A Mermaid's Tale

Ariel finished her performance with a back somersault into the gap between either half of the stage and into the tube. She adjusted, swam off, and into her holding tank. She brought her legs together and the magic made them her bright and beautiful tail again. Her flesh was once more a mosaic of color and function. One gillful of water and her body extracted the oxygen from it and where another would drown, she thrived. Even the depths of the ocean held no fear for her. The deeper she would swim the more her body adjusted. She was made for the ocean as much as she could walk the land. She almost pitied humanity. They could never know this simple joy she thought. The soft chime announced her evening meal. A slender tube was lowered and live fish along with a smaller octopus were deposited into the tank. She requested it specifically and they obliged. Why not, she was the star of the show despite what that bitch Omaha might believe. She fed and the lights were turned off.

Darkness held no sway over her, she sang, and her voice painted her landscape. A large round tank. Just a smidge over six meters deep and nine in circumference. She played with the octopuses and they taught her things, clever things. Her skin had chromatophores just like the cephalopods. She could and when she was alone practiced blending into her environment. She could hide her heat signature. She could exhale a biochemical cloud that could blind not just eyes but sensors as well. They had built her for combat and stealth. She would not disappoint them. She sang and the mechanics of her tank and beyond were revealed. Fresh water was pumped in from the top and wastewater removed from the bottom. The system was far too small for her to escape from. The heavy metal hatch on the roof of the tank looked promising though.

She continued to sing and her voice if pitched exactly right would resonate with the thick glass walls of the tank. Those vibrations would return and if she pressed close to the glass, she could pick up faint echoes. Ariel could see outside her tank. He was there watching her. Ares was close and guarding her. But was it for her sake or the others? She would wait and see. She returned her attention to the interior of the tank and practiced with her octopi friends. For now, she would play along. For now, let them believe I am their captive she thought. She swam, she sang, and she waited.

Jason strode into his apartment like a conquering hero. The orders had rolled in and his future was set. Iris stood looking out over London.

"I failed her." She whispered. "I forgave her and she just up and left."

"Is that really surprising?" Jason replied as he stood behind her. "Opening night was a huge hit."

"Mags must be thrilled." She said without looking back. "You failed to mention that she was your cousin. Did you help her since she was family?"

"Absolutely. You of all people should understand that. I am so proud of you for forgiving your sister. I know it was not easy. Have you forgiven me yet?"

"No. She was sorry for what happened. You on the other hand parade around like a stunt cock and bragging to your friends that you fucked both of us." She snapped. "I love you. If you want forgiveness you need to earn it."

"Whatever got it into your head that I wanted your forgiveness?" Jason laughed. "Come to bed."

"I am not tired." She snapped.

"You came up in conversation tonight." He began watching her body language. "Are you ever going to tell me where you disappeared to for a full day?"

"No," she replied angered by his growing coldness towards her. "Did you ever find out where that watch came from?" She fired back.

"Not yet," he replied hiding his anxiety. His entire life had been controlled. Everything in its place giving him a sense of comfort and power. The watch defied reason. The old man that examined its inner workings found them in great condition. The watch had been meticulously maintained. A real pleasure seeing that level of craftsmanship he had declared. Gone for over seventy years and it returns to Jason in a near perfect state. She was talking again.

"Oh, I am going to the Bahamas. I have a modeling gig. Should have the details nailed down in a few days."

"Great, you need to keep busy." He replied. "You seemed happier when you were travelling."

"I will miss you." She said and felt the psychic chill when he failed to reply. He went to their bedroom alone and reemerged a few minutes dressed in clean clothes. Jason announced he was returning to the lab. She shot daggers at his back as the door hissed shut. "Bastard."

The doorbell rang twenty minutes later. She checked her HUD and was shocked that anyone would come calling after midnight. Was he back? Had Jason returned? She looked down at the translucent silk nightie she was wearing. Fuck it, she thought, let whoever it is get a thrill. She opened the door and greeted her visitor.

"Commissioner, what a surprise." She chuckled as Overlord displayed his identity via her HUD. The older man openly gawks at the display of her body. "Come in. Shall I fix coffee?" She asked practically feeling his gaze on her ass cheeks.

