“Ladies and gentlemen, as we stand at the cusp of a new era, the choices we make today will define the future of our planet and humanity.At Spectra, we choose to lead with innovation, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to the betterment of society through AI.”
Stein’s gaze fixed on Declan, but he heard the man from the beach—Judah.“The failure of the disciples was that they looked at themselves and said...‘Not enough.’But Jesus asks us to look at Him and hear...‘By My strength.’”
“Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to forging paths of collaboration and innovation together.”Declan stepped off the stage and walked over to his SAR droids.
Maybe Phoenix—Emberly—hadn’t been the mission.
Maybe the mission had been about him, and about trusting God with a woman he...he loved.
And longed to protect.
He stared out again at the crowd, searching it for trouble.Lord, I’m not sure I’m up to the task, but...I give You who I am.And if You want me to step back into play...whatever that means...I surrender.
And even in the midst of the murmurs of the crowd as one of Declan’s techs fired up the droids, Stein heard the words.“Stand back and see what I will do.”
It was a memory, but it steeled through him.
Up front, Declan told the dog to find.The animal moved over to the rubble.
“The dog has been programmed to search for the scent of blood or sweat or other human odors.”He stood back and nodded to the tech to release another dog.The other two animals sat, as if waiting.
The first two dogs disappeared into the rubble.
Steinbeck’s gaze fell on a man—thin, dark hair, glasses, wearing a hat and a leather jacket—holding a phone.
Not taking a picture, but...texting?
Maybe taking notes.
Stein turned back to the demonstration just as one of the dogs returned, climbing out from a blackened space, a sensor in its body beeping.
The tech walked over and pulled a screen from the back of the dog’s neck.
“This is a GPS route.It indicates where the dog has located the specimen.The AI will then map the route for the rescuers.The uniqueness of this program is that while searching, the dog also collected X-ray information about the debris—type, location—and has created possible routes with a technical plan for extraction.”He turned to the dog.“Good dog.”
The crowd laughed as the animal wiggled its nubby tail.
“He doesn’t require any dog treats, by the way.”
More laughter.
“The Internet is offline, right?”This from Tate.
“Affirmative,” Logan said.“There are two other symposiums meeting right now on this floor, but they’re panel events—no need for Internet.We have a tight window, however.”
So far, so good.Maybe they’d shut down the intrusion event.
The other dog returned, also beeping.The female tech lifted off the GPS device.“We’ll load these coordinates into our system.The dogs also come equipped with a storage area.”She opened up a back panel.“We can fill it with water or first-aid supplies and send the animal back with communications abilities to assist the injured while they wait for rescue.”
“See the guy in the hat?”Colt’s voice, in comm, from the other side of the room.“Dark shirt, leather jacket?”
“I saw him before,” Stein said.“Texting.”He searched for him again.Something about him had lodged inside...Wait.
“I don’t have eyes on him, but he looks familiar.”Stein, moving now as the tech in front fired up another dog, this one smaller.
“We’ll ask Champ here to hunt for hot spots, potential fires.”The tech deployed the animal.
Meanwhile, the other two dogs had stopped beeping.
