Mirage

Ten

Derec found Rana asleep on the cot in the cafeteria, one arm draped over her eyes, the other hanging to the floor. He did not know how long ago she had given herself up to sleep, so he left her alone. He poured himself a coffee and returned to the main lab.

Details. He scrolled through the reports filed sometime in the early morning hours by his field techs.

Twenty-six of Union Station's robots had gone into complete positronic collapse-all those that had been present in the gallery when the shooting began. The rest seemed relatively unaffected, although complete diagnostics could not be finished due to the team's ejection from the site by Special Service.

A request for a tech to help an Acrisian with a domestic problem. One of her servors had evidently been given a conflicting command and sent it into a dilemma loop. She suspected one of the workers from D. C. urban maintenance had done it, though she could not prove it. She wanted her robot fixed and evidence to take to the local police when she filed a complaint.

Derec sighed. Robotic affidavits were not allowed in Terran courts; the police would, at best, take her report and then do nothing with it, humoring the Spacer. At worst, the robot would be confiscated as contraband. Positronic robots were allowed only in embassy areas and one or two other specially designated Spacer zones. How these people got humaniform positronic robots past customs baffled Derec. Nevertheless, he entered authorization to send a field tech to her residence, which was just outside the embassy district, on the coast. Acrisia's oceans nearly dwarfed Earth's, so it made sense to him that Acrisians would try to be near something homelike, but he still wished the Spacers would stick to their enclaves if they insisted on keeping robots.

He found a thank-you on his com from Agent Sathen for his help at the hospital, Sathen's personal com code appended. Derec filed that.

He was tempted to call more people in government to try to get past the Special Service restrictions, but the only one who might help would be Eliton's vice-senator-now Senator-Jonis Taprin, and Derec doubted he would be available yet, what with all the details Eliton's death must have dropped on him. Perhaps later, though he doubted it would do much good. Derec shuddered at the idea of untrained people teasing through the tatters of a positronic brain. He called his lawyer again, but the man was still in Chicago Sector.

He went to Rana's console and sat down.

Her screens displayed the bizarre patterns she had shown him the night before. He sat down and leaned on the console, tracing the mazelike coils. They still seemed familiar, though he could not identify them or recall the context. Rana was right -they ought to have had solid endpoints, clear resolutions, but they simply faded out like the paths of excited quarks on a particle analysis chart. The equivalent in human brains would be the degenerative pattern of a memory disorder or cognitive disfunction…

Derec sat up stiffly. No, there was a closer resemblance. He stared at the patterns now, almost unwilling to admit what he saw. He moved to another screen and accessed the specifications on Bogard. After sifting through a number of levels, he found what he wanted.

"Damn," he hissed.

" 'Morning," Rana said, stumbling into the room. She carried a cup of coffee.

"Take a look at this," Derec said, scooting back from the console to give her room.

Rana leaned toward the screen with Bogard's specs. She frowned. "What-?"

"Those are the pathway tracks for the temporal buffers we built into Bogard."

Rana looked back at the RI display on her own screens, then again at these patterns. "Damn."

"I thought those trails looked familiar," Derec said enthusiastically. He stood and clapped his hands. "I was exhausted last night-that's why I couldn't see it."

"They aren't identical."

Derec looked at the Bogard screen. The pathways that showed the track of positronic activity from one part of Bogard's system into another did not coil so tightly nor fade out in quite the same way. Instead, the loops and tangles doubled back on themselves a couple of times, then traced direct paths out of the main positronic matrix, through a clear demarcation point, ending sharply with the exit of the track.

"No," Derec conceded, "but the similarities are too great to deny."

Rana sat down. "But Bogard's a prototype. None of these specs are in any other database than our own."

Derec rose from his seat and shrugged. "Parallel research?"

"On whose part? The Union Station RI is a standard positronic brain, installed by the good people of the Calvin Institute. Part of the agreement for it was that it would be a conservative, basic model. And even if they knew about our upgrades, they'd think it was heresy and would have nothing to do with it." Rana glanced at her screen. "Besides, they aren't identical. Bogard's pathways don't just fade like this, they end. They have a destination and a gateway to it."

"Because they feed into a symbiotic system riding alongside the main one. There's only one place for the trace to go. There's access back and forth across the boundary, sure, but the way the trace is generated-"

"-is pretty much the same. Which means that-what? Three Law violations in a standard positronic brain are being shunted-where? Outside the system?"

Derec paced briefly. "Possibly, but I doubt it. If that were the case, then the RI shouldn't have collapsed. My guess is this is a sensory diversion."

"Sensory…"

"The RI was playing a game."

"Which implies a malfunction," Rana said.

