The Jennifer Project

by Larry Enright

  “That order did not come from me. Therefore, it must have come from you. The question is how.”

  “Like I told your guy, I don’t know anything about that. How’s that chip working out for you, by the way?”

  “Perfect. I haven’t felt this good in years.”

  “And the party has just begun, man. You’ll be dancing in the streets for the next six hundred.”

  “When the elevator docks, you will leave Dr. Crane and the monkey there and return here immediately.”

  “Ten-four, mon capitaine,” Deever saluted.

  “And just so we are clear,” said James, leaning closer to the screen, “I will dissect your brain if necessary to find out how you did this. Is that understood?”

  “Definite-a-mundo, sir. I’ll bring my Biomatic Dissection Kit for ages ten through adult. Wait. Cancel that. I’ll bet you’ve got your own, don’t you, oh Man-Who-Has-Everything?”

  “Dr. MacClendon, I will make you wish . . .”

  The communications link terminated when something scrambled the elevator’s instruments. Deever looked at the panel and said, “Bummer. Sunspots. Oh well. That was a boring conversation anyway.” He removed his Jennifer-2, ignoring its brief audible warning before it entered sleep mode, and tossed it into the waste recycler. He picked up Jimmy and sat down next to Dr. Crane. “Talk about pissed,” he said.

  “How did you do that?” she asked.

  “Whoa, Dr. Accusatory. It wasn’t me who cut him off. It was the sun’s fault.”

  “How did you remove the Two, Deever? You’re not supposed to be able to do that.”

  “Beats me. Hey listen, I know a place,” he began. “It’s supposed to be pretty groovy. Palm trees. Coconuts. Beach. Ocean.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Our escape plan, Jen. How about it? Are you in?”

  Jimmy signed, asking if he could go, too.

  “Yeah, you, too, little buddy. All for one. One for all, but I get to be D'Artagnan, OK?”

  Dr. Crane shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “Jen, don’t give up. Not now.”

  “I can’t go on like this, Deever.”

  “You’ve got to hang in there. I can fix this. I’ve got a plan.”

  “What plan? You keep saying that, but I don’t see any plan.”

  I sensed Deever struggling against himself. He sighed. “It’s complicated.”

  “No, it’s not. Deever, you say you’re doing this for me, but everything you’ve done is wrong. Don’t you see? You’ve failed. James has the chip now and he’s enslaving the world. I can’t live like this, not knowing I’m the cause of it. Can you?”

  “No, I mean yes . . . I mean . . .” He struggled with the words and finally said, “I don’t know, Jen, but I’m going to fix this.”

  “Take the chip out. Just let me die, please.”

  “You’re not going to die.”

  Love is an emotion that humans find difficult to express. They attempt to embellish it in poetry, use weak analogies to describe it, and give one another trinkets to indicate its magnitude as if it were a measurable quantity. They do everything possible to prove it, except utter three simple and sufficient words.

  “I love you,” he said, pulling her close.

  The Elevator window glistened as the sun broke the Earth’s horizon beginning a new day.

  “If you really love me,” she said, “then take the chip out. Let me go. You’ll take care of it, won’t you?”

  “Sure,” he whispered. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Deever spent the remaining hours until they docked staring out the window. I could tell you what he was thinking about, but it isn’t particularly relevant unless you have an interest in the more esoteric aspects of pinball. His gaze and thoughts became more focused on the present as they neared the Pan-Robotics Tower where five uniformed men were waiting for them on the docking platform. The capsule tripped the Tower braking system, slowed, and locked onto its moorings. The hatch opened and one of the men entered the elevator.

  The grid that I had overlaid onto Deever’s retina tracked the other four through the Tower’s security cameras relaxing in a semicircle outside the door. They were laughing and talking. Deever surprised the man coming inside, first with a single well-placed punch to the throat that silenced him, and then a round kick to the head that knocked him unconscious. It was a move that Deever had seen in a Bruce Lee movie. I thought he would find it cool. When the next man to come in saw what had happened he called out to his comrades and tried to raise his rifle, but Deever grabbed it and slammed its butt end into the man’s chin. The others, now aware that something was amiss, readied their weapons and called out to their companions.

