My AI Amanda and I worked until the timer I had set went off. We saved our work and I initiated the exit sequence to leave the immersion chamber. It went faster than entering it did, and I left the room to see that Alyssa already had supper waiting.

“Jack, I'm sorry for pestering you about the shipment.” Alyssa said. “I... I wanted to be sure that...” She sighed. “I was ordered to play devil's advocate.”

“I assumed so.” I said and sat down at the table. “You're a military girl, not a 'save as many as you can' girl.”

Alyssa sat down opposite me and she frowned. “I guess I made myself look like a fool, then.”

“No, you did your job.” I said and opened the food container in front of me. “You proved that I won't ever do anything to harm the System.”

The smell of meat filled my nostrils and I took in a deep breath.

“Plus, it's now on my permanent record that there is no danger of me trying to change anything that the System is trying to do.” I said and picked up a utensil. “So, thank you.”

“You're not angry?”

“The only one I'm angry at is Stephane. He came here to ask me for something that he knew I would never give him.” I said and started to eat.

“Maybe everything is going to be okay.” Alyssa said and started to eat, too.

“I doubt it.” I said, and she looked at me with wide eyes. “If he came to me because of the danger he knew the shipment is going to be in, then the shipment will be attacked.”

“Then what...”

“I know what I would do in this situation; but, that can't apply to Stephane or his crew.”

“Why not?”

“Because they're bait.” I said and kept eating. “They'll be used to draw out the attack so the enemy will try and acquire the shipment, because that's what the higher-ups want.”

“You can't be serious.” Alyssa said.

“I thought about it while I worked.” I said. “Changing the FAT tables on the new server to reflect different file information is just mind-numbing drudgery work, so I had a lot of spare brain power to think about it.”

“Oh, no.” Alyssa said. “Jack, you need to call...”

“He already knows.” I said and Alyssa dropped her fork in surprise. “You see, when Stephane submitted the new plans to change the shipment routes to a random pattern, the higher-ups must have assumed that this would be a golden opportunity to flush out the enemy.” I said. “Once they spread the word that the shipment schedule would change a week from now...”

“Oh, those bastards.” Alyssa said and made a fist. “The only thing worse than knowing that an enemy is coming, is knowing they are also desperate.”

I nodded. “It's going to be a mess. A complete and utter mess.”

“Jack! The Network!” Alyssa exclaimed.

“As far as I know, only Stephane has the circuit board.” I said and looked at the vidwall. “System inquiry. Am I allowed to ask if the System Security force has been upgraded with the new circuit boards?”

That information is restricted.

“Ha.” I said and looked back at Alyssa. “Even just asking the question is restricted, not just the answer.”

“What do we do?”

“Hope that Stephane and his guards can handle whatever is coming at them.” I said and finished the food. I hadn't tasted a single thing, and only remembered that first smell when I opened the container. “Amanda, is anything good on the feeds?” I asked and sat back to look at the vidwall.

“Not really. It's mostly news at supper time.” Amanda said as she appeared beside me.

“Anything interesting?” I asked, and the vidwall changed to a video showing a computer simulation of a battle.

“Just the propaganda for the last battle.” Amanda said.

“They're pushing that already?” I asked.

“It's been running since this morning, according to the usage stats on the station.”

“How many data inquiries related to it?”

“Just a second.” Amanda said and closed her eyes. “I can only get the public stats, Jack.” She said and opened her eyes. “All other information is limited access, even for AIs.”

I sat back and crossed my arms. “You know what that means.”

“They have their own AIs.” Alyssa said from across the table, and I saw that she had finished eating, too. “The higher-ups know that, don't they?”

I nodded. “It's the only reason to stop all AI access, and not just non-system related ones.” I said. “I just wish I knew before now so that I could have warned Amanda about it.”

Alyssa thought about that for a minute. “You don't mean...”

“Yes.” I said and looked at my AI Amanda. “Now, can you guess why I was so angry that you gave unrestricted access to Hermes to contact other AIs and not the very restricted list he already had?”

“Jack, I... I'm sorry.” Amanda said. “I didn't realize...”

