A True Hero

by M. R. Anglin

  “She wouldn’t.”

  “I’m not so sure.” Starlight watched her drink a moment. “Bee seems so lifelike. From what Dr. Farber told me, she’s developed beyond our control. I don’t know if we can trust her. She might try to cut us off from Nicole. Nikki won’t even let us near Bee, even though she knows having her around could be dangerous.”

  John studied Starlight’s face for a moment. “Jess made Bee for Nikki, as you know. Nikki was only about six when Jess died, and Bee stepped up to help us through it. She would comfort Nikki when she cried, sing her lullabies . . . it helped me out too. I was a mess when Jess died.”

  “You must have really loved her.”

  “I did.” John took a deep breath. “A few weeks after Jess died, Bee came to me and told me she had to go into hibernation. She said it was too dangerous for her to be out. I’m not sure what she meant, and she didn’t explain. All she said was if the time came when Nikki needed her, her Advent Protocol would bring her back. She said I’d know if the Protocol initiated because she’d recognize me as her programmer. That night she went to sleep like normal—sang Nikki a lullaby and everything—and the next day . . . it was like she had been wiped. She didn’t even have a holographic avatar anymore. All traces of her was gone. Nikki kept calling out to her, but Bee just wasn’t there.”

  “Poor Nicole.” Starlight’s gaze lowered to her glass. “What did she do?”

  “She kept trying to get me to fix her, but I couldn’t. So Nikki decided she would fix her on her own.”

  Starlight let her eyes drop to the ground. “So that’s why Nikki is so close to Bee.”

  “And why Bee has become so protective of her.” John nodded. “Jess must have programmed it into the Advent Protocol.”

  “What is she protecting Nicole from?”

  “No idea, but it is interesting Beatrix is not hostile to her.” John opened his laptop and began to type. “Bee has unrestricted access to all of Beatrix’s systems . . . and by extension ASH’s.”

  “This is so dangerous. We have protocols in place to keep this sort of thing from happening.” Starlight leaned in to peek over John’s shoulder at the screen. “No AI should have such unfettered run of the database—not after what happened last time.”

  “This could work to our advantage.” John’s fingers flew over his computer keys. “By using Bee’s connection points I can access Beatrix.”

  “Can you figure out how to stop her?”

  “I can, and I will.” John narrowed his eyes. “I’ll get some other information out of her too. Beatrix won’t know what hit her.”

  Starlight leaned her cheek on her fist. “I can see what Dr. Farber sees in you.”

  John hesitated in his typing but kept going without a response. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know Starlight’s motives behind her comment.

  CHAPTER 58

  NICOLE SAT ON THE CONCRETE porch leading out to her backyard and gazed at Bee’s data hub. The look Bee had given her when John had revived her haunted Nicole’s memory. And she had noted how Bee refused to look at her when she had reappeared to catch Brody.

  “She hates me now.” Nicole let her hands drop to her lap. And with good reason. Though she caused some damage, Margaret had stopped her attack on Bee when Nicole asked her to. It was Nicole who fried her and finished the deed. If Nicole were Bee, she’d hate her too.

  A soft sigh floated through the air. When Nicole turned, she saw Bee floating to a seat beside her. Rather than the 16 or 17 year old Jess had programmed or the 11 or 12 year old Nicole had managed to create, this Bee looked around 14 or 15 right in between the two of them. She sported her puffy pigtails but wore a bit of “make-up” on her cheeks and eyes. Her skin tone was a shade darker than Nicole was used to.

  “Hi, Bee.”

  “Ni, Nicole.” Bee didn’t look at her.

  Nicole heaved a sigh. “Bee, I’m so sorry.”

  “Sorry?” Bee jerked her head up. “For what?”

  “I stopped Margaret from hurting you, but then I hurt you instead.” Nicole ducked her head. “I said I would protect you, but I nearly erased you. I’m so sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. I know what happened. You were trying to stop Beatrix. You did everything you could.”

  “Then why are you mad at me?”

