I realized something was terribly wrong in that bedroom, when the Victorian Age door knobs started to ring. I wasn't tripping in acid though – not that I remember – So I just blinked, my eyes looking around, only to find absolutely nothing overly strange, inside the gloomy room. It was just an old, strange feeling when a dream sort of merges with your everyday world, which eventually causes you to wonder if door knobs are able ring, or not.
That odd scene quickly vanished away as I groggily woke up (not so quickly), rubbing my eyelids with the back of my hands. The reverie gave place to a more understandable sight – In which no door knobs were ringing, but my glasses – As far as I knew, I didn't suffered from any mental disorders, those were my google glasses, to be more specific, and they used to ring all the time, for a multitude of reasons.
For some time I thought it was strange for a company as respected as Life Inc. never showing any interest in the smart glasses business, they sell like hotcakes those days. In fact, they probably sell more smart glasses than hotcakes – Who cares about hotcakes anyway? Mr. Gallagher surely don’t, because his company never bothered to create a single wearable gadget.
Hotcakes and gadgets aside, I let out a sleepy yawn – Holy crap, I was tired. Luckily, my room had some thick old curtains that blocked most of the sun light. The grayish thing – as I used to call it - must be at least a hundred years old. It looked old, acted old, and smelled old as well; something between mothballs, mold, and maybe just a dash of Atkinsons cologne. Just like my grandfather, I loved and hated it.
I rolled on my bed, and picked up the annoying glasses from the nightstand, the goddamn thing wouldn't stop ringing and flashing. Sometimes I liked to imagine what kind of tortures the medieval inquisition would made me go through, if they saw such a thing. They'd be like: ‘Someone burn this accursed heretic, for the holy trinity’s sake! The flames of Leviathan along with Satan himself inhabits thy glasses’ Boy, it would be funny…
The digital clock popped up in the dark, as I put my glasses, it was only a quarter past seven, and Lilly Sheffield was already calling me. God, she knew I wasn't a fan of mornings, early mornings – on freaking Sundays – but she called anyway, only for the sake of doing it. Lily had a lot of free time in her hands – she really had – however, she also had a hyperactive personality that forced her to call me up at 7 am. God bless her, that was Lily.
“Lilly, darling, what a great surprise!” I said, answering the call. She wasn't good with sarcasm – or deadpan...
“Good morning Craig! It's a glorious morning isn't it, I mean, the sky is all blue and- well, not so blue, maybe a few storm clouds or so, anyway, I didn't wake you up, did I?” She asked in a sweet, electric tone. Lilly had this mind-blowing sweet voice; you should really listen to her, it was almost like listening to a charged apple syrup.
“Nah… You kidding? I just love to wake up with the sun, see the morning dew under the sun, feel the early light rays of sun, scent the sun – Lilly, I fucking love the sun, you know.” To hell with it.
“Awn, that’s so nice, Craig! I love it too, I love all the things you mentioned – and also clouds, I really like cloudy days, but not as much as I love sunny days. We should definitely go to the beach one day, by the way.” She happily said. “So, anyway – Will you be at home this afternoon?” Lilly asked. I pondered for a while, but realizing I really hadn't anywhere else to go, I presumed that ‘home’ was indeed the only place I would be.
“Yeah, I think so. I have no big plans for today, to be frank with you.” It was true, in fact, I had no big plans for my entire life. Old Willoughby, my father, used to say I was a PhD in doing absolutely nothing. I don’t think it was the case though; I liked to engage in a lot of projects – away from human contact, preferably, in a comfortable chair, and with lots of coffee machines at my disposal.
“Do you mind if I stop by your house later? I think I have a surprise to tell ya, and well... It is a really great surprise!” She said in a silly sing-song voice, damn, she and her voices always killed me.
“Who am I to deny a surprise?” I giggled. “Feel free to show up anytime, you’re always welcome here.” She really was. God, how I loved to talk to her, even if we just chewed the same old fat for hours, it was more than enough for me. She could be annoyingly corny, erratic, happy – and many other adjectives – sometimes, but the girl had this 'spark' inside of her that practically forced smiles out of you. It was impossible to stay depressed around her, Lilly would- I don’t know, just make fun out of someone’s hairstyle or something as silly as the colors of your sweater, and both of you would laugh for the rest of the day.
“Oh, that’s perfect then! I gotta fed Dino now- Jesus, wait a second you silly cat – She muttered – This little ball of fur never stops eating, you know? Maybe one day he’ll eat the entire building and we’ll be forced to live on the streets performing magic tricks for money or something.” She giggled. Dino was an annoying white feline – said to be a cat – fat enough to pass by a macro furry mutant or something else created in the depths of questionable image boards. “Welp, I see you later Craig!”
“Bye Lilly, scratch Dino for me, will ya?” I wouldn't complain if she decided to kill it with fire, though. Lilly mumbled something about feeding the cat and shopping for groceries – I wasn't sure anymore if she was talking with me or the cat, so I disconnected.
I sighed, falling back onto my pillows with a muffled thump, I stayed there staring at the dark unsightly cellar for several minutes, it was still cold from the night and a watery scent filled the air, with faint notes of earth, or concrete – like the smell of an almost empty water tank, with only an inch or so of water at the bottom. It wasn't unpleasant, but it probably meant that rain had started again. I couldn't sleep anymore, naturally; I wasn't too crazy about surprises since I was a kid, yet, I used to put all of my trust on Lilly’s judgment, coming from her, it should be a good surprise.
“I am not too fond of surprises as well, but I have to admit that this conversation has made me curious!” A voice coming from deep inside the apartment said, that would be fucking scary, if said voice wasn't an already acquiescent one. “Will our house receive any visitors?” Luna asked, this time somewhere closer.
