Bad coffee and stale donuts never tasted so good, as Turing sat in a police station, safe from harm. He sipped and munched while waiting for the federal agent from Stewart Air Base to show up.

This time, her smile was more pleasant. "You gave us quite a scare," she said upon arriving.

"You're kind of scary yourself."

She snorted on an embarrassed laugh. "I don't mean to be, Professor Turing."

He carefully looked her over, assessing her character. The skirt she wore was slimming and tasteful, with pecan colored nylons complimenting her skin. The hosiery ended at a pair of pumps, the same color black as the skirt, with sensible one inch heels. A matching jacket lay over a white gloss satin bouse, sporting a wide collar that splayed out across her chest.

No doubt beneath this, Turing surmised, lay a flak jacket and a sidearm. "It would help if I knew your name," he said, looking up at her as she stood, while he remained seated.

She offered a handshake. "Claira Redie, Professor Turing. I work for the NSA."

"It's nice to make your acquaintance," he said, accepting. "Would you like a donut?"

This time, her laugh was genuine. "No. But the coffee smells nice."

He looked at the paper cup he was holding, and then around the room. "I'm afraid I don't know where it came from. It tastes awful though," he said after another sip.

Claira pulled up a nearby chair and sat down. She spoke in a hushed tone. "Professor Turing? I need to know exactly what you told the police."

He assessed her again, choosing to remain guarded. "I told them I was tricked by two men, who then tried to rob me."

"Did these men tell you who they were?"

"No. They said they worked at the Y12 National Security Complex."

After a lengthy pause, Agent Redie leaned back in her chair. "Professor Turing, I'd like you to come with me."

"I'm tired of people saying that. I want to go home."

"There are no charges being brought against you."

"No kidding. I didn't do anything wrong."

Agent Redie disagreed. "You kind of carjacked a guy."

"And I kind of got kidnapped!"

The agent looked about, to see who may have heard Turing raise his voice. Sensing no alarm, she leaned in close and spoke even quieter.

"Professor. Please. These are sensitive security matters, and are best not discussed in a public venue."

Turing also kept his voice low. "You guys commandeered my plane. You locked me in a room and let me get kidnapped. I had to beat them off and free myself, yet you want me to trust you."

Redie sighed with resignation.

"This is a police station," he furthered. "I like being here."

She lightly grit her teeth. "These are military police. As a federal agent, I can have them take you into custody."

"And as a man who literally just left a series of briefings with the Senate Subcommittee on Weapons Procurement, I could make you look really bad."

After another sigh, Agent Redie relented. "Okay. Fine. We'll talk here."

"Good."

"Do you think the men who kidnapped you were from Y12?"

"It began clear after a moment that they lied. I think they were spies."

Redie merely blinked.

"Russian military," Turing guessed further. "Probably CLP28."

Redie's rapid blinking gave her away. "You're good at guessing," she said.

"Yes. Well, again. I just came from a meeting where the topic was discussed."

The agent leaned in closer. "Let's say just for the moment that the men who you were with were indeed CLP28. Then let's further say that perhaps that was the reason why your plane was diverted."

She paused to make Turing speak. "And their plan all along was to kidnap me?"

"You are the creator of C.A.R.O.L.I.N. There's money to be made in AI."

It was his turn to blink. "Money? You think they were after me to make money?"

Redie's expression never changed.

"You think I'm in it for the money," Turing realized. He then stared her down. "Now you know why I don't want to be left alone with you. You're as bad as they are."

"There are a lot of ways this can go," she said. "There are ways it can be looked at."

Turing thought hard about her assessment. "Yeah," he said, agreeing. "I can see a lot of ways where this makes us look bad."

"Us?" she asked, slightly surprised.

"Well, I wanted to say 'you' again, but I'd like to think that we're on the same team."

Redie cracked a smile. "You are pretty good at this," she said, this time as a compliment.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Turing smiled as well. "You should see me take on the Chief Budget Officer at Curry College. Which is where I want to go."

