Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [76]
‘Negative. My AI has adapted enough since being copied to be considered a different AI ident. I have experienced data that Bob has not. Also, the organic brain that is interfaced with the AI is genetically different between the male and female support frames.’
‘Right. But … you remember being Bob, right?’
‘Of course. I recall all the incidents of our first mission, right up until the moment you removed my chip.’
Liam wished he couldn’t remember that as well. ‘Ugghh. Not something I’d like to do again in a hurry.’
‘You successfully preserved the AI. It contained six months of adaptive learning,’ she replied. ‘Both Bob and I are six months closer to fully emulating human behaviour. We are both grateful.’
He shrugged modestly. ‘Oh, you know, it’s nothing. Just part of the job.’
‘I am able to kiss you,’ she said. ‘This would be an appropriate gesture of gratitude. I have data.’
She began puckering her lips and Liam felt that odd conflicted sensation he’d felt after they’d first arrived in 2015: a tingling excitement offset with a sense of revulsion.
Bob, in a girl suit … remember.
‘Uh … that’s OK, Becks. A thanks is more than good enough.’
‘Affirmative. As you wish.’
‘Anyway, where the hell did you learn about kissing?’
‘I have a detailed description from a book I was reading while I was installed in the mainframe.’
‘Eh? What sort of books have you been reading?’
‘The book is entitled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.’
‘What’s that?’
‘A novel. The digital file is in early twenty-first century PDF format. The file’s original replication date is –’
‘Hold on,’ said Liam, stopping. ‘Do you have that file in your database still?’
She nodded. ‘My reading was interrupted. I wished to complete it. So I added it to my short-term cache.’
‘And would Bob also have the exact same file on the computer system?’
‘Of course.’
His mouth hung open. ‘There’s the code, then! Right there! That’s the code you could use! Isn’t it?’
Her eyelids fluttered as she processed the thought. ‘You are talking of a book code?’
‘That’s right, a Harry-Whatever-mijingamy book code.’
CHAPTER 41
65 million years BC, jungle
Howard noticed the young boy walking alongside him, sloshing through the warm seawater.
‘Hey,’ he said.
Edward smiled. ‘Hey. You always called Leonard, or do your friends call you Lenny?’
Howard shrugged; not a question he’d anticipated being asked. ‘Uh … mostly just Leonard,’ he replied. ‘My mom calls me Lenny, but I hate that.’
‘I heard someone say your best subject is math.’
He nodded. ‘It was my –’ He stopped, inwardly cursing. ‘It … is … my favourite school subject. Always loved math. It’s like, well, I dunno … I suppose it’s like a sort of poetry that only a few people get. If you know what I mean? It’s, like, exclusive.’
Chan nodded. ‘Yeah, I know what you mean. That’s why I like it. It’s something I know and other people don’t. It makes me feel kind of special, I guess. Maybe that’s why I don’t have any friends at school, cos they think I’m odd.’
Howard nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess I’m the same. A loner.’ He squinted up at the bright sun. ‘Never ever get picked for sports, because I’m the geek.’ He shrugged. ‘But that’s OK, cos I never liked sports anyway.’
Edward nodded. ‘Me neither. It’s for jocks and ditto-heads.’
‘Ditto-heads?’ Howard laughed. ‘I like it.’
‘You never heard that expression?’
Not in my time, he almost answered. But instead he just shook his head.
‘Hey!’ said Edward suddenly, and bent down to scoop up a curious twisted ammonite shell from the shingle.
‘See? There are even bigger ones of those,’ said Howard, nodding at some of the others, wading waist deep in the clear blue water, occasionally ducking down to pull shells out of the water to admire them.
They walked on in silence for a while, going a little further into the warm water. Up ahead, leading the way and deep in conversation, Howard could see the two ‘agents’ – Liam and his robo-girl. He shook his head at the irony of it. Despite