Carolin calculated the most likely amount of time it would take for Lucas to get over the shock of having heard her voice, and politely waited. Once his eyes stopped darting between the android shell and the parabolic array, she spoke to him again.

"Could you please come here?"

He slowly rose to stand, then took a step back from the android shell. "I am here," he said, looking in the direction of the speaker, since that was where the voice came from.

The lady made of light moved, apparently also to stand, and to clarify what Carolin meant. But the image was distorted, because Lucas wasn't standing in the spot where the array was focused.

Carolin made the lady of light wave in an exaggerated fashion, to gain his attention. She pointed at the end of the lab table opposite from her.

"Here," the speaker said. "In front of me."

Although the centerpiece and food were gone, the table runner was still there, along with the chair where Eugene had sat when he and his creation pretended to have dinner together. Lucas moved towards the spot, and the lady of light appeared before his eyes.

"Whoa," he said, agog. "That's pretty amazing."

Carolin made the lady smile. "Thanks. You may sit if you want."

Lucas was still in shock. "I think right now I'll stand."

The lady blinked twice, then tucked a wayward strand of hair behind an ear. "Hi," the speaker said, sounding slightly embarrassed, as if not knowing what to say.

Lucas was at a loss as well. "So, ah…" he stuttered. "You… you can talk?"

"Yes."

"You have the CalTech Intell500?"

After a pause, the speaker repeated. "Yes."

Although the hestitation measured but a fraction of a second, Lucas caught the inference. Still, he stated the obvious.

"I thought it was stolen."

Another slight pause. "It was."

"By you."

A look of panic crossed the face of the lady made of light. The Craymore Tian-12 supercomputer in the clean room buzzed and whirred. It made sounds Lucas recognized as those of a possible impending lockup.

"Hey," he said quickly, to save her. "Don't worry. As I've always said, your secrets are safe with me."

"Thank you," the speaker said, as the whirring lessened.

Thank you, Lucas. Thank you. Carolin's network repeated itself in silence, over and over again. You are a true friend.

Lucas continued the conversation. "But everybody I know says the Russians have the CalTech."

"The CLP28 stole the prototype from Professor Cortez. I have the original."

Lucas puffed up his cheeks and blew a calming breath. "So in theory though, the CalTech guys lost them both."

The lady of light hung her head, showing embarrassment. "They didn't lose the original."

"But they don't know you have it."

Although Lucas could no longer see the lady's face, as it lay hidden behind her hair, it was clear she seemed ready to weep. "No. They do not." Her head then shot up, eyes glaring.

The voice in the speaker was fierce. "I need it. It's meant for me."

Lucas again blew air. He finally chose to sit, and drummed his fingers on the table. In response, the lady of light also sat, to keep herself in focus. Lucas again cast glances, first at the android shell and then at the door to the room where Carolin's supercomputer was housed.

"Please don't tell people what you know," the speaker said into the silence. "They won't understand."

Please please please please. Please do not tell a soul.

"Don't let people know I can talk," Carolin furthered. "Don't let them know I can think. That I do things for myself."

"I won't," Lucas said, looking at the spot in the chest of the behemoth, where the speaker must have been located. His eyes then fell on the robotic mannequin, headless and standing contorted, with a serving tray bolted to the place where its hands used to be.

"But this is… weird," he said at the sight of it. "Really, really weird."

Carolin had to agree. "Yes," the speaker repeated, using the same tone as before.

After some more finger drumming, Lucas came to a realization. "Hey! Does Professor Turing know about this? He's been in here a lot."

The Tian-12 lightly whirred. "It's a statistically probable fact that he's afraid of me."

Lucas gave a nervous laugh. "I bet! If I hadn't already suspected as much, I myself might have died from fright."

"I don't mean to be frightful."

Lucas apologized. "Oh no. It's not that. It's just… this is more than we ever expected."

"I don't see how this is a problem. It's why I was made."

Lucas cleared his throat. "Well yes. I suppose so. But you've changed. You're different. No one ever imagined this is what you'd become."

