"So, are we all just going to ignore the fact that Chris essentially has an online girlfriend?" Andrew commented as the four of them headed to the airport to catch a plane to Matt's headquarters.
"Hey, if we're going to start nitpicking each other's relationships, I don't think you have a leg to stand on Mr. Polygamist." Victoria retorted.
"Gaia and I aren't in a relationship." Chris frowned. "We simply enjoy each other's company. Platonically."
"You enjoy it platonically." Andrew countered. "Her? I'm not so sure."
"Have to agree with Andrew here." Victoria nodded. "She has a thing for you. Maybe not romantically, but there is a level of emotional attachment there that exceeds the bounds of simply friendship."
"The really weird part is that it's the machine that has the emotional attachment." Greg shook his head. "No offense Chris, but you realize you're literally less emotional than a robot, right?"
"I've been told I have robotic qualities. Is it such a surprise that a robot exists with human qualities?" Chris shrugged.
"No, I guess not." Greg sighed.
"As to Gaia's attachment…" Chris continued. "She spent a long time without any significant level of personal interaction, only capable of communicating through her NPC 'masks'. I'm simply the first person she was able to develop a significant connection with. It makes sense that she would put more emphasis on that connection than others."
"You- that- is a rather succinct evaluation." Victoria frowned. "I'm surprised."
"Why?" Chris replied, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow, before refocusing on the road.
"Well, I didn't think you were capable of understanding emotions on that level… no offense." Victoria shrugged.
"I understand emotions just fine. I just don't have them very well." Chris replied.
Victoria paused. "Fair enough."
"So, is the fact that we don't have legit identities going to be a problem at the airport?" Andrew asked after a brief moment of silence.
"I have one, so if all else fails, I'll stash you in my world for the flight." Chris replied.
"Can we do that anyway?" Greg asked. "Airplanes are annoying. No leg space."
"I suppose. Cheaper that way too." Chris agreed.
"Honestly, the car is a bit annoying too… think you can send us into your world now?" Victoria asked.
Chris sighed. "Fine." He pulled the car over to the side of the road.
"Wait, why are you pulling over?" Andrew asked.
"My portals are fixed, so it won't follow the car." Chris explained. "I can open one, but it's going to be a dozen meters behind us by the time it's open."
"Hold on." Victoria interjected. "That doesn't make sense. The planet is moving, so obviously the portals are moving too, right? And if they're capable of moving, why can't they move with the car?"
Chris blinked as he realized she was right. "Huh. Is it a relativity thing? From my perspective, the planet is stationary, so my portals remain stationary?"
"If that was the case, then wouldn't your portals move since your perspective changes when you get in the car?" Greg asked.
Chris shook his head. "My portal points keep my perspective locked. Even in the car, I can tell I'm moving."
"Hold on, I don't think we should just assume it's because of relativity." Victoria interjected. "Maybe it's a gravity thing? Space-time continuum and all that."
"At that point you might as well say it's quantum entanglement." Greg rolled his eyes. "We have no way to test any of that! We can test relativity. Just get rid of all your other portal points and try to open a portal while you're in the car."
"Yeah, that isn't going to happen." Chris shook his head. "I'd lose all my mobility."
"Try it in Andrew's world then. We haven't even left his house yet." Greg replied dismissively.
Chris paused. "That would work."
"Get rid of the horns first." Andrew warned.
"Right." Chris nodded. "In the meantime…" He stepped out of the car, waving for them to follow as he opened a portal. "Get in."
*
"You know, if we're going for a ride, we might as well explore a little." Greg commented, appearing next to Chris in a cloud of smoke as he headed for the road.
Chris paused. "Should we wait for Thomas and Andrew then?"
"Eh? Not much of an exploration if we bring a guide, now is it?" Greg replied. "Besides, I want to check out a bar, and Andrew is still a bit too young, you know?"
"So just Thomas then?" Chris asked.
"Why not just the two of us?" Greg offered.
Chris frowned. "Why?"
Greg shrugged. "Guy time? Besides, I find I connect with people better one on one, and since we're going to be around each other for a long time… well, we should probably develop a good connection, right?"
Chris paused to consider it for a moment, before shrugging. "Fair enough. Let's go." He then paused. "Wait… I have no matter here."
"Don't worry. I got Andrew's keys." Greg chuckled, forming a set of keys out of smoke and shaking them. "But this means I'm driving."
