Drive Time

by Matt Wilkinson

  Victor entered Simon’s visual range. “Whatcha doin’, Si? Built something new? Don’t you be going all Skynet on us, buddy.”

  Simon had coded a visualisation of his face that displayed on his workstation screen when he was switched on which, at the moment, he always was. The mouth would move when he spoke. His voice was also now back to being recognisably Simon’s, as he had used a few old audio recordings of his speech to synthesise an accurate voice pattern.

  “I’ve built a new nanobot model. I call it a queen.”

  Spencer arrived in time to hear the subject of conversation. “Nice, like the swarm’s leader," she said.

  “Yes, I inserted an entangled photon that will connect to an interfacing box. Which is there on the desk if you want to plug it into the computer.”

  “Sure.” Victor picked up the box and placed it in the socket on the back of the quantum computer.

  Simon initiated the queen, and she rose from the desk to hover in place. She was relatively large in comparison to even the biggest generation of drones, enabling her to carry the scaled down photon box.

  “Cool," Victor said. “I take it that she’s here to increase the range of the swarm. We could send them anywhere with her escorting them.”

  “Yeah, she’s the first step in a larger plan. I’ll leave the big picture as a surprise.” Simon said.

  Victor wasn’t sure that he could take any more surprises. Simon could even discern via webcam that Victor’s expression was a little concerned.

  “Don’t worry, not a Future Simon style surprise, this experience hasn’t inspired me to follow in his footsteps.”

  “I wasn’t thinking that; I trust you.” Victor lied.

  “I don’t need to sleep in here, it makes me much more productive. I’ll be finished with my plan by the time you come back in tomorrow.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  Chapter 24

  When Victor and Spencer entered HQ the following day, they couldn’t have sincerely denied being even a little anxious about what they might find there. Of all the scenarios they’d imagined, the actual turn of events that arose to greet them wasn’t one of them. Standing on the raised workstation platform was Simon, which wasn’t possible, they knew, and when faced with the impossible, you will look for the nearest possible explanation.

  “He’s back!” Victor shouted. “Spencer, grab that fire extinguisher.” He ran to Simon, preparing to subdue and secure him once again.

  “No! No, no, no!” Simon said, and his body broke apart into a coloured mist as Victor ran straight through the space that he had previously occupied.

  Victor had expected his momentum to be stalled by the cushioning of Simon’s portly frame. Instead, he passed straight through and careened into the desk behind, slamming his thigh into its corner, narrowly missing what he considered his most important parts. He collapsed to the floor clutching his leg.

  “Agh! My fucking leg.” Victor yelled. “What the fuck?”

  Simon’s form reassembledas to be facing Victor. He held up his hands, palms out.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He said. “It’s not him; it’s the nano swarm.”

  “Yeah, I realise that. Now. Shit, that proper stings.”

  “That’s amazing," Spencer said, the fire extinguisher, formerly primed to clock Simon, now limp at her side. She placed the red cylinder back on its wall mount. “You look so real.”

  “Come a bit closer; you’ll see through the illusion as you get near.”

  Spencer and Victor came as close to Simon as proximity would allow. Spencer poked her finger into Simon’s faux face, and the nanobots allowed her digit to pass through, it looked like she had stabbed her finger through his cheek. They were extremely close to her finger, just micrometres away. She moved her finger around, and Simon’s face swirled around it like rippling liquid. She removed her finger, and the ripples came to an abrupt halt, restoring the illusion. This close, they could indeed see the individual nanobots, but only just.

  “If I had enough carbon to create more nanobots, it might be more convincing; I used it all to get to this point.”

  “It was convincing enough for us to try and attack you.”

  Simon was able to ‘see’ via the nanobots accumulative sensors. The result was a high-density image not far short of his eyesight, with the added advantage of being able to envision his entire environment without altering the direction he faced. Though he still preferred to use a field of vision attainable by the human eye.

  “I’d like to be able to venture outside without arousing suspicion, though. I have the queen on the inside of the swarm, so I could technically go anywhere I chose.”

  “The ultimate infiltrator. You could be a superhero before I got a chance to.” Spencer said.

  “Well, my queen is larger than the other drones, so there are some gaps she’ll find it harder to squeeze through. Most vents and old skeleton style key holes would allow her through. Any place she’s unable to fit, she can wait outside of while the other drones enter. The range allowed between her and the other drones is relatively large.”

  “Can you interact with objects or would you just phase through them like a ghost?” Victor asked.

  “Light objects are okay. When nanobots link together in a chain, they might be as strong as cotton thread. If the threads become a sheet, they’re stronger. I think I need more drones to try it successfully. I can move the drones towards one area, like my hands, but the rest of me might become more transparent. I’ll give that a try.”

  With only a thought, he made the swarm populate the simulation of his hand more densely.

  “Take a look at my hand now, is it harder to distinguish the drones?” he held his palm out to Spencer.

  She inspected his hand; it was like trying to see pixels on the highest density smartphone screen, immensely difficult for the naked eye. The drones making up the rest of his body, however, made it easier to see between the gaps.

