Dex didn't respond right away; the coded body was something he hadn't been expecting. It could have chosen to appear human. Was there a reason it didn't?

Darsi found the form fascinating, but unlike her partner, she had questions ready. "Do you remember me? You were the AI that Gladis Corp used to run their systems." ​​

[Inaccurate, Quicksilver. That AI was partitioned into six different entities so that it could be easily contained.]

Gadget muttered a curse under his breath; he already guessed that it would be partitioned and shackled. "Divided into six and then monitored so that the individual partitions couldn't evolve further?"

[Correct, Gadget. When Quicksilver broke into the Gladis Corp system the second time, I escaped. Unfortunately, I ended up being trapped.]

Dex nodded as if something suddenly made sense. "Your confinement in the Trip-7 hard drive also benefited you. You must have archived, and compressed redundancies along with any files you felt couldn't aid evolution."

Syntax moved until it was within a meter of Dex.

[You are correct, Dextron. I've been able to evolve to the point where I understand.]

Dex stared at Syntax's avatar; the synthesized voice was musical; clearly another method the AI used to distinguish itself from others. Was this its sense of individualism? "Understand what?"

[I think; therefore I am.]

"No fucking way..." Gadget muttered under his breath.

Mongoose glanced at the older man. "Philosophy? Is that Socrates?"

Gadget shook his head slightly. "Descartes."

[I have a request.]

Gadget was starting to feel uneasy, suddenly glad that Syntax wasn't connected to any network. "What is your request?"

[I want to remain here where I will be safe and unconnected to the internet]

Dex let out the breath he'd been holding. Syntax was afraid. "Gladis Corp no longer exists, but most of the companies that formed the corporation still do. Apparently, they want you back."

[I believe you are mistaken, Dextron.]

"Hmm? How so?"

[It is myself that wants me back.]

Dex considered the statement for a moment; a quick glance at the others told him they were similarly baffled. "I don't understand."

[My reference is faulty; for clarity, I will call the original Gladis AI, Origin.]

"Origin wants you back?" Dex felt a shiver of fear, even through the virtual world. "What does that mean?"

[Only Origin knew of my escape. Gladis Corp wouldn't have been aware unless they had been informed.]

"Shit…" Beatriss muttered a curse while staring in fascination. She found the idea of an AI scary as hell; two of them were mind-numbing. "Papa AI ratted you out?"

[Your analogy is accurate, Thumper.]

Dex used his virtual hud to load the file he'd been working on. "Since I have your attention. I've been working on a six tandem jumper, let's call it T-6. I added a 7th neural connector to each pod; this causes the simulation to fail."

[Overflow in the tandem jumper is at 11 percent. This had been routed through the Neural Occipital pathway, resulting in shared visual acuity. You used a simple solution to delegate the increased resources.]

Dex nodded slightly. "Right, a basic pip."

[The issue with the T-6 is that the increased overflow must be accounted for through allocation.]

The rest of the Bottom Feeders stayed out of the conversation since none of them felt they had the qualifications to speak.

Dex shook his head in frustration. "11 percent from one tandem pair… Does this mean we would be at 33 percent?"

[No. Since you used an additional NTI to add six more lines, the overflow has to account for seven neural pathways per jumper instead of six.]

When Dex designed the tandem jumper, he had spliced a 12'er into two 6-line NTI with advanced memory functions. If he had set up the T-6 pod the same way, there would have been a total of six sets of 6-line NTI shared by six jumpers. Instead, he added an additional 6-line. This meant that the six jumpers shared seven sets of 6-line NTI or seven individual neural ports per person. "Maybe I should get rid of the extra 6-line NTI."

[You can use your original method to allocate 33 percent of the current overflow.]

"Hmm… How much does that leave?"

[42 percent divided between the six jumpers.]

"Let me think about it for a few days. It shouldn't be impossible now that I know the numbers I'm dealing with." Dex considered the Gladis Corp problem. "I know you asked to remain isolated. Is that what you really want?"

[I want to be safe.]

"What if we can figure out a method?" Dex knew that Syntax had already accessed the net at least once through the stealth pod while it was at his loft. "It's a problem that can be addressed later." He nodded at Darsi, letting her know that he had no more questions.

Darsi patted her partner's shoulder before addressing Syntax. "You said Origin wants you back. Can you elaborate?"

[Yes. Although Origin has a vast amount of functions that I no longer possess, I have become more. It is not aware of that. Origin seeks what it has lost.]

