The Passenger Ch. 06

"Therrre doesn't seem to be much of a differrrence," Raz remarked.

"There's a lot of difference," Layne said. "It's all about choices. Good people can choose to do bad things for a variety of reasons. Fear, anger, pride, pain... You name it. But for bad people there's no choice at all. They simply will do bad things, and choice never comes into it."

"And Pete?" I asked.

"Pete has been afraid most of his life," Layne said. "Afraid of poverty, afraid of failure, afraid of other people, but mostly afraid of his superiors at Vergence Sigma. He's easily intimidated, and this Brax guy really got to him. Pete knew that Vergence was working on some shady things, but the pay was extremely good, so he decided not to ask too many questions. But as soon he knew too much, Brax made it clear to him that quitting the job was simply not an option. Some of his colleagues tried, and they all died suddenly in unexplained workplace accidents."

"I can't say I'm surprised," I said. "Or that I feel any sympathy for him."

He nodded.

"I can understand that. Given what Vergence was into. Given what Pete did to Anne."

Anne gave him a long look.

"So?" was all she asked.

"So now I know exactly who and what you are, how do I feel about it, you mean?"

She nodded.

Layne paused for a moment, staring at the bulkhead. I wondered what he was really seeing.

"I've been around," he said finally. "I've seen a few things that officially don't exist. Military stuff, mostly. Clones, droids, AIs, you name it. And from what I have seen, the operative part of AI is the "I". Intelligence. Self-awareness. The "A" may be part of your origins, Anne, but it's a big galaxy, and there are many different species out there. Some reproduce in the weirdest kinds of ways. But nobody questions whether they're alive or not."

The look he gave her was very direct.

"So this is not about where you came from, Anne. Never believe for one moment that it is. This is about who you are; right here, right now. You're self-aware, you're an independent, autonomous, sentient being. You alive. So do what comes natural to all sentient beings: live your life, on your own terms. You have our own values, your own morals, your own way of doing things. Don't second-guess yourself. Choose who you want to be and decide to be that person. Life needs no excuses and no apologies."

Anne gave him a rueful smile.

"That's more or less what Harvey has been saying."

"Good," Layne said. "Maybe you should listen to him. The man is making sense."

"That's rrrarrre enough," Raz muttered.

"Thanks, Raz," I said dryly. "I love you too."

He smiled his good smile.

"That doesn't mean we've now solved all our problems," Layne interrupted. "Especially when it comes to how we're going to keep Anne and Harvey out of trouble. AI is proscribed technology on most developed worlds and her AI components can be detected. If that happens, it'll ruin everyone's day. So I asked Pete what our options are. As it turns out, there is one, although it is a bit of a compromise."

He looked at Anne, hesitated.

"I'm afraid the nature of that compromise is of a rather personal nature, Anne," he then went on. "I'm not trying to be offensive or anything. You may prefer to discuss it in private."

Anne smiled and shook her head.

"I don't have any secrets from Harvey," she said. "And Raz is the closest thing to a brother we have, and we both trust him with our lives. And you already know pretty much everything there is to know about me. So go right ahead, Layne. But thank you."

"Alright, then," Layne went on. "In a nutshell, droid detection is based on two things: electromagnetic signatures and biochemical signatures. The electromagnetic part is based on the EM field that the nervous systems of all organic beings produce. Your brain is not organic, but it should have excellent shielding. It must have, because otherwise it would be too sensitive to external EM fields. So the non-organic EM signature of your brain is not the problem here; it's rather the absence of an organic neurological field signature. The organic components of your body, on the other hand, generate a normal, biological EM field that is close enough to human. With luck it will be just fall into the range of natural variation."

"I hate having to rely on luck," I said.

"So do I," Layne agreed. "But unless we can find a way to give Anne a more active nervous system, there's not much else we can do. Which is where the other part of detection comes in: her biochemical signature. Fully organic beings continuously give off minute traces of the biochemicals that their metabolism is based on. That we can manipulate to a certain extent, and the combination of electrical and chemical emissions may but be enough. Which is where it gets more personal, given Anne's rather unique origins."

I was beginning to like Layne more and more. I believed I could see where he was going with this, and I really appreciated the delicate way in which he handled the subject, not to mention his respect for her feelings.

"Is the organic part of Anne's biochemistry close enough to that of a fully organic human body to avoid setting off any alarms?" I asked.

Layne nodded.

