Read Online Division Zero by Matthew S. Cox - Free Book Online

its opposite. I don’t think man-made gods and satans have anything to do with it. No more than Old Man Winter makes it cold in December or a rabbit runs around and craps eggs on your holographic lawn in the spring.” Her face reddened. “Cold is cold because that’s how nature works. The light and the dark are the same thing… just intangibly so.”
    Dorian grinned. Kirsten got as passionate about debunking religion as her mother had been about beating it into her. He stopped short of saying it, not wanting to make her that angry.
    “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
    After she calmed, she walked up to the techies crowded around what remained of the doll. A number of portable machines ringed the area, connected via wires to points inside the open faceplate. Forensic techs lifted blood samples from its arms and holovids from the surrounding area. Dorian followed her over to the pack of techies, busy among a milieu of various scanners, wires, and portable workstations.
    She walked up and looked them over. “Who’s in charge of this?”
    A thirtyish woman in a grey-blue jumpsuit stood up to clasp hands, throwing some of her black hair off her face with shake of her head. “Chief Technical Officer Li Xiao.”
    Ugh. CTO… we’re the same rank. Am I supposed to salute? Shit, she’s shaking hands. Run with it.
    “Agent Kirsten Wren,” she replied. “What have you found?”
    Li folded her arms over a datapad. “It’s an Intera Corporation Model 3A domestic; a fairly run of the mill unit for this sort of work. Rudimentary AI, no personality, It’s basically a Vac-Droid with legs. The system logs indicate an Abend occurred about two minutes before the security vids show the doll going crazy. The recording of internal memory stopped with the Abend; like it powered off.”
    Kirsten lifted a single eyebrow. “Abend?”
    Tech Xiao rolled her eyes. “Abnormal end, unexpected shutdown.”
    “Couldn’t a hacker have killed the onboard systems? These dolls have a wireless connection to the hotel network, don’t they?”
    “Yes, that’s possible… but if a hacker was involved, the memory would still have recorded the event. Most dolls save audio and video logs from their surroundings for liability reasons; this model keeps the most recent three hours.”
    “You sound like you’re trying to will the situation into
not
being something for you to handle.” Dorian teased.
    Kirsten sighed. “Just being thorough.”
    “Understood,” said Li. “Anything else you need from me or my team?”
    “Are these A3 domestics often equipped with motor boosts that make them strong enough to crush a person with one punch?”
    Xiao’s eyebrows lifted as she shook her head. “No way. It’s illegal for a sub-sentient unit like this to have its strength boosted to such levels. Even the self-aware AI’s, with citizenship, have to get permits. I’m not sure why you’re asking. This particular unit has no strength augmentation, just basic Myofiber. It’s only about as strong as an average adult man.”
    Kirsten looked at the spot where the housekeeper’s ghost had been. “Did you review the security footage? It killed the housekeeper with one punch. I could see the wall through the hole.”
    Hesitating, Li’s eyes traced to the main door and then back to Kirsten. “But the body was removed an hour ago… how did you…”
    “Her ghost was still over there.” Kirsten pointed over her shoulder with a thumb.
    Li’s voice traced off to a whisper. “They said old lady… I figured her for a frail older woman.”
    “She might have been fifty, and far from frail. She took one heck of a punch. What about the other victims, the survivors? Do their injuries line up with how strong this doll
should
have been?”
    “I haven’t seen any of the victims, Agent Wren, I’m picking through circuits. The medical crew left with the bodies before I got here. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
    “Not right this second, but please