Crime and Punishment

Erin sat between Jan and Pam in the resting room staring blankly at the floor and whispering something that neither woman could make out. Kelly stood in front of her and said, "Erin, it's me Kelly. What's wrong?"

But Erin only stared at the floor and whispered. All three women were concerned about Erin and had worried looks on their faces. Laura had dropped her off earlier and told them to stay with her and try to talk to her. Pam, risking punishment, had asked, "Mistress Laura, what happened to her?"

Laura had ignored the breach of protocol and said, "Mistresses Lisa and Libra had a session with her last night. I found her like this, this morning. There's a psychtech on the way. She'll be here in the morning. In the mean time, stay with her and see if she snaps out of this. If she does, let me know immediately." Laura left looking concerned, which frightened the three slaves. Such an uncharacteristic display of concern by a Mistress over the welfare of a slave, could only mean one thing, Erin had been seriously hurt.

The three slaves stroked Erin's arms and back and tried talking to her, but Erin remained in her own world. "Has there been any word from Erin's friends?" asked Jan hoping that they might be able to do something to free her.

"I'm afraid they're too late," said Pam sadly. "I'm afraid we're all too late."

****************************

The next morning, Cathy's image flashed into Ellen's office, "Got a minute?" she asked.

"Sure," said Ellen looking up. "Got something?"

"Yes," said Cathy. "I worked through the night and re-ran some diagnostic tools on the personas. I found something very interesting."

"Great!" Ellen said becoming excited. "Let me get Cassandra."

"I think you should come to the University," said Cathy. "I don't want this going over the open net."

"OK," said Ellen hesitantly. "Give us half an hour and we'll be there."

"Very good," said Cathy flickering off.

Forty-five minutes later Ellen and Cassandra were sitting in Cathy's office as she explained what she had found. "I started thinking about the relationship between the term map and the personas," Cathy explained. "As I mentioned before, there are all kinds of mappings that are involved in generating a persona: the mapping of algorithms, templates, and memories, to name just a few. This is a pretty broad territory to search."

"So what did you do to narrow it down?" asked Ellen.

"Nothing really, I started thinking about how mappings are used with doppelgangers and something began to nag me, in the back of my mind. Something about the word 'map'. I went back to look at some of the early articles about the subject, when I found this," said Cathy handing a hard copy of a journal article to Cassandra and Ellen. It read: "A Method For Annexing Virtual Personalities By Mari A Puttam PhD. Blue Onyx Corporation."

The women scanned the abstract and Cassandra said, "I'm afraid this is beyond my technical grasp."

"Yes, yes," said Cathy. "But look at the author."

"Mari A Puttam," said Ellen, "M A P, map."

"Correct," said Cathy. "She was the first to propose a method of taking over a persona. Mari is a pioneer in the field and one of the top researchers at Blue Onyx. She is well known in the field."

"Interesting," said Ellen. "So you think it was Mari, April was referring to?"

"With out a doubt," said Cathy. "I went back and read her early papers and then some of her more recent work. It seems her original idea was to implant a secondary personality at the time of creation. Sort of a dual personality, if you will. At a predetermined time, the second personality would take control and do its assigned task, then submerge itself back into the persona."

"What exactly does that mean?" asked Ellen.

"Well" explained Cathy, "as you know a persona is a sort of snapshot of a person's mind created to perform a specific task. It contains the recent memories of its originator and whatever other information is required to perform its assignment. After the task is complete, the persona's 'memories' are transferred back to its originator. Information can only be transferred back to the person from whom the persona was created. What Mari was able to show, was that it's possible to merge two personas together at the time of their creation. The result is a hybrid containing the memories of both persons."

"OK" said Ellen. "I'm with you so far."

"The hybrid persona has a sort of dual personality. The primary personality constitutes the persona's outward appearance, so to speak."

"You mean it would look like Erin, say when interacting with other people or other personas" said Cassandra.

"Yes" said Cathy. "The secondary personality however can take over and redirect the primary away from its intended task to another task. When this task is performed, the two personalities merge, along with their memories."

"So the hybrid persona ends up with the combined memories of the two people it was created from" said Ellen.

"Yes" said Cathy "and these appear as the memories belonging to the primary."