"Yes, but where? What if it thought the game was real?"

"How? That would mean that its entire sensory net"

"Was subverted. Its ability to perceive reality had been altered, so that something else became the operative reality. When it came back online it must have realized what had happened."

"But not while it was playing the game?"

Derec shrugged. "Evidently not."

Rana frowned. "Look, we built Bogard to shunt memory like this. The only way for a standard positronic brain to exhibit this is for an external system to be grafted onto it. That would show up as interference in major operational areas."

"That should be easy enough to find," Derec said.

"But I haven't found any."

"Did you look?"

Rana paused. "No, not specifically. But it would be obvious, even as badly jumbled as this is."

"Maybe. Maybe only if we look at it the right way. You've been trying to figure out what's been happening to the RI brain given the assumption that it's an unmodified unit and therefore self-contained. Not to mention something this radical-I mean, think about it. At a crucial moment, the entire RI absented itself from what was happening in the terminal to playa game. That much of a modification-that much interference-it would have to be enormous and it would have to be something…"

"What?"

"It would have to be something laid in over time, otherwise it would trigger alarms, cause shutdowns. Minor crises would be the rule…"

"So it might not be so obvious."

"No, but it would still be big just to get around the normal self-correcting routines," Derec explained. "Did we get its operational records for the past-oh, how long has it been online? A year?"

"Almost two. We did, but I'm not inclined to trust them."

"Why not?"

Rana gestured at the screen. "Nothing we've seen here is as it should be."

"Good point. But that's only if you rely on the RI's own report."

"I don't think I'd trust a report made by Terrans."

"You're Terran," Derec pointed out.

"An accident of birth." Rana waved a hand dismissively. "I claim special circumstances."

Derec laughed. "Bring it up anyway," he said.

He went to the com and tapped in the code for Union Station. After going through a short maze of addresses, he finally connected with Tathis Kedder.

"Mr. Avery," Kedder said, bemused. "I didn't expect to hear from you again after-well, after."

"I take a personal pride in my work," Derec said." Just because I'm told it's no longer my business, that doesn't mean I stop worrying about it."

Kedder smiled, nodding. "I know what you mean. How can I help you?"

"Just your recollections. Do you remember any instances of inexplicable interruptions in service from the RI? Or periods when it seemed sluggish or… uncooperative?"

Kedder shook his head. "Never uncooperative. Apologetic a couple of times."

"Apologetic?"

"Yes, it glitched -the one I remember best was a luggage mix-up-and it apologized profusely, as if the world might end." Kedder paused. "Let me think… one other time the whole kitchen component seized up. That lasted about ten minutes, then seemed to correct itself."

"And the RI apologized again?" Derec asked.

"Most sincerely."

"And you didn't report it?"

Kedder frowned. "Of course we did. To the shift supervisor, who took it to the Calvin Institute."

"The Calvin Institute. Why not here?"

Kedder shrugged. "I don't know. I thought we were supposed to go through you, but the supervisor said no."

"And what did the Calvin Institute say?"

"Adjustment errors. Nothing important enough to bring you in."

"I see. Did the Calvin Institute give that recommendation?"

"That was my understanding."

"Which supervisor was this? I'd like to talk to him."

Kedder shook his head. "He's gone, oh, about ten months ago."

"Where, if I may ask?"

"New job. He went to work for… let me think… oh, yes, Imbitek."

"Do you remember his name?"

"Hob Larkin."

Derec scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Any other 'adjustment errors' that you can think on"

"A couple of times requested data got routed to the wrong place. It lost one of my reports once-I had to redraft the whole thing. Little stuff like that. But that was all early on. In the last, oh, year it's been behaving perfectly."

"Until the other day."

"Yes."

Derec sighed. "Thank you, Mr. Kedder. If you think of anything else, let me know, would you?"

"Sure."

"How are things going?"

"Well, we've had Imbitek people in here all morning."

Derec raised an eyebrow. "Imbitek."

"Yes. The decision was made to convert over to nonpositronic systems. We already had some of Imbitek's imbedded systems in place, so… sorry."

"Hm. That was fast."

"Not fast enough for management." Kedder smiled wryly. "A lot of pilots won't use us till the changeover is made-they just don't trust positronics anymore. Not the Spacers, of course-they're complaining for just the opposite reason, threatening not to come through here if we do switch to a nonpositronic system. It's turned into as big a problem as it would be if we didn't have a system at all. Do you have any idea how much traffic goes through here in a day?"

"Of course," Derec replied. "I just meant the selection of a new vendor. Bureaucracy doesn't usually move that quickly."

"Fortunately, this time was an exception."

