Take Us to Your Chief by Drew Hayden Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

various vice-presidents, mysterious messages arrived from cars in the parking lot saying they were running off with a tractor, and weeks of work disappeared, producing numerous near heart attacks, then reappeared several hours later. It took security three days to track it all back to Gary’s terminal, but that was what they were paid a lot of money to do. The end result being no more Gar y Milne.
    â€œMaybe he left a bug hidde n somewhere.”
    She could almost hear her associate shaking his head over the phone. “No, security went over all the computers three times after he left. They were clean. Can you come down, Gayle? I’d really like you to take a look at this.” There was a pleading tone in hi s voice.
    Chambers was tempted to put it off until tomorrow—after all, there was still the matter of her chives—but something about King’s excitement intrigued her. The chives coul d wait.
    â€œI’ll be there in thirt y minutes.”
    Thirty-four minutes later, she entered the lab, and then the Matrix room. She knew she still smelled of her agricultural pursuits, but that’s what you get when you call someone in to work at this time o f night.
    Leaning over the console, the visibly unnerved scientist turned to her as she entered the room. “Good, you’r e here.”
    â€œThis better be good.” She looked at her watch. “God, I’ll have to be here again in twelve hours. So show me your self-awar e beetle.”
    â€œNo beetle. Something more. I’m sure of it. Take a look and tell me what yo u think.”
    He pointed to the screen and Chambers moved closer, settling into the chair. What was on the screen was exactly what King had told her over the phone. Simple but primal questions about existence. There had to be a logica l explanation.
    â€œI haven’t responded to its query yet. I thought I should wait for you. This is more your area of expertise. So… what do yo u think?”
    Chambers studied the screen, mulling over possibilities. “I don’t know. There’s not really enough data to make a decent hypothesis. So let’s g o exploring.”
    Before he could respond, Chambers was already sticking her big toe into the computerized ocean that lay beyond he r keyboard.
    â€œAre you sure that’s a good idea?” King was growing increasingly nervous. He was just a systems analyst and programmer, granted of the highest quality, but decisions like this were usually made by people with more expensive ties. “ I mean…”
    â€œThere. Let’s see wha t happens.”
    He looked over her shoulder to see what she had typed. It read, “Who ar e you?”
    The answer came back almost instantaneously. “
I am… me
.”
    Chambers decided to play the game a bit further. “Who i s me?”
    â€œ I am .”
    Now frustrated, she rolled away from the computer. “Somebody is playing games with us. Or I am talking to a five-year-old.”
    â€œShould we cal l somebody?”
    For someone who had managed to navigate the shoals of academia, woo and marry a woman of substantial qualities and become one of the leading research scientists at FUTUREVISION , the man had a remarkably small set of testicles. There were times Chambers thought hers wer e bigger.
    â€œI still think it’s somebody playing around with us.” She began to type again. “Define ‘me.’” Let’s see what it does with that, she thought. Again, the response wa s immediate.
    â€œ
I don’t know. ‘Me’ is everything. Except you. Who ar
e you ? ”
    â€œI am Dr. Gayl e Chambers.”
    â€œ
What is Dr. Gayle Chambers? Is that your ‘me’
?
”
    â€œYes!” Professor King had switched from nervousness to excitement. “Do you see it? The line of progression, of logic. Rudimentary, yes, but it’s there. Right? Right? Am I right?”
    My God, Chambers thought, just