Chapter 32 – Snow in Jerusalem
Thursday, July 9, 2308
Dr. Te’s shop was on one of the exclusive executive plates, hovering over the old city and casting shadows like lily pads over a pond. Lao had one of the most expensive corners. The pads rotated in a twenty-four hour loop; Lao’s shop witnessed the sunrise every morning, and sunset in the west at evening. The expensive section also guaranteed virtually zero walk in customers, and since Lao only saw clients on an appointment basis, he could keep all his retractable walls open during the day.
The robots loved the stimulation. The empty courtyard and garden provided everything he needed for them in the way of testing grounds. Today, however, the retractable panels were closed.
In keeping with the sweeping curves of the district, Lao had incorporated circles into every aspect of his shop’s design. Looking around, Ana realized she was hard pressed to find a right angle anywhere. Even the couches touched down with rounded legs.
Ana knelt before the robotic panther and peered into its lenses. “So this is what they want?” Ana asked, getting right down to business.
“You mean these?” Te replied, gesturing to the collection of robots, spread across the shelves of the shop.
“They didn’t send me all this way to come back empty-handed.”
“These are just toys. The controller, now that’s something special.”
Ana raised an eyebrow.
Te held up a common pair of eyeglasses.
“You did it? After all this time, you finally did it?” Ana asked.
“Without your husband’s work, it never would have been possible.”
Ana checked out the activity of the bugs on the shelves.
“They are all scanning, all independent, all streaming back to the same source. Many cups may be poured from a single pitcher,” Te said.
“You’re kidding?” Ana smiled.
Te smiled. “I’m not. The foundation was the mapping work we did installing you guys into the centaurs. I fine-tuned it a bit, but the human mind is the best parallel processor ever invented. You just have to assign the proper inputs. Running an engine or piloting a terillium drive isn’t so different from managing a heart and organs. Circulating electrical data is no different than blood or coolant.”
“So, these are all you need?” Ana asked, gesturing to the glasses.
“Do you have your amplifier?” Te asked.
“I can’t lose it. I’ve got it in one of these pockets, somewhere.”
“Well, once you’ve initialized, it’s easy. I created a partitioned network called Kiowa Field.”
“So, can you run through it for me, just once?”
“You get how the amplifier works?”
“I get that You get how the amplifier works. But I don’t get it at all. All I know is That it works.”
“Don’t bullshit me, little girl. You know lots more than you pretend to know.” Te smiled. “The amplifier has one design flaw. Physically, it invites investigation. It’s not easily explained.”
“The commands are all neural, so all you have to do is close them.” Dr. Te folded the spectacles closed. “And you’re out.” The machines powered down. “The neural link prevents you shutting them down accidentally. To sync with it, all you have to do is put on the glasses.”
He handed them to her. “Go on, give ‘em a shot.”
Ana took the glasses, opened them and gingerly set them on her face. The lenses were clear, and she waited, but nothing happened.
“Oh, the password is Mississippi,” Te explained. “Just think it.”
“Mississippi,” Ana said aloud.
The words Kiowa Field appeared before her. She took a step backward. The expansion suite was overwhelming. Her visual cortex had grown far beyond the data fed to her brain from her eyes. She could see what they saw; like a hall of mirrors, seeing herself from so many angles. She focused on the menu as she would a Micronix menu, opened it…
“The dog and the lion?” she asked.
“Unfinished, of course. The big ones are tougher.” Te gestured to the couch. “Go on, put your feet up.”
Ana sat back on the couch, her feet remained on the floor.
“Just pick one,” Te suggested.
Ana focused on the word Mt. Lion. The letters lit up, their minds had merged and Ana took control of the cat.
“When your projected consciousness meets the model’s reception matrix, an image of your conscious-self is written into the robot, as an operator,” Te explained.
Ana knew that she existed both inside the machine and in her own body; she could feel it. The glasses kept her connected and prevented neural spillage or overlaps. As the cat, she raised her head, stretched her neck and yawned.
Ana had wondered about the number of couches through the lab. How many units had Te sold? It may be a lab, but this was also clearly a show room. Perhaps this was a viewing platform, for sport.
