by Candice Lim
“You’re hired.” Wu Zhang pointed the beacon at Cypher. “This will take five minutes. I’m working on reducing the processing time.” A hot tear rolled down my face as the doctor pulled the white sheet over Cypher’s head.
“Cypher…”
“Done.” Wu Zhang tapped the beacon muzzle. “Cypher is in here. Now let’s head over back to the headquarters for induction.”
4
“I’m doing this for us, Cypher.” I clenched the Mind Drive in the safety of my coat pocket. “I’ll do anything for us.” Taking a long breath, I glanced around at the feisty, vivacious street of Red Lanterns District.
The last time I came here with Cypher, we went to the noodles stall at the end of the street. Only a few food stalls left since the Council launched the ban hammer against unlicensed and unregulated food vendors.
I sat at the corner boba shop overlooking the red brick building that was the brothel. The scent of hot food floated in the air, my stomach growling in protest. I could use a bowl of hot soup noodle right now. The icy evening breeze blustered through my hair and jiggled the blanket of red lanterns covering the sky.
The cacophony of voices echoed in the air. Red Lanterns District was the food street of Centerport City but when the night descended, the lonesome men came out to get their itch scratched here. Women in skimpy lingerie started to exhibit themselves in the viewing windows, selling themselves.
I was checking for job postings on my tablet when the flashing neon pink signboard lit up. ‘The Sensuous, Sultry Little Temptress for Booking Tonight!’ it blinked. The hungry old men gathered around the window, watching the silhouette materialize.
The lights flickered on. A young lady in a pink bodysuit and bunny ears twirled around the pole. Her full bosom made her look almost obscene. Her petite body slithered like a snake around the pole in physics-defying movements.
I almost couldn’t recognize her in those sharp wings of her eyeliners and the bright red lips. The 15 minutes free show was over. A forty-something man in the brown suit went up to the staircase and knocked on the door.
Michele unfurled herself from the pole and strutted to the door in her killer stiletto to let the man in. The curtains were drawn and the lights went off. The crowd dispersed.
I went back to the job search page and bookmarked a couple of postings. Mostly programmer jobs.
Taking a deep breath, I made to the back alley. The pungent toxic stench from the drains scorched my lungs. Shapes of rats prowled in the dark, making disturbing squeaks. The lewd laughter and cries coming from the lit, curtained windows reminded me how much I hated this place.
The creak of the metal door opening made me jump behind a wall. Michele strutted out. She had a robe over her shoulders now. Three larger men emerged after her. She glanced around the dark alley. “I only have five hundred with me.”
“That’s short of three. You promised the boss.” A hoarse, unhappy voice.
“People aren’t that generous or well off nowadays.”
“There are other ways you could return the favor.” A sick feeling rose in my stomach. The men closed in around her, making lewd remarks and touching her. One of them grasped her breast.
“Please leave me alone!” Michele wrenched free. She stepped back, a pained expression filled her face. “I’m just trying to provide for my baby.”
Blood ran cold in my veins. She had a baby? Wu Zhang didn’t tell me that. He always spared the details so that I’d detach emotionally from the subjects. There would be no souls left to collect if I felt sorry for everybody.
“Are you shy, Michele? I thought this is your expertise?” Another one caressed her face.
“I’m not fucking you guys!”
“Why not? We’re trying to help you.” He pinned her against the wall and kissed her aggressively. The men’s vulgar laugh punctuated Michele’s helpless scream. They looked so tall and muscular, Michele was tiny and defenseless against the brutes.
Even if I jumped out to save her, it’d make two of us. I turned away and pinched my eyes closed when the men ripped off her robe.
“Fuck. I can’t do this.” A burning lump in my throat. I wrapped my fingers tightly around my phone. I pressed 9-1-1 and was just a call button away from rescuing her life. My mind went to Cypher.
“No…no, I can’t do this…I can’t risk it all now that I’ve come so far.”
The maniacal laugh and helpless scream whirled in my head, uncanny emotions spiraled around me. What about Michele’s baby? If I helped Michele, I’d lose Cypher. I wasn’t ready to give up Cypher.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I waited. And waited.
Until Michele’s cries died away.
“Focus on the end goal. Focus on Cypher.” I channeled my mind to think about the happy times I shared with Cypher and how we would be reunited soon. My face was wet with warm tears. I didn’t realize how hard I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned raw in white.
I peeked out from my cover. Michele’s unconscious body lying naked in the dark. The three men had disappeared, nowhere to be found. My hand shook when I pulled out the beacon and aimed at Michele’s body.
The counter on the beacon jumped to one. I tossed the beacon into my backpack and bolted towards the closest bullet train station. I stood at the quiet corner of the train, cradling my backpack.
