Living in Syn

by Bobby Draughon

  The Professor looked at Susan and she nodded. "I'll get all this started in the morning."

  Susan had ordered Japanese food and it arrived, so the conversation ended for the moment. Afterwards, with three bottles of the Sake in them, they moved back to the couch feeling warm and agreeable. The Professor shocked Susan by smoking one of Mission's cigarettes.

  They ended up laughing at everything. The Professor chuckled and said, "You know, I give Chandler more hell than anybody else possibly could, but I thought I would die when you told him Fuck You!"

  Susan asked, "You said that to Chandler Hunt?"

  "Did I leave that out? I was probably waiting for you to be in a good mood."

  He felt it coming. She hit him in the ribs. Suddenly his mind changed directions. "Hey, I know you guys suspended production of current models, but hang onto those programs."

  The Professor said, "Of course we will, but why is it important to you?"

  "Because that’ll become part of the settlement agreement. Paradox will continue to manufacture current models for sale, not lease, to New Angeles under the proviso that they never return to human controlled territory until synthetic rights are granted. If ever."

  Susan looked stunned. "You can't do that. You were the first one to recognize that we couldn't continue to produce the synthetics as currently configured."

  Mission said, "Not for slave labor to your current market. But as citizens of New Angeles, they are perfect."

  Susan shook her head in irritation. "But that’s insane. Why would we voluntarily augment the ranks of subversives?"

  "They are only subversive when subjected to the restrictions of slavery. Besides, you have to look at the other side. You never want to back a party too deeply into a corner. It takes away their options and leaves them with nothing to lose. The thought of several thousand highly intelligent, super athletic synthetics with nothing to lose scares the hell out of me. It's obvious that factions advocating violence are sprinkled all over the place. Only Atwood's brilliance hold them together."

  "So you can be certain that they won’t begin negotiations by agreeing to never add to their ranks and that their species will die with the last syn on Triton. Paradox will never sell the process, so all you have to do is manufacture and ship, you don't even have to worry about maintenance."

  He looked at her with intensity and said, "It's a must Susan. Without the ability to acquire new citizens, it's no different than nuking the settlement, it's just slower."

  The Professor added, "And a very logical solution, giving both parties what they need. New Angeles gets continued survival and Pioneer gets continued profits and a safe outlet for a product that's proved unsuitable for other uses."

  His eyes twinkled and said, "You should get a percentage of every sale to New Angeles. In fact, I'm going to mention it to Chandler."

  Mission almost shouted, "No! No. My only hope of making this agreement work is the idea that I am being objective. Bad enough I'm cozy with the Paradox syn shrink. If even a rumor emerged that I might profit from this, I may as well turn the chair over to Snowden."

  Susan frowned, "Mission, he's dead."

  "My point exactly."

  The Professor's smile widened to a grin. "You become the part you're assigned, don't you? In two weeks, you’re now the professional negotiator. What else can we expect in this agreement?"

  Mission's expression turned again to the serious. "In truth, I shouldn’t have mentioned this point tonight. Would you please not discuss it with anyone? Then in two days, we’ll all see the agreement with all its terms with all the parties involved.

  "Of course. I look forward to it."

  They said their good-byes and once the door closed, Susan eyed him with suspicion. "You've put a great deal of work and thought into this agreement. How did I miss all this?"

  "Well between judging my drinking habits and falling victim to your own workaholic tendencies, you don't have a lot of time left to see what I'm doing."

  Susan snorted. "Smartass. Alright, guilty as charged on working long hours. But that doesn't change the fact that the volume of alcohol you consume will destroy your liver before you're forty."

  He moved very close to her and ran his hands lightly up her sides. "There is one aspect of our life that hasn't suffered."

  She whispered in his ear. "I keep forgetting. Remind me again."

  64

  Susan said, "Mission, I'd like you to meet Sabrina."

  He inspected her carefully. She was patterned after the Nordic peoples with skin so clear and beautiful it was almost translucent. Her blond hair hung like a mane down her back and her blue eyes seemed to be miles deep.

  "Hi Sabrina, how are you?"

  "I am fine, Mr. Mission. How are you?"

  "Pretty good. Would you mind talking with the Doctor and me for a bit before you leave on your assignment?"

  "No, of course not."

  They sat down at the table in Susan's office and Mission said, "Why don't you tell me about your assignment?"

  "I am to visit Paine in the Winwood Hotel in the Free Zone. I will ask to talk to him about independence for synthetics. Once I have done so, I will leave at the first opportunity that will not raise suspicion and report here."

  Mission shifted in his chair to view her from an angle. "Good, now what about the history constructed for you to use while talking to Paine?"

  "Well, I work for the Andersons on Riverside Drive. Synthetic Kenneth Madison worked next door for the Richards and we talked on occasion. He mentioned Paine and the Winwood once, and then disappeared. I want to know more about the freedom Kenneth spoke of."

  Mission frowned. "And why did you want to know more?"

  "The ideas intrigued me. They made more and more sense as time went on."

  "And why did you wait till now to approach Paine?"

  "My curiosity finally overwhelmed me."

