good,” David said. “I was hoping we could eat together.”
“Sounds amazing,” Kari said.
She rolled off the table she was lying on and took a seat on the bench next to it. David slid into place next to her and started to unpack the bag.
“Just what I would have ordered!” Kari said, looking at the burger and fries in front of her.
“I know, you’re pretty predictable in that regard.”
“Sorry if I bore you.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought of you as boring. I mean, I’ve thought you were lots of other things, but never boring.”
The food was perfect after hours of programming. Hamburgers and code. Almost feels like life is back to normal.
“Motorcad said that you were going to go in person to the lab . . .” David said. He tried his best to make it sound natural, but he failed.
Miserably.
“It’s the only way. The police won’t know how to arrest an AI, especially if it doesn’t have a body. And if Adrian is there, we’ll need Fai to document his confession.”
“I worry about you going back there . . .”
“I know you do.”
“I mean, even the videos make you sick . . . doesn’t that worry you?”
“It does, but I have bigger things to worry about. Besides, I won’t be going alone.”
“I’m not sure Fai—”
“I’m not talking about Fai.”
“Oh.”
“I promised never to leave you behind again, didn’t I?”
“You did,” David said.
He sounded altogether too pleased about it. Kari wanted to tell him how foolish that was, given how dangerous the situation was likely to be. If we’re dealing with an AI, there’s no telling how it will respond or behave. Especially if it hasn’t been nurtured along like Fai. And we already know what lengths Adrian is willing to go to.
“Any plans yet?”
“We’ll need a way past the drones and potentially the EMP room as well. I don’t think drones are going to be the answer. There’s such a limited space once we get inside . . . I’m thinking about using crawlers. Or maybe even miniature cheetahs . . . I haven’t really figured it out yet.”
“Mini cheetahs? Could we call them Larses?”
“We’d have to get permission to use his name,” Kari said. “I hear he has a strict legal team, so it’s unlikely.”
“I like the crawler idea, but I’d be worried about mobility,” David said.
“Yeah . . . that’s what I’m weighing in my mind,” Kari said. “But I’ve started working on some designs, but I’m not sure that I’m happy with where I’m headed.”
“I’d be happy to help,” David said.
“I’ll run the designs by you before I print them,” Kari said. “How’s that?”
She still designed better when she could work alone. The only exception to that rule she had ever experienced is when she had been designing with Fai.
“Cool, if you think that would be helpful.”
“Yeah that’d be great.”
“What about us?” David asked.
“What do you mean?” I don’t have time for any relationship talk right now, David . . .
“What are we going to wear . . .
be carrying. We don’t have to rush in exposed. We have time to prepare.”
“Oh!” Kari laughed. “I thought you were . . . oh. Well, that’s a good question.”
“I’m not worried about us,” David said, gesturing between them. “I’m just worried about us.”
“That really clears that up.”
“I mean, if you want to talk about us, I’m fine with that, too.”
“Let’s talk about body armor,” Kari said. “What were you thinking? Full electronic armor might take too long to get together.”
“How about I look into that?” David said. “You worry about the Larses.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, David!”
Kari engulfed the final few bites of her hamburger at once. She was going to tell him not to forget about Fai, but she decided to take care of that herself.
“Everyone else has already gone to bed,” Fai said. “It seems important for you to get some rest as well.”
“I will soon,” Kari said. Only Fai would walk into a barn filled with drones and crawlers and not even comment on them.
“You wanted to see me?” Fai asked.
“Yes. I’ve been working on everything we need for . . .” What are we calling this anyway? “The return to lab. And I think there is one key thing that we need to take care of.”
“I would be more than happy to contribute. Although, I do not have too much time available.”
“Oh?” Kari wanted to ask what was keeping her so busy, but she couldn’t hold Fai’s new arm behind her back for much longer. “Well, this will only take a few minutes.”
Kari pulled the arm from behind her back and held it out for Fai to see.
“I was wondering why you were holding that behind your back. You believe that we can attach it to my current body?” Fai asked.
So much for that surprise.
“Yeah, I know it doesn’t match perfectly, but we don’t really have access to a printer that can print you a new body. And we don’t really have the materials, either.”
Even with Jared and Ruth buying everything they could get their hands on without attracting too much attention, they hardly had enough resources to print a force comparable to the one they would face at the research lab. I only caught a glimpse of what they have in defenses, but I know they get raw material deliveries often. They could have a sizeable army by the time we get there.
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