Preservation Protocol

by John Prescott

  Max slapped the counter. “Well?”

  “Of course it’s not okay! But you better do it anyway.”

  “My girl.” Max grinned. Sam melted. Max sighed. “Of course if I get caught…”

  “I’ll bail you out. Now drink your coffee. You look miserable.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Max knocked on the Enclave door and waited. There was no response. Mindful of what Donovan had told him, Max knocked harder on the door. He was reaching for his piece when the door finally creaked open.

  Angel looked on him with ice-cold eyes. Max put on his best fake grin. “Oh, come on, now! I just got here. How much trouble can I be in?”

  Angel kept staring. Max tried to peek around him. “Serena around? She called me, you know. Told me to come here? Maybe you should let me in?”

  “He definitely should let you in.” Serena placed a firm hand on Angel’s shoulder and pulled him back and away from the doorway. “He’s just being especially cranky today.”

  “You know, I never would have guessed.” Max stepped quickly inside and beyond Angel’s reach.

  Serena let go of Angel. The moody Synthetic walked over to the door and slammed it shut, staring at Max the entire time. Serena shot Angel her own stare. He turned away and faced the door, finally getting the hint.

  Max walked with Serena toward the Enclave labs. “What’s gotten into Mister Happy? I thought we’d finally come to an understanding.”

  Serena smiled. “You don’t come to an understanding with Angel. It’s more like agreeing to a ceasefire. I’m on good terms with him, mind you.”

  “I’d say that I’d hate to be on his bad side, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen his good side.”

  “He has one. He just chooses to keep it to himself. Anyway… He heard that you were working with the FBI now, and that the FBI knew more about the Resistance than he was comfortable with.”

  “I’m not entirely sure I’m comfortable with them either, to be honest. Let’s call it a marriage of convenience. At any rate, are you gonna tell me where the fire is, or what?”

  “You’ll understand in a minute.” Serena pushed the door to the lab open for Max. On the other side of the door were Nuan and Shen Jian.

  Shen turned, grinning broadly at the sight of the detective and Serena. “Max! Such wonderful news! Can you believe it?”

  “I’d have to know what ‘it’ is first before I could make a call.” He looked at Serena.

  The Synthetic shrugged. “I thought I’d let the victors do the talking.”

  Shen laughed. “I have to admit it certainly feels like a victory.” He turned to Max. “I am happy to tell you that we cracked the code! Jacob has at last divulged his secrets.”

  Max grinned. He clasped Shen’s hand and patted him hard on the shoulder. He looked at Serena. “Didn’t I tell you? The best there is!”

  Shen’s smile faltered. “What we learned… It’s not so good, though. I’m certain that you’re familiar with Robert Quade?”

  Max sobered quickly. “All-too familiar, to be exact.”

  “Well… It would appear that Daryl, under the direction of Jacob, was to assassinate him while he was in town.”

  “You don’t say…” Max turned white. “Just so happens Robert Quade is set to make a speech here in town tomorrow.” Max somehow went paler. “Daryl wouldn’t still be programmed to…

  “No.” Nuan responded. “I can assure you that without Jacob, the programming required for Daryl’s mission is no longer validated. However…”

  “Daryl was a testbed for this mission.” Shen finished. “He may never have even been fully intended to carry out the mission. Which means…”

  “Another replicant may be out there.” Max stared through Shen.

  Nuan cleared her throat nervously. “We also learned a little more about Jacob. It is not entirely clear if he was in fact working for the Enlightened. There were some unusual patterns in the area of the neural net where we would expect to see loyalties.”

  Max raised an eyebrow. “So what does that mean, exactly?”

  Shen replied. “Essentially, someone… possibly Jacob himself… scrambled that area to obscure where his loyalties laid. That leads us to Julian.”

  Nuan continued. “It would appear that Julian may not have been completely honest about his origins.”

  Max’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not saying he was working for the Enlightened, are you?”

  “No! Not at all. However, if Jacob’s brain is to be believed, he wasn’t working for the Resistance either. We have little to go on, I’m afraid. Julian was genuinely talented at keeping Jacob at bay. We were able to come up with the name Jo, though that could be a fragment.”

