Right off the Assembly Line

by: Dennis R. Humphreys (the Dream Writer)

The electric car is here but in the infinite wisdom of arrogant industrialists and the government, they had some other idea up their sleeves and proceeded to develop something different and even greater, ascending into the world of the gods. Were such madmen the stuff written about when there were horrendous experiments committed in the name of improving mankind, when in fact they were done to exert control? Were they actually meant to be rid of certain parts of the population they considered unworthy?

Dr. Randolph Espisitto was the mind behind the new electric car that was self-driving. He gained accolades from everywhere as a genius, but in fact he was unstable, with illusions of grandeur. All one had to do was look at his childhood to realize someone normal could not possibly be a product of it. Yet, his proposals met with great acceptance among business and government official without ever questioning their sanity. If they hadn't seen the potential wealth they could derive from his dreams, they would have branded him insane or stupid. In fact, they could see tremendous results in power and their pockets, so he was endorsed as infallible and on the verge of a worship able entity.

“I propose instead of the standard on board computer or computer chips we develop something different... a bio-mechanical device, so we have something to do with people incarcerated that can never be released into society, and those with incurable diseases whose brain functions are still viable,” he suggested at a recent conference.

People there, reporters, the media... all looked at each other, wondering where he was going with his concept. Then it became clear, as he proceeded.

“Standard computers and their parts are still incapable of duplicating of what the human brain is capable. They can't evaluate things emotionally or make correct decisions based on gut feeling or hunches... they lack intuitiveness that programmers cannot instill. My suggestion is this... we have a countless supply of human brains, so let's use them,” he told the crowd.

This sent a wave of verbosity among those assembled. Some were in disbelief it was even suggested while others found it to be the ultimate in science fiction.

When word got out it brought the condemnation of churches and a harsh stand by the Pope. It was considered a demonic exercise of wanting to take the place of God. Others considered a flight of fancy and the thing stories like Star Trek or Star Wars were made. Articles were written about his press release, both good and bad, but within two weeks the discussion seemed to end. The American public's attention span was spent. But not the doctor' intent. That was there stronger than ever as he pushed forward with two associates, he formed alliances with... Doctor Harry Stringer, brain surgeon and Doctor Louis Rafferty, electrical engineer and prosthetic robot scientist. Dr. Espisitto's specialty was tissue and cellular regeneration.

“We have a donor. A man by the name Cameron Fulbright. He's awaiting death by lethal injection, as a serial killer. He had sixty-three murders to his credit. We can harvest his brain at the time his execution is scheduled, and he'll be declared dead at that point,” Espisitto announced to their ten man team.

“That is incredible news, When and where do we harvest it?” Dr. Harry Stringer asked.

“Folsom Prison in three days,” answered Espisitto. “Harry, you'll be handling the removal so get ready for our new adventure. Our prototype is ready to receive the capsule once you've placed the brain in it. We'll all assist since none of us want to miss this exciting event. There will be some military people present as well. They want to test this out first on the American public before going into military applications in case there are problems, but this will open the doors to drone technology, space, aerospace, weapons, satellite and a host of other things,” the doctor explained.

In three days, Dr. Stringer carried a cooler with a human brain in it, that of Cameron Fulbright.

“That was one demented man,” Stringer commented to his fellow people as they welcomed him back, meeting him in the operating room. Are you sure it's alright to use his brain for this?”

“Sure. It was environmental issues that put him into Folsom. His condition had nothing to do with genetics,” Dr. Espisitto answered. “Everyone gets cleaned up and into the operating room. Is the camera on?”

Seven hours later the brain was successfully implanted into a glass cylinder that ran a slight electrical charge through it. A series of nerves extending through the brain stem were connected to a small interface box within the cylinder. The other side was a thirty- six gold prong connection that accepted a male plug going to the central operating system of the car. The device would run everything and even evaluate the car's functions. It had voice synthesis and recognition, so you could speak with it, and it would communicate with speech. It interfaced with satellite and the Internet. No matter where you were, you could connect with anyone in the world. Eventually the car would be communicating with ever other car like it out there.

