Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 54

"Follow that car!" said Will.

He was back starring in some private investigator show. After breaking down the door to save the victim, they were hot on the tail of the bad guys.

"Will," said Libbi.

"The fog of war is on," said Will. "So we don't know the location of their base. We'll follow their raiding party back."

"Uh huh, but Will--"

"An actual car chase," he said. "With real cars. And we didn't even have to pistol-whip anyone to take over their vehicle."

"Yeah, but-- What?"

"I wonder if it'll be different. Actually feeling the g-forces as we skid around a corner, the acceleration pushing us back into the seat."

"We're not moving," said Libbi.

Will looked around. It was true, the scenery outside wasn't a colourful blur. It wasn't even a greyscale blur. "Err, car," he said.

"Please let me know where you'd like to go," said the car.

"Yes," said Will, "follow that van. Up ahead. The one that's quickly getting away."

"I'm sorry," said the car, "I don't understand. What's the destination you had in mind?"

"I dhu. Wha. Ba?"

"Give it your address," said Libbi.

"My what?"

"Your home. Tell it to go there."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

So Will did. Do it. And when it was done, the car took off after the van.

"So, wait," said Will. "Why are they going to my place?"

"They're not," said Libbi. "Or probably not." She ignored Will's look. "But they are going in the same direction. At least for now."

"Ah," said Will. He was impressed with the ingenious tactic. She might even make for a good deathmatch team-mate when all this was over.

The road twisted, but he could still see the van through half a dozen cars. "It's working," he said, turning to Libbi. "What else do you know about these weirdos?"

"Just what I showed you in the restaurant."

She projected the memory again. They were distant, their faces hard to make out, but they seemed to match. The third man was different, taller, and without the assured ease of the other two.

"Are they in an empty underground car park?" said Will. "That's not conspicuous or anything." He looked up, checking that the van was still in sight, then went back to the projection. As the memory continued, the tall man handed the flabby one a briefcase. "That seems to be important," said Will, pointing. "If I know my interactive action-adventure games."

"What do you think it contains?" said Libbi.

"I don't know," said Will, "what do briefcases normally contain? Money?"

"How about documents?" said Libbi. "Files? Stationary?"

"Nah, who does that?" He peeked through the windshield again, noticing, very particularly, and with much assuredness, the distinct lack of a van travelling ahead of them.

"Erm," he said. "Where'd it go?"

Libbi caught on fast. But couldn't find it either.

"Sudden-very-loud-noise!" said Will. "Sorry for the language."

They scanned left and right. Will looked back over his shoulder. Still no van. Nowhere. Except there. Driving down the exact side street they were passing.

After a few more sudden-very-loud-noise's, Will tried to get the car to turn back, but it only asked for a new destination.

"What's in that direction?" said Libbi.

"What?" said Will. "Oh." He thought back to his many playthroughs of Large Steal Vehicle XII. For more realism, he'd downloaded the extension that allowed him to play inside his own city. A specific quest came to mind, and he soon called out the name of a legitimate drinking establishment that had no proven ties to organised crime. None. At all. So I won't even mention it here.

The car safely performed a U-turn and even more safely turned down the side street.

"Come on!" said Will. "Hurry up."

That small speck of colour may have been the van in the distance, or it might have just been a squashed bug on the windshield. Thankfully, Libbi could zoom in and let us all know it was the van, after all. What a relief. Still, I stand by my joke.

The van grew larger, stopped at a light. Then turned again.

"Pick a place in that direction," said Libbi. "Quick."

He could have mentioned the large shopping centre. Or the football stadium. Instead his gamer mind remembered a fun escapade at the kind of club filled with vertical metal poles. Hey, it was an important part of the narrative.

"Do you only know about certain types of places?" said Libbi, an element of shock in her tone. Perhaps a few elements: fire mixed with wind.

"It's from a game," he said.

Their car turned just in time.

This wasn't exactly the thrilling full-on chase Will had envisaged. The turns weren't exactly throwing his body against the side window. Still, they were keeping up.

The next road the van took allowed Will to mention a bridge.

"Finally," said Libbi. "Something normal."

"Nah," said Will, "that's where you murder the prostitute."

"Will!"

"She was a baddie!"

"Still. Couldn't you find other solutions that didn't involve killing people?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. She sounded like his mum. Or someone else old. It struck him that he didn't know her age, that he'd never even thought to ask. Then it struck him that he didn't truly know she was a real person. He didn't doubt she was telling the truth, at least from her perspective, but she might still have been programmed to believe all this; the memories, the Libbi name, the relationship to that woman in the restaurant. How old was she? He hadn't been paying enough attention at the time.

"I wonder why they took off so fast," said Libbi. "And where they're going."

"At least we know they're not heading off to my place. One guest was enough." He shivered, thinking of the purple and gold woman.