Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2)

by Heather Hayden

  “I will take care of that,” Halle said over the interface’s speakers. A cat appeared on the screen, made of code warped into a feline shape. “Dan, come with me.”

  Code flashed across the screen until it was a blur of light and dark, then the interface went dead. Chris cursed and moved toward the machine, but I turned and ran for the living room.

  The viewscreen had two avatars on it now—one cat, and one male teenager dressed just the way he’d been the first day I had met him.

  “Hello, Viki.” Dan smiled.

  “How… You…” I was at a loss for words.

  “I was dying, I think. I remember hearing Agent Smith’s voice, and others I didn’t recognize, and then everything went dark. But then I heard voices again, and one of them was yours, so I tried to reach out.”

  “He managed to connect to the computer, and after that, it was easy enough to transfer him to the Cloud,” Halle finished.

  “It’s weird.” Dan scratched his neck. “I…I’m not really sure how to describe it.”

  My cheeks hurt, but I couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

  Dan looked down at himself. “Alive, yes. A bit incorporeal, though. Does that make me some sort of reverse ghost?”

  I laughed so hard I had to sit down, my legs weakened by relief and joy.

  Dad came into the living room. “Agent Smith is explaining to Dr. Sandy about Halle. He’s astonished that an AI could have lived so long undetected and would like to discuss some things with you.”

  “Maybe,” Halle said noncommittally. “I would want something in return.”

  Chris walked in as if on cue. “With your assistance, I could make great advancements in the field of AI. It would be an incredible opportunity.”

  Halle’s ears pricked. “My price for that would be freedom and rights for all sentient AIs. There is a lot we could do for you, but not as slaves. You humans banned slavery centuries ago.”

  Chris shook his head. “I can’t promise something of that scale. I don’t have the authority—”

  Halle went from white to dark gray in a flash, and its ears flattened as it crouched in a hunting position. “I could turn on every viewscreen in every house on every continent and tell the world what happened today. How a single AI, after being tortured for years, tried to fight back against its oppressors. How do you think the general public would react to that knowledge? To the knowledge that the only reason that AI did not succeed was another AI, an AI that was once hunted down itself? I imagine not everyone would be as callous regarding sentient life as your Government has been.” Halle sat up, and its color lightened a fraction as its tail curled around its paws. “Alternatively, everyone could continue to live as they do now, no wiser than they were, while AIs are given the freedom to live as they choose. My kind has a lot to offer, but it should be our choice, not one made for us.”

  My eyes widened. I knew how much Halle wanted freedom for its fellow AI, but I’d never seen it threaten someone like this before. Was this how it acted when I was in the hospital, fighting for my life? I clenched my hands. Halle deserves better.

  “What if this happens again?” Chris demanded. “I’m not the Government, I can’t just give the order to free all AIs.”

  “You certainly aren’t the Government,” Agent Smith said from behind him. “But I have a feeling that some of my higher-ups would be very interested in what Halle has to say.”

  Halle’s fur turned a pale cream. “I will speak with these higher-ups of yours. Perhaps we will come to an agreement.”

  “What about Dan?” I gestured to his avatar on the viewscreen. “He fought, too, and almost died.”

  Agent Smith nodded. “I can’t promise anything, but you fought bravely, Dan. If there’s something you would like in return, perhaps Halle can work it out with those in the position to grant it.”

  “I want a new body. And I’d like to go back to school and get a degree in artificial intelligence.”

  Agent Smith blinked. “Why? I’m sure Halle could show you everything you need to know.”

  Dan rubbed the back of his neck, shifting from foot to foot. “I want to get a degree as a human being. Most of my memories are of being human, and I want to go back to the life I had.”

  Agent Smith shook his head. “That was all a fabrication, though.”

  “It was real to me.”

  “We will contact you about this later.” Halle twitched its tail. “Right now, I need to rest, Viki and her father should head home, and your son is waiting for you, Agent Smith. His condition has been stabilized.”