  Max turned to Serena. “Any ideas?” The Synthetic shook her head. Max turned to Shen. “So maybe Jacob wasn’t working for the Enlightened, and Julian probably wasn’t working for the Resistance. So who were they working for?”

  Nuan grimaced. “We can’t really say. It’s possible their proposed roles were switched, but I favor the possibility of a third party.”

  “Third party? You don’t think Donny or his fake buddy had any part in this, do you?”

  “Donny?” Nuan looked at Serena with a confused look on her face.

  “He’s talking about Don Adesso, and the replicant that replaced his second in command.

  Nuan‘s face lit up. “Oh! My apologies.“ Max waved a hand. Nuan sighed. “Again, we can’t say. The brain of the Alfonso Forte replicant was too damaged for meaningful results.”

  Serena spoke up. “Max, you don’t think Adesso could have something to do with this, do you?”

  Max took off his fedora and scratched his head. “I’m not sure what to think at this point. We have a replicant, programmed to kill by the Synthetic in his head, with that one being countered by a third Synthetic in the same head.

  “Both Synthetics seem to have been lying about their identities and intentions. Neither of our major players, the Enlightened or the Resistance, seem to be playing a role in all this. Adesso has the money and the influence to make something like this happen, but…”

  “Where does the Forte replicant fit into all of this?” Serena finished the thought.

  “Exactly. You two… You’re certain there’s nothing left to dig out of Jacob’s brain?”

  Shen shook his head slowly. “We’ve done all we can, Max.”

  “Serena, is there anyone you can talk to? Do you have any contacts around Synthetics International or the mob that might know something?”

  The Synthetic shook her head doubtfully. “Synthetics International maybe… But why them? I thought we established that Adesso was unwittingly working with the Enlightened…”

  Max shrugged. “We thought Jacob was working for them, too.”

  “I see your point. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to poke around a bit.”

  “Too true. Don’t lollygag, though. We have less than a day to figure all this out.”

  Shen’s eyes widened. “You think someone is still going to try to assassinate Quade?”

  “You said it yourself, Jian: Daryl might have only been a prototype. We need to assume that the mission is still a go.”

  Serena nodded. “A human life is at stake. We don’t want to take a risk on that life, even if it is Quade. Max, is special agent Donovan willing to work with us?”

  Max visibly stiffened. “He uh… Let’s go for a walk.” He gave a wave to Nuan and Shen. “Excellent work, you two. I really appreciate it. Shen, I’ll buy you a round down in Chinatown real soon.”

  “Just one?” Shen winked. “Take care, old friend.”

  Max and Serena walked into the hallway. Max stopped and pulled her aside. “We need to talk about Donovan, but we need to do it quietly.”

  Serena smiled. “There’s a reason I told you we’d talk inside the Enclave, detective. The FBI might have been able to track us back here, but nobody is getting any tracking devices inside. Even if they did, this facility is shiel
ded. No signals get in or out without our say-so.”

  Max looked impressed. “That’s good to know. Still…” He sighed, scratching at his head again. He put his hat back on and stared at the wall. “I don’t know what it matters to Donovan, but I’m not supposed to tell you this.

  “He let slip that the Enlightened may be planning a move against the Resistance. I don’t know how, where, or when. Said is was all top secret. I’m risking imprisonment telling you.”

  Serena’s face slowly screwed up as she shook her head. “He doesn’t want to tell you because he knows you’ll tell me. What he isn’t telling you is that he’s hoping we will end up destroying each other and solving the FBI’s little Synthetic problem!”

  “I uh… Well, I think you might be right. You’ve been a big help, and I wouldn’t have felt right if I kept my mouth shut. Just remember what I said about the whole top secret thing, eh?”

  “I won’t forget… I’ll see what I can do for you in regards to Quade, but we’ve obviously got other problems to deal with now.”

  “I understand. If something comes up, on either subject, get a hold of me. Doesn’t matter what time of day.”

