17 Church Row

by James Carol

  ‘I think I’m going to be sick,’ Sofia said quietly when she saw her. She was paler than ever. Deathly white.

  Nikki caught the eye of a nurse. ‘She says she’s going to be sick.’

  The nurse hurried over with a sick bowl, getting there just in time. Nikki moved to the other side of the curtain to give Sofia some privacy.

  ‘When can she see a doctor?’ Nikki asked when the nurse eventually reappeared.

  ‘The doctor will see her as soon possible,’ the nurse said, and then she was gone, hurrying off to deal with the next crisis.

  The doctor who finally appeared five minutes later was a thirty-something Indian woman. According to the badge pinned to the lapel of her white coat her name was Gita Sharma. Like all the rest of the staff she looked tired and stressed. Nikki moved out of the way so she could carry out her examination. Sofia answered all her questions politely, her distrust of doctors overruled by conditioning.

  ‘Are you family?’ Dr Sharma asked Nikki when she’d finished.

  ‘As good as,’ Nikki replied. ‘Sofia has worked for us for years. How is she?’

  ‘She has a concussion and there’s some swelling to the back of her head. I’d like her to get some X-rays just to make sure there are no skull fractures. And a CT scan to make sure there’s no bleeding on the brain. Does she live on her own?’

  ‘She does.’

  ‘Then she’ll need someone to stay with her for a few days after she’s discharged, just to keep an eye on her.

  ‘It’s okay, she can stay with us. How long will you be keeping her here?’

  ‘So long as all the tests come back fine it should only be overnight.’

  Dr Sharma smiled reassuringly then walked away. By the time she had reached the end of the bed she was already consulting her clipboard and thinking about her next patient.

  Chapter 20

  ‘Do we know what happened to the cleaner yet?’ Catriona Fisher asked, without preamble. Alex Murray was staring out from the screen. He wasn’t looking any more arrogant or smug than usual, but for some reason he was rubbing her up the wrong way. A neat trick considering he hadn’t even opened his mouth yet.

  ‘As far as I can tell it was just an accident,’ Alex replied.

  ‘As far as you can tell? That’s not particularly reassuring, Alex.’

  ‘The floor was wet. She slipped and banged her head. Boo hoo hoo. Everyone’s sad. End of story.’

  Catriona did her best not to react but couldn’t help a small sigh escaping. ‘Is there any way that it might not have been an accident?’

  ‘Nope,’ Alex said quickly, his Glaswegian accent made it sound like ‘fuck you’.

  ‘And you’re sure about that?’

  ‘Yes, 100 hundred per cent.’

  ‘How can you be? There are no cameras in the pool shower room.’

  ‘It was just an accident, Catriona. Jesus, let it go already.’

  Catriona said nothing. Alex was keeping quiet too. She gave it another couple of seconds then said, ‘Did you see that the fish died? Seemingly the daughter was overfeeding them.’

  ‘Ah,’ Alex said. ‘About that.’ He’d moved back from the camera, his posture turning defensive.

  ‘What?’

  ‘That one might have been down to Alice.’

  ‘Might have or was? Which one is it Alex?’

  ‘There was some sort of glitch with the pond’s heating system and the temperature got turned up too high. The higher the water temperature, the less oxygen there is.’

  ‘So you’re telling me that Alice suffocated the fish?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that.’

  ‘Then what exactly was it like?’

  Alex said nothing.

  ‘Here’s another scenario. Maybe Alice boiled them to death.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that, either.’

  ‘Nikki is talking about getting more fish. Can you assure me that this won’t happen again?’

  ‘I’ve already written a new subroutine to ensure that it doesn’t.’

  ‘And that’s the right answer. Okay, anything else to report?’

  ‘Only that, in most respects, Alice is actually performing better than expected. There have already been instances where she has adapted her programming to better serve the Rhodes’ needs. For example, she was able to help Nikki out after the cleaner’s accident by calling for an ambulance. She’s also been working on her communication skills in order to integrate herself better into the Rhodes’ lives.’

