We tried to get back to the Kayes. But they were out somewhere playing golf and not taking calls. “Okay,” I said. “Gabe, did you get the present for Alex?”
“Well, good luck. By the way, when you get home, we have a surprise for you.”
me,
“You’ll like it,” I said. “See you when you get here.”
Gabe descended into the parking area about twenty minutes later. I hurried outside to be with him when he discovered what else was there.
“Hi, Chase.” He got out of the vehicle, his eyes locked on Olander’s skimmer. “We got visitors?”
“No. That’s the surprise I mentioned.”
“What is?”
“The skimmer. Take a look.”
We walked toward the shelter. “It looks old.”
“It’s been around awhile.”
He went inside and stood staring at it. “I don’t think I’d want to ride in it. Why are we interested? Whose was it?”
I smiled at him. “Matt Olander.”
He caught his breath. “Really? You’re not kidding me?”
“No. That was his, as far as we can determine. When he was in college.”
“Beautiful.” His manner abruptly changed, darkened. “Who owns it now?”
“Alfonso Picariello.”
“I don’t want to ask the next question.” He walked over to the skimmer and touched one of the door handles. “What is it doing here?”
I wasn’t happy about his tone. I guess I’d hoped he had adjusted. “It’s up for auction.”
“Alex?”
“One of his clients.”
His appraisal had turned into a glare. He started for the house. “Let’s go in and see if the Kayes have gotten home yet.”
Jordan and Donna were still unavailable. Gabe told me to let him know when they got home. Then he went back to his quarters. A half hour later Alex arrived. “I assume,” he said, “he saw the skimmer?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” He looked at me, read me, and understood that his uncle’s reaction had not been a good one. He nodded, went to the back of the house, and knocked on Gabe’s door.
There was no indication it had opened until I heard their voices. Gabe said, “Yes, I saw it.” And Alex told him he understood he wasn’t happy.
The door closed, but I could still hear them though I couldn’t make out what they were saying until I went out into the corridor.
“. . . Sorry I’m creating a problem,” Gabe said, “but I’m just not going to be able to live with it.”
“Gabe, it’s what the company does.”
“I know. But I don’t want to sit here and watch it happen. Artifacts like that are part of history. They should be available to the public. Not stored in some millionaire’s showroom.”
“Gabe, I’m not responsible that there are collectors. If we weren’t handling the sales, someone else would.”
“I understand that. But that doesn’t mean I have to live with it. I’m sorry, but I’ll be out of here in a few days.”
“No. It’s property, Gabe. I’ll move Rainbow to another place. Just give me a little time.”
The door opened and the voices became clearer. “This is not what I want, Alex.”
“Me neither. But I don’t see what else we can do.”
A few minutes later, Donna Kaye returned our call. I let Gabe know. “I’ll be a couple of minutes,” he said. “Stay with her, Chase.”
“He’ll be here in a minute, Donna.”
She blinked on, wearing casual clothes and seated in front of a bookcase.
“More or less. Boomer wasn’t the AI when Harding owned the yacht.”
she said. She looked to her right.
He stepped into the picture.
“Do you know what happened to him?”
“Can you tell me what happened to her?”
Gabe arrived just in time to see Jordan’s response:
“Confidants” had grown into a term generally referring to AIs. We’ve had artificial intelligences taking care of us now for almost nine thousand years, and we still have arguments over whether they’re actually alive. Nobody’s figured out a way to test the issue. As far as our behavior toward them goes, I don’t think it matters. You get close to one of them, talk with her, spend the better part of your life with her, and there’s no way you could persuade yourself that it would be okay to get rid of her when you decide to move to a new house or get a new skimmer. As long as his software functions, Jacob will continue on. There’s been talk for a long time of finding a way to transfer the memories and personal characteristics of an AI to a new operating system. To prevent its demise when the system wears down. But most experts maintain it can’t be done. What you get is simply a new unit with the same characteristics.
Grangeville is in the Korina Mountains, about four hundred kilometers southwest of Andiquar. I got the number as soon as we were clear and called. It was picked up at the other end by an AI. she said.
“Hello. My name’s Chase Kolpath. We’re trying to locate an AI whom you acquired about thirteen years ago from the . Her name is Sandy. Can you tell me if she’s there now?”
“I see. Can we arrange to talk to her?”
“Yes, it would be a long ride. Can you just connect us to her?”
Gabe nodded. Do what you have to.
The retirement home was located directly across from the Grangeville Courthouse. A parking area served both as well as the city hall and a church. There was plenty of space so we were able to set down right outside the retirement home. I shut off the drive unit but Gabe remained unmoving in his seat. “Chase,” he said, “I guess you heard the argument yesterday morning.”
“I heard some of it.”
“I’m sorry you’re becoming part of this.”