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All art is by Aisaku.

Dida

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Part 12 - Memories

My head suddenly felt hot. I reached out from the cliff. “And who exactly are you talking to?”

“You, Dida.”

“I am not Dida. Dida is my friend…my computer.”

I put some distance between myself and her. “If you’re trying to mess with my mind and make me believe things that are not true, then you should just leave now.”

She folded her hands in front of her. “The mess was already between Aide’s mind and your organizing control. I am not trying to make you believe anything but rather attempting to reintroduce genuine reality to you in such a way that the ties binding you and Aide can be successfully separated.”

I booted the couch with my foot. “I can’t believe this…is Kary trying to pull some sort of experiment?...”

“Kary Glossian is only trying to save his brother’s life.”

After all I’d seen, that sounded laughably-impossible to me. But then, if all I’d seen had been muddied and confused…by Dida or some other source, then I couldn’t rely on my own memories to that extent. I also couldn’t rely on the sincerity of this projection/AI/whatever. Though, it provided what seemed like clear answers.

What if I really was Dida?

I shook my head. “Can you give me any form of proof then?”

She nodded. “The ultimate proof would be for you to wake up as a guest in Aide’s mind. But other than that, there is something I was given to show you. I have the key for the locked door in Dida’s system. It actually relates to a memory of Aide’s. It’s something he never told her. It was the beginning, the cause, of all this.”

I propped my leg against the couch from behind. Dida remained mute on all this new information. If Leda was to be believed, I was just talking to myself with Dida. I still had some points to use against her though.

I was watchful for another jewel to come out of her hands, but Leda just gestured to the bank of elevators. “Could you please follow me?”

Since I didn’t have many other options available, I followed her. The doors sealed behind us. I felt a memory as she lit a particular button on the elevator panel.

IHdFMX0.png [https://i.imgur.com/IHdFMX0.png]

The elevator rose swiftly.

I tapped my feet. “So…what about the fact I’m not the least bit analytical and computerized in my thinking right now or in my memory?”

“The team believes that your programming has changed due to the interaction. You were always designed to be flexible and adaptable.”

“That’s…not really an answer“, I reminded her.

“It is the closest to an answer that I am programmed to provide.”

The elevator settled and the doors opened. I recognized the hallway. The last time I was here, Kary was beaming from ear to ear. It was four years ago.

I shook my head. “I remember everything from that day. I remember the attitude of my brother. I remember meeting Dida. I remember having questions. I remember how much of a smart aleck I was.”

Leda walked down the hall. “Yes. You were able to interface with a multitude of memories from the host in search of absolution. You looked deep, so deep you fell all the way in. But the locked, unspoken door remained.”

She led me to a gray door with a rough, almost-burnt finish. Leda held a silver key in her hand.

“We must enter…”

I held my next step. “And what will happen when you open the door?”

“I do not know. I’m only here to take you inside.”

I was afraid. What if she was right? If I was just a computer inside of a human brain then what became of my world then? What of my dream of naming a daughter in honor of my ‘mother’ someday? Had that ever truly been my dream?

I approached the door in a sideways fashion. Leda met it head-on. She slipped her key through the hole and turned the lock. For a moment, I cringed as the click seemed to echo through my head.

The door slid open slowly and Leda walked through first. She beckoned with her hand for me to enter. I moved carefully. I looked at everything. I analyzed with genuine curiosity.

Further down the hall stood Aide and Kary Glossian. I marveled at the back of my head. Aide yawned a bit.

“You know…I’m kinda tired. Do we have to do this all now?”

“Yes! We shook on it.”

“Enough!” Aide glared at him. “What’s this about me needing to take a shower before you implant this computer?”

“It’s for hygienic purposes. Hopefully the next-gen systems won’t require these sorts of precautions.”

Aide rolled his eyes. “Fine…fine. You’ve been talking my ear off about little virtual projections and AI-adapted taxis that drive themselves. I thought this was supposed to be about the little thing in the other room you want to put inside my head.”

Kary scoffed. “Thing? It’s a living being. You know…I think you’d feel better if you just named her. Your call.”

Aide leaned his head against the wall. “Oh, come on. Who really names their computer?. Well, maybe it…she’s not too bad. But I’m lousy for names!”

Kary shook his head. “Mom always trusted you with that sort of thing. Come on.”

Aide’s sudden grimace turned into a trace of a grin. “Okay. Well, I’m not going to name her ‘Dida’. That was a failure.”

I felt everything freeze up. I leaned against the wall for support.

Kary glared. “I never believed dad about that. He should be dead all these years and not her!”

Aide tensed his lips. “Easy…bro. I wouldn’t wish death on any family. “

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Kary bowed his head after a moment. “I still can’t forgive him for saying again and again that mom’s pregnancy was a lie!”

