Unstable Prototypes by Joseph Lallo Read Free Book Online

and,
eventually, clipping an activated slidepad to one of the harness
buckles.
    The screen flipped on, then switched to a
diagnostic screen and began to scroll commands unreadably fast. As
it did, Ma tipped her head back and closed her eyes, looking for
the life of her as though she'd just felt a refreshing breath of
air conditioning after a long hot day.
    "Thank you, Lex. I feel considerably less
restricted now that I have a co-processor and externally maintained
network access."
    "No problem."
    "The next phase does not need to occur for
over twenty hours. How would you like to spend the time?"
    "Actually, there are a few things that were
bugging me. Care to answer a few questions?"
    "Certainly."
    "First off, why don't you stink? I mean, the
only other funk I've ever met had... well, a funk about him."
    "I administered one of Karter's odor control
pills prior to my departure. It should last for several months. I
presumed that travel would be simplified if I were not the source
of a distracting aroma."
    "That's for sure. Speaking of your departure,
you never really went into detail about Karter's kidnapping."
    "Karter was demonstrating a scale prototype
of a device called a CME Activator."
    "What is that?"
    "What is the subject of your inquiry? A CME,
or the CME Activator?"
    "Both."
    "A CME is a coronal mass ejection, a massive
dispersal of stellar particles caused by the release of energy
stored in the magnetic fields of the atmosphere of a star. The
release is a result of the reconnection of magnetic field lines.
The particles released by such an event distort and react with
other magnetic fields. If a planet is bombarded, the resulting
terawatt magnitude energy release and the associated geomagnetic
storm can have effects ranging from intense aurora activity near
the magnetic poles to massive damage to electrically sensitive
devices. An intense enough CME could theoretically interrupt the
functioning of all electrical devices, as well as permanently
damaging electrical infrastructure. The CME Activator is a device
that Karter designed for the Earth military decades ago. It
manipulates the field lines of a star into an alignment that will
produce a sequential reconnection, ideally expending all
magnetically suspended energy in a series of CMEs."
    "Wow... That was a lot of words."
    "A CME Activator can be used to cause, at the
very least, a planet-wide blackout that lasts for months."
    "Whoa."
    "That is an appropriate response. Three men
representing an anonymous group were interested in a full scale CME
Activator. Following the successful deployment of the scale
prototype, the men attempted to renegotiate the agreed upon
services. They then deployed EMP devices, resulting in my
incapacitation and the kidnapping of Karter. I am uncertain as to
how they were able to leave the planet."
    "Do you know who the men were?"
    "I do not possess enough information to
produce reliable hypothesis, but their behavior is consistent with
highly organized political extremists. Please note that much of
this information was disseminated in a prior interaction between
us."
    "I guess it didn't sink in. Just to be clear,
when you say extremist, you mean terrorist."
    "Terrorism is a likely goal, and the CME
Activator is an effective tool in that regard."
    "Then why were you selling to them!?"
    "I had no evidence to be certain of their
intentions, and Karter bares no political, ethical, or moral bias
with respect to prospective clients."
    Lex rubbed his temple. Suddenly, first class
cabin not withstanding, he was having doubts about the mission at
hand.
    "At what point did this lead to you donning a
funk suit and tracking me down."
    "I was only able to restore myself by
shifting primary processing duties to a backup server in the lower
levels of the complex, isolated from the EMP assault. From there I
polled the limited array of sensors that were still active. I
determined that Karter had left the planet, additional EMP mines
had been deployed