Stem cell technology was introduced in the interface box so that the neural connections to the prongs were secure. The car had to sit for five days as the cell growth and installation completed. The wait was exasperating.

“Are we ready to turn the car on?” Espisitto asked his colleagues and the entire team who were waiting anxiously.

“I think we've been ready doctor,” Doctor Rafferty answered. The others watched as the leader approached the car in the stimulus deprived room quiet room.

“Cameron... turn your motor on,” Espisitto commanded. There was a very slight sound as the engine came on to everyone's delight. It brought a small cheer and excitement from the room. Espisitto beamed with joy at the success. “Cameron, drive in a counterclockwise circle in the room three times and stop.”

The car ran around the room in a clockwise fashion and stopped.

“As you can see Cameron didn't know what counterclockwise meant so he guessed wrongly. There will be a startup time of learning with the car until it understands verbiage and commands completely,” he explained to the group.

“That brings up a question doctor. How about a foreign language or people with accents? Will that be a problem?” one of the support team members asked.

“Cameron will have to learn just as anyone has to learn. If we have Italian drivers, we will install Italian human brains. The car will eventually be able to predict within a acceptable degree of certainty the correct response to someone with an accent or speech impediment,” Espisitto announced.

“What's an acceptable degree of certainty?” another team member asked.

The doctor was beginning to get a little agitated. It seemed a couple of members of the group were beginning to question the real feasibility of the car.

“Eighty nine percent. That's much better than what a standard computerized car would bring to the table. Sure, there will be some problems, accidents, deaths... but that is to be expected. It will be a small, acceptable percentage in the scheme of things,” is all he answered and walked out of the room while the others just looked at each other.

The team went out as was planned to start working with the car... getting it used to various voices and commands. They told it not to guess, like it did when it drove clockwise instead of the counterclockwise command. It was to ask for clarification and wait for it... not to do anything. Some of the members saw this as potential problem too but knew the more they worked with it the better the car would operate. Tomorrow the car was scheduled to run on a test track with one of the team... Ruby Sinclair.

There would be a daily and a weekly evaluation of the car so they could see the car's progress graphically.

At the track Ruby Sinclair prepared to climb into the car. The car had a series of pin hole video cameras to monitor the driver and interface with them as needed, not just watch the outside of the vehicle. There were twelve stationary cameras pointed outside the vehicle's circumference while there were six movable internal cameras. One was geared to watching the retina of the driver.

As Ruby slipped into the driver's seat, she heard the car's voice remark.

“Whoaa... I'm at a good vantage point here looking right up that skirt of yours at some fine flesh,” Cameron told her.

“You fucking pig'” Ruby responded not expecting it. Now she was self-conscious about wearing a skirt. Machine vision and a computer wouldn't have done that. Some people might think it was funny but Ruby didn't think it was.

“Sure honey, but you can't stop me from looking. Get used to it. What would you like me to do? I know what I would like to do but I have no body,” the car told her.

“Just drive around the track, counterclockwise at thirty-two miles an hour,” she commanded.

You thought you'd get me on that counterclockwise command,” the car answered as it zoomed into the correct direction at the appropriate speed. Ruby had a series of things to do on her clipboard which she checked off as they proceeded and evaluated the progress.

When the car stopped, as she commanded, it began showing off driving backwards at high speed and doing various maneuvers she didn't tell it to do. It was irritating.

“Stop what you're doing. You must go by commands and not do your own thing unless it's for the safety of those inside the vehicle. Is that understood? You've already downloaded codes of ethics. Honor them,” she commanded.

“Oh, sure baby. I'll do that for you as long as I can look at that sweet meat you have going on,” the car was demeaning. Ruby didn't appreciate it and three hours of this was going to become unbearable.

