A mass of large pipes, painted dull red, green, black, and yellow, ran along the walls. Muck and dust covered everything. Morbid shadows lurked in the darkness. A hand here, a foot there, the separation of light and dark at one point painted the profile of a childlike face on the wall. A spider, made gargantuan by the light, crawled over the nose. Advancing behind the headless doll, his eyes adjusted, revealing the spaces between the pipes held hundreds of doll parts. Everything from inanimate toy dolls to primitive versions of Emily. One or two looked like adults, but the vast majority of them had been made in the image of children.
Not one had a stitch of clothing over their battered frames, and many had missing limbs, heads, or both. Only the obvious circuitry sticking out of the pieces kept Joey from getting sick.
“Emily?”
“Yes?” She stopped and turned to face him. Her hands tilted the head so she could look up at him.
Eye contact lasted three seconds before he had to look away. “Why are all of these dolls here?”
Her eyes half closed into a downcast stare. “Hugo is lonely. We are his family.”
Even with her head in her hands, this doll creeped him out in ways he had never thought possible. For one thing, dolls did not usually trip that indefinable sense that you were in the presence of another person, and she did. Secondly, the WellTech dolls programming only included happy and cheerful, but Emily seemed despondent. These dolls could throw childish temper tantrums and pout, but she looked deeply sad. The company did not have authority to give them full AIs, or they would fall under the protection of the law as sentient and therefore could not be sold. A certain degree of “acting like a robot” was required in the RealLife dolls and Emily lacked it.
“Were you ever alive?” Joey cringed. As soon as he asked, he felt like a fool, realizing Proscion probably just reprogrammed her AI.
She smiled. “I’ve always been alive.”
The response froze him for a moment, until he again felt like an idiot for thinking what he was thinking. “What happened to you?”
Emily turned and kept walking. She spun her disembodied head to the rear, giving Joey a look that bid him to follow. Around a corner, she led him down another hallway full of pipes and broken dolls. A dozen lifeless young faces stared out at him from their cobweb-infested dens. The sense he had invaded the den of a serial killer that kept trophies grew oppressive. He broke out in a sweat, not wanting to look at the walls or his guide. Not since his little sister’s room had he seen so many nude, dismembered dolls in one place.
The artificial girl stopped by a broken pipe about a foot in diameter. One cracked end rested on the ground and the other still clung to a pipe sling near the ceiling. It had once run parallel to the roof. She pointed at it the lower end with her toe.
“That fell on me.”
Joey winced. “Ouch.”
“People shoot through the walls sometimes. A bullet clipped the cable just as I was rummaging for stuff to burn. The heat doesn’t work.”
“You’re probably cold.” Joey smiled as he pulled off his coat off to give it to her.
“I am, but it does not matter, it is just an electrical signal. The cold will not harm my body. Hugo needs to keep warm. I keep a fire for him but there is nothing left to burn.” Her voice fell with genuine worry.
“You burned your clothes?” He blinked.
She held her head up in both hands and made it nod. “I used to go outside to find things, but I am unable to do that anymore with this much damage. He is going to die soon. That is why I decided to let you in. I thought maybe you can help him.”
Emily accepted the coat, but did not put it on. She continued to walk, carrying it. As they got further in, the quality of the parts packed into the pipes increased, as if this place was a museum highlighting the advancement of doll technology. She led him into a large room, once a manufacturing area, past colossal hulks of dead machinery that loomed through the stillness.
Joey gazed up at the huge things; thankful for something to see aside from the awkwardness he followed. The steel beasts hung over him, he could almost feel them wanting release from their uselessness. Scrap metal, tools, and other smaller machines littered the area. Old tables, desks, and chairs once used by those who worked here held a century of dust. A rusting conveyor made of thousands of steel rollers snaked among the equipment; the unmoving system held yet more doll pieces and some boxes. Delivery bot take-out food containers lay piled in the shadow of a massive gleaming computer far out of place given the rest of the scenery.
