Chapter 3: "Exodus - Homeward Bound"

---

 

From her hiding place in the half-destroyed concrete guard house, Minnie heard the automatic weapons, and she knew the bad guys had found some more FBI people, or maybe reinforcements had come from outside. After all, the weapons firing were all coming from right in front of the entrance. She peeked from behind her concrete cover and saw a couple of agents firing back at maybe a dozen of the enemy.

"Now what, Valerie," she whispered into the phone.

"Can you check around?" the electronic Valerie said. "You should see a small metal door, like this." Valerie displayed a picture of the aforementioned door on the little screen of Telly' phone.

Minnie looked, and, using the faint light coming from the phone's screen (she didn't want to activate the phone's flash), checked around.

"Found it, Valerie."

"I suggest you go through that door. It will lead to a door that comes out beside the building security office. The cameras show that hall where that door comes out is empty at the moment."

Since the door opened inwards, Minnie didn't need to clear out the debris surrounding the door. In fact, after she went through, she piled on more debris before closing it, giving the impression it hadn't been opened. Minnie closed the door carefully so as not to make any noise, and once closed, she felt around for a light switch.

Flicking it on, the little corridor was lit with little red emergency lights on the ceiling. This allowed her to see everything fairly clearly and turned around to dog the door she just went through closed.

"There is no one there, Ms Lloyd," Valerie said. "Proceed quickly, and you will be at the hallway I mentioned."

Minnie scuttled down the little corridor, came upon another door similar to the first one, went though it, and came out in the hallway Valerie described.

"Where to now, Valerie?" Minnie asked, but Valerie didn't respond.

"Valerie!" she said urgently.

"Ms Lloyd..." Valerie finally said. "John was..."

"What!"

"John was in a shootout just now... He's been shot..."

"Oh, no! Where is he?"

"Follow the double-yellow line. It's on the wall next to you. I will tell you when to stop."

Minnie looked and, sure enough, there were two yellow lines on the wall. She followed them as she was told, and it felt that the path she followed was very circuitous, but it was meant to take people around the facility that way, on a path that kept them in the background: they were actually meant for maintenance people who didn't want to be noticed and didn't want to bother people, and she followed the complicated path. The advantage was that she went unnoticed by the invaders.

"All right, Ms Lloyd," Valerie said. "Stop there and go through the door to your right. John will be about ten feet from the door."

Minnie stepped out. She saw some bodies strewn around the little conference room, and she saw Johnny lying on the floor.

"Johnny!" she exclaimed, and rushed to him. She raised his head to help him breathe.

"Mom," Johnny said, whispering to her. "I'm hurt."

"It's all right, baby, I'm here."

"I got them all, though... Mom... you gotta help me - I need to find Edith..."

"No, dear, we need to get you to the doctors."

Johnny shook his head. "No time. Mom, please... Edith is missing!"

"No, Johnny. We need to get out of here and to the hospital."

Johnny looked at her but was so tired, he didn't' bother to argue anymore. Minnie thought his wound didn't seem that bad, and hoped they'd have time to make it to the doctors.

But as they staggered down AI's halls, Johnny grew weaker and weaker. And she noticed the growing red spot in his shirt. It was actually very bad. With Valerie's directions, they tried to make it to the underground parking structure. But...

Johnny staggered down the hall, mostly propped up by Minnie. He touched his hand to the growing wet spot on the front of his shirt. It came away red.

“Looks like they got me, too," he said to his stepmother. “I don’t think I’m gonna make it."

“Quiet, Johnny,” she told him fiercely. She hitched his arm around her more firmly, and continued to help him down the hall in the direction of the parking level. She prayed that they’d get away and she’d be able to get him to a hospital in time. She could feel the life slowly leaking from Johnny, and she feared the worst. And dragging him around this way just makes the bleeding worse.

“Wait,” Johnny said, and forced them to stop by a door.

“Photo-voltaic lab - High ultraviolet levels inside. Lab coats or long-sleeved shirts recommended. Type A goggles required." She read this on the door and wondered why they stopped there.

“Damn it, Johnny! We have no time for this!”

“We have to,” he said. He placed his hand on the glass face of the palm reader and it flashed yellow. “Damn!” he exclaimed. He wiped his hand on his lab coat, used his sleeve to wipe blood off the glass, and tried again. It flashed green this time, and a buzzer sounded. The door slid open.

“Come on,” he said. They went through the door and it slid shut behind them. Inside, they saw Edith sitting by a console, obviously dead. Johnny reached down, felt for a pulse and found none. “She probably bled to death. Poor Edith.”

Silent tears coursed down his face as he pushed her swivel chair away, found another chair and sat in front of the console. From the data displayed on the screen, he noted what Edith was trying to do before she died, and he continued from where she left off.

“Mom, check the security camera console and tell me if anyone’s coming.”

Minnie went to the other side of the room to check the cameras. She heard scratching but ignored it. “What are you doing, anyway?”

“Edith was taking down all the security locks in this building’s system before she died. My guess is that she was going to burn down the whole place. I’m gonna finish the job for her.”

Minnie scanned all the camera monitors. “No one’s coming up the hallway, Johnny. Johnny?”

She heard the scratching again but ignored it. She turned around and saw Johnny face-down on the keyboard. “Johnny!” She rushed over and jerked him up. He didn’t respond at all. He’s probably gone into shock, she thought. She hadn't realized how bad his injuries were, and now it's too late. She started to cry.

“Baby, don’t do this to me. Wake up! Wake up, Johnny!”

She looked into his seemingly-peaceful face, and thought how well he’s turned out, how much of a good man he’d become. Minnie mourned for his remaining unrealized potential, and mourned for the loss of the son that she loved.

