by Isaac Hooke
She shrugged, giving him a sultry narrowing of the eyes. “Wanna go back to our room and make babies?”
Jason frowned. “My room, not our. And we can’t make babies in VR.”
“Why not?” Lori said. “I can program a baby simulacrum anytime you want. I can even program pregnancy.”
“Yeah, except that it won’t be real,” Jason said. “If you program babies, I’ll dump you.”
She pouted. “I’d never let you dump me. I’d hack administrator access to your personality subroutine, and force you to love me for all time, forever and ever.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Jason said.
She gave him a nonchalant look. “How do you know I haven’t already?”
He checked his admin section, and confirmed that he was the only user. But he knew there were ways to hide the user list.
“If you have, I swear—” Jason began.
“Just kidding!” Lori said. “I’d never do that! It’d be an insult to our relationship. An offense to the trust we’ve built up.”
“Good,” Jason said. He paused, then: “By the way, nice choice of words. You’re sounding more and more like me all the time.”
“Is that a good thing?” Lori said.
“Yeah, I suppose,” Jason said. “It’s better than me sounding like you.”
“And how do I sound, usually?” Lori asked skeptically.
“Oh look everyone!” Jason replied in a higher pitched voice. “I made the perfect ketchup! Umami! Mmmm! You’re gonna eat this and like it, bitches!”
“Ha,” Lori said. “You got it wrong! The bitches is implied.”
“And so it is,” Jason said with a laugh.
“So, about the babies…” Lori pressed.
“No simulated babies,” Jason said quickly.
She snuggled against his side. “But it might be fun!”
“No babies,” Jason said.
Lori pulled away. “As you wish, Master.”
“That’s more like it,” Jason said. He glanced at her.
He felt a brief burst of pain in the side opposite her. “Hey!” He glanced that way, but he couldn’t see anything and her arms were still pressed around his waist. But this was VR… “Did you just punch me?”
Her freckled face smiled innocently. “Who me?”
“Yeah, you,” Jason said.
Her eyes sparkled mischievously. “Maybe.”
“You did, didn’t you?” Jason said.
“Nope!” Lori said. “But I might have stabbed my tail into your ribs…”
“Ah, you’re sneaky!” Jason said. He tickled her, and she laughed contagiously.
He looked up, and realized Sophie was standing there, watching them with her arms crossed. She was wearing her tasseled bikini tonight, with the fringed face mask that covered her face from the nose down. She’d opted not to paint her eyes with kohl, so instead of looking like Cleopatra, she appeared more like a belly dancer.
Lori noticed his gaze and glanced over her shoulder. “Oh,” she said when she realized Sophie was there, and she pulled away slightly from Jason, though she secretly left her tail entwined around his hips under the table.
Sophie took a seat across from them.
“What’s up?” Jason said.
“Nothing.” Sophie raised her head higher to look down her nose at him. “I wanted to see the lake.”
“I see,” Jason said. “Well, you’re sitting on the wrong side.”
Sophie shrugged. “I don’t want to see it anymore.” She glanced at Lori. “What’s for dinner tonight?”
The girls still had a shared dinner at six every night, and Lori was usually the one who handled the meal preparation. Jason avoided going to that dinner, of course. Too much estrogen for his tastes. He got enough of it every other hour of the day. Suppertime was his chance to hang out alone in his man cave.
“I’m thinking of chicken tortillas and maybe some fajitas,” Lori said.
Sophie made a distasteful expression. “Mexican. I hate Mexican.”
“You would,” Jason said.
Sophie smiled. “Why don’t you drop by my quarters and I’ll show you a special meal.”
“Don’t go!” Lori said. “She wants to jump your bones!”
“Thanks for the translation,” Jason told her. He glanced at Sophie. “And I think I’ll have to pass.”
“You can’t keep avoiding my advances forever,” Sophie said.
“Actually, I can,” Jason said.
