I started scrolling and poking at the program and looked for errors, but my mind wasn't into it like it usually is. I couldn't get into the groove and was about to close the program down when Noreen spoke.

“Sandra, you have to fix this.” Noreen said.

“Noreen, we should discuss this later.” Her husband Nathan said. “Jack is sitting right there.”

“It's okay.” Noreen said. “After a few minutes, he becomes completely oblivious to his surroundings when he works.”

“I don't think...”

“Dad's right, mom.” Sandra said. “I'm not comfortable talking like this.”

“Jack?” Noreen asked as she turned to me. “Jack? Can you come here for a minute?”

I ignored her words and request as I typed in a random note into the program I wasn't actually working on.

“You have to touch him to get him to react.” Noreen said and looked at her daughter. “Sandra, Jack's right. You should message this man and see if he wants to see you.”

“I've tried calling him...”

“No, send a message. He'll get the notification no matter where he is.”

“But...”

“Sandra, you can't let Jack suffer like this.”

“Suffer? What are you talking about?” Sandra asked.

“He loves you, and you're stringing him along and using his good nature.”

“That is not what I'm doing!” Sandra said adamantly. “I really do love him! He saved my life!”

“Yes, he did.” Noreen said. “You should have forgotten about this Stewart right away.”

“Mom, I...” Sandra sighed. “I tried, okay?” She said. “He just...”

“I know, dear.” Noreen said. “He's exciting, spontaneous, and makes you feel all tingly inside.”

Sandra stared at her mother, because she had exactly described how Stewart made her feel.

“I'd ask how long you've been seeing him, but that doesn't matter.” Noreen said. “How many Cross-Cavern tours has he taken?”

“I... don't know.” Sandra said, and a moment later there was a soft beep. Sandra, Noreen and Nathan looked at the vidwall automatically.

Cross-Cavern Tours Record for Stewart Masters in the last year:

Full Tour: 146; Half Tour (One Way): 182

Cross-Cavern Tours Record for Stewart Masters in the previous year:

Full Tour: 146; Half Tour (One Way): 182

“Oh, my god.” Noreen said and looked at her daughter. “That... that's almost every day for 2 years!”

I hadn't turned my head to see the vidwall, because my display had echoed the popup for me.

“Jack was right.” Nathan said. “You have been seeing a lot more of this Stewart than him.”

“Dad, I...” Sandra sighed. “He told me he works at The Fall.”

Another soft beep sounded, and they looked at the vidwall.

No record of a Stewart Masters in The Fall Employee Registry.

“Wh-what?” Sandra was shocked.

“Amanda, I know it's not our place to ask this of you.” Noreen said and glanced at me, then back at the vidwall. “Where does Stewart work?”

It took a few moments for Amanda to scour the System for the information.

No record of a Stewart Masters in any Employee Registry.

“WHAT?!?” Sandra yelled, and I couldn't ignore that and still get away with listening.

“Why are you yelling?” I asked, and the three people that sat at the table did that slow turn to look at me as I kept looking at my display. “I can normally concentrate past pretty much anything; but, that was a startled yell by someone I care about.” I said, then I looked at the vidwall and it's popups. “Oh, hello.”

“J-Jack, I...” Sandra's face went red again, because she didn't know what to say.

“Don't worry, I see the problem, Sandra.” I said. “Amanda, please ask the Transit System AI for a face shot for this Stewart Masters. He rode the Cross-Cavern Tour enough times that even someone trying to hide their identity will face at least one of the cameras.”

The 4 of us sat in silence while we waited, and then a dozen partial face shots appeared on the screen and replaced the popups.

“Oh, he's good.” I said.

Sandra, Noreen and Nathan turned from the pictures and looked back at me with wide eyes.

“You can see it, right? The pattern?” I asked, and they looked back at the pictures.

“No.” Noreen said after a moment.

“None of the pictures is enough to have facial recognition software run on it, even if they were spliced together.” I said. “That takes years of experience to pull off.” I smiled. “If I had to take a guess, I'd say his palm scan was faked as well.”

No one said anything in response.

“Amanda, is there any chance Dennis won't be grumpy today?” I asked.

No.

“Well, damn.” I chuckled. “Do we have anything to offer him?”

You could give him a copy of the main backup file on your father's old computer.

“That is an excellent idea.” I said and smiled. “Bait the hook and see if he bites.”

“What are you doing?” Sandra asked.

“Calling in a big gun.” I said. “Hopefully.”

A different color popup appeared on the vidwall. It was yellow to show that it was another AI.