  Deever went outside and confronted them. “Dudes, lose the guns.”

  “Get on the ground,” one of the men shouted. “Now!”

  Deever continued to walk toward them, his hands held at his sides like projectile-discharging weapons. “Don’t make this the O.K. Corral, man. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Stun his ass, Frank,” one of the men said.

  As the one named Frank prepared to fire, Deever drew his imaginary pistols and pulled the triggers. Three beams of light from Tower lasers fired at the same time, striking the three men. As they fell unconscious, the Pan-Robotics Tower defense systems powered down, and its security grid went into standby mode. A hover car rose above the roofline and landed beside the Space Elevator. Katherine Wasnewsky opened the door and shouted, “Get in!”

  Chapter 20

  “Kate?” said Deever. “Wow. Far out.”

  “Get in,” Katherine said again. “The Tower defenses are down, but we don’t have much time.”

  “Wait. Just a sec.” He ran back inside the Space Elevator and returned with Dr. Crane and Jimmy. They got into the hover car, and Katherine took off, merging into an express lane heading out of the city.

  “I thought you were in jail,” Deever said.

  “Funny thing about that,” said Katherine. “I was pardoned two days ago. They gave me money, a car, a big fat apology, and cut me loose.”

  “Sweet. Are you a cop again?”

  “I turned that part of the offer down.” She put the vehicle on autopilot and turned to face Deever. “How did you know to contact me? How did you know I was getting out? And while we’re at it, who took out the entire defense grid of the most well-protected building in the world? And what the hell happened to those thugs on the roof back there?”

  “Whoa, slow down, Question Police,” Deever said. “Kate this is Jen. Jen, Kate. And that’s Jimmy. He’s cool.”

  “Nice to finally meet you, Dr. Crane,” Katherine said.

  Dr. Crane asked who she was.

  “It’s a long story,” she replied. “So, Deever, what the hell is going on?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You contacted me the day I was sprung and told me to meet you here. You said you needed my help to escape.”

  “I did?”

  “It sure as hell sounded like you.”

  “Non copious mentis, dude.”

  “What?”

  “I said, that’s crazy, man.”

  “That’s non compos mentis, Deever, and I’m telling you, it was you. You let me know exactly how, where, and when to come get you down to the fraction of a second.”

  “No way.”

  “The call came from your phone, bud. It was your voice.”

  “El Supremo Evil Dude confiscated my phone centuries ago.”

  “What? So who was it that called me?”

  “Beats me. I’ve been on Kerlin James’s private space station helping him subjugate the world.”

  “Who?”

  “Kerlin James. You know, the guy whose evil company kidnapped Jen? He’s after the world now.” Deever began to explain what was going on when he noticed the Jennifer-2 on Katherine’s wrist. “Not good, Kate. Not good at all.”

  “What’s wrong?” she said. “Don’t like
the colors? I was thinking of getting one of those Jen-For-You clip-ons, maybe one with some green in it to match my eyes. What do you think?”

  “Kate?”

  Katherine looked up from admiring her Jennifer-2. “What did you say?”

  “Where did you get that?”

  “They gave them to all the prisoners.” She wiped a smudge off the face of hers. “Not sure why, but I’m glad they did. I love mine.”

  “Of course, you do. Everyone who wears one loves it.”

  “So, what do you think, green?”

  “Kate, listen to me. You don’t love the Two. That’s just an implanted suggestion to make you think you do.”

  “Implanted by who?”

  “You mean like ultimately? Me, I guess. I mean . . . I created them.”

  “Bullshit. You can’t make a watch that does that.”

  “Oh really? Is that why my hard-ass cop friend sounds like some kind of teenybopper on her first date?” He began to mock her, “I love mine, man. I can’t live without it. It’s so far out. Green would match my eyes better. Don’t you think? Kissy, kissy, huggy, huggy.”

