Artificial Absolutes (Jane Colt Book 1)

by Mary Fan

  Riley pointed at him. “Dumbass! Pandora could’ve sent an evil machine to shoot you in the face! If she had… What the hell am I supposed to do with a dead guy?”

  Jim X shrugged. “Like I said to the media: I’m not dead. Your safeguards seem to be protecting me well enough. Don’t worry. I checked with Commander Vega first, and she gave me the go-ahead. Said she was about to reveal that I was alive, anyway.”

  Riley was ticked-off at the old guy for going behind his back and irritated with himself for missing it. At least it was another strike against the Devin-is-a-coldblooded-murderer thing.

  Holo-Jim X continued, “My friends, the video of me disseminated on the Net contains only the truth. I know I’ve been discredited many times and dismissed as a batty old curmudgeon, but believe me when I say those memos were faked. I am perfectly sane. The Pandora program is a very real threat, and she’s already claimed many lives. Had Dr. Kron been willing to accept responsibility for the rogue artificial intelligence he created, then he would’ve informed the cyberpolice of the so-called unidentified cybercriminal’s true nature. I’m sure the investigation ordered by the Tech Council will soon find the proof it’s looking for.”

  “I’m on your side, Riley,” the real Jim X said. “Don’t forget the reason you were able to break into BD Tech’s computers.”

  Jane adjusted her position and looked into the slate. “What’s he talking about?”

  “One sec.” Riley glared at Jim X. “No eavesdropping!” The dog got up and trotted toward Riley. Riley let the animal through before closing the door on the old guy’s chuckle. “You can listen in, though.”

  The dog followed him to the far side of the living room. Riley planted himself on the carpet. “Here, Archangel!”

  Jane snickered. “You named the dog Archangel?”

  “I like that word, okay? It’s a cool word!” Riley patted Archangel’s head. “Anyhow, Jah-Mex gave me some intel, and I passed it on to a couple of rogue BD Tech programmers who were trying to break into Kron’s old computer. The Snare’s based on an anti-Pandora program Kron was working on. What the Seer discovered from… uh… looking at Uh-Dame filled in the blanks. You know, if Kron hadn’t been offed, he might’ve finished the thing himself.”

  Adam, visible on the viewscreen next to Jane, shook his head. “He abandoned it years ago. From what I’ve heard, he stopped working on it because he wanted to see what his creation was capable of.”

  Riley jerked his slate toward himself in his consternation. “What?” That’s so messed-up!

  Jane’s poofy brown hair filled the screen as she whirled to face Adam. “You mean he chose to let his monster run amok? That bastard! He deserved what he got and worse!”

  “Yeah!” Riley put his slate on the ground. “Well, his evil computer fiend won’t be doing much more, because we’re gonna blow her up!” He pumped his fist. “Here’s what’s gotta happen.” He made a chopping motion. “She downloads the Snare and gets stuck somewhere”—he pointed to the side—“we find out where she’s at, and then boom!” He slammed his fist down on his leg. Ow! His thigh throbbed from the bruise he was pretty sure he’d given himself.

  Devin looked over Jane’s shoulder. “Why can’t they use the Snare alone?”

  Riley slumped. “Because it might not work. I mean, it will, but it won’t hold her forever. Pandora’s a freakin’ super-brain. She’ll escape eventually. And man, I do not wanna be around when she does.”

  “The idea behind the Snare’s pretty simple,” Adam said. “The program would trap Pandora’s consciousness in a virtu-world that appears real to her. She’d basically become a virtu-addict, except without a physical body that would die. And… she has to upload it herself.”

  Jane threw up a hand. “Oh, great! How’s that supposed to happen?”

  Adam tilted his head down. “No idea.”

  Riley was annoyed that someone else had done the explaining. “Hey, how’d you know all that?”

  “I guess you could say I downloaded it,” Adam replied. “When I’m in the Networld, I can simply know the things I discover, without having to read them. That must be how Pandora learned so quickly.”

