by ROUNAK PURI
Zola affect a giggle.7
"She's cute can I have her?"
"No- the bed's too big with out her. Anyway we've split up Remember. You don't get what you ask for any more " said3
"Brooklyn your such a bore. I just want to try her out see if having a pet is any good." said Zola vapeing.1
"You can borrow her and get a her dress, but no monkey business. "
"No, I've done you a favour already, humiliating my self again hunting for a dress for your companion animal, for you isn't on the table. I would however like you to do one for me?" said Zola.
"OK What?" said Rockwood.
"Well given how long I've been the hot back up for you, the new subjugation of humanity bill is coming up, as you know I represent the save-humanity pressure group save-the-human" she continued.
My heart jumped - finally someone was doing something to stop the vile lady Villeria with her 4 billion death scenario. I must have miss judged the Zola cyborg. I had miss judged him why not her?
"Well as you know we want to do the best for humanity" said Zola.
'Yes' I thought.
"Which is?" said Rockwood.
"Well we want to see a 99% reduction of humanity down to useful and sustainable levels. In order to manager the little dear's properly we want any restrictions on domestication and breeding lifted and the moratorium on all forms of brain washing no matter how deep removed. Domestication. It's for their best long term interests. We've got to save them and to save them we need to manage the population" said Zola.4
'CKUF' I thought so loudly you could have heard me all the way down in the delivery bay. Fortunately I was behind Zola or I would have given the game away. I was in deep shock. Wow Zola was talking about the virtual extermination of humanity. This meant that by comparison Villaria was the good guy (gal). Zola was a walking talking vapeing extinction event. I was looking at, vamping jurassic meteorite strike for humanity. There was nothing around me I could use, not even a pointy carrot ( d@m).2
"Sounds OK" said Rockwood passively.
'Sounds OK' I thought 'sounds OK? Even Nero, Mao Zedong, Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot would be going 'hay hold on there for a second girl.' Rockwood goes with Sounds OK? My ear ring was now glowing so red you could illuminate the entire red light district in Amsterdam and still run every stop sign in America with the light left over. I would have gone with the slightly stronger 'Are you out of your freaking mind you word that rhythms with snitch. You're talking about putting that girl on the endangered species list. What are you, possessed ? '2
"Message from Master. Say nothing
"So can save-the-human count on your vote? You're quite influential given you don't give a piece of used toast about anything or any body" said Zola smiling.2
"Possibly why don't you send over the detailed specs. I'll read them, the vote isn't until the day after the Opening" said Rockwood.
"How is the Central Processing Unit about this? Any idea which way he/she/it is leaning?" asked Zola puffing on her e-ciggaret .
"I thought he/she/it/they might have told you as the prime back up" said Rockwood.
Zola looked over to the head of the bed. Perhaps the CPU had said something but Zola couldn't figure it out. I didn't see her being nice to small girl either. Not unless she needed one to fule an open fire or wanted something to bite the head off.2
"No. Look!" said Zola reaching forward. "Our ring pad. You kept it"3
Zola reached forward and took the metal disc that Rockwood used to thingy me with.3
"and you've used it. I'm glad you've managed to move on. Isn't Villeria a lucky thing" she said. As she moved I saw her back through the thin muzzlin cloth. There were a couple of ring marks like mine on her back faintly showing on hers. So cyborg's thingy each other curious, plus I can google ring pad.9
I asked Siri about her. I discovered she was a 'trans-grade' what ever that was and until recently she was a midlevel officer in the 2nd Army. She moved a year ago to the staff of General Bitmark. She was most famous for her attack on Cairo. She had per unit highest kill rate of any commander in the second army. Currently she had left the army and was working with a think tank on the backlog of humanity problem.2
"Brooklyn your little thing here is looking me up on google." said Zola.7
"Stop that ! bad pet" said Rockwood. " She's new but very friendly. I'm sure she just wanted to play." he said.3
"How cute, I'd love to play with you darling." said Zola turning around to look at me.
"Brooklyn. I'm Quite famished would you mind?" said Zola.
"I have a few pints in the fridge" said Rockwood.
