8

“I suppose we’d better.” Charlie nodded. “I’ve got plenty of questions and, like you, most of them contain a swear word or two.”

“So go ahead and ask him.” She indicated the PC. “He can access any computer and appear on its screen.”

“So you don’t need to touch it?”

“That was just to get your attention. I’m a bit of a show-off sometimes.”

“You don’t say. But I want you to leave the room.”

“Why?”

“It’s a private conversation.”

Daffodil looked hurt but tapped her neck anyway. “Frankie would prefer me to stay. He says we’re a team.”

“I don’t care what he’d prefer,” Charlie persisted. “If he wants my help, you’ll both have to suck it up.”

“I’m part of this too, Chaz. Why are you being so bloody-minded?”

“I’ll make it quick,” he relented. “I promise.”

“All right,” Daffodil moped. “You make rotten coffee anyway. I’m going to get my own.”

She marched out of the room.

“What part of ‘we’re a team’ did you not get?” The computer sprang to life, a swarm of coloured dots appearing on the screen. “This isn’t a great start to our relationship.”

The voice had a synthetic timbre but was far more animated than the boy had anticipated.

“You don’t talk the way I thought you would.” Charlie blinked in surprise.

“What? You were expecting a Dalek?”

“Something like that, yes.”

“I’ve been picking up my vocabulary from YouTube, so I can blend in. Still don’t get the point of Grumpy Cat, though. I mean, he can’t help the way he looks. What’s so funny about that?” Frankie sniggered in a disturbingly human way. “He does look at bit like you, though.”

“Quite finished?” The boy was determined not to be wrong-footed.

“Not in the slightest. But you’d better cut to the chase before Daffodil starts listening at the door. She’s getting fed up of following instructions.”

“You too, apparently.”

Gerry’s warning flashed into Charlie’s mind again.

Frankie is fighting his programming.

“I sense a certain hostility towards myself and Mac. Have you considered therapy?”

“Have you considered shutting up for a second?” the boy replied evenly. “This conversation isn’t something she needs to hear, all right?”

“Oh sure. Why include the only pal you’ve got? You’ve got some serious trust issues, kid.”

“Where are my mum and dad, Frankie? Are they all right?”

“Gerry is alive and safe, and Marion is on her way to join him. But don’t bother calling her. I jammed her phone.”

“I need proof.”

“Like their exact locations? Why don’t I draw a map, tell you which bus goes there and wave goodbye from the front door? Actually, forget the last bit. I don’t have hands.”

“Why didn’t Dad wait here for me?” Charlie refused to rise to the bait.

“A father-and-son reunion? That’s the kind of distraction I don’t need.”

“It’s not up to you!”

“Here’s the deal, pal,” Frankie said slowly. “You do what I say without asking any more questions. In return, I’ll see you’re all reunited when this is over. I’ll also tell Daffodil who she really is and how to remove my chip from her neck. Sound fair?”

“Sounds like blackmail.” The boy’s eye twitched.

“Gerry Ray programmed me to protect human life. That includes you, Mac, and your parents, whether I like the idea or not.” Frankie made a sniffing noise. “He didn’t say I had to be nice about it.”

In the kitchen, they could hear Daffodil stirring her coffee.

“The point is, you’ll never be safe until the threat from Manticorps is neutralised, and that’s exactly what you’re going to help me do. I’m not offering you a choice, so stop acting like some spoiled brat.”

Charlie tried to stay calm, but he could feel hot rage bubbling up inside him. “I should believe the word of some machine?”

“I’m NOT a machine. I’m an artificial intelligence. At least your father knew the difference.”

“I’m not my father.” Charlie pulled a knife he had taken from the kitchen out of his belt and held it up. “The Atlas Serum has made me very unpredictable.”

“If by ‘unpredictable’ you mean ‘crazy as a box of frogs’, I couldn’t agree more. I’m not actually in this computer, so what do you hope to achieve with that?”

“Just checking you can see me.” He nodded at the screen’s tiny camera.

