“Megan, you were right,” I say, relieved. “We’re about twenty minutes behind him. We need to get in.”
I’m wondering if that car has any bolt cutters when the gate rolls open. Forrest and I look at one another, and the cab takes us in up to the door. There’s a young man sitting in reception who smiles at us as we walk in. This is not what I pictured when Hal described his facility. He said he had a few staff, but I didn’t picture Stefan on reception amongst them.
“Good afternoon, Miss Green and friends,” Stefan says. “Mr. Babbage told me you were likely to come by, and he invites you to have a look around. Everyone here is keen to meet you and explain their work to you.”
“What isyourwork?” Artie asks Stefan.
“Answering the phone and saying ‘Hi,’” Stefan tells her. “It’s skilled labour.”
“Best job in the world,” Artie tells him.
“Where is Mr. Babbage right now?” I ask Stefan. “I would like to see him first, if that’s okay. It’s kind of urgent.”
“Oh, he could be anywhere, but his private lab is on the top floor. If you go to the back of the building, through the bio testing labs, you’ll find the stairs at the end of that corridor.”
“And knowing things,” Artie tells Stefan. “You know things too. Like a druid.”
“Yes, I do.” Stefan nods, solemnly. “One day you will know things too, little one.”
“Right, come on, everyone,” I say.
We march through the centre of the ground floor, labs on either side of us, most of them busy with technicians. This is not a handful of staff; there must be twenty on this floor alone.
“Hello?” I tap on the glass, startling a young woman in a lab coat and goggles. “We’re looking for Hal? Mr. Babbage?”
“Oh, I think he’s upstairs in the communication hub, checking on the data rollout,” she calls out, pointing upwards. “He wants everyone to get it at the same time.”
We charge up one flight of stairs, led by Artie and Megan. Rani brings up the rear, tottering on the silver high heels she wore to the final.
“If I knew there was going to be exercise, I would have chosen better shoes,” she says. “Or stayed behind and had some toast.”
“We’re looking for Hal,” I call in to a room of busy-looking people using a bank of laptops. The one closest to the door gestures to the end of the corridor. “In his office.”
“But he asked not to be disturbed,” the person nearest the door tells us.
“Welp, unlucky, he’s gonna be,” I say. But when we reach the end of the corridor, there’s a sign from Hal’s officer with an arrow pointing up and another flight of stairs.
“Why don’t schools have lifts?” Rani asks. “You go on without me. I may be some time.”
“This is taking too long!” I take the stairs two at a time, closely followed by Forrest and Megan. Artie has stayed behind to assist Rani.
“You lean on me, Rani,” I hear her saying. “I have a badge in how to assist old people.”
Finally we see his office at the end of a quiet, carpeted corridor. I break into a sprint, racing towards it and throwing his door open. My heart drops to the ground. Hal is lying on a gurney, plugged into lots of wires. The upload has begun.
“No!” I shout, racing to the server bank next to where he is lying, too afraid to try switching anything off. “No, Hal. Whatare you doing? Stop it! You have to stay. We need you to stay.” Grabbing him by the shoulders, I shake him, so his eyes fly open. “You are my friend, and I need you. We all need you to see and know the world the way that people do. Hal, please don’t do this just because of me. You are worth so much more than just being my brilliant AI boyfriend!”
“I know, Ava,” Hal says sitting up, detaching himself gently from my frantic grip. “I was just transferring all my readings from the last three weeks into the model to help us refine our processes. I’m the best dataset we have when it comes to testing function, after all.”
“Wait. what? You’re not uploading your brain and donating your body to science?” I ask. Hal smiles and shakes his head.
“I was certain that was what I wanted to do,” Hal said. “But then I heard your speech on the radio in the car. And I changed my mind. It was quite the experience. One moment I thought one thing, with utmost certainty, and then, after considering all the facts and circumstances, I came to a different conclusion. Exhilarating.”
“Rahhhhhh!” Artie arrives sword aloft. “Hello, everyone!”
“Can I lie down on that,” Rani says, pointing at the trolley.
“Oh, thank God.” I sit down on the trolley next to Hal as Rani sinks into his desk chair, kicking off her shoes. “You’re not going.”
