I cleared my throat. “Like I said before, the egg was helpful. She saved our skin a couple of times. It was a very generous gift. The scope of what she can do is vast and yet to be uncovered.” I nodded toward Daze. “It’s time to give her back to Lockland and thank him for letting us borrow her.”
Daze gathered her up. “She can be touched without the cloth. She’s durable. Walt showed us. Thank you. I hope I find one of my own someday. LiveBot technology is amazing.”
“As long as it’s not sitting out in the rain for twenty years,” I said, conjuring the horrid image of Trina with the peeling skin and missing hair.
Lockland shook his head. “You keep it, kid. You can do more with it than I can. I don’t have time to mess with it right now. If I have to go on a long journey, I’ll borrow it from you.”
Daze’s eyes widened. “Are you…sure?”
I walked over and settled a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “We don’t question things around here,” I informed him. “If Lockland wants to give you a gift, it’s his right. Nobody is forcing him to do anything. Accept the prize, say thank you, and when you find something in the wild that’s appropriate for Lockland, you can reciprocate. That’s how this works.”
“Thank you,” the kid said sincerely, his voice cracking as he fought back emotion. “Holly’s gonna teach me how to salvage. I’m sure I’ll find something.”
“I’m sure you will, too,” Lockland said as he walked over to a bag he’d brought in with him and unzipped it. Without preamble, he tugged out a wad of black material and tossed it at me. “Bella was working on something for me, so I commissioned this. Turns out she had enough leftover material from last time and was able to finish it in two days.”
I shook out the fabric.
It was a black synthetic vest with even more pockets than the one I’d had before. I smiled as I shrugged it on. “Bella’s a genius.” The fit was perfect. Bella had been making my clothes for years. I unclipped the bulky utility bag at my waist and began filling the pockets of the vest. It was extremely satisfying. “Thank you,” I told him. “I was going to put in an order soon. You saved me time and energy, not to mention getting rid of this bag at my waist.”
Lockland nodded as he began to pace, ready to begin his story. “My mission turned up nothing. There were no remnants of any sort of factory. Nothing but dead earth spanning kilometer after kilometer. I flew for three hours, turned around, and headed back. When I arrived in the city, I noticed a UAC hovering near my residence, so I set down and kept watch. It left after ten minutes.” He stopped by the cooling unit, turning to lean against the counter. “I did some salvaging runs the next day, stopping in to talk to Darby and check on Mary. When I arrived home, there was an unfamiliar craft hovering nearby.”
I had no idea where Lockland’s residence was. It was safer that way. But I knew he had more than one.
“I decided not to engage,” he went on, “and instead headed to another location.”
We knew most of the crafts in the city. There weren’t that many. “Describe the craft,” I said.
“It was a Y4, black, new coat of polycolor recently.”
That’s all he needed to say. “A government craft.” He nodded. As head of our security, if anyone had safeguards in place, it was him. The government had commandeered all the newer crafts years ago, so anything X, Y, or Z was theirs.
“If whoever was in the craft had tried to gain entry, they wouldn’t have been successful,” he said, his tone firm. “But, yes, it appears the government knows where I live.”
“Have you talked to Claire?” I asked.
“Not yet,” he said. “Reaching out to her could put her in a tight place, since they’re following me.”
I glanced at Bender. “What about you?”
“I haven’t been out since I got back,” he answered. “But nobody fucks with me in my own neighborhood. Even the government knows that. But my location’s not a secret.”
No, it wasn’t.
“I take it your mission turned up zero, too,” I said.
He grunted before taking another slug of aminos. “There was nothing to find. Same story. Flew for hours, walked around the place Darby indicated, found no raw zinc, came back. Seems like the only other inhabitants in this region are down South.”