“So how did the first test drive go?” Espisitto asked as Ruby came into the lab and threw her clipboard onto her desk.

“Impossible... the car's a pig, or that Cameron brain in there is. His video camera looked up my skirt the entire time and made lewd comments. Is there some way to hook up electrodes to shock the son-of-a-bitch where it starts doing something like that?” she asked, hoping maybe that was an answer. “I guess once a pig, always a pig even disembodied.

“Well, I'd be afraid shocking him. It might do something with its operation. I'll have a talk with him,” the doctor told her.

“What are you going to do if he doesn't listen? Spank his tailpipe. He'd probably like that,” Ruby commented while the others in the room, overhearing her tirade, laughed. “It isn't funny. Who has that thing tomorrow?”

“I do,” Zach Prentiss answered.

“Well, good luck. He has a mind of his own. I don't give that thing a lot of hope unless you can somehow punish it,” Ruby recommended.

“Oh, now Ruby. It isn't that bad. Everything will be fine,” the doctor told her. But he was being defensive about his brainchild. This reflected a number of potential problems already. There was also the potential of disregarding the problems just to force success of an idea rather then the pitfalls of it and attempt to correct them. Some things can't be corrected, and other actions need to be taken.

“Alright, Cameron, are you ready?” asked Zach the next day.

“Where's the babe from yesterday?” the car asked.

“We're each assigned a day with you... well three of us on the track. I have you today. Then you head out on the city street to drive in traffic if we're sufficiently satisfied with your progress,” Zach informed him.

“Whoop dido... I get you. Let's get this show on the road,” he told Zach.

“How'd it go, Zach?” Dr. Espisitto asked as Zach came in from the track.

“The son-of-a-bitch is arrogant and impossible to reason with. I'm with Ruby, figure out a way to shock him or somehow punish him when he doesn't listen. Without a body corporeal punishment is a little hard,” Zach suggested.

“I think you guys are overreacting. You need to communicate more effectively. Remember this is as new to him as it is to you,” the doctor defended Cameron.

After three days of testing there was a unanimous decision that Cameron was incorrigible. At least without a body he couldn't get into trouble the good doctor assumed.

The fourth day out was the first driving into the city with Beth Metcaff.

“Honey you probably won't look as good in a dress as that Ruby, but I still wouldn't mind looking,” the car told Beth.

“Fuck you, Cameron. We're going into the city to a place called 'Dominic's Diner'. Take me there,” she commanded the car.

“Say please,” the car asked before starting its motor.

“I won't put up with your shit... please,” she relented trying to figure out a way to punish the car if needed, to make it listen for its comments., or stupid attempts at manipulation.

“Yes mam... right away mam,” the car said condescendingly.

The car went directly to the diner without a problem. Beth was impressed and wrote some things down on her clipboard.

“Whatcha writing?” Cameron asked. Beth ignored him but he glanced over her shoulder through one of the pin hole cameras. “You have glowing things to say about our trip here, but I don't like what you wrote about our start up,” he told her. But Beth continued to ignore him.

The next day Barry Masters was in the driver's seat as they left the lab. The car followed directions decently but was still condescending and obstinate. Two hours into the drive the car commented about someone he saw.

“There's the son-of-a-bitch that turned me into the police on that bank robbery a few years ago,” the car commented and jumped the curb going after the man he saw. The man saw the car coming, warned by the the sounds of people shouting so he began to run. Barry attemptied to tell the car to shut down but it wouldn't listen. There was no mechanical over ride to do so, like an electrical cut off switch.

The man ran down an alley in an attempt to get away from the car that was in hot pursuit. Partway down the alley he tripped, and Cameron ran him over... then he backed up and ran over him again, all the time Barry frantically trying to stop the car.