"But wouldn't this be detected when persona's memories are transferred back?" asked Cassandra.

"Typically, yes" answered Cathy, "if one assumes that there was a transfer."

"I see" said Cassandra. "So in Erin's case is it possible to determine if the transfer happened?"

"No, it's not possible in general, at least from looking at the persona. One would need to examine the memories of the person to whom the persona transferred its information."

Ellen frowned. "So how does that help us then?"

"Well one way of examining a person's memories is to look at the memories of a persona created by that person."

"Isn't this taking us in a circle?" asked Cassandra.

"No, since we have three personas created sequentially and at different times, to examine" answered Cathy.

"I see" said Cassandra getting excited. "You can examine Erin's three personas and see if there is a logical progression of memory."

"Yes, exactly" Cathy said "and that's what I did."

"Huh?" Ellen said. "You lost me."

"Look at it this way" said Cathy, "if you create a persona of yourself on, say Monday, and then another on Tuesday, you would expect that Tuesday's persona would contain Monday's memories, just as your own mind would."

"Yes, right" said Ellen.

"However if Monday's memories are not there, then something must be terribly wrong."

"I see" said Ellen.

"There are other possibilities which present even worse dilemmas. For example, one could find Tuesday's memories in Monday's persona, which of course is completely impossible" continued Cathy.

"Or, in the case of the hybrid, one could find memories of things which the person did not know at the time" added Cassandra, enumerating yet another impossibility.

"Exactly" said Cathy and those memories could only have come from another person."

"So you're saying that if one of Erin's personas contained memories of something she couldn't have known about at the time, then the persona must have been a hybrid."

"Yes" Cathy said.

"Is it possible to identify the other person used to create the hybrid?" asked Cassandra.

"Yes, indirectly" answered Cathy. "Remember the hybrid persona will contain the recent memories of both persons. These will appear to belong to only one person, but there is going to be a lot of very detailed memories from the other person in there as well. In fact Mari pointed this out in her original paper. The difficult part is separating them out."

"So can you do that?" asked Ellen.

"In most cases, no" said Cathy. "One needs to examine the content of the memories themselves and look for the kind of inconsistencies we discussed."

"But I take it you found some of these inconsistencies in Erin's personas" said Cassandra.

"Yes, I did in fact" said Cathy.

Ellen and Cassandra looked at each other excitedly. "And?" said Ellen.

"Well when I looked at the memories of the first persona I found Erin's memories about the details of the account and transaction. They were consistent with her version of events."

"That's not very helpful" commented Ellen.

"Actually, it's more helpful than you might think" said Cathy "as I will explain."

"How so?" asked Cassandra.

"When I examined the memories of the second and third personas and compared them to the first, that's when things got interesting" said Cathy.

"How's that?" asked Cassandra.

"Well first of all there are an awful lot of memories about Lisa. This is, at first glance is not unexpected since Lisa was Erin's assistant and they were engaged to be married. One would naturally expect that a significant portion of Erin's memories would therefore concern Lisa."

"Her again!" said Ellen. "I can't say I am surprised!"

"Yes, it was your message from Erin about Lisa that alerted me however" said Cathy. "I therefore started to examine these memories. What I found was quite surprising as well as interesting."

"Let me guess" said Cassandra "Lisa knew things that Erin couldn't have known and you found them."

"Not exactly" said Cathy "things are not quite that simple. What you have to understand is that if Lisa's persona was merged with Erin's (that is she was the doppelganger), then her memories appear as memories of conversations between her and Erin, as perceived by Erin."

"OK" said Cassandra.

"This is why it's difficult to determine which memories belong to which person. When looking through the memories from the second and third personas there are lots of memories of Lisa talking with April and Candy. These appear as vivid memories belonging to Erin where she listens to Lisa telling her about the details of her conversations with April and Candy."

"Did you find anything incriminating in these conversations between Lisa and April?" asked Ellen.

"Yes and no" said Cathy. "April was careful not to discuss matters directly, at least with Lisa. There are instructions however about creating personas at particular times and tasking them to transfer funds to an unspecified location" answered Cathy.

"We have them then!" said Ellen.