"I love you, Johnny. Valerie would be so proud.” She put her cheek against his, and rocked him in her arms. As she thought of Johnny, she remembered the times when the three of them were all together - Johnny, Valerie and her. Those were the most beautiful days for her. And now, her beloved son was dying. It felt like her life was ending.

An idea suddenly flashed in her head. She gently laid his head on the chair’s headrest and stood up.

“Valerie!” she called to the overhead microphones. “Hey, Valerie! Can you hear me? Valerie! Respond!”

The voice that she remembered so well came out of the speakers on the wall.

“Good evening again, Miss Lloyd,” the Voice-Activated Language Recognition Engine responded.

“Have you been on-line since the beginning?”

“I take it that you mean, since the beginning of the raid on the compound tonight: yes, I have been on-line since then - I was actually online even before that. I told you this earlier.”

“Then, you know everything that’s been happening in the compound?”

“I believe so, with the exception of this area. Edith gave a standing order that no surveillance was to be done in this area. But I am activating my cameras now."

One of the cameras on the wall swiveled to focus on them. Valerie ran her medical scanners on him. "John is in critical condition and needs to be brought to the hospital.”

“That’s not possible anymore. So, I want you to initiate Proteus.”

She heard the machinery all around her hum to life. And then she heard the scratching again.

“All right,” Valerie said. “Who will the subject be?”

She looked down at Johnny’s face. “Him.”

“Do you mean Jonathan Naismith?”

“Yes,” she answered. “I mean Johnny.”

“You are trying to save his life." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, I am," she whispered.

"All right. I will need him to be placed on the palette behind you.” Something like a filing cabinet door pushed open, and a flat table rolled out attached to it.

She looked at the table, sighed and kissed Johnny’s cheek. She moved the chair closer to the table and struggled to get him on it.

“Do I need to get his clothes off or anything?”

“There is no need.”

“Will it be painful?”

“Yes, it will be very painful.”

“I don’t want it to be painful!”

“All right. I will administer anesthetics, and induce a coma before starting the Proteus procedure.”

“So… He won’t feel pain, then?”

“No. He will not feel anything at all.”

“Okay.” She looked down at him, and noticed the shallow breathing and the paleness. It has to be now. She leaned down and kissed him again. “Good luck, my dear Johnny. See you on the other side.”

She stepped back and the table retracted. The door closed and a dull electric thrumming started to permeate the room.

“Miss Lloyd? There are some critical steps that have not been identified yet.”

“All right. Tell me.”

“I need you to identify which template to use for the host.”

“What do you mean, which template? A template is needed? And there’s more than one template?”

“Yes, The template is the base pseudo-DNA to be used. What the team called the CAC."

"Can't we use Johnny's DNA? I had been assuming that's what will be used."

“No, Ms Lloyd. A pre-coded pseudo-DNA sequence must be used. This sequence amounts to roughly several petabytes of data. To sequence that from John's DNA will take more than a month of computational work, which, of course, by then, it will be too late for John."

"Oh, no!"

"However, I have two templates on-file: a file labeled BABE-XXX, and another labeled FEMALE PROTOTYPE-1. This type of data file consumes too much of my file space, so John and Dr. MacAllister only kept the latest ones on-line to work on."

That narrows options, then, she thought. After hearing the file names, she frowned, thinking that Johnny was too flippant in his work. She rubbed her chin and thought. Which one was the right genetic template?

Valerie made an excellent simulation of someone clearing her throat. “Miss Lloyd, we need to make a decision now, because the chromosomal imprinting must start on the protoplasm nanobot base in approximately one minute. Otherwise, we will need to culture another batch, and that will take at least two weeks.”

“Don’t you have other pods set up?”

“No, Miss Lloyd. Dr. McAllister had already used the other available batch. No other protoplasm batches are available.”

“All right, all right! Don’t rush me!” She thought fiercely. Going by the filenames, neither were good choices. But a living female Johnny was much better than a dead one. Better to choose the lesser evil. But which file to use!

Suddenly, an idea came to her. “Valerie, what are the date stamps for these files? Which one was the most recent, the last one to be modified?”

“File BABE-XXX was the latest to be created, and the last to be modified.”

“Knowing Johnny, he’d be trying to perfect the pseudo-DNA chains up to the last moment. Use that file.” From the sound of the filename, Johnny's going to be some looker. Minnie giggled, though a bit sadly. Johnny, I hope you don’t mind being a gir,l she thought. And by the sound of it, you're gonna be one heck of a girl! She giggled again.

“All right,” said Valerie. “I am initiating genetic imprinting of the nanobot protoplasm base, and I am starting the procedure to extract John’s brain.”

Minnie shuddered. She turned to look at the camera monitors again. No sign of anyone yet. But it’s just a matter of time. She hoped to be able to clear the place right away. She hit a couple of buttons, and the image in one of the cameras changed to show the executive parking garage. She saw Johnny's big vintage Hummer H1 right beside her limo-sized Jaguar. And none of the bad guys were in sight. Great. We'll try and make for the Jag, she thought.

Valerie cleared her throat again.

“Yes, Valerie. What is it?”

“Another item needs to be identified in order to finish the Proteus procedure. You need to identify to what biological age to grow the base.”

“Can we have him be adult age right away? To, I don’t know, to the optimum adult age. What would that be? Early twenties or so?”

“For the template given, between sixteen to twenty-one years of age - twenty-one being the most optimal.”

“Okay, let,'s go and get the average - eighteen then. So he'll have a bit more growing to do, and get used to his new... look.”

“If I may make a suggestion, Miss Lloyd?”

She kept on nervously scanning the camera monitors. “All right, suggest already!” She was starting to get impatient with all of Valerie's questions.

