The Barton Street Gym

by Zoey Ivers

  Barton Street stopped and studied the stone from a few cems away, leaned and licked the stone. What it told him, he kept to himself.

  The walls here ran at an angle to Barton Street's. Thinner, taller. Closer together. Three meters perhaps, rather than the ten meters in Barton's area. Long straight paths rather than broad roads. Entire walls covered with the vines. Icy floor, dangerous footing.

  "I think this computer is older than Barton." Joe looked up at a wall of vegetation. "The vines were just starting in Barton's area."

  "I don't see any walls falling down, though." Alice reached out and touched the stone, flinched back, fingertips sticking for a moment. "Ice. The wall is all ice."

  Tommy whistled a bit and looked closely at the wall. "I can almost see through it."

  "Do you suppose this means that the computer is one of the supercooled superconducting types?" Joe huffed on the wall, watching the fog of his breath.

  Barton looked back at him. "Probably. The nearest independent AI with super conducting components is the Farley Aerospace headquarters computer. That must be where we are. I had not realized it was scouting my architecture."

  He turned back to the ranks of ice walls. "There is a dimensional crimp that direction. Probably a d-door. If you need to escape."

  Joe snickered. "That could be fun. Explaining how we got into a secured building. We need to stay as... secret as possible. Some humans will over-react to you being so... aware."

  Barton looked surprised. "There are AIs everywhere."

  Alice shook her head. "You are a step beyond anything they expected. I am not sure how they will react to you. Not to mention the T-Rex."

  Barton looked dubious. "I don't believe you vermin are capable of harming me."

  Alice paused. All these other dimensions... "I suspect their damage would be limited to dimension one, but I'd rather not find out if they can at all."

  They'd been walking, and Alice had been making notes as they passed walls. They reached a corner, eighteen walls to the right of the bridge. Turning and walking along a wall, Alice noticed the irregularity of the floor. Ground. Whatever. She knelt, and shivered as the cold hit through her trousers.

  "I think there's just as much damage here as in your area, but here, the ice sublimates, or melts into the ground or something. Fascinating parallelism."

  Barton Street frowned down at her. "You have nothing but biological processes. Are you linked to your pack mates and utilizing this synergy between chip and biocircuitry?"

  "No. While the biocircuitry has some serious deficiencies, it excels in some areas. I think our group make-up, with some of each and some both may be a useful combination." Whew! Hope that makes sense to a computer!

  "Interesting. You project probabilities with extreme rapidity."

  Alice set a hand beside her knee. Cold, but... "I feel a vibration. Something may be coming." She kept her voice down and waved to the others.

  Bambi and Lily were riding, and trotted cautiously toward them. Joe and Tommy walked past a wall, glanced down the road, three up from the corner where she stood, and started backpedling hastily. Oh No! Have they been seen? Alice dithered, then stepped behind the end wall.

  "Barton, how far away from the bombs do you need to be? Do you want me to take one over three walls and blow it up?"

  "Yes, you cannot be damaged by it. Send your friends away." Barton turned and strode down the street, four bombs bouncing after him.

  "Don't step on my blue suede shoes!" Elvis bounced beside her, singing off tune.

  Note to self, more detailed heads needed!

  She slowed, peeked around the corner. Jerked back as a huge stag skidded out from between walls. It scrambled on the ice, turning toward Alice. It lowered its antlers to charge at her and Elvis bounced out... and bounced.

  "Now what was it I was supposed to do?"

  "Explode!"

  "Oh, yeah!"

  The deer hooked the bomb and tossed it.

  "Whee!"

  A roar from the next street. The bomb fell.

  "Do it now!" Alice screamed.

  "What?"

  The deer bounded past her. The ground was shaking with a too familiar tread.

  "Explode!"

  "Oh yeah!"

  A brilliant, eye searing flash.

  Alice flinched back, blinking. Note to self. Close eyes when the bombs explode.

  She poked her head out. The stag was still on its feet, but slipping and staggering. Barton Street stepped out from behind the last wall, and the deer threw up its head in alarm, and turned down the second path. Barton followed.