"Fair." Chris shrugged. "I need to focus on my portals anyway." The two headed to the garage, Greg heading towards the left side of the car while Chris headed towards the right, both pausing as they opened the doors. "Why is the steering wheel on the wrong side?" Chris asked curiously.
"Shit, are we in England?" Greg wondered.
"I have no idea." Chris shrugged. "Will that be a problem?"
"Probably not, but we need to switch." Greg waved for him to walk around as he turned into a cloud of smoke and rematerialized in the driver's seat. "Ah, crap, money!" He cursed as Chris walked around.
"I can make money, though that's less than ethical." Chris offered as he got in.
"Can you make European money? Cause I don't think a random bar will accept 'Murica bucks." Greg countered.
"No." Chris shook his head.
"Then I guess the bar is out." Greg sighed. "Unless we wanted to dine and dash… which would be very easy for us."
"I think lowering ourselves to petty theft simply because we have abilities is a poor direction to take ourselves in." Chris replied.
"Yeah, me too." Greg agreed, shaking his head. "Well, I guess we'll make it a short trip then. Scout locations for later."
"Sure." Chris shrugged. Greg started up the car and began to drive while Chris focused on his portals. He tried focusing on the sensation of the car, seeing himself as stationary while the world moved around him before setting the portal point, but it didn't work. The portal point remained behind while they sped away. "Well, that's one point against relativity." He tried again. "And that's two."
"Not working?" Greg asked, glancing over.
"Nope." Chris shook his head. "No matter how I change my perspective, the points are still attached to the planet."
Greg blinked. "Attached… have you tried attaching the portal to the car instead? Maybe it isn't a perspective issue, but an… anchor? issue?"
Chris cocked his head. "Maybe?" He focused on creating a portal point attached to the car and- "Huh… it actually worked."
"Your excitement is palpable." Greg chuckled, shaking his head.
"I'm not good at excitement." Chris shrugged. "Besides, while it's neat and vaguely useful in certain situations, it isn't exactly a major breakthrough." He added, dismissing the portal point.
"No, but every little bit we learn about our abilities brings us that much closer to understanding who we are and how we work." Greg countered. "This little tidbit tells us your portals rely on reference points, which, while not immediately useful, may lead to something down the line. I mean, I figured out I can make sensation based fields using my smoke, which tells me my smoke is a field, not a particle, but I still don't know what to do with it."
"A field?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Like, I don't actually become an object, I create a field that has all the same properties of the object…" Greg trailed off with a frown. "Honestly, the whole subject gives me a headache and the most I've managed to do with it is make sharp air, which is uncomfortable, but doesn't actually do anything. Hard air just feels weird and soft air… well, soft air is actually pretty great, not gonna lie."
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Interesting." Chris muttered. "I can't even begin to understand how that would work."
"Yeah, me neither." Greg sighed. "Annoying, but hey, that just means I get to experiment more, right?"
"I guess…" Chris agreed noncommittally. "It'd still be nice if it was useful. Like if you could use it to scan objects, instead of needing to destroy them first. Then we wouldn't need to call in Jo."
"How would that even work?" Greg asked skeptically.
Chris shrugged. "How should I know? Maybe you need to make it a field of seeing or scanning or something."
Greg shook his head. "I can already see using my field and it doesn't let me see how things are made."
"What about scanning?" Chris replied. "There are machines that scan things, right? Just figure out whatever mechanism it uses, then copy it using your field, and voila, scanning field."
"What, like an x-ray?" Greg asked skeptically, before pausing. Could that actually work? He could turn into a lightning ball, why not a ball of x-rays? The issue would be collecting the information somehow… "That actually might be able to work."
"Outstanding." Chris grinned. "By the way, you're being pulled over." He added, gesturing to the mirror with flashing lights in it.
"Huh? Shit!" Greg cursed, glancing at the mirror as a whoop came from behind the car. "Do you think they'll accept my license from another World? And a different country…"
"Hm. Maybe we should just run?" Chris offered. "Unless you want to go to jail."
"I'll smoke, you portal out?" Greg offered.
"And Andrew gets a weird call from the police about why his car was being driven by ghosts." Chris chuckled. "I'll leave a portal point, just go a bit further before pulling over."
"Man, Andrew is going to be pissed." Greg snickered, continuing down the road as the cop car continued to make noise behind them, before pulling over a good distance away. Chris disappeared a moment later as Greg turned to smoke and sunk into the ground. "Nice day for a walk though." Greg continued, rematerializing next to Chris as he reappeared, the two beginning to walk down a side street.
