FIVE
THE DEVIL’S STONE INN, SHEBBEAR, 2023 AD
The Official Secrets Act was sufficient excuse for Jake not to confide in Alice. Luckily, she was used to his unforthcoming nature, so it came as no surprise that he was tight-lipped about his visit to North Hill. In reality, he did not wish to confess that he had chatted with an animal, however briefly. The experience had deeply unsettled him because a world of artificial intelligence promised only to worsen what he believed was rapidly becoming the beginning of the end, in Biblical terms. He sometimes wondered if scientists were the Devil’s playmates and he questioned whether he was embarking on a mission to supply them with more ammunition for their dark arts.
Profoundly patriotic, and therefore for Queen and country, he rolled up his sle