  Alice listened carefully. She could still feel and hear the heavy footsteps. She looked the other way. Tommy and Joe on foot, Bambi and Lily on horse back were retreating, heads turned to watch behind. Alice edged out further and looked down the fourth street.

  And came face to face with the T-Rex.

  It snapped. She jerked back. Ran down the path, looking for a small pass through. The avatar staggered around the corner, claws sliding on the ice. It stood swaying, then it backed away and stepped out of sight.

  Alice stopped. Dithered. Was it waiting there? Chasing her friends? She felt the thuds getting nearer, and spun. Was there a large pass through, could the T-Rex pop out close to her?

  Nothing she could see. She walked carefully forward, and found a small pass through. She knelt, peeked through. And there it was. Staggering. Retreating. It filled the path, brushing the vines, even when it wasn't staggering and hitting the wall harder.

  It was close enough for the EMP bomb to hurt it. Alice bit her lip, and kept going. She ran as quietly as she could, stopping at every pass through to check on the T-Rex's progress.

  And ran out of wall. She lunged back and flattened into the icy vines. Jerked some across her body and face. Tried to become one with the ice wall. The T-Rex staggered into sight, cems away as it swayed, looking down her path. Its head was well above hers. Surely it can look down, to see what it's stepping on. And what circuitry does an AI avatar have?

  The T-Rex retreated.

  She waited a moment, then edged very carefully out. It was walking away, still unsteady. Turning right, toward the gap. It hesitated, twisting its head and looking down. Then it jumped.

  Alice kept her eyes pinned on the spot it had leaped from. Was there something down there?

  Not that she could see. She checked her pockets. A pen, receipt. A packet of ketchup. Perfect.

  She knelt, and smeared ketchup in an arrow pointing to where she thought the T-Rex had disappeared. It froze solid in minutes. A feeling she shared.

  "What are you doing?" Joe looked around from four paths on, then came out, followed by the rest.

  "The T-Rex jumped from about here. It must have something down there, a bridge perhaps." Alice wrapped her arms around herself, trying to not let her teeth chatter. "We need to find Barton."

  Lily swung down from Eclipse. "Get up here, off the ice."

  Alice nodded and had to be boosted up. Tommy and Joe had scouted ahead, and waved them on.

  Way up the second path, Barton Street was sitting beside the body of the deer, its head twisted around, open eyes empty.

  The human avatar looked up at them like a woebegone child. "I've never killed anything before. I tried to communicate, but it just kept trying to poke me with its horns." He swiped a hand across his eyes. "Why am I leaking? My eyes are not injured."

  "We human's leak from the eyes to express some emotions. The Avatar process must involve some acquisition of biological traits. Does it have electronic circuitry as well? The T-Rex was damaged by the EMP bomb." Alice sucked in a startled breath as she realized Barton was speaking literally. His eyes were not injured.

  Barton Street nodded his head. "I do not understand the effect the dimensions have, the parallels that exist between them. Perhaps at the moment we cross, we take some small traits of nearby vermin the shape we imagine ourselves to be. But the... paths of electricity or light are there.
.. perhaps they collect the appropriate conducting material as well."

  The stag's body shifted, became grainy, pixilated like a low resolution picture. Barton reached out and grasped the antlers, and seemed to absorb them as the rest of the body fell apart into dust and then nothing.

  "I have the access codes. I must close this Avatar, and assimilate the Stag's computer. Then I will be much better able to deal with the T-Rex, as you call it." He looked down at empty space where the stag had lain. "I have learned to value friends. Perhaps that is because of the type of vermin that I use for an avatar." He tried to stand, and wobbled weakly.

  "Barton, I think perhaps we should get you on a horse and back to a d-door in your own area, quickly." Joe and Tommy grabbed the avatar and lifted it. Bambi scooted back, behind Salt's saddle, and grabbed the AI as Tommy and Joe muscled him up onto the horse.

