Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 80

Will's heart raced. It was even worse than ten minutes of non-sitting.

"Did he make it?" said Libbi, fluttering about.

"She saw us," said Will. "She saw me!"

"I told him to wait until it was clear. Not just run immediately."

"She knows where we are," said Will.

Libbi found a place to perch. "Security took her away. They don't get back inside easily when that happens."

"How do you know?"

"I've had...troubles before. You know how men can get."

He didn't. Not really. He was more of a boy, and one who surrounded himself with other boys. Still, he nodded.

"That's why I live here," said Libbi. "It's very secure."

"Yeah, I can see that," said Will. "That's why the purple woman made it up to your place."

"Almost," said Libbi. "Like I said, once you're in the database the cameras track you automatically. They showed me how it works."

"You seem to remember a lot, all of a sudden."

"It's this place. So much of it connects with feelings of the past, with my memories. Like the couch, I can remember when I first got it, lugging it up the stairs with Emma after we couldn't fit it in the elevator. She kept trying to make me laugh so that I'd drop it."

She projected the memory on the wall, showing the origin of a large dent.

"And my make-up case," she said.

"Are we getting to all your first dates, now?" said Will.

"I used it on a bunch of stories, to disguise my appearance. Ooh, the website! Will, check it out, can you?"

Will followed her instructions and pulled up the latest story at Information Libbi-ration: a surveillance video outside the Schuvantz building, AutomatIO headquarters.

"It must be there," said Libbi, faintly.

Will stepped back as she projected the contents of another suitcase. No, this was the continuation of an earlier memory, of the dark room, the view obscured by dark shapes in the foreground. Every few moments a gap would open up and he could see the red-haired woman and the faceless man.

"You can get what you want, Glas," said the man.

"Ms Glas," said Ms Glas.

"You all can. Let's just go back in there and discuss numbers, I'm sure you'll all see that--"

"I don't care about other investors," said Ms Glas, "I only care about myself."

"Sure. Exactly. And it'll lead to higher stock valuations for any company that buys the product, because it's superior to human execs. The markets'll love it. You'll make a killing. And, on top of that, you'll get dividends from the sudden increases in profit. It's a double win for you."

"No, it's doubly risky," said Ms Glas.

The view shifted momentarily to a pair of red gloves, before glitching into digital artefacts. The memory paused, angled down. The room was filled with darkness, yet the object filling Will's view was unmistakable. His mind had glazed over, but now the projection had his full attention.

"A hand," he said. "A human hand!"

His eyes bulged more than his old school crush Emma's ever had. Wait, I'm practically repeating my jokes here. Consider it a literary call-back to emphasise a theme. Or something. It didn't matter, since the effect was transitory. Will's eyes returned to their squinted rat-like form when the projection cut off abruptly.

Libbi was panting. Or at least doing the best impression a robot can manage. Even Will felt the horror drifting off her metallic body. He draped a consoling arm over her body but pulled away sharply at the heat. Her circuits were working overtime.

"You need to relax," he said.

"You relax!" said Libbi, turning away. "That's where I am!"

"Sorry," said Will.

"No, I'm sorry," said Libbi, already beginning to calm down. She fluttered her wings a few times to release any excess emotions. Her voice faltered as she tried to talk. "It all came back to me. The exhilaration of securing great evidence, but then...the fear. My gloves, I recognised-- I must have been caught in that room."

"And now your mind is caught in the selfiebot," said Will.

"That's what I've been saying all along!" said Libbi.

Will played with something in his pocket. He'd subconsciously come away with her data cable, pulling it free from the door handle, just before Exx leaped toward him. It now seemed to be a symbol of her plight. Either that, or playing with it soothed him.

"We need to find that room," said Libbi.

"I can understand a hint," he said, pocketing the cable and making his way to the window.

"It wasn't a hint," said Libbi. "It's a fact."

Will shielded his eyes from the low sun.

"What are you doing?" said Libbi.

"Checking if the purple woman's there."

"She was taken away by security, like I said."

"Yeah," said Will, "taken outside the building. Then what?"

"Oh," said Libbi.

"A forced retreat," said Will. "But that just means she could be lying in wait for an ambush. Lots of noobs fall for that one."

"Are you calling me a noob?" said Libbi.

"It's not your fault," said Will, noticing some movement across the street, far below. "You're not a gamer. I don't hold it against you."

The object was purple, he was sure of it. And it was her. No one else was colour-blind enough to wear that out in public.

"She's waiting," said Will.

"How did she escape the security guard?"

"More importantly," said Will, "how do we leave?"

"There's only one exit," said Libbi, flying up to the window. "And that's the way we came in."

"You mean--"

"Exactly where she is."