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\title{When Computers Dream}
\author{\copyright 1991 Josh Finney}
\date{}
\maketitle

{\it \noindent
{\Large H}ere are the next two chapters of the cyberpunk saga,
special thanks going to Mike Smith for his artwork.\\}
\setcounter{page}{69}


\begin{center}
{\Large Two}
\end{center}

{\noindent \Large
     T}he silvery grey LCD screen of the clock read {\em 6:45 PM} when
Arther looked at it.  He had just finished calling a public access
computer bulletin board system and thought it was about time to get
ready to leave.  He had to meet Silver and the others at Cardoza's
Gourmet.  While getting dressed in proper clothing he watched
the television news.  The lead story was about the sale of long range
bombers and electronic warfare devices to China by a renegade weapons
manufacturer called Alpha Technologies.  The signatory
megacorporations of the Global Commerce Agreement (better known as
GCA) were objecting to the sale of military equipment with offensive
potential to any country, but especially to such an isolationist
anticommerce nation.  At the moment, General Electric's Vice
President of Public Information was on the screen.

     ``As you know, China has been one of the very few nations since
the turn of the century to restrict the free conduct of commerce
across its borders.  Since Communism's collapse late in the last
century only China and South Africa have refused to honor the terms
of the Global Commerce Agreement.  As a result, their economies have
declined steadily and there is a scarcity of even the most basic of
necessities in those countries.  Violence is commonplace among their
people and they have repeatedly threatened their neighbors with
military action.  In each instance, only the timely and decisive
intervention of the GCA has prevented war from breaking out.

     ``As you also know war is much too costly and produces more of a
monetary loss than gain.  So what reason would China have for large
amounts of long range bombers capable of carrying 100 megaton fusion
bombs?  Obviously to attack capitalist countries.  And the last thing
any of the megacorporations want is a war.  It would cause the world
economy to decline and it would cost all of us a lot of money, money
that could be put towards profitable applications," the corporate
vice-president said.

     Arther didn't feel like listening to the news so he turned the
television off.  It often got him depressed, and he was avoiding the
truth.  What he didn't know could not bother him, at least in his mind
it couldn't.  Or so he thought.  Not only that, but he really
didn't want to listen to a corporate vice president who was talking
down to all the viewers.  He definitely was not looking at the
situation in the larger scale.  His statements were very
contradictory, and his reasoning was off in left field.  Or at least
in Arther's opinion it was.  First, he pointed out that China was
paranoid, and they were.  Then his reason for China's purchase of
bombers was for assault on other countries.  Arther believed that
they bought the planes solely because of their own paranoia.  They
probably felt they needed them for protection.  But Arther also
didn't like the idea of having a potentially dangerous country that
was paranoid in possession of nuclear weapons.

     Arther entered Cardoza's Gourmet.  This was a classy place so he
had taken care to dress appropriately.  He was wearing dark black
slacks and a black long sleeve shirt that buttoned up in the front. 
His hair style was mildly done, nothing too outrageous.  It was a bit
spiky and only stuck out in the front.  If he had come in his usual
garb, they probably would not have let him in.  Inside the
restaurant, classical music played in a jazz type format drifted from
 speakers hidden in the decorative shrubbery, and the place was
very dimly lit.  He walked up to the formally-dressed woman at the
receptionist's stand.

     ``Hello.  Do you have a reservation?" she asked in a light
Mexican accent.  She looked Latino.

     ``Uhhh, no.  I'm supposed to meet someone here who goes by the
last name of Silver," Arther said in a laid-back voice.

     ``Ahh yes, Mr. Silver.  He has invited a large party here
tonight.  Let me take you to your table."

     ``Thanks."

     ``So what's the occasion?" She talked while leading him to the
private dining room.

     ``It's kind of a business meeting."

     ``Oh.  Well enjoy your dinner.  And, I hope your business goes
well," she said as she guided Arther into the dining room.

