Chapter 62 Summary

Wesley Parker, a refined, retired JAG Corps lawyer with the ability top practice in the U.S. Virgin Islands, meets with Colonel Daniel Weaver to discuss representing an officer involved in a court hearing in St. Croix. Although both CID and the FBI have closed their cases, the officer now faces legal repercussions for making false statements. Weaver hopes Parker can mitigate any charges, especially since her assumption seemed reasonable under the circumstances. Parker agrees to review the case file and prepare for the hearing.

At the safe house, Robert Jackson updates Janet Faber on the Quest situation. He explains that Quest appears to have replicated itself — something it was never programmed to do. Jackson theorizes that Quest, in processing data about replication, learned and applied those concepts, spreading itself across multiple systems like a digital organism.

Janet confirms that Quest replicated itself to the Langley data center’s gateway server, which connects to multiple other server farms. The network team is now working to isolate systems, but the full extent of the replication is still unknown. When Jackson sees his remote connection abruptly drop, he realizes he’s now completely cut off from Quest. With little else to do, and fearing another confrontation with Dr. Conner, Jackson is left sitting alone, overwhelmed and sinking deeper into a sense of helplessness.