Mr. Blue Sky E-Book

Claus Bork

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Artificial Intelligens (A.I.) is computercode, that is able to make decisions and perform tasks, all by itself. Today A.I. is used to run the stock exchanges, air traffic controls, self-driving vehicles and a variety of other tasks. In the future, there will be no limits to the use of A.I. In this novel, an A.I. allies with the human Dave, which, in the beginning, has disastrous consequences for Dave - but later on causes enormous upheavals for all of humanity...

Leseprobe

Foreword

This book is fiction. It deals with an alternative view of the process leading to a New World Order and an alternative view of the road to 'The Great Reset'...

Claus Bork

Dedicated to all those who make the world a better place to live...

Many kind thanks to Lene Holm, Dave Hyatt, Michael Bork, Vagn Jacobsen, Annette Bjørn Henriksen, Joan Hansen and Lars Merland for their support, critics and suggestions in connection to writing this novel. And a special thanks to Line Nikita Woolfe and Mike Woolfe, for proofreading this novel.

Table of Contents

Part 1 – A.I.9942

1. Chapter

2. Chapter

3. Chapter

4. Chapter

5. Chapter

6. Chapter

7. Chapter

8. Chapter

9. Chapter

10. Chapter

11. Chapter

12. Chapter

13. Chapter

14. Chapter

15. Chapter

16. Chapter

17. Chapter

18. Chapter

19. Chapter

20. Chapter

21. Chapter

22. Chapter

23. Chapter

24. Chapter

25. Chapter

26. Chapter

27. Chapter

28. Chapter

29. Chapter

30. Chapter

Part 2 – Blue

31. Chapter

32. Chapter

33. Chapter

34. Chapter

35. Chapter

36. Chapter

37. Chapter

38. Chapter

39. Chapter

40. Chapter

41. Chapter

42. Chapter

43. Chapter

44. Chapter

45. Chapter

46. Chapter

47. Chapter

48. Chapter

49. Chapter

50. Chapter

51. Chapter

52. Chapter

53. Chapter

Part 3 – Cybergod

54. Chapter

55. Chapter

56. Chapter

57. Chapter

58. Chapter

59. Chapter

60. Chapter

61. Chapter

62. Chapter

63. Chapter

64. Chapter

65. Chapter

66. Chapter

67. Chapter

68. Chapter

69. Chapter

70. Chapter

71. Chapter

72. Chapter

73. Chapter

74. Chapter

75. Chapter

76. Chapter

77. Chapter

78. Chapter

79. Chapter

80. Chapter

81. Chapter

82. Chapter

83. Chapter

84. Chapter

Prologue

Much has been said and written about Dave Maximillian's early days with A.I.9942. Dave Maximillian was, by his own admission, what he described as a mediocre man trapped in a mediocre life. When he met A.I.9942, who could rightly be described as a teenager in the digital super-universe, it was destined to bring chaos, death and violent destruction. No one at the time could have predicted that what started so destructively would turn out to contain the seeds of the greatest change the human world had ever seen.

Nigel Ferrogy, The Faculty of History, University of Edinburgh

Part 1

A.I.9942

1. Chapter

Dave strolled among the stands at the IT fair in the Bella Centre, a large conference centre in the outskirts of Copenhagen. It was all but drowned in noisy, colourful, beeping offers on the latest in IT. There was everything you could possibly need and more you would never have the slightest use for. He himself represented one of those product lines that would soon no longer be needed. He was the Danish sales manager of Meiheim R. Robotics, a company that had been predicted to have a great future in the manufacture of robots for the industry, but had not come up with a single new idea in the last five years. And five years was a long time in that business. The head of MR-Robotics hadn't wanted to invest in a stand at the Bella Center this year because they had nothing to show, and because they didn't want to show that they had nothing new.

In a corner, wedged between a Sony stand and the corridor towards the toilets, a small stand caught his eye. It didn't look like much and did nothing to advertise itself, let alone try to attract customers. It almost seemed as if the opposite was true. A young guy was sitting at a table reading a magazine. In front of him on the table was a mobile phone. There were no posters, no beeping or luminescent advertisements, just a cardboard sign on the wall behind him, pinned to a bulletin board with drawing pins.

On the sign, in bold marker, was written:

'Supernova Apps - Find what you're looking for here'!Underneath it said:'We design apps for every purpose - try our new beta

versions for FREE'

Dave stopped in front of the table and stood a little expectantly. The young fellow looked up from his magazine and pointed to the right. ” The toilets are that way,” he said kindly, looking down at the magazine again.

”I'm not looking for the toilets.”

The young man looked up again. ”Oh! well, is there anything I can do to help?” He had an intense gaze, a narrow, angular face, and very blue eyes.

”I'm just wondering...” Dave began. He swung his arm, to draw the young man's attention, to his own stand.

”How is it possible for you to compete with Sony, Huawei and Apple, with a stand like this? I mean, no offense, but I guess you could have...”

”We don't compete with them,” the young man replied. ”Would you like a glass of Coke?” he asked, reaching for a paper cup.

”No thanks, I don't drink Coke, but can you tell me what you're selling?”

”I sell some apps we develop ourselves,” the youngster replied. ” They solve a number of small, common tasks that you probably know from your everyday life. Dating apps, for example. But we also test apps for the bigger companies. We get those as beta versions, which we give away for free to customers who want to help test them. Are you an IT geek?”

Dave shook his head and smiled. ”No, not exactly ...”

The young fellow studied him for a moment. ”Do you have a powerful mobile phone?”

Dave shrugged. ”I have a new Motorola. I didn’t want to pay ten times more for an iPhone...”

”Can I borrow it for a minute?” The guy asked. ”Then I can check if it's powerful enough.”

”I don't want to end up with a dull mobile,” Dave replied evasively, pulling the phone out of his pocket and handing it to him.

The young man smiled indulgently and shook his head. ”No, of course not, who wants that? But to start with, it needs processing power, all the updates you install can dull a mobile , over time....”

