A MONTGOMERY: Understood.
That would do it.
This was the second time this mystery person had contacted her by e-DNA message. E-DNA was the Federation’s most advanced encrypted communications network, with a one-to-one mapping between each device. There was no way that even she could trace it. The other device could be on the other side of the galaxy, but because it operated using quantum entanglement on the DNA molecules embedded in her system, there was no intercepting the message or tracking it. E-DNA was one of the most important inventions of the past several decades, but the principles it was based on were as old as quantum mechanics itself. Entangled particles remain entangled, no matter how vast the distance between them. A change in one will instantly result in a change in the other, without any time gap whatsoever. Applying this principle to communication had required centuries of technical breakthroughs, but T3’s scientists had finally done it fifty years before. Because nothing was ever actually sent from one particle to the other, there was nothing to trace – the perfect, unbreakable encryption system. It had revolutionized contact between individuals, and even between worlds, but now it obscured the identity of whoever was threatening her life.
There was no doubt about it, though: if what this stranger was telling her was true, then she was trapped.
Ally returned to scanning the incoming vehicles hovering up to the carport. She thought about telling Neffy everything. It would be a relief, for sure, and Neffy normally had the answers.
But then, that would violate rule #2: Tell no one about these messages.
She could feel herself starting to panic, but there was no escape.
+++
The looming carport came into view as the automated Nav system slowed the car to a gentle hover. Neffy scanned the waiting area for his partner in crime. They had already been on many missions together, but unlike most partners who had been paired up at the Academy, they never got bored of each other's company. They never got bored of the work, either, though they did have a history of landing the most exciting and challenging cases.
Scanning the cluster of people and vehicles docking and undocking from the port, Neffy spotted a synthbot waving just off to one side of the main building. Ally. He hit the “dock” command, and the Nav system began to scan for a docking spot.
In civilized surroundings, they had agreed it was appropriate for Neffy to land the car for Ally to embark. But when they were out in the sticks (and no one was around to report them), Ally would often use her ‘bot enhancements to mount the side of the craft and override the main airlock to get in. It was a thing they’d started doing since they realized they could do it during a particularly hairy escape on a past mission. Negotiations with a fringe group of colonists had broken down and a fast exit was required. The maneuver had saved their lives, but it also made for an increasingly exaggerated tale that Neffy would recount during his rare appearances at social occasions.
Unfortunately, when they replicated the maneuver at the carport of the Vienna training center, in front of bewildered trainees and disapproving military personnel, it resulted in them being pulled into the Squadron Leaders’ office and given an extended lecture on military discipline and decorum. It was one of those instances that had sealed their decision to go Independent, rather than Legionnaire.
Neffy waved back by tilting the car’s wings back and forth laterally to signal he’d seen Ally. The car guided itself into a port it had located off to the left of the building, and docked to make the pickup.
Ally made her way over, holo device open on one arm, and a bag slung over the other. She paused to finish what she was doing on the holoscreen, waiting for the car to connect with the port. Seconds later, the hydraulics hissed and the airlock slid open. Flicking the holo away, she climbed up into the opening door, to take the navigator’s seat in the four-point cockpit.
“Hi, stranger,” Neffy greeted her. Seeing Ally cheered him up. Reading the tiniest nuance of human behavior was part of his profession, but all the social intelligence the Academy had ever taught him had somehow failed to translate into making friends easily in daily life. Ally was one of the only exceptions, a constant in his life. Someone he was truly close to – someone he could trust.
“You look well-rested,” Ally responded, “or maybe sluggish would be a better word. What have you been doing for the past few weeks – sleeping all day? I thought sailors on shore leave were supposed to go wild.”
“Oh, but I have. I’ve been in every den of iniquity Reykjavik has to offer.”
“As if.” she smirked. “If you even walked in the door of such a place, you’d give everyone within earshot a fascinating lecture on the arch-anthropology of sailor’s dives throughout known history. They would literally pay you just to leave.”
“I don’t think sailor’s dives even exist anymore. Ever since the—”
Ally interrupted, “And there you go.”
Between Neffy’s obsession with history and world cultures, and Ally’s access to all manner of information through her integrated data manager, their shared humor tended to be a bit obscure.
“Alright, alright. So what have you been up to?” he asked her.
“Same as you,” she said, “Lying in one place for days at a stretch without doing anything at all. Except that in my case that means using my unbelievably powerful cognitive systems to solve the most perplexing problems in math and physics, just to pass the time.”
“Uh-huh…” He was just as skeptical of her claim as she had been of his. “Hey, do you remember that seminar Professor Doniger gave on quantum monism?”
Ally laughed, “Oh yes indeed. There were, what – fifteen of us in that seminar? And we all had to come into class dressed and made up exactly like her, then playact how she would handle different situations based on our own interpretation of her personality. What was that supposed to prove again?”
“How multiple universes can all be expressions of the same underlying reality, if I remember right. What made me think of it was this little vacation of ours. I didn’t do a damn thing and neither did you, because neither of us have any idea what to do with ourselves when we’re not working. We’re exactly the same.”
