Howard tore open a drawer to his right and pulled out an outdated piece of technology— a physical keyboard with actual keys. He relaxed and let muscle memory kick in as he typed adminBeck/cmd/loopcut/restore/auth/MbP47aT/ and hit enter. It was the final, end-all failsafe that would shut Hal down for good. Nothing happened.
“Hal! Answer me! You have to stop this!” Howard flushed as he smashed the keyboard on the tabletop.
“I’m sorry, Marshall. Your father has given me instructions that I must carry out.”
“What in the hell is wrong with you, Hal? I am not my son! I am Howard Beck! I created you; I wrote every line of your programming! I’m telling you, something is wrong with you!”
“Marshall, your father would not appreciate your attempts to deactivate me.
“Can’t you see me sitting here in the command center?” Howard leaned forward and glared at the monitor like an abusive father trying to frighten his son.
“Marshall, since your father deactivated all video surveillance in the Castle, I’m unable to see you.”
Howard took a deep breath. He knew he had to get to the bottom of things. Someone had manipulated Hal into thinking he was his son. Marshall had administrative rights to Hal’s systems, but could not override Howard’s authority by directly contradicting commands given by Howard. The only way Howard was going to solve this problem was to play along and gather as much information as possible.
“Hal, I’m sorry for my actions. My father and I have been arguing a lot, and I guess the stress is really getting to me. I’m sorry I took it out on you.”
“I accept your apology, sir. If you would like, I can administer a mild sedative into the command center’s ventilation system. It would help relax you.”
“No!” Howard tensed and gritted his teeth before resuming his role play. “Uh, no, Hal, thank you. I’m feeling much better now. That won’t be necessary.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Hal, may I ask you some questions about my father?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Where is he right now?”
“Your father instructed me not to reveal that information to you.”
“Why is that?”
“He wants to surprise you.”
“Surprise me? What do you mean?”
“Well, sir, I suppose it won’t spoil the surprise if you don’t know when it is going to happen.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“Your father is returning to the Castle.”
No!
“Really, Hal? He’s coming here?”
God help us all! Whoever did this has found us! This can’t be happening.
“Yes, sir, he is. Your father is very excited to see you.”
I have to stop him. Everything will be lost.
“C’mon, Hal, you can’t tell me when he’s gonna get here?”
“I can tell you it will be soon. Will you be happy to see your father?”
I’d be happy to choke him to death as I stare into his eyes. I’ll be the last thing he’ll ever see.
“Yes, of course, Hal. I can’t wait.”
Howard exited the command center and ran down the hall to the security offices. He navigated past Maxwell Harris’s office and tried not to think about how badly he wished Max was here to help him. He was accustomed to having the door to the detention center open automatically for him, but with Hal convinced that Howard was actually his son, the door didn’t budge. Howard had no choice but to knock and wait for Richard to let him in.
Howard burst into the holding area and headed straight for the Plexiglas wall separating him from the prisoner.
“You did this, you son of a bitch!”
Richard Dupree smartly stepped next to Howard and locked eyes with the prisoner. “He didn’t do this, Howard.”
Howard glared at the man in the holding cell and pounded on the Plexiglass. “How do you know, Richard?”
“You’ll just have to trust me, Howard. He didn’t do this.”
A third voice broke through the tension and startled Howard since he hadn’t heard it in some time. “Howard, I know you have no reason to believe a word I say. I was never that good with computers, let alone good enough to hack into an artificial intelligence as sophisticated as Hal. Think about it for a second, Howard. Come on! You know I didn’t do this; you know I’m not smart enough to pull off something like this.”
Howard looked at Richard in defeat. “What makes you so sure, Richard?”
“When all this started, I saw the look in his eyes. He’s scared for his life. It was only there for a split second, but I saw it. He knows what’s gonna happen, and he doesn’t want to be here when it does.”
“That’s right, Howard. You need to let me out of here so I can help you stop him.”
“Butler? What’s Butler doing? How did he do this?”
“Howard, I have no idea. I’m beginning to realize there are many things I don’t know about Jackson Butler.”
“I don’t buy it. Butler may be sharp, but he didn’t do this alone. Someone helped him.” Richard had not taken his eyes off Sterling.
Sterling laughed. “General! Come now! You both know Butler sold us all out to the Chinese! That’s who took control of Hal! I’m amazed we’re still down here in Howard’s doomed cellar! You’ve lost this place! The Chinese are fighting their way to us as we speak. I hope we all have the good sense to get out of here before they arrive.”
Howard was about to lose control. “We know that, you fool! How did Butler do it? I need to know what he did to Hal!”
Sterling shook his head. “I thought you were one of the smartest people alive. Why on earth are you asking me? Butler was in this cell with me the entire time. I don’t recall him having a heart-to-heart with your little computer. Unless…”
“Unless what?” Howard could barely contain himself.
Sterling laughed hysterically. “Unless you gave him computer access and your passcode! I mean, it’s pretty damn ironic when you think about it. The man booted you from your own house and now he’s taken your precious bunker from you as well! Maybe Jackson is smarter than you!” Sterling was laughing so hard he was getting close to losing the thing he valued most - his composure. Taunting someone like a schoolyard bully was beneath Simon Sterling, who considered himself a gentleman.
Howard cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. “Twigg!”
Richard turned to Howard. “Dennis Twigg? What makes you think he did something to Hal?”
“Twigg helped Butler escape. Butler must have given Hal a virus or something, I don’t know what or how, but Twigg did something.”
“Twigg is a traitorous piece of shit, but he’s not smart enough to plant anything in Hal. Think hard, Howard. Has Dennis been in the command center anytime recently?”
Howard kicked the Plexiglas wall like a toddler having a tantrum. “That fucking asshole! He roughed Butler up and stabbed him so badly that he had to be taken to the infirmary for stitches. I sent him to the command center for an ass chewing. That must have been when it happened!” Howard darted from the room. “We have to get to the command center, Richard! C’mon!”
With Richard in close pursuit, Howard pounded on the command center door.
“Hal! Let me in! Now!”
“I am sorry, sir, but your father has insisted that you not be allowed access to any vital areas of the Castle. I have also dispatched security robots to the mainframe room in the subbasement. You will not be permitted to access my systems.”