Joey squinted with a sudden thought, and ran a few scan processes to see if he could trace the source of the other hacker’s avatar.
“So you’re looking for Proscion?” William Dillon winked.
“Don’t tell me, it’s you?” Joey glanced sideways at him.
The elder Dillon shook his head. “Oh, no, I’m exactly who you think I am. But I know where you can find him.”
The scans identified his father as a grade four AI. Not a hacker or a ghost in the spiritual sense, but it was the ghost of his dad―just made of ones and zeroes.
“What’s wrong with you?” The elder Dillon stared at his son’s open mouth.
“Uhm… Nothing, Dad.” Joey scratched his head trying to figure out how to handle this new development.
Why would someone bother making an AI in the image of a milquetoast scientist from Mars? He wondered how many more of these so-called ghosts were AIs. It took teams of master programmers months upon months to program an AI and longer than that just to get the governmental approval to start, and that was for one with a unique personality. No one had yet succeeded in so faithfully replicating an existing, or formerly existing, person with such a degree of accuracy. AI personality started as bland as a sheet of plasfilm, taking months or years to develop in a gradual evolutionary process.
William Dillon pointed. “There’s a warehouse down that way. You can’t miss it really. About forty miles as the crow flies there’s an awful big data pipe coming out of an empty place.”
“You think that’s Proscion?” Joey scoffed.
“Oh, I may not be a hacker, but I am a scientist. Besides, I have one of my feelings about it. I also think he’d be willing to help for a favor.”
His dad got hunches. Sometimes they ended in disaster, but when they did not, he was right. Joey had nothing else to go on, so he walked with his virtual father to the spot. Sure enough, the shell of an old warehouse in a district long part of the infamous Sector 187 black zone threw a massive data pipe into the air. This place made Sector 12 look like an amusement park, regarded as one of the worst in the entire west, home to the Diablos among other less well-known gangs. Drug crazed lunatics were bad enough, but they mixed occultism and devil worship in with their chems and guns.
He squinted at the brilliant blue and white stream of energy reaching up into the indigo sky of cyberspace. It shimmered with enough light to illuminate the clouds for miles around it; the force of its passage peeled the virtual water vapor into ascending contrails. The throbbing pulses in the light represented data moving through it. From the size and brightness, Joey surmised the I/O channel could support a small corporation. It appeared deflated, the narrow shaft a tiny trickle of the capacity defined by the much wider intermittent spiral threads around it.
“See?” said his father, pointing. “You may want to check this place out on the other side.”
“Yeah. I’ll do that.” Joey reached up to disconnect, then paused to face his old man. “Take care of yourself.”
He did not know why he said that. His father was dead; the image before him was only a collection of program code acting like him. The conversation on the way to that warehouse proved surreal. William Dillon did not understand he was an AI, and thought he came to Earth to visit. He also disbelieved his son’s assertion that he died, thinking it a playful tease. At least knowing it was not another hacker messing with him made him feel better, but still a bit confused as to who would go to all that trouble.
Joey disconnected, enjoying the comfort of a normal departure from cyberspace.
“Find anything?” Nina’s voice came from behind him, close. The air embraced him with warmth and the scent of a recent shower.
“I think I found… naked.” Joey turned and froze as soon as he saw her. His eyes took control of his tongue.
Nina’s skin glistened with a fine layer of condensation. She held a glass of tea, sipping it casually.
She laughed. “What?”
“You’re naked.” Joey leaned back and made an appraising face as he took in the view. “Shaved. Nice.”
She gave him a playful smirk. “I just got out of the shower. Are you hungry? I can make some food.”
He blinked twice. “Uhhh… yeah… sure.” He stared as she walked into the kitchenette and tweaked the OmniSoy assembler.
He wondered where along the path from here to making food would include getting dressed. He slid out of his chair and zombie stumbled just fast enough to keep her in sight.
She made two plates; one steak and one fish, and set them down on the table with the steak towards Joey. Still nude, she took a seat and gestured at the empty chair.