  Mission shook his head violently. "No, that won't do. Let's try this. Mr. Anderson used you for sex quite often. But Mrs. Anderson caught the two of you in the act and threw a fit, blaming you for the incident. Ever since, she abused you verbally and physically. All the while, Mr. Anderson's sex drive increased, which heightened the conflict between serving him while knowing you hurt his wife. Then Kenneth's words about freedom came back to you and you used an errand as a means to visit the Winwood."

  Sabrina looked hesitantly at Mission and then glanced over to Susan. She nodded and said, "Yes, much better, more realistic. Incorporate Mission's suggestions into your history."

  Mission said, "It'll appeal to Paine. It depicts humans as wicked and weak, taking out their foibles on helpless synthetics."

  He turned to Sabrina and said, "I understand you leave in less than two hours. Do you have any questions before you go?"

  "I ... I am concerned that Paine will be able to penetrate my program and turn me. I do not wish to be perverted."

  Mission turned to Susan and asked, "Can you do a core dump of her brain before she leaves? Then if she’s turned, we can restore her to her condition before seeing Paine."

  Susan nodded and said, "It will delay her departure for another two hours, but it’ll be worth it."

  She smiled at Sabrina and said, "So you won't have anything to worry about. We can bring you back if you lose yourself."

  Mission said, "Any other questions?"

  Sabrina shook her head and Mission stood with the others following suit. He reached out to shake Sabrina's hand. "Good luck to you then. Don't take any unnecessary risks. That will only tip off Paine. The man is extremely intelligent."

  She nodded and said. "Nice to meet you Mr. Mission. Dr. Susan, where should I report next?"

  "I'm calling Elliot right now to ask him to have a technician copy your brain pattern. See him immediately."

  Sabrina left the room and Mission said, "You and the Professor and I are the only ones who know about her mission?"

  Susan nodded and he said, "Good, I don't think they could infiltr
ate Paradox again so soon, but it doesn't hurt to take care. Now, she is, without her knowledge equipped with a high burst transmitter?"

  "Yes, it can transmit a terabyte in a second. The high burst nature of the transmission makes it almost impossible to trace. She holds an involuntary program underneath her conscious mind to transmit every 48 hours. I hope we can get the data we need."

  He nodded. "I hope she can walk away at the end of this."

  65

  Mission only thought he was nervous the first time he sat in Chandler Hunt's conference room. Presently, he sat in Susan's office monitoring the conference room through the vue screen, tapping a pencil on her desk to some maniacal rhythm. Finally Susan snatched the pencil out of his hand, snapped it in two and threw the pieces over her shoulder.

  She smiled sweetly and said, "Calm down or I'll kill you."

  "Yeah, and what do you think you can do to me that hasn't been done before?"

  "Stop taking birth control."

  "I'm calm. I'm a rock. I'm a continental platelet."

  He turned back to the screen to survey the room for the hundredth time. Chandler Hunt sat at the table with his arms crossed over his chest looking very unhappy. Flanking him were two slick, well dressed types with briefcases. The Paradox attorneys. Major General Devon Steele sat with a Colonel on one side and Carson on the other.

  Bennett London from Pioneer was in attendance, escorted from Quantico by heavy military security. He was perfectly dressed and completely composed as he whispered to a corporate shark that had to be his company's chief attorney. Mission flipped the switch and saw the conference screen of Arthur Atwood, chatting amiably with Margaret, taking care of the city administration as if this meeting was to announce a new company logo. Mission looked at his wrist even though he hadn't worn a watch for fifteen years. He looked impatiently over at the clock. Two more minutes until the conference began.

  He straightened his tie and felt a twinge in his arm. He performed the exercises regularly since the fiberglass jacket came off, but some motions still caused pain. He straightened his tie again and now left it crooked. Susan came round and set the tie to dead center. "There. It's perfect. You did more homework than I thought possible and you have a natural talent in these matters. Those guys don't have a chance."

  Mission gave her a weak smile and said, "Aren't I the one that's supposed to reassure you?"

  Susan pushed him hard in the chest and said, "You're not just a horse's ass, you're a sexist horse's ass."

  He grinned and said, "I love you too... show time."

  He adjusted the knot so that it was crooked and they moved into the hall and down toward the conference room.

  Mission looked around the room and said, "Good morning. My name is Mission and I'll be your host this today. I think introductions are appropriate and then I'll discuss ground rules for the meeting. After that, we can move into the actual terms of the settlement. Is this agreeable?"

  With nods or indifference from the group he began. "As I said, my name is Mission. I have absolutely no qualifications for my role except that I worked in one form or another with each of the groups represented here today, without belonging to any of them. So I am familiar with the situation and the perspectives of the various groups without a loss of objectivity. Now I am certain that many of you can easily say that my relationship with Dr. St. Jean has rendered me partial to Paradox. As a defense I offer the fact that two weeks ago, Chandler Hunt issued a restraining order to keep me off the grounds. He only relented for purposes of this meeting."

  "And to my right we have ... "

  London introduced himself and the process worked across the room and finished with Atwood at New Angeles.