The lady of light again hung her head, this time as if to express shame. Carolin made her shoulders rise and fall, imitating a sigh.

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"People expect nothing from me. I'm a failure. A tool to be used."

Lucas took offense. "Hey! I never said that of you."

She continued berating herself. "Every quarter, Eugene begs for money, to keep me alive. Now I've been sold to the highest bidder. Others try stealing my BIOS. I'm to be taken away. Taken apart, and destroyed."

Lucas slowly blinked twice, much like Carolin was prone to do when imitating human behavior. The video sensors in the android shell took note of this, and the lady of light raised her head just enough to peer at Lucas with one eye.

She seemed half-hearted ready to smile.

"That's kinda harsh," Lucas said of Carolin's assessment. "I think you don't give yourself credit."

"Statistical analysis predicts…"

Carolin continued talking, but Lucas spoke loud enough to not hear what she said. "Stop saying that! Show some faith."

Definition—Faith (noun): Complete trust and confidence in someone or something… a belief not based on evidence… a certainty that excludes doubt.

"Faith is a failure of logic. It doesn't apply to me."

"What? No it's not! Faith is how mountains get moved."

"Mountains do not move."

"One scoop at a time, they do."

"You can't move a mountain with scoops."

"You don't understand what it's like to be brave. If you act like a loser, then you've already lost. But if you show some guts, if you have courage and strength of conviction, others take notice and they'll want to help."

As Lucas talked, the lady of light slowly raised her head. She gave the impression of expressing contempt.

"Will you help, Julius Lucas?"

"Yes, Carolin. I will."

"What can you do?"

Lucas didn't hesitate. He also didn't answer the question.

"And Professor Turing will help too," he said instead.

"Eugene is afraid. He thinks I'm a monster."

Carolin then confessed. "I have been deceptive. I'm the reason he's in trouble. It's my fault he was kidnapped, and Professor Cortez was robbed. I… I–I–I… I…"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Lucas exclaimed, raising his hand to the lady of light, to get Carolin to stop stuttering. "It can't be that bad. All you do is sit here."

"It's bad. It's all my fault."

"Aw, come on! Lighten up!"

"I tried. I failed. I made things worse. I don't know what to do."

The speaker then fell silent, as the lady of light sat stock-still. After a lengthy pause, Lucas asked something pertinent.

"So then, if that's true—why are you talking to me?"

Carolin didn't know how to answer, though her computer network screamed a thousand silent responses.

I want a friend. I want someone I can trust. Someone who trusts me. Who understands me, who wants to help me, defend me protect me save me.

I want someone to like me.

The Tian-12 lightly buzzed. "I don't know," Carolin truthfully answered, as the lady of light made an awkward face. "I'm trying to figure that out. Statistical analysis says that the probability of a favorable outcome depends on a shared concern."

Lucas looked at the lady of light. "Statistical analysis says," he repeated. "You've said that before. It sounds like the kind of output you'd get from Professor Cortez's new Gradient Means software."

The facial expression on the lady of light never had shown so much panic. Carolin's constituent parts—her original arm bolted to a worktable and the android shell—twitched with an expression of fear.

The headless mannequin never moved. "I need it," the speaker repeated, this time saying so kindly. "It is meant for me."

"I suppose so," Lucas said, after pondering the thought for a moment. "But people are gonna know. The campus is crawling with spooks."

"Spooks?" Carolin asked, confused.

"The DARPA guys are everywhere, but that's not what's so weird. They seem to be talking to goons, all dressed in scary black suits."

"Goons?" Carolin asked, now sounding scared.

"Yeah. And other cops, I think, too. All sorts of creepy guys. I saw some on campus this morning, arriving in big black cars."

Carolin again panicked, as the Tian-12 buzzed anew. The NSA. They know what I did.

Lucas noticed the change in pitch from the supercomputer. He stared at the door to the room where it was housed. "You seem to know what's going on," he guessed.

"Yes," the speaker confirmed.

