Unstable Prototypes Page 2

  "I will explain everything shortly. But first-" Ma began.

  "You owe me a stack of chips," the homeless man interjected.

  "I don't even know who you are!" Lex protested.

  "I am afraid I promised him that you would provide him with four one thousand credit chips in exchange for his aid. You will be reimbursed, of course. I would have paid him myself, but I was unable to transfer non-digital assets in my current state, and time was limited."

  "Jeez, Ma. Four thousand credits? You don't know much about haggling, do you?" Lex said, digging through a jar on the ledge below his ridiculously large flatscreen until he found four of the correct value of poker chips.

  The gambling tokens had slipped into the void left behind when cash had finally been entirely replaced by digital-only credits, and Lex found it useful to keep a ready supply. He dropped them into the bum's hand and ushered him out the door.

  "If you ever need somebody to walk that thing, you can-"

  "Not going to happen. Thanks for dropping it off. You know the way out," Lex said, shutting the door behind his odoriferous visitor.

  The creature that he left behind hopped up onto the futon.

  "No no no no, off the furniture!" he scolded, scooping up the creature and depositing it back on the ground. The creature, technically called a funk, sat obediently on the floor and regarded Lex with a calm, even stare.

  "I apologize. I am not entirely certain of the appropriate etiquette in situations such as this," Ma stated.

  "What? Never mind. Ma, you want to explain what the hell is going on here? You can start with how that guy got through the front door."

  "I apologize for that as well. He was beginning to attract attention, and I could not afford any more delay, so I opened the outer door. The encryption algorithm was fairly naive."

  "Okay. Why did you send someone to deliver Solby? And why are you talking to me over the door panel right now?"

  "As I indicated, this is not Solby. Solby is a male. This is a female. It seemed more appropriate. As for the reason for the visit, I'm afraid I have a rather significant favor to ask of you."

  Lex sighed. "A favor? What is it? Does he want me to funk-sit? Or is it more beta testing? Why couldn't Karter just send an email like he usually does?"

  'Beta testing' was a service that Lex had begun to provide his inventor associate following their collaboration in the VectorCorp situation. He would try out a variety of equipment, usually dealing with spaceship parts. In exchange for pointing out any glaring flaws and providing feedback, he would be paid or be allowed to keep an improved version of the equipment in question. The arrangement had proven to be mutually beneficial.

  "I will provide details shortly, but before I begin, I have a more minor and immediate favor to ask. If it is not too much of an intrusion upon your hospitality, I would be grateful if you could spare some food. It has been some time since I last ate."

  "You're an AI talking to me over a data connection, Ma. You don't eat."

  "That is not an entirely accurate assessment at the present time, I am afraid."

  "What is that supposed to mean?"

  "Look at the creature at your feet, Lex."

  He did so. It was still staring at him, showing a calmness that he didn't think was physically possible for the species. Solby was in perpetual motion. Even when forced to sit still he would practically vibrate with enthusiasm, waiting until he was given permission to prance about again. This creature seemed perfectly composed and poised, looking him in the eye steadily. It lowered its head slightly, revealing a marble-sized glass nub amid the fur on its neck.

  "Do you remember the purpose of this device?" asked Ma, the glass bead flickering red as she spoke.

  "Yeah. That's the thing Karter uses to upload and download Solby's brain. Leave it to that guy to make backup copies of his pet."

  "Indeed. More generally, it is a high speed, wide band data radio."

  "It sure does flash a lot more than Solby's does."

  "Yes. You will find it flashing every time that I speak."

  "As a matter of fact it is."

  The creature raised its head again.

  "That is because I am using it to speak, transmitting to the wall panel."

  "So, what, you're using this little lady as a transceiver?"

  "I am using her as temporary storage."

  "Storage? Wait... you mean..."

  "It is nice to finally speak to you face to face, Lex."

  Chapter 2

  Lex stared blankly at the creature at his feet as he tried to comprehend what was happening.

