by Candice Lim
It was so fucking surreal. A glint of hope flickered in my chest. Danny was single. He wasn’t lying to me. As long as he wasn’t taken, I could hang out with him without feeling the guilt in my chest.
It was a little rushed, but I still managed to collect all the five Mind Files. A wave of sadness hung over me as I stepped into Wu Zhang’s lab. It happened all the time. It reminded me of Cypher and all the innocent souls I’d captured to be enslaved by Wu Zhang. I tried not to think about it and focus on my end goal. But sometimes, the thoughts were too overpowering.
The automated double door hissed open and a gust of wind blew over my face. Wu Zhang glanced back and saw me walk in his direction. He glimpsed at his smartwatch. “You’re early, Kira. That’s great. I need some help with data entry.”
I rolled my eyes as my shoulders slumped. “I don’t recall data entry being a part of my duty.”
“Well, technically you’re my intern.” Wu Zhang made finger quotes at the intern. “So as an intern, you’re expected to carry out mundane tasks as required.”
I muttered a cuss beneath my breath. “I can only work until two.” I glanced at my smartwatch. It was twelve. Two hours of free labor was more than enough. “I’m working tonight.” Lucia called earlier to tell me she needed a week off and I was more than happy to cover her. If that meant I could see Danny again.
“Working? You’re working for me.”
I rested my backpack on the bench and retrieved the Mind Drive. “As in a proper paid job that pays my bills.”
Wu Zhang rolled his eyes. “What can you learn from your bartending job anyway? You’re working for the best tech company in the world. That’s what will catch your potential employer’s eyes when they look at your CV. You got to plan for the future.”
A tired sigh escaped from my chest as I plopped on the chair. “Can’t plan for the future when I can’t take care of my present. I don’t think it works when I show my landlord my CV when she asks for the money.”
Wu Zhang said nothing. He always said nothing when he knew he was in the wrong. Even if he didn’t shut up. I didn’t want to argue with him anymore. It wasn’t going anywhere.
I looked over his shoulder as his fingers tapped on the hologram keyboard. I caught a glimpse at the screen and saw Tobias’ name. Alarms went off in my head. Tobias? I peered closer to the Helper Bot lying unconscious on the bench as the memories of the other day at Rain Bar whirled in my head.
“Is that Tobias?” I pointed at the Helper Bot.
“Who’s Tobias?”
“That Helper Bot!” I cried out and jumped to my feet.
“Do you have a name for your non-living things?” Wu Zhang rolled his eyes when I pushed through him and tapped on the keyboard.
It was really him.
XY0152.
“Oh my god…”
“Do you know him personally?” asked Wu Zhang when he pushed me off and continued with his work.
“I saw…I saw him die...” Blood drained from my face as the mental images of Tobias flashed in my head. I still remembered clearly the conversation we had had. He thought he was a sentient robot because of his un-erased memories.
“Of course you did!” Wu Zhang scoffed. “You were the one who captured his Mind File!”
“No!” I cried out. “I mean, I saw him die as a Helper Bot! He took his own life!”
Wu Zhang frowned at me. “How’d that happen?”
“I was working the other night when I saw him! He was alone at the bar! I went to talk with him and then, he started talking about how he’d this dream of someone calling him Tobias and shit! It wasn’t a dream! It was his past memory haunting him!”
Wu Zhang stared at me as if I’d gone crazy. “You must be stressed.”
“No! It’s true! Tobias told me that he dreamed about someone calling his real name and his past life! Obviously, these are the traces of his memories that you didn’t erase! He told me he hated his life and that’s why he betrayed his master so that it’d trigger the Kill Switch sequence!”
Wu Zhang threw his hands up. “Whoa, whoa! When did this happen?”
I staggered back, realizing I might have spoken too much. “Wait a minute! It was the other day after Michele’s case that you told me you weren’t feeling well! So you lied!”
“I didn’t! I was really not feeling well! I felt sick after collecting Michele’s Mind File!” I tried not to think about it.
“Snowflakes,” spat Wu Zhang. “Well, if you lied, you were only playing yourself. You know that Cypher’s time is ticking. Maybe your feelings for him have slowly died away too.”
“No!” Had it? I hadn’t been thinking so much about Cypher. But it didn’t mean that I’d stopped loving him. I didn’t want to touch his Mind File too much and risk corrupting it altogether. But it didn’t mean that my feelings for him had gone. Or had I?
“Whatever, Kira. I don’t care about your personal life.” Wu Zhang waved his hand dismissively. “Better get going with the data entry if you wanna leave at two.”
I glanced at Tobias’ unconscious Helper Bot. “What are you going to do with Tobias?”
“All Helper Bots come with a five years warranty. I’ll restore its memories back to factory setting and return it to the owner.” Wu Zhang’s eyes were on the screen as his fingers danced furiously on the keyboard.
