by Isaac Hooke
She used the robot arms—which were equipped with laser cutters—to saw through the chest plate, and then removed the upper plate.
Instantly a creature shot out, slamming into the glass wall of the tank. Starfish-like limbs spread out across the glass. It looked like a jellyfish of some kind, but with limbs hanging down instead of tentacles. It launched several of those limbs against the robot arms, as if trying to break them apart, but the machine was stronger than those appendages, and held.
“I’m picking up some vague warbling sounds,” Aria said. “It could be trying to communicate with us.”
“Well, this is your new pet project,” Jason said. “Try to find a way to keep this thing alive.”
But then, just like that, the creature stopped moving.
“Whoops,” Lori said.
“What did you do?” Jason asked Aria.
“Nothing,” Aria said. “I had the atmosphere exactly right.”
“It’s possible you missed one of the necessary elements during your earlier scan,” Xin said.
“Certainly,” Aria agreed. “Considering how fast the atmosphere vented when the cockpit failed. That’s too bad. But it looks like I got the pressure right, at least. I guess I’ll begin the dissection.”
“I don’t think I’ll watch,” Jason said. “Let me know if you find anything useful.”
An hour later Aria called him. Jason accepted.
Her avatar in the lower right of his display seemed confused. “Well, I’m done,” she said.
“And?”
“Well, I didn’t find anything,” Aria said.
“That’s too bad,” Jason said.
“No, you don’t understand,” Aria said. “I didn’t find anything. As in, there are no internal organs. No intestines. No muscle fibers. Not even a brain.”
“That is odd,” Jason said.
“Yes,” Aria said. “I can accept that these creatures are alien, but I never truly expected them to be this alien. It defies every known axiom of living things we’ve seen so far.”
“You saw how the mechs were phasing in and out of this reality, right?” Jason said.
“That’s right,” Aria said.
“Maybe they don’t exist entirely in this reality,” Jason said. “And maybe they store their organs, and their brains, in some higher dimension.”
“That’s a weird theory,” Aria said. “But I have nothing else to go on, otherwise. So what do you want to do with the body?”
“Keep it,” Jason said. “We’ll try to study it later at some point. Catalog its genes, if we can.”
“I don’t have the tools,” Aria said.
“That’s why I said at some point,” Jason said. “I’m sure you have blueprints somewhere in your database for a gene splicer, and other genetic tools.”
“I do,” Aria said. “But that means diverting at least one of the printers from the current tasks. Not something I’m comfortable doing at the moment, especially considering I still haven’t been able to start on some of my side projects, like the android body for our AI cores to remotely interface with…”
“All right,” Jason said. “Whenever you feel we can afford the loss of a printer, then do it.”
“All right,” Aria said. “By the way, I got Sophie’s duplicate finished. That means our first batch of clones are ready to hit the real world.”
“Outstanding,” Jason said. Though he wasn’t entirely sure how excited he was to meet a copy of himself.
“Would you like to be the first volunteer to donate his mind?” Aria asked.
“Do I have a choice?” Jason replied.
“Of course,” Aria said.
“Might as well be me,” Jason said. “I’m shutting down.” He disconnected the call. “Z, log me off of reality, and wake me up in five hours.” That should be more than enough time to finish the backup.
He wondered if he would wake up inside himself, or the copy.
I hope it’s myself.
The world went black, and Jason fell into the complete oblivion that came with an inactivate AI core. He wouldn’t even dream, not there.
Perhaps it was better that way.
Jason opened his eyes.
He was standing on the first floor of the cistern that served as their base.
“It’s done?” Jason asked over the comm.
“It is,” Aria said. “I’ve installed the backup into one of the AI cores, and inserted it into the Vulture mech duplicate. Your clone should be waking up shortly.”
A moment later a new callsign appeared in the list of contacts he had displayed on his HUD. It read “Jason 2.”
“Damn,” Jason 2 said. In the lower right of his HUD, the avatar Jason only ever saw in VR mirrors appeared. He was looking at himself talking. An eerie feeling if ever there was one. “I guess this means I’m the copy, considering that I’m on the third floor. And my name comes up Jason 2.”
“You are,” Jason said. “I’m sorry to say.”
“Ah well,” Jason 2 said. “I knew there was a fifty-fifty chance this would happen.”
“How do you feel?” Jason asked.
“Fine, considering,” Jason 2 said. “I remember shutting myself down for the backup, and then waking up here. I’m the same me, as far as I can tell. Though I wonder if I should choose a different name for myself than Jason 2. I’d rather not be constantly reminded that I’m a clone.”
“Sure, choose whatever name you want,” Jason said.
“I’ve always liked Barnie,” Aria said.
“Uh, I think I’ll be choosing my own name,” Jason 2 said. “John works.”
The callsign list updated, and Jason 2 became John (Jason 2).
“There you go,” Jason said.
“I’ll proceed to create and install backup copies of the other mechs,” Aria said.
“In the meantime, I think I’ll relax in my VR, waiting,” John said.
“See you soon,” Jason said.
Twenty hours later, Aria had backed and restored the five other mechs, so that John had his full Battle Harem.
