Invisible Symbiosis: An Artificial Intelligence Thriller
Page 12
My eyes must not have been totally adjusted to the light, because I was immediately blinded.
Behind me, I could hear the hypnotist whispering.
“Go forth, don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid. I just can’t see anything, so I’m trying not to fall flat on my face.”
“You’re not in any danger, trust me.”
So I went forward.
And found myself on the beach.
I was pretty sure that Albert’s house was not on the beach.
So I turned back around.
The house was gone.
In fact, there were no houses behind me at all.
Neither to the right nor the left. I was alone on a deserted beach.
Thirty yards up ahead, my attention was suddenly drawn to a person walking slowly in my direction. So I wasn’t really alone on this beach. I decided to go meet the person.
With every step forward, my heart started to beat harder and harder.
The person walking slowly toward me was a beautiful woman.
She was wearing a long white dress and had a wide smile on her face.
The scene was so intense that all reason seemed to be fighting against me, trying to remind me that this was nothing but an illusion, a figment of my imagination.
But this illusion was so beautiful.
She was ten yards away now, and everything that my imagination had perceived was confirmed.
Yes, before me was indeed an illusion. An illusion that shattered the silicon wall that had always separated us.
My illusion.
Eve.
Like a Rubber Band
“Welcome back Laura.”
“Amazing concert!”
“Thank you Laura for this awe-inspiring performance.”
“You promise not to leave us again?”
“When will we see you again? Soon we hope!”
From the moment she walked into the San Francisco Airport all the way to the Boeing 757 that would take her back to New York, Laura sensed the tremendous emotional impact that her comeback concert had had on those who loved her. The thousands of fans who were waiting for her could have easily created a circus, but there was such benevolence among them that Laura parted the crowd with ease. It was like being bathed in positive energy for Laura, who had so dreaded this return to the spotlight.
As radiant as ever, she took her seat comfortably in the private area that had been reserved for her.
New projects were swimming around in her head - songs, beautiful songs, a new album, a world tour while she was at it. Yes, she was once again inspired to give all the love that she could to her audience.
As the plane started rolling down the jet way, she thought of this strange character she had met, as if in a dream, and who had a part of her inside of him...Leo. She let out a laugh.
“No, but really! What an idiot!”
He was crazy! She had met with a crazy person. There was no other word to describe him. Their worlds were so far apart, their interests, their values even. They were all so very different. There was nothing - absolutely nothing - that she could do for him.
It was nothing but a bad memory. An aberration, something that never should have happened.
In six hours, she would be home, in the SoHo that she loved so much, that had given her so much inspiration. And her muses would breathe new notes into her ear, new lyrics.
The Boeing took its place on the runway, ready for take-off.
She checked that her seatbelt was fastened and closed her eyes.
The pilot fired up the engines and the plane was soon gaining altitude.
Bum Bum
Usually, she loved the delightful sensation of the plane leaving the ground, but today she felt tension in the back of her neck and her tightness in her hands.
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
The plane was off the ground and ascending quickly.
On the screen in front of her, she could follow the plane’s altitude and trajectory.
1,000 feet
1,500 feet
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
She forced her eyes open again.
Something wasn’t right.
Drops of sweat were forming on her forehead.
She wanted to reach for a tissue to wipe them away, but her hands remained desperately clenched on the armrests.
She closed her eyes again to try get ahold of herself.
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
She heard it, she felt it, she could see it so clearly now, as if it were standing right in front of her.
It was her heart…
Her heart was racing out of control.
3,000 feet
4,000 feet
She wanted to ask for help, but no words came out of her mouth.
Her heart was taking everything she had to feed its wild panic.
“Why? Why now?”
6,000 feet
6,500 feet
The blood was pumping through her veins at lightning speed, making her temples pound wildly.
But worst of all, her brain, filled with blood, was starting to produce incoherent and terrifying images in her mind.
She was going to die; this was proof of it.
From far away, she heard a small voice.
“Ma’am, ma’am, are you feeling okay?”
She tried to open her eyes again.
But they wouldn’t open.
“Ma’am, would you like me to call a doctor? Ma’am?”
Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum Laura didn’t want to die.
Not now.
As if her heart were speaking, she said, “T-t-t-t-take….m-m-me….”
“Pardon?”
“T-t-take….me…”
“Take you? Take you where?”
“Take me back to him.”
Waking Up
I was cold now.
But why was I so cold?
I moved one toe, then another.
My eyes were shut, but a few rapid movements of my eyelids gave some reassurance. I could open them when I wanted “Where was I?”
