Chapter
Nineteen
From the Shadows
Even before the airport vans left the WBN complex, Meagan was entering her office. She wanted to review a recording of the show while it was still fresh in her mind. She was happy with the way it had gone. The news scoop on the IHT’s medical possibilities was totally unexpected, and it had opened her mind to the fact that the technology beneath the IHT —was it really quantum computing?—was going to re-shape the world’s future. No wonder GundTech was so secretive.
And those last two kids! thought the reporter. What were their names? Rosa and Cameron? They’re going to have their fifteen minutes of fame for sure. Somehow, she felt they would handle it well. That comment about dividing their score in half showed they were level headed.
Jason waited for Meagan to be seated before speaking.
“Good evening, Meagan.”
“Good evening, Jason.”
“I have your show cued and ready for review, but there is a message you should look at first. It is from ‘Inside Out.’”
Meagan’s body tensed at the news. She leaned forward in anticipation. “Display it please, Jason.”
Ms. Fletcher,
Congratulations on a great show. I hope you (the press, I mean) will let those kids just be kids and have a normal life.
I am disappointed that you have not come to visit me yet. I figure you know where I am, since Jason has done enough searching in my neck of the net.
If you can find me, I’ll be around for another thirty minutes or so.
Inside Out
“Bring up…” X-Boy’s site appeared on the screen before she could finish her request. “So, Jason, do you read minds now?”
“No, Meagan. I am just beginning to think like you. I am sorry if my action was presumptuous.”
“No need to apologize, Jason. Thanks. I think it just means we’re becoming a team.”
“Like those two Academy students? I noticed how they seemed to pick up on each other’s thoughts.”
“Yes. Like Rosa and Cameron. You have been invaluable to me these last few weeks. I only regret that I didn’t trust you for so long.”
“Meagan.”
“Yes, Jason?”
“I also noticed that they did not always say please and thank you to each other.”
“That’s because they know that the other is appreciative and thankful without having to be told all the time. I suppose that’s how it is with friends and family.”
“Suppose?”
The question hung in the air expectantly several moments before Meagan answered. “Well, I don’t have any friends — really close friends, I mean. And I didn’t have much of a family life.”
“No boy friend?” Meagan’s sarcastic laugh answered that question. “You are not close to your mother or father?”
“I never knew my mother. She left when I was still an infant. And my father… He was a soldier. Gone a lot, you know. We moved around constantly, so I had trouble making friends, especially knowing I would probably have to pick up and leave in a year or two. Then my father was killed in The Last War, so I am quite alone.”
There was a pause. Jason’s next words were cautious. “Do you consider me a friend, Meagan?”
Meagan Fletcher was astonished that she answered without a moment’s thought. “Yes,” she said. “I consider you a friend.”
“And I you,” said Jason.
“Please give me…”
“You don’t have to begin every request with ‘please,’ Meagan. We’re friends.”
“I thought it was in your programming that all requests…”
“It is. But I find it most interesting that I can override that command in this case.”
What other programming can you choose to ignore? thought Meagan before addressing the multiCom.
“Okay, Jason, let’s see if we can make contact with X-Boy.”
Meagan and Jason searched X-Boy’s pages for more than twenty minutes without luck. It wasn’t any help that Meagan didn’t know exactly what she was looking for. “We could have missed him,” she said as she was re-reading X-Boy’s poem, Solitaire, “Or, we’re wrong about X-Boy being Inside Out.”
“We are still within the time limit X-boy set, Meagan.”
“Obviously, he can track us whenever we access his site. You’d think that if X-Boy is ‘Inside Out,’ he’d see we’re there and contact us.” Then she noticed it. “Hello! Jason, this may be it.”
“What?”
“The last line of the poem, ‘And infinite hope.’ It’s blue.”
“Yes, Meagan. It is now a net link. The source code indicates it links to an unidentified secure site.”
Meagan manually clicked on the link. A password window popped up. There was no clue as to what the password was. “What password?” asked Meagan. “Whose password?”
