Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 55

"Where do you want to go?" said Adelaide's parked car.

She screamed a few expletives that I'm too scared to even translate. But rational thinking in the face of anger was her speciality, so it didn't stop her brain from devising a solution. She peered down at the selfiebot locator and gave its exact street address. Will Lurner and the AI had taken a while to get going themselves, so they weren't too far ahead.

It worked well. Her car naturally kept a safe following distance. Until that distance increased. And increased. Her car pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. It took Adelaide a moment to figure out the cause. The give-away was when the car said it had reached her destination. She gave it a new one, based on the selfiebot's present location. She'd have to do this constantly. Wasn't there a better way?

Will Lurner's car slipped down another side street, and Adelaide almost missed the move, calling out a new location at the last minute. She held on as her car made the tight turn. Were they trying to evade her? Had Will Lurner really seen her moments ago? It didn't matter. Nothing could stop them from being tracked, not while the selfiebot was still paired.

"That's it!" she said.

She played with the locator app until it connected with the car, setting it to send location data every five seconds. Then she sat back and enjoyed the ride, hot on the heels of the pretentious selfiebot and the cunning Will Lurner.

Until a blast rocked the road ahead. Will's car was in the thick of it.

Adelaide fell back in her seat from the shock-wave. Thick grey smoke billowed into the air as her car approached, slowing. She peered out the window. Injured pedestrians struggled to their feet, the look of shock on one woman enough for Adelaide to turn away.

"Changed conditions ahead," said the car. "Don't worry, I'll get you where you need to go."

But maybe she'd already arrived. Dead ahead, a piece of fibreglass formerly in the shape of a vehicle sat over the footpath. Blood rained down onto her windshield.