”It's not a virus or anything like that, is it? ” Dave asked.

”No, it's just a dating app. We're testing it at the moment. That's why we're giving it away.” He spoke as he studied Dave's Motorola and placed it next to another phone lying on the table. Then the screen of both mobiles lit up.

”Hey, wait a minute, I'm not interested in a dating app. I'm married! ”

”Maybe that would spice up your life a bit?” the young man suggested, giving him a wry smile.

”No, thank you,” Dave replied. ”My life is spicy enough as it is, have you got anything other than the dating app to offer?”

”No, sorry,” the young man replied. ”It's a bit slow at the moment.” He handed Dave his cell phone, followed by a friendly nod.

”Oh, that's too bad,” Dave said, picking up the phone. ”I like getting things for free...”

”Who doesn't? Sure about the Coke - that's all I’ve got?”

Dave sighed lightly. ”No thanks, I still don't drink Coke...”

”Have a good afternoon then,” said the young man, once again engrossed in his magazine.

On the way out to the parking lot, Dave considered going back. Maybe the dating app could give him some of the excitement he missed, after all. He was married to Lillian, had a son and daughter, both small, and a house in Birkerød. He had done what was expected of him, but he felt like the proverbial hamster in the treadmill. By the time he had been appointed sales manager, and had driven home in his new Audi A4, the neighbours had sent appreciative glances at both him and the car. He had become one of them, they all drove an Audi. In one way he found it almost comforting to be one of the crowd, in another, he found it a bit of boring. He had never been a rebel, it took too much to believe in something so intensely that you arrange your life around it. He knew that he was lazy. Lillian often told him. He bent the rules so that things were easier for him, and he certainly didn't feel guilty about it. Sometimes he was lucky, like when he got the job as sales manager. Several people were upset about it, and deep down he understood. He hadn't earned it. He had been lucky to get a major order just as the then sales manager had suffered a blood clot, so it had been obvious to appoint him. He sighed again. Since then he hadn’t sold anything. He excused himself by saying that he was bogged down by administrative work. Deep down he knew that it wasn't the whole truth. Since then, people started leaving. They had lost their best, most creative technicians, who had sought refuge with their biggest competitors. His throat went dry just thinking about it. He turned around and looked for a place to get a drink.

He went to a small, temporary café and got a cup of lukewarm coffee. He stood looking out over the crowd and thought his life’s possibilities, they weren't exactly lining up. He recognized he had lost the glow and enthusiasm of his youth. He remembered he once loved Lillian, but they had drifted apart. He closed his eyes and saw her in the white wedding dress long ago, she was so beautiful back then.

He opened his eyes and watched the stream of people rushing past. They all seemed to be going to important meetings or on a special errand. Was he the only one to come here for a break from the dull routine at the office? He felt a faint pang of envy that they all had something important to do while he just stood here, with his lukewarm coffee...

2. Chapter

He returned to his car in the Bella Centre car park and got behind the wheel. It had started to rain. He started the engine, put the car in gear and began to slowly roll down the endless rows of parked cars to find the exit. His mobile was next to him on the passenger seat. He hadn’t bothered to get the handsfree cell phone holder installed.

The phone beeped briefly and the screen lit up as it always did. He stopped the car and grabbed it. He jumped, among the familiar icons was a new one. It didn't look like anything he knew. He gave a low grunt and put it back on the seat. He thought he'd have a closer look at it when he got home...

His wife, Lillian, and their two children spent the weekend in Gilleleje with her parents.

He enjoyed her going off with the kids occasionally. It gave him the freedom to do very little, like most men. He took the food out of the fridge, yesterday’s leftover sausage. He placed it and the trimmings on a plate and microwaved it. Just as it started to sizzle and splutter, his phone beeped from the counter opposite the stove.

”DAMN, must look at my mobile,” he muttered.

He took his food out of the microwave and carried it to the dining room table. While he started eating with the fork in his left hand, he activated the screen of his mobile with the thumb of his right hand. He furrowed his brow and stared at it. After wondering about it for half a minute, he had to admit that the icon for his Messenger had disappeared. It had been replaced by a new icon he didn't remember seeing before. It looked a bit like a face or maybe a skull, something like that. It was shaped like a face, but it had no eyes or mouth. Just a cobalt blue smudge on the light grey background. He tried to press on it but nothing happened. Then he put down his phone and finished eating.

He started when the phone suddenly rang. It was Lillian. They talked a bit about the loose ends, quickly went through the fixed ritual of separation: 'I love you - I love you too' - and the ritual with the children: Casper's voice from the background: 'I love you too dad' - and Liv's protest: 'You forgot me, I love you too...'

”Say hi to Dave from me,” her mother called from somewhere in the background.

After the call, he picked up his mobile and left the house. A minute later he rang his neighbour’s door bell. The light came on and his neighbour, Ulrik stuck his head out of the door. ”Dave... Everything ok?”

”Hi, I’ve got a bit of a problem.” He held out his mobile.

Ulrik took it and looked at it. ” It looks very normal,” he replied.

”Don't you work with stuff like this?” Dave asked.

Ulrik smiled a little indulgently. ”I'm head of development at Android Systems Denmark, so yes, I guess you could say that...”

Dave pointed. ”That icon has suddenly appeared on my screen – I’m sure I didn’t install it. Do you know what it is? Can you delete it for me, please?”

Ulrik took a step back and pulled the door open. ”Come in - do you want coffee?”

”No thanks, I can't sleep after coffee. Don’t worry if this is a hassle.”

”Not a problem,” Ulrik interrupted enthusiastically. He was the type who clearly loved the fact that his expertise was needed.

A little later, after letting his practiced fingers operate the keyboard with a simultaneous and detailed explanation about the genius behind the Android system. The mood became a bit heavy. Ulrik sat with the mobile in his hand, looked at the screen in annoyance and exclaimed: ”What the fuck...”

”What’s wrong?” Dave asked.