"Not exactly" replied Cathy. "We need to be careful here. The conversations are very suspicious, I agree, but I think Cassandra would also agree that without specific details, April and company could probably come up with very plausible alternative explanations that would, in the very least, cast severe doubt on any accusation that we might make."

"I must unfortunately agree" said Cassandra, "though I'd like to see for myself."

"Of course" said Cathy "I can send you the data."

"So what do we have then?" said Ellen, exasperated.

"This" said Cathy, "all of Erin's memories after the first transfer are of conversations between her and Lisa."

Cathy smiled and paused for effect. Ellen and Cassandra looked at each other and Ellen said "You mean..."

"Exactly" said Cathy. "Put another way, Erin's second and third personas, and therefore Erin herself, had no memories that do not involve Lisa for the time period after the creation of the first persona. I found this out by comparing the memories from the second and third personas with the first. If you subtract the two, you are only left with memories of conversations that involve Lisa."

"But that means..." said Cassandra.

"That either Erin spent every waking moment with Lisa (which is impossible, especially since it was well known that they did not live together), or the memories all belong to Lisa" said Cathy.

"Unbelievable!" said Ellen.

"Yes, quite so" agreed Cathy. "They made the mistake of reusing Erin's persona from the first transaction for the other two. As a result, it had no memories for her life between these events, which is quite impossible, at least if they had been created by Erin."

Ellen and Cassandra looked at each other and smiled, for the first time in months. "We have them then" said Cassandra.

"Yes, I believe so" said Cathy. "I not versed in the law, but I think you can make a very convincing case."

"More than convincing" Cassandra reassured her.

"One other thing" said Cathy "I am sure you will find the same anomalies in the personas supposedly used by Erin's friend Jan in the crimes she is accused of committing. I am willing to bet you will find either April's or Candy's memories in her personas."

"I'll see if I can get her personas" said Cassandra.

"Good" said Cathy.

"I think we need to be very careful here" said Ellen. "I agree that Cathy's evidence is quite damning but there are some very powerful players involved here."

"Like Blue Onyx?" Cathy said.

"And Katrina Felte, not to mention Zax and all the people behind it" said Ellen. "This is explosive. At a minim this sort of evidence will shake the entire financial system. I don't think Katrina and the government is going to sit by as we have our day in court. They are sure to hush us up, and quick, the second they get wind of what Cathy's found."

"That's true," said Cassandra. "However, remember, our objective is to free Erin. Instead of using it legally we could use it to strike a deal with Zax. The government might be able to hush us up as you say, but not without risking us leaking what we have. I especially don't think Katrina would welcome the possibility of publicity since it involves Blue Onyx."

"Good point," said Ellen, "but what are you suggesting."

"A trade," said Cassandra, "or if you wish to use a cruder term, blackmail."

****************************

The next day, Katrina's assistant walked into her office carrying a large envelope and said, "This arrived for you by special delivery."

Katrina raised her eyebrows. It was most unusual for some one to actually send hardcopies anymore. She looked at the envelope for the sender: Ellen King, of World Insurance. "Very good," said Katrina taking the envelope. When her assistant left she opened the package and examined the contents. A short while later she called her assistant. "Get Ellen King of World Insurance for me" she said.

A few moments later, Ellen's image flashed into existence in front of her saying, "Hello Katrina, an honor. How can I help you?"

"Don't be coy. You know damn well how you can help me," replied Katrina icily, coming directly to the point.

"I guess, you're right," said Ellen. "Let's get to business. I suggest we meet tomorrow at Zax Castle, unless you wish to discuss this over the net."

"No. The castle will be fine. I'll send a transport for you at ten," said Katrina.

"Very good, see you about noon then," said Ellen.

"Yes," said Katrina, breaking the connection. "Get me a transport," she said to her assistant. "I'm going to Zax Castle."

"Checkmate," said Ellen to Cassandra, and both women smiled at the other.
Chapter 10: Punishment

The transport arrived promptly at ten and Ellen, Cassandra, and Cathy boarded it for the two-hour ride to Zax Island. Cassandra had done some research on Mari the previous day and shared her results as they traveled. "It seems that Mari left Blue Onyx about three months ago. She acts as a consultant for them now, but she spends most of her time on an island in the Caribbean," said Cassandra.

