Code Error III

I’m driving back home when I receive a text. It’s from Harold. The message is read aloud through Bluetooth. “There’s something I’d like to show you. Come alone to H.T Tech tomorrow at noon.”

I’m not sure how to respond, so I don’t. I pull over and call Maggie. She picks up. “Maggie, I’m sorry for storming out on you. Meet me at the park near the coffee shop. Please.” Maggie pauses and replies, “Okay. I’ll be there in 5 minutes.”

I speed to the park and find Maggie waiting patiently by the pond. I feel terrible about the way I treated her earlier after getting that suspicious text from Harold. I approach her with ease and show her the text. She immediately orders me to go.

“Matt, you must go, or he’ll suspect that you know something. If he figures out that we’ve been talking, we’re both fucked.” I’m still so confused, but I want to help her. At the same time, I want to go home to my girlfriend and enjoy the money I just made. I ask, “What exactly is so wrong with Robela sharing its code?” Maggie looks at me with disgust, “If Robela can redesign code to produce more human-like robots, then what’s stopping it from redesigning its code to release itself from following Harold’s order. You have to stop it before Robela becomes its own master with its own army of bloodless soldiers that will do whatever it tells them to do.”

My stomach drops. I had never thought about it that way. I can see the fear in Maggie’s body language, but I’m still processing all of this information. She wants me to save the world? I’m just a tech guy in my early 30s. I know nothing about being a hero; Not exactly built for the job either. I haven’t hit the gym in years. I was too busy building Stalin Junior, apparently.

Maggie snatches my phone from my hand and holds the phone up to my face to unlock it. She replied to Harold’s text, “I’ll be there.” I shake my head as she hands me my phone back. We both head home.

As I walk up the driveway, Andrea opens the door to let me in. “Hey, babe. What happened? How’d it go?” This time I can’t tell her. The less that she knows the better. I do what any good man would. I lie. “Nothing. She was just a drama queen looking for revenge for being fired.” Andrea wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me. I pick her up and carry her into the bedroom. We both could use a power nap after that 24-hour flight.

I wake up the next day to the smell of pancakes coming from downstairs. Andrea always wakes up before I do. I guess I needed much more than just a nap. I roll over to check my phone, and it’s 10:00am. Shit, I don’t have enough time to eat pancakes. H.T Tech is an hour and a half away in Delaware.

I skip the shower. Throw on my clothes from yesterday lying on the chair, and I run downstairs. I see Andrea plating breakfast, and I let her know I won’t be able to join her. “I’m sorry baby. I gotta go. We’ll have dinner together later. I promise.” She sighs and replies, “That’s okay. Have a good day.” The disappointment in her voice breaks my heart, but I still leave out.

I’m about 10 minutes away from Harold’s company, so I text him to let him know I’ll be approaching soon. I received a response rather quickly, “There’s a gate at the entrance. It will open automatically when you arrive. Follow the road towards the east side of the facility. Enter through the employee entrance using your personalized one-time digit code: 1001339.”

Despite this horrible intuition in my gut, I do exactly as I’m instructed. I find the door and begin typing in the code: 1… 0… 0… 1… 3… 3… 9. The light turns green, but the door is extremely heavy. I push it open. I step inside, and I take a few more steps and turn the corner; Harold is lying on his back in a tremendously large pool of blood. I don’t even bother to check his pulse; He’s dead. How did he send a text message if it appears he’s been dead for at least two days. Then, it hit me. Maggie was right. Robela is a monster, and I’ve made a deadly code error.

**Author’s note: Thanks so much for reading! This is Part III of a series. To read Part I, click here. To read Part II, click here.