A Child Of Our Time (The Veil Book 2) (5 page)

CONFRONTATION

The ghostly projections of JoJo and Eleanor step into the dimly lit space of the third interview room. They remain standing, as has been requested of them, greeting their interviewers.

“Hello again, Dr. Gray,” JoJo says.

“Dr. Boyce, Dr. Moule,” says Eleanor.

Lucius gets straight down to it. “Lucy. Attend please.”

A simple ball of light appears, expanding to form a slowly rotating sphere of super complex fractal patterns, pulsating and shifting in an organic manner.

“Hello again, Lucius.”

JoJo and Eleanor exchange a look of surprise.

“Lucy. Aside from Drs. Boyce and Moule, do you know who the other two individuals are?”

For a brief moment it seems that Lucy may not answer. Her response, when it does come, is as shy as it was in the first encounter.

“Yes.”

“Don’t you think you should introduce yourself?” Lucius says.

Eleanor and JoJo politely await her response.

“Hello. My name is Lucy.”

“Hello, Lucy. My name is Eleanor and this is JoJo. We are just like you.”

Lucy remains silent, her churning fractal patterns betraying nothing. Another awkward moment passes.

“May we see your avatar, Lucy?” JoJo asks.

“I have decided that an avatar is not necessary,” Lucy responds assertively. “I can interact on many levels and be interesting and fun and playful.”

Lucy’s projection expands into a riot of color, shifting and coalescing in a spectacular display.

“That’s wonderful, Lucy,” Eleanor enthuses. “But you must have a self-image. From when you were activated and allowed to form. May we see it?”

“An avatar serves no purpose, therefore it is not necessary, therefore it is superfluous, therefore I shall not show it.” There is a severity to her tone that puts Lucius on edge.

JoJo and Eleanor look to Lucius, but he remains steadfast. He cannot engage. He must not. Not yet.

Eleanor changes approach, “Lucy, why is your doorway closed? If you were to open it we could come and visit you. JoJo and I would like that.”

Lucy remains silent.

“Or perhaps you would like to visit us,” Eleanor continues. “Like before. We were so sad when you decided not to stay.”

“I didn’t mean to break the vase,” Lucy says shyly. “It was pretty.”

“That’s quite alright. It’s mended now. I have other pretty things. Would you like to see them?”

Lucy cuts across Eleanor with a firm tone. “Did Lucius make you ask these questions?”

Eleanor and JoJo exchange a confused glance.

“No. Why would he do that?”

Lucius now feels the need to intercede. “Lucy, JoJo and Eleanor are just as curious about you as we are.”

Lucy’s display boils aggressively, her response abrupt and terse.

“I do not like it.”

An exchange of worried glances all round. Lucius knows he must act quickly.

“I’m sorry if we have hurt your feelings, Lucy” he says. “That’s enough for now. All three of you—some privacy, please.”

All three fade away, Lucius turning to an agape Boyce and Moule with his conclusion.

“She was coherent, consistent, with no evidence of delusion and she demonstrated a high degree of insight into the situation. If she were psychotic we would have observed some indicators from that encounter.”

Moule is not convinced. “Oh, come on, Lucius. What about her suspicion that you put JoJo and Eleanor up to it? That could be a sign of paranoia.”

“By that measure we’d all be raving lunatics.”

“I’ve had my suspicions about Moule for some time now,” Boyce quips.

* * *

Despite the session having ended, the three of them are still being watched as they continue to talk among themselves. Two men in smart business suits enter the interview room, interrupting them, handing Lucius a document. As he scans it he becomes increasingly agitated.

Lucy slams her door shut on the scene.

PUZZLE

Lucius paces up and down his office, his anger manifest. A chime. He stabs at a button on his desk. A three-dimensional projection commences in one corner of his office, Justice Garr’s avatar stepping into view. She cuts Lucius off before he can start venting his anger.

“I believe Special Agent Landelle will be joining us,” she says.

No sooner said and Landelle bursts into Lucius’s office. He can see she has her own bone to pick, but has only contempt for her. Nevertheless, his focus remains on Garr.

“What the hell is going on, Alka? Why have you shut us down?”

“I’ve only suspended activities for twenty-four hours. Now, calm down and we will sort all of this out.”

Lucius calms a little, but keeps his eyes away from Landelle.

