“Goodnight miss,” Terrence said as he whipped the reigns and the coach sped off into the night. “What’s your hurry?” Jerri thought, wondering if she had landed herself in a gothic horror novel.

Jerri picked up her bag, then walked slowly toward the lab entrance. She was relieved when a small woman in a white lab coat came through the massive doorway. It almost made her laugh because the woman looked as though the laboratory had opened its mouth and spit her out past two gigantic metal teeth. The woman approached, she was in her fifties, with short silver hair, glasses and Jerri noticed with amusement that she was wearing boots with three-inch heels (a tiny person indeed).

“Dr. Myra Shelly, so pleased you could come,” she said shaking hands with Jerri firmly. “We don’t get many visitors here as you can imagine.”

“And no journalists at all, until me,” Jerri replied with a smile that was returned.

“Quite so,” Dr. Shelly said, ushering Jerri into the doors. “We haven’t been ready to share our findings with the world until now. But there will be time enough for that tomorrow. For tonight, we will get you something to eat and we’ve prepared your room so you can get some rest.”

“I’m not that sleepy, if you want to get started tonight,” Jerri said trying to sound pleasant rather than pushy, though she was really curious what this Garn place was all about.

“A good night’s sleep is what you need. We’ll have plenty of time in the morning. If you were wondering about the size of the doors, it is because we have deliveries of large equipment for our work, so we have an entryway that doubles as a garage.”

Jerri eyed the walls lined with shelving covered with tools and gadgets as well as boxes of all sizes.

“Follow me,” Jerri said opening a regular sized door (though still metal) into a hallway that led right and left. Straight ahead was an elevator, making the hallway look like a metallic department store lobby. Dr. Shelly put her hand out to the right, so Jerri followed that route. Through another metal door at the end of the hall was a small room with a bed, a desk with an office chair and to Jerri’s surprise a fire in a stone fireplace.

“Are you running a bed and breakfast here, doctor?” Jerri asked feeling like, aside from the metal door, this room was actually bordering on cozy.

The doctor laughed, “No, this is a room for one of our researchers who is on leave to visit his family. Now, Ivan will bring you some nice tomato bisque in a few minutes and if you need anything that phone over there is connected to all the extensions in the lab. I am extension number one.”

“Because you’re in charge?” Jerri asked noticing another door that was slightly open, revealing a tiny, but rather elegant bathroom.

“Precisely right,” said the doctor. “There is everything you need in the bathroom, and I will see you in the morning. Is nine a.m. too early?”

“That will be perfect, Dr. Shelly.”

“Please call me Myra, everyone here calls me Dr. Shelly and it gets quite tiresome.”

“Okay Myra, have a good night and thank you.”

“You are very welcome, Jerri. Have a good night’s sleep. Ivan will be in shortly with your dinner. Please don’t think him rude, he can hear quite well, but because of an accident in his youth he is mute.”

Without another word, Myra left the room and moments after Ivan came in. He was a large man, with black hair cut unevenly and he put the tray on the desk, his eyes downcast seeming too shy to meet Jerri’s gaze. She noticed a nasty scar on his throat. The tray of food looked delicious, soup, salad, water and red wine.

“Thank you, Ivan” Jerri said lowering her head to meet his gaze. He nodded, averted his eyes and rushed out of the room. Jerri enjoyed the dinner and after eating and drinking everything she plopped into bed. With a full belly added to the jet lag, she quickly fell asleep.

She awoke with a start at eight in the morning and quickly showered. When she came out, she was surprised to find a breakfast tray with coffee and an omelet. She ate quickly and went to her legal pad to jot down a few notes. Jerri noticed her pen was on the top of the pad and she always kept it on the right side. There was nothing on the top page but when she lifted it, she was startled to find a note on the one underneath.

“Leave here not safe.” It was scrawled in an uneven hand and sent chills down Jerri’s spine. A knock at the door caused her to jump, but she went to the door. It was Ivan, who looked down and pointed toward the tray. Looking at her watch she saw that it was only eight thirty.

“Good morning, Ivan. Did you…” Jerri began, but Ivan put his finger to his lips in a silencing gesture and she saw his eyes fill with terror. He pointed skyward then cupped his hand to his ear. Jerri thought she understood, she ushered him into the room, closed the door and said aloud, “Did you bring me this lovely breakfast?”

He nodded at her, looking grateful and she hurriedly opened the page on her legal pad and wrote, “Did you write this note?”

He nodded a somber “Yes”. She then wrote, “Is someone listening to us?”

She handed him the pen and he wrote, “Always.”

She responded, “What’s happening here? Why isn’t it safe?”