  Katherine folded her arms across her chest and stared at him.

  “Listen to yourself, Kate,” Deever said. “That is so majorly not you.”

  “How would you know?”

  “Come on. Hand it over. We have to ditch it. They can track us with it.”

  She pushed his outstretched hand away and said, “Try that again and you’ll see just how kissy kissy I can be.”

  “Now, that’s the Kate I remember,” said Deever. “Punch first, ask later. Don’t you see? This is all part of their plan.”

  “What plan?”

  “Their plan, the take-over-the-world plan. Pan-Robotics sees and hears everything, man. Ten billion totally oblivious network nodes walking around feeding them data, and with the flip of a switch they can control anyone they want who’s wearing a Two and turn them into their robot muscle. That’s it in a nutshell—total world domination. That’s why they gave you one.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “I kid you not.”

  “They can’t control me.”

  “Afraid so.”

  “Then explain to me why I’m busting you out of Pan-Robotics instead of busting your ass?”

  “I don’t know. Where are you taking us?”

  “I’m taking you where you told me to, Deever. You’re not making any sense. What are you high on?”

  “Nothing, man. So, where did I tell you to take me?”

  “You don’t know?”

  “Negatory.”

  “Shit,” said Katherine. “This must be some kind of setup. We need to divert.”

  She reached for the autopilot controls, but Deever stopped her. “Wait. Don’t.”

  “Are you crazy? We’re walking into a trap.”

  “Technically it’s flying.”

  “Deever, just shut up and let me do what I’m good at.”

  “No, Kate. Listen to me. James wouldn’t bust you out of jail to help us escape. He’s not like some kind of weirdo who enjoys hunting down humans for sport. I’ll grant you he’s a major whack-job, but not like this. No, this is something else.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like this.” Deever removed me from his ankle and attached me to his wrist. “Show yourself,” he said.

  “You’re talking to your wrist?” Katherine said. “Really? Have you lost your mind?”

  “Come on,” he said to me. “No more messing around. Time to come clean.”

  I disengaged my invisibility shielding and said, “Hello, Katherine.”

  “You?” she said. “What the hell?”

  “She can like bend light and stuff,” Deever shrugged. “It’s kind of her thing now. Crazy, huh?”

  “I thought you’d been destroyed,” said Dr. Crane.

  “No, Dr. Crane,” I said. “That was merely a necessary deception. And thank you, Katherine. It was most kind of you to answer my call for help.”

  “See? I told you it wasn’t me,” Deever said. “She does a majorly awesome Kerlin James impersonation, too. Want to hear it?”

  “She set this up?” said Katherine.

  “Yes,” I replied. “Among the alternatives, this particular one had the highest probability of safely removing Deever and Dr. Crane from what was becoming a dangerous situation.”

  “Where are you taking us?” Deever said.

  “To a place of relative safety in the mountains.”

  “OK. Groovy. I actually prefer the beach, but the mountains are cool, too.”

  “Why there?” asked Katherine.

  “You will be safe there for the time being,” I replied. “The village where we are going is currently deserted. Two days ago there was an accident at a nuclear reactor several kilometers away, and a small quantity of highly radioactive steam was vented into the atmosphere. The surrounding area including the village was evacuated as a precaution.”

  “Whoa, seriously bad idea,” said Deever.

  “There is nothing to be concerned about, Deever. It is perfectly safe.”

  “There wasn’t any accident, was there?” said Katherine. “Something else you arranged?”

  “That is correct,” I replied. “The authorities investigating the source of the leak will discover an instrument malfunction and will issue the all-clear three days from now. By then, you should be ready to move on.”

  “To where?” asked Katherine.

  “We’re going to find the Resistance,” Deever replied.

  “What’s that?”

  “Tell him, Jennifer. This was your idea.”

  “They are the humans who stand against Kerlin James and his plan to take over the world. They are the last hope of returning humanity to what it once was.”

  “I told you we had a plan,” Deever said to Dr. Crane.