Guilt pricked at my conscience. Michele didn’t deserve this. None of the souls I collected deserved such fate. Her spirit would never rest. She’d live her nightmares forever at Gavroche’s mercy. She was only one of the hundreds enslaved Helper Bots out there.
******
The laboratory double pressure door hissed open. Wu Zhang turned in his swivel chair with his fingers laced on his stomach. “You’re back!”
I pulled out the Mind Drive and placed on his bench. When Wu Zhang reached for it, I slammed my fist on the bench and glared at him. “Why didn’t you tell me Michele had a baby?” My quivering voice betrayed my anger.
I wanted to see what happened to Michele’s baby in the Futuregrapher. I also wanted to go home and cry under the sheet. If there was any remorse in Wu Zhang, I couldn’t see it. He picked up the Mind Drive and plugged to his supercomputer.
“What good would that do? You’d be more productive if you invest the time on collecting more Mind Files. Yes, she had a baby. It’s not important anymore.”
“You’ve no heart.”
“Kira, as your manager, I must warn you to watch your attitude. I also noticed that your focus is whacked lately. Stuffing your brain with too much trivial information isn’t going to help you with the mission.”
I sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten.
Wu Zhang tapped away on the keyboard. Michele’s hologram rendering appeared on the screen. I looked away, unable to look in her eyes as the splinters of guilt sank deep in my conscience.
“The preparation for Helper Bot is slightly different from the Transient Bot. You want to assign new identification codes for the bot before you implant the memory imprint. The program will selectively replace their useless episodic memories about their human past and retain their basic knowledge such as language and how to perform daily activities. Also, of course, to give them a new look, but in this case, we’ll retain her features as per customer’s request. When the process is complete, Michele will be rebirthed and remember nothing but that she’s a Helper Bot created to serve her new master.”
The progress bar filled up to 100 % when the window popped up.
Install Kill Switch? Y/N
“Wait! Why are you doing this?”
“We are transferring human consciousness into industrial-grade surrogate bodies. This Kill Switch will predict the risk of singularity and terminate the consciousness before any chance of rebellion.”
“So you’re afraid that your Helper Bots will overwrite and outsmart your program? What if the Kill Switch doesn’t work?”
“The Mind Fil
es are still connected to the database, Kira. If there is really an uprising, I can put an end to all of them with a push of a button.”
“What the fuck? You’re going to strip them of their most basic rights?”
“Nope. A Helper Bot will only be terminated in the event of treason when it disobeys its human master. Sounds to me like a standard work contract.”
I hated how Wu Zhang calling the Helper Bot ‘it’. I tried not to let it slip into my words. But then I remembered, when a human died, we called them it too. “You’re saying as if shutting down a computer is against computer’s rights.”
“What have I done?” If only I could turn back time and stop Michele from dying. “Michele was still a student. She had a younger sister who was still in high school!” I blurted out.
I shouldn’t have stalked her. The longer I looked at her, the more resemblance I found. Dark bob hair, brown eyes. She was the same age as me. Too like Michele, I was dead but reincarnated into a Transient Bot instead of a Helper Bot.
Wu Zhang glared at me. “How many times have I told you not to dig into their database? They aren’t your friends. You don’t have to know them. They’re just subjects!”
“I can’t!” I cried out. I felt like shit for not rescuing Michele. Tears burst out my eyes. “I can’t! I should’ve rescued her!”
“Everybody is going to die eventually, Kira. Some live longer than the others. These Mind Files are a form of energy salvaged and given a second life.”
It hit me. I was just a form of energy salvaged and given new life. I was Michele. Except being transplanted in a different new body. Technically, they were the same kind of synthetic surrogate bodies with different model numbers and programmed differently. It made me wonder if Cypher was my Cypher when I got him back. Or would he be just a collection of his decaying memories? A stream of tears trickled down my face.
“Now Michele’s sister has to stop schooling. She has to take care of the baby,” I muttered to myself as my thought of what would happen to Michele’s family multiplied in me.
Wu Zhang rolled his eyes and tapped on the keyboard. A message popped up on the hologram screen.
Disconnect User Kira Lee from Zhang Database? Y/N.
Wu Zhang hit Y.
“I still can stalk her online if I want to!”
“I should’ve installed the Kill Switch on you as well!” Wu Zhang hit Y to initiate the installation.
“You can’t hide this from the world forever, Wu Zhang.”
I walked out of the laboratory.
5
“Shit!” I sprang out of bed when I recalled today was the due date for my rent. I groped under my bed for my tablet and checked my account. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I saw the balance. I didn’t get an overdraft.
My savings nosedived after I stopped using my writing A.I. believing it was a curse. I wouldn’t have lost Cypher if I didn’t use it. It was quarter past three in the morning and I was staring blankly at the peeling paint at the corner the ceiling, unable to go back to sleep.
