Vince carries me in silence again into the courtyard. We turn into a small, long building with garage doors all across the front. Vince opens one of the doors and closes it behind us as we step inside.
I’m immediately met with a wave of heat. This building is split in half down the middle, the left looking like a medieval forge and the right side being a much more modern metalworking plant. In the center of the room sits a small operating table and a variety of medical tools. A large pile of scrap lies next to her forge. I wonder if that’s the scrap that Vince and the group brought back. It’s about the right size pile.
Sonia herself is currently shaping a slab of glowing hot slag into a smooth sheet over an anvil. She’s just as tall as Ivy, but made entirely of muscle. Streaks of gray paint her once black hair.
“Sonia!” Vince cries out over the sounds of her beating metal and the roar of the forge.
“More scrap?” She calls, glancing over at the two of us. “Just toss it in the pile.”
“Oh no, this is much more interesting.” Vince says while bringing me forward to an operating table in the center of the room. “You’re not hiding anyone in here this time, are you?”
“No. Why?”
“Have you ever worked on an AI before?”
“Of course. I was a mechanic before the war. Why?” She doesn’t stop working as she talks.
“Well that makes things way less fun. Want to work on another?”
Her hammer freezes mid swing as she stares at me. I give her a small wave the best I can with my barely functional arm. She walks up to the two of us quickly, but not aggressively.
“You look like a disaster. How are you still alive?” She asks me flatly. Her eyes dance across my body, trying to figure out how I work before she even begins.
“I was buried for 40 years in a military ba-”
“I don’t care about your history. I mean physically, your body is a disaster. Some of this tech looks ancient. I didn’t even know they could make something like you pre sand.” She tells me. She has a predatory look on her face, like I’m a slab of meat she can’t wait to play with. “Remove her clothes and I’ll get to work.”
“Sure thing.” It’s much easier to get my clothes off with Vince’s help. He carefully folds them and places them on a nearby table for me. “Are you going to be ok if I leave you alone for a little bit?”
“I guess.”
“Alright. Sonia, you play nice with Little Blue, you hear? I’m going to figure out what to do about Cassie.”
Sonia doesn’t even acknowledge when he leaves, she’s too focused on me.
“40 years huh? How are you powered? Also open wide, I’m going to go mad if I don’t replace that speaker.” She prepares a small pile of tools on the table next to me, and ransacks a pile of junk for a working speaker.
It only takes her a few seconds to replace it, and after a few quick tests I’m sounding clear as I ever have. I hadn’t realized how nice it would be to be able to speak normally. Hopefully the rest of my repairs help in the same way.
“An Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator. I have enough plutonium for 20 more years before it gets too weak for me to live.” No reason to lie to someone who’s about to fix me. I’m sure she’d find out anyway, it takes up most of my torso.
“Oh boy, can’t wait until I have to fix that problem. What type of AI are you?” She stops setting up tools for just a moment to ask.
“What do you mean by type?”
“Purely software, partially biological, a mind rip, quantum based, what’s your deal?”
“I have a partially biological chip in the back of my neck.” I guess that’s what that dog was so long ago, a mind rip. A quick check of the hard drive he’s on reveals it’s long since failed. So much for helping him, he’s just another death that I’ve caused.
“Meat or plant?”
“Uh, plant, I think.” Her questions come one after another, leaving me no time to think about anything else.
“And it’s been running for 40 years with no outside input?”
“I have a nutrient canister in my torso that will also last another 20 years.”
“Convenient. I assume you’re not a standard model, do you have blueprints?”
“I have them memorized, but all the drives in my body have long since died. I can reconstruct the blueprints, but it’ll take a moment.”
“Don’t bother, just run a diagnostic and tell me what’s wrong.” She waves me off and grabs a few tools.
“Just about everything. Right leg’s completely inoperable, most motors are failing or seized up, several plates are missing, but I think Cassie has those. Rust has caused structural issues, and most non-essential circuit boards are dead or dying.” I find it really easy to talk openly to her for some reason.
“How do you open?”
“I can slide all my skin plates out of the way, however many arms that allow me to articulate them are stuck.”
