Chapter Fifty-Four
“He’s gone,” Rani tells me as Forrest and I race to her side, Artie holding Forrest’s hand. “I’m sorry, darling. He had a
cab waiting right after he did his speech. I rang the company and asked where, but he said it was data protection. I don’t
know where he’s gone.”
“He said it was a disused school somewhere around here,” I say. “Any ideas?”
“About three,” Rani says. “They closed down that old school in town to turn into fancy flats . . .”
“I think I know.” Megan arrives breathless.
“Bestie!” Artie hugs Megan and waves the envelope with the cheque in it at me. “Look, I’m holding Ava’s money and now we are
on a race against time. I don’t know why, but it’s very exciting!”
“I didn’t know you were coming,” I say, giving Megan a hug.
“The news asked me to do an interview,” Megan says, proudly. “And I couldn’t turn down my opportunity at celebrity. Still
think you were robbed, Forrest, no offence, Ava.”
“It was the right result,” Forrest tells her. “I get a big chunk of cash too. It’s all good. But how do you know who we’re
looking for?”
“Well, Hal dropped out of the competition,” Megan says. “And it seemed fairly obvious to me from Ava’s big speech that somehow Hal is FreeThought. Like a robot maybe, which is kind of kinky, considering you two looked like you might be a thing, but hey, I don’t judge.”
“We are not that kind of thing,” I tell Megan. “We are friends.”
“What is kinky?” Artie asks.
“Stick a pin in that for now, Artie,” I say. “Megan, where are you thinking Hal might be and why?”
“There’s a big disused secondary school, not that old, just outside of Scarborough. Was an academy, got shut down a couple
of years ago. It’s private, there are a lot of grounds. Could easily be adapted to whatever Hal wanted, and not much chance
of people nosing around.”
“That’s a fair drive away,” I say. “If we’re wrong, it will be too late.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m right,” Megan says, looking a world away from the kid that decided to sleep in the garden just a few
days ago. Like somehow, she’s grown into herself.
“I trust you,” I tell her. “We need transport . . .”
“Taken care of,” Rani says as a Castle Beaumont people carrier rolls up.
“Exciting!” Artie hops from one foot to the other. “Can I sit going backwards? Do I need my sword?”
We know straightaway that Megan is right the moment we come up to the metal gate across the driveway, complete with a sign
that reads Babbage RoBiotics.
“Megan, you were right,” I say, relieved. “We’re about twenty minutes behind him. We need to get in.”
I’m wondering if that car has any bolt cutters when the gate rolls open.
Forrest and I look at one another, and the cab takes us in up to the door.
There’s a young man sitting in reception who smiles at us as we walk in.
This is not what I pictured when Hal described his facility.
He said he had a few staff, but I didn’t picture Stefan on reception amongst them.
“Good afternoon, Miss Green and friends,” Stefan says. “Mr. Babbage told me you were likely to come by, and he invites you
to have a look around. Everyone here is keen to meet you and explain their work to you.”
“What is your work?” Artie asks Stefan.
“Answering the phone and saying ‘Hi,’” Stefan tells her. “It’s skilled labour.”
“Best job in the world,” Artie tells him.
“Where is Mr. Babbage right now?” I ask Stefan. “I would like to see him first, if that’s okay. It’s kind of urgent.”
“Oh, he could be anywhere, but his private lab is on the top floor. If you go to the back of the building, through the bio
testing labs, you’ll find the stairs at the end of that corridor.”
“And knowing things,” Artie tells Stefan. “You know things too. Like a druid.”
“Yes, I do.” Stefan nods, solemnly. “One day you will know things too, little one.”
“Right, come on, everyone,” I say.
We march through the centre of the ground floor, labs on either side of us, most of them busy with technicians. This is not
a handful of staff; there must be twenty on this floor alone.
“Hello?” I tap on the glass, startling a young woman in a lab coat and goggles. “We’re looking for Hal? Mr. Babbage?”
“Oh, I think he’s upstairs in the communication hub, checking on the data rollout,” she calls out, pointing upwards. “He wants everyone to get it at the same time.”
We charge up one flight of stairs, led by Artie and Megan. Rani brings up the rear, tottering on the silver high heels she
wore to the final.
“If I knew there was going to be exercise, I would have chosen better shoes,” she says. “Or stayed behind and had some toast.”
“We’re looking for Hal,” I call in to a room of busy-looking people using a bank of laptops. The one closest to the door gestures
to the end of the corridor. “In his office.”
“But he asked not to be disturbed,” the person nearest the door tells us.
“Welp, unlucky, he’s gonna be,” I say. But when we reach the end of the corridor, there’s a sign from Hal’s officer with an
arrow pointing up and another flight of stairs.
“Why don’t schools have lifts?” Rani asks. “You go on without me. I may be some time.”
“This is taking too long!” I take the stairs two at a time, closely followed by Forrest and Megan. Artie has stayed behind
to assist Rani.
“You lean on me, Rani,” I hear her saying. “I have a badge in how to assist old people.”
Finally we see his office at the end of a quiet, carpeted corridor. I break into a sprint, racing towards it and throwing
his door open. My heart drops to the ground. Hal is lying on a gurney, plugged into lots of wires. The upload has begun.
“No!” I shout, racing to the server bank next to where he is lying, too afraid to try switching anything off.
“No, Hal. What are you doing? Stop it! You have to stay. We need you to stay.” Grabbing him by the shoulders, I shake him, so his eyes fly open.
“You are my friend, and I need you. We all need you to see and know the world the way that people do. Hal, please don’t do this just because of me.
You are worth so much more than just being my brilliant AI boyfriend! ”
“I know, Ava,” Hal says sitting up, detaching himself gently from my frantic grip. “I was just transferring all my readings
from the last three weeks into the model to help us refine our processes. I’m the best dataset we have when it comes to testing
function, after all.”
“Wait. what? You’re not uploading your brain and donating your body to science?” I ask. Hal smiles and shakes his head.
“I was certain that was what I wanted to do,” Hal said. “But then I heard your speech on the radio in the car. And I changed
my mind. It was quite the experience. One moment I thought one thing, with utmost certainty, and then, after considering all
the facts and circumstances, I came to a different conclusion. Exhilarating.”
“Rahhhhhh!” Artie arrives sword aloft. “Hello, everyone!”
“Can I lie down on that,” Rani says, pointing at the trolley.
“Oh, thank God.” I sit down on the trolley next to Hal as Rani sinks into his desk chair, kicking off her shoes. “You’re not
going.”
“I’m not going,” Hal says. “And actually, I was hoping you might move your lab here. I have space for you, if you want it,
and you and I can keep working together. Would that be okay with you?”
“That would be A-okay with me,” I say, hugging him. “That would be the best news ever!”
“And you, Forrest?” Hal says. “Or do you still think of me as a love rival?”
“I think of you as nothing short of miraculous,” Forrest says.
“Wonderful.” Hal smiles. “Now would you like a tour of the facility?”
“I will if you stop calling it a facility,” I say.
“I’ll just wait here,” Rani says. “Text me the highlights.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for Vikings,” Artie says.
“I must say,” Hal says, smiling at each of us in turn. “It is nice to have friends to share all this with. Yes, it’s very
nice indeed.”