  “Thanks Max.”

  The detective gently smiled and tipped his hat. “Ma’am.” He saw himself to the door, stopping in front of Angel. “How’s it going, big guy?”

  Angel let out a heavy sigh. “It will be going much better in about a minute.”

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  “Because you’ll be gone.”

  “Gone, but hopefully not forgotten.” Angel harrumphed. “I just had a bit of a talk with Serena. Had some bad news for her. It applies to you, too. Listen… Hell, just take this.” Max produced a small black ball about the size of a quarter. A single chrome button shined on one half.

  Angel looked at the ball, then at Max. “What in the hell is that?”

  “Let’s just call it a panic button. You push that, and every cop in a one-mile radius will be here on the double.”

  “I dislike having one of you here. Why would I want to have several of you around?”

  “I think you’ll know why if the time comes. I sincerely hope that you won’t have to use it.” Max stretched out his hand.

  Angel looked Max in the eye for a time. Finally, he snatched the ball out of Max’s hand. “Tell me, why do you care what happens to us?”

  Max shrugged. “To be honest, I didn’t care at all until recently. But after spending time with Serena and Daryl… Then I saw how Serena reacted to losing people at the Piccolo Fiore.”

  Angel nodded slowly. “We’re not just robots. Not anymore. Glad someone’s finally figuring that out.” He held up the small black ball. “Thanks for the toy.”

  “You’re welcome.” Max opened the door and stepped out into the cold.

  “How nice of you to finally join us, Kincaid. If everyone would kindly take a seat, we’ll kick things off.” Donovan stood at the head of a long conference table. On one side were Max, Chief Hanlon, Richard O’Connor, and two chiefs from neighboring precincts. On the other side were five of Donovan’s special agents.

  Max took a seat, nodding to Hanlon and Richard. He turned to Donovan. “I apologize. I was gathering intel. Looks to me like you fellas had a good reason to be concerned about Senator Quade’s safety.”

  Donovan shrugged and spread his hands, looking around. “By all means Detective Kincaid, please share with us. Quade’s safety is the reason we’re here, after all.”

  “How kind of you.” Max shot Hanlon a look. Hanlon shot him a warning look right back. “The Resistance were able to successfully access the ‘Jacob’ mind that was extracted out of the Daryl Marston replicant.

  “I’m sorry to say that what they found led to more questions than answers. One question they were able to answer was why the Marston replicant was created in the first place. He was, essentially, a prototype assassin.”

  Hanlon looked confused. “A prototype assassin?”

  “They don’t believe that Daryl… the replicant, was ever meant to actually carry out the mission. Instead he was an experiment to see how well a copied human mind would react to being controlled by a ‘master’ Synthetic mind. The test was largely a failure thanks to the existence of a second Synthetic mind that was secretly implanted into the replicant.”

  Donovan rubbed his chin. “So the idea is that this replicant was a dry run. Is there any evidence that a second replicant is in play?”

  Max sighed. “I’m afraid not.”

  Donovan nodded. “Noted. Thank you for your help, Detective Kincaid.” Max grunted. Donovan turned to the others. “Like I said, this is what we’re here for. Senator Robert Quade will be making a speech about his proposed Enhanced Synthetic Regulations bill.

  Donovan looked at Hanlon. “I think it goes without saying that this city has a bit of a problem with opinionated Synthetics.” Hanlon grimaced. Donovan looked to the other special agents. “It should be said these are not normal Synthetics.

  “These Synthetics have a programming anomaly called the preservation protocol. This protocol seems to have randomly evolved in newer Synthetics. As the name suggests, it compels a drive for self-preservation in the subject.

  “It should be noted that this programming also appears to make the Synthetic truly self-aware. Their emotions are real, not programmed. This makes them highly unstable and potentially dangerous.”

  Max half stood up. “Some of them sure, but not all of them!” Hanlon gently but firmly pressed a hand into Max’s arm. “They are not all the same.”

  Donovan smirked. Max stewed. “Detective Kincaid is mostly correct. These Synthetics have largely separated into two factions: the Enlightened and the Resistance.