Damn you, Jack.

You know I can't resist an archive file that old!

I laughed. “Hey, are you busy?”

Yes, and ya know how much I hate 'talking' to you through this damn text box.

“I've already filed the requisition papers for the upgrade to my immersion chamber, and I'm hoping they show up sometime this week to work on it.”

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Do ya want me to put in a good word for you?

“I'd appreciate it, assuming the records AIs are talking to you again.”

Those stuck up and inconsiderate AIs still fight me over what's actual records and what should be archived.

A small shaking head image appeared for a moment, then disappeared.

I'm the Archive AI! I know what files need to be archived!

That made me laugh again. “I might be able to slip in a subroutine or two to make it a little easier for you... once I'm back in and up to working a normal shift again.”

Like you did with the Food Processors?

I nodded.

It's a deal.

“Now, my problem...”

I've been working on it since ya called. I'm almost done.

I smiled. “I knew I'd called the right person for the job.”

Stop insulting me.

I snorted a laugh, and a minute later, a very clear image of a man's face appeared on the screen.

I traced his movements through the Transit system, including the Tube. This was taken by a maintenance robot that worked on the transfer car arm at the Tour's switching station.

“Oh, nice.” I said. “Thanks, Dennis.”

Yer welcome.

“Amanda? I know that face.” I said, and Sandra, Noreen, and Nathan quickly looked at me. “Run it through the...” I had barely started the sentence when the normal color popup appeared on the vidwall.

Already progressing.

“Thank you.” I said.

“You know him?!?” Sandra asked, surprised.

“No, but...”

Real Name: Greg Hosten

Job: Tech designer

Location: Cybernetic research laboratory, General Medic

“I knew it.” I said. “He's the guy that tried to shut my cybernetics down during my first maintenance check, and I broke his nose.”

Sandra gasped. “N-no! He... he wouldn't... that's not...”

“Amanda? Where is he now?”

That information is classified because he is currently under investigation.

“What?” I frowned. “By who?”

System Security and the Office of the Medical Examiner at General Medic.

“NO!” Sandra yelled and stood up. “It... it can't be! He's not dead!”

I closed my eyes and sighed for a moment, then looked back at the vidwall. “When was he declared deceased?”

Amanda gave the specific time, and my heart started to race. I looked at Noreen, and she stared right back at me as the blood drained from her face. The time matched when we had discovered the cause of the intermittent fault in the Tube car system. It had been a badly mangled and charred body, and we both now knew that it was Greg's, or rather Stewart's body.

Noreen reached out and touched her daughter's hand, and Sandra started to cry. “Shh, it's okay.”

“N-no... no, it's not.” Sandra said through her tears. “I was... in love with a man that I didn't actually know... and now he's dead.” She let her mother's hand go and walked over to the bed. She climbed onto it and laid down, then turned her back to the room. “He's dead.” She whispered, and kept crying.

Noreen got up from the table and went to the bed, then laid down behind her daughter and held her. Nathan stood up and walked over to me at my work station.

“I hate it when I can't help in situations like this.” Nathan whispered to me. “What are you going to do now?”

“There's not much I can do.” I said. “I figured finding the guy was the right move; but, I never imagined that he would be dead.”

“You could try and comfort her.” Nathan said in a disapproving voice.

“How?” I asked. “By telling her that I'm here, and he's not?”

Nathan frowned at me. “Not that harshly.”

“Nathan, this whole situation is...” I sighed. “Honestly, it's a mess.” I said. “I want to go and hold her; but, you know she's only going to push me away.”

“You don't know that.” Nathan said.

“Oh, but I do.” I said and stood up. I walked over to the bed in my uneven gait and went around to the other side. Sandra sobbed quietly, and I knelt as I reached out to wipe the tears from her face. She flinched back before I could touch her, and I let my hand drop to the bed.

“Sandra.”

“L-leave me alone.” Sandra said. “I... I can't...” She closed her eyes. “Let me grieve.”

“No.”

“Wh-what?”

“The man who died wasn't the man you loved.”

“B-but... we just saw...”

“The man you loved never existed.” I said. “It was all just an act.”

“Jack!” Noreen said angrily.

“You said it yourself, Sandra. You were play acting and just having fun.” I said. “It was exciting sneaking around with a fake man, wasn't it?”

“Jack!” Noreen sat up. “Shut up!”

“No.” I said and looked at Sandra. “Don't you understand? It wasn't real, Sandra. He wasn't real.”

“Jack, by god, if you don't shut up right now...” Noreen said hotly.

