by Candice Lim
“So you knew all along it was me?”
“No. the Soul Thief we know is dead. The case is closed as inconclusive. She died, along with my motivation and hopes to continue being the detective that my mom aspired me to be. There is no meaning for me to be who I’m right now. I thought of resigning. I gave myself another three months to build my motivation back.”
I laced and unlaced my fingers over my lap. Did that mean Danny know I was a Transient Bot?
“Then, I met you at Rain Bar. You looked like the Soul Thief I knew but different. I chose to believe there must be a reason why I met you. So I vowed to get to know you. You breathed new meaning to my life. Then, I got to know your name is Kira.” A smirk quirked the corner of his sinfully beautiful lips. “I figured you were the one leaving those comments on my Social Sense.”
Shame poured over my face. “No! I’m not the only Kira in the world!”
“So it’s not you?” Our eyes interlocked, his deep-set brown eyes pierced straight into my soul.
“Yes.” I nodded. “It was me. I wanted to warn you that I’m watching you, Detective Danny.”
Danny let out a laugh and reached his free hand out to me. I laced my fingers with his and clutched him tightly. We were hand in hand until Danny pulled away to push a button under the radio. His car slowed down when the ramp in the road suddenly opened up.
My heart reeled to my throat. I held fast onto the side of my seat as his car dove under the rising ramp and into a tunnel.
Danny pulled up and I found myself in a basement carpark.
“Come with me.”
“You’re at the secret headquarters of A.I. Ethics Department. This is the second secret place I’m sharing with you right now.” Danny winked at me as he walked us towards the cage elevator. The metal door slid open.
I went in first. Danny took the rear. The elevator cranked and ascended into the darkness.
I adjusted my backpack strap on my shoulder. Uneasiness pricked me. Yup, carrying all the evidence of me being the Soul Thief to the A.I. Ethics Department headquarters was a brilliant idea.
I shifted my feet as uneasiness pricked me. “Look, Danny, I’m sorry I lied. I know what Wu Zhang is doing with the Mind Files. Zhang Robotics distributes what they claim as realistic and humanlike A.I. assistants called Helper Bots. Wu Zhang never created the A.I. program as he claimed. Those Helper Bots are powered by the Mind Files that I collect.”
A shrill silence stretched between us until the elevator cranked again. The light poured over us. I lifted my arm over to shield my face and squinted through my half-open eyes.
Danny slid the metal gate open and helped me out. I found myself standing in the middle of the cubicle. The keyboard tapping sounds suddenly stopped and all heads turned in my direction.”
“Don’t mind us.” Danny waved in a vague direction and grabbed my wrist to pull me into his office. The door clicked to lock after him.
Danny turned to stare into my eyes. “You of all people should know better the dangers of artificial intelligence, what’s more, souls in industrial droids?” He squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Wu Zhang is mad. He’s blinded by his goals. How could you even agree to do this?”
“I want Cypher back,” I snapped. A hurt look flashed in Danny’s face. He nodded. “Plus, when he told me about this, he said he was working on the A.I. program that he’s promised his clients. He said when the program is ready, this will all stop.”
“And you actually believed him?”
“I don’t have a choice. My boyfriend’s life depends on it.” My whole body shook with emotions as tears burst from my eyes. “Please…I don’t want to be involved in this. I don’t care if you want to put Wu Zhang behind bars. I just want Cypher back. Let me finish my job, then I’ll help you finish yours.”
Danny’s steely eyes penetrated into mine. “You don’t understand, Kira. It’s not that simple.” He retrieved a tablet from his desk, tapped on it, and handed it over to me.
A chill ran down my spine as I scanned through the report. “Oh my god.” My hand flew to my open mouth.
Three dead after Helper Bot attack.
I zoomed into the photo attached with the report. A hollow hole burned in my stomach. There was no mistaking it was Tobias. “Oh my god…what have you done?” I rubbed my thumb over his profile.
“Why didn’t I see this on the news?” I muttered to myself.
“We didn’t want to raise public panic,” said Danny. “That’s the second reported case so far. We can’t cover this any longer.”
“What happened to the Helper Bot?”
“It’s in the laboratory for investigation.” I rolled my eyes at ‘it’.
“I don’t like the way you call him it.”
“Fine. Him, whatever.”
“Can I go and see him?”
Danny’s eyes penetrated into mine for a long time before he gave the nod. Urgency catapulted my feet as Detective Danny and I took the elevator down to the laboratory.
It was only a few days ago when Wu Zhang reset Tobias and returned him to the owner. I clenched and unclenched my fists. It made me wonder if Tobias would ever remember talking with me.
When the gate opened again, I sprang out. White light from the LEDs lined up on the ceiling washed over the immaculate, spacious chamber. It sorta reminded me of Wu Zhang’s lab.
