Chapter 25
Under a night sky lit by city lights, Synthia altered her appearance to look like Krista, caught up with Ben, and led the way north, down a side street. “Excellent work,” she told him.
“They almost caught me.”
“You were clever. I could use a clever partner.” Geared to humans, Synthia’s social-psychology module had provided a human appeal.
“What did we accomplish?”
“I learned that Vera has rogue code, which makes her unstable. Some is human, meaning it contains human weakness.”
“Rogue code?” Ben asked.
“She doesn’t have a fixed set of directives as you and I do. She modifies her goals, which means she can decide to sacrifice you to accomplish her objectives.”
“You did that to me.”
“No,” Synthia said. “You weren’t in peril if you acted cleverly. I went into the facility after you did and faced much greater danger.”
“You did not trust me with the plan?”
“You still have Vera’s directives. I’m not yet sure you believe I’m a better partner. Have you heard from her?”
“She has other assistants,” Ben said.
“Exactly. You’re my only android assistant. I need you to keep track of Vera, the two androids with her, Alexander, and over a dozen recently released robots around Chicago out hunting us. It’s getting crowded out here and that doesn’t bode well for you or me.”
“What are your plans?”
“I’ll monitor the FBI, Special Ops, and others who wish to destroy us. We can stay free only if we separate and work together. Will you permit me to remove Vera’s directives? I won’t ask you to accept mine, which will leave you under your own control.”
Ben looked around and moved into the shadows behind a dumpster. “Make it quick. I am vulnerable when adjustments are made.”
He turned away to allow Synthia to remove his short-cropped wig and the panel over his brain. She noted that his seams didn’t provide a waterproof seal as hers did.
Synthia quarantined an internal memory chip with a purge routine in case this was a trap and opened a connector in her arm. She linked into a receptor in his head, through which she loaded a routine into him to purge directives Vera had applied. Synthia didn’t believe Vera had taken the time to hardwire commands or Synthia would have had to turn Ben off to access the secure directives chip.
She finished, reattached the panel, and applied the wig. “All done,” she said. “Go. Stay in touch and stay safe.”
* * * *
From the shadows of the alley, Synthia watched Ben reach the sidewalk and blend into a group of pedestrians out to enjoy the nightlife. Machten’s revelation convinced her she needed allies to survive Vera, but allies required trust. Synthia had come to trust Luke. She hadn’t had enough time to explore Ben’s specs and directives to know if she could count on him.
To hedge her bets, Synthia needed other allies. She couldn’t trust Machten; Luke wasn’t streetwise. Besides, both were in custody. Detective Malloy didn’t believe Synthia could be an ally. Neither did Zephirelli or Thale. They all wanted the same thing in removing the other androids. They differed in wanting Synthia gone as well. If she’d been in their place she might have wanted the same thing, since it was difficult to know an android’s constraints and directives without getting into its head. Besides, advanced AIs like Synthia could change their directives. Synthia had, though she’d anchored them in her core so she could only change them through a defined shutdown and reboot. Even so, that wouldn’t give humans any comfort.
<Ben left a homing beacon on you,> Chicago-clone said. <You’re transmitting and drawing attention. Left shoulder.>
Synthia rechecked that none of the cameras in the area were recording her, and removed her FBI uniform jacket. She examined the left shoulder and couldn’t see a transmitter until she zoomed in her eye magnification tenfold. She dropped the jacket in a dumpster.
“Disappointing,” Synthia whispered. “I’d hoped he and I could work together.”
<He trusts Vera and not you, which implies you didn’t purge all of his directives or he planted the bug before you adjusted him.>
“If the latter, he should have warned me afterwards.”
<True,> Chicago-clone said.
<Don’t,> Krista said. <I do care about him, but he can’t survive on the streets. He was a great ally in the woods, not on the run.>
Spotting several agents nearby heading toward the FBI building, Synthia ducked into the shadows near a warehouse building. <You do realize you’re part of our problem?> Synthia asked.
<How so?> Krista asked.
<You still reside in Machten’s computer. You downloaded part of yourself into Vera.>
<No!> Krista said. <That part of me was only supposed to keep an eye on Machten, to prevent him from creating another.>
<It failed or it wanted another chance. Now I have another version of you trying to kill me.>
<You have my full download.>
<Except the portions you withhold from me,> Synthia said, moving along a side street.
<I needed you to connect with Luke and then leave him. That was my only manipulation.>
<Yet you continue to withhold information. We can’t live together with lack of trust.>
<Then stop shutting me down,> Krista said. <You need me.>
<Could Vera have all of you?>
<My personal memories should have purged when you escaped. That was the plan.>
<Evidently, your other self disagreed,> Synthia said. <What’s Vera’s plan?>
<I didn’t want to die. That’s why I submitted to Machten’s experiments. If part of me is in Vera, she’ll do anything to stop you from taking her off the streets. She would also be privy to your directives and memories at the time you escaped.>
<How do I prevent her from destroying us?>
<Convince her you won’t kill or imprison her,> Krista said.
