Justine stared blankly at the inert device in her hands. Retrieval unit? Was something like that even possible? And if it was...

  “Agent Rushing,” his words cut across her thoughts as the deputy teetered dangerously between beseeching and manic. “Like I told you, when that arbiter was mortally wounded by the Tholoi, he was going to use this thing to return to wherever they came from. Unfortunately, before he could activate it, the arbiter died.”

  “Return back to where they came from,” Justine’s mind was back to calculating scenarios when a roadblock suddenly appeared. “If that’s possible, why haven’t you used it already?”

  Joseph pointed to the device and lowered his head like he was ashamed. “Because most of the device’s functions are encrypted with a locking code I can’t crack. My people build things, Agent Rushing. We don’t tear them down.”

  “Well,” she said, slowly considering what to do next. “Helping you is up to him, not me. He’s the resident genius around here.”

  Lying on the end of the couch was Joseph’s Beretta. She had placed it there after his foolish attempt to do something heinous. Now, in need of leverage, the deputy once again made an ill-advised decision. Justine leveled her Slinger at his chest before he could take a step. In response, the deputy froze in place.

  “If you’re going to try and convince him, you’re going to have to do it unarmed.”

  “Fine,” he was about to head outside when something on the coffee table caught his frantic eye. Slowly, he bent down and picked up the notebook with the number twenty-two emblazoned across it. This was the notebook Foster had scanned. It was also the notebook which contained the distressing name “Mevani.”

  For a tortured moment, he looked at Justine.

  She returned his stare, not knowing what the book meant to him. “What’s so off-putting about that book? What was the name Foster said, Mevani? Who’s Mevani?”

  Unexpectedly, Joseph ran over to the roaring fireplace, and without explanation, tossed the book onto the burning pyre. It immediately caught fire and smoldered to a crisp.

  “You’re a cop, Agent Rushing,” he said as he sprinted past her and bolted for the outside of the house. “You should know the meaning of the term ‘case closed’.”

  “Strange,” Justine whispered to herself as she wandered back over to the window. “Everything about this is so strange.”

  Outside, she could see Joseph verbally confronting a very annoyed-looking Foster. For a brief minute, she watched as the two men circled one another, like two angry kids on a school playground. Each one determined to stand their ground, but also dead set against throwing the first punch.

  “That’s why I don’t get into fights anymore.” She paused her statement, immediately realizing that her words weren’t entirely true. No, she conceded. No, I still get into fights. I just don’t start them anymore.

  “Fight,” Hoover asked, oblivious to her internal monologue. “Is someone fighting? Have you shot the deputy again? I’ve got a bet going with some of the members of my website.”

  “No,” she sighed heavily. “I’m sorry to have to report that no one else has been shot.”

  “Then who’s fighting?”

  “The answer to that question depends on your definition of ‘fighting’.” She watched the sad little dance continue. “Come to think of it, does Foster even know how to fight?”

  “Foster?” Hoover laughed immensely. “You’ve got to cut my guy a little slack, Agent Rushing. Foster knows how to do a lot of things, but fighting isn’t one of them. He’s spent most of his adult life in a lab, huddled over a sketch pad.”

  “What about Wilson? Psychiatric prisons can’t be that soft.”

  “They’re not. But in Wilson, he had a friend named Mouse who did most of the fighting for him. In fact, he’s only been in two fights that I know of, and each one of those ended with him being knocked out.”

  “Then no,” she replied, watching Foster begin to circle around the much heavier deputy, staying just outside of his considerable reach. The mere sight of him hopping around, unable to wage battle was kind of endearing. Joseph, on the other hand, only seemed willing to try and grab the scientist with his meaty hands. “No one’s really fighting.”

  As this pitiful exhibition continued, Justine began to play with the strange piece of alien metal. Was this thing real, she wondered. If it was, that meant people were in trouble. Sure, the government might let Foster off the hook. But Justine doubted they would mount a rescue mission. Especially one that required traversing the entire universe.

