Jeremy Robinson - Blackout

He might not get this close to Brown again.

King played the scenario out in his mind as he strode forward. Too obvious, he decided. Too many people watching. He couldn’t afford to attract attention or raise suspicions. The boat was crawling with Alpha Dog security guards. The ring was his only weapon and it had only one dose of tetrodotoxin, just enough to bag the objective.

Be patient. You’ll get another chance.

Nevertheless, he could feel his skin burning with rage beneath the disguise as he passed behind Brown. The man had kidnapped Sara. He’d sent a hired killer after King in Arizona. And in his quest for- what exactly? — he’d very nearly eradicated all life on the planet, not once but twice.

But then he passed Brown and stood with the others-ten of them altogether-waiting to see what surprises the man had in store.

The host faced them, speaking once more into the microphone. “I’ve chosen you from the group because each of you manages a large power plant, and as such are in a unique position to benefit from my little gift.”

Plant managers, King thought. Was this part of Brainstorm’s master plan? Damn, I should have paid attention to the names.

With a flourish, Brown removed the domed covers to reveal ten small black rectangular boxes arrayed on swatches of red velvet. King blinked, tearing his gaze away from Brown, and glanced at the offering.

“Cell phones?” remarked one of the other men, with more than a trace of disappointment.

Brown smiled patiently and picked up one of the rectangles. “Appearances can be deceiving. This device may look like an ordinary cellular phone, but trust me when I say that it has as much in common with the iPhone or Droid in your pocket, as those devices do with an old-fashioned rotary dial telephone. Those devices have been called ‘smart phones.’ Well, gentleman, this…” He held it up, turning to the rest of the audience, “is a genius phone.

“It’s actually much more than just a telecommunications device. Don’t let its size fool you. Each of these little boxes holds more computing power than the mainframe networks that most of you are probably using at your plants.”

There were a few skeptical glances, but Brown continued without missing a beat. “Witness the next evolution of the computer: the quantum processor, courtesy of my new friends at Jovian technologies. Instead of using printed silicon chips, these devices carry out calculations at the atomic level. That’s how we’re able to get so much computational power into such a small package. But that’s only part of it. Quantum processing speeds also make it possible to utilize a remarkable new ‘stutter logic’ artificial intelligence interface.”

King raised an eyebrow at the mention of artificial intelligence, and recalled their original supposition about Brainstorm. Was that Brown’s game? Was he trying to create the independent computerized entity that he had, for so long, pretended to be?

“I can’t give you all the specifics,” Brown went on. “I’m not a ‘techie’ myself. But this AI application streamlines the user interface. No more logic errors or confusion about trying to figure out the correct sequence of operations. You just tell the computer what you want-it responds to either voice or text commands-and it can figure out what you’re really asking. It probably understands better than another human would.

“Gentleman, these devices aren’t just for checking your e-mail or downloading YouTube videos. With just one of these, linked to your existing mainframe, you could single-handedly run your power plants, at least insofar as the computerized systems are concerned. In fact, you could do it from anywhere in the world.” Brown smiled, then after a thoughtful pause, added: “And of course, they are fully functional phones, too.”

“Oh great,” said one of the other men with mock sarcasm. “Wouldn’t you know it? I just signed a two-year contract with T-Mobile.”

Brown swept up the quantum phones and began distributing them to the men. “Not to worry. They are completely compatible with your existing phone carriers. The quantum processor can wirelessly synch with the phone you are now using-just hold it next to your phone, turn it on and tell it what you want to do.”

King watched as the other men eagerly followed Brown’s advice, and took out their personal phones. For his part, he simply dropped the new acquisition into his pocket where it joined the cigars he had pilfered earlier. Aleman would get a kick out taking the gizmo apart.

With the presentation of the quantum phones complete, the recipients began folding back into the crowd, eager to show off the unique devices. The men closest to Brown managed to buttonhole their host, and were expounding on some of their pet ideas for retrofitting the power grid. King lined up behind them, absently twirling the ring, and waited for his chance. A few interminable minutes later, he heard Brown excuse himself, preparing to move away.

King seized the opportunity, pushed past the other guests and stuck out his hand.

Less than fifty feet away, in a cramped room surrounded by flat screen monitors, Bandar Pradesh watched the live video feed of the ten power plant managers receiving their new quantum phones. He glanced to another monitor that displayed the status of the quantum network.

Brown had omitted mention of the fact that the phones themselves did not actually contain quantum processors, or rather, did not contain complete, independent processing units. In fact, it was a bit misleading to use standard computer jargon to explain the functionality of a quantum computer, but that was something Brown had never really been able to grasp. Like most people, the man was unable to conceive of a world that was not governed by Newtonian cause-and-effect mechanics. Conventional computers relied completely on principles of physical logic-if-then relationships, ones or zeroes-but quantum computers utilized an entirely different set of rules where those relationships had no meaning whatsoever.

Of course, it wasn’t necessary for Brown to understand the technology, any more than it was necessary for every automobile owner to understand the function of an internal combustion engine. In fact, Pradesh thought, it was probably better that he didn’t seem to want to know. That had made it so much easier for the Indian computer genius to accomplish his real objective.

Pradesh watched as the number of users on the network jumped from two to six…then to eight, then nine, and he waited for the tenth and final user to go active. The network relied on multiple inputs for operation. Moreover, the system was its most effective when those input nodes were linked randomly to existing conventional networks, so it was not enough to simply build several devices and turn them on. To make the quantum computer fulfill its purpose, Pradesh had designed the computer to utilize ten nodes, all connected to the worldwide communications network via their independent users. More would have been better, but given the prohibitive cost of producing the devices and the dictates of Brown’s original plan, ten would have to suffice.

The number on the screen did not change.

Pradesh watched it with growing impatience, and then turned his attention to the closed-circuit television screen where he saw the ten men were busily downloading new applications and exploring other features. No, Pradesh realized. Not all of them.

He isolated the one man in the group who was not holding one of the devices, and consulted the guest list. “Downey,” he muttered. “Why aren’t you playing with your new toy?”

On an impulse, he zoomed in on the man’s face and ran the image through a battery of tests. To his surprise, the facial recognition software-a variation of the same program used by casinos to identify card-counters and other troublemakers-indicated a less than seventy-percent probability that the man in the image was actually Bill Downey.