Hack.A.I. (The Hack. series Book 1), page 21
The officers' attempt to force the door from outside was unsuccessful.
Cassie ripped off another small section of her dress and tied it around the original bunched up piece.
“Is that okay?”
“Not really.” He moaned.
She got to her feet.
Her ribs burned an intense heat, but she tried her best to ignore it.
Cassie circled the car, reaching the driver's side and attempting the door handle. It opened on the first try.
No alarms sounded.
She hopped inside and saw a fob attached to the sunshade above for what she assumed was the garage door.
Hoping to find a set of keys, she searched the cabin. The car had Hyundai badges plastered all over it.
Paper wrappers and drinking cans littered the front seats.
She searched briefly, then gave up. She raised the steering wheel and ripped down the panel, detaching it from the dash.
Recalling a past life, she ripped out the wires and broke them apart.
She found the two opposites, sparked them together and, to her delight, the engine roared.
The acrid smell of burning wire metal filled the air.
Nate hadn’t moved when Cassie reached him.The sharp pain in his back hadn’t subsided.
“Nate, we need to get out of here. Can I move you?”
He weighed her words, the intense pain bearing heavy on him, before finally nodding in agreement.
She tucked her arm underneath his shoulders and pulled him to his feet. He gritted his teeth and held under her arm and onto the wall to aid her in lifting his weight.
He was relieved he could. The damage couldn’t be too severe, he thought.
But the shooting pain down his leg intensified with searing heat, reminding him that some damage was still done.
As Cassie helped Nate, she was surprised by two doors. The driver’s side only had one. She instantly recognised the car. A Velostar. She had “acquired” one in her younger, dafter days.
She helped Nate into the backseat and rested him across them, tied the seat belt around his upper half and the other carefully wrapped around his injured leg.
“A car has started inside. POLICE! STOP THE CAR!” From outside, a loud call echoed through the air.
Cassie hopped over the passenger seat with ease, ensured all the windows were closed and the doors locked. She wheel spun the car as she hit the garage door button.
As the doors creaked open, a man kneeled down to look inside.
He was met with smoke, Cassie assumed it would stop them from entering, being unable to see their surroundings. And she was right.
The garage door rose to the bonnet's level. Cassie could see two men's legs directly in front of her, backing away.
She released the hand brake slowly, and the car spun forward. Their wheels; still spinning wildly. The rubber burning into a dark smoke.
Slamming her foot on the accelerator and releasing the brake, the car shot out, just clearing the low height, half open garage door.
The two officers, holding their Tasers out, dived either side as it shoots past them.
Cassie hammered the car sideways towards the lane exit and stopped, just short of hitting the wall opposite. She crashed the gear into first and instinctively found the bite and took off.
They reached the lane’s end in what felt like a second and Cassie had to slam on the brakes hard.
In front of her was a police car, lights ablaze, blocking them in.
thirty-eight
Cassie slammed the car into reverse and jerked backwards as two police cars followed, encroaching on them.
Hitting all the potholes in the lane, Nate bounced about in the back seats.
Reversing at top speed, they passed the garage they escaped from and reached a wider section of the lane. Wider than the rest, but still narrow at three car widths.
Just enough for a spin, Cassie thought.
She tugged the steering wheel hard left, causing the front to swing right into a full one eighty spin. Scraping the front bumper against the right wall.
Foot-chasing officers dive to the floor and roll away to avoid being hit by the car.
Mid spin, Cassie switched to second gear and shot off down towards the lane’s second exit.
The police were hot on her tail. Lights and sirens hollering.
Nate let out a groan of agony as he rolled over onto his side.
There, he spotted the laptop.
Cassie glanced to see Nate reaching down, opening it up and pressing the power button.
“What are you doing?”
“Praying this thing works.”
A sound binged, and the screen lit up.
Nate celebrated through gritted teeth.
“Why?”
“I can access the cars. And lead them away. Or disable them completely.”
“How?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll show you later. If we get away.”
“Without an internet connection.”
“I’ll show you later!” he replied sternly, his voice filled with authority.
She shook her head and continued to rag the car through the long lane. Police close behind.
Ahead, the lane narrowed to allow one car at a time.
From what Cassie remembered from her youth, her mother would ask her to tuck in the wing mirrors and drive at a snail’s pace.
Cassie hoped her judgement about the lane and car's width was correct. She had got it right so far.
The laptop booted and displayed Windows 10 operating system.
Without hesitation, Nate opened up the search option for an internet connection and typed in a direct IP address and hit the search button.
The hidden signal revealed itself as “SQAI.”
“Boy, am I glad to talk to you.”
“Who are you talking to?” Cassie's voice trembled in panic as she questioned, “What's happening?”
“No one.” Nate grunted.
The narrow part was visible now. Cassie kept up the speed. Hitting 50 mph.