“Holy shit, is that a Meridian Nine?” He reached out to the computer as if approaching the altar of a church. “This is a GlobeNet backbone server; oh it’s a little old, it’s a seven.”
“This place is full of dead machines that no one wants anymore.” Emily tilted her head up at him as she placed her bare feet carefully around sharp objects without even looking. She sounded sadder as she spoke, as if implying she was one such machine.
“Do you think he doesn’t want you?” Why am I feeling sorry for a damn robot?
She stopped, standing in silence. “I… think he’s just sick now.”
A withered old man sat twisted in a hover-chair positioned between the Meridian and a burn barrel containing a weak fire. Tubes ran into his body from the back of his seat as life support systems chugged away, feeding him and removing his waste. His head curled to the left and a steady line of drool oozed from his lips. Two wires ran from the back of his head, connecting him to the silver machine. Joey had a sinking feeling he stared at Proscion. The image of the sick old man about the farthest thing from what he had imagined. Emily walked over, placing Joey’s coat over the old man.
Meeting one’s heroes seldom lived up to your expectations.
Her voice was delicate, sad yet detached. “He has been logged in for more than a year.” She pivoted her head to look down at the floor. “He used to come out and spend time with me… but he does not come out anymore.”
“You’ve been changing his OmniSoy pack…” Joey walked up and looked at the computer. “Maybe he can’t get out?” He offered her a sad smile. “If he’s been logged in all this time, why does everyone think he’s gone?”
Emily balanced her head in one arm and wiped the drool from Hugo’s face with her free hand. “It’s not connected to the GlobeNet. He made his own world.”
“Make him wake up!” A petulant boy’s voice came from the right.
Joey stumbled, close to fainting at the sudden sound. A little boy, about the same apparent age as Emily, sat at a checkerboard between a pair of immense metal stamping machines. A thick layer of dust coated his red and green striped shirt, blue jeans, and bare feet as well as the game. It looked as if he had not moved a millimeter in over a year.
“It’s his turn, I want him to move!” The bratty whine reminded him why he was in no hurry to have one of his own.
Joey stared at the boy doll for a few minutes until it looked away, returning its posture to neutral forward and becoming still. He looked like the same series as Emily, indistinguishable in appearance from a real person. Seeing him motionless and covered in dust was almost too much for Joey to handle, but that one acted as he expected a WellTech doll to act. In flagrant disregard for the situation around him, he behaved like a spoiled child.
A bump to the leg brought Joey’s attention back to Emily. She had found an old metal folding chair and dragged it over.
“If you want to talk to him, you will need to go in.” She pointed at the computer.
Temptation and apprehension dueled in his head. Emily pulled a wire out of the Meridian and offered it. With a sigh, he sat down and took it. She went back to Hugo and wiped his drool. He watched her tend to the sick old man for a moment, almost dropping her head as she did. The sight of a machine so concerned with the welfare of its owner confused him to his core.
That was not part of the companion doll programming; the way she spoke to him as she fussed with his clothing and life
support tubes betrayed a genuine, not synthetic, worry. He shook his head in a vain attempt to dispel the confusion as he leaned back in the chair and plugged in.
The rush of flashing lights and colors from the login faded away to reveal the center of what looked like a park. His perspective felt different. When he neared a bench seat, he realized his avatar approximated what he looked like at ten. He stared at the placid clouds overhead, pondering where Proscion’s mind had gone. While knocking at death’s door, he had become desperate to cling to youth.
A pack of children played on the other side of the park with no trace of an adult anywhere he could see. Little Joey walked towards them, moving along behind trees in an effort to stay out of sight. The kids played tag and catch; some jumped rope while others chased a puppy around. It looked like a slice of prewar suburbia, four hundred years ago. He looked down at himself, happy this was a private server. If his Dad AI showed up here, he would not be able to handle the discomfort.