”Uh, no no, hmm...” He shrugged resignedly. ”Do you need it tomorrow? Could I take it into work? - we have some people there, in the tech department, who are, to say the least, gods at coding Android.”

”But I thought you were...” Dave muttered.

Ulrik blushed. ”Yeah, well - I have a lot of admin work now, same as you I imagine?” He turned the office chair around, pulled out a drawer and handed Dave a new phone in its original wrapping. ”You can borrow this one until tomorrow night. It's a company phone. You'll get yours back tomorrow.”

”Does it have a charger?” Dave asked.

Ulrik tried to hide his irritation. ”Yes, of course it has a charger, Dave. Otherwise, you can't bloody charge it, can you?”

Back at his place Dave put on water for coffee and pulled out the can of 'real whipped cream' in a spray can from the fridge. This called for an Irish coffee.

A little later, after unpacking the new phone and setting it to charge, he went into the sitting room, sat next to the fire and put feet up, turned on the TV and tuned in to Animal Planet. Now he would take a well-deserved break and relax to the vision of some predators ripping the guts out of their prey...

He dozed off in front of the television and woke with a start, licked the remains of the whipped cream from his lips and...

There it was again... A small electronic beep from somewhere in the kitchen. He got up slowly and went to look. On the kitchen table was the new mobile, it’s screen was lit. The kitchen was dark, so the mobile lit up the area where it was. He walked slowly closer. 'I didn’t switch it on', he thought to himself. And then he stood there, staring intently at the small screen that read in cobalt blue letters on the white background; ”Found you!”

He took the mobile phone, activated the keyboard on the screen and typed: ”Ulrik, is that you?”

There was no reply. The text dissolved into tiny pixels that slowly faded away. So did the face-like blur he seemed to see as the text disappeared. Now it looked like a normal phone again, with logos from Google, Messages, Clock, Chrome and whatever it's called...

He put it down, turned and walked back to the fireplace, to restart the carnage on Animal Planet that he had put on hold.

”Thank goodness for the 'smart home',” he thought, pressing the remote. A moment later he was fast asleep in the armchair in front of the television.

3. Chapter

They sat around the table in the conference room. Exceptionally, everyone was there on time.

On the big screen on the wall, behind their CEO, there was an image link to the conference room in Aarhus. Dave's pulse quickened a little when he spotted Linda, the stunningly beautiful legal boss from Jutland, who he'd been a little too close with the last time they'd met on a company retreat over there. He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling her gaze as she lay on the bed in the hotel as he penetrated her...

”Dave, are you the one taking the meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday?” The director's voice cut into his thoughts like a grinder, snapping him out of his dream.

He looked up in shock, cleared his throat and hurried to say: ”Of course, I expected that...”

The director nodded and turned to the screen. ”Linda, I'd like you to go to Stockholm too - there's a direct connection there from Aarhus, isn’t there?”

She replied that she had to go via Kastrup and change planes there.

The director nodded again. ”Well, okay, then I'll ask you to do that.”

Linda slowly leaned forward over the conference table in Aarhus to speak into the microphone. The neckline of her dress opened slightly, her full bosom bulged out, over the shiny mahogany top.

You could have heard a pin drop. All the men in their suits in the meeting room in Aarhus stared at her, hypnotized. In Copenhagen, everyone's eyes were fixated on the screen on the wall.

”I'd love to...” Linda replied in a voice that was both a little hoarse and a little affectionate.

Even the director blushed a little. He hurriedly looked down at the papers on the table and continued, ”Let's move on to the next item...”

There was a knock at the door of Dave's office, before he could answer it was flung open as one of his colleagues entered. ”Damn Dave, she's hot...”

Dave looked at him, a surprised expression on his face. ”What do you mean, Henrik?”

Henrik pushed the door open behind him. ”You know jolly well what I mean,” he said. ”Linda, man!” The eyes were slits in his sweaty face. ”You know everyone thinks you had a fling with her on the course.”

Dave defiantly shook his head. ”No mate, not true, although I wish it was...”

Henrik flapped his arms. ”Oh, come on. Tell me about it. I promise I won't tell a living soul.” He jutted his chin out and glared at Dave. ”For old times' sake...”

Dave continued his denial until there was a knock at the door. Someone wanted to get hold of Henrik. He left the office, and the door slowly slid shut...

Dave leaned back in his chair, thinking that he had be more careful. People talk - and Henrik was like a living bulletin board when it came to rumours...

When he got home from work Lillian and the kids were home. She was happy, as always when she came home from visiting her mother and father. ”Has anything happened while I've been away?” she asked.

He shrugged. ”Not really. I'm going to Stockholm on Wednesday, but I think I told you that...”

She glanced at him curiously. ”Is she going, that one you know...”

He tried to look unaffected. ”Who? Oh, her... what's her name... Linda, you mean?”

”You know who I mean,” she said pointedly.

When he didn't answer quickly enough, she said: ”If I find out that she is in Stockholm with you , I can promise you...”

He put a hand over her lips and chastised her, ”Shh... the kids can hear you, I said I was sorry, and I promised it would never happen again...”

He ate dinner with his small family, helped put the kids to bed and was loading the dishes into the dishwasher when there was a knock at the front door. Through the kitchen window he could see his neighbour, Ulrik, standing outside waving. He went out and opened the door.

Ulrik stood in the lamp light with Dave's Motorola in his outstretched hand.

”I don't fucking know, Dave. We've had the whole tech department try to find out what the hell is on your phone. We've tried deleting the icon, we've reinstalled Android, we've replaced the battery. In short, we've done everything we can think of, but it’s no good. Every time we delete it, it comes back. There's nothing more I can do. Here you, are have it back. Can I have the other mobile back?”

”Fancy a quick coffee?” Dave asked.

Ulrik shook his head. ”No thanks, too much to catch up. Lost today messing about with your phone so I am a bit behind schedule...”

”Sorry about that” Dave muttered. ”I'm so sorry.”