“Great. Looks like I’m not getting much sleep today.”
She starts by working on my skin plates, getting all of them off of me after some non-destructive tugging and lubricating. She’s very careful to not break anything. We go through every piece of me, down to every wire, talking about what’s working well, what’s not, and what can be skimped out on.
She is really good at keeping me engaged, constantly keeping my mind on repairs. Every once in a while she moves over to large 3d printers at the side of the workshop. A slag of metal in a reservoir atop the printer liquifies quickly, only to start being extruded into some required shape or another.
After working for hours she finally finishes sketching out what exactly she needs to replace inside of me. While working through various piles of electronics and motors she begins to turn her questions towards my history, instead of purely work.
“So who designed your body?”
“My… Mom.” She notices my shaky voice.
“I assume she’s not around? That’s a shame. She packed an awful lot of stuff in here. I’m impressed. It’s way better than 90% of bodies I saw before the war.”
“She originally designed it to be a replacement body for herself. But she thought that technology was decades away at least. So I got it. She was wrong, but I lost her before I could tell her.”
“Good thing she didn’t. Mind rips are a nasty business. Almost never seen it turn out well.” She grabs one of the prints with tongs and tosses it into a bucket of water, only to start another.
“I know. I think I met one once.”
“Where?” Genuine curiosity finds its way into her voice.
“At the lab I was born in. They had me hack a laptop with one on it being used to protect data. He, uh, killed the others in there.”
“In 2020?”
“Yes. I transferred him to a drive in my body, but I think that’s dead now.” There’s no way any of that data is recoverable, hard drives don’t last that long.
“Didn’t know any existed back then. You came in with Vince’s crew right?” She asks, changing the topic suddenly.
“Yeah?”
“Cassie must be pissed.”
“I think she really hates me.”
“If it makes you feel any better, she’s showing a lot of restraint by not shooting you on the spot.” Sonia says casually.
“Why?”
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“Sorry, I don’t give out other’s secrets.”
She continues asking question after question while she replaces entire chunks of me. Every time the printers finish creating replacement parts for motors and joints she sets them on a new task. More than once she has to pause to shape a chunk of scrap into a metal bone or support on her anvil. After almost 12 hours of work she begins to finish up.
“A couple of things you should know, I didn’t have the right parts to do a perfect repair, you are going to notice some differences. You’re going to be a lot faster than you were, but carrying anything beyond some light gear is going to slow you down a ton. You’re heavier than the servos are optimized for, but it’s the best I have. I also swapped out your wrist point for a more modern, universal port. Power, data, whatever you need can be transferred into and out of you from there.” She begins to wash oil and grime off her hands, already knowing I won’t need any more tweeks.
“Thank you.” I say, slowly standing up. My limbs are so much more responsive, even the smallest movement is magnified way beyond what I expect. I go through every motor, testing my range and speed, just like when I first received this body. I give a small test hop and find myself rising into the air. An impossibility with my old body, and I’m not even running them at full power to get off the ground. “This is great, thank you. And thanks for keeping my skin how it was. It means… something.” I tell her while getting dressed.
“Sure. Where are you off to now?”
“I need to see Hummingbird and Jade.”
“Jade’s in the range, the warehouse just to the left when you leave, and Hummingbird’s below the hotel.” Sonia tells me. Immediately after she drops into a nearby chair and drifts off to sleep instantly. I let myself out.
I don’t even want to think about guns right now, I’m going to put off seeing Jade for as long as possible. Visiting Hummingbird first is really my only option.
The storm is still raging far above us, threatening to swallow the entire city if the electric field fails. My internal clock tells me It’s very early in the morning, but you could never tell. The storm blocks all light from the sun.
The yard itself is nearly abandoned. The few guards that are out here are fighting sleep instead of staying on watch. Luckily they pay me very little attention as I walk back towards the hotel.
Oscar is asleep behind the reception desk with his head in a puddle of his own drool. I probably shouldn’t disturb him if he needs the sleep that badly. The only stairwell on this floor is at the end of the entrance hallway, I guess I head down there.