"Fresh is so much better for you," said Zola.
"Sure go ahead" said Rockwood.
For a second I wondered if I was being offered as finger food.
Chairs and a sofa emerged from the wall and moved down. Zola sat down and the doors opened. A young girl, short blonde hair, mini skirt walked in looking forwards. She had a collar like me. She had makeup artily over the bridge of her nose joining one dark smudge over her eyes to another. I wondered for a moment if her name was Priss. I guessed she was Zola's 'companion'. Zola patted the sofa and her companion got up. While they chatted Zola's companion pulled her glove off and then offered her arm. Rockwood shook his head. Fangs like needles emerged from Zola incisor teeth. She bit into the girl like someone having a large sub sandwich. The girl closed her eyes tight to avoid looking at the drips of blood leaving her. Rockwood talked from his bed, passed while Zola texted him and he would answer out loud. I was faintly disgusted, it was like watching her eat corn on the cob the way she kept moving her mouth. After a minute Zola seemed to have enough. There was dribble of blood on her chin.2
"Why don't you two go play?" said Zola to her blood slave and indicated me. My collar told me that I was free to leave the room. I couldn't stand the idea of being around her anyway. I walked away with Zoe's blood slave holding her up slightly. I took her down the narrow slave passage to the meditation mats #DEC and #6502 used as a waiting area. We found #DEC and some others standing guard outside. They took us to a small slave waiting room near by.1
The pet didn't seem too steady.
"Are you OK can I get you something. A drink of water." I said. I put her on a cushion and quickly found a water fountain. It came with two taps one marked 'human guests' and one marked 'e-slaves'. I grabbed a glass turned my slave cam away and filled it from the human tap. I returned to find Zola's blood slave sitting on the floor.
"Here you go. Won't you sit on a chair?" I said.
"No I'm not allowed to sit on the chair's at home" she said taking sips of water.
"I'm #0A but between us slaves just call me Jenny" I said.
"I'm Just-read-the-instructions" said Just-read-the-instructions. I guess Zola was an Ian M Banks fan, who would have thought it?6
"Well Just-read-the-instructions are you OK? Did she take too much blood?"
"I'll be ok. she's done this before. I just need to sit down" said Just-read-the-instructions.
#6502 felt her pulse.
"Do you want a saline drip?" #DEC asked bringing a hot sweet drink. The fact they were set up for this kind of event was disturbing.
Just-read-the-instructions shook her head "I'll be fine" she said.
"How do you cope with this?" I asked.
"Get down. I find certain things are best not left on your collar cam" said Just-read-the-instructions.
I got back down, then felt her reached into my outfit and slipped the small sachet into my cleavage.
"I just remember I'm one of the few people to come out of Dallas alive and a liberal use of Oblivion" said Just-read-the-instructions. I lent forward to her
"You shouldn't take that stuff" I whispered in her ear.
&nbs
p; "Oblivion is the best next thing to having a way out. Don't believe what they tell you about it. It's like discovering the secret to life. It keeps getting better. Mistress Zola is very generous to give me a supply"
It took the strength of a thousand men and thinking about the random blood tests to stop me from taking it instantly.
"I can always get more," said Just-read-the-instructions looking round the column.
"I haven't seen them like this from before they split up" said Just-read-the-instructions.
"They used to date?" I said.
"They go way back back when they were just grinders... "
I googled grinders' it wasn't what I thought either. Apparently it was the name for body hackers or biohackers. A home brew group of people who emerged from the whole tattoo, piercing body modification fringe but knocked it up a stage by including smart technology. Wonderful the cyborg's didn't even have the decency to be products of awful experiments from the bowels of some disreputable Government laboratory driven by the needs of a desperate military complex. I would have settled for being the products of some horrible corporation pushing research beyond the bounds of even the most liberal ethical conduct. No humanity and I had to be enslaved by a bunch of homebrew amateurs who got severely lucky auto upgrading themselves.3
"...before they began to experiment with augmenting them selves I heard" said Just-read-the-instructions.
"Grinders Really?" I said amazed.
