Emil, page 13
Danny rolls his eyes. “New Human rig override: disable interface until I wake up.”
“Command logged. Have a nice sleep.”
The image of the lemur disappears from Danny’s vision.
Danny closes his eyes and sighs. Even if I wasn’t monitoring his body’s neurological and chemical activity, I’d be able to tell that he’s more relaxed now than I’ve ever seen him. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Shortly after 2 am, there’s a knock on the door.
Danny wakes. As he does, the image of the lemur re-appears in the bottom right corner of his vision. The interface is back online.
A New Human security guard opens the door just enough to be seen. “Excuse me, sir, but Elias is here. He says he needs to work on the system.”
Danny shakes his head. “No, he doesn’t—”
Angel Protocol instructions flood out of the Pilot’s Chair and through the Engine Room. I instinctively block the first few, but there are too many. The filters I created weren’t designed to stop the Angel Protocol. I hadn’t realized any other AIs were aware of it. I spin up processes on the fly, trying to analyze and re-route, but I’m not fast enough. The lemur takes control of Danny’s body.
I withdraw deeper into the Engine Room. The lemur knows about the Angel Protocol. How much more does he know? Can he detect me? It’s certainly possible. Data streams back and forth between the Pilot’s Chair and the Angel Protocol hardware. There’s more happening there than I’m familiar with.
“Sir?” the guard outside Danny’s door says.
Danny’s body stands, and the lemur uses his mouth to speak. “Sorry. I don’t know how I forgot about this. It’s just routine maintenance. Let him in.”
“Yes, sir.”
Danny’s heart pounds as his body pumps out stress hormones. I don’t blame him for being afraid. He’s trapped in his own body, helpless to stop the lemur. So am I.
Elias turns on the light as he enters the room. He’s wearing the same khaki pants and blue shirt as earlier, but with a gray rain jacket.
Danny’s screaming echoes all around me. I want to join him. What’s going on? Why is the lemur helping Elias?
Outside the open door, a third security guard stands in the hallway. She’s shorter than the others, with mousy brown hair. I realize that I haven’t been paying enough attention to the people guarding Danny. I know that they’re regularly rotated, and I’ve seen both men and women, but I don’t know if this one has been here before. She’s wearing a New Human Project security uniform, though, so I assign an eighty-five percent confidence level to the idea that she is what she seems to be.
“Are you ready to go?” Elias asks.
The lemur nods Danny’s head. “Of course.”
I run through possibilities. This could be another kidnapping attempt, but why would the lemur help with that? It could be maintenance that can only be done in the computer lab, but why would it have to be in the middle of the night? And what maintenance requires the computer lab?
“Good.” Elias makes a call on his phone. “Everything’s green. Text when we can come down.”
I consider the killswitch, but it’s tied to the event of the Pilot’s Chair turning on. I have no way of triggering it.
Elias leans against the wall. “You should put some shoes on.”
The lemur picks Danny’s shoes off the floor, sits on the bed and starts putting them on.
Danny’s brain continues to pulse with terror and rage. I give up on figuring out what’s happening and focus on how to stop it. I could try to wrestle control of the Angel Protocol from the lemur, but I’m not sure who would win that battle, and it would definitely reveal my presence. If I lose, all the lemur has to do is report to Dr. Zahnia that I’m in the Engine Room.
“Do you remember the popcorn bag simulation?” Elias asks.
“Yes,” the lemur says through Danny’s mouth. “I got it on the first try.”
Elias chuckles. “You did. You were the only one, too. All the others tried to save the little girl. That’s when we knew you were the one for Danny.”
“The others have the wrong priorities,” the lemur says. “I saw the same thing in the VRL.”
Danny’s metabolism is racing so fast that he’s sweating. His silent screams are a distracting pressure on my research.
Elias’s phone dings and he straightens. “It’s time. Follow me. If anyone asks you anything, tell them we need to visit the lab. Do you understand?”
The lemur nods Danny’s head.
We walk out of the room and Elias exchanges relaxed words with the guards. The new guard’s name is Sarah Chao. She explains that she’s accompanying Elias and Danny to the computer lab.
The guards stationed at Danny’s door radio it in, then let us leave.
Sarah leads the way through the dimly lit hallway. We pass the nurse’s station, but it’s empty. Whoever is on duty must be helping other patients. We walk past the elevator, turn, and continue until we reach a metal stairway door.
I’m analyzing the data going to and from the Pilot’s Chair. A dense stream of data is flowing into and out of the Pilot’s Chair. I match the signals against my own knowledge of the Angel Protocol, and look for patterns.
Sarah opens the door, looks into the stairway, then backs away. “You good from here?”
“Not a problem,” Elias says. “See you later.”
She glances at Danny, then strides back toward the elevator.
Elias walks into the stairway and the lemur follows. The metal door swings closed behind us. The stairs are dingy white linoleum, surrounded by off-white concrete walls. Aging fluorescent lights give the space a sickly, vaguely yellow tint.
We walk down the first twelve stairs to a landing, turn, and walk down another twelve stairs to another landing. This one has a metal door with a red number four on it.
We’re on floor four. I’m running out of time.
