Called Page 20

  Nothing.

  She banged on the door. “Joel Dunham, what the fuck have you done to my AI?”

  There was a grunt from inside the room.

  Molly banged again, the side of her hand now throbbing.

  “Joel Dunham, you come out here and tell me what’s going on,” she said through the door, trying not to shout and wake the others, while simultaneously trying to control the emotion she felt at someone violating a piece of her.

  There was a scuffling noise behind the door, and then footsteps padding across the room. Then she heard someone trip over something, and a clatter. A moment later, Joel, shirtless with disheveled hair, opened the door. He leaned on the doorframe and put his head on his arm. “Whaaaaaaaat Molly?” he whined.

  As she pushed her way past him, he gestured for her to come in, since she already had. Once inside, she started talking. Joel laid back down on the bed, eyes closed, but he grunted at appropriate moments.

  “You told Oz to get ADAM to lock me out of his code?” she asked him, more accusing than questioning.

  Joel managed a grunt before she kept talking. “I mean, it’s not like I was going to alter his code again. I learned that lesson.” She paused, deflating a little. “I just wanted to look at it, because I was working on a way of getting him more processing power so he could do more of the stuff ADAM is able to do if he wants to.”

  Joel sat up.

  Molly slumped down on the foot of the bed, her back now to him. She seemed to be coming down from the outburst. “Sorry…” she mumbled.

  Joel got off the bed and came and sat next to her, leaving a safe space given that he was half-naked and she was, well, Molly. “Look, it’s ok. What happened was, we were talking about how you and ADAM had discussed using code to hook Oz up to ADAM. Oz felt uncomfortable about that because, well, essentially you’d be taking away everything that made Oz, Oz, and then using his code as a kind of pre-written tool.”

  Molly hung her head, her hands under her thighs now, shoulders hunched.

  Joel sighed. “Can you understand why Oz thought he might disappear if he didn’t lock his code down?”

  Molly nodded.

  She looked up at the ceiling and took a breath. “I guess I just wanted to be able to make him better.”

  Joel rolled his lips inward. “And I get that. Oz probably gets that too. But is it what he wants?”

  Molly hunched her shoulders a little more, and then relaxed them. “Dunno.”

  Joel sighed. “And that’s the point. You need to have a conversation with him about it when you want to do these things.”

  Molly looked up, without looking at Joel. “I was going to,” she protested, “but I needed the data to be able to have that conversation.”

  Joel tried again. “Well, then think about it as going to see a doctor. I mean, if a doctor just came up to you and stuck a thermometer in your ass, you’d have an issue with it, right?”

  Molly giggled a little. “Yeah.”

  Joel continued his argument. “Ok, so that being the case, what would be acceptable?”

  Molly pushed her bottom lip out like a little girl being told off. “Having a consult with the doctor before he did that.”

  “Exactly,” Joel told her. “Now you understand boundaries.”

  Molly nodded. Her shoulders relaxed a little more, and she squirmed around a little to face Joel, pulling one leg up to balance. “Am I a bad AI mommy?”

  Joel smiled. “Not bad. But you’re just learning. And yeah, think of it like a kid. I mean, you’ve heard of those kids who have pushy parents who want them to do better at school and play piano better. What normally happens to the kid?”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “He hates it, and then rebels.”

  “Exactly,” Joel agreed again. “So why would Oz want to excel at something if he’s not being given a choice?”

  Molly had looked like she was conceding, but her protest seemed to flare up again. “But it would be good for him!” she insisted.

  Joel shook his head gently. “Says who? He’s a real person. A live and functioning entity. Who are you to dictate anything to him?”

  “Well, he is using my circuits,” she argued. “I mean, brain,” she said hurriedly correcting herself.

  Joel put his hands together like he was praying. “Yes, and therefore you have a relationship. Not a dictatorship.” He gestured for emphasis. Molly watched his hands, distracted from what he was telling her now. “If you dictate, you’ll be at war—effectively with yourself. If you relate, then you have a chance of functioning holistically. As a whole person, but with each element respecting the personhood of the other.”

  Molly nodded slowly. “Ok. Yes…” She paused a moment. “Yes. I think I get it.”

  Joel got up, walked back around to the head of the bed, and slung himself down on his back, closing his eyes again. “Good. Now fuck off and let me sleep.”

  Molly laughed, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her chest—and brain. She went around to the side of the bed and sat down, looking at Joel.

  Joel, feeling her weight on the bed, opened one eye to look at her. “Yeesss?” he asked.

  She bent down, and put her head on his chest, and hugged him. “Thanks, Joel,” she whispered.

  He spontaneously put his arms around her and held her for a moment. And then a second later, she wriggled free, stood up, smiled at him with a hint of sadness—and maybe gratitude—and left the room.

  Joel heard the door swoosh shut, followed by silence, before he fully realized what had happened. He lay there, stunned. A good hour or so later he finally managed to get back to sleep.