     Silver had rented a private dining room in the back of the
restaurant.  He must have spent a little extra money.  That was
Silver's style.  The place was definitely classy, all they served was
real food, no tofu or krill reproductions.  Expensive, but knowing
Silver he was probably going to take the tab.  Not that real food was
incredibly high priced; it wasn't.  Real food wasn't cheap either,
but it was available, just not in large quantities.  The most food he
ate was tofu reproductions of other foods.  The reason soybeans were
used so widely as one of the main food source for the population was
that it could be grown easily in large volumes and in a very short
periods of time.  Other fruits and vegetables just didn't grow fast
enough for the food demands of the public.  Farms still existed, but
in a different way.  Fruits and vegetables were produced in mass
amounts in underground automated corporate 'farms'.  Special
artificial lighting caused the plants to grow at three times the
normal rate.  On the other hand, things such as meats and dairy
products were very high-priced and extremely hard to come by.  In
Japan, real meat had a higher value than gold.  Krill and algae were
often used to synthesize meat products.

\setcounter{page}{71}

     He opened the door and walked in.  Silver was sitting at the
head of the table.  The metallic-silvery shimmer of his mylar-silk
suit was accentuated by a thin black tie.  Set on the table before
him was a sable fedora that matched the suit.  Next to him was his
secretary, Annett, with a white plastic laptop computer placed in
front of her.  She was obviously of Japanese origin, her hair was a
shimmering metallic black, like the casing around a stereo ROM
player.  The dress she wore was deep red and what was exposed of her
legs were black tights.  Bloodlust was sitting on the right side of
the table in expensive asphalt gray business suit, his hair
hanging back in a pony tail.  Bloodlust actually looked classy
instead of threatening.  Next to Bloodlust was Stiletto.  Stiletto
had blond hair in a tone that reminded Arther of an old actress,
Marilyn something or other.  She was wearing a tight mini skirt and
long sleeve top that were both an amber black and spike heel shoes. 
She was Bloodlust's girlfriend, he had met her in a night club called
The Interface, which wasn't her (or Bloodlust's, for that matter) kind
of place.  It was a decker hangout.  He had gone there with Neuro,
and, in the course of the evening, he had picked up one of the
waitresses, who happened to be Stiletto.  She held the job of a
waitress at the club while she did runs monthly for money.  Arther
sat down and started to flip though one of the menus on the table.

     ``Hello Neuro.  We're waiting for Overdrive and Mirage before we
start," Silver told him.

     ``Yeah, okay," Arther said acknowledging Silver.  Mirage was
Diane's street name, she only used it during runs.  She made a point
of having her friends using her real name when they were not on a
run.

     Bloodlust looked back at Arther briefly and left off his
conversation with Stiletto.  ``Hey, I see you got some new
sunglasses."

     ``Yeah, these are supposed to be shatter proof up to 300 PSI, or
that's what the guy on the commercial said," Arther said taking his
new sunglasses off. ``I really doubt they are."

     Stiletto joined the conversation, ``What brand are they?"

     ``Sheallers."

     ``Sheallers are high qualities shades, man. They probably can
take a good smash or two before cracking," She said making a fist
with her left hand.

     ``Well, maybe, I'll try not to find out.  I didn't buy them for
that reason.  They have light intensification lenses."

     ``Hey, that's not cheap.  How much did you pay for those?"
Bloodlust asked.

     ``Don't remind me, I'm trying to forget."

     ``How much?"

     ``400 creds."

     ``My combat helmet has infrared and light intensification built
into the visor."

     At that moment Overdrive and Diane (a.k.a. Mirage) entered the
room and sat down.  Overdrive was wearing an average-style business
suit with some expensive driving gloves.  Diane was wearing a normal
grey woman's business suit.

     ``Hello Overdrive\ldots Mirage," Silver said.  ``Now that we're all
here, I'll start." All conversation stopped. ``Okay, I've contracted
to liberate a box from the IBM complex in north Los Angeles."

