Cyber Rogues by James P. Hogan Page A

expression on Dyer’s face.
    “You’re making a prize asshole of yourself,” Dyer stated simply. “I’m telling you here and now to pack it in.”
    Al flinched as if he had been struck in the face. Then the color started rising from his collar and a look of pained indignation compressed his features. He swallowed hard and his grip tightened visibly on the armrest of his chair.
    “I guess I haven’t been keeping very good time,” he mumbled awkwardly. “Okay. All I can say is I’ll put that right. Today was kinda—” Dyer cut him off with a curt shake of his head.
    “It’s not just that and you know it. I’m talking about all this screwing around with Pattie. You’re making it a public spectacle and that isn’t a smart thing to do. I’m telling you to wise up.”
    “I don’t want to get into an argument, Ray,” Al protested weakly. “But that’s a kinda personal matter, if you know what I mean. What I do in my own time outside the—” Dyer shut him up again with a wave of his hand. He knew what was coming next. He had already heard all the outraged justifications and noble speeches in defense of young love threatened in its prime.
    “I know what you’re gonna say. Just don’t say it,” Dyer went on. “You’re acting as if you just found out about sex for the first time in your life. Well maybe you have, but the rest of the world knew all about it a long time ago so we don’t wanna hear about it. Okay?”
    Al turned a deep shade of scarlet and glanced around as if looking for a convenient black hole to jump into. Dyer observed him with satisfaction and allowed his tone to soften a fraction.
    “As far as I’m concerned there are two Patties,” he said. “One lives outside this place and does what the hell she pleases and the other one works for me. The one that works for me is company business because the company has paid for her time, not you. And I’m telling you what a professor told me when I was at Harvard Medical School: ‘Thou shalt not dip thy quill in company ink!’ That’s all I’ve got to say. From this point on it’s forgotten. Okay?”

    A couple of minutes later he rejoined Laura in the corridor outside.
    “Sorry about that,” he said as they began walking. “We’ve been having a slight staff problem.”
    “Pattie mixed up in it?” Laura inquired casually. He turned his head toward her in surprise.
    “Yes. Who told you?”
    “Nobody,” Laura replied lightly. “Just feminine insight.”
    “Oh Christ. We’re not back to that, are we?”
    Laura gave a short laugh.
    They walked on in silence until they emerged into the main corridor that led to the staff restaurant.
    “I was thinking while I was waiting for you,” Laura told him. “Why is he called FISE. Does it stand for anything in particular?”
    “Functional Integration using Simulated Environment,” Dyer said.
    “Oh. I see. That sounds impressive.”
    “But Chris has got his own version.”
    “Really? What does Chris call it?” Laura asked.
    Dyer grinned. “Fastest Idiot Seen on Earth,” he told her.

CHAPTER FOUR

    “So was that what they call an intelligent computer?” Laura’s voice was lined with mildly mocking satisfaction as she removed the plate of curried chicken from the small dispensing hatch in the wall at the end of the booth. Dyer turned his head from gazing out over the river far below the window alongside them. He missed the intonation and answered her matter-of-factly.
    “It’s obviously got a long way to go yet, but it’s about as advanced as anything you’ll find anywhere.”
    “Advanced!” She stared at him incredulously. “Ray, if you weren’t looking so serious you’d have to be joking. If that was an intelligent machine, Stegosaurus was a genius.”
    “Aw, you’re missing the whole point,” he told her with a shadow of irritation as he realized the turn the conversation was taking. “Computers are evolving backward.”
    “If that means they’re becoming more