by Nathan Pedde
Des, Elsie, and Susan spent the next couple hours pulling tarps from machines. Every machine was the same result — error. Des pulled the last cover from the final device, and it too said error.
“That was the last one,” Elsie said. “We need a new plan.”
Des looked around the factory. Sitting in a corner was an unusual wooden crate. He had only seen ones built out of plastic or metal. Walking up to the crate, he pried the loose lid off. Bent nails sticking out of the wood, Des dropped the cover and looked in. The crate was full of small round containers.
Des picked one up and pushed the button. It too said error.
“Do Nanobots have a shelf life,” Elsie asked Amy, walking up to Des.
“They do,” Amy said. “But not how you think of it. It is complicated.”
Des, Elsie, and Susan went through the crate. Des picked up a container and pushed the button. The screen light up green and said — 14.
“Does that mean it has fourteen Nanobots?” Des asked.
“Yes,” Amy asked.
The number turned to thirteen.
“The Nanobots are failing,” Amy said. “We need to get it into the prototype now.”
“Where is it?” Des asked.
“This way,” Amy said.
Des sat at the control unit terminal, watching the screen as the first container of nanobots was being filled. It had taken three days of work to get the Nanobots to grow and form. He had designed them to take pictures and to send likenesses of Elsie and himself around the station.
Now he just had to wait until the containers were filled.
“In three hours, they will be done,” Amy said.
“I will be back in three hours,” Des replied.
“Wait one moment,” Amy said. “It is my understanding in the past you used a holo-projector necklace to make you look like someone else.”
“That’s correct.”
“The technology is based on my nanobots. It’s exactly what we are doing with the full-scale projections.”
“Wait, if Nanobots are banned, then why are we using them?”
“I don’t understand the hypocritical nature of you humans. However, if you have the data file and something to distill the nanobots into, then I can make new disguises.”
“Does it have to be with necklaces?”
“No, it must have a computer chip in it, though.”
“I’ll come back with items and the disguise program.”
Des exited the control room, going back into his hide out. Elsie and Susan were talking over the table.
“I’m not sure a disguise using make-up and prosthetics will work,” Elsie said.
“I’m sure it will,” Susan replied.
“It won’t fool any camera or software designed to find people.”
“Well…” Susan said. “What else can we do?”
“Why should we go through all of the trouble with a disguise if it is not going to work?” Elsie asked.
“We need to do something,” Susan said.
Des sat down on the computer chair, staying out out of the argument between the two women.
“Des, what do you think?” Elsie asked.
“I think we do need to do something,” Des said. “We can’t just go out there without some type of disguise on.”
“Thank you,” Susan said.
“I’m not done yet,” Des said. “But I don’t think we should use a disguise that won’t work.”
“What do we do?” Susan asked. “Nothing?”
Des smiled, repeating what Amy told him down in the control room.
“I like that,” Elsie said, pulling off an earring. “The holograms of Amy looked pretty real. Is Amy going to be the one operating all of the nanobots?”
“She will,” Des said.
“But she can’t leave the factory,” Susan asked, taking a ring off her finger. “Can she?”
“That’s a good question,” Des said. “These both have computer chips in them?”
“They make computer chips small these days,” Susan said.
Des pocketed the ring and the earring as well as the data chip with the new disguises.
“I will run these down to her,” Des said.
Des climbed down the ladder and set each item on the computer console. He pulled off his watch and set it next to the other two.
“This will take but a moment.” Amy said, then paused. “Done.”
“That was quick,” Des said.
“Your disguise is inadequate.” Amy replied, “I will have to redo them. Also, did you want a red glow or a green glow from your ear?”
“You can see that?”
“Of course.” Amy said. “Can’t everyone?”
“No, only those with the earpiece.”
“I was wondering about that. It will be harder, but I can have those who have the earpiece see the light. Should it be red, green, or what?”
Des explained the rules of the game to her.
“This will make it difficult.” Amy replied. “I can only do one, yet those that you have tagged or have tagged you will see your glow as green?”
“That's correct,” Des said.
“I can do one glow for those with the earpiece,” Amy said. “Nothing else.”
Des paused for a moment, pondering the problem. “Make it go green. Even though I would love to see my classmates go nuts chasing a holo-gram, I can’t have Susan being confused.”
“I will help her with the search,” Amy said. “Find out who is a classmate and who is not.”
Des laughed, then walked back to the hideout. Once there, he handed back the ring and the earrings.
“Did you find an answer to the question of how Amy can leave the factory?” Elsie asked.
Des pulled a ball out of his pocket. It floated up in the air for a moment, and Amy appeared in the room.
“I can.” Amy said. “Talking will be hard to do too far away from my mainframe, but I should be able to do it here.”
“That’s impossible.” Susan said, “hardware seventy years old shouldn’t be able to handle that type of computing power.”
“It’s not seventy-year-old hardware.” Des said. “I’ve given her an upgrade.”