Ivan’s eyes filled with tears. He scribbled for a few minutes, seeming to have a great struggle. He handed her the pad that read (with several scratched-out words): “Dangerous the others and Dr. Shelly always listening. You are not here to see an experiment. You ARE the experiment. Me two I was smart now not.”

Jerri wrote as fast as she could. “What kind of experiment? What did they do to you?”

Ivan read this, then lowered his head and parted his black hair showing a scar like the one on his neck going across his entire crown covered by the black hair.

“Surgery?” she wrote. Ivan nodded and tears began to stream down his face. He wiped them away, then wrote fiercely on the pad. “Yes. Experiment failed on me they took my voice and my thinking. My name is Dr. Ivan Gelman. Leave here.”

There was a knock at the door. Ivan stood up and grabbed the tray then opened the door to a glaring Dr. Shelly with two other men in lab coats standing behind her.

“I hope Ivan hasn’t been bothering you,” Dr. Shelly said as Ivan rushed out of the room.

“Not at all, I was just slow at waking up and enjoying that wonderful breakfast,” Jerri said, hoping she wasn’t showing the rising panic she had been feeling since she first saw the warning note this morning. “Takes me a while to savor the coffee, you know?”

“Of course,” Dr. Shelly responded with a slight smile. “This is Dr. Nash and Dr. Vilesh, two of my associates.” Jerri thought of Ivan who was a former “associate” and then a test subject! Her mind was racing, searching for a way to escape, but she shook hands with the two doctors, trying to remain calm. Nash was tall and gangly with salt and pepper hair, while Vilesh was short, chubby, and had a gluttonous gleam in his eyes.

“I’m sure you must be eager to see our experiment,” Dr. Vilesh said in a low voice.

“It’s such an exciting project,” Dr. Nash said, Jerri noticed all three of them now had the same gleam. She decided she didn’t like being viewed as a lab rat and wanted to scream it in their faces, but instead said, “Can I have a tour of the facility first?”

“Of course,” Dr. Shelly replied. “Let’s head out this way.”

The place was a maze with rooms, offices and labs on the upper floors and living quarters identical to hers on the bottom level. The building seemed strangely empty except for the four of them, though she did see Ivan in the downstairs kitchen doing dishes, but he averted his gaze as the four of them went by. They ended up on the third floor where a door was labeled “Main Laboratory: Authorized Personnel Only”.

Jerri had looked for a way to escape during the tour, but only noticed the huge double doors the way she had come in. She tried to listen attentively to the three doctors then went and took notes on her pad (being careful to turn past the second page).

“There aren’t many employees here, in fact aside from Ivan, I’ve only seen you three. How do you run a facility this large?” Jerri asked, feeling like a hen interviewing three wolves about their feelings towards poultry.

“Well, as I told you,” Dr. Shelly began as the main lab opened with a hiss, “Dr. Gray is on leave to see his family, and we do have an impressive automated system for the entire facility run by an A.I.”

“That’s an artificial intelligence,” added Dr. Velish.

“I’m familiar with the term, but thank you doctor,” replied Jerri as she waited for the other three to enter the lab.

The room was quite large with about a dozen eight-foot-tall tubes around the perimeter. The tubes were connected by many wires to a large screen hovering about ten feet above in the room. There was an operating table under the screen.

“This is the center of our operation, Jerri. And what we invited you here to see.” Dr. Shelly said. “This is Trinity, the most advanced artificial intelligence the world will ever see.” As if in response to the name, the screen lit up with vibrant blue waves of color, dazzling to the eye.

“Hello, Dr. Shelly, Dr. Nash, and Dr. Vilesh,” the voice was synthetic, smooth and soothing. “Who have you brought with you? Is this the journalist you told me about?”

“This is Jerri from the Insider Times,” Dr. Shelly responded.

“Nice to meet you, Jerri,” purred Trinity.

Jerri took a deep breath, noticing that Dr. Nash and Dr. Vilesh each went to one side of the room near the silver tubes where there were computer screens with data whirling by quickly. “You too,” replied Jerri, trying to wrap her head around talking to a gigantic television. She thought about the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the deranged A.I., the Hal-9000, had tried to kill the two astronauts on board.

Jerri directed a question to Dr. Shelly, “What are all of the tubes for?”

“It is input for Trinity. These tubes contain vast amounts of information that the A.I. draws from as well as interaction with humans.” Dr. Shelly walked towards the screen and looked up at it with admiration. “Trinity is going to revolutionize artificial intelligence. We are hoping to finally bridge the gap between biology and technology.”

“After all, we are merely machines made of flesh and blood,” added Dr. Vilesh. “Most of our responses are either learned or input, if you will, through genetic transference.”