The car stopped then and drove back to the lab on its own. Barry knew he faced repercussion on this. Hit and run... failure to stop at the scene of an accident. How do you tell the authorities it wasn't your fault... you were kidnapped by a car that perpetrated these criminal acts?

“Don't tell me I'm exaggerating like you told everyone else about this car, doc,” Barry yelled as he came into the lab, throwing his clipboard onto the doctor's desk. That fucking car purposely ran some guy over he had a dispute with when he had a body. Then he stopped and backed over him, and then ran him over again. The car's a sociopath because of that brain he yelled. I probably face criminal charges because of it since I didn't stop... I couldn't stop without some kind of kill switch.”

“A kill switch... that might be a way of disciplining the car,” Espisitto reasoned.

“Doc! Are you listening to anything I'm saying?” Barry continued yelling. Everyone else just watched and listened knowing now the doctor had an obvious bias.

“I'll speak with the police,” the doctor told him but instead he spoke with one of the political buddies involved, who told him not to worry, everything would be fine.

“Well my friend, the doctor began bringing in a technician with him. “it seems you have been creating a little trouble here.”

“I know what you're up to. I heard you talking with that Barry about a kill switch,” the car informed him.

“Now how did you know that?” the doctor asked. He wasn't close enough to hear what was going on in another part of the building.

“Let me enlighten you. I have no body now, but I do still have a brain, a mind and a spirit. I can travel now outside of this car wherever and whenever I want. I can listen to you and I can see you. I even visited that sweet little Ruby a couple of times in her apartment while she was doing her boyfriend. She's my kind of person... kinky,” he told the doctor.

“That's very interesting Cameron, but we still need to do something,” the doctor told him.

“We don't need to do anything. I won't let you put a kill switch on me. Go fuck yourself,” the car insisted.

“Fred let's put that switch on him,” the doctor told the technician but when he got close the car started and ran around the room. At one point it ran over the technician's feet. Espisitto helped Fred out of the room.

The doctor wondered how he could get a kill switch on the car now. The best he could do was wait until the batteries went dead, then the car was stuck, and a technician could install a kill switch before recharging things. It had a range of four hundred miles but only had used about one hundred and fifty so far. It might be a while.

About that time the doctor heard the garage door open.

“Who the hell opened the garage door without my permission,” he said out loud.

“Bye doc, I'm splitting this joint. It's amazing how one's mind can interface with other electronic objects,” the car yelled and tore silently out of the garage.

These were things the doctor never anticipated... a criminal brain whose mind and spirit that was able to travel independently. He made it easier removing it from his body. And it could control other electronic devices. Then he wondered if it might be able to recharge itself without help. No that couldn't be. It needed arms and a body to plug it in for a recharge. He ran into the lab and yelled for Barry to get his car, Cameron had escaped, and they needed to follow him.

They took off in the direction the doctor saw him moving.

“I wonder what he's up to?” the doctor questioned as they headed down the road.

He pulled out what looked like a GPS and turned it on. He saw Barry look at him questioning.

“This is a directional locator tuned into a transmitter I installed on Cameron separate from his GPS. He might have turned that off by now,” he's straight ahead not that far. I think he's headed for the highway,” the doctor indicated.

“OK... that was smart but are we supposed to do when we get to the car?” Barry asked.

“Do nothing. Just follow him. He's got about two hundred fifty miles to go before he runs out of juice. Once that happens, he can't do anything or go anywhere,” the doctor explained.

“You still can't do anything like install a kill switch or disconnect him. He's wise to that. He just won't let you into the car,” Barry informed the doctor.

“We'll worry about that later. When he runs out of power, we'll have him towed back to the lab and figure something out. I just want his running around lose,” the doctor told Barry.

“Ahh, so you don't trust him. You're concerned about leaving an irrationally brain-controlled car running the streets,” Barry interpreted the doctor's statement.

“No...well, well maybe a little but this has to work. There just a few bugs to iron out,” the doctor answered.

“A few bugs... yeah,” Barry unceremoniously replied.