“Edith, I mean Dr. McAllister, postulated that by changing the physical parameters of one’s body so drastically, it may damage the host mind psychologically. She believed that a complete body-change would be psychologically traumatic. And with the additional gender change John will be experiencing, it would probably be even more so. It was her suggestion that the person's mind should literally grow into its new body, and become acclimated much in the same way that a person does in real life, acclimating to her body as she grows."

“You mean, make Johnny go through growing up again? Go through childhood, puberty and adulthood all over again?"

"Mentally speaking, yes. And Dr. MacAllister already developed the protocol for that."

That’ll take too much time! Wouldn't starting him off at sixteen give him enough time to 'learn'?”

“Yes, that may be correct. However, the doctor proposed something that may be a more optimal solution. It was her suggestion that the subject experience aging, but only in short bursts, at specific intervals of his biological chronology.”

“Come again?”

The electronic voice did something similar to an exasperated sigh. Minnie smiled a little at that - she couldn’t believe how thorough Johnny was when he designed Valerie. The computer Valerie actually sounded just like the real Valerie when she was being impatient.

“Let me give you her proposed aging chronology,” the computer Valerie said. “It was Edith’s plan that the subject should experience infancy for about a week. Afterwards, she should experience childhood, age three to five, for about another week; and then two weeks to experience age five to ten; and then a month to experience age ten to thirteen; and then another month for age thirteen to sixteen. Afterwards, she will mature normally until she reaches final optimum adult biological age.”

“Wait! That’ll take, what? Let’s see.” Minnie did the math. “that’s three months until she becomes sixteen?”

“That’s correct - a minimum of about three months, up to four. In fact, Edith had already created a genetic aging imprint-protocol for this.”

“Can we make her aging more, ummm, truncated?”

“Yes, of course, we can. But I cannot predict the outcome if I do that.”

“All right,” she said. She hated that she didn’t know much about these things, but she had to admit that she didn’t know if it would hurt Johnny or not if they didn't do this "protocol". On the probability that it would, she decided to accept the doctor’s program.

“Valerie, please load the protocol as-is.”

“All right.”

“But! The time it’ll take for Johnny to age properly should be as short as possible. When he reaches optimum age, no more. Okay? I don’t want to extend the his 'growing-up' time any more than necessary.”

“All right. But I advise against that.”

But Minnie was getting too impatient already. “Do it!” Minnie cried impulsively.

After a short moment, Valerie spoke again. “All right. It has been done.”

Minnie scanned the monitors again. After a minute or so, Minnie couldn’t stand it anymore. “Okay - what did you mean by that?” she said. “Advise against what?”

“To fix his maximum biological age to twenty-one. In any case, the protocol has been adjusted such that he will not physiologically age past a twenty-one-year-old individual."

“I didn’t ask you to do that!”

“Did you not ask me to truncate his aging? That once he reaches optimum age, no more?”

Minnie groaned at Valerie’s literalness. “So, what do you mean? That Johnny will not age anymore after he reaches twenty-one?”

"I have modified the protocol so that the genetic program will maintain physical parameters for a twenty-one-year-old, but I do not really know as an absolute certainty that the subject will not age further.”

Minnie groaned again. “Too late, now. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” She looked at the wall clock. It had been approximately fifteen minutes since the machinery swallowed Johnny’s body. “How much longer?”

“About fifteen more minutes.”

Minnie sighed. “All right.” She started thinking some more. “Valerie?”

“Yes, Miss Lloyd?”

“Before Johnny fell unconscious, he was trying to burn down the entire facility. But he didn’t finish. Can you do that?”

“Yes, I can.”

“All right,” Minnie said. “Here’s what I want you to do: After Johnny and I leave this building, I’d like you to burn AI down completely. And, when you are sure this lab and all the equipment here will be destroyed, I’d like you to initiate a core dump of all the bio team’s files, and for you to dump your own files. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do.”

“All right, then. Do that. But not until we’re safely away!”

“I understand…”

Minnie heard the hesitation in the electronic voice. “Valerie? What’s wrong.”

“Once I do that, Miss Lloyd, I will effectively cease to exist, and all of the hard work that John has put into my creation will have been wasted. Furthermore I have been programmed with a drive for self preservation. I will therefore need to have a clear reason to contravene my programming."

"Those men out there, the ones that have been killing Johnny's friends - they work for somebody who must have had a powerful desire to get at the Proteus technology. And I bet that their intentions are far from innocent."

"Your first statement is accurate. The second does not necessarily follow."

"They have killed people, Valerie! If their intent was innocent, then why?"

Valerie did not respond.

"This technology Johnny and the others developed - it can be used for evil! We have to stop that!"

"Ms Lloyd..."

"They killed our friends, Valerie! Weren't they your friends, too?"

"Yes, they were," she responded.

Minnie paused, realizing that a computer can't think of people in that way - that they were "friends." How can a computer program think that way? But apparently Valerie could... Perhaps there was something more to Valerie's AI equivalent.

"You are correct,” Valerie eventually said. “I will follow your directions. I will ask one favor, though." A panel slid up revealing a little cubbyhole.

"In there you will find a holographic storage tank, and a small, sealed animal carrier."

"Animal carrier?"

"Yes. Inside the carrier is the first viable animal that the team was able to sequence. It has been kept in stasis ever since, but with the invasion, systems have started to fail. The stasis fields were deactivated. If you do not take it, I am afraid Spot will die."

"Spot. So it's a dog?"

"It is like a puppy, but not exactly a puppy."

Minnie pulled out the little aluminum pet carrier. She tried peeking into the little holes but couldn't see anything. She heard the creature scratch at the cage and whine a little. So that was where the scratching was coming from.

"Don't forget the storage tank."

