Page 99 of Chaos Theory
As I get to work, Josh resumes his pacing. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t be doing that.’
‘Why, what’s the worst that could happen? I get fired? I’m more scared that Ron won’t actually let me go.’
‘But…what if… what if Ron is right? Robots on the battlefield could save humans on the battlefield. Who’s the real bad guy here? Maybe Ron is saving lives.’ He stops pacing to look at me. ‘Arewethe bad guy?’
‘Josh, you’re already the bad guy. But Ron’s even worse! If hewants to put robots in the military, he can do it without me.’ My mind clarifies and I make a decision. ‘And he can do it without Kobi.’
I’m ninety per cent sure Kobi’s recording feature is disabled when I say it.
FIFTY-THREE
7pm
‘Your message was very cryptic,’ says Shane as he opens the hall door to his house. ‘You don’t need an excuse to come and see me, you know.’ He grins, steps back to let me in.
I smile back at him. ‘I just needed to verify in person that you didn’t have a hangover.’ So much has happened in the past twenty-four hours, since I left him in Phelan’s with his sparkling water and the sparkling-skinned Sandra Smith. I walk into the living room and look around. ‘Is Alek here?’
‘No, he’s out on a date. Another one. Says this is The One for sure. Said that last time as well though.’ He escorts me to the couch. ‘Peppermint tea?’
I stay standing by the couch. ‘I need to talk to you about something. Something serious.’
He laughs but sounds uncertain. ‘Okay.’
I reach out for him. He takes my hand and we face each other, awkwardly holding hands. I don’t know what to do or say next. ‘Maybe you should put the kettle on,’ I say. ‘This is going to take a while.’
‘Oh really?’ His grin is back.
‘To explain, I mean. Stop distracting me.’
‘I didn’t realise I was so distracting.’
I focus on his lips as he speaks. He’s still holding my hand. I sense my breathing get shallow. I swallow, lick my lower lip as my mind goes blank.
‘Kobi,’ I say eventually. I sigh and drop his hand. ‘It’s about Kobi. Something bad has happened, is happening. Make me some tea and I’ll tell you.’
I sink into the battered couch as Shane goes to the kitchen. As I watch him make tea, his back to me, a scenario plays out in my mind. What if I go to him now, put my arms around him, let him turn around and kiss me, then lead me upstairs?No, that’s not what I came here for.I lightly tap myself on the cheek to bring back reality.
He returns with two steaming mugs, places them on the coffee table. He sits next to me, then turns to face me. ‘Hey, you look sad all of a sudden. What’s going on?’
Tears threaten the corners of my eyes. I blink them away, go to sip my tea. As usual it’s too hot to drink, but I let the steam bathe my face, blow on the liquid surface to steady my breath.
I inhale deeply and summarise everything I learned today at work. Kobi’s secret military application. Ron’s plan to create an army of Kobis, and to train them using a digital copy of me, obtained by deceptive means. Shane’s eyes grow wider with each twist, but – fair play to him – he lets me tell the whole thing uninterrupted.
‘This is bonkers,’ he says when I’ve finished. ‘Outrageous. Poor Kobi. And you – is it even legal to make a digital copy of you?’
‘I don’t know. Ron says I signed away my digital assets.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘This is the thing. This is why I’m here.’ I take a deep breath. I can’t look him in the eye. ‘I know Kobi is a machine. But he’s more than that. He’s part of me, part of us. You were right – he is like a child.Ourchild.’ I pause. ‘Or at the very least, our pet. He needsus. We can’t abandon him now.’ I finally understand why people refer to their pets as ‘part of the family’.
After everything I’ve been through with Kobi, seeing him in jeopardy clarified my mind. What Ron plans to do is wrong. And maybe I can’t stop him. But maybe I can help Kobi.
‘But what can we do?’ Shane asks.
‘Well.’ I put down my tea. ‘I kind of came up with a plan.’
‘Great.’