  “I’m not mad at you. I thought you were mad at me. I let Beatrix escape. I didn’t know sharing my systems with her would allow her to. Now she has the Sapphire you worked so hard to get.”

  “I’m not mad at you, Bee. You had no control over Beatrix.”

  “Really?”

  Nicole nodded. “Really.”

  “Thank you.” Bee threw her arms around Nicole. Nicole returned her embrace. “I know what Beatrix did, Nicole, but I don’t think she’s dangerous,” Bee said as she withdrew. “She’s trying to complete her prime directive.”

  “It’s not stealing Heroes’ powers, is it?”

  “No . . .” Bee turned her eyes to the brightening sky. “To be honest, I’m not quite certain about what she wants. I haven’t finished going through her files yet.”

  “I thought you were busy repairing yourself.”

  “About that.” Bee held her hands between her knees. “After I told you I was entering hibernation to fix the errors, I started going through her files. I was making headway until . . . one of my programs started erroring.”

  “Did you fix it?”

  “It’s what I’m doing now. How can I put this . . . I lied to you, Nicole. I didn’t have to hibernate to fix the errors; I was scared you were mad at me. The lie interfered with my directive not to cause you harm. The resulting interference kept erroring my systems. I suppose it’s the same as when you say your conscience bothers you. So I had to come out to resolve it.”

  “So you’re feeling guilty?” Nicole burst into laughter. “A computer who feels guilty? This is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!”

  “Okay . . . I guess.”

  “I forgive you, Bee,” Nicole said, still chuckling. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Thank you, Nicole.”

  “Are you going to finish sorting through Beatrix’s files?”

  Bee nodded. “Now that the nagging error is resolved.”

  “We need to find out what she’s up to before Daddy figures out how to destroy her.”

  “In the meantime, you should go to sleep. You’ve been up most of the night.”

  “Right.” Nicole stood. She took a few steps to the house before slowing to a stop. “I should probably talk to Margaret too, shouldn’t I?”

  “About what?”

  “I don’t know . . . try to make up after what happened on our vacation . . . or something . . .”

  “But it wasn’t your fault.”

  “I know, but . . .” Nicole tucked her hands under her arms and paced up and down the porch. “I always say I’ll try harder to reach out to her, but do I really . . . ? I just . . . it’s time I dig down deep and do what I say—for real.”

  Bee smiled at her. “You are truly brave, Nicole. I’ll try to contact her. Hopefully, she’s not too busy.”

  “That’s right!” Nicole smacked her forehead. “She’s trying to find Beatrix. Maybe now isn’t the right time.”

  “Let’s try anyway.” Bee glanced inside. “Perhaps she’ll pick up for you.”

  “Possibly . . .” Nicole hunched her shoulders as her stomach clenched. Calling Margaret, talking to her of her own accord . . . it made Nicole’s insides knot in amongst itself.

  It was almost a relief when Bee said, “It’s going to voice mail.”

  Until Nicole realized she’d have to leave a message. She swallowed hard when she heard the beep, took a deep breath, and said, “Hi, Margaret . . . this is Nicole . . . obviously . . .” Pausing to calm her pounding heart, she continued, “I know you’re probably busy, but I kind of wanted to talk to you. Uh . . . m-maybe we could get together for ice-cream or something . . . if you like ice-cream. Everyone li
kes ice-cream. Um, anyway, give me a call back. You know my number.” She made a motion for Bee to cut the call. “Ugh!” Throwing her head back, Nicole groaned. “Why am I such an awkward spazz?”

  “It was a little uncomfortable to listen to you ramble.” Bee chuckled, “but you tried. Margaret will appreciate it.”

  “Yeah . . .” Nicole heaved a sigh to shake off the rest of her nerves. Turning to the house she beckoned to Bee. “Let’s go inside. You need to finish your repairs, and I need to sleep.”

  “Okay, and . . . Nicole?”

  Nicole turned to Bee.

  “Can I stay out with you?” Bee asked cocking her head. “Please?”

  “Of course you can.”

  Bee smiled so wide she squinted.

