Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 114

Libbi skidded against the air as she rounded another corner, dodging a few broken fluorescent globes this way, then that, while attempting to maintain as much height as possible. She didn't want to look back. But she did. He was still after her, the tall gangly man from her memories, who'd given the briefcase to the brothers, the same briefcase he was now carrying. Or at least one similar. He started to call out but she wasn't about to stop.

She'd somehow found herself on a one-way trip to a closed door, the end of a corridor that may as well be a cul de sac.

The man raced around the corner and slowed immediately, stalking closer. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said.

But she'd seen that face before, and that outstretched arm, the moment before her consciousness was transferred into a selfiebot. This selfiebot. Her.

"Trust me," he said, stepping awfully close, in every sense of the word.

Libbi felt a gust of wind from behind. A gust is too substantial, how about a mild yet temporary breeze? By the time it was over she registered the change, and made a run for it through the newly opened door.

She didn't know how it had happened or why, but what mattered most was getting away from the man. The large room was far brighter than the corridor and seemed to contain machines of some kind, text scrolling across screens. Were they keeping bodies alive? She ignored them and headed for the opened door along the opposite wall. Just as she approached, the door closed and, along with it, her escape.

"Libbi," said the man.

She turned. He seemed more benign under this light.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

He pushed his glasses up. "I'm sorry, I-- You've been here before, correct?"

She was unsure whether to answer or not, if this was some kind of trick.

"It's OK," he said, as if understanding. "I would never hurt-- I mean, I did. I know I did. I--" His glasses seemed to fog up.

"Who are you?" said Libbi.

"My name is Mathison. Please don't be afraid. I heard you talking to yourself and...I couldn't believe I'd been given the chance to--"

"You put me in this thing," she said, slowly, clearly. Her fear had settled into determination.

"I didn't want to do it. It was Josef. I mean, I created the device, but it was to help people not hurt them. It's all gone terribly, terribly wrong." He shook his head.

Libbi's lens cap lowered in consternation.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry. It's not safe. You aren't safe, here." He leaned in closer. "Why did you return?"

Libbi immediately reeled back, her camera focussed on the briefcase in his hand, memories returning in a flood.

"Oh," he said, putting it down. "No. I just-- I needed to get this one, because-- To help someone." He presented a medikit in his other hand. "See?"

"If you've got this," said Libbi, hovering near the first-aid box, "why do you need that?" The that in question was, of course, the briefcase.

"Contingency?" said Mathison, clearly adding a question mark to his inflection. "She's hurt. In my lab."

"How badly hurt?" said Libbi, without even asking the who.

Mathison paused for a moment. "Hurt," he said.

Libbi's instincts took over and she found herself accompanying Mathison back to his lab.

He peaked inside the room. "Diya, are you-- Err..."

"What?"

He glanced side to side, down the corridor, then returned his gaze inside, at the empty spot where Diya was.

"How long were you gone?" said Libbi. "She must be OK, now."

Mathison dropped Briefcase' -- briefcase dash -- next to the original version, and touched the floor. He raised a bloodied finger. "Yes," he said, a look of confused fear on his face. "She must be." He carelessly fumbled a grip on the older briefcase.

Libbi felt a presence behind her. It was another selfiebot. Except it wasn't. You can understand her immediate confusion since they looked similar. This particular bot was the kind bearing lasers. And it didn't seem overly keen on letting them go without using them.