Martin"s Secret

Back in New York, Anthony Fererra peered at his round, shiny head and bulky torso in the black-and-gold polished-marble trim that framed the suite’s entry. He straightened his tie, slid a huge hand over the top of his head to remove its oily sheen and pushed a gold-ringed, ivory button beside the nine-foot double doors. Before he could push it a second time the massive entry system clinked like the door of a prison cell and the two-inch thick, bullet-proof, etched-rosin inserts set in polished pewter slabs opened slowly, like a scene out of the Wizard of Oz.

Inside a plush black carpet trimmed in gold led to a large, open sitting room with two ten-foot sofas, one plush upholstered with glossy, textured leather and the other an exotic red fabric. Elegant tables presented polished silver lamps with shiny, two-tier, rectangular shades and built into the wall across the room was a ten-foot by six-feet bookcase with LED lighting designed in the shape of the company acronym. Tri-level, coffered ceilings trimmed in eight-inch crown-molding with dim track lights surrounded the room over and the walkway carpet formed tee in front of a massive black-oak desk. Behind either side of the CEO’s desk, two glossy, black robots stood before a tinted, bulletproof plate-glass wall that offered a decent view of Fifth Avenue. The big bots were prototypes of the company’s early Warbot program that produced the most advanced military slave-robots in the world. Replaced by more lifelike warbots that use advanced soft muscle with flexible skeletons and supercomputer technology, each of the bullet-proof electronic veterans had been capable of loading and firing Howitzer cannons, driving tanks and humping equipment through extreme environments. The CEO still used them to serve food and as figurines of the company’s early successes.

“Anthony, nice to see you. I apologize for not getting down to your department often enough.”

“No apologies necessary, Mr. Waters, I know you have more pressing matters to attend,” replied Anthony, offering a controlled smile.

“Please, call me Alfred; we’re all family here at ACR. As you probably know, I’m a man who sort of tears at the red meat of the business at hand.”

“Your reputation for candidness is indisputable, Alfred.”

“So let’s cut to the chase, Anthony. The news that Martin Harbach is out there stealing planes and equipment is disturbing.”

“Yes sir, but we….”

“Alfred shushed Anthony with a raised hand. “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not bothered by the cost of a company jet and some classified surveillance equipment” – the CEO paused and tapped some brass kinetic balls on his desk – “after all, this is a $100 billion corporation with covert interests and operations in twenty-seven countries.”

“Yes sir.” Fererra knew better start the meeting by word-wrestling the CEO.

“This fellow, Martin Harbach, he’s making your department look bad. When one department fails, it has a negative impact on company morale, all the way to the top.”

“He gave us the slip a couple of times, but that won’t happen again,” promised Fererra with as much confidence as he could muster.

“Anthony, as a company we’ve invested a lot of time and money in Martin” – the CEO rubbed his bulging abdomen - “so much money, it gives me indigestion to think about it.”

“He’s a smart, fast-moving target, an extremely elusive man,” said Fererra.

“He’s a failed experiment, Mr. Fererra. Our company has to cut its significant losses and move on.”

“Like I said, we’ll wrap it up in a matter of days,” promised Fererra.

“You don’t have days, you have hours. You should know that Martin, at this point, is confused and relatively weak,” said Waters.

“In the last twenty-four hours, he permanently retired a few of our agents. He’s quite adept at self-defense, we need to be cautious.”

“I can assure you, Anthony, self-preservation is Martin’s specialty, and he’s in survival mode. This is as easy as it gets.”

“What difference does it make if we get him today or next week as long as we get him?” asked Fererra.

“The implant has capabilities we can’t share with Congress, do you understand? Right now he is struggling to reset, like a smart-phone or a laptop but ten-thousand times more complex.”

“He’s flesh and blood like the rest of us,” argued Fererra.

The CEO paused to glare a hole through his head before answering.

“Martin has many secrets - some I don’t even know - but I assure you, he is not like anyone, he’s unique.”

“I just meant he’s not Superman,” said Fererra.

Waters’ eyes narrowed and the muscles in his jaws formed bulging, hard knots.

“Anthony, I’ll be blunt. I feel as though you may be in over your head. You see, timing is everything. Martin will shake things up in ways you can’t imagine if he becomes a hundred-percent self-aware.”

“I only need a couple of days,” said Fererra. “A procedure went wrong and now we have a rogue agent. I’ll clean things up.”

Waters relaxed his jaws and his eyes stopped shooting fire.

“Long story short,” he began. “Martin is in possession of 1,000 terabytes of classified information from assorted countries and global organizations. He has the potential to compromise the entire world order.”

“I was originally told his access to classified files was blocked in Colorado,” Fererra said. “What you shared explains a lot of his moves, his abilities.”

“Ah, Martin’s advanced abilities - something people in the field have severely underestimated. We were wrong to keep you out of the loop, hoping for a quick resolution.”

“Yes sir, I need to know who or what I’m dealing with. He’s slick, but word is he’s got a female companion - that should slow him down.”

“I don’t care if he’s getting laid, that just means you have two problems,” said Waters, his voice rising. “She may already know too much, do you understand?”

“Yes sir. Two problems, two targets. I’ve got our guys working with Luther Williams and his people in Florida right now,” said Fererra.”

“So here’s where we stand,” said Waters without acknowledging. “Our techs say he hasn’t accessed the top-secret files and probably isn’t even aware they exist” – he gave the kinetic balls another tap – “but his mind may start to clear at any time.”

“I understand, the jet thing would make Harry Houdini blush” – Anthony‘s thick brows pulled downward, sloping as he leaned forward – “but I’ll shut his magic act down.”

“That is precisely what you’re ordered to do as Director of Operations,” Alfred shot back. “So earn your pay.”

“I’ll personally supervise the termination,” said Anthony.

“Terminations,” Waters reminded.

“Yes sir.” Anthony knew better than to address him as Alfred again before the Martin Harbach case was resolved.

Waters continued for some time with a terse lecture about the costs and complexities associated with highly advanced neuroimaging technology and the decoding of syntax. He explained how the fusion of artificial intelligence in humans, even for a company as advanced as ACR, was in its infancy, how blending artificial memory with biological components was still a futuristic concept.

However, Fererra only heard how Martin Harbach’s escape would have devastating repercussions and severe personal ramifications. He knew the song and dance, having heard it sung from time to time by other condescending board members. But Waters gave him a worrisome stipulation. Find Martin and his accomplice and destroy them before he became self-aware, or else.

Martin had gone silent, even to the research teams that fused the artificial memory and micro-receivers in his head. He was a variant; a failed experimental agent mistakenly granted the ability to download terabytes of detailed information on subjects as diverse as piloting assorted aircraft to nuclear weapons design and engineering.

“Spend what you must, but do not fail,” warned Waters at the conclusion of his spiel.

“Bags are packed, I’ll be in Tampa in a few hours,” said Fererra.

Waters pushed a button and the double doors clinked and began their inward creep.