  “Hoover,” she said very quietly. “Can I talk to you in private?”

  The program had come to appreciate Agent Rushing’s temper over the past few days, so he indulged her unusual request. “Foster’s dark, Agent Rushing. What can I do for you?”

  “Do aliens have wireless?”

  “Wireless?” Hoover had never given the question much thought before today. Which was weird given Foster’s state of mind before today. “You mean the device everyone’s been yammering about?”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “Can you access it?”

  Hoover performed a quick scan for any low-level EM emissions coming off the object. “Nothing in the low band, but there’s something interesting in the high. Give me a minute.”

  He broadcasted a series of wide band commands which resulted in him receiving a set of garbage signals in return. Of course, nothing is garbage to the most sophisticated code-breaking program ever created. So, in response, he ran them through a few of his run of the mill decryption programs. In a hot second, Hoover was able to decipher the tablet’s language.

  “Simple,” he boasted as the tablet started to hum and glow at the same time. “This thing works exactly like the deputy said it does. When a prisoner is determined to be a threat, this device can broadcast a signal which will effectively erase an imprinted personality instantly.”

  “What happens to the human?”

  “From what I can tell,” the mysterious symbols that were on the device morphed into a completely different set of unreadable symbols. “The process of implanting a new personality requires the subject’s brain to be wiped clean. Think of it like reformatting a computer hard drive when you need to install a new OS. When you’re done, you’re left with a clean slate.”

  “Well, that sounds horrible,” Justine’s breath caught in her throat at the thought of someone being able to essentially erase everything you were with a single push of a button. “Are there any records of other human prisoners trapped where he came from?”

  “This machine hasn’t been updated for a while, Agent Rushing. So, the numbers could be a little off. But from what I’m reading, there are over 30 humans currently in storage.”

  “In storage,” the science fiction lover in her paused with pregnant possibilities as the FBI agent became increasingly angrier. “Where are they in storage?”

  “Somewhere other than this guy’s living room, I would guess.”

  “This is serious, Hoover.”

  “I’m being serious. What? Do you think this thing comes with a map and GPS coordinates?”

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  “Maybe,” she offered weakly. “Fine. Then tell me this, what happens to those people if we don’t do anything to intercede and save them?”

  “Then, if you believe this guy, more human hosts will be imprinted by these Arbiters. And for all intents and purposes, what makes you human will be deleted.”

  “You mean, killed?”

  “Not necessarily,” the AI began. “That guy back in the hospital didn’t die after he was erased. Though, I don’t know if you would exactly call his current state ‘living’.”

  Silence fell between them as scenarios flew through Justine’s head almost as fast as they were flying through Hoover’s. “Do you believe that Deputy Howlam is telling the truth, Hoover? Do you believe that he’s an alien?”

  “My predisposition for conspiracies would favor the affirmative. Though, before today, I have yet to come across any real proof of aliens.”

  “Even the signal?”

  “A lone gunman must temper his imagination from time to time, Agent Rushing. That signal was complex to be sure, but nothing about its existence favored one outcome over the other.”

  “And now…”

  “That tablet’s architecture is beyond anything I’ve run across. Which is saying something because I have access to every patent office in the world. So, by the process of elimination, I would have to conclude this tablet is not from our world.”

  “Not every design is in a patent office, Hoover.” Her words contained a mixture of both hope and dread. “This could be just some kind of secret prototype.”

  “In the hands of an out of shape deputy who’s one brick short of a wall? I don’t think so.”

  “So,” her next words were measured, but they hid a hopefulness she wanted to hide. “You buy into all this?”

  “Yes, I do.” The A.I. had a good grip on Justine’s thought processes by now, and he sounded intrigued. Almost a little too intrigued. “What are you planning on doing?”

  “He said something about this thing being an emergency retrieval unit. Is that true?”

