Near Future 1: Awakening (22 page)

Miranda knew she had a big part in that win at the regionals, but she always tried to play that down. "I don't really even want to go, but I have to do my part for the team."

Since they had finished up in the lab, the two of them exited, starting back toward the dorm. Grabbing Zeke's arm Miranda said, "Now tell me about this plan of yours. I've seen what you can do with a computer and I've no doubt you can do it if you say you can. But how are you going to get past the linear decision matrix? All AI's have them and we humans don't. We basically have a quantum circuit in our brains; that's the best way I can think to explain it."

Zeke looked back at her, surprised to see she was genuinely interested. "I have a couple of ideas," he said. "We would have to build something similar to what we have in our brains. Maybe we could study you..." He laughed and saw her give him a quick smile.

"But you are right. That is the exact thing we have to figure out. The rest we would use a lot of what I developed for the project." Suddenly he stopped walking. "Guess he released the rights to that too, didn't he?" Zeke gave a big smile at that and swung Miranda around into his arms. "Girl, you are a genius twice over."

Looking into his eyes, Miranda thought he was going to kiss her, but right then a group of students went laughing by and the moment passed.

#

After escaping with the firemen, the Weasel had stopped to pick up a number of things from various caches he had set up. The things he had hidden included his second best pad, a battered VR interface, a fake ID, and the old clothes he had set up for his backup plan. He dared not show his face anywhere they would have cameras, so a cheap, grimy hotel that rented by the week in the poorer part of town was his place of residence for the moment. Cash only, of course. When he got in his room, he shuddered in disgust at what he saw, but he would have to make the best of it.
 

He had waited awhile, but now it was time to start the wheels moving again. He called his guy he knew on the cleaning crew at the hospital where Doctor Ted Randolph worked, telling him that he would be needing to work in his place at his next shift at the hospital. He had previously arranged it, offering the man the night's pay plus a big bonus.

He figured that if anyone would be hearing from Doctor Sam Randolph, Ted would be the one. He would go in the one night as the substitute for the cleaning guy. That would give him the opportunity he needed to plant the bug in Doctor Ted's office.

He needed a special bug to get past the security sweeps he knew that they would use. He went to a pawn shop and bought a worn but functional set of small tools. A man he knew who sold illegal electronics sold him the bug and other components. He immediately took it apart, adding his own modifications. When he was finished, he had built a bug that he thought was completely undetectable.
I need to patent it after this is all over.

As soon as he started the work shift, he went straight to Doctor Ted's office. The bug was successfully planted, although he didn't get any points with the supervisor on the cleaning crew. He just couldn't bring himself to do any actual work there, so he left halfway through the shift. Of course the super was yelling at him and the guards at the hospital laughing.
Idiots!
They had no clue. Then he settled down to wait.

#

Miranda was nervous as Andrea picked her up the next week. They were going to meet two of Andrea's former special forces contacts at the studio, and the three of them were going to work together to help her in her training. The others were already waiting when they arrived at the studio, so Andrea entered the access code and they all went in together.

Andrea spoke to the group as soon as everyone was inside. "We are going to use stage names only, just to keep everything a little more discrete. Our student doesn't have a stage name yet, but I'm going to call her
SuperGirl
. You guys will see why when we get going. As everyone here knows, I am
Athena the Goddess of War
because I fought like the mythical goddess. The short redhead here is
Dynamite
as in it comes in small packages and the tall girl is
Wrecking Crew
as she is a one girl wrecking crew."

"The two of you are the best I know at your particular techniques. I want both of you to work one-on-one with my girl to teach her your best moves, and when we are done, the three of us are going to all take on
SuperGirl
at the same time. I know you don't believe me, but I suspect she will win."

The two of them shook their heads in disbelief, but they both shook hands with
SuperGirl
and started warming up for the class. The two of them both owed
Athena
for their lives more than once and if she said climb that mountain, they would climb it for her.

"Everyone ready?" asked
Athena
after they had warmed up for a moment. "
Dynamite
why don't you work here with
SuperGirl
first.
Wrecking Crew
and I will renew our acquaintance over there."

Everyone nodded and took their places. Taking two deep breaths, Miranda quickly forgot her nervousness and slipped into the groove as she called it. She looked intently at her partner.

"Because of my size," the girl explained, "I have to rely on speed and movement. So my strategy is to make my opponent think I'm going to be one place when I'm actually already moving to another, and then strike before they can react. What I want you to do is stand there and watch me, putting up your basic defense. I will then go through one of my routines and I want you to concentrate on trying to block. Let me know when you are ready."

Miranda dropped into her defensive position and nodded. The redhead immediately began a series of moves and Miranda realized that she was very fast. And slippery. But she managed to block all of the strikes and within a short time, she had a feel for how her opponent moved. She concentrated and easily stored the moves in her head.

After a couple of minutes, the redhead stopped, looking at Miranda with new respect. "Wow!" she said, "Even
Athena
has never blocked that entire routine. You have the fastest reflexes I have ever seen. Do you want me to step through the routine once again more slowly so you can get the individual moves down?"

"No, I think I've got it. Shall we try it again, and this time I attack as well as defend?"

The redhead just shook her head and said, "It's ok with me. I'm just here to help, but there's no way you could have gotten all that in one shot with me going full speed!"

"I learn really fast," Miranda said with a smile. "It's just the way my brain works now. But I really appreciate your help. Let's give it a try and if I've missed something you can show me later."