     ``Good, how much money will I get?" Bloodlust instantly said.  He
was just being irritating, though he was partly serious about the
statement.

     ``We will receive 100 thousand creds when we finish this
operation."

     ``Thats not good enough." Mirage said,``I want at least one third
of the money up front.  The risk factor for this run is too high, we
neeed some money up front."

     ``Same here." Overdrive said.

     ``Yeah." Bloodlust said pointing a pen he had had in his pocket
at Silver,``You rip me off and things might get messy."  Arther knew
something about the pen that the rest didn't.  The pen actually was a
modified holdout needle launcher, single shot.  Bloodlust was never
unarmed.

     ``You each will get 2000 creds before the run, which I have had
put into all of your accounts already."

     ``What exactly are we going to do?" asked Arther.

     ``Okay, let my secretary, Annett,  get the information up from
the computer." he said.  He hired Annett as his secretary originally,
but she had become more of a business partner.

     ``Sure, here it is," she said,``Most of the information in here is
pretty cryptic, but I have compiled the more meaningful information 
into one file."  Annett had been working for Silver for quiet some
time and had assisted him on the paperwork end of the runs.  Most
people speculated that Annett and Silver's interest in each other was
more than business.  If it was true, they sure didn't show it at the
moment.

     After the secretary typed a few key commands she brought the
information onto screen. ``Here it is," she said.

     ``Okay, first we are to break into the IBM research and
development complex in north Los Angeles.  Once we're inside we are
to steal a newly developed AI."

     ``What!?!" Overdrive said in astonishment,``What do we do?  Just
come in with a fork lift, rip some mainframe out of the ground and
take off with it?"

\setcounter{page}{73}

     ``He's got a point," Arther added,``Actually, a more logical step
would be to find the mainframe the AI program is in and copy it.  But
I don't see how we could do that.  There's no way to actually copy
even a small sentient AI program to what we could carry in.  We'd
need some large scale computer storage bases."

     ``Do you know what the security is like at IBM?!" Overdrive said
loudly.

     Annett answered that question,``The security systems are built by
a subsidiary company of IBM called North Star.  What exactly the
security is like inside is unknown, but North Star does produce top
quality security systems.  As for the security guard all, that was
given in the file was that they are trained and employed by IBM.''

     ``Still, how are we going to get in and steal an AI?"

     ``Well, apparently this one is built into a mobile cabinet of
computer memory or some thing." Silver said,``Here's the information
Mr. Johnson gave." He turned the laptop screen around pointed at it. 
It displayed miscellaneous information on the AI and a full color
photograph of the cabinet it was stored in.

     Arther looked over at the information on the screen. ``It's
inside a ROM/EPROM cabinet.  The cabinet is about the size of a
refrigerator.  The cabinet is on wheels, it's gonna be a bitch trying
to get this thing out of IBM without getting noticed."

     ``It's gonna be a bitch getting past IBM's security." Overdrive
said in a vile tone.

     ``Yeah, I guess they're planning to move the AI to another
location.  AI's are usually confined to a mainframe's memory banks,
but when they want to move them to another location most corporations
will dump the AI onto a large cabinet full of ROM and EPROM and move
it.  Then when they've moved it to where ever they wanted to go they
just transfer the data to another host system."

     ``Why would they do that? Kind of a waste of time isn't it?  You
could just upload it to its location over the net," Overdrive said.

     ``Well it takes out the risk of other corporations copying the
program while it's being transferred from one system to the other."

     ``So whats so big about a computer on wheels?  Why do they want
it so much?" Stiletto asked bluntly.

     ``I don't know; our employer didn't tell me and really it's none
of our business," Silver told them.  ``Our business is to steal the AI
and get paid.  But yes, I would like to do some research on what
we're getting involved with before we try and steal it."

     The door opened and a waiter entered the room. ``Good evening. 
Are you all ready to order?" he said.

     ``Yes, we're ready order." Silver said.

     ``What would you like sir?"

     ``I'll have the Souflakia Provencale." 