"Well, I'm glad something's going right for you."

"How about you? How's your investigation coming?"

"Did you forget? Phylaxis was taken off that."

Kedder looked confused for a moment. "Oh. Yes, I-"

"This was purely personal. Thanks, Mr. Kedder. Oh, by the way, could I speak with your associate, Mr. Hammis?"

"He hasn't come in yet. Normally we aren't on shift together, just yesterday was…"

"Ah. I see."

"I can tell him you called."

"Would you? Just some routine stuff."

"Sure."

"Thank you." Derec closed the connection.

"Don't feel too bad," Rana said. "Imbitek has something like sixty percent of Earth's robotics market."

"Only don't ever call it that to their face. It's 'imbedded service technologies'." Derec steepled his fingers below his chin, staring unseeing at the blank com screen. "Who at the Calvin Institute would issue instructions for them to bypass the contract service…?"

The company that had installed the RI had been Solarian, not Auroran, but there had had to be a Calvin representative to oversee it. Who had that been? Derec tapped the request in the datum.

Bys Randic. He remembered her, but she had rotated back to Aurora several months ago. The company itself had been a midsized firm, not a bad choice, but certainly not the first that would have recommended itself to Derec. The byzantine complications of the Terran bidding process still baffled him-certainly there had been better firms, but the traditions of Earther government procurement could not be circumvented by straightforward Spacer logic. But he had been there during the entire operation as well and audited the process. Eliton had seen to that, since it came under his committee's oversight. Other companies-mostly Terran-had installed the satellite systems, but the Calvin Institute rep had vetted the interfaces and pronounced them acceptable. Who, along that striated line of involved parties, could have overridden such a vital part of the process?

He punched another code into the terminal. "Imbitek Corporation, how may I direct your call?" said a synthetic voice, ungendered and inoffensive.

"I'd like to speak to the manager in charge of the refit at Union Station."

Derec waited while the AI system rolled the request around for a few seconds and decided what to do with it. Finally, it said, "One moment, please, while I connect you."

The moment became nearly a minute before a human voice, male, answered.

"This Iva Kusk. How can I help you?"

"This is Derec Avery of the Phylaxis Group, Mr. Kusk. I understand that Imbitek is installing new systems into Union Station."

"Phylaxis… ah, the robot people. Yes, we are. It's my understanding that you've been removed from the project."

"That remains to be seen, sir. We have a contract to service the RI-"

"Which is no longer functioning, am I correct?" Kusk interjected.

"Well-"

"Imbitek received an exclusive contract pursuant to the failure of the current system. It's my understanding that the RI suffered total collapse. Under those circumstances, you have nothing to service."

"The positronics still need to be removed. I ought to oversee that, at least," Derec countered.

"We're not removing it, the Solarians are. Take it up with them. As far as Imbitek is concerned, you have nothing to concern yourself with."

"Nevertheless-"

"Nevertheless, Mr. Avery," Kusk said sharply, "I think you know that we shouldn't even be discussing this matter. Sorry I can't be of more help, but when Special Service lays down the law, we're not inclined to go around them. So, if there's nothing else…"

"Should you find yourself running into difficulties with some of those systems, Mr. Kusk, consider giving us a call before you destroy something you can't replace."

"Thank you, Mr. Avery," Kusk said smugly. "We'll take that under advisement."

The connection died.

"High marks for sincerity," Rana said. "Demerits for tact."

Derec ignored her and called Imbitek back. He got the directory and asked to speak to Hob Larkin.

"Hob Larkin no longer works for our firm," the AI informed him. "Due to privacy restrictions we may not provide any other information."

Derec broke the connection and tapped yet another code. The emblem of the Terran Senate appeared on the screen. A moment later, a secretary took its place.

"Senator Clar Eliton's office. May I help you?"

Derec noticed that her voice was strained, as if under firm control. "I'd like to speak to Jonis Taprin, please. This is Derec Avery of the Phylaxis Group."

"I'll see if Vice Senator-Senator Taprin is available. Please hold."

Derec watched the time chop above the screen. The secretary reappeared after nearly a full minute.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Avery, but Senator Taprin is in a meeting. May I direct you to one of his aides?"

"No, thank you. Please have him call me at his earliest convenience. It's important. It concerns Union Station."

"I'll let him know."

The screen blanked.

"He's going to be tied up in meetings from now till the election," Rana said.

Derec nodded. "He's got a big vacuum to fill."

"Why don't you just call the Calvin Institute?"

"Not yet." He returned to her console.

"Do I detect a hint of personal aversion?"

"Not a bit. What are you doing?"