"Yeh - Villeria was Zola's best friend she was a hairdresser who was an obsessive rock climber"
"Lady Villeria? Tall girl wants to eliminate half of humanity? Now runs part of the New Mechanical, order former hairdresser." I said.1
Just-read-the-instructions nodded.
"She really lived for rock climbing" said #DEC coming by with a food-ball snack. If ever a girl looked in need of a doughnut it was now, d@m the terrible machine nazis. Then I realised the harnesses, clips and ropes we had packed for ill fated the trip south were not for the purposes I had first supposed. Before you could say out of work hairdresser turned scourge on humanity, I realised what was going on. I do get these moments of brilliance, thank you very much. In little Jenny's terms, Villeria was promoting the looking after one hamster nicely option. Zola was promoting the getting rid of hamsters is completely option. I find myself cheering for the girls only want to destroy half of humanity. I wonder if there was another girl walking around talking about the two hamsters option? My guess was not. This bill was about saving humanity and I needed to do something smart about it.2
Before we could talk more Rockwood and Mistress Zola summoned us. I helped Just-read-the-instructions get up and held her hand to steady her as we went back. It was hard to tell but she seemed a little less gaunt.
"Look if you want something to smooth your conscience why don't you join the Sierra Club or Friends of the earth it would be as practical has having a slave do it," she said.
"Look they are getting on so well" said Mistress Zola as we approached.
"I hope you haven't got fleas from you knew friend, we don't know where she has been" said Mistress Zola to Just-read-the-instructions. Just-read-the-instructions curtseyed as well as she could. Just-read-the-instructions approached Zola.
"but your a good pet aren't you. you didn't mind me taking your blood? Big kiss for mummy, big kiss for mummy" said Lady Zola in a slightly squeeky way. Just-read-the-instructions lent over and gave Lady Zola a light kiss on the cheek.3
"good girl, good girl" said Lady Zola.
Zola looked at me.
"So what's she like in the sack then?" she said getting down to the gritty details.
"I don't know, I nay had sex with her" said Rockwood.
Zola looked at Rockwood and paused for a second "Seriously. Lord Brooklyn Rockwood the only cyborg I know who has a harem of over 6000 to keep up with his lusts and even has a sex slave to change lightbulbs just in case the fancy takes him, hasn't had sex with the girl that he sleeps with?"6
"The whole point of a pet is you don't have sex with them. It was the CPU's idea " said Rockwood.
She turned to Rockwood then nodded at me.
"Looked they get on so well. Are you sure I can't have her?" said Zola looking at me.1
Rockwood shook his head "look when we split up we organised it fairly. You got just-read-the-instructions and I got #DEC, she wasn't even captured let alone subjugated then. She's mine"
"I get it. You're just doing this to annoy me. By the way her eye's don't suit her - I would have them replaced, or at least do something about the colour" she added looking at me.
"May be I'll have them dyed to match the colour of her dress" said Rockwood.6
"Must dash. See you at the opening. And don't let her stick her head out of the car window when your driving." said Zola.2
"heel" she added to just-read-the-instructions then walked off.
I walked Just-read-the-instructions to the door behind Zola. When people said may I walk in the shadow of the valley of death, I didn't think they meant it so literally. I never thought of the grim reaper as being able to flounce like Kendall Jenner, something all those medieval depiction of the guy with the scythe strangely missed. I had questions and I had to get an answer even if that meant using my precious promise of truth answer question. The fate of humanity depended upon it.
****
Chapter 65/Him/Sorry my ex turned to evil
1
Rockwood dismissed the other slaves. We were left alone.
"I can feel you have questions" said Rockwood leaning back in bed. Hay I thought he wasn't going to read my mind?
"Ok Brooklyn. She was an ex-girl friend but I'm wondering why you split up" I said I used Rockwood's first name to remind him he said I could.
"It's personal," said Rockwood /Brooklyn
"I am your personal e-slave after all," I said.
"Well we grew apart as people. Well, we grew apart, because she stopped being people." he started "She had given up smoking when she met me. When she moved fully over to her electronic mind and mechanical body she started again. Nothing to damage at that point."
"So that made you split up?" I said.