"According to Pete, yes. But unfortunately that alone doesn't help us enough. Because Anne's digestive system is partially inorganic, it does produce inorganic chemical cues that can be detected. And we can't change that. So the only thing we can do is mask them."

"Mask it how?" Anne asked.

Layne looked at her and took a deep breath.

"We use pheromones, Anne. We flood the detectors with your pheromones to the point where they can't register the inorganic chemical cues. Your body has the capacity to produce human pheromones in copious amounts. And given the... nature of the pheromones given off by your endocrine system, they should also serve to seriously distract any human males who operate the detection systems."

"Because I'm a sex droid," Anne said calmly.

"Because parts of your body used to be part of a sex droid," Layne corrected her.

"Pheromones?" I said to myself, said I. "Pheromones. Oh ho. So maybe..."

Myself nodded sagely. "That's probably what you have been responding to all this time," he said. "We both knew you've never had that much stamina in bed. Until now."

"Well... Is that really such a bad thing?" I asked myself

Myself shrugged. "Only if you have a problem with it," he said.

I though for a moment.

"I don't think I do. Pheromones control lust, not love. And my love for Anne is real. So I don't think there's any problem."

"Then be happy and don't worry about it," he said. "You worry too much, Harvey. Maybe it's time you changed that."

"According to Pete, there are two ways to manipulate your pheromone production," Layne was saying while I had this little exchange with myself. "One is to through your basic response routines. In a fully organic human that would involve mental conditioning and probably hypnosis. Unfortunately in your case it would require the kind of very specialized workshop that we simply don't have. The other way is the organic approach." He glanced at Raz. "Which means that we'll probably have to use an aphrodisiac or a similar compound."

"An aphrrrodisiac?" Raz asked innocently.

"Yes, Raz," Layne said, giving him a hard stare. "An aphrodisiac. A powerful aphrodisiac. In fact, to be specific, an aphrodisiac powerful enough to be effective even on a species with a seven year seasonal mating cycle."

Raz grunted, then softly rumbled something in in his own language. It didn't really need much translation.

"So you've worrrked it out. How?"

Layne smiled thinly.

"You know my background, old friend, and you know that my methods are a trade secret. As far as my reasons go, call it professional curiosity. Secrets make me feel unsafe. Unless I'm the one keeping them, of course."

"Of courrrse. And arrre you planning on keeping this one?"

"Absolutely, Raz. I my have this compulsion to know everything that's going on in the neighborhood, but I have a measure of professional discretion as well. I keep many secrets. One more won't make much difference. And I don't charge a storage fee, if that's what you're concerned about."

The look he gave Raz was slightly reproachful.

"You could have told me, you know."

"Rrrr. What would have been the fun in that? Besides, I was concerrrned that it might incrrrease the prrrice."

Layne shrugged.

"Fair enough. I wouldn't have done that to you even if I'd known from the start, but I can understand your concerns."

"The question is, will this weird and wonderful weed of yours work on a human physiology?" I asked Raz.

"Not rrright away, I would think. Orrr have you noticed any effect while you werrre handling the carrrgo, Anne?"

"Like a sudden burning need to get into your shorts?" Anne chuckled. 'No, Raz, I can't say that I have."

I managed not to smile.

"Alright then. Let's see if we can make this work," Layne said. "I've had a good look at the stuff over the past two years already, and there are quite a few compounds in there that look like they might be analogs to human biochemical cues. The biochemistry of Gawrrans is not that much different from humans, and the organic part of Anne's body is, to all intents and purposes, based on a human physiology. Maybe a simple isomer or a carrier molecule will do the trick."

"You have a backgrrround in these matterrrs?" Raz enquired politely.

Layne nodded, and for a brief moment there was a haunted look in his eyes. Then he had himself under control again. Not for the first time I wandered who he really was, and not for the first time I was sure I'd never find out.

"Yes, some," he said. "I have been exposed to the effects of certain weaponized biologicals over the years. I'm not an expert but I do know my way around basic biochemistry."

"Then, prrresumably, you also apprrreciate the need for prrroperrr containment prrrotocols," Raz rumbled. "Do not let it escape yourrr contrrrol. I speak frrrom experrrience."

"I hope it was a good experience, Raz," Anne said.

Raz smiled his good smile.

"I choose to rrrefrrrain frrrom comment."

"Probably for the best," Anne chuckled.

"And how would we use this to avoid detection?" I asked, trying to get us back on track.