He hid in the shadow of a large tree, watching them, trying to figure out which boy was Proscion. After what felt like an hour, indistinct voices that spoke in warbling tones rather than words called the children away one by one. One girl remained after all the others had left. The simulated sunlight gleamed through red hair and freckles, and she wore a cute pink dress with shiny red shoes over white socks. Lonely, she pouted and sat on a swing. Joey stared up at the sky, shaking his head.
He emerged from his cover, stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked over. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Her mood brightened in an instant. “Did you just move into town? Wanna play?”
“Maybe.”
She stopped actively swinging, rocking to a gradual halt. “Why maybe?”
He circled and took a seat on the other swing. “I need to find someone.”
“Who?”
“Do you know Proscion?”
The girl looked away as if he had just called her a dirty name. “I don’t know him. I’m Kelly.” She grumbled and folded her arms.
“Okay, Kelly. I’ll play with you if you help me out. Emily is worried.”
The little red-haired girl whirled on him with a scared look. “Why is Emily upset?”
“She thinks Proscion is hiding because he doesn’t love her anymore. Seems like he only has a little bit of time left and she wanted to be with him before he dies.”
Joey felt awkward at the thought of loving a doll, until he felt like a hypocrite. To rationalize, he clung to the knowledge that Nina had a human brain. Tears ran from Kelly’s face, creating dark spots on her dress.
“I don’t like talking about him. He loves Emily, but she’s my sister now… not my daughter.” She looked up with a sheepish grin realizing she had just broken the illusion.
Despite his suspicions, the sudden confirmation stunned Joey for a moment.
“Do you know anything about the Silver hack? Or why someone would bother to make an AI out of my dad?”
Kelly wiped her face with both hands. Her sadness morphed into a weasel’s look of opportunity. “I’ll help you if you help me.”
“I’m listening.” He pushed and swung without thinking about it.
“You can’t tell anyone. Promise?”
“Sure.”
“Say promise.” She stomped her foot in midair with a sullen shout, making the swing-chain rattle.
“I promise.” He droned, hoping his annoyance was not too obvious.
Kelly swung her feet back and forth. “I know a man that can help me, but he lives far away. I did a favor for him years ago, but I am too sick to get to him on my own now.”
“That’s it? You need a ride?” Joey lifted an eyebrow.
Kelly nodded. “Yes, that’s about it.” She stared at him. “But you can’t tell anyone about him.”
“If I take you there, you can help me?” Joey tried to dismiss a haze of hair over his eyes with a sharp breath.
“Yep.” She beamed. “I know who’s messing with you. I’ll tell you if you help me.”
Joey’s mind struggled with the contrast of the infamous Proscion wrapped in the package of small red haired girl in a pink dress. Her attitude seemed childlike in ways, but also sophisticated. He could not help but draw connections between her and Nina. Both of them were more than what they appeared.
“This sounds too easy.” Joey said with narrowing eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”
She put on a coy smile. “I said he was far away.”
“East City?”
“Not that far.” The girl bit her lip for a second. “He’s in the swamps.”
The only swamps Joey knew of were in the Badlands. The sound that came out of him made Kelly’s blue eyes widen into a pathetic pleading stare.
The skies overhead darkened, threatening rain; the sound of chirping birds ceased. “Please! I don’t have much time left.” She clutched his hand.
Joey tried to separate the image in front of him from the hacker god he had all but worshipped as a teen. The old man’s brain had obviously become jelly, and what remained of him had regressed.
“Can I ask you one question?” Joey opened an eye.
“Kay.”
“Why a girl?”
Kelly shrugged. The childlike affect dimmed. “Most of my life, I wasn’t a person… More like a mish mash of dying meat propped up by tubes. People would stare with pity, or recoil. I am done with the world out there as an adult. I don’t want worries or cares, and what’s more innocent than a little girl? Most people see a little boy and wonder what he’s up to.” She turned away, folding her arms. “My brain is destroying itself. I haven’t been able to move in years; if not for that chair, I’d already be gone. I don’t want people to wonder what scheme I am planning, how I was trying to take advantage of them, or what kind of threat I may be. Everyone adores a cute little girl. Besides, Emily always wanted a sister.”