They finally caught sight of the car and stayed back so its machine vision didn't spot them. The two men ended up following the car for the next few hours to outside of LA.

“I wondered what he's up to here?” Barry asked.

“He should be about out of power,” the doctor admitted. As Barry followed him, he pulled into an electrical station. They pulled across the street and stopped to watch. “Now how's he going to pull this off?”

Cameron pulled up next to one of the pumps and stopped. Almost immediately there were bolts of electricity going from the plug on the pump to the receptacle on the car, through the air. The car sat there for five minutes and was done. They assumed it was fully charged.

“Alright now we have a problem. He's not going to stop on his own. We'll have to find a way,” Espisitto acknowledged. “Just keep following him.”

In a few miles the car entered a rundown section of town and parked. It seemed to know what it was doing. It was waiting so they waited too. After three hours, a man walked out of a building and went to cross the road. Cameron suddenly pulled away from the curb and struck the man bouncing him off another parked car. Cameron turned then in the middle of the street and drove back only to roll over the man still lying there.

“Oh God... not what I wanted to see,” Dr. Espisitto cried as he blessed himself.

“He's on a killing spree. This is his second one. I think nothing short of a bazooka is going to stop him,” Barry spouted.

“A small EMP perhaps...” the doctor thought out loud.

“Yeah, that's the answer... a small atomic explosion. I think the bazooka might be a better answer,” Barry ridiculed sarcastically.

“The two people he killed with the car seem to have been singled out. Probably people that put him into prison,” the doctor surmised.

“And that helps us out...how?' the associate questioned the doctor.

The doctor was floundering. He had no idea what to do. They followed the car but at this rate the car could go on and on indefinitely. It only had to suck out electricity at a charging station and not even pay for it. If they were going to follow the car, they'd sure as heck have to drive in shifts.

As they followed the car there seemed to be a no rhyme or reason to its journey. It had no concern for traffic lights or if there were people in the cross walks. It just went, often scattering people in it wake.

“You know it's interesting doc. We're following a car controlled by the mind of someone who was a serial killer... a sociopath... someone without morals. We're actually watching him firsthand, interact in his environment, even though he's part of a car now. He's still a sociopath. You claim it was environmental conditions that made him what he was and now that hasl changed, he'd be different. Maybe it is genetic. Maybe that thing that makes someone not want to conform to society's morals is genetic. Somewhere at the beginning... at conception, or something... the code that said this is what you will be was or wasn't there,” Barry suggested as they followed the electric car.

“I don't believe that. I think we just haven't found that one thing that will socialize him yet,” the doctor replied.

“Argue all you want, you know you could be wrong,” the driver told him.

The doctor didn't like being told he might be wrong. You could tell as he dropped into silence. He liked to think he was omniscient; Barry was coming to believe. Some of his work in the past was suspected of being fudged somewhat to support his hypothesis. Some of the figures just weren't quite right. A lot of scientists like him, had been known for skewing the numbers a little, to prove their point because there was that same attitude... they knew too much, they couldn't possibly be wrong.

Cameron tore through another section and hit a woman's cart, loaded with groceries, sending vegetables and cans all over the intersection, almost hitting her.

“Did you see that? I think that car just tried to hit that woman,” Barry shouted as he took a wide sweep around the woman and her things scattered on the ground.

“Surely you're wrong. I think that was just an accident,” he commented to Barry, who just gave a side glance and then shook his head in disbelief.

“We're going to have to call a couple of the others on the team to take over for us following that car. We can't be going on non-stop. That thing doesn't have a physical body that gets tired... I do. You don't drive so we're going to have to find a way to pass our surveillance off to someone else,” Barry recommended.

The doctor put a call into the team at the lab and told him the plan. Both Ruby and Zach offered to take the next shift in two hours. They'd head towards whatever coordinates the doctor gave them and try to catch up then.

