The Neutron Show

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 9:

Jimmy stood there, not speaking or moving, as he tried to make sense of the confusion of ideas tumbling through his mind. He was Jimmy Neutron, but Jimmy Neutron wasn't real. Jimmy Neutron was the product of someone's imagination and existed only in the fantasy world of some television show. Remaining would preserve the illusion. Leaving would end the lie he had been, but, by implication, it would also end the person he had believed himself to be. Was either choice really better?

And what had Cindy been trying to tell him?

The truth is out there, he thought once again, and all lies lead to the truth. Was this what she had meant for him to know? That he hadn't been real, and he would discover that for himself if he kept analyzing the deception? Possibly, but somehow he felt that the message wasn't complete and that there was still something else she had to tell him. Something so important, he felt, that she had to hide until she was sure she could reach him without interference. More than ever he was convinced that he had to find her and get the message she had for him.

"Have you decided?" the voice asked.

The voice caused Jimmy to start. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had completely forgotten about the choice he had been offered and that his unseen creator was awaiting an answer. Still uncertain as to what to do he said the only thing he could.

"I need some time to think about it."

The voice seemed somewhat put out. "Do you really have that much to think about?"

"You're asking me about changing the entire Universe," Jimmy replied. "I'd say that's a lot to think about."

There was a pause while his answer was apparently being considered. "Very well," the voice finally said. "When you've decided, let me know."

Jimmy gave a non-commital grunt and continued on his way home. What the voice had said made him uneasy, as it implied that he was being closely watched and that a meeting with Cindy would be problematic. If someone were really out to stop Cindy from reaching him, or vice-versa, it would be difficult to contact her without interference. Difficult, but not necessarily impossible. The trick would be to find her without actually knowing where she was. If he didn't know where she was then whoever was watching him couldn't know either. And to do that, he needed Goddard.

As he activated the DNA scanner to his clubhouse he couldn't help wondering whether he was wasting his time. If what he had been told were true then it was quite possible that all the equipment he had built and used would be nothing more than props and completely non-functional. On the other hand, he told himself, even if they were just props the technology needed to make them appear functional for the show had to work. If that were the case then there was a chance that what he was attempting to do would succeed. If not, he would have to think of something else which would undoubtedly be much riskier.

To his relief, he was greeted by Vox's familiar voice when he entered the clubhouse. "Hello, Jimmy."

"Hello, Vox," he replied. "Request access to lab." If the Vox simulation was working. Jimmy reasoned, then the rest of the lab might also be functioning.

"Access granted," replied Vox as the hatch to his laboratory opened. "Have a nice day."

"Thank you, Vox," he said as he dropped down the chute.

"You're welcome."

He landed in what should have been his lab and looked carefully around. It appeared just as he remembered although that didn't mean much. Whether it was a set or a lab, he had been coming here nearly every day for years and what it looked like didn't mean much. What mattered was whether any of the devices he needed actually worked. He seated himself before his computer console and tentatively flipped some switches, carefully checking each time to see whether the result was as he expected. When everything seemed to check out normally (whatever that meant anymore) he activated a communicator and said, "Goddard?"

After a few seconds he heard a familiar bark.

"It's good to hear you, boy. Come to the lab right away. I need you." In response Goddard barked several times and Jimmy shook his head. "I can't tell you now, boy. Just get here. It's important." When Goddard replied with an obedient bark Jimmy relaxed and switched off the communicator. It was entirely possible, he supposed, that whoever was watching him might be using Goddard to spy on him, but it was a risk he had to take. If he moved fast enough it might give him enough time to learn what he had to know.

Less than a minute after Jimmy had called Goddard the mechanical canine entered the lab and stood in front of Jimmy, awaiting further orders. Jimmy knelt down next to the robotic dog. "System diagnostics mode, Goddard," he said. Obediently Goddard flipped up the plate covering his video monitor and began displaying columns of data that Jimmy carefully scrutinized as they scrolled past. If the information meant anything Goddard appeared to be fully operational and functioning normally. Then, again, if Goddard were just a machine built for the show the information could just be fictitious preprogrammed data in a memory bank and completely meaningless. Having no better way to determine which possibility was valid Jimmy located a screwdriver, opened an access panel, and used the screwdriver to short two terminals inside Goddard. Immediately several lines of data began flashing red and Goddard leapt backwards with a yelp of protest.

"Sorry, boy," Jimmy apologized as he put the screwdriver back on a workbench. "I know this might not make sense to you, but I had to find out if you were as real as I need you to be." Goddard cocked his head to one side as though trying to understand what Jimmy was trying to say, and Jimmy shook his head. "Never mind. I'm pretty sure that I can depend on you for what I need. Ready?"

Goddard barked an affirmative.

"Good. Vox!" he called. "Cindy Vortex is not at school or home or with friends. Compute her most probable current location and transfer coordinates to Goddard using encrypted sub-harmonic carrier. Delete coordinates from memory once transfer is complete."

"Coordinates computed and transferred," Vox announced after several seconds. "Information deleted from system."

Normally Jimmy would have accepted the statement at face value but recent events had left him, if not actually paranoid, at least suspicious. "Vox! Provide coordinates of Cindy Vortex."

"Coordinates are not in system," Vox responded after several seconds.

Satisfied, Jimmy turned to Goddard. "All right, Goddard. You're the only one who knows where Cindy probably is right now. That means I should be able to reach her before anyone can stop us. Activate Flycycle Turbo Mode and take me to her at top speed." As instructed Goddard converted into the desired vehicle, lifted into the air and, with Jimmy astride him, sped away down the drainage tunnel leading to the outside.

In the monitor room one of the two observers there turned to the other. "What's going on?"

The cigarette-smoking man exhaled a cloud of smoke before replying. "I thought it was fairly obvious. The robot is taking him to Cindy – or where she probably should be." He took another slow puff on the cigarette.

"Why didn't the robot signal where she is? How did we lose control?"

"Goddard isn't a human being. His programming either does what it's supposed to do or it doesn't. Among other things, he's programmed to be obedient to Jimmy." He gave the figure next to him a look the other couldn't quite interpret. "We never had control."

"I never should have had him in the scenario," the other muttered.

"As you said, he was one of those closest to Jimmy and he would have suspected if Goddard were simply gone. Unfortunately for us we had to have him emulate the way Jimmy would expect Goddard to act, just as we had to make Vox as functional as possible."

"So you're saying that the Vox simulation came up with the correct information and that Jimmy actually is on his way to where Cindy is?"

The cigarette-smoking man ground out the stub of his cigarette and nodded wordlessly.

"So why hasn't the system been able tell us where she is?"

"Because the portion of the system simulating the Vox processes is integrated into the scenario. It has to be accessed from inside." The man stopped to light another cigarette. "It would be like trying to edit your word processor document through your computer monitor."

"So now what?"

The cigarette-smoking man seemed unconcerned about the recent developments, although studied indifference appeared to be his usual manner. "We can track where Neutron is going. We can't get there before him but we can deploy a team to implement containment and damage control before he can learn anything."

"Do you really think that the Vortex girl can tell him anything potentially harmful?" The possibility seemed to unnerve the man's accomplice.

The man with the cigarette continued to smoke as he thoughtfully surveyed the monitor screens. "I don't know," he finally answered. "But she's a potentially dangerous loose end. And I've never liked loose ends. Loose ends have an uncomfortable way of becoming nooses." With this final remark he turned and strode from the room, as though he had come to a decision.

End of Chapter 9.