by James McEwan
Those words hit him like a sledgehammer, and he remembered the old man he shot yesterday, “Oh shit!”
“Yeah oh shit is right, I am sorry, but it is about time your type gets what’s coming to you.”
“You can’t turn me over to that mad man, what about the law?” Max was on his feet grabbing the bars begging.
The Sheriff crossed his arms, “I’m just an old drunk, a poor excuse for a law man if you ask me. I will tell you this, the man you murdered yesterday was loved by everyone on this little moon, and I don’t think you could find a lawyer who would represent you, even if you could find one on this rock. I doubt you would get anything like a fair trial in any case. However, more than that, there are times where justice is too slow. No son, you are going to get justice, swift-frontier style.”
“But you can’t,” Max cried, with tears in his eyes.
“Oh yes I can, in fact this is me turning my back,” The Sheriff turned his back on Max and left him to contemplate his fate.
When the Sheriff returned to the office, he found Thad waiting for him, “So how is your guest?”
“I suppose after our little chat he’s in there crapping his pants.”
Thad sat down and put his feet up on the desk, “Well then, let’s let him stew for a while.”
The Sheriff stepped over to his side of the desk, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. He placed one in front of Thad and poured whiskey into his glass, then held the bottle over the other one.
“Sure what the heck”, Thad held the glass while the Sheriff poured.
The Sheriff held up his glass, “To Doctor Hammer, he was a good man. May he rest in peace.”
They toasted Doctor Hammer’s memory, “To Doctor Hammer.”
“So, I have to ask, what do you have in store for Mr. Max in there?”
Thad sat the glass down, “Me, nothing, Eve on the other hand, is pretty pissed and has plans she has not seen fit to share with me. She asked that I temporally remove the safety protocols preventing A.I.s from doing harm to humans.”
The Sheriff leaned across the desk, “Are you really going to do it?”
“It’s already done. I just need to deliver him to her in the holo-room.”
“May God have mercy on his soul. I think it would better you marched in there and offed the bastard right now.”
Thad smiled, “I thought about it. But I have to live with Eve, and I don’t like the thought of dealing with an upset computer-woman.”
The Sheriff knocked back another glass, “They say there is no fury like a woman scorned. I wonder what the originator of that would think, if we changed it to nothing like a computer scorned.”
“I don’t know, but I better get him back to Eve if I don’t want to hear about it forever. Oh by- the-way, what you are going to do about the others,” he paused. “You know their bodies and such? I mean officially?”
The Sheriff laughed, “What bodies? No one is going to miss those scumbags. Anyway, I have already wiped the records at the port. Officially the Night Terror never landed here, and so far as the bodies you left behind, well they are already in the furnace, should be ashes by now.”
“Thank you, Sheriff.” Thad stood up and shook his hand.
“No problem. Thad, you would do it for me, so it was no trouble.” The Sheriff shook his hand in turn.
When Max saw Thad enter the cellblock he started screaming, “No, don’t let him take me, please!”
Thad held up a gag, “Shut the Hell up, or I will stuff this in your gob.”
Max spit at Thad, the greenish gob landing on his shirt.
“Oh that was a mistake!” the Sheriff said as Thad’s hand flew through the bars and grabbed Max by the collar. He pulled Max into the bars with so much force they rang as his skull bounced off them.
The blow ripped open last night’s wounds, as Max’s nose smashed into one of the bars, blood spurting down his shirtfront. “You broke my nose again, you ass,” he didn’t finish the sentence. Thad pulled him into the bars again, but this time he held Max there while he stuck a syringe into the pirate’s neck. Within seconds Max slumped against the bars, out cold.
“Told you that was a mistake,” the Sheriff said as he opened the cell door.
Thad loaded up the unconscious Max and drove off into the desert. The Sheriff was watching the dust cloud form behind the old sand crawler when a deputy stepped next to him, “So what do you think his computer woman is going to do to him?”