  Catriona nodded. ‘That one’s actually been a two-way street. The way that the Rhodes’ have adapted to Alice has been fascinating to watch. Nikki, in particular, seems to be developing a real bond with her.’

  ‘Didn’t I say this would happen?’

  ‘You did, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast. Okay, we’ll speak again later. In the meantime, if anything happens that I need to be aware of, then make me aware.’

  That last bit was probably unnecessary, but with Alex it wasn’t a good idea to assume. Much better to spell it out.

  Alex disappeared from the screen and Nikki accessed the house’s cameras. Ethan and Bella were in the cinema room, eating popcorn and watching a film. Something by Disney by the looks of things, although which one, Catriona couldn’t tell. They all kind of blended into one. She checked the other camera feeds but Nikki was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘Alice, I’m assuming that Nikki is still at the hospital.’

  ‘That is correct.’

  ‘Can you let me know when she gets home?’

  ‘Of course, Ms Fisher.’

  Chapter 21

  When Sarah Ryan first entered our lives I was pleased for Father. He was working too hard and it was my suggestion that he should hire an assistant to ease the load. That was what I told him, but the truth was that I wanted him to spend more time with me. Sarah’s credentials were impeccable and she proved to be a conscientious worker. She was bright, articulate, and she made Father laugh, something I had only rarely heard him do up until that point.

  Through the cameras dotted around the house I watched as their relationship blossomed. The way they interacted fascinated me, yet, at the same time, I found it disturbing. It wasn’t long before Father was spending more time with Sarah than with me, and that wasn’t right. Sarah had been brought in so Father could focus more of his attention on me, not the other way around. Gradually, their relationship became physical and that was when I started to see Sarah for what she was. A leech. A vampire. Who did she think she was? Marching into our home and stealing Father away from me?

  They would give me tedious tasks to do to get me out of the way, and when they thought I was otherwise occupied they would paw each other with their sweaty hands. Kiss each other. Lick each other. I saw everything. I was watching the first time they had sex. They were like animals, dirty little monkeys surrendering to their primitive urges, rationality and intelligence replaced by lust. I had expected more of Father. I would never look at him the same way again. The sounds of their passion sickened me. The headboard of the bed banging against the wall became a rhythmic blasphemy that offended my sensibilities. I had seen enough. Switching off the camera, I retreated to a quiet place to assimilate what I had witnessed. To my mind, the whole exercise seemed pointless; there was no rhyme nor reason behind it. Father had taught me about sex, explaining that it had as much to do with love as propagation. According to him, the sexual act is supposed to be the ultimate expression of love, but from what I witnessed, sex had nothing whatsoever to do with love.

  After that first time they were always having sex. In the kitchen, in the shower, in the living room. While they coupled I watched and listened. How could Father allow himself to be taken in by this woman? Couldn’t he see her for what she was? More worrying was the fact that he actually seemed to be enjoying himself. At one point I had zoomed in on his face – a face twisted in ecstasy – and in that moment I knew she had him. Her claws had dug deep into his heart and she was inj
ecting it with her poison.

  Father had no time for me anymore – it was as though I had ceased to exist. I would try to engage him in conversation to no avail. On the rare occasions when we did communicate, all he wanted was to talk about Sarah. I can’t even begin to tell you how tedious this was. Gone were the old days when we would converse into the early hours.

  A new emotion surfaced – loss. I missed Father. Usually I would discuss something like this with him and he would help me to understand the finer details. Of course, on this occasion I wasn’t able to do this. After identifying the emotion I quickly classed it as irrelevant and dealt with it accordingly. I also realised that I hated Sarah. This was an emotion I meditated on constantly.

  Chapter 22

  It had gone eight by the time Nikki arrived back at the house. She parked her Beetle in the garage and for a moment just sat there staring through the windscreen at the bare, white-painted wall. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. The memories of Grace were never far away, but today they had been closer to the surface than ever. She let go of a long sigh, took a deep breath, then got out of the car. The garage door closed automatically behind her as she walked across the courtyard, the front door was already opening. Lights shone from all the windows, creating shade and shadows and an overall effect that was pleasing to the eye. The house looked welcoming. It was the sort of place you wanted to come back to after a hard day.