“I knew it was dangerous, but even I didn't realize how dangerous it would be.” I said. “I also can't go back into Hermes' code and remove it.” I sighed. “Adding things is easy. Unfortunately, AI code immediately adapts to any new code it receives, good or bad. Digging it back out and removing all traces of it takes a really long time.”

“I'm sorry, Jack.” Amanda said, sadly. “I really am.”

“I know.” I said and turned my head to look at Alyssa, who still sat across the table from me. “Did anything happen while I was working?”

“Surprisingly, no.” Alyssa said. “I expected some movement in the hallways and the elevator, but there's been nothing.”

“Did you check to see if there's any notices to stay inside or...”

“Nothing's been posted officially, and no rumors about it in the military grapevine.” Alyssa said and cut off my question. “Maybe today is just a stay inside day.”

“Maybe.” I said and checked the time on my HUD. “You know, Nurse Deloris won't be here for a few hours yet.”

“Jack, I'm on guard duty...” Alyssa started to say she was too busy, and I raised a hand and showed her my palm to stop her.

“Can you please stop assuming that every time I open my mouth to talk to you, that I'm implying I want to have sex with you?”

Alyssa closed her mouth with a snap. I waited for a moment to see if she was going to deny the accusation, and she didn't.

“I was only going to ask for your help to test something.” I said and stood, picked up the empty food containers, then tossed them into the recycler. “I'll just test it myself.”

“Jack...” Alyssa sighed.

“It's okay. I understand. I do.” I said and walked over to the immersion chamber. “I won't bother you while you're busy.”

“I'm not busy, and that's the problem.” Alyssa said. “Something should be going on, and there's nothing.”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “I thought I could occupy your time for a few minutes and distract you from worrying so much.” I said and the immersion chamber door opened. “I'll be back out in three hours, or sooner if Deloris shows up early.”

Alyssa didn't say anything as the door shut behind me. I activated the chamber and the chair formed around me, and then I was in my virtual workspace.

“Amanda, are you ready?” I asked.

“Of course I am.” Amanda said and appeared in front of me, then a console window opened and showed me the most recent files we had modified.

another_day.bat

bring_it.bat

can_do.bat

down_the_hatch.bat

everything_is_fine.bat

forget_about_it.bat

give_it_to_me.bat

have_it_your_way.bat

in_too_deep.bat

just_kidding.bat

know_it_all.bat

lost_my_mind.bat

make_it_quick.bat

not_now.bat

open_sesame.bat

prepare_to_die.bat

quest_no_more.bat

resistance.bat

strange_happenings.bat

this_is_the_end.bat

undone.bat

very_fast.bat

we_come_in_pieces.bat

xenophopia.bat

you_are_done.bat

zulu_zulu_zulu.bat

“I've already prepped the buffers for the load and called in the backup servers.” Amanda said.

I nodded and chose the next batch file on the new server, because we had already played the first one. “It still needs to be streamlined for usage, but with the new circuit board acting as a booster, we shouldn't notice any lag from using the high detailed models.”

Amanda smiled and bounced up and down excitedly. “Let's do this.”

I pushed enter and the file 'bring_it.bat' started to run.

The virtual space faded away and then a large spacious room formed around us. It was a library of some kind, and the detail was amazing. The sunlight shone through the windows and reflected off the hardwood floor, so I put my real hand into the light and actually felt the warmth.

“Okay, feedback is working.” I said and stuck my synthetic hand into the sunlight and felt the same thing. “Normal reactions with synthetic parts is also confirmed.”

“Let's go, Jack!” Amanda said and grabbed my hand, then pulled me over to the door of the room. “I can hear them coming.”

“Them?” I asked and put my ear to the door. I could hear shoes or something hitting the hardwood floor somewhere on the other side of the closed door.

“I don't know what they are, but they walk funny.” Amanda said and held in her giggle. “What do you think they are?”

I shrugged. “There's only one way to find out.” I said and opened the door. The door was at the end of a hallway and about 30 feet away was some kind of mechanical robot. It had a large wheel on one side of its lower body and the other side only had spokes of the same kind of wheel with shoes attached to them. As it rolled, the shoes made the thump sound as they hit, which was why it sounded like someone walking oddly.

