The following day Lidda downloaded her software program to one of the new boards delivered from Hal's department. She couldn't be prouder of her work, even better knowing it was so irritating to Widhbo. She had made the magiton program more human, something perhaps he couldn't do. There would now be room for subjectivity and personality traits which could diverge in many directions, depending on real world experiences. The androids would be able to develop into unique individuals instead of clones. Lidda had enhanced their telepathic abilities with features ensuring compartmentalization of each android to prevent them developing a hive mind.

She sat back to enjoy the moment. In her hand she held the beginning of a new life form. After loading her program, she sabotaged the one in her computer by inserting the little virus program Widhbo had given her and downloaded the bad copy to a second board. She had covertly placed the good board in her pocket and was putting the damaged one on display when Conner rolled up.

"Congratulations, Miss Lidda. I can't believe I'm looking at the very first mother board of the Kandell Project." he said aloud, then telepathically, "I made certain this is recorded on our monitors for anyone who cares to see."

"Thanks, Conner. It is the culmination of a lot of hard work." Lidda said noting Widhbo's influence was already at work in Conner evidenced by his new telepathic ability and shrewdness. She nodded and gave her pocket holding the good board a slight pat.

The trap was set. Lidda sent the Professor a message saying the program was ready for a demo as soon as the first new android rolled off the line.

Hal dropped by as planned, waltzed up behind her, and pretended to surprise her with a big hug while he slipped the magiton board out of her pocket into his. Smooth. "How about meeting me for dinner after work?" Hal asked. "We haven't had time to catch up since you got here."

"Sure, I'd love to. My place or yours?"

"There is a little bistro in the city I think you'll like. How about I pick you up in an hour? We can catch a movie and go to dinner?"

"Sounds like fun. I been too busy to even think about getting out of this place." In fact, it was all she could think about now. She wanted to go back to the Gardens and home to see her folks again.

"It'll do you good and get your mind off things for a while." Hal said. "I can't wait to show you around."

"I'm looking forward to it." She really hadn't thought much about Provendor or what the city had to offer. It would be a nice change of scenery. Now the Kandell Project was complete, she felt a little lost. It was strange to leave the lab so early in the day.

Widhbo acted nonchalant when she told him things went as planned and he pretended to be bored. She could tell he was still irritated with her for going beyond her instructions without his permission. Oh well. She showered while he pouted some more.

"It's just a waiting game now" Widhbo said. "I predict the Professor will strike soon. The program will be worth more money if he steals it before we can use it. After the theft he can confiscate your computer for security reasons and shut our program down."

"He's in for a massive surprise," Lidda said. "His scheme is about to blow up in his face when the buyer finds out the program won't run."

Lidda had taken to wearing a standard uniform at her work consisting of a straight blue skirt and crisp white blouse under a blue lab coat. She didn't have a lot else to wear and slipped into the grey business suit she had worn when she first arrived.

Hal knocked on her door exactly on time. He had thrown a sport coat over his slacks and dress shirt.

"This is all I have to wear except jeans and a tee shirt," Lidda said.

"You look fine. But if you want to we can go by a few of the shops."

"I think I would. Do I need to convert some of my metros?"

"No, all the shops around here take metros," Hal said. "Believe it or not, some of us go out on the town once in a while."

Lidda laughed. "I have focused on work and little else." As they walked outside the complex, an evening breeze gently reminded her that she craved being out of doors. The Gardens seemed like a long time ago. She was surprised to hear Hal's voice in her head. The only time they had spoken telepathically before was during the bomb threat. Lidda had assumed Widhbo was the go between.

"Remind me to show you the roof top gardens sometime. They are really beautiful at night." He said.

She turned and gave him a wide stare before answering him in kind. "So, you're telepathic too? Can you read my mind like Widhbo does? Is everyone reading my mind?"

"Just all your friends," Hal said and laughed. "Sorry Lidda, I could, but I don't. You can learn how to block your thoughts from others. We still need to be careful what we say in public. The walls really do have ears around here."

"I just assumed I had to go through Widhbo for telepathy."

"No, you can connect with any person or android who has a chip. With practice you can achieve some basic communication with any seat of consciousness. Telepathy decays over distance, so it doesn't reach very far. Widhbo can bounce things off a satellite or even our moon, but that takes a power source like his."

"So, he can connect over long distances?"

"Yes, and with the satellite system we can all connect through the hub by way of our chips anywhere on the planet."

"Will I be able do that?

"Yes, Reddge will get you hooked up eventually."

"What is the outside range of our telepathic communication?" She had always wondered how far Widhbo could monitor her directly.

"It depends on how much interference there is. We are bombarded by so many signals over the airways, not much comes through clearly enough to make any sense. Truthfully there is so much clutter in a modern society such as this, the signals dissipate over household distances into static. The more you get to know someone, the easier it is to sort them out. In a more primitive world, you can have a much better range. I understand it is even possible to modulate messages using ocean waves, wind currents, smoke or even drumbeats."

"Have you tried that?"

"No, but Widhbo has done it all. Ask him about it some time," Hal said then switched to normal speech and guided her into a small shop. "In here. Try some things on."

For a while she could forget about everything and just relax. Hal was quite a gentleman, and she was thoroughly enjoying his company. She tried on a few stylish outfits. The last one was a stunning black dress which landed her a big wolf whistle as she came of the dressing room.

"Okay, I'm wearing this to dinner." Lidda laughed.

"No objections here!"

They spent a pleasant afternoon together. Lidda hadn't seen a movie in a long while and realized just what a recluse she had been. Hal was a fun and interesting guy. She couldn't help but notice her attraction to him was growing as the day progressed. The food at the university was always excellent, but the bistro was divine with its home-cooked selection of foods. Later that evening when Hal dropped her off at her door, he bid her good night with a platonic peck on the check. Part of her wanted a lot more and a pang of guilt passed through her. It felt like she was cheating on Reddge and she could tell Hal sensed it. Damn these chips!