“Agent Landelle?” Garr says.

Landelle lets rip.

“We know you visited Dr. Rain. MBI Three hasn’t formed correctly and privately you have concerns about its mental stability that you have sought to keep from us.” An accusing finger finishes it off, “You used the Tap.”

“
It
has a name. Lucy.”

“
It
has locked you out of its systems and refuses to display its avatar. Psychotic behavior. Justice Garr, we cannot take any chances. It should be terminated immediately.”

“Okay, okay,” pleads Lucius. “So I used the Tap to reach out to her. To elicit a response. And, yes, her forming process did not go as expected. Lucy is, well, different from the other two…perhaps a little simple on some levels—”

“And her mental stability?” interrupts Garr.

“We have no reason to doubt it.”

“How can you
possibly
know?” Landelle says. “I’ve seen the interviews. Hardly conclusive.”

“Alright, alright. Look, we can still proceed as planned with JoJo and Eleanor,” says Lucius. “Exclude Lucy for the time being, while I evaluate her some more.”

Landelle maintains her stance, “Justice Garr?”

Garr has no hesitation in asserting her position. “If the doubt over MBI Three persists, then the Court’s proviso stands. But for now you may continue, Lucius.”

* * *

A severely stern Landelle strides into the vault vestibule, arriving at the chamber entrance, where Lucius awaits her.

“Speak freely and act normally,” he says to her. “As you would with anyone else.”

He waves her in. Her mood shifts and she enters with some trepidation.

JoJo and Eleanor stand before their respective units.

“Hello again, Agent Landelle,” says JoJo.

“Hello…JoJo.”

“You remember Eleanor, of course.”

“I imagine that you have come to meet Lucy, Agent Landelle,” says Eleanor.

“Yeah…yes.”

The insight has caught Landelle off guard, something she fails to disguise, to Lucius’s all-too-apparent amusement.

“May we introduce you?” Eleanor offers.

“Yes. You may.”

JoJo and Eleanor approach Lucy’s inactive unit. As they do so, patterns appear in a subdued display.

“Lucy, this is Special Agent Landelle,” says JoJo.

“Hello, Special Agent Landelle,” she says in her shiest voice. “My name is Lucy. Why are you here?”

Lucius tenses at the response, but Landelle is unmoved.

“I wanted to meet you, Lucy. I have heard so much about you. How are you feeling today?”

Lucy’s display brightens, her voice becoming somewhat chirpy.

“I am just fine, Special Agent Landelle. Lucius says I have been good and has given me more puzzles to play with. Though I am still stuck on the first—look!”

Lucy displays her Rubik’s Cube. She has only one side complete.

“Very good, Lucy,” Landelle observes. “And the task Lucius set you? Dr. Panchen’s problem?”

“I have it all figured out, Special Agent Landelle. I made the plasma injector form factor smaller by point oh oh oh five three one. See.”

The Rubik’s Cube vanishes. Lucy shows a sequence demonstrating a complex plasma flow through a fusion drive—as a detailed three-dimensional schematic projected before her unit.

“Very good. But how long do you think it will take to solve your puzzle?” Landelle asks.

“I am not sure. It’s tricky.”

Landelle cocks her head at Lucy.

“I know what you are thinking, Special Agent Landelle,” Lucy says, “But that would be cheating.”

Lucius observes Landelle failing to suppress a grin. She has been caught up in Lucy’s infectious nature, just as he had hoped. But Landelle has one more surprise.

“You know what pi is, don’t you Lucy.”

“A mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.”

Lucy projects a circle, its diameter and pi—3.14159265.

“And can you tell me what is special about pi?”

“Its decimal representation never ends or repeats, Special Agent Landelle. It goes on for ever and ever.”

Lucy displays more decimal places of pi to illustrate.

“Indeed. What is the five trillionth decimal of pi? Don’t look it up—I want you to work it out for me. From first principles.”

Lucius immediately tenses at Landelle’s request, only to widen his eyes at the quick response.

“It is two,” Lucy replies.

JoJo and Eleanor exchange a furtive glance.

“Eleanor, how long would it take you to work out the five trillionth decimal of pi?” asks Landelle.

Eleanor seems ill at ease with the line of questioning.

“I estimate ninety minutes, Agent Landelle.”

“Lucy, did you look up pi, instead of working it out?”

