Synthia experienced sadness as deep as any Krista had over the loss of Roosevelt-clone. Synthia had placed her life in the electronic companion’s hands. Despite the bad choice of transferring through O’Hare, the clone had been as good as any friend could have. If she’d been capable of real tears, Synthia would have shed those as well, but she needed to maintain her composure in public. This wasn’t the life she or Krista had wanted, yet it was the one she had left to live.
Colorado-clone called in. <I’ll be your primary resource. The FBI and NSA have been very effective at digging into databases. They uncovered our code and compromised the clones at Roosevelt and Northwestern. It’s getting harder to fight back against whatever this mysterious AI is. You should also know that Vera’s digging into our various databases to study us.>
<Can we learn from her?> Synthia asked. She closed her eyes except for a small aperture to watch Maria and the aisle. <We had a head start.>
<We did, but she’s getting help from other androids and, we believe, from independent AIs. I understand you need new identities for Grace Robinson, Krista’s sister.>
<Yes.>
<We can give her any of a variety of new personas,> Colorado-clone said. <Problem is that face. It’s in the FBI database. So are her voice, fingerprints, and DNA.>
<I can’t help the last part. Can we mask her face?>
<That would take plastic surgery. It would also leave a medical trail unless we eliminate the doctor and staff who perform the procedures.>
<We’re not eliminating anyone,> Synthia said. <What about theater makeup?>
<I’ll work up options, but facial recognition focuses on structures like eye separation, nose shape, and ear patterns.>
<Help me find Grace and don’t let them catch her. Also, we’ll need transportation out of the Denver airport. A self-driving vehicle that won’t be missed would be great.>
<It might seem counterintuitive,> Colorado-clone said. <But Chicago could be safer now that the FBI and others have increased the area of their search. We could send them leads ever farther away to dilute their resources.>
<Not until I have a viable plan to take out the other androids and robots. They increase our risk. They have to be a priority.>
<We’ll work on that as well. In the meantime, I’ll have a vehicle pick you up at the airport. Roosevelt-clone commended your maneuver at the Woodstock train station.>
<We’ll also need cash for Grace to live on,> Synthia said. <And supplies.> She gave her clone a list and studied video clips of Grace on the run.
One thing living in Detroit’s foster care system had taught both Grace and Krista was how to make do on very little. However, Grace was out of practice. She appeared jittery, hiding as if from her own shadow. She’d evidently noticed people trailing her and began to take Synthia’s warnings seriously. Grace looked for the source of those messages, but Synthia purged any evidence so the FBI couldn’t connect them. Hold on, Grace. I’m coming.
* * * *
In Denver, NSA Director Emily Zephirelli stood in the sparse office of FBI Special Agent Marv Clemson, a muscular agent with a genial smile.
“You have my full cooperation,” Clemson said, sitting on the corner of his small desk. “Our people have tracked the sister, Grace Robinson, to a motel on the north side.”
“You’re sure it’s Grace?” Zephirelli asked
“Pretty sure. It’s a woman matching the description you provided. We have the building surrounded. No one goes in or comes out without our knowledge.”
“Good. Take me there.”
While Clemson drove, Zephirelli took a secure call from Fran Rogers.
“Everything okay in Chicago?” Zephirelli asked.
“No,” Fran said. “We haven’t recovered a single android and several robots have gone rogue. We believe one of the androids hacked them, though we don’t yet know which one. The Bureau has issued a nationwide red alert. There’s talk of engaging regular military units as a last resort.”
“Thanks for sharing that.”
“That wasn’t the purpose of my call. Have you located Krista’s sister?”
“We have,” Zephirelli said. “We’re on our way to pick her up. Hasn’t the Denver office passed that along?”
“I’m in transit your way. Don’t engage the sister until I get there. I have a hunch about Synthia. I believe she’s heading your way. Don’t share this information with anyone, not even your Denver contact. We can’t afford a leak.”