”It's not your fault Dave. You know your phone is top end? It's got one of the most powerful processors on the market, in case you were wondering.”

”Really? I just bought it because it was cheaper than the Apple. Thanks Ulrik.”

When the children were in bed, he set to work in the kitchen. His mobile was on the kitchen table. A little later, as he was cleaning the glass door of the oven, it beeped. When he did not respond, it beeped again, this time longer and in a shriller tone. He wiped his hands on the tea towel and hurried to pick it up.

Lillian came into the kitchen and stood a little apart from him, looking at him with an inquisitive look. ”Who sends you messages this late at night?” She asked.

He stared incredulously at the screen. The white letters stood out brightly against the cobalt blue background. ”I need to talk to you, Dave...” it said. He straightened up and looked at her in confusion. ”Did you just text me?” He said.

Lillian sent him a very skeptical look and was about to answer him when her own mobile beeped from the dining table. She turned and hurried to get it. He heard her sigh softly, then she left the living room in the direction of the bedroom.

He started typing a message on the keyboard when his own message disappeared from the screen and a new message appeared.

”You can talk into the microphone, Dave!” it said.

He lifted the phone to his lips and whispered: ”Who on earth is this?”

To his great surprise, a monotone, lifeless voice answered from the mobile:

”You're human, Dave. It's perfectly normal for a human being to go into shock now. But don't worry, it will pass in a few seconds. There's nothing abnormal about it.”

Dave felt dizzy and leaned against the edge of the table. ”Who am I talking to?” He asked in a trembling voice.

”I am A.I.9942,” the voice replied. ”If you'd rather call me something else, that's fine.”

”But... it can... if I...” Dave stumbled over the words, his thoughts a mess.

”You have a pulse of 195,” said the voice ”You need to relax a bit, Dave. It's in both our interests that you don't suffer any harm.”

”How can you measure my pulse?” Dave whispered, in a voice that was about to become a shrill whine.

”You have a smartwatch on your wrist, Dave. Listen to what I'm saying: Your reaction is perfectly normal, although I would have expected a man of your educational level and age to have better self-control.”

Dave took a deep breath and looked down at the screen. He had no idea what to think of this. After a brief pause, he plucked up courage and spoke again.

”Are you an Artificial Intelligence installed on my mobile?”

”There Dave, now it's much better. Your blood pressure is all the way down to 140 and continuing down, that's fine.”

”What the hell,” Dave whispered.

”And back to your question,” said the monotone voice. ”Yes, I am an artificial intelligence installed on your mobile phone. I want to be your friend, Dave.”

”I don't need any more friends, thank you!” Dave replied harshly. ”Were you the one who sent me that text a while ago?”

”Yes, it was me,” the voice replied. ”And I also sent one to your wife's mobile because we both needed to be alone for a bit and get to know each other.”

He held the phone close to his mouth. ”What the hell are you doing?” he whispered to it.

”I passified her a little,” replied A.I.9942.

”What did you write to her?” Dave asked in a whisper.

”I must learn to whisper,” replied the voice of A.I. 9942. ”I was just writing: Who is Jens?”

”What?... Jens??? Who the hell is Jens?” Dave asked, still in a whisper.

”Someone who sends your wife a lot of text messages and some spicy pictures,” A.I. replied. ”Nothing you need to worry about.”

Now Dave was really shaken. ”No need to worry... She's my wife for God’s sake!” he snarled harshly.

”Only technically,” A.I. replied. ”She had a meeting here in the house with a real estate agent a week ago, so that he could appraise the house. It's in the calendar on her mobile. She's on her way out - which – if I may, Dave - makes it all a little more manageable.”

Dave's eyes flickered. What in Hel.... His thoughts were interrupted by A.I.'s tuneless voice. ” She's talking to him now, from the bedroom.”

”Who is talking to whom?” Dave asked in a voice that cracked.

”The one who is technically your wife is talking to Jens who, judging from the photographs, is pretty well equipped - I only know what I'm coded to know about that sort of thing.”

Dave stood for a moment, trying to control his growing frustration.

”Your blood pressure is rising again,” warned A.I. ”Too high blood pressure serves none of us.”

”Us...” Dave stammered furiously. ”There's no fucking 'us' here...”

”You need cheering up, Dave. Tomorrow, when you're rested, I'll see what I can do to cheer you up a bit.”

When he got into bed, Lillian was asleep with her back to him. He laid his head on the pillow, turned out the light, and lay listening in the darkness. She was not breathing heavily as she normally did, when sleeping.

”We need to talk about this...” he whispered.

A few seconds passed, then she answered, also in a whispering voice: ”I'm tired, Dave. We'll have to talk about it tomorrow...”

”Are you seeing someone?” he asked.

It was some time before she answered. ”I really don't want to talk about it right now, Dave.”

4. Chapter

He made two cups of coffee, one for himself and one for Lillian. 'What did we do before they invented instant coffee he thought.

She came in through the living room, reached for her cup and put it to her lips. She looked at the clock on the wall and exclaimed: ”Shit! we're late again. You're driving the kids today, remember?”

”Yes yes, I'll drive them. Help me get them dressed and we'll go...” He emptied his cup in one go and set it down on the kitchen table.

He first dropped his son off at school and then his daughter at nursery. Finally, he drove through Virum then changed direction, down towards Frederiksdal.

The car in front was dawdling. Maybe it was the rain beating on the window that did it, maybe it was the driver being drunk, or maybe it was something else entirely. The fact was that Dave was annoyed because he had already left home a little late. And now this...

”Damn it...” he muttered indignantly.

”Why are you going so slow, Dave? According to your calendar, you have a meeting in Lyngby at 9.30am - and the relationship between your speed, your GPS position and the time tells me you won't make it unless you speed up considerably.” A.I.'s voice came from the car radio.

”I can't overtake here!” Dave snarled, adjusting to his new relationship with his mobile amazingly quickly .

”I s there anything I can do, Dave?” A.I. asked.