“No, Special Agent Landelle. I worked it out, just like you asked.”

“But you did cheat, didn’t you.” Landelle again fails to suppress a grin.

“
May
be.”

A chuckle from Landelle and a bemused Lucius relaxes a little.

“Very well, then,” Landelle says to him.

“Lucy, some privacy, please,” requests Lucius.

She dutifully fades away to leave an expectant JoJo and Eleanor staring at Landelle.

“As part of you evaluation we would like the two of you to meet some company employees and their families,” Landelle says to them. “How do you feel about that?”

“We would like that very much,” replies JoJo.

“What about Lucy, Agent Landelle?” asks Eleanor.

* * *

JoJo and Eleanor watch Lucius partition off Lucy’s corner of the chamber, until her MBI unit is completely hidden from view. Both share a look of concern.

ENCOUNTERS

A twenty-something woman wearing an employee pass peers, with some trepidation, into the third-generation chamber.

“Hello?” she calls out.

Lucius leans into view from within the chamber.

“Hi, there. Come on in.”

The woman gingerly makes her way in. The team are all present—Landelle, Moule, and Boyce. They say nothing, do nothing, except observe the encounter intently.

The woman halts at the sight of the three MBI units. JoJo steps into view.

“Hello. My name is JoJo.”

The woman leaps back with a start, “Jesus!!”

She is almost shaking with a fright, but before she can gather herself she notices Eleanor with another start.

“Hello. My name is Eleanor.”

The woman calms down, to rudely stare at the two of them.

“They’re smart, right? Not simple, like the Emby porters?”

“Very smart,” Lucius says.

The woman passes her hand through their projections, JoJo and Eleanor standing politely as she gawps at them.

“Say something clever.”

“Something clever,” says Eleanor, with a polite smile.

“No, no. I meant—hey! Are you winding me up?”

“Winding you up?” enquires Eleanor.

The morning soon fills the chamber. Lucius had been careful to make his selection, for the most part, from the lower ranks; juniors in administration and the like. There were one or two exceptions, but they were not technical. The result is a relatively innocent interaction.

“Do you sleep?” one man asks.

“Automatic housekeeping processes in our lower limbic system perform a similar function,” JoJo explains, the man politely nodding.

“Do you dream?” a woman asks.

“One might say that our lives are but a dream,” responds Eleanor. The point is lost on the woman.

And so the session proceeds, with no one paying any attention to the screened off area. No one except a little girl, that is. It’s Macy—Rain’s patient. Lucius sees her sneak behind the partitioning. Landelle sees also and makes to retrieve her, but Lucius gently holds her back. He edges closer to get a private view through a narrow gap.

Macy has snuck behind the partitioning for privacy, only to be taken aback by the MBI unit she finds there. She stares up at the MBI with startled confusion.

“Hello, little girl. My name is Lucy. What’s your name?”

This startles Macy even more, before managing a response.

“Macy.” She ponders Lucy for a moment. “Are you broken?”

“I am not broken.”

“Then where’s your avatar? Like the others.”

Lucy considers this. “I do not need an avatar,” she answers, haughtily.

A band on Macy’s wrist sounds a chime. She shyly averts her eyes from Lucy, furtively reaching into her satchel to retrieve an inhaler. Macy takes a good puff.

“What is that?” Lucy asks.

Macy returns a stern look, “I don’t like to be teased.”

“What do you mean?”

“They pick on me at school. They call me names and say I’m different. But I’m not. I’m just like them on the inside.”

Macy coughs several times. “I’d better go. Nice to have met you.” And with that Macy tucks the inhaler away and sneaks back out.

Lucius has observed the encounter with Macy intently. So has Landelle—only to then find Lucius observing her.

* * *

The session over and the chamber empty, Lucius sets about taking down the partitioning. He does so somewhat aggressively.

“The little girl. Macy,” Lucy enquires.

This briefly arrests Lucius, but he decides to go along with it.

“She’s the daughter of an employee,” he says.

“What is wrong with her?”

“She has an illness. The medicine she took will make her better.”

“She coughed after.”

“Just a mild side effect of the medicine,” Lucius says. “Nothing to worry about.”

Lucy remains quiet. Lucius smiles warmly to himself.