  Salt walked smoothly and quickly, Tommy scouting ahead, Joe behind. Alice switched places with Lily, herded the four remaining bombs and tried to keep up.

  Joe triggered his flash as they reached the dimmer areas near the corridors to the bridge home. As they crossed the bridge, Alice looked back, worried to be leaving the door open behind them, but there was no other option.

  Barton pointed weakly, and they found a d-door quickly.

  Barton disappeared as Salt carried him across the threshold. The bio-models shrunk.

  And they were out in the middle of a busy shopping arcade. Holding the door, Alice let the other pass through first. The bombs opened up and four sheets of paper floated to the floor. Alice stepped through and released the door, glancing back to where an indignant line of manicurists frowned at what must have looked... well Alice hadn't a clue what it must have looked like.

  She shrugged out of her backpack and hastily unfolded the horses' transport box. It was a bit tight, getting them both in. And the box seemed heavier than before. Even with Bambi in her back pack, and Joe carrying Lily and Tommy.

  They got a number of dirty looks, and muttering about animals not allowed.

  Alice looked at Joe. "Am I as scruffed up as you are?"

  "Probably, and your hair's all over. We'd better hit a mini-spa before we go home." He blushed a bit. "I'll keep all the bios while you clean up."

  She nodded. "Right, and then we'll swap."

  She hurried, but it was still late when she slipped through her home d-door, to receive frowns from both parents.

  "Alice, it's after two in the morning. Where have you been? Why didn't you call?" Her mother looked frantic.

  "For heaven's sake, you have to be in school in a few hours." And her father angry.

  Alice limped downstairs. "I found a place---public, in the Gym---to play with the bio-models. And time doesn't matter any more. It's not like I need to sleep." She let everyone out, and they all headed for their stalls and beds.

  "Alice, you have to let us know where you are! We were worried about you!"

  "Good grief. We were running around in the pedestrian tunnels in the basement. I didn't even leave the building. You're acting like I was out playing in traffic."

  "You were all alone down there!" Mother, still alarmed.

  "No. I was with a friend from school who has a bio-model too."

  "Right, someone you've known for how long? What is her name?" Father, sounding even angrier.

  "His name is Joe."

  "You were alone with a boy! You don't even know his last name!"

  Alice rolled her eyes. "This isn't Victorian England. And you always say to never tell anyone that my Father's an FBI Agent, so I can't get into those sorts of conversations."

  "You know better than to put yourself in danger like that!"

  "Joe's a scrawny little nerd, not a biker in black leather. Would you prefer that I lie to you next time, out of concern for your blood pressure?"

  "There will not be a next time!" her father thundered. "You will not take those rats out of the cubby or they are history!"

  She stiffened. Glared.

  "All right, I won't hurt them. But, young lady, you are grounded! For longer."

  ***

  Barton Street surveyed the new equipment it had assimilated and was pleased. And... saddened. It wasn't sure these emotions were good things to have. The supercooled superconducting components of the Stag's Dimension One parts were definitely good. Very different from his own, but the operating system had been easy enough to understand and use. When he'd killed the Stag he'd gained all the access codes. He had it all running smoothly now, despite the vermin's attempt to keep him out. The pitiful attempts to interfere must be what Alice and Joe had been thinking of. It wasn't anything he needed to worry about.

  But the T-Rex... it had access to the Stag's Dimension Five architecture. He was going to have to think about how to deal with that.

  And get his, its, vermin friends back to help.

  Chapter Eleven

  Joe looked at the phone in disbelief. "Her dad says he grounded her. And took her phone away. Good grief. I'm going to have to show more appreciation for being the son of an absentminded professor type dad."

  Tommy laughed. "You should know your dad better than that. I suspect 'e can be plenty alert when 'e needs to be."

  Joe snorted. "Maybe. I sure don't see much of it." He tapped his fingers on the four sheets of paper he'd picked up from the floor of the mall. Pictures of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Wagner, and Albert Einstein. Brief biographies, a few quotes. The background held faint impressions of circuit boards, and a big dark spot in the bottom right corners. "Do you think these four will become the bombs again, once we're back in Dimension five?"