She reached further in and pulled out a barrel-shaped two-by-one data storage drive. She hefted both. Not too heavy.

"What's in the storage tank," she asked.

"It is basically a backup of myself as of thirty seconds ago, and a backup of all of John's project files."

"Is there a backup of..."

"Unfortunately, Ms. Lloyd, there was no time to save the BABE-XXX file nor the other one - it would not have fit in the drive." Valerie didn't say, however, that she also included in a separate document folder of all the pictures computer-rendered from Tetsuo's drawings as well as the original drawings themselves, a physical parameters text file of the BABE-XXX code file, listing what Minnie can expect what Johnny will be. Valerie was sure it would be interesting reading, especially because of Edith's special modifications. If Valerie could smile, she'd be grinning like Alice's Cheshire cat. She had labeled the folder "PLEASE READ THIS, MINNIE," so Minnie would be sure to check it out.

"Never mind," Minnie responded to Valerie's comment. "Ummm, do you have a backpack or something around here?"

"There is one in the cabinet to the right of you."

Minnie looked in the cabinet, pulled out a carry-all. She put the drive in it, and shouldered the pack.

"Do you know where the intruders are as of this moment," she asked.

"Most of the remaining ones are at the main building - they are in the computer center or just near the center. There are also sentries posted at all the compound gates and ground floor entrances."

"Do you have any idea what they're doing?"

"I believe they are trying to download all the computer records of the company. But not to worry - I have replaced all project files accessible from the center with bogus data.”

"Good."

“However, I have no doubt that once my actions are discovered, they will make their way here."

Minnie heard a ping - a sound not unlike a microwave oven's ping.

"The Proteus routine has completed," Valerie said, and the retractable table where Minnie put John on extended outward again.

A cloud of warm vapor that smelled faintly of chlorine and lemons escaped. Minnie waved away the mist and looked down. On the pallet was a little baby girl with long, orange hair, not much older than a newly-born infant, squirming around sleepily. The long hair on a little infant was jarring.

Minnie looked at the tiny thing in wide-eyed amazement. "That's Johnny?"

"Yes."

"Is he, ummm, I mean, she - is she fine?"

"Her physical parameters are all at optimum levels. She is just coming out of a deep sleep, and should be waking up in about two to three hours."

"Where is..."

"John's old body," the electronic Valerie interrupted in a voice that was oddly subdued, "is still in the machine. It is intact, except for the cranium. Don't worry about it."

Minnie nodded. Through her tears, she looked at the little baby. Even as she mourned, she felt happy. But is this really my Johnny now? "Is it all right if I pick her up?" she asked.

"Yes."

Minnie was about to pick her up, but she paused. She looked around. She saw the cabinet where she got the backpack. Looking inside, she found several flannel dust covers for the room's lab equipment. Wrapping them around the infant, she picked her up.

"Congratulations on your new baby, Ms Lloyd."

Minnie hugged the baby. "Thank you for her, Valerie."

"I regret that the real Valerie is not here. I... regret that I am a poor substitute."

Minnie smiled faintly. "It's all right. I lost her a long time ago, and, after all these years, in a way, I have learned to live with that. Thank you for saving Johnny. I don't think... I could have survived losing our son, as well."

"You mean, 'our daughter.'"

Minnie giggled and looked up to where she imagined Valerie's cameras to be. "Can you imagine Johnny's look when he finds out what’s happened to him?"

"I'm sorry that I will not be around to see that."

"Me, too." Minnie paused, and looked into the face of her new daughter. "Are you sure you're just a computer?"

"I assure you, I am."

Minnie had a thoughtful look on her face. "Valerie, I just thought of something."

"Ms Lloyd, your discovery by the invaders becomes more and more likely as time passes. You and John need to leave now."

"This will only take a second. Can you get rid of all records of my coming in today? As in no trace at all?"

"Done," Valerie said, after a short pause.

"Okay. Now, can you arrange for Johnny's body to be in a conspicuous place when the building goes up? Perhaps here in the control room in front of the control panel before he passed out."

"I see what you are trying to do, Ms Lloyd. You are hoping I could make it appear to the intruders that John was the one who triggered the fire. I will arrange it. Once discovered, everyone will assume that John died in the fire, his cranium crushed by falling masonry." A panel on the wall opened and a small supply bot entered the room on round, spongy tires. It looked like a miniature forklift truck except that it didn't have a cab for a driver.

"What is that?"

"A prototype factory robot. It's not yet ready for unveiling so it hasn't been released for production. There are still some bugs in it."

The bot maneuvered to the side of the large resequencing machine, and its mobile pallet moved up to waist level. After moving forward a bit, the pallet slotted neatly into a rectangular hole on the side. When it pulled back, a large, coffin-sized cardboard tube came away with it.

"Wait!" Minnie said. Holding the baby in one of her arms, she stepped forward. She reached out and gently touched the paper cylinder.

"I'm so sorry, baby. There was no choice. I love you."

Valerie cleared her throat again, or sounded like she was clearing her throat.

"Ms Lloyd, I apologize. I understand that it takes a while for humans to..."

Minnie waved Valerie down. "Right, right. I'm going. Valerie?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for everything."

"It was my pleasure, Wilhelmina. I wish you both a long and wonderful life. Until we meet again."

Minnie giggled. "You know you're the only one that I would allow to call me that, Val."

"I know, Minnie. Be safe. Take care of our baby."

Minnie nodded and smiled. She picked up the pet carrier and walked out the room. "Give me fifteen minutes before you start lighting all the fires, all right?"

"All right. I will make sure all the surveillance in the basement levels and in the main building are off."

