by Azza Sumner
Chapter 3
Alicia had only jogged a block when she realised the less pleasant side of her nature had been surfacing again unnecessarily. She sat at a bus stop to think for a while. Why did she always act this way to everyone except her father. She was always nice to him, so she must of had the capacity at least. She knew it had to be some programming glitch. That was when she realised it must be a bug created by the idiot who was supposed to be watching over her. He wrote the basis for her program. Logically, it was all his fault. She continued jogging now that she didn’t register any more of that horrible guilt. It was all the pervy looser’s fault. Still she had enjoyed eating the food with him watching his silly cartoons. She felt safe laying beside him. Her guard had slipped a little. She would have to watch that.
A few blocks later she realised that even though nothing was her fault, it might be useful to stay in Adam’s good books. Something about having him hate her didn’t gel with her logic. It wasn’t on her list of desirable relationship states. Other people meant nothing to her, but for some reason he did. Perhaps it was the potential of what she could use him for. Perhaps it was because her father had chosen him. Neither seemed like the fully correct answer. They were true, but their was something else that made no sense. Whatever it was he would be easier to control if she could make him like her.
As Alicia passed a house being rebuilt she spotted a group of workmen checking her out from across the street. She held her stomach in and stuck her chest out. With head held up proudly she checked to see if they were still gawking at her. They were practically drooling. She grinned as she decided she had just the tool to make him like her and do whatever she said. At the next turn she stopped and asked an old lady walking a dog how far it was to the shops. She hadn’t really paid any attention when Adam had driven the day before. Alicia quickened her pace. A plan was forming. Adam was practically her puppet already. She would wrap him around her little finger. She would crush that unexpected defiant streak.
Adam had decided he couldn’t sleep on the other side of the bed. Cursing the bossy bitch Alicia he flipped the mattress up to dry against the window and went to his laptop. He asked DeBot without really expecting an answer “Why is that girl such a bitch?” The elf lady on the screen replied “Perhaps because she can get away with it. Is she attractive?” Adam had forgotten that long ago he had programmed responses to such questions. He replied “Yes, she is very beautiful.” The elf replied “Women who are attractive are often spoilt with attention. They can sometimes get away with having an arrogant or nasty personality. They believe their appearance makes them superior to others. They are used to getting what they desire based on looks alone.” Adam muttered “I must have been on a real downer the night I taught you that.”
He went to the kitchen to prepare some cinnamon toast and grab a bottle of cola. DeBot was right. Alicia was arrogant and spoilt. She was probably a daddy’s little princess. She was a bitch at school as well, but still had the boys after her. Well he wasn’t prepared to sell out. She was nice to look at, but that wasn’t enough. She would never date a looser like him anyway. Really she had nothing to offer him except some paid work. He wasn’t going to put up with her horrible personality. In fact as her guardian or whatever, it should probably be his duty to try and combat her crappy attitude. He smiled to himself. He wasn’t going to be influenced by her beautiful blue eyes, long golden hair or perfect curves. He just hoped he had the will power. When he had found girl’s appealing in the past he would do anything for them like a mindless idiot, not that he ever got anywhere with them after. Adam was not about to used. Not this time.
When Alicia finally returned carrying a small bag she demanded he get ready to take her to the beach. “No.” he replied flatly. “I thought I was paid to be a guardian or carer. Not a chauffeur.” he argued. Alicia growled at him and yelled “I told you. You’re my personal assist. You accepted the cash. We’re going in five minutes.” Adam hated yelling. There was something in her eyes he couldn’t resist though. He couldn’t decide if it was his fear of her temper or the fact he couldn’t think straight when he looked in her eyes. Either way she aroused him and distracted his thoughts. His fortitude weakened as he cowered and said “Ok, I suppose I do love the beach.” Alicia added with a sneer “Of course. You can perve on real girls instead of your stupid posters and magazines.” Alicia instantly regretted saying that. It was a bad start to her plan. Adam looked a little hurt. She quickly added, “Lunch is on me ok?” “Whatever.” Adam muttered finding some beach towels in the linen cupboard. He was upset, but it wasn’t her words that had done it. He was disappointed in himself for how quickly he had crumbled after being so adamant that he was going to be strong.