“I can. Congratulations. You win a lollipop.”

“Now I’ll make you a promise,” the boy said icily. “If I suspect for one moment you’re lying about my parents being all right, I will cut you out of Daffodil’s neck and drop your chip down the nearest drain.”

“Nice try. But removing me in such a crude manner would seriously hurt your friend.”

“I don’t have any friends.” Charlie’s eyes glittered. “Better remember that.” He threw the knife across the room. It hit bull’s-eye on a tatty dartboard attached to the wall.

“That was certainly to the point.” Frankie laughed uproariously. “Get it? I made a joke.”

“I don’t have a sense of humour.” The boy stepped back, breathing heavily. “And you’d better keep this conversation to yourself.”

“Look. We seem to have got off on the wrong foot.” Frankie sounded contrite. “I’m just a bit annoyed. Programmed to do this and that and given no choice about it. In a way, we’re in the same boat.”

“With you as the captain. Meanwhile Mac and I are going to be doing the rowing without knowing where we’re going.”

“Nice analogy.” Frankie chuckled. “It all rhymed too. When this is done, maybe you can write an epic poem about our adventures.”

“You trying to get on my good side? ’Cause I haven’t got one of those either.”

“How about this as a peace offering, then? Gerry Ray stuck a letter addressed to you in the top drawer of the dresser, when he thought I wasn’t looking. I’m dying to know the contents but I didn’t ask Daffodil to read it to me and I won’t ever pester you about what it says. That’s how trust works. See where I’m going with this?”

“Spare me the lecture.” Charlie glowered. “And I still don’t know why you picked a fourteen year old to help you, even if I do have a few talents.”

“’Cause you’ve got a winning personality and nice teeth. No more whining. I hold all the cards and you know it.”

“You can come back now, Mac,” the boy shouted angrily.

“In a minute. Got my hand stuck in the espresso machine.”

“I’m afraid she’s a bit clueless without me.”

“We’ll see about that. And switch off that damned camera. I’ve been spied on enough by Manticorps.”

“Have a nap, then. You were up half the night and lack of shut-eye is making you crabby.”

“I don’t need much sleep these days. This is just the way I am.”

“But Daffodil does. She must be on her last legs, and no amount of coffee will fix that.”

The light on the computer went out and the girl sauntered back in, two fingers stuck in her mouth. She seemed rather unsteady on her feet.

“Find out anything interestin?” She rubbed her eyes and yawned again.

“Nope,” Charlie sighed. “I only had time for a short chat.”

Daffodil turned her head and gave a sharp intake of breath. “Why is there a knife stickin out of that round thing?” She tilted her head as Frankie fed her more information. “Oh. It’s a dartboard. You were playin a game?”

“Sort of. I lost.”

Charlie walked over to the dartboard, pulled out the knife and yanked open the dresser drawer. He removed an envelope and used the blade to open it.

There was one page, written in his father’s neat handwriting.

Son.

 

You must memorise the string of numbers on the other side of the paper, then destroy it. If this message does fall into the wrong hands, the sequence will be meaningless to most people. But you are not most people and I’m sure you will figure it out. It might come in useful as a bargaining chip.

But whatever you do, don’t EVER let Frankie see it.

 

I love you, kid.

Dad

Charlie flipped the scrap of paper over. On the other side was a string of numbers.

55 45 86 962 04 334 145 223 52972

“We better memorise this.” Daffodil leaned over his shoulder.

“No need.” Charlie tore up the page before she could see it properly. “I’ve done it.”

“Jeezy peeps.” The girl looked stunned. “Bet you don’t need to make a list when you go shoppin.” She staggered a little and leaned against the wall to right herself. “Chaz, I don’t feel so good. I’m really tired.”

“Go sit down then.” He pushed her away. “I’m trying to work out what this sequence means.”

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Gerry thought he could interpret what the numbers meant and so he’d try his hardest. Maybe it was a cipher. Or coordinates of some sort.

There was a thump behind him.

When Charlie turned round, his companion was lying on the floor.