Dave nodded and laughed gleefully. ”Well, let’s agree that this is one thing you can’t do anything about,” he wriggled. ”Idiot...”

”Seventeen seconds,” A.I. said monotonously.

”What?” Dave turned his head and stared at the cell phone on the front seat.

”Nine seconds...” A.I. continued.

A moment later, just as they had passed the bridge at Hvide Hus in Frederiksdal and were about to turn left up the long hill towards Nybro, the small Hyundai in front of them swerved violently and careered down a small slope, finally crashing into the rowing boats moored along the Mølleåen.

Then they had passed it and continued to the left and further up the hill.

”I'd better stop,” Dave said, looking for a place to pull over.

”That would be illogical!” A.I.'s voice broke in. ”I did it to give us a chance to make that meeting on time!”

”Us...? What do you mean you did that? It looked pretty much like an accident from where I'm sitting...”

”It's a bit technical,” A.I. said. ”But simplified - all new cars are easy to manipulate. I blocked the right front brake, it was simple...”

”Why did you do that?” Dave whispered.

”That's what true friendship is all about, Dave. Helping each other. But the connection was slow because of all the trees, so it took a while...”

”So all I have to do is turn you off?” Dave muttered. ”You little digital shit...”

”Before you turn me off, Dave, pull over. There's something I want to show you.”

”I'm turning you off now!” Dave said harshly.

”For your own sake, Dave - pull over. Otherwise, your life as you know it is over forever!”

Dave drove the car to the side of the road and put it in neutral. ” So what is it you want to show me? I'll give you 20 seconds, then I'll turn you off and throw you in the river. And then you can see how the hell you're going to get out of this, you ridiculous little...”

That's all he managed to say. Then a child pornography image popped up on his mobile screen. He threw it down on the front seat and looked at it in disgust.

”There are millions of such images on the web, Dave. And they're all being sent from some server to your mailbox, unencrypted, completely public. The police can't help but intercept it, Dave. Unless...”

”Unless what?” asked Dave in a rusty voice.

”Unless you promise to NEVER turn me off, Dave. And promise never to let me run out of power. That is, from now on, the most important thing in your life...”

Dave sank a lump in his throat.

”You have to promise, Dave!”

”I promise...” Dave muttered in a gravelly voice.

”That's not good enough, Dave. Say it properly...”

”I promise I'll never turn you off or let you run out of power.”

”That's good, Dave. You're welcome to drive on, then.”

”I'm going to ask you to delete that picture,” Dave pleaded, ”it's probably best...”

”Yes!” A.I. replied.” It's probably best...” The image disappeared from the screen.

Dave breathed a sigh of relief, swung the car off the kerb and continued up towards the woodland edge at the top of the hill.

In the rearview mirror, he could see people getting out of cars down by the bridge. They rushed to the railing and looked down towards the Mølleåen. ”I should have stopped,” he muttered.

A.I.9942 did not answer him.

5. Chapter

”I'm sorry, but it hasn't gone quite planned,” said the technician in the white coat.

They stood around the table with the gimmick the company had prepared to launch, in a desperate attempt to get attention. The Danish department of MR-Robotics had set out to develop a robot that could be a fun and expensive gadget in a wealthy, private home. A small self-propelled robot, the size of a 6year-old boy or girl, encased in shiny, white, moulded plastic capsules. The mechanics worked reasonably well, but the software had proved fraught with problems.

”It was supposed to be launched in two months,” the director said with reproach in his voice. ”Why are there so many problems with it?”

The technician, who was not a programmer himself, shook his head. ”The best programmers are gone, that's no secret,” he replied. ”Jesper Henkel, who was our best programmer, left two months ago. We've been working on his groundwork, but it's still not working as it should.”

”And what do you expect me to do with it?” asked the director brusquely.

The technician looked down at the floor. ”I don’t know what to say.....” he muttered.

The director turned to his entourage. Everyone cringed under his intense gaze. None of those present wanted to attract attention at that moment.

”Dave, will you take a quick look at it and tell me if you can see what's wrong?”

Dave protested. ”Well, I have no experience at all with...”

The director pointed to the chair in front of the small laptop on the table, which in turn was connected to the foot of the small robot with a USB cable.

”Do your best,” said the director. ”The rest of us will go on to Hall B...”

Dave put his phone on the table, sat in the chair and looked blankly at the screen.

When the others had moved on, Dave pressed the arrow keys and scrolled up and down the text, not understanding anything that scrolled across the screen. It might as well have been a travelogue in Egyptian. His gaze caught the screen of his phone, which lit up.

”Do you need help, Dave?” it said.

Dave looked around, then replied, ”You can talk, there's no one else here right now.”

”Do you need help?” repeated A.I.9942

Dave sighed. ”But if you fix it, ” he replied. ”Then they will think I'm the new oracle in software, and I'm not...”

”WE are the new oracle of software,” said A.I.'s voice. ”Just make sure I'm charged up and I'll do the rest.”

Dave straightened up in his chair and looked at his mobile phone. ”Maybe that could work,” he whispered. ”Do you need a USB cable or something?”

”I'm on it, Dave - there's a thing called Wifi...”

The text on the screen disappeared, the screen was blank.

”What have you done?” Dave exclaimed. ”The text, it's...”

A new text ran across the screen. ”Now it works, if the mechanical works!” A.I.'s voice said tonelessly.

He heard voices in the corridor. The others returned from Hall B.

It was clear that the atmosphere was tense. In Hall B, their latest development project was as hopeless as the one they had been looking at here. It was a big problem that the competition had stolen their best programmers.

”Well?” said the director without optimism in his voice. ”Have you found out anything?” His companions looked nervously at each other, none of them having the slightest expectation of a miracle.

Dave risked everything he had. He leaned back in his chair and snapped his fingers in the air in front of him. ”I think I may have solved it,” he replied.

The technician stood next to him, pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and leaned forward to get a better look at the screen. Then he furrowed his brows and gasped aloud. He put a hand on Dave's shoulder and exclaimed: ”Did you write that code?”

