"So long as you weren't planning to keep anything from me we are. But back to my issue. The only thing Tom had no information on is this guy you're working with. Spike Webb? I've been through all my index areas and searched everything I could get through before coming here tonight. Nothing. This guy does not exist! I don't work with mystery people, lady. My experience has been that they always turn out to be somebody you don't want them to be. So before we go anywhere with this, what you need to do is tell me who this guy is. And please don't beat all around the bush and hope I'll be happy with some partial explanation."

"Nancy noticed a small green rectangle appear on the monitor next to her. The signal Spike had arranged giving her the go-ahead to introduce him. Roger noticed it too but kept it to himself."

"All right Roger, here goes. But remember you asked for a straight answer. I'm going to tell you who Spike Webb is and then introduce you to him via this Internet session. You'll have a chance to confirm what I tell you. If you simply walk away out of some paranoid delusion you will be missing the chance of a lifetime. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, it's clear. I'm not going to believe you but you'll prove it to me later. So go ahead. Take your shot."

"I met Spike Webb about six months ago. He introduced himself in my office. I have confirmed these facts: Spike is not human. He is basically a computer program. His natural habitat is the Internet and it's connected system networks. He is capable of voice recognition, visualization if not true sight, speech synthesis, and network-based mobility. He can project an image of ‘himself' to our display monitors. In addition, to these sensory and locomotion skills, Spike can think, rationalize, postulate, and last but not least, feel emotions. He even seems to have a certain set of opinions, values, attitudes, and characteristics which give him the components of an overall personality."

"Too cool! When can I meet him? Is he here now? On the open session? Behind the green rectangle?"

"You mean you believe me? Just like that?"

"Look I'm along for the ride and this one just turned into a possible winner. That means: new, different, non-boring. I'll get mad if you turn out to be a fake, but for now I need to see what's going to happen next if I go along with you. Walking out the door just takes me back to where I came from. That would not be where I want to go."

"Spike can only show for a brief period here. Then we'll have to go somewhere more private. This place is getting pretty crowded. No one should pay much attention as long as we're nonchalant about it."



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