The Other Side of Nowhere Read Online Free PDF Page B

might be more computer savvy.
    Plug and play, all the way.
    The download finished and we had him. Leslie pulled the second drive out and smiled at me. I smiled back. She placed the drives in my hand and I felt uneasy. I was holding Jonah’s life in my arms, literally, and I wasn’t so sure I liked the idea.
    But right then, a voice erupted from the console. We both jumped. “Listen,” Jonah said. “You must listen and then get out quickly.”
    I naturally came to the worst possible conclusion. “Oh my God, it didn’t work!”
    “This is a recording,” said the machine. “I transferred nearly everything onto the drives, but I still had to leave behind a few key files. Not everything would have fit, so I’m afraid it was necessary. However, it should be enough for you to revive me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Jim, but you may have tried to find another drive, and there isn’t enough time.”
    I looked at the hardware in my hands. “Sneaky bastard.”
    Leslie grabbed my hand. “Ready?” she asked.
    I nodded. “Let’s do it.”
    ******
    I was a nervous wreck for most of the trip home. The drive from the lab to the hotel, then to the airport. Paranoia was setting in with images of my arrest and the consequences that would follow. I imagined myself in handcuffs, being thrown into a police car and taken to a room with no windows. A caged animal. I wagered the government didn’t take kindly to traitors, even if they had a good reason for breaking the law. Even if I was saving a life .
    But when the car finally slowed and we pulled up to the curb of the airport terminal, I found I could finally breathe again. Then I saw security and a whole new kind of hysteria set in. “Don’t worry,” Leslie said, placing her palm on mine. “If you follow protocol they won’t suspect anything’s wrong. Here, put the drives in your laptop case.”
    I did as she suggested. “So tell me again why you’re not coming with me?”
    “I need to stay behind to make sure everything works out. It’ll be weird if I’m suddenly not at work and they find something wrong with Jonah’s computer.”
    “They’ll think the same thing about me since I left today.”
    “Yeah,” she admitted. “But you’re no computer engineer. They may not suspect you’re capable of this.”
    For once, I was relieved at my lack of computer experience. I opened the car door to leave. “Be careful,” I said. “I don’t know what I’ll say to Jonah if you get caught.”
    She grinned. “Don’t worry about me. You just take care of our friend.”
    I smiled and shut the door, then watched as she drove away.
    Maybe everything would work out, after all.
    ******
    It took us twelve weeks to gather all the equipment necessary to bring Jonah back to life. Leslie ordered the parts, one piece at a time, and we had to pay a little extra to keep things under the radar . I used some of the severance pay the military sent me to pay for the hardware and other expenses. It sucked giving it all up, but the situation didn’t leave us with too many options. I mean, you can’t really go down to the local electronics store and buy a computer powerful enough to house an electronic super being, at least not without setting off a few alarms.
    It took a while, and I had to clear out half the basement, but we made it work.
    Leslie made a few trips out to see me, but she mostly stayed and continued working. She had to make sure nothing got back to us. After about a month, she applied and interviewed for a contracting job in my area. It paid more, so the cover story looked solid. No one questioned it, much to our relief.
    A few weeks later, we were together again, Leslie and I, sitting in my basement behind a freshly built computer. She inserted the drives, the little boxes holding the consciousness of the first true AI. I could feel my stomach turning, flutters in my chest.
    She booted the system and smiled when it worked. We had procured the hardware from an