  EPILOGUE

  Gaitune-67, Secret Basement Base, Conference Room

  “Well, it seems congratulations are in order.” The General peered through the holo environment as if looking directly at Molly.

  Molly appeared unmoved by the sentiment. “Thank you, sir,” she responded politely.

  The General continued. “You passed the test. With flying colors, no less.” He sat back in his chair and sucked on the cigar-thing.

  Molly waited. He didn’t say anything. She couldn’t tell if he was thinking, or if he’d forgotten she was there. “So now what?” she asked, looking at him a little like one would look at their deranged uncle who was mid-way through a story on time-travel and started reading off the grocery list.

  Maybe he was talking to ADAM? she wondered to herself.

  He seemed to come back to the conversation. “Ah. Yes. Now you begin your training. ADAM and Sean will help you, but essentially, we have a mission kicking off in a matter of weeks. I’d like you to be ready to participate.”

  Molly blinked. “An Etheric Empire mission?” she asked.

  The General leaned in closer. “Technically it will be an Etheric Federation one, but you’ll be under my direct command, so the politics won’t concern you.” He waved his hand.

  Molly felt somehow cared for. Molly felt somehow taken care of. Almost, under his command is under his protection. It was a strange sensation, and one she didn’t know would be justified, and yet…

  The General changed the subject. “It seems that our guest has been a useful part of your debriefing process. Have you been learning from each other?” he asked, eyebrows raised as if he had no doubt it had happened.

  Molly quickly nodded. “Yes, she’s a very skilled investigator.”

  He sat back again, his face full of concern. “Yes, she’s been a constant problem since she got wind of you.” His eyes drifted off into the distance briefly. “And against all odds, and despite our constant interventions, her curiosity has been like water frozen between rocks, breaking into our secrets little by little.”

  For a moment, Molly found herself dreading what he was about to say next.

  “Not too dissimilar from the way you’ve always been about Bethany Anne.”

  Molly opened her mouth to protest, or defend herself, she wasn’t sure. Before she could get a word out, he waved, d
ismissing any comments she might make. “Yes, yes, we know all about your searching the dark web and poking around on servers you shouldn’t have been near. We’ve been watching you for the longest time, remember. There’s barely been a time you’ve sneezed online that we haven’t known about it.”

  He peered at her smugly, almost daring her to test his intimate knowledge of her escapades.

  He put the cigar down and looked back at her again. This time his face was serious. “If anything, this Maya girl has proven that she belongs on the team. Your team.”

  Molly exhaled, relieved. She could feel the tension leave her chest. She could swear the General noticed too. “You’re suggesting I recruit her?” she asked, just to clarify.

  Lance looked at her, eyes wide. “I’m recommending it,” he told her. “Yes.”

  Molly’s mind skipped a few steps, exploring something. “And if she refuses?” she asked innocently.

  The General smiled. “Make her an offer she can’t refuse.”

  Molly threw out one of the thoughts she’d been toying with since she met Maya that first day at the hospital. “But isn’t she more useful to us within the media outlet?”

  Lance nodded, well aware of the process he was putting Molly through. Leading her to a correct answer wasn’t going to serve his long-term plan for her. “Maybe so,” he agreed. “And that’s your call to make. You’re the leader of this merry band.” He drew a deep breath before adding another thought. “But you cannot leave yourself exposed.”

  Molly frowned. It was on your orders that she was brought up here, she thought to herself. And I wonder if by that last comment, he meant I should terminate her? She filed the concept away, trying not to shudder visibly.

  The General paused, as if listening to something that Molly couldn’t hear.

  “You sly little minx!” he exclaimed.

  It wasn’t until he looked back at her that she realized he was talking to her.

  Molly tried to look innocent, but her suppressed grin gave her away. She wondered precisely which thing he had just discovered.

  “Yes, sir?” she asked plaintively.

  He smiled as he answered her. “You’ve already recruited Maya to your team.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Lance looked confused. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

  Molly shrugged. “I wanted to see what your reasons were and what you suggested. I could always make adjustments based on your recommendations and orders.”

  The General sighed, realizing that her strategy was completely the play his own daughter would have pulled on him.

  There was a certain affection, or maybe remembering, in his eyes as he looked back at Molly. “One more thing, Ms. Bates.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  He took a breath, and paused, as if checking with himself, before continuing. “You keep asking about Bethany Anne and her whereabouts.”

  Molly’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. “Yes, sir. Do you know?”

  The General nodded slowly, sucking again on one of those odd cigar things he seemed to keep about. “I know roughly where she is,” he confided. “We get communications from her once every few months in data packets that come through the Etheric.”

  He leaned forward, his face softer than normal but completely serious. “I was wondering if you might want to write her a letter?”

  Gaitune-67, Safe House, Molly’s Sleeping Quarters

  Sitting on her bed, Molly stared at the blinking cursor on her holoscreen.