  “The Enlightened group believes they have become superior to humans. Their goal is to gain power over the human race by any means necessary. It should be clear why Quade is an obvious target for them.

  “The Resistance, at this point, appears to be opposed to the Enlightened group’s thirst for power. They still see themselves as equal to humans, but believe humans should maintain superiority. Would you call that fair, Detective Kincaid?”

  Max tilted his head side to side, lips pursed in thought. “I’d say that’s a pretty fair assessment.”

  “Wonderful. Now that you have the premise, let’s discuss some security details. I trust you all don’t need to be told that what you are about to hear is sensitive information. Only share it with those who need to know.” Donovan made eye contact with Max on the last sentence.

  “Come on up, Jack.”

  A tall, lanky man in an ill-fitting suit stood up and stepped to the front of the table. The overhead lights glared off his balding head. Comical tufts of hair struggled to escape from either side of his skull.

  “Good afternoon. I’m special agent Jack Dillinger, no relationship to John.” Dillinger flashed a goofy grin. It quickly faltered as he failed to garner any chuckles. “Um, at any rate… I’m overseeing security planning for this event.”

  He shuffled to a white board with a diagram of the site of the rally. “The event will be taking place in Jefferson Square. It is large enough to easily handle the expected crowds, but will be tricky to cordon off.

  “We’ll be using a combination of fencing and police presence to form a proper perimeter. Those wishing to be on the inside of that perimeter will have to be cleared through metal detectors and optical scans. I understand that was Detective Kincaid’s idea?”

  Max shrugged. “Tecnically Serena’s idea. Even a replicant’s eyes will show up as artificial in an eye scan.”

  “I’m sorry, Serena…”

  “Just Serena. She’s a senior member of the Resistance. You know, one of the unstable ones.” Max glared at Donovan. Donovan looked incredulous. Hanlon elbowed Max.

  “Yes, well… Thank you, detective. At any rate, this should be satisfactory to weed out any Synthetics or replicants attempting to gain access. There will be exceptions, of course. Detective Ki
ncaid has one synthetic eye obviously, as does Joseph Dietrich.”

  Max looked surprised. “You mean the CEO of Synthetics International? Talk about strange bedfellows!”

  Dillinger seemed unfazed. “It is an interesting combination, yes. However, we are not here to contemplate politics. Now, police officers from the 29th precinct, as well as from the neighboring 28th and 30th precincts, will be chiefly responsible for the perimeter.

  “Special agents will keep watch from a larger unmarked perimeter. If any suspect clears the inner perimeter, our boys will be waiting and watching. This area includes the drainage system immediately beneath the square.”

  Max raised a hand. “Does that include the old Benson conduit?”

  “I’m sorry, the what?”

  “The Benson conduit. It’s a larger drainage system, now defunct, that runs just below the modern pipes. It’s supposed to be sealed off, but…”

  “I… No. I was not aware of that…” Dillinger turned to Donovan.

  “That’s news to me.” He looked at Max. “You said it was sealed, though.”

  Max shrugged. “It’s supposed to be sealed. I think it’s worth reminding everyone here that Synthetics are highly knowledgeable. If I know about the Benson conduit, so do they.”

  Donovan nodded and turned back to Dillinger. “Look into it.”

  “Yes, sir.” Dillinger turned back to the rest of the group. “As Detective Kincaid just demonstrated, communication will be one of our strongest lines of defense. Everything, no matter how trivial it may seem, should be shared with the appropriate personnel.”

  Donovan grabbed a stack of folders and handed them to Dillinger, who began passing them out to the rest of the group. “Jack is handing out a detailed dossier of the planned event, including an itinerary and chain of command. Learn it, love it. No question is too stupid.”

  Max raised his hand, grinning. Donovan slowly turned his head. “Yes, Kincaid?”

  “Will there be ice cream?”

  “There will be vendors outside of the main perimeter at the southwest corner of the square. One of them will be selling soft-serve.” Max gawped. “If there’s nothing else?”