by Adam Thielen
“So somehow he sees these past lives?” reasoned Tsenka. “And this allows him to make changes or follow the path that gets him what he wants.”
“That he does. That is what our power allows, but it doesn’t allow our consciousness to stray far from the present, and Chantech has been implanting him, augmenting him, trying to expand his range. So far as I can tell, they’ve just managed to sharpen it and lessen the strain of using it.”
“Theoretically,” Drew interjected, “it follows that if a big enough change were made in the world, it would render all psions incapable of prediction.”
“For that cycle, yes,” affirmed Desre.
“And in the next one, they’d see the newly created path,” added Kate.
“Exactly, my dear,” said Desre. “So maybe you somehow manage to kill my brother this time. But if it’s because he’s desynced, then he will be able to see it the next time.”
“The next time doesn’t matter,” said Cho.
“Are you sure about that?” Desre rolled her legs off the loveseat and Drew and turned to face Tsenka, sitting up.
“It sounds like if I can trap him somewhere that he would need more than a few seconds to react, he will die,” said Tsenka.
“Like, trap him on a train or tube pill, then by the time he sees it coming, he’s got no way out,” Kate plotted.
“He still has a blurrier sense of things that reaches out further,” said Desre. “He may sense the trap even if he can’t see it clearly. But yes, such a scenario would be ideal if it worked.”
“It seems unlikely that he would willingly put himself in such a situation,” said Drew.
“There’s only so much a person can defend against,” said Cho. “I know he’s dangerous, but he’s just a man. He can see all he wants, but he can only move so fast.”
“Which is still very fast,” said Desre. “And he doesn’t always have to be faster, he just has to see what path leads to your death and if there isn’t one, then he needs to create one by avoiding his own for long enough. Once that path exists, it will repeat for the rest of eternity. Just something to consider.”
“That’s not going to happen,” said Cho. “We need to—hold on, someone is coming.”
Tsenka turned to face the door of her cell while keeping the connection open. Sergeant Teo Gao’s face appeared in front of the glass. He unlocked and opened the door with a wide smile on his face.
“New Republic Intelligence agent Tsenka Cho!” he proclaimed. “It wasn’t easy, but I found you. I knew you had to be connected to the NRI.”
“Congratulations, Teo,” she replied. “But that’s former NRI agent Tsenka Cho now.”
Teo placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Your presence here says otherwise. Which is lucky for you. We can’t very well be seen as inhospitable to the great republic to the west.”
Kate opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it, and kept her side on mute.
“Newp,” said Cho. “You sure can’t. So am I free to go?”
Teo backed away from the door. “Even better,” he said. “We are going to pay Chantech a visit, and you are coming with us.”
Men stepped into the room and fastened Cho’s hands yet again.
“Wait, pay them a visit? What does that mean?” she asked.
Teo moved aside as the men guided Tsenka through the door. “Retribution against our enemy,” said the sergeant. “And the NR will get the credit.”
“Oh balls,” said Kate. “Tsenka, you get a chance, you get out of there. We don’t want to c-cause an international incident.”
“Right,” replied Cho, disconnecting her session with Kate.
Kate broke into a cold sweat. “I have to alert the c-council so they can warn Chantech and preserve the peace.”
“Will that not jeopardize Ms. Cho’s life?” asked Drew.
“I doubt Ping plans to leave her alive as it is,” said Kate. “Cho will be okay… or she won’t. Either way, I have to keep this from turning into a really big mess.” She started to call, then disconnected. “Shit. How am I going to explain what we are doing over here, and how Tsenka got caught up in this?”
“Perhaps,” said Drew. “You might warn Chantech directly. They will not need details, as the proof will be that the attack occurs.”
Kate nodded. “Right. Okay. Totally against p-protocol. Let’s do it.” She found corporate contacts and worked her way up the chain, suffering foolish laughter and a few hang-ups before getting to a security officer that took it seriously. He thanked her and assured her that the NR would not be held responsible. Though she remained skeptical, it was all she could do, along with hoping that Tsenka wouldn’t end up a patsy for a corporate raid.
