Widhbo was waiting for her that evening at the kitchen table. She sensed an air of pride about him. He must have figured something out.

" Hey Widhbo. We're almost ready to give birth to a new life form. I feel like I am playing god." Lidda said and dropped into a chair

"Good for you. And I have been playing detective. This place reads like a good mystery novel."

"What did you find?"

"Our good professor has been receiving large amounts of metros from an unknown source over the past several years," Widhbo said. "He tried to disguise them by importing multiple small transactions to his stack, but when I adjust for internal metros and salary, it can't be accounted for. I finally tracked down a single monetary origin for all the exchanges to a foreign government."

Lidda wasn't expecting this onslaught of information. "Wait, what?"

"It's brilliant in a way," Widhbo said. "Gliedan transfers the money back out in small packets to other currencies and distributes it over several banks in neutral countries. No one account is remarkable, so no attention is drawn to his growing wealth."

"Give me a minute." She had to change gears and ponder this new information. "You are saying he is laundering money?"

"Yes. And leaking classified information for which he is being paid handsomely. I have also been able to track some shipments of materials from high level departments. He was clever, but not clever enough to cover all his tracks. The parcels eventually ended up in the same place. They went to the same country from which he received the unexplained funds."

"He wouldn't happen to be doing business with the Gordaylians?"

"Very good Lidda! How did you deduce that?"

"Conner tipped me off. They are a known security threat," Lidda replied, proud that she knew a thing or two. "So that's what Gliedan's doing. You think he wants to sell our new chip!"

"More than likely. I spoke with Reddge and we have devised a plan."

"Ok, I'm jealous." Lidda felt her face flush with anger as well. She had only been receiving an email once a week or so. "All I get are very discreet emails. When do I get to talk to him?" Lidda was frustrated although she had agreed to be cautious with any correspondence which may not be secure. "And if you can speak to him, why can't I?"

"We communicate through the hub, Lidda. He could speak to you through me, but I doubt you would enjoy having me in the middle of your lovers' chat." Widhbo replied. "You'll be happy to know Reddge has arranged to speak with you via video chat online tonight."

"It's about time! Why did it take so long?"

"You'll have to ask him. Focus on your relationship, no details about work," Widhbo cautioned. "I'll keep him informed on those matters."

"I know, the internet is not secure," Lidda said. She was more than ready for this to be over and get on with her life, whatever it may be. "You seem to get around online without a problem."

"I have had to be very careful tracking the professor's finances without leaving a trail." Widhbo said. "That's the main reason it took me so long to gather the information."

"You can do that? It's like spying, isn't it?" Lidda asked. Whatever Widhbo had been doing, she was certain it was illegal and violated every clause in her contract. Since it was done using her computer, she would get the blame if caught.

"Please, I haven't the patience for your sophomoric questions or trivial concerns." Widhbo said. "I humbly suggest we stay on target."

"Of course, I can't let the fear of going to prison get in the way of my mission." Lidda replied feeling a knot of worry forming in her stomach. "For the record, you are many things, but humble is not one of them, Widhbo."

"Here's the plan. You are to replace the magiton program file with a defective one. First you will need to smuggle the real one out of the lab tomorrow then leave a corrupted, counterfeit program in its place." Widhbo said. "Once the counterfeit is in place, let Gliedan know you have completed the project."

"We'll let him steal the useless one." Lidda said and chuckled. Still, she felt pangs of regret. "We're so close. It seems like such a shame not to finish the project. It will take only a short time to load the boards and get a whole fleet of androids operational. Hal's informed me that he can deliver the hardware whenever I'm ready."

Widhbo gave a sharp chirp of reprimand. "No deviation from the plan, Lidda."

"Hal's assembly line is on standby, just waiting for a push of a button to begin the android production," Lidda said.

"We can proceed as planned after the Professor is behind bars," Widhbo replied.

"There's something else I've been meaning to discuss with you Widhbo..." Before she could begin Widhbo began scanning her brain. It was invasive and painful, in a fingernail on the chalkboard sort of way. "What are you doing?"

Reading your mind. "You have purposefully deviated from my program!" Widhbo scolded.

"Um, yes. I thought that was the idea, that I was to evaluate the magiton logic pathways in regard to human emotions and nonlinear decisions." Lidda felt guilty despite the fact she was pleased with what she had accomplished. She had even given Conner a new emotional interface with a better avatar for his head screen.

"I should have known you might do something like this," Widhbo muttered and took to the air, buzzing about like an angry bee.

"I wanted it to be a surprise. I've run multiple scenarios on the arrays and the program is performing beyond my expectations. I thought you would be proud of me," Lidda said. This was not the reaction she had hoped for.

"Pride is such a petty emotion Lidda. I haven't time for such nonsense. Now I'll have to check the program myself to be certain you haven't introduced any errors. One small mistake could jeopardize the whole project. I'll need to do that tonight while we still have use of the lab computer." Widhbo said. "Once Gliedan discovers the switch, we'll be history around here."

"You think I could be locked out of my own lab?" Lidda asked. The situation was looking a lot more serious than first thought.

"Gliedan would have your head on a block if he knew you took it," Widhbo said. "The lab has surveillance equipment with cameras and scanners everywhere."