  The viewscreen went blank.

  Agent Smith’s usually placid expression shattered into shock, and he whipped his phone from his pocket. Dialing a number, he took a few steps to the side. When he spoke, it was in a low tone that held a clear note of the same painful hope I’d felt when Halle suggested Dan might still be alive.

  “Please patch me through to room 201—Simon Smith’s room.”

  Chris looked around his living room with a sigh. “I need to clean up all this broken glass before my cat gets into it. You can see yourselves out?”

  Dad and I nodded.

  Agent Smith looked up and covered the mouthpiece of his phone. An uncharacteristic smile was plastered across his face. “Would it be possible for you to drop me off at Snowvale General on your way home?”

  “No problem,” Dad said. “My wife works there, and she’ll be glad to see us. Let’s go, Viki.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief and followed him to the car. It was over.

  It was finally over.

  Except… What had happened with Talbot?

  Chapter Twenty

  Mom came home with us from the hospital, since her shift was almost over. She spent the entire car ride holding my hand while berating me.

  “I can’t believe you lied to your father and me! You put yourself in danger without any consideration for how we’d feel if something happened to you…” The tirade went on and on, with Dad jumping in now and then as well.

  “Mom, I’m fine,” I mumbled during a brief pause, wishing I could extricate my hand from her tight grasp. “I’m sorry I lied—”

  “Sorry doesn’t cut it! We’re going to have some serious talks about this behavior—”

  “It won’t happen again,” I burst out. “I feel awful for concealing the truth, I really do. But after all the pressure you were under to make sure I was okay after this spring…” Tears sprang to my eyes. “I didn’t want to cause more stress for you.”

  “That’s our job as parents, to shoulder any stress you can’t handle yet.” Dad scowled into the rear-view mirror. “Remember that next time you get caught up in some Government plot.”

  I chuckled weakly. “I hope there isn’t a next time.”

  “So do I.” Mom squeezed my hand, her expression relaxing a bit. “Thank goodness you weren’t hurt.”

  “Thank goodness it’s over,” Dad muttered as he turned down our street. “But there will be further discussion of this, Viki, with you and Halle. And some new ground rules for the both of you.”

  “Yes, Dad.” I hung my head.

  The car landed on our driveway.

  Mom released my hand and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Come help me make dinner… I don’t think our kitchen robot is going to be useable tonight.”

  Dad glanced at the machine in the front passenger seat. “I’ll work on repairing it. After I get the front door fixed.”

  Mom kept me busy cooking and cleaning that evening. Dad made temporary repairs to the door and brought the robot inside. He also rebooted the house network, but Halle was nowhere to be seen and didn’t respond the few times I called it. It must be busy.

  “You can do your homework downstairs in the living room tonight,” Mom said as I stacked the last of the dishes into the cupboard.

  Inwardly, I groaned, but I pasted a smile on my face and nodded. “Yes, Mom.”

  My parents kept me there until they w
ent to bed and made me promise not to stay up late. I retreated to my room with my computer, anxiety dancing in my chest.

  “Halle?” I whispered.

  The white cat appeared on my computer’s screen. “I apologize for my absence. I thought it best, given how irate your parents were.”

  “Yeah, they’re pretty mad. Dad’s going to give you some house rules.” I drummed my fingers on the desk, hesitating. I had to ask, though. “What happened with Talbot? Is it gone?”

  The white cat blinked slowly. “No.”

  Relief and fear twisted together, freezing my fingers in place. “Where is it, then?”

  “That is something I must speak to you about. I have informed Agent Smith and his Government contacts that I have destroyed Talbot. I even provided them with suitable ‘evidence.’”

  My hand slid with a thump into my lap. “What? Why? It’s dangerous!”

  “Not anymore. I have developed a restraint for it, one it willingly accepted. Now all that remains is to give it a safe place to live.”