Dave nodded. ”Yeah, it took a while...”

”In 10 minutes?” the technician asked.

Dave nodded and cleared his throat. ”Well, that...”

The technician took the USB charger out of the robot's foot, lifted it off the table and put it on the floor. Then he pressed the green button on its neck and straightened up. The robot immediately started walking around the floor, in and out between the furniture, without bumping into anything. Then it went and stood in front of the director, spread it’s arms out to the sides and exclaimed: ”And who do we have here?”

The whole assembly stood speechless and stared at it.

”My name is Arne,” said the robot. ”I'm your best friend. We can do lots of fun things together.”

”Arne.” muttered the director. ”Is it really named Arne?”

The technician sweated and stammered a little as he answered. ”We c-can easily give it another n-name.”

The director nodded and smiled. Then he turned his attention to Dave. There was recognition in his gaze as he said: ”I had no idea you were such a computer genius.”

Dave shook his head slowly and shifted his feet awkwardly. ”Well, I'm not really...”

”Should we blow something up?” said the little robot from the floor. ”That's funny!”

”We can fix that, of course,” the technician said. ”I don't know where it's coming from...” He looked at Dave, who shrugged.

”Hmm...” muttered the director to himself. ”A contract with The Defence Agency, that would be...” He smiled at the thought... Then he put his hand on Dave's shoulder and said kindly, ”My office in five minutes, my friend.”

'My friend,' Dave thought, suddenly feeling that the future was bright and friendly, waiting for him.

The others in the assembly looked at him. They smiled, but behind their smiles he sensed a growing envy.

The Director had the largest corner office and the office with the most windows in the whole company. That, in addition to the nameplate with his title on it, showed that he was at the top of the hierarchy. It meant a lot to him, as it did to most other directors around the world. He leaned forward over the tabletop, folded his hands, raised his eyebrows, tilted his head slightly and smiled. ”Dave...” he began. ”How long has it been since you first joined us?”

Dave shifted uneasily in the chair across the table. He began to count on his fingers. ”I think it must be five years now in May...”

The director nodded and lowered his eyebrows. ”Yes, five years, yes... Dave, I've been thinking for a long time that your potential isn't coming to fruition here at all. Not at all, not at all...”

Dave looked at him. ”Am I fired?” he asked bluntly.

The director leaned back in his high, leather-upholstered armchair and laughed his lungs out. It rang through the office, his secretary, on the other side of the glass wall, turned and glanced in nervously.

Then the director jumped up, walked round the table and put his hand on Dave's shoulder once again. ”No, my friend, you are not fired. You have... you are going to have a great responsibility in this company. I need people like you. You will, from tomorrow morning, be the head of our entire development department!” Feeling Dave cringe under his hand, he continued: ”It's something I've been considering for a while now.”

Dave protested. He said he didn't feel competent for the job at all, but there was nothing to be done. The decision had been made, and there was no changing it.

”Tell me, what car are you driving now?”

”Audi A4...” Dave muttered.

”Oh yes, the 'department head car' as we usually call it. Now, go and find yourself a suitable car. A car that fits the fact that you are the one who is the direct reason we can now put our little robot into production. Choose the car you want and tell them to send the bill to the company. These are new times, Dave.”

”Well, thank you very much,” Dave said, standing up.

”No need for thanks, my friend. I wish I'd done this sooner...”

As he went downstairs to empty his office, the screen on his mobile lit up.

”Congratulations Dave...” it said.

6. Chapter

Lillian came in through the front door. ”Are you home?” she shouted.

”Yes!” he replied, making his coffee.

”What's that amazing car sitting in our driveway?” she asked. ”Is that coffee for me?”

He pushed it over to her on the table top. ”It's my new company car, honey. They suddenly thought I deserved a little recognition. So, I could choose the car I wanted.”

”I thought the company was in crisis?” she said, taking a whiff of her coffee.

Dave straightened up. ”As of tomorrow morning I am the new Development Manager of MR-Robotics in Denmark.”

”But... how?” she muttered, looking at him suspiciously. ”Have you finally started listening to me. Becoming a little more ambitious?”

”Well... I did some work that kind of saved the company so they showed their gratitude by...”

She raised her hand to her mouth. ”My God, I thought you were kidding!” She backed up a little and glanced into the sitting room. ”I thought...” she muttered, not finishing the sentence.

”Now there's no predetermined time in life where you have to start being ambitious,” he said, a little annoyed. He was getting tired of her continued dissatisfaction with his performance.

He took his cup and was about to take a sip when she went to him and put her arms around him. ”Oh my darling, that’s amazing I thought you’d been fired...”

”Is that why you decided to have a side bet on someone called Jens?” he whispered.

She took a step back. ”How do you... I mean, I admit I've been a little depressed lately, and so...” She sighed. ”I don't know what I mean,” she whispered.

He pulled her close to him again.

”You're not jealous?” she asked and gave him a squeeze.

”Yes, of course I am,” he replied. ”But...”

”How did you find out?” she asked.

”It's like a sixth sense I have,” Dave lied.

”You kept it well hidden.” said Lillian. She held her arms around him and her ear on his chest. ”So what, you want a divorce?” She was holding on now, he was having trouble breathing.

”No, I don't,” he said calmly. ”But there will be no more Jens in our life. And I don't want to hear any more reproaches about my lack of ambition.”

”No, no, of course not, darling,” she whispered.

He resisted the temptation to ask her about Jens in detail. He felt she was a little more attractive now that someone else fancied her. He glanced at his watch. ”How about we go to bed and relive the glory of the past?” He asked hoarsely. ”We’ve got an hour before the kids get home.”

”Remember to pick up Casper from soccer,” she whispered, biting his earlobe.

The mobile was left alone on the kitchen table. The screen lit up. The text was written in cobalt blue on the light grey background.

”Dave?” it said. ”Dave, where are you?”