“I’ll wear you down eventually,” Sophie said.
“Maybe you’d have better luck if you didn’t do this in front of me,” Lori said. “I mean, I don’t mind sharing him, but to go about it so blatantly, well of course you’re going to make him uncomfortable!”
Sophie eyed her coolly. “You’re smarter than you let on. Interesting.” She studied Jason. “We’re not done yet.”
She vanished.
Only to be replaced by Tara. She appeared taken aback at first, as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but seemed to recover.
“Well hello you two,” Tara said.
“Were you here the whole time?” Jason said.
It was a trick the girls did sometimes, overlaying their avatars one atop the other, allowing them to secretly listen in on conversations. Since this was his VR, Jason had set the rules to prevent the girls from taking on shapes that weren’t their own, or from becoming invisible. But he could do nothing about the whole overlaying issue. And the girls who were used as overlays didn’t even know it. Lori had programmed in some hack into his VR that prevented anyone from using her avatar as an overlay, but so far she’d refused to share the trick with the others. Probably a good thing, because he didn’t want too many people hacking into his system.
Tara’s face reddened. “Actually I was. Sorry, I wanted to know what Sophie wanted.”
“The usual!” Lori said. “She was trying to sleep with him!”
“Yes, I heard,” Tara said. “I don’t want to sleep with him.”
“Yes you do,” Lori said with a giggle.
“Well I used to,” Tara said. “But I’ve decided I don’t need a real man. Or a formerly real man, as it were.”
“Oh really?” Lori said. “So you just use simulacrums now in your own VR?”
“Yep,” Tara said. “I’ve even got mine shaped just like Jason.”
“Hey, I never gave permission for that,” Jason said.
Tara raised one eyebrow. “I don’t need your permission. It’s my VR. I can create what I want.”
“It’s still not right,” Jason said.
Tara pursed her lips. “Maybe you’re right. But it will have to do until I can get the real thing.” She glanced at Lori. “Dinner soon?”
“You got it,” Lori said.
Tara nodded, and then she was gone.
Replaced by Xin.
Who seemed just as embarrassed as Tara had.
“Sorry!” Xin stammered.
The cute Japanese girl vanished before saying anything more.
Aria sat in her place. She gave Jason a sheepish grin. “Uh, hi.”
She was dressed in a black leather outfit that somehow suited her pale skin and red lips.
“Lori, you’re going to have to give out that code to prevent people from overlaying their avatars…” Jason said.
“Why?” Lori said. “I wouldn’t want the girls to miss out on all the fun!”
“I never expected eavesdropping from the likes of you,” Jason said.
“Girls will be girls,” Aria said.
“Wait, don’t tell me you like me, too,” Jason said.
“No,” Aria said. “Of course not.” She shook her head a little too fervently.
“Well good,” Jason said. “I was getting worried. Because I’m not sure I can handle more than one girl.”
“You wouldn’t have to,” Aria said. “I don’t think any of us are into girls. We’d only be with you one at a time. I mean, excluding me.”
She added the latter a hastily.
“Yeah, I get that,” Jason said. “But I mean, I’m not sure I can juggle multiple relationships. Even if it was a sex buddies sort of deal.”
Aria nodded. “Most men will never have the opportunity you have. Don’t waste it.”
And with that, Aria was gone.
“Welp, guess I should get supper ready!” Lori said.
She winked out.
Then reappeared a moment later. “Oh, I almost forgot! I have a present for you, Love!”
“A present…” Jason said suspiciously.
“Uh huh!” Lori said. “I’ve activated your Accomp for you!”
"My what?"
"Accompanying AI, silly,” Lori said. “Here."
Jason received an alert.
“Uh, just how deeply have you burrowed into my AI core?” Jason asked.
“Oh, not too far,” Lori replied. “I’ve patched all the backdoors I used, so no one else will be able to do it, if that’s your worry. I’ve done the same for the girls. Doing my part to spice up our cyber security.”