"How pleasant," Cathy said sarcastically. "And I suppose she's retired or something?"

"Not exactly," said Cassandra. "She's retired alright, but it seems she made a killing in the stock market about six months ago, just after Erin's supposed crime."

"Yet another coincidence," said Ellen.

"Exactly," said Cassandra "in fact a little too coincidental. Seems the money came from some very high-risk hyper-derivatives Blue Onyx was trading. Considering that the woman never invested in anything more risky than a bond in the past, I'd say this is highly curious, at best."

"Or a pay-off," said Ellen.

"Exactly," said Cassandra. "In addition, she's pretty much an introvert. No marriages, girlfriends, or lovers. At least that I could find. Not the sort of personality to suddenly start taking such a gamble."

"It does seem very odd, indeed," agreed Cathy.

"And there's more. Seems April was the one who managed her accounts, invested the money, the whole ball of wax. At the very least, this is a pretty clear-cut case of insider trading. April gets a tip from Katrina, uses the knowledge to pay-off Mari, makes the whole thing look legitimate," said Cassandra.

"About as legitimate as a three sided square," said Ellen.

"Yeah," added Cathy, "with each side a different length."

An hour and a half later, the transport landed on the lawn in front of the castle's main entrance. They were met by Laura, who greeted them in a business-like manner, "Good afternoon ladies. I hope you had a pleasant trip. If you will follow me please I will take you to Mistress Katrina."

Ellen, Cassandra, and Cathy exited the transport and followed Laura into the castle. Laura took them to a lift that brought them to the top floor. The three women followed her down a hallway and into a large office located in a turret of the castle with a view of the island and the sea. Katrina was in the room with April and she said, "Please come in and be seated."

Ellen, Cassandra, and Cathy sat in three large red leather chairs facing Katrina, who sat in a similar chair behind a wooden desk. April sat off to the side of the desk near Katrina looking grave. Katrina began by holding up the package Ellen had sent and said, "A very interesting collection of information you sent me."

"More than interesting, I would think," said Ellen.

"Possibly," said Katrina, "but I guess that depends on what you intend to do with it."

"Not what, but who," said Ellen, it being her turn to be coy.

"Yes, of course," said Katrina, not to be undone. "What do you propose?"

"We leave it as just that, an interesting collection of information," said Ellen.

"And in exchange?" asked Katrina.

"You free the four diapered slaves in your possession," said Ellen.

Katrina smiled and said, "Surely you realize that they are not mine to free. They are owned by Zax, and as such, the board would have to initiate and approve such a generous action."

"I think you should be able to persuade them," said Ellen.

"Or else?" said Katrina.

"Or else, another package, very similar to the one you are holding, will find its way to the FIS," said Ellen "and onto the net."

"Of course," said Katrina. "I've had my counsels look this over and they tell me that, although the contents are very persuasive, it would be problematical, at best, to convince a judicial panel of its truth."

"Possibly," said Cassandra. "But I think the net-news would have a field day, especially considering that Blue Onyx is involved. At the very least, its leadership would be called into question, for placing the entire financial system at risk."

"You could never prove I knew anything about this," said Katrina.

"I don't think I would have to," said the counselor. "It appears that Mari Puttam is sitting on an island in the Caribbean with a very large bank account, thanks to April here."

"Listen, if..." began April. But Katrina, looked at her, cutting her off.

"Pray, continue," Katrina said.

"Cathy has some pretty clear evidence that Mari and April were directly involved in corrupting the personas. This directly ties Blue Onyx to the case, as well as Zax. I'm not an expert on personas, of course, but Cathy here tells me the evidence clearly shows there was tampering. She also tells me that Mari was the person who authored this technique. Taken with her new found wealth, well... I think you get the picture."

"Ah! Dr. Long," said Katrina. "You're very well known yourself."

"Thank, you," said Cathy, nodding her head. "You must have run the report Ellen sent you by our experts, what did they say?"

Katrina didn't answer, instead she said. "Your points are well taken, ladies. Lets say for a moment that I could do what you asked for, then what would prevent you from just turning all this over to the FIS, afterwards?"