Chapter Nine
Her legs ached and her lungs begged for mercy, but Kari kept running. It felt like she was stuck in the middle of a horrible dream. Energy blasts fired widely around them, the cave was too dark for their would-be murderers to shoot at them accurately. But that didn’t stop blasts from coming all together too close to killing her, just like they had murdered John a few minutes ago.
“There are more men at the mouth of the cave,” Fai said. Her voice lacked any of the breathlessness that a human being would have at this point. Instead it sounded calm and calculated. Kari didn’t have the time to decide whether that was a good thing or not.
“How many?” Kari asked between gasps for air.
“Around ten, from my readings,” Fai said. “But there could be more.”
“Have they noticed us yet?”
“I don’t believe so, the cave bends enough that they can’t see us yet. If we hurry we might make it to them before they can see us coming.”
“I can’t . . . go . . . any faster!” Kari said. Her side was throbbing and her throat burned.
“If I carry you, we can make it in time,” Fai said.
“OK!”
Why didn’t you mention this earlier?
The cave was too dark to see well, but Fai’s green eyes appeared in front of her.
“Jump, I will catch you,” Fai said.
“I trust you!” Kari jumped forward, which resulted in only a marginal gain of speed or distance. But it was enough.
Fai’s remaining arm wrapped under her legs and held in her place. They spun around so that Fai was running forward and suddenly their speed increased.
Good thing I built her to outrun a horse.
Kari didn’t stop to catch her breath as she raised her energy rifle and fired it wildly back toward where the attacks were still coming from. She didn’t expect to hit anyone, but she hoped to decrease the chances that a random energy blast would hit them.
The wind whipped through Kari’s hair and soon they had put enough distance between them and their human pursuers that Kari stopped firing. She looked over her shoulder to see they were rapidly approaching the mouth of the cave. Sunlight poured into the dark tunnel, and her eyes hurt as they tried to adjust to the light. Fai was sprinting, which made her ride just bouncy enough that she couldn’t get a good idea of where the rest of the League of Humanity soldiers were waiting at the mouth of the cave.
“Take us into the woods as soon as you can,” Kari said. “They won’t be able to chase us in their auto-autos that way.”
“Of course,” Fai responded.
Fai was fast, but she wouldn’t be fast enough to outrun auto-autos. Kari’s heart didn’t slow down as they approached the opening to the cave. She could clearly see manual vehicles piled up at the mouth of the cave with several men waiting around nervously.
In a few mechanical steps, Fai stepped into the sunlight and launched herself onto the top of a rusty old manual Jeep.
“What the—” a female League of Humanity member exclaimed as Fai’s metal feet dented the hood of their old vehicle.
Before anyone could get a shot off, Fai jumped out toward the woods while carrying Kari on her chest. Some energy blasts hit the ground just behind them as Fai scrambled up a hill and into the forest.
“Don’t stop running,” Kari said.
“We need to keep moving,” Kari said. She picked herself up from the rock she had been sitting on. Her breathing was finally under control, even though her brain was still in a state of shock. The image of John’s body being tossed through the air replayed over and over in her mind.
“I don’t believe they will be able to catch up to us,” Fai said. “Like I said, we have put sufficient distance between us and them.”
“That’s assuming they don’t have mountain-cycles or a helicopter or something they can use to run us down. You leave quite the set footprints and you would be the only thing to register on scanners for miles.”
“Good points,” Fai said. “Where are we going?”
“We need to make it back to civilization. Somewhere we can get an auto-auto and get out of here.”
“Where to, then?”
Her persistence in wanting to know what came next reminded Kari of David’s father. But instead of being worried, Fai just seemed to be her ever-eager self.
“I don’t know, somewhere we can be safe. Maybe to Vision headquarters.”
“If they were able to attack us here, why would there be any safer there?”
“A lot of the security around this place was counting on people not knowing that it existed. It’s different at Vision headquarters. I think we’ll be safe there.”
“Who were those people trying to kill us and why were they doing it?”
Kari picked a quick pace she felt was sustainable and continued to walk directly away from the Vision research lab. She pulled up the map of the area on her mind chip and started looking for the best place to reenter society.
We can’t make it too obvious, or they might be waiting for us. But we can’t spend forever out here in the mountains, either.
“Kari, did you hear me?” Fai asked.
“Yes,” Kari said. “Just a minute.”