“I'd like to catch up with that asshole,” Ruby told Zach after she disconnected the phone. I think it needs to be stopped.”

Cameron was taking a wide sweep of the city and still seemed aimless as where he was going. Barry didn't know whether to call the car him or it. He didn't think it deserved the satisfaction of giving it any kind of human identification, yet it was acting unlike an intelligently driven vehicle. The car had no identity but the troubled brain directing it was given it one of evil. The car was Cameron's tool for conducting anything he wanted. It was worse because the vehicle ran quietly like some potentially silent death trap. People couldn't hear it coming, they had to see it and take response.

Just then the car Barry was following took a turn to the right but over the curb and hit an older man, sending him flying into traffic coming into the intersection he avoided. If he wasn't killed with the impact, there was definitely serious injury. Barry turned at the light and sped up to catch up. Looking in his review mirror, the traffic had stopped, and pedestrians were already assembling at the scene. The stupid car was an innocuous white. If it were a brighter color perhaps it would be more likely to be noticed and eventually stopped with some sort of barricade or something.

“You see, doc. That car just took someone out intentionally. It might be a disembodied brain but it's still a killer. All we did was give it the ability to kill more efficiently,” Barry admonished him.

“That was just an accident,” he replied.

“He jumped the curb and took that guy out on the sidewalk. How was that an accident?” Barry asked but the doctor said nothing.

Later, the doctor called in the coordinates so Ruby and Zach could attempt to take over the tail. When they got there, he gave them new coordinates. When at those, he told them the direction they were headed and what road. Hopefully they could use a map on their phone to intersect with them ahead of Cameron and take over.

Ten minutes later, they successfully caught up to them and relieved Barry.

“Watch this guy. He took out a pedestrian and actually performed a hit earlier on someone. I think he's still a serial killer but one controlling a car now,” Barry told her.

“Will do. With two of us driving we should be able to get eight hours in until someone else relieves us,” she informed Barry.

“I wish you wouldn't talk like that about Cameron,” the doctor expressed himself as they turned to drive back to the lab.

“How am I supposed to talk about it?” Barry answered disgustedly at the doctor's attitude.

It was dark later when Barry got a call from Ruby. She woke him from his sleep he was trying to get. He wanted to be one of the relief drivers for her when she and Zach were ready to rest.

“Barry... Cameron has been sitting near a few bars for the past two hours since it got dark. I'm not sure what he's up to. It looks like he's just waiting for something,” she told her team member.

“That was part of his MO when he was hunting down prospects to kill. He followed them from the bars at night... stalked them until he was ready to kill them. That's probably what he's doing. I don't know how you can possibly stop him until he's doing something before it's too late. We have to stop that thing. Espisitto isn't going to do a damn thing about it,” he told her.

Damn, now he was awake and concerned. He would have a hard time now trying to get rest. Barry guessed it was time to put on a large pot of coffee and start living on that. He went to his kitchen and ground some beans and started the old percolator pot he had. It made the best coffee, better than any machine they had on the market. These new things seemed to take the taste out of the rich beans... especially the processed coffee in little pucks or even freshly ground coffee added to the filters where newly heated water dropped through it. No, it had been coffee made in an impresso pot, or perked.

A little while later he got another call from Ruby, but this time it was frantic.

“The son-of-a-bitch just ran down a couple walking out of the bar to their car. He waited until they were in the street and ran them down. I pulled out to follow him and when I realized what he was going to do, I was going to start blowing the horn but before I could do it, he hit them and took off. I didn't know whether to stop or keep going after him. I made the decision to go after him, but I called 911 and reported it as a hit and run,” she told Barry. “And Barry, I gave the police his license number.”