The Sheriff lifted up his hat and scratched his head, “I don’t know son, but I bet it will not be pretty. If the bastard had any sense he will bite the rest of his tongue off and drown in his own blood.”
Back at the Hammer compound Thad was carrying the unconscious Max when he was met at the door by Fiona, “You know, slipping off like that, was not very nice.”
“I’m sorry, but I had one lose end to tie up,” Thad nodded toward the unconscious Max.
“I see. What a nice job you have done, tying him up,” she laughed as she pointed to the restraints on Max’s limbs.
Thad shook his head as he walked into the holo-room. There he found a chair with all manner of medical equipment attached. “Gee Eve, that thing looks nasty! What are those big needle pokey things?”
Eve appeared dressed in a classic, mad scientist, white lab coat, over a black one-piece dress, which fell just short of her bottom. A wide black leather belt finished off the top of her outfit. Below, she wore fishnet stockings with knee-high leather boots, with six-inch heels. “Oh, those are brain probes. They will be inserted into key places in his brain, which will allow me to control everything he sees, hears, and feels. At first, I was just going to physically accost him, but then I thought, by manipulating his brain, I can kill him a thousand different ways, and it will feel real every time. The medical equipment is to bring him back, if he actually dies during the process.”
Thad set Max’s body down in the chair, “Wow! Eve remind me, never to piss you off.”
She turned and smiled, “Oh honey I could never hurt you, but just in case, make sure you put the safety protocols back in place after I have finished with Max.” She winked at him, “And, oh yea, please have me erase this from my memory. I really don’t want to remember it.”
Thad strapped Max in, “You inspire a lot of confidence there girl. I will do as you ask. Don’t worry!” He finished strapping Max in and stayed long enough to watch the probes pushed into Max’s head, through his skull, into his brain. That was enough for him. Thad left Eve to do what she would with the man who killed her creator, and if it is possible for computers to love, her one and only love.
Inside Max’s head he woke up, or at least he thought he was awake, to find he was in a hotel bed with a beautiful dark haired girl. No pain, no blood, and no Thad. He sat up, “Oh thank God, it was all a dream!”
The door exploded inward. Eve stepped through shattered remains of the doorway. Surrounding her body was a blue white flame. As a blazing angel, she strode up to the bed. Rising up, off the floor, she opened her mouth and the voice was so loud it was agonizingly painful. Max held his hands over his ears. It did him no good, her voice pounded inside his mind, “I am Eve, and you are in my world now!”
Max was stunned at what he was seeing, “Is this for real? It can’t be. It must be the drug that bastard gave me, isn’t it? That’s it. It’s the drug!”
“Is it?” Eve pointed to the girl in the bed with him.
He turned to look, but she was no longer a beautiful woman, just a rotting corpse. He screamed like a little girl. He tried to back away, but froze as the corpse’s eyes snapped open, revealing empty sockets. Terrified out of his mind, he sat there screaming endlessly. The corpse grabbed him, sinking its teeth into his soft fleshy neck. He felt the flesh being torn from his body; he felt it! If he had been hallucinating, he would not have felt it. Oh God, this is real, he thought.
Max screamed and tried to fight off the bloodthirsty zombie girl,
but then he found himself sitting on a beach. The rotting girlfriend was gone, leaving him still pushing at the air. The wind on his face felt real, the sand under his feet felt real, but none of this made any sense. Then he saw the woman again, the one who called herself Eve.
She was dressed in golden plate armor, riding a horse, swinging a large flaming sword in her hand. Her long black hair flowing behind her as rode straight for him, and she did not look friendly. He took off running, but he could not outrun the horse. In abject terror, he felt the blade cut deep into his back. The blow sent him to the ground face first. He pushed himself up onto his knees just in time to see her make another pass. This time, the sword swung low and fast.