     ``And you madam." the waiter asked Stiletto.

     ``Uhhh\ldots Just give me what ever he's getting." she said pointing
at Silver.

     ``I'll take the most expensive thing on the menu." Bloodlust said
and then grinned at Silver.  Silver didn't seem to be amused.

     ``Yes sir." the waiter said as he wrote the orders on a note pad.

     The waiter tilted toward Annett,``And what would you like?"

     ``I would like the spaghetti."

     ``And what would you like, Sir?" he asked Arther.

     ``I'll have the Szechwan soft tacos and Tibetan Rice." 

     ``I want the swordfish and a side dish of egg rolls." Overdrive
told the waiter.

     Diane looked up from the menu saying,``I'll just have a salad."

     ``Okay miss." the scribbled away at the pad with his pen.

     ``And, we'll take five bottles of your best Napa Chardonnay,"
Silver completed the ordering.

     Silver nodded to the waiter to indicate they were finished
ordering.

     ``Okay, I shall return in a little while with your dinner." the
waiter said, and then he left the room.

     ``Let me get this straight," Overdrive said in an annoyed tone.
``We're supposed to walk into an IBM research center, grab an AI on
dolly wheels, and sneak out!?!  That's crazy!  It would be safer if I
point a gun to my head and pull the trigger.  We're getting ripped on
this. The pay isn't even near to what we should be receiving."

     ``You just let me take care of the security." Bloodlust reassured
Overdrive.

     ``Yes. The money offered to us is not nearly worth the risk we
would be taking." Mirage said cooly, ``More money."

     ``Yes, I had noticed that risk level was very high on this very
run.  But there is another concern."

     ``What?"

     ``We're not the only ones after this thing.  I talked to my fixer
and he says that a lot of others are trying to get a hold of the
computer.  He says that at least two other Mr. Johnsons have hired
runners to get this AI.  He also mentioned a group of Fundamentalist
Christian Commandos who want it destroyed."

     ``Religious terrorist\ldots oh great," Arther said sarcasticly.

     ``Yeah, so it's a hot item, whats your point?" Mirage said.

     ``So I think we should get a hold of it first and\ldots" Silver was
cut off by Mirage, a grin had formed on her face.

     ``Sell it to the highest bidder." She said.

     ``Exactly."

\setcounter{page}{75}

     ``I like the way you think, Silver," Mirage said, she was
impressed with the idea,``We'll have to be careful in selling it.  If
the corps know who we are we can get the reputation of a bunch of
backstabbers.  If that happens, no one would want to hire us."

     ``Okay, I want each of us to do some research on what we'll be
doing.  Bloodlust, I want you to ask around town about what is known
about the other runners who were hired to do the same job we are."

     ``I'll up Sporty and see what he says." Bloodlust was leaning
back in his chair with his arms folded.
     ``Good.  Mirage, try and find out the value of the AI. Try and
get an idea of what we can sell it for."

     ``I'll try and find how much money is being put into high
priority projects at the IBM labs.  That might tell us something."

     ``Good."

     ``Though most of information involving high status projects are
usually withheld from the public.  I guess I could try talking to
some of my old friends at the Hitachi sales division," she was typing
all the information into a pocket sized digital note book, ``see what
they can turn up for me."

     ``Overdrive, I want you to talk to the deckers in the net and see
what you can find out about the AI and what other deckers know about
the research labs."

     ``Got it." Overdrive said as he pointed a leather driving glove
at Silver.

     ``You may run into another decker in the net looking for the same
information you're looking for, he goes by the name of Whizzard. 
He'll be coming along with us on the run."

     ``Whizzard?" Bloodlust said, ``I did a run with him."

     ``Can he be trusted?" asked Overdrive.

     ``Yeah," Bloodlust was using an arrogant tone, ``he's nothing to
worry about."

     ``Stiletto, I want you to check the security at the labs.  See
what you can find out about the security guards, video cameras, and
anything else of importance.  Take photographs."