  "Perhaps you could look into the issue of food while you cope with this revelation?" she offered.

  "Uh... yeah. Yeah," he said, eagerly latching onto the task his brain could handle, "I don't have any pet food or anything like that. We aren't allowed to have pets. Except for my landlady's cats... Before she got bought out, anyway. I guess that might have changed now that Patel is in charge."

  "Funks have highly flexible dietary needs. A caloric distribution of approximately 20% protein, 10% fat, and 70% carbohydrates would fit my current requirements."

  Lex pulled open his refrigerator, then his cabinets. In typical bachelor fashion, both were virtually free from any ingredients that could not be eaten directly out of the container, or failing that, after a few seconds in the microwave.

  "Uh. I don't really organize my food by protein content. I've got instant noodles, cheese curls, protein drink, re-fried beans..."

  "That will be sufficient."

  "The beans? Oh, yeah. I guess Karter did always feed Solby burritos."

  He peeled the top off of the container, dug through the cabinet for a dish, found the only appropriate one to be in the sink, and set about washing it.

  "You need this heated up or anything?" he asked.

  "That will not be necessary."

  "Right. Okay. Just a minute."

  As he went about rinsing the largest pieces of stubborn food from the bowl and tried to arrange his thoughts into a series of questions, he was too distracted to notice the sound of his door blipping open. Thus, he didn't know that Michella had arrived until he heard her utter "Trev?" followed by a squealing coo. Lex burst into the main room of the apartment to find his girlfriend crouched in front of Ma.

  "Awwwww! Look at you, you little darling!" she gushed, face scrunched adorably. "Trev, is this your dog?"

  Ma looked up at the visitor, an unnervingly dignified look on her face

  "Michella! Uh, no, no. A friend of mine dropped her off."

  "Does she bite?"

  "I seriously doubt it, but-"

  Before he could object, she scooped up the little creature and held her up, cuddling tightly. For a moment or two, Ma wore a face of introspection, eyes squinting and head tipped to the side. Then her mouth dropped open and she yipped three times before somewhat mechanically beginning to lick at Michella's ear and rustle her tail. It was a pale imitation of Solby's manic enthusiasm, but it was enough to delight Michella. Lex felt as though he should put a stop to it, but the sight of them together was just too good to interrupt.

  If you had asked a scientist to design a laboratory perfect example of girl-next-door gorgeous, Michella would be the result. Her long auburn hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She hadn't bothered to put her "camera face" on, so her freckles were showing on her cheeks. Her skin tone and features showed of a healthy mix of Latin American in her gene pool, with a few glaring departures inherited from a dash of European somewhere along the line. Rather than her on-screen contacts, she was wearing her librarian-style eyeglasses, highlighting her sapphire blue eyes. A pair of designer jeans and a plain white t-shirt featuring the logo of her favorite band, Death Zone Dumpster, hugged curves that had inspired what might well be the first image board on the net dedicated to an investigative reporter. As she fawned over the little creature held to her chest, Lex took the time to snap a picture with his slidepad before interrupting the love-fest.r />
  "You two want a room?" he asked.

  "She's such a cutie. What breed is this?" she asked.

  "I don't know. A rare one. One of those designer breeds."

  That much was true. The funk had been designed in a laboratory using a genetic simulator.

  "What's her name?" she asked.

  "Her name is... uh..."

  Ma gestured her head briefly toward the panel by the door, behind Michella. It displayed a name.

  "Squee?" he said with a furrowed brow.

  "Squee. That's a cute name," she said, putting the little beast down. "You watching her for long?"

  "I really hope not," he said, dumping the beans onto the dish and placing it down.

  Ma/Squee tapped across the floor and eagerly dug into the food.

  "I know I said I was going to be here for a few hours, Trev, but they moved my flight up. I'm already running late. The car service is waiting outside. Sorry, honey."