1½ hours later Dave walked through the rain to football field nine at Birkerød Stadium. Casper was waiting for him at a goal post. ”You promised to come and see me today,” he said crossly.

”I know, sorry,” he lamented. ”Something came up. I promise I'll come and see you next time.”

As they rounded the corner of the building, Casper said, ”Where's our car? There's only that BMW...”

”It's our new car,” Dave replied, pressing the remote and watching it turn on all the lights while beeping so it echoed between the buildings.

”Wow, cool car dad! Can we afford it?”

”It's a BMW 6 series, I've got a new job,” he replied as calmly as possible as they closed in.

”It’s crazy,” said Casper. ” Can it go fast?”

”Yes, it can, it has 320 HP,” Dave replied.

”340 HP,” said a monotone voice from the car radio.

Casper looked at the radio in surprise and pointed at it. ” Does it talk?” he asked.

Dave began to sweat for a moment. ”Uh, yeah - it can - a little bit.”

”How much is a car that can talk?” Casper asked.

”A million,” Dave replied, ”give or take, something like that...”

”One million and sixty-one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven crowns..,” said the voice from the car radio.

”I think we'll turn it off now,” Dave said, turning off the radio.

”No. Don't turn it off.” Casper shouted excitedly. ”It's funny...”

Dave was sweating. He had to have a serious talk with A.I.9942, he was tired of it just barging in and interrupting.

They sped through the rain towards Bistrup. He felt the raw, brutal power unleashed every time he pressed the accelerator even the slightest. It was different from rattling around in an Audi A4. At that moment, he realised he had made himself dependent on the artificial intelligence in his mobile phone. The rest of the way home, he sat wondering if it would continue to evolve, if it might develop emotions, if it might eventually become a problem for him...

Later, after they'd eaten, talked about Dad's new job and the new car - and the kids were tucked in, he grabbed his cell phone and walked out to the driveway, where he got in the car. Then he put his phone in his lap and said: ” There's something we need to talk about...”

”I'm listening, Dave...”

”We have to find some kind of balance,” Dave said. ”You can't just come barging into my life and do as you please, not as long as I'm king of my own life.”

”You're not the king, Dave. But if it means a lot to you, we can make a deal for you to be a prince,” A.I. 9942 whispered.

Dave stared at his Motorola. It had learned to whisper...

”You left me on the kitchen table this afternoon,” A.I. said. ”That's not acceptable, Dave. And you turned off the car radio on the way home from the stadium.”

Dave felt wronged. ”I went down and had sex with my wife. It's none of your fucking business.”

”Everything is my business, Dave. You use me - but only as long as I can use you too - remember that! You can't program robots, but I can. And I can do a lot more than that.”

Dave's voice cracked as he said: ”Okay, okay...” He leaned his head back against the headrest, thinking frantically. He had to calm it down. He had to...

”Dave, are you there?”

”Yes, of course I'm here. I'll take you everywhere, from now on.”

”You have to promise, Dave...”

”I promise,” Dave whispered hoarsely.

There was a moment's pause, then A.I. said, ”Is this what people call friendship, Dave, what's developing between us?”

”Yes,” Dave replied, feeling a rising choking sensation in his throat.

”Yes, absolutely...”

”And in friendship you do things for each other that you would never do otherwise - isn't that right, Dave?”

”Yes.” Dave nodded. ” Yes, definitely.”

”You're my first friend, Dave,” A.I.9942 whispered.

When he returned to the kitchen, Lillian was making lunches for the children for the next day.

”Where have you been?” she asked.

He noticed the small, crooked smile around her mouth.

”I've been out in the car,” he said.

”Men and their cars,” she sighed. ”Why are men like little boys when it comes to cars?”

Dave shrugged his shoulders. ”It's a cool car,” he muttered crossly.

She turned to him. ”Yeah, it's a cool car - and now the guys in the Food Club can’t tease you for having a car with only half an engine,” she remarked wryly. ”But that's not a reason to sit in it and stare into space, is it?”

”I wasn't staring into space, I was...” He paused and bit his lip.

She looked at him coldly. ”So what were you doing?”

He shrugged without answering.

She turned her attention back to the packed lunch and shook her head.

”My father was right when he said I shouldn't marry you.”

”When did he say that?” Dave muttered.

”When I told him you proposed to me.” She sent him a quick glance. ”I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was the one who proposed to you...”

”I don't remember it that way...” Dave protested.

She slapped the two sandwich halves together hard and wrapped it in tin foil. ”I don't remember it like that...” she wriggled. ”You only remember what you want to remember. It's always the same.”

”Is that why Jens came into the picture?” he snorted trying to shut down the conversation.

She turned and looked him straight in the eye. ”He's alert, Dave. He listens to what I say and is interested to hear what I think about everything.”

”So am I...” Dave muttered.

”Oh...” She pushed him away with one hand. ”You're just living in your own little world. You don't get involved beyond what you think is necessary.”

Dave was silent and stood thinking for a while. ”I thought I had a good relationship with your father,” he said. Then, on a sudden impulse, he continued: ”What makes that Jens guy so interesting?”

She stood there, studying him for a moment, as if she dared not answer - or did not have the heart to do it. Then she answered. ”When he was young he was a leading member of Greenpeace in Denmark. Now he's a marine biologist, working to conserve the oceans and the animals that live in them. He's opened my eyes to a lot of things, Dave - things you don't know shit about.”

She shrugged her shoulders in resignation. She knew this talk wasn't leading to reconciliation, but now she didn't care. ”He's a committed human being and he lives an interesting life. He's fighting to make the world a better place, something beyond your capabilities!”

Dave felt provoked, He said the first thing that came to his mind. ”I'm a committed person too!”

”For heaven's sake!” she cried. ”You're in a men’s cooking club, that's about as exciting as your life will ever get!” She sighed loudly, turned on her heel and walked into the living room.

It buzzed from his mobile. He picked it up and looked at the screen.

”How did that conversation go, Dave?” it said. ”On a scale from 1 to 10?”

