Crow's Gambit, page 10
part #1 of Sylphan Revelations Series
She slipped the lanyard over her head and started to place her bag on the scanner before pausing. Remembering what the TSA agent had said, Cassie took out the folding knife and laid it on the conveyor next to the bag. Without looking at the security guard she walked through the scanner, curious what would happen. The guard looked confused. He looked at the knife, then Cassie, then her badge, and finally Gloria. She nodded without saying anything. The guard shrugged.
“Welcome to Crow Research,” he handed her the bag and knife.
Gloria walked through the body scanner, which emitted an alarm while she passed, and led Cassie down the left hallway. They walked past several doors until they reached an atrium cafeteria. A small group of people were sitting at scattered tables having lunch.
“Your new team is expecting you in about thirty minutes. That will give you time for a quick bite. I have to check on something but let’s see... Ah, perfect.” She caught the attention of a woman entering from the other side and waved her over. “Susan this is Cassie. It’s her first day in the building. Would you mind helping her find a snack while I go check on some things?”
The woman was not much younger than Cassie, probably twenty, and a little shorter. Her hair had a short cut with pink stripes in it. She smiled at Gloria. “Sure, no problem.”
“Cassie I’ll be back in thirty minutes to collect you,” Gloria headed toward an elevator and was gone.
Susan took her by the arm. “Right this way. So, this is the cafeteria. The food here is pretty good. There is always something ready to go. We’ve got your standard salad bar and grill for hamburgers and the like. They make a pretty decent Philly. There’s always a chef here to make things fresh with a rotating menu. Today is Chinese.” She leaned toward Cassie conspiratorially, “To be honest though, if you ask nicely, they’ll make you whatever you want.”
“There aren’t many people eating. How many people work here?”
“Hmm.” Susan pondered for a moment. “I don’t actually know. Parts of the building are restricted depending on what projects you are working on. I haven’t even been in most of the building. There are three or four cafeterias. My work area is in the blue area of the building. See?” She held up her badge. On its right side there was a thick blue line. “Let’s see where you’ll be working?” She looked at Cassie’s badge and made a low whistle.
“What? You think it’s a bad picture of me?”
Susan looked up with an appraising gaze. “The black stripe means Crow Works access. The most secure and secret part of the building. The red stripe means some kind of provisional or exclusive access. I’ve never actually talked to anyone with a black stripe.” She stopped walking and turned toward Cassie. “What is it you do anyway?”
“Well, my last job was in a sandwich shop.”
Susan stared at her blankly for several seconds. She shrugged and her smile popped back on. “They say Darrow has a way of finding everyone’s hidden talents. If you have a black stripe you must know how to do something he needs. Maybe he needs sandwiches.”
After getting some fresh Kung Pao chicken and steamed dumplings from a chef named Juan they engaged in small talk for several minutes. Susan was right, the food was particularly good.
“So, what is it you do Susan? How did you end up here?”
“I was in art school studying to be a sculptor. One day a hiring manager from Darrow Industries comes into the studio and says they want to hire me. I used to play a lot of online logic games in my free time. You know, things like Sudoku and Kakurasu. It’s an obsession. Anyway, they keep an eye on some of the game boards looking for people with certain logical aptitudes, like me. A week later I was taking a crash course in actuarial accounting.”
“You’re an accountant?”
“No, I’m not licensed or anything. I just work with actuarial statistics. I still sculpt on the weekends though. Mostly nudes. Wanna model for me?” Susan had a wicked grin on her face.
Cassie choked on her rice then laughed. “No, I’m okay, thanks.”
“Fair enough.” Susan popped another dumpling in her mouth. “Rain check,” she said after swallowing.
“You don’t strike me as the type of person who would find accounting interesting.”
“It depends entirely on what kind of data you are looking at. Now me, my specialty is predicting Sylph strikes. Calculating the probabilities of things getting zapped.”
She had Cassie’s attention now. “Can that be done?”
“Within a certain probability, sure.” Susan set her chopsticks down so she could use her hands to explain. “Everyone knows the higher something goes the chances it gets hit increase to a hundred percent.”
Cassie nodded.
“And how soon that happens depends on a combination of how big and how fast the object is going.”
“Yes, but no one has ever been able to make a prediction equation with just those three variables. Everyone just assumes there is a randomness due to the vagaries of whichever Sylph is controlling the system that day.” Cassie was aware of the challenge from a work-related perspective.
Now Susan nodded. “That’s right. There’s more variables involved than those three.”
“And you’ve figured out what they all are?”
“Nope, not entirely. That’s okay though. I don’t need to know when it will happen just what the probability is it will, given certain conditions. And I’ll let you in on a little secret.” She leaned in close and whispered. “I don’t think there are any Sylph up there making decisions. It’s an autonomous system.”
“You’re sure?”
Susan raised her eyebrows and barely nodded.
“Who pays for your research? The military?”