“The muscles are composed of electrical fibers,” Doctor Te said. “Once current is applied, they contract. The heart is a kinetic-generator, of my own design. Energy greater than that expended is harvested from every movement, it’s like a watch that winds itself. Even the lungs, the act of breathing serves several functions.
“In addition to the kinetic energy, the cat’s senses are about a million times sharper than anything nature ever invented. In terms of the visual spectrum, you can see and focus at a distance and at levels of magnification that far exceed anything on the cyber-market.”
“It’s amazing,” Ana said. “I feel like I’m a cat. I AM the cat.”
“Yes, indeed, you are, but it’s going to take at least a week before you can really pass for a cat.”
“What do you mean?”
“Learning the animal’s body, the way it would naturally move… It will take some getting used to.”
“A week, you really think so?” she asked.
“Maybe more.”
The cat stood and took a trembling step forward with one paw.
Doctor Te laughed. “Once Fox and I did all that Centaur mind-mapping, it was really quite easy. If it hadn't been for the tanks, we never could have done it. I say we, because, even though he was halfway around the world, this is as much Fox’s success as mine. All we needed was a couple of more years of research and development, but the government rushed forward, and killed all those people.”
“And so this cat, this is what Croswell sent me out here for? Nice.”
“This arises, that becomes.” Te said, embracing her blatant evasion.
“The bones are terillium?” Ana asked, as the cat hopped up and down.
Te smiled. “The alloy frames are where it’s at. Pure terillium is far too expensive. This mix still holds a charge, and she has a few internal gravity plates and internal phase-cam. However, running them together causes her to heat up like nobodies business, I don’t recommend it.”
“Okay, that’s something to be aware of,” Snow said.
”Look at it this way, she’s designed to be invisible without running the phase cam. And she can move almost silently when you want to run it indoors, or in other close quarters environments. She’s light, tight and compact, powerful enough to handle multiple armed aggressors, There’s just no improving on Mother Nature’s design.”
“Did you include any defensive upgrades?”
“One or two, tooth and claw sort of thing. You’ll get to know them over time. She can also carry several of the smaller, short-range, models.”
“Ahhh, the bugs?”
“I just finished the flea. He can jump three miles, on a windy day.”
Ana laughed.
“Does it know me? Will it recognize me as an operator?”
“What do you mean, recognize you?” he asked, puzzled.
“Does it save me in the cache?”
“No. It records operations, but not you. Yet, it can’t operate without you connected, so…”
“You said I don’t have to be focuse
d on it.”
“No, you don’t. How do I explain this? Your decision-making ability resides with you, your collection of experiences and opinions, from which you form values. The glasses scan your conscious mind and then project that consciousness into the cat. When you disconnect, it shuts down. It can’t clone your mind, it just mirrors it.”
“But it’s me in there. I’m doing it.”
“It’s you,” Doctor Te said.
“And what’s with all these couches?”
“It’s an appointment only shop, if that’s what you’re asking. I provide intelligence services, as I always have, not sales.”
“And these guys won’t exactly run off and join the competition.”
“I never expected you to stay forever, Anastasia.” Dr. Te smiled.
Ana got up from the couch and sat next to Lao; giving him a big hug. “It’s good to see you,” she said.
“Where do you think he is then?” he asked.
“Fox? Oh, Stanwood took him, I’m sure. Out in the desert somewhere, that seems to be the consensus.”
“But why?” Doctor Te asked.
“It’s the easiest place to hold him away from Terillium deposits. They can scan in all directions at once, sort of thing. “
“Why did they take him at all?”
“Stanwood thinks Fox is a menace to society. And he might be onto something there.” Ana smiled, “Remember that little chat the two of you had the other day?”
Te nodded.
“Well, a couple of hours later the Epsilon Facility went Boom. They think Fox did it.”
“And they sent you here to keep an eye on me?”
“No. I think they did it because they want me the hell out of Dodge; afraid I’ll set the town on fire. Probably some truth and a bit of wisdom to that too.”
“You’re not worried?” Te asked.
“About Andrew? No. Whoever took him had better be all caught up on their prayers though.”
“About us?”
“Ha.” Ana smiled, “I’m not worried.”
“The desert, the desert…” Doctor Te scratched his head. “Yes, that makes sense. Let me get the light coat for Sabor.”