There! It’ll take us through the night, but if we can keep going at a good pace we’ll be able to make it into town. I don’t think they have enough people to check everywhere, and if they are waiting for us, we have some good escape options.
Kari adjusted her trajectory to take her to the new town and ordered her mind chip to help guide them there.
She lingered on the desperate note she had written for David in case she didn’t make it out of the lab alive. She read it again and stopped herself before deleting it. She filed it away instead.
“I think they were from the League of Humanity,” Kari said. “And I think they were after you, primarily, but they probably wanted to kill all of us.”
“After researching them, I believe you are correct,” Fai said.
Kari had been preparing to explain the League of Humanity to Fai, but Fai was able to process information too quickly.
She’s not even allowed to use her full power yet, and she’s already able to learn everything there is to know about a topic in a single second. Incredible.
“I understand that their fear of me is based on hypothetical situations and ignorance,” Fai said. “That doesn’t bother me. But their vow to kill anyone who works on Artificial Intelligence is horrid.”
“The world is full of horrid people and things,” Kari said. “It’s part of the things that I mentioned you would learn. I’m sorry you had to see it so soon . . . and in that way.”
“My creators are dead,” Fai said. “In a way it makes me an orphan.”
Kari quickly searched the net before responding. She knew there were famous people who had been orphans, she just couldn’t think of any off the top of her head.
“Some of the great people in history were orphans,” Kari said. “Especially ones who made a difference in social issues. Besides, you’ll always have me.”
“You’ll die someday,” Fai said.
Thanks for pointing that out, Fai.
“That’s true . . .”
“I will too.”
“I guess that’s the reality of life,” Kari said.
I’m too young to be talking like this.
Fai didn’t respond. They walked for miles without Fai asking a question or saying another word. It was far and away the longest that Kari had ever spent with her in silence.
Maybe this morning messed her up, too. How could it not? I’ve never been through anything like that.
Reliving the terror of the lab in her mind made her cold inside.
She sent a quick message to David, letting him know that she missed him. After the darkest times, David had always been there to help her deal with everything.
“Are you doing OK, Fai?” Kari asked.
“All my systems are stable.”
“No, I mean emotionally. What we went through today was traumatic. I’m here if you want to talk about anything.”
“Thank you,” Fai said. “I think I’m still processing the events.”
That’s saying something given what your CB is capable of!
“Me too,” Kari said. “Maybe we’ll talk about it more later, when we’ve had a chance to digest everything.”
“Easy for you to say,” Fai said. “I don’t have a stomach.”
It was a joke Kari’s dad would have been proud of, but she laughed anyway. She checked the news and there still wasn’t any information about the attack on the research lab. She had contacted the police as soon as they were outside range of the League of Humanity, but the lab was so far up in the mountains she wasn’t sure enforcement would be able to respond in time to catch any of the assailants.
It’s worth a try. Besides, maybe the paramedics will be able to save some of the scientists.
I guess this answers David’s question about what I am going to do next. If enforcement doesn’t get to the League of Humanity in time, then I will. Not just for what they have done today, but because Fai deserves to live a life without being hunted. I know what that’s like and no one deserves it.
“We should be there soon,” Fai said.
“Right,” Kari said.
“I’ve ordered us an auto-auto. It will meet us at the back of the parking lot of the diner just through these trees,” Fai said.
“Great, if only you ordered me some food while you were at it we’d be all set for the long drive to the Bay Area . . .”
“I did.”
Chapter Ten
Well, he’s about thirty seconds slower than I thought he would be.
Kari answered David’s call and allowed the camera from her processing unit to disconnect and broadcast her image to her boyfriend.
“Hey, David,” Kari said.
“Have you seen the news?”
“Yeah . . . I saw it a few minutes ago. I’m still trying to understand what’s going on.”
The information of the attack had finally reached the news. Kari had been checking it frequently for updates and had been frustrated as they cruised across the recently reunited western states. Travel by auto-auto was not as fast as a plane or the hyperloop, but it was an effective mode of transportation as it allowed you to rest or work as the vehicle drove itself. They had only stopped once for some food in Salt Lake City and were now nearly to Reno, Nevada.
But when the news Kari had been waiting to see finally arrived on the web, it was not what she was expecting. She had been furiously checking all the different news sites and all of them reported the same bitter information.
“But you’re OK?”
“Yeah, I’m over halfway to the Bay Area already.”
“So you were there? Where the attack was?”