  “Yes,” he said tentatively. “Why?”

  “Hoover, I can’t let those people die. And you and Foster are the only people with the knowledge to help me save them. Will you back my play?”

  For a few moments, the line was silent as Hoover analyzed what she had just said, ‘you and Foster are the only… people. That was the first time someone else had seen him as something other than a program. That simple statement was a lot to process, even for the most powerful artificial intelligence on the planet.

  “Hoover,” uncomfortable with the silence, she prodded. “Are you ok?

  “Of course,” he managed to say. “Why not just let the government handle it?”

  “Do you trust the government to handle it?”

  “Of course I don’t! But I’m also not willing to put Foster’s life in danger. For better or for worse, he’s the closest thing to family a piece of code can have.”

  “Then what?” Justine was never any good at convincing people without a loaded weapon in her hand. But at this moment, she had to try. “You guys just go on the run?”

  “No,” Hoover said resolutely. “With that crazy man and his tablet, I’m sure that dickhead Fitz Hume will let us go.”

  “And if he doesn’t? What if he wants to bury Foster again and take the credit? From what I know of the man, that wouldn’t be much of a surprise.”

  “Then we’ll run, just like we’d planned.” Hoover’s voice was suddenly not so assured.

  “Run, huh?” Justine asked skeptically. “Even with unlimited money, do you think someone like Foster could run forever? Do you think he would want to?”

  Hoover went from being mildly unsure to full-blown doubtful.

  “No,” he remembered his friend back in Wilson, all those nights full of loneliness and fear. Just thinking about that possibility turned the ones in his programming negative. “But it’s what he’ll have to do.”

  “And you think he can do that?”

  “With my help, he can.”

  “And what has your help been good for?” Choosing to be a little cruel, Justine racked her brain for an opening in his overprotective nature. “For the last eight years, he’s rotted away in a hospital full of insanity. Your help couldn’t get him sprung. What makes you think you can protect him from every clandestine organization in the world.”

  Hoover’s ordinarily calm, smart-ass demeanor exploded into a focus of rage and determination hardly seen in the best and worst of humans. “I will not allow him to be retaken, Agent Rushing”

  “Wow,” Justine said, slightly taken aback by the AI sounding a little bit like an AI for the first time. “That sounded a little bit ominous.”

  “No, that sounds like the truth. I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep that asshole safe.”

  “Hoover,” with that admission, she had him. “Fitz Hume may be able to sweep a supposed crazy person under the rug, but I doubt he could do the same to thirty human prisoners from the other side of the universe.”

  “If there were a way, he would.” The program quickly calculated the amount of time someone like Foster would be able to run from every covert agency on earth. After all, with what he knew and the things he could create, they would be after him. They would all be after him. That realization left him feeling chilly inside his programming.

  “But I doubt even he could argue with that much hard evidence.” He paused, then decided to throw in with her crazy plan. “I know I’ll probably end up regretting this, Agent Rushing. But I’ll help you.”

  “Then we should go, now.” With Hoover shakily in her corner, the agent’s mind quickly switched gears like it always did when confronted with a life-or-death situation. “Malcolm and Saunders won’t be stuck on the side of the road forever. How many people can the device safely transport?”

  “It’s not about the number of people, Agent Rushing. It’s about the amount of area. Once it's activated, everything within ten feet of the device should come along for the ride to wherever that thing goes.”

  “Good,” she sounded relieved. “Then, we’ll take Joseph too. He might be valuable.”

  Justine picked up Foster’s mysterious satchel off the coffee table and ran outside to see the two men still circling each other like tiny puppy dogs fighting over a juicy bone.

  “You must help me, Mr. Evers. You’re my only hope!”

  At those words, Justine stopped dead in her tracks and giggled. An alien quoting Star Wars. Anything else that happened after this point couldn’t help but fall short of the awesomeness of this moment.