  “Whoa, cool!” Riley snatched up his slate. “Hey, you know what you should do? You should download all your textbooks and stuff in case you go back to priest-school.”

  “That would be cheating, and I couldn’t do that.”

  Riley rolled his eyes. “Lame! Dude, there’s all this awesome shiznit you can do now. You should take advantage of it! Mess around with machines like Pandora!”

  “I’ve had enough of that already.” Adam sounded tired. “It’s strange, being able to… but not… Never mind. Anyway, how do we find her?”

  “Uh…” Riley fidgeted. He liked that everyone turned to him for answers, which was how it should be since he was brilliant, and they’d be lost without him. He hated to disappoint and once in a while wished someone else would figure things out for a change.

  Devin knit his eyebrows. “She abandoned the workshop on Viate-5 years ago. She must have another, and she probably spends a lot of time there developing her AIs.”

  Adam pressed his lips together in thought. “I think I know how to make her upload it. I haven’t heard anything about another version of me, which means she hasn’t completed my replacement yet. When she recalled me, she was careful not to harm me. It’s possible she still wants to… repair me. If I can convince her to… upload me into the workshop’s central computer, I can bring the Snare with me.”

  Jane spun toward him again. “Like hell! You could get trapped too!”

  “I’m willing to risk it,” Adam said. “She must be stopped, Jane. If she’s not, whose life will she destroy next? I’ll be fine. As soon as she’s trapped, I’ll get out of there, and then you can destroy the building and be done with her forever. Maybe while I’m there, I can… find a new body.”

  Riley smacked his forehead. “The body! That’s it! That’s how Pandora’s been tracking you guys!” He pointed at the slate. “Adam, you were the bug telling her where they were at whenever you weren’t on a veiled ship! There’s gotta be some kinda signal coming from it! And hey, if there’s a signal, it can be traced. That’s how we’ll find her.” He put the slate down and leaned back. “Signal traces are easy. Move the body outta the ship, and I’ll have a location for you by sundown.”

  Devin smiled. “You really are a freakin’ genius.”

  Riley lifted his chin. “You bet I am!”

  “How long will the Snare hold her?” Devin asked. “A couple days, at least?”

  “Uh… Yeah. She’s smart but not invincible.”

  “Good. She needs to download the Snare before Jane and I get to that workshop. Otherwise, she’ll figure out what we’re doing and send an army after us. That’ll give you, Adam, plenty of time to find a way out while we pick up some supplies. I doubt our one cannon will be enough to take out a whole building. Once you’re out, we’ll blow the place.”

  Adam nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

  Riley beamed. “It’s an awesome plan.”

  Jane looked past the slate’s camera, making it seem like she gazed at a cloud or something. “But… but, Adam, what if you can’t get out? What if you get stuck too?”

  “Chill.” Riley wasn’t the best at comforting people, but he tried anyway. “That program’s meant to trap Pandora. Adam’s different. It’ll be nothing more than a virtu-game to him. Besides, once I give it to him, he can try it out, practice ejecting himself. It’s not like he’ll be going in blind.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Adam said. “I’ll make sure I know what I’m dealing with before I take her in with me.”

  Jane leaned back resignedly. “All right. Where do we start?”

  Jane entered the coordinates of Aurudise-3, the Fringe
planet Riley had traced the signal to, into the counterfeit Blue Tang. She recalled hearing of the planet’s evacuation several years ago, when computer and communications problems left its settlements unable to function. Sounded like Pandora’s handiwork. Bitch.

  Jane buckled herself into the copilot’s seat. “We’re gonna have a look at our target before going after weapons. I’m just glad we can leave freaking Zim’ska Re. What a waste. Such a beautiful place rendered so ugly by horrible people. Wish I could fix it.”

  Adam’s face occupied a rectangle in the viewscreen’s corner. “They’re trying. There’s an IC-backed Via program seeking to educate the population and change the place from the inside. I had a chance to join it a couple months ago, but—”

  He broke off. The confused, melancholy look descended that so often crossed his face.