He wanted to speak, but no words formed in his brain. If she wanted to show off, he would not be the one to talk her out of it. He joined her at the table with a pacified grin, staring at her chest. Steak and tits―a night that started as a nightmare had become a dream. A girl this forward was not a new experience for him, but it felt different. She did not act at all sexual; she merely existed with nothing on. Joey watched her eat, fumbling blind at his plate in search of something to nibble on.
“Oh”―she looked up from the plate―“we got that cyborg repatriated.” Still nothing in her eyes beyond casual dinner conversation. “He agreed to re-up for another eight in exchange for the JAG not filing desertion charges. The shrink signed off on it as extreme emotional distress.”
Joey dodged her glance, finally able to cut a decent sized hunk from his steak. He mumbled through a mouthful of food, swallowed, and then tried again. “That’s good. What about his kid?”
“They’re going to put him in a Class 2 doll body and retrain him as a heavy vehicle armorer. He won’t look like he used to, but he’ll be close enough to human for his kid not to flip a biscuit at the sight of him.”
Joey nodded. “That’s good.”
“So what did you find?”
“My dad’s an AI.”
Nina gawked; half-chewed fish crumbled out of her mouth. “An AI?” She swallowed. “Who would bother programming an AI to simulate your father?”
“Exactly what I wondered.” He again dodged her glance, cutting at the steak. “It doesn’t make sense.”
He tried―really, he did―to look her in the eyes, but could not.
“If I had a credit for every time I said that.” She stabbed a hunk of fish hard enough to make him wonder how the plate survived it.
“So, um. Yeah. Naked.”
Nina leaned back. “It’s comfortable.” Her smile faded and she turned to glance out the window; hair formed an ebon curtain over her face. “I know you know.”
Shame flooded her voice.
He made an obvious show of looking her up and down. “If I didn’t read that file, I wouldn’t be able to tell.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.” She dropped the fork.
“Nina, that’s because it’s the truth. You’re perfect. Well, maybe your boobs are a little on the small side…”
She threw some peas at him, unable to hide a hint of a smile. He chuckled through the onslaught of tiny green spheres.
“I never played with dolls as a little girl. It always felt silly to wrap plastic people in bits of clothing and act like they talked.”
Joey chuckled. “Is that why you don’t dress the big one?”
“What’s the point?” She made a wall of peas against the fish on her plate. “At first it felt like some machine that I was piloting. I wore the armor for work, but I stopped going out aside from that. It seemed pointless to bother wearing anything just to stare at these walls. If someone calls, the VidPhone fakes it; and no one…”
“I’m here.” He got up and moved around behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Do you still feel like an oversized toy?”
“Sometimes. I guess I’m starting to accept it.” Nina leaned back into his hands, letting her arms fall slack in her lap. “I do save a lot of credits on laundry though.”
Joey chuckled despite her lack of
inflection, massaging her shoulders. “Can you feel this? Even touching you, I can’t tell.” He understood his fingers kneaded plastisteel plates and Myofiber muscles, but it created sensation in her brain.
“Yeah.” Nina sighed and leaned forward on her elbows. Guilt about Vincent mixed with relief as Joey worked simulated tension out of her shoulders. She found her breaths growing shallow.
Joey expanded the rub from her shoulders to her back. She slid farther over the table, resting her head on her arms after sliding the plates out of the way. The touch of the cool table on her breasts caused her to make a soft gasp.
He moved up, stroking the nape of her neck. “You were all I could think about this morning. I could barely concentrate on cyberspace. I kept seeing your face in my mind.”
Her eyes opened to slits as his voice drifted through the calm. Left-brain scolded her with the truth that this body did not need a massage. She ignored it; it felt wonderful and she did not care why it did. She forgot about the nightmare of trying to find Nemsky and Korin in the few minutes he touched her. As his hands slid down her sides, she lost herself in the feeling. She had felt isolated and adrift from humanity ever since she first saw through electronic eyes. Joey rowed out to her little island.
