TimeRiders 05 - Gates of Rome Read Online Free PDF Page B

her.’
    >Information.
    Liam nodded at the webcam. ‘What is it, computer-Bob?’
    >I am ready to start the simulation. Do you wish to proceed?
    He wondered whether he should wait for Maddy to get back. Sal too. They were both just as concerned whether there was anything left of Becks to salvage as he was.
    ‘Will it … I don’t know … is it safe? It won’t damage her mind or anything, will it?’
    >Negative. The data we have retrieved is now stored safely. This simulation is a read-only environment.
    ‘And what does that mean?’
    ‘It means that once the simulation stops running,’ said Bob, ‘any data that is generated is deleted.’
    ‘She won’t remember anything?’
    >That is correct. It is merely a test environment.
    Liam let himself down into the chair. ‘All right, then.’ He puffed out an anxious breath. ‘Let’s see if she’s in there.’
    >Affirmative. Launching AI emulator.
    On a screen to his right another black dialogue box popped up. An empty box with a gently blinking cursor. That’s all. Liam looked up at Bob nervously. The support unit nodded silently for him to go ahead and communicate with her.
    ‘Uh … you in there, Becks?’
    The dialogue cursor continued to blink, a steady
on-off-on-off
like a heartbeat. A pulse. A sign of life and nothing more.
    > … … …
    ‘It’s Liam here … can you hear me?’
    The cursor continued to blink silently.
    ‘The cognitive and language code may not be functioning correctly,’ said Bob quietly.
    ‘Becks, this is Liam. If you can hear me, just do something. Say something.’
    > … … …
    He watched the cursor with a gradually sinking heart.
We’ve lost her.
    Of course they could activate and grow another female foetus and she would emerge from the growth tube looking every bit like Becks. Her identical twin. But he wondered how different she would be. She’d have a face with the very same features and muscles and skin, but the mind behind it would probably learn to use the face in a wholly different way. Smile differently, no longer cock a sceptical eyebrow in quite the same way. A thousand little tics and habits that made Becks who she was – all of them gone, forever.
    ‘Becks?’ he tried again. ‘You there?’
    > … … …
    ‘It appears there is not enough retrieved data to form a viable AI construct,’ said Bob. Liam thought he heard something in his deep rumble, the slightest quaver in his voice, a thread of grief.
    ‘Becks?’ he tried one last time. He could hear emotion in his own voice now.
    She’s gone. We lost her
. He felt something warm roll down his cheek and quickly swiped it away, for some reason not wantingeither Bob or computer-Bob to make a note of that and intrude on the moment with a query.
    Goodbye, Becks.
    > … … …
    > … … ..
    > … … .
    > … …
    > … ..
    >I love you, Liam O’Connor.

CHAPTER 7
2001, New York
    They watched the foetus floating in the protein soup, flexing and twitching tiny fingers and toes in unconscious readiness. A feed pipe was connected to its belly button and rose up to the top of the tube where it met the filtration pump.
    The perspex growth tube was lit from the bottom. It glowed softly, filling their back room with a warm, womb-like, muted crimson light.
    ‘Do you think they think about things when they’re growing in there?’ asked Liam.
    ‘Probably not,’ said Maddy.
    Sal turned to Bob, standing like a freshly built brick wall beside her. ‘Did you, Bob? Do you have any memories of being in a tube?’
    He frowned, deep in concentration for a moment. ‘No. My AI software was not loaded at this stage.’
    ‘But your organic brain?’ cut in Maddy. ‘That must store some memories?’
    Bob’s shoulders flexed a casual shrug. ‘If so, it is not data I can retrieve.’
    The little foetus kicked a leg out, then tucked it back in.
    Maddy chuckled. ‘It’s got some of her attitude already.’
    ‘Do you think we can upload Becks’s AI?’ asked Sal.
    Maddy