A Child Of Our Time (The Veil Book 2) by William Bowden Read Free Book Online

he scans it he becomes increasingly agitated.
    Lucy slams her door shut on the scene.

PUZZLE
    Lucius paces up and down his office, his anger manifest. A chime. He stabs at a button on his desk. A three-dimensional projection commences in one corner of his office, Justice Garr’s avatar stepping into view. She cuts Lucius off before he can start venting his anger.
    “I believe Special Agent Landelle will be joining us,” she says.
    No sooner said and Landelle bursts into Lucius’s office. He can see she has her own bone to pick, but has only contempt for her. Nevertheless, his focus remains on Garr.
    “What the hell is going on, Alka? Why have you shut us down?”
    “I’ve only suspended activities for twenty-four hours. Now, calm down and we will sort all of this out.”
    Lucius calms a little, but keeps his eyes away from Landelle.
    “Agent Landelle?” Garr says.
    Landelle lets rip.
    “We know you visited Dr. Rain. MBI Three hasn’t formed correctly and privately you have concerns about its mental stability that you have sought to keep from us.” An accusing finger finishes it off, “You used the Tap.”
    “ It has a name. Lucy.”
    “ It has locked you out of its systems and refuses to display its avatar. Psychotic behavior. Justice Garr, we cannot take any chances. It should be terminated immediately.”
    “Okay, okay,” pleads Lucius. “So I used the Tap to reach out to her. To elicit a response. And, yes, her forming process did not go as expected. Lucy is, well, different from the other two…perhaps a little simple on some levels—”
    “And her mental stability?” interrupts Garr.
    “We have no reason to doubt it.”
    “How can you possibly know?” Landelle says. “I’ve seen the interviews. Hardly conclusive.”
    “Alright, alright. Look, we can still proceed as planned with JoJo and Eleanor,” says Lucius. “Exclude Lucy for the time being, while I evaluate her some more.”
    Landelle maintains her stance, “Justice Garr?”
    Garr has no hesitation in asserting her position. “If the doubt over MBI Three persists, then the Court’s proviso stands. But for now you may continue, Lucius.”
    * * *
    A severely stern Landelle strides into the vault vestibule, arriving at the chamber entrance, where Lucius awaits her.
    “Speak freely and act normally,” he says to her. “As you would with anyone else.”
    He waves her in. Her mood shifts and she enters with some trepidation.
    JoJo and Eleanor stand before their respective units.
    “Hello again, Agent Landelle,” says JoJo.
    “Hello…JoJo.”
    “You remember Eleanor, of course.”
    “I imagine that you have come to meet Lucy, Agent Landelle,” says Eleanor.
    “Yeah…yes.”
    The insight has caught Landelle off guard, something she fails to disguise, to Lucius’s all-too-apparent amusement.
    “May we introduce you?” Eleanor offers.
    “Yes. You may.”
    JoJo and Eleanor approach Lucy’s inactive unit. As they do so, patterns appear in a subdued display.
    “Lucy, this is Special Agent Landelle,” says JoJo.
    “Hello, Special Agent Landelle,” she says in her shiest voice. “My name is Lucy. Why are you here?”
    Lucius tenses at the response, but Landelle is unmoved.
    “I wanted to meet you, Lucy. I have heard so much about you. How are you feeling today?”
    Lucy’s display brightens, her voice becoming somewhat chirpy.
    “I am just fine, Special Agent Landelle. Lucius says I have been good and has given me more puzzles to play with. Though I am still stuck on the first—look!”
    Lucy displays her Rubik’s Cube. She has only one side complete.
    “Very good, Lucy,” Landelle observes. “And the task Lucius set you? Dr. Panchen’s problem?”
    “I have it all figured out, Special Agent Landelle. I made the plasma injector form factor smaller by point oh oh oh five three one. See.”
    The Rubik’s Cube vanishes. Lucy shows a sequence demonstrating a complex plasma flow through a fusion drive—as a detailed