     ``I can already tell you now that the guards are probably just a
bunch of rent-a-cops," Stiletto said.

     ``Thats only external security," Mirage indicated, ``if this place
is working with high priority AI's it more than likely has two or
three teams of corpses."

     ``What?"

     ``Corporate security experts\ldots highly trained in indoor and urban
combat\ldots armed with state-of-the art weapons and equipment."

     ``How would you know?!  You never see combat\ldots you're all
paperwork." Stiletto said rudely; Stiletto thought that Mirage was
just trying to show her up.  Stiletto had a very competitive
attitude.

     ``Trust me.  I'm from the other side.  I worked for the
corporations.  I know how they handle runners."  Mirage was
aggravated by Stiletto's attitude and ignorance.  But then this was
Stiletto's first big-time run.  Her other runs were all grunt level;
they weren't even true 'runs'.  The majority of her previous work had
been as a bodyguard.

     ``Yeah\ldots whatever\ldots"

     ``Neuro.  I want you to find out what the ICE is like at the
labs.  See if you can't find a way to maybe open the the doors or
turn off the security system," Silver instructed him.

     ``Yeah, okay.  You know, this won't be easy," Arther said while
pondering the situation.  ``IBM's ICE is usually pretty hard to deal
with."

     ``You'll have the assistance of Overdrive and Whizzard when you
go in to crack the ICE."

     Arther took a deep breath and slowly released it, ``I'll see what
I can do."

     After dinner, Arther, Bloodlust, Overdrive, and Mirage gathered
at Overdrive's car in the parking lot.  Overdrive was leaning on the
side of the car next to the passenger door, Mirage was sitting in the
passenger seat with her legs hanging out the open door.  Bloodlust
and Arther slouched opposite them.  Overdrive's sleek sports car was
a painted a glossy black and the windows were tinted to match.  Its
electrical turbine motor had been modified by Overdrive allowing it to
travel at exceptionally high speeds for a ground vehicle.  A typical
aerocar's speed was about twice that of any land based vehicle.

     ``Well, what do you think?" Arther asked.

     ``Sounds like we could make a lot of money on this one,"
Bloodlust commented.

     ``Sounds like it could be a bit dangerous if we don't do it
correctly," Arther continued.

     ``And we will do it right," Diane said, she was using her real
name now.  She was among good friends.

     ``What about the Whizzard?  Who the hell is he?" Overdrive asked.

\setcounter{page}{77}

     ``I did a run with him last March.  He's kinda dormant.  He just
follows you around, doesn't say anything and then every once in a
while he'll get a good idea.  What he needs is to get a grip on
reality though," Bloodlust said and then laughed,``you know he's so
paranoid of injuring his head he wears this heavy combat helmet
whenever he's outside of his house."

     ``Sounds like he needs some serious psychological help," Arther
said.

     ``He probably got dropped on his head as a child, right?"
Overdrive said jokingly.

     ``Definitely." Arther muttered.

     ``How's he jack into the net?  Wouldn't that helmet get in the
way of the interface jack on his head?" said Arther.

     ``He drilled a hole in the helmet so he can still plug in with it
on," Bloodlust said with a chuckle, ``Which is really stupid because
that completely destroys the environmental seal on it."

     ``Is there anything else you know about him, Bloodlust?" Diane
asked.

     ``He's a rookie from Florida; that's about all I know\ldots that and
his helmet problem.  Trust me.  He's nothing to worry about.  He
gives us any problems, I'll smack him around."

     A low flying aerocar streamed overhead.  Behind them loomed the
huge structures of the business sector.  The giant buildings'
silhouettes had vertical and diagonal streaks of light from the
windows of offices still being used.

     ``Well, Silver wants us to meet him at his apartment at nine
o'clock tomorrow night," Diane pointed out.  ``How about we all get
together at say nine in the morning tomorrow and maybe we can find
out a little more about Whizzard."

     ``How 'bout ten in the morning?" Arther suggested.

