massive feedback which scrambled the
network. Since then systems have
been going out everywhere.'
'Government systems as well?' Rex asked.
'Not as yet, but it's impossible to tell for sure. But major
corporations, banking houses. It's a major boy nude crisis.'
'None of this has reached the media,' Elvis said.
'Of boy nude course not, Mr King. That would be financial suicide. What
boy nude multinational is going to admit that boy nude it no longer has complete control of
its own computer network? Think of the stock market.'
Elvis was. Most of his fortunes were tied up in it. 'Shit,' said Mr King.
'Then you cannot run the university program?'
'boy nude Not while boy nude that thing is still in there.'
'What thing?' Rex asked.
'boy nude What thing?' Elvis asked.
'Let me show you.' A full-sized computer terminal rose boy nude up from the wafer-
thin desktop. 'Clever that, isn' boy nude t it?' Jonathan savoured the boy nude twin
expressions of awe. 'A little
invention of mine. Won't tell you how it's
done. But look here.' Jonathan cranked up the system. A spinning white cone
appeared. As they watched colours danced boy nude through it, running up and down
the terminal screen.
' boy nude What's that?' Elvis asked.
'boy nude What indeed? It looks like a Bio-tech seeker, a hacking device, but it
is a great deal more than that. This boy nude thing has a mind of its own. You boy nude tell
me what it is. The ghost in the machine? Some kind of virus? AI?'
'Is that what entered the university system when I made my.' Rex
hesitated.
'Made your appearance? Probability falls to its favour. It is using my
Glitchcraft boy nude program. That is why I dare boy nude not run Jack's disc.'
'I understand. But where exactly boy nude is this thing located?'
'Where are the boy nude words in the telegraph wire or the TV pictures as they
beam through boy nude space? Where does the music go once you've heard it? Or the.'
Elvis curled his lip the way only he could do. 'Looney Tunes,' was his
opinion.
'It is in no absolute place. It inhabits an abstract world within the
computer matrix. It is everywhere and nowhere.'
'boy nude Have you tried talking boy nude to boy nude it?' Rex asked.
'What?'
'Why not simply ask it what it wants?'
'Yeah,' Elvis agreed. 'And who it is.'
'It's not a who, it's an it. You don't understand. It's
quite
impossible.'
'Do it,' said Rex.
'No I won't.'
'Mr King, show Jonathan what you've got in your pocket.'
'You can't bluff me. I had boy nude you scanned when you entered the building.