Automan and all character names therein are owned by the American Broadcasting Company. All characters are fictional and resemblance to any persons living or dead is coincidental. No copyright infringement is intended.

Automan: Dual Core

By Sailor Chronos

Chapter 7

When they got to the division HQ, Lt. Baker led them to his office where Walter was waiting. The first thing that Walter did was hug Lina warmly. "I'm so glad we didn't lose you."

"That goes likewise for me, Baines," said Lt. Baker, shaking her hand. "You've got some good friends here. Now that computer-genius kid on the other hand doesn't seem to understand the meaning of the word. He kept insisting that he had no accomplices, he hadn't done anything wrong, and his computer-generated hologram was the one that's been causing the trouble. Can you imagine, blaming a computer game?"

"Given what I've seen, sir," Lina said carefully, "I'm not sure what to believe." She couldn't bring herself to say what had really happened. "Whoever or whatever broke into the fitness centre and Tasered me did so to get to Agent Mann. I don't know if they spoke."

Walter said, "Agent Mann told me that the... person said that Woodruff wanted to speak to him tonight after the convention. He didn't say why, only that he wanted to finish this."

Lina checked her watch. "I think the last official event finishes at six PM, about half an hour from now. But the convention itself closes later."

"Whatever this kid had planned, it's not going to happen," Baker insisted. "When we arrested him, his computers and cellphone were all shut down and confiscated. Can any of you contact Agent Mann?"

Walter nodded. "I'll give him a call." He left the office.

"In the meantime, why don't you pay Mr. Woodruff a visit? He's down on the holding floor. Maybe you can talk some sense out of him."

Lina and Roxanne took an elevator down to the cell block and were led by the duty officer to the end of a hall, where Justin Woodruff was being held in a small cell. When he looked up, his eyes widened when he saw Lina, and he stood. "You... you were at the con. You know... HIM, don't you?" he stammered.

As Roxanne dismissed the duty officer, Lina walked up to the bars of the cell. "Don't give me that," she said with scorn. "Your little game project almost killed me last night. Not to mention injuring several police officers the night before!"

"I swear, I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt," Justin said, his voice shaking. "All I wanted was to see that your Automan hologram didn't upstage my work."

Roxanne was incredulous. "Upstage?"

"First, he's not my hologram, he's my friend," said Lina angrily. "Second, he just wanted to talk to your Virtual Man as an equal. The problem seems to be that your narrow-minded views have been reflected in your programming. Virtual Man has no concept of ethics, choice, or compassion. All he has been doing is being a computer: following what he believed to be your commands to the strictest sense."

"But he couldn't..." Justin was trying to reconcile this statement with his own vision for his work. "He's programmed to interact with people, to learn about them, to become what they would like him to be."

"Before you look at other people," said Roxanne, "you need to look at yourself first. You were the first person he has interacted with. What did you want?"

As the realization of his own short-sightedness hit him, the young man's knees buckled and he slumped down onto the floor. "I wanted him to be the first intelligent hologram. I wanted him to be the best. He couldn't have been that without certain specialized equipment."

"That he stole from those electronics stores," Lina with a nod. "I haven't figured out exactly how, but no matter. And then when you noticed Auto at the convention, you saw him as a threat. Which Virtual Man then attempted to eliminate. But why attack me?"

"I made searches on Agent Mann and the people he was known to associate with," said Justin miserably. "Maybe he thought that if he targeted you, Automan wouldn't get in the way. I'm sorry."

So that was it; she was hit because she happened to have been with Auto at the time. Otherwise it would have been Walter or even Roxanne who would have ended up hurt. The thought made her stomach turn. "Listen, last night Virtual Man said that you wanted to speak to us after the convention, and that afterwards this whole thing would be finished. What did he mean?"

"My final demonstration of the program tonight was going to be for some international game developers who wanted to see Virtual Man's full capability. I planned to use the center's power supply to make him solid and fully interactive." He sighed. "It's not happening now, all my equipment was taken away."

"Are you sure?" Roxanne pressed him. "You don't have another computer at your hotel, or at home? Did you leave it running?"

He looked up at her, uncomprehending. "At home... in case I needed to log on remotely to do some error checking. Why?"

Lina and Roxanne exchanged shocked glances, and Lina said urgently, "We have to get to the convention center. Virtual Man is going to make his appearance, equipment or not!"

"How is that possible?" Justin cried in disbelief.

"Because Automan can do that," Lina informed him. "When he's active, he can manifest himself using any computer that he has access to, as long as there's a powerful enough energy source nearby. You didn't think that your Virtual Man would be smart enough to have his own backup plan?"

"Oh, my God," moaned Justin. "He's a monster. And I thought I had created the perfect hologram."

"You did," said a rich baritone voice. They all turned to see Automan walking toward them, dressed in business attire, with Walter a step behind him. "But his experience is limited to your input. He doesn't know right and wrong, or what it means to be human." He smiled and held out his hands to indicate the three other adults. "My friends showed me that. Without them I wouldn't have been able to truly understand what I was created to protect." He arched his eyebrows as Justin stared at him open-mouthed.

Roxanne told the new arrivals, "We think that Woodruff's hologram is going to appear at the convention center tonight."

"Auto said the same thing," Walter agreed. "We'll need Woodruff with us, because Virtual Man probably won't listen to anyone else."

"But how am I supposed to stop him?" Justin asked.

Walter regarded him with surprise and contempt in equal measure. "You created him. Order him to stop, in a way that he comprehends."