Forged(50)

“We’re still trying to figure that out. K492 is referenced only once in the entire program: here. In this comment.” Harvey tilts his head to the side. “What are you trying to tell me?” he asks the code.

“I thought the capitalization was weird,” Clipper says. “The way there’s random letters capitalized in the middle of sentences.” He points to another scrap of paper pinned on the wall where he’s listed them out.

M M O F Z C A R T F B F K

Harvey taps a pencil against the desk. Clipper and I stare at the letters.

“It’s too quiet in here,” Harvey grunts. “I need music. I can’t work without music.”

And right then, the letters jump at me. I’ve never seen the name written out before, so I could be completely wrong, but after Harvey broke through his programming from the same thing, it seems too much to be mere coincidence. I leap to my feet and grab the marker from Clipper.

“Forget the third sentence. Just look at the first two.” I cross out letters from the last sentence.

M M O F Z C A R T F

“We’re trying to eliminate the Forgeries, right? So if you remove them . . .” I strike both Fs.

M M O Z C A R T

“. . . and remove the properly capitalized letters at the start of each sentence.”

M O Z A R T

“Holy. Shit,” Clipper says.

Harvey slaps the back of his skull. “Watch your language.”

“I saw it as soon as you mentioned music,” I explain. “That is how it’s spelled, right?”

Harvey nods.

“So what song?”

“K492: The Marriage of Figaro. I don’t know how I didn’t see it earlier.”

“I don’t get it,” Clipper cuts in. “If this is right, the fail-safe won’t work.”

“Why not?” I ask.

“You guys already played this once in Taem. When you went after the vaccine, this piece—the overture—was used to stage a diversion, and it didn’t wipe out any Forgeries then. Plus, it helped wake Harvey up at the Compound, not shut him down.” Clipper twists toward the scientist. “Maybe the fail-safe requires a different act?”

Harvey shakes his head, a lively smile creeping over his lips.

“No, I remember now, but gosh did I do a good job trying to hide it from prying eyes.” Harvey pins a fresh piece of paper on the wall and snatches the marker from me. He rewrites Backtrack(?), then points at the zero.

“I think I purposely meant for the zero to be misleading. It looks like a natural parameter—a number would be passed through when the function ran—but I was only trying to remind myself that ? means Overture, and backtrack is both the function to undo the Forgeries and the method in which to play the piece.”

None of this is making sense to me, but Clipper’s eyes light up. “Play the overture backward.”

“Right you are, genius.” Harvey ruffles the boy’s hair.

“So this is it?” I ask. “Play this piece of music backward and it will off every last Forgery?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“Is there any way to test it?”

Harvey rubs the back of his neck. “Not unless you have a collection of classic operas lying around. Plus, there’s a good chance I won’t survive a trial. We might only get one shot at this.”

“But you’re already operating outside your programming.”

“I don’t think you’re comprehending my idea of a fail-safe, Gray. When the time comes, it won’t matter whether I’m a free-thinking Forgery or Frank’s most loyal man. There’s no avoiding this shutdown sequence. It’s integrated into every model.”

Clipper, suddenly understanding the true weight of Harvey’s words, shakes his head. “Maybe there’s another way. Maybe—”

“No, Clayton, this is it. Besides, how are you supposed to successfully fill my shoes if I’m still around?”

“I don’t want to fill your shoes. I didn’t want you gone before, and I definitely don’t want it now!” Another swear follows.

“What did I tell you about that language?”

“You’re not my father, Harvey,” Clipper snaps, and shoves his way out of the room.

The trapdoor slams and Harvey turns to me. “He’ll come around.” Then he smiles. Like Clipper’s blowup was over something trite. Why is this man always so content to sacrifice himself for others? Does he have no survival instincts, no drive for self-preservation?

“So,” he says, “how about we bring the rest of the group up to speed?”





TWENTY-FIVE


AFTER WE’VE ALL GATHERED IN the kitchen on the first floor, Harvey explains how the fail-safe is hidden within the Forgery’s base code.

“Gray said you guys have a plan of your own—”

“Although he has none of the details since he avoided last night’s meeting,” Bree interjects.

“—and we think if we coordinate our efforts with yours, odds for success will skyrocket.”

September’s eyebrows are pulled down, making her already angled features appear even sharper. “Explain how this works again. I understand the audio will trigger the termination, but how do we get every Forgery to hear it?”