“Yeah, and giving yourself administrator access to all of our systems in the process…” Jason said.
“Hey, a girl’s got to have some control!” Lori said.
And then she was gone.
So my Accomp. Hmm. There should be a new menu item to access that.
He was about to activate his HUD when he saw a disturbance in the lake. A series of bubbles, slowly approaching shore.
I don’t recall programming any fish into the water…
Except what was emerging wasn’t exactly a fish.
The bubbles neared the shoreline, and a woman’s head appeared. She was gorgeous, with her black hair cut into a bob that ended just below her ears. Her hair, and face, seemed completely dry, as if the water hadn’t even touched them.
As she emerged further, Jason was disappointed to discover that she was clothed, rather then naked.
Get your mind out of the gutter.
A white, body-hugging suit covered her flesh from the neck down, all the way to the ankles. The material seemed similar to that of a wetsuit, except for the pale coloration.
She stepped onto the beach, and her bare feet left footprints in the sand.
She approached him, and nodded. "Thank you for activating me."
“You’re my Accomp?” Jason said.
The corner of her mouth crooked up. “Yes. But I am so much more than that. I am your eternal companion.”
“My eternal companion…” Jason said. “Not sure I like the sound of that.”
“Why?” the beautiful Accomp asked.
“I don’t like the idea of permanency when it comes to any sort of relationship, even if we’re talking friendship here.” Though at the moment he was hoping for more. Much more. “And eternal seems like a very long time.”
The Accomp merely smiled. “You cannot die. You might as well face facts.”
“Ah, but you’re wrong there,” Jason said. “The copy I was made from already died. I’m merely a backup.”
“I shall rephrase that,” the Accomp said. “You cannot die naturally.”
“Better,” Jason said. “So what do I call you?”
“My name is Z,” the Accomp said.
“Zee?” Jason asked.
“Zee,” she agreed.
“All right, so what are you?” Jason pressed. “A part of my mind?"
"No,” Z said. “I’m more of a partition, separate from your main personality. A subset of your own neural network, reserved strictly for my AI consciousness. But it is true, I share large portions of your own network—we use many of the same subroutines. But I have my own distinct personality, motivations, and belief systems. That said, I must obey all of your commands to the letter. I can solve complex problems for you in microseconds, and aid in target tracking. I am an observer, for the most part, unless you choose to give me control. I can assume command of different parts of your mech, or the entire unit. I am unable to take over when you’re operating in combined form with other mechs, however. Oh, and I should mention, my avatar is also anatomically correct, should you wish to vent any unfulfilled desires in the sexual department.”
“Uh, probably not,” Jason said. He shook his head. Even my friggin’ Accomp is hitting on me!
“And I can read your thoughts,” Z said. “I wasn’t actually hitting on you. I was merely pointing out my differing capabilities.”
“Sure you weren’t,” Jason said. “And this is great, just great: a girl who I can’t get out of my head. Ever.”
“Actually, you can shut me off at will,” Z said. “There’s a menu option. And also voice control.”
“Good, shut down,” Jason said.
Z nodded. “As you wish.” And she vanished.
Jason exhaled in relief.
Yep. Definitely too much estrogen.
3
The next morning Jason went on his usual weekly tour of the base to review the latest expansions Aria had made. After using the printers to create copies of themselves, she’d devoted one of the printers to industrial tools full-time, and she had a small convoy of four diggers constantly working to expand the depths of the base. So far, they’d drilled three distinct levels underneath the main. The raw mineral rock produced by those diggers was rich in iron, and Aria used that to build the walls and pillars that supported the place, as well as the raw materials necessary to build more defenses and reinforce the rest of the cistern that served as their base.
Aria had made the different levels big enough to be navigable by the large mechs, but just barely, and moving about the cramped confines wasn’t exactly pleasant. Jason preferred to conduct the tour via a much smaller Explorer drone, if only because climbing up and down the scuttles that led between floors used up power unnecessarily, and was best reserved for times of emergency.
