Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 76

Adelaide stared at the locked glass doors. Then down to the locator. The selfiebot was in the north-facing row of apartments, about two thirds along.

This time Josef wouldn't be given exact coordinates for its location. He wouldn't be given anything at all. She was the one that had done the tracking, using her own guile and gumption. Nor was she going to be told what she can and can't do, particularly by a man. She'd experienced that enough in her life.

Adelaide leant back and looked up at the exterior of the soaring complex. But which floor was it on? She could wait outside, like at the hospital, but there was no guarantee they'd leave. The only option was to try the same apartment on each level. It might take a while, but faced with an unemployed future, she had nothing but time.

She waited until a self-absorbed resident, home from a morning jog, unlocked the doors, and slipped in seamlessly behind them. Well, that's only partially true. This was her second experience. The first involved a Little Old Lady(tm), with a penchant for following the rules to the letter, which meant Adelaide had to wait until the door was fully closed before using her keypass. The one she didn't possess. The lack of which egressed and elevated the suspicions of the Little Old Lady(tm). It took ten minutes and a sprawling sob story to convince her that she'd lost her pass. But that just meant a security bot wasn't going to be alerted. Apparently the rules were very clear on the processes involved in gaining a new keypass, none of which involved another resident sneaking her inside. The Little Old Lady(tm) had only left after bemoaning the degraded state of affairs, how she knew her neighbours by name in her day.

But this wasn't her day, thankfully, so Adelaide had made it past the doors. Sorry, that was a bit confusing after adding that aside about the Little Old Lady(tm). I promise to do better next time. The point is, Adelaide strode through the foyer and into the elevator, selecting the first floor. She then waited. And waited. The flashing red light in the shape of a keypass gave her a clue as to the non-movement. She sighed, left the elevator and tried the stairs, which didn't seem to impose similar restrictions.

It didn't take long to find the door of the apartment closest to her locator readout. A large middle-aged woman answered, baby attached to her hip. Adelaide squeezed a look past the bulk, shook her head, and walked off. Just another ninety nine stories to go.

Suddenly the locator shot to the other side of the corridor. Adelaide narrowed her eyes.

"Another faulty switch," she said, about to walk away. But she had to try it. Just in case. So she found herself in front of the opposite door and waiting for a response to her knock.

A man in his fifties answered, wearing a little too much leather. Behind him, a series of ropes dangled from unseen hooks. A selfiebot fluttered around the room in a choreographed movement. The man looked her up and down.

"Wrong room," she blurted, before he had a chance to make an offer.

This was going to be harder than it looked. She prepared herself for the possibility of having to knock on each door. Still, she'd regain possession of the selfiebot in the end, taking it away from Will Lurner and far, far away from Josef Hydan, that big giant tilt-in-particular-direction.