I ran a hand through my hair, which was actually clean for once. I’d hit the cleaning stall at the barracks before we’d come here. “What we uncovered down there is bigger than anything any of us has been a part of before. And there’s still a chance to help Mary and the seekers if we can find those medi-pods. We have some of Roman’s research information, which I plan on giving Darby shortly, along with the Eye Diffs. We should have some clues in a day or two, if anything is written down. I have to believe that if this scientist was passionate about the possibility of saving lives, he would’ve left sufficient notes behind. Daze already uncovered one code—the domes dip—so, if there’s one, there are likely more.”
“I agree,” Lockland said. “If what Elond told Case was true, that before Roman escaped the city, he took pains to hide information someplace secure, that says to me he would leave clues about where to find it.” Lockland addressed Case. “Did Elond say any more?”
“Nothing specific.” Case shifted his position next to the pillar. “Roman never told them where he hid the information, because he didn’t want to put them in jeopardy if the government ever found their tribe. But I believe, like Holly, that he put clues in his notes. That’s the only lead we have at the moment.”
“Who was this Roman anyway?” Bender asked. “He was younger than the other scientists, right?”
“They don’t think Roman was his real name,” I said. “But, yes, he’d only been there for about ten years, which would have made him easily twenty years younger than the others.”
Maisie’s voice cut in. “LiveBot-compatible technology has specific signatures and needs to be accessed as AI. Mapping capabilities detected.”
That was new. “What mapping, Maisie?” I asked as I moved toward her and Daze.
“Map,” she replied. “A diagram of an area of land, depicting physical features, such as roads—”
“Yes, I know what a map is, thank you,” I cut her off, turning to the group. “She’s learning from us, hearing our conversations, but clearly hasn’t found her stride yet. Either that, or we just don’t know what commands to give her to make her work optimally.”
“It’s best to get her to Darby. He should be able to help,” Lockland said. “The only thing we have left to discuss here is the threat of the growing militia down South and updates about Port Station.”
“Did anything happen with Port Station while we were gone?” I asked, taking a seat on a stool. “Claire mentioned she was going to send some government people in to investigate.”
“She did,” Bender said. “And they didn’t turn up anything unusual.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. “If the guards are being threatened, they’re not going to admit they’ve been infiltrated. They’d lie.”
“I was able to get a hold of two of my former contacts,” Lockland said. Contacts was another word for people he’d bribed. “They got back to me yesterday. One of them offered nothing, or had no clue if anything was amiss, which could be the truth if they’ve kept the overall situation on a need-to-know basis. The other said that once we took out Hutch and his group, the handful of guys who came to town with Tandor fled and Port Station has been cleared and is returning to normal.”
“Fled where?” I asked.
Lockland shrugged. “That’s an unknown at the moment.”
“Well, it’s a relief we don’t have to go in there and fight, but that’s not the kind of unknown I like.” Not knowing where the rest of Tandor’s men were, or how many there were, was troublesome. “We’re going to have to borrow Port Station’s mover drone to get Walt and the other scientists and their stuff back up here. Tactically, we can make a grab at blackout and take it with
minimal issues, or you can just bribe someone with the promise we’ll return it when we’re done.”
“I’ll decide on that later,” Lockland said. “It’s going to take a lot of prep to get the scientists and all the people back up here without anyone knowing, which is mandatory. We keep this between us. I’ll start on a preliminary plan as soon as we break this meeting.” His expression turned dark. “Unfortunately, the government will have to be factored in at every turn. We have to figure out who’s following me and deal with it. Then we have to decide what to do about the Bureau of Truth.”
I nodded. “The bureau is definitely the biggest obstacle in our way.” And would be the hardest to eliminate. We had no idea what we were up against, and I was guessing the threat would be substantial. “I’m hoping Claire was able to gather information while we were gone. Hopefully, once we figure out what their agenda is, things will become clearer. I promised Walt and Knox that we would return no later than a month. The threat of the militia for them is real. They have enough weaponry to last for a while, but as Case indicated, the militia will never give up, and if they discover what Jorgen has kept from them—the value the scientists have to offer—it will be an all-out war.”
