And how he might crash and burn.
* * *The Blackhawk Family* * *
Not Far Away
Holladay, UT
First Stop
Elizabeth wanted to knock this out, since it was just to see what the owner knew about the building, and the killings. She was betting very little, but since they had today to handle interviews, she might as well be thorough.
This killer was going to be an interesting chase, or so she suspected.
“This shouldn’t take too long,” she admitted. “I’ll take Gene in with me, but I’ll keep MATE on so you can get updated as I’m going.”
Speaking of MATE, she’d been MIA.
And that was weird.
In fact, Elizabeth was shocked that she didn’t come out earlier when Benjamin asked to have‘custody’of her. Normally, she heard her name and showed up to the party.
Her mother senses kicked on, and she suspected something was up. She’d been to the teenager rodeo a few too many times not to investigate.
“MATE.”
It took her a second.
Then, she appeared in the vehicle, and was quiet. There were no funny comments, or jovial banter.
Yep.
Something was going on.
“What have you been up to?” Elizabeth asked, suspiciously.
The AI cracked like a nut being hit by a hammer on the first swing. She didn’t even try to make shit up—unlike two teenage boys.
“I can’t lie! I was hanging out with the techs! They’re fun, and…”
Elizabeth stared at her.
“I know you told me that I shouldn’t fraternize with the techs, but I have been. I’ve been seeing them behind your back. You can ground me.”
She actually laughed.
Why?
It was absolutely absurd. MATE wasn’t a real person, and she wasn’t grounding a computer. That then made her the insane one.
“MATE.”
Her AI tried to calm her down.
“Don’t be angry.”
She snorted.
Of all the problems she had, a petulant teenage AI was theLEASTof her issues today.