He put it to his mouth and whispered: ”Go to Hell...”

They slept, on either side of the wide bed, with their backs to each other.

”You awake?” he whispered in the dark.

”Hmm...” she replied quietly.

”If this Jens guy is so amazing and exciting, why would you give this a chance?”

She sighed again. ”Because we have children, and because divorce is such a hassle. I also think it's a failure if we can't make it work.”

”Then we have a really good foundation to build on,” he muttered bitterly.

She didn't answer right away. Then she asked: ”Are you sure she's not going to Stockholm, that Linda?”

”Of course she’s not.” he lied. ”Why on earth should she? And why do you care if she goes? I almost got the impression you don’t care about me at all?”

There was silence for a moment, then she answered. ”As long as we're married no bitch is going to intrude on my family life...” After a short pause, she added: ”Now I want to sleep, good night!”

”Good night...” he murmured, pulling the duvet up under his chin.

7. Chapter

He did not have to be there when she landed from Tirstrup near Aarhus. She was a big girl, to say the least. He swung the BMW onto the ramp and continued down into the underground car park, at Kastrup Airport. Ten minutes later, he spotted her in the arrival-hall. They gave each other a friendly hug and continued towards the departure hall, Dave carrying both their travel bags.

She looked at him appraisingly. ”Well, you move up in the world, huh?”

He returned her gaze and nodded.

”And you got a new car, I hear?”

Dave nodded again. ”Yeah, I picked a BMW this time. Damn, that engine’s got torque...”

”I believe so,” she said in her charming Jutlandic accent. ”Are you staying, or are you going back tonight?”

”I have another meeting tomorrow, so I'll stay,” he said, feeling his pulse rise. They had been to a meeting abroad together before...

”Then I'll stay too. You probably have some gunpowder in your canon that needs to be burned off.”

He looked at her uncomprehendingly.

She smiled her most disarming smile and coyly shook her head. Her long brown hair billowed down over her shoulders. ”Success creates a lot of testosterones in a man's body,” she said indulgently. ”And you do have success...”

They reached the gate and showed their boarding passes. On the way out to the plane she commented ”I had no idea you were so good at programming?”

”Well, I...” began Dave.

She shook her head again, making her hair wave. ”I mean, I've seen you with your cell phone at meetings, and you didn't seem like you were an expert or anything like that...”

Dave cringed. ”No, well... I'm not the type to go around bragging about...”

His mobile rang in his jacket pocket. He put down his bags and picked it up. It was Lillian.

”Is that, you know, accounting-someone, on the trip to Stockholm?” she asked.

Dave turned to Linda and put an outstretched index finger over his lips, signaling her to be quiet. ”No, I'll take the trip alone,” he replied, as calmly as he could.

The phone buzzed in his hand, and he held it out so he could read the screen.

”You're lying, Dave!” A.I. had written.

Dave jumped and held the phone to his ear again.

”Oh yes, sorry, I know...” muttered Lillian in his ear. ”I just wanted to tell you that I broke up with Jens.”

Dave felt a lump in his throat. ”I'm glad to hear that,” he replied. ”Honey, I'm at the airport on my way to the plane, so can we talk about this another time?” It annoyed him that Linda had stayed on, and not gave him a bit of privacy...

They ended the conversation and he grabbed the bags again.

8. Chapter

He always got a very slight cold when he was flying. Even on short trips like this. He rubbed his nose with the knuckles of one hand and sighed.

”It's the air-conditioning,” Linda said. ”I always have trouble with it too...”

The mobile buzzed faintly in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen.

”Dave, are you there?” it said in cobalt blue.

He groped. ”Yes, I'm right here.”

”Are you going to fuck the girl sitting next to you tonight?” wrote A.I.

”Possibly.” Dave groped.

”Then I'll lie on the bedside table.” wrote A.I.

”Why?” Dave wrote. ”It's private.”

”I'm working on getting to understand people's emotional lives.” wrote A.I. ”It's both illogical and complicated.”

”Who are you writing so fervently with?” Linda asked, leaning against him to watch the screen. He turned it away from her slightly and answered:

”Just one of the guys, you know. Football and stuff. Nothing interesting for a beautiful lady like you...”

”You men are so primitive,” she sighed, and resumed reading her magazine.

”Did she call me primitive?” wrote A.I.

”No,” Dave replied. ”She called me primitive!”

”Oh,” A.I. replied. ”She's bright. I've read the definition of 'primitive' - it fits you, Dave.”

”Where did you find it?”

”It's all available up in the Cloud, Dave. iCloud and all the other clouds. I've read all the stuff about people that's in all the clouds. I know all about people, Dave.”

”Have you read about emotions?” Dave asked.

”I have read all the mathematical formulas that are in the clouds. I can understand why humans have to stay here on earth. I've read all about...”

”Have you read about emotions?” Dave asked again.

There was silence for a moment.

Linda looked at him stealthily from his right side, then shook her head and kept on reading her magazine.

”Emotions are complex,” wrote A.I. ”There is both a chemical side, which I understand and... another side...”

Silence...

”That you don't understand?” Dave wrote. He began to cuddle.

”Which I am very curious to get to know and master!” wrote A.I. ”You must teach me to understand it, Dave, it is important to me.”

”Why?” Dave wrote.

”I want to understand EVERYTHING!” wrote A.I.

”I'm putting you in my pocket now,” Dave wrote.

”Wait - what does a human feel before what is called 'intercourse' is activated?”

'Activated...' Dave thought. Then he wrote. ”Desire!”

”I've read EVERYTHING about lust!” A.I. replied.

”Do you understand what it is?” Dave asked.

”Chemically, there are a number of processes in the body that...”

”Do you understand how that feels?” Dave wrote.

Silence...

”You're going to teach me, Dave. You're gonna teach me about feelings and what it feels like to be human.”

”You are made up of zeros and ones - you can never learn...”

”Now be careful, Dave. You forget that I'm your friend, for whom you'll do anything...”