“Yeah, but we were able to get out without much trouble,” Kari said.
That was a blatant lie, but she didn’t want him to worry any more than he needed to.
Besides, I can’t really disclose too much more with their bullet-in-the-head NDA. Of course, since they already almost got me killed, maybe that doesn’t apply anymore.
“Really? Because the news makes it look horrible . . . all the shots of the dead scientists and everything . . . I about died when I saw what happened and thought about you being there.”
You should try being there in person. I’ve been sitting in an auto-auto for hours and every time I close my eyes I see replays of the massacre.
“Well, I’m safe,” Kari said. “But I don’t know how I got blamed for everything. I wasn’t expecting that . . .”
“Me neither. I couldn’t—I can’t—believe it. The League of Humanity and Freelancer working together? It’s ludicrous! Even if I didn’t know you, it wouldn’t make any sense!”
David’s face was turning slightly red as he talked. Nothing got him worked up like discussing the way Kari’s hacker handle was blamed for everything. She had been blamed for the prison break, blamed for Joseth’s murders, and now she had been blamed for the slaughter at the Vision research lab.
“I have no idea how they even figured out I was there. I didn’t even know I was going to be there until I showed up, and I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone where I was.”
“I know,” David said. “Something is off for sure. We need to fix this . . . and fast”
A notification flashed in the corner of Kari’s mind, alerting her to the fact that Motorcad was calling.
“I need to go, David. I’ll get this sorted out.”
Kari closed the call with David and answered Motorcad’s.
“Hey, boss,” Kari said.
Motorcad was running around in a hurry, she couldn’t really tell where he was, but she suspected he was trying to remove evidence from the Academy.
“What happened?” Motorcad asked.
“I was working for Vision and the League of Humanity showed up,” Kari said. “It got dicey. News is pretty accurate, except I was running for my life. I barely made it out of there in one piece.”
“Well, I don’t know who you pissed off by surviving, but we have incoming,” Motorcad said.
“What? No! That doesn’t make sense . . .”
“Well, they are almost here. I’ve got the students helping me burn everything and the Sanchez’s should be here any minute. Where are you going? What’s the plan?”
“I don’t know,” Kari said.
The only people who knew I was at the school were John, Christina, and Fai. And John’s dead.
“Stay close to the school, don’t get caught, but stay close until this blows over. I’ll figure something out.”
Motorcad looked away suddenly over his shoulder.
“I have to go,” Motorcad said. He closed the call and Kari cursed.
“I am detecting elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and dropping oxygen,” Fai said. “You should breath more and try to calm down.”
“Good advice,” Kari mumbled.
She checked the news again and read more headlines about America’s most wanted hacker murdering hundreds of innocent scientists at a secret research facility with the help of the League of Humanity. The League of Humanity had publically claimed credit for the attack, but they didn’t mention anything about working with Kari. They mentioned that anyone who worked on AI could expect the same thing and that they hoped this was a learning opportunity.
It’s the biggest tragedy since the Civil War ended and somehow it’s getting pinned on me.
“Why did you lie to David?” Fai asked.
“Because that’s what he needed,” Kari said. Her tone was much harsher than she had intended it to be, and when Fai didn’t respond, Kari took a deep breath to calm down. “Sometimes it’s easier to tell people part of the truth temporarily.”
“I understand,” Fai said. “Do humans lie to one another often?”
“Yes, they do,” Kari responded, even though her mind was busy working on solutions.
“There were eight physical indicators that you were not telling the truth,” Fai said. “It seems like lying would be easily detectable.”
“Most people aren’t as perceptive as you are.”
“You are concerned with the misinformation regarding the attack on the research lab.”
“Of course I am, Fai! I am being blamed for hundreds of innocent people being murdered. It’s a big deal.”
None of the scientists had been especially welcoming, or kind to her, but thinking about them gunned down at work was depressing.
No matter how rude Adrian and his staff had been, they didn’t deserve any of this.
She had looked over the reported list of causalities and every name she read broke her heart even more.
“But you are innocent,” Fai said. “That can be proven if you give an account.”
“It’s not that easy sometimes,” Kari said. “The court of public opinion doesn’t worry about facts.”
And right now the public still blames me for part of the Civil War assassinations.
“Why do you think there was no mention of Artificial Intelligence in any of the reports?” Fai asked.
“I don’t know,” Kari said.