“Insurance companies mainly. Many of them insure approved micro-drone flights, weather balloons, and those cellular relay blimps they’ve started hanging over the cities. If they don’t make them too big, go too high, or let them rise too fast they’re fine. If not, well. Do you remember that Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon a couple years ago? It was some cartoon bear. It got loose from its handlers in high winds and got zapped right there above the crowd.”
“Accounting and insurance. That sounds fascinating.” There was playful mocking in Cassie’s voice.
“It is actually. I enjoy working with the data. I like the challenge of finding the pattern.” Susan nodded toward their right. “It looks like your escort has returned.”
She turned and saw Gloria walking toward them.
“Thank you for looking out for her Susan. Cassie, it’s time to meet your new team.”
“Hey Gloria. When can we finish my sculpture of you? There’s still a few parts I haven’t got quite right.” Susan wore an angelic expression.
“I can’t this weekend. Check with me next week. Cassie?”
She looked from one to the other trying to read their body language for perspective on the exchange. Finally, she gave up and stood, extending her hand to Susan.
“It was nice to meet you. Maybe we’ll see each other around the building.” Instead of taking her hand Susan leaned in quick and gave her a hug.
“Sorry, I’m a hugger.” And she skipped off across the cafeteria.
Chapter 15
GLORIA LED CASSIE DEEPER into the building. They passed several people in offices and labs but there weren’t many people in the halls. Several robots zipped past them carrying packages of different sorts, while others were equipped with maintenance equipment. When there wasn’t enough space in the hallway, they would scoot to one side and wait for them to pass.
Due to decreasing birth rates, robots and other automated devices were already playing a larger role in the world before Net-Day. Immediately afterwards, births had started to climb but the flow of immigrants had dropped off as transportation networks broke down. Robotic assistants continued to play a significant role in industry and commerce even if the reason for their necessity had changed.
Side hallways split off the main hallways as they walked, going to different areas in the building. Each labeled with large colored stripes. Some were open but others had sliding security doors blocking them. At the end they encountered a wide windowless sliding door blocking their path. A thick black line painted on the floor in front of it and across it. As soon as their feet touched the stripe the doors opened.
Ten feet on the other side stood another set of similar doors. These did not open until the first set had fully closed.
Once they were through the second set of doors, it was like they had entered another building. The layout seemed less institutional and more like free-form architecture. It appeared everything, including the offices, could be moved into a new design as needed.
The ceiling extended to almost the full height of the building, allowing larger pieces of equipment to be moved in. They passed several glass conference rooms. She could see people working, writing things on white boards, or manipulating holographic displays as they talked. Others had the glass tinted for privacy.
Their destination was a cubicle work area set up in a large bay work area. The cubicles were unlike any she had seen before. Each matched its owner’s specialty. Some had a desk with several computer monitors. Others looked more like an electrician’s nest with wires, meters, and oscilloscopes everywhere.
A large manufacturing printer hummed in the corner as ultrasonics shaped materials and X-ray lasers fused it into a large component. To the side, a large table held a laser setup. The feel of the place reminded her of the teaching and research labs at the university, but it was like someone had taken them and jumbled them all together.
“There you are.” Neil walked toward her. “You’re looking better than the last time I saw you.”
“Yes, the car didn’t try to kill me today.” Several heads popped up from behind work benches and cubicle walls to look at her. After a quick glance they disappeared again, returning to whatever they were working on. They reminded her of prairie dogs in their burrows.
“Let me show you around.” He led her toward the cubicles.
Gloria shadowed them several paces behind.
“We’re an eclectic group. Mr. Darrow likes to bring in the best mix of experience, but he also likes a mix of backgrounds. He believes it helps generate new perspectives and eliminate ‘group think.’ So, our team spans several generations and countries of origin.”
“The gentleman in the vest and glasses is Andrew. He’s a physicist on extended sabbatical from Oxford.”
The man nodded curtly and returned to adjusting something on his experiment.
“Our expert in customizable manufacturing is Harvey. He’s in another part of the building right now. Do you ever watch old movies? Do you know who Sam Elliot was?”
“Actually, I do.” Grandpa had loved old movies. They had spent hours watching them while she was growing up.
“Then it will be easy for you to recognize him. He looks and sounds just like Sam. He’s got the mustache and everything.” The next cubical area was filled with circuit boards connected to electrical test equipment. The smell of ozone and burnt circuits floated in the air. “This is our electrical engineering expert. His name is Samuel Wang, but we just call him Wang.” The boy sitting at the bench smiled shyly and returned to his work.
The next person they came to was a woman with graying black hair. She studied a holographic monitor displaying a fluid simulation. “Bala is our combustion and fluid mechanics expert. She was a senior scientist with General Electric’s India division before Darrow lured her away.”
The woman smiled warmly at Cassie. “Welcome to the team. Let me know if you need anything or if any of these jokers give you any trouble.”
Cassie liked her at once. She exuded a playful, motherly presence.
The last person they came to was asleep, reclined in his chair with his feet up on a desk, snoring loudly. He had deeply tanned skin and stringy brown hair tied into a ponytail.