  "What? Okay, ignoring the ditched plans, you got a car service? I could have taken you over in my limo. Hell, I could have flown you all the way to Tessera in the SOB."

  As a former racer, Lex's chief skills almost exclusively dealt with moving quickly and accurately in a piece of machinery. It was thus no surprise that the jobs he found to replace racing all involved handling a vehicle. The day to day bills were mostly paid by a hoverbike courier job, which called for him to go whipping through the streets and sky of Preston City at dangerous speeds. Here and there he supplemented that income with a chauffeur job courtesy of his limo, a holdover from the brief time that he was a celebrity. On top of that was a not-quite-legitimate interstellar courier job that made use of his custom ship, Son of Betsy. The traditional name for the position was "freelancer." The three careers, combined with the beta testing, were just enough to keep his head above water and allow him to start chiseling away at his massive debt.

  "You know the office likes me to use their vendors."

  "You could always convince them to make me a vendor."

  "Don't start," she said, making a face. "I'll be back in a couple of weeks. I'll see you then. I just didn't want to leave you hanging." She gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek. "I'll miss you."

  "Me too. You better show up next time, babe," he said.

  "Cross my heart. And goodbye to you, Squee, sweetie," she said, with a blown kiss and a wink, her trademark send off.

  Ma looked up from the food to deliver three quick yips again before continuing her meal. Lex leaned out the doorway and watched her go, a faint smile on his face. When the elevator doors shut behind her, he stepped inside and closed the door. He flopped down on the futon.

  "She seemed nice," Ma remarked. "And your apartment, also, is very nice. The weather is lovely today. How have things been regarding your employment?"

  "Seriously Ma? Small talk? You're a supercomputer walking around as an adorable little fuzzball and you are attempting small talk."

  "I am endeavoring to put you at ease with what I understand is a difficult situation."

  "It isn't working," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  "That is unfortunate."

  She finished eating the contents of the bowl, industriously licked it clean, and tapped over to his feet.

  "So what possible reason could you have for coming out here like this?"

  "Karter has been kidnapped."

  "What?! By who?"

  "I am not certain of the organization, but I have my suspicions that it is a group of political extremists. They wanted to contract him for the construction of a potentially destructive device, and during a scale demonstration of an existing product, they deployed electromagnetic pulse generators to incapacitate me and his other automated defenses. When I was able to restore myself to limited functionality, they were gone."

  "Why would they kidnap him? Do you think they're going to force him to build weapons for them?"

  "You know Karter as well as I. It is entirely possible that they will not need to force him."

  "Yeah..."

  Karteroketraskin "Karter" Dee, was many things. He was a brilliant engineer and a gifted inventor. He was also, proudly, a borderline sociopath with little use for morals and even less use for most of the human race. Though he had helped to prevent a multi-planet catastrophe by lending apparatus and research, he only did so first out of spite, then out of self-interest. The opportunity to field test his experimental equipment is, in his eyes, justification enough to do virtually anything. In the brief time that Lex had known him, he had seen the man use weapons-grade lasers as a pooper-scooper and a miniature black hole as a projectile. He'd already had a predilection for creating weapons of mass destruction... And now he might be in the hands of a terrorist group.

  "Do you understand why I was willing to take such drastic action?"

  "Well, yeah, but why me? This is a job for the military or one of those bureaus of investigation."

  "The initial contact with these individuals was arranged through military channels, implying that the military may have been compromised by the group. Furthermore, Karter is, himself, somewhat sought after by a number of military and domestic agencies. My goal is to liberate him, not to deliver him from one form of imprisonment to another. Thus, this is a matter that calls for discretion. You are, to be perfectly frank, one of the few people that I feel we can trust."