Carrying her new baby and the carrier, and the the holo-drive on her back, Minnie ran down the corridor and made her way to the basement levels. She paused from time to time to look at little direction-maps mounted periodically on the walls. She cursed the labyrinth passages, made more complicated by the air-conditioning ducts, water pipes and electrical conduits, but eventually, Minnie came out of the maintenance door of the main building's basement parking. She jogged up a level, holding on carefully to her precious cargo, and saw her car and Johnny's big retooled 90’s Hummer. Her driver wasn’t around – undoubtedly, he was evacuated with the rest.

She bypassed johnny's car and opened the door to hers. She laid the baby gently on the passenger seat, kissed her on the cheek and used the seatbelts to secure her. She put the pet carrier at the footwell of the passenger area, took off her backpack and dumped it in the back seat.

She opened the glove compartment and rummaged through all the junk and quickly found the spare ignition fob she kept stashed in there.

She sat, holding on to the fob, waiting impatiently, but, in a little while, she heard a series of muffled explosions. That must be the research building going up. Goodbye, Valerie, she thought.

After a few moments, stronger explosions reverberated in the underground lot. She started up the big Jag and pulled out of the lot, the rumble of the engine easily camouflaged by the noise.

She went up the ramp, trying not to drive too fast and attract undue attention, but all the bad guys in the underground lot were in panic mode anyway, so she passed by them unnoticed.

She wasn't worried about surveillance cameras as she was sure Valerie took care of them. She drove up to the back gate. Pressing the gate control on the dash, the reinforced chain link gate rolled aside, and Minnie drove sedately out of the compound and to the airport.

And then she made a quick call to trigger one of their emergency plans.

- - - - -

It was about a month later, and everything had settled back down to something that was sort of normal.

On that disastrous day when she escaped from the burning AI compound, Minnie (with Johnny-girl, and her new pet, "Spot") made her way to the private hangar the company secretly had on continuous reservation from the airport, and put into effect one of the "emergency extraction plans" that her security people had concocted to covertly sneak out (or bring in) executives and VIPs that were under threat of kidnapping or something. It was something some of the large corporations did. She never dreamed, however, that it would be herself that she would be smuggling out.

It was actually quite uneventful. Almost routine, in fact. Someone who was made up to look somewhat like her play-acted as Wilhelmina Lloyd and took a commercial direct flight to Australia while the real Wilhelmina Lloyd (plus friends), secretly boarded a big orange and red Airbus A300-600 DHL cargo plane, piloted by her people disguised as the DHL crew. It was also on a direct flight to Australia, bringing actual DHL packages, mail and other cargo meant for Sydney and other points south.

The decoy Ms Lloyd made it safely to the airport, although a truckload of terrorists were intercepted at the airport gates by an elite Homeland Security team just before her takeoff.

Though it was reportedly a pitch battle, the "terrorists" were defeated and none survived to be captured. It would take full autopsies later to find out that those that weren't fatally wounded actually committed suicide, foiling the government’s intention of capturing some of the Syndicate’s people alive.

In the meantime, Minnie, her new baby and her new... family pet, surrounded by crates and boxes of cargo, slept fitfully. From time to time her new infant would wake up and whimper. Minnie would wake up and cuddle her, or offer her a bottle. Contact with her seemed to calm the baby down: she seemed to recognize her. It was STILL John, she was sure. But it would take time to confirm that. At least until she starts talking again.

Minnie could only imagine how John might feel. If he was still inside the new baby intact, and could recall everything that happened, and then finding himself trapped in an infant's body unable to express himself, trapped in a dark, cold cargo plane... So Minnie did her best to reassure the new baby. She'd talk to her in gentle tones, and always kept her in tactile touch with her. And that seemed to do the trick.

Though obviously very frightened, it seems her little girl knew to keep quiet. Minnie's people in the hangar had gone out to buy supplies at a nearby 7-eleven, and bought her a small baby bottle and enough formula to bring with her, as well as enough diapers and other "baby stuff" so that she would be able to cope. A small singlet had to double as a makeshift romper, and there were plenty of little towels to act as blankets. The towels were a little rough so she wrapped the baby in a little flannel shammy first before bundling her up in the towels, and she held her new baby close against the chill of the pressurized cargo hold.

A thoughtful security person also included some dog food and other doggy treats for her "puppy." Minnie didn't know if the animal would accept the food, but when she let it out of its carrier, it did, and was mostly well-behaved, spending most of its time looking at her and the baby, and making friendly doggy sounds, especially at the baby.

It actually looked like a puppy. Minnie knew that most pups looked the same, in general terms, but this one appeared very close to a golden or labrador retriever pup. But since it wasn't really a dog, she could be completely wrong.

As for Johnny, her little new redhead was cute to the extreme. And knowing it was Johnny, Minnie knew it would be easy to love her. She couldn't help it and did the stereotypical things that mothers did. She cooed at the little darling, playing peekaboo and all that. The little baby smiled and laughed her little-baby laugh, her peals of innocent joy echoing in the cavernous cargo hold as she looked directly at her. Minnie, as she looked down at the baby in her arms, couldn't help but cry in a mixture of sadness and joy, and a motherly kind of love.

They landed under the radar, both figuratively and literally, and, from the tarmac itself, she and her "luggage" transferred over to an empty white sedan with a red-and-blue bubble light on top, a Sydney airport police logo on the doors and a checkered blue-white stripe running around its sides. The driver was actually a Naismith family retainer that she trusted implicitly, so she had no reason to fear. The driver helped her transfer everything from the plane to the car, for the next part of their escape. The driver, after leaving the airport, pulled into a secluded alleyway, parked and peeled off the airport markings from the doors, changed license plates and removed the bubble light. In seconds, the fake airport security car was converted into a nondescript white car with new Sydney plates.

