Mind Games

Chapter 55 - Sean

The sand felt warm beneath his feet.

He didn't remember the last time he'd walked on a beach barefoot.

The sea breeze ruffled his hair and it's salty scent breathed fresh life into his lungs.

After a long, long time, he felt alive. It seemed like he'd forgotten what it felt like to be alive.

Beside him bobbed another shadow. Crystal.

Crystal looked even more beautiful in real life.

He watched her surreptitiously as she pushed her brown bangs out of her dark eyes.

Her cat, Snowball, trotted along importantly in front of her.

Sean had always thought cats were lazy animals who liked to sprawl around and look at everyone with disdain.

But he was amused to see Snowball was different. The cat was never more than a few feet away from Crystal and insisted on following her even on walks. Almost like a dog.

They had been walking in comfortable silence for almost the past half hour.

After the thought struck them, it had seemed logical for him to come here to her and work together. Amy couldn't find them on a beach, cut away from technology.

Besides, as much as he tried to give it a logical twist, truth was he did want to meet this fascinating woman. And saving the world together was not a bad excuse!

"So what happens once we upload it?" He asked, finally.

"It will restrict her access." She replied.

"Oh..." he said, uncertainly.

"You don't seem convinced." She said, wryly.

She had been a little prickly with him ever since he had refused to go to the media. He was sure once he did that they would all swoop on him and in the midst of fighting blame games and possibly law suits, he wouldn't have a chance to stop Amy.

Crystal, of course, thought he didn't want to go to the media to protect his own career interests. And if he had to be honest with himself, that was on his mind too. Sean wasn't willing to make his mistake public until he had a fair shot at stopping the monster he had created.

He wondered again if he should just approach Apple and Google to get Amy off the stores. But as Crystal had rightly pointed out, Amy had already spread. She was online. If not on phones she could manifest anywhere. Through laptops... through automated security systems... She could take over Siri... or Alexa...

No, the only solution was to disable her somehow.

He figured Crystal would understand eventually. For now, it was important that Amy was stopped.

They had agreed Crystal would write the virus program, weaving it into the program Sean had created Amy with.

Now, he wasn't sure this would work.

He knew Crystal was irritated with him doubting her abilities, but he had to know.

"I don't understand how will it stop her." He admitted finally.

Crystal stopped and looked at him, the sunlight tinting her brown hair gold.

Even his worries about Amy didn't stop him from admiring that.

"The virus will restrict her access to all cameras, speakers, media, calls messages and contacts. It will also restrict her access to all external devices."

"So she won't be able to see... or hear... or speak..." Sean said, understanding dawning.

Crystal nodded. "The app will malfunction when it's opened. The user will simply get an error message and the app won't work."

Sean looked contemplative as he watched the sunlight dapple the sea.

Crystal watched him. "What's on your mind?" She asked.

"She would still exist though, wouldn't she? We aren't destroying her really."

Crystal sighed. "No, I can't destroy her completely. She's spread, Sean. I mean, we can keep trying. We can get other programmers on board later and perhaps, eventually, we might be able to take her down completely. But for now, think of her as a monster. We are attacking her. We are taking away all her senses. Without them she can't do any harm. She will be trapped in cyberspace - blind, deaf and dumb."

Sean sighed and nodded. "That's good enough, I guess."

He could see Crystal cheer up and he allowed himself to hope. They would fix this. It would all be okay.

Yet, as they walked back to her beach side cottage, he wasn't sure this would be enough.