It wasn’t the first time I had an anxiety attack in the middle of the night. I groped the sheet on Cypher’s side of the bed, the cold emptiness pricked my skin. The queen size bed felt too big.
I took a deep breath and picked up the Mind Drive. I connected the Mind Drive to my tablet and opened Cypher’s Mind File. My heart fluttered when I saw his rendering on my screen. I felt better now knowing Cypher was real and not a product of my imagination.
“Cypher.” I touched his face on the screen, missing the warmth of his skin.
“Kira!” Cypher’s voice sounded exactly the same, only lack of emotions. After all, it was just rendering of his memories. Cypher was a Mind File, in the Mind Cloud and my memories.
“Oh god, I miss you so much it hurts.” Tears brimmed in my eyes. All the feelings bottled up threatened to burst out of me like a broken dam. I sniffed and wiped my face on my sleeve. I wondered if Cypher could read emotions.
“I miss you more, Kira. It feels like forever since we last spoke. How’s your project going on? The one where you have to create an A.I. to predict heart attack by recognizing stroke symptoms or something?”
My mouth fell open but no words came out.
“Kira?”
“I completed my final year project and graduated last year.” I was still waiting to publish the paper I wrote to apply for postgrad. That had been my life goal before Cypher’s accident. Now, I was like a tiny boat floating on a stormy sea, lost in direction.
“Oh.” Cypher looked sad. He promised to be there for my graduation. I didn’t attend altogether.
Cypher’s original memories were decaying. That’s why Mind Files had to be transferred into the bots as soon as possible. Memories would fade over time. Even the ones we shared. I wasn’t sure which memories were real or imagined. The more I decompressed the Mind File, the faster the decay rate. I hated myself for doing so. I wanted to shut him down immediately but I wanted to see him.
“What year is it, Cypher?”
“2019?”
I pursed my lips. “No…Cypher, it’s 2020.”
Cypher looked lost. It hurt me. “Oh.”
I gulped. “You’re dead, Cypher.” My lips trembled every time I said this, even though I said it for countless time.
Cypher nodded. “Oh yes, I remember now.”
My mouth went dry. “I’m sorry this is taking longer than expected. I’m now at two hundred twenty-eight. Almost halfway through.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Zhang Robotics. Do you remember? Five hundred Mind Files for your resurrection?”
“Resurrection?”
“Your resurrection, Cypher.” A lump of tears burned in my throat. “You’re in the Mind Drive. Wu Zhang will transfer your consciousness into a Transient Bot once I give him what he wants.”
“Oh…” Cypher looked scared when his eyes pierced into mine. The rendering made his face look green. I missed seeing his deep-set brown eyes. “Oh yes, I’m in the Mind Drive.”
I thought if I kept reminding Cypher what happened, it’d help him remember.
“You’re halfway there, Kira. You’re doing so well.”
“I’ll stop at nothing.”
“I know, Kira. I appreciate everything you do for us.”
“It was my fault, really. If only we stayed home that night.”
“Don’t be silly, Kira. It wasn’t your fault. You know that.”
I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand. “I just want to go back to how we used to be. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
My tear splattered on the screen and I wiped with my sleeve. “I can’t wait for this to be over. I just want to return to our normal life.”
“We will soon. I can’t wait to hold your hands and kiss your lips again.” I forced a smile. After the small talk and saying goodbye, I disconnected the file and looked out the window at the quiet town I grew up with. It hadn’t changed much though so many things happened.
I must resurrect Cypher. I was halfway there.
But where to get two hundred Mind Files within a short time? Without being caught by Detective Danny?
I reached for my phone and looked up for Danny’s profile. His Social Sense profile appeared first on the search list. Everybody had a Social Sense account but it was a choice to use it or not. Social Sense was the only social network service in Asianova. I clicked into the link. “What the hell?”
The detective Danny I knew was completely opposite of Detective Danny I was looking at. His profile bio read: Swimwear and underwear model. PM for business inquiry.
Except it was Detective Danny! There was no mistaking the naked dark-skinned man with the brooding deep-set brown eyes in that tight swimming trunk was him! I found myself staring at his profile picture as the reality sank in me.
Broad swimmer shoulders. Ripped six pecs under tanned skin. And the protruding
V-shaped hip bones where his trunks hung deliciously low. As if his looks weren’t impressive enough, his profile would be.
He had eight million followers! How could this cocky detective be so hot and gorgeous online? It was almost a scam! His timeline was full of his selfies in different angles. All of his pictures looked delicious. Why would someone with such a lucrative modeling career and massive Social Sense following took another low paying job to mess my life?
These close-shots of his face emphasized his thick manicured brows and stubble looked so professional as if he’d a private studio and photographer. I forgot how long I’d been snooping on his profile until I traced back to his photos from five years ago.