He shares your feelings. Lieutenant Oliver’s voice echoed in her memory.
Nina could not help herself anymore as her desperation reached the breaking point. She dove off her emotional island, swimming to him, turning. Nina turned and rose out of the chair just enough for a kiss to reach him. Her sudden motion excited him; he lifted her to sit on the edge of the table, leaning into her embrace, kissing her on the lips for several minutes before moving to the side of her neck.
Nina stirred feelings within him unlike any other woman he had met. He let her lead him to the bed, down a bizarre emotional path that transcended simple lust.
Soon, a trail of clothes led from the kitchen to the Comforgel pad. She sat on the edge, reclining back into the satin. He caressed her, hands roaming over her pale skin as she writhed upon the black. He kissed his way from her lips to her bosom, and down over her stomach before going back up to her neck. She made sounds that she had not summoned forth in many months, lost in a sea of tangled feelings. Pleasure and guilt crossed swords as she squirmed. Oliver’s assurance broke down the last of her hesitation and she gave in to pleasure. When his warmth drew close, her arms, a little out to each side, grabbed fistfuls of bedding and pulled as she felt him for the first time.
Nina’s breath came in gasps, keeping time with the motion of their bodies. Joey braced his weight; hands on either side of her head, he stared down into her eyes. He felt as content as he had ever been in his life. Far beyond a simple physical act, he fell into uncharted territory wearing a mask of clueless confidence.
Nina released her grip on the bedding and wrapped her arms around him as she shuddered. She arched her back and curled her toes, and muffled her moans by burying her face in his neck. The absolute horror of her life over the past months dissipated in a burst of pure bliss. Her body went limp and she stared through half-closed eyes. He hovered over her and they kissed once more before rolling on their sides to face each other.
Her face flushed and she had no voice, managing only a faint smile as Joey kept telling her how beautiful she looked. As the heat of the moment faded, she wondered if what just happened had been a good idea. He kept talking; she could hear Vincent’s sense of humor in him. She closed her eyes and leaned into him. She had to think that he was in a better place now, and she wondered if perhaps he had sent Joey to her. Nina held his hand, wondering if she could find the strength to let go of Vincent.
“You are amazing.” He gazed into her sapphire eyes and smiled.
An uncomfortable thought made her roll over. The warmth of his being surrounded her, his arm slid over her stomach as he pulled himself close against her back. Nina curled into him, allowing herself a few seconds of fantasy that he could somehow protect her.
Just above a whisper, she found a voice. “You know that I can’t…”
He caressed her abdomen, rubbing the place no baby could ever grow. “It doesn’t make you any less of a woman, Nina. Besides, do I look like the fatherly type?”
Nina giggled away a tear. “You are good with Hayley.”
“I guess, just never saw myself having a kid.” Never saw myself with a girl for more than one night either.
Nina put a hand over his arm as she thought about her father’s demand for grandchildren. Of course, he would not have liked Vincent; and he would care for Joey even less. At least her situation gave her a reason to dodge the issue. The most unlikely of people she could have run into made her feel human again, and she did not want it to end. His breath on the side of her neck made her feel safe, despite remembering what the voice had said about her ovaries. She had to know if that was true.
Joey ran his hand along her side, leaving it on her hip. She basked in the warmth behind her, swishing her foot back and forth across the cool satin. Before she knew it, the warmth and idle banter lulled her off to sleep.
The sound of him moving woke her, and she sat bolt upright.
Her expression made him laugh. “I haven’t showered in a while, I was just gonna borrow the tube.”
She relaxed and fell back, splayed out on the bed.
“Wanna join me?” He winked at her, and looked ready for more.
She blushed at the thought. “Again?”