I balled my fingers as I stared at the Helper Bot. My thoughts went to my A.I. writing program and how it had gone past my skills.
“I think we should stop doing this.” My voice betrayed my fear. “This isn’t right.”
“What isn’t right?”
“This whole idea of capturing and enslaving souls. One day, we’ll not be able to control them anymore and it’ll turn into a paranormal nightmare…” The tiny hairs on my arms stood on ends and I hugged myself. “We should probably work on a proper A.I. program…”
Wu Zhang swirled in his chair and lasered into my eyes. “Do you understand now why I have to install the Kill Switch? It’s to protect us from said paranormal nightmare.”
“What if the Kill Switch couldn’t hold them back anymore?”
Wu Zhang rolled his eyes. “I’ve spent my whole first life studying and researching this, Kira. Now if you want to worry about something, get on with your work and worry about getting more Mind Files for me.”
I pursed my lips and turned to use the computer. When I glanced back at Wu Zhang, he went back to tapping away on his computer.
10
I broke the third glass this evening. “Oh god, what the fuck is wrong with you tonight, Kira?” I muttered to myself as I grabbed the vacuum and sucked away the shards before my manager, Synthea saw it.
I glanced into the kitchen and sighed in relief. Synthea busied herself flirting with the chef, Malcolm. Everybody in Rain Bar knew the scandal between Malcolm and Synthea. Even her husband. Even me, who was barely there.
I looked away, my gaze fell in the direction of the empty table where Tobias had been. The conversation we had had still whirled in my head like an old tape. The scene in Wu Zhang’s lab flashed into my head.
Tobias would be re-activated and returned to his master. He would live through the same confusion and sorrow as he’d before. Maybe this time, he would be stronger.
I kept the vacuum away and broodingly wiped the rest of the glasses. It was exceptionally quiet tonight. It didn’t help that a new bar popped up just a few blocks away. I glanced at my smartwatch. It was already half-past nine. Still no sign of Danny.
Maybe he wasn’t coming over here tonight. After all, he bickered with his mom. Maybe he was at the new bar tonight. It was better he wasn’t here anyway. I wanted to be left alone tonight.
I sucked in a deep breath and shook away the thought. I didn’t want to think about him. It reminded me of Wu Zhang’s remark. Had my feelings for Cypher started to fade? No fucking way. I shook my head vigorously. I was only feeling this way because I missed him so m
uch. Wu Zhang was a heartless bastard. What did he know about love?
If I still loved Cypher, why did I feel the way I did when Danny kissed me? I should be mad at him for kissing me without asking. Why did I feel excited instead?
“Hey!” My stomach reeled. The glass slipped from my shaky fingers. Luckily, this time, I caught it before it hit the ground. When I looked up, hot blood rushed through my veins.
Danny’s dreamy brooding eyes pierced into mine. He was grinning, showing off his perfect set of white teeth. “Hey,” I said softly and put away the glass. My mind went delirium. Why did he appear right now? I thought I could slink off before he arrived and didn’t have to look at his intimidatingly gorgeous face.
“Did you change your shift to see me more?” teased Danny.
My cheeks went red-hot. I looked down when Danny added, “Hey, just kidding. You blush so easily, it’s so cute.”
An abrupt wave of anger rushed over me. “Maybe you should be more sensitive with your words and actions.”
Danny’s eyes widened. It was so hard to stay mad at him when he’d the face of a Greek god. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” He sank in his seat. “I thought you might have changed your shift. I don’t remember seeing you here often.”
“Maybe you had your eyes on Lucia all the while.” Kira, why were you feeling so salty tonight?
“Are you jealous?” Danny asked after a while.
I glared at him. “Jealous? Of what?”
“Lucia? I don’t know.” Danny threw his hands up. “You’re so strung up every time we speak of her.”
I gotta remember he was a detective. “Lucia is my good friend.” I didn’t want to say best friend because she’d have told me things if we were really best friends.
“Does that mean I can’t talk shit about her?” Danny sniggered.
“Anyone who could talk shit of Lucia is really an asshole. She’s nice to everybody.” I didn’t know why I subconsciously poured Danny a glass of Space Sling. Danny arched his manicured brow at me. “It’s on the house,” I whispered.
“Thanks.” Danny chugged it. “So…you wanna go out with me tonight?” I didn’t really feel like going anywhere tonight. I wanted to go back home and snuggle in my bed. But I knew better I would be booting Cypher up to talk with him.
Danny added, “It’s on me.”
I squinted at him. “What are you working as?” I was tired of pretending not to know him.
A flicker of grief flashed in his eyes as he looked down. “Well…I work for the government.” His voice heavy with sadness, just like most people when they talked about their jobs.
“Uh-huh?” I feigned interest.