     ``Why ten?"

     ``I don't wake up until about nine or nine thirty."

     ``Stress it.  Get up an hour earlier tomorrow."

     ``I can do that."

     ``I've got some work I gotta do at home so I'll see you all
later.  C'mon, Diane," Overdrive said as he motioned her to get into
the car.  Overdrive got in and started the engine.  The twin electric
turbine motors hummed.  Then the car smoothly sped away.  Arther and
Bloodlust walked though the parking lot returning to their vehicles. 
It started to rain again.

     ``I hate this damn green house effect!  Every winter it rains
continuously here," Bloodlust complained, ``This is supposed to be
sunny California," he put the word 'sunny' in a sarcastic tone.

     ``Well over the last fifteen to twenty years the greenhouse
situation has been improving," Arther reassured him.

     ``It's really screwed that our great-grand parents used fossil
fuel and we have to live with the environmental effects of it."

     ``Ever since we started using electric and methanol4 powered
vehicles, which was what?\ldots a little over 25 years ago\ldots our
environmental situation has improved greatly.  We hardly depend on
environmentally hazardous fuels at all anymore."

     ``Yeah, but it's still messed up."

     ``You're right though, it really does suck.  But at least we
don't have drought problems."

     Arther arrived at his car and started pressing the numbers on a
small key pad on the car door.  It was to open the electronic lock.

     ``Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow.  See ya later." Arther said as
he got into his aerocar.  He sat in the drivers set starting up the
vertical take off engines.  Water from the rain drops ran off the
water resistant synthetic cloth of his pants onto the seat.

     ``See you later, I gotta get home." and Bloodlust started to walk
to his Corvette (2047 model).  Arther shut the door of the aerocar
and lifted off. \\

\begin{center}
{\Large Three}
\end{center}

{\noindent \Large
     A}rther awoke to the sound of pounding on his door.  Looking up,
the digital wall clock it indicated that the time was 8:43 AM. 
The wake up informant program clicked on.  Arther listened to the
computer recite basic information about the day as he got out of bed.

     ``Door intercom on," Arther ordered to the house computer.  The
visiphone screen lit up.  Bloodlust's face appeared on it.

     ``It's about time you got up," Bloodlust complained. ``I've been
out here for about ten minutes."

     ``Hey," Arther said in a voice that sounded half asleep,``I'll
unlock the door in a minute.  Door intercom off."  The visiphone
flashed off.  Arther walked out to the living room, hit the instant
lock/unlock button and opened the door.  Bloodlust walked in.  He was
wearing his usual camouflage pants and black muscle shirt, he threw
in his heavy grey flight jacket, that he had been carrying, down on the
couch.  A few beads of rain water were on the surface of the jacket. 
Arther had on his blue sweat pants and a white T-shirt, it was what
he usually slept in.  His hair hung in his face, partially blocking
his vision.

     ``What are you doing down here?" Arther asked and shut the door
behind Bloodlust.

     ``Well we're supposed to meet Overdrive and Mirage.  So I decided
to just come down here first."

     ``Okay.  Do you want anything to eat?  I've got a wonderful
selection of microwave dinners in the refrigerator."

\setcounter{page}{79}

     ``That's okay\ldots I've already eaten."

     ``Well, I'm not hungry either, I can't eat in the morning.  It
makes me feel sick."

     ``Maybe it has to do with the fact that you're eating microwave
dinners for breakfast."

     ``No, it's not that\ldots that might have something to do with
it\ldots but I think I've got an ulcer or something."

     Bloodlust sat down on the couch next to the arm where he placed
his jacket.  Arther started to open the mini-blinds, rain tapped
against the large picture window.

     ``Where are we supposed to meet Diane and Overdrive?"

     ``I dunno.  No one ever decided on that.  I guess we'll just go
to their house."

     ``Okay."

     ``Well you can watch TV or something right now.  I'm going to get
dressed and make myself look semi-decent."

     ``Fine, I'll just wait out here."

