G.L.O.V.E. got up to behind the scenes. She was more the practical, problem-solving or, more accurately, problem-eliminating type.
Nero saw Professor Pike and Laura Brand hurrying across the landing pad towards them, and he tried to put concerns over Diabolus’s condition and what it meant for G.L.O.V.E. to one side. He had a school to run too.
‘Professor, Miss Brand,’ Nero said with a nod of acknowledgement as they approached, ‘is there something I can do for you?’
‘I believe Laura has made a breakthrough in solving what is going wrong with the school’s systems,’ the Professor said quickly.
‘I see,’ Nero said. ‘Is it something that can wait until the morning?’ Nero would never admit it in front of one of his pupils, but it had been a very long day and he needed to get at least a few hours’ sleep. An aura of inhuman endurance could be a difficult thing to maintain at times.
‘No, I don’t think it can,’ Professor Pike said, shaking his head. ‘We may be running out of time.’
‘What happened?’ Trent said angrily, looking through the thick glass at the technicians and medics gathered around Otto’s unconscious body.
‘We’re not sure,’ Dr Creed replied nervously. ‘His biometric readings looked fine and then suddenly his neural activity went off the charts. A few moments later the Animus fluid became temporarily inert, almost as if it was shut down.’
‘You assured me that Animus was immune to these sorts of problems,’ Trent replied, sounding impatient.
‘It is – well, it should be,’ Creed replied. ‘We know that Animus was probably conceived as an organic computer system that would be immune to any form of electronic disruption, specifically the electromagnetic pulse that accompanies a nuclear detonation. That’s the beauty of an organic supercomputer – it is self-replicating and self-repairing. In theory, even if only a tiny amount of the fluid survives an attempt to destroy it, the whole system will be able to rebuild itself. I would love to meet its original designer.’
‘I’m afraid that will not be possible. He died some time ago,’ Trent replied.
‘The nano-technology alone is a quantum leap ahead of anything anyone else has been able to achieve. We are still years away from being able to create nanites that allow even limited movement or such rapid replication. With it as fully integrated and in the boy’s nervous system as it is now, he should be entirely subject to our control . . . programmable.’
‘I know all of this, Doctor, and none of it explains what happened today,’ Trent said. ‘The boy is too valuable an asset for this sort of failure. I need to be sure that he is reliable.’
‘I understand,’ Creed replied. ‘Rest assured that my team and I will be working around the clock to fix this.’
‘See that you do,’ Trent said coldly. ‘No mistakes, Creed. You would be a difficult, but not impossible, man to replace.’
‘Yes . . . sir,’ Creed replied, swallowing nervously.
Trent walked out of the medical bay with an irritated scowl on his face. The Malpense boy had to be operating at full efficiency. It was essential if he was going to continue with his mission to eliminate G.L.O.V.E. Without him they lost their penetration of G.L.O.V.E.’s communication network, which would make locating their targets next to impossible, given that they were a group of people who had made careers out of being difficult to find.
Ghost was waiting just outside the door and fell into step alongside Trent as he stalked away down the corridor.
‘Do they know what caused the boy to go off-mission yet?’ she asked as they walked.
‘No, but Creed assures me that it’s only a matter of time until they do,’ Trent said. ‘I take it that you experienced no such problems.’
‘My implants functioned perfectly,’ she replied, ‘but it would not have mattered that Malpense did not carry out his mission correctly if I had succeeded in
Nero saw Professor Pike and Laura Brand hurrying across the landing pad towards them, and he tried to put concerns over Diabolus’s condition and what it meant for G.L.O.V.E. to one side. He had a school to run too.
‘Professor, Miss Brand,’ Nero said with a nod of acknowledgement as they approached, ‘is there something I can do for you?’
‘I believe Laura has made a breakthrough in solving what is going wrong with the school’s systems,’ the Professor said quickly.
‘I see,’ Nero said. ‘Is it something that can wait until the morning?’ Nero would never admit it in front of one of his pupils, but it had been a very long day and he needed to get at least a few hours’ sleep. An aura of inhuman endurance could be a difficult thing to maintain at times.
‘No, I don’t think it can,’ Professor Pike said, shaking his head. ‘We may be running out of time.’
‘What happened?’ Trent said angrily, looking through the thick glass at the technicians and medics gathered around Otto’s unconscious body.
‘We’re not sure,’ Dr Creed replied nervously. ‘His biometric readings looked fine and then suddenly his neural activity went off the charts. A few moments later the Animus fluid became temporarily inert, almost as if it was shut down.’
‘You assured me that Animus was immune to these sorts of problems,’ Trent replied, sounding impatient.
‘It is – well, it should be,’ Creed replied. ‘We know that Animus was probably conceived as an organic computer system that would be immune to any form of electronic disruption, specifically the electromagnetic pulse that accompanies a nuclear detonation. That’s the beauty of an organic supercomputer – it is self-replicating and self-repairing. In theory, even if only a tiny amount of the fluid survives an attempt to destroy it, the whole system will be able to rebuild itself. I would love to meet its original designer.’
‘I’m afraid that will not be possible. He died some time ago,’ Trent replied.
‘The nano-technology alone is a quantum leap ahead of anything anyone else has been able to achieve. We are still years away from being able to create nanites that allow even limited movement or such rapid replication. With it as fully integrated and in the boy’s nervous system as it is now, he should be entirely subject to our control . . . programmable.’
‘I know all of this, Doctor, and none of it explains what happened today,’ Trent said. ‘The boy is too valuable an asset for this sort of failure. I need to be sure that he is reliable.’
‘I understand,’ Creed replied. ‘Rest assured that my team and I will be working around the clock to fix this.’
‘See that you do,’ Trent said coldly. ‘No mistakes, Creed. You would be a difficult, but not impossible, man to replace.’
‘Yes . . . sir,’ Creed replied, swallowing nervously.
Trent walked out of the medical bay with an irritated scowl on his face. The Malpense boy had to be operating at full efficiency. It was essential if he was going to continue with his mission to eliminate G.L.O.V.E. Without him they lost their penetration of G.L.O.V.E.’s communication network, which would make locating their targets next to impossible, given that they were a group of people who had made careers out of being difficult to find.
Ghost was waiting just outside the door and fell into step alongside Trent as he stalked away down the corridor.
‘Do they know what caused the boy to go off-mission yet?’ she asked as they walked.
‘No, but Creed assures me that it’s only a matter of time until they do,’ Trent said. ‘I take it that you experienced no such problems.’
‘My implants functioned perfectly,’ she replied, ‘but it would not have mattered that Malpense did not carry out his mission correctly if I had succeeded in
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