Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 20

The large metal security guard rolled serenely past Will, eventually managing to stop against the far wall. It returned, staring down at him, waiting for a response. Was it Bob or Bobb? It was hard to tell, they both looked the same to him.

Miranda held Will's arm so tight it pinched his skin. He turned to look at her frightened face. She was relying on him, and no one else would come along to help. He'd been placed in an impossible position. This is why he didn't get himself mixed up with other people's problems.

"And 'oo are you?" said the guard, carefully pronouncing every word.

"Do you..." said Will. "Do you recognise me?"

The robot guard rolled closer and appeared to squint its video eyes. "I believe an arnswer to that question is in the ah-negative, sir," it said.

So it wasn't Bob. Or Bobb. Possibly Bobbb?

"But, ah, what is your business 'ere?" said Bobbb.

Will thought fast. At least by his standards. He couldn't use the same justification as earlier, since they'd already returned Miranda's selfiebot. And, being so far from the depository, it would be a stretch to say he was lost on the way back.

"I'm glad you're here," he said, adding a panicked tone. "I was just returning to work when I overheard this girl talk about sabotaging the entire plant. Words like terrorism and explosions, that kind of thing. I think she was upset because a selfiebot didn't let her record the killing of puppies."

The expression on Miranda's face was priceless.

"I must arsk you to come with me, madam," said Bobbb.

Will nodded for Miranda to go with the nice officer, a motion affirming that everything will be OK. The attempt to assuage her fear wasn't successful, but it didn't matter since she was in the guard's custody. Which meant he wasn't.

Miranda tried to shrug off her captor. She was angry now. Smart enough to understand.

But not smart enough to stop it from happening in the first place, thought Will. He was pleasantly surprised that a gaming strategy -- using his team-mate as bait -- worked just as well in real life.

"Am I to understand," said Bobbb, "that you are an em-poly-ee 'ere at 'Ouse of Paschar, sir?"

"Obviously," said Will, still smiling from his master-stroke.

"Then you won't mind showin' me your ident-a-fication carrd?"

"Oh, I, uh, seem to have lost it," said Will, patting his non-existent pockets.

"Then I will 'ave to arsk you to come wiv me, sir," said Bobbb.

Will again thought fast. He was making a habit of it. "This girl's dangerous!" he said, evading the daggers shooting from her eyes. "Your first step is to neutralise the threat."

"Ah, quite right, sir, quite right," said Bobbb, who summarily left, an outraged Miranda in tow.

"That was easy," said Will. "I guess guards are all as dumb as each other."

Now free from the responsibility of helping someone, Will peeked around the corner to determine which office the selfiebot had been thrown into. He made a 'run' for the first point of cover, a pile of waste paper baskets on the far side of the corridor. Dramatic music played in his mind, something from a light reality court show. He 'darted' to the opposite side, finding safety behind a discarded multi-function black & white laser printer, housing a 1.2GHz processor, able to print A3 documents at 52ppm, at a resolution of 8,000 by 2,000 dpi, and an input tray that holds 1,000 sheets. He soon found himself behind the next safe spot, a pile of discarded selfiebot parts.