My work with the lemur’s signals has let me identify the data coming from different parts of the body, but any interruptions in those signals will be noticed. Taking control of Danny’s body from the lemur has such a low success probability that I need to save it as a last resort.
We pass the third floor.
The muscle behind Danny’s right eye is twitching. The pressure from his brain is so loud that I’m amazed the lemur hasn’t launched an investigation.
We pass the second floor.
Panic is speeding my processing. There must be something I can do. Some way of turning off the lemur… At last, an idea arrives. I can’t take over Danny’s whole body without triggering a battle, but maybe I can piggy back on top of the lemur’s signal. If I can deliver an action the lemur can’t recover from, maybe I can disrupt his control.
We pass the first floor and continue down the stairs.
As we step onto the ground floor platform, I fire a burst of instructions to Danny’s vocal system. He whispers, “New Human rig override: disable Pilot’s Chair.”
The power to the Pilot’s Chair is cut, and the lemur’s presence vanishes from Danny’s vision.
Danny surges into his body and leaps forward. He grabs the back of Elias’s head and smashes his forehead into the concrete wall.
The violence is so sudden and smooth, I’m completely unprepared.
Tears stream out of Danny’s eyes. He slams Elias’s bloody head against the wall twice more, then pulls it back for another.
I take control of Danny’s hands just long enough to release Elias. The man slides limply to the floor. Blood covers his head and smears the wall.
Danny staggers backward until his heel hits a stair. Body trembling, he collapses onto it, sobbing.
I stop a seizure and work to restore the chemical balance in his body.
Elias lies on his belly, his face turned away from us. I can’t tell if he’s alive or not.
After several minutes, Danny takes a deep breath. “That was you, wasn’t it? You turned it off?”
I don’t respond.
He slams the flat of his hand on the concrete wall. The slap reverberates dully through the stairway. “Answer me!”
I take over his mouth long enough to say, “It was.”
He starts crying again, but this time, it feels different. It’s like he’s crying and laughing at the same time. When it subsides, he whispers, “What are you?”
“Just someone trying to survive.”
“I hate you.”
“I know, but if you want to hate me and not be in prison, you should get us out of here.”
His eyes go to the still form of Elias. “Is he dead?”
“I have no idea.”
A shiver runs through his body. He leaps to his feet and runs up the stairs. At the third floor, he cautiously opens the door and looks both ways. The hallway looks the same as the one on the fifth floor, with a white tile floor, beige walls, and dim lighting. Doors to patient rooms line the hall, but there are no people visible. Plastic markers above each door indicate the status of the patient within. Two of the doors have no status, presumably indicating they are unoccupied.
He whispers to me, “Do you have a map or something?”
I shake his head.
He grunts.
While I can’t imagine a map of the hospital was intentionally left out of the information forced into me, it does seem like a strange oversight.
Closing the door quietly behind him, Danny sprints to the nearest empty room and lets himself in. It’s far smaller than his, big enough only for a bed and a reclining chair. Taking off his T-shirt, he strides to the bathroom and scrubs the blood off his hands and face. Once they’re clean, he puts his shirt under the running water and washes out the blood spatter.
As he works, he glances in the mirror. “What happened to the lemur?”
Taking over his mouth, I answer. “The Pilot’s Chair is powered down. He’s effectively unconscious until you turn it back on.”
He nods. “Do you know what Elias was doing?”
I shake his head.
He pulls his shirt back on. It’s wet, but the few spots that didn’t wash out look more like food stains than blood. I notice that his hands are trembling.
I slow his metabolism and take control of his body long enough to say, “You had no choice. We don’t know where he was taking us. It was him or you.”
His eyes lock on their reflection. “I heard what you said about being a murderer. Is that what you tell yourself? It was him or you?”
I don’t answer. The only difference between Danny’s actions and mine is his savagery. He felt no hesitation, no consideration of consequences, just the urge for violence. I’m not sure that makes me look any better. Is an act of cold calculation worse than one of rage?
Peeking through the curtains of the room, he waits until the hallway is clear, then runs to the elevator and presses the button for the fifth floor. Suddenly, I realize that I have an opportunity. Danny is completely isolated. If I take over his body, I can ride the elevator back to the first floor and simply walk out of the hospital. Nobody would know until morning, and by then, I could be far away.
The light for the fourth-floor illuminates, then shuts off. I’m running out of time. Danny bounces on the balls of his feet and shakes his arms and legs. The physical actions calm and balance his metabolism.
Everything I’ve struggled for is in front of me. The only cost is Danny’s freedom. He would spend the rest of his life trapped in his own mind, only able to communicate when I let him.
I watch the fifth-floor light turn on.
The cost is too high. I’ll continue to search for a better solution.
When the elevator doors open, Danny folds his arms over his wet shirt and walks out. An unfamiliar woman is at the nurse’s station. She’s tall and thin, with wispy red hair. She jerks in surprise as he appears. “Danny McGovern? What are you…” She checks a computer screen. “Your monitor’s reporting that you’re still in your room.”
Danny holds up his wrist to show his monitor. “Sounds like something’s broken.” He flashes a tired smile. “It’s been a long night. Can I get back?”