“Is that why the computer is no longer working?” Elsie asked.
“Yes.”
“I also plan on doing a better upgrade once we can get out of here,” Des said.
“About that,” Elsie said, sliding a tablet across the table. “This might be the solution for Amy.”
Des picked up the tablet and showed it to Amy. “Will this work?”
“It is about the same as my current home,” Amy said. “I will still be tethered to my central computer.”
“Is the tether hardware or software?” Des asked.
“It is both,” Amy said. “I need the hardware to have particular requirements, then I need time to transfer the software over.”
“Aren’t you in that ball?” Susan asked.
“Negative, I am on the computer down in the factory, I am using the ball as a hub.”
Elsie looked at Amy and then Susan.
“Okay,” Elsie said. “The plan is sound as any. What’s first?”
“The nanobots are nearing completion,” Amy said. “They will be used as cameras, microphones, and is the substance for the holo-projectors. I will need to program the images into nanobots, as well as correct your disguises.”
“How do we do that?” Elsie asked.
“I need full-body scans of you and Des,” Amy said.
“What about me?” Susan said.
“I can only handle two persons at a time until my ancient hardware is upgraded.”
“And you aren’t a spy,” Des said to Susan. “I’d like you to be able to go back to your normal life when this is over.”
Else stood up and stretched her arms out. “Do it.”
“You need to take off your clothes.” Amy said. “I need you in your underwear so I can generate different clothing
for you.”
Elsie turned to Des. “Have you done this yet?”
“Yes.” Des said, his face turning red. “I did it in the factory.”
“Fine.” Elsie said. “Follow me to my room.”
Elsie and Amy left the room.
After they had left, Susan walked up to Des. “You need to read some history books.”
“Why?” Des said.
“Cause you need to see the reasons Nanobots and AI’s were shut down and not used,” Susan said.
“How about that I’ve stopped reading for the time being, and you should just tell me,” Des said.
“Well, your assessment a few days ago about the nanobots was correct,” Susan said. “But you should know about the AI’s.”
“Tell me,” Des said.
“Tell him what?” Amy said, floating into the room with Elsie.
“Yeah.” Elsie said, “Tell him what?”
Susan walked back across the room.
“Nothing,” Susan said.
“She was going to tell me about the history of AI’s,” Des said.
“Ah, yes,” Amy said. “I got that file. Would you like me to read parts of it?”
“Paraphrase it,” Des said.
“Well.” Amy said. “It seems some AIs have been known to go berserk. I don’t know the full details about the circumstances behind the insanity, as the articles paint all AI’s with the same brush.”
“You’re all the same,” Susan said.
“No, we are not.” Amy said. “I am a K class Artificial Intelligence. There are no records any K class’s went insane or not.”
“K class?” Des asked.
“There are many different types of AI.” Amy said. “It has to do with the code we were programmed with. Some models were different from the others. The ancient Class A’s were old and senile.”
“So then there’s a chance you’ll go insane?” Susan asked.
“I don’t know.” Amy said. “Once I get a proper network connection, I will do the research and see what happens and if there is anything I need to do to stop it.”
Susan glared at Amy.
“See Susan,” Des said. “It’s all good. Now that Elsie and I are scanned, what’s next.”
“I have programmed the holo-projectors,” Amy said. “And your disguises. Now we need the holo-projectors to get around the station.”
“We go for a ride on the Hover-bike?” Elsie asked. “Putting the projectors in random places so the nanobots can show up as images of us?”
“That would be correct,” Amy said.
“The Nanobots will be released as we drive,” Elsie said, then turned to Susan. “Give me a list of things to buy. I can get some things.”
“I just want to go shopping,” Susan said. “I want my life back.”
“Soon,” Des said. “We need to push back against these guys, then we can go back to the real world.”
“I’ll go get the Nanobots,” Susan said. “Come, Amy. You need to show me what to do. Since I have meat hands.”
“Your meat is human. I do not understand,” Amy replied.
“Joke,” Susan replied, blowing her lips.
Susan disappeared down the ladder into the factory, the hologram of Amy following.
Chapter Twenty-One
Des and Elsie dressed in their non-descript clothes and their helmets. In his jacket pocket, he put the last two of his grenades. Both weapons shot pins at anyone on a five-meter radius. Des was out of sonic grenades. Except, he wasn’t sure if using them was a great idea. The destruction of the city was massive.
After he got dressed, the next step would be to get the hover-scooter out of the hideout.
Des started up the hover-scooter and maneuvered it to the hole and the ladder.
“How are you going to get that out of here?” Elsie said.
“Brute force,” Des repliled.
“At least you’re honest. You do know if the lifter hits the ground, it will break.”
“I’m aware. I’m not going to be too crazy.”
Elsie climbed up the ladder and left the hideout. He handed her the handle of the stun gun, then she disappeared from Des’s sight, searching the perimeter.
