Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 42

Will's whole body was aching. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stared out the windshield. He'd prepared himself for the slower version of non-sitting, but I felt sorry for him and lent the money for a car.

The yellow ball in the sky was especially stark in the morning, and not at all reminiscent of a holographic display of a game he could be playing. He scratched his arm like an addict in need of a hit, as generic game music seemed to seep inside the car.

"How long has it been since you've seen her, Will?" said Libbi.

He didn't respond. She'd asked far too many questions the previous night and he was still recovering. He'd been embarrassed at the ease with which his parents gave out his personal history, and frustrated at his grandma's treatment. She'd lost her independence, just like him with this selfiebot-shaped shackle around his ankle.

He looked over at Libbi.

In a way she was in the same position, frustrated with the lack of a human body, forced to rely on others to overcome the disability. If she really was a human person trapped inside a selfiebot, it must be incredibly tough. But she wasn't, so it wouldn't be.

The game music increased in volume. And it was coming from outside. Will peered through the back window, but all he could see were other cars.

"I don't know," he said, with a yawn.

"Did you let her know we were coming?" said Libbi.

His chat app rang. Saved by the bell.

Paige's stinging red eyes and pale skin made it seem as if she'd become a zombie. But it wasn't all good news. She sobbed a few words that he struggled to understand. The music, blaring louder now, didn't help.

"Who's what?" said Will, raising his voice.

The car shifted to the side. It hadn't been music at all, but an ambulance's siren. It looked like a coffin on wheels. Inside the frosted glass facade, the automated paramedic contained all the necessary functions to keep a sick or injured person alive.

Paige conjured up a scrap of energy, then took a deep breath and said, "Marvin's been eaten by a grue."

"A what?" said Libbi, listening in.

"It means he's dead," said Will. Even as he said it, it hadn't sunk in.

"Oh Will," said Libbi, fluttering next to him in a consoling gesture. At least it would have been if she wasn't a small metallic bird-like robot.

"Starved," said Paige. "I should have...I told him to eat something. Why didn't he listen?" She closed her eyes, tired from the long sentence.

"It's not your fault," said Will, matter-of-factly. "You didn't starve him."

"I should have saved him," she said.

"He could have done that. If you can't even feed yourself..."

Will was cold -- some would say heartless -- but he was self-aware enough to not finish that sentence. Especially when he saw the look in Paige's eyes. He knew how important Marvin was to her, and her tears almost made him well up.

Paige swayed, like a branch in the breeze. She righted herself before snapping off. "Why didn't he eat?" she said, hopelessly. "Why didn't he eat something?"

Will didn't feel the same way about Marvin, but he was suddenly very concerned with Paige, which was strange, since he was never concerned about anyone. But she looked terrible. And she hadn't once blown the dangling strands of hair from her face. "Do you need anything?" he said, then immediately took it back in his mind. He was already busy solving another problem and didn't really have the time or inclination.

"Thanks," said Paige, not fully with it.

"I mean," he said, "someone can come around and check on you."

"Who?" said Libbi, butting in.

"I don't know," said Will. "There's got to be someone from the government that can help. Right?"

"Or we could," said Libbi.

"Who's that?" said Paige, squinting.

"No one," said Will. "Never mind."

Libbi pressed closer into Will's body.

"The selfiebot?" said Paige.

"No!" said Will, pushing Libbi away.

Paige managed the slightest of laughs, though it was more like the sound you make when you breath heavily out of your nose.

At least she still had her sense of humour, thought Will. It was one of her best characteristics.

"Why is that funny?" said Libbi.

Unlike the selfiebot.

"Maybe you should install that app," said Will.

Paige's half-closed eyes and tilted head suggested a question.

"The health app," clarified Will. "The one I installed."

"It didn't help Marvin," she said.

She was right. It didn't.

He wouldn't have wanted to spend more time with him, or had him as a team-mate in any further death matches, but Marvin's death was a clear negative. Why didn't the health app work? This was the kind of thing others excelled at: helping. But they didn't. Not this time.

"I'll install it," said Paige.

"Oh," said Will. "Erm, OK."

This was very un-Paige-like. She clearly wasn't thinking properly.

"What are you going to do, now?" said Will.

"I'll be all right," said Paige, shrugging off the question. "I've got to practice more for the comp. I just needed to let someone know, and the only person I could talk to was you."

Will didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't know how to respond to anything that didn't involve strategy or ping times. Instead he mouthed a few empty words.

"Seeya, Will," said Paige.

"Good luck with the competition," he said, before she hung up.

"Are you OK?" said Libbi.

Will nodded as if there was a delicate egg positioned just below his chin.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" said Libbi.

He peered out the window at the people in the park, playing a group game of some sport Will hadn't heard of. "Let's get this over with," he said.