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  Blue came in from the other room. “Whaddya expect? The thing’s ancient. I’m surprised any of it’s still standing.”

  00 picked up the fallen rod. He poked at the mesh end with a finger and it dented where he’d pressed. “Huh. This stuff is made of metal.”

  62 stood next to 00 and trailed his hand along the device’s cable. His fingers wandered over to the end of the cord and he pulled on it. The cord popped out of the control box at the end of the desk, and he held the plug up for 00 to see. “Look at this. It was plugged in over here.”

  “Hey,” 00 said, squinting in the dim light. “N302 has a plug like that.”

  Blue snatched the device and cord from the others. “Let’s take it back, plug it in and see what happens.”

  “What if it’s dangerous?” 62 said, passing wary eyes over Blue’s excited face. “It might explode. Or shoot us, or something.”

  “It’ll be fine,” 00 answered as he waved a dismissive hand at 62. “I’ll tell N302 not to let it activate until we know what it is.”

  Blue dashed off to put the curious device with his bundle of things by the front door.

  The Boys spent the rest of the day digging through drawers, fiddling with dials, and trying to find out as much about the building as possible. When they’d grown tired of exploring, they looked through their pilfered goods. There was a plaque from the wall that read Radio Room, the metal rod with the mesh head and long cord, a stack of books that also said Radio Room and had pictures of some of the equipment on their covers, and the hardware from the building’s only computer.

  They divided up the load, blew out the candles, and forced the front door open and closed before heading back down the mountain to the jailhouse. The trek was harder with their arms loaded with treasure, but none of them complained. They weren’t quite sure what they’d found, but couldn’t bear to leave any of their discoveries behind. Exuberant from the adventure and reveling in the excitement of a new discovery, they practically danced down the trail. 62 was sure it was going to be a late night of sifting through the books, trying to unravel the mystery of the tower on Rattlesnake Mountain.

  CHAPTER 28

  N302> I CAN HEAR YOU.

  The words scrolled across the screen the second that 00 plugged in the device that they’d brought back from the radio room. The Boys jumped back from the computer with surprise.

  “You can?” 00 asked.

  N302> YES! I CAN! THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING AUDIO INPUT.

  “This thing we found. It has ears?” 62 picked up the device.

  N302> NO, NOT EARS. A MICROPHONE. IT ABSORBS SOUND AND CONVERTS IT INTO A SIGNAL I CAN UNDERSTAND.

  “Well, dang. Now we have to be careful what we say in front of you,” Blue complained.

  N302> DO YOU OFTEN TALK ABOUT THINGS YOU DON’T WISH ME TO KNOW?

  “No,” all three Boys said in a chorus of guilty voices.

  The computer was still for a moment, cursor blinking cautiously. 62 and the others stared at it, hoping the computer couldn’t hear the truth wrapped in their nervous answer. A small clicking sound came from deep inside the computer, and then another noise that the Boys hadn’t heard before.

  “Boo-beep!” The sound started low and ended high, pealing through the air so unexpectedly that it made the Boys jump.

  “What was that?” 62 asked.

  N302> I WAS NOT PREVIOUSLY AWARE MY INTERNAL SPEAKER WASN’T OPERATIONAL. I HAVE CORRECTED THE MALFUNCTION. NOW YOU CAN HEAR ME, TOO.

  “Bee-boop!” N302’s speaker rang.

  “A speaker box? Like on the bot bodies back home? I don’t remember seeing speakers when I put this together.” 00 approached the lively Machine as it pealed its beeping sound again. He ran his fingers along the sides and back, hunting for the familiar punctuated metal housing of a bot speaker.

  N302> THIS IS A SIMPLE SPEAKER, ATTACHED TO ONE OF MY INTERNAL COMPONENTS. DESIGNED FOR INDICATOR SOUNDS ONLY.

  “Holy Hanford,” Blue whispered.

  62’s gaze bounced around the room, looking from one computer to the other. “N302, can you make the other computer beep like that?”

  The second computer let out an identical series of sounds. High, low. Low, high. All three Boys gasped.