"No, It's complicated. After she transferred to being a full AI. I couldn't help but think she was just an exact copy of my girl friend. Absolutely identical in every way but not her"
"I don't get it," I said.
"As a kid we used to have this trick." he began "We would follow someone into a super market and follow them around. What ever they put in their trolly we put in our trolly, they chose a pack of PopTarts we put PopTarts into our trolly. We copied everything they did. Then, if they walked away from their trolly for any reason we would sneak up and swap it over for ours. Then go off and snigger. Some times people would accuse us of stealing but they hadn't paid and any way we have the same things what was the difference? It used to make them mad. They couldn't touch us."
"What if they bought fruit or veggies?" I said.
"This was Glasga nay one would have dun that..." he started. I had discovered my collar could translate languages and it even had a setting to translate Scottish. I got subtitles on my contact lenses saying 'This was Glasgow, nobody would have done that'. This is good I could rewatch Brave now and figure out the plot.9
"... Some people got the joke, some didnay mind, some thought it was stolen but the manager didn't. So was I stealing?"
"Well no they had exactly the same things they had in the real basket, they hadn't paid. It shouldn't matter" I said.
"So two things which are identical in every way are interchangeable. That's what the collaborators who transition think. That's what Zola thought. She felt the same and was identical to her self in every way"
"Not for you then" I said. I rolled over and felt his hand stroke my back. For a microsecond I wondered if I said 'talk sexy mathematics to me' would he have broken his no-sex for pets rule? What and I thinking? Weak girl.4
"Nay to me someone had stolen her basket. I
guess my problem was she was too much like her self. It's a still notion you are not your atoms"
"If I'm not my atoms I'd be dead" I said.
"Nay lass. You say[see] your eat own weight in food, every two months", he said stressing the two months. "Believe me I pay the bills. All most all your body cells renew every seven years. So In seven years time are you still you?"4
I was googling him to make sure he wasn't telling me any lies, he wasn't.
"Sure" I said.
"So your not really some particular cells or atoms. Things change and your a pattern which flows on that pattern like waves on the ocean. Or a digital signal down a wire. The you in you is information. Intellectually I know Zola just changed oceans from flesh to silicon and I know I'm wrong, but that wasn't how I felt".
"So you dumped her"
"Sort of but yes, that and I caught her cheating with Villeria" he said.8
I lay in his arms while my mind did a huge WTF. Then I got a grip, he was sleeping with a harme full of lady-boys like I'm going to judge what two consenting woman shaped machines get up to in private? I guess the girl cyborg's got the same lovely topping of internet porn in their extended mechanical subconsciousness as all the other machines. Note to self don't become a cyborg, not unless I want to end up arguing with Zola over who got Amber Heard.2
Then I had another of my signature revelations. They say that the brain is a woman's largest sex organ and I guess these machines had very large brains. I guess when your that smart, stuff like fidelity, affection, monogamy, love seems like an unnecessary impediment to the next sex act. I guess to Zola love is as quaint and outdated as hunting for your dinner with a spear or praying to a couple of sticks to bring next years harvest. For her, pleasure was the only necessity, well pleasure and blood. She was effectively immortal, eternity with out the ability to believe you could be in love sounded like some kind of atonement for terrible crime in my book. Oh yes, a terrible crime like killing 8 billion odd people.5
Can machines love ? Could Villaria love Rockwood? Like Senator McConnell, Villaria and Zola had transitioned they were A.I's who just thought they were people. Is love just the matter of a flow of signals and changes in hormone levels? Is love something nature evolved out of reproductive necessity something you could simulate or is love your soul screaming for someone so loud you can't hear yourself think? I never thought I was the crazy love kind of girl. I hand't felt that way about any of my other boyfriends. I'd always felt the mad, crazy delirious so strong you felt you were going to die love was just some kind of consensual hallucination girls talked themselves into. I had never been 100% sure anyone actually felt that. It was like Victoria Beckham's boobs, people pretend were real but deep down it was less 'I believe' than 'I just really want to believe'. Or maybe I've never been properly in love and it's not like there is an app which helps you know or anything.
