Page 18 of The Phoenix Code

  Ander stalked to the counter and glared at the girl. "How much will it cost us to pretend we aren't in your hotel?"

  "I'm sorry?" the girl said.

  "Why are you sorry?"

  She reddened. "May I help you, sir?"

  "The jungle ride. How much for the tickets?"

  She shifted into a practiced smile. "Ten dollars each."

  He handed over a hundred. "Two."

  "Thank you, sir." She gave him the tickets and his change.

  "Why do you work here?" Ander asked.

  "Excuse me?"

  He put the bills in his wallet. "That's the second time you've apologized. Yet you did nothing needing an excuse either time."

  The girl flushed. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

  "That's the third time. Why do you keep doing that?"

  "You seem angry."

  "I'm not." He turned on his boy-next-door grin. "I just wondered why you work here."

  Under the wattage of his smile, she melted. "I go to the university. This job helps pay my tuition and expenses."

  "You're in college?" His envy sounded real. "What do you study?"

  "Political science."

  "That sounds like a contradiction in terms." When the girl laughed, he beamed as if she had given him a present. "Have a good night."

  "You too."

  Taking Megan's arm, Ander led her back to the dock. "Did you see that? She thought my joke was funny."

  "I saw." His delight impressed her as much as the joke. It didn't come across as simulated at all.

  Ander gave the tickets to the guide, and the man set them up in the boat. Instead of sitting down, though, Ander stood in the middle of the boat regarding the fel­low. "How did you come to work here?"

  "You looking for a job?" the man asked.

  "Maybe."

  What a concept, Megan thought. Ander, employed in the Royal Adventure Palace.

  "What qualifications do you have?" the man asked.

  "I'm good with computers. They like me." In a confi­dential tone, he added, "People even say I'm rather like one."

  Megan tugged on his arm. "Come on. Let's go."

  Ander glared at her. "I want to talk to the man."

  She smiled broadly at the guide. "He doesn't need a job. He's worth billions." Then she sat down, yanking Ander with her.

  The guide chuckled and sent them off. The boat moved away from the dock, drifting into a river that exited the lake.

  After the river curved off into the trees, Megan said, "Why do you keep needling people?"

  "It's fun." The gleam in Ander's gaze made him look like a rascal. "Even if I told them I'm a computer, they wouldn't believe it. It's a scream."

  "I thought everyone was spying on us, just waiting for a chance to hit you over the head, or whatever it is you think they're going to do."

  He winced. "That was a little paranoid, wasn't it?"

  "That's putting it mildly."

  His voice turned pensive. "I must seem strange to you."

  She softened. "You're a marvelous wonder. I just wish you would let us do this right."

  "I am doing it right. My right."

  He was becoming hard to hear as a roar up ahead in­creased. They came around a bend and sailed behind a waterfall. It poured over fake rocks and spray danced in the air, creating rainbows.

  Then they floated under a canopy of trees. "Guess what's about to flop down on us?" Ander said.

  "What—aaahh!" Megan jerked back as a huge green python uncoiled from a tree and dropped down inches from the boat. It watched them with great golden eyes. The boat sailed on around a bend, leaving the python be­hind.

  "Good grief," Megan said. "How did you know?"

  "I've been monitoring the area for IR. The python has a chip in its body that lets it know a boat is corning." Ander paused, studying her face. "Is this fun?"

  Dryly she said, "Oodles."

  "Oodles?" His laugh was still nuanced, but it had lost its scratchy quality. "That's not in my database."

  "Are you having fun?"

  "Yes." His smile faded. "But it's so odd that humans go to such lengths to re-create the very things you've spent your history striving to overcome. You simulate the jungle. You simulate adventure. You simulate yourselves, through me."

  "You think we're trying to overcome ourselves by cre­ating androids?"

  "Aren't you?"

  It had never occurred to her to view it that way. "I think we're evolving. You're part of that. No one is quite sure where we will end up."

