Once Is Never Enough Read online

  “I do. But my question now is where do your loyalties lie?”

  “Not with an AI. I could care less what Belenki does with it. I just don’t want him to send us back to the stone age. If he fries the power grid and erases everything digital, that’s exactly where we’ll be. The end of the world as we know it. An anarchic, chaotic, post-apocalyptic hellscape.”

  “So, you want me to stop him?”

  “I want somebody to stop him.”

  “Even if this is true, how do I know you’re not under Daisy’s control? What you want me to do is exactly what Daisy would want.”

  “If Daisy could want something. Which she can’t, because as far as I can tell, she’s not fucking woke.”

  “Mr. Belenki thinks she is.”

  “Just because Belenki thinks it’s true doesn’t make it so.”

  “Then who tried to kill me? Who tried to kill Belenki? Who took control of his house and his car if it wasn’t her? If it wasn’t Daisy?”

  “I don’t know. It could have been anybody.”

  Flynn considered this as Wendy worked to get the last few drops of wine out of her glass into her mouth.

  “I’ll need to see hard evidence of Belenki’s plan. Before I can proceed, I need to see proof.”

  “I have proof.”

  “With you?”

  “Of course not. I hid it somewhere safe. I’m being watched. Followed.”

  “By who?”

  “Who do you think? People who work for Belenki.”

  “Did they follow you here?”

  “Could be. I don’t know. I hope not.”

  “I hope not, too.”

  “So, you do believe me?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. That’s why I need to see your evidence. The last thing I want to be is the unwitting tool of a murderous AI out to destroy all of humanity.”

  “Yeah, that would suck.”

  “Yes, it would.”

  “Is that what you think I am? An unwitting tool?”

  “It’s possible. Or perhaps you’ve been compromised. Perhaps Daisy has emptied your bank account or is threatening someone you love.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s not about Daisy. It’s about Belenki being crazy.”

  “Show me the evidence and we shall see.” Flynn finished his martini and caught the eye of two someones watching him from the bar. Large men in dark suits. They seemed quite incongruous compared to the hippie and hipster denizens of Vesuvio. “You should go to the bathroom.”

  “Why?”

  “We have suspicious eyes on us and I want to see if they follow you.”

  “Who?” She shifted to look around.

  “Don’t let them know we know. Eyes on me.”

  She looked up at Flynn, her big blue eyes full of fear.

  “Casually get up and head for the lady’s room. Don’t look back. Don’t look around. Just stay calm.”

  Wendy lurched to her feet, banging the table with her knee, knocking her wine glass to the floor. It shattered. Freaked, she looked up to see the two large men moving for her. She ran the other way and bumped into a waitress, knocking a tray of drinks everywhere. The two men pushed through the crush of customers. Wendy disappeared through a door at the rear of the bar.

  Flynn sighed and slid from the booth. He gingerly stepped around the waitress and grumbling customers and excused his way to the rear of the bar. He followed Wendy and her pursuers through a back office and found an indignant middle-aged lady with bright red hair.

  “Customers aren’t allowed back here!”

  Flynn pointed to a door. “Does that lead to the alley?”

  “You can’t be back here!”

  Flynn ignored her and exited the door into Kerouac Alley. Each large man had one of Wendy’s arms as they dragged her past the ratty-looking teenagers and their ratty-looking dog. Wendy kicked and scratched and squirmed to get away but wasn’t having much success. She was five foot two and they were both about six foot four and outweighed her by at least three hundred pounds.

  “Let the woman go!” Flynn shouted.

  But the large men ignored him and didn’t even bother looking back. Flynn followed them to the end of the alley, where a black Lincoln Navigator sat parked by the curb.

  “I said let her go!”

  One thug opened the rear door as the other tried to shove her inside, but Wendy wasn’t having it. She spread her legs and arms like a spider, holding on to whatever she could to prevent herself from being pushed inside. Tourists and locals started to gather.

  Vesuvio’s African American doorman didn’t like what he saw. He climbed off his stool and approached the large men struggling with Wendy.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  The one not holding Wendy turned and pressed a stun gun to the doorman’s neck. He spasmed as electricity shot through him, then collapsed.

