13

Text excerpt from testimony of Tom Rhoze, ex-Cybertronics research technician, in the matter of Swinton vs Cybertronics:

“It was really a brand new procedure, cutting edge stuff. It relied on a feedback loop built on a tertiary processing base. None of the old binary rules applied anymore. But for all its complexity it was based on a pretty simple principle. So, Alan was real tight on security… even with us. He was afraid someone outside the project was going to catch the drift and try to beat us to the punch. See, the real trick wasn’t making the system work, we already had operable units; the trick was keeping them stable. Even the original emotive response routines were prone to crashes. We had prototypes quimping out all the time, locking up on their own self-reflective processing, and we’d have to start all over. This was completely new territory… I mean, you really don’t know what to expect when an artificial develops its own logic, and we were worried that some hack would dupe the design and just cram a bunch of old programs together in hopes that something might function. We didn’t even let the units communicate with other artificials for fear of contamination of the new sentient responders. I mean, something like that could really be unpredictable… dangerous even.”

14

“No, problem, Julia, I’m glad you called. I’m sure it’s nothing, but if you want I can drop by and run some diagnos…” Keith stopped at the look on Jacqueline’s face, and corrected himself, “I could have a little talk with Tommy, if you’d like.”

The voice in the monitor sounded relieved “Sure. I mean, if you think it would be a good idea. It was just… I don’t want to sound dramatic but it was a little spooky.”

Keith raised his eyebrows at Jacqueline who was sitting across from him, listening quietly to the exchange. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Keith continued, trying to sound reassuring. “I’m sure there’s nothing to be scared of, Julia,” he said with more confidence than he felt. “I’ll just drop in tomorrow, what say …” he paused a moment as if checking his busy schedule, “Noon sound good?”

“Sounds great. See you then, Mr. Gall… um… Keith.”

“Sure. Bye.”

Then the line was dead. Keith eyed Jacqueline coolly for a moment before he spoke.

“This is definitely not cool,” he said in slow measured tones.

“It’s probably nothing,” she assured him quickly, waving her hands as if clearing the air. “And anyway, you’re going to see it tomorrow. If there really is some problem, we can just pull it in for observation for a day or two.”

“How would I know if there is a problem?” he shot back. “This is somebody else’s work, Jackie. I just patched a bunch of our old personality routines on top of it. I don’t even really know what the hell it does, let alone what it’s not supposed to do.”

“Well, just assume it’s not supposed to kill or maim our clients and work from there,” Jacqueline said, dismissively, and stood to leave.

“It’s not a joke, Jackie!” he snapped. “The behavioral inhibitors used were ones I wrote for damn Smart Toys and security systems. This is something completely different. It’s out of my league!”

“Give yourself more credit, Keith” she replied, whipping her hair over her shoulder with a flippant flick of her wrist. “You got the thing running right? The imprinting seemed to go OK. You’ve got all the proper restraints in place. So what if they’re old? Stop worrying.” She retrieved her laptop and headed for the door. But she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “You signed in on this project when you took the check, Keith, and you were fully aware of the method of ‘acquisition’ of the primary design. The longer it takes to get this project in the clear the more chance that someone else will beat us to market. So, I don’t have to remind you that the success of this test is as important to you as it is to the rest of us.”

By the time Keith could think of a suitable comeback, she was gone. He fell back into his chair and lost himself in thought, staring at the images framed on his desk: His parents, his nephews and cousins. Steven. If they only knew what he’d gotten himself into.

“Sorry, you guys,” he said to the images of his loved ones. “I think I screwed up.”

15

Text excerpt from Testimony of Julia Contreras Zimmerman:

“No, I didn’t know about the… about her. It was like… well, looking back I can’t believe I didn’t see the signs, ok, but I’ve never had this type of thing in my family. We are very traditional. I don’t maintain the religious observations, but I still have certain presumptions. I just didn’t see it. Maybe I didn’t want to.”

16

Midnight seemed to come sooner every year. The first time Medford had dined, drank with, and then made love to Miriam Jefferson, it had seemed hours before his itinerary manager had beeped from his flight bag. But that had been years ago. There just never seemed to be enough time anymore.

Miriam, too, seemed surprised when he jumped from the bed and prepared to leave. “Yeah, I better get back, too,” she’d sighed, and reached up from the bed to pinch Medford’s buttocks. “Maybe you better try going for a little jog once in a while, lover,” she’d teased.

“Yeah, I guess I can take the boy,” he’d responded, chuckling, as he slipped on his pants.

Miriam sat upright. “You have a child?”

“Well, technically no,” Medford responded. He was willing to stop there, but decided to elaborate when her confused expression turned impatient. “It’s supposed to be a secret, so you have to,” he made a zipping gesture over his lips, “ok?” He sat on the edge of the bed and eyed her as he slipped on his shoes. But she gave him no indication either way. He finally shrugged a quick ‘whatever’ and explained.

“We were picked to test a prototype for some Mecha manufacturer. It’s a child simulator with an emotive imprinting program. Pretty neat little thing. Very realistic. Kind of spooky, actually.”

“Oh wow,” she said, genuinely impressed. “Let me guess; Cybertronics, right? I got a friend who keeps up with the tech journals, says they were developing something like that. But I figured it would be a while before they actually had one working.”

“Cybertronics?” Medford shook his head as he slipped on his shirt. “No, it’s another company. They called us out of the blue and said our profile was suitable to… well, I’ve said too much already.”

Miriam sat up on the edge of the bed and gazed at him quizzically for a moment. “How’d they get your profile?” she asked. “Aren’t your CLA records confidential?”

Medford shrugged as he checked himself in the mirror. The grey was creeping in, wasn’t it? And his waistline was nothing to brag about. Maybe he really should start getting a little exercise. He turned and checked his itinerary manager to make sure he had been logged in for flight. If Julia ever checked, it would show he was airborne until 11pm.

“Who knows how they got it,” he responded finally. “All I know is it seems to keep her happy and…” he leaned over and kissed his lover warmly, “…as long as she’s happy, I’m happy.” He slipped his flight bag over his shoulder and looked at Miriam with mock suspicion. “You happy?” he asked.

“Ecstatic,” she laughed and rose to start getting dressed.