Mindguard Read Online Free PDF

said, struggling to remain calm.
    “I’m sure you
can imagine, Mr. Ayers, that I am a very well connected man.”
    “You know what I
mean!”
    Sheldon silently
looked at Miller for a long time. His stare was so cold that Ross was surprised
Horatio didn’t ask his brother to fetch him a sweater.
    “You have, no
doubt, heard the rumors,” Miller said. “Now I’m telling you that they are
true.”
    Sheldon looked
like he wanted to hit the man. Ross could not remember the last time he had
seen his partner even remotely angry.
    “You’ve found a
way to communicate with the uploaded minds,” Sheldon half whispered. His voice
was cold and it sounded hollow; he seemed to be trying very hard to control his
anger. 
    “To a very
modest extent. But it is possible. My company developed an algorithm
which enables limited two-sided communication in the form of single-line
true/false responses from IDIs – Individual Data Identities.  
    “People can
communicate with the memories in the archives,” Sheldon said slowly, as if he
were formulating an accusation before a court of law, “and you kept the
information to yourselves?”
    “Look, Mr.
Ayers, it is a very recent breakthrough, still in the early stages of
development. I’m sure you understand that access to the memories cannot realistically
be made available to everyone.”
    “I’m sure you
make it available to yourselves.”
    “Now listen
here,” Marcus barked. “If it were not for funding from Mylonas Industries, most
of the technology that even makes it possible for the vast quantity of data to
be stored in the archives would not even exist. The funds are provided by my
brother. Now, if you don’t believe this entitles him to certain privileges
offered by the technology he helps to develop, then that is merely your
own opinion, Mr. Ayers.”
    “Also,“ Horatio
stepped in with an appeasing voice, “at this stage the main priority is
developing a faster and more complex method of communication. Our scientists
are collaborating with the archive itself to make that possible, hopefully
sometime in the next five to ten years. But this can only be achieved if we
benefit from discretion.”
    “And people like
yourself decide the boundaries of this discretion, Educator Miller?” It was the
first time that Sheldon referred to Horatio as ‘Educator’ and it had sounded
like an accusation. Ross, who was quietly following the conversation, could no
longer remain silent.
    “Enough!”
    He raised his
voice at Sheldon, like a father at a misbehaved son. “Listen, Sheldon, you either
take the case and get the opportunity to communicate with what’s left of
Kinsey’s mind, or you walk away, but you are done splitting hairs and
you are done wasting everybody’s time. You got that? Now, what will it
be?”
    “All right,”
Sheldon said, without even so much as looking at his partner. “Show me to the
bathroom,” he ordered Marcus Miller, who unenthusiastically got up and led him
out of the cellar, understanding now that the mindguard was a prototech. As
if he needed any more reasons to dislike Sheldon , Ross thought. He waited
for the two men to exit before confronting his host in private. “You know, I
yelled at him but, with all due respect, I should have also yelled at you,
Educator.”
    “And why is
that?” Miller asked, feigning curiosity.
    “You were way
out of line.”
    “Was I?”
    “That is not how
you conduct business, Educator.”
    “That is exactly how you conduct business, Mr. Ross. Especially with a man like Sheldon. He must
be intercepted like an adversary, he leaves one no other option.”  
    “You knew where
this was going from the start. You baited him by offering him things you
knew he would refuse so that he’d let his guard down. If you had mentioned his
grandfather from the start, his anger and resentment might have caused him to
impulsively decline. You knew that a man with Sheldon’s pride would never have
accepted later on if he