  Suddenly a lion leapt out from behind a rock. It landed on the bank and gave a huge roar, baring razor-edged teeth. As Megan yelled, the boat sailed on.

  Amusement lightened Ander's face. "It was fake."

  "I knew that."

  "That's why you screamed."

  "I did not scream. It was a yell."

  "That's different from a scream?"

  "It's more dignified."

  He laughed. "All right. You yelled." As they passed under another waterfall, he added, "My mind is still loop­ing. It's big loops now, though. Can you help?"

  "Let me work on you."

  "I can't risk it. Give me more ideas for rewriting."

  "You need to step out of your mind."

  "I know." He wiggled his nose. "I'll go crazy. Out of my mind."

  His wacky sense of humor stirred the affection she had often felt for him at NEV-5. She had tried to suppress it at first, unsure if it was an appropriate response. Then she decided to stop worrying about it. If he couldn't arouse emotions in people, he would never convince anyone he was human.

  "I meant, you need something new," she said. "Fresh input for your code. Food for thought, literally."

  "My mind is malnourished." He seemed to come to a decision, "All right. Let's go somewhere new. Another casino."

  "How? We're stuck on a fake river." They were drift­ing into a tunnel lit only by fluorescent gleams on the walls.

  "Is this supposed to be the romantic part?" Ander asked.

  Megan shifted her weight. "I guess."

  "I don't understand this 'turn down the lights' busi­ness," He motioned at the dim tunnel around them. "Why do humans associate darkness with reproduction? Wouldn't it make more sense to see your mate, so you know what you're getting?"

  She cleared her throat. "Not necessarily."

  "Why not?"

  "I guess because for most of human history, we went to bed when the sun went down. So night was when you, uh, had sex." She felt heat spreading in her face. "Also, a lot of us don't feel comfortable being watched when we make love."

  "Really?" He looked fascinated, as if they were talking about the mating habits of an exotic fish. "Some humans take off their clothes in front of other humans and dance naked."

  "Well, yes. But not most of us." She felt the blush on her face. "Besides, most of us don't look that good with­out our clothes."

  "You would."

  "Ander!"

  "Hey." He held up his hands to defend himself. "Don't blame me. It's obvious from the way men look at you."

  "Look at me?"

  "Oh, come on. How could you not know?"

  "They don't do it when I can see."

  "Why not?"

  "I don't know. Ask a guy."

  "I don't get it." Ander gestured at the tunnel around them. "Why are humans so weird about sex? It's in every­thing you write, create, draw, sing, dance. Everything you do. Adults supposedly think about it every few minutes. Yet you all go through these incredible social contortions trying to act like it doesn't exist. Humans have been hav­ing sex ever since your race came into being, yet after all this time it still embarrasses you, makes you insecure, drives people to craziness, even murder, suicide, and war. Why are you all so screwed up about it?"

  Megan stared at him, nonplussed. Then she tried to put into words what she felt. "Sex makes you vulnerable, es­pecially when your emotions become involved—which they usually do, even when people try not to le
t it hap­pen."

  "Does Raj make you feel vulnerable?"

  Megan almost didn't answer. But then she said, "Yes."

  "Did you have sex with him?"

  "None of your business."

  "Why?"

  "It's private."

  "Could you have sex with both me and Raj?"

  "Ander!"

  "It happens all the time in porn holovids."

  Megan wished she could jump overboard and swim away. "That's different."

  "Why?"

  "I'm really not comfortable with this discussion."

  He spoke quietly. "I know why it's different, at least for you. Pornography takes love out of the act. That both­ers you."

  His insight surprised her. "Yes. It does bother me."

  He gazed down at the water lapping against the boat. "I can't love, not really. Sure, I can project joy, fear, de­sire, anything. But they have a null effect on me. Is joy dif­ferent than fury? How?" He looked up at her. "I want to feel. Truly feel."

  Megan longed to reach out to him. How could he have such convincing emotions, yet say he felt nothing? "I wish I could make it happen."

  Softly he said, "So do I."