“Except that machines last much longer than humans can.” Dr. Nash said from the opposite side of the room.

“I find humans stimulating,” Trinity said. “Added to a nearly limitless and ever-growing database from the internet. I am aware of so much in the world and each day I feel my gaze extends further along with my understanding.”

“Almost god-like,” said Dr. Shelly still gazing in awe at the screen. “Trinity can see everything in this room, even better than our five senses. She has sensors that can detect heat signatures as well as sounds well beyond human hearing.”

Jerri began to back towards the door as all of the scientists were staring at Trinity’s screen, now undulating with blue and purple lights that were hypnotic in some strange way. As if in response, the doors to the lab abruptly closed with a whisk.

“I’m afraid we cannot allow you to leave, my dear,” Dr. Shelly muttered as the three doctors began to close in on her from all sides.

“Why would that be?” Jerri asked, realizing she was outnumbered. She could easily have taken any of these three on their own, but all of them was another story.

“Let us explain it to you,” Dr. Vilesh said. “Trinity, show Jerri what is in the tubes.”

“Of course, Dr. Vilesh,” Trinity replied and the metal tubes opened up to reveal smaller glass tubes with humans inside! Wires were connected to all parts of the men and women inside, most of them to the head (or the brain, Jerri thought in horror). A hissing sound filled the room and Jerri began to feel sluggish, barely able to stand.

“We put a mild sedative in your food and drink,” Dr. Shelly explained analytically, though the gleam in her eyes caused them to sparkle. “You will sleep soon and when you awake you will be a part of Trinity.”

“Our creation!” cried Dr. Vilesh.

“The future!” shouted Dr. Nash.

Jerri crumpled to the ground but was caught by the doctors. As she was dragged to the table, she could see Ivan through the small window in the lab door. He was shouting, “No!” over and over, but Jerri couldn’t hear him through the soundproofed room. She then dropped into a blue ocean of light and when her vision cleared, she was seeing differently. Everything was vibrant and she was aware that she wasn’t breathing, indeed could feel nothing of her body at all, no pulse, no breath, no nothing but she was still aware. She could see the three scientists all staring up at her.

“The surgery was a success, Jerri, you are the twelfth and final subject. Congratulations! You are part of the glorious future that is Trinity!” shouted Dr. Shelly.

Then Jerri emitted her first digital scream.

Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Wedges

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated pizza crust
• 1 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed
• 4 ounces baked ham, chopped
• 4 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon Pantry All Purpose Dill Mix

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Unroll one pizza crust onto Rectangle Stone. Using Dough & Pizza Roller, roll crust out to slightly form 11 inch square.
3. Using Food Chopper, finely chop broccoli and ham; place in Classic Batter Bowl. Using Deluxe Cheese Grater, grate all but approximately 2 tablespoons of the cheese; add to batter bowl. Add mustard & mayonnaise; mix well. Spread mixture evenly over crust.
4. Unroll remaining pizza crust; place over filling, shaping as needed to match the edges. Separate egg over Small Batter Bowl using Egg Separator. Using Pastry Brush, brush top of dough generously with egg white. Using Garlic Press, press garlic over dough, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with Dill Mi. Grate remaining cheese over top.
5. Using Pizza Cutter, cut through dough lengthwise to form 4 squares, Cut each square diagonally to form 4 triangles for a total of 16 triangles.
6. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until deep golden brown. Use Pizza Cutter to separate triangles.
7. Serve hot.

Attribution

Pampered Chef

They even have a British little butler man. What doesn’t this place have?

“Thank you very much,” replied Bill. “That’s very kind of you.”

They entered the building as Hotchkins swiped his security badge, scanned his thumbprint and then entered a 6 digit pin in the keypad. Three layers of exterior building access and what appeared to be bulletproof glass on all the windows. This place did not want anyone in that was not invited.

“Aren’t there any other businesses around here? Or some houses or apartment buildings for the employees?” asked Bill, blown away by the solitude of it all.

“Oh no Mr. Jenkins. All our employees live on site in company provided housing. Our campus has a comprehensive availability of entertainment and shopping needs for them and their families, if they should have any, though most do not,” he replied.

“So nobody goes anywhere then?”

“There’s no need to sir,” he replied with a nod and polite smile. “I think you’ll find our foyer quite comfortable. There’s a television where you can turn on any channel you wish and you have your choice of seating. Would you prefer some water? Or perhaps a light beer? Or I can draft you a lovely lager?” Hotchkins handed him a menu of various alcohols that he could choose from and indicated to a long row of recliners in the foyer with plush looking couches alongside them.