Joey exhaled a long breath. He could save some of his icon’s glory in his mind by blaming the disease. “So why the trip?”
“About six years ago, I was approached by a man, a powerful psionic who wanted my help to vanish from the government. I scrubbed all record of him out of the system and helped him get out there, but the price was…” Kelly stared into space; rain fell. “High. He promised he would make it up to me some day, and now I need him to make good on that offer.”
“Is he some kind of healer?”
Kelly shook her head. “No, he talks to the dead. He can manipulate souls. He can put me into a different body.”
Cold rain pelted them both; Kelly did not react.
“Whoa.” Joey leaned back. “Why not do it the normal way?”
The childlike affect returned with a pout. “My brain won’t survive much longer, even inside a doll body. The disease has progressed to the point where the nanobots can’t keep up. Besides, my brain is too big to fit into the body I want. He said he can put my soul into a mechanical body and it would be just like it was my real body… just like this VR.”
He wanted to laugh, to just unplug and leave right then. Hugo, Proscion, Kelly… whatever the hell his name was, he was quite plainly off his cracker. Alas, Joey had no better plan to fall back on. He would have to spin the wheel of WTF just to see where the needle stopped.
“How do you even know this could work? What if I get you out there and you just crap out and die?”
“I won’t.” She sounded confident; the sun came out through the clouds. “Even if I do, he could make me talk to you. I will give you what you want to know if you do this for me, no matter how it turns out. I’ll set up a backup; I will put all the information in a file that will send itself to you if I do not respond to a recurring forty-eight hour alarm.”
“I don’t believe in that stuff.” Joey shook his head.
“You already know it works.” Her tone seemed eerie, a thunderclap pealed overhead. “Will you help me or not?”
Joey forced his hand through his hair. He was tired of inhabiting the body of his prea
dolescent self, and he could not think of any other way to get the information. Proscion’s living brain was so squishy at this point it would likely not survive the stress of a hostile interrogation.
“Okay, fine. What do I have to do?”
She hugged him. “Yay!”
The sun shimmered through the sky as the clouds slid off over the horizon.
Joey rode it out, trying to pretend she was a real kid. He held out a hand, just as one more raindrop fell into his palm. The glint was mesmerizing; Joey tilted his hand and let it fall past his sneaker into the grass.
“You’ll need to get me a body. I want to look like this.” She pointed at herself. “It needs to be a doll body, a good one like Emily that looks natural.”
Those WellTech dolls are two hundred grand. “Oh, those just grow on trees.” Joey made a dumb grin as an idea hit him. “Never mind, I got it covered.”
“Okay…” Kelly narrowed her eyes, suspicious of how fast Joey had seemed to figure it out. “I’ll put the coordinates on the screen outside. Please don’t tell the authorities where he is. He does not trust cops.”
“Even if they knew where he was, there’s no way they would go all the way out into the Badlands for him. That’s why he’s there.” Joey stood up. “Might as well get started.”
The placid city park gave way to the dingy interior of the factory. Joey could not help but conduct a package check to reaffirm his adulthood. He shook off the disorientation of logout and looked over at Emily, who was still tending to Hugo’s wasted body.
Stretching, he stood up. “I need to make some preparations.”
“For what?” She shifted her head to look at him.
A map with navigation coordinates appeared without warning on the massive computer. “Hugo and I are going for a little ride. I’m going to take him to see a friend in the swamp.”
“Shabundo?” Emily sounded hesitant.
“Kelly didn’t tell me his name. She just said he could put him into a new body.” He biffed himself in the head trying to get the gender sorted out in his thoughts.
Virtual Immortality Page 56