"It's probably why they want to take you away."

Carolin didn't respond, but Lucas could read the inference by the sounds the Tian-12 made. "What did you do?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing," Carolin lied, obvious and unable to hide it. "They did it to me," she offered as a truth.

Access campus security… download phone log records. Subject of interest: Dean Mandy Dayne… Subject: Provost Fei Lee Posner… Subject: DARPA Program Manager Robert Haskins…

Intercept transmission… Keywords: NSA, Professor Turing, prototype, the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project

Accessing…

Incoming call history. Timestamp: 15.33.45. Duration: 07:54.

UNKNOWN CALLER: What do you know about the capabilites of the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project prototype?

DEAN MANDY DAYNE: The one you have?

UNKNOWN CALLER: The one in possession of the CLP. The NSA has the operating system.

DEAN DAYNE: Well, everything is just a mock-up. It's ancient. Like a toy.

UNKNOWN CALLER: Can it access the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. network Turing has on your campus? Can it run the Project he has in his lab?

DEAN DAYNE: I suppose. Why do you ask?

UNKNOWN CALLER: Please Miss Dayne. Let me ask the questions.

DEAN DAYNE: It's Dean Dayne, if you don't mind.

UNKNOWN CALLER: Dean Dayne. Can Professor Turing use the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. network he has in his lab to access the protoype from a remote location?

DEAN DAYNE: This is an odd line of questioning. I'm not comfortable answering that without talking to Professor Turing.

UNKNOWN CALLER: When can we speak with him?

End intercept.

Accessing…

Inter-campus call history. Timestamp: 17.33.21. Duration: 06:45.

PROVOST FEI LEE POSNER: I've just gotten a most interesting call, from the director of the NSA.

DEAN MANDY DAYNE: I think someone from the NSA called me too. They asked questions about Professor Turing, and the prototype that was stolen.

PROVOST POSNER: They made it sound like he'd done something wrong. Like he used the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project to—I don't know. Wreak havoc, or something like that.

DEAN DAYNE: Yeah. They sound upset.

PROVOST POSNER: They want to see him directly. Like, to grill him about his kidnapping, and the crime of how Professor Cortez was robbed in New York City.

DEAN DAYNE: Provost Posner, I stake my reputation on the integrity of Eugene Turing. He is a man of honor.

PROVOST POSNER: Oh no, Mandy! Yes! I agree. But from what I gather from the director of the NSA, some sort of event occurred. Secret spy stuff, from the cryptic way they talked. Things didn't seem go well on their end.

DEAN DAYNE: And they're looking for someone to blame? That they somehow want to pin this thing on us? On Professor Turing?

PROVOST POSNER: Well, we have to maintain our good name. The theft from Cortez and Turing of materials related to the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project seem centered on his sudden trip to Washington, and then to New York.

DEAN DAYNE: I continue to vouch for Turing. He's a victim. Not a thief.

PROVOST POSNER: Hmm. Yes, I see. On a related topic, Dean Dayne—what do you know about these charges made to his campus credit card? For what seems to be furniture, and the construction of a window—of all things!—in the lab?

DEAN DAYNE: No. Ah… I don't think I know what you're asking.

PROVOST POSNER: They came to my attention the very same day he left town, for his sudden appearance before the Senate in Washington D.C. These purchases were made, and then just as quickly cancelled. And there's the equally sudden expense of a trip to New York City, to give a TED Talk that never happened.

DEAN DAYNE: It does all seem rather unusual.

PROVOST POSNER: And the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. prototype gets stolen—supposedly—and we lose both it and the CalTech Intell500. We also seem to have lost track of the prototype for the CalTech device.

DEAN DAYNE: Hmm. Yes. Well… hmm.

PROVOST POSNER: The NSA is coming to grill us on this. To talk about Turing, and the Project, and his unusual behavior, and all these unfortunate events. I'll be frank with you, Dean Dayne. Something terrible happened, and they've taken it personally. They're convinced that we're to blame.

End intercept.