"That would be nice." He said his voice surprisingly cool and collective.

"Are you here to arrest my husband?" She asked as she prepared the coffeemaker and hit the power button.

"Now why would you ask that?" He replied.

"I have not done anything wrong. I assumed my sister is not involved in anything. Logic dictates this is about Jason." She stated her thoughts aloud and with clinical precision.

"No, this is about the report you filed." The Commissioner declared. "I know it has been a few weeks but... you did send an interesting set of facts to Scotland Yard."

"Oh, it has been so damn long, I mean, yes of course." She said as she poured two cups of black coffee and set them on the silver serving tray. The rest of the pot went into the carafe along with containers of sugar and creamer if he wanted it. She walked in and again his eyes were on her. "Here we go." She bent over revealing her naked cleavage before sitting next to him on the couch.

"I have dug deeper into the cases involving the woman you mentioned." He said as he plopped two sugar cubes and a dash of creamer into the porcelain cup. He stirred the contents and continued. "I have been working with the local authorities and all of those cases are open and ongoing. There is no statute of limitations for murder."

"Do you think she is involved?" She asked as her nipples poked against the sheer material of her lingerie.

"I do but I am alone in it. I believe she murdered Chief Inspector Pendergrass as well." He added.

"But."

"In all of the occasions an A.I. has vouched for her providing her with an ironclad alibi." He said but she could see that he had his doubts. "There was also a break in at Pendergrass' home on the night he fell. The A.I. protecting his home was compromised."

"No shit!" She cursed. "Let me put on a robe. You two need to talk." She rose and slipped into a sheer robe and heard the Commissioner gasp. "Oh, this old thing. One of Jason's female coworkers made it for me. Do you remember back in science class when we learned about polarized light? You had the two lenses and depending on which ones you used the light would or would not pass through them. It is the same principle. The nightie and robe are made of polarized silk and block out the light when they are brought together. Rather clever really."

She led him to the elevator and up to the penthouse. Instead of ringing the bell she knocked on the door. Bob's voice could be heard but not what he was saying. The door slid open and there was a leisurely clad Bob holding up two bottles of champagne. When he saw the Commissioner, his smile faded.

"Well fuck. Hmm. Two or three glasses?" Bob asked. The older man examined the labels, and the look of pleasant shock sculpted his distinguished features.

"Three. Though I really should not have more than a glass or three. I am on duty."

"What is so special about the champagne?" She asked.

"It is Europa's Triumph, the first and best vineyard cultivated on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons." Bob explained. "Nick stocks this place very well indeed. You saved me from drinking this by myself."

"Why?" The Commissioner asked.

"I failed. I fixed the glitch that allowed the thieves to break into Pendergrass' place." Bob said as he popped the first cork and poured. "Clever bastards... really. Here is to friends gone but not forgotten." He toasted and they touched glasses. Iris took a tentative sip to get the flavor and it was exquisite.

"So, since you have fixed it, how did they do it?" She asked.

"They used a second A.I. in proximity to Sherlock, Scotland Yard's overseer, and the other A.I. nudged Sherlock into diagnostic mode. The scary thing is that there is the potential for a rogue A.I. out there. Nick is recalling me home." Bob explained.

"Damn it all, we keep going back to an A.I. being involved." The Commissioner cursed.

"Excuse me." Bob said his drink forgotten. "Care to fill me in? Surfer."

"Right here boss man," Surfer said as she manifested. "Are you alright Commissioner?"

"Maybe." He replied as a small smile formed on his lips. "Here are the files Mrs. Inkpen-Rainwater sent to me." He gestured as he sent copies of the original data and all the work, he had added to it over the last few weeks.

Bob closed his eyes while Surfer seemed to slip away for a few seconds. Of course, they had entered the digital ether, a place where machine intelligence dwelt, and time here flowed differently than the real world. The two of them extracted the data and soon a cloud of information surrounded them. The Commissioner had done much of the work for them. His annotations connected the lines of logic and the conclusion was clear. Not only was there a rogue A.I. in existence but it had been lurking in the shadows for years of meat time. In terms of the digital it was the same as millennia of experience. Where had it come from? Who had managed to corrupt it? Some exterior influence had to be responsible for the corruption. He invited the Commissioner and Iris into this private digital space.