They covered the distance in a blink.
As it narrowed sharply, Cassie clenched herself up, wishing the car would do the same.
Sparks flew as the passenger wing mirror flew off after it came crashing into the wall.
Despite her fear, Cassie pressed on without slowing down.
Being arrested as a terrorist was not part of her plan.
It is already certain what the trial’s outcome would be; they would throw away the key.
The car blasted through the narrow lane exit and Cassie whipped it sideways, drifting the car onto the main street.
Barely making it through a gap of two cars travelling at speed. Joining in with traffic on a one-way road with three lanes.
Nate moved across the back seats.
“Jesus, where did you learn to drive like this?”
“We all have our secrets.” She shouted back over the revving engine.
The tailing officers slowed down to allow for the narrow lane.
Nate glanced back at the officers, then at Cassie before saying quietly, “Yes, we do.” And continued to connect to SQAI on the dated, slow laptop.
They continued to weave through the traffic like a bug in a maze. Accelerating furiously.
Blue lights emblazoned in her rear-view mirror.
SQAI displayed the traffic management system and offered Nate the perfect route.
“Turn left here.” Nate said.
“What?” Cassie replied incredulously, sure that turning would lead them back into the city.
“Trust me.”
She caught his eyes in the rear-view mirror and jerked the steering sideways.
They cut across two lanes to make the exit.
A car blared their horn as they cut across them, skimming their front end.
As they made a U-turn and headed back towards the city, they could see the lights of a police car speed past them the other way.
“That should confuse them.” Nate said aloud.
SQAI had pinged several fake sightings of their vehicle in different locations.
The dispatch had sent the pursuing officers veering off in all directions.
For a moment, Nate thought they were clear when they passed a roundabout and another police car lit their lights and sirens behind them.
“Fuck, what do we do now, Nate?”
“Don’t panic, first. Panic hinders action. Stay calm.”
“I can’t stay calm. Oh god, NATE—There’s a four-way junction coming up.”
On the laptop screen displayed a request to stick to 60 miles per hour and pull into the oncoming lane.
“Pull into the oncoming lane and stick to sixty,”
“What? The oncoming lane with other cars coming towards us? Are you stupid?”
“Just trust me, Cass.”
“Okay.” She gained five miles per hour to reach sixty and pulled into the oncoming lane.
Cars crossed horizontally at the junction.
The BMW police car, hot on their tail, surpassed their speed to catch up.
All her senses told her to slam on the brakes or to spin around, but she held strong.
At the junction, she closed her eyes.
The car slotted neatly through a gap of several cars. Cassie opened her eyes and instinctively pulled into the correct lane.
The police car slammed into the side of an off duty taxi, causing it to flip on its side and wreck the police car.
“Jesus, Nate!”
“I know. I’ve called an ambulance. But I’ve seen a simulation, and given the damage, both the officer and taxi driver have a 99% chance of full recovery.”
“How do you know that?”
He knew because SQAI had run the accident several hundred times in a fake scenario and they always made a full recovery.
“I told you, I’ll show you later.”
“No, I want to know right now, Nate. No one else should get hurt because of our actions. I need to know why you are so sure?”
“This is not the time or place.”
“I swear to god I’ll pull over.”
She slowed the car down.
“Okay, okay. I wanted to show you before. But I’ll have to settle for telling you. Just get us out of here.”
Cassie sped up and headed to the address that mysteriously appeared in the car's sat nav.
“So basically, I’ve created a virtual assistant that allows me to be a god.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Have you seen Ironman?”
Cassie, confused, verging on angry, slowed the car again.
“Have you?” Nate asked, hurried.
“Yeah, why?”
“Good, so you know JARVIS, well, I’ve created something like it for real.”
She stared at him hard through the rear-view mirror and could see his direct eye contact.
“What?”
“I’ve called her SQAI. She’s a Super-Quantum-Artificial-Intelligence.”
“Are you fucking nuts?”
“No, Cass, I’ve made it, and it’s going to change the world.”
Cassie was about to bring the car to a full stop.
Muted sirens wailed closer once more.
“Look, I’ll show you.”
He pushed the laptop into the front seat and Cassie saw the User Interface for SQAI.
Instructions on the screen displayed an insistent message to drive.
“There's nothing she can't hack. With just a few clicks, she can access a wealth of knowledge and research within seconds. She can break all current encryption algorithms. Or she can find any mistakes in cryptography implementation or a weak key generators, then server-side vulnerability and finally any leaked keys. All of it in seconds. And so much more.”
Cassie’s mouth dropped open.
The screen before displayed a map and a section of four cameras following the encroaching police officers from every possible direction.
In the bottom corner, she could see coding worked through at an astronomical speed.
She saw on the top right camera display an officer become obstructed by lights all turning green at a four-way intersection.
