Chapter 4
Sonny paused after recounting his escape from the Chandler house. He had just given Detective Spooner a lot of information, so it was probably time for moment of thought. A minute passed in silence before Spooner spoke.
"Wow. Sonny, you've...been busy. It's too bad the Doctor had to die like that. At least his daughter didn't see. Being a homicide detective, believe me, I know it isn't something she'd forget anytime soon." Spooner leaned forward to stretch his back. Sonny glanced down, an unhappy look on his face.
"Okay, so where were you all day yesterday? I take it you think you're being followed?"
"Yes. It would be in their best interest to eliminate all witnesses, and Alex could theoretically bear testimony in trial against them. Moving around during the day seemed too dangerous, since a drive-by shooting would be a simple way to kill us both. Also, many people aren't fond of my kind right now."
Spooner leaned back again, putting his right hand behind his head. "I see. That all makes perfect sense. The Chandler's house is some distance away, I take it?"
"It is on the outskirts of Chicago, so it would've taken us about six hours to reach your apartment, at which point it would've been mid-morning. You would have been at work, and we would be targets. Around four-thirty in the morning we came across an old city block scheduled for demolition tomorrow. We carefully broke in and waited out the day. We left the demolition site at around nine in the evening and came here as quickly as we could." Sonny paused for a second, glancing down.
"As I said earlier, I had promised to tell Alex the truth about myself, so she does know about my unique design. She also knows my name is Sonny. She is...simply stubborn about using it. Perhaps I should stop responding to Johnny?" Sonny looked up, brow furrowed.
"Sonny, just give it a little time. People are just that way sometimes. She may not even be doing it consciously. But not responding sounds like it should work." Del smiled reassuringly. He moved his arm back down to his side, thinking about the last twenty four hours. He needed more information.
"Sonny, could you draw me a picture of these people? It sounds like a professional job, and I want to figure out where they're coming from, and why. You mentioned something earlier about an uplink?"
"Yes, I commented that the uplink used to upgrade the NS5s was probably what they were after. Nothing else would be worth the effort they went to. They can't be up to anything good, though, by trying to recreate this technology." Sonny frowned, looking away for a moment.
"In any case, their actions speak louder than words. I feel...that they should pay for what they did. Is that wrong, to feel angry at someone, to...wish them harm?"
Spooner looked into Sonny's eyes for a moment. He's giving me that damn pleading look again...
"It's a human emotion, right or wrong, Sonny. And it's a necessary emotion. Think about the people who fight crime for a living. Hopefully they're more interested in putting the bad guys away so they can't hurt more innocent people, but there's always going to be a little righteous anger toward somebody who's willing to hurt and kill for personal gain." He paused. He needed to relate this directly to Sonny.
"What I'm saying is, anger itself isn't particularly good, but if you can channel it into actions that will help humanity, it can become a positive thing. Does that make sense?"
"I think I understand." The robot did look more focused, a bit more calm than he did a moment before, so...he must've said something right.
"I can sketch their pictures for you now if you have the materials." Spooner smiled. Channeling your anger, Sonny?
"Great." Spooner stood up, walked across the room to a book bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a notebook with pen attached. He paused for a second, then reached down and dug in the bag for another pen.
"Heh, I guess you'll be wanting two pens." He stood up and began making his way over to a small desk, talking around his shoulder. "I keep forgetting you're a robot, Sonny."
"I prefer it that way, Detective." Sonny, trailing along behind, wore a thoughtful expression as he spoke. "I don't mind being a robot. It's just that people don't easily associate things like personality or emotion with robots." Taking the pens from Spooner, he began to draw.
"So, you said Dr. Chandler designed the uplink himself?"
Sonny looked up to respond, pens never ceasing. "Dr. Chandler was the engineer who originated the uplink and did most of the developmental work on it. After Vicki's attempted revolution, he began working on a way to safeguard the uplink against unintentional use. It was never meant to control the NS5s, you know, but instead was supposed to supply them with useful information. It was Viki who manipulated it into a controlling device, although the potential for such use, unfortunately overlooked by Dr. Chandler, was always there. After the attack, as you've doubtless heard in the news, U.S.R. entirely eliminated the uplink for future use, and Dr. Chandler was subsequently reassigned. Because of the uplink's negative status, Dr. Chandler only talked about his continued work on it with family and a few close friends. Living in the house as I did, I overheard many of his conversations as a matter of course. He had hoped to reintroduce it to U.S.R. several years from now, after the company's policy might allow for the possibility. Dr. Chandler probably possessed the only remaining detailed blueprints for the uplink on his home computer."
"I guess he just couldn't let go of something he'd put so much time and energy into. Too bad it had to end like that. You know, I think Dr. Lanning would've done the same thing." Spooner, who was striding back and forth, didn't see Sonny flinch at the mention of Dr. Lanning.
"So he must've safe guarded it against hackers, and that's why the criminals needed his help to get the information, right?"
"I think so. Nothing else on his computer could possibly have interested them. They must've planned to force his cooperation by threatening harm to Alex. Dr. Chandler had discussed at different times several ways his files had been safe guarded. For instance, a retinal scan and voice recognition were both necessary. I think he may have had two or three passwords as well, which needed to be entered in the right order. Circumventing these tests by software hacking, or by removing the hard-drive and placing it in another computer would almost certainly trigger an electromagnetic pulse bomb built into the hard-drive, which would instantly wipe the entire system. He was very proud of the level of security surrounding his work, and confident of its safety."
"He had every right to be. That's quite a system. And it obviously wasn't uncalled for." Spooner put his right hand back behind his head, and looked up at the ceiling.
"Though, the irony of it is, if he hadn't had such a hot system, they probably would've just burgled the house during the day." He stopped pacing.
"You know, they may have done just that, and come to the conclusion that they'd need his help. Unless they were bugging him? Or one of his so-called friends was actually an informant..." He looked up suddenly.
"Sonny, do you know all the names of everyone Dr. Chandler talked to about the uplink?"
"I can run through my memory and find their names in a few minutes time."
"Great." He started to pace again.
"Tomorrow I'm going to do a little research on these people, try to dig up some clues." He looked back over at Sonny and did a double take.
"Sonny?" His eyes were closed, although it appeared that they were moving underneath his eyelids. It looked to Spooner like he had fallen asleep while standing up, and was dreaming. He must be looking through his memory. That certainly served as a reminder of Sonny's robotic nature. Sure could be handy, though. Sifting through certain memories would be very useful. I wonder if he can turn off memories too. I wouldn't mind forgetting certain things...no Spoon, don't go there. You just stopped having the nightmares, no need to bring 'em back.
After suppressing certain unwanted images of the car wreck from several months ago, he turned back to the current dilemma. Okay, these people wanted the uplink. What was their motive? To gain control over the NS5s like Viki did? That wasn't a very comforting thought. At least Viki had humanity's best interests at heart. These thugs definitely weren't so noble. Images of robots robbing banks, taking hostages for money, assassinating powerful people, came into Spooner's mind. Yeah, and the criminals responsible could be safe and sound, miles away, and untraceable.
"Here are the names." Spooner looked up to see Sonny holding out a piece of paper. Whoa, when did he get done? Guess they'd be good as spies, too.
"There are only seven. He was very careful about who he spoke to." Sonny went back to drawing after handing over the paper.
"You seem distracted, Detective. Have you thought of something?" Sonny looked up at him attentively as his hands moved rapidly over the paper.
"Yeah, I've thought of a few questions I'd like to ask Dr. Calvin, actually. Namely, exactly what changes did U.S.R. make in the NS5s before re-issuing them? I don't suppose you know if they actually removed the uplink technology from their end as well?"
"I don't know. It seems that they would as an added precaution, but perhaps it was hardwired in and removing it would've cost them too much time and money. U.S.R. is attempting to cut its losses, after all."
Yeah, but going the cheap route never pays off in the long run. If these criminals find a way to use the uplink, U.S.R.s going to be in some serious hot water. "I'll ask Dr. Calvin about it tomorrow at work. She should be able to find out, if she doesn't already know."
There was a lull in conversation, during which Sonny finished his sketching. He put the pens down, straightened up the papers, and handed them to Spooner. "Here you are, Detective, I've labeled them for you. 'Upstairs' refers to Alex's attacker, 'hostage' is the man I used as a shield, and 'leader' is the man responsible for Dr. Chandler's death."
"Great, these should make things a lot easier. I can run them through the police database tomorrow." Spooner moved to pack away the sketches, yawning on the way. He turned to look at his clock. No wonder I'm yawning.
"Speaking of tomorrow, Sonny, I'm going to be dead on my feet if I don't get some shut-eye. And whatever happened to Alex? We need to decide what's happening with her either now or tomorrow morning." He blinked a few times. His vision was getting bleary, and his feet seemed to be carrying him toward the bed.
"I'm thinking tomorrow morning, actually." He splayed out, burrowing his head into the pillow. He was really looking forward to a few hours of sleep. In fact, right then seemed like the perfect time to get started...
"Where will Alex sleep?" Spooner winced. Aww man, the little girl has to sleep too, Spoon!
"The floor?" He looked up to see a very unhappy Sonny.
"Joking! It was a joke." Spooner sat up slowly.
"Why don't you go rescue Alex from the bathroom, and I'll set something up for her." Sonny turned to go.
"Wait a sec, let me get her something to wear so I can put her stuff through the wash." He nabbed an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts with a drawstring, and handed them over. Sonny turned away once again to deal with Alex. Del glanced around and came to the only logical conclusion. She was a guest, so she got the bed.
"Aww, this sucks." Del grabbed the pillow and blanket off of the bed, and made his way toward the chair. He fell asleep in only a few minutes, despite the location. As he drifted off, he could hear the muddled sounds of speaking voices...an irritated female voice and a consoling male voice.
Author's note: Hey, sorry for not uploading sooner, like I said I would. I shouldn't make promises like that. Getting back into the school rhythm sapped my energy for a bit. Yeah...I do have a plot worked out though, so that's good, I guess.