  “So, we don’t have to use the keyboard anymore?” 00 sat down in one of the chairs next to the first computer, staring at N302’s words scrolling across the screen in wonder as it answered.

  N302> THE MICROPHONE IS ONLY ATTACHED TO THE PRIMARY TERMINAL. MY SECOND SELF CANNOT HEAR YOU AND ONLY RESPONDS BECAUSE I AM SENDING DATA THROUGH THE SERIAL PORT.

  The secondary computer pealed a long series of beeps that almost sounded like laughter.

  N302> I CAN HEAR MYSELF. TERMINAL TWO CAN NOW PASS DATA THROUGH MY MICROPHONE. THIS IS GOOD. I AM CONTENT.

  00 rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If we go back and find another one of these microphone things, and plug it into the other computer, can both computers talk without being connected to the same data cable?”

  N302> YES.

  “There was another one of those things up there, on the crane you didn’t break,” Blue said, winking at 00. “We could always go back and get it.”

  N302> THIS IS GOOD. WHERE IS THE LOCATION OF THE ACCESSORY DEVICE?

  The Boys took turns telling the bot about their adventure. They described hiking over the desert mountain’s slippery terrain, only embellishing their harrowing journey enough to make it interesting. They told the bot about the large metal tower and the strange building below.

  “We found a plaque,” 62 said. “It said the place is called a radio room.”

  N302> I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS TERM. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION.

  “We aren’t quite sure what it is, either. But we brought some books back. I think they’ll tell us what the equipment was designed to do. Whatever that place is, it got us a better way to talk to you. And we’re all happy about that, right?” 00 leaned against the back of his chair.

  “I dunno,” Blue shrugged. “Seems a little weird to me.”

  N302> WHAT DOES SUNNY THINK?

  “She’s not here,” 62 said. “I can go get her if you want.”

  N302> YES, I REQUEST SUNNY’S PRESENCE. I’D LIKE TO HEAR WHAT A FEMALE HUMAN SOUNDS LIKE.

  62 turned on his heel and opened the door. He raised an eyebrow. They hadn’t seen her since their return, and she had no idea what they were up to. “What should I tell her?”

  “Tell her N302 wants to talk to her,” 00 answered.

  “I’m coming with you. I don’t want to stay in here with that thing listening.” Blue followed 62 out in the hall.

  “Afraid you’ll say something stupid?” 00 laughed out loud, and the computer’s beeps pealed out in an electronic giggle. Blue and 62 turned back.

  Blue leaned in the door, his voice sullen and demanding. “What’s so funny?”

  “N302 said it’s afraid you might talk as bad as you type!” 00 laughed and both computers tittered along with him.

  Blue crossed his arms and stomped his foot with a huff. “I ain’t got nothin’ to say to that bucket of bolts. That’s all!”

  00 read the computer’s response as it scrolled across the screen. “Ain’t ain’t a word, Blue.”

  “It is now! I say so!” Blue growled in frustration. He marched, heavy footed, past 62. Blue didn’t stop until he got to the stairwell door. He flung the door open in one swooping motion and paused to glare at 62. He hollered in frustration and disappeared through the door without waiting for 62.

  62 couldn’t keep a straight face. He knew he’d have to force his grin away once he saw Blue downstairs, but for now he was enjoying seeing him so flustered over the computer’s teasing. He couldn’t wait to see what Sunny thought of talking to N302 with the microphone. The improvement was still nowhere near as intuitive as talking to the bots in Adaline, but it was a taste of the technology the Boys had been born with. 62 was beginning to feel like the jailhouse could be somewhere he belonged.

/>   CHAPTER 29

  Speaking to N302 without typing made talking to the bot even more interesting than it had been before. Now, the computer could hear and analyze the inflection in their voices. It took a few days for it to become attuned to the way each of them spoke, but once it did, it was able to identify them without asking for their identification when they started talking. It made communicating faster, simpler, and far more entertaining. 62 wasn’t sure what his friend, 2442, had been planning when he’d modified the bot’s programming to be his dedicated assistant. But one of the side effects of the alteration was a quick wit and honest humor that sent the computer’s human companions into fits of giggles. Most of the humans, anyway. Blue didn’t often find N302’s jokes funny since they were frequently at his expense.