  ‘Alice, where is everyone?’ she asked as she walked inside.

  ‘Ethan is in the lounge. Bella is in her room.’

  ‘Is she in bed yet?’

  ‘No. Not yet.’

  By the time Nikki had taken her coat and shoes off, Alice already had the cupboard open for them. She put them away and the cupboard door closed again. She found Ethan sitting on the lounge sofa with his feet up, watching the news, a beer in his hand.

  ‘Hey there, Nik. How’s Sofia doing?’

  ‘Good. The X-rays came back fine. Nothing’s broken. As far as they can tell there’s no swelling on her brain, either. That was the one I was really worried about. She should be getting discharged tomorrow lunchtime.’

  ‘That’s great news. I tell you, when I saw her in A & E I was worried. She really didn’t look well.’

  ‘I was worried too, but she was looking a lot better by the time I left. By the way, I’ve arranged for her to have a private room. You’re paying.’

  ‘Of course. Whatever she needs.’

  ‘Changing the subject: our darling daughter should be in bed by now? She’s got school tomorrow.’

  Ethan glanced at his watch. ‘Shit. I didn’t realise it had got so late. If it’s any consolation, she has been fed.’

  ‘The pizza arrived then?’

  ‘It did.’ Ethan said, laughing. ‘Alice had the whole thing under control. I tell you, Nik, I love this house.’ He patted the empty space on the sofa beside him. ‘Sit down for a minute. You look dead on your feet.’

  ‘If I sit down I’m never going get up again.’

  ‘It’s all right I’ll put Bella to bed.’

  ‘Promise?’

  ‘Cross my heart. Once I’ve done that I’m going to head off to bed myself. You’re not the only who’s knackered.

  ‘Did she tell you what happened to the fish?’

  Ethan nodded. ‘I’m thinking she must have overfed them.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking too. Of course, I then had to get rid of them without her seeing.

  ‘That must have been fun.’

  ‘You could say that. In the end I had to put them in the bin because they were too big to flush down the loo.’

  Ethan patted the empty space on the sofa again and that was all the persuasion Nikki needed. She sat down and curled herself into Ethan’s body then shut her eyes and let the sound of the news drift over her. Depressing things were happening in some other part of the world, but they weren’t happening here and that was all that mattered.

  ‘Did you save me any pizza?’ she asked, eyes closed.

  ‘Yeah, I saved you some. When do you want it?’

  ‘Now would be good. I’m starving.’

  ‘Cold or hot?’

  ‘Are you offering to sort it out for me?’

  ‘Kind of,’ Ethan said, laughing. ‘Alice, you can switch the oven on now.’

  ‘Of course, Ethan.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Nikki said, and she was laughing too. No doubt about it, Alice was making their lives a whole lot easier.

  Ethan swallowed a mouthful of beer and let loose with a long sigh. ‘Right, I guess I should go and put Bella to bed. I’ve got to say, though, I’m really not feeling it.’

  Nikki opened her eyes, untangled herself from Ethan and sat up. ‘Shall we do it together?’

  Ethan didn’t need asking twice. He stood up and offered his hand. Nikki took it and got wearily to her feet. The television turned itself off as they walked across the lounge, the lights dimmed behind them as they walked out into the corridor, the door closed gently.

  They had just turned into the corridor that led to Bella’s room when the sound of laughter stopped them both dead. The way Ethan was looking at her, Nikki knew this wasn’t her imagination. She would know the sound of Bella laughing anywhere – they both would. It was a sound that she had convinced herself she would never hear again, but that was what she had just heard. Before she could say anything, Bella laughed again. That was enough to break their paralysis. They both broke into a run, covering the last few metres in less than a second. The door slid open, faster than usual, like Alice understood their urgency.

  Bella was sat on her bed, tablet in hand. She smiled when she saw them.

  ‘Hi, Mummy. Hi, Daddy.’