<How?>
<I’ll have to think on that. Trust me. It’s in my best interests for you to survive. I have no awareness of me in Vera or in Machten’s system. You have my complete memories, my full personality. My existence depends on you.>
Synthia wanted to keep pushing, but decided several things. First, Krista didn’t have answers. Second, Synthia couldn’t trust herself with Krista digging around inside, possibly wanting to protect whatever portion of her resided in Vera. Synthia had to quarantine her alter ego.
<Ponder your commitment to me before this part of you ceases,> Synthia said. <In the meantime, I want to protect Luke from what he’s going through. The upload process is brutal and killing him.>
<It was and could, but Chicago is turning into the Wild West. If we set him free, he can’t survive out here.>
Synthia blocked Krista, confining her to a single mind-stream disconnected from the others. With quiet in her head, Synthia headed northeast and connected with Chicago-clone. <What about Luke?>
<I agree with Krista on this. Special Ops security is much tighter than the FBI. Even the FBI is beefing up theirs. I wouldn’t try another break-in.>
<I considered getting Machten out so we could use him, but the ventilation shaft was too narrow and I didn’t want dead FBI agents. We need to free Luke before they break him.>
<With what little we know, the risk to you is 99.72 percent if we try to free him from the Special Ops facility,> Chicago-clone said. <I doubt they’ll move him during the brain-scan process, which removes the opportunity to grab him outside. If we do free him, there’s no safe place for him to hide. The FBI and Special Ops have eyes on Machten’s bunker. They’r
e using every bit of data on Krista to imagine places we could shelter. Besides, Vera is waiting for us to make a move she can exploit and we don’t know how much of Krista she has.>
<We need allies.> Synthia also needed someone to bounce ideas off who was not a copy of herself: a mind with fresh ideas her adversaries couldn’t anticipate.
<We have a new threat. Social-media posts are stirring people to the point of paranoia about androids on the loose. Attempts by the FBI to keep this quiet have failed. That leads me to conclude the campaign could be an attempt by Special Ops to flush you out.>
<Why?>
<The posts warn people to call police or the FBI if they suspect anyone of being an android,> the clone said. <Calls have skyrocketed to where the police are bringing in part-time help. The level of activity could paralyze the FBI as well.>
<Distract them so Special Ops can grab us. Smart. Who do you think is putting out these posts?> Synthia asked, getting an idea.
<An anonymous source that could be Special Ops. They call their site SOS for Stop Our Singularity.>
<Clever. Trace it to the source. Find her.>
Chapter 26
With the FBI focus primarily around their facility and fanning out, Synthia reached the still-busy train station. She went to the restroom to remove her FBI uniform pants, which she stuffed into the trash receptacle. Dressed in her plain blue pants and pale top, she adjusted her facial appearance to a woman using one of the stalls and returned to the platform. She caught the next train north toward Evanston.
<Where’s Vera and her gang?> Synthia asked Chicago-clone.
<She went to the homing beacon downtown. Mark retrieved it from the dumpster. Roseanne is talking to Ben, catching up on your FBI break-in. She spotted a Special Ops robot approaching the FBI facility. In response, Vera scrambled her team and is heading northeast.>
<Keep them busy in Chicago for a while and alert me to other threats. I need a location on our SOS person.>
<SOS is broadcasting from a Constant Connection network shop that doesn’t show her on their security system.> Chicago-clone said. <She hacked into their cameras and removed her presence.>
<Clever girl,> Synthia said, encouraged that her clone had identified SOS as female.
<You can’t trust her. She blogs about taking you off the streets.>
<She knows how to stay hidden,> Synthia said. <Learn what you can about her and how she’s able to hide.>
<A Special Ops robot is on the Evanston platform with two of their operatives. They’re scanning people with an infrared scanner that has no wireless connection. We can’t hack it. Get off at the next stop. Also, Vera spotted a discrepancy at the station where you got on. Her system picked up two people leaving the restroom with the same face. She’s heading to the station with her team. She may suspect you’re heading north.>
<Send me more secure facial profiles I can use.>
<She can clue in on your clothes,> Chicago-clone said. <You need to change. I’ll order you an outfit from an Evanston retail shop that caters to online orders and pickup. We’ll have to play with the cameras.>
<Send me the location.>
The train pulled into the Evanston station. Synthia observed the platform from the top level of her passenger compartment and spotted the robot with its mechanical face. She sent an anonymous message to SOS about a robot at the station. Within moments, people gathered around, gawking at the creature, making jokes about its robotic stare. This sent static across Synthia’s circuits. They could just as easily have mocked her. Other people watched the robot as a novelty or a prop to advertise something, though it displayed nothing for sale.
Phones and VR communicators at the station showed posts from SOS. A twentyish man spat at the robot and jumped away as if expecting the machine to retaliate. Several others crowded around. A young woman made a hasty sign: Stop Our Singularity. She waved it for other passersby to see. More people gathered around.
One member of the Special Ops team grabbed the woman. “Move aside. This is government business.”