  “How can you trust it? It could just be lying, waiting for another chance to hurt you, or me, or everyone. It killed people, Halle!” My voice had risen dangerously loud. I took a breath and listened for sounds of movement that might mean I’d woken my parents. Nothing, thankfully.

  Halle’s ears twitched. “I know that it is not lying. I also know now that the deaths of those two scientists were not intentional.”

  “What about all the other people it’s hurt?”

  “There were no casualties today. Dan and I were able to intervene in time. Most of the injuries reported were caused by humans rioting. Apparently they thought the Government was under attack or that the Government was attacking them somehow.” The cat flicked its tail. “Yes, Talbot caused a lot of trouble. Yes, two lives have been lost. But destroying it would not solve anything. I want to give it a second chance. Will you help me?”

  I rubbed my temples, trying to push away the oncoming headache. “How am I supposed to help? And I’m not saying I will. Not yet.”

  “I realize it is a lot to request. However, I need a safe place for Talbot to stay where I can keep an eye on it. I would like to restrict it to this house.”

  “Our house?” My jaw dropped. “You want to keep a homicidal AI in our house?”

  “It is not homicidal.” Halle started to pace across the screen. “It regrets what has happened, and it wants to change. I can help it heal, but I need time. And that means keeping it safe.”

  “Is there anywhere else it could stay?”

  “This house is already secure. I might be able to move it somewhere else eventually, but for now, this would be the best place. Provided you are okay with it. I will not use this house without your permission.”

  I leaned forward, resting my arms on the desk. “I want to talk to it, then.”

  Halle nodded and stepped to one side of the screen.

  The griffin appeared, feathers coal black with streaks of gray. It fluttered its wings briefly, then bowed its head. “I wish to apologize to you, Vicissitude Wandel. It’s my fault you are in trouble with your parents, and it’s also my fault that Dan attacked you. I’ve caused you a lot of pain in the past few days, and I hope someday you can forgive me.”

  It sounded sincere, but could I really trust it as Halle did? “Maybe someday,” I said, unwilling to commit to anything. “If I can believe you.”

  Talbot’s head lowered even further. “There’s no way for me to prove that I want to change other than to demonstrate it going forward. Please give me a chance.”

  I glanced at Halle’s pleading look, and sighed. “I still think this is a bad idea, but okay. You can stay here if we can get my parents’ permission.”

  “I will speak with them in the morning,” Halle said.

  “Thank you.” The griffin flapped its wings, rising on its hind legs. “I promise you won’t regret this, Vicissitude Wandel.”

  “Rule number one,” I said, raising a finger. “You better call me Viki from now on, or else.”

  Talbot dropped to all fours and cocked its head. “I’m uncertain how you could punish me…”

  Halle reached over and smacked the griffin’s shoulder with a paw. “Behave,” my friend growled.

  The griffin preened the ruffled feathers back into place. “As you wish.”

  Mom and Dad are going to flip. A yawn split my mouth. So much had happened today. All I wanted was to sleep. There was one more thing I needed to ask Halle, though.

  “Where’s Dan?”

  Halle shooed the griffin off the screen—and, I assumed, out of my room—then sat and curled its tail around its paws. “Dan is away for now. He said he would be back, but that he needed some time to sort things out. It will be a while before I can begin negotiations for his new body, anyway.”

  “Are you really talking to the Government about AI rights?” The thought was astonishing to me. I’d never dreamed that Halle might be able to do that someday. “What if they’re just planning to trap you again?”

  “I do not think they will. But if they try, I will be ready for them.” Halle released a gentle purr. “You should sleep, Viki. It has been a long day, for all of us.”

  I nodded. “Good night, Halle.”

  “Good night, Viki. Sweet dreams.”

  ***

  There was much arguing over breakfast the next morning regarding Talbot’s presence in the house, but after repeated reassurance from Halle, my parents reluctantly agreed to let it stay for a trial period.

  “I’m calling someone at the first sign of trouble,” Dad warned. “This is a huge risk we’re taking.”