Neil kicked his feet and the man sprang upright; eyes wide. “Dammit, Neil. How many times have I told you not to do that?”
“This is Joe. Though that’s not his real name. When he started here, Joe refused to share his real name with the team, for ‘security reasons.’ They tried every name they could think of, he opted to answer to Joe. At Mr. Darrow’s request, I honor his paranoid insistence of it.”
“You wound me man. You know I’m wanted. Can’t be too careful.”
Neil rolled his eyes back at him.
“Besides, I pulled an all-nighter working on our baby. You should have some compassion and let me sleep.” Joe rubbed his eyes.
“You snore like an antique freight train. We have beds in back you know.”
Joe shrugged and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes again.
Once they were out of earshot Cassie spoke the question that had been rolling around her mind, “He’s wanted? What for?”
“He designs and sells drones. He ran afoul of the government when he accidentally sold some to a drug cartel. According to him he’s wanted in three states, not to mention Canada.” Neil leaned in close to whisper. “We checked his record and he’s not actually wanted for anything except a parking ticket. Don’t let him know. It would crush him.”
Their next stop was a room labeled “Simulator Control.” Along the back of the room was a row of monitors with places for two technicians to sit. They faced the front of the room which had an eight-foot-tall holographic display screen. It was curved and wrapped slightly into the walls on the right and left. In the center of the room there was an ergonomic chair, but nothing else.
“This is where you will do most of your work. Autonomous aircraft need to be able to process system status and adjust dozens of parameters to maintain performance. Remotely controlled vehicles, as I’m sure you know, need an autopilot backup to handle things when the connection is lost, or something happens so fast the remote pilot doesn’t have time to react.”
“Transmission lag is a serious problem with line of sight transmissions and cell towers. I can’t imagine how you’re going to handle that with this thing. If you were able to get it over the horizon, you’d need more than just cell towers, you’d need something like a satellite network to maintain contact with it and there aren’t any left.”
“It is a challenge, but why don’t you let us worry about how to send it information.” He nudged her toward the chair. “What we need from you right now is to be its teacher. Your flight experience is what we need. While you are flying the simulator, we’ll be using the system responses to train the neural net for the AI piloting system. Any questions?”
Cassie only shrugged. It all seemed like a waste of money. She didn’t see any way for them to get this past the Sylph. Aside from that, everything else seemed perfectly reasonable to her. Except for breaking international law, even if it was at the behest of the government.
"Good. I’ll leave you to it.” Neil left the room.
Well, all she was doing was playing with a simulator, right? Maybe that would be enough to keep her from going to jail if they got caught.
Chapter 16
RATHER THAN GIVE HER a headset, Cassie was directed to sit in the chair at the center of the Simulator Control room. The surroundings darkened as she waited for the screen in front of her to activate. However, moments later the entire room vanished. She was floating inside a three-dimensional space with terrain and data surrounding her.
“Whoa. What just happened?” This was beyond anything she had experienced before. The immersion was even better than the virtual meeting she had with Neil at the train station.
“Sorry. I should have warned you,” a technician monitoring from one of the stations in the back replied.
“Just relax. My name’s, uh...” He coughed to clear his throat. “I’m Bobby. I’ll be running the simulation.”
Reaching out her hand a control panel appeared in her virtual world. Everything was familiar but different at the same time. It looked like they had ported the original simulation program into a virtual reality. Everything was sharper somehow and with higher fidelity rendering. When she “touched” the controls there was a physical sensation. Direct nerve stimulation?
“Your optic and sensory nerves are being stimulated directly with magnetic fields. Don’t worry, it’s not harmful.”
“If you say so.”
“I’ll relay any instructions to you and monitor your status. If you have any questions, please ask me.”
Cassie turned to see what Bobby looked like. The digital landscape just extended to infinity, however.
“The other technician station will be occupied by Bala, Wang, or Joe,” Bobby continued. “Bala, I think you’re up first
“We’ll be switching off based on which portion of the design is relevant,” Bala explained. “Don’t worry about a thing. We’ll take good care of you.”
For the next two hours she got familiar with the equipment. The experience for her was both old and new.
Once she got used to not wearing a helmet, it felt pretty much the same as when she went barnstorming. She found herself missing Lizzy more than once.
Finally, muscles stiff, head throbbing where she had hit it in the Lincoln Tunnel, she asked for a break.
Everyone gathered at a table for a snack. Wang grabbed a cola and disappeared back to his cubical without a word. Bala and Joe pulled up lab stools to sit down with her.
Joe snatched a bag of beef jerky. He tried to rip it open unsuccessfully, then he tried to tear it with his teeth. That just resulted in a profane exclamation.
“Here, try this.” With a click she flicked open the folding knife and held it toward him handle first.
Bala and Joe just stared at her with a look of awe.
“What? Haven’t you heard? You should always carry a knife.”
Bala just smiled in response.
Joe took the knife gingerly and started muttering under his breath as he opened the package.
“You’ve met Dale.” Bala said factually.
“Well yeah. He’s the one who recruited me, you could say.”