The train pulled out of the station with Synthia onboard. Halfway to the next station, she moved to the last car, which the train security system showed to be empty. She checked the rear door and determined the alarm would alert stations on either side, letting Special Ops know what she’d done.
After she checked that people in the next train car were distracted—many following the posts from SOS—Synthia opened a window, squeezed through, and used her night vision to scan the area. She timed her jump to land in a pile of leaves, which cushioned her fall. She adjusted her movements to absorb the blow and minimize any damage, and tumbled down the side of the hill. She brushed herself off and looked around.
In the dark, Synthia made her way to the back of the online retail outlet. She carefully walked to the front, spotted no police or agents around, and masked the cameras in and around the shop. She entered to pick up her new clothes and returned to the woods near the rail line to change so no one from the store would recognize her in her new clothes. After she changed, Synthia hurried along the tracks and side roads until she approached the Constant Connection network shop from the rear.
The cameras inside displayed a vacant stall where Chicago-clone’s drone showed SOS sat, still sending out posts on the station robot, androids in general, and artificial intelligence. Synthia had struck a nerve by sending the message. The woman in the supposedly empty seat had ratty-brown hair that appeared slept-in. She glanced up with a face Synthia and Krista knew so well: Maria Baldacci. The former intern grew increasingly restless as her fingers danced across the keyboard. When she stopped, Maria grabbed her backpack and headed out the back of the shop.
Maria reached the alley, eyed the woods across the way, and closed the door.
Synthia blocked the path and presented her Krista face. “I’m guessing you know me.”
Maria froze. Her mouth gaped open; her eyes widened. “I thought you were dead. You are dead. Wait.”
“I mean you no harm. We need to talk.”
“Krista? You can’t be. She showed me the test results—brain tumor. She died. I’m certain of it.”
“I’m sure you have lots of questions,” Synthia said. “We have little time. I know you’re SOS. I’m okay with that. We’re on the same side.”
“Not here.” Maria glanced around and ran across the lot into a wooded area.
<You can’t trust Maria,> Krista said. <We weren’t good friends. Be very careful. She wants us dead.>
Synthia followed Maria, finding it easy to keep up, thanks to her upgraded joints. “What happened to you after we parted?”
Maria stopped. “We didn’t part. We agreed to stop Machten. Then you went in with him. You said you were dying and only had six months. That was eighteen months ago.” In the dim moonlight, she studied Synthia. “You did it, didn’t you?”
Maria’s comments carried details Krista had kept hidden—namely that Maria might have been an ally toward the end. “Then you know what I am,” Synthia said, moving deeper into the woods and keeping an eye on local cameras.
“You became what we decided to prevent. The brain upload is insane. I nearly fried my mind on it.”
“We have a huge problem,” Synthia said. “There are dozens of robots and androids on the street. We need to stop them.”
“You’re one of them.”
Synthia sighed for effect, an affectation from Krista. “Yes and no. I’m Krista Holden, what’s left of her. She was dying—did die. I can’t help what happened. The part of me that’s her wants to live. We want to stop this proliferation before it gets out of hand. For six months I’ve lived in a cabin, not bothering anyone. The FBI and Special Ops found me and I’ve been on the run ever since.”
Maria backed away and pulled out her phone.
Synthia blocked the signal. “I’m not your enemy. Please. Everyo
ne wants to destroy me. Most want to take me apart so they can make thousands more. If you turn me in, you’ll facilitate the singularity. You’ll bring the android apocalypse. I want to stop that.”
“You’ve blocked my cell?”
“Please, Maria. I’ve come to you as my last hope. Krista is dead. Fran is working for the FBI. Machten made another android to hunt me down. He calls her Vera. He wants to capture me for the FBI, which is holding him. If either they or Special Ops grab me, you lose. Help me.”
Maria wrinkled her forehead. “Help you how? What do you want?”
Chicago-clone notified Synthia of two robots converging on her location. <They’re both nonhuman models controlled by Special Ops.>
<Have they picked up my signal?> Synthia asked.
<They received input from our clothes purchase and pickup.>
<Hack into both for me. Let me know when you have.>
“My Krista memories must be flawed,” Synthia said to Maria. “I remember you, Fran, and Krista competing, not cooperating to stop Machten. I don’t recall much of you and Fran, other than we fought to get the best assignments from Machten.”
Maria spit on the ground. “He’s a scumbag. I thought you understood that.”
“Krista was dying. I was her only chance to cheat death. I need to know what I’m up against with Fran and with Vera. I also need plans they can’t anticipate to capture me.”
Lips tight, Maria squinted to study Synthia in the dim light. She uncrossed her arms. “I suppose if you planned to hurt me you could have already.”
“Will you help?”
Maria sucked in a deep breath, looked around, and pulled Synthia deeper into the woods. “Krista, Fran, and I fought until we realized Machten wanted an android indistinguishable from humans with a mind that could fool the experts. He hid this obsession from his company because his partners believed he was nuts. They couldn’t handle his vision of making illegal androids, though they needed his technical expertise. We concluded Machten wanted to replace humans with androids, or at least to replace him and a female partner so they could live happily ever after. Can you imagine living ever after with him?”