“We are clear out here,” Elsie yelled. “No sign of anyone.”
“Roger,” Des said. “I’m coming out.”
Des worked the controls and raised the first lifter. The hover-scooter pointed vertically as Des gunned the engine, shooting into the air. He held onto the handles for dear life. The scooter slipped out of the hole into the open space of the station.
The scooter raised ten feet into the air, before it fell back toward the ground. Des flared the lifters, nearing the ground. He closed his eyes, the lifters hovering an inch above the ground before it returned to a standard height.
Des let out his breath he was unaware he was holding. Night fell on the station. Des looked up at the lights from the other Sectors. He always loved looking out at the station and the different sights. It made all the time he spent underground worth it, reminding him of some lousy poetry about sunsets, which he had never seen.
Des loaded the saddlebags with a dozen holo-projectors. He walked back to the safe house entrance.
“Hey, Susan,” Des replied, “you got the canisters of Nanobots?”
“Of course,” Susan said, passing up three canisters. “Amy said something about them being hard to produce. Time-consuming is the word used.”
“We may have to release more later then,” Des said.
“Good luck,” Susan said over her shoulder.
“Oh, one more thing, have Amy show you the images of the holograms. I want you to watch things as they happen.”
“I get to be the security guard?” Susan asked.
“Data analysis. If you get a glimpse of the enemy, I want you to follow them back to their base.”
“How will I know who the enemy is?” Susan asked.
“Look for patterns. Similar people following the fake-Des. Talking into ears. That type of thing.”
Susan beamed. “I’m the important one then.”
“I’m not following,” Des said.
“You’re just a grunt running around the station, I’m the one who has to do all of the real work. I must find Sheemo.”
“I thought you knew that?”
“You did say something, but it didn’t connect. Good luck. Come back safe.” Susan grinned going back into the hideout.
Des put the canisters into the saddlebags of the hover-bike. Elsie sat on the front, leaving the sidecar for Des.
“I see you’re driving?” Des asked.
“You took too long saying your long goodbye,” Elsie said.
Des smirked, shaking his head. He climbed into the side car, kicking back in the seat. They took off out of the little group of trees. Nothing looked like it changed in the station. Not that Des expected it to.
“Tell me, Des,” Elsie said. “How is Sheemo’s communication scanner not going to be able to see the signals running from the nanobots to the control room?”
“We’re using programming seventy years old,” Des said. “I can’t change the fact they’re going to see something is happening. But the old programming will confuse them, and by the time they figure it out, we will need to be on phase two or phase three.”
“I’m so going to enjoy this,” Elsie said.
“Unless something else happens that changes things.”
“Like what? What else can happen?”
“No idea,” Des said. “It’s possible we will get a curveball and be forced to adapt.”
Elsie was silent, full-throttling the engine and left the protection of the field. At halfway across, she spoke up.
“What are we going to do about Amy?” Elsie asked.
“You want her deleted as well?” Des said.
“No. Of course not.”
“Then what?”
“What are we going to do to get her out of the Factory?,” Elsie asked. “If the en
emy finds the factory, then she will be found. Either we will have to have Amy delete herself, or she gets taken by the enemy.”
Des thought about that for a moment.
Elsie continued. “On top of that, what are we going to do once we find Sheemo? How can two of us go into defeat all of them?”
Des listened to the hover-lifters whine with protest as Elsie gunned the engine and rose over the top of the fence. They glided into the road as if they were never there in the first place.
“We need gear,” Des said.
“Gear?” Elsie said.
“We need a new home for Amy. Plus, some type of non-phone communication devices. Any ideas?”
“Perhaps,” Elsie replied, her lips pursing. “I can try raiding another Jovian dump house if we get close to one.”
“We can always head to one.”
“I don’t know where most of them are, only if I get close.”
Des thought for a moment. “Then we should get going.”
Sheemo sat on the floor in the corner of the room. The room was now empty of everything but a blanket he used at night. Everything else had been taken over the days. Every time he had been asked to help them, Sheemo would refuse, and something would be taken.
Now they were threatening Sheemo with taking away his food and water.Sheemo wasn’t scared. Or at least he as trying not to let his plight hamper things. He had already gone through a small course at his school of what to do if you’re captured. Telling information and helping the enemy was not something you should do, ever.
But hearing his brother was leading a second life as a spy. It scared him and made him proud simultaneously. He had spent years thinking Des was a screw-up, but knowing he was doing something for the station and himself made him proud.
The door to his cell opened. In walked the woman, the ex-waitress. She was dressed in black clothes and held a tray of food in her hands.
“I’ve been rude,” the waitress said. “My name is Ahnika Kiaboa.”
Sheemo looked at Ahnika and didn’t say anything.
“I’m going to make a trade with you,” Ahnika said. “You tell me something, and I’ll give you food.”
“I’m not hungry,” Sheemo replied, as his gut spasmed in hunger pains.