Vernor Vinge - Rainbows End

No one else seemed to notice the Stranger's arrival. Tommie walked back into the drifts of paper, tossing them up in the air, squirting them with his spray can. "Is the camera getting this, Robert?"

Robert looked down at the laptop's screen."… Yes."

Any other time, the effect of Tommie's aerosol glue would have been a showstopper. He threw another armful of loose shredda into the air, and sprayed a mist of glue. Where mist and paper met, the page fragments were suddenly tumbling as one. The mass drifted slowly to earth. Most of the frags never actually touched the ground, but hung permanently in the air. Tommie laughed and pushed at the hazy something. The ensemble of scattered papers rocked back and forth, like bits of fruit in invisible Jell-O.

Tommie whooped. "Try it yourselves. Just don't squirt each other." He threw another armful up, and another. Arches of paper and mist grew around him.

Robert hung back, playing cameraman.

Mysterious Stranger –> Robert: Look where Alfred has you pointing the camera. See the light? Coming out of the dark?

There was a tiny pool of light, someone running down the steps into the Huertas cavern.

It was Miri. The girl came pounding across the floor shouting, "Robert! Robert!"

Tommie and the others turned to watch, openmouthed.

Miri came around the edge of the shredda. She was gasping for breath.

Winston looked her up and down and then looked at Robert. "This is another Gu, isn't it?"

"um, my granddaughter."

"I thought we agreed to keep this among ourselves!" Winnie's glare was as good as any high-tech messaging: You're going to ruin this for all of us .

But Tommie was more astounded than any of them. "How could she get through security? The cops should be all over."

"No, no." Miri managed to speak between gasps for breath. "Must call police!"

The laptop had its say, too: "Pay no attention to this child. Remember why you are here."

Robert shoved the laptop at Winnie and reached for Miri. "How did you find us, kiddo?"

Her arms went around his middle. "It was Juan and me, and — " She hesitated, looked up at him with her eyes wide. Gone was her usual assurance. Horror looked out. " — somebody's using you, Robert. I think they maybe, maybe killed Juan!"

"Not so," said the laptop. "Uh — " The voice hesitated.

Mysterious Stranger — > Robert: Heh. Alfred put ForgetIt gas ir your belt boxes, and now he's wondering why you're still standing.

"Gentlemen," the voice resumed, "I advise you to remember why you are really here."

Tommie had come out from his fountains of paper. His spray can dangled unnoticed from his fingers. He looked at Carlos and Winston and Robert. "Yes, what is it that we're supposed to remember? Why are we really here?"

Carlos and Winnie wouldn't look him in the eye. Carlos mumbled something in Mandarin.

"We did what we thought was right," Winston said.

Yes, each our own vision of what was right, but… Juan murdered ? He looked back at Tommie. "We tricked you, Tommie. Someone else is behind this."

Tommie walked back to the pile, kicked aimlessly at his masterpiece. "But… I thought I had my touch back." He glanced at Miri and seemed to be putting together all the inconsistencies. His shoulders slumped. "Okay. I was an old idiot. Who was boosting me along, Robert?"

"I don't know."

Mysterious Stranger — > Robert: I could tell you. Maybe I will someday.

Apparently, Winnie and Carlos were not seeing the sming.

Miri's chin came up. "We've got to get word out."

And the laptop said, "It's not safe to move. Stay where you are."

Mysterious Stranger — > Robert: Actually, I would recommend the same. But right now I'm peeved with Alfred. Do what you please, my man.

Tommie Parker looked off into the emptiness of the Huertas cavern. He was shaking his spray can, almost an idle gesture. "The gear we planted in GenGen, I thought I made that. Me, the big genius. It could be anything… bombs, poison, some kind of takeover hardware. But we're at the north edge of the complex." He waved at the wall that loomed from the dimness just beyond the shredda containers. "That overlooks Sorrento Valley. There are some old entrances. We could have used them instead, except my research said the alarms would be harder to disable — but now I don't care if busting through them sets off alarms!"

"Stay where you are," said the laptop. "You are surrounded by lethal weapons!"

Something small and black sidled out of the darkness.

"I saw one of those on Gilman Drive." Miri took a step toward it. The robot turned toward her. There was a metallic click that sounded very much like a round being chambered.

"Miri — " Robert held her arm, but Tommie was coming around from the other side and the robot turned toward him.

Parker stopped about seven feet from the critter. Some of his old cockiness returned. "I'll bet it's just a network-superiority bot. Most of the pay-load is communications and counternode gear. It's not much use all by itself."

"There are hundreds on the floor," said the laptop. "Don't force us to act."

Miri slipped loose of Robert. "I didn't see any others," she said, moving closer to the robot.

Mysterious Stranger –> Robert: There's only the one, but

And then several things happened at once: Robert pulled Miri behind him. Tommie stepped forward in a fencer's lunge that brought his spray can within a foot of the mech. The robot flipped up like a sprung rat trap. Tommie screamed and fell forward.

Robert ran toward the robot and grabbed — hard air. The hardened froth was barely visible, but it held the robot beyond his reach. He spun the gel around, looking for some point closer to the enemy. There! He slammed the carapace into the concrete floor. Again. It was in pieces now, each still embedded in the mist. There was sound of tiny motors, whining to be free. Then Miri and Carlos were stomping on what remained. Sparks flew within the mist, and Robert felt a tingling that raised the hairs on his arms.

And then the robot was just dead composites, the pieces hanging motionless in blocks of invisible fluff.

The only sound was Tommie gasping. Winnie had rolled the little guy on his side. Tommie's face was bluish, his mouth a gaping grimace of pain.

"What happened, Tommie?"

Parker's back arched. "Bastard… fried… my pacemaker."

Carlos was on his knees. He touched Tommie's shoulder. " Wómen shāsi le nàgè jīqìrén . We killed the robot, Dr. Parker."

Tommie grunted acknowledgment, even as he rocked back and forth on the ground.

"We'll get you out of here, Tommie," said Blount. He looked up at Robert. "No more games."

Mysterious Stranger — > Robert: Oh, damn. Parker was such an interesting wannabe. Okay, I'll help you get him out. And if you help me after that, I can still make good on my part of the bargain. How's that?

Robert looked past the greenish letters and nodded to Winston Blount. "No more games."

Tommie still lay twisting in pain. His voice came out between spasms. "Keycard… in my pocket."

Mysterious Stranger — > Robert: Heh. Magical me, that ancient keycard will actually work. My little surprise present for Alfred.

The voice from the laptop — Alfred? — was silent.

Carlos looked down at where the laptop sat on the concrete floor. "We should break this. It's the eye of the enemy."

Miri walked around the antique computer. "I think if we pull the plug on that fiber, the bad guys are gone."

"Yup… unplugit!"

Mysterious Stranger — > Robert: Hey wait. Where do you think I'm coming from! So what if Alfred can still snoop? It's me you need. If you cut me off then well damn I'll have to