by Azza Sumner
Alicia Artificial
Book two of the Biod series
Copyright 2016 A. Sumner
Revision 1.2
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012792912665
Chapter 1
Doctor Kingsworth sat at his desk removing his glasses with a sigh. He didn’t want to choose a new guardian for his precious daughter but he knew he must. He felt they were both in danger. He had been up all night thinking on his decision. The doctor picked up a manilla folder from his desk and went over the profile one last time. The young man pictured on the first page was an average looking twenty year old. He obviously didn’t do a great deal of exercise and he was hardly handsome, but he wasn’t unattractive for any particular reason either. His school reports indicated he was bright and full of potential, but lazy. One teacher even noted he was too much of a daydreamer. His computer teacher had written that Adam had the potential for genius if he could just maintain focus and follow through on his creative theories. Every teacher seemed to call him an unfocussed dreamer lacking motivation but capable of great things. The doctor picked up a photo of his younger self with his wife nursing their baby daughter. He spoke to the attractive golden haired woman in the picture saying “An unemployed looser, a dreamer, has potential, lacks motivation. Reminds me of myself at that age.”
He had studied the profile over and over. It hadn’t been hard to find a capable hacker willing to research Adam for a few hundred dollars. Among other things he had found old school reports, his resume, credit report and conducted a police check which came up clean. He even had a printout of sites Adam had visited on the internet. One or two of these sites caused the doctor a little concern as the father of an attractive eighteen year old girl like Alicia, especially if he was going to be watching over his treasured daughter. The doctor had to admit though that Alicia was a young adult now and Adam was only following the natural curiosity of any young single man. The doctor recalled having many of the same interests at that age. It wasn’t the concern at the top of his priorities list though. He was just being the over protective father again who couldn’t let go. Alicia was a big girl now and very smart. She could always protect herself in the event of anything improper. The role of guardian wasn’t so much about protecting her chastity as it was about protecting her security and keeping her operational until all her idiosyncrasies were explained. There were still too many unexplained mysteries that even her father as the creator didn’t fully understand. She could not be released freely into the word yet. Besides his little girl was all he had left. His beloved wife would be in prison for a few more years yet, and she could never be allowed near Alicia again. She was still fixated on seeing their daughter buried in the ground where she belonged to achieve peace. It was what nature intended.
The doctor placed the photo down and turned to his laptop. He clicked on an icon labelled ‘DeBot 3’ and loaded the file containing the morales and values matrix for the artificial intelligence (AI) used by the chat bot. He approved of what he read. The young man who wrote it was a little judgemental and opinionated, but the doctor liked that. There was some strength of character there. That would be needed to handle his princess. He agreed with the matrix that Adam had created in general. It showed not only genius, but depth and decency in his character as he instructed his chat bot how to respond with his own personal beliefs. It was a glimpse into his soul. The whole program was an inspiration. It was only an incomplete demonstration program in this early version, but the engine behind it was very impressive. The tailored language and database structure was nothing short of revolutionary. Even in this early version the foundation had been laid out for the program to rewrite it’s own segments and evolve. It could learn and update it’s own procedures and routines. It was even able to create new ones. Unfortunately the comments on the site where the doctor had downloaded the program were negative. None of them had seemed to grasp the seed the writer had shared with them. It wasn’t a fully bug free commercial program yet, so the lazy and ignorant had not given it a fair chance. Doctor Kingsworth had given it plenty of chances. He had chatted with the writer and expanded on it. He had done repeated major rewrites many times and was now up to a version twelve. It still kept the original engine and structure though. He would have liked to send the original programmer a copy, but he was afraid the young Adam Winters might figure out too much as to the purpose of it.
Originally from the far north coast of Queensland, the doctor had discovered another contact of value in this area, so had sold up and quit his job to focus on his own research. They moved to the north coast of New South Wales. It was a large property just outside of a large town. They found it was quite peaceful on this rural property studded with trees. He erected a large shed and set up a laboratory inside. Alicia’s illness was getting worse at that stage but she was still able to attend the local high school. He had hired a young nursing student to assist as her carer when her condition degraded.
