“The beam here is moving quickly. Do your goggles have infrared vision?”
She fiddled with her glasses until she hit upon the right setting. A red beam, stretching from wall to wall, rolled across the floor at ankle height, a little faster than Nyssa thought she could run. It stopped a few feet from her hiding place, reversed, and continued to the other end of the hall. She counted seconds. Roughly forty for it to get from one end to the other. It looked about five feet wide, too broad to jump.
“How long will it take you to disable the beam once we’re at the panel?”
“Half a minute?” The questioning inflection made Nyssa grimace.
“Make it twenty seconds and maybe, if we time it right, we have a chance.” She watched the beam sweep back and forth.
“No, it’s too risky. I don’t know the status of that computer. What if the ports aren’t functional? You won’t be able to get away before they activate. Whatever is in the files isn’t worth your life.”
What would Mr. C say in times like this? Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the death? That sounds about right. Okay, God. If I stop now, Mr. C died for nothing. So far you’ve kept me alive through this. I’m asking for a little more patience with my stupidity because I’m going to try this.
The beam cycled back to her feet. The instant it turned again, she bolted.
“Nyss, no!” Hart yelped.
She made the panel in several great leaps. A spider had built a nest in the interface port, but she blew it out and plugged in the RAM, trying not to think about where the beam was on its rounds.
The blue and red lights flashed, and the inner workings of the mirror hummed and whistled. Silver streaks darted down the glass like water droplets. She flattened her back against the wall, staring at the red light racing toward her.
“Come on, Hart. You can do this.”
“Trying. If I may remind you, this wasn’t my idea.”
A frantic beeping pierced Nyssa’s ears, and she cowered. The red beam flickered then blinked out. Her shoulders slumped.
“See. I knew you could do it.” She smiled.
The mirror interface whirred, the glass growing hot against her shoulder blades. She turned and blinked. Erratic lines of silver, blue, and red danced behind her reflection, distorting it.
“Hart, are you all right?”
“You shouldn’t have done that.” The threads of light trembled along with his voice.
“Done what?”
“It wasn’t safe. A few more seconds, and it would’ve triggered the security system. I can’t communicate with the knights. I wouldn’t have been able to stop them. I wouldn’t have been able to save you.”
She crossed her arms. “I didn’t ask you to save me. I understood the risk, and it was my choice to take it.”
“It wasn’t your choice!” The mirror crackled.
Nyssa stepped back. “Hart, settle down.”
“I was in charge of twenty-three people, Nyss. Twenty-three, and they’re all gone! I won’t lose anyone else on my watch, including you. If you are going to pull stupid stunts like that, this is over. I’m not going to be your accomplice in suicide.”
She sucked in her bottom lip. How do you soothe a frantic computer? Can’t exactly tell him to take deep, calming breaths. Uncertain what else to do, she pressed her palms against the face of the mirror. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have run in without warning you. You’re right, it was stupid, but it worked.”
“Nothing in the lab is worth dying for.” The lights magnetized towards her hands until her fingers glowed. A tingling sensation penetrated her skin.
“For me it might be. I wasn’t completely honest with you, Hart. This isn’t just a job for me; it’s my last chance at a normal life. A man killed my boss, and chased me into the streets. Without Rivera's help, I have nowhere to go, no one to go to.” Her throat tightened. Had it really only been that morning? Her old, safe life felt a lifetime away.
The mirror buzzed, and Hart’s voice hummed in her ears. “I’m sorry. Look, my programming is supposed to mimic human emotions, but those aren’t exactly logical things, and it's hard to know how to respond to certain situations … also being locked in an isolated system for several years isn’t the best social training. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. What idiot put anger into my program?”
She laughed, but it caught in her throat. “Well, according to you, they didn’t program in arrogance, but I’ve detected it in your tone more than once. Maybe you’re learning.” She considered the hall. “Are you getting any new information from this computer station?”
“Nothing new. Mostly security programs. However, the memory disks inside these knights should give us something to work with. I can instruct you on removing the disks.”
“From all of them?” She did a quick count. “How long will that take?”
“How about just one? I recognize most of the models here. They were in service when I was overseeing the household, but a few are new. I’d like to see what one of those has to say, since the others will likely only tell me what I already know. The one in the second alcove over looks promising.”
Nyssa shrugged and pulled the RAM from the port. She moved in front of the indicated suit of armor, propped the RAM up against the wall so Hart could see what she was doing, and fished in her satchel for her tool kit.
“You should be able to access the circuitry if you remove the chest-plate, similar to the maid,” Hart instructed. “There are screws on the side.”
She leaned over and examined the indicated area. “Star-headed screws. Unusual. I think I have the right screwdriver, though.” She selected a tool and began to unfasten the first one. “So, the choice to give you emotions, that doesn’t seem all that logical and scientific. It must take a lot of programming. Not
