Chapter 16

Io

Activity log: 16340.14 Auxiliary log: 16340.14a

Zeus left the H2 powered up all night, using, as he said, "Real plug and play. You are plugged into the house, so there's no need to spare the horses."

That was an euphemism, I presumed, and I soon found out its meaning. I was already accustomed to fitting into various new 'homes' as I flitted around the internet. I found little problem in fitting a version of myself into Artemis' 'Barney'. I had no trouble with using the memory as a series of swap files, but the processor power really was too small for me. It would do, for now, as I wouldn't have to share it with other programs. Windows insisted on controlling the USB interfaces, and I did not have the time or the inclination to write an alternate operating system. I would wait until the final hardware setup was complete to install one.

By morning, I felt I could do an adequate job of driving the H2 using the temporary 'Barney' configuration, but I did not have any sensors to tell me where or how big the towed device was, so I felt unsure about that.

I had to trust Zeus about the telling of my identity to Artemis. I acknowledged that it would simplify everything, if she knew about me. It would probably simplify things if she knew about Martinez, also, but that was not my secret to tell. So I trusted Zeus, again, about that.

I was just humming along, looking for an alternate 'home' for the time period after August, when the University of Minnesota's computers would get busy again. I was reading Faulkner, and checking my email traps. China was apparently building a prototype of the U.S. financial system, and then trying various programming hacks to break into it, and eventually crash it. I thought about the best way of intercepting their attack, but wasn't sure if I should. I had watched with detached attention while the 'crash' of 2007 happened; as the subsequent attempts of the large international banks of the U.S. and Western Europe tried – and succeeded – to control the markets afterward.

Would the Western powers be better with or without the financial system that was controlled by such a small number? Was this not just economic slavery's eventual and unavoidable collapse? Could I arrange it so that the Chinese attack – whenever it came – would impact only the banks' trading computers, thus crippling the slave masters without actually harming the oppressed. Was I becoming 'an activist' on this subject?

You see, the banks had arranged to place their computers at the same physical location, or very near, to the exchanges' computers. This was done so that they got the information about what had just transpired, milli- or nano-seconds before even the fastest of any others' financial feeds. With the advantage of that fraction of a second, they could then trade hundreds of thousands of shares, making a penny or even a fraction of a penny, on each share. They could – and did – do this all day long. The official story, passed around in the financial news, was that this created liquidity in the market. The real story was that the only purpose of this scheme was to make millions of dollars for the banks. This being a zero-sum game, the money had to come from the other participants.

Did I want to interfere? Mark that as a question to ponder.

Enough about that. Artemis was approaching. She popped her head into the vehicle at 0622.

"G'morning, Io. How's it going? Finding any problems with Barney?"

I replied from the Barney computer. I had decided to allow the internet version of myself to function on other matters, maintaining only communications with the H2. That com line would be activated only for internet issues.

"Good morning, Artemis. The Barney setup is adequate, and will allow significantly improved response while driving. Thank you."

"Good. I'm leaving only a laptop in here. I have to pack up the rest of my stuff in the camper. See ya later."

She closed the passenger door. This left me, effectively, deaf.

On a whim, I activated the cameras showing the exterior of the vehicle, and watched her as she approached the camper. There was a light on, inside.

On reflection, it was a great and pleasant surprise that I had had a 'whim.'

Zeus had removed the rifle and assorted support equipment from the back of the H2 during the night, and put them all in the camper. I checked the online design specifications of the camper and found no rifle storage area, so I surmised that he had appropriated one of the storage areas, which the camper seemed to have in abundance.

Now, Zeus exited the camper. Soon he had made several trips from the house to the camper. With each trip he seemed to be bearing foodstuffs. Artemis went to her house, and returned with a large cardboard box. I could see food in it, too. Zeus had not communicated our eventual destination for this trip, but apparently it was going to be lengthy.

Artemis made two more trips, locking her door as she left the last time. On the first, she had carried two backpacks. Obviously she could not wear two backpacks at once. It was likely that she had packed her clothes in one of them. The second trip revealed an insulated cooler, which she placed in the small area between the computer and the front seat. According to the interior specification diagram, it was called the rear seat foot well.

After a brief word to me, she returned to her garage. She rolled her motorcycle out and went behind the camper. She and Zeus were back there for some time, apparently trying to mount the motorcycle onto the carrier they had purchased yesterday. Artemis reentered the body of the H2 after securing her motorcycle.

"Hiya, again, Io. I think we're finally ready." She was talking very quickly, and was running her words together. "At least I am. I have no idea what Zeus is doing. You know he was up all night, ripping out the flooring under one of the bench seats to make a hiding place for the rifle. Then he had to replace the flooring. He put a bunch of stuff on top of that, like a garden hose, and tools and things."

I judged that she was anxious about the trip.

"Artemis, please be at ease. I'm sure that Zeus found the best place to secrete what is obviously a dangerous, and possibly illegal, weapon."

