Odd Interlude #3 (An Odd Thomas Story) Read Online Free
Author: Dean Koontz
people are able—or willing—to recognize. What most people call truth is merely the surface, and under it lies a great depth of truth that they do not perceive. A large part of my time is spent coping with the spirits of the lingering dead, poltergeists, eerie creatures that I call bodachs,prophetic dreams, and all kinds of one-off moments of supernatural weirdness, as well as with horrendous human miscreants of every imaginable variety; consequently, it strikes me as refreshing, almost prosaic, to be caught up in a supernatural-free incident involving top-secret government projects, an artificial intelligence that does not want to rule the world, half-breed extraterrestrials, and the women who love—and are strangled by—them.
“Ed, is Jolie really safe where she is now?”
“Safer than she has been for many years. No harm will come to Jolie Ann Harmony in my domain.”
“If any harm does come to her in your domain, I’ll find your plug and pull it.”
“You don’t have to threaten Ed,” Jolie assures me. “There’s not a bad circuit in the guy, and that’s certified once every hour by a self-analysis program. Anyway, he can’t lie.”
“You really can’t lie, Ed?”
“My creators programmed me so that should I ever speak a single untruth, I will immediately identify what I have done by singing ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire.’ ”
“Which is kind of funny,” Jolie says, “because he doesn’t even wear pants.”
Still wary, I press Ed: “Why couldn’t a self-aware artificial intelligence evolve to the point where it could override parts of its basic program?”
After a silence, Ed replies: “Why cannot a bright and gifted young man of almost twenty-two ever quite get over the psychological pain inflicted on him so many years ago by his mentally unbalanced mother?”
Now it’s my turn to be silent.
And then there’s only one possible reply. “I’m sorry that I threatened to unplug you, Ed.”
“You did so with only the best of motives, Odd Thomas. Your concern for Jolie Ann Harmony is admirable, and in fact I share it.”
“How did you know … about my mother?”
“After events in Pico Mundo, there were some mentions in the media about your family, certain speculations.”
“I never read any of that.”
Instead of rushing past the windows, the smoke is for a moment caught in a vortex of hot air and swirls around the Grand Cherokee. I feel as if the vehicle is being levitated and spun, as it might be in a tornado, and I close my eyes.
“Ed, was it you who opened that sealed drain, so I didn’t have to go back by way of the beach?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome, Odd Thomas.”
“When you led me that way, did you know I’d hijack a truck?”
“I was not surprised when you did.”
“But I didn’t know I was going to do it until I climbed out of that manhole and found myself outside Harmony Corner. I made it up as I went along. So how did you know?”
“A consideration of all possibilities and an analysis of the viability of each suggested that hijacking a truck and doing what you did with it was the option most likely to help you achieve your goal. My observation of you, in your discussions with Jolie Ann Harmony, suggested to me that, in spite of your self-deprecating manner, you usually make the correct decisions in such matters.”
Jolie interprets: “I think what Ed means is you kick butt.”
Ed has a question: “Now tell me, Odd Thomas, did you take Purvis Eugene Beamer’s smartphone?”
“What? I don’t know any Purvis Beamer.”
“You are driving the vehicle that he reported stolen.”
“Oh. Bermuda Guy. No, I didn’t take his smartphone.”
“Two GPS-reporting signals related to Purvis Eugene Beamer are being emitted from the same map coordinates.”
When I open my eyes, the smoke is no longer swirling around the Jeep, merely surging past as before.
“Yeah. I see it now. His phone’s in one of the cup
“Ed, is Jolie really safe where she is now?”
“Safer than she has been for many years. No harm will come to Jolie Ann Harmony in my domain.”
“If any harm does come to her in your domain, I’ll find your plug and pull it.”
“You don’t have to threaten Ed,” Jolie assures me. “There’s not a bad circuit in the guy, and that’s certified once every hour by a self-analysis program. Anyway, he can’t lie.”
“You really can’t lie, Ed?”
“My creators programmed me so that should I ever speak a single untruth, I will immediately identify what I have done by singing ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire.’ ”
“Which is kind of funny,” Jolie says, “because he doesn’t even wear pants.”
Still wary, I press Ed: “Why couldn’t a self-aware artificial intelligence evolve to the point where it could override parts of its basic program?”
After a silence, Ed replies: “Why cannot a bright and gifted young man of almost twenty-two ever quite get over the psychological pain inflicted on him so many years ago by his mentally unbalanced mother?”
Now it’s my turn to be silent.
And then there’s only one possible reply. “I’m sorry that I threatened to unplug you, Ed.”
“You did so with only the best of motives, Odd Thomas. Your concern for Jolie Ann Harmony is admirable, and in fact I share it.”
“How did you know … about my mother?”
“After events in Pico Mundo, there were some mentions in the media about your family, certain speculations.”
“I never read any of that.”
Instead of rushing past the windows, the smoke is for a moment caught in a vortex of hot air and swirls around the Grand Cherokee. I feel as if the vehicle is being levitated and spun, as it might be in a tornado, and I close my eyes.
“Ed, was it you who opened that sealed drain, so I didn’t have to go back by way of the beach?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome, Odd Thomas.”
“When you led me that way, did you know I’d hijack a truck?”
“I was not surprised when you did.”
“But I didn’t know I was going to do it until I climbed out of that manhole and found myself outside Harmony Corner. I made it up as I went along. So how did you know?”
“A consideration of all possibilities and an analysis of the viability of each suggested that hijacking a truck and doing what you did with it was the option most likely to help you achieve your goal. My observation of you, in your discussions with Jolie Ann Harmony, suggested to me that, in spite of your self-deprecating manner, you usually make the correct decisions in such matters.”
Jolie interprets: “I think what Ed means is you kick butt.”
Ed has a question: “Now tell me, Odd Thomas, did you take Purvis Eugene Beamer’s smartphone?”
“What? I don’t know any Purvis Beamer.”
“You are driving the vehicle that he reported stolen.”
“Oh. Bermuda Guy. No, I didn’t take his smartphone.”
“Two GPS-reporting signals related to Purvis Eugene Beamer are being emitted from the same map coordinates.”
When I open my eyes, the smoke is no longer swirling around the Jeep, merely surging past as before.
“Yeah. I see it now. His phone’s in one of the cup