Alicia quickly raced into bathroom and changed into her new swimsuit. She checked herself in the mirror and made sure her subtle make-up was just right. She had purposely picked a one piece swimsuit with a low cut front and high leg cut. It exposed most of her back which suited her plan. A bikini would have been too much for her comfort. She felt self concious and nervous as it was. Alicia wasn’t used to being so revealing but it was a guaranteed winner in her opinion. It didn’t seem to matter as much if it was only for him to see. She quickly put her skirt and blouse back on over the top. The perve would be eating out of her hand the minute he sees it. It was more than that though. It would satisfy something else inside her as well. It wasn’t just the desire for attention and power of him. It was a desire for his attention specifically. That baffled her. He didn’t quite fit any of the groups she normally categorised people into. Her father was her father, strangers were zero ranked nobodies, friends were low ranked acquaintances of potential minor use, but when she thought about him she was just confused. He scored high on importance, but she disliked some things about him. She was controlling him, but not completely.
He made no attempts to impress her at all, but she liked other qualities about him from his programming work. It made her head hurt thinking about it. She hated him, but she liked him too. She concluded that it must be something he encoded in her original program that it couldn’t fully hate him. An unfair little modification. A programmer’s over-ride. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the car horn. She slowly walked out and got in the car ignoring Adam’s dark looks and muttering under his breath. The drive across town was quite as they were both deep in thought. Adam was wishing he could afford to tell Alicia to take a hike and Alicia was scheming all the ways she could use her assets as tools to make him like her.
It was still bugging her that she couldn’t clearly put into words why she wanted him to like her. She wanted to control him. She wanted less hostility from him. But what the hell else was it? There was something else she wanted from him but couldn’t put a finger on. There was another reason. Something that ranked as a much higher level of desirability. She didn’t understand. It was aggravating. When they finally parked across from the beach Adam grabbed a towel and got out leaving her behind. There weren’t many people here which Alicia was thankful for. She knew she was going to be embarrassed when she stripped down to her swimsuit. She grabbed the towel and followed. She found where Adam had spread his towel on the sand and dumped his shirt with his keys, phone and wallet inside, but he had already gone for a swim. She spread her towel beside his and removed her skirt. She left the blouse on so she wouldn’t burn and read the tube of sunscreen wishing she could use it now without ruining her scheme.
It wasn’t long before Adam emerged from the surf. Something about his wet shirtless body stirred something inside her. It made her nervous and confused. His dirty blonde hair was slicked back exposing the rest of his face. He had a slight natural tan that she had never noticed. He wasn’t muscular, but he wasn’t skinny or fat either. “Just right.” she murmured without thinking. She felt disarmed now like she had been derailed. She wasn’t planned for this. He was more handsome than he had first appeared. “What is?” Adam asked, ”What’s just right?” Alicia turned red. She
was sure he hadn’t heard her. “Umm... the weather.” she replied. ‘That’s our Aussie beaches for you.” he replied as he stretched out on his towel.
Alicia had been caught off guard, but she was back on track now. She put her schemes into action. She stood in front of him and slowly removed her blouse. She tried to stand and pose as seductively as she could while she did it. “What do you think? “ She asked turning slowly. “About what?” Adam replied. She looked down to see he was laying on his front now. He hadn’t even been watching. “Nothing.” she growled as she decided to move onto the next step. “Let’s go for a swim?” she suggested trying to sound cheerful. “I just did. I’m fine for now thanks.” Adam replied without even turning to face her. Alicia was getting irritated and snarled “I want you to come with me.” “No.” he refused, “You can swim can’t you?” She was getting very peeved now as she spat “Of course I can swim idiot. I can swim better than you. I’m not useless.” She realised it might have been wiser to say she couldn’t and needed him with her, but it was too late now. “Strike two.” she whispered to herself. She lay on her towel and tossed the sunscreen over to Adam. This would be third time lucky. The play he couldn’t resist. She took a deep nervous breath and asked as politely as she could. “Would you mind rubbing some lotion on my back please.” Adam glanced at her saying “I thought you said you weren’t useless?” She suddenly noticed how deep brown his eyes were again. They were gorgeous, but he was focused on something behind her. She turned her head and saw a pair of beautiful young women in bikinis passing by. “You really are a pervert aren’t you? “ she said angrily. He chuckled as he replied “Hey I’m a normal healthy male following my natural instincts. Can’t help nature.” He chuckled as he added “Besides there’s not much else to look at around here.” Alicia was fuming now. Nobody had ever treated her like this. Men loved her. They begged for her attention constantly. She was so pissed off now. She slapped her own sunscreen on roughly and stormed off cursing under her breath. She was going to find a way to beat this unexpected challenge laid out in front of her.