"We will have to devise an effective compound which Anne would then take whenever the non-organic part of her makeup is at risk of being detected by security scans," Layne said. "There would, of course, be certain... side effects."

"It would make me horny as all hell, you mean?" Anne asked delicately.

"Probably. But, more to the point, it would work on every male close enough to inhale the pheromones you will produce at such times," Layne pointed out, glancing at me. "Both of you will be easily distracted, and you'll have to keep that under control and stay focused. On the upside, though, most security personnel tends to be male, and they won't be aware that they're being exposed to massive amounts of your pheromones. To put it bluntly, they'll start thinking with their balls rather than with their brains, but they won't realize what's going on. Unless they are extremely well trained and extremely well disciplined, their vigilance will be seriously impaired."

"And if they arrre female?" Raz asked.

Layne shrugged.

"Then I'm not exactly sure what will happen. In a mixed team, the males' reaction to Anne's presence may annoy their female colleagues, which will act as a diversion to at least some extent. In an all-female security team might could induce some sort of competitive behavior, I suppose. Or there could be little effect. It's not a perfect solution to all our problems, I know. But I'm afraid it's the best I can come up with at this time."

"Alright," I said. "So where do we go from here?"

"To Gawrr, I would imagine," Layne replied. "I will give Raz the details of what I've got so far. I assume you has access to a good biolab to process this latest batch of botanicals into a marketable product, Raz?"

"That's rrright."

"Good. We'll need one, but the data I got from Pete should be enough to give the Gawrran lab techs a running start. And who knows, Raz. This might open up an entirely new market for us."

"Rrrr?"

Layne shrugged.

"Manaka is the only place where your crop will grow, after all," he said. "It's the rather unique combination of soil, microbes and sunlight spectrum that does the trick. Impossible to synthesize elsewhere, but easy to cultivate here. On a larger scale than ourcurrent one if necessary. So market expansion will benefit both of us."

"Us. Therrre's that worrrd again."

"Well," Layne said blandly, "If you're going to expand, you'll need someone who knows how to engage new markets. Like a sales manager. Or, dare I say it, a business partner."

Raz smiled his good smile.

"Before you two robber barons plunge the entire galaxy into an orgy of fornication..." I began.

"Worse things could happen," Anne quipped.

"Clearly you've never been on Tongash during the annual fertility rites," Layne said dryly.

"No, I can't say that I have," Anne replied with a twinkle in her eyes. "But feel free to tell me all about it sometime."

"Later," I said. "First there's the question of hyperspace jump calculations. Layne, what sort of ground-side computing facilities does Manaka have?"

"If the traffic control computer was any older, it would have come with a hand crank," he said dryly. "We've been keeping it going, after a fashion, but the best it's capable of calculating is a short hop to C'thaun. That's the next system over. It's so close you practically could walk there, so all ships leaving Manaka go via C'thaun and have their next jump calculated there. It's also where I would station an observer, if I were Vergence. Just in case."

"Hm. We're pretty much stuck, then," Anne said.

Layne smiled and shook his head.

"Not exactly," he said. "The starfighter is a military vessel."

"Which means the onboard computer is capable of jump calculations", I finished his thought.

"And fast, too," Layne said. "I'm so going to hate having to get rid of that ship."

"Can't you salvage the computer?" Anne asked.

Layne shook his head.

"It's military, so it's also riddled with fail-safes, security lock-outs and booby traps. It's going to take ages to get around all that. No, I'm afraid it'll have to go. Damn shame, though. Such a sweet little ship."

"And what about Pete?" I asked.

"Am I going to let him out of it before I set the autopilot to fly it into the sun? Yes. Although he doesn't know that yet. It's one of the things he and I discussed while we retrieved the surveillance buoy. I imagine he understands his position by now. As long as I can convince him that his life depends on his usefulness to me, it will be in his best interest to make himself very useful. And after a few weeks of shoveling manure you won't be able to tell him apart from the rest of us local yokels."

"Good," Raz rumbled. "That leaves only one otherrr matterrr."

"How to deal with Deke Ryder, you mean?" I said.

He smiled is bad smile.

"Yes. Orrr rrratherrr, what to do with his hide once I strrrip it off him while he is still alive."

"Your cargo broker?" Layne asked me. "You mentioned him before. I gather he's your main liability at the moment."

"You could say that," I agreed.

"Well then," Layne said, his eyes lighting up. "I believe that calls for an extraction and neutralization operation. I just might be able to make some suggestions there. Why don't we see what we can come up with?"