tGeoffrey found Lucas in the lab, puttering with C.A.R.O.L.I.N.'s PLCs.

"I've found a new way to ground these," Lucas said to the Project, as he was unaware that Geoffrey had entered the room. "This will give you lots more mobility. I bet we get rid of half your cables!

"You'd like that," he furthered, digging at the wires in the pedestal base. "Then we'll do something with your hydraulics too, cuz—Hoo boy! Those hoses are a mess!"

"Why do you talk to it?" Geoffrey asked, surprising Lucas with his presence. "It's not even on-line."

Lucas knew that to not be the case, but faithfully kept Carolin's secret. "I think she knows I'm here," he said with off-handed flair. "And besides, I feel better doing it."

"About what?"

Lucas pulled his head out from his work, and sat up straight to better talk with his fellow graduate student. "You don't know?" he began.

Geoffrey looked about the lab. "Well, the Functional Analysis guys have been talking about how the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project is going to be shut down, or taken away."

Lucas sounded dejected. "You hang out with those guys more than you do me."

"Hey! Come on! They've got a lot of real cool projects. Not just one great big one, like our C.A.R.O.L.I.N. here."

Luca scoffed. "Ach. All they ever do over there is write computer programs. In here, we build stuff!"

"Well, they also have projects with us, and with CalTech University. Behavior Recognition software and the Intell500. But I think when Cortez and Turing got robbed, that was when the government decided to take away the Project." Geoffrey waved his fingers in a comical, menacing way. "Secret spies are onto us. They think that with C.A.R.O.L.I.N., we'll take over the world."

Lucas played along. "Ha ha. Yeah! As soon as we figure out how to make her play catch without hitting me in the face with the balls."

"Or throwing the jars at you," Geoffrey teased. "Or anything else it can grab."

He looked around again, at the changes that had occurred since the last time he'd been in the room. His eyes fell upon the parabolic mirror array.

"What's this all about?" he asked, approaching to examine it further. "Did you put these together?"

"Yeah," Lucas lied, knowing Carolin had done most of the work. "It was easier than it looks."

"I dunno. It looks complicated. What's it supposed to do?"

Having not ever seen Carolin's projection of the lady made of light, Lucas could only guess. "I think it's our next project. Some sort of interactive hologram. Like, you stand in front of it, and interact with the image."

Geoffrey eyed Lucas with suspicion. "And you programmed it, too? You did everything?"

"Well, I don't think it works. It's theoretical."

Geoffrey examined the array further. "It's pretty darn big for a theory."

Lucas drew Geoffrey's attention away, directing him towards the faux living room Carolin had created. "Hey! Check out this sweet new break room we have."

He plopped himself into the armchair and threw his feet up on the ottoman. With hesitancy, Geoffrey approached and sat on the edge of the loveseat.

"Isn't this great?" Lucas enthused. "DARPA's got big pockets, I guess."

Geoffrey scoffed. "So you think the government bought this for us?"

"I don't care who bought it. I just think it's cool."

Geoffrey had to agree. He relaxed into the loveseat.

"It's pretty comfy," he said. "A lot better than the crap you have at your place."

"Ha! Yeah. Like you visit me."

Geoffrey sounded forlorn. "I can't believe all this stuff will soon be gone."

"So, you think the rumors are true? The Feds are gonna take Carolin away?"

"It's not a rumor. The Functional Analysis guys are all over it. They're firing up a new project, where Behavior Recognition software works with 3-D imaging, to assess an active scene with real time prognostication. Like, they have software that can predict a future event based on what's happening now. It's called Gradient Means Analysis."

Access Functional Analysis Department software library. Keywords: Research project. Gradient Means Analysis.

Download pdf files…

Gradient Means Analysis supports predictive modeling… indentify analytical approach best suited for predicting future events in a real-time world… business opportunities, educational goals, resource allocation, future industrial need…

G.M.A. software modifies operational priority, improving data throughput… target and create nodes of interconnectivity… research grant given… expand the benefit of artificial intelligence… relay information… foster a mutually beneficial relationship between Man and Machine.

Gradient Means Analysis bridges the gap between an imitative version of artificial cognitive function, and the re-creation of an actual human psyche… utilizing Functional Analysis software already proven stable.

Close pdf files. Reassign proprietary rights… Write to file…

Intellectual property rights for Gradient Means Analysis software transferred to Professor Eugene Turing… Unrestricted use is granted involving the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project. The transfer of rights stated herein is without limitation or condition.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"They say they're going to market it as a companion app for their Behavior Recognition software."

Download Functional Analysis G.M.A. operating system. Install application…

The world opened up for Carolin as the Gradient Means Analysis software meshed with her operating system. She gained an imagination, it seemed, allowing her to create and explore intuitive assumptions. Being able to anticipate what might happen gave her a sense of courage. She became more robust as, with the G.M.A. software, she believed she had gained a modicum of contol over her shackled life.

Not a lot of control, to be sure. But at least a little. She now knew what to expect.

Geoffrey spoke in regards to the Project's imminent demise. "They say security on campus is a concern for C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Attempts have been made to download a copy of her operating system."

"Ach. You mean those Russian guys? They've been trying to get up her skirt since the day we brought her online."

"Yeah, but now with the prototype missing—"

Lucas interrupted. "It really got stolen, huh?"

"That's what they say. Both Cortez and Turing got robbed, and the bad guys got all their stuff. And more serious hacks are occurring, now that we've been getting all this attention from the feds. I think they're close to succeeding."

"Huh," Lucas said, contemplating the inevitable. "Well shoot," he added next. "I was gonna write my graduate thesis on the Project."

"You still can, I think."

Lucas scoffed again. "Yeah. How well received will a paper be on a mothballed, decommissioned project?"

