Breaking the Tether: A Story About Robots and Other Thinking Things (The Corebot Trilogy Book 3) by Thomas Wilson

Author:Thomas Wilson [Wilson, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen: Camp Happy Land

David Cohen sweated inside his state-issued jacket. The green coat hid four icosahedron-shaped quantum peripheral modules, each a little smaller than an average marble. The devices were seamlessly woven into the fabric near the top and bottom of the coat’s zipper, two on each side. The jacket’s padding provided a smooth nest; only the most diligent search would uncover the contraband.

Since the dual-energy x-ray machine was offline again (something the Resistance had ensured), inmates underwent a hasty pat down on their way to work. The main concern of staff was contraband moving into the housing compound, so the perfunctory search of inmates leaving the housing compound was little more than eye wash.

Cohen made his way to the inmate bathroom and used the privacy of the stall to extricate the four devices. Since the ripped seams were evidence of malfeasance, he decided to abandon the jacket in the trash. He could always say the coat was forgotten or stolen if questioned.

Moving into the work area, David hipped a loaded pallet as he walked by. Aluminum containers clattered to the floor. Across the room, the supervisor rose from his chair.

As the man stormed over to the mess, David preempted the looming rebuke.

“My bad, boss, but we’re okay. Only one nest opened, and the components are just fine. They didn’t even pop out of the foam cradle. It’s all good.”

David restacked the boxes just as inmate worker James Hiatt dropped a small box of sheet metal screws. The inmate maintenance worker was securing a section of duct that had come loose, supposedly due to a vibrating air handler. Screws scattered like newly hatched spiders agitated from their nest.

The supervisor jumped, added slops of coffee to the confusion, and said, “Do you two have the dropsies or what? By the god and goddess, you’re both freaking menaces.”

Hiatt quickly scooped up the screws and covertly stashed the replaced quantum modules in his tool bag just as his work crew supervisor called out, “C’mon Hiatt, an aerator is down at the settling pond. Lucky you, you get to row the boat today. Maybe you’ll see a brown trout.”

Hiatt disingenuously laughed at the stupid joke, picked up his tools, and loaded them into the bed of the waiting Cushman mini truck. What an idiot, he thought.

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