"Alexander Jablokov - Brain Raid" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jablokov Alexander)

Brain Raid
by Alexander Jablokov

Those of you who know Mr. Jablokov’s fiction already will probably skip
right past these notes, but since this story is his first one to appear in our
pages, a few words of introduction are in order. Alexander Jablokov
published five novels and about thirty short stories through the 1980s
and 1990s, including A Deeper Sea, Nimbus and Carve the Sky. Then he
fell quiet for a few years, perhaps because his two young sons took up
the bulk of his creative energy, but now he’s back at the word processor
and we’re happy to bring you some of the results. He notes that he’s
indebted to David Alexander Smith for helping contribute to the story’s
underpinnings.

****

That morning’s job was a straight AI grab ‘n go. We’d identified a rogue
intelligence in a minimall on Route 222, near Ephrata, PA. A clerk at the
Intelligence Regulatory Agency, in the Department of Labor, had assigned
it the case name Donald.

Three of us from Gorson’s Cognitive Repossession were going into
the Limpopo home environment store anchoring the mall’s right wing that
day: Petra, Max, and me. I’d worked with Max a lot. Petra was new with us.
She’d left a C-level outfit over in Philly to “broaden her background,” which
meant that she had been laid off. That probably accounted for her foul
mood, even though she’d snagged a manager title, supervising us.
Gorson’s was licensed for D-level and below, quite a comedown for her. If
you’re used to Carries and Chucks, a Donald’s barely worth getting up in
the morning for.

But there she was, crisp and clean, sliding right for the service desk.
My job was securing the staff and customers, then turning them over to the
hired hospitality crew. Max’s was locking down the loading dock behind the
store, where a semi was loading decorative flora and fauna. Petra’s was,
redundantly, distraction and team management.

“Hot stuff, man.” Max was more cheerful than I’d seen him in months.
“We’re scoring big. I can feel it.”

“Cool it,” I said. “Even at best, this AI’s really just
consumer-debt-reduction level. Keep that in mind. There’s no big money
here.”
 “Hey, not what you said the other night, eh?” He winked at me. “This is
just the first step. Things are turning around for us.”

Despite myself, I glanced over at Petra. “Enough tequila, and I’ll say
anything.”

“Don’t get all hot, man. I’m just looking to pay off that mortgage.”