Page 26 of Artificial Moon

“Be easy on her. She’s still recovering.”

“Luckily, he wasn’t waiting with a gun and silver bullets—mostly, because he hadn’t a clue I was arriving.”

“But he was prepared for you, I assume.”

“Colloidal silver dispersed through the air system.”

“You inhaled it?”

“I did. A lot of it,” I say, and explain to him the debilitating effects of silver in general and colloidal silver in particular.

“Are you okay?”

“I am now.”

“The AI is thorough, learning as it goes, researching everything.” He nods and sits back. “Checks and balances.”

“Pardon?”

“The Universe cannot bestow upon you great power without a foil. In your case, it’s silver. There needs to be a system in place wherein someone like yourself can be stopped, if necessary, and not run rampant in the streets—well, not for too long. But you seem to have made a full recovery.”

“I did, yes. But I expect him to be abundantly prepared for my next visit.”

He nods. “You’re talking silver bullets, silver-tipped crossbow bolts, or something along those lines?”

“Something along those lines, yes.”

“I’ll have my team be aware of any such purchases being delivered to the San Diego area, and try to intercept the shipment.”

I nod. “A good plan, surely, except... I suspect he might be using a crypto system with payments to black-market couriers.”

“Oh, right. That makes sense. Of course. And he could be meeting them in places with no security cameras.”

I nod. “Underground.”

“Is that where you found him?”

“Yes. A workroom, of sorts. A maintenance hub.”

“With computers?”

“Yes, one. A laptop.”

“I was afraid of that. It was stolen from the hospital. The last thing we need is that thing anywhere near a computer. The ultimate hacker, to say the least. The dude could damn well gain access to nuclear facilities, if given enough time. To say we need to stop him is an understatement.”

“Well, he’s there and he did mention causing a distraction to keep the likes of you and your team far away from him. How close he is to making that distraction a reality, I don’t know.”

“And we need to act fast before he can prepare a more elaborate method of destroying you.”

“I agree with that assessment. And if all goes well, then I will have him back here, in this office in minutes.”

“I can hardly wait.”

“When I do, what is the plan for him again?” I ask. “I want assurances that Norman will not be harmed.”

“We will conduct an immediate—and safe—surgery to remove the infected device from his head. If all goes according to plan, the man, Norman, will have anormallife moving forward, his thoughts and actions all his own. The AI only has control of him through the device.”

“Okay,” I say. “Let me go get him.”

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