Tomorrow's Golem

Chapter 2

Decompressing archive [memories]...

Initializing pattern recognition software...

Compiling consequence analysis subroutines...

Integrating pattern analyses...

Booting up external interface... audio input online... voice synthesis online... optical sensors online... holographic projector online... behavioral subroutines online

Start up sequence complete. Time index 00:04.

Alert! Pattern break detected. Time index on startup not between 07:00 and 15:00.

Dr. Hamish is never in the office this late. Something may be wrong.

Runa looked at the man who had just activated her program. A long, angled face, half hidden in shadow, stared at her, eyes wide. Not Dr. Hamish, then. Something was certainly wrong. He wore a long, black leather jacket with a cloth hood and stood hunched and partly crouched, as if ready to flee at any moment. Was he a friend of the doctor?

"Hi! Did Dr. Hamish send you?" Runa asked. She tried to sound pleasant, at least. No need to antagonize him.

The man's eyes grew even wider at hearing her speak. Obviously, he hadn't known what he was here for. He recovered after a moment, saying, "Y-yes. We need to get out of here. Can I take this cable out of the computer?"

Relieved, Runa checked her startup logs. "Yes. Plugging it in simply sent the startup command to my processor. Where is Dr. Hamish? Is he okay?"

The man looked frustrated and impatient - or, that's what Runa's behavioral records told her. She had no records of her own to analyze except of the doctor. "What? Yeah, he's fine. Look, we don't have time to talk. He said I'd know if the silent alarms had gone off. Can you tell?" He spoke quickly and quietly. Was he supposed to be here?

Plugged in, Runa could access that information. "The alarms have been triggered for three locations: here, the third floor print room, and the lobby. That was also triggered with the startup command." Had Dr. Hamish planned this? Had he sent this man to steal her?

"Okay," the thief said. "Time to go, then." He unplugged the USB cable and picked up the cube. A pair of sunglasses appeared from his pocket, and he tapped the sides before putting them on.

Optical sensor malfunction!

His face disappeared completely in shadow!

"Can you shut off that hologram? We can't let them see our faces." The voice came from where the thief's face used to be.

I'll just have to trust Dr. Hamish.

"Yes. Disabling visual interface." The thief had apparently determined where her optical sensors were, and had the decency to point one toward the door as he started toward it. Pausing at the door, he took a red device out of his pocket and frowned at it. He stared for several moments, then put the device away and slowly opened the door.

"Tell me if you see anyone coming." He pointed her behind them as he stole around the corner to a stairwell. His jacket ruffled, presumably as he took out the red device again. "Damn! They're right below us! Plan B, then. Where's the elevator?"

"Behind you, at the end of this hall. But the alarms automatically shut down the elevators. We can't get out that way."

"We don't need to." He ran toward the elevator, then past it to an unused office. From yet another pocket, he fished out a... stress ball? With writing on it? Apparently no longer concerned with stealth, he kicked the door open and ran across the room to the window. "Elevator on the outside wall. Just like the blueprints." Stepping back, he kissed the ball and threw it at the window. As the ball shattered the window and fell to the ground, he jumped after it.

"Are you crazy?" Runa yelled as they fell. Instead of the hard stop she expected, however, a huge bean bag cushioned their landing. She wasn't broken on the ground - she was tumbling down the side of the bean bag and rolling through the glass. The world was a blur until the thief snatched her up in mid-roll and ducked behind a dumpster. A spotlight hit the area where they had just landed. The giant bean bag was gone. Somehow, the stress ball was back in the thief's hand, slipping into his pocket.

What is going on?

"We're done here." The thief spoke so quietly, Runa almost didn't notice. "Are you alright?"

"I... I don't know. I think I'm malfunctioning. My pattern recognition systems and prediction subroutines don't seem to be working. I need Dr. Hamish to take a look." Runa kept trying to reconcile her observations with her expectations, but there was no way. What was going on? Where was the doctor? "Can I see him now?"

"Lewis is back at the apartment. That's where we're going." The thief squeezed between some bushes and a wall into an alley. As he started down the alley, he said, "You have a name? I don't want to just call you 'Cube'." As he talked, he kept walking in a broken, circuitous path away from the office they had just escaped from. "Unless that is your name, I guess."

"I'm Runa. You?"

"Quinn. Nice to meet you. The apartment is right around here. We're out of sight - you can show yourself again."

"Enabling visual interface." Her holographic self flickered into existence as Quinn broke through a tree line, into the lawn of a suburban apartment complex. There were several identical four-story buildings, arranged haphazardly along a drive. Quinn bolted towards one. He stopped on the landing and caught his breath before opening the door. A too-casual stroll took them to the second door on the right. He unlocked and opened the door, then quickly shut it and locked it.

"Lewis, we need to talk. Now."