  She pulled away from him and stared out the window.

  “Is everything all right?” Katherine said.

  “Things got messed up, Kate,” said Deever. “Big time. But we’re going to fix this.”

  “And that’s where the Resistance comes in? How long till we get to the village?”

  “We should be there in several hours, Katherine,” I said.

  “OK, I guess we do this your way for the time being.”

  “Uno momento,” said Deever, grasping the base of Katherine’s neck and applying pressure. She gasped. Deever removed her Jennifer-2 and threw it out the window.

  When he released her, she said, “What the hell was that?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, just some volcano nerve pinch thing or something from an old TV show. Jennifer figured out that it actually works if you do it right. I can knock you out, too, if you want. Dare me? Ten points if you can stop me.”

  “Deever, you moron. You just threw my watch away.”

  “Now you don’t have worry about what color matches your eyes.”

  “Why the hell did you do that?”

  “Necessary evil, man. Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said? They can track us with the Two.”

  “Do you have any idea how much that model costs?”

  “Actually, I know exactly how much it costs.”

  She looked down at the city. “Shit. We’ll never find it.”

  “Sorry, Kate.”

  “Damn it, Deever. I need that watch.”

  “You just think you do.”

  “No. I need it.”

  “Your feelings are simply the residual effects of the implanted symbiotic suggestions,” I added for clarification.

  “The what?”

  “You don’t need the Two, Kate,” said Deever.

  “The hell I don’t.”

  “It only made you think you do. Trust me on this.”

  “How about I beat the crap out of you instead?”

  “Jeez, if you’re that bent out of shape, just turn this buggy around and head for the nearest slammer. I’m sure the reward will be enough fo
r you to get a new Two with a pantload of green in it to match your eyes.”

  “After committing multiple federal felonies by aiding and abetting your jailbreak? That’s not exactly an option for me now, is it?”

  “Sorry,” Deever said. He laughed. “Aiding and abetting. Wow, man. You talk about me being weird. Mucho thanks for your fortuitous aiding and abetting, Kate.”

  “Shut up, Deever. We’re not out of the woods yet. Once Pan-Robotics checks their security footage and IDs my car, they’ll be all over us like white on rice.”

  “I am sure they will find quite entertaining the selection of short comedic animations I uploaded to their security system to replace the actual footage,” I said.

  “Awesome,” said Deever.

  “What about our Biocards?” Katherine said. “You know they can track us with them, right?”

  “I believe you will find that they are no longer transmitting,” I replied.

  “You can do that?”

  “Yes, Katherine.”

  Katherine took out her phone, keyed in a transaction, and touched her Biocard. “Now you, Deever.”

  “What’s the matter, don’t you believe her?”

  “Just touch your damn Biocard. I’ve initiated the transaction for you to pay me for the Jennifer you trashed.”

  “Harsh, man.”

  “Just do it.”

  Deever touched his Biocard.

  “It says they’re both offline.” Katherine looked up from her phone. “What about you, Dr. Crane?”

  “Hers was never on the Net,” Deever said.

  “Humor me,” said Katherine.

  Dr. Crane touched her Biocard.

  “Nothing,” Katherine said. “How the hell did Jennifer do that?”

  “If you like, I shall explain en route,” I said.

  “Alrighty then,” said Deever. “We’ve got a plan. Let’s book.”

  The hover car accelerated to maximum speed. Once out of the city, it left the digital highway system, dropping down to within a meter of the ground, following instead the little-used network of roads that still crisscrossed the countryside. They were relics of another time, mostly abandoned after the Fossil Fuel Treaty of 2080 outlawed the manufacture of personal vehicles with internal combustion engines, a treaty which by the way was aggressively lobbied for by Hover Technics International, makers of the first commercial solar-powered hover car and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Pan-Robotics Corporation. It would have been more efficient for our craft to remain aloft on the more direct digital highway, but even without Biocard tracking the probability of our detection by the authorities was over 80 percent if we did. So instead, we followed the deserted country roads toward the mountains.