“Yeah, we didn’t discuss splitting up yesterday,” James complained.
“I don’t think Vito and James would be admitted to the meeting,” ELOPe answered. “If they are willing, I have an alternative assignment for them, one that Vito would be particularly well suited for.”
“What is it?” Vito asked, leaning forward.
“I intercepted some military communications this morning. Twenty miles west of here, in Beaverton, there is a military team, led by one Lt. Sally Walsh, who has a plan to build an alternative communications network. Her plan is based on a packet radio mesh network using heavy encryption. Success would enable the restoration of emergency services and communication. If they are to succeed, they will need help, but they will not accept it from me, an AI.”
“So what, we just walk in and say we want to help?” James asked. “I don’t think they are going to welcome a couple of teenagers.”
“I’ll tell you exactly what to say. Trust me, I am very convincing. If you accept, I have a vehicle ready to take you. It’s something I cobbled together. Mike calls it my Mad Max tank.”
Leon, Vito and James looked at each other.
“Give us a second, will you?” Leon asked.
Mike nodded, and left the room. The computer displays shut down, and a small cleaning bot zoomed out of the room on wheels.
Leon looked at Vito and James. “You guys willing to do this?”
Vito looked hesitant. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.
James answered for both of them. “Yeah, we can take care of this. You go with Mike. I’ll take care of Vito.”
Leon clasped their hands. “Good luck.”
“You too,” James said, and then continued in a whisper. “And listen, don’t assume Mike knows more than you just because he created all this shit. Don’t rely on him. You are the fucking brilliant one who created the virus. Do what you think is right.”
Leon blinked, and then nodded.
“Alright, ELOPe, you can stop pretending to not listen,” James called out loudly.
With a hum, the computer displays turned back on, the cleaning bot came back through the robot equivalent of a doggy door, and a minute later Mike came back in.
Another maintenance bot entered the room, and ELOPe’s voice sounded from the bot. “Vito and James, follow me please.”
“See ya,” Leon said, making his voice lighthearted, although he was terrified of being without his friends for support.
They left, and Mike and Leon quickly finished their food. Mike led Leon, retracing their path through the data center to the roof access staircase. On the roof they found the experimental military plane settling in, frame creaking and engines ticking. They made their way onboard, followed by a medium sized black robot.
“What’s the robot for?” Mike asked.
“I’m bringing a physical manifestation,” ELOPe answered. “Everyone’s going to be there in person.”
“This is going to be interesting,” Mike said, talking to no one in particular.
On the plane, they settled into two facing seats, and the thrusters built power until the plane launched itself into the sky. Hurtling northeast, the plane would fly over Canada, Greenland and Iceland to its final destination in Switzerland, refueling twice in midair. The airframe creaked and whined as they passed the speed of sound, settling in its supersonic configuration.
During the flight Leon inspected the black robot. Left and right tank-style treads on a body about two feet wide, two and a half feet long. The main body was about three feet high, with a glossy, black enameled surface. A telescoping round column looking like brushed aluminum, about six inches in diameter, terminated at a black cube about a foot in each dimension, bristling with cameras, antennas, and other sensors. Two manipulator arms attached to a sleeve that could move up and down the central column. The robot head turned, and twin cameras focused on Leon. He quickly glanced away.
A little over four hours later they passed into the dawn skies over Europe, and approached Bern.
“Where are you putting us down?” Mike asked, alarmed at the approaching city. There was no airport, and the dense, old European city didn’t have a lot of open spaces.
“There’s a recreation field next to the river,” ELOPe answered.
“A city park?” Mike answered. “At 8:30 in the morning?”
“Yes. Now hold on.”
ELOPe routed the front camera through the cabin display so Leon and Mike could watch the landing. They felt the aircraft vectoring thrust for a vertical landing, and it settled down in the middle of the park. Through the camera display, Leon saw people around the perimeter shield their faces from the onslaught of debris kicked up by the jet’s downdraft as the plane set down in the middle of a grassy soccer field.
As the engines spun down ELOPe opened the door and they climbed out. ELOPe’s black robot followed the humans. Leon glanced back, watching the robot navigate the airplane boarding steps by using two narrow ramps on either side of the treads. The robot oriented towards Leon and ELOPe’s voice came out of the speakers. “Stairs are still tricky, unless you use a humanoid robot,” ELOPe said, acknowledging Leon’s attention. “I suspect that the virus council members will come with humanoid robots.”
“Where would they get them?” Leon asked.
“Honda’s been making humanoid robots for thirty years, but there’s never been a real use for them. Other than myself, there hasn’t been a generalized human equivalent AI, and there’s no point to having a general purpose humanoid body for a specialized algorithm. You use a specialized robot for that.”
“Oh,” Leon said simply. He had a feeling the world was about to become a very weird place.
“Follow me, please,” ELOPe called, leading them out of the park past the observers.
Leon looked back at the group of people, maybe a dozen or so. With a start, Leon realized they were surrounding a fire, and over the fire was what appeared to be a dog roasting on a spit.
“What the…” Leon trailed off.
“The food situation isn’t good in cities right now,” ELOPe explained, after checking to see where Leon was looking. “Europeans tend to have smaller supplies of food in their homes, and smaller grocery stores. Stoves and ovens aren’t working either, which doesn’t make it easy to cook what supplies they have.”
Leon couldn’t help staring back at the small group in the park. He hadn’t realized how insulated he had been, first by escaping New York and going to Grey Towers, and then being with Mike at ELOPe’s data center. As they left the park, the plane’s engines spun up again, and it took off abruptly. Leon glanced away from the people and watched the jet take off. “Where…”
“It’ll meet a refueling tanker. Plus it’s not a good idea to keep it in a city park. People are angry at technology right now.” ELOPe’s bot took off rapidly with a whir of rubber treads. ELOPe swiveled the bot’s head a hundred and eighty degrees to face backwards and called out to Mike and Leon, “Fifteen blocks to our destination.”
Leon gazed around wide eyed. This was his first time out of the United States. Surrounded by five-hundred-year-old buildings, the feeling of antiquity sunk in. The contrast between the black robot they followed and the city around them couldn’t be greater. Groups of huddled, scared people turned to watch the odd group pass. Leon stayed closed to Mike and ELOPe.
A few minutes later they arrived at Erlacherhof, an imposing stone building set back from the street by an enormous courtyard. Swiss police blocked the gate, but seemed to be expecting them, for when ELOPe rolled up they opened the courtyard gate.
A Swiss Guard officer escorted the group into the ancient stone mansion. While following the officer, ELOPe rotated his head 180 degrees to talk to the group. “The original proposal was to meet at the Palace of Nations, which is the site of the United Nations Office of Europe. However doing that would have political implications. We would have had to include additional representatives from the U.N., which frankly would have inhibited any decision making. Erlacherhof is the headquarters of the Bern regional government. It’s suitably pompous, but less visible.”