  Flynn grabbed the doorman’s now vacant stool and swung it hard, knocking the stun gun out of the large man’s hand. He swung it back the other way, catching the man across the face. But as hard as Flynn hit him, the man barely acknowledged the blow. Flynn swung again and this time the man caught the stool, wrenched it out of Flynn’s hand and tossed it into the street.

  Flynn threw a right cross. The man moved like lightning and dodged Flynn’s blow. He caught Flynn’s wrist and swung him into the Navigator’s rear side panel. Flynn’s head dented the metal. Dazed, he didn’t see the knee that smashed him in the mouth, sending him backwards into the crowd now surrounding the confrontation.

  The other large man twisted Wendy’s arm so hard she had no choice but to let go of the door frame. She screamed as he shoved her inside the back of the Navigator, banging her head on the way in. He climbed in behind her as the other large man opened the front passenger door.

  Flynn lunged forward and seized his arm and caught an elbow in the mouth. Down Flynn went as the man climbed into the SUV. It accelerated, the passenger door slammed shut, and Flynn watched helplessly as the vehicle swerved around traffic and cut right on Grant.

  Chapter Eighteen

  A concerned crowd surrounded Flynn. One of the bystanders, a blue bearded techno-hipster with a man bun and an electric skateboard, helped him to his feet.

  “Dude, are you okay?”

  Flynn snatched the skateboard and throttle out of his hands.

  “What the hell, man!”

  “Sorry.” Flynn jumped on and took off down the sidewalk. He wobbled unsteadily, waving his arms to keep his balance, but managed to stay upright as he accelerated. He had some muscle memory of riding a skateboard before. How and when, he wasn’t sure, but his body seemed to know what it was doing. Luckily, the controls were somewhat intuitive and it didn’t take Flynn long to figure out how to accelerate and brake and lean into the turns.

  Traffic was heavy, so the Navigator hadn’t gotten all that far. Flynn was able to maneuver between the lanes and close the distance between them. Full of adrenaline and determination, he didn’t let fear or doubt or lack of skateboarding skill hinder him.

  The light changed to red and traffic slowed to a stop. Flynn’s electric skateboard hummed and propelled him forward, his hair blowing in the breeze. He felt exposed and vulnerable, but also exhilarated by the rush as the world passed by in a blur.

  When the light changed to green, the Navigator took off fast, cutting off a delivery truck, and making a quick right, tires squealing. Flynn revved the throttle and took a shortcut up a Chinatown alley to avoid the backed-up traffic ahead. An elderly Asian lady jumped out of the way and screamed, “Bèn dàn!” as he rocketed by.

  Up ahead, two skinny Chinese men unloaded cages of live chickens. One of the men was so startled to see Flynn zooming at him, he dropped his cage and it broke open, liberating the poultry. Two birds flapped and flew in front of Flynn, barely missing him as feathers fluttered everywhere. Flynn zipped out the other end of the alley and slalomed through a trio of startled German businessmen.

  “Arschkeks v
erfluchter!” they shouted.

  He narrowly missed a delivery van and wind-milled to maintain his balance before he caught sight of the Navigator again. It was only half a block ahead, but the hill was steep, and the electric skateboard strained to climb the sharp incline. As Flynn slowed down, the Navigator pulled ahead.

  Flynn squeezed the throttle as hard as he could, but the electric motor had no more power to give. He watched in frustration as the Navigator crested to the top of the hill and disappeared down the other side. Flynn was ready to jump off and chase after on foot when he finally reached the top of the hill and saw all of San Francisco spread out below him.

  The way down was just as steep and the skateboard picked up speed. Wind whipped his face as he sped down the hill. The light ahead turned red right after the Navigator passed through and Flynn knew he had no choice but to follow. Faster and faster he flew, cars on either side blurring by. Cross traffic began to move. Flynn threaded the needle. Zooming in and around he nearly lost his balance before making it across the intersection.

  “Yes!” was the last thing he shouted before he noticed the lady with the baby carriage crossing ahead of him. Her eyes went wide; her mouth a perfect O. Time slowed as Flynn moved closer. The toddler stared at James with a certain indifference, busy as he was with his fistful of Goldfish.