Lidda pushed aside her annoyance at Widhbo's lack of appreciation. The success of their mission depended on them, and they couldn't let the magiton technology fall into the wrong hands.

"Hal can slip the real program out on his person tomorrow. He always has a pocket full of such things and will be less likely to raise any suspicious noise on the scanners," Widhbo said. "But now I'm not sure how I can access the program tonight unobserved."

"I could find an excuse to run by the lab this evening and take you in that way," Lidda offered.

"No. The door scanners will still spot me," Widhbo said. "Teleporting leaves an electromagnetic trail and this place tracks every echo."

"Conner could smuggle you inside his dense metal body. He is often found working around the lab in the evenings." Lidda suggested. She could feel a wave of revulsion. "It's for the cause Widhbo." She tapped her foot and waited.

"Summon Mr. Tinny then," he grudgingly replied.

"Seriously Widhbo? Let it go. I don't see why you have such an aversion to him."

"He's my chimpanzee. It's simply disturbing," Widhbo said.

"That sounds a lot like pride getting in the way to me."

"You can be quite irritating, Lidda."

"The feeling is mutual," Lidda said and paged Conner while Widhbo teleported about the apartment, unable to settle down.

Servo Conner arrived at her door within a few minutes. "What may I do for you Miss Lidda?"

"I need you to smuggle my guide, Widhbo, into the lab past the scanners," Lidda said feeling guilty about getting Conner mixed up with their problems.

"Certainly, but is this not something I could do in the lab for you?"

"Trust me Conner, you can't do this, or I would gladly let you. I need to know that my project has not been tampered with."

"And he can do that?" Conner asked making an incredulous facial expression.

"He doesn't look like much, but yeah, you'd be surprised," Lidda said. She felt a distinct thump to her ribs. "Don't be such a brat Widhbo."

Before long Conner was off, whirring down the hallway with a reluctant Widhbo hidden in his metal belly.

Lidda loaded the video conference program and put it on standby. She hardly tasted her dinner as she waited impatiently for the appointed time of Reddge's call. Finally, the screen came to life with his countenance. Lidda was glad Widhbo was out of the apartment for a change so she could enjoy a little privacy.

"Hello sweetheart! I hear you've been keeping busy." Reddge said.

It was wonderful just hear his voice. "I'm never too busy to miss you. You were right, being apart is a lot more difficult now."

"Yes, but it was worth it." Reddge flashed her a warm grin that awakened her affections with the memory of their last night together. The anger and frustration she had felt melted away.

As they talked, she detected a hidden concern in his voice. It was frustrating not to be able to ask him directly. Talking with Reddge only made her miss him more. When their call ended it was almost unbearable to sign off.

"I thought I was doing fine until I talked to you. Now, I'm really homesick."

"Are you really doing alright, Lidda?" Reddge asked. "You look a little tired."

"I'm fine. Hal is here and I have Widhbo. But I won't be happy until we are together again. Why can't we talk more often?"

"I've been out of the country, no connection," Reddge said" "I've missed you more than I could ever imagine. We'll be together soon, and the time will pass more quickly than you think."

Something in his tone made her wonder if there was hidden meaning in his words, but she told herself she must be over reading him, hanging on every word and expression. She watched as the screen went blank and he was gone.

The hours crawled by as Lidda waited for Widhbo to return. Finally, Conner announced their return with a soft rap on the door. Once inside, Widbho teleported to the interior of the apartment. Lidda saw Conner smile in Widhbo's direction and recognized he was probably communicating with Widhbo by telepathy now too.

Conner stayed only long enough to drop off some fresh linens he pretended Lidda had requested to justify his late evening visit to her quarters.

"Thanks Conner," Lidda said. "Good thinking."

"My pleasure. We took care of everything."

"Good. So, no problems with security?"

"Not anymore Miss Lidda. Widhbo has filled me in on some interesting particulars and I have learned how to manipulate the security system in ways I would have never thought possible."

"Oh, he's good."

"Yes, he is. I am so excited to be learning." Conner said. "I had best get going and keep our visit short."

Lidda opened the door and stepped out to check the hallway. It was empty. "See you tomorrow."

"Good evening," Conner said and was off.

Lidda found Widhbo back at her computer, his default location. "Glad to see you two are getting along. Looks like you have recruited a new student."

"He's pleasant enough and eager as a puppy. I'll just have to go at his speed," Widhbo said.

Lidda ignored his condescending comment. "After talking with Reddge, I get the feeling there is something wrong. He seemed tense. Is there something going on that I don't know about? " She asked, fearful of the answer.

"Oh Lidda, it's a big universe. There's always more going on than you know about," Widhbo said. "But regarding your question, Reddge is concerned that you are getting caught up in this espionage when all he wanted was for you to work quietly on the AI project. Now he is worried for you safety.

If Reddge was worried, there was cause. Lidda knew Widhbo wasn't telling her everything. He never did. And Reddge couldn't say anything without a secure connection. She considered what Reddge had said about being out of the country. It had to be a clue. Finally, she gave into exhaustion and hoped she would wake up with a clear head and better understanding.