They waited hours for Tsenka to report in, but she didn’t. To stay awake, the three played games and continued to drink, with Desre doing most of the latter. Despite the quantity of genuine alcohol in her beverages, she only seemed a little tipsy when she stood up to visit the refrigerator or restroom.
Desre’s fingers struggled to work the room’s control panel, eventually starting up some dance music. At first, the psion was content to jam out by herself. Kate pretended to watch a TV show, but Desre’s rhythmic hip-swaying continually drew her eye. A slower song came on after the first, and Desre seductively stalked toward her hacker rescuer.
Kate shook her head as Desre held out her hand. “I’m worried about Tsenka, I don’t think this is… you know?”
Desre was unfazed. “Nothing we can do for now. Relax, have some fun.”
Kate couldn’t find the words but continued to shake her head, embarrassed. Just as Drew began to wonder if he would be the next target, Desre turned to him with an outstretched arm. He accepted, taking her hand and standing.
The most brilliant and perhaps frightening aspect of his AI brain was that while he added programming to seem more human, some of his deepest motivations for his actions were completely hidden from him. Drew didn’t know why he accepted, just that he wanted to.
The seer placed her hands on Drew’s metal shoulders, and Drew followed suit with his faux-fleshed hands on her hips. Awkward did not adequately describe his footwork. While he was familiar with many dance routines, translating them into motion using his current hardware proved difficult, and Desre continued to improvise with erratic movements. He acknowledged there was a logic to her moves, but he failed to grasp it, repeatedly bumbling and apologizing.
The robot heard the sound of muffled laughter and looked over to see Kate covering her mouth with her hand. His brow furrowed in his most clear expression since inhabiting his new body. Kate went still, lowering her hand to her lap, but it was too late. Drew stepped away from Desre and stood in front of Kate with his hand out.
“Let us see how you do, Ms. Jones,” he said.
Kate didn’t know why she reached her hand out for Drew when she wouldn’t for Desre, but she just wanted to. Drew lifted her off the chair and placed his hands on her waist. They began to move together to the soft music as Desre looked on in amusement. Unlike the psion, Kate’s movements were regular and predictable. She wasn’t as concerned with dramatic swaying. It didn’t take long for Drew to become comfortable. He slid his hands behind his partner’s back, pulling her closer.
Kate smiled. “You getting funny ideas, Drew?”
“I would not classify them as humorous,” he replied. Kate blushed and wrapped her arms around Drew’s neck. They continued to dance, and Drew felt what he considered joy.
He is a friend, thought Kate. A true companion. “Do you ever want to do more with your life, Drew?”
“More than what, Kate?” he asked, his voice quiet.
“Living with Taq and me,” she said. “Don’t you get bored? Maybe feel some existential angst?”
“For many years, I was completely alone down in that lab,” answered Drew. “Then the dreamscape began to take on a persistent state, and I observed and interacted with many. But even then, socializing did not fulfill me.
”
“You don’t feel trapped?”
“I suppose I do in a way,” he admitted. “It is why I continue to work on new bodies, so that I can someday move about without worrying about being treated as a machine.”
“I know you’ll g-get it someday,” she said.
“Thank you, Kate. Even if I don’t, I still feel content with you.”
“Drew, that’s very sweet.”
They stared into each other’s eyes, and then Drew leaned forward. Before Kate knew what was happening, she felt his synthetic lips against hers. She jerked back, wide-eyed. Desre, too, was caught by surprise and moved her hand to her mouth.
“Whoa!” said Kate. “Drew? No—what?” she bumbled, shaking her head in denial. She moved away from him, her waist escaping his fingertips.
“I apologize, Ms. Jones,” said Drew.
“Okay,” said Kate, clearly distraught. “It’s okay. I j-just… gotta go over here.”
Kate moved to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water, and walked into the bedroom. Drew stood where Kate had left him, with the only sign that he was still functional being the lights moving through his quartz brain as he tried to understand what he had done, what it meant, and what to do next. The latter was full of possibilities, but none that led to a positive outcome. And so he continued to stand in place.