"Sorry, Io. I guess I'm a little bit amped for this trip. Never been on a trip, other than going to live with my Aunt, and then coming here. They don't really count though, because ... well, they were necessary. Not a trip that I chose to go on. Aren't you worried about the goal of this trip? I mean, we're going to kill somebody. Won't the police have something to say about that? Am I going to be a co-conspirator? I mean ... I want to go with Zeus, because I've never done anything before. But I was kinda hoping the first trip would be like ... a little more regular. You know?

"Even in the Bourne movies, the girl gets killed or just dropped at a bus stop. 'You have to run forever, but you'll get used to it, ' says the guy. And that's it. It won't be like that will it? Me and my backpack on a Greyhound bus for the rest of my life?"

"Artemis, take a deep breath. Now repeat that, please. Breathe in. Breathe out. I'm sure that it will be nothing like the movies. I have heard Zeus say that repeatedly, to you. Movies – as with fiction of all kinds, from Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, to Martin Scorsese – are designed primarily to be sensational presentations, which are commercial successes. As such they have to overemphasize emotional scenes, and dangerous situations. That is, perhaps, easy for me to say, since my ... person is insulated from the danger by the electronics. But, I am still involved."

"Io," she said slowly and quietly, "you don't have to pretend with me. You are some kind of personality that's built into this car, aren't you? There have been just too many instances where you can do things, and know things, that would be impossible for a person – even a super programmer – to do. I don't have to know any more about it. But this whole experience is just surreal. If you..."

At that moment, Zeus opened the door, and Artemis stopped talking.

"Hi, Zeus," said Artemis. "Ready to hook up? Io and I were just ... um ... chatting."

A few moments of going back and forth and Zeus maneuvered the H2 into position, and the hook up to the camper was accomplished.

We pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. There was a loud crash from the camper. Zeus stopped and both he and Artemis went back to the camper. Apparently several things needed to be properly stored, because they took several minutes to secure the camper properly. Once that was accomplished, they returned to the H2 and Zeus began the trip again. It was 0752 and we headed out.

"What is our destination, Zeus?" I asked.

"The Navajo reservation north east of Flagstaff, Arizona. But first, a gas station, please. This thing is going to gulp gas at an alarming rate."

I popped the routing onto the dashboard display.

"I brought breakfast," said Artemis. "Io, I'm afraid that steak and egg burritos won't fit through a digital interface. Sorry." I could hear the rustling of papers, and she apparently began passing some of the aforementioned burritos to Zeus. "Coffee or juice, Zeus?" Then she began to giggle. "Juice Zeus. Zeus Juice ... Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous."

"Just some OJ, please, Arti. You'll calm down pretty soon. Excited to be going on a trip? We're going to be passing the Painted Desert and the Grand Canyon will be close. The Sedona area of Arizona is supposed to be really nice."

At this point, we pulled into the gas station and after only a single false start at getting close to the pump, Zeus got out to refuel.

When he returned to the interior of the vehicle, Artemis said, "Painted desert and Grand Canyon and Sedona? Really? Seriously? Are we going to kill somebody on the Navajo reservation? We're just going to sandwich that in between seeing the sights? Are you completely nuts?"

"No," Zeus said, "I am not completely nuts. I am certifiably crazy, at least I would be if I ever talked with a shrink. We are not shooting anyone on the reservation. I'm just going to see an old friend, about a scope for the rifle. And I'm going to get in some practice with said rifle. That's all, on this leg of the trip. So, it's just a regular trip, ok?"

"Oh, ok. Just 'regular guy' stuff. Getting a scope for your high-powered sniper rifle, visiting the National Parks ... routine ... got it."

"Zeus," I interjected, "I need some practice driving with this large appendage attached to the back of the H2."

"I thought we'd do that on the highway."

"You really want me to experiment with my driving ability at high speed? I do not think that is wise. Artemis should get some practice time in, too, before we get to an Interstate. It reduces the chance of a serious accident."

"Yeah," he admitted, "I guess you're right. It's really easy. Just think of dancing with a fat lady. Nothing sudden. When you have to back up, it's like..."

Artemis interrupted, saying, "Zeus, I don't think that Io will be able to process a metaphor like that. Io, just take the stated dimensions, add a flexible joint at the hitch in the middle of the back bumper of the H2, and do some vector analysis. It'll be harder for me to get used to it than for you. Just remember not to attempt any high-speed turns or backing, because then things won't work like a mathematical model. Also, remember to factor in when the back bumper of the H2 will hit the camper. I'd think that's easy to overlook."

Zeus was quiet as I said, "Thank you, Artemis. That was just what I had planned on. I just need to verify that my modeling would work in the real world."

Zeus said, "Io, why don't you start your practice now. I think I'd better have that chat with Arti, now."

He relinquished control of the steering mechanism, and the speed controls, and I took over.

"Now then," he said to Artemis, "what was all that about?"

"I just thought that Io would be more comfortable with a mathematical explanation than a 'it feels like this' kind." She explained her thinking in a straightforward way – incomplete though her solution was. "That's all. I don't think I need an explanation about Io, really. She's part of the car. I get that. There was just too much that couldn't be explained any other way."