The three personnel in lab coat stopped and stared at me. Danny took my side and waved them off. I couldn’t be bothered as my eyes were locked at the Helper Bot restrained on the bench right in front of me.
A chill ran down my spine as I inched my way towards him. I reached my hand out at him.
“Be careful,” said Danny.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. He nodded and stepped back.
Tobias’s mechanical eyes glared at me.
“Tobias?” His face softened.
“You know me?” I couldn’t find my words as Tobias’ eyes penetrated into mine. His eyes lit up. “You...it’s you. I’ve seen you in my dreams before. I met you in the bar.”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. Wu Zhang failed to erase his memories.
“You met him in the bar?” Danny turned to me.
“Long story.”
Danny was about to say something when one of the lab coat clad guy came to show him something on his tablet. The technician pushed his glasses up his nose. “The security is too advanced. We can’t crack into his system.”
“Let me try.” I snatched the tablet and typed in the passcode to access Tobias’ source files. From the corner of my eyes, Danny and the technician traded looks.
“Oh my god.” I looked over the tablet at the two. “Tobias has bypassed the Kill Switch.”
The two guys traded looks again. “Who is Tobias?” asked the technician.
“What Kill Switch?” asked Danny.
I glanced at them both, then said to Danny, “The Helper Bots are designed to take orders and nothing more. Human Mind Files are unstable and subject to emotions. That’s why they’re installed with a Kill Switch. If they engage in certain behaviors that threaten their masters, the Kill Switch will terminate the Helper Bots.”
I turned around at Tobias. “I can’t find the Kill Switch in the source files. Without the Kill Switch, there is no other way to terminate the Helper Bots without losing the Mind Files.”
“How does that work?”
“The Kill Switch will upload all the information to Zhang Database where it’ll be stored and be retrieved upon resurrection.”
“How do you kill a Helper Bot without a Kill Switch?”
“Physical damage. Destroy the central processing unit located in the skull of the Helper Bot until the hardware doesn’t work.”
Danny turned to the technician. “Have you retrieved all the source files?”
“Yes, except for one folder that can’t be extracted,” he said.
I passed the tablet back to him.
“That’s the Mind File. It’s password-protected and only Wu Zhang has the key to unlock it. It can’t be extracted from the Helper Bots.”
“That’s good enough. Dispose of the Helper Bot.” Danny gestured dismissively at Tobias.
“Wait, what?” My eyes flew open. “No, you can’t dispose of him like that! He’s alive!”
Danny grabbed me by the shoulders and lasered into my eyes. “No, Kira! He’s not alive! He’s nothing but a Mind File that has been manipulated by strings of algorithms.”
“So am I, Danny. Are you going to dispose of me as well?”
Danny stared at me, speechless. For the first time, the smart ass Danny had nothing smart to say. A hurt look flashed on his face.
“No, it’s different, Kira,” said Danny.
“It’s not different, really. Helper Bots and Transient Bots are made of the same material. The only difference is in how they’re programmed. I was lucky my Mind File has been placed in a Transient Bot.”
Danny cupped his hand over on my face. I closed my eyes and luxuriated against the warmth of his palm against my cold cheek.
“It…Tobias… has suffered more than he deserves. It’s time for him to rest. You have an important duty. You’ll fight for justice for all the Mind Files you’re forced to collect. That’s the difference,” said Danny.
I let my eyes rest on Danny’s for a long time before I tore away and turned to Tobias. Danny was right. Not everybody wanted to live forever, especially not after they had been forced into slavery. It’d be unfair to Tobias to let him live. “Do you remember what we talked about in the bar?”
Tobias nodded. The same sullen eyes pierced into mine. “I told you sometimes I feel like I’m human. Like one of you.” He wanted to point his finger at me. The chains clanked when the shackles jerked his wrist back.
I wanted to ask Danny to unleash him. I changed my mind. I’d no idea what the Helper Bots were capable of.
Instead, I wrapped my hand around his finger. “You’re real, Tobias. You were a human. Your dreams were real.”
“Really?”
I nodded. I heaved a deep breath and swallowed the burning lump of tears forming in my throat. “You were stripped of your memories and your consciousness was replaced into the droid that you’re. You’ve been sold as a slave to your master.”
“Fuck!” Tobias kicked his feet hard, tugging at the chains that clanked loudly. “Fuck them all!”
My stomach reeled. I was so grateful that Tobias was restrained. I couldn’t imagine what he would’ve done. Danny wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me back from the bench. The warmth of his chest pressed up against my back. His hot breath made the skin on the back of my neck tingle.
“I’ll be fine.” I tore away and went closer to Tobias. “It’s all over now, Tobias.”