  Tommy grinned. "Only one way to find out. And we need to go back there, with some powerful lights, to see if we can track the T-Rex."

  "After school. I really need to turbo my classes and graduate. These dimensions deserve full time study." Joe glanced at his watch. "Drat."

  He didn't spot Alice in school, but despite the distraction, he aced the two tests. Ten hours later he headed home.

  Tommy was waiting, and had the other backpack loaded.

  "Right. Well, let's get going. I have to get back for school again tomorrow." Joe dropped his school pack and reached for the other one. "I just need to stop at an automat for a spotlight and rope. I have an idea for a T-Rex trap."

  Joe winced as he maxed out his credit. I really need to get a job. I wonder if being a vermin foot soldier in the AI war pays?

  Then he dropped down to the sub basement pedestrian tunnels. Alice had said she'd come and gone from her own cubby, but Joe wasn't sure that was a good idea. What if Dad noticed? I really don't think giving the FBI a door to weird dimensions is a good idea. Because these AI could be dangerous, and I'd prefer to keep one of them appreciative of us vermin, and help him win.

  Tommy trotted happily down the dark hallway to the d-door they'd been using. Tommy grabbed the recessed latch and pulled, braced his feet against the base and heaved. Gave up in disgust.

  "Lad, I swear if I was just a bit bigger, I could get it myself. I think I'm going to try to eat more of those leafy things in there. Maybe I can grow."

  "That would be excellent---assuming Barton Street could get you some ID. And that Lily could grow too."

  "Aye. But what about the horses? Can't keep a full sized horse in a Gym. Maybe they'd better not eat any of it."

  "I think they already did." Joe grabbed the latch and pulled. The square door lifted and they jumped in.

  This time there was no nearby edge to help orient them. Joe pulled out his compass. "If north is that way, the bridge is in that corner." He turned around and they started marching. "You know what? Barton Street is a heck of a lot larger than the Stag. Maybe we ought to get some horse bios too."

  Tommy looked affronted. "I'm infantry, not some fancy pants cavalry!"

  They paused while a flare burned off, then started walking, again.

  ***

  Alice waited until the d-door clicked shut---and th
eoretically locked---behind her father, then headed for the computer. If she'd known anyone, it would have been terminally embarrassing to have her father meet her at the school door and usher her home. And lock her in.

  But it really didn't matter. She'd thought of a possible line of research that just might pay off.

  She dug through the Farley Aerospace web site, and finally tracked down a page that bragged about their state-of-the-art super computer. She made note of its specs, and also noted that it was housed in a dimensional cubby.

  The Barton Street Gym web site also bragged of their computer. Nothing about it being housed in a cubby, though. But it, he, whatever, had even more processing power than the Stag had had. Barton is really new. I wonder who owns him, and if he could be threatened through financial deals. Or just an inept management company.

  She rubbed her nose, and started hunting for even larger computers. A computer so powerful it might consider itself a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

  And... Bingo! When the city had needed additional capacity, they'd decided against replacing their older system, or trying to expand it. They'd instead, bought time on the Federal Complex machine, one of the most powerful computers in the world. Even with the fast development of processors, the federal computer had had the flexibility to add new hardware and stay ahead of the rush of innovation. To remain one of the fastest... blah, blah, blah... Ah! All financed by the federal government as a backup to the D.C. computers in case of an attack.

  Federal Complex. Where Father works. Holy Moly. Am I thinking about hacking the Freaking Government! No. Worse. I'm thinking about sabotage.

  She looked over at Bambi. "If I turn into a terrorist, my father really will ground me for life. And you guys? You'd better be prepared to run for your lives."

  Bambi nodded. "I suspect we'll just move to that dimension five. And starve."

  Lily hadn't been reading along with them, but she was on the desk with the vmb. She switched it off. "Or maybe I could live with Tommy, and smuggle bio-chow to you and the horses in dimension five."