“I have this hard to reach spot on my back…”
He grinned, avoiding her first lunge. They circled the apartment once in a fit of laughter before she chased him into the bathroom.
oey’s bike rolled to a halt by a chain link fence surrounding a huge abandoned looking building. White painted walls caught the smog-filtered moonlight, causing the structure to glow a dim shade of cobalt. He surveyed the surreal desolation, unable to tell by sight if he was in the real world or in cyberspace. A rattle ran the length of the fence as he ducked through a hole into a disused parking lot and jogged the dozen some meters to the structure. Near a large sliding door, a single strip of glass ran from the ground to the top. Bands of frosted opacity crossed the glass at each floor, except for a strip of clear at the top and bottom of each panel. Inside, a grey metal stairway climbed into darkness.
Distant gunshots echoed, making him jump and look to the right. This part of the city belonged to the Diablos, and he second-guessed himself for rushing out here without waiting for Masaru to answer his phone. Perhaps that bit about going back to Japan until this Division 9 issue settled down had been more than a joke. Katya would not have been much help out here. Besides, after the last favor she asked of him, she had her own little problem to handle now.
Joey stared up at the smog; feeling as far removed from civilization here as he did in the Badlands. Even the ubiquitous thrum of hovercars was absent.
To the left of the tall channel of glass, a slab of grey metal formed a door large enough to accept a cargo truck. The control panel had just a single black button. Joey tugged at the door, finding it sealed, and considered the small silver box. He came here for help; the least he could do was play nice at first. He pushed it. When nothing happened, he pushed again and held it a little longer.
Weak light appeared to his right, casting thick shadows over the fourth floor stairway. A flesh colored blur moved behind the frosted glass, descending at a careful pace. By the time it reached the second floor, Joey made out what looked like a child walking barefoot. The diminutive figure rounded the last set of stairs; a few seconds after the blur vanished behind solid wall, he heard a little voice on the other side of the door.
“Who are you?”
This, he was not expecting. “Hi. I’m Joey. I need to see Proscion.”
The voice sounded frightened. “I don’t know who that is.”
“I’m not here to cause any trouble for him. Something bad is going on, and he is the only person that can help.” Joey put his hand on the door. “Pl
ease?”
A long enough silence came that he stared at the ground to ponder his next move. The clunk of a locking bar made him let go of the door as it scraped its way to the left. A child’s toes braced against the concrete as the huge panel slid out of the way. As the wall of grey departed, it revealed a girl of about ten wearing nothing but dirt and grime. An intense feeling of wrongness washed over him, but it stalled at the realization that she cradled her severed head in her right arm―and moved the immense door with one arm.
Wires, cables, and segmented clear plastic tubes ran from the base of the head into her open neck. Long blonde hair hung down to the floor. Strips of skin were missing from the right side of the hole, exposing the mechanical workings of her collarbone and shoulder on that side. Blue light from within the head illuminated the right side of her body, casting harsh shadows laterally across her skin. Joey stared at the radiance.
She’s an AI.
The sight hit him like a punch to the brain. As soon as the door opened enough for him to fit, he moved through and shooed her inside. The head tucked in her right arm looked up at him and smiled, despite a sad presence about her. He spun and grabbed the door, unable to move it. He blinked at her and put both hands on the thing, barely finding the strength to coax it closed. He leaned against the metal once he finished, with a wary eye upon the ersatz child that had moved it so easily. Within seconds, he looked away from her, staring pity into the floor.
“Please do not look at me like that. I am just a doll. WellTech Realife series 440. My name is Emily.” She went to the stairwell. “Follow me.”
Still unable to speak, he followed. He tried not to look, finding it awkward despite the lack of anatomical exactitude. By the second story, he had to focus on her severed head. If he looked down, the damaged robotics left his vision, and she looked uncomfortably real, even down to simulated goosebumps reacting to the cold. Her, or its, lack of clothing made him wonder what kind of person Proscion was. Emily’s feet made no sound on the unremarkable grey metal stairs, rather unlike Joey’s boots. She paused at the top, waiting for him to catch up. When rounded the corner at the last segment of steps, she marched off, dragging her hair along the floor down a dark corridor.
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