"The computer told me it doesn't trust the Model Eights," Laura said, trying not to slur her words. "I can see why."
"Well, the feeling is mutual. The Model Eights would rather deal with the Other." Gray filled his lungs noisily, rocking all the way back in his chair and resting his head in his cupped hands. His feet rose to the conference table.
"Joseph, you can't create life — living, thinking organisms — and then control them like they were marionettes in a children's show."
"I know. I just thought it would take them a while longer," he said, rubbing his face and moaning with fatigue. "I thought I could get further along before it started."
"Before what started?" she asked, but he just shrugged and shook his head with a frown. She tried a different tack. "What were those flights you launched tonight?" she asked.
"Part of the plan."
"Part of phase two?" she asked, and he nodded. "So how many phases are there?"
He gazed blankly at the far wall. "I wish I knew. Where it all ends, I mean. It may end tomorrow for all I know." He looked at his watch. "Excuse me. It twelve-fifteen. I guess it's today."
"What's today? The deceleration?"
"I wish I knew the answer to that, too."
Suddenly, Laura longed for a return of the man who had no limits. Who needed no sleep. Who was always ten steps ahead. Who made things happen according to some well-scripted plan. "Joseph, you're scaring me."
He looked over at her, suddenly more alert. "It'll be all right, Laura."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't patronize me. I hate that!"
"So I hear."
Laura cocked her head, knitting her brow in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"Your 'turnoffs.' Being patronized was number one as I recall."
At first she didn't understand, but then it hit her. Her jaw dropped in shock and at the burgeoning anger to which Gray seemed oblivious. "How dare you!" she shouted, and his face registered the force of her words immediately. She struggled to her feet, the aches from her body only distantly felt now. "I can't believe you… You… you read that moronic piece-of-shit Rate Your Mate profile? O-o-oh!" The words were barely forced through clenched teeth as she shoved the chair into the table and turned away. "I've never been more insulted in my entire life!" The next words caught in her throat, but she forced them out. "That's it. I'm leaving."
There was no sound or movement from behind Laura, just the plea of "Don't" spoken earnestly.
"Why not?" she shouted, wheeling on him in total disregard of her injuries. "You lied to me about the computer picking me. You read that stupid profile and picked me out thinking… I don't know what! You give me one good reason not to walk out of here and never speak to you again! And it had better be one helluva reason, because that's all you get! One!"
He sat at the edge of his seat, both hands gripping the edge of the table. "Because I don't have even the vaguest idea what you're talking about."
She stared down at the look of complete innocence he wore. "Oh, come on! I'm talking about the 'Rate Your Mate' program that the MIT grad student uploaded onto the network! Turn-ons, turnoffs, measurements… Was it Hoblenz who found it during my security check? I bet you had a good laugh with him over it. Over me!" Gray slowly shook his head, lost in thought. "Oh bullshit! I know that turnoff crack came straight off that profile!"
"Yes," he said, nodding. Laura was halfway to the door before he jumped to his feet and shouted, "Don't leave, Laura! Please!" It was the tone of his voice that made her stop. It wasn't Gray the billionaire, the industrialist, the smartest, most capable man in the history of the world speaking. It was the man behind the curtain. She turned to look at him.
"The computer must have penetrated the university network."
"It's open-access. It's a university. Their goal is to share knowledge, not hoard it."
"But not your unpublished papers. The computer broke into your files, and it must've also found your profile. I don't know how or when. All I know is that while the doctor was treating your injuries, the computer paged me and I logged on to the shell. It was very concerned, and we talked… about you. The computer just sort of rambled on and on. It's very sick. That's when it told me about your likes and dislikes — your 'turn-ons' and 'turnoffs.' I just assumed it came from your talks with the computer." He looked back at her. "I didn't know anything about any profile, I swear it! When I hired you — when I wrote you that letter — I knew nothing more about you than the barest of credentials. I don't have time for personnel matters, especially now. The computer made the recommendation and suggested I write the letter by hand to help convince you. Hoblenz had already done the security check. That was all I knew. It wasn't until I walked into the dining room that first night that I had any idea you were…" He looked away and didn't go on.
Laura believed him; she couldn't help it. For some reason in that instant she felt able to look at Joseph as though they had never met before. To get a new first impression of someone familiar to her as if through the eyes of someone else. Tall, with long, slender muscles like a tennis player… striking eyes. She wouldn't look twice at him if he wore sunglasses, but one look at his eyes… He was waiting.
"What did the computer say about me?" Laura asked.
"It says you take too many risks — that you don't realize how dangerous it is here, how close we are to the edge of the envelope because of how hard and fast we're pushing. And I wholeheartedly agree."
"You went into that jungle last night," Laura said. "And I don't mean in your virtual-reality machine. I mean afterward, with Hoblenz. You went in there looking for the Model Eight and knowing that you might find it, in the dark, after it had just killed a man."
"Laura, you haven't accepted the risks I have. You can just check out — go home and resume your life. This" — he held his arms out—"is my life. I've got no choice."
Laura said nothing until Gray looked up at her. "I'm not going anywhere," she said, and he smiled. Not with his mouth, but with his eyes. She enjoyed the moment immensely. "So… what else did the computer say about me?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but took a while before he composed the words. "I'd really rather not…" he began, but then paused. He looked directly at her then and said, "The computer thinks you'd be an excellent addition to the team. An excellent… permanent addition."
It was Laura who broke eye contact. Her heart was pounding.
Was he saying what she thought he was saying? she wondered. What if I'm wrong? The thought was too awful to bear. "What team is that?" she asked, standing there and staring off at the end of the table.
"The team of me… and the computer. The team. On a permanent basis."
She reached out and grasped the back of her chair. "So this is the computer's idea." He didn't answer, and she was forced to turn his way.
He locked onto her eyes with an open, searching gaze.
My God, she thought, looking away again. What's he saying?
Gray rose to stand beside her. "It's late, Laura. You need to get some rest. We've got a big day in store for us."
Her mind was swimming. It was her turn to say something. "When will we know?" she asked. "About the asteroid, I mean."
"The deceleration charges are set to go at about eleven P.M., local time. That's less than twenty-three hours from now. We'll know almost immediately what its new trajectory is. It's the work leading up to the deceleration that is going to be critical. Laura," he said, pausing until she looked up at him, "if I can't get comfortable with the computer's performance between now and then, I can't let it blow those charges."
"But… what will you do? Set them off manually?"