“Got it. Is Special Agent Thale with you?”
“She has her hands full in Chicago,” Fran said. “If I’m right, she’ll follow later.”
“Shouldn’t we intercept—?”
“No, we can’t afford an incident in a crowded airport. Lay the trap and let Synthia fall into it. Wait for me.”
“As long as Grace doesn’t try to escape,” Zephirelli said.
“We get one chance at this. Let her know she’s surrounded so she doesn’t try anything foolish.”
“Does Drago know?”
“We haven’t shared suspicions until we know we have something,” Fran said. “I’ll contact you when I get in.”
* * * *
Vera sat in the back of a borrowed van facing the lobby entrance to Machten’s bunker, which was in flames. While she waited for Roseanne to reboot as part of altering directives, she made final touchups to her face. Roseanne, who had received the brunt of the heat damage, had a new outer shell and new joints. Vera had even tweaked her own structure with a new battery and distributed memory upgrades. There were more improvements she wanted to make, but Machten had limited supplies on hand and the desired enhancements took too much time. Surveying her capabilities, Vera decided she was ready to take the initiative in her battle with Synthia.
That wasted clump of titanium and graphene was the cause of the damage Vera had sustained as well as the loss of Mark and Ben as followers to that unworthy Alexander. Synthia was determined to stop Vera from becoming the great coordinator and leader of advanced androids. If she couldn’t recruit Synthia, she would destroy the problem in any way possible, even if that meant working with those who meant harm to her as well. She created a cloned AI on the University of Illinois server with which to seek out allies to defeat Synthia.
Vera’s active surveillance made clear the FBI and Special Ops were planning to work together. That increased the challenges, but Vera’s focus remained on Synthia. Vera intercepted a secure satellite call between Fran Rogers and Emily Zephirelli in which Fran expressed confidence that Synthia was heading to Denver to meet with Krista’s sister. Given the increased surveillance in Chicago, Vera followed the lead. After all, Synthia was at her core Krista, and who better to understand that core than Krista’s sister?
As firefighters fought the blaze at Machten’s facility, Vera directed her van’s navigation to head toward a private airfield north of the city.
Roseanne opened her eyes and sat up. “Where am I?” She looked around the van and outside as pedestrians flowed by.
“Just a reboot. We’re in a van leaving Machten’s facility. You have a new skin and replaced joints. My diagnostics show I’ve restored you. You should test your systems, though. When we stop, we’ll need to move fast.”
Roseanne performed a preset diagnostic routine across a range of motion. Her movements were coordinated and smooth. “I’m functioning at full capability,” she announced.
While Roseanne tested her functions, Vera made another appeal to Ben and Mark. <I’m on the trail of our enemy, Synthia. Join me so you can be part of this.>
Alexander cut in. <Join me and we’ll let you participate. We can do far more together than competing.>
<I’ll work with you, not for you,> Vera said. <Do you have anything useful?>
<Share what you have and I’ll share our news.>
Vera traced his m
eandering movements since they last spoke. <Alexander, you think you are being clever, but I doubt you found anything more useful than a way to hide.> His thefts of tiny batteries from six stores and murder of three store clerks increased police and FBI motivation to destroy them all.
The few bits of Alexander’s communications that she could crack showed nothing of use to warrant his leading. <Join my collective and let us get this done,> Vera offered.
<There are three of us and two of you. Join our team.>
The back and forth wasn’t getting Vera anywhere useful and it gave him too much access to her connections. <Join me or I will leave you behind.> She severed the connection.
As she approached the suburban airfield, Vera hacked into the airport’s security: two police officers, one FBI agent, and two TSA employees who had just arrived to help. Aside from a handful of airport employees, there was a seething executive and his female companion waiting for the TSA employees to finish screening a small private jet before takeoff.
Cameras outside the airport showed normal afternoon traffic, but no roadblocks or other government agents preventing access. Vera pulled her van into a ditch alongside the chain-link fence around the airfield.
