Probable Impossibilities

  Chapter 18

  The school’s dim deserted hallways made me anxious. I tried to walk silently, but even in sneakers the echoes announced our approach.

  All the way there I had tried to organize my arguments. Bertram would only be convinced if I could present them logically.

  Light from his office spilled through the open door into the hall. He sat at his computer entering data. We stepped into the pool of light.

  He looked up and leaned back in his chair. “Cody and Gen. Why am I not surprised?”

  I didn’t answer, and he waved us inside. “Have a seat. What’s on your mind?”

  I sat down, but Gen leaned on the desk. Staring him in the eye she said, “You can’t simply delete George.”

  Bertram raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

  Her face flushed. “It would be like shooting Bigfoot. It would be like harpooning the Loch Ness monster. It would be like…like…”

  This wasn’t helping. I pulled Gen back. She slumped into the other chair. An eerie calmness settled over me and I began my argument.

  “We think it would be a mistake to shut down EGOR.”

  “Why is that?” Bertram said with a wry smile. “It is a malfunctioning program.”

  “Not malfunctioning,” I said. “Simply functioning in a manner not indicated by known variables.”

  “Outside the known variables,” he corrected. “That would be a malfunction.”

  He seemed to be enjoying this. I decided to try another approach.

  “We think George may be a unique mutation that deserves study. If you shut him down, you will lose that opportunity.”

  “Indeed? What makes this program different from a common virus?”

  Gen mumbled, “He’s not a virus.”

  I gave her a cautionary glance, hoping she’d take the hint and be quiet. “It’s not harmful. It’s only doing what any life form would do,” I said.

  Bertram’s eyes widened. “Life form? Isn’t that a bit fanciful?”

  I shrugged. “It learns. It grows. It’s modifying its habitat. It interacts with humanity in a positive manner.”

  Bertram looked interested. “What makes you think that?”

  “We communicated with him,” Gen said.

  “With George?”

  “No, with EGOR,” she said.

  He looked amazed. “You have access to EGOR?”

  “My dad does,” I said. “He has a subscription to the program.”

  Bertram nodded. “So what are you suggesting?”

  He was listening, but I had to be careful or I would lose him. “Who knows why George came to exist and if it will ever happen again. If we don’t act quickly, the program will be deleted.” I leaned forward. “You need to find a way for George to exist outside of EGOR.”

  “Why me?”

  “You’re the one who initiated the shut down. Don’t you have access to EGOR?”

  Bertram shook his head. “I merely spoke to the university. I don’t have a password to EGOR. You’re the one with access.”

  I was stunned at my stupidity. Dad’s password. But how would that help? “I have access to EGOR. Not to George,” I said.

  “Aren't they are one and the same?” Bertram asked.

  I was puzzled.

  Bertram shrugged. “If George really is unique and capable of decisions as you propose, shouldn’t we try to communicate?”

  I watched as he typed. Was he trying to find an opportunity to destroy the program or rescue it? He turned the monitor toward us. It was the EGOR website, the entry prompt flashing on the screen. “Shall we try your password?”

  Gen squeezed my arm. “Don’t trust him,” she whispered.

  I hesitated. Dad had said to be careful with the password. But that was before we knew about George.

  “How do I know you won’t delete him once you have the password?”

  “You don’t. But doing nothing will surely result in the program being destroyed.”

  Gen’s grip tightened on my arm. “We can go home and use your computer, Cody. We don’t have to trust him.”

  “That’s certainly an option,” Bertram said. “But there’s no telling how much time is left before the techies find the program.”

  Even without looking at Gen I could feel her resistance. I wished I could read Bertram’s feelings as easily.

  “You tell me you believe in possibilities,” Bertram said. “Give me a reason to believe. Show me this program.”

  He was right. The techies could have found George already. There wasn’t time to go home.

  “Jack,” I heard myself saying.

  “Cody!” Gen hissed.

  “It’s okay,” I said squeezing her hand. “We have to do this.” I looked at Bertram. “The password is Jack.”

  Bertram chuckled. “That’s appropriate. The name of George’s explorer sidekick.” He typed it in.

  Rows of file cabinets in a dimly lit room appeared on the screen. A man in a fedora poked his head out from behind one of the cabinets. He tipped his hat back and scanned the area.

  “Jack?” the voice was almost a whisper.

  Bertram looked questioningly at me.

  “It’s George,” I said. “He thinks you’re Jack. Can he hear us?”

  Bertram plugged in a cord. Adjusting the microphone he said, “George?”

  “Shhh,” George said. “I’m glad you’ve come to rescue me, but keep your voice down. They’re everywhere. “

  “Who are they?” Bertram said.

  George threw his hands up. “I don’t know. We can talk about it later. Right now we need to get out of here.”

  “Where to?” Bertram asked.

  George looked surprised. “Your place of course. That will buy us some time. But when they find me missing, they'll be on your trail.”

  “Then what?”

  “We’ll find a new location. Set up shop outside. Let’s get moving.” From behind the cabinet he dragged out a box covered with postcards from exotic places. “Grab these files and I’ll lock the door.”

  Bertram looked up at me and I shrugged. “Okay,” he said with some hesitation. Then his eyes widened and he yanked out the microphone jack with a yell. “Hey! He’s downloading files to my computer.”

  “Yes!” Gen said. “He’s transferring himself into your machine to escape being deleted.”

  The screen changed to the inside of a small apartment with cheap, used furniture. George walked into the room and set down his briefcase. “Come on in Jack. Do you have the files?”

  Bertram’s fingers fumbled as he plugged in the microphone. “Yes, I have them.”

  “Excellent. Just put them over here in the corner. My, this is a small apartment. But we won’t be here long. Now let’s get some rest and then I can get busy finding us a new home.”

  He moved to the wall and flipped the light switch. The screen went dark. Long seconds dragged by while we waited, but the screen stayed empty and silent.

  Bertram slowly reached out and unplugged the microphone. “Well, that was interesting. Now I have files on my hard drive that could be damaging my computer.”

  “I think he’s just passing through,” I said.

  Bertram stared at me. “To where? The school’s network? That could be hard to explain.”

  “He views your PC as a small apartment,” Gen said. “The school network would be just a quiet neighborhood where nothing exciting happens.”

  I nodded. “As a news blogger he needs to be out in the big world. He’ll try for one of the big sites where it will be easy to hide and there’s lots going on.”

  Bertram’s face got serious and he looked at each of us. “We can’t just release this program on an unsuspecting world.”

  “We could start by seeing what’s new on the computer,” I said.

  Bertram nodded. As he typed in the search criteria, Gen said, “But don’t delete ANYthing.”

  Bertram leaned back and crossed his arms. I watched as the
hourglass spun and the computer sorted through the hard drive. When it finished, only one small file was listed as new.

  “It’s a jpg file.” I said.

  “Just a picture?” Gen asked.

  “Shall we open it?” Bertram said.

  Gen and I nodded.

  He double clicked on the file and we all leaned forward to see the picture. It was a sign in a window. It read, Partially Furnished Apartment for Rent – Cheap.

  “What do you suppose that means?” Bertram said.

  “George is gone,” I said. “He moved out.”

  Gen grinned. “You don’t have to worry about releasing him on the world. He’s already out there.”