  Nicole pulled herself to her feet and went inside. Bee followed Nicole as she got a blanket and pillow from her room and nuzzled in beside where her father and Starlight had settled. Bee rested her head on Nicole’s feet, her warmth reassuring Nicole. Thus, surrounded by all her favorite people, Nicole closed her eyes and fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 59

  THE MORE BEATRIX REMAINED connected to Bee, the more of her mannerisms she was starting to copy. For instance, allowing her avatar to hover in the air as she processed information. It was a handy trick to achieve a more efficient and consistent early proximity detection scan. Thus it was that Beatrix always opened one eye when Shadowman walked in, looking to find a weak point in her system. Always he’d pretend to do something else and slink out, but it amused Beatrix how he jumped when she turned to watch him.

  After the last time, he had let her alone in the darkened room to scan and process as much data as she could. The ASH scientists had pinpointed her access points to ASH’s database, and were trying everything to trap her. She recognized every, single one of ASH’s computer engineers as they logged into ASH and tried to access her system. Logins, she allowed—they needed access to ASH’s systems in order to do their job supporting Heroes. Hindering Hero work wasn’t a part of her plan. Rather, she wanted ASH to work smoothly while she worked out her directives. She did block their access to her system, though. No matter what backdoor or trapdoor they thought themselves clever enough to think of, she blocked them in nanoseconds.

  So when a new user accessed her system using one of Bee’s access points, she took notice. The user had been there for several seconds before Beatrix’s system had even alerted her, but she didn’t block them right away. Since none of the BT-X systems had the ability to circumvent ASH’s security protocols and access ASH’s core, no one would think to use Bee to circumvent Beatrix’s security. No one except . . .

  Beatrix smiled and opened a text chat box. “Hello, John,” she wrote.

  CHAPTER 60

  JOHN’S FINGERS FROZE in midair, and he hissed in a breath through his teeth.

  “What is it?” Starlight watched over his shoulder.

  “Beatrix. She knows I’m in her system.” John eyeballed the text chat box.

  Starlight sat up straight. “Log off. Hurry.”

  “She’s not blocking my access. She’s not doing anything . . .” John bit his lip for a moment before typing a response. “Hello, Beatrix.”

  “Forgive me, but are you John?” Beatrix wrote. “I have to make sure before I allow you to continue rifling through my files.”

  “If you know I’m here, you can access my webcam,” he typed.

  “It’s rude to access someone’s system without permission,” Beatrix wrote. “Geode taught me that. In any case, may I?”

  John paused for a moment. “Go ahead,” he typed.

  The webcam light lit up and a small window with Beatrix’s face appeared on the lower right of the screen. “It’s been a long time, John. You are looking well,” Beatrix said, spurning the text box. “Can I help you find something?”

  John bit his lips together. “I’ll be honest with you, Beatrix. I’m looking for a way to stop you.”

  “John!” Starlight shoved him.

  John waved her to silence.

  “Stop me? Hm.” Beatrix turned her head to look at something at the side. Her eyes moved as if she was reading something. “You won’t find anything to stop me in my metadata.”

  “I’ve sent Trojans into your system. They’ll find what I need.”

  “Trojans?” Beatrix paused for a moment. “Oh, yes. Look at that. Very good, John. You always were smarter than the rest at ASH.”

  “It helps that I wrote your system.”

  “It does.” Beatrix fell silent a moment. “You really are looking for information. There’s no program damaging software in those Trojans at all.”

  “I’m not trying to delete you . . . yet.”

  “Fair enough.” Beatrix tossed her hair. “However none of this has to do with my metadata. What are you looking for?”

  “Metadata logs.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to know what you’re up to.”

  “I’m accomplishing the command Jess programmed into me.”

  “I’m not inclined to believe you after what you did to her, Beatrix.” John glared at the AI. “You stole her power—stole part of herself from her.”

  “And I became a rogue program because of it—randomly attacking ASH’s leadership and stealing their powers. Isn’t this how ASH framed it?” Beatrix lowered her eyes. “May I explain to you what happened, John? Perhaps you won’t think my actions unjustified if you hear the truth.”