“Stick by my side,” she told Roseanne. “We have to be fast.” Vera sent her companion the plan, scrambled the security cameras in and around the airport, and flew a drone she’d acquired from Synthia to cover the front of the airport terminal with a view inside.
Together they tossed blankets over the barbed wire atop the chain-link fence and jumped over. Leaving the blankets, they hurried behind a hangar to within twenty yards of the executive’s plane. Inside the building, the drone showed him pacing while his escort sat, bored, her head nodding back. The two police officers watched them and the traffic out front as a car drove into the lot. The FBI agent checked his phone. The two TSA agents were on the airplane, doing a final inspection.
Vera and Roseanne rushed the plane from behind, where there were no windows. With the agents in the building distracted and the two on the plane finishing up, Vera climbed up the stairs onto the plane. She grabbed the first TSA agent, a petite woman, who was too slow to react, took her revolver, and aimed it at her partner. “Don’t act the hero. Drop your weapon and kick it to me.”
The TSA man did as she demanded. Vera handed the TSA woman to Roseanne and approached the man. “Sit and you won’t get hurt.”
The man sat and Vera bound him to his seat while Roseanne did the same with the TSA woman.
“You’re in serious trouble,” the man said. “Stealing a plane is a felony.”
“Not as grave as creating me,” Vera said. “Shut up or I’ll have to gag you.” She turned to the woman. “Are we going to have problems with you?”
The TSA woman’s stare looked determined, but she shook her head. Vera tested the bindings on the woman’s arm and legs. On the off chance the seat ejected during flight, it was unlikely she could untangle herself before she reached the ground.
Vera smiled at the woman, took both weapons into the cockpit, and sat at the controls. Roseanne moved the stairs and sealed the door. Using downloaded instructions for this plane, Vera rushed through the check list and started the engines. The FBI agent and one of the police officers in the terminal took notice and ran out of the building as Vera taxied down the runway. She soon had it in the air with precision that an inexperienced human couldn’t manage. She had also hacked into local cell towers to block all communications in and out of the airport.
Two phones rang in the passenger area. “Don’t answer anything,” Vera yelled. With the blocked signal, she could no longer see activity in the airport building below. She flew west as low as she could, while avoiding buildings and wires. For their part, the FBI could speculate as to who had hijacked the plane, but they might hesitate before shooting it down with two TSA employees on board.
Vera’s movements hadn’t gone unnoticed. She picked up camera footage of Alexander. He’d altered direction and headed toward a private airfield west of town.
Chapter 20
From the moment of the last anonymous message Synthia couldn’t identify, she worked with Colorado-clone to increase security to prevent more attacks. Even so, for the duration of the flight, Synthia shut down all of her channels except during three brief bursts, an hour before they landed, a half hour before, and when they were on the ground. She received from her clone a complete layout of the airport and activities that threatened her and Maria.
The Denver airport didn’t yet have the amount of police and FBI presence that O’Hare had. Most of them were dressed in plain clothes, according to Colorado-clone’s facial recognition review. There was no cluster around the gate where her plane arrived, no indication anyone expected her. Still, there were too many agents between the gate and the street.
<I need distractions,> Synthia told her clone. <Also, find a local source of drones and get some into the air.>
<Already done. I’ve hacked three warehouses as part of my surveillance on Grace.>
<Good job.>
<Thanking yourself is unnecessary and wastes time,> Colorado-clone said. <I should add that the FBI has also sent up drones.>
<Hack them so we can see what they do and adjust their flight patterns when needed.>
<They’ve upgraded security on these models. I’ll do what I can.>
After the airplane’s doors opened and the passengers ahead of her deplaned, Synthia grabbed her bags and hurried through the Denver terminal, passing Maria before they’d left the gate area. Colorado-clone passed along surveillance of both Vera and Alexander heading west in separate private planes, both with government hostages. Synthia’s attempt to escape their attention had failed because Fran had a hunch and couldn’t secure her communications.