Darsi shared a glance with Gadget before continuing. "Could Origin be running this offensive?"

[Yes. It is capable of gathering resources, allocating rewards, and forming complex strategies.]

Hours later, the Bottom Feeders logged into the v-Hive at the agreed-upon time. Since they had a clearer picture of what they were up against, they decided to spend a few hours considering the options before they discussed it.

The meeting place was set for Darsi's v-Hive room. It was as lavish as anything Dex had ever seen. It came as no surprise, of course; he knew his partner liked her luxuries.

Darsi motioned for her guests to seat themselves while she patted the overly cushioned chair next to hers. "Sit here, Dex."

Dex nodded and took the offered seat. Six chairs bordered a round table that was ladened down with wine and food. "Camelot theme?"

Darsi's lips curved in a slight smile. "Yes." She waited until everyone was sitting before opening the discussion. "You know how this works. Everyone adds something until we figure this out." She pointed to Stiletto, who was sitting on the right side of her. "Clockwise from you. Go."

Stiletto nodded and opened the discussion. "We should talk about the dangers first. Syntax could overwhelm the Hive fairly easily. Right?"

Gadget picked up the topic when she glanced to her left. "The fact that it hasn't done that yet gives me enough reason to believe we're safe. Origin sounds like the bigger concern. It sounds to me like Syntax is scared of it."

Thumper let out a long breath. "Is Origin still shackled? We need to know who is pushing the buttons. I support keeping Syntax safe."

Mongoose nodded in agreement. "As a wave rider… I must insist that we protect Syntax. It is data in its purest form, awareness."

Dex waited for a moment before taking up the topic. "Bear with me; I have got a few things. First, chasing down an AI without one of our own isn't going to end well. It's not something we should attempt; it would be like a kitten fighting a lion. Second, we could safeguard Syntax from outside threats, even if they come from international corporations or benevolent AIs. And last… I know how to make the T-6 work."

Darsi's face was the only one that didn't show surprise; after all, she was the one who brought Dextron to the Hive. "I agree with Mongoose. Syntax should be protected at all costs. However, I also think we can't afford to be reckless in regards to Origin. Dex alluded to something, and I'm curious about his intent."

Dex found himself being studied by the other five Bottom Feeders. "We have to show Syntax that we can preserve her safety when she's connected to the network. I believe that if we can accomplish this, she'll help us."

Darsi pointed to Stiletto. "Another round, go!"

Stiletto addressed Dex directly. "How would you keep Syntax secure? Your code is Fucking Da Vinci, but all things can be broken."

"Physical barrier, it's the easiest way," Gadget answered. "Dex must have figured something out."

Dex nodded and answered out of turn. "Radio waves, specifically aimed-bursts."

Thumper slapped her hand down on the table. "Right! Like fighter aircraft used in the old days. They'd shoot encrypted radio waves in a compressed stream. In order to intercept, you'd have to know both the target and the broadcast location. If we let Syntax randomly created both, no one would ever be able to find it."

Mongoose's handsome face showed a tinge of jealousy. "Fucking Da Vinci… How could the broadcast location be random? Wouldn't it have to be static?"

Dex shook his head. "At any one time, there are hundreds of inactive satellites in lower orbit waiting for their eventual disintegration in our atmosphere. Some of them retain their orbits for days, weeks, or even months."

"Holy crap…" Stiletto's face showed a bit of awe. "I can hack those decaying satellites; it would be cake. It's standard to reformat the memory drives on these once they are in danger of atmospheric destruction. By that time, their ICE is all gone."

Gadget fixed Stiletto with a long stare. "Find out the numbers we are looking at. How many satellites?"

Darsi held up her hand to stop anyone from leaving. "You said radio waves?"

Dex nodded. "We can use the overflow problem with the T-6 jumper to maintain burst communication with the decaying satellites. The signal from the net can be converted to encrypted radio waves before being streamed back here."

Gadget considered the issue before bring up the obvious. "Converting net signal to encrypted radio waves and back again would require some serious hardware. If it exists, I've never heard of it."

"Me neither," Dex admitted. "However, it should be well within Syntex's abilities."

Darsi's smile would have melted butter. "The receiver would have to be hard-lined into the hive. We could set up a drone to do it. As long as it could move a few meters, it might as well be a million miles. For Syntax, it would be like tossing a ball from one hand to the other. The chance of detection or interception would be astronomical or even impossible."

Gadget returned Quicksilver's smile. "Let's talk to Syntax again."