After lunch today Kingsworth would meet Adam for the first time in person. He had invited the young man over under the pretence of a job interview, but in reality the choice was already made. A large yellow envelope containing the security device and fifteen thousand dollars cash was ready with his name already written on it. He was the only one the doctor would trust after his experience with an assistant that had disappointed him greatly due to his greed and degenerate ideals. There were plenty within his scientific circles that would be better qualified, but they were scientists, and as such were too curious. He couldn’t trust them not to turn his daughter into a guinea pig to satisfy their insatiable curiosity. He needed someone with moral fibre who had enough knowledge to learn about and care for his creation, but not treat her like a scientist might.
When Adam proved trustworthy, he would be entrusted with another responsibility as well. The doctor opened a desk draw and was about to retrieve another folder when a bell chimed and a face appeared on his laptop. It was his mysterious advisor who called herself Ellan Elore from the Lorene Cybernetics Institute. She was a beautiful woman with long white hair and delicate features. Her voice was always soft and sweet. Ellan looked to be in her early to mid thirties but had assured the doctor once that she was much older. The doctor often wondered why she always wore a scarf tied around her head and wore sunglasses, but thought it best not to pry into her little eccentricities. She was an odd woman, but very knowledgeable. Her advice was often cryptic. She had however guided his work and helped him overcome many hurdles. The Kingsworth interface would never have worked without her input.
The woman’s image asked “Have you chosen a guardian yet for just in case the worst should happen?“ Kingsworth nodded and replied “Yes. He is no scientist and isn’t driven by greed or power. He seems like a decent young man. Later today I will give him all the information.” Ellan seemed satisfied as she continued saying “I am sorry I can not offer you more help. We are bound by policies and restrictions. We must limit our involvement in your affairs. Rest assured though that if the worst ever should happen, I will at least ensure this guardian takes custody of her.” The woman paused for a moment looking troubled before asking “By the way doctor, have you heard anything about someone with a similar interface in your area recently. One of my people has gone missing near your area. I have sent two of my daughters to investigate.”
Doctor Kingsworth was stunned and asked “I wasn’t aware there were others. Is that how you are so knowledgeable about the interface?” Ellan nodded on the screen saying “Yes, I have been doing the same work as you, but for much longer. Very much longer. My interfaces are many times more advanced than yours, but they and their technology are no
t yet ready for public knowledge. I am hoping yours inherits the same gift as mine, but I don’t want to offer false hope as yet. This is why I helped you develop your own primitive version. I have resources unavailable to you doctor. I can not share much of it sorry. Remember doctor that according to our deal, this technology was all your discovery. It needs your understanding and must use your resources. It is your responsibility. Consider it the price of my guidance. We do not desire the credit or the attention from the discovery. Such attention would only hamper our work.”
Kingsworth replied “I understand and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have done for my daughter and I. I am just sorry that my poor choice in an assistant has caused security concerns for us both.” Ellan replied politely “It was not your fault. He poses little threat to my institute. One day I hope to visit with you and you will understand why. Just concern for own well being. Doctor Khall is a horrible and greedy man. He has become increasingly demented. We do not know what lengths he might go to.” Looking ashamed Kingsworth replied “I agree. He didn’t seem like that at first. Alicia’s body could never have been repaired without him. It is good I kept much of the previous research from him though. Khall was a great help initially, but when he saw the potential for power and money, he changed. That’s when I found out he was stealing all my research. I can not apologise enough for my lapse in judgement. I will deal with him somehow.” Ellan smiled and remarked “I just hope he has not stolen enough to build an interface for himself. Combined with the muscle and nerve drugs he was developing, it could be disastrous if sold to the wrong people. His newer versions of the drug is a real threat to humanity.” The sound of two girls arguing childishly could be heard in the background as Ellan sighed with resignation and said “Sorry about my daughters. I had better go. Take care doctor.” Before Kingsworth could even respond Ellan was gone.