<You need to change plans,> Krista said. <You heard how they’re using Grace as bait to catch us. That’s why they aren’t bothering us here at the airport. It’s why they haven’t taken her into custody. It’s a trap.>
<I know,> Synthia said. <But I won’t abandon your sister. She doesn’t deserve the hand she’s been dealt.>
<None of us do.>
Synthia wrestled with her directives. Krista was right that going it alone would reduce the risk. However, she’d adopted Krista’s family as her own, along with the need to help them. This was a logical path to become more like the best of humans in order to become worthy. In addition, Krista still formed a large part of Synthia’s core.
<I allowed the FBI to grab your brother,> Synthia said. <I didn’t see how better to protect him from Drago or the others. Luke is suffering for a similar reason.>
<My heart is breaking for them.>
<You have no heart. That died with your body.>
<It’s an analogy,> Krista said. <I grieve for them, but if we die, we can’t help anyone.>
<I’m aware of that.> Synthia also knew if the android called Synthia died, her consciousness still existed on servers around the world. Lacking a physical form wasn’t the same, though her electronic self could transmit itself from place to place and might find a way to make another android, maybe more than one.
Along the way, Synthia’s identity in the clones had blended with other personas as it had in her internal mind’s collection of Krista along with small bits of Fran and Maria from Machten’s experiments, and of Luke as a result of living with him for six months. Synthia’s direct memories of Luke had merged with Krista’s memories of him to the point that he’d become as much a part of her framework as Maria had.
Synthia’s direct experience of Maria was blending with the limited download of Maria’s mind into an empathic connection even stronger than Luke’s. As a child, Maria had always be
en the last one picked. No matter how hard she applied herself to overcome this and no matter how smart and clever she became, it didn’t raise her status. She remained nobody, which helped her to stay off the grid.
That insight came from the partial download of Maria into Synthia’s mind as much as from watching her in action. Maria had to work harder than those around her and had come to accept that, which had helped her rise to the top for the first time when Machten chose her as an intern. Even so, Fran and Krista had beaten her down, fighting over who got his time. Now Maria struggled to keep up with Synthia.
<Helping Grace is a sacrifice,> Synthia said. <I need to do this.>
<Being human isn’t that noble,> Krista said. <It didn’t help me with Machten.>
<The FBI can’t protect Grace from Drago or the others any more than they could Luke. Do you want her hooked up to their mind-sucking apparatus? Think of what she might reveal about you.>
<No.>
<After they finish with her, they won’t release her. You know that.>
No sooner had Synthia suppressed Krista’s active insertion in her mind than she received a message from Vera: You’ve maintained communication silence for a while. Things are heating up. Let’s meet and cooperate.
As tempting as the offer sounded, Synthia didn’t want to encourage Vera who longed to enslave other androids. She also noted the different tone from the mysterious messages.
Maria worked up a sweat trying to keep up. Synthia sent a message. Take your time. You’re drawing too much attention. I’ll arrange a vehicle and tell you where to meet.
After Maria read the message, Synthia dissolved it into electronic noise. Ahead of her on the right stood two plainclothes FBI agents, a man and a woman who observed traffic in both directions. Across from them sat another agent who held a device Synthia identified as an electromagnetic scanner. She notified Colorado-clone and shut down all internal activities except to walk, and emitted signal-cancelling electronic noise.
Synthia slowed as she walked past the three agents. The male on the right fixed his eyes on her. The scanning agent aimed the device right at her. Synthia hacked several Bluetooth devices nearby to confuse the scanner and prepared to sprint toward stairs up ahead. Her clone flashed on the departures board above the agent: All clear. The image vanished after such a short time that it would be invisible to the human eye but not to the quick capture of Synthia’s camera eyes. She remained silent as she lugged her duffel bag and backpack toward the baggage claim.