  The bungalow was dim, with only a small light glowing on the console. Raj lay still, his eyes closed. Megan couldn't tell if he was breathing. Sitting on the bed, she laid her hand across his neck. When she felt his pulse, re­lief surged over her. She had spent most of the day and night afraid for him, while Ander hauled her to different casinos for his "new experiences," most of which in­cluded winning money. Lots of money.

  Leaning over the nightstand, she yanked the stripped cord out of the wall module.

  "Leave it," Ander said. "I don't want to take any risks."

  "Tough." She unwound the cord from Raj's wrists, hoping she was right about Ander, that he wouldn't stop her. For all that he claimed he felt no emotion, he had a connection with her and Raj, though she had no idea how to define that bond.

  She laid Raj's arms by his sides. He mumbled, and his face creased with pain. He rolled onto his side, his lashes lifting, then sighed and closed his eyes again, still asleep.

  "Are you done?" Ander sounded acidic.

  Megan stroked Raj's hair, hit with relief again, this time because Ander hadn't stopped her. "Yes. I'm done."

  "Damn it, Megan, look at me."

  She raised her head. He was standing by the console, one fist clenched at his side, the other resting on the com­puter.

  "Yes?" she asked.

  "You never answered my question."

  "What question?"

  "Have you ever made love to him?"

  "Why do you care?"

  "I don't know." He thumped the console with his fist. "My mind goes around and around the same theme. Pos­session. Why? If I were human it would make sense. I would desire you in a physical or emotional sense. But I don't. At least, I don't think I do. My software has me act that way even though I don't understand the state I'm modeling. I'm splitting in two. I feel; I don't feel. I don't even know if I'm making sense. I'm going crazy."

  He sounded to Megan like someone trapped in a locked room, banging on the door—and never realizing he already had the key. "We can help, if you'll only let us."

  "Help me find others like me. Phoenix."

  "Ander, I don't know what you mean." She thought of General Graham's tension when she had mentioned Phoenix. What was going on? "Can you tell me more about the project?"

  He wouldn't meet her gaze. "I'm not sure."

  "I can't help if I don't have full information."

  Ander looked back at her. "You won't believe me."

  "Try me."

  "All right. Raj knows. He stole that Pentagon file. He pretends he's never heard of it because he found it in a place where he had no business being."

  "You're right. I don't believe you."

  Ander made a disgusted sound. "You exhibit another aspect of human mating rituals I find opaque, this selective lack of good sense that humans show about their mates when they are in love."

  "I'm not in love." At least not yet.

  "Oh. Excuse me. In lust."

  That an android might have more insight into her feel­ings than she did herself unsettled Megan. "You told me that you deliberately suppressed your positive memories of Raj. Now you claim he's breaking into the Pentagon. That doesn't give me much motivation to believe you."

  "What is that saying? Love is blind."

  "You've given me no proof."

  "How can I? Raj erased his work. I only know about it because while he was doing it, I was running the com­puter game I had hidden from you two. His covert activi­ties overlapped mine." His look challenged her, as if he dared her to disbelieve him. "The Pentagon files say the Phoenix Project is making androids."

  Megan didn't know what to think. She had no doubt that other labs were working on humanlike robots, nor would it surprise her if the Pentagon knew about the work, but more than that, she couldn't say. "It's too little to go on."

  "We can get more. He can break into the Las Cruces lab where they're doing the research." Ander sat on the bed, facing her. "A hacker as good as Raj could do almost anything from here."

  She didn't deny it. They both knew what Raj could do. Many of his clients hired him for exactly that expertise, to set up security procedures that protected their networks against break-ins.

  "Why can't you do it yourself?" she asked.

  "I tried. I couldn't get in."

  "Yet you think Raj can?"

  "If anyone can, he's the one."

  "You can't force him."

  His voice hardened. "I'll do whatever I have to."

  She didn't doubt him. Of course she didn't. He could calculate the best way to convey what he wanted, then have his face and voice produce the effect. It made him the ultimate bluffer, which was one reason he had done so well at cards.