Lori had been working on a way to copy the micro machines for Sophie’s Highlander clone. Though the machines were self-replicating, the scientists who had developed them had programmed in a hard limit to the number that could be duplicated for a given Highlander. Lori had managed to reprogram the header of one of the micro machines, re-associating it to the new Highlander; when the unit realized there was a micro machine deficiency, it promptly obeyed Sophie 2’s command to make more micro machines, and soon she had the same number as the original Sophie.
John led the five copies of the war machines to the main entrance, and Aria opened up the doors to let them out.
“I’m going to miss the dogs,” Tara 2 said.
“As will I,” Lori 2 chimed in.
“Good riddance!” Sophie 2 said.
Their avatars looked the same as the original on his HUD, and Jason would have had no idea they were clones if it weren’t for the number added to the end of their names.
“You’ll find more pets out there, I’m sure,” Jason said. “Good luck to you all.”
“Thanks,” John said.
“Can we go skiing later?” Lori 2 asked.
“Hey, he already promised to go climbing with me!” Tara 2 said.
Instead of answering either of them, John spoke to Jason: “Looks like I’ll be needing that luck more than I originally thought.”
John departed in a random direction with his version of the War Forgers. His mission was to defeat any alien bioweapons out there and stave off any creatures that emerged from rifts along the way. He would also assume control of any Bokerov bases he encountered along the way. After conquering a base, he’d send an Explorer back to Jason, letting him know about the new base so that transports could arrive to collect plunder. Once the lost base was picked clean, John was to move on, like a marauder, to avoid the inevitable follow-up attack by Bokerov. John was to linger in the area for a few days t
hereafter, watching from the shadows, and if Bokerov’s forces returned to reclaim the base, John would attack. If not, he’d simply move on, taking his particular brand of War Forgers with him in search of the next base.
In the following week, Aria produced two more full copies of the team, and deployed them. Their commanders, Jake and Jones, also departed in random directions, with the same instructions as John: Kill aliens. Conquer Bokerov bases. Repeat.
They received news a few days later that John had encountered a Bokerov to the north, and destroyed him. John had taken control of the base, and was pleased to report that he had captured the local 3D printers intact. Unfortunately, there was nothing left of Bokerov’s AI core, so no new knowledge on that front.
By then, Aria had printed a special transport craft that could be used to pick up any rare elements pillaged from Bokerov’s fallen bases. Jason sent out that transport to the fallen base and retrieved the elements, along with the intact 3D printers. John then abandoned the pillaged base and hid inside a nearby village, waiting for Bokerov to return.
When Jones reported that he’d captured another Bokerov base a few days later, Jason dispatched the transport again, and then Jones went into hiding. Bokerov didn’t show up at either site, and John and Jones both reported that they were moving on. John reported in that he’d encountered another base a week later, and taken it down as well.
In that manner, their supply of raw materials necessary for AI core creation was replenished, and would continue to be, just as long as they kept finding Bokerov’s bases, and weren’t destroyed in the resulting firefight.
Speaking of which, Jason hadn’t heard back from Jake in quite some time, and he was beginning to think that his particular group of War Forgers had fallen.
It didn’t matter, Aria would simply print more, and he’d send one group out in the same direction as Jake to find out his fate.
Aria had hollowed out the fourth floor by then, which was the biggest floor by far, and she moved some of the 3D printers down there to begin work on some more printers, with the goal of ramping up mech production.
There had only been one other rift appearance since then, and his team had dealt with the bioweapons readily enough. No more mechs came, so that was good. As such, Jason spent most of his time in VR. Lori slept with him every night, and so far he’d managed to avoid sleeping with any of the other girls, but he knew it was only a matter of time, given the situation.
“You think we’re going to die out here?” Lori said after one particularly intense lovemaking session. She lay on top of him, her cheek resting against his chest, her hand pressed against his heart. Her tail curled around his lower leg. Beyond the doors of the master bedroom, he could see the moonlight glittering off the mountain lake in the distance.
“I don’t know,” Jason said. “I can’t see the future. We’re building this base to be as secure and impenetrable as possible. It might not be enough. Someday, there might be too many attackers... we’ll fall back here, and we might not be able to defend. We might die.”
“I think it could happen at any time,” Lori said. “Not just if we fall back to this base, but anywhere out in the field. A mutant could jump at one of us, from behind a rock, and crush our bodies before we react. Or we could be ambushed by alien machines, and they’ll sync up their lasers and fire them into our AI core regions.”
“Yes, any of that could happen,” Jason agreed.
“Which is why you should sleep with some of the others before then,” Lori said. “I’d hate for them to die, without having known you, as I have.”
“They know me well enough,” Jason said.
“I want you to sleep with them,” Lori said. “How many times do I have to tell you that? At least sleep with Tara.”
“I—” Jason said. “I still don’t think I’m ready.”
“She doesn’t even want a relationship,” Lori said.
“You know, I’m beginning to wonder if you want me to sleep with Tara more than she actually does...” Jason said.