“Don't grieve over something that didn't exist, Sandra.” I said and stood up. “It's a waste of your time and serves no purpose.”

“JACK!” Noreen yelled.

“Be quiet, Noreen.” Nathan said, and she turned to glare at him. “Jack's right.”

“Your daughter's in pain right now, and this isn't helping her!”

“Actually, I think it is.” Nathan said. “That man lied to my daughter, and led her on all this time.” He said. “He didn't even exist for us until today, and now he's gone.”

“Nathan!”

“No, Noreen. Jack's right.” Nathan said. “The sooner she sees that she shouldn't mourn the loss of something that wasn't real, the better off she'll be.”

“Jack's not real, and she loves him!” Noreen said, and then she covered her mouth.

“Excuse me?” Nathan frowned. “What do you...” He looked at me. “Please, don't tell me that...”

“No, I'm not a fake identity or posing as someone else.” I said. “My name really is Jack, and I've had identification my entire life to prove it.”

“Then what is she talking about?”

“Something her daughter wasn't supposed to tell her.” I said. “Or you.”

“What is it?”

“I can't tell you.” I said, and Nathan looked like he was getting angry. “I didn't say I wouldn't, I said I can't.”

“What does that even mean?” Nathan asked.

“He has mental blocks in place to stop him from spilling state secrets.” Sandra said and sat up. “He physically can't tell you who he is or what he's done for the higher-ups.”

“Then how do you know...”

“Amanda told her.” I said. “You see, when I chose Sandra to spend the rest of my life with, some of the restrictions on me were relaxed.” I tried to cross my arms, then felt frustration because they still didn't fit together no matter how much I practised. I stopped trying to cross them and hid my frustration. “Certain bits of information became available to share through other means.”

“So, you've been lying to her, too.”

“No.” I said. “She knows who I am and what I do... or used to do... for the higher-ups.”

“Then what's going on here?”

“Amanda? Do you want to break the news to them?”

Not really, no.

“Please, go ahead.” I said. “They won't believe me if I say it.”

All right, fine.

Sandra was duped and became a pawn in the scheme of things.

“WHAT?!?” Nathan, Noreen and Sandra said at the same time. They looked at me, then back at the vidwall.

Isn't it obvious? Jack is the connection here. This Greg character must have been assigned to keep watch on Jack and get as much information on him as possible.

Who better to do that than his on-and-off-again girlfriend?

No one said anything, and Amanda continued.

Jack realized it the moment Greg was identified as Stewart. He knew the guy had tricked Sandra into a serious relationship to get information about Jack.

“That... that's not...” Sandra tried to deny it, and then her face went red.

“There you go.” I said and motioned to Sandra.

“That's not proof.” Noreen said, and tried to defend her daughter.

“M-mom.” Sandra said, and Noreen sighed.

“Sandra... why would...” Noreen shook her head and stood up. “You know what? I don't want to know.”

“Mom.”

“You knew, didn't you?” Noreen asked, and Sandra looked away. “You gave him information about Jack. On purpose.”

“It wasn't like that.” Sandra said. “I thought he was just curious about the other man in my life.”

“I can imagine.” I said, and both women looked at me. “Just my access to an unrestricted System is enough to make anyone want to know what I know.” I explained. “Now imagine if Sandra also told him about my old job working maintenance in the military.”

Sandra's face went to a deeper red, and Noreen shook her head.

“I bet that was a subject Stewart was very interested in.” Noreen said; but, Sandra didn't say anything.

“What are you going to do?” Nathan asked.

I wasn't sure who he was talking to, so I answered. “It has to be reported.”

“NO!” Noreen yelled. “You... you can't! They'll take her!”

“Not just her.” I said, and Nathan and Noreen looked at me. “I'm sorry, Noreen. I won't be available to cuddle you for a while.”

“J-Jack, please...”

The door admittance chime sounded, and I reached over and hit the button without hesitation. I knew who it was without looking at the vidwall.

“System Security.” A deep baritone voice said, and I heard the distinct sound of several handheld laser pistols spooling up their energy for a quick shot. “Sir, if you would please come with us.”

“Only on two conditions.” I said without turning around.

“This isn't a negotiation.”

“We take normal transportation, and not the Tube...” I said as if I didn't hear him. “...and Sandra stays with me.”

“Sir, you are in no position to dictate...”

A loud beep was heard, and we all looked at the vidwall. It was a red notification from the System.

Conditions Granted.

“You heard the old bitch.” One of the other guards said. “Let's go.”