Rana gave him a skeptical look, then pointed at her screen. "An excavation. I'm matching layers to see if anything turns up."

Derec shuddered at the idea. The RI was scrambled from the collapse. Whole segments of it no longer "lined up" to form a functional matrix. What Rana was attempting to do made random chance seem predictable by comparison.

"That could take days. "

"Thales is doing the gross sorting for me. "

"Still…"

"Uh-huh. Do you have a better idea?"

Derec slid his chair to his own console and began entering commands. "As a matter of fact, no. But maybe one just as good. We can narrow it down by isolating out all other possible intrusive presences. A lot of com traffic goes through this thing"

"But most of it is buffered to avoid direct contamination of the positronic matrix," Rana concluded.

"Of course it is. So anything that got past that-"

"Would be worth a look. Of course. What about the RI performance record?"

"Save it. I'll look it over later."

Derec set up parameters for each type of communications link that the RI dealt with: regular com, systems interfaces with incoming shuttles, dialogues with maintenance drones, hotels, requisitions vendors, banks, security protocols with the various police services, subetheric links, interstellar traffic, interfaces with nonpositronic systems, and its own relays with its various service components. After establishing a firewall between the subject RI and Thales, he let the Group RI do the actual sorting, which took much less time than any other method. While the lists compiled, he wrote an instruction to search for mirror sites once everything was in a manageable state, looking for match points with the unexplained pathways Rana had found.

They worked in silence for nearly three hours. The amount of data to go through remained immense and intimidating, but Derec sensed progress.

The com chimed behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Vice Senator-now Senator-Taprin was returning his call.

He punched ACCEPT.

"Mr. Avery, how are you? How can I help?"

"I'm fine, sir, if a little confused. There are a couple of matters I hope you can help me clear up. Phylaxis was taken off the investigation. I don't know if you were aware of that."

Taprin frowned. "No, but I don't keep that close tabs on what you do. Frankly, Clar tended to be very proprietary about the entire positronic issue."

Issue…? Derec thought. "Special Service assumed jurisdiction over the entire investigation, which is certainly their prerogative. But it 'is unorthodox. I'm not aware that they have any positronic specialists on staff."

"I didn't think they did, which was one reason to use you," Taprin said. "I'll look into it."

"Thank you, sir. The other matter has to do with protocol regarding the Union Station RI. I've learned that someone gave directions shortly after it was installed that certain problems with the RI were to be referred directly to the Calvin Institute rather than us. I wondered if you could find out who issued that directive."

"I can look into it, but my authority stops at the Auroran Embassy door. You could ask them yourself."

"I'd rather it came from a more official source."

"I see."

"Besides, the staff at Union Station wouldn't be under Auroran authority. Whoever issued that directive had to have Terran authority."

"True. Now that I think about it, it is odd. I'll see what I can find out for you. It might take some time. I'm swamped."

"Whatever you can give me, sir, I'd appreciate it."

"If, as you say, Special Service has removed you from the investigation-why are you interested?"

The question surprised Derec. He hesitated uncertainly. "Well… I think we'd all like to know what went wrong, Senator. I thought you'd appreciate the input. Besides, I think this pertains directly to the future of Phylaxis. But beyond that, it seems pertinent to Senator Eliton's work."

Tarpin nodded slowly. "Mmm. Very true. I'll see. "

"Thank you."

The screen went blank, leaving Derec with an odd, displaced feeling.

Why am I interested?

"We have something matching up," Rana said.

Derec hurried back to the console. On the main screen, columns lined up. As he watched, lines from each became highlighted, then isolated to another window.

"Maintenance…" Derec read aloud. "Maintenance… maintenance… maintenance… all the exit pathways are mirroring to maintenance communications?"

"That's what it's looking like. But the signals are not transmitted."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean they are strings of code going through the RI and routed back to the relevant site," Rana explained. "They're one-to-one. Something at the pathway site is injecting code directly."

Derec stared at the configurations on her screens. "There's no routing… no buffer…? It's as if something is directly attached to the physical node. ".

"Doesn't make sense, I know, but that's what it's showing."

"We have to get in there and look at these components."

Rana laughed sharply. "Before Imbitek rips them out? Good luck."

Derec drummed his fingers. "They can't. The Calvin Institute has to supervise removal of the positronic components-satellite systems and all."

Rana pursed her lips, but said nothing.

Derec rapped his knuckles impatiently on the console and headed back to the comlink. "And so should we." He punched in a code.

"Calvin Institute. How may I direct your call?"

"I want to speak to…" He hesitated, licked his lips, and sighed heavily. "I wish to speak to Ariel Burgess, please. Tell her it's Derec Avery from the Phylaxis Group."