The redhead nodded and they both moved into position. The other two girls stopped their workout, coming over to watch. With a wink for them,
Dynamite
launched into her routine. Her every strike was easily blocked, and as Miranda worked into the flow, she began to pick up speed and to land strikes against the other girl. Before they finished, the redhead had tried every move she knew, all to no avail. Finally as if on cue, the two stopped and bowed to each other.

"Now you see what I mean,"
Athena
said into the silence. "This girl is the fastest I have ever known and she has every move locked in her brain. And now she has a little bit of dynamite in her head."

Shaking her head, the redhead said, "I've never seen anything like her. I tried moves that I didn't show her, moves that I have only done in practice that no one has ever seen. None of it worked, like she could read my mind."

"No," said Miranda, "I couldn't read your mind, but they were all extensions of your other moves and I was able to picture where you were going with them. I have absolutely no idea how I am able to do it. I really, really do appreciate you working with me. I am actually just learning how to do this stuff, despite what you think."

"No, don't thank me. It has been a privilege to work with you. Hopefully I have learned a few things also. I can't wait till you master this stuff if you're telling me that you are only learning.
Athena
tells me that you are not planning to compete for now, but if you ever do, I will be in the crowd cheering you on. I most certainly won't be standing across from you in the arena."
 

The process with
Wrecking Crew
went similarly. She mostly used her longer reach and power against her opponents. Miranda had to compensate for the reach with speed, but she was able to match her power. Again when they went full speed, Miranda was at first only able to defend against the other's attacks, but after it clicked in her head, she began to get her own strikes through the other's guard.

Finally,
Athena
gathered everyone back together. She noticed that the other two looked at Miranda with newfound respect. "Did either of you notice anything different about our girl other than her speed?" When neither one answered, she went on. "With her, neither side is dominant. She is equally effective with her right and left. We all work on that. Both
Dynamite
and I are right-handed, and it shows in some of our moves.
Wrecking Crew
is left-hand dominant, and it is a weakness that can be exploited. With
SuperGirl
it's not a factor, and she is able to use it against us.

"Now,
SuperGirl
needs to learn to defend herself when faced with multiple opponents, something she might need someday to save her life. That's why I want the three of us to give it a go against her. This is something we have all had to experience at one time or another. But after working with her, I think you see why I say she may very well be able to defeat the three of us."

The others nodded and the redhead spoke up, "We understand, and yes, I believe you're right. I don't think we've got a chance."

Miranda took a deep breath and sighed. "Give me a few seconds and then hopefully I will be ready. I happen to think it is crazy myself, but if
Athena
says I need to try it, then try it I will." She concentrated on her breathing for a few seconds, mentally pushing herself deeper into the zone. When she held her hand out, it was steady, and her head felt ok, so she relaxed a little. Finally she looked up and nodded.

The three girls spread out and then began to attack her. At first Miranda just struggled to defend herself, barely blocking many of the moves. At times they seemed to work together, using one person's moves as the counterpoint to the others. Also, the three together were able to use each other's dominant side to compensate for the others. Miranda soon realized something about the three of them.
These girls have worked together before.
So she concentrated on feeling the rhythms of their movements, and it was like something clicked. She fell into what was almost a dance. She began striking back at her opponents and to land hits on each of them. They continued this for another minute or so with Miranda gliding from one move to the next. To make things worse on her opponents, Miranda began using one girl's moves against the others instead of letting them coordinate their attacks. Finally they all collectively stopped, and the three of them bowed to Miranda.

"I told you," gasped Andrea, still catching her breath. "This girl is special and I want to thank you for helping me work with her. I hope she never needs to use all this in a life or death situation, but I believe she will be able to overcome a group if she has to face them now."

The others just nodded. They all spent a few minutes talking before having to go their separate ways. As usual, Miranda was more satisfied with the feeling of acceptance she felt with the other girls than for what she had managed to accomplish. Also, something that was very important to her was that she had been able to keep the headaches away, although it was close there at the last. She ran the music through her head for a few minutes more just to be sure.

#

Miranda received an official VR notice copying her and Zeke. It was from the school legal group agreeing with the instructor's assessment that their project was not patentable, releasing all the school's rights other than the standard ten percent they assessed to use their facilities. She was happy to see that, but a little saddened that the instructor could not stretch his mind enough to see the possibilities. With all the news she kept seeing, the world could really use an inexpensive power source such as the one she believed they could produce.

Miranda shortly after received a VR from Zeke exclaiming,
"We are on our own now, girl. So keep burning that big brain of yours and I'll try to keep peddling along behind you."
He sent a VR image of a girl with her hair on fire and behind her a guy on a bicycle reaching out toward her.

Miranda gave a big laugh when she saw it. His VR abilities were so much beyond what everyone else was able to do, she couldn't help but smile. Her eyebrows knitting together in concentration, she built her own VR response.
"Paint a big AI on that bicycle and I'll be the one trying to catch up..."
and she had the bicycle go flying past the girl with a big "Oh!" caption showing above her mouth. Finally, she sent it off with a sigh of satisfaction. Zeke wasn't the only one who could tweak a VR!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Third World Trouble

A special sports event is taking place in the third world country Kinza. This small country is best known for its two chief exports, a premium coffee bean grown in the highlands and the mineral zechronium used to produce an essential material for modern space technologies. Due to a scheduling mix-up, the students for the US college level competition from the Space Academy arrived a day earlier than the other students. To further complicate matters, the instructors for the Space Academy students have been stranded en route when the plane they were on experienced technical difficulties and had to return to the airport. A spokesman for the Kinza government said the scheduling issue was due to a computer mix-up. He blamed it on the poor quality equipment their country could barely afford. He had no idea about the problem with the instructors' plane.