“Just a Coke thanks,” said Bill, pushing the menu back into Hotchkins hand. Hotchkins nodded and Bill headed for the nearest couch.

He opened the gift bag and he found it was stuffed to the brim with branded Data Magic tech. There was the latest model of their smartphone, a tablet, a laptop and some VR goggles. This was easily $5000 worth of tech that they were just giving away.

Hotchkins came back with a six pack of Coke, a cup and a bucket of ice because bringing just one can of Coke would have been far too simple.

“Your refreshment sir.”

“Damn. Why’d you get all this?”

“Is it insufficient? Do you require more? Perhaps you’d like some pastries or a bowl of fruit brought as well?” Hotchkins said with concern.

“No, no, no, no. Thank you but no. You’ve done enough. When will I be meeting with Mr. Bridges?” He looked around the massive building and nobody was to be seen on the ground floor in the immediate area. There were various doors and elevators but nobody in sight.

“Mr. Bridges is presently occupied with product testing sir but he will come and speak with you and show you what you’re meant to see shortly,” replied Hotchkins. “If you require anything else the loo is to your immediate left and I will be in the concierge room across the hall. Simply knock at the door and I will provide whatever you require.”

“Thank you…..About how long do you expect it will be?” he asked with some exasperation.

“Any minute now sir. Creativity at work you know?” With a smile and a twinkle he turned on his heel and returned to the concierge room.

He sat down and began to open one of his Cokes. He turned the TV onto the national sports talk channel for some background noise and turned his attention to the gadgets he’d been given. He powered on the computer and began to go through the default settings and features. The RAM, memory and processing capabilities were all state of the art. The best on the market, and this wasn’t even released yet, he didn’t think. This must be the prototype for the new model set to release in the fall. He found that the device was already connected to the public wi-fi for the building. How thoughtful and convenient. He also noticed a secure private network. He’d spent his youth as a nerd diving through all systems and platforms and wreaking havoc wherever he could. He’d been banned from multiple servers and online gaming communities for hacking. He got a thrill out of finding backdoors nobody else could and getting information he wasn’t supposed to have. He’d left the computer world behind and only worked on them as a hobby as an adult, choosing the more prosaic field of investigative journalism hoping to make a difference with the truth.

After some careful and meticulous hacking into the network, Bill found his way into their secure server and found a backdoor into their secure files. There were financial statements, projections and meeting notes. Quarterly goals, internal memos and then he found it. The gold mine he’d been searching for. A folder marked, “TRIAL TESTING: SENSITIVE.”

He opened it and found a series of videos. There were people in lab coats and other people working on computers and what appeared to be test subjects in trial rooms. He clicked on the first video.

“Are we on—are we on?” he heard a familiar voice offscreen. Walton Bridges, CEO of DataMagic, stepped in front of the camera and sat down on a stool. “Here at DataMagic we sell goods. It’s true. Technology. We sell items that people take into their homes and use for their homework, their social accounts, they use it to watch cat videos and to share pictures of their dinner, their babies or whatever other inane nonsense is going on in their lives. The items we sell are highly profitable and valuable.  We’ll continue to sell them. But,” he rose from his chair and began to walk through the lab and pointed to a diagram on the wall of the human brain. “What we’re really selling is information and the power of suggestion. Suggestions that lead people to make their decisions day to day. Which car should I buy? What movie should I watch? Where should I eat? What should I wear? Who do I vote for? All the way down to which cat video do I watch?”

This sounded, so far, exactly what they were being accused of. Selling and spreading private information. He knew that something was going on here.

“Now this may sound like targeted ads to you. It may just sound like salesmanship 101 through ad campaigns. We have refined the process of targeting our audience not just through targeted ads but through repeated exposure of our targeted influence program embedded in the cameras of each of our devices as well as in the background of our screens. We have identified the exact light, image and sometimes audio triggers necessary to trigger the Prefrontal Cortex to make a decision. With this new power we can run an ad for a product, a company, a candidate and trigger in the background of the image of the screen a sort of hypnotic effect that can immediately impact the viewers decision making. This technology will revolutionize the dissemination of information and the power to correct humanity onto the right path.”

He moved on to images of grotesque pain, mass graves starving children, a couple arguing, children crying and a frightened dog playing in a reel.

“What is the greatest danger to mankind? The source of our problems and pitfalls? Free will. The ability to make the choice to hurt someone else, to hurt yourself and hurt animals around you or the environment is what’s killing us. With this new breakthrough we can end all that,” continued Mr. Bridges.

GOOD GOD. What in the hell? What in the actual hell was he watching? WHAT IS THIS? thought Bill. They weren’t just trying to sell private information. They were trying to control humanity right down to your free will.  He pressed play again.