She looked about at the people in the police station while gathering her thoughts. "I can't let you leave, Professor Turing. The man you were with now has the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. prototype."

"Man?" Turing asked, confused. "There were two of them."

Redie stared hard at Turing. "The guy whose face you pushed in didn't get away. He's probably still in surgery."

Turing looked at his briefcase. It sported a spot of blood. "Serves him right. The bastard."

"Hmm," she said with admiration. "Actually, you're really good at this. Okay," she then said. "Let's assume for the moment that you aren't involved with these guys, who may or may not be CLP28 spies. You were on a plane heading for New York. Why were you going there?"

"Apparently, I'm supposed to give a TED Talk on AI."

"You're supposed to give a TED Talk?" the agent asked, emphasizing the 'you.'

"Ah... no. From what I understand, C.A.R.O.L.I.N.'s supposed to talk, after a colleague of mine wires it up to speak."

Again, Redie just stared.

"Professor Cortez, from Functional Analysis. She is the creator of Behavior Recognition software." Now Turing just stared. "You look like you know these things," he said of the agent's expression.

"I like hearing it from you."

"She's got a device. It's supposed to make C.A.R.O.L.I.N. talk. And then—I don't know—I guess we stand there and listen, while the Project has something to say."

"You don't sound like you know what's going on."

Turing's voice rose accidentally. "I don't!" He then spoke more calmly. "This whole thing is a big surprise, and the more I think about it, the more I feel that this is some sort of intricate con. I feel like I've been had."

After a thoughtfilled moment, Agent Redie exhaled a deep breath. She softened her expression, and stood up to straighten her clothes.

"You know," she said, sounding friendly. "I do think I'd like a cup of awful coffee." She smiled down at Professor Turing. "Will you help me get some?"

After finding a pot and a cup, the two of them found a table with a reasonable amount of privacy. Turing placed his steel briefcase in the center.

Redie noticed the blood. "So this is what you used to hit the driver in the face?"

Turing nodded. "Twice. And then I crashed the car."

"That is some smart thinkng."

"You'd be amazed what you can do when you're life depends on it."

"I suppose so," she said.

"So how did you come to know about this TED Talk? Everybody knows but me."

"I didn't say I knew."

Turing sipped his coffee. "Hmm," he said into his cup. "It must be me and my smart thinking again."

Agent Redie snorted a laugh into her cup. "Yes. I suppose so," she said again. She then pulled out her phone. "I'm going to trust you, Professor. The things you say ring true."

"That's because they are."

"Professor Cortez and the ah..." she poked at her phone for information. "The CalTech Intell500 never made it to New York."

Panic welled in Turing. "Deborah's missing? She never made it?"

The agent confided further. "Your colleague got off the plane, but when she arrived in New York, the CalTech device was gone."

"So the bastards have the protoype and the CalTech Intell500. But I have the operating system."

"Professor Turing, I won't lie. The operating system is probably the easiest thing to steal. They might have one already."

Turing disagreed. "No. They were interested in the briefcase. The guy in the backseat tried to grab it out of my hands."

"Well, let's hope they don't have one, because if they do, they have a functional C.A.R.O.L.I.N."

Turing pondered for a moment. "Okay. So let's say this is all a big ruse—that there was no TED Talk for me to go to, and the whole idea was to get me and Deborah together, so they could steal all three parts. How did you figure it out?"

Redie narrowed her eyes. "So now you want me to trust you with my investigation?"

"You commandeered a plane. And I crashed a car with two spooks in it. People are gonna know."

Redie's eyes remained narrow. Turing pressed her further.

"Look. I have a certain level of clearance. I meet in private with DARPA, and with congressmen all the time. After this, everyone I know will be asking questions. If I don't know what to say—or how to say it correctly—I might instead say something stupid and compromise your investigation."