Desre stood in the doorway to the bathroom. “I’m going to get cleaned up. Feel like I haven’t showered for days.” No one said anything, and she closed the door. She ran a hot bath and wondered why she hadn’t sooner.
As the psion soaked, Kate returned to the living room portion of the suite. It was large, with a dividing wall in the middle. On each side sat a small bedroom with a bathroom between them. Drew shifted his body for the first time so as to look at her.
“I am sorry about before,” he said.
Kate pulled one of the minibar stools close to him and sat. “You know, the fact that you are still standing here brooding is a little concerning.”
Drew responded by grabbing another stool and placing it in front of her. He had some difficulty mounting it, as it sat much higher than a normal chair. Kate giggled.
“Much better,” she said. Her smile left and she sighed. “Drew, for a while I’ve b-been ignoring certain things you’ve said. I guess that was a mistake.”
“Perhaps we can just forget about this,” Drew proposed.
“I don’t wish to forget it,” said Kate. “I want to understand it. Why did you kiss me?”
Drew sat silent for a moment, then replied, “I misread your demeanor. I don’t understand it completely, but I was caught in a moment, as people say.”
“Sure,” said Kate. “However, what I’m really asking is: where’s all the flirting coming from? Why would you want to kiss me?”
“Why would I not?” posed Drew. “Why does Taq?”
“I’m glad you remembered he exists,” quipped Kate. “But he’s a person, Drew.”
“I am not,” Drew acknowledged. “But I still have wishes. I still appreciate things. I still feel, in my own way.”
“But you’re a machine, Drew,” Kate insisted. “You think you feel. It’s not the same.”
“Perhaps you think you feel as well,” said Drew, surprised by her dismissal.
“And what do you think you feel?” Kate asked, immediately regretting it.
“I love you, Kate.”
“Just like that?” she questioned, her voice forceful. “You’ve known me for how long? And now you love me?”
“I loved you from the start,” claimed Drew. “But your condition… It has changed my behavior.”
“Stop it, Drew,” demanded Kate, dismounting the stool. “It’s okay to be confused, b-but you must recognize who and what you are, or you risk alienating Taq and myself. You are a machine. You do not love. Not me, not anyone. What you f-feel or think you feel, it isn’t real.”
Desre had thrown on a bathrobe and stood at the door, just out of sight.
Drew’s brow had furrowed again, making his mannequin-ish face seem particularly angry. “My feelings for you are more real than your feelings for Taq,” he blurted out.
Kate gasped. “H-how c-can you say that to m-me?”
“I remember being in your head like it was yesterday,” said Drew. “You are aware to what I refer.”
“That w-was ancient history,” cried Kate, throwing her hands up. “So much has changed. I love Taq dearly.”
“If you really loved him, you would not allow him to kill himself with vampire blood,” the AI charged.
“You b-blame me for that?” yelled Kate, knocking over her stool. “He insists. I can’t stop him!”
“You could,” said Drew. “Further, I cannot conclude that you are so easily fooled.”
“F-fooled? By what?” she demanded.
“I believe I was in the wrong,” said Drew, stepping off the stool. “And that we can cease this argument. I love Taq, too. I must apologize for my behavior tonight and should perform diagnostics on my hardware.”
“Drew, if you think y-you have any real f-feelings for me, you w-will tell me what I am fooled by.”
“If I am wrong, then you deserve to know,” said the AI, nodding. “We should not have kept it from you.”
“D-damn it, Drew. What?”
“Somewhere in your mind,” began Drew, “you must have had suspicions. Ask yourself, what does not make sense?”
Kate shook her head, her eyes searching the carpet before returning to the robot man. “He’s not scrying for Haven?”
“He is not scrying for Haven,” affirmed Drew.
Kate grabbed her bottle of water off the counter and took a drink, then another. Tears had started streaming down her cheek. “Then why the blood? What is he doing all night?”
“What else could he be doing?” riddled Drew.