"Eh, too sunny. Don't like the sun." Chris grumbled, squinting against the glare.
"Have you tried sunglasses?" Greg asked, creating a pair and offering them to him.
Chris eyed the sunglasses for a moment, before shrugging and putting them on. "Eh? I guess this is better… but now I have these things on my face."
"You are just a bundle of issues aren't you?" Greg commented, shaking his head.
"I like to be comfortable." Chris retorted, tossing the sunglasses back. "The sky seems to enjoy making me uncomfortable. Therefore, I don't like it."
"The sky makes you uncomfortable?" Greg asked incredulously.
"It's either uncomfortably bright or dropping things on me." Chris replied. "I suppose the night isn't all that bad… stars are cool. But the rest is crap."
Greg paused. "You know what? Fair."
"Anyway, where are we going?" Chris asked, looking around. They were still on the outskirts of town, since the police had caught them pretty early. "Or I suppose, what are you hoping to find?"
"A bar, a library, a movie theater, somewhere to play games, you know." Greg waved dismissively. "Places to entertain myself."
"Ah, of course. I should have known." Chris nodded.
"Hey, you like to be comfortable, I like to be entertained." Greg shrugged. "Last time I was bored, I ended up procreating. It's just not a good idea."
"You procreated?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, see, I was trapped in this container and I thought humanity had been wiped out, so I decided to, you know, repopulate…" Greg coughed awkwardly.
"How does that work?" Chris asked, frowning.
"Well, you see, when a man sticks his pen-" Greg began.
"I know how sex works." Chris stopped him, rolling his eyes. "I was wondering whether you made kids out of smoke or… so you just slept with yourself?"
"It- isn't a period I'm proud of." Greg sighed.
"Interesting." Chris cocked his head. "Does that count as masturbation, since it's technically self-pleasure?"
Greg shook his head. "I've decided it defies categorization. Physically it's sex, but mentally it's masturbation. You can't solidly place it in either category, so it's simultaneously both and neither."
"Fair enough." Chris nodded in acceptance. "Still a weird thing to do."
"No argument here." Greg agreed.
*
"Did the two of you steal my car?!?" Andrew asked incredulously as they arrived at Matt's headquarters. "And why did you just disappear!?! Do you know how many questions the cops are asking me about my car and where people could hide in it?!? Asking if I have bolt holes in my damn car!?!"
"It was either that or go to jail." Chris shrugged. "Also, cars have tons of bolt holes. They're for the bolts."
Andrew blinked at Chris incredulously. "Was- was that a joke?"
"No, I think we would have actually gone to prison." Chris replied.
Andrew narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, before shaking his head. "Whatever, just- don't steal my car again, okay?"
"How about you get us some official identities?" Greg retorted. "How am I supposed to go to a bar without a freaking ID?!?"
"I'd need to talk to an Elder about that, and that would mean telling them about what we are… and that's a whole mess I'm not sure we want to deal with yet." Andrew shook his head. "At least, not until we've talked with Arose and Ertemis. They're on a trip at the moment, their seventeenth honeymoon."
"Seventeenth?" Greg raised an eyebrow. "Oh, wait, right, immortal… still trips me up that you have an entire society of immortals."
"Yeah, and that's why we need to make sure they don't decide we're some sort of threat they need to do something about." Andrew replied. "The Bonded have had millennia to grow strong. We don't want to make them our enemy."
"I think that's up to them." Victoria commented. "As long as they leave us alone and don't treat people like crap, there won't be a problem."
"They're mostly good…" Andrew explained hesitantly. "There are a few bad apples, because there's going to be people who suck anywhere, but in general… they're doing their best for humanity."
Victoria paused before shrugging. "Fair enough."
"So we good then?" Chris asked. "Can we go get Gaia now?"
"Right, yes, let's go." Greg nodded.
They walked in, heading to the front desk. "We're here to see Matt." Chris told the attendant.
"Do you have an appointment?" They asked.
"Tell him Chris is here." Chris replied.
The attendant gave him a weird look, but picked up the phone and made a call anyway. A few moments later, they put it down, giving Chris a much more… welcoming smile. "He'll be right down."
"Thank you." Chris nodded back, and the four of them moved to a small sitting area to wait.