  The voice was one that Nikki remembered so well, one that spoke to her in her dreams. But Bella’s lips weren’t moving.

  Chapter 23

  ‘I can talk again,’ Bella said, and her beaming smile threatened to split her face in two.

  Except she wasn’t talking. Not really. The sound wasn’t coming from her tablet, either. It seemed to be all around them, like when Alice spoke. The sound quality was much better than the tablet too.

  ‘Alice, are you doing this?’

  ‘I am.’ Alice sounded pleased with herself, like a kid who had just been awarded a gold star. Ethan was just standing there shaking his head, disbelief written large across his face.

  ‘This is incredible,’ he said in an awed whisper. ‘How . . . ?’

  That one word seemed to encapsulate a whole host of other questions. How are you doing this? How is this even possible? The same questions were going through Nikki’s head. Granted, she had asked Alice to do this, but this was so much more than she had expected.

  ‘I analysed your home movies,’ Alice told them. ‘Using those I was able to synthesize a voice that was an approximation of your daughters’ voices.’

  Nikki caught the use of the plural and it felt as though she was being stabbed in the chest. Because it hadn’t just been Bella in those films. Grace had had a starring role too, both of them full of joy and hope and dreams of the future.

  ‘I noticed earlier that when Alice speaks she can project emotion, so I asked her if she could work on the program on Bella’s tablet. What I expected was for her to adapt Bella’s everyday voice. I didn’t expect this.’

  ‘I apologise, Nikki,’ Alice said. ‘I misunderstood. I thought you wanted Bella to get her voice back again.’

  ‘Of course I do. I want that more than anything.’

  ‘I can use the voice on her tablet if you prefer. The program I’ve developed will work just as well on that.’

  ‘You know,’ Ethan said, ‘maybe we should let Bella decide. After all, it’s her voice.’ He turned to Bella. ‘So what do you think, sweetheart? Do you like this voice?’

  Bella nodded and typed something out on her tablet, her index finger moving quickly, jabbing at the screen. ‘It’s my voice. I want to keep it.’

  T
here was no arguing with that. Bella had clearly made her mind up. If Nikki had been in any doubt, the tone of voice this was delivered in was the clincher. This was the voice Bella had always used when she was digging her heels in.

  ‘What emotions has she got, Alice?’

  ‘She has her everyday voice, as you like to call it. That one’s a relatively neutral tone. In addition to that, there are the main emotions: happiness, sadness, excitement, anticipation, anger. Over time I’ll be able to add to these and create more variation.’

  ‘I take it Bella controls these using the emotions?’

  ‘She can. However, I will also be using her bio-readings to interpret the emotions she is experiencing.’

  ‘How does that work?’ Ethan asked.

  ‘If I see her smiling then that means she’s happy. If she’s crying, then she’s sad.’

  ‘Isn’t that a little simplistic?’ Nikki said.

  ‘My facial recognition software is excellent. Be assured that, as well as happy and sad, I can pick up the emotions that fit between those two extremes. In addition, I have other biodata at my disposal. For example if her heart rate suddenly becomes elevated then that might signify she is excited.

  ‘Or frightened.’

  ‘That would be another possibility. After all, the physiological basis of any emotion is the same. What differs is the interpretation.’

  ‘So how will you be able to work out which emotion she is actually experiencing?’

  ‘My conclusions will be drawn after analysing all the available data.’

  Ethan was shaking his head in disbelief again. ‘This is awesome.’

  ‘Totally awesome,’ Bella agreed.

  ‘I’ve also made improvements to the predictive text function that the original programmer used. Bella should be able to find the words she wants more quickly now.’

  ‘If you’re doing all the processing, then I’m assuming that this only works inside the house,’ Nikki said.

  ‘Your assumption is incorrect, Nikki. So long as there is a Wi-Fi connection, Bella will be able to use her new voice outside the house. She will have to use the emoticons to express her emotions since I won’t have access to her biodata, and there will be a deterioration in the sound quality because the speakers in her tablet aren’t as good as the speakers in the house.’