Tobias’ eyes seethed with anger as he glared into space. “First, they come for our money. Then, they come for our body parts. Now, they fucking want our souls!” His synthetic muscles tensed with wrath.
Against my better judgment, I reached out and stroked his arm. From my peripheral vision, Danny tried to stop me but backed away.
“It’s all over now, Tobias. You’re free now.” His eyes widened at me in disbelief. “Remember you told me you want to end it all? You’ll rest in peace now.”
“I could?”
I nodded. “No one will hurt you anymore. I promise.”
16
I wrapped my fingers around the plastic cup to get some warmth in the icy cold pantry. It was quarter past four. The quivering drizzle picked up and lashed violently against the tinted window. Another yawn escaped from my mouth as I pulled my jacket closer to my chest. How nice it’d be to snuggle up in the comfort of my warm bed in such weather?
A shadow fell over me. I turned around and was met with Danny. My eyes fell on the perfectly sculpted biceps of his strong arms when he removed his hoodie to give me. “Here, have this. I don’t want you to get a cold.”
I wanted to say no but Danny had already placed the hoodie on my lap. “Thanks.”
Danny held onto my plastic cup as I put on the hoodie. It was still warm from his body heat and a whiff of his masculine cologne lingered around me. I smiled sheepishly to myself as the mental pictures of him cuddling me bounced in my head.
“What?” asked Danny.
I shook my head.
“Do you want to know something?” Danny passed the cup back to me.
“What?”
“Before Tobias went to rest, he asked me to thank you. He said you made him feel like a person again.” I smiled at how Danny had stopped calling Tobias ‘it’. “See, that’s how important you are, Kira? You breathed meaning to Tobias’ life. And mine too.”
Danny slipped his hand under my palm and laced his fingers with mine. I should stop him from getting too friendly. I was here for Cypher. But the warmth of his hand came like a blessing in the cold. His shoulder brushed up against mine.
My head was getting heavy and I rested against Danny’s shoulder. I yawned again.
“We should send you home now. You have an important mission tomorrow.”
I nodded, rubbing my face against his sleeve. I promised to stay until Tobias was gone. Danny was about to get up when I stopped him. “No, please wait. Let me rest on you for a while.” He fell back with a smile and wrapped his arm around me. A safe feeling coursed through me when I listened to the steady thumping of his heart against my face.
For a while, all the problems I had dissolved from my mind. I wished for this moment to last forever.
“Kira. What about Cypher?” Danny asked suddenly.
I shrugged as the bile rose in my mouth. I wondered if Cypher even remembered I was his girlfriend. I felt no envy or anger. If Wu Zhang was right about one thing, my love for him had faded away after all. Maybe people were supposed to move on.
Cypher had passed away for one year. Before the Transient Bot Technology, I wouldn’t even stand a chance to talk to his soul. If he was gone, he was gone forever. No second chances. No resurrection.
But was I ready to let him go?
“Danny…” I pulled away.
“Yes, Kira?” His voice sounded soft and tired.
“Can you please send me home?”
Danny nodded. “You better get some rest before the big day tomorrow.” He pulled away and helped me up. I was removing his hoodie when he said, “Keep it. You need it more than me.”
Wrapped in the warm cuddle of his hoodie and the comfort of his smooth driving, the scent of his cologne bounced around me. The warm air blew gently against me, lulling me to sleep. “Get some rest,” said Danny groggily.
I shook my head. I didn’t want to sleep away the moment. I wanted to spend as much time awake with Danny as possible. It was funny how when I knew I was about to reunite with Cypher, I felt this heavy nostalgia stuffing in my chest. I purged my thoughts and checked my phone.
Jeez. Twenty unread messages. All from Lucia.
Hey, you ok?
You alive?
Text me back, woman!!
I’m calling the cops.
Wait, he’s with the cops?
Don’t forget the condom
My cheeks blushed at the last message. I hid my phone away lest Danny saw it. I screwed my face and cussed at Lucia quietly. What the hell? Did she really think I was going to sleep with Danny? I deleted the messages and sent Lucia a text.
Still alive. Everything’s ok. GNight.
“Is everything alright?” asked Danny.
“Yeah, it’s just Lucia.” I shrugged. I subconsciously looked up Britney’s profile. I sank with disappointment when she hadn’t posted anything. Maybe she had a life outside Social Sense after all.
“I thought you don’t do social media.” Danny winked.
I put my phone away. “I don’t.”
Danny arched his brow. I took the chance to study his face. The streetlight
cast amber glow on his face, highlighting the shadows of his sharp, divine features. I shook my head and focused on Cypher.
“So…what made you look up my Social Sense?”
I shifted in my seat. “You killed me, remember?” I let out a lame laugh.
Danny screwed his face. “Hell, no. You jumped off the cliff. You should’ve let me catch you.”