"Bill the IWA for the rescues," Dana said and crouched down in front of Alice, looking her in the eyes.
Still clutching the hard drives to her chest, Alice stared into space, "We weren't finished with the experiment. I am incomplete."
"What do you mean?" Dana asked.
"Sounds like the thing hasn't finished taking over her mind," a woman's voice joined them Devin looked up in recognition.
A pale raven-haired woman stood beside Dana. Her attention was focused on Alice; although, her eyes were sightless milky-white orbs. She looked like a grown up, real-life version of the cartoon rag-doll Devin knew so well online.
Zai pointed at Alice, "This woman is not real. It's one of them, a doppelganger."
"She's one of the AI's?" Dana asked Zai, "How do you know that?"
Zai cocked one ear slightly in the direction of Dana's voice, "From the inflections in her speech."
"What about them?" Dana demanded.
"There aren't any," Zai answered. "Human's subconsciously fluctuate their voice depending on their internal thoughts and feelings. Artificial talk-bots, like this one, don't have emotions. You can hear the detachment in their tone, even when they're programmed to fake it."
Dana frowned at Alice, sitting on the asphalt, returning a blank stare, "So you think the Artificial Intelligence took over Alice's mind?"
Zai considered Alice, as if she could sense the woman's alien vacancy, "There's nothing intelligent about it."
"And who are you?" Dana pressed.
"Zai," Devin spoke up, snapping out of his awe at the woman he only knew virtually. "Her name is Zai Reinhold."
"Hello Devin," Zai did not turn to the sound of his voice, but a grin did spread across her face. "I'm glad you're not dead."
"Why are you here?" Devin asked, taking a step toward her.
"Your hacker friend set my apartment on fire. I thought you were in danger," she turned slightly and took an uncertain step toward him. "I was worried."
"That's a drop in the bucket," Dana said, surveying the destruction surrounding them. "You got off easy."
Devin's breath caught in his throat as Zai turned t oDana, "It looks as though your friend here didn't get off so easy. Am I to assume Flatline has the ability to overwrite people's brains?"
"She was talking to one of the AI's," Dana explained, "and it hacked her mind."
"I can spot an artificial at their first word," Zai stated flatly. "Flatline impersonated Devin, but I caught on pretty quickly. Since then I've been on guard for other deceptions. When I heard this one, I thought it was a computer talking at first, but the context was off."
"I see," Dana said, "You're sensitive to voice attributes."
"It's all I have to go on," Zai replied.
Devin watched this exchange with a certain urgency to break it. This was Black Sheep after all, and despite the devastation surrounding them, he wanted Zai to himself. So when Dana was pulled away with her cell phone hand-implant to her head, Devin's relief was natural.
Zai must have shared his eagerness as she stepped right into his personal space and gently said, "Hello again Omni."
Devin's pulse raced and his breathing came up short, "H-hey Blacksheep."
Zai could hear his proximity, sense his tension, "We should hug."
"Okay," Devin reached his arms up and Zai brought hers over his shoulders.
Devin wasn't sure how long this was meant to last, and, not wanting to impose, made to break the embrace, but Zai only squeezed harder. So Devin squeezed back. He had no idea how long they were like that, but the awkwardness melted away. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Now your heart's beating normal," Zai whispered in his ear and they parted, reluctantly.
"So..." Devin tried to bring himself back into this world, it felt as though he'd just spent six hours in VR. "Zai... How'd-?"
"You're LoD friend, Traveler, told me where to find you," Zai's voice was somewhat dreamy, but grew more focused as she spoke. "Since you're walking about free, I'll assume you're no longer a suspect."
"I'm a key witness now," Devin said, "helping with the investigation."
"Then I'm helping too," Zai sat down on the curb and patted beside her for Devin. "What's the next step?"
"Find the AI hive," Devin sat down. "The IWA hypothesizes it's taking shelter on a corporate intranet."
"DataStreams," Zai's mouth drew tight. "It has to be DataStreams Incorporated."
"Who're they?"
Zai frowned at him, "Haven't you ever heard of the I-Grid? It covers six continents and over four hundred companies."
Devin was a little chagrined at his ignorance, "How can you be certain?"
Zai produced her palm-computer and brought up her financial data. She showed it to Devin, "Because my company bank account is still frozen. How could Flatline be doing that if he wasn't on DataStreams' Intranet?"
"Pixel Productions is part of DataStreams?" Devin asked. "I've always heard three corporations own all the world's businesses..."
"So one in three isn't such a statistical improbability," Zai smiled, she retrieved the palm-computer. "One more test," she said and dialed a number. "Hello? Yes, I'm having problems with my corporate account. Could you help me?"
Zai listened for a moment and hung up, "A chatbot. They've always used real people for our help line, to prevent offending us. That person was a computer program; although, I bet I'm the only one who knows it."
Zai became aware of something and turned her chin upward. Devin looked up and found Dana waiting expectantly, "Murphy told me the big robot was a Xybercorp design. I've got a lead on a Samantha Copes, she's been hacking into military contractor sites, including Xybercorp for over a month now. She's obviously connected to Flatline."
"Flatline and the AI's are hiding on DataStreams Intranet," Devin spoke up.
"We investigated DataStreams," Dana dismissed the idea. "They would have said something."
"You spoke to a computer program," Zai countered. "I know, the woman I just spoke to was a living chatbot."
"Haven't you heard of the I-Grid?" Devin broke in, trying to ignore Zai's amused expression.
"I've got enough legal grief with Alice's anti-virus destroying the World Wide Web," Dana shot back. "I don't have the resources to take on a corporation that owns half the world in a legal battle."
"So exercise your law enforcement powers," Zai suggested.
"The UN couldn't muster an army large enough," Dana shook her head, "much less take them on with the meager forces we have now."
"What about a cyber attack?" Devin asked. "Alice's anti-virus destroyed the Internet, however accidental. I'm certain her programs could bring down the I-Grid, if we could get inside it."
"That's so illegal you could be arrested for suggesting it," Dana waved the idea away with one hand in frustration. "So the IWA won't allow it."
"So leave them out of it," Zai suggested simply. "I've got the backdoor into the I-Grid through my company. Devin and I will take responsibility."
She took Devin's hand and squeezed it and somehow that wiped away all fear of going to prison for the rest of his life. "Yeah," he said confidently. "It's a hacker's responsibility. We'll-"
"Don't say another word!" Dana snapped. "There's no way! None! Now we're going to relocate to another headquarters. I'm deputizing the two of you. You're first responsibility will be to investigate this DataStreams lead. That's all."
"And Alice?" Devin asked.
Alice, who was sitting quietly during all this, focused on Devin, and he noticed something almost mechanical about the movements of her mouth as she spoke, "I require a workplace to rebuild my system."
"She was working with one of the AI's when the power went out," Dana considered her coworker. "If their intelligences are juxtaposed, then Alice's mind might be trapped on those hard drives. It will continue its work, but you two will make sure it doesn't go online."