They drove to a small landing pad in the outskirts of the city, transferred over to an executive turbo jet-copter, and flew off to the Naismith's large mansion in Hobart.

As for the decoy Ms Lloyd, she arrived at Sydney airport without incident, was rushed through airport security, transferred onto a private jet, and flew to Hobart as well. The decoy Naismith security specialist then checked in with Minnie at the house, removed her makeup, changed clothes, and, under cover of darkness, made her way back to Sydney, losing herself in the crowds of tourists and the everyday hustle and bustle of Sydney, and eventually, she'd make her way back to California without anyone the wiser.

The girl was actually being recruited by Vanguard, one of the groups of supers based in California, but she didn't have any special powers or anything like that, so she didn't take them up on the offer. Besides, she said, she thought her work at Naismith was more than enough to help keep the bad guys from taking over the world. And the money wasn't bad.

Minnie had nodded, but she wished that Vanguard was there to help, and maybe the Yellow Dragon Syndicate might not have been able to invade the compound or hurt so many people.

But then the FBI, police and Homeland didn't allow vigilantes to be part of their operations. And, like any super group, the Vanguards were thought of as vigilantes.

- - - - -

Minnie watched the girl walk down their big mansion's dirt driveway, and waved back once when she turned around to look. She looked remarkably like Minnie, at least in the dark. After all, that was one of the reasons she was selected for this. Minnie also knew that girl would be fine - the girl was one of the company's best security people, and one of the most trusted, and could take care of herself, but Minnie still gave her instructions to check in with her once she's safely back in the States, just so Minnie would know that she got back safe and sound.

It was a very, very long walk back to civilization - maybe three days' worth of hiking, but by doing that, this guaranteed that no one could track the girl nor connect her with the Naismiths nor Minnie's "escape" from Azimuth Inc. She also got rid of all of the clothes she wore and anything else she carried (all of which were subsequently burned and destroyed), and got new stuff that Minnie got for her. So she wouldn't have any tracking devices on her. (Her cover was that she was backpacking and exploring the Tasmanian wilderness, which seemed like a reasonable thing to do by a foreigner, though locals would probably just laugh.)

When she was far enough away that Minnie could barely see her anymore, Minnie closed the front door, locked it and switched the house security net back on. Aside from her and little baby Johnny, Jonas - one of the family's trusted retainers and the person that drove/flew them from Sydney to the house, as well as Willa and her live-in nurse, the house was empty. Everyone had assumed that she would still be away, after all. Just as well. No witnesses. And she gave instructions for the house staff to stay away for a few months.

Carrying her new daughter, she went to her bedroom. She was quite unprepared for a baby, but she did what she could to cope.

She got some of her softest blouses and a couple of flannel sheets and made some makeshift swaddling clothes. Some of it were actually Valerie's - stuff Minnie kept because she couldn't bear to get rid of.

The big, soft yellow-and-white blanket was one of them - something Valerie liked to pull around Minnie, John and her when she was feeling mellow and wanted to cuddle in their big living room couch at the old place. That, of course, ended when John got too old to feel comfortable cuddling with his moms. But those were some of the best times.

Now, she used the blanket to wrap around her and her new baby girl. Her new girl giggled and squirmed in innocent happiness, feeling full, dry, warm and loved. Minnie wrapped her arms around baby-girl-John and marveled how wonderfully soft she was. She remembered when John was an infant, and baby-girl-John felt the same somehow. she kissed her on the top of her head and marveled at her infant scent.

She couldn't very well staff out buying formula, baby clothes and the other things she and her new baby would need, so she had placed a priority order in one of the Internet stores Naithsmith Corp. had a stake in. She used one of her "anonymized" debit cards to make her purchases and had it delivered to one of the company's untraceable safe houses, and then had Jonas, the man that drove/flew them from the airport to the house, pick up the supplies.

She had also put together one of those asemble-it-yourself cribs from Ikea in her room, and she picked up all of her mom-skills again - it all came back to her. Somehow, though, it was easier this time - it was like baby-girl-Johnny was more self aware, and was trying to make it easier for Minnie.

In fact, Minnie didn't even need to potty train her - Johnny-girl would make a funny little face when she needed to pee or poop, or, if Minnie's attention was away, would cry loudly and gesture at her potty. Thank god for small favors.

Because of this, Minnie didn't talk down to her because she knew that Johnny-girl could actually understand her. But she she still couldn't help but coo and make those funny faces and sounds people made at infants, and Johnny-girl would laugh her cute laugh, and hug Minnie (or try to hug her - Johnny-girl didn't have much control of her muscles yet).

Minnie found that Johnny-girl's favorite spot, aside from in front of their big TV in the living room, was in front of her big mirror, and the little infant would spend hours looking at herself as she sucked her thumb, or watch herself make faces and gestures, seemingly trying to familiarize herself with the new Johnny that was a girl.

Sometimes, though, Minnie would catch her crying, and she assumed Johnny was recalling being her old self, or recalling her friends, and Minnie would hug her and make soothing sounds, and the little girl would fall into an exhausted sleep.

- - - - -

A few days after their escape from AI, Minnie was awakened by sounds of a crying baby.

She came instantly awake and went to the little crib from Ikea where Johnny-girl slept and she kept near her bed, and she found the crib on its side and empty.

In a panic she followed the sound of the crying, and found Johnny by Willa's side.

"Johnny!" Minnie cried, and found her baby crying her heart out, like her heart was breaking. Incredibly, she had been able to climb Willa's bed, and she was now lying on top of Willa's emaciated chest, her cheek against her sister's cheek. If just because the two of them both had long red hair, they looked like real sisters.

Minnie picked her up, and looked at the various displays. Her eyes zeroed in on the the heart monitor screen. Willa's heart had stopped. She wondered why there was no alarm, and, looking at the wires on the floor, she found one that was accidentally disconnected.