Kingsworth was startled at the sound of a chair creaking in front of his desk. He glanced around to find his daughter had snuck in and helped herself to a seat. Holding his hand to his chest he said “Stop doing that Alicia. You’ll give your old dad a heart attack.” He always found it annoying when she did that. Alicia was not only physically strong, but she could move very quickly and quietly with graceful agility. He looked at her noticing how much she looked like a younger version of her mother. She was eighteen years old now and it was hard to accept that this attractive young woman in front of him was no longer the little child they had raised. Neither was she the seriously ill girl slowly wasting away until she could no longer walk. Her brain had eventually started showing early stages of infection as well in the end. “How long have you been sitting there?” he asked. Alicia played with her long golden hair absently as she replied. “Just came in. Was that the mysterious Ellan woman you were talking to again? She’s very cute.” “Yes it was.” the doctor replied before adding with a smile “Not that it’s any of your business young lady.”
He adopted a more serious tone before he continued saying “Alicia, I wanted to talk to you about a serious matter. If something ever happens to me, you will need a guardian, a carer. When your mother gets out of prison, she will probably still want to see you dead and buried. Doctor Khall was a major let down. His work on the synthetic steroid for your muscle and nerve repair was great, but he had twisted ambitions.” Alicia interjected “Yeah he gave me the creeps. I bet he was a sicko perve or something. He always made me uncomfortable. It doesn’t matter now daddy. That freak is gone. Nothing’s going to happen to you. It’ll be just us happily forever.” The doctor shook his head. He didn’t want to worry her with his true concerns for their safety. He continued saying “No Alicia, accidents happen. You never know. This is just in case. If something ever happens to me, I am going to employee this young man as my assistant and should the need arise to be your guardian.” He slid the folder containing the profile across the desk.
Alicia browsed through the file quickly with a disinterested look and replied “It says this drop kick went to my high school. What a looser. No dad he looks like a total dork.” Then she noticed something and her expression changed. She appeared to be a little excited for just a moment as she said “Wait.…this is the guy. The DeBot guy. I didn’t know that was him. We never talked at school. Different circles. This is the dude that wrote the engine and stuff that you based all your AI work on. I always wondered about him.” She carelessly tossed the folder back onto the desk and looked disinterested again as she stated “It’s your choice dad. I don’t care. Nothing will happen so I might never need him anyway.” The doctor knew that despite her words and expression she was really curious to know more about Adam. She always kept this cold and disinterested demeanour up. Kingsworth added “There’s something else. Later today he is coming here. He thinks it’s a job interview. I am going to tell him everything and give him the security device. I know he won’t refuse my offer. He will be eager to accept. Before I do that though I need to talk to you.” He paused regretting they hadn’t had talked about this before. It was going to be harder now after almost two years of being activated. The doctor gulped nervously fearing how Alicia might react to the next bit of news. He struggled for the right words as he continued saying “I know I haven’t explained a great deal about the intricacies of the interface. I just took care of things myself. I wanted you to live like a normal girl without all the details to bother you. You see it hasn’t functioned quite as we expected. Well not like I had expected anyway. I suspect Ellan may have intended it this way. It’s going to be difficult to explain and very difficult for you to understand and accept. Without your memories of being alive you haven’t realised something yet, and I didn’t believe either at first. You see...” They were suddenly interrupted by the doorbell.
The doctor rose to his feet and went to answer the door. Whoever it was their timing could not be worse. It was too early for his meeting with Adam, so he checked to make sure he still had his small calibre pistol in his pocket. He didn’t even get the chance to pull it out as he was suddenly tackled from behind. Two large men held him down and began to tie his hands with a roll of tape. He yelled for Alicia to run. Ignoring the warning Alicia emerged from the office looking puzzled as to what was going on. Seeing the men she pounced on them and started punching and kicking at them. They were very strong. Stronger than Alicia with her enhanced abilities from Khall’s drug. Soon she was on the floor being pinned down beside her father. She could see her father indicating something with his eyes. Looking down she saw the small pistol’s butt sticking out from his pocket. He had only ever let her try it out once on a tree behind the shed, but she thought she remembered how to fire it. She twisted her wrist so her arm was free and rolled over grabbing the gun with all her speed and agility. She aimed at the closest man’s head and closed her eyes as she squeezed the trigger. The weapon fired with a load bang and the man fell motionless. She aimed at the second man who was now wielding a large knife. He slashed wildly at the arm holding the gun as Alicia fired again. He was hit in the stomach. He slowly struggled to stand and started staggering to the front door. Alicia fired again hitting him in the back. He fell to his knees for a moment before falling on his face.