'Welcome to my brainstorming room.' Bob greeted them. 'How is your BMI working?'

'Great. It is like old times.' Iris replied.

'Old times?' The Commissioner asked.

'Before I married Jason I modeled for a living. I did not need to. My father is quite wealthy. Well, there was a contest of sorts back then. It was a charity event. I outbid the others to have a chance of meeting the best full dive gamer on the planet. Booker.' She explained.

'I remember a bit about that. Millions of pounds were raised for children's cancer I think.'

'Yep, and Iris here, her sister Ivy, and another woman, Qadira by name, joined me on one hell of an adventure.' Bob chuckled.

'Wait... you mean you are Booker.' The Commissioner exclaimed. 'Why the hell would Nick Shaw send you here?'

'I am his disruptive force and fulcrum.' Booker explained. 'When you want to shift a large stone with a pry bar how do you begin?'

'You drive the edge under the rock... oh god I get it now. You are the crowbar. He sends you in and you apply that initial driving force. Brilliant.' He laughed.

'I arrived in a top hat, a walking stick, and a tuxedo jacket with tails. I love playing the dandy. It puts people off. Then Surfer manifests at the right moment and boom the pressure is applied.'

'Hold on, I remember that session. My son watched and rewatched it a dozen times. There were only two women, Darth Talon and a masked Sith. You mentioned three women. How does that work?' The Commissioner asked.

'My sister Ivy and I shared Winter Chorubinth with our custom BMI's. They share the workload and allow us to access the other without using a separate signal. They are quantum locked and linked. We rode the signal together and took turns controlling the character.' Iris explained. 'Ivy came up with the name while I designed the mask and robes.' She said smiling.

'What?' Booker asked knowing she was bursting to share something.

'The name is an anagram of our favorite anime character.' Iris beamed. 'Witch Hunter Robin a pyromancer.' Booker grinned and congratulated her on slipping it past him.

The four of them went through ever bit and byte of data and the theory of the Rogue A.I. only solidified. The potential damage that it could do was enormous and yet it had chosen to protect one woman and possibly one man, Omaha and Jason Rainwater. The odd thing is that records indicate that Jason had never set foot in the United States. The closest living relative for Omaha was an uncle in jail for manufacturing and distribution of narcotics. In the case of Jason his parents lived in the village of Ravenglass and had little interaction with their only child.

'What about Mags?' Iris asked. 'With Nick's help Jason's life work became legal here and she got a new generation of dancers. They are cousins, right?'

'Yes. She was gravely ill four years back and went for experimental treatment for a brain tumor. She survived the treatment and fell off the grid for a while, presumably to recuperate. Her next appearance is running a brothel and then later as the owner of the Zoo and its male strippers. I can find no gate record of her travelling back here. She could have come by boat. They are less regulated, and she could have used a false name. Theoretically.' Surfer surmised.

'Is there any connection between Omaha and Mags?' Booker asked letting Surfer retrieve the information as an insidious idea formed in his mind.

'How did you know?' Surfer laughed. 'I swear you scare me sometimes. The same week that Mags was hospitalized for her cancer treatment the woman that would be known as Omaha was brought in from a nearly fatal drug overdose. They both recovered and went their separate ways.'

'So?' The Commissioner asked not seeing a connection.

'He is not proud of it, but Nick developed a way of mapping and copying the entirety of the human brain.' Bob said watching the other's reaction as the truth settled in. 'The technology once existed for him to clone someone, say a very wealthy client, and transfer a copy of their consciousness into a new young body. Before you ask, yes, it is possible to wipe out an existing personality and transplant an alien mind into their body. He never did such a thing, but it is possible that someone else did.'

'I knew it!' A new voice raged. 'She killed Pendergrass.'

'Who the hell is that?' The Commissioner asked as a shadowy form took shape. 'A mermaid... wait... are you Ariel?'

'That is my stage name,' she said as she swam through the digital ether.

'Ivy?' Booker called out as Iris began weeping. 'What is going on?'

