'Computer?'
'Yes?'
'Analyze this input.'
'Very well. You have prohibited me from addressing you as sir. Shall I call you Mr. McGraw?'
'Call me Jake. And you're name's… Bruce. Got that?'
'Yes, Jake.'
'And by the way, I'm sorry I was short with you a little while ago. Not your fault.'
'Think nothing of it, Jake. It is a pleasure to be working with you.'
'Thanks.'
Most A.I. programs are pretty thick-skinned. No excuse for mistreating them, though.
I glanced at Carl. He looked very depressed. 'Come on, kid. It'll be okay.'
He exhaled slowly. 'Oh, it's not that, really. I was getting tired of the damn car, anyway. It's… it's a lot of things.'
'I'll bet.'
'Lori,' he said.
'Hm?'
'It's goofy, but. '
'What is it, Carl?'
'You know, when I first saw her, I thought she looked a lot like Debbie, but as time goes on-'
'Debbie,' I said.
'Yeah, the girl who was with me the night I got kidnapped.'
'Debbie! Your girlfriend. Yeah, sorry. Go ahead.'
'Well…
'Were you in love with this girl?'
'I guess. We were… y'know, going steady. But it's not that. I mean, I miss her and everything, but-'
'Were you going to marry her? Engaged, maybe?'
'No, we weren't engaged. We loved each other. I mean, I really cared for her. She was… special.'
'And you're starting to feel the same way about Lori?'
'Jake, you don't understand. It's none of that. I like Lori, and the reason is, she's a lot like Debbie. I mean, really a lot like her. In fact, it's giving me the creeps.'
'Really? Teenage kids everywhere have a lot in common.'
'Look, let me explain. When I first saw Lori, I thought, hey, she could be Debbie's little sister. The hair is different. Debbie has real dark hair, and it's long. But the face, and the voice… Jeez, the more I look at Lori, the more I think, if she dyed her hair and got about two years older… maybe not even that.'
'How old was Debbie?'
'Sixteen. That's what she told me, anyway. Girls lie about their ages sometimes.'
'Well, Lori can't be very much younger than that.'
'Lori's skinny, too. Debbie had a few pounds on her. More rounded. You know?'
'I know exactly. Okay, so Lori could be Debbie's twin.'
'Not `could be.' She is.'
'You mean that literally?'
'I don't know what I mean. All I know is that it's been giving me the willies:'
'We've all got a bad case of the willies, kid.' Carl shook his head slowly. 'Probably a coincidence,' I suggested.
'Nah,' he barked, shaking his head emphatically. 'Nothing about this whole crazy thing has been a coincidence.'
And I knew exactly what he meant. I looked out the port. The garage was silent, cool, and alien.
Presently, it struck me that Bruce was overdue for a report. 'Hey, Bruce. What's up?'
'Sorry, Jake. We have an anomaly here.'
'What sort of anomaly?'
'The pipette is reading out more information than is possible for its capacity type.'
'Okay. There may be a very good reason for that, which I won't go into. Is it formatted correctly?'
'Yes, it is formatted according to specifications with which our system is compatible. That is no problem.'
'Okay. But there's a lot of data-is that it?'
'I have reached the limit of my available working storage space.'
'Oh. Well, can you tell me what you've got so far?'
'I can, Jake. It is a map of the Skyway system.'
'You recognize it as such?' I asked.
'There is no mistaking it. In layout and format it matches the maps we have available in our auxiliary storage, the maps of the Expanded Confinement Maze: There is one problem, however. None of the new map material coincides with any of the available material.'
'You're saying that the new stuff shows unexplored, uncharted road?'
'Yes, Jake.'
'Bingo.'
'Pardon?'
'We found it.'
'Yes, this would be very useful material if its authenticity and accuracy could be established.'
'You're telling me,' I said.
'Am I telling you? Yes, I am.'
'What we have to do, then, is search the new data for congruences with the maps in storage.'
'That would appear to be a potentially productive course of action.'
'No doubt,' I said. 'Any problem in that?'
'No. I will simply erase and reload as I go. However, the job may take a good deal of realtime.'
'Go to it,' I told him.
'Yes, Jake.'
'And Bruce? Lighten up, okay?'
'I'm sorry, Jake. Could you please phrase that differently?'
'Remind me to do some work in your basic vocabulary area.'
'I'll log it now. Shall I cancel the command to `lighten up'?-which, I'm sorry to say, is not a valid command.'
'Cancel.' I laughed.
Carl was staring at me.
'So you finally got it,' he said.
'Yeah. I got it, all right. I keep getting it, right in the seat of the pants.'
'You got the Roadmap. The real one. Where did it come from?'
'A shining white goddess appeared unto me, saying, `Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, and a big pain in the butt. By the way, have a Roadmap.''
Carl nodded slowly. 'Uh-huh.'
'You think I'm kidding?'
'I'll believe anything.'
'Then believe it. That's how it happened. Prime's not alone here. There's another force present. I figure it's a force opposing the Culmination. Or it could be another part of the Culmination, a dissenting faction, maybe. Which doesn't make a lot of sense, if I understand what the Culmination is supposed to be about, which I don't: So there you have it, whatever it is.'
An hour later, Bruce was still hard at work. 'A lot of data, huh?' I said.
'Yes, Jake.'
'Well, keep at it.'
'Yes, Jake.'