Then a parked self-driving car veered left and hurled itself into the way of another police vehicle, causing it to swerve and spin out.
The other two had become obstructed in similarly unusual ways.
“See, she’s helping us escape right now by doing all that. She has run the scenario of every safe outcome for everyone and is acting it out second by second.”
The camera displays switched to another group of four officers.
“But the officers, are they hurt?”
“Short term, maybe. But her coding will not allow her to do severe harm to a human being.”
They both paused, staring at the screen. Watching SQAI at work.
A siren sounded off nearby and brought them back into the car.
“Listen, the quicker we get out of here, the less damage needs to be caused. Just follow the map and we will talk more about it there.”
thirty-nine
“What is this place?”
“This is where I stay. When I’m not travelling.”
“In a factory?”
Nate gazed at the rundown factory across the gates.
“It’s not much, but it’s inconspicuous.”
“Are you a spy?”
“There are too many prying eyes in the world today, Cass. And with what I was building, I didn’t need prying eyes.”
Nate walked over to the shipping container, feeling the rough texture of corrugated metal beneath his fingertips.
“Come over here. I’ll give you a boost.”
Cassie's emotions were torn between rebellion and a hint of excitement at the command.
“God, why is everything always climbing with you?”
Nate shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s more fun. And every man is still a boy at heart, I guess.”
“That sounds about right.”
A joyful sound eluded her lips, filling the air with infectious laughter.
It brought joy for Nate to hear her laugh.
Despite everything they faced the last few days, she was holding up well.
Her resilience shone through, defying all odds. Nate liked her. He knew he did. All he wanted to do was tell her. But something stopped him. He couldn’t tell what, the fear of someone else he loved being taken away from him, maybe. Or maybe the fact that he wasn’t being entirely honest with her.
“Don’t look up my dress!” she said, her voice laced with amusement, her brow raised and a teasing smile playing on her lips.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
She planted her foot in his joined hands and he hoisted her upward until she could pull herself up. All the while staring up her dress.
Sirens still blared around the city.
Nate heard them and wasn’t concerned. SQAI was watching over them now.
Cassie observed his swift ascent and descent on the opposite side.
Watched the veins pop out in his arms and neck as he threw himself about with ease. Even with the gash out of his leg, a few broken ribs and a black eye.
Sitting on the crate, she called out to him. He turned to face her, and she opened her legs wide and crossed her leg over one another, allowing him to see everything.
“Catch me.”
She dropped into his outstretched arms.
Despite being slender, his arms exhibited unexpected muscle definition.
He held her weight with ease.
Her thoughts surged through her body, as did his.
She locked eyes with him as he held her and kissed him fervently on the lips.
“Now… really? After everything we just went through,” He said with a smile, in between kisses.
“I know, it’s bad timing but you can’t help these things. We don’t have to if you don’t want to. Or in case you injure yourself further. ”
“No, it's fine. You know, they are not as bad as I first thought.” Nate smirked.
“Oh right. That's good.” A smile playing on her lips. “ Up against the container.” She replied.
She reached down and pulled his jeans down a little. He fell out and then pinned her against the container with his hips. Arms held above her head.
The excitement ended swiftly for both of them.
They continued their hobbling walk to the building, pulling up jeans and correcting their hair.
Nate had to help Cassie climb the pipe that led up to the roof. He allowed her to go first and hauled her up with his shoulders.
The partial injuries and additional workout they had just experienced meant that it took longer than normal to reach the top.
Amazed at the biometric scanner on the skylight entrance, Cassie entered inside first.
Nate pulled down a blackout blind over the hatch and turned on the light.
The room resembles a foreman's office. It had to have been, for overseeing the floor and staff below. In the room, there was simply a bed, dresser, monitors, and a laser machine in the corner.
Several old boxy monitors sat in front of a foreman's observation window. The desk had a couple of plugs protruding.
“It's... unique.”
Nate chuckled. “Don’t worry, like I said, I stay in hotels most of the time, but need somewhere to store a few things.”
“What, like a nomad, like Reacher?”
“No, not exactly. At least I stay in pleasant hotels. I’m shocked you read Reacher.”
“I don’t. It’s a series on Amazon now.”
Nate nodded. “I’ve seen the adverts on buses. So basically, I needed a quiet place to work and this fit the bill. I put a few security measures in place to make sure I was safe, and this is where I kept my stuff.”
“To build the sky, was it?”
Nate nodded.
“Yeah. Just S.Q.A.I. Although ‘The S.Q.A.I.’ sounds better.”
“You can keep that. What does it stand for again?”
“Super Quantum Artificial Intelligence. She is a super-quantum computer hybrid.”
“For what?”
“I built her to break encryption. And in doing so, hopefully, she can change the world for the better.”
“What encryptions?”
“Everything, from nuclear missiles to simple bank transactions.”
