“How does she retain control and prevent someone else from…hacking…her network?”
“Well, tell your nanites to rotate their frequency. Then no one can lock on or even locate you.” Frank looked smug until another thought occurred. “You don’t have a tracking bug on you? Do you know?”
Jane looked horrified. “I don’t know.”
“Hold on.” Frank rummaged on a table covered with gadgets and machines. “Ah! Haven’t used this for a while.” He approached Jane carrying a sensor much like the hand units airport security used. “Hold still. This won’t hurt a bit.”
“Ha ha,” Tristan muttered.
Frank quickly passed the scanner over every part of Jane, who held her breath, waiting for a beep of alarm. The scanner gently crackled a few times. “Nothing!” Frank said, relieved.
“Now,” he set the scanner down and settled in his chair, facing Jane and Tristan. “Let’s figure out what to do with those nanites of yours.”
*
“We have lost control of Jane 23, Dr. Bachman.” Yancy said.
Dr. Bachman’s jaws muscles flexed as he thought. “You programmed the nanos.”
“Yes.” Yancy agreed.
“They are machines. Machines are controllable, correct?”
“Yes. And no.”
“What do you mean?” Dr. Bachman gritted through his teeth.
“They are bio technology. Symbiotic. Once they merge with the host, the host controls them.” Yancy was beginning to sweat profusely.
Dr. Bachman took a deep breath and let it out. “Then reprogram them.”
“It can’t be done now. They have formed their own network, contained within the host.”
“What about injecting her with fresh nanoids to reprogram the ones already within her?”
“The nanoids are now part of the host and the host part of them. They listen only to the host, so the host would have to tell them to accept the new programming.”
“So. There is nothing we can do but kill her.”
Yancy looked stricken. “There’s always John 18 and the recovery team.”
Dr. Mertz joined them at the console. “Is that the signal for John 18?”
“Yes. If we keep in constant contact with his nanites, he can’t network with them and we remain in control.” Yancy demonstrated by typing a series of commands. “I have programmed the mainframe to send constant background algorithms, like background noise to distract them and keep the host compliant. There is only one-way communication between John 18 and the nanites right now: from the nanites to John 18, so there is no danger of John going ‘offline’ like Jane 23.”
Dr. Bachman nodded at Dr. Wertz, who also nodded, apparently satisfied.
“Don’t lose this one.” Dr. Wertz squeezed Yancy’s shoulder, just a smidge too hard to be friendly.
Yancy listened to the pair discussing the finer points of world domination as they left the room. He was a failure. A pawn. A screw-up. How could he have been so naive?
Before he could lose his nerve, Yancy entered two commands for John 18: FIND JANE 23 AND ASSIST HER. He entered the coordinates from her last signal. The second command made his hands sweat: ELIMINATE RECOVERY TEAM.
YOU ARE READING
Jane 23
General FictionA woman runs through the night, seeking safety, a place to hide. She has no shoes. Her feet are bleeding. A town appears out of the night. Stumbling through the streets, she breaks into a flat. She takes some food and contemplates her next move when...
Jane 23 Part 4
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