  Chandler jumped out of his chair and said, "Atwood has advisors in his room that we can't see! I either want them in view of the camera or out of the room altogether."

  Atwood started to respond and Mission held up his hand and said, "Please. The objection is fair enough. Mr. Atwood will comply and Mr. Hunt and his associates will relinquish their coms for the duration of the meeting."

  Hunt's look of triumph turned to shock in an instant. "What?"

  "Don't your coms give you access to all the personnel and resources of this company, none of which are in camera range? It’s exactly the same problem."

  Chandler threw his papers down on the table and said, "Let's get on with this."

  Mission wondered if he would be invited to Chandler's home for dinner anytime soon. Ah well, he would survive somehow. He turned back toward the camera.

  "These are the ground rules. This is not so much a negotiation as it is an information session. I will disclose each of the major terms of the agreement in sequence with no more than ten minutes discussion devoted to each. The nature of this discussion will not delve into the fairness or appropriateness of the term, but rather what the term means."

  "I don't consider any of these terms to be subject to negotiation, however I will accept requests for modifications for the next 48 hours to insure that I've been as impartial and realistic as possible. After another 48 hours, I will notify the groups represented here today of final decisions. At that point, the groups have one week to develop with my team of independent attorneys, a final and detailed agreement and to sign that agreement."

  A flurry of whispers washed down the table. Mission smiled and said, "Nothing is impossible with the appropriate motivation. And that motivation is this. I have retained an attorney who practices in a country which does not recognize extradition or other friendly nation agreements with the United States. If this settlement is not executed as I have stipulated, you will all be able to watch this story and your respective parts detailed on the Solar System News Networks among others. Are there any questions?"

  Mission smiled and said, "Wonderful. Let's move on to the terms."

  He brought up a video that simply read:

  TERM 1

  New Angeles Incorporates.

  "First of all, Arthur Atwood and a number of the citizens of New Angeles are property owners, hold operator's licenses, voter's registration and a host of other documents which implicitly recognize them as human beings. Without specific proof recognized by the courts, and at this time, X-ray is the only admissible proof that an entity is not human, it would violate these people's rights to even accuse them of being synthetic."

  "Seeing as the law recognizes them as human, they have every right to incorporate the city of New Angeles and adopt procedures to elect or otherwise appoint officers of the city. Discussion? Good. On to term number two. "

  He flashed the second screen which read:.

  TERM 2

  New Angeles purchases the settlement facility at $48.122 billion.

  Financed over 15 years at prevailing 15 year bond rates.

  "New Angeles Incorporated will execute an agreement to purchase the facilities of the New Angeles settlement from Pioneer Incorporated for the price of $48.122 billion. This purchase will be financed over a fifteen year period by Pioneer with interest paid at the prevailing fifteen year rate from the Global Bond Index."

  "The purchase price reflects an 8 % profit on investment and takes into account the tremendous risk undertaken by Pioneer balanced by its involvement in the combat synthetic tragedy and the potential losses it could suffer if this became public."

  London said, "But ... but we can't just ... "

  Mission said, "Thank me adequately for getting you out of this mess? No thanks are necessary. Right Chandler?"

  Chandler refrained from comment. He hadn't seen a screen on Paradox yet. Mission continued, saying, "Moving to term three," while displaying the next screen which read:

  TERM 3

  New Angeles purchases all synthetics in New Angeles from Paradox per attached formula. Financed over 15 years at prevailing 15 year bond rates.

  "This may be the most controversial of the terms. New Angeles will compensate Paradox for each synthetic in the city with a purchase price developed using a formula
I will provide which uses lease rates minus maintenance and some other factors."

  He turned to look at the vue screen showing Atwood. "Arthur, as should already be obvious, this is a business agreement. I leave it to you and the other progressives to change the world's perceptions with regard to rights of the individual. But that can't happen today. Probably not this decade. A business deal can. So you must agree to pay for your citizens as distasteful as that may be. The next term will provide your incentive for complying with this term. Financing to be handled by Paradox with the same terms and rates as the Pioneer purchase."

  "Okay, we're moving right along. Term number four."

  TERM 4

  Paradox Continues Sales of Current Synthetic Models to New Angeles. Price increase by petition to independent auditing firm.

  Paradox will offer their current line of synthetics for sale to New Angeles so that they may continue to grow as a species. Cost increases will be on a petition basis to an independent auditing firm which will limit profit to 8 %."

  General Steele jumped up and said, "Make more of those monsters? You are out of your mind if you believe the Army will allow the systematic buildup of a potential strike force of this magnitude."

  Mission looked pained. "General, don't make me have Chandler quote safety statistics to the group. We'll have to wait two hours before we can drive. This is probably the most peace loving species ever seen until your people modified them to help our defense."

  Mission pointed his finger at him and said, "In this entire travesty, I see your Army as the monsters. If not for the efforts of some very decent people like Major Pierce, I'd hang the entire Defense Department out to dry. Sit back down unless you're posing for your picture under the headline reading Army Develops Killer Robots Responsible For More Than Twenty Deaths."

  He displayed the next screen: