Kate checked in with the Uni's covering the Tanner House. Nothing has been happening since they came on shift. Kate gave them an Atta boy then hung up.
"So?" Rick asked as they were driving into the New Jersey Mountains.
"No movement at the Tanner house." Kate said.
"That is good either the mastermind is thinking he is still safe while we are running around chasing our tail or he left before the Uni's arrived. Seeing you assigned them to watch the place last night after arresting Omar I'm going he does not know we are on to him." Rick said.
"Rick again why are we intruding on Simon Warburg's privacy?" Kate asked.
"Well since his manifesto I think he knows much more than we are lead to believe. I mean he did crack the software for the Drones and was going to broadcast it to everyone. I mean he must have some sort of agenda. I need to know what it is." Rick said.
"So we are going on a fishing expedition?" Kate asked.
"Well I guess but my way of saying it was much more elegant." Rick said "Say this is the place!"
"Should we heed this sign" Rick asked getting out of the car.
The sign on the gate was Private Property Keep out.
"Well of course not we have the backing of the Feds ignore the sign Castle." Kate said walking pass the gate and following the dirt tracks.
Rick ran to catch up. He was feeling very uneasy then the reason came clear. Rick saw in the corner of his eye a Drone swooping down on them.
Rick tackled Kate to the ground as the Drone opened up on them.
Rick felt very Hitchcockian right then as if he was Cary Grant in North by Northwest. Instead of a biplane it was a Killer drone and it was coming around for another pass.
Kate handed her spare piece to Rick as she stood up and started firing at the drone. Rick too fired but from a Prone position. The Drone bullets had passed by them but then Victory. The Drone was showing an oil burn of black smoke. The engine stuttered and the Drone was down.
Kate and Rick dusted themselves off when a Man came out of the bushes very upset.
"You dropped my Drone! Who are you and what do you want? Can you not see the sign?" The Man said.
"So sorry about your Drone but it attacked first we were just defending ourselves." Kate said.
"Simon Bar Sinister I presume?" Rick quipped.
The man laughed.
"I guess I have been called worst. Now who are you and what do you want?" Simon asked more politely this time.
"I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is…" Kate said.
"Richard Freaking Castle…? Where are my manners? My mother would have been so ashamed! Come in come in you know I loved your Derrick Storm Books marvelous simply marvelous. I liked how you brought the old boy back from his exile. So what can I do for you?" He said as they entered his home and found many different prototypes of Drones hanging around the room as he busily made tea.
Rick was looking at his collection of Books
"I see you have good taste you know if you answer our questions I will autograph them all." Rick said.
"So what brings the Great Detective Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook out here? Oh Please do, I will be the envy of our Richard Castle group." Simon asked.
"It is about Dale Tanner. I am so sorry to inform you he is dead. How he died is more up your bailiwick." Kate said.
"Don't tell me it was a Drone attack?" Simon asked.
"You are correct." Kate said.
"I knew it he was in way too deep. It was one of the reasons I wanted my software crack to be published." Simon said.
"So that Terrorists can get a hold of the Drones?" Rick asked as he looked up from signing the huge stack that appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh you know about that problem huh? Yes I wanted to ground these devices. If the people who are using them thought the devices could be used against them they would scrap the entire idea!" Simon said.
"Really what happens if they don't and the terrorist get a hold of these weapons what do you propose then?" Kate asked.
"You do not understand. I've seen the future. These People want to make these devices totally autonomous. There could be no link failure if they could think for themselves. By exploiting it now Public Pressure could work otherwise these AI can only go by what is programmed in them." Simon said.
"Why is that a bad thing?" Kate asked.
"Ok I guess you have never seen a Drone video. I happen to have one right here." Simon said as he turned on his DVR.
The screen came to life. It showed a dirt road and a checkpoint where cars were being stopped.
"What am I seeing?" Rick asked.
"This is a Drone video of a checkpoint in Iraq. The Drone is on station for 8 hours. The operators have to be there for that entire shift. Now listen." Simon said.
They listened to the chatter of the security detail on the ground. Soon they were alarmed by a car travelling fast coming toward them. They were asking permission to open fire. The Drone operator seeing the red roses on the back of the car told them to stand down it was a Funeral Procession.
"If this was an AI that funeral procession would have been bombed. But because there was a Human in the circuit a tragedy was averted. Remove the Human touch the device becomes and rampaging monster." Simon said.
"I understand why it is important to remove these weapons but we need to talk about a more mundane topic. Did you put in anyway to track the spread of your software?" Kate asked.
"Of course I did plus there is a master kill switch embedded in the code. I'm not an unfeeling monster." Simon said.
"So what do you show for your software proliferation?" Kate asked.
"Well there are two copies in active mode. One is at this location and the other is at this location. Wait that last location is a spoof site it is actually at this location." Simon said.
Rick looked at the red dots on the map. He could see his Unit in the Queens and the 12th Precinct. The last dot was not surprising. It was at the Tanner Home.
"Thank you Simon but we are going to need you to give us a copy of your tracking software. I promise I will return it." Kate said.
"Ok just a minute I need a jump drive I have one around here." Simon said.
"One other question how did you send Dale the drive in the first place?" Rick asked.
"Good old US snail Mail! I would never transmit anything over the internet. The Gov't has ears you know." Simon said.
"Well Simon I am done signing your books you sure drive a hard bargain. I am hoping to see you again and so sorry about your Drone." Rick said.
"What this? It can be fixed in no time at all but I will keep it the way it is! How many people can say they have a Drone shot down by Jameson Rook and Nikki Heat and I have the video to prove it! It will become a collector's item but rest assured it will never depart this premise." Simon said.
"Uh Great…" Rick said. "Bye now."
"Bye Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook!" Simon said waving from his porch.