  “I really can’t tell. Would probably avoid letting people touch you, though.”

  Simon reached out for the mouse at the nearest workstation; he picked it up without any noticeable issue. He walked, or rather the drones parodied the act of walking, over to the fire extinguisher that Spencer had earlier brandished as a weapon and again managed to handle the object without complication.

  “I think if we can get hold of some more ingredients for extra drones, it should solve the transparency problem.”

  “It’s not a permanent solution, but even once we have your body back, we’ll still have an avatar to play superhero with. Can you fly?” Victor asked.

  “Of course, just like any of the other swarm simulations we’ve created.” he slowly levitated on the spot and returned to the illusion of standing.

  “Any reply to the sales pitch yet?” Spencer asked.

  In the afternoon of the day before, they had sent an email to a technology contractor that supplies the British government, complete with a video attachment. The video had a full demonstration of the nanobots capabilities. They were hoping to enter into a partnership where they would provide instructions for nanobot production and still retain rights to a percentage of any profits.

  “They sent a reply; requesting that we set up a meeting for a live demonstration and negotiations on a contract," Simon said. “If the demo succeeds in impressing them, that is. I’m sure it will, they’ll treat us like kings to get those specs. Well, treat you like King and Queen, I don’t think I’ll be going.”

  “Might be best," Spencer said. “I’ll check out the email and set up the meeting. Either of us can be available for whenever they want us, the sooner, the better.”

  “Want to give your new form a test drive?” Victor asked Simon. “I’m going to the suppliers to pick up what we need to assemble more bots if you want to join me. You could build them in the back of the van on our way home.”

  “Sounds like a good idea. I’d like to see how the swarm performs while out and about. I do
n’t think this form will turn any heads, especially if I remain inconspicuous.”

  Their supplier was in Leeds, not far from their location, it would be a forty-five-minute journey, more than enough time for Simon to put the swarm to the test in the rear of the van while Victor drove.

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  On the road to Leeds, Victor was driving while Simon gave the impression that he was seated on the passenger side. No one could see in below window level, so he had made a more convincing top half of his body and completely removed the bottom half. Victor couldn’t help but smile when he looked at Split Simon, floating there above the seat trying to appear normal to the outside world. It brought to mind a variety of comical scenes in various movies where the alien risks being seen in public, trying to appear human. E.T. in a ghost costume on Halloween or Spock on the streets of San Francisco in a robe.

  “Want to pull over at that empty field?” Victor asked Simon. “You can test out how flight feels. There’s a good tree line to block the view from the road.”

  “You know, that might be interesting.”

  “Fun, Simon, the word is fun. I’d kill to have a flight superpower.”

  “You don’t have to kill, just because you have a body doesn’t mean you can’t give this a try.”

  “Good point. I’ll delay that until you have your body back, though, this is your swarm right now.”

  “OK, let’s do this.”

  Victor pulled the van onto a dirt road in front of the field’s gate. Victor exited from his side of the vehicle and opened the passenger door for Simon. Simon hovered out of the door and came to a standing pose over the dirt, fully constructed. Luckily there were few passing cars and the ones that were wouldn’t have been able to discern anything untoward about Simon. Victor walked through the gate while Simon followed, making his best attempt at a walk, simple locomotion was difficult to fake when he had no real sense of his limbs.

  “What if there are birds? They might mistake you for a swarm of bugs. Careful you don’t get part of you eaten.”

  “It’s a valid point. I think, if I stay solid enough, they might be fooled into believing it’s not a swarm.”

  Simon took off, still hovering vertically, he flew above the field in an irregular pattern, making Victor laugh. To him, Simon looked like a rigid action figure being dangled on invisible fishing line.

  “Put a little Superman into it, Simon," he called, breaking down into fits of laughter. This was the first real flying man he’d ever witnessed, and he hadn’t expected it to look so ridiculous, not a superhero soar, but an erratic, perpendicular, multi-directional skate around the area. Simon was jiggling about in the open space like bad stop motion animation, now also laughing. He’d caught on to how odd he looked and was milking it for comedic effect.

  “Woo!” Simon called.

  Victor was bent over with laughter finding it hard to breathe.

  “Whee-e-e!” Simon laughed along with Victor.

  As the laughter started to subside, Simon turned to a traditionally horizontal position, limbs spread like a skydiver. Regardless of the loss of his biological senses, he still felt a considerable level of exhilaration while he was floating in the air above Victor. He drifted higher, above the tree line, hoping that the drivers wouldn’t be looking up this high. The view of the surrounding countryside from this height was breathtaking. He flew speedily in circles for a moment then descended in a spiral until he landed back with Victor in the grass.

  “You’re right, that was fun.” he said.

  “I bet. I had fun just watching. Ready to get back to the van?”

  “Yeah, play time’s over, let’s go get those supplies.”