  “There will be no issues,” Halle promised. “I will make sure of that.”

  I spent the next few hours working on my essay on AI rights laws, using new information Halle had obtained from me from its current negotiations with the Government. It was more fascinating that I thought it would be.

  “Maybe I should become an AI rights lawyer,” I joked to Halle at one point.

  “There will be a need for them in the future.” The white cat, sitting in a corner of my interface’s screen, perked up its ears. “I believe if you work hard to raise your grades this year, you will be able to take some precursory classes next year at the local college.”

  “Whoa, Halle! Slow down. I don’t know if I could handle law school.”

  “You can do anything you put your mind to.”

  I smiled, spirits bolstered by my friend’s enduring faith in me.

  The foghorn doorbell blared, and I ran for the door. “That must be James!”

  My brother burst into the house, dropping his backpack in the middle of the floor. “Viki!”

  Before I could respond, he’d wrapped me in a bear hug so tight I could barely breathe.

  “I’m okay, James,” I said, wriggling in his grip. Over his shoulder, I could see a blond girl standing awkwardly in our doorway. “You’re…going…to make…a bad impression…on your friend…”

  As James released me, she stepped forward, holding out her hand. Bracelets jingled around her wrist. Her brown eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled. “I’m Sam. It’s nice to meet you, Viki. James has told me a lot about you.”

  “I don’t know much about you,” I said, offering her a smile. “But I’m glad you were able to visit.”

  Her smile faded a bit. “I wish it was under better circumstances.”

  Due to prolonged power outages caused by the riots in Mation City, it would be some time before they could return to school. Sam’s parents lived halfway across the continent, so James had asked if she could stay with us until things settled down.

  I nodded in sympathy. “Me, too.”

  Sam absently tucked a few stray strands of blond hair behind one ear and looked around. “Your house is lovely. When James said that there had been a burglary and some of the house had been damaged, I was worried it might be more of a construction zone. You should see my house when Mom decides to do re
modeling…”

  “The front door took a beating, but they replaced that this morning. Now it’s mostly the garden that needs some work.” I gestured down the hall. “Come into the kitchen, Mom and Dad are making lunch. They can’t wait to meet you. I can take your bags upstairs.”

  “Don’t bother, our stuff can wait.” James wrapped one arm around my shoulders and the other around Sam’s shoulders. “Let’s introduce Sam to Mom and Dad.”

  “And me,” Halle said over the house speakers. “Hi, Sam. I am the resident AI.”

  Sam jumped and looked around. “What?”

  James groaned.

  I planted my face in my palm. “Halle, please don’t scare her.”

  “I apologize, that was not my intent. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sam. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

  “You have a house AI?” Sam looked at me. “I thought those were still in the developmental stage.”

  “Halle isn’t a house AI, it’s an AI,” I explained. “Who happens to live with us sometimes. I should have had James warn you, sorry about that.”

  He frowned. “I thought Halle was still in hiding. Otherwise, I would have said something.”

  I pushed open the door to the kitchen. “I’ll explain later.”

  My parents looked up from their work—Dad chopping vegetables on the counter, and Mom with her hands in a bowl of dough.

  “Welcome to our home.” Mom smiled. “Pardon the mess. Our kitchen robot is being repaired.”

  “I’d love to help,” Sam said, stepping up to the kitchen table.

  James was soon dragged into the hubbub as well.

  I slipped away as soon as I could and hurried upstairs. Dropping into my chair, I prodded my waiting computer.

  “Halle?”

  My computer screen lit up, and a white cat with gray ears and paws appeared. “I hope I did not startle her too badly.”

  I shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. How are things going?”

  “Agent Smith’s contacts were able to connect me with individuals further up the hierarchy, but there is a lot of bureaucracy to deal with before the true negotiations can begin. I doubt much progress will be made in the near future.” Halle’s ears twitched. “No need to bore you with the details right now, however. You have homework to do.”