  “You chose to help out on the Orphan Planet instead,” Jane finished, even though it was a false memory.

  Adam smiled, but the pained look remained.

  Jane wanted to tell him that she’d chosen to believe the illusion that was his life before the seminary and that he should too. Before she could, Devin called her name, and she turned her attention to him.

  “Ready the cannon,” he said. “Seems like Mor’sei and Nem are still at each other’s throats. They shouldn’t bother with us, but it’s better to be prepared.”

  Jane flicked her hand by her forehead in a mock salute. “Yes, Commander.”

  By the time she turned back to Adam, he was gone.

  She took her last glimpse of Yim Radel as it shrank in the rear view. The Aurudisian system was so remote that it would take almost five days to reach. If all went according to plan, Pandora would already be trapped in her AI workshop’s central computer before the ship entered the atmosphere of Aurudise-3.

  Jane gripped the gunner’s controls as the ship passed the space battle. She aimed the cannon and fired at a stray attack drone. Thankfully, that was the only trouble she ran into. She was too tense to focus and wasn’t sure she could’ve handled another firefight.

  He’ll be fine. The self-reassurance rang hollow.

  Dread loomed as she thought about what Adam had to do, a feeling that after he found Pandora, she’d never see him again.

  Riley tapped his foot. Waiting for people always bugged him. He’d told Adam to meet him in the virtu-world of one of his favorite games so he could deliver the completed Snare. Pandora had shut down the previous virtual forum they’d met in.

  Riley was starting to wonder if Adam would be able to figure out how to enter a virtu-game.

  Yeah, he will. He can download anything he doesn’t know. Man, if I could do that, I wouldn’t let some dumb thing like principles stop me!

  Knee-high red grass covered the field he stood in. A stone castle towered in the distance, surrounded by a giant army of guys in metal suits. Those were the other players. Riley had chosen that part of the game because it was so busy. Pandora would have a harder time spotting him in the crowd.

  A pale green light appeared a few yards away. Seconds later, it transformed into Adam, who seemed smaller than usual since Riley looked at him through the eyes of his virtu-game avatar: a tall, muscular man with swarthy features and a cool swagger. “Hi, Uh-Dame!”

  Adam looked confused as Riley approached, and then he smiled. “Riley, I know what you look like.”

  “Fine, then.” Riley reverted to his usual self. “Like the scenery? It’s Ocean Sky’s latest release: Klash of Kingdoms Three-Eleven. Anyhow, here’s the Snare.” He reached into the air and pulled a Via pendant out of nowhere. “Nice touch, right? It was my idea. She’ll never think it’s anything but part of your projection of yourself, priest-boy.”

  Adam regarded it curiously. “I don’t understand how any of this works.”

  “Don’t think too hard about it.” Riley handed him the pendant. “Hey, you’ve been watchin’ yourself, right? She’s not following you or anything?”

  “I haven’t seen her at all.” A shimmering black fog appeared and surrounded Adam. “Riley? What’s this?”

  Riley tensed up to keep from fidgeting. Only a program that could screw you over. “Part of the game, duh.”

  “Are you sure? It seems different from—”

  “Ever played Klash of Kingdoms before?” Not like you could tell the difference if you had. I imbedded it in the game itself.

  Adam shook his head.

  Riley put his hands in his pockets in an attempt to look chill. “That stuff’s common around here. It’s… uh… meant to make this place seem more mysterious. Trust me, I’ve been playing versions of this game for ages.”

  The fog wrapped Adam, disappearing into his body. He uncomfortably looked around and tried to move away.

  Riley snapped his fingers in Adam’s face. “Hey! Focus! So wear the freakin’ pendant. Don’t let it get you, though. Jane’ll kill me if you don’t make it out.”

  Adam seemed to forget about the fog as it thinned. “You said I could practice, right? Test out the Snare’s virtu-world before going in with her?”