Alicia was proud of herself as she cheered excitedly “I killed them daddy. I got them both.” “Good girl.” her father replied in a strained voice. “Go find Winters. Get him to help you. Find happiness Alicia.” Alicia looked at him and noticed a dark pool of blood steadily growing on his back. She peeled back the clothing to find a very large and very deep stab wound. Alicia put her hands firmly on the wound to maintain pressure and slow the bleeding, but it was too late. The doctor no longer had a pulse. Alicia held her father in her arms and cried uncontrollably. He was gone. Eventually she carried him to his bed and lay him there with a sheet over his body. Alicia placed the gun on the bedside table and sat on the side of the bed holding her father’s hand. She didn’t know what to do. She was truly alone. She screamed out in desperation “What do I do now interfac
e?” She considered calling the police but was worried someone might discover her secret. She realised it wasn’t safe here. These men were stronger than her and almost as fast. It seemed logical to assume that they must have had similar injections to what Doctor Khall had given her to counteract a degenerative illness in her own muscle and nervous systems. It had worked better than expected. She concluded that Khall must have sent them.
Alicia returned to the bodies and checked the first man’s pockets but found nothing of interest. She went to check the second man, but he was gone. She followed the blood trail to the front door. As she stuck her head out the door Alicia heard an engine rev and tyres spin on the gravel driveway. She saw the white van speeding towards the front gate. Alicia knew she had to get out of there. She knew they would be back for her father’s research. That would include her. Khall had always expressed the desire to run unnecessary and intrusive tests on her that her father would not allow. Doctor Kingsworth had kept a very wary eye on his assistant whenever he was near his daughter. Alicia returned to kneel beside her father’s body and said “I will do as you instructed father. I will try to find happiness with the limited time I have left. I will try to achieve the goals set in my program like a real girl.” It was times like this that she wished her father had weakened to her pleading and bought her a car. He had never even allowed her to learn how to drive believing she was a danger to other road users. Her father’s car was being serviced in town and a taxi had dropped them back to the house just outside of town. She decided a taxi back to town would be her wisest choice. Alicia ran to her father’s office and grabbed the envelope containing her security device and cash. She noticed the folder with Adam’s profile was still sitting there so she took another look.
This Adam guy wasn’t her idea of handsome, but he wasn’t that bad either. She had admired the beliefs he had encoded in the AI program that controlled her. She had been curious to meet him one day to see what he was really like. Better yet he would no doubt have a car and was expected to arrive for an interview soon. Adam was someone her father was willing to share the truth with, so perhaps she would enlist his aid. There was a snag though. Alicia knew that some people couldn’t quite appreciate her unique personality. In the short time that she had attended high school after her ‘miracle recovery’ she had never been able to keep friends for long. All the boys had been keen to be her friend, but they only wanted to use her so she had shot them all down earning herself the nickname of Ice Queen. She assumed the other girls were just jealous of her attractive looks and the attention thrust upon her. They weren’t pleasant to her for long and always made it sound like it was Alicia’s fault. She didn’t need them. She didn’t need friends. Alicia knew she was better than all of them anyway. She was superior in every way to a living human.
She wondered if Adam would be different. Would he see through the mask she wore to protect her secret? Was it really a mask anyway. It had to be. She wondered if she could risk opening up to someone and letting them into her life? It was going to be difficult for her, but she hoped that for once her AI wouldn’t make her act like such a bitch to people. Even artificial girls registered negative feelings like pain and loneliness. She decided she would try to let Adam be her guardian. It had been her father’s wish and he was her creator. She had no choice but to follow the commands he issued.