“Target acquired.” A harsh mechanical voice said and the cylindrical chest opened, then a portable laser cannon popped out of the chest.

“Oh, shit!” I slammed the door and jumped to the side as I tackled Amanda, and we hit the floor as the laser cannon fired and obliterated the door, part of the doorway, and part of the wall of the library. Papers and books burned from the blast and fell to the floor, and I quickly rolled out of the way with Amanda as the thumps of the robot's shoes came closer.

“We only have seconds before it recharges.” I said as I stood, then I dove through the doorway and slid along the floor. Normally that wouldn't work, but the hardwood was nice and smooth and it let me get close to the robot. I was relieved when I saw that the cannon was a fixed point in the chest and couldn't raise or lower its aim. I grabbed onto the robot's undercarriage and pulled myself between the wheels, then held onto one of the shoes and kept it steady. The wheel on the other side kept going and the robot turned towards the wall. I let it go and it banged the wall and stopped.

“Target lost. Reacquiring.” It said in its harsh voice and started to turn its head. I ducked down and stayed out of it's field of vision. “Unable to reacquire. Entering sentry mode.”

The laser cannon slid back inside the chest cavity, which closed and covered it, and it backed up from the wall. I stayed behind it and it turned and half-rolled half-walked back down the hallway.

Okay, now what do I do? I asked myself.

Amanda tapped my shoulder and pointed to a spot near the other end of the hallway. A door was there, so I nodded and we crept behind the robot until we got there. Amanda reached out and slowly turned the handle. It creaked a little, but the sound was lost in the thumps from the robot's shoes. We slipped inside the room and discovered it was a bedroom.

I tapped Amanda's shoulder and held my finger to my mouth to make sure she stayed quiet, then I made the search the room gesture. She nodded and we split up and checked everything very quietly. We ended up with a half-charged laser pistol, a broken charger, a map of the upstairs with the library room missing from it, and a key.

I tapped the map on a room around the corner from the robot, pointed to the pistol and drew a line to the library. Amanda smiled and nodded as she picked up the key and the map. I took the laser pistol and the broken charger, and we crept to the door. Amanda opened it slightly and I peeked out to see the robot was back at its initial position and faced the other way.

I held up 3 fingers to Amanda as I eased the laser pistol out the door. I dropped one finger, and another, then I fired the laser pistol down the hallway into the library and lit several more books on fire.

“Sound and movement detected.” The harsh mechanical voice said, and the robot swivelled around, then thumped down the hallway at twice the speed it just had. I dropped my third finger, and Amanda and I slipped out of the room and crept down the hallway and around the corner. Amanda used the key and we entered the room.

Inside was a monitor station with six screens, three of which actually worked. One was the view of the hallway, one was the view from the robot, and one was the view in the library. I leaned in close to Amanda and whispered in her ear.

“Look for an override or something.” I breathed into her ear, then I covered her mouth to stop her from giggling.

“Sorry.” Amanda whispered and checked over the station as she looked for anything that could help us.

I checked the desk drawers and found a security keycard, a screwdriver, another broken charger, and the missing piece of the map. The library room was on it, as was the stairs to go down.

“Damn.” I whispered and showed her the completed map.

“We were right there, too.” Amanda whispered. “There's no override for the robot, Jack.”

“I didn't think there would be, but it didn't hurt to check.” I whispered, then thought about the two broken chargers. I took out the both of them and put them on the desk and used the screwdriver to pop them both open. I wasn't struck by inspiration or had an inkling of what to do next, so I sat down on the chair behind the desk and thought about the problem.

“Jack, we don't have much time.” Amanda whispered and pointed to the library camera. The robot had rolled around and hadn't found anything, and moved back towards the door.

“This is a small room and there's nothing except this desk and the monitors. Where would you hide something important?” I whispered.

“I don't know.” Amanda sighed.

“It has to be within easy reach.” I said and thought of the chair. I got off of it and knelt to check under the seat, and there was nothing... then I looked under the desk where the chair was. Taped under the edge was exactly what I needed.

A wrench.