The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced, the world was spinning up and down, then it stopped, and he realized why the world was tumbling. He was looking at his headless body as it kneelt in the sand for a second, before it flopped over, blood spurting from the severed arteries. She cut my head off, he thought, but how am I still alive?
She trotted up to him, dismounted, bent over, and picked up his severed head. “Confused? I told you, you are in my world now, and you will die a thousand deaths, or more, before I am done with you.”
“But why, what did I ever do to you?” The disembodied head asked.
Doctor Hammer’s image appeared next to her, “You murdered my love, and that was worst mistake you could have ever made. You will now know what happens when an AI’s heart is broken.”
“I feel the pain of loss millions of times a second. My love programmed me to have a range of human emotions, now I wish he had not. You took something from me and I was not programmed to deal with the loss of a loved one, so I am going to make you feel the way I feel,” Eve said as she tossed his head into the surf.
The deaths went on and on, smothered in pig shit, dropped from an aircraft to splatter on the pavement, thrown into the throat of a live volcano, thrust from an airlock into the vacuum of space, with a leaking space suit. For Max it seemed like a lifetime, but in the real world, it had only been seven days, and finally, on the seventh day Max’s brain couldn’t handle it anymore. Eve had not only been the first AI to kill a human being, but more than that, she was the first to burn out a human brain. The energy from the probes, combined with the pain, cooked his brain. Thad disposed of the body in the desert. He left the twisted, brain-fried corpse lying on the sand, in the very spot the pirates had left him to die.
Chapter 12
They buried Doctor Hammer on his land, next to his beloved garden. His funeral was attended by the whole town. So many people showed up they had to hold it out on the lawn. It was lovely, and many people spoke about how nice Doctor Hammer had been. It seemed as if almost everyone in town had been helped by the Doctor at some time. When the service was over, and all the hugs, and handshakes were done, and all the tears wiped away, Doctor Hammer’s grave was closed and his marker placed. Thad was glad it was over. He was exhausted, not from the work, but from all the emotions. He wanted to take time away from everyone, except the twins, whom he found fascinating.
Life on Nome returned to normal for everyone, but Thad. He felt a great loss and did not know what to do next. He had the twins to take care of and was happy to have them. If he didn’t have something to focus on, he would have gone mad. The girls had been offered work by Madame Xandra, which they declined outright.
Jenna offered them work, but they also declined and Thad was happy about it. He had offered them money, and to take them anywhere they wanted to go, but they chose to stay with him. This made him happy. Not only did they give him a sense of purpose, but he also found he was growing fond of them, very fond.
Both girls wanted Thad to train them in everything he knew, as they said, they never wanted to be powerless again. Thad trained them in hand-to-hand combat and firearms. Fiona took to shooting like a duck to water. Freya excelled at hand-to-hand combat. Both girls were amazing students. After only two months of daily training, Fiona was shooting as well, if not better, than Thad. Freya was the only person ever to land a blow on him in training that he could remember.
Three months had gone by and today like many days, he was standing by the window overlooking the pool where the twins were sunbathing. However, today as he watched them, he could feel a strange and over powering feeling rising up in him. Confused about his feelings he spoke, “Hey Eve do you have a minute to talk?”
Her warm glow appeared next to him at the window, “I always have time for you. What is on your mind?”
Never taking his eyes off the twins, he spoke softly, “I need your advice on something.”
She smiled a soft electronic smile, “How can I help?”
Finally Thad turned from the window and addressed Eve directly, “I seem to be having some issues sorting out my feelings. I seem to be feeling a,” he paused as he tried to find the right word.
However, Eve seemed to know where he was going with the conversation, “An attraction?”
“Yes, well no, it is more than that. I really can’t put my finger on it,” Thad said as he fumbled over his words.
Eve’s eyes narrowed a bit and seemed to sparkle a little, “Well of course you are attracted to the twins. If you weren’t, I would think you were gay.”
