... And that’s Lawver’s NOC .

His ‘what’?

Non. Official. Cover.

You mean, he’s not a system architect at AOL ?

Sit down.

I am sitting down.

Are you sure?

Yes, I’m sure.

O.K. Lawver’s a prototype. Decades in the works, billions of dollars’ worth of research and development. Robot ninja.

... What?

You heard me.

I heard you. I just don’t believe you.

You have the clearances to know the truth.

What truth?

There are more things in Langley and out than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

... Ninja? Please!

... Robot ninja. Tentatively sent to certain conferences to gather information on A- and B-list bloggers.

...

You can lift your jaw back up off the ground now.

But … what about his work on these projects he’s involved in?

It’s all real. The talent and the effort’s authentic, but agenda is the strangest thing.

Agenda? What agenda?

I can’t tell you now.

Then why’d you just tell me all this?

The man standing in the suit looked down at his watch.

You’ll be cleared to know that in two minutes.