  She glanced at Raj. In sleep, the lines of strain on his face eased and his body relaxed. His lips were slightly parted. It made him seem guileless rather than dangerous. She wished that were true.

  "We'll talk to him tomorrow," Ander said.

  She nodded, feeling her exhaustion. "All right."

  "You rest. I don't need to."

  Although it wouldn't be the first time he had stayed up all night, his words had a new significance now: unlike his human creators, he needed no sleep. Bold new being, she thought. Are you a great step forward in our evolution or the harbinger of our decline?

  After she had washed up and put on her nightshirt, she climbed into bed with Raj. He pulled her into his arms, never coming fully awake. As much as she savored lying in his embrace, she couldn't relax. She was too aware of Ander and his claims. Her body wanted to trust Raj; her mind doubted him.

  Her last sight, as she drifted into sleep, was Ander sit­ting in his chair, watching them, the rifle balanced on his knees.

  *15*

  StarProber

  Megan came out of the bathroom, toweling her hair. She found Raj awake, sitting against the headboard of the bed with his long legs stretched out on top of the covers. Dark circles showed under his eyes like smudges. With his ripped jumpsuit and tousled hair, he could have been a pilot from a crashed plane. Seeing him alive and well after last night was like finding a spring of clear, cool water in the desert.

  Ander was still in his chair. As far as she could tell, he hadn't moved all night. At least he had given her the pri­vacy to take a shower. Of course, he had checked the bathroom yesterday to make sure it had no means of es­cape.

  If this kept on much longer, she and Raj would miss their next VR meeting with the Everest team. They jug­gled the schedule fairly often, so a dropped meeting wouldn't immediately spark a search. Raj and Ander both knew that, which meant neither had reason to believe the military had undertaken such a search—unless one of them knew about her conversation with Graham. But nei­ther acted as if he thought someone was on their trail. She doubted Ander would have stayed in one place
this long if he suspected.

  She regarded Raj, suddenly feeling shy. "Hi."

  "Hi, Megan." He pushed up into a straighter position.

  She went over and sat on the bed. "Are you all right?"

  He managed a tired smile. "Yes. Fine."

  "You're sure?" He looked like hell.

  "Yeah, sure." After a pause, he said, "Actually, my head feels like an eighteen-wheeler ran over it."

  "I have Tylenol in the valise," Ander said.

  Megan jerked at the interruption. Ander continued to watch them, the rifle resting on his knees.

  "I don't take medicine or drugs unless a doctor tells me that I must," Raj said. "Not even an over-the-counter medication." The edge in his voice didn't surprise Megan, given how Ander had drugged him last night.

  "Another of your amusing quirks," Ander commented. "Tell her what else you do." When Raj ignored him, Ander said, "He whittles his soap into animal statues and won't wash with anything else. He won't go up in sky­scrapers. And get this. He fired an assistant of his once be­cause the nefarious fellow committed the unspeakable crime of swatting a fly."

  A muscle twitched under Raj's eye, but he made no other sign that he heard Ander. "Megan, how are you this morning?"

  "Okay." She knew that everything Ander had just re­vealed had probably been documented for Raj's security clearance, which the android must have hacked. Raj knew the drill. MindSim didn't care if he was eccentric; they just wanted to know about it so no one could blackmail him. She doubted Raj cared enough about his idiosyn­crasies to pay money over them, anyway.

  "He likes to eat gravel too," Ander said.

  Raj swung around to him. "Shut up."

  Megan frowned at the android. "What is it you want?"

  He leaned forward, still holding the rifle in his lap. "Raj and I were discussing our plans while you were in the shower."

  Raj raked his hand through his hair. "Ander has the mistaken notion that I can crack LLCL."

  "Sure you can," Ander said.

  Raj made an incredulous noise. "Even if I could per­form this remarkable feat, why would I?" To Megan, he said, "Regardless of what droidboy claims, I have no in­tention of breaking the law or violating the security of my country."

  " 'Droidboy' isn't giving you a choice," Ander said.