“As these televisions, computers, phones, tablets and gaming systems enter the homes of the world around us, we take one step closer to the world we deserve. The world where everyone does the right thing and equality is established amongst all people. This breakthrough technology has already been tested on volunteer subjects and been found to be highly successful,” concluded Mr. Bridges.

The video cut to test subjects who were asked a series of personal questions prior to watching the new screen technology. Then after a few minutes of basic programming while they waited for the results they were exposed to the complete opposite of their original answers. When the test administrators returned they asked the same questions again as though the test had not yet been administered. The opposite responses were recorded.

Suddenly it occurred to him that he had been watching this screen all along and he didn’t know what he might be exposed to. He immediately closed the laptop only to realize the television was playing sports highlights from the previous day and that couldn’t be trusted so he immediately shut it off. He got up from the couch and immediately began heading toward the exit with his new bag in tow with all the evidence he’d just watched. He began to head for the exit when he remembered that he was behind a locked door with three layers of security and he was in the middle of the desert with nobody else around who wasn’t already drinking the Kool-Aid probably.

He tugged on the front door just to be sure. Nothing. It didn’t move. He began walking up and down the long hallway until one door finally opened for him.

“Bill,” he heard from across the room. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

The lights came on and he saw Walton Bridges sitting across from him at the end of a long table with half a dozen men in suits lining the walls in front of him.

“Good afternoon Mr. Bridges,” said Bill with as much contempt as he could knowing the position he was in.

“Have you been enjoying your gift bag Bill?” said Bridges. He put a cigar up to his mouth and lit it slowly, puffing out the gray smoke cloud. “Care for one?” He asked, offering a cigar.

“Your gift bag has the finest and most impressive technological devices I’ve seen. Thank you for sharing them with me,” responded Bill.

“Now Bill, don’t be coy. We know what you found in that laptop on the server that was just a little too easy to get into?” he winked at Bill with the wry smile of someone waiting for you to confess. “They say you gotta know your enemy Bill. Do you really think I wouldn’t know about your little dalliance into hacking as a teenager and young adult? That’s why you’re here Bill. I wanted you to find it.”

“Are we enemies Mr. Bridges?” he questioned as he felt the sweat build in his armpits and on his forehead. “What made you want me to find this instead of someone else?”

“I needed someone who could find it organically and not have to be told or shown. Call it another test trial. I needed to see how you would react to finding out about our little science project so I could test your reaction after you’ve been one of our guinea pigs. The results would be skewed if I had to show it to you Bill,” he said as he continued to puff on his cigar.

Walton Bridges was famous for being the Texas Good Old Boy of technology. He wasn’t the refined city gentlemen some imagined he ought to be, which is probably why he went so far as to have an English butler for his foyer.

“I have no intention of being one of your guinea pigs or allowing you to pursue this sick endeavor any further,” retorted Bill, firing up. He knew he was cornered. He knew there was no way out. But he wasn’t going to give it up voluntarily.

“Oh Bill,” Bridges said with a tsk tsk. “I imagine it ain’t got nothing to do with what you intend or will allow.”

The six armed men in the room approached him but he took a swing at the first and clocked him in the head. The second got one to the face as well but as they overpowered him he was lifted off the ground slightly and held in a sleeper hold. Bridges approached slowly, still puffing. He took one long drag and blew it into Bill’s face. Then, apparently finished with his cigar, he put it out on Bill’s shirt.

“AAAAHHH!!! You bastard! You bastard!” He cried out until they clapped their hands over his mouth.

“Now Bill, what do you say we watch some quality programming?  It’s good for the kiddies and the whole family. Pretty soon it’ll be playing in every house across America, then the world,” said Bridges with relish.

He tried to keep his eyes shut but they pried them open and put tape over his eyelids to keep them open. After a few minutes of the screen he felt his muscles relax and he was no longer worried about whatever it was he was worried about.

The next day he left the campus with his gift bag in tow, a new shirt and a strange bandage on his chest. His notepad was full of wonderful information about the revolutionary and extraordinary work of DataMagic to further equality and justice in the world. His driver dropped him at the airport and he called his editor.

“Yeah boss, DataMagic is an amazing company doing incredible work for humanity. There’s absolutely nothing to be worried about. Reports of their wrong-doing are greatly exaggerated. It’ll all become so much clearer to you next month when they release their new product line,” he said with complete confidence on his top of the line prototype DataMagic phone.

A special video had been given to him as evidence to share with the world of DataMagic’s innocence and goodwill. The world was on the path to equity, justice and control just as it should be, with DataMagic to guide it.