The staircase leads down into the basement, where a single door waits for me. It’s made of sturdy metal, with the word ‘Storage’ written on it. Although, someone has scratched out the word and written ‘Lab’ in messy letters beneath it.
I let myself into a pure white lab, not a speck of dust can be seen on any surface. Harsh fluorescent lights buzzing above me. It feels so similar.
Don’t think. Keep it together. I can’t have a breakdown already.
The lab itself is packed with tables. Each one filled with unknowable experiments bubbling away over burners, half finished projects, and old discarded food wrappers. Along one of the walls a giant screen buzzes to life, displaying a very cute digital girl with pink hair and an old fashioned dress.
“Hello!” She cries out with an overly excited voice. “Miss Hummingbird is currently busy, may I have your name please?”
“Blue. Who are you?” Vince would have told me if there was another AI here, so what is she?
“My name is Trochilidae! Miss Hummingbird’s wonderful receptionist! Miss Hummingbird says she will be out in a few minutes and requests that you ‘sit tight’ until she is available.” She bounces excitedly around with every word.
“Ok.” I say. There’s nowhere to sit in the cramped lab and I stay awkwardly standing. “Are you an AI?” Against my better judgment, a small bead of hope grows in my mind.
“Oh good heavens I hope not!” Trochilidae exclaims, holding her hand up to her mouth in shock. “Miss Hummingbird would be quite upset if she had to delete me! No, I’m a much less dangerous and somewhat less illegal conversation Droid.”
“Why are you illegal?” I’m certain she can hear the disappointment in my voice, and quite possibly my hope shattering.
“Conversation Droids have quite the nasty habit of gaining sentience. But fear not! Miss Hummingbird, in her infinite wisdom, put every block possible to prevent that possibility. We won’t be triggering a second AI War in this lab!” She puffs herself up proudly.
“Do you know who I am?” Would she still say that if she knew I was an AI?
“Why of course! You’re Blue! Although I’m quite sorry but I’m not aware of anything past your name. Do you care to enlighten me?”
Before I can respond a door to a deeper part of the lab opens, stepping through is a short girl with a comically oversized lab coat.
“Trochilidae, off!” She yells as she enters, and the large screen turns off immediately. “Please don’t tell my assistant you’re an AI. I would never hear the end of it. I’m Hummingbird.” She says. Both her talking speed and walking speed are far faster than I ever would have expected. Is she talking faster just because she knows I can understand it, or does she always speak like this? “Nice to meet you, Blue.” She shoves her hand into my face.
“Nice to meet you too.” I say taking her hand tentatively.
“Glad you could finally make it, although I will admit I hadn’t expected you this early. Do you sleep? What am I saying, of course you don’t. Do you have any hacking experience?” Her speech flits from topic to topic without any time for me to respond.
“Yes?”
“To sleeping or hacking? Or some third thing, I know you AI can be a little crazy with how fast you can think.”
“To hacking. And I don’t think that fast normally, heat can be a problem in my body.”
“Fascinating! You don’t have any wireless components, do you? What am I saying, of course you don’t. You’re still alive after all, ha! Want to start hacking?” I think I understand how she got her name.
“Why would it matter if I had wireless capability?”
“Oh! Nobody told you? Nobody uses anything wireless after the war, far too dangerous. There are still some feral AI hiding in access points nobody’s noticed. And an AI walking into the city? Well you’re just the perfect prey, aren’t you! I’d give it three minutes before your head explodes. Wouldn’t that be something!”
I don’t think I like her. I almost wish I went to the range instead.
“But wait, I saw Cassie using a radio.”
“Oh yeah! Analog signals are fine, can’t do much more than just jam them.” I’m not sure how to respond to that, but luckily for me Hummingbird continues without giving me the chance to. “Alright! Let’s get you into cyberspace!” She says, turning on her heel and walking to the same door she came from.
I follow her into a room filled with six chairs in a semicircle, one is already filled by a man who makes no indication that he realizes we entered. Hummingbird drops onto the first one she comes to, taking a cord hanging there and bringing it to the back of her neck. Can humans hack just like I can? How in the world does that even work?
