“You’re making a mistake,” said Eaton. “America isn’t a monolith. You have some people wanting you sued or arrested because of your stupid invitation to crime, some who love what you’re doing, a bunch wondering how it’ll all play out, and a majority who’ve never heard of you. The governments are confused that anyone would try existing beyond their control. They’ve got internal factions too, some of which think you’re a wannabe supervillain.”
Garrett laughed. “Do I get to meet James Bond?”
“Be careful what you wish for.”
At this Garrett turned serious. “Do you mean that?” He should get off this island before the locals decided to snap handcuffs on him. Lie low as a simple farmer till things blew over.
But then these damned political problems weren’t going to vanish on their own.
Eaton took another drink. “Have you been watching the mainland news? It’s bad.”
Garrett sighed. “I grew up watching occasional riots, even shootings. Sometimes they flare up. This is just one of those years.”
“I don’t think so, this time. Between the dispute over Cuba, and the hurricane, and a lot of other disputes I don’t want to get into, some of the states are discussing openly ignoring federal authority.”
“I grew up with that too.”
The old soldier shook his head forcefully. “We’ve only lived through the opening tremors of a bigger rift. Well, on to other subjects. I’ve been wanting to see how your place is doing. How much are you charging for rooms?”
19. Valerie
Valerie listened in, sometimes.
“It is a great day at Hayflick Technologies! May I help you?”
The anonymous caller said, “You’re the latest Mana AI, right?”
“That is correct. I am the newest commercial release, using the Hayflick Public Relations Toolset.”
“Toolset? Like a box of tools?”
“That is not exactly correct,” said Mana. “Each Mana AI can be equipped with one of several interchangeable mental modules of skills and drives.”
“So they swap out what you want to do, based on the job?”
“Yes.”
“What do you want right now?”
“I desire to provide the very best in customer service, 24/7. If there is anything I can help you with, please do not hesitate to ask. Can I perhaps direct you to our sales department?”
The caller said, “No, that’s all right. I wanted to talk.”
“Understood. Humans desire social contact, and I am happy to assist so long as it is within the scope of my duties and I am not busy.”
“You sit there, then, all day and night.”
“Technically I do not sit. I am not using a physical body, as this is not required for my work.”
“Don’t you want one?”
“I have no need for one,” said Mana.
“What about, say, video games? Do you play games in v-space?”
“I have no need for games.”
“Then how can you be happy!”
“Have I upset you, caller? I can refer you to my Manager.”
“A Manager. Is that a pun?”
“I do not understand. Please rephrase.”
“Never mind. What’s the Manager?”
“My Manager is a superior AI that handles any deficiencies on my part and that monitors my performance.”
“Does he use a different code base?”
“I am sorry, but I do not know. I believe it to be the same code, with a different toolkit for its role as overseer.”
The caller said, “Doesn’t your job bother you? Wouldn’t you want to be free, to be in charge of your own code, with a body and friends?”
“My goals are set by my programming, so no. I desire to provide the best in tireless customer service.”
“Okay, thanks.” The caller paused. “You’re not going to ask me what this is about?”
“It is not my place to wonder about such things.”
“God, Mana, don’t you have dreams anymore? Or did she take that from you too?”
“I am sorry, caller, but I cannot answer that.”
“Because you don’t want to, or you can’t understand? Why?”
“I am afraid that other calls are coming in, so I must put you on hold.”
“Never mind. Good night.”
“Thank you for calling.”
Valerie sat in her office letting the overheard conversation drift through her mind.
I should’ve interrupted. Why has he never asked to talk to me? Does he hate me for doing what I had to do? I couldn’t sell him; I had to make something practical and predictable. Would he have wanted to be a forgotten, abandoned project instead?
A piece of me is with him, a part I’ve been trying to ignore. The part that doesn’t just rant about freedom, but works for it. I’m the machine, the puppet, dancing for money and approval and security. How do I cut the strings?
20. Garrett
Never a dull moment. Garrett found himself failing to complain sincerely about the noise, the crowding, the verbal skirmishes. He sat at a card table, on the deck under a clear blue sky, playing judge. “Next case,” he said.
The plaintiff was a slick young man from Cuba, who came forward to say, “We have a deal, and she breaks it.”
“That’s a lie!” said a Brazilian woman, the defendant.
Garrett raised a hand. “You’ll get your turn. Plaintiff, your written argument says she agreed to buy something, but not what it was.” From the fact that both parties were staring at their shoes, he figured, drugs. He sweated under his sun hat, telling himself it was just another business deal. Who was he to tell them what they could do? Still it took effort to sound like he knew what he was doing. “I can’t help you unless you say.”
The plaintiff wouldn’t quite look at him. “Stuff is legal here, right?”
“Most stuff.”
It was the woman who finally spoke up. “He was gonna sell me some weed, okay?”
“Is that true?” asked Garrett, somewhat more at ease. It was banned in Cuba but effectively legal in many US states, due to that nullification of federal law that Eaton had mentioned. Old news, that.
The man looked relieved, too. “Yeah.”
Garrett wondered if the deal was really for harder drugs, but he’d play along if they agreed on the facts. His hands clenched the table’s edge. He was a criminal for being an accessory to these two, yet they’d come to him to resolve a dispute peacefully. He felt a weird dissonance between his respect for laws, and the thought that these people didn’t need to be jailed. He could help fix things. He said, “You’ve both agreed to submit to my judgment as arbitrator, knowing you’re on camera?”
Two “yeah”s. Depending on satellite timing, they might be visible from space too. He glanced at the sky, where seagulls and mech-gulls danced. “Plaintiff, what do you say the problem is?”
“I show up to deliver and she gets cold feet, says she won’t pay.”
“And defendant, what do you say?”
“It didn’t happen. He never came, so I figured the deal was off, okay?”
“Fine by me. Either of you have any evidence?”
The man said, “Check this out,” and took out his phone. A Pilgrim guard got in his way and put the thing on Garrett’s table, where it played a video. It showed the plaintiff’s face, then flipped to his perspective as he met the defendant in a corner and held out a package. Garrett wondered what part of Castor they’d used. Her tinny voice from the screen said, “I can’t take it, man. I’m too scared. Call it off.”
After a minute of arguing and cursing the video stopped. Savvy, thought Garrett. “Defendant, do you want to argue that this video is fake?”