Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 58

The twinkle in Exx's eyes alluded to a smirk on his face, but Will was unable to glance that far down. Stuck to the spot, he held his breath.

In one movement the sinewy man hopped up onto the computer desk and leapt into the air. It was the most in-human thing Will had ever seen. His conscious mind was still admiring the move while his subconscious had thankfully taken full control of his body, hauling it back to the safety of the table.

Oh, did I say safety?

Will felt a clamp-like grip on his ankle. He kicked at it without looking.

"Stop it, that hurts!" said Zerro.

By using the muscles he'd gained from all that non-sitting over the past few days, Will managed to wriggle free and get to his feet on the other side of the table. He thanked his subconscious and quickly made a deal that he'd relinquish control again when the need arose.

With the doorway clear in front, he leaped through it without thinking.

Until he did. Think, that is. Where was Libbi?

He skidded on the concrete driveway and, after turning, was greeted with the sight of the large flabby man exploding through the curtain from the back room, the compact gymnast leaping to his feet behind. But no selfiebot.

Then he heard erratic fluttering, like a bird clawing for its life, along with a few indecipherable cries, all coming from inside. Remembering a seldom-used tactic, Will raised his hand out as if he held a weapon and advanced back through the door, directly toward the crazed men. This was meant to make them confused enough to disorient their attack, but the effect was a little less pronounced than he'd hoped, forcing him to fall back on the deal he'd made with his subconscious.

Libbi's data cable was coiled around the pointed door handle, which was probably why it was emphasised in that earlier chapter. He couldn't unravel the hindrance fast enough. Exx scrambled up the table, a single-minded purpose to his expression. Instead of uncoiling, Will pulled the connector completely from her port, and in one motion clutched and threw her out the door to safety. The rest of his body tried its best to imitate Libbi's velocity and direction, just as Exx leapt from the table.

The door closed behind them. Except it didn't, since Will wasn't quick-thinking enough to take the hint. It could have bought him a few vital seconds. Instead, he had to use more conventional evasive tactics.

"Higher!" said Will, motioning Libbi with his arm movements.

His thinking was sound, since the attackers weren't ranged units. Or to put it a way a noob might understand, they couldn't have guns or they would have used them by now, so the safest place to be was out of their reach.

He put himself back into auto-pilot and raced alongside the van. If his consciousness was in control, he would have reacted to the large thump coming from inside the vehicle. Instead, his direct route kept him a toenail's width ahead of the onrushing melee.

Another thump forced the back door of the van to swing open, scraping Will's arm as he raced past and, more importantly, smacking the close-following Exx dead-on, knocking him out instantly. The upward toned doinnnngggg's could be heard a few blocks away.

Hmm, perhaps I was wrong to have chastised Will about not closing the door, since that would have delayed Exx enough to have avoided the cartoon-like clash.

If Will had looked back, he would have seen Zerro stooping to aid his brother. Instead, he hastily checked that Libbi was still flying along above and kept non-sitting in an accelerated fashion until he had a chance to order another car.