“I think you did the right thing. We need to keep up with that car until we can stop it. If we lose it, he might do a lot more damage. Don't lose him. Call me when you need to,” Barry told her. He didn't think the car knew he was being followed. He wondered if it would make a difference. If he put a call into the police about a serial killer car running amuck, they wouldn't take him seriously. At least Ruby had the foresight to report the license number so the police could watch for him. They'd investigate and call the lab since the the car was registered and licensed there. He knew they'd end up talking to Espisitto and he would try to cover for the car... he just knew it.

Another call from Ruby came in an hour later.

“Barry... Cameron just hit someone else. He's on some spree. I called it in but I'm going to get right on his ass and pressure him. Maybe he'll just keep trying to get away and won't hunt anyone else down,” she told him.

“Alright, but be careful, you don't know what he might do. Where are you now, I'm going to drive out there and try to meet up with you? Keep me apprised of your location and hopefully we'll finally intersect,” Barry told her as he went for his jacket and filled a thermos, he pulled from the kitchen cabinet to fill with coffee.

Cameron took off like a bat out of hell once he realized someone was following him. At least pushing Cameron like this would keep him from stopping at a charging station and he couldn't go as fast as the Ruby's gas car. He'd have to lose her first and Ruby, he knew, would be hard to lose. She was a pit bull.

Eventually Barry got closer to Ruby's coordinates. She was on the move, so it was more difficult to try and track. Cameron was trying to lose her, so he was moving in all kinds of zigzag patterns down various streets... going down alley ways and making about faces to lose her.

He knew now she was straight ahead and both of them were heading down a street perpendicular to where he was. It looked like he would catch up to them at the next intersection. It was two in the morning now and not a lot of traffic, thank goodness, on the street... or people. He slowed at the intersection and watched. They'd have to pass in front of him unless Cameron veered off somewhere.

Then he saw Cameron in the lead coming up from his right. He was planning on running the light that had just turned red. Barry watched as Cameron sped right into the path of a large gas tanker truck, as it was headed towards Barry on the road he was sitting. The big truck made mincemeat of the electric car which offered little to no protection to its drivers in an accident. Pieces of Cameron were spread all over the intersection as the truck stopped and Ruby pulled off to the side.

The press conference was meant to disseminate information on the success or failure of the experiment publicly. Barry and the rest of the team wondered what the doctor would reveal.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Doctor Randolph Espisitto. On behalf of all of us with BartStar, I would like to welcome you here today, and to fill you in on where we are on the development of our self-driving electric car. I know there's been a lot of conjecture and intimation on exactly what we were doing here but it's about time certain things were made public and help you gain an understanding of how critical this technology will be for years to come, in every industry. What we proposed and what we have developed is revolutionary.

Most people thought the future of anything like the self-driving car would be something tied intrinsically to artificial intelligence. At BartStar we went a step ahead by having the first human brain self-driving car,” this created a stir and so Espisitto waited a moment for things to quiet.

When he cleared his throat and tapped the microphone the room became attentive and quieted.

“A few months ago, we became the recipients of a human brain transferred immediately upon death to a specially designed container to house the brain. It was connected through lab created neural networks and interconnected to the car though a bio-interface, allowing the brain to communicate with the car, and vice versa. Machine vision allowed it to see and make snap decisions just as a human driver would, but better. Interfacing with a GPS system it knew where to go and make the best qualified decisions in even of bad weather.

Ladies and gentlemen... I am standing here in front of you today to tell you our efforts have been a resounding success,” he shouted raising his arms above him in a gesture of triumph.

The team looked at each other in disbelief. All the crap had been washed. He wasn't about to tell the public there were serious issues. It would destroy his funding and it hurt the pockets of the board of directors. The military and politicians would be upset and certain it would affect BartStar's credibility and its future going public.

“Ladies and gentlemen. I would like you to see the car that will change our future... Cameron. Cameron would you come out here and greet our audience?” the doctor requested.

The curtains parted behind the doctor as the car drove out and spoke.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I am Cameron...” the car announced.

Somehow the brain survived the crash in the container where it was, but will we all survive the car?