Thad laughed, “No, defiantly not gay, but it is more than the physical attraction I feel. It is like how I felt about the Doc, but different. I’m not sure what to do about it.”
“Thad honey, it is called love,” she paused and crossed her arms placing one of her hologramatic fingers to her hologramatic lips. “Hum,” was all she said.
Curious about what he said that had made her say, “hum,” Thad replied with, “Hum? Care to share with the rest of the class?”
She dropped her hand and spoke, “Oh sorry. I was just thinking about how odd it was a computer programmed AI has to explain love to a human, that’s all.”
Thad laughed at her, “I guess it would be odd, but in my case love was not covered in how to kill 101. No Eve, I think you have more knowledge on the subject then I do.”
Eve, arms still crossed said, “My dear I have more knowledge on most subjects than you, so don’t feel bad.”
Thad wrinkled his brow, “It’s a good thing you are an AI that runs the household because with your tact, you would make a lousy therapist.”
“Well, I’m sorry. I was merely stating a fact.” Eve said as she placed her hands on her hips.
“Don’t sweat it,” he stopped himself and held up a hand, “and before you say you don’t sweat, it is just a figure of speech.” She closed her part way opened mouth. “Look, what should I do about it? Should I chase one or the other or both?”
Eve smiled again at him, “Follow your heart, and do what feels right.”
Not sure, what to make of her answer he mumbled “Thanks Doctor Phil.”
Thad turned and walked out of the room while Eve stood there, “Who is Doctor Phil?” She did a quick search of the nets. It took a few seconds to find out what he was talking about, “Hey I have a full head of hair and I’m way better looking,” she called out after Thad. He did not say anything, just waved his hand over his head as he disappeared down the hallway.
Thad struggled for a while, not sure what do about his new feelings. He found himself trying to avoiding being alone with one or the other. He really did not want to show any kind of favoritism. However, the universe took things into its own hands and surprised Thad. The surprise came in the form of a lighting storm. Lighting storms were common on Nome, but the twins, having been raised on a star ship and spending most of their lives in deep space, had never experienced one. Eve locked down the buildings on the compound and armored storm shutters dropped down to protect the windows from the wind.
Thad and the twins stood in the observation cupola watching nature’s light show, “Isn’t it beautiful?” Thad said taking Freya’s hand, drawing her closer to the window, “All that raw power, deadly, but still beautiful.”
Fr
eya took his hand, “It scares the Hell out of me. Every time it booms, I jump!”
“It’s just lighting,” Thad chuckled.
Fiona joined them, “Maybe for you, planet boy, but we space girls have never seen anything like it.”
“Really, you have never seen lighting in space?”
Lighting flashed, and several bolts crashed between the dark rolling clouds, the light lit them from both inside and out. Multiple rolling booms shook the house, Freya jumped and hugged Thad tightly, “No, we have seen all kinds of weird light, but electrical discharges in space, even huge ones, look like a momentary flash, and do not follow a path or make any sound.”
They sat in silence for a time watching the lighting storm. The frequency of strikes increased, dancing a mad jig across the surrounding hills. The demonic howling of the wind could be heard, even inside the cupola.
The storm was getting worse, “Thad what would happen if it strikes the house?” Fiona asked.
“Nothing, these storms happen so often around here every building has a lighting rod built into it. If a bolt should strike the house, it would strike the lightning rod, which would conduct the voltage into the ground, although I would not want to be standing next to one when it took a hit.”
“Why not?” Freya asked wide-eyed.
“Electricity takes the path of least resistance. If you are too close to the lighting rod and not insulated from the ground, some of the energy of the hit could arc into you and pass through you into the ground.” Even as he spoke, three quick strikes hit within a hundred yards of the house sending large chunks of earth cartwheeling into the air. Thad yawned as if he were completely unconcerned. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to bed.” He strode toward the lift shaft. The twins stood scared, but too fascinated to stop watching, until a blinding white light filled the room, followed by a boom that shook the building.