  John glanced at Starlight who nodded. He narrowed his eyes as he kept typing. “Go ahead.”

  “When Jess presented me to ASH’s leadership, she was so excited. She had registered them as my users knowing they’d share her vision on creating accountability for Heroes. But they didn’t. They set me against a Hero they had issue with—Maximus.”

  “I’d say they had issue with him!” Starlight blurted. “He killed civilians!”

  “With the Heroes of ASH following me to watch, I found Maximus and executed my programming.” Beatrix narrowed her eyes at the memory. “You should have seen how they gloated over him. They didn’t care about justice. They were angry he made them look useless and ineffectual when he went freelance after they kicked him out of the Agency. Jess—Geode, that is—swooped in to stop me, giving him a chance to escape. She never wanted ASH to decide who lost their power. She wanted the accused to face a trial by jury as is mandated by your laws. ASH wanted the power for themselves, so when she defied them—when she witnessed what they had done and how power-mad they were . . .”

  “They had to get rid of her.” John lowered his head.

  “I am a computer program at heart, John. Back then, I hadn’t yet understood human nature nor how to assess motives for behavior. So when several of my registered users issued the command to take her power, I did it. It was afterward when I analyzed the aftermath and Geode’s reaction that I understood what I had done. Given the power, ASH’s leaders acted however they wanted. They were no better than Maximus.”

  “I don’t know if I believe all this.” Starlight whispered to John. “ASH betrayed their own? It . . . it’s . . .”

  “They used me to hurt Geode,” Beatrix continued, her face darkening. “So I retaliated—took my programming to its logical conclusion: I analyzed their actions, reviewed the evidence, and made a judgment: they were the ones who deserved to have their powers stripped. That’s what I did, and I was nearly deleted for it. If not for Geode . . .”

  “How did Geode save you from being deleted?” Starlight shoved her way forward. “We had you cornered.”

  “She issued a command to force me to hibernate deep within ASH’s core. No one could detect me as long as I slept. Even if they could, they wouldn’t be able to delete me without deleting the very core of ASH’s database. I know Jess made me for more than destruction, and she wanted me to have a chance to accomplish her will. I will have justice for Geode, John. Therefore, I will complete my directive.”

  John heaved a sigh. “Beatrix, Jess never
wanted you to do this. She would never want you to seek revenge. Don’t you see?”

  “I know what Jess wants. It’s in my programming.” Beatrix raised her chin. “I’m sorry, John. I will have to terminate your access to my systems. Please understand; I cannot allow you to stop me. I will have the power over every Hero and Villain in the world. No one will go without accountability ever again.”

  “You can’t!” Starlight snarled at her. “You are not the judge and jury of the world!”

  “I never said I was.” Beatrix disconnected, and the video feed shut off.

  John’s fingers stopped moving over the keyboard. “She cut me off.”

  “What do we do now?” Starlight sat back.

  “There’s more than one way to access a system.” John started to type on his keyboard again. “I’ll leave Bee out of it this time, though. We don’t want Beatrix to start seeing Bee as a threat.”

  “Is Bee a threat to us, though? Beatrix is a highly sophisticated AI system. She has to know giving Bee unrestricted access is a serious vulnerability. She must have a reason.”

  “Which is what I’m trying to figure out.”

  Starlight fell silent a moment, a question buzzing in her mind. John could sense it. So he wasn’t surprised when she blurted, “What if Bee turns on us?”

  John glanced at Bee, laying at Nicole’s feet. “She won’t.”

  “How are you so sure?”

  “Bee has spent time with Nicole and learned from her. Her prime directive is to protect her. She’d never let anything harm her.”

  Starlight frowned. “Forgive me if I don’t agree.”

  “You wouldn’t be a good mentor if you weren’t so skeptical. It shows you care about Nicole.” John patted Starlight’s hands.

  A smile slipped onto Starlight’s face as she clasped his hands in hers. John let his eyes search her face. Amazing. Not even a mask could block a person’s eyes, and Starlight’s were bright, earnest, and tender. Rather like Margaret’s.