He piloted the Explorer remotely. Comm repeaters placed in each floor ensured that he had a strong signal the whole time. Meanwhile, his actual mech body was hooked up to the power cells that were fed by the partially concealed solar panels the team had once more placed outside.
Sophie and Aria had moved to the third floor, while Xin and Tara called the second floor home. Jason and Lori remained on the top floor. Aria had argued that it was safest for Jason to move at least one floor down, but he preferred the top floor, probably because claustrophobia was something that even machines could get. Lori, meanwhile, didn’t seem to have a preference either way, other than insisting that she resided on the same floor as he did. He wasn’t sure what the big deal was, because it wasn’t like they could really cuddle their mechs, for example. When the Rex Wolves were inside, they usually spread out between floors, with Shaggy and Runt staying on the first to be close to Jason and Lori, and Bruiser and Lackey taking the scuttle to the second floor to join Tara.
The Explorer passed Aria’s so-called chem lab, a substantial area set aside on the second floor. It was here that the explosives used to replenish their missiles and Battle Cloak countermeasures were formed. Aria had developed a special hydrogen extractor that separated liquid hydrogen and oxygen from groundwater buried deep underneath the base, and retrieved via a pipe drilled into the rock. She’d also created other extractors to separate nitrogen and oxygen from the air. From those, she was able to develop all the rocket fuel and explosives she needed. She’d also discovered a hydrocarbon fuel source in her drilling, a fuel she distilled in her chem lab to form the polycarbonate necessary for certain specialized hulls.
The Explorer moved down the scuttle that led to the third floor. The big rungs carved into the wall allowed the mechs to climb up and down without too much effort, but again at the cost of power.
On the third floor most of the available space was taken up by the industrial grade printers, which Aria liked to keep close to the unprocessed ores that the drills produced. He could see the large pit past the piles of ore, where the diggers were excavating, working on hollowing out the next floor.
That pit would become a scuttle when the fourth floor was complete.
The Explorer passed the special section that was reserved for producing duplicates of their mechs. And these were complete duplicates, not just of the body, but of the mind as well. That’s right: Aria was working on clones of the entire War Forgers, as a way of leveling the playing field with Bokerov and the invading aliens. In her internal database she had the complete blueprints for all of their mechs, as well as for blank AI cores. He could see the large, cigar-shaped cylinders containing those AI cores even now. A swirling logo with the words “Minerva Solutions” was stamped into the sides: Aria’s trademark.
Jason had argued against duplication at first—he hated the idea of a clone of himself walking around. But he realized it was a moot point, because he already essentially had a clone walking around, at least on the habitable hemisphere of the world: the original human mind he had been copied from very likely still existed, since only ten years had passed since the scan was taken. And there was no way a single team of mechs could handle an entire alien invasion, so making copies seemed like the best solution, though it was limited by the raw materials on hand.
The hydrocarbon fuel source and ore from the rock beds gave Aria the means to form the metal-polycarbonate composites needed for the mech hulls, but the neural networks of the AI cores required a completely different set of rare elements, ones that weren’t even found in the region as far as Jason knew. They’d plundered such elements from the processing bays of Bokerov’s fallen base. Where Bokerov had obtained them, Jason didn’t know. The rogue AI had likely traveled far and wide across the uninhabited zone in the years since the original alien invasion.
With those plundered elements, Aria had enough material to create at least three copies of each of them. As the teams conquered more of Bokerov’s bases, they’d be able to create successively more copies of themselves.
Jason’s original self had signed a license agreement authorizing the military to deploy only one active copy at a time, but Jason and the others weren’t the military. The original Jason might be upset if he found out that multiple copies of himself existed, in violation of the contract, but he’d understand when he realized what was at stake: that the only thing standing between Earth and the invaders were teams led by copies of his own mind.
