Over the past few weeks I have shared #SaturdayScenes for Prime Decision, episode one of Quantum Law. You can get the full download of Prime Decision by registering through my Reader’s Club:

If you need to catch up with previous part of this or other stories, you can access them at my #SaturdayScenes page…

He kept calling her Ace, and she had to admit to herself she liked it. More accurately, perhaps, it fell within her parameters for acceptance, and it improved the probability of effective relationship between them—well, at least for him to relate to her. And wasn’t that part of her mission?

She and Jerry discussed briefly whether they should grab a bite to eat at some place that served dinner on a table. All along Ace could tell Jerry felt odd about that, as if worried of how others would perceive them—on a strange human-synthetic date. She appreciated the undefined but nonetheless operational boundaries full well. Out here in a place like Temecula few if any synthetics passed through, much less sat out in public to watch a human companion consume his meal.

This didn’t worry her. If things got awkward or tense, she was fully equipped to either defuse the situation empathically, or employ stronger measures when needed. Besides, no sane human would dare challenge a synthetic, even out here. Though of course, humans acted rather irrationally while in a chemically altered state.

Still, Jerry insisted on going through a drive-thru. Just as well, since any awkwardness would rest on him—how his kind would perceive him, even judge him, for associating with a synthetic. He tapped on the screen to order a “Classic Combo” of burger, fries, and drink.

A five minute drive brought them to his place, another camper, this one in a half-occupied trailer park.

“No one wants to live out here in the middle of summer,” he explained. “They go north or south.”

The array of disparate boxed modules, stretched out in shadows that only three overhead, flickering lamps dared disrupt. After a quick multi-spectral scan, Ace decided Jerry’s unit stood as the largest in the park, and perhaps the newest, though a final determination would require more in-depth inspection.

“Is this going to be good for you?” he said, already extracting his dinner from the brown sack.

“Yes. Enough stray ambient energy for replenishment.”

He grinned back at her, unraveled part of the burger’s wrapper, and took a bite. “You replenish, I replenish,” he said through a mouthful.

She found a chair and sat. Her energy now at twenty percent, she needed to replenish soon. It would take a while. The energy sources she detected were plentiful, but faint. Not nearly as strong as in the fully equipped capitol.

Already her non-essential systems were shutting down. The sensors for smell and touch went first. Next up, her electronics scanner would turn off. She saw no point in overriding it to do a quick scan. They’d agreed to discuss nothing sensitive after they left that box passing for a camper. That suited her well enough.

He smiled at her as he chewed on his burger and fries and drowned it all with his soda. She felt herself slowing, draining down. A human would call it relaxing, she mused, smiling back at him.

She sensed something odd, though, too much of a drain. Like someone was siphoning her off. She shouldn’t feel this low, not at twenty percent—well, nineteen, now. Yes, the slowdown felt too severe, too pronounced, too fast. How could this be? She hadn’t commanded the full freeze yet. Why, then?

“Jerry?”

“Hey, you OK?”

Her field of vision pixelated.

“What’s up, Ace?”

“A malfunction.” She looked up at him, fighting with her optics to stay alive. “Did you do this?”

“What? No.” He slid over and knelt by her. “What’s going on?”

“You didn’t do this.”

“What’s going on?”

Something fell inside her. If she had to describe it in a way a human would understand, she’d call it a blackout, like falling into a black hole.

“Then QLM did it.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry Jerry.” The words were hard to get out, like she was speaking in slow motion. “They hacked me.”

“Hey, hang on.”

She overrode her sensors to come on. “They’re here, Jerry. They recorded us.” The effort drained her even more.

The hole grew darker, and the last thing she sensed was her falling and Jerry’s arms around her to arrest her fall.

Download the full version of Prime Decision by registering through my Reader’s Club:

Stay tuned also for the upcoming release of the full novel!