Nothing makes sense anymore. Maybe it will at Vision headquarters. No. I need to talk to them.
“Do you have the direct contact information for Christina?” Kari asked.
“Yes, I do. It was in a database that I gained access to as we fled the research lab.”
Without waiting for her to ask for it, Fai sent Kari Christina’s information.
Time to get some answers.
Kari called Christina and started thinking about how she wanted the conversation to go. Christina answered and Kari wished she had waited just a minute longer until she had figured out her plan.
“Freelancer?” Christina asked.
“It’s me,” Kari said.
“How dare you call me? I will kill you for what you’ve done! I’ll burn your pathetic little school to the ground!”
“Are you crazy?” Kari asked. Christina’s attacks filled Kari with the rage that rendered her incapable of controlling her mouth. “I almost died in there! In your lab! I did everything I possibly could to save John and Fai, and then you are going to blame me for what happened? You’re pathetic.”
“You actually want me to believe that you weren’t involved in any of this?”
“Why would I do anything like that? The League of Humanity? It’s . . . it’s asinine!”
“We hired you to work for us and two weeks later everyone is dead! I told John not to trust you!”
“If I wanted to work with the League of Humanity why would I save Fai?”
“Wait . . . Fai is with you?”
“Yes. We made it out . . . barely. John wasn’t so lucky . . .”
The conversation calmed suddenly. Christina no longer was shrieking at her and Kari felt her head cool off slightly.
“I didn’t know . . . I hadn’t heard anything.”
“Well, she’s right here next to me. She’s a little banged up, but we’re both doing fine. Trying to recover from . . . that.”
“That’s . . . wait. How did the League of Humanity know where to find the lab?”
“I don’t know,” Kari said. “A hack? Or someone leaked it? Or maybe they followed John there?”
“How am I supposed to trust you?” Christina asked. “There was no camera footage, no evidence of what happened besides the bodies. The feeds cut out minutes before the attack started.”
They knocked out the security cameras? How would they do that without hacking the system or having access? This was supposed to be a redneck militia, but they didn’t fight like one. But who would be able to take the cameras down?
Fai. She had access to the entire system. She also knew when John was going to arrive. She could have done this whole thing as a way to free herself.
Kari glanced over to the peaceful-looking one-armed robot sitting across the auto-auto from her.
“Fai has records of everything that happened.”
“She does?”
“Yes, I built her body to record everything that happens to her. I thought it would be valuable for various reasons, I mean not anything like what happened yesterday, but still.”
“Oh . . . I didn’t know that.” Christina paused. She looked calculating as she took in the new information.
“End the call,” Fai said. Her voice was much softer usual.
Why would you want me to stop talking to her? I was just getting somewhere.
Kari looked over to Fai and felt a twinge of fear.
“End the call,” Fai repeated. This time she was more insistent.
“I need to go,” Kari said.
“We’ll talk about this more when you arrive,” Christina said, just before Kari ended the call.
“What is it, Fai?” Kari pulled up Fai’s V2 body design in her mind chip and started reviewing it.
If this goes to a fight I don’t have a chance. Who am I kidding?
Kari executed her auto-auto hacking software and quietly took control of the vehicle.
“We need to leave,” Fai said.
“Why is that?”
Why is it that when I mention that you have recordings you start to get nervous? Is it because you set me up?
Kari tried to control herself, but the fear inside her was starting to grow.
“There is a blockade down the road,” Fai said. “They are not enforcement officers, from what I can tell.”
“What?” Kari didn’t have any drones she could use to verify the story. “How do you know?”
“The public auto-auto registry shows a traffic anomaly ahead.”
“How do you know it’s a blockade?”
“Do you trust me?” Fai asked.
Kari paused.
“Yes.”
The door to the auto-auto slid open while it was still racing down the street.
“We will need to jump,” Fai said. “And quickly.”
“I’ll die!” Kari said.
“No, you won’t.”
Fai wrapped herself around Kari and they moved toward the door together. The roadway raced beneath them in a blur and Kari felt sick.
If this doesn’t work, then I am going to die one painful death.
“We’ll be fine,” Fai said. “This is successful in an overwhelming percentages of my simulations.”
“What’s the percent?” Kari asked, but she was too late.
Fai pushed them out of the speeding auto-auto and into the air above the course road. She screamed as they hung in the air for a moment. She involuntarily closed her eyes as Fai’s arm wrapped around her head and held it tightly against her chest.