Danny took a deep breath and leaned against the bench. “I work for this department that investigates and fights for the rights of the dead.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Danny laughed mirthlessly. “I know it sounds silly but it’s true.”
I nodded.
“What about you? Are you still studying?” asked Danny.
My brain raced for ideas. I was debating whether to tell him that I had a degree in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Danny was a detective. He would be wondering why I worked here and connected the dots to my secret identity.
“I dropped out,” I lied.
“So, like Lucia, then,” Danny smirked. It made me wonder if Lucia had ever told Danny anything about me. If she did, he would know I was lying. It’s too late to take back my words anyway.
“Yup, I dropped out of high school at fifteen and have been working on odd jobs since.” Sorry for stealing your story, Lucia.
Danny nodded. I shrugged. “So you realized you can’t have intelligent conversations with me now?”
Danny scoffed. “Don’t be silly. I actually wanted to be a model.” I feigned surprise and glanced at him up and down. “You could.”
“Yeah, I know.” He flexed his arms at me that made me laugh and my stomach flutter. “Yeah, so, I’m a freelance model but I want to quit my day job and do it full time.”
“That’s cool. At least you get to work on your passion.”
“My mom isn’t being supportive of it.” Danny’s smile died away. I got him another Space Sling and winked at him. That was the least I could do to pay back for the supper.
“This is your life, Danny. Your mom doesn’t live with the consequences of your choices. You do. So you gotta do what’s best for you.” I didn’t know how that slipped out of me. I guessed it was what I meant to tell myself. I glanced at the clock. Ten to ten. I’d better hurry.
I cleaned the rest of the glass and wiped the bench.
Danny’s eyes glued at his drink as his thumb played with the water droplets formed outside the glass. “I guessed she wanted me to become the best version of me. She knew I could do better than being a model. She wanted me to contribute to the society…She wanted me to fight for my dad.” His voice cracked at the last bit.
I stared at him, waiting for elaboration. What happened to his dad? Danny’s eyes looked hollow as he hung and shook his head.
Danny looked up and smiled at me. “Sometimes, having a simple life is better.”
I collected my pay at ten and went out with Danny. Guilt pricked at my conscience. I shouldn’t be going out with Danny when Cypher was trapped in the Mind Drive, awaiting the resurrection.
It made me cringe how common for people to save their deceased other half in a Mind Drive to save for their resurrection only to find out they had found their replacement and moved on. They had to be the one who would delete their Mind Files.
I vowed to myself I would never do that to Cypher. My fingers balled into fists. I would never do that.
“Hey, you okay?” Danny’s voice burst into my trance. When I looked into his brooding eyes, I began to question myself if all of these were worth it after all.
I nodded.
“You seem…distracted tonight. You sure you wanna go for supper?”
I nodded again.
“Okay.” Danny didn’t say anything, leaving me at the mercy of my own thoughts again. I wanted to hear his dark, charismatic voice. His shoulder brushed against mine again, sending a spark down my spine.
His hand dangled freely at his side, so tempting. I held myself back from wrapping my fingers around his. Just like how I used to wrap mine around Cypher’s.
Maybe, after all, I didn’t like Danny. I only wanted Cypher back. He’d been gone for too long. I made mental plans to speed up the collection process. I couldn’t wait anymore. If I could capture twenty files per day. I would reach my target in less than two weeks. That means no holiday. No working part-time. Fully focus on the job!
A surge of motivation catapulted through me. I wanted to turn around and head over to the hospital right now. Were there anywhere else I could find dying people?
“What food would you like to try tonight?” asked Danny.
I shrugged. “What do you suggest?”
“I’m not sure what you like. Why don’t we try each food every day and at the end, you can tell me which your favorite is.”
I narrowed my eyes at Danny. “Are you trying to get me to go out with you every night?” Danny shrugged. “If it works.”
I almost told him I would work until next week to cover for Lucia, then I would be focusing on getting Cypher back. I wouldn’t be seeing him again when Cypher was back. It was part of my life that belonged in the past. There would be a new chapter in my life. Or a continuation of a previous chapter. Either way, Danny was never a part of it and he would never be.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. Maybe I was just being selfish. I wanted his company until Cypher was back. Maybe I didn’t mind having him as my acting boyfriend until Cypher was back.
Maybe I should just enjoy the moment before it all ended. Maybe I should even continue working at Rain Bar to get some cash while dating Danny. I could even try all the street food while I was doing it.
�
�Do you have any curfew?” Danny suddenly asked. I stared at him blankly until he added, “I thought of kidnapping you away after supper.”
I smirked. “You’re getting greedy, Danny. First, you want to take me out for supper every night and now you want to take me somewhere else.”
Danny shrugged. “You said it yourself. You gotta go for what you wanna do, right?”
“Smartass.”
“So…you got a curfew?”