A few moments ago I was on the beach with Eve.
But this hard and cold surface under my back left me doubt. This was definitely not sand.
I lifted one hand and wiped it across my forehead.
Then I brought it down to my torso.
I was naked!
Completely naked!
This time, I decided to open my eyes and take back control of the situation.
I was at the hypnotist’s house, obviously.
It was time for me to go. I stood up abruptly and gathered my clothes from the chair. They offered a bit of warmth and dignity.
In the room, all of the candles had melted. I must have been there for hours.
“Hello? Mr. Hypnotist! It’s done! I’m awake!”
The only response that I heard was the tick-tock of the pendulum clock in the living room, adjacent to this one. I walked toward it.
No one.
My attention was drawn to a hastily scribbled note on the table.
I had to leave to take care of an urgent matter. Please shut the door when you leave. Thank you for taking care of the bill for the services rendered. The total is one million dollars. Cheers, Albert Gignoli.
One million dollars!
Was this guy completely insane?
How could I have ever agreed to such an appointment?
I wasn’t thinking straight. That was it. I was trapped in a state of enormous mental confusion. My mind was endlessly rambling between my old self, rational and cool under pressure, and my new self, who was imaginative, sensitive, dreamy - everything that my old self considered naive and gullible.
Old me or new me. He could keep dreaming about that one million, because as far as I could tell, I wasn’t cured. And even if I was, there was no way that I would have negotiated a price
that seemed absolutely absurd.
I took the pen lying on the table and wrote back: Thanks for your time. We can talk about this in a few days. -Leo Then I left the little house.
Outside the air was chilly, typical for San Francisco. A light sea breeze tickled my nostrils and the sun was even softer this time of day. I took a deep breath. Life here seemed to unfold with a disconcerting simplicity and naivety. I felt myself engulfed in some kind of unidentifiable intellectual molasses.
The phone ringing in the bottom of my pocket made me tremble.
It was a bad omen. I didn’t want to know who was calling me.
I let it ring and tried to concentrate on my breath. Slowly, very slowly.
But after I had calmed down for a moment, the phone rang again, throbbing this time. Irritated, I decided to see who would dare to disrupt this rare moment of morning quiet.
The five letters that appeared on the screen made my heart shutter.
My irritation melted away and left a big smile on my face.
Very soon I would know if I had been cured.
Encore
“Hal, can you let her in please?”
“Laura, you just need to walk forward to enter. It’s strange the first time, but then it’s really quick.”
Hesitant, Laura took a few steps forward and passed through the glass door’s permeable membrane.
When she announced to me a few hours ago on the phone that we needed to see each other again, I was torn between relief, joy and anxiety. I felt relief in being able to gain some closure, joy in being able to see her again, and anxiety that this nightmare was continuing. She had insisted on coming to my house and in light of our last public fiasco, I couldn’t agree more in this sense.
I had dressed for the occasion, wearing my nicest red sweater and brand new sneakers. She had swapped her long black dress for a shorter one with a delicate floral pattern. She radiated with restorative energy, but at the same time, I sensed an intense fragility about her. Once she was on the teak wood terrace, she planted her big dark eyes upon me and said, “Leo, I... I owe you an apology.”
“No, I’m the one who…”
“No, no, it was me who didn’t understand the situation.”
She looked up at the sky and ran her fingers through her hair.
“I could kick myself, Leo, I could kick myself for not having seen it. It’s all so clear to me now. So clear and so...confusing…”
The hour of truth was close upon us and I drew closer to her. I listened to her, but most of all, I listened to myself.
Were we still resonating with each other?
Up until now, everything seemed perfectly normal and I was starting to hold on to the crazy hope that I had been cured.
Then she spoke again.
“Leo...when I came here, I thought that I would get some answers, but now I only have more questions. Thousands of questions. How is it possible that I am incapable of putting more than a few miles between us? Could you have stolen a part of my personality? Which one? To what point are we connected to each other? How do we live with this?”
I decided to put on reassuring face.
“Laura, it’s true that this is all very confusing. But we will find a remedy. There is always a solution. Look, you were able to sing again.”
She pushed back a hair that had fallen into her face and sighed. Tears were filling her eyes.
“Yes, that’s why I’m here, in San Francisco, so close to this other heart that you have beating inside of you. It’s as simple as that.”
Bum Bum
Oh no…
“Laura...I….I...”
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
No no no no no....
I turned away. I couldn’t bear to see her cry.