     Arther went into his bedroom to get dressed.  He put on a pair
of black slacks and a white T-shirt that said: 

\begin{center}
{\large \sf INDUSTRIAL NOISE

DNA/DOA}
\end{center}

{\noindent I}n between the title and the caption was the picture of a double
helix.  He'd bought it at an Industrial Noise concert.  They were
an `alternate music' band that had a hard rock electronic sound to
it.  The proper term for it was industrial music.   After getting
dressed he went into the bathroom to do his hair.  He put his hair up
in the usual 'Smith' style and walked back out into the living room.

     ``Hey.  It's 9:20, we better leave," Bloodlust told Arther.  He
was flipping though a Time magazine that was previously set on the
table.

     ``Okay, we can go in my car.  It's aero, we'll get there a lot
quicker."

     Arther grabbed his trench coat and went out the door.  He and
Bloodlust rode the elevator up to the aerocar landing and take off
area on the roof.  

     Arther set the car down in the driveway in front of the white
house which belonged to Overdrive and Diane.  To the left was the
main road that lead up the hill to Griffith Observatory.  Diane and
Overdrive lived in the track housing built on the hill below the
observatory.  It was a relatively nice housing development.  Arther
and Bloodlust got out of the aerocar and walked up to the front door.
Arther rang the door bell, a few seconds later Diane opened the
door.

     ``Oh, hi guys.  Come on inside," she welcomed them in.

     ``Hey," Arther said as he and Bloodlust hurried in to get out of
the rain.

     Inside the house it was furnished in a black and white
modernistic art deco style.  Against the far wall of the living room
a fairly large (70 centimeter screen) television was build into the
wall.  A reflective black plastic casing was a frame around the
screen and control unit of the TV.  At the moment it was on.

     ``John is still busy.  Why don't you take a seat now and we'll be
right out," she said and then rushed down the hall to the master
bedroom.

     ``No problem," Bloodlust said.

     Arther sat down turning his attention to the television.  A
commercial was on the screen at the moment.  It was an advertisement
for Lockheed aerocars.  The ad finished and a morning news show call
`Wake Up Los Angeles' came on.  The anchor woman was on the screen.

     ``In a press conference earlier this morning IBM declared that
they would be providing financial support to the Kirghizstan
Republic's military," she stated.  

     Arther felt war was going to break out there real soon.  Many
corporations were assisting the Kirghizstan Republic's military build
up on the Chinese border.  That was a clear implication of a nearing
war.  It all started when China started to triple the size of their
military.  China was stocking up on more than just conventional
weapons, they has taken a large interest in cyberspace warfare.  And
the current equipment purchased was far from defensive.

     ``I give it a month," Bloodlust said.

     ``Give what a month?" Arther asked.

     ``War."

     ``Really?"

     ``Yeah.  I just hope they don't use anything nuclear."

     ``If war breaks out it will be centered between the Kirghizstan
and Chinese borders.  Any nukes dropped in that area would directly
affect China.  I don't think they would do that."

     ``I hope not," Bloodlust said leaning back on the couch,``The US
military hasn't gotten involved."

     ``It's not our war and it won't directly effect the United
States.  Unless it actually causes any real problem for our
government, we will try and remain neutral.  The US government has
kept a neutral posture in most world events.  Let the corporations
take care of it."

     ``If China is only going to fight in that small area, Why are
they loading up with long range bombers?"

\setcounter{page}{81}

     ``Paranoia?"

     ``And what if China tries to use their long range bombers on us? 
Do you think we're gonna sit and not do anything?  Hell no."

     ``We'd probably see if that Star Wars system really works or not.
Personally I don't think anyone will ever actually use nuclear
weapons.  It's just a scare tactic.  No one in their right mind would
use nuclear weapons.  The radiation from the weapon would ultimately
effect them too." Arther only partly believed his statement about
nuclear warfare.  He took a great interest in discussing the
situation between China and Kirghizstan Republic, but it also made
him nervous.  