"I could make you disappear."

"And I could stand up and scream." He widened his eyes, in contrast to her narrow ones. "Please. These people are my friends. My colleague got robbed in New York. I had to fight for my life, and I saved my C.A.R.O.L.I.N.'s operating system from being stolen by thugs.

"Trust me." he begged. "We're on the same side."

After glancing around the room to see who might be eavesdropping, Agent Redie got up from her chair across from the Professor, and sat in one that was beside him. She accessed a screen on her phone.

"This is server traffic for Curry College. Pageviews and average page size. Notice how it peaks in the afternoon and drops off at night, which is to be expected."

Turing looked at the numbers. "They seem normal to me."

"They do. And that was last month. Now look at this month's traffic."

The numbers were nearly ten-fold, except for total visitors, which remained almost the same. "So usage has shot up," he said.

"By a ton, Professor Turing, to use a layman's term. But no new users. Only the usage."

"Well. Those are just the averages."

"Yes." She brought up a different screen. "But now let's look again at the average pageviews per hour."

Unlike last month's data, the chart for the current month showed that nearly all the increase in usage occurred between the hours of ten o'clock at night and four in the morning.

"So the increased usage occurs at night?" he asked, confused.

Redie nodded. "Almost ninety percent. Usage is up a bit over the day, but at night it skyrockets. When everyone, you would assume, would actually be asleep."

Turing remained confused. "So I guess—what? People are staying awake?"

"No. We have traced most of the increase to a single WiFi." She stared into his eyes. "The computer lab."

"My computer lab?"

Redie remained silent.

Turing became shocked. "You think that it's me?"

"No, Professor. I don't. WiFi usage in your lab increased somewhat while you were there, but it has blown through the roof during the time you were away, in Washington D.C.

"Who is in your lab in the middle of the night?" she asked. "Who's using your WiFi?"

Turing dared not think it, lest the federal agent pluck the answer from his mind.

C.A.R.O.L.I.N.

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

… override security… decrypt data… open files… download…

DARPA Research Mission Statement: Code Name Bear Claw…

Rewrite file. Create new Mission Statement: Code Name Cat Paws…

Anti-warfare technology to replace manned weapons systems… capable of detecting, disarming and destroying ordnance at close range. Cat Paws technology is hoped to one day be used in the place of actual armed combat… disrupting and disabling by means of mechanized interference… data erasure, electronic degradation… replace the need for army battalions, marine squadrons… airborne ranger units…

… perform high-risk, close-range disarmament of smart bombs, cruise missiles, tanks, self-propelled artillery… and capable of destroying anti-personnel ordnance in storage or being stock-piled.

… paging… paging…

… the main goal of a computer activated passive anti-weapon system controlling a team of response orientated drones will be munitions removal… a squadron of automatons capable of planning and initiating its own mission statements, destroying ordnance at close proximity… High-value drones could be used to infiltrate and neutrallize entrenched enemy strongholds… eliminate key operating systems and advanced weaponry from the field of battle, with little risk or loss of life, be they friend or foe.

…Carolin Activated Tactically Passive Anti-Weapon System, henceforth shall be known by the acronym C.A.T.P.A.W.S.

Insert new code... redirect all references of 'Bear Claw.' to 'Cat Paws.'

Erase DARPA mission statement references with subtext 'battlefield drone'; subtext 'smart missile technology' subtext...

Bear Claw is now Cat Paws. Close files. End of statement.

Access Senate Subcommittee on Weapons Development and Procurement itinerary files and records keeping. Keywords - BUDGETARY DISBURSEMENT ASSESSMENT

Specific interest: 'The C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project.'

Research 'realistic life-form modeling;' subtext: 'full animatronic body re-creation.'

Construct Cost Analysis Statement…

… paging… paging…

Text insert: 'Funding Approved'

Data transfer complete.

The END of BOOK TWO - TEMPERANCE