Aide didn’t respond at first. He just sighed and calmly replied, “It’s clear from the records I’ve seen that she suffered from pseudocyesis. The baby I named never existed.”

I covered my face with my hands and softly said into them, “No…” My hands suddenly felt like an artificial drape across plastic features.

Kary reiterated the same feeling as me. “I always believed her! And what does it matter anyway? Dida can be real! Just forget about the past. Set it aside! The future is in that room.”

Aide stared at the ceiling. “Sorry, big bro. Memories put away always come back worse.”

Kary just stared back. “And the past can also taint the present. I know. But this little living computer inside of you deserves to see the best. She should reach beyond her potential now into a boundless future.”

Aide frowned. “Always the dreamer.”

Kary nodded. “Always.”

The two brothers regarded each other until they seemed to come to a silent agreement.

I approached and looked at both, as their eyes pierced through me.

Leda followed closely behind me and said, “The Aide of four years before is not the one you’ve known since. You changed him most of all.”

I flexed those phony fingers in front of my face. “Why was there ever a ‘Dida’?”

Leda circled around me slowly. “’Dida’ came from Aide’s love of his mother as a child. I only have what was given to me in this regard, but consider this: Aide wondered if Dida only existed in Leda’s mind. Perhaps he found it apt that a Dida would exist only in his mind as well.”

I pulled my hands close and watched Aide’s face. I wondered what he was thinking. I wondered how he got to this point. His mood seemed so untraceable. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

With a sigh, he simply said, “Fine. I’ll name it ‘Dida’ and I hope you don’t have any other surprises for me.”

Kary’s mood seemed to brighten. “Oh only one, little bro, and it’s a good one.”

Aide said nothing as his brother led the way back to the lab…the nursery.

It was just as I remembered. I could see the naked, white…me. I shook my head.

I couldn’t be certain of those thoughts. I couldn’t be certain of any of this, but I felt pulled towards what Leda was showing me.

All the implantation procedures went just as I recalled. The registry protocol. Adaptation of systems. Then, the swabbing of the injection site.

Then, it all froze. Kary cleared his throat. “Dida? Recognize primary party Kary. I’d like you to place a priority one block on comments, thoughts, and instructions relating to events and information involving any dispute of Dida Glossian, sibling of primary parties.”

Aide whirled around. “What did I just say?”

Kary continued, “And also block anything directly tied to this current conversation, Dida. You are not to speak of this block. And only one of the primary parties is ever allowed to unlock it.”

“Understood.”

Aide shook his head. “So, you want to keep me in your dreamland too?”

Kary wore a pained expression. “I thought you loved our mother…”

“That was never in dispute!”

“Then honor her this way by letting our sister live on.”

“In a lie?”

Kary just shook his head solemnly.

Aide soon settled down. “So, was that the surprise you had for me?”

Kary lifted Dida out of the nursery in an injection cylinder. “There’s just one more thing, little bro. Take a deep breath.”

Aide shut his eyes. The flat end of the cylinder hissed against his neck. He grunted. “You really need to improve your methods if you want to mass-market this.”

“Yeah.”

Aide blinked his eyes open. As I watched, Kary’s lanky, boyish form melted into the familiar shape of Kari’s small, muscular one with Leda’s long hair and those olive-colored eyes. Leda approached. Standing so near to each other, you could tell without looking twice, they seemed like mother and child.

Aide glared. “What’s the meaning of this?”

Kari brushed back her long hair. “It’s considered an overlay augment. Remember from what I’ve told you about augmented reality?” Her voice was as I knew as well.

He sat up halfway. “It’s just an image and while the programming will recognize the physical world’s boundaries, it will only ever be an image projected.”

“So you were listening…good. Well, I’ve overlaid myself with the reality of what I speculated to be me, born female.”

Aide looked over Kari. “Is there something you wish to tell me…?”

“I’ve been to other psychologists, you know.”

“I see. So, why now?”

“I’ve had this program for quite a while actually. But you’ve never been able to see her without little Dida as your receiver.”

I walked around the scene with Leda following behind me. Aide stood suddenly. I backed off.

“You could’ve told me!”

“Yeah, but remember I like surprises.”

“I’m not finished about you blocking the truth from my computer. What if it asks about these things? You’ve put me in quite a position.”

Kari cleared her throat. “It’ll still recognize my voice command. I’ll just block more things from it and make sure it doesn’t ask about that. This can work.”

“You’ve been touting how curious and determined she is to resolve problems…and yet all this?” He threw up his hands. “Why?”

Kari leaned against a table and it rocked more than it should’ve with her small form. “Well, while I do recognize that adversity drives organisms to go further than they would otherwise, that isn’t my goal. I’ve already told you my goal...”

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