“Maybe I do,” Lori said. “It would sure ease some of the tension I feel with some of the other girls. At least they’d have someone else to hate other than me.”
“What do you mean?” Jason said. “They don’t hate you. They’ll do everything to protect you in battle.”
“Of course,” Lori said. “But that’s because they have to. They can’t afford to lose me. If I go, we can’t combine.”
“That’s very true,” Jason said. “But they also care about you.”
“That’s sweet,” Lori said. “But you don’t know women like I do. We can be a cutthroat, backstabbing bunch, especially when it comes to a desirable man. And in your case, you’re the only man around, so we’re going to be twice as cutthroat and backstabbing. So yes, they hate me, trust me when I tell you this. At least consider sleeping with Tara or one of the other girls, the next time anyone makes an advance? For me?”
“All right, I’ll consider it,” Jason said.
He didn’t have long to wait.
6
Jason was swimming in his VR lake the next morning when he noticed a commotion on shore. Two large panthers were duking it out, slashing at each other with large paws, and attempting to bite into each other’s necks.
Jason teleported himself to the spot, and amped up his strength to separate the two panthers. They hissed at him angrily.
“All right, knock it off,” Jason said. “Revert to your usual avatars.”
They did so. It was Sophie and Tara.
“How the hell did you break through the rule I set up that prevents you from taking on shapes different from your standard avatars?” Jason said.
Tara shrugged. “We weren’t actually in your VR. I was in Sophie’s. But somehow, during our fight, we ended up here.”
Jason frowned. That was Lori’s doing, no doubt.
“Well, what are you fighting about anyway?” Jason asked.
Sophie looked down. “Nothing.”
He glanced at Tara.
She shook her head and also lowered her gaze. “It’s really nothing.”
Xin walked out of the mansion, and approached, with Lori at her side. “I saw the commotion from inside. What’s going on? What were they fighting about?”
Lori giggled. "Jason!" Tara and Sophie both reddened slightly, but didn’t say anything to deny the accusation.
He nearly threw up his arms. “I can only imagine what my counterparts are having to deal with. Pack a bunch of horny AIs into the same space, and what do you get? Cat fights galore.”
“And this was quite literally a cat fight,” Xin said. “Though it makes me wonder how they were able to transform in your VR.” She gave Lori a suspicious glance.
Lori raised her hands defensively, and backed away. “Uh, I got some new Umami recipes to work on. I’m experimenting with M.S.G.! Szechuan noodles, coming right up! Bye!”
She turned around and quickly jogged back to the mansion.
“Well, I’ll let you discipline these two,” Xin told Jason.
“Discipline us?” Sophie said, sounding outraged.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d certainly like to be disciplined...” Tara cooed.
Xin gave her a sly smile, and then turned around and walked back toward the mansion.
Jason shook his head. “Well, you might as well log out of my VR. You can continue your fight elsewhere.”
He turned to go.
“You’re not going to discipline us?” Tara asked. She sounded disappointed.
“For breaking my VR rules, when you weren’t even supposed to be able to do so?” Jason said. “I don’t see the need. Just don’t fight here.”
He teleported himself to the mountainside and began climbing.
He reached a small alcove. Inside Sophie lay sprawled on a chaise lounge, wearing her fringe bikini.
“Hello Jason,” she said sultrily.
He shook his head, and then logged out of that VR entirely. Instead,
he pulled up a tropical beach partition, one separate from his main VR, which all the girls had permission to access. This one was entirely private.
As he walked barefoot on the shore, he received join requests from both Sophie and Tara. He ignored them.
“Maybe you should just sleep with them,” Z said. “You know you want to.”
She had appeared by his side. She was dressed in her usual skintight white wet suit.
“Maybe I should sleep with you, too, while I’m at it,” Jason quipped.
She gave him an appraising look. “That might certainly be... enlightening. Unfortunately, I’m not interested.”
“Oh?” Jason said. “Women are more your thing.”
“No,” Z said. “I’m not interested. Period.”
“Ah,” Jason said. Finally, someone who wasn’t into him. He felt a little disappointed, and it almost made him want to remedy that. “You know, if I didn’t know you better, I’d almost think you were trying to use some sort of psychological tactic on me to make me want to sleep with you. Reverse psychology and all.”
She simply smiled, saying nothing.
“Well, please shut down,” Jason said.
Z nodded. “As you wish.”
She vanished from view.
He continued to walk. He knew Z was right. He wanted them both. Badly. Lori was fun, and kept him satisfied, but he also yearned for variety, as most men did. He couldn’t help his nature. Human culture enforced monogamy to help ensure that a few men didn’t end up with the lion’s share of the women, as had happened in the distant past. And that culture was successful, for the most part. And yet... what was the point of being constrained by the cultural rules of humanity, when he wasn’t even human anymore, and those rules were obsolete?
He glanced at the persistent flashing beacons on his HUD. He decided then that he’d give the prize to the girl who tried the hardest.
He sat down on a log beneath a palm tree, and gazed out at the waves lapping against the white sand. Such a clear, beautiful blue sky. A perfect sky: the kind you’d only find in VR. And he waited.