[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
T-shirt. He looked more like his daughter than his sons, with light brown
curly hair and large, innocent brown eyes. But unlike his daughter, who got
plenty of exercise chasing her brothers, Jeremy was as soft and fat as his
wife.
"Pleased to meet you,"
he said, stepping over an Ipex 14-gigabyte magneto-optical storage drive on
which rested a High-Edge 8-megabyte VRAM circuit board the size of a business
card. He held out a hand, puffy and white as a marshmallow. "You know
Griswald?"
"Just from VileSpaw," Judy said.
"Really?" Jeremy said. "Who are you? I'm JC "
"TerMight," Judy said, recognizing Jeremy's nickname immediately. She smiled,
suddenly feeling more at ease. Jercmy was familiar, safe. He was from her
world.
"TerMight's a girl?" Jeremy said, grinning. "Griswald know that?"
"No," Judy said. "But I'd like to tell him in person. Do you have any idea
where he might've gone, JC?"
Jeremy shook his head. "Not a clue. Like I told Dan, Griswald hasn't been
around for more man a week.
Nothing unusual. He's like that. Gets obsessed with a problem, forgets
everything else until he solves it."
Page 73
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
'"Yeah," Judy said, "I know exactly what you mean. Story of my life, too. This
time, though, we're afraid
Griswald's being chased by some dangerous characters. We really need to find
him. Fast."
"Antitech loonies?" Jeremy asked. "They're getting worse all the time. I watch
them on the nightly news, demonstrating in the valley. Computers are
dangerous, the Internet's destroying privacy, the usual junk.
Guys like that jerkoff Barrington on his Web-TV show, talking how we should
turn back the clock.
Meanwhile, he's using the latest technology so his show is seen nationwide.
What a flipping hypocrite."
"We don't know why these guys are after Griswald," Judy said.
"Sorry," Jeremy said, "wish I could help. But I don't know a thing." But there
seemed to be something he wasn't saying.
A red phone icon flashed on his screen. "Yeah,'' Jeremy said to his computer,
"JC here."
A gruff voice asked for Dan Nikonchik.
Surprised, Jeremy nodded toward Dan.
"How'd they know I'm here?" Dan said, startled. He grabbed a headset from the
desk and barked the order "Private."
Good question, Judy mused. And if they knew Dan's whereabouts all the time,
they knew her whereabouts. And if they were Dan's unusual friends with the
ability to save people's necks, why weren't they saving Dan's and Cal's and
Judy's necks?
Dan muttered, "Yeah, yeah, I understand. Friday. No problem. I'll take care of
it."
Despite her curiosity, Judy's attention was caught up in the moving images she
saw on Jeremy's computer screen. There were video clips of what looked like
real people, only their faces and bodies were continuously shifting, changing
dimensions, and transforming, Adjacent to the keyboard she spotted a
multimedia controller and some microphones, the kind used to conduct wiretaps.
The wall behind the computer was covered by a huge sheet of wood paneling.
There was a button beneath it. A sliding door. Instantly, Judy's suspicions
rose. Here was a programmer who used microphones and video software, who
changed people's images by using digitally recorded clips. A
surveillance operator.
He was probably employed by the cops. Or the government. Or maybe some of
Dan's friends.
Dan removed the headset.
"What was all that?" she asked.
He shrugged. "My bookie. I bet on the wrong horse."
A crook calling about a gambling debt, tracing Dan here?
Shaking, Judy took a step back. "I don't believe you. You're lying. What about
the green van, the wedding band? I want the truth, Dan. No more crap."
"Don't get so damned hot," Dan said, raising his hands in protest.
"I'm not lying. Ask Jeremy. He knows. I like playing the ponies. No crime in
placing a few bets. Had a bad luck streak. Bookie wants his money. He's been
tightening the screws until I pay up."
"He does like to gamble, TerMight," Jeremy said with a shrug. "Stupid habit,
but nobody's perfect."
Judy stared at Dan in disgust. "You sleazeball. Griswald lives in a dump and
you blow your money on horse races."
Still driven by her anger, she swung around and faced Jeremy. "You work for
the police, JC?"
Jeremy's eyes bulged. Then, after a second, he laughed. "My equipment, right?
No. Never. This setup is my big project. Something I was working on with
Page 74
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Griswald. Object-oriented stuff you know, changing various instantiations of
the objects, as in change them to different faces and so forth."
Dan grimaced. "While the two of you blather about computers, I'm going to get
something to eat. Okay with you, Jeremy?" "Sure. You know where the kitchen
is."
Seconds later, Judy heard him rummaging around. Drawers opened and closed,
cabinets banged, dishes clattered. God, the man was noisy. You'd think he'd be
better in a kitchen, owning a restaurant and all.
"Don't worry about Griswald, TerMight,'' Jeremy said softly. "He's been
anxious to go it alone ever since be got out of school. Freedom from big
brother. You can see why. I'm sure that's what happened." "He could be in
major trouble," Judy countered. "No way," Jeremy said. "Who'd want to hurt
Griswald? He's harmless."
Judy couldn't answer Jeremy's question. She bad no explanations, only fears.
"Anyway," Jeremy continued, rubbing something squi shy-looking across his
screen, "I have tons of multimedia equipment here. 1 develop software for
legitimate uses. Mainly, I'm into creating pliable environments for people."
That explained the microphones and the panel on the wall. She fingered the
button on the wall, pressed it.
The wood sheet slid up, revealing what she expected: an immense monitor.
"Here. Wear these." Jeremy insistently thrust a pair of sunglasses at her.
They looked ordinary enough.
She put them on.
Then he told his computer to turn on "The Room." His eyes were glowing. He was
proud.
The screen popped to life showing the room in which they were sitting. There
was an image of Judy, but all the clutter and the furniture had taken on
cartoonish colors and rounded forms. In addition, she appeared plumper, and
her hair was neat and glowing with gold highlights. She wasn't wearing the
special sunglasses. She looked rested and calm.
Judy reached out and saw her hand and arm move on the screen, as well.
"Populate," Jeremy commanded. Suddenly, cartoon animals and goofy aliens and
neon swirling blobs appeared around her screen persona. She was fascinated,
couldn't pull her eyes from the image.
She reached out and touched a fluffy green creature, which giggled and licked
her fingers, She felt the moisture from its tongue, felt the soft warmth of
its fur.
Felt it.
The creature said, "I'm Dozong from the planet Alphatrod." Its voice was high
and squeaky.
She laughed. Without thinking, she replied, "I'm Judy from the planet Lost."
"Where's the planet Lost? It must be far from Alphatrod. And I know your real
name. It's Judith
Carmody, and you come from Pennsylvania, don't you? And you're 3 programmer."
The creature was talking to her, holding a real conversation with her. More,
it knew things about her.
This was no mere virtual reality. This was much too sophisticated for fun and
games.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]