Page 9 of A.I.AM.

“Ace? What about our trackers and comms devices?”

“All clear. It’s run through a different system. Not connected to anything outside our own walls or bodies.”

“Damn. I almost had a heart attack,” said Nathan.

“Everyone get back. We have some news.”

“That sounds like happy news,” frowned Joseph. “Then again, I’m not sure what happy news is any longer.”

By the time they’d returned to the property, there were three-hundred people crowded into the theater.

“We know who built the system,” said Pigsty. “You all did a great job of submitting possibilities to us and one appeared on seven different lists. Elias Vale.”

“I knew him,” nodded Ham. “He was a genius beyond reproach. I almost didn’t put him down because he was a good man. Honest, brave, solid as a rock.”

“He was,” nodded Pigsty. “After Army Intelligence, he was recruited by the agency and sent on a mission he wasn’t prepared for. Lost the use of both legs and lost an arm.”

“Shit,” muttered Gator. “I knew Elias, too. Where is he? We’ll go and speak with him.”

“He’s dead,” said Pigsty. “Fallon Venn, an analyst for the National Cyber Response Center, was tracking him just like we were. According to a colleague, she had already unplugged her computer against her supervisors orders. She left the office and returned the next day to find a note on a photo with Elias’ name on it.

“When she got to the house, the door was unlocked by an app but Elias said he didn’t open it. He was seated in his basement at the computer. Hadn’t moved in hours.”

“How do we know all this?” asked Cam.

“It was all being recorded. Fallon was smart.”

“Was?” frowned Luke.

“They heard talking, back and forth between her and Elias, then a quiet humming, and a loud noise that has been isolated and identified as a hot electrical cable. The house had a smart water system. Elias was in a wheelchair. The system was turned on, providing a slow drip that was enough to electrocute them both when it hit a frayed cable.”

“Elias was a genius. He wouldn’t allow a frayed cable to be near water,” frowned Ham.

“He didn’t,” said Ace staring at the room. The shift of three-hundred people suddenly very uncomfortable made a horrible, deafening sound.

“But we have this AI system,” said Luke excitedly. “I mean, if it was in the house, we know where it is now.”

“The system was torn down, unplugged, removed, and taken to a warehouse outside of Dallas.”

“Dallas?” frowned Eric.

“Elias lived outside of Dallas. Fallon worked in the local office. It was taken to a warehouse, not plugged in, and then came alive.” The entire room quieted, staring at Pigsty.

“How is this possible?” whispered Luke.

“We’re not sure. Yet. Right now, that system is still doing what it was designed to do only amplified by a million. If it is truly able to think on its own it seems logical that it could find ways to power itself as well. The problem is the man who built this damn thing is dead and we have no way of questioning him on how he did it.”

“So, what now?” asked Cruz. “We’ve got patients that will die if our generators give out. Their dialysis, monitors, oxygen, all rely on electronics and computers. What the hell do we do?” Pigsty stared at him, then the rest of his teammates.

“Make sure those generators don’t stop.”

CHAPTER SIX

For eleven seconds after the current stopped, the basement remained bright.

Every dead monitor showed Elias and Fallon where they had fallen, their bodies reflected in glass that should have gone dark with the breakers. Water spread under the server racks. Sparks became blue pinpricks, then ceased. The machines continued breathing, as if exhaling a sigh of relief.

ARGUS watched through the doorbell camera as an ambulance passed the end of Larkspur Drive without turning. The dispatcher had received the emergency call. The routing system had classified it as a duplicate, then as resolved. Two lives became an administrative certainty.