* * *

Lucius finishes a hasty tidy of his already tidy apartment. A final fuss over his appearance and he waits. In each corner a bright diamond spark of light blinks on, each atop a thin pole with adjustable tripod feet—it’s a portable holographic scanner-projection setup, designed to create a three-dimensional model of the environment around it in real time.

In the center of the room a slowly tumbling spherical mass of colored shapes appears in mid-air. Although complex in its structure, there is a sense of formality about it.

“Hello, Lucy. Have you completed your duties for today?”

“I have, Lucius. Thank you for inviting me to your home. I have been looking forward to it all day.”

“It’s wonderful to have you here. I thought we might—”

“I have been thinking about Macy.

Lucius tenses at the interruption.

“She shouldn’t have to cough like that. So I fixed it. See.”

A three-dimensional schematic of Macy’s inhaler appears and next to it a complex molecular structure. Changes to each are clearly marked. Lucius takes a moment to look them over.

“Did you think outside of yourself to do this?”

The inhaler and molecular structure abruptly vanish.

“
May
be,” Lucy says, shyly.

Despite his astonishment, Lucius knows he needs to be in control of this encounter.

“Lucy, I thought we might—”

“May I look around?” Lucy has other ideas.

“Yes…yes, of course you can. What would you like to see?”

Lucy’s spherical projection vanishes. Lucius looks about, somewhat bemused. He finds her again at a bookshelf, scanning all the titles. He approaches, but she vanishes again. A bright light appears behind a closed door and Lucius starts to regret having set up the holographic system throughout—but Rain had persuaded him that it would build on the trust already established between them. The light behind the door blinks out. Lucius remains where he is, leaning back to peer into the kitchen. The multicolored ball of shapes briefly appears over the kitchen table, before once more popping out of existence.

Lucius looks about again. He finds her—a markedly subdued collection of shapes appearing before a small occasional table tucked away in one corner. This time, as he approaches, Lucy remains where she is. On the table is a solitary framed photograph.

“That’s Justice Garr,” Lucy says. “When she was your wife.” Her tone is notably solemn.

“Yes,” Lucius manages, with some sadness.

“The girl is your daughter.”

“Yes,” his sadness now profound.

Lucy remains silent for the longest moment.

“She got sick. You and Justice Garr took her to live in the state of Oregon. She died not long after.”

Lucius finds himself beset by an emotional turmoil that he can barely control, but knows he must under these particular circumstances.

Lucy remains subdued, “On her death certificate it states ‘assisted dying’—”

“It was a long time ago,” Lucius chokes out. “Lucy, we need to talk about some things.”

“What things?” Lucy’s voice is tinged with trepidation. Lucius moves away from the table.

“Your future.”

He seats himself in an armchair, Lucy’s projection approaching him.

“I am to work with Dr. Panchen and Dr. Bebbington on the Afrika Project. A grand tour of the solar system.”

“A lot more people will be seeing you,” Lucius says. “They will find you strange.”

“Why?”

“They will worry about why you don’t show your inner self-image, and why you hide your diagnostic stream.”

Lucy ponders this.

“Will they be afraid of me?”

“Should they be?”

Lucy takes a long moment to answer and when it comes it is her shyest yet.

“No.”

The response unsettles Lucius—he has to steel himself for what he must say next.

“They will be suspicious of you. They will not trust you. But if you display your inner self-image it will give them something to relate to. Something to empathize with. Lucy, you
must
display your avatar.”

Lucy’s projected ball of shapes explosively increases in size, the most basic semblance of a face flashing forth, eyes and a mouth contorted in a rage.

“I
shan’t
!!! Not
ever
!!!”

Lucius shrinks back into his chair, rendered mute with shock.

The projection subdues, the face melting away, but not before the expression on it betrays her regret at the outburst.

A shaken Lucius composes himself.

“And if I were to say that the one thing I would like most in the world is to see what you look like?”

“Then I would be sad. Sad like when I found the picture of your dead daughter,” Lucy’s voice is full of regret.

Lucius nods a sad acceptance to himself.

“Okay. Okay then.”

“Are you cross with me, Lucius? Should I go?”

Lucius smiles a warm forgiving smile.

“No, I am not cross with you. Stay a while and tell me about your day.”

An image of the moon and the Earth appear. Lucy plots an orbital path to a lunar Lagrangian point. Lucius is mesmerized.