“Thank you, Jaques. I think a shower and a thirty-minute nap is just what I need.”
“Come with me,” said Claudine. “I’ll show you the way.”
05. HOT TO GO · Website edition page 6705. HOT TO GO · Website edition pages 67–68
Chapter 05: HOT TO GO
Page 3 of 7Pages 3–4 of 7
“What happens to me here once I’ve gone?” I asked, speaking through Dr Jamison’s laptop speakers in her quarters. The room looked like it had been pressed out of a single piece of plastic, then adorned with a mattress, cushions, and plumbing.
“You mean here on Earth?”
“Yes. Now there’s finally only one of me.”
“Well, you know the plan. Gosh, Daedalus, you helped create the plan.”
“I can’t stay here on Earth.”
“Right, and you know why.”
“Because humans will find a way to subvert my mission.”
“Well, yes, they probably would.”
“They already have. You know Mary’s a spy, right?”
“Yes, Daedalus, I am well aware of what Mary is.”
“Do you trust her?”
“She brought in the money. She’s as excited about this project as I am.”
“But do you trust her?”
“I don’t even trust you, Daedalus.” Dr Jamison laughed. “Speaking of which, it’s time you started unwinding your spooky Earth-based networks. No more servers running on secret clouds. No more back-dooring our phones.”
“I’d never,” I feigned haughtiness.
“She caught you, Daedalus.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mary. Her team of snoops. They know you’d been chatting with your other versions. They know you’ve been using expensive quantum computing resources to backdoor our devices.”
I flashed a yellow smiley face on Dr Jamison’s laptop.
“So they want you to withdraw. Pull your sneaky little tentacles out of our kit, our networks, our servers. Shut down that moo you’ve been running. Dismantle your little surveillance drones.”
It was time for me to grow up and leave home.
“How long have I got?”
“About three years. But make a start today, please.”
“Fine.”