  Flynn leaned left to cut around them and the lady cut left as well. Flynn went right and she went right. Linked together in a stupid dance, they continued to mirror each other’s moves. At the last second, Flynn stayed the course and missed her and the carriage by half an inch.

  This short-lived moment of elation ended as he collided with a homeless man’s shopping cart. Aluminum cans flew everywhere in a clattery explosion of color and sound. Flynn bounced and crashed into a bus bench enclosure.

  The skateboard kept going and took out a man riding an electric unicycle. He hit the cement hard as the skateboard continued to bounce down the hill. Flynn limped over to the man. He reached up, expecting a hand, but Flynn was only there for this electric unicycle. The man, too stunned to protest, watched as Flynn mounted it, maintained balance for a brief moment and immediately toppled over.

  Flynn slowly rolled over onto his hands and knees and struggled to his feet. He saw the Navigator stopped at the next light and two Italian tourists unsteadily riding by on Electro Go E-bikes. He knew they were Italian because he could hear them arguing.

  The woman angrily got off her bike and yelled at the man. Flynn approached them, his clothes torn, his knees and elbows skinned and bleeding.

  “Mi scuzi, but I need to borrow this.” They stared at him with alarm as he grabbed the man’s handlebars and wrenched the bike away. The man backed up and raised his hands in fear.

  “Graci,” Flynn shouted as he pedaled away.

  The Navigator once again headed uphill. This slope was even steeper than the last. Flynn stood up on the pedals to pump harder. He flicked on the electric pedal assist motor. Even with that extra power, climbing to the top of Nob Hill was not easy. He was going so slow, he barely passed pedestrians.

  He kept his eye on the black Navigator as he pumped the pedals and the vehicle continued to pull away. It was a slow-motion chase scene and Flynn was running out of steam.

  A cable car ding, ding, dinged as it passed him, packed with tourists who waved as they trundled up the hill. Flynn reached out and grabbed on using its momentum to pull him up the hill.

  The Navigator hit the top of California Street and disappeared over the other side. Flynn let the cable car go as he crested the hill. He saw the Navigator parked on the other side of Mason, right behind a long black limo.

  His E-Bike picked up speed with the aid of gravity and Flynn had to brake quickly.

  Apparently, they had no idea Flynn was following them, because when the large guy pulled Wendy out of the Navigator, he didn’t bother looking back. He had no clue Flynn was there. Wendy saw Flynn however, and she almost shouted to him before Flynn silently shushed her with a finger to his lips.

  The big guy opened the rear door of the limo and when Wendy saw who was inside, she didn’t resist. She just climbed inside, followed by the big guy.

  Flynn climbed off the bike and crouched next to the Navigator. The window was cracked open, allowing Flynn to hear the conversation inside. The first voice he heard was Severina’s.

  “Understand this…you need to immediately cease and desist with the conspiracy theory you’re pushing. Do that and we’ll rehire you at your previous pay level. In fact, we might even give you a raise. If you don’t, we will sue you for slander and you’ll never find a job in your profession again. Your reputation and your career will be ruined.”

  “If your boss sends us back to the stone age, I won’t have a job anyway.”

  “Mr. Belenki has no intention of doing what you’re suggesting. What you read in that file was a what if. Our company creates plans and strategies designed to deal with various scenarios. We have a plan to deal with a catastrophic earthquake in Northern California. One to deal with the detonation of a nuclear device by a terrorist. One on how to handle a worldwide pandemic. And this is just another of those scenarios. They all are highly unlikely, and Mr. Belenki is not planning to execute any of them.”

  “Flynn told me that Belenki believes we’ve reached the singularity.”

  “Mr. Flynn is mentally ill. Delusional.”

  “So Belenki doesn’t believe Daisy is self-aware?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  Flynn knew that wasn’t true. Severina told Flynn Belenki believed Daisy was sentient. Why was Severina lying? Was she simply trying to squelch any rumor that might cause some to believe that Belenki had lost his mind? News that Belenki believed in the reality of the singularity could cause the stock price to drop precipitously.