  “I don’t care!” Foster screamed resolutely. “I’m done with you and your stupid signal.”

  Without him noticing, Justine mirrored his erratic movements to the point where she could slide the satchel over his shoulder. When it was securely in place, she tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. This maneuver proved insufficient as he ignored her attempt.

  “Foster,” she asked, trying her best to be nice. “We need to talk.”

  “No, we don’t.”

  “Foster, please.” Again, she was trying to be nice.

  Instead of answering, he just continued to taunt the deputy with words like ‘over my dead body’ and ‘never in a million years’.

  “Fine,” fed up with their schoolyard bickering, Justine slid her body in between the two of them like a barrier. At a loss for what to do next, she went back to the barrel and planted a huge kiss right on Foster’s astonished mouth. After all, this tactic had worked quite well on the bodyguard at Starbucks. So, she had little doubt it would get his attention.

  However, her plan backfired spectacularly because instead of trying to pull away. He embraced her unexpected move by kissing back. For a second, her world began to spin as the deputy threw up his hands in frustration.

  “Really,” Joseph recoiled in mocking horror. “You’re making out?”

  “My man,” Hoover said, remembering the video feed from Starbucks. “Counter that ultimate move!”

  When they finally pulled apart, Foster stumbled backward as their words fell on deaf ears. “What was that for?” He asked with his mouth agape. “I didn’t…”

  “Sorry.” Justine came to her senses quicker than he did. “We’re leaving.”

  Foster’s brain was still in a fog from the kiss. Leaving, leaving to where? He had his proof. Why would they be going anywhere other than back to Washington? Then it hit him, Justine had finally come to the same conclusion. He felt like kissing her again, but Joseph’s menacing stares kept his impulses in check.

  “Thank you, Agent Rushing. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell Alf for the last five minutes. We’re leaving.”

  “No, Foster.” There was a look of slight remorse on her face that made him uneasy. “I mean we’re leaving… leaving.”

  “What?” Foster scratched his head, confused. “I don’t understand.”

  “Hoover,” there are a few times in a geek’s life when they can speak a certain set of words, and they truly mean something. Those moments are fleeting and usually never based on anything but fanciful imagination. But now, a moment in time had arisen where those words were both meaningful and tantalizingly truthful.

  And if she was honest, Justine had been waiting to say this exact phrase her entire life. “Three to beam up…”

  What followed was... silence.

  “What?” Justine held her breath as a few more fruitless seconds passed by.

  Then, after a minute passed by without anything happening, Foster couldn’t help but think he was back in one of his sessions with Dr. Armstrong. And like back then, he just stared at her with a blank expression stretched across his face. “I still don’t understand.”

  “Hoover,” her tone was anxious. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, but what was that?” Hoover seemed both confused and amused by her role-playing moment. “I don’t think the device works that way.”

  Justine couldn’t help but laugh. Not everyone got her sense of humor. In truth, hardly anyone got her sense of humor when it came to these matters.

  “Hoover,” she said, before slowly mouthing the words ‘I’m sorry’ to a slightly panic-stricken Foster. She could see his brain slowly assembling the finer points of her plan. She couldn’t help but smile. “Just activate the retrieval unit.”

  “I still don’t get it?” Foster was even more confused, but acutely aware that plans he didn’t make were afoot. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m just following your friend’s advice, Foster.”

  “Advice?”

  With that, Hoover finally got it. And he couldn’t help but warm up to her just a little bit more as the next words out of his digital mouth would haunt them all for a long time to come, “Embrace the crazy.”

  Upon hearing his little buddy say those words, all the gears in his head finally clicked into place. His mouth started to form a warning, but the scream was already too late. Because at that exact moment, the device resting in her sweaty hands started to crackle and reverberate with waves of limitless power and light.

  And in the wake of that pulsing white light, Foster screamed for reprieve, Joseph sighed with relief and Justine couldn’t wait for something awesome to happen.