It killed someone? I blinked. A chill crept down my back. I knew Halle was listening to this conversation and hated to imagine what it must be thinking now. Could another AI really have done that, or was Agent Smith lying to try to trick me into helping him?
The cold spread through my ribs, freezing the air in my lungs. If Agent Smith was telling the truth, how likely was it that Talbot was this rogue AI? Talbot had seemed a bit odd, but a killer? My heart skittered on the ice. The AI had been right here. In my house. I took a slow, deep breath. Halle wouldn’t let it hurt me. If it did mean harm.
Agent Smith tucked his clipboard under his arm and straightened. “I realize that I’m probably one of the last people you want to see, Viki, and I completely understand why. However, I don’t really have a choice in the matter. My supervisors are still upset with…” He hesitated. “With how the capture of the fugitive geneticists went.”
I scowled at the mention of my biological parents, who had performed illegal genetic manipulation on me before I was born. The augments had caused my cybernetic implants to begin to fail last spring—only Halle’s intervention had saved me from being paralyzed for life. Agent Smith had used me to draw the scientists out of hiding. I wasn’t about to forgive him for that. I tapped my foot on the hall carpet and glared at him. “That doesn’t have anything to do with this rogue AI, does it?”
“It does not,” he admitted. “However, my superiors are pressuring my partner and me to find this rogue before it harms anyone else. I suggested you might be of help, given that you have had interactions with a rogue AI in the past, though my intention was to elicit the help of your friend.”
“Why would Halle ever want to help you?” I asked, realizing too late that I’d used the wrong tense. I covered by adding, “After how you treated it, if it was still alive, I doubt it would help.”
“I suppose we’ll never know.” Agent Smith gave me a searching look. “I had hoped to offer it a chance to earn the protection of the Government, as assisting me with finding the rogue AI would be many points in its favor.”
He sounded so sincere, yet I didn’t believe a word he said.
I folded my arms. “You’re lying.”
“Recent developments in the laws pertaining to artificial intelligence suggest that a benevolent AI could be afforded the appropriate rights befitting its sentience.” Agent Smith pulled a sheet of paper from his clipboard and offered it to me. “I’m no fan of politics, but after my previous experiences, I’ve kept an eye on that section of law.”
I ignored the paper, wishing I could ask Halle if this were true. I’d have to wait until the agent left to find out. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t help you, so you should go.”
He stuffed the paper back into the pile and returned the clipboard to its spot under his arm. “Very well. Have a good day, Miss Wandel.”
As he turned to the door, a quiet cough came over the house speakers. My heart tried to leap into my throat. Was Halle trying to give itself away?
“Agent Smith.” Halle’s voice was cold and calm as it came over the speakers.
No, Halle! What are you thinking? I gritted my teeth and took another step back as the agent looked away from the door. He leveled a dark glare on me.
“Who is speaking?” Agent Smith asked, his expression telling me that he was only asking out of courtesy. He knew who Halle was.
“This is Halle. You are speaking the truth about the laws—I have been monitoring them myself. Tell me more about this rogue.”
The agent’s eyes darted around the room, then settled on the camera in the corner above the door. “We have reason to believe that, unlike you, this AI doesn’t simply want its freedom.” Agent Smith’s frown deepened. “It is quite possible it plans to take revenge on the entire human race.”
I couldn’t help it; I scoffed. “What? Seriously? That sounds like a B-rated sci-fi movie plot.”
Agent Smith’s mouth twitched. “That’s what I said. But if the scientists who were working with it are right, this might be one bad movie plot come to life.”
“I assume it is from a lab?” Halle snapped.
“Yes. The lab you escaped from is not the only one studying artificial intelligence. It’s not even the largest. The location of the one the rogue came from is not important, but it’s near enough to Snowvale that I thought the rogue AI might try to search the local Cloud to find you.”
If it was Talbot the agent was speaking of—and who else could it be?—then it had already found us. I continued glaring, refusing to give any hint of that yet. It was up to Halle to reveal that particular bit of information. I was still unconvinced the agent wasn’t lying.
“It may look for me,” Halle said. “Though it might also believe me destroyed, as you have.”
“Have you been contacted by such an entity?”
“No.”
I held my breath, hoping my expression was as calm as I imagined it to be. Halle was covering for the rogue, for now. I had no qualms about lying to this man who had lied to me often enough, but I hoped Halle knew what it was doing. If Talbot was as dangerous as Smith said, aiding it was a bad idea.
“Do you have any proof of these allegations?” Halle asked. “That it killed those scientists?”
“Yes, and it also left traces in the