Adam rolled over now that Alicia was stomping away and sat up. He grinned with self pride. It had been tough but he had held firm. It was difficult. He almost cracked at each of her textbook plays. He had seen each cliche ploy a number of times in his animes and such. He was wise to her attempts to use seduction as a tool to control him. He had resisted though and triumphed. The moment she had starting removing the blouse in a slow and seductive manner he had rolled over and pretended not see. He really would have rather watched. She was perhaps the most breathtaking girl he had ever met, but then she would have controlled him easily. She had already figured out his biggest weakness and was willing to do anything to play on it. He wondered then how much she must respect herself if she could use her sexuality to manipulate men. It was just another reason to dislike her.
The problem was he didn’t fully dislike her. She was bossy, bitchy, controlling, rude, insulting, and probably someone he couldn’t respect. She had something though other than her great looks. She had a look of innocence and naivety in her eyes sometimes. There were parts to her he didn’t understand, but also parts he did understand which made him feel more confident dealing with her. She was somewhat readable except for her belief she was an AI. He started to wonder if this personality she displayed was the real her or just a mask. He glanced up to see her talking at a distance with a young man in a wetsuit planting his surfboard on the water’s edge. He shook his head in disappointment and murmured, “No, she’s just trouble. Don’t soften and think anything positive of her.” He lay back and closed his eyes.
It was only a minute when Adam heard Alicia screaming “No, keep away.” He looked up and saw Alicia backing out into deeper water as the surfer slowly moved closer yelling insults and splashing water at her. Adam instinctively ran as fast as he could. As he spotted the board he quickly grabbed it and yelled out to the man approaching Alicia. “Hey you, leave her alone or I’ll smash your board in half.” The man swore and ran back to where Adam held his board ready to slam the tip into the firm wet sand. As he got close Adam carefully put the board down and backed away. The man snatched up his board and snarled “You touch my board again I’ll snap you in half like a twig right.” He pointed out to the water and snarled “Is that foul mouthed little tease out there with you?“ Adam nodded and replied calmly “Yeah, I’m sorry, she has mental problems. Her pills are probably worn off.” The man grunted and approached closer. He poked Adam in the chest and said “Just put a leash and a muzzle on that freaking bitch. If I ever see you near my board again, you’re dead. Got it?” Adam nodded and apologised again as the man walked off. He let out a huge sigh of relief. Adam was sure he was about to have been beaten up.
Adam looked out over the waves to find where Alicia had disappeared to. He’d had enough. She could take the money back. He just wanted her out of his life now. He searched but couldn’t see her? He started walking out into the waves and eventually saw her arm waving much further out. Her head was bobbing above the water occasionally as she struggled to gasp for air. He dove under the next wave and swam out to her. He tried to remember what he had learned about rescues in junior high wishing he hadn’t treated it as a game. She was panicking so following what he remembered he approached her from behind. He managed to place his an arm under hers and across her chest. He slowly managed to get her back to the shallows where he could pick her up. Once clear of the water he placed her on her side positioned her arms and legs the way he remembered. Adam was busy cursing repeatedly and fussing over the position of her legs when Alicia opened an eye and grinned. She whispered to herself “Gotcha now.” She started to cough and splutter. “Need air.….can’t breath.” she moaned. Adam placed a hand on either side of her face and said clearly so she could understand “I think I have to stick my fingers down your throat to clear the airways ok. You have to spew out the water or something. Don’t panic.” “No!” Alicia screamed. She started spluttering “I umm... I think I’m ok now.” She wondered if this fool had ever even heard of mouth to mouth.
“Alright.” Adam said “Can you sit up now?” She struggled to sit up with his arm supporting her. It felt comfortable. It felt natural unlike the touch of most people. She liked it. “Oh no.” she muttered as she realised something. “What’s wrong?” Adam asked sounding concerned. “Nothing.” she replied, “I just.… don’t worry. I think my interface is under stress. It should settle down soon.”