“Come on in!” She says as she plugs it into herself. The instant she does her whole body goes limp. I head over to the chair on the opposite side from her. An unfamiliar round plug sits on the chair. This must be that universal plug Sonia was talking about replacing my wrist port with. Here we go I guess.
I find myself in a familiar, comforting white void, although this time I’m not alone. In front of me is a huge golem of metal and wires. It’s far taller than me, with a glass dome sitting in the center of its chest. It’s impossible for me to see inside.
“Glad you could make it.” Hummingbirds' unmistakable voice comes from it, distorted by a speaker.
“You look awful!” Trochilidae’s voice cheerfully comes out of the golem. I guess they must work together.
She’s right. Looking down at me all I see is a black, formless cloud of constantly shifting smoke. Whispers can faintly be heard coming from the swirling void that is me.
“Why do I look like this?” My voice echos out from the deep center of my void body.
“What you look like in cyberspace is a reflection of how you see yourself. Your subconscious idea of yourself if you will.” She says, flexing her giant mechanical arms.
“You must really hate yourself!” Trochilidae adds on to Hummingbird’s description.
“Yeah. I got that.” I say, annoyance coming through in my voice. Hummingbird either doesn't notice or doesn't care as she continues.
“Want to try some buildings I have set up?”
“Get ready!” Trochilidae yells.
With a wave of their arm a rickety house rises from the ground. Its wooden slats are so warped from age and wear that they create inch wide gaps in the walls. Inspecting it I don’t see any traps, and my formless self has no problem squeezing through the cracks.
“Wow! That was quick! You’re a natural!” Trochilidae cheers me on, possibly even honestly.
“Let’s try something a little harder.”
They run me through a dozen more courses, growing steadily harder every time. A well constructed house, a circus tent, a small castle, nothing as difficult as I faced at the lab. She’s going easy on me, but I think I’ve earned that. After a few she continues to ask questions.
“What’s your element?”
“What?” I ask.
“You know, your element.” She says, lifting up her arm to blast a jet of steam into the air. “Another representation of you, how do you fight?”
“Oh, uh, Ice, I guess.”
“Cool! Get it? Here, show me!” Trochilidae cries out with a gesture. All around me dummies popped out of the floor.
“How do I hurt them?” I ask. “I can’t exactly punch them.”
“I don’t know! It’s different for everyone. Here, look!” She says, unhelpfully obliterating one of the dummies with a gout of steam, acting like it explains anything.
I float up to the nearest one, my attempts at punching with my mist only leaves the smallest layer of ice, which immediately melts. Next I attempt to swallow the dummy in my smoke completely. That does next to nothing until I start speeding my swirling mass of void faster, mimicking the sandstorm outside. The faster I move the more I freeze. It takes minutes of effort, but eventually I have a solid layer of ice covering the dummy.
“Very good! Maybe don’t fight anything in the future! But for hacking you’re wonderful!” At least Trochilidae kind of supports me.
“I used to be stronger.” Even though I have no desire to fight, disappointment still creeps its way into the edges of my voice.
“Oh yeah? Well get better then.” Hummingbird says.
“Or learn how to channel your current emotions into strength! That’s the secret to it. Strong emotions and confidence!”
There’s only one strong emotion I can conjure up in a place like this. I’d really rather not have a breakdown here.
“Are we done?” I ask.
“What? You don’t want to run any of my super dangerous courses?” Hummingbird asks.
“No.” I say flatly. If my mind gets injured, who knows if I’ll have the presence of mind to put myself back together.
“Alright, fine, Miss Sad. You’re free to go.”
I unplug myself without giving that comment a response. It doesn’t deserve one. Only one task left, then I can hide in my room and figure out what the heck to do about Cassie. As I leave the lab the door behind me opens and Hummingbird once again yells out cheerfully.
“Oh wait! Before you go! Trochilidae, say bye to your new friend.”
“Bye new friend!” Trochilidae cries out in the same tone as Hummingbird.
“Bye Trochilidae.” Poor girl. Would she really be deleted if she was sentient? Of course she would, any inconvenience and she’s gone. Just like when I was born. I close the lab door behind me.