Lockland and Bender both wore somber expressions, reflecting how I felt inside. The tasks seemed insurmountable—the biggest we’d ever tried to conquer. But we would keep moving forward with the quest to succeed. And, if we did, the rest of civilization had a chance of success as well.
Change would be slow, but it would be substantial.
I spotted the kaleidoscope of lights before Maisie spoke. “I detect seven like signatures. AI-compatible, mapping advisable.”
It was time to figure this out.
I stood. “We’re heading to the Emporium.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Darby, you’re killing me here,” I said. Daze, Case, and I stood by his worktable in front of the pico. “I know it’s a hard blow to find out that the formulas won’t work, but we have a few more things to show you. All is not lost. Yet anyway.” I mumbled the last part too low for him to hear. He had actual tears in his eyes. I’d never seen him so distraught. I drew the Eye Diffs out of my new pockets, setting them on the table in front of me, followed by the Babble and a small blue dart with a sample of Quell in it. “You don’t have to cry. Roman has notes. Daze already figured out some of the codes.”
“I’m not crying,” he insisted, swiping at his eyes with his shirt sleeve. “I just can’t believe all this work was for nothing.” He gestured to the pico, which displayed the formulas on the screen. “The amount of time and effort that went into figuring all this out had to have taken him years. And they did work on a certain level. You just had to get the cure into the person before Plush could alter DNA. It makes sense, if you think about it.”
Before I could reply, Maisie’s muffled voice came from inside Daze’s pocket. “I detect seven like signatures.”
Darby’s eyes widened as they shot toward Daze’s bottom half. “What was that?” Darby stood, his legs a little quaky.
“Easy there, Darb,” I cautioned, grabbing his arm to steady him. “We were saving the best for last.” I motioned for Daze to come forward. “Lockland gave us a particular gift before we left.” I nodded at Daze to pull her out. “It’s a working status reader.”
To say Darby was shocked was an understatement. He paled further as his mouth fell open. “I’ve…I’ve been hoping my entire life to find one.”
Daze handed it to him carefully. “This one has LiveBot software, and she’s adaptable,” Daze told him proudly. “She’s been learning from us. I named her Maisie. Walt says she’s got a lot of memory, but I haven’t been able to access much of it yet. I bet you know how to do that better than me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” I said. “You were the one who set her free, remember?”
The egg lit up in Darby’s palm, mesmerizing him even more, before she repeated, “I detect seven like signatures.”
“She’s been saying this for a long time,” I said. “She usually does it when she’s near the Eye Diffs, but not always. We think they have software inside, and when she says ‘like signatures,’ she’s comparing them to herself or something. She’s also said, ‘Computer software detected in the form of artificial intelligence. LiveBot-compatible, not enhanced.’” I shrugged. “But we have no idea what she’s talking about.”
“This is truly incredible,” Darby finally managed. “The things she’ll be able to access and the questions that she can answer are staggering.” He glanced at me, openmouthed, his gaze wandering somewhere over my right shoulder. “It’s like having an auditorium full of history books at your fingertips. It’s unfathomable.”
When he continued to stare over my shoulder, I clapped my hands lightly in front of him. “Darby, I know this is big news. But now is not the time to become nonverbal. We have to figure out why she keeps saying this when she’s around the Eye Diffs. If these have software inside”—I picked one up and shook it near my ear again, hearing faint movement for the first time—“why are they considered compatible with artificial intelligence or LiveBot technology?”
Darby came back to the land of the living, blinking a few times. “Right, right,” he said, glancing down at the things I’d set in front of him. “The Eye Diffs definitely don’t have software inside.”
“They don’t?” I asked, puzzled. “Then why is Maisie saying they do?”
