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

three-dimensional schematic projected before her unit.
    “Very good. But how long do you think it will take to solve your puzzle?” Landelle asks.
    “I am not sure. It’s tricky.”
    Landelle cocks her head at Lucy.
    “I know what you are thinking, Special Agent Landelle,” Lucy says, “But that would be cheating.”
    Lucius observes Landelle failing to suppress a grin. She has been caught up in Lucy’s infectious nature, just as he had hoped. But Landelle has one more surprise.
    “You know what pi is, don’t you Lucy.”
    “A mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.”
    Lucy projects a circle, its diameter and pi—3.14159265.
    “And can you tell me what is special about pi?”
    “Its decimal representation never ends or repeats, Special Agent Landelle. It goes on for ever and ever.”
    Lucy displays more decimal places of pi to illustrate.
    “Indeed. What is the five trillionth decimal of pi? Don’t look it up—I want you to work it out for me. From first principles.”
    Lucius immediately tenses at Landelle’s request, only to widen his eyes at the quick response.
    “It is two,” Lucy replies.
    JoJo and Eleanor exchange a furtive glance.
    “Eleanor, how long would it take you to work out the five trillionth decimal of pi?” asks Landelle.
    Eleanor seems ill at ease with the line of questioning.
    “I estimate ninety minutes, Agent Landelle.”
    “Lucy, did you look up pi, instead of working it out?”
    “No, Special Agent Landelle. I worked it out, just like you asked.”
    “But you did cheat, didn’t you.” Landelle again fails to suppress a grin.
    “ May be.”
    A chuckle from Landelle and a bemused Lucius relaxes a little.
    “Very well, then,” Landelle says to him.
    “Lucy, some privacy, please,” requests Lucius.
    She dutifully fades away to leave an expectant JoJo and Eleanor staring at Landelle.
    “As part of you evaluation we would like the two of you to meet some company employees and their families,” Landelle says to them. “How do you feel about that?”
    “We would like that very much,” replies JoJo.
    “What about Lucy, Agent Landelle?” asks Eleanor.
    * * *
    JoJo and Eleanor watch Lucius partition off Lucy’s corner of the chamber, until her MBI unit is completely hidden from view. Both share a look of concern.

ENCOUNTERS
    A twenty-something woman wearing an employee pass peers, with some trepidation, into the third-generation chamber.
    “Hello?” she calls out.
    Lucius leans into view from within the chamber.
    “Hi, there. Come on in.”
    The woman gingerly makes her way in. The team are all present—Landelle, Moule, and Boyce. They say nothing, do nothing, except observe the encounter intently.
    The woman halts at the sight of the three MBI units. JoJo steps into view.
    “Hello. My name is JoJo.”
    The woman leaps back with a start, “Jesus!!”
    She is almost shaking with a fright, but before she can gather herself she notices Eleanor with another start.
    “Hello. My name is Eleanor.”
    The woman calms down, to rudely stare at the two of them.
    “They’re smart, right? Not simple, like the Emby porters?”
    “Very smart,” Lucius says.
    The woman passes her hand through their projections, JoJo and Eleanor standing politely as she gawps at them.
    “Say something clever.”
    “Something clever,” says Eleanor, with a polite smile.
    “No, no. I meant—hey! Are you winding me up?”
    “Winding you up?” enquires Eleanor.
    The morning soon fills the chamber. Lucius had been careful to make his selection, for the most part, from the lower ranks; juniors in administration and the like. There were one or two exceptions, but they were not technical. The result is a relatively innocent interaction.
    “Do you sleep?” one man asks.
    “Automatic housekeeping processes in our lower limbic system perform a similar function,” JoJo explains, the man politely nodding.
    “Do you dream?” a woman