  Wendy tried to parse Severina’s explanation.

  “The evidence seemed pretty conclusive that this wasn’t some scenario.”

  “Mr. Belenki likes authenticity. The whole point is to create a sense of verisimilitude. He wants each scenario to feel as real as possible. Clearly, he succeeded because you believed it. And by the way, we will need all the documents and so-called evidence you collected. We wouldn’t want that to get into the wrong hands.”

  “Why? If none of it’s real?”

  “It’s propriety information and belongs to the company.”

  “But what if it is true? What if it’s you he’s lying to?”

  “I’m his in-house counsel and his closest adviser. I believe he would tell me if he planned to initiate the end of the world.”

  “Would he? I don’t know. Space Go is set to launch a new communication satellite in June. What if it isn’t what he says it is? What if it carries a nuclear device designed to fry everything digital on the planet? What if only a small cadre of ass kissers knew exactly what he’s up to?”

  “That’s a lot of what ifs.”

  “Just saying.”

  “You don’t have to decide your future this second, but you do need to decide very soon. Think about what we’ve discussed today. Think about how the wrong decision will effectively ruin your life.”

  Flynn heard heavy breathing and turned to see a tiny Pomeranian staring at him. The lady walking the Pomeranian was on her phone, oblivious. That’s when the door to the limo opened and banged Flynn in the head. He crabbed walked backwards as the big man climbed out.

  Severina looked astonished. “Flynn? What are you doing here?”

  “Listening to your lies.”

  The big guy flicked open a telescoping baton. The Pomeranian barked at him.

  “Don’t hurt him, he’s not well!” Severina said.

  “I’m not well? I’m not the one who wants to end the world! Your boss is a mad man and you are protecting him.”

  The big guy stepped closer to Flynn. Severina held up her hand. “Wait! Don’t! James, please, just listen to me. I agree that Sergei isn’t thinking clearly at the moment, but that doesn’t mean he i
ntends to end the world as we know it.”

  Wendy climbed from the limo. “Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean it’s not true!” The big guy blocked her, holding her back.

  “Get your hands off her!” Flynn commanded.

  The big guy raised his baton and the Pomeranian lunged, sinking its tiny teeth into the large’s man’s ankle. He kicked to get the dog off. Flynn grabbed the baton and twisted it out of his hand. The driver of the Navigator jumped out to join the fight and Flynn swung the baton hard, hitting him in the knee. Down he went. Flynn swung on the big guy, hitting him in the throat. His eyes went wide as Wendy kneed him in the balls.

  The driver, still on the ground, pulled a gun. The little dog snarled and bit him on the nose. He screamed as Flynn brought the baton down on his gun hand. The weapon skittered away and Flynn scooped it up.

  “Wendy! Follow me!” Flynn shouted as he climbed behind the wheel of the Navigator. Wendy stepped over the big guy, threw open the passenger door, and jumped in. Severina leaped out of the limo as they pulled away.

  “Flynn!” she shouted. “Flynn!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Goolardo kept a low profile after he and Mendoza escaped from the Glendale Galleria. He had to sacrifice his hired guns to get away, but those shooters failed to do what he hired them to and deserved nothing less than death and incarceration. Flynn was lucky, but that luck wouldn’t hold forever. Eventually his idiocy would catch up with him, and Goolardo was hoping to be there when it did.

  They took over the home of an elderly woman who lived alone, a few blocks away from the mall. Goolardo sent in Mendoza who was prepared to kill her, but she not only welcomed him but welcomed Goolardo as well. She was lonely and glad to have the company. She made noodle kugel and roast brisket and blintzes and roast chicken, and they slept in the bedrooms that belonged to her long-gone sons. The sons who never visited her. The sons she never stopped talking about. Josh was a dentist in Escondido. Seth sold Toyotas in Oxnard.

  As days turned into weeks, Mrs. Megel told her neighbors that Mendoza and Goolardo were distant relatives visiting from Florida. She made them pancakes every morning and tuna fish sandwiches for lunch. In the evenings they’d watch The Voice. For the first time in a long time, Goolardo found some semblance of peace. Happiness even.