“Will you ever mind your own business?” I said, running my hand by the wall beside my bed in attempt to find the light switch.
“Until the day I decide to leave your body, your businesses are mine as well.” She said, and as if pushed by an invisible hand – or hoof – my hand was pressed against the switch and the lamps went on. “Now tell me, who is this Lilly we are talking about?” She asked. I groaned, pulling the blankets over my head. "Come on Craig, you're not a stupid teenager late for school anymore." She bit the tip of my sheets, pulling them out of my face.
"Who is Lilly?" She asked again, climbing up the bed. "Resistance is futile, human"
“Lilly is an old friend of mine..." I said. "Why do you ask?”
“She must be a very dear friend then, since thou tried to immortalize her personality in a computer screen… That’s a very noble way of demonstrating friendship – I wonder what she would think-”
“What?” I interrupted her, pushing the blankets aside, and sitting down. Luna was laying on her belly, her forelegs crossed in a curious way, dammit, it was adorable as hell. Her royal attire was nowhere to be seen – probably stored in an attire.exe folder. “What do you know about the other A.I’s?”
“Oh… We know more than you imagine, Craig.”
“Well, again, you shouldn't! None of you were supposed to be aware of each other's existence – crap, that was like… The only thing Gallagher was worried during the whole damned project!” I said, pinching my nose bridge. I never pinched my nose so frequently as I did in the last few days. “I presume that by this time, the other three also know about you.”
“Wait, wait – I never said a connection was established among us, I merely stated that your own thoughts provided me enough information to understand the network, still, now that you mentioned; don’t you think it is strange – not to say impossible – to prevent AI from interacting? Why would your sponsors require such a thing?” Luna asked – probably just playing we me, since she was smart enough to know the answer.
“Security reasons, Princess. You can tame a restrict personality, but a group of three – four, counting with you – combined minds, and their particular skills… Let's say it’s a tougher thing, Luna.” Alone they couldn't cause too much trouble, Ada, Pallas, and Lilly (the virtual one) had been programmed for different reasons, to carry different tasks. The AI’s shared a similar base, but differed in everything else. Monks and Astrophysicists are human beings, they can interact and maybe agree in some points, but you can’t deny the fact that both of them have different ways of seeing and understanding the universe. If Lilly was great with social interactions and group managing, Pallas was specialized in quantum computation, advanced iterations and flow control. Same build, distinct gifts.
“It still unclear for me; If your company thought it was dangerous, why develop them in the first place? Either way, the AI’s would require interaction in the end.” She stated.
“Yes, yes they would, but that was out of my jurisdiction.” I jumped out of bed, followed by Luna, who again, insisted in following me around the house.
“That seems quite reckless of your part! What if something went wrong and an emergency shutdown was required?” She frowned at me. Goddammit, an artificial Princess Luna just frowned at me, can you believe it?
“Oh look, isn't it quite ironic for you to say I was reckless? I had a pretty good control panel, Princess. A really good one, for what it’s worth. Until someone – I looked at her sideways – tried to stick it into the trash incinerator.”
“Your absurd assumptions amuse me, Craig Astor. Do you really think I would ruin the only equipment capable of stopping my potential adversaries?” Luna asked.
“They’re practically your non-sanguine brothers, why would even consider them ‘potential adversaries’? ” I snorted, shaking my head. I peeked through the blinds; the trees and car roofs were all wet and dripping, but it wasn't raining anymore. Just another typical overcast day.
“Your brain death implies my destruction. I can’t leave your mind if you die – your destruction would be detrimental to me, no one would retrieve your chip – and me – unless the government or your family managed to get a warrant.” As soon as she finished her sentence, Luna seemed to regret having said it. Her ears pinned down, as I stared at her, still trying to figure out what to say.
“And w-why would I die? Why would they want to… Destroy me?”
“I- I never s-said they would!” She muttered, walking backwards.
“No, but It was implied!” I stated. “Come on, tell me for Christ’s sake!” I was already nervous, god I was a touchy guy, in special if my death was considered an important factor. "I know you're hiding something from me, Luna! Who wants to kill me??" I inquired, shaking her by the shoulders.
“Silence!” She yelled, her strident royal voice reverberated inside my ears as the sound of a large brass bell echoing in an empty cathedral. A strange numbness immediately dominated my lips and tongue. Scared, I leaned against the wall and started to poke my face, it felt just like a dental anesthesia, but all around my entire facial muscles.
“Uncomfortable, isn't it?” She said, touching my chin with the tip or her wing. “It’s a shame you can’t feel it.” Luna sarcastically sighed. “Now listen to me!” Her tone changed again, this time to serious one.
“I don’t owe you any explanations, and I’m not asking for your permission to inhabit this pathetic body of yours. We have been compliant with you, but our patience was not set as infinite – and that’s your own fault, by the way – If you keep accusing me, Craig, I’ll make sure that a very delicate body part of yours will be permanently set numb.” I don't feel like describing what she did to me, but I suppose you already got it. Boy, It hurt... Virtually.
"Do I make myself clear?" The mother fucker asked, a cynical smile stamped on her muzzle. I just nodded – That was all I could do.
"Splendid!" She clapped her hooves together. "Now go away- What? Cat got your tongue? Thou can already speak." It wasn't like I had much to do, after all that shit. Luckily – or not so luckily, as I would subsequently conclude – someone knocked the door, preventing me of giving Luna an equivalent answer.
"Who the hell is that now?" It was Saturday, and I was supposed to be alone in the apartment, since the housekeeper didn't worked on weekends. Mary was the only one with a key, she worked here since- well, since the beginning of time or so. Mary was old and all, so she never walked up the stairs leading to the third floor, she would rather force a maid to do so.
Mary or not, I just headed to the door. I don't think a thief would knock before entering, so I just opened it.
"Mom?!"