Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 90

"We have to work together to achieve our goals," said Libbi.

It was the last thing she'd called out before Will fled. The betrayal was both disappointing and exasperating, but the subsequent untended position was far from a foreign concept. If only people understood the thrill of helping others. She thought back to the exhilaration of cracking open cases of the downtrodden, solving the mystery, exposing the corruption and dirty deeds of those in power. If only there'd been serious repercussions for the instigators. A few grumblings about internal reviews were all she could secure from large institutions who hid behind impenetrable brick facades.

A laser beam shot out, singing her body. She wasn't even inside the boundaries of AutomatIO. The defencebot didn't seem to care. It matched her movements and was soon joined by two compatriots. They looked mean, criss-crossing paths in figure-eights.

Was this another exposé with no effectual outcome?

She slunk to the ground, perched atop a small mound of dirt. Her speakers emitted a sigh-like sound as she looked up at the Schuvantz building, reminding her immediately of The Creatively Titled The Artist. But she didn't want to get him involved. He'd already helped and, judging by how fast he left her apartment, wasn't the brave type. She couldn't ask him to risk his life, anyway.

Her wings fluttered a few times as an addendum. But this was clearly the end. There'd be no way she could out-fly the defencebots and slip inside AutomatIO headquarters on her own.

She jumped into the air to avoid another laser fire, forcing a further retreat.

Maybe she'd been too hard on Will. It was his life, his choice to help or not. Hopefully his friend was feeling better, at least. It irked her that the people responsible for almost killing Paige might be let off the hook. It wasn't right!

She listlessly opened a few memory suitcases, exposing her previous investigations. There'd been times in each and every case where she was forced to be resourceful. But they all required a body, with attributes a selfiebot didn't possess.

Then again, there were certain constraints imposed on a human body that her selfiebot frame could ignore. And the new body hadn't taken away her bravery. She looked up, above the gate, above the defencebots.

"Let's see how high you can fly," she said.