     ``The Chinese government isn't in their right mind.  Remember
when they used a neutron bomb on the protesters in Hong Kong?  That
was totally unacceptable."

     ``The radiation from a neutron bomb only effect the immediate
area of the blast."

     ``I know, but anybody who uses neutron bombs on their own people
are not safe."

     ``Yeah.  Nobody has ever used a nuclear weapon and I doubt anyone
ever will.  Okay, except for that thing in World War II and that was
over a century ago.  What will probably happen is they'll try and
send a cyberspace special forces hacking squad in and crash their
main computer networks.  Then send in the planes and tanks.  You
destroy the country's main computer networks and it's an almost
definite victory."

     ``That's only if the military is ordered to knock out the
country's net as a covert operation or if they want to preserve the
net in a repairable state.  If they just want to knock it out they'll
just drop an EMP bomb on them.  The electromagnetic pulse will
destroy almost all computer systems around.  They also use special
cyberspace hacking units if the computer systems are protected
against electromagnetic weapons." Bloodlust had a firm knowledge of
military tactics and procedure.  At one time he was a part of an
elite United States military ground forces unit.  He was discharged
from the military for going against his superior officers' orders. 
That was how Bloodlust got into running.

     ``Well, if the US gets involved in this I'm gonna enlist into a
corporate military so I'll be there.  It won't be like the US Armed
Forces, but I'll at least be on the same side and doing something
about the situation." Arther knew Bloodlust disliked corporate
militaries.  He said they were an insult to our countries defence
forces.  At one time he even stated he would never enlist in a
corporate military, since the US military would not have him.

     ``Wars are less physical now, computers are where most of the
battle takes place."

     Overdrive and Diane walked out of the master bedroom and into
the living room.

     ``Hey. What's up?" Overdrive said.

     ``Not much," Arther replied.

     ``Anyone want a cup of coffee?" Diane asked.

     ``Yeah, I'll have a cup of coffee," said Bloodlust.

     ``Caffeine, I like caffeine, too bad coffee tastes so bad,"
Arther said, the comment was rather pointless.

     When they left it was edging on eleven-thirty AM.  They took
Overdrive's car, even though it was purely a land based vehicle, 
mainly because Overdrive was such a good driver.  He had an implant
that plugged into the head similar to a cyberdeck interface jack. 
This implant of his allowed him to directly interface into his
vehicle, which had been specially modified to work with the implant. 
Overdrive could control the vehicle as if it were his own body.  This
implant was called a vehicular rigg interface.  Unlike Arther's
neural interface, which was common among the public (most corporate
deckers had neural interface jacks), the rigg implant was some what
of an unusual piece of cyberwear.  Like the neural interface jack it
was perfectly legal, but it was just not very common.  Rigg implants
were used mainly by the military, all Air Force fighter pilots had
them.  They were often called `riggers'.

     After doing some asking around in the more run down areas of Los
Angeles they gained some information about their soon to be business 
associate, The Whizzard, which was the main point of the whole
excursion.  Apparently Whizzard was a new decker in the business who
had only been in LA for less than a year.  He's done a few small time
runs and was still new to the trade, most people they talked to said
he was kind of weird, but skilled.  It cost them a couple of Ben
Franks of creds to get the info, but then a little background was worth
paying for.\\

\setcounter{page}{83}

\vspace{4in}

\begin{quote}
``Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the
Lord my soul to keep\ldots If I should die
Before I wake\ldots then someone gets
another doughnut for breakfast!"\\

\ \ \ --- Dennis Miller
\end{quote}

\newpage
\ \\
\vspace{6in}

\begin{quote}
``It's the old, old story. Droid meets droid, droid becomes chameleon, droid
loses chameleon, chameleon turns into blob, droid gets blob back again,
blob meet blob, blob goes off with blob, and droid loses blob, chameleon
and droid. How many times have we seen that story?"\\

\ \ \ --- Kryten
\end{quote}


\end{document}