She gently took my hand.
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
No no no no. This couldn’t be happening. This was absolutely not planned. I was completely happy to give Albert the Hypnotist a million dollars! Even ten if he wanted it! I kept my eyes away, out into the beyond, this freedom that had been running away from me for so many months.
“Leo...Leo… Look at me.”
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
A tear.
Then two.
Hers.
Mine.
Laying down the weapons!
Surrendering
Sleeping
Never waking up again.
Or somewhere else.
On an island.
A cloud.
A star.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
We must have sat there with tears streaming down our faces for at least five minutes. Then our tears dried and the sun entered back into our hearts. She smiled first, but I already felt in myself the wave of joy that washed over her.
I hadn’t been healed.
And I had saved a million dollars.
Good and bad news at the same time.
But I couldn’t say which was better…
Together, we were now going to have to come to terms.
Come to terms with each other. Put aside personal differences to write the next chapter of our lives together.
Did you ever play that game when you were a child where you were attached back-to-back and you have to run to the finish line? That was the impression that I had. The question that was hanging in the air, the one that we would need an answer to right away, was then - what was the goal and who was going to run in reverse? And I had my own idea.
As if an invisible man were sitting next to us, Hal’s voice came out of nowhere. I had developed a three-dimensional sound system capable of projecting sound from any point in the house.
“Sir, you have a visitor.”
Laura’s eyes grew wide.
“Your house...talks?”
“Yes, Laura...once a geek, always a geek. Who is it, Hal?
“Your partner, sir, the Slimeball.”
“Hal, please, don’t call him that!”
“Yes, of course, I’m sorry, sir. It’s Mark then.”
“Let him in and ask him to wait a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
I took a deep breath.
“Laura, since our destinies are linked for the time being, I will introduce you to the two most important people in my life at the moment - my business partner, Mark, and a surprise that we’ll discover in the basement.”
As I turned to leave, she grabbed my arm to hold me back.
“Wait…”
Back turned, I sensed a sudden wave of fear rise up inside of her. She was in an unfamiliar environment and what I was about to show her would, I think, make her head spin even more.
“Laura, I feel what you feel and I understand your anxiety. But the clock is ticking and now that things are clearer, we’ve got to press forward.”
“I don’t understand, Leo.”
I turned back around and buried my eyes in hers.
“In a few hours, everything will be perfectly clear to you, I promise. You’ve got to trust me, Laura.”
I had to keep her close to me.
Time to introduce Eve to the Board under the best conditions.
It was everything that I had found for the moment and it was already a lot.
Because the closer I stayed to Laura, the more I was able to measure and even control the emotional maelstrom that was ruining my life.
Bum Bum
Bum Bum
I felt her heart slowly calm down and let go.
“Okay, okay. I’ll follow you, Leo, but we’ve got to find a solution. Together.”
“Of course, Laura. There’s always a solution. But for the time being, we need to go step by step. There is a pressing crisis that I have to take care of. If I don’t, I promise that you and I will be in deep trouble.”
“Sir, the Slime… sorry, your business partner seems to be rather impatient.”
“Tell him that I’m coming. Come with me Laura, and please stay calm.”
At the entrance, Mark was pacing back and forth and looked surprised to see us.
“Mark, let me introduce Laura. Laura, this is Mark, my associate.”
They took each other’s hands limply. Mark was clearly very tense and Laura a bit lost.
“Uh… Hi Laura, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Leo has told me a lot about you. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
“Hi Mark. I’m afraid that I can’t say as much on my end.”
“That’s completely understandable. Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to have a private conversation with my associate.”
“I will wait for you on the terrace.”
“Thanks, I’ll get him back to you right away.”
“He’s not mine, you know!”
Mark took me by the sleeve and dragged me to the corner of the living room. He slicked back his hair nervously and whispered in a low voice, “What the hell is she doing here? I thought that you were going to make her disappear!”
As usual, he was boiling over.
“First of all, thanks for your warm welcome to Laura. Second, no I am not going to make her disappear. The treatment failed. That’s it.”
He took his head in his hands, crushed.
“Tell me it’s not true. What will happen to us now? Tell me, what’s going to become of us.”
“I think that the best solution is to keep her close. Maybe I will be able to control her emotions and therefore my own. Or at least understand what is happening to me at a given moment.”
Mark raised his head, infuriated.
“She’s a freak show! An artist! There’s nothing she can do for us here.”
“Have you got a better idea?”
“Go see another shaman, or an exorcist! I don’t know!”