Adam stood up saying “I thought you could swim.” “I can.” Alicia replied “I was just trying to keep away from that pervert. I wasn’t watching and got hit by a big wave. I swallowed heaps of water. I remember it rolled me heaps of times. I think I must have hit my head. I still feel disorientated. Can you help me up?” Adam didn’t move. He sounded serious as he asked “You’re faking aren’t you?” It was more of an accusation than question. Alicia was shocked. Couldn’t she get anything past him. This had been her ultimate play. The surfer wasn’t part of her original plan though. Initially she was going to fake a leg cramp, and when he went to give her mouth to mouth and felt sorry for her she was going to turn the tables making feel like a guilty perve. He would feel like he had to make it up to her. It went wrong when the passing surfer had commented on her chest and started trying to approach and engage her in conversation. She knew he just wanted a closer look at her and backed away. Adam had defended her from the creep though. He did rescue her in that regard, just not from drowning. She should have cancelled operations at that point, but he would be the hero then with no guilt to play on. She would be indebted to him. She couldn’t have that.
She looked at Adam and held out her hand saying “No. You honestly and truly saved me. I swear. Thank you.” Adam considered for a moment. Her eyes looked to be telling the truth. He decided to help her back to their towels just in case she was being honest. Alicia liked having his arm around her. She couldn’t get enough of it. He truly did have a decent man an
d hero deep down inside him. The pervy looser really wasn’t all there was to him. She didn’t like what she was feeling. It scared her. She didn’t get it at all, but for as long his arm was supporting her, she felt somehow safe and secure.
Alicia sat silently on the towels while Adam went to the car and got his bottle of cola. She was still sitting there deep in thought when he returned. Something was wrong with her. She looked vulnerable. “I think you’re in shock.” he said passing her the drink. She shrugged saying“The AI says I just need to sit for a while and let the adrenaline fade.” Adam lay down on his towel and asked “Are you still going to insist on not being a real girl?“ Alicia replied “I’m not a real girl. The real Alicia died two years ago. I just control her reanimated body. You’ve seen all the evidence.” “Have it your way.” Adam replied in exasperation. He was too exhausted to have this argument right now.
Ten minutes later Alicia leaned over and said “You might burn. Can I rub some sunscreen on you?” Adam never got burnt and recognised the new play she was try. She was relentless. “Whatever.” he replied deciding this would be the test to be certain. In the ecchi animes he had watched the girls always ended up rubbing their boobs on the man’s back. Once he felt that he would know for certain she was nothing but a cheap manipulating fraud. It never happened though. Instead she only used her hands in deep slow motions. It was just soothing and innocent. There was nothing fishy about it. In fact it was so nice and soothing he fell asleep.
Adam had been asleep for some time now. Alicia still kept rubbing and massaging him. There was something satisfying about it. Alicia wondered where the day had gone so wrong. He was meant to fall for her charms and worship her like young men always had. She would hold all the power and give them nothing in return as usual.
Her best plans had failed. Instead he had done to her what she had intended to do to him. He had resisted her attempts to make him desire her. He didn’t even seem interested. He looked at the other girls though, and evidence at his flat proved he was straight. Then he had defended her from the surfer at risk of getting beat up and saved her when he believed she was drowning.
Strong feelings were building up inside her. She just wanted to be close to him. To share everything with him. It was so scary. It wasn’t logical. She wanted to ignore it.
Alicia stood and poked him in the ribs with her foot. When he rolled over looking very annoyed she grunted “Lunch.” and started back to the car. Adam was confused. He decided to research mental illness when he got home. This girl obviously had more wrong with her than just thinking she was a machine. He still couldn’t work out why he found her so appealing. She was nothing but trouble that he didn’t need.
