it wasn’t going to be anything the size of an Almasti. Maybe it would just be a snake, or a beetle, or something.
A few days away in a place he liked with a bunch of kids whose company he enjoyed? And presumably paid as well? What could go wrong?
CHAPTER four
T he car was arriving at seven o’clock in the morning to pick up Calum and Tara.
Tara had slept in one of Calum’s spare rooms, and she had stayed up late working on ARLENE at Calum’s request: deleting all information from the robot’s memory on where they
had used it. Seven o’clock in the morning was a lot earlier than she normally got up. When she came out of the bathroom ten minutes before the car was due, she was rubbing her eyes –
smearing her heavy eyeliner – and yawning.
‘Sleep OK?’ Calum asked, sipping at the breakfast smoothie he had made himself. He had been awake for a while.
‘Uh, I guess,’ she slurred. ‘I kinda stayed up, checking stuff out on the internet. I’ve got a lot of background material on Hong Kong and the Triads that I can give to
Rhino, Gecko and Natalie before they go.’ She winced. ‘I think I lost track of time.’
‘What time did you
actually
go to sleep?’
‘About an hour ago.’
He raised an eyebrow and slid another smoothie across to her. ‘
A
couple of times I thought I heard you laughing. I guess that research must have been pretty funny, huh?’
She blushed, and wouldn’t meet his gaze. ‘OK, I also got emailing with this guy I know. He was awake as well.’
‘
A
guy? You mean you were laughing and joking with an actual male person?’ He stopped and thought for a minute. ‘In
my
apartment?’
‘It’s not like he was actually
here
.’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘It’s exactly the point.’ She glanced at him suspiciously. ‘Besides, what were
you
doing awake so late?’
He wouldn’t look at her. ‘I kept waking up.’
‘Worried about today?’
He shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it.
‘It’ll be OK, you know?’ she said.
He nodded. ‘I suppose it will. I just don’t want to get my hopes up.’
She nodded. ‘I can understand that.’ She hesitated, putting her head to one side and staring at him. ‘The problem is, I think, that you want success to be all or
nothing.’
Her words stung him, because he’d come to the same conclusion himself, lying awake in bed, but he just scowled and said, ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I mean that you either want to be completely cured of your paralysis or not cured at all. You don’t want to have to compromise with a half-solution that still leaves you with
problems.’
‘And you’re a psychologist now, as well as being a computer programmer?’
‘Hey,’ she said, smiling, ‘if the brain is just an advanced computer, then the two are essentially the same thing, aren’t they?’
‘No,’ he said firmly, ‘they aren’t, and you know it. Computer programmers deal in hard facts and testable algorithms, while psychologists just make good guesses based on
what people tell them and then try to pretend they have some big theory that backs it all up.’
‘Actually, I think that’s “psych
iatrists
, rather than psych
ologists
, but I know what you mean.’ She bit her lip briefly. ‘Did you ever . . . you know
. . . see a psychiatrist after the . . . the crash?’
He laughed bitterly. ‘“I keep seeing purple cows. Am I going mad?” “Tell me, have you seen a psychiatrist?” “No, only purple cows”.’
‘Look, if you don’t want to answer the question . . .’
He shook his head. ‘Sorry. I have a bad habit of getting sarcastic when someone asks me something personal. It’s a defence mechanism.’
‘You don’t say!’ she murmured innocently.
He glared at her, and then had to smile. She was just trying to help, he knew that. ‘Yes, I saw a psychiatrist for a while. Gillian arranged it. “Trauma counselling”, she
called it.’
‘Did it help?’
He shook his head,
A few days away in a place he liked with a bunch of kids whose company he enjoyed? And presumably paid as well? What could go wrong?
CHAPTER four
T he car was arriving at seven o’clock in the morning to pick up Calum and Tara.
Tara had slept in one of Calum’s spare rooms, and she had stayed up late working on ARLENE at Calum’s request: deleting all information from the robot’s memory on where they
had used it. Seven o’clock in the morning was a lot earlier than she normally got up. When she came out of the bathroom ten minutes before the car was due, she was rubbing her eyes –
smearing her heavy eyeliner – and yawning.
‘Sleep OK?’ Calum asked, sipping at the breakfast smoothie he had made himself. He had been awake for a while.
‘Uh, I guess,’ she slurred. ‘I kinda stayed up, checking stuff out on the internet. I’ve got a lot of background material on Hong Kong and the Triads that I can give to
Rhino, Gecko and Natalie before they go.’ She winced. ‘I think I lost track of time.’
‘What time did you
actually
go to sleep?’
‘About an hour ago.’
He raised an eyebrow and slid another smoothie across to her. ‘
A
couple of times I thought I heard you laughing. I guess that research must have been pretty funny, huh?’
She blushed, and wouldn’t meet his gaze. ‘OK, I also got emailing with this guy I know. He was awake as well.’
‘
A
guy? You mean you were laughing and joking with an actual male person?’ He stopped and thought for a minute. ‘In
my
apartment?’
‘It’s not like he was actually
here
.’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘It’s exactly the point.’ She glanced at him suspiciously. ‘Besides, what were
you
doing awake so late?’
He wouldn’t look at her. ‘I kept waking up.’
‘Worried about today?’
He shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it.
‘It’ll be OK, you know?’ she said.
He nodded. ‘I suppose it will. I just don’t want to get my hopes up.’
She nodded. ‘I can understand that.’ She hesitated, putting her head to one side and staring at him. ‘The problem is, I think, that you want success to be all or
nothing.’
Her words stung him, because he’d come to the same conclusion himself, lying awake in bed, but he just scowled and said, ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I mean that you either want to be completely cured of your paralysis or not cured at all. You don’t want to have to compromise with a half-solution that still leaves you with
problems.’
‘And you’re a psychologist now, as well as being a computer programmer?’
‘Hey,’ she said, smiling, ‘if the brain is just an advanced computer, then the two are essentially the same thing, aren’t they?’
‘No,’ he said firmly, ‘they aren’t, and you know it. Computer programmers deal in hard facts and testable algorithms, while psychologists just make good guesses based on
what people tell them and then try to pretend they have some big theory that backs it all up.’
‘Actually, I think that’s “psych
iatrists
, rather than psych
ologists
, but I know what you mean.’ She bit her lip briefly. ‘Did you ever . . . you know
. . . see a psychiatrist after the . . . the crash?’
He laughed bitterly. ‘“I keep seeing purple cows. Am I going mad?” “Tell me, have you seen a psychiatrist?” “No, only purple cows”.’
‘Look, if you don’t want to answer the question . . .’
He shook his head. ‘Sorry. I have a bad habit of getting sarcastic when someone asks me something personal. It’s a defence mechanism.’
‘You don’t say!’ she murmured innocently.
He glared at her, and then had to smile. She was just trying to help, he knew that. ‘Yes, I saw a psychiatrist for a while. Gillian arranged it. “Trauma counselling”, she
called it.’
‘Did it help?’
He shook his head,
Similar Books