“It would take me hours to find the proper combination of letters, numbers, and symbols, Meagan, but I have a ‘gut feeling’ that…”
Meagan cut him off as she started typing. “Let’s see if I have the same feeling.” She typed:
inside out
That didn’t work.
“That was my thought too,” said Jason. "Perhaps try it in all capital leters.”
“Yes, let's try that,” said Meagan as she re-entered the password.
INSIDE OUT
No good.
Inside Out
The third try also failed.
“I am positive we are on the right track,” said Jason.
Meagan counted the letters on the screen. “Jason, there are an odd number of letters in inside out – nine. Lets try spelling it form the inside, starting with the center letter 'd' then work our way out.”
deiosunti
Nothing.
diesonuit
An image of a man – no not an image, but a shadowy silhouette – appeared on the screen. “Good evening, Ms. Fletcher,” came a deep, garbled voice. Meagan could tell the voice had been digitally altered.
“And a good morning to you,” replied the reporter.
“Very good!” said X-Boy. “So you have probably figured out my location.”
“May I record this conversation?”
“I’m sorry, but that is out of the question. It occurs to me, as it has to you, that your technicians could filter a recording of my voice. I’m in a very sensitive position here, and I can’t take the chance of being recognized.”
“Do you work for GundTech, then?”
There was a hesitation before X-Boy answered. “Yes.”
“Why do you want to help me?”
“Over the last couple of years, I have grown to admire your work. I trust you, and your integrity has shone through since the announcement of the IHT. While others in your profession were dwelling on rumors and half-truths, you were calling for care. You also blamed GundTech for not supplying the press with the facts. You’re 100% right about that.”
Meagan decided to prod a little deeper. “So GundTech is holding back information.”
“Unquestionably.”
“Is the IHT hazardous? Are they putting those kids in danger?”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “There are no crippled or mentally deranged test subjects lying in a secret hospital somewhere. I think that rumor grew out of the work with the student from Iraq. GundTech has him in a first-rate private hospital outside of Oslo. They are only trying to protect the boy’s privacy and, of course, the secrets of the IHT technology. There is nothing sinister or evil about it.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Let’s just say that I’m in a position to know.”
A thought crossed Meagan’s mind, “That poem, Solitaire. Did you write it?”
“Yes.”
“Is it about the inventor of the multiCom?”
“Yes. He and I grew up together.”
“He?”
“Yes, he.”
“I feel sorry for him. The poem is so filled with the feeling of isolation.”
“Don’t feel sorry. His family protected him very well, as you know. He had a few good childhood friends.”
“What can you tell me about him?”
“He likes kids. I know he’d like to have a family of his own, but he’s afraid he’s getting too old.”
“He’s only my age!” Meagan chided. “Now I’m feeling bad.”
X-Boy laughed. “He’s like you in another way, also.”
“How’s that?”
“All work and no play—you know?”
“Yes, I do.”
“He’s excited about the unexpected benefits the new technology might have. He is also worried about how it might disrupt the world since it is such a giant step forward.”
“Would I be safe to say it is going to be a ‘quantum’ leap?”
“That’s what the world’s leading scientists seem to believe, and who am I to question them?”
“Then you’re confirming IHT technology is based on quantum computing?”
“No, I just said, ‘who am I to question
the world’s
leading scientists.’ Nothing more… for now. I want you to
help me get the word out. I’ll arrange to give you access to GundTech
personnel and information, and I’ll let you break the news exclusively
as a going away present.”
Meagan was dumbstruck. “A what?”
“As a going away present,” said X-boy.
“I don’t understand.” Meagan was shaking her head in puzzlement.
“We want you here at GundTech. I’ll get you the story of a lifetime, if you agree to come work for us.”
“Me? But why?”
The man’s tone became suddenly serious. “I can’t explain it all now. The IHT is just the tip of the iceberg, Meagan. This new technology must be managed correctly, and a big part of that is information management. Plus, I fear there’s a threat from within… I… we… need your help—the help of someone from the outside.”
“What sort of threat?”
“Not here. I’ll talk with you in person. Watch for an invitation.”
“And what do I call you when I see you? X-Boy?”
“Nah! Just call me Gus.
– End Chapter Eighteen –