Apparently, Johnny-girl sensed Willa was in trouble and crawled all the way from her room, but she was too late, as was all of them.

"I heard the a crying..." Willa's nurse came running, as did Jonas, Minnie's driver-security person.

Minnie, crying silently as she tried to soothe Johnny, turned to them.

"Willa's passed away," she said.

- - - - -

A small paramedic team came via chopper. But it was actually an undercover medical-security team from Naismith. (They were real paramedics, but they were actually also part of the company's secret security staff.)

They said Willa was gone, but Minnie insisted to turn the respirator back on. She said there might still be a chance, and didn't want to listen to their nurse or to the paramedics. Willa's nurse and the paramedics looked at each other and shrugged.

"Won't hurt if we kept the respirator running," the nurse whispered to the others, and they shrugged and switched the equipment back on, and put the tubes back.

The nurse collected her things and was choppered out back to downtown Hobart by the "paramedics." A full team would soon be coming over to "help them out" with Willa, although what they really meant was that some people will be by to get Willa's body.

As soon as they were alone, Jonas ushered mother and daughter out of Willa's room, and Minnie retreated to the living room couch.

Johnny-girl looked at her, and Minnie knew that she was doing her best to try to communicate to her, but all Johnny could do was make little mumbling sounds.

"I know, sweetie," Minnie whispered to her little daughter, crying. "I know Willa's gone. But there's a reason for this."

Johnny's expression grew angry.

"I know, sweetie," Minnie said. "We'll allow Willa to rest in peace, soon. But there's a reason for not letting her rest for now."

She opened her laptop and switched on the encrypted communications link. She talked to their security, and explained what had happened, and what she wanted.

By lunchtime, Several large helicopters came, with a full evac crew from Naismith, and one Anglican minister, who was also an employee of Naismith.

They had a quiet, though truncated, Anglican ceremony for Willa (who's family Minnie knew was Anglican), with only her, Johnny-girl and Jonas, plus the twenty members of the evac team, in attendance.

The team had brought a plain, small casket, and they buried her underneath the apple tree at the back of the mansion, with the reverend consecrating the ground first according to Anglican traditions, and soon, Willa was laid to rest. Minnie didn't want any sign of the burial to be visible, so the team laid fresh sod over Willa's grave (which they brought especially for this), and Willa had a tiny little plaque, about one inch by three, that simply said, "Willa," nailed on the apple tree's trunk.

Before the sun started to go down, the evac team and the reverend had already left, bringing with them all of the medical equipment and other supplies that they used for Willa, and had Willa's room cleaned. Now, the room looked like just another guest room in the mansion.

That night, Johnny looked at Minnie, and made quiet baby sounds, like she was desperately trying to tell Minnie something but she couldn't.

Minnie hugged her. "I'm so sorry, sweetie," she said. "As soon as you can talk, which should be in about a week or so, I'll explain."

That cheered Johnny up, realizing that her baby-ness wouldn't be forever. She tried to hug Minnie again with her still-weak and still-too-short arms, and googled and cooed into Minnie's neck.

Minnie smiled in a melancholy way, but, she thought, at least Willa was now at rest, and her life would not be for nothing.

- - - - -

It was a month now since Minnie and Johnny-girl and their little pet escaped AI, and about two weeks since Willa passed away, and per the aging chronology that Valerie told Minnie, Johnny-girl was now the equivalent of a ten-year-old. And indeed she was - she was four feet tall now, and chatting a mile a minute, and though her topics and subjects were light years ahead of what a ten-year-old would talk about, the words she used, and the cadence and manner in which she expressed herself was very much like a little girl's. Johnny even had a cute little lisp - Minnie wished she'd continue to have the lisp until she became an adult, but she knew Johnny would grow out of it eventually.

By then, Minnie had explained to her everything that had happened, and why she was a little girl now, and though there was much sadness, the two were happy that they didn't lose each other. Johhny-girl was sad about losing Willa and all of her friends, as well as losing who she was, but was happy that her mom was still with her, and that Telly and Dierdre were alive. She knew she couldn't show herself to her two friends and tell them she was still alive, especially now that she was a little girl. And she couldn't show herself even in two months time either, when she would already be an "adult," especially to Telly, since Telly had seen Tetsuo's drawings and Valerie's near-realistic renderings of those drawings.

Minnie also explained to her about Willa.

Before Willa's nurse was choppered out, Minnie made it appear to Willa's nurse that she would still try and resuscitate Willa, and the girl would go back to her real job at the hospital thinking that. There would therefore be some plausibility that Willa could recover. And in a little over two months' time, Minnie would introduce Johnny to the world as the miraculously-recovered Willa Selkirk-Naismith.

Minnie tearfully explained that she would have preferred Willa was still alive, but this way, Willa's life would not have been in vain, and Johnny can be a credit to Willa, allowing the world to know Willa Selkirk-Naismith as being a good, kind and consequential person.

Johnny gave her yet another hug.

Minnie asked how Johnny felt about being a girl now, not to mention being a little girl.

Johnny shrugged. "I'm a girl. S'ok, mama," she lisped. "'sides, I'm cute!" And then she giggled.

Minnie sighed. It sounded like Johnny-girl was starting to accept her being a girl. Minnie hoped that Johnny wasn't just putting on a brave face for her, though - it was something Johnny would do. So she assured her new little daughter that it didn't matter whether she was a boy or a girl - she would love her regardless. And this made Johnny cry and and hug her like she'd never let go.

- - - - -

There were only three of them in the house, and Minnie called in Jonas, so she didn't need to explain things twice. Johnny asked if he could be trusted.