Darby picked up a diffractor and twisted the outer covering, sliding it off easily. I wasn’t going to mention that it’d taken the three of us much longer to figure out that same thing. “I’ve seen a few of these before, but they weren’t in this good of shape. They were all the rage before the dark days. People were obsessed with changing their appearance. Bliss Corp had a line of high-end tech-centered beauty products.” He spun the bottom, and a light flicked on. “But as far as I know, they don’t require software to run them. It’s a very simple process. The light laser does all the work. You just turn the dial to the desired color.” He set it to green. “See? Then you put this up to your eye”—he mimicked the action—“which I’m not going do, because the laser integrity has most certainly eroded over time and would probably leave me blind.”
I glanced at Daze who stood next to me and mouthed, I saved your eyeballs.
“Then you’d just hold it there until the light blinks out,” Darby went on. “The cost to manufacture these was probably a few coins, and they sold for much more. People bought them up like crazy. Very lucrative. Where’d you find them?”
“In a remote cave. Someone had gone to the trouble of locking them up and protecting them.” I opened the one in my hand and moved the dial. The light turned orange. Who would want orange eyes? Damn, people would do just about anything. I put it up to my ear again, because I had no idea what else to do. “But it has to have software—”
Maisie chimed in, “Software detected. Seven like signatures, LiveBot-compatible. Mapping capabilities specified.”
“Okay, let’s figure this out,” Darby said, arranging Maisie next to the Eye Diffs on the table. “Maisie, please elaborate on ‘like signatures,’” he commanded like a pro.
Maisie lit up, lights spinning. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could sense a likeminded soul in Darby.
She replied, “Computer software detected in the form of artificial intelligence. LiveBot-compatible, not enhanced.”
“See, she only says—”
Darby held up his hand. “Outline AI parameters.”
She blinked a few times before answering, “Artificial intelligence specified for directional reference only.”
“Define ‘directional,’” he commanded.
“Actual locations within twenty kilometers of this static space.”
“Who specified?”
“Program was designated by roman numeral one.”
Darby asked, “Was the designator numerical or defined?”
I gasped as she spell
ed, “R-O-M-A-N space N-U-M-E-R-A-L space O-N-E.”
Daze began to bounce next to me, reaching the same conclusion I had. Roman had something to do with this. It was too much of a coincidence.
Before Darby could say anything, Maisie continued, “Hard location accessed by AI chips embedded in hardware.”
Darby glanced at me. “She’s indicating that these things have AI tech inside.” He picked up one of the Eye Diffs and shook it. I heard the sound of something small shifting inside. “My guess is someone hid a drive in here. When she says it’s compatible, I think she means that there’s another AI chip embedded in whatever we’re looking for. So when the two come within range, something will happen. But we won’t know until we see the program, and in order to do that, we have to get the drive out.”
“Do you think it can be read by the pico?” I asked as Case picked up one of the Eye Diffs and took the lid off, fiddling with the bottom. Daze did the same. We were all trying to figure out the mystery.
“There’s a good possibility,” Darby answered, tugging at the base of the one in his hand. “Again, we won’t know until we see it.”
When the one in Case’s hand wouldn’t budge, he withdrew his laser key.
“Hey, wait a minute,” I cautioned. “We don’t want to burn this thing up. If someone, possibly Roman, took the time to hide AI chips inside these things, they’re too valuable to melt.”
“This has been sealed professionally,” Case said. “There’s no seam. Roman went to great lengths to make sure nobody could tell that these had been altered. The only way I can see to open one is through the bottom.”
“What about going through the top?” I said. “We could take out the lights, mirrors, and whatever else is there and try to access it that way.”
Darby shook his head. “I think Case is right.” Darby inspected the top and the bottom. “If this is also meant to be a tracker, the AI chip is likely connected by a thin wire to the internal mechanisms, which is why you only hear a faint sound, instead of a more pronounced clinking, when you shake it. If you alter the lights and the mirrors, we could potentially break that connection. If it was me, I would’ve done the same thing as Roman, thinking that whoever found it would slice a piece cleanly off the bottom, making sure the chip could still be integrated once removed. We can’t risk ruining the top.”
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