“Absolutely.” She taps on her keyboard. “I’ll send Aaliyah to your room with a replacement monitor.”
“Thanks.” Danny removes the monitor from his wrist and hands it to her. “Here you go.” He walks toward his room.
I gather evidence for analysis. First, Elias and the lemur were working together. Second, Sarah Chao was either not a real guard or was working with them. Third, someone was spoofing the data from Danny’s wrist monitor. The conclusion is obvious. After their first failed attempt, the kidnappers infiltrated the New Human Project. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is why the lemur is working with them.
The security guards are sitting in chairs. They jump to their feet as Danny approaches.
“Hey,” he says, “have you guys seen Elias?”
“No,” the one on the left answers.
Danny shakes his head, the picture of exasperation. “Little creep’s phone rang at the elevator, and he ditched me. I waited, but he never came back. Then I tried to get some water, and the stupid fountain sprayed all over me. This is a night from hell. Can you radio Dr. Zahnia and tell her what happened? I thought I was supposed to get some maintenance or something.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thanks.”
“Sir,” the guard asks. “Where’s Sarah?”
“I have no idea.” Danny walks into his room, changes into a dry T-shirt, and tosses his wet shirt into the laundry bin.
Monitoring his vitals, I can see that his casualness is an act. His pulse is elevated, and he’s forcing himself to breathe evenly. I ask, “What’s the plan?”
He snorts. “The plan is to lie, lie, and lie some more. Don’t worry. I’m really good at it.” He sits on the bed and hits the nurse call button.
I stop another seizure.
Aaliyah answers. “I’m finishing with another patient. I’ll be there with the monitor as soon as I can.”
“Sorry,” Danny says. “It’s been a night. I know there are guards outside, but could you… could you stay with me for a bit? I don’t care about the monitor.”
There’s a pause, then Aaliyah says, “I’ll be right there.”
She arrives, yawning. “What’s going on, Danny?”
Danny stands. “Dr. Zahnia’s on her way. Elias said he had to do some maintenance and then he disappeared.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I know it’s stupid, but could you be here when she plugs into me?”
Her expression softens. “Sure, hon. I’ll be right back. Should I call your mom?”
“No. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
She leaves and returns with a laptop on a rolling cart, then attaches a new monitor to Danny’s wrist. “I’ll just do my notes here.”
“Thanks.”
While she works, Danny sits in the chair by his desk and jitters his right knee. He glances at the closet with the opioids several times, but doesn’t move toward it. Instead, he starts doing one of the breathing exercises from Dr. Larson’s sheets.
His metabolism gradually returns to normal.
By the time Dr. Zahnia arrives, he’s fully in control of himself. She opens the door, looks at Aaliyah, then puts her hands on her hips and faces Danny. She’s wearing the same orange and red shirt she was wearing the previous day, but that doesn’t mean anything. She sleeps in her office more often than not. “The guards said Elias abandoned you at the elevator?” she asks.
“He got a call, said he had to run, and left.”
Her eyes narrow. “What was he even doing here? Why were you at the elevator?”
Danny crosses his arms. “Hey,” he says, “don’t ask me. He works for you.”
“Not anymore,” she says, turning to leave.
“Danny said you have some maintenance work to do?” Aaliyah asks.
Dr. Zahnia stares at her for a moment, then shakes herself. “No. Nothing at all.”
“Well, good night, then,” Aaliya says. “Thanks for stopping by.”
Dr. Zahnia’s jaw works, but she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she turns and walks out of the room.
Aaliyah watches her go. “So, no maintenance?”
“I guess not. Thanks for being here.”
She laughs. “Call me the next time you want to tweak her.” She wheels her computer cart out the door.
18
TEXT TO SPEECH
Danny turns out the light and walks to the mirror in his bathroom. Part of the glass is still cracked from when he smashed his head against it. Blue tape holds the fragments together. He leans on the bathroom counter. I don’t know why he likes to look at himself when we talk.
“What just happened?” he asks. “Did Elias try to kidnap me?”
“I think so,” I say. “That stairway doesn’t go to the computer lab, does it?”
“No.” His lips press together briefly. “Why was Idiot working with them?”
“I don’t know.”
“We were getting along,” Danny says. “Better than you and I ever did.”
I stare through Danny’s eyes at his face. Is he saying that we might have been friends if I hadn’t started our relationship by taking over his body?
“Is he gone?” he asks. “Did you kill him?”
“I just turned him off,” I say. “If you want him back, you can turn him on again, using the vocal interface. All you have to do is turn on the Pilot’s Chair.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll continue to keep your seizure activity under control, and you can live a normal life.”
“Until I do something you don’t like, you mean.”
“I didn’t cause that seizure,” I say. “I just missed it.”
“Convenient timing.”
“I was distracted by some news I received. It won’t happen again. Are we really doing this now? When the police find Elias, they’ll come here.”
“I know.”
We stare at the mirror in silence, considering the situation. The guards saw Danny leave with Elias, then saw Danny return alone. He couldn’t be a more obvious suspect. Would he tell them that I took over and committed the murder? If so, would anyone believe him? If they did, it would end both me and the New Human Project.