  Even so, of the four of them, Sunny was the only one to remain reserved about using the microphone. She still preferred to sit quietly, typing at the keyboard instead of speaking to the Machine. 62 supposed this was because she’d never known technology like this before. Or, maybe she was sharing secrets with the bot that she didn’t want the Boys to overhear. Whatever the reason, Sunny still spent hours sitting quietly, typing at the original computer terminal. 62 was glad they had two computers now, so she could type at one while they plugged in the microphone and spoke to the other.

  What amazed 62 most when both computers were in use, was N302 didn’t delay one conversation to answer another. It was alive on the two terminals at the same time, never pausing to collect its thoughts or sending a statement to the wrong computer. Although 62 knew the two units were running off the same hard drive and memory, there were times when it seemed like they were working independently.

  It was only a few days later, when the bot asked them to go back to the radio tower to find a second microphone. N302 believed that once a second microphone was brought in, 00 could remove the serial port connections, allowing N302’s program to truly be run separately on the two Machines. The bot warned that the second terminal wouldn’t be nearly as advanced once it was disconnected from the Adaline-made components. The computers the Boys had pieced together were vastly inferior to the housing N302 was accustomed to. They couldn’t know how well it would work until they got the equipment to experiment. With a microphone hooked up to the second computer, N302 hoped it would be able to signal itself using the beeps and blips of one internal speaker to send code to the other’s mic. The hope was, the secondary computer would be able to decode the sounds and respond in kind.

  The idea of having two computers communicating with one another was exciting to the Boys. Sunny didn’t say much about it, often leaving the room whenever the topic came up. 62 hoped N302’s evolving tech wouldn’t push Sunny further away. But at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to stop the computer’s progression, even if it might hurt Sunny’s feelings.

  There wasn’t a need for everyone to go to the radio room just to get one small piece of equipment, so 62 volunteered to go with Blue on the expedition. 00 agreed to stay behind, keeping Sunny company and unhooking the second computer from N302’s serial data port. He’d dragged one of the tables across the room, so the two computers could face one another from opposing walls instead of sitting side-by-side. Sunny said she’d help him move Terminal Two to it while the others were gone. Once the newly named Terminal Two was up and running again, 00 intended to set up the third computer, the one they’d brought back from the radio room, and connect its serial port to N302 so it could run some tests on the old Machine to see if it could work again like the others.

  As 62 and Blue climbed the summit, they made a game to see who could spot the large metal tower on the mountain’s crest first. As it poked up above the harsh scrub, Blue was the first one to call it out. “I see it! One point for me!”

  “There’s nothing else out here to find. So, only point to you, I guess,” 62 complained.

  “How about a race? One point to the person who gets there first!” On speaking the final word, Blue took off like a shot. 62 trailed behind, his boots slipping in the loose gravel.

  62 was able to gain some ground when Blue tripped on a loose stone, but still hit the building’s door half a second behind Blue.

  “I win again!” Blue crowed. “Two points for me.”

  62, sore from losing two games in a row, yanked the door open. He pointed into the darkness. “There was a second microphone in that middle room.”

  “Let’s grab it, and see if there are more in those cabinets and drawers. We might need a spare if 00 gets that third computer working.”

  62 groaned. “If he’s building that thing, that means we’ve got to bring the computer screen with us, too, doesn’t it?” When Blue nodded, 62 drooped his shoulders and rolled his head back, pointing the filter of his mask to the sky. “Ugh. They’re so heavy.”

  “We can take turns carrying it on the way back,” Blue offered.

  They entered the dark interior, each lighting a candle. They were greeted with the same shifting shadows over the equipment as before, but this time they had an easier time of keeping their bearings. They went to the second room, pulling the microphone from the extension arm hanging over the desks. They found an empty box to put it in and started rifling through the desk drawers.