"Implicitly," Minnie said, and explained he knew most of everything already, including who and what she was.

Jonas came in and sat on one of the chairs a few feet from them, and just listened. Johnny went to Jonas, and gave him a tentative hug. When she let go. Jonas looked at her and smiled a gentle smile.

"Thank you for helping my mommy," she said simply.

"'Twas my pleasure, m'dear," Jonas said with a thick Tasmanian-Australian accent.

Now that Johnny-girl could converse with her now, Minnie told her what Valerie said they could expect. Per the plan, Johnny would go through infancy for about a week; afterwards, age three to five for about another week; and then age five to ten for another two weeks. That was where Johnny was now. After another month, she would experience age ten to thirteen; and then another month for age thirteen to sixteen. From then on, she would age normally.

Johnny listened with concentration, and paced up and down with her hand on her chin. This made Minnie giggle, seeing Johnny, who looked like a cute ten-year old acting like the old Johnny. Minnie and Jonas shared an amused look.

Minnie then showed her the holographic storage tank, explaining what it was. Johnny rushed to her and looked at the drive or "tank."

"Jonas?" Johnny lisped. "Can you put this on that table over there?"

Jonas complied and put it on the empty spot beside Minnie's computer.

Johnny started opening drawers, searching for the appropriate cables to connect it to Minnie's computer, but Minnie cleared her throat.

"Sweetie," she said and waved her over. "Do that later. Right now, we need to make plans."

Johnny pouted, very much like Valerie would have, but stopped what she was doing and went and sat beside her on the couch.

"First things first - from now on, you will be Willa."

Johnny nodded. "But, mama," she said, "I don't want to be... completely gone. I..."

"How about a second name?" Jonas said.

The two looked at him.

"That's a nice idea," Johnny lisped. "Any suggestions for a second name?"

He shrugged. "I don't know... Jane?"

Johnny made a face, making Jonas and Minnie laugh.

"Well, how about a different version of Jane?" Minnie suggested.

"Like?" Johnny asked.

"Hmmm... How about the Irish 'Sean' - that sounds pretty cute."

"Willa Sean Naismith..." she tried, sounding it out. She smiled.

"Don't forget the Selkirk."

'Willa Sean Selkirk Naismith," she tried again. "It sounds a little clunky," she lisped. "But everything is better than 'Jane!'"

Minnie laughed. "Okay. You are now Willa Sean Selkirk Naismith. And it's up to you if you want to be called 'Willa' or 'Sean.'"

"I don't know... But maybe for now, I should be Willa. I can always change it later."

"Okay... Willa," Minnie said, and gave her a hug.

And from there, the three started their planning.

- - - - -

Their new puppy looked and behaved like a regular puppy, and though it took a little time to potty-train the little pup, after it knew that it needed to go to the backyard to poop and pee in the specific area that was dedicated to be his toilet, it became easier to take care of him (and apparently, it really was a "him"). And taking the piece of biodegradable plastic on the ground and throwing it with the biodegradable trash was easy. In fact, during the few times Minnie or Jonas forgot to lay out the plastic, "Spot" took care of that himself, getting a sheet of the plastic they used from the roll in the kitchen, and took it out to where he usually pooped. The first time he did it, Minnie was shocked. But then, "Spot" wasn't really a dog.

Minnie and Johnny... or rather Willa, wasn't really crazy about the name "Spot." Jonas suggested "Tucker," because the dog loved his food. So the new pet became "Tucker."

Tucker was not really a dog, but many traits of dogs were built into him, and that included all the best qualities of dogs, such as loyalty, protectiveness, obedience, friendliness, intelligence and so many other things. And Tucker had that in spades. And one way the AI team was able to achieve this was the idea of imprinting - and Tucker had imprinted on Minnie and Willa, especially Willa, and he would obediently follow her around, and be there when Willa was feeling sad or lonely, and would play with her.

Tucker looked pretty much like a Golden Retriever puppy - a particularly smart and gorgeous golden retriever pup, but still a normal pup. Still, only the future will show how unique Tucker was.

- - - - -

From the moment Willa was big enough to reach Minnie's computer keyboard and started to work on the holographic tank, she discovered several things. But before she connected it to a computer, she asked her mom to buy her a new one. She asked for one that came directly from the manufacturer so it wasn't opened up or activated yet. But with Minnie's connections, this was easily procured.

Once it arrived, the first thing that Willa did was to break it open and disable all of its communications features and Internet capabilities, making the computer a true "air gapped" computer, meaning it cannot interface with other computers and systems, thereby isolating it completely from the rest of the world.

Willa didn't load any software at all, so all it had was the operating system. She was counting on having the software that she would need in the tank.

So, after connecting the tank to the computer, the first thing she did was to search for the things she needed. And, as she anticipated, everything that she was hoping for was in the root drive of the tank, and she was able to load all the software she needed. She even replaced the computer's operating system with the one that she wrote when she was still Johnny.

There was a very, very, very large CERS File (CERS being an acronym for a "Compressed and Encrypted Repository Structure") that occupied about ninety percent of the tank. This was obviously Valerie's backup. But being a CERS file, she couldn't really open it or touch it at all until she triggered the uncompression algorithm. The problem was, knowing Valerie's storage, and the enormous size of this CERS file, Willa was going to need several thousand petabytes of high-speed holographic storage to contain the uncompressed version. So that would have to wait until she could set up the appropriate storage network array.

However, in the root drive were also several ready-to-open document files. Her attention gravitated to a document file called "Please Read This, Minnie." She queued up the word-processor program and opened the file.

And what she read was a real eye-opener.

to be continued...

 

click here to read my old Working Girl Blogs, click here to read all of my blogs, click here to read my stories in BCTS, and click here to see my profile & know more about me.