  “Uh… Yeah. You’ll figure it out. Now, scat before evil Panda-Rah figures out what you’re up to.”

  Adam put the pendant around his neck, looked up at the cloudy sky, and faded into a haze of green light.

  Riley shook his arms to loosen up. He’d never considered himself the good guy, but lying to a friend who’d volunteered to put it all on the line was different from messing with people. For the first time, he really felt like the bad guy, and he didn’t like it one bit.

  He ejected himself from the virtu-game. It disappeared behind a bunch of black blobs. Finding himself back in Jim X’s living room, he pulled off the visor and typed on his slate.

  Corsair: It worked.

  Archangel: Are you sure he didn’t suspect anything?

  Corsair: It made him uneasy, but he seemed to shrug it off. I feel bad, though.

  Archangel: Don’t. I was the one who told you to do it. If anything goes wrong, it’s my fault.

  Corsair: Shouldn’t we give him a heads-up about what he’ll be facing?

  Archangel: No. Anything he knows, she’ll know too. I don’t like it either, but it’s the only way.

  Chapter 24

  Invisible and Omnipresent

  Adam stood at a crossroads, surrounded by infinite numbers of gray paths in every direction, all leading into the same terrifying void.

  A skinhead thug snarled as a waterfall of scarlet cascaded down his face from the bullet hole in his forehead. Behind him glowed five blood-soaked strangers, unrecognizable behind their masks of dripping red as they stared at Adam, black emptiness in place of eyes.

  Adam trembled. “I’m not sorry.”

  He wanted to run, but the blank roads scared him more than the specters, who whispered accusations.

  Jane materialized in the distance. Everything else seemed to disappear. She walked down one of the paths, away from Adam.

  “Jane!”

  She didn’t respond. He ran toward her, but she never got any closer…

  Adam stood alone in a void, unable to see anything but blackness and lines of gray symbols randomly streaking the air. The nightmare, one he’d experienced many times, remained vivid in his memory.

  Must’ve fallen asleep again.

  Even as a disembodied consciousness, he still grew weary. Instead of lying down and waiting for sleep to come, he would become slower and slower until everything faded away, and then come to hours later, wondering what had happened.

  Being in the Networld was strange. It had no dimensions and no sense of space, for it was not bound by the laws of physics. Adam no longer had a body, so he was incapable of feeling hot or cold or other sensations. The only way he could perceive the physical world was through cameras and m
icrophones and such, and the only way he could speak was through, well, speakers.

  Some of the things he was capable of in the Networld made him more powerful than he could ever have been in the physical world. In addition to learning instantaneously, he could communicate directly with programmable machines and command them, although it wasn’t easy. Trying to control the Ringmaster’s central computer had made him appreciate how complex Pandora had to be.

  At times, Adam feared the Networld would absorb him. He often escaped into virtu-worlds, where he could at least feel human again. He tried not to think about staying disembodied forever, with those virtu-worlds being the closest he could come to the life he’d known before. His more pressing concern was whether he could find a way out of whatever trap he was supposed to lure Pandora into.

  All right, enough stalling. Let’s see what kind of prison the Networld built for her.

  Adam had always considered himself lucky to know exactly how he felt about virtually everything: his morals, his religion… his love. He’d always known he wanted to become a Via Counselor and help others feel as certain of themselves as he did.

  But in the time it took to be hit by a laser blast, his world shattered. The steady memories slid into dark chaos as he realized that they were implants designed to make him exactly who he was. He’d always believed in serving a greater purpose, but he never could have imagined that the higher power whispering thoughts into his consciousness was a calculating, manmade creation.

  In a way, Pandora was his god. She’d designed him, built him, given him everything he believed he was, and guided him on the path he’d been on before that fateful afternoon when he was taken. She’d created him as wholly as one being could create another, putting ideas in his head and engineering him to feel certain ways. He had a calling, and she was the one calling him.