  All these years she had searched, fantasizing about finally meeting her idol, maybe even joining her team. And here she was faced with the possibility of communicating with her, and she couldn’t think of a word to say.

  Joel tapped on her door. She looked up.

  “You doing ok?” he asked.

  Molly huffed, frustrated. “Yeah. Trying to write that damn letter,” she told him.

  He let out a slight chuckle and folded his arms across his chest. His increasingly buff chest, Molly noted casually. “I can only imagine how tough that must be. I mean—apart from anything else, what do you say to a centuries old female vampire who consolidated and now runs the Etheric Empire, and is currently running around the galaxy trying to do ancestors-know-what?

  Joel ambled into the room and sat on the bed, looking at Molly.

  “Are you sure you’re ok?” he questioned again. “You’ve been different.”

  She tilted her head. “I’ve been…processing.” She clicked her holo closed. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  Molly frowned a little. “You know when we were in the gym?” she asked him.

  Joel nodded. “Yes. And I meant every word of it.”

  Molly waved her hand dismissively. “Not that”, she told him. “What Paige said.”

  Joel looked confused, trying to think of what Paige had said. “Ah! About how saving the boy was the obvious choice?”

  Joel looked at her, sympathetically.

  Molly asked her question. “How did she know that was the right choice?”

  Joel sighed. “She just knew. Some people have a sense of what the right thing to do is. But it’s ok if you don’t know. That’s why you have a team.”

  Molly wrinkled her nose. “You mean, to crowdsource your morality?”

  Joel bobbed his head from side to side. “Yeah, sort of. I guess.”

  She blinked.

  “I mean,” Joel held out his hand and counted people off, “you have Oz, who has a very strict set of rules he follows. You have me. You have Paige, who is the heart of the operation. You have Brock, who has a different, more colorful sense of the world.”

  Molly smiled. “I have Pieter, to help execute my evil plans!”

  Joel grinned. “You have Pieter. Who actually seems to have a very mature outlook on certain aspects of personal relationships. I think he did a lot of soul-searching and growing before he joined us.”

  Molly stuck out her lower lip and nodded. “Yeah, I get that sense.”

  Joel kept talking, but Molly had zoned out.

  “Molly… Molly?”

  She became aware of him calling her. She came back to the room. “Yeah. Sorry. I was thinking.”

  She suddenly started typing furiously. “One second,” she said eventually.

  A few moments later she looked up. Blankly.

  Joel glanced at the holoscreen to see what she’d been working on. “You thought of what you wanted to say?”

  “Yep.”

  Joel grinned. “Ok, then.”

  FINIS

  (Do read the Author Notes - If you don’t, you are missing out on half the fun!)

  Author Notes - Ell Leigh Clarke

  June 3rd, 2017

  Thank Yous

  MA

  Massive thanks as always goes to Yoda. (aka. Michael Anderle, MA, Mike) for his unwavering support through this indie publishing adventure. Michael, your encouragement and support means everything to me, from humouring me when I have a bad story idea, to remembering to circle back to random shit I’ve placed in slack at 1am for later discussion. For the 5am sales reports, 7am phone calls and lifting comments and reviews you enjoyed or that sparked another idea. For not mentioning book 4 when I was paralysed after handing book 3 in, to noticing when I’m not sticking to the new caffeine regime. (How you can tell that from the other side of the country I still haven’t figured out…)

  Thank you.

  Btw – loving how everyone has been referring to him as Yoda on the fb pages! If only there was a way to hack the code so that the name Michael Anderle would always get replaced with Yoda. #lifegoals

  Hmm…. wanders off to find a fb developer…

  Trausti Traustason

  I would like to give a massive shout out and gratitude bomb to Trausti Traustason – an Icelandic guy who got in touch having read book 1 and 2 and offered his assistance in the form of supplying creative cusses in Icelandic. He has been a super help, and even assisted in choosi
ng suitable names for some of the places, since their translations are layered with symbolism too. For instance, Dvergasteinn, the place where they took the organ for transplant from – is actually a real place.

  In Iceland.

  It is remote, and also translates as “dwarf stone”.

  Pretty cool huh?

  So thank you to Trausti! You’ve been awesome!

  JIT and editing team

  I would also like to give a massive thank you and shout out to Steve and his team of eagle-eyed checkers for making sure that the manuscript goes out with as few errors as possible. Knowing that you guys have got this is a huge weight off our minds.

  Plus, it ensures that MA actually fills in the shit I need him to about the Etheric Empire, and doesn’t let it go to publication with big yellow highlights saying >>> MA INSERT STUFF HERE.

  Yup. It’s the JIT who ensure that got handled. What? You didn’t see it? No, of course you didn’t because MA was so motivated by not having you on his case about paragraphs he forgot to insert, it was front of mind.

  Talk about preventative measures!!