“No,” said Kate, putting her face in front of Drew’s. “You t-tell me. You f-fucking tell me.”
“With my help and the neural hub,” said Drew, “he’s been keeping you alive. For much longer than you would have otherwise.”
Kate’s mouth opened and her eyes squinted. She dropped the bottle on the floor. It landed upright but fell over after a short bounce, spilling water onto the hardwood planks. She sobbed while grabbing fistfuls of hair with both hands. Drew realized he had made a horrible error, likely as a result of being irredeemably malfunctional.
“What? No,” Kate cried. “N-no! H-how could you d-do this to me?” she wailed, then gasped for air. “How c-could you k-keep this from m-me? B-both of y-you!”
“Please, Kate, calm down,” pleaded Drew.
In response, the pain on her face flashed into rage. She marched up to Drew and slammed the palm of her hand against the robot’s face. Drew’s head jerked to the side with the force of it. He turned to face her, and again she slapped him. Even as immense pain shot through her hand, she wound up again and again.
“I h-hate y-you!” she screamed. “I… h-h-hate… y—”
Kate’s body began to shake and her knees buckled. She lowered her hand and her face went expressionless. Her eyes rolled backward, and as she began to fall, Drew reacted, catching her and gently lowering her to the floor. Desre came out of the bathroom and rushed to Kate’s side.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
Drew opened a side compartment on his torso and removed a syringe. “It is a seizure,” he answered. “I have caused her to have a seizure.” He stabbed the needle into Kate’s arm and instructed Desre to keep Kate’s head elevated. After sixty seconds, the tremors ceased, and Kate appeared peaceful. Drew placed his hand on her forehead, then arm, then leg, taking readings.
“She will be alright,” he concluded. “But my existence is painful for her.”
Desre, who had been kneeling, fell backward onto her rump and exhaled. “It’s a lot to lay on a girl,” she said. “She said hate, but she really means pissed off. I know these things. She’s not going to hate you for saving her lif
e.”
“I did not save her life. She cannot be saved… and I cannot be here,” replied Drew. “We have not heard from Tsenka. Finding her will give me something to do. I fear if I do not keep moving, my core routines may crash.”
“I suppose that isn’t good,” said Desre. “But what about me?”
“I request you stay here with Kate.” Drew stood.
“You trust me? What if I run off?”
“I am not concerned,” said Drew. “You will not last long without us, and you will not be safe while your brother is alive. You will also not be safe if any harm comes to Ms. Jones.”
“A little harsh,” she said. “You don’t have to worry. I like Kate. But you need to sort yourself out.”
* * *
Zhuang Chan was the thirty-second chairman of the board of the Chantech corporation, a company that had been founded almost a century prior by members of the Chan family who saw the value of information technology. As the company grew, it expanded into related fields, and then fields related to those, and so on, until it had become an amalgam that adhered only to one thing, finding new markets to dominate.
Like many corporations that followed this path, there came a time of reckoning whereas the diversity had become a liability, and new leadership had to decide what to cut and what to keep, and how to forge a new, more focused path. Eventually, it settled into finance, construction, real estate, and energy production, keeping a small team on board for network technologies. This, of course, did not include its secret divisions or military buildup, as neither were for-profit ventures.
Mr. Chan, the Chairman, and sometimes referred to as the Chancellor, waited in a small conference room deep within the Chantech campus. It was this room he felt most comfortable using as his office. It sat just a hallway away from the front desk in a building situated in the middle of the complex. He wanted to feel connected. He wanted to feel like he was still the heart of the company.
Zhuang was tall at just over two meters. He was thin, but not frail. He wore a neatly trimmed beard with streaks of gray. He was nearing the age of sixty, but he refused to consider retirement, and modern-day augments could keep him strong for another twenty years. And so he absorbed himself in his work of maintaining order and control of as much of East Asia as he and his fellow board members could manage. Even late in the evening, if work required it, Chan stayed at the office. Often operating on only a few hours of sleep and unhealthy doses of stimulants, the Chairman left nothing to chance.