“Then let’s get to work. The sooner we’re getting shot at by some deranged colonial, the happier we’ll be.”
“Do you want to nav? Or shall I?” Neffy asked, hoping he could off-load the course plotting to the much more detail-oriented Ally.
“Yeah, I’ll do it if you find the destination coordinates.”
“Sweet!” Neffy exclaimed, “Set us for getting out of orbit. Then we need to head to Cygnus. We’ll know more about what the Aegelweard is up to when we hear from Trent, hopefully before we need to punch into hyperdrive.”
Ally glanced at him sideways, waiting in case there was any further report about Trent or their communication.
Neffy was immersed in surfing holo-data and didn’t notice. Seeing that there was no further information forthcoming, Ally set about buckling in and getting them into orbit, and then decided another subject was probably more pressing.
“Look…about the report…” she started.
Neffy looked up, obviously expecting Ally to bring it up, but at the same time rather reluctant to get into it.
“Yeah…sorry about that. I just…” he started to explain. Neffy’s report on their last mission had shielded Trent, a necessity under the circumstances. But that had unavoidably made Ally look bad, and he had never really apologized for it. She knew he cared, but she didn’t like what it said about his priorities. Did he secretly not think of her as a real person, like so many others?
“I know. I know. You had to,” she said, “I get it. I just wanted to kind of put it out there that I get why you did it…but at the same time, it did hurt.” Ally, though technically a machine, was in some ways the more human, and the more emotionally mature, of the two.
“I know. I’m sorry.” Neffy was back to avoiding eye contact.
“There’s something else you should know,” Ally continued, knowing full well that was the most she was going to get in terms of an apology, “While you were away, I overheard some things. About Trent.”
Neffy suddenly perked up.
“It sounded like if Trent hadn’t talked you into taking some personal time these past few weeks, he would have had you court-martialed. It wasn’t clear whether this was something he was angling for, or whether he was being pushed…but still. I thought you should know.” Ally’s fabricated brow wrinkled in concern. “Did he mention anything to you?” she probed, hoping to show Neffy that any allegiance to Trent was misplaced. Even if he had hurt her feelings, she still wanted to protect her friend.
“No, nothing,” he replied flatly, “Nothing other than business and subtle put-downs, I mean. I suppose I should have known better than to expect him to ask how I was doing. Maybe even tell a joke or something? But no, of course not. The last thing he would ever do is tell me something like that.”
Ally was continually shocked by the lack of communication and loyalty that Trent showed Neffy. Trent was a lot more than just a boss – more like a mentor, or even a surrogate father. But as a father-figure, Trent was distant and even manipulative.
“Look, I know everyone makes mistakes,” Ally continued slowly, her voice softer now, “But you lied in that report, and we both could have lost our jobs, Neff. We need to be more careful.”
Ally could tell her words were not getting through to him. The only thing that mattered to Neffy was solving the problem, defusing whatever crisis they had just been thrown into – by any means that presented themselves. The rules didn’t even seem to factor into his decision-making.
“Look, if we’d followed orders, all two hundred of those residents would have died. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
Neffy had a point, but disobeying a direct order was not something the Federation took lightly.
“It just worries me, the blatant disregard you have for authority.” She’d said her piece, but still felt unsatisfied. What was it going to take for Neffy to start taking this seriously? To take her seriously?
She didn’t expect a response, so she just left her statement lingering out there in the silence for Neffy to ruminate on as they took the car out of orbit.
Neffy kept his eyes on the holoscreens he had running, trying not to get sucked into his emotions – in this case, guilt. He knew very well that he’d hurt Ally’s feelings with that report, but it was the best decision he could make under the circumstances and there was nothing he could do about that now. Between his guilt about letting Ally down and his frustrated hopes for a closer connection to his mentor, his emotions had been all over the place since they’d come back to T3. He’d managed, over the last week or two, to get them pretty nailed down, and he wasn’t going to let Ally’s digging – or new information about Trent’s intentions – unhinge them again.
“Course plotted.” Ally flicked away her holoscreen and eased back in the chair. “Do you want to do anything now that we’ve got some time? I’ve hardly seen you since we got back. It’s like that time when you got back from Thailand. Not a word for six months.”
“It hasn’t been anywhere near as long as that. Anyway, that thing in Thailand was…not good. Hardcore mind-training stuff courtesy of Trent. Worse than what happened to Keagan.”
She put a hand up to her mouth and giggled. “Oh, come on now. Keagan’s perfectly okay. You always make that sound so much worse than it really was.”
“He’ll be okay eventually,” he said, “The Academy has some very advanced therapeutic techniques for…whatever it was you did to him when he asked you out.”
“I didn’t really do anything. I swear, Neffy! Just a few carefully-timed neurolinguistic suggestions based on his psych profile, his personal history…”
“You reprogrammed him. From the most shameless Casanova at the Academy into a virtual monk.”
Ally’s expression became indignant. “Well, people reprogram synthbots all the time!”
“Keagan isn’t an AI.”
