“I know that, and believe me, I’m thankful for what Archie did. But in the hands of someone like Vlad Korkil, face it, he is a deadly weapon.”
Kendra took a deep breath. “It’s time to bring in the authorities.”
Lynch nodded. “I agree.”
Stevie looked horrified. “You can’t do that. They’ll call in the riot squad and the military. They’ll destroy Archie.”
Kendra put a comforting hand on her arm. “We don’t have a choice, Stevie.” Her voice was very gentle. “If we don’t do this the right way, people might die. How could we live with ourselves if we let that happen?”
Nolan walked over to Stevie and put his arms around her. “You’ll build another Archie. Maybe thousands more.”
“It won’t be the same. ThehinArchiestands for ‘heuristic.’ That means he learns. No matter how many of these I make, each one develops according to its own experiences. No two will be totally alike. Archie is special . . . He’s the first. None of this is his fault. If I’d been able to work with him longer, I’d have been able to develop controls to keep this from happening.” The tears were running down her cheeks. “We just can’t stand by and let those monsters do this. We’ve been through so much together.”
“I know you have,” Lynch said. “I’ve been there through a lot of it. I’ve seen how Archie has grown and changed in theshort time I’ve been with you. But if Korkil has done something to him, made him different from the wonderful machine you created, we have to stop it.”
Stevie shook her head but didn’t respond. The tears continued to fall.
Lynch looked at Kendra and cocked his head toward the door. They both stood and left the room.
“This is killing her,” Kendra said fiercely. “We’ve got to do something.”
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Lynch said. “But it may not be what she wants. I didn’t tell her that I’d already phoned my contacts with MI5 and told them what to expect.”
“Did they believe you?”
He nodded. “They believed me. They know I don’t play games. And they know the potential that a robot like Archie would bring to the table. They’ll do everything they can to stop it from happening. But now we’ve got other calls to make. We took the official route. It’s time we tapped into our more unusual contacts.”
“Like Fitz?”
“Like Fitz,” Lynch confirmed. “He might be even more likely to be able to help us than MI5. It can’t hurt to try.”
“A robot?” Fitz said in disbelief.
Kendra and Lynch had stepped outside and called Fitz on Lynch’s phone. They were on speaker and had brought him up to speed.
“Yes, but you have to believe me,” Lynch said. “This thing doesn’t move like a machine. It can function without beingunder direct remote control. It can assess changing conditions and make decisions. We don’t know what Korkil has done to it, but this machine can be extremely dangerous.”
Kendra could hear Fitz swearing, but he finally responded. “Okay, I’m sure the event is fairly well locked down, but I don’t think they’re prepared for anything like this.”
“Which may be what Korkil is counting on.”
“I’m sure of it. I’ll coordinate with contacts I have with the local police and security services. They’ll have a lot of questions for you and especially Stevie. We can’t be sure anyone is going to believe us. Where can you be reached?”
“Call this number,” Lynch said.
“Where will you be?”
“Give me the phone.” Stevie had appeared in the doorway in front of them. Her face was pale and her cheeks were still streaked with tears, but her lips were set with both pain and determination. She took the phone from Lynch. “You want to know where we’re going to be?” she said with that same determination reflected in her face. “London. We’re going to be in London.”
CHAPTER
17
4:45A.M.
TWYFORD ABBEY ROAD
LONDON