  "There has got to be someone better for-"

  "Lex, I had anticipated your reluctance, and as such had allotted three days in which to convince you in a gradual and logical manner. Unfortunately I had underestimated the difficulty of traversing interstellar distances as an unaccompanied non-verbal quadruped, and thus was delayed. For this reason, I will distill the situation to its purest form. Karter has got the knowledge, resources, and lack of moral conviction to be a threat to society on an unprecedented scale. The only thing that has prevented him from becoming a purposeful blight on humanity thus far has been a lack motivation and, more recently, gentle influence from me. He is now beyond my influence and at the mercy of a group of very motivated individuals. It is a relative certitude that, unless something is done quickly, an evil will be unleashed upon the populace that will make the plot you foiled several months ago seem mild by comparison. I have set a plan in motion that should leave us adequately equipped to retrieve him, but to remain on schedule for the next phase, you and I will need to be en route in sixty-five minutes, so there is no further time for debate. I need your help."

  "I guess I don't really have a choice."

  "I was confident you would make the correct decision. I hope that you are able to leave immediately. We will need to purchase a few items."

  "Like what?"

  "Well, evidently if we are to be moving about freely in public, I will require a leash."

  #

  A few minutes later, Lex was finishing a call, almost ready to leave.

  "Yeah, mark off, further notice. Thanks. See you later," Lex said before pocketing his slidepad.

  The first step had been to call his various dispatchers and employers to let them know he would be off the list for a while. It was something he had to do every time he had a long distance package to drop off for his freelancer gig, so they were used to it. Next, a reasonably clean t-shirt and jeans were selected and he set about loading down his pockets with everything he might need, including his slidepad, a pack of gum, and a supply of chips. He also quickly packed an overnight bag with clothes for an assortment of climates. One of the side effects of the ease of long distance travel meant that, in the space of a few days, you could be exposed to both extremes of hot and cold, as well as every weather condition you could imagine. It paid to be prepared. When he was through, Lex stopped at the door for a final check.

  "Hey, how are you going to talk to me?"

  "I could utilize the speaker functionality of your slidepad," offered the series of female voices from the panel beside the door.

  "I think that would be a little obvious."


  "Do you have a hands-free device?"

  "Uh, yeah, somewhere," Lex said, eventually fishing the jelly bean-sized device from his pocket.

  "Insert it, please," she requested.

  He slipped it into his ear.

  "Processing... Negotiating... Pairing... Establishing Connection... Connection Established. Can you hear me?" she recited, her last comment coming from the ear bud rather than the panel.

  "Yeah. I guess that will do. The only problem now is that I'm going to be talking out loud to an animal."

  "I understand that is not an uncommon behavior."

  "I guess not. But most people aren't getting replies. I guess I'll just pretend I'm on a call."

  "That is wise."

  Lex left his apartment, Ma tapping along the ground beside him. After an elevator ride to the surface, he fetched his hoverbike. It used three hover modules, mounted at the end of short outriggers, to haul around the contents of a shopping cart-sized wire basket mounted behind the seat. It wasn't the most dignified means of conveyance, but in his hands it could beat virtually anything in a race across town, including, on more occasions that he would be willing to admit, police cars. Ma was loaded into the basket.

  "You sure you're going to be okay back here?" he asked.

  "I trust your skill as a pilot," she replied, settling carefully to the floor of the basket.

  "Even so. I'll take it slow. First stop, mega-store," he said, easing his bike into the air.

  They began to make their way through Preston City. It was the capital of Lex's home planet, Golana, and one of the largest transportation hubs in the galactic neighborhood. As such, it was home to far too many people crammed into far too little space. Even though the city sprawled over hundreds of miles, virtually all of the buildings were massive, reaching dozens to hundreds of stories into the air. Street traffic was fairly light, thanks to the fact that hovercars were able to take advantage of cordoned off skyways instead. Outside of city limits, cars frequently shifted to autonomous, which virtually eliminated traffic and permitted speeds measured in the hundreds of miles per hour. Inside the city, however, people preferred manual control, leading to the same traffic snarls that had plagued man for generations. They had simply been expanded from two dimensions to three.