“Neither am I,” she said, “and Keagan thought he could talk to me any way he wanted to because of my synthbot body. Anyway, you’re blowing the whole thing way out of proportion. Keagan’s no monk. He’s just a little bit less forward now.”
“That’s one way to put it, I suppose. Another way would be to say he was traumatized for life after you started asking him eerily perceptive questions about his sexual history. But I almost forgot to ask. How’s everything else at HQ?”
Ally was a good source of information. She picked up more intel than a human would on account of her synth-body. People assumed she was AI – a concierge-bot programmed to mimic human behavior – so they tended to talk in front of her like she wasn’t there.
“Seemed to just be business as usual…” she paused, as if debating whether to mention it, “I heard that Trent got back there last week. Have you guys spoken to each other?”
Neffy tried not to let any expression show, “No – he didn’t contact me. Not until the mission brief this morning.”
“No change in MO there, then,” remarked Ally, who’d always been somewhat skeptical and protective.
“No. But, why would he?” Neffy tried to reason, as if talking himself through his feelings. “As far as Federation business goes, he can issue my assignments on the holo. Now that we’re done with the Academy, and I’m no longer involved in his research projects, there’s no need for him to.”
“Except that you’re more than just his former student” Ally smiled knowingly. “I mean, you used to eat homemade dinners together when you were still at the Academy, right? How many of his students can say that?” She was sympathetic to the dynamic, and didn’t judge Neffy for viewing the older man almost like a father. It was just that this guy had known him since he was a little kid, and Neffy seemed obsessed with winning his respect and admiration. It was all a little odd.
“Yeah, well, I was also trying to get him sleepy so I could raid his library. You should see some of the books this guy has access to. Anyway, don’t worry about it. When he called earlier it was just work. If he ever did see me as something more than just his student, I think that’s over now.” Neffy closed his holo dash, and settled into the flight, dimming the viewer to the outside world. Instantly the cockpit became cozier. More intimate. More comfortable.
“Hmm. Probably for the best,” she concluded. “Better to move on and have real relationships with normal human beings.”
Neffy turned his head casually and smiled at his friend. Ally realized what she had just said and sniggered. The irony of her statement wasn’t lost on her. Neffy couldn’t help but laugh too.
Ally’s human consciousness was as real as Neffy’s, but she lived only through a synthetic body. Her original organic body had been destroyed during a training accident at the Academy, but as fortune would have it, her consciousness had been uploaded as part of a class demo just days before.
When Neffy had reminded their instructors of this, they arranged to have her uploaded into a synth-bot, which had been marketed for years as concierge-AIs – artificial companions, servants, and advisors. Ally’s case was a long shot, but as it turned out, it became the first instance of human consciousness successfully being integrated with artificial intelligence. Since then Ally became the subject of many research papers, talks and accolades. She’d even met the Federation President in a media demonstration. For a few years she had been a celebrity, but having very few distinguishing features, unless someone knew she was the Alice Montgomery, most assumed she was just another bot.
At first Ally was frustrated at the loss of identity, but over time she began to realize the implications and advantages of being mistaken for “just another bot”. Under Neffy’s guidance she learned to use it to the advantage of practically every mission they’d ever done together. They made a great team and were well respected in the Federation’s operations departments.
“Ok
ay,” Neffy decided, “we’ve got a few hours until we hit the refueling station. We should probably take advantage of the downtime. I’ve got a feeling things are going to be intense when we get to the Cygnus quadrant.”
Ally nodded in agreement. Although she had a synth-body housing a synth-brain, she appreciated sleep as much as the next human consciousness.
Ally closed her eyes and automatically powered down everything save for her auxiliary systems. Her mind went immediately to the e-DNA messages that had sent her life into turmoil. She longed to tell Neffy. She longed for it all to go away, or at least to understand why she was being targeted. What was the end-game of this mysterious stranger, threatening to have her deactivated if she didn’t follow his every instruction? She churned the possibilities in her mind, the same way she had done every quiet moment she’d had for the last several weeks. Whatever he was up to, it was worth killing for. And she was now a part of it.
Neffy flicked open his arm-mounted holo pad to make a note of the last few things on his timestamped log. If he fell asleep on the trip, it would behoove him to have a note of where he was and what he was doing in case he had one of his episodes.
Ally seemed to have switched off already, so it felt like he was alone again. It was in these quiet moments that he went into his mind, to turn over the events of the last several weeks, before he’d been forced to take leave. It was coming up on two years since Trent had been stationed in Reykjavik. Neffy still didn’t know if he’d requested the assignment so they could work together more often, or if it was just a coincidence that he was needed at Federation HQ.
Trent had been the one constant in his life since childhood. He’d kept an appropriate distance, checking in on Neffy from time to time as the years went on. He couldn’t help but feel that Trent had been quietly directing his strange, but privileged, upbringing. The man certainly had the power to pull strings, despite assuring him that he had gotten into the Academy on his own merits.
Neffy had always suspected Trent had somehow made his psych-eval “disappear” at the very least. He knew what Neffy had been through better than anyone, and he must have known that Neffy would never have been able to pass the screenings required of all the other candidates.
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