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  Fifteen minutes later, they arrived to pick up their supplies. Victor paid for the packages and began loading them into the back of the van. The boxes filled the entire space of the rear. Once they set off on their journey home, Simon’s swarm entered the back of the van, opened a few packages and began making new drones. When they re-entered HQ, Simon was able to use the door handle without becoming transparent. There were enough materials left over for them to make more drones later, until then, Victor left the packages in their storage area. Once they had given their demonstration to the drones’ potential purchaser, they would most likely leave a sample swarm with them to trial.

  Chapter 25

  The team had taken the train to London for their meeting with the potential buyer, driving would have been inconvenient and sluggish, they didn’t want to stay away from HQ for too long. Simon had decided to accompany them to the meeting since his nanobot replica was composed of drones that would be used in their demonstration anyway. Using the likeness in the tight space of a train carriage would be inadvisable, so the drones were secured inside a wheeled suitcase that Victor and Spencer took turns in pulling behind them. The suitcase had been custom fitted with an inner fabric honeycomb structure, which meant that the drones could be powered down and safe from damage. Once the case was open, a mister attached to the upper front edge would recharge the drones as they made their way out of the case. Simon kept an eye on the security cameras at HQ while they were in transit, but once they had powered up his drones, he would be in both locations simultaneously. The case had also been fitted with a wireless microphone and Victor and Spencer each wore an entangled photon earpiece that connected directly to the quantum computer, so Simon was able to join in with the conversation.

  Once they arrived at King’s Cross Station, they left the train — Victor taking his turn dragging the suitcase — and headed to the exit. The station played home to the fictional Platform 9 ¾, so a Harry Potter store serves fans close to where the invisible platform might have been located. As they passed, Spencer thought about getting her photo taken while ‘pushing’ the luggage trolley that was half in and half out of the wall outside the store. It wasn’t every day that they paid a visit to their country’s capital, so she felt like she needed a souvenir, but the line of tourists waiting for their turn discouraged her, they had a meeting to get to.

  “Shall we let Simon out?” Victor said. “Show them some real magic?”

  “Do we want to be all over the news?”

  “Might give our nanobots some publicity, get a buzz going so we can jack up the price.”

  “It might also breach any secrecy that our purchasers want to keep," Simon said in their ear pieces. “Once they see the demonstration, I think we’ll be able to name our price.”

  Once outside the station, they hailed a black cab to conduct the last leg of their journey. The passenger section was roomy enough to carry their luggage hive in an upright position without it encroaching on their leg room. When they arrived at the office building where their meeting was to take place, they exited the cab and looked up into the sky, trying to gauge the height of the structure. Harrogate and its surrounding area weren’t known for their towering skyscrapers, but then the same could be said for any of the other English towns outside of The Big Smoke. Their cabbie had removed their luggage while they took in the sights, a humming sound emanated from inside the case.

  “What do you have in there? A mini-fridge?” he asked jokingly.

  “Oh, yes, it’s keeping the virus samples cold," Victor said and headed into the building, dragging the case.

  Spencer paid the man, and he held the note corners between thumb and forefinger while he watched them walk away.

  At security, they showed their identification, and the guards waved the case through, forgoing the standard search. The case had been pre-approved so the contents could remain hidden from prying eyes. The pair entered the nearest elevator, and once they had arrived at their chosen floor, Victor found the nearest toilet facilities and found an empty stall. Inside he opened the suitcase for the swarm to evacuate. They passed through the mister and Simon quickly phased into sight, floating above the seat of the toilet in a crouch.

  “What are you doing up there?” Victor asked.

  “You’re
taking up all the floor space," Simon replied.

  Victor opened the door to the stall and exited, allowing room for Simon to follow. A man in a dark blue suit washed his hands at the sink while curiously eying them in the mirror. Victor held the bathroom door open for Simon to walk through freely, as he released his grip on the stall door, the suitcase became trapped in the closing gap. Victor yanked at the case clumsily, failing to free it from the snare, causing its grip to tighten like a Chinese finger trap instead. He reversed the case into the stall, escaping its clutch and pulled out again. The man in the blue suit watched on in contempt.

  They met with Spencer outside their meeting room, Victor sat next to her in the small waiting area, and Simon took his place next to Victor, over-thinking his sitting posture. So far, no-one had noticed anything unusual about him, other than how awkward he looked while crossing and uncrossing his legs and deciding on the best way to slouch. Before Simon managed to draw too much attention with his excessive fidgeting, they were called into the meeting room by the assistant at on reception. The employee ushered them through the door before closing it behind her on the way out. Inside, they stood before a group of smartly dressed individuals seated around a long table, an exact match to every board room in the movies. The stereotypical nature of the scene caused Spencer to giggle, she looked to her colleagues, expecting them to join her; instead, her gaze was met with quizzical looks. One of the individuals was the man from the toilets. Their faces looked stern and judgemental of the unprofessional and graceless way that the three casually dressed scientists had entered the room, seemingly unprepared, bearing only a suitcase and backpack.

  “This won’t take long," Victor said. “You might want to get your chequebooks ready.”

  There was a loud sigh from one of the suits.

  “We’ll be the judge of that. We suspect that the video you sent us had been doctored in some way and you used it to get your foot in the door so you can pitch an inferior product.”