[Republished] A World Gone Virtual (8 in Science Fiction 3/8/13)

Chapter Ten

They don't let us into the Director's office, where Jared is currently being interrogated by the Director herself. Three agents guard the door, staring impassively back at us as we wait in the hallway. They haven't escorted AJ and me from the building, at least.

Glad AJ agreed to come here on such short notice. She gives me a smile from her position next to me.

I'd found out the Director's office could be soundproofed if she chose, as we can't hear a thing from inside. They could be doing anything. Images of torture scenes from the many horror flicks I've watched over the years flash through my head, but I shake them away--the Director wouldn't be that cruel. She wasn't programmed that way.

For once, I can fully appreciate that the Director is a machine and not a human. A human might become irrationally angry at Jared's repeated flouting of the System, might act out in violence, like the human-controlled agents did that day in the park. As a program, as a machine of sorts, she is largely unable to experience those irrational quirks of human psychology. I guess that was a design feature, as the other simulants are programmed to exhibit emotional traits. But the Director is not. Perhaps that may save Jared...or not. Perhaps the Director will use her perfect impartiality to deliver a just punishment as she deems fit. That is a possibility too.

An hour later, the door finally opens. The Director is standing behind her desk and she waves us inside, unsurprised to see us. She was probably monitoring us the whole time, I realize.

Jared is sitting in one of the leather armchairs, frowning at the floor. He looks up as I walk around to him. "Hey," he says, his voice low and subdued. What did they talk about?

I don't think he's being deleted, because he's still here after all this time. I hope not.

"What's going on?" I ask.

The Director surveys me silently for a moment. The she says, "Your friend is being monitored from this moment on. His movements will be tracked due to our trace program, which we usually reserve for convicted criminals. However, as Mr. Thomas has proven to be a threat to the System, an exception was made. How is he a threat?" she asks, preempting my question. "He has repeatedly refused to abide by our rules, has engaged in several criminal activities, and maintains a devil-may-care attitude about his situation."

"Why hasn't he been deleted, then?" I ask.

"We have decided to give him one last chance. If he falls back to his old behavior, he will be."

She turns to Jared. "You are free to go, for now, Mr. Thomas," she tells him. He just nods.

In the car, Jared is very quiet. I try to get him to talk about whatever he's thinking about, but he won't say. AJ tries to coax it out of him too, but he brushes her off as easily with an "I don't want to talk about it." AJ and I look at each other in the rearview mirror and let it drop.

Jared spends the rest of the ride back to AJ's apartment staring out at the simulated world, deliberately avoiding our eyes. Scenes of torture are beginning to crop up in my head again.

What could the Director have said to him that would make him this subdued?

AJ's roommates, Maggie and Katilyn, are home when we walk in the door, lounging on the sofa and watching TV. They, like AJ, are simulants, or ACUs, as the Director calls them. They say hello and so do we. AJ goes over and gives each a hug.

Maggie looks over at Jared and me. I've heard a lot about them, so I know which is which. With curly black hair, a pixie-like face, and a happy bubbly personality, Maggie is outgoing and usually the talker of the group, other than AJ. She even talks more than AJ does.