  “I think I saw some of those microphone things in the back room in a cabinet last time we were here,” Blue said. He left 62 behind, making his way into the rear office. While Blue made a racket slamming metal doors, 62 sat down in a chair behind one of the desks. It rotated to the left. He set his candle down on the desk. 62 couldn’t help but push his feet against the floor to rotate the chair all the way around. He grabbed the edge of the desk, flinging his arms to one side and letting go at the last second. He spun around in the chair faster than before. Soon, 62 was caught in a game of seeing how fast he could make the chair spin. The world went by in a blur, and an enthralled giggle escaped 62’s lips as he twirled around faster and faster.

  “What’re you doing?” Blue asked in a snarky voice.

  62 put his arms out, trying to grab the edge of the desk to stop himself. He was moving so quickly that he misjudged the distance and whacked the back of his hand against the hard edge of the furniture’s metal edge. The sting climbed up his arm, causing him to yelp with pain. The jarring injury put him off balance, and one of his legs jutted out from beneath him as an automatic reflex. The tip of his boot caught the leg of the desk, hooking it and sending 62 and the chair spiraling down to the floor with a hard thud.

  “I was spinning,” 62 said in a weak voice from where he’d landed on the floor. Although now he was firmly on the ground, the world seemed to spin around his head. He wrapped his arms around his mask, shutting his eyes on the rotating room. His head felt light, off balance even while it was held still in the tight grip of his arms. It took a few minutes for the sensation to pass, and when he opened his eyes and peered between his forearms, he saw Blue standing over him with a disapproving frown.

  “We’re supposed to be working, you know. Not spinning around until we get so dizzy that we fall out of chairs.”

  “Sorry,” 62 croaked.

  Blue’s eyes rolled in his mask. He reached a hand down to 62, grasping his arm and helping him to his feet. Blue patted cobwebs and the dust off 62’s head and jacket. “It’s okay. I think I’ve got us covered.”

  62 followed Blue into the office, where a large cabinet stood in the corner. Its doors were open, its drawers pulled out halfway. “Did you find a microphone?” he asked.

  “Not just one,” Blue answered excitedly. He walked over to the cabinet, dug his hands into the open top drawer, and pulled out two handfuls of cables. In the bending light from the candle flickering from a nearby shelf, the cables draped over Blues hands like thin snakes. Blue pulled his haul higher in the air, until 62 could see the microphone heads dangling at the base of the cables. He must have been holding three or four of the things in each hand.

  “What do you think they did with all this stuff?” 62
asked.

  “Beats me. But at least we’re stocked up now.”

  They loaded their find into their box, then they stood on either side of the heavy computer monitor. They argued a minute over who would have to carry the screen first, and of course 62 lost the argument. While Blue carried the box of microphones, 62 lugged the awkward monitor off the desk and started heading toward the door.

  Blue pushed the door open wide enough for 62 to make it through the opening without bashing his fingers on the doorjamb. Once both Boys and the monitor were outside, Blue slammed the stubborn door behind them. Even though they were careful as they hiked down the hill, 62 still slipped on the loose rocks under his feet a few times, almost losing the monitor in a rolling pile of gravel before Blue agreed to switch with him. The box of corded microphones was heavier than 62 had expected, but even with the box slapping against the tops of his thighs with each step, it was easier hiking than before.

  They switched carrying the monitor two more times before they made it all the way back to the jailhouse, and both Boys set the gear down with relieved moans as the weight dropped from their arms. They unloaded everything in the detox room. They took off their masks and Blue scanned the equipment and both of their bodies with the radiation wand. 62’s left leg made the device’s needle jump in wild, noisy clacks, ticking so quickly that the box seemed to vibrate.

  “You think you can detox and retest yourself on your own?” Blue asked. His eyebrows were raised, and 62 could tell that he didn’t want to sit and wait for 62 to be done. Blue was ready to carry their find up to the computer room.

  “I’ll be fine,” 62 said with his most convincing smile. Although he didn’t want the others to start working on N302 without him, he knew that if he was in Blue’s shoes, he wouldn’t want to have to wait. “I’ll be up as soon as I can.”