A knock on the door drew her attention. She hurriedly dragged the other body out of view from the doorway. Alicia opened the door to find a nervous looking Adam was standing there. He was a year or two older than his picture. He didn’t look quite so nerdy now. The photo she had seen didn’t do his deep brown eyes justice she thought. She realised her thoughts were straying off path as she asked “Are you that Adam Winters looser? The creator of DeBot?” Alicia bit her lip at calling him a looser. She hated the way things like that always came out of her mouth. Alicia was sure it had to be defence mechanism. Some routine inside her programming that kept other people getting too close. At least she had already claimed what she considered to be the dominant role. He was just a male and they were easy to control. She noticed Adam checking her out like a regular pervy schoolboy. It registered as disgusted to her. She didn’t feel so bad calling him a looser now. Normally she liked the feeling of being desired. It gave her the upper hand, but not today. Her father had just died. She had just killed one man and a second was probably bleeding to death as they spoke, and here he was ogling her. It was something that happened to her frequently, but she wasn’t in the mood now. Alicia thought maybe this jerk wasn’t who she had hoped. No matter what, he was her ticket out of here and she had her father’s commands to follow. Alicia noticed blood splattered near his feet from the man than that got away. “You got the job.” she said handing over the envelope her father had prepared. She figured she should introduce herself quickly and get out of here before he noticed the large drips of blood on the ground. Questions and lengthy discussions were more than she felt like right now.
Alicia said quickly “I’m Alicia and my father left this for you. Two months cash in advance.” Adam’s eyes opened in awe as he peeked inside the envelope. Alicia figured by his no name brand jeans and crappy car that he was desperate for some cash. She had another tool to control him with now. Adam spluttered “What but........what am I supposed to do?” Alicia looked at him with an annoyed expression saying “Ummm....personal assistant. Now let’s go. I’ll fill you in with the details at the lab.” She didn’t have time to explain things to this idiot. She shoved past him rudely and proceeded to sit in the passenger seat of his car. It was disgusting and the floor was covered in rubbish. The dash was faded and cracked. Wires poked out from the centre console. It should have been at the wreckers, but at least it was transport.
Adam appeared confused looking at all the cash in the envelope. It was just money to Alicia so she didn’t understand the hesitation. His motionless bewilderment was really bugging her now so she punched the horn. Adam jogged over and got in the driver’s seat. “Where are we going?” he asked Alicia as they pulled away. She wondered if this guy was for real. Perhaps her father really hadn’t told him anything at all about her. That meant she was going to have to explain everything. If only she came with a manual or operators guide. She replied in a short tone “Your lab of course.” Adam stopped the car and explained “I don’t have a lab sorry. I do my work from home.” Alicia shot him an icy glare before responding “Then take me there stupid.” Alicia crossed her arms looking sternly at the road ahead. The look on his face indicated he was debating something. He wasn’t checking her out now. He looked more like he was deciding whether or not her ditch her right here.
As they drove towards the main road her urgency to leave her home faded. She thought about her father and how she was going to have to survive without him now. To make it worse he had dumped her with this looser. He didn’t even have a lab and if this was how he kept his car she shuddered to think what his home must look like. Adam didn’t even know what she was. Like most people he probably saw her as a real living girl. Despite checking her out like most men did, and obviously being broke, there was something comforting about him in his manner. Perhaps it was that he did as she said. Perhaps it was just someone being near. He was the one her father had chosen to trust, and he wasn’t really unattractive. He seemed compliant and weak willed so far. Maybe she could trust him. He did have nice eyes.
Alicia shook her head to clear it. She didn’t want to soften now and didn’t know where these thoughts were coming from. She felt overloaded. It was all too much. She didn’t want to think that way. Logic said he was a tool to be used. She should maintain the upper hand in this situation. If he tried anything she didn’t approve of, she would crush every bone in his body easily. She had to focus on exerting her dominance. She would not allow herself to weaken and risk being mistreated or turned into a lab rat.
Alicia turned her head a little for a better look at him but he caught her glance. She hoped he didn’t get the wrong
idea and felt her cheeks flush suddenly. This wasn’t good. She quickly spat out “This car sux. Don’t you ever clean it?” Adam replied “I never have passengers so.......” Alicia smirked confidently to herself. There was no way he had a girlfriend. No respectable woman would be caught dead being driven around in this filth. That just meant he would be even easier to manipulate with a flash of her smile, tilt of the head or twirl of her hair. If she had to there were always the pleading eyes, the tears, the innocent look that worked well on her father. It never took much. Adam wasn’t much, but as far as she believed he was practically her slave now.