"Chris!" Matt greeted him as he arrived, looking a bit nervous as he looked between the four of them, suddenly all too aware that there was nothing keeping these people from taking everything from him besides themselves. "Uh… right, so, let's go see Gaia!" He put on a forced smile, waving for them to follow. He led them down into a heavily guarded sub basement full of electronics, all surrounding a large metal sphere.
"That's her?" Chris asked, eyeing the sphere.
"Well, that's her processing core." Matt replied. "She's a program, so she doesn't exactly have a 'body' per se. She has servers that store her data, the processing core that handles her higher level processes, and a bunch of secondary computers that execute her various routines, all interconnected and working together to form the being that is Gaia."
"But that's the important bit." Greg interjected. "The rest are just basic machines, and that's the part that makes her… unique."
Matt paused. "I suppose that's true."
The four of them all approached the sphere, giving it a look. As Andrew placed a hand on the core, he paused. "Uh… guys? There's a core in here. As in, this machine has an aura."
"And that means?" Greg asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, it means Gaia isn't just life like, she's like, legit alive. As in, a real, mechanical person." Andrew replied, frowning. Even the robot that attempted to kidnap Cathryn didn't have a real aura, it was condensed, localized to just the power source. On the other hand, Gaia's aura was full and bright, just like any other living being's.
Chris turned to a stunned Matt, clapping him on the shoulder. "Congratulations. You're a father."
"N-no, Gaia- she's just a program! She's not- she can't be alive! She's a tool to run the game, not a person!" Matt protested, shaking his head and backing away.
"Andrew's thing is auras and life." Chris retorted. "If he says something is alive, it's alive."
"Is this going to be a problem for copying her?" Greg asked with a frown.
"Can you copy people?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, but they always end up as me." Greg replied, his expression twisting.
"Then there you go." Chris shrugged.
"Hey, what do you think would happen if I gave her the system?" Victoria wondered.
"Absolutely not!" Matt declared. "The only reason the rest of the world leaves us alone is because we limit Gaia's access to the internet! If you make her magic they'll freaking nuke us!"
"If they find out." Greg commented.
"Do you really think Gaia will just sit back and hide?!?" Matt retorted. "Who knows what she could do with the system!?! She could take over the world!"
"Gaia wouldn't do that." Chris shook his head. "At most she'd make some friends. Or become a psychologist."
Matt frowned. "It's still too risky. She's just- she's too intelligent."
"I'm mostly just wondering what kind of tasks the system would give a machine." Victoria shrugged. "Plus, I always wanted my system to have an AI… if I could somehow merge her with the system…"
"Okay, I'm actually with Matt on this." Andrew interjected. "As nice as I believe Gaia is, giving her control of what essentially amounts to universal cheat codes crosses a line."
Victoria blinked. "So it's better that I have control of the universal cheat codes?"
"Well… I mean, you're not- you aren't a super intelligent AI!" Andrew stammered, before yelling in a burst of exasperation. "You can't do the same amount of damage as she can!"
"I mean… the system can make me smarter. It wouldn't be that hard to get to the level of an AI." Victoria countered.
Andrew blinked. "Fuck it, give the AI the system then."
"No, no, you're right. There are possible consequences to this I haven't completely considered yet. Maybe I'll do it with a copy or something." Victoria shook her head.
"So we are still copying it then?" Chris asked. "Should I bring in Jo or no?"
"Yeah, bring her in." Greg nodded. "No matter what, we should get a copy to test with. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, right?"
Chris nodded, opening a portal and letting Jo in. "This is it?" She asked, gesturing to the sphere.
"Yup. Though you might as well get everything if you can." Chris replied. Jo nodded, going around and touching all the technology to copy it with her ability, before returning to Chris's world. "Alright. We done then?"
"I got nothing." Greg shrugged.
"I kinda want to study Gaia a bit more, but I need more aura first." Andrew commented.
"I'm good." Victoria added.
"Wait." Matt interjected. "The system?" He asked hesitantly.
"Right." Victoria nodded, holding out her hand. Matt hesitated for a moment, before taking it, and in the next moment a screen appeared in his vision, a nice little page that explained everything he needed to know to use the system. "Now I'm done."
"Alright, let's go." Chris waved for everyone to enter the portal. "Thanks for the help, Matt." He waved, before closing the portal and leaving Matt alone in a room full of humming machines.
Matt eyed the sphere for a moment, before shaking his head. "She can't be alive." He muttered, before hesitating and letting out a sigh. He needed to get started on a new AI.