DeathWeb (Fox Meridian Book 3) by Niall Teasdale Page B

basic fact, at this time anyway, that people like people. Many are finding AIs to be just as good, but most of us like talking to other people, and we certainly want humans dealing with us when we’re faced with serious crime. We want a human there who knows what we’re having to deal with, but we need a human who knows how to handle the situation. What we need here is the best of both worlds and we at MarTech Technologies believe we have a solution for that so simple that anyone can use it.’
    That was their cue and Fox emerged from the wings, holding the harness and with Marie following behind in her usual housemaid outfit of plain grey skirt and white blouse. ‘I should point out that this device is still in prototyping,’ Jackson went on, ‘which is why it looks like we built it out of scrap plastic and as many random wires as we could find. We don’t even have a name for it yet, but it works well enough for us to give you a demonstration.’ He took the harness off Fox and stepped aside.
    ‘Thanks, Jackson,’ Fox said. ‘What we’ve got for you is a demonstration of the basic investigative assistant functions we’ve built into this harness, and to show that anyone can use it, we have Marie Shaftsbury playing the part of our naïve young detective. Marie, what is it you do for a living?’
    ‘I’m a housekeeper, and I’m training to be an actress,’ Marie replied. Her voice was steady, but she was still looking a little nervous as she stood there waiting to be strapped into the harness.
    ‘Any theatrical types in the audience looking for their next star, she’s very good. However, you have no experience with crime scenes or detective work, is that right?’
    ‘I’ve watched a couple of detective shows…’
    Fox grinned. ‘Let’s ask our audience. Does that count?’
    There was laughter. Someone yelled out, ‘It’s a handicap!’
    ‘Uh-huh. That sounds about right. Lastly, we’ve made sure that the harness fits you and that you can interface with its computer, but you have not had the chance to practise with it. This is your first attempt at using it in anger. Is that right?’
    ‘Yes, it is.’ Marie’s little worried grin seemed to sell that one to the audience more than her affirmation.
    ‘Yes,’ Jackson said, grinning, ‘we are both mad and that confident in our prototype.’ There was laughter as the curtain hiding their stage set was pulled upward.
    ‘And here we have our test set,’ Fox said. There was a sofa, a chair, and a coffee table. A dummy was slumped over in the chair with a kitchen knife lodged in its back. On the coffee table were two wine glasses, one half-full and the other, nearest the body, empty. There was also a table set to one side with a few extra bits of equipment on it, such as gloves. ‘It seems that someone has come to an unfortunate end. Thankfully, Mister Manny Quin was never much of a talker, but he’s a medical simulation dummy rigged with synthetic flesh and other features which will give a reasonable facsimile of a dead body. We’re going to strap Marie into the harness and give her half an hour to solve the crime. The only cheat here is that we know there is forensic evidence for her to find which will name the killer. Marie, we want a name, and how they did it, and the method is not as obvious as it seems.’
    ‘Okay,’ Marie replied, and Jackson took her aside to help her into the harness.
    ‘All right,’ Fox went on. ‘While Marie is busy with that, we’re going to look at how this all ties together and how the harness’s in-built AI is going to help Marie to crack the case. Who better to do that than the woman responsible for creating that AI? Ladies and gentlemen, Teresa Martins.’
    As Terri began going over how the AI would direct Marie through her tasks, Fox watched Marie from off-stage. The housemaid and actress stood for several seconds, frowning at the scene with her right index finger tapping on her lips. It gave the impression of