The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect (29 page)

Lawrence was holding the next to last sheet up to Prime Intellect's TV eye when the phone rang. "They didn't believe me. I'm
shitcanned
," Stebbins said.
"Didn't believe you about what?"
"The papers man, the goddamn Correlation Effect papers. I'm
gonna
kill you for this, I really am."
"The papers are right here. I just got through showing them to Prime Intellect. You need them back?"
"It don't matter now, I don't work here
any more
." There was a pause. "I bet they're
gonna
put you in jail for this."
Prime Intellect's face disappeared from the TV, and words began to scroll across the screen:

Lawrence read this as he talked. "Jail for what? I just borrowed the papers to see if Prime Intellect could expand on them."
Another pause. "What? It didn't come up with anything, did it?"
"Well, it's..." (
Why do you care if you've just been fired?
Lawrence wondered.)

"...too early..."