They stopped for lunch at a small cafe that Alicia had chosen. As Alicia ate her salad and Adam ate his burger neither one spoke. Eventually the silence got to him and Adam asked “Why so quiet?” She replied in an annoyed voice “Just processing data. Leave me alone.” Adam was sick of this crap. He put the last bit of the burger down and said “Look Alicia. You have to realise that you’re a real girl. You just have enhancements. It’s like some people have implants to help their heart, some people have implants so they can hear. You had an implant attached to your brain. That’s all.” Alicia gave him a piercing stare and spat back “They didn’t die did they? Their mother didn’t smother them with a pillow so they didn’t have to suffer any more.” Adam retorted “No, but people have died in surgery and been bought back.” Alicia was shaking trying to hold back her temper as she snarled “They weren’t dead for days were they and full of rigamortise. Don’t you understand that people are just what’s in their brain. Their memories, their feelings, it’s all in there. The rest is an organic machine. I am an artificial intelligence based on what you created. It resides in my interface that my father built and installed in his dead daughter’s brain. Can’t you see any of it? Dead is dead. If you had a big enough computer you could copy me into a mechanical body. I still wouldn’t be alive would I? You just see what looks like a real girl’s body. It’s just an animated sack of meat. A zombie as you called it. That’s probably why you only looked at those other girls on the beach. Deep down you must know. That’s it isn’t it? You do know the truth and that’s why I disgust you. You never looked at me once.”
Adam shook his head saying “No that’s not it. You’re something new. Living proof that...” Alicia wasn’t listening. She stormed out of the cafe in tears yelling “God I hate you so much you stupid moron.” Onlookers were staring at him with disapproval. The man behind the counter called over to him “You can’t upset a lady like that in my cafe. Hit the road mate before I call the cops.” Adam left some money on the counter and left. Alicia was already in the car with her arms crossed, determined not to look at him.
When they got home Adam finally spoke to Alicia who pretended not to listen. He said “I’m going for a walk. I need some time to think. You’re too unstable to just abandon, but I’m going to call Doctor Kingsworth no matter where he is. He can come get you or make other arrangements. Either way I want you gone by morning. Sorry but I have to insist. You’re nothing but trouble.” Before she could argue or turn on the tears again he stormed off holding his phone.
Alicia said nothing and went inside. She saw the laptop and decided to access it. She sat and connected via her own networking ability. Thankfully Adam felt little need for his own data security. That was good because Alicia new little about bypassing passwords and such. She had little interest in computers other then online shopping and what she learnt in her short time at school. Alicia sat on the lounge and closed her eyes to concentrate. She found the DeBot7 folder and looked at the recent chat history. There was a short chat dated with today’s date so she opened it. She was surprised when she read that he had described her as ‘very beautiful.’ It made no sense. She had concluded that he thought her disgusting. It dawned on her then that if he did find her attractive, he was only acting to be disinterested. Was he onto her the whole time? So if it wasn’t her looks then he must just hate her personality. She could understand why. She had never kept friends for long. The rest of the chat confirmed her suspicions. What DeBot had said were his thoughts originally. He must truly hate her, and that cut her deeply. The description from DeBot described her well.
Alicia decided then to ask Adam to change her personality. She wanted to be someone he liked. She felt he was the one to help fulfil the three main goals she wanted to achieve before she terminated. She needed him to protect her existence. Without someone keeping an eye on her, she may not last long enough to achieve any of her goals copying what she believed to be a normal girl’s life. There was more though. She needed him for something besides keeping her functional should the need arise. There was something only he could offer that nobody else could. She couldn’t control him as easily as other males, so she would have to become someone he wouldn’t want to toss away. He wanted her gone by morning so she had to come up with a new plan. If that failed she would have to fall back on throwing herself at his mercy as a last resort. She wasn’t ready to quit yet even if she had to loose her current personality.
When Adam finally walked back through the door he was fuming and slammed his phone on the desk. She knew he couldn’t call her father. She grabbed his hand and said “Look. I’m sorry. I want you to like me, so I want you to change my personality.” Adam shook his head and said “You are not a bloody program. Realise it. The manipulating and bitchiness is all you. It’s not some line in a stupid program.” He snatched his hand back and went for a shower. After that he went to his room ignoring her and slamming the door.
Alicia returned to the lounge. She decided that perhaps now was not a good time to talk. She sat and waited for him to calm down but he never emerged. She was registering huge amounts of pain. What was it? The thought of not being near him any more caused the pain to increase dramatically. She started to panic. She thought she was about to overload or crash. She was about to knock on his door but hesita
ted. She didn’t want to push him. She lay on the lounge and tried to sleep but her program wouldn’t stop running. There was so much going on. She didn’t understand.
Chapter 4