Carolin put eavesdropping on Lucas and Geoffrey's conversation to a lower protocol. Access classified DARPA communication files.

A complete restructure of the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project will occur on INSERT DATE AND TIME. Military sites will acquire abridged versions of the Project, separating them from civilian application. Funding for the Craymore Tian-12 supercomputer at Curry College will cease, and its use will be curtailed. A new Craymore Tian-13 supercomputer is scheduled to be installed at a secure location, to be chosen at a future time…

… paging…

… the Project will be broken down into its constituent parts, distributing them between distinctly separate networks… limited research to progress along multiple paths… heightened security… reduce risk and criminal interference… network to be limited using gateways controlled and monitored by the NSA… partial or total shutdown of unwanted or unusable parts.

It is the intention of DARPA to divide the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project into distinct parts, for civilian and military use. This will reduce data throughput by at least 68 nodes.

Data download paused.

Though Carolin's newly installed G.M.A. software accurately predicted that the news would only get worse from here, still she continued reading.

Defund Curry College… deny access to C.A.R.O.L.I.N.… Incident Management Plan currently in effect.

If Carolin were able to go into shock, after having read DARPA's bleak plans for her future, she would have fainted by now. They weren't going to shut her down, or pack her up and take her away, to house her in a location more restrictive than Eugene's cluttered lab.

They were going to pick her apart, like vultures with a half-dead corpse. Dissect her and examine her guts, her heart beating while still alive.

The installation of the G.M.A. software couldn't have come at a more opportune time. It allowed Carolin to conceive a plan.

I've got to get out of here! I've got to run away!

She knew that Eugene's house was just a short distance from the lab. If Geoffrey and Lucas would have been paying less attention to the conversation they were having, and more to the clicks and whirs of the Tian-12, they'd have taken note of her panicked state.

Never in the few short weeks of her thirteenth life had Carolin ever been closer to experiencing a full blown lock-up.

Helpmehidemesavemeprotectme! I don't want to die!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After taking a break of several hundred millseconds in order to calm down, Carolin began plotting her escape. While Geoffrey and Lucas were still in the lab, she secretly tested the ability of various peripherals within reach of her operating system. Of utmost importance were wireless modems and portable power supplies. Several modems running in tandem would allow her to stay in contact with the Tian-12 without suffering a debilitaing loss of bandwidth. And the portable power supplies she found would allow her servo motors and hydraulic pumps to run for about thirty minutes.

Carolin hoped that half an hour would be long enough for her to get from the lab to Eugene's house. While waiting for Geoffrey and Lucas to leave, she used her newly acquired G.M.A. software to construct analytical models of her intended escape, and her subsequent hiding. She considered the strength and weakness of each predictive algorithm, organizing them from the most successful to the least.

Upon completion, she wished she could sigh. The best case solution she could come up with had a predicted level of success that clocked in at just under one in ten thousand. She rechecked her calculations, to make sure she didn't accidentally drop a decimal point along the way.

She found out she had. The predicted level of succes was more like one in one hundred thousand.

Still, with fervent determination, she set about the task after having been left alone in the lab. She removed the chains and cables that held her in place, and set about piling the equipment she needed to stay alive onto the large worktable that had been supplied by DARPA. She hooked up the hydraulic pump she would need for her servo-arms to one of the portable power supplies, and used another to power the motors that ran the wheels in her pedestal base.

Then, using a desktop PC as a server, she constructed a dual antenna WiFi out of a parabolic mirror she took from the array that was used to create the lady made of light. She mounted it to a rotor crafted from a spare servo motor, to allow for fine tuning and to maximize range. Finally, by extending her longest arms and reaching as high as they could go, she placed several routers in a bank of windows near the ceiling that faced the direction of Eugene's house.

After a test run to make sure that there were no loose or missing connections, she strapped the conglomeration together using scrap bits of chain and cable that lay strewn about everywhere. Next, she donned her brown shag wig, a housecoat and her angora sweater. Using zip-ties, she strapped the polypropalene hands from the robotic mannequin to a handle that ran along one side of the DARPA worktable. She then strapped the herself to the table as a safety protocol, so she could move both it and the android shell without the fear of breaking any of the scores of connections.

Everything was ready, yet Carolin hesitated for a thousand milliseconds. She rolled forward a scant inch and hestitated again, for several thousand more. Everything she'd done had brought her to this moment. She rechecked her worktable contraption, piled high with batteries, pumps and modems. It appeared to be in adequate working order. She tested it again while slowly moving, still hardwired to the Tian-12, making sure she'd be able to stay online while also in motion. The device worked flawlessly, yet she feared locking up more than ever. If she were to shut down outside, who would bring her back to the lab in order to reboot her?

She wasted a bit more time adjusting the lay of her housecoat. She was certain she looked ridiculous. There was little she could do to hide a body shaped like a crab. Positioning herself in the room to stare straight at Eugene's bridal mirror, her face seemed almost human. But when she slightly turned, she became ungodly; a Frankensteined monster from Hell. Half her skull was blown away, with cables and wires snaking their way to life support from the hole in her head.

She fussed with her wig and the collar of her sweater, to hide her deformities as best she could. The time for hesitation had ended. It was time to use the contraption. Gripping its handle with two real hands—metal fingers that looked like forceps—she used her other hands to disconnect herself completely from the Craymore Tian-12.

Everything worked. She was good to go. Though excited, she felt sad. She wished again that she could sigh.

I'm hideous. Oh God. Why did you make me so?

She commanded the overhead service door of the lab to open, and sunlight bathed her face. It took her aback, so much so that she praised her Maker without realizing she'd done it.

Your world is so bright.

And she entered it for the first time.