'It is me Booker,' Ariel cooed as she embraced him and gingerly wrapped her tail around his legs. 'Iris.' He glared at Ivy as she tried and failed to explain.

'She injected me to save herself,' Iris blurted out the truth. 'That bitch Omaha visited the apartment two times. The first time was the day Ivy was injected with Project Oberon. The second time was a few days later. On that day they gave her the injector with Ariel in it.'

'I owed them so much money.' Ivy wailed. 'Iris refused to help me. Dad refused, he was tired of me being a constant drain and bother. I panicked when she handed me the injector. Then sis walked into the room and god help me...'

'I was the better choice.' Iris said looking deep into Booker's eyes. 'I have always been stronger emotionally. I have an escape plan.'

'If you don't escape?' Booker asked but she kissed him into silence.

'Where are you. I will bring in...' The Commissioner offered but she interrupted him.

'No. They will stop you, perhaps even kill you.' Iris stated her face a mask of fear.

'I am not afraid of Omaha.' He fired back.

'No, you don't get it. It isn't Omaha you need to fear it is...' but she never finished her warning. An electronic pulse severed the binding connection and hurtled them back into the real world. Surfer recovered first and made sure the others were not physically harmed from the backwash of the cyber-attack. Ivy was up and on her feet. She began with the Commissioner and her fingers probed his neck and pressed against spots which sent soothing sensations through the older man.

"You will be fine." She stated with complete confidence. "Now, let see about you." She examined Booker and a few pressure points later he was clear headed and thinking.

Booker took the attack as a challenge. The rogue A.I. had messed with the wrong man he thought. He gestured and every ounce of information they possessed was made manifest in the form of holographic windows. His anger blended with the rush of a battle and he went on the offense.

"Did we leave anything out?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think." The Commissioner spoke up and continued. "Pendergrass' death is officially ruled an accident for now. Well, this is where things get odd. He has no surviving relatives, so I held onto his personal belongings from the office. I had one of those dark times of the soul and went through everything he left behind."

"You found something," Ivy giddily said.

"I did. In my infuriation I read through all his personal case notes. One of them was begun eighteen months ago and the last entry was the night he died." He replied.

"Um, not being a cop... police officer, is that typical?" Booker asked.

"No. Michael did not trust A.I.'s. He was paranoid about data being altered or disappearing. He began doing it when Sherlock came online." The Commissioner explained. "There were the occasional blips that reinforced this practice. The notebook I found was filled with everything Mags had done since she left London and her return. He suspected a connection between Omaha and Mags but did not know what it was. The last entry was startling, and I did not know what to make of it. He said he discovered how Sherlock had been manipulated. He found a device when he was searching the Zoo. There were two of them. One was logged in and it has since disappeared. The other he hid in his basement."

"If that is the case, the guys that broke in or surely either the drones or CSI would have found it." Booker said and the older man shook his head. "Why?"

"It was sitting out in plain sight and no one took any notice of it." He said with a smile. "He took the device, put it inside a piece of antique lead piping, and smashed shut either side with a hammer. He left a warning not to open it outside a Faraday cage."

"Brilliant, fucking brilliant!" Booker cursed and laughed. "The lead must have been enough to keep the damn thing from sending out a GPS signal. They tracked it to his house but whoever broke in did not find it either."

"I Googled a Faraday cage and watched six videos about it. You think it will keep it from calling out?" The Commissioner asked.

"Sure, it will but the hard part is this. If the device has a clone in it, none of us can enter the cage and open the pipe." Booker thought out loud. "A clone is when an A.I. copies itself into a data crystal. The device allows it to transmit, control, and recharge. We all have BMI's and once that pipe is opened, we could be susceptible to an attack like the one we just experienced or worse."

"So, we need to find a Faraday cage and someone that has not had a BMI installed." Ivy said and looked at Surfer. "Any suggestions?"

"Oxford University has a cage it uses for teaching purposes. I am scanning employees that are listed as unconnected. I have several hits. Shall I send a request to the dean of the university?" Surfer asked.

"Yeah." Booker said. "Where is the pipe?"

"In the boot of my car." The Commissioner said. "It was a bitch getting it in there I can tell you."