Surprisingly enough, Nurse Deloris didn't show up when I had expected her to. Alyssa and I had fun with each other and played around for a while, then we got washed up. Amanda and I got to work on writing out the manual and detailed all of the program options for the new circuit board right after that and we worked right up until it was time for supper. Alyssa ordered pizza for us and it arrived just in time for Nurse Deloris to show up and give me my portable display back.

“Well, you've got perfect timing.” I commented as Nurse Deloris came into the apartment right behind the pizza delivery.

“Yes, perfect.” Nurse Deloris said and handed me the display, then she and Alyssa exchanged glances.

“I've been totally played, haven't I?” I asked and stored the display in the closet. They laughed and we sat down to eat.

“If you mean we've been messaging each other and coordinating our movements the whole time, then yes.” Alyssa said. “I've even told her how to access the video options.”

“Then I guess you don't need the manual.” I opened the pizza container and took a huge breath in through my nose. “That smells so good.” I said and took out two pieces for myself, then turned the container to Alyssa.

“It's done?” Nurse Deloris asked, and her mouth watered at the sight of me taking a bite of the best pizza in the Cavern.

“Amanda and I finished just before the pizza showed up.” I said. “Amanda, send them the files, will you?”

“Of course.” My AI said and both Nurse Deloris and Alyssa blinked their eyes in disbelief for a moment.

“J-Jack, this...” Alyssa ignored the pizza container in front of her. “How can such a small circuit board do so much?”

“It's not really doing anything.” I said and took another bite. “It's just bridging all the things everything else can do.”

“God, this is even more amazing than I thought it was going to be.” Nurse Deloris said, then she looked at the pizza container. “Alyssa, are you...”

“Go ahead.” Alyssa said and turned the container towards her.

“Thank you.” Nurse Deloris said and took a piece. She started to eat and she moaned as the flavors hit her tongue. “I'd eat like this every night if I could afford it.”

I chuckled. “Give it a few weeks, and you'll be fine.”

Nurse Deloris barked a laugh. “I'm still only getting paid a normal salary from you.”

“Yeah, and you only have to work an hour a day.” I said. “Think about that.”

Alyssa looked like she got over what she was thinking about and pulled the container over and took a piece of pizza, and the three of us ate in silence until it was all gone.

“Thank you for supper.” Nurse Deloris said as she looked at me. “Can I do your maintenance check now, rather than coming back tonight?”

“Of course.” I said and we converted the table back into a bed and she performed the physical inspection of my synthetic parts.

“You are in tip-top shape, Jack.” Nurse Deloris said and gave me a fresh unitard.

“You forgot to say 'for a bisected cyborg'.” I added, and she chuckled.

“I thought that was understood.” Nurse Deloris pat my shoulder. “I'll see you in the morning.”

“I'd suggest showing up bright and early; but honestly, I'm sleeping in tomorrow.” I said and got dressed. Nurse Deloris nodded and left the apartment after saying goodbye to us.

“Now what are you going to do?” Alyssa asked.

“Amanda and I are going to work on the package design and filing the proper paperwork for getting the circuit board approved as an official modification.” I said. “I expect it to be a huge pain in the ass, since it requires extensive internal testing before...”

“It's approved and both the program and manual are available for download from a secured file server.” Amanda said from the vidwall panel.

“What?” I asked. “Amanda, when...”

“The System pushed it through when she got all the data.” Amanda said. “She predicts that it's going to revolutionize how people interact, and she wants to get ahead of the curve before it gets ahead of her.”

“But... we didn't...”

“She's had a marketing department working on it for the last hour.” Amanda said and pinged me. I accepted the video call and she appeared in front of me. She held a flashy and stylized box with an image of the circuit board on it, with warnings and a cool name.

The Equalizer.

“Well, I guess that means we're soon going to have the new product flood the market.” I said.

“No, this is all waiting for approval and government sanction.” Amanda said. “I can only assume they won't sanction it until we summarily defeat someone in combat... namely S.C.R.A.P.E.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

I shook my head. “That's not going to happen.” I said. “Once this is out for general use, everyone will have the same capabilities.”

“Yes, but they won't be the first to have it.” Alyssa said, and I looked at her. “With your permission, I'd like to ship these boxes to the military base and start distributing them to the troops.”

“Not all of them.” I said and picked up the box that we had already taken some out of. “I'll need these for testing on my home system and for my immersion chamber.”

“Not all of them, surely.” Alyssa said.

“I know a few people that can use them on their home system, and there is always a chance that there could be faults in the circuit board somewhere.”

“Jack, you don't need over 40 of them for that.”

“Amanda? When's the reserve run going to be finished?” I asked and tried to decide where to stash the big box.

“Just a second.” Amanda said. “It's already done and it's being boxed up as we speak.”

“Have you worked out how many Points each unit cost to make and how much they need to be sold for?”

“Yes, Jack.” Amanda said. “The System (Military Grade) has already credited your account with the Points for the reserve run.”

“Wait, what did you say?” I asked. “It credited me with it?”

“Yes. You've also been reimbursed for your initial investment and paid for your work.” Amanda said.

“Dammit, they can't...” I started to get angry, then I realized it was pointless and sighed. “They already did, didn't they?”

“Jack, I'm sorry.” Amanda said. “You'll still get residuals for the patent and use of the technology, but they've assumed control of the distribution of the circuit boards.”

I stood there with the partially empty box in my hands and didn't say anything.

“I'm sorry, too.” Alyssa said. “I didn't think that they would take everything for military use.”

“It's not your fault. They must have had someone close by to tell them what was going on, and what this could mean.” I said.

“Yes, me.” Alyssa said, and I looked at her with wide eyes. “My job is to watch you and report on your activities, Jack.” She reminded me, and I sighed.

“When did you tell them?”

“As soon as I get a new piece of information, it goes to them.” Alyssa said. “Jack, you know I've been doing it this whole time.”

“I... yes, I knew, but...” I shook my head. “I can really fill my head with self-delusions, can't I?”

“What do you mean? What delusions?”

“You. Me. Us.”

“Jack...”

“No, I get it.” I said. “Your job has a higher priority.”

“You gave me this job!” Alyssa said, and let her anger show. “Do you think I enjoy telling them about you? I'm right here and watching you, and you knew it, but it still feels like I'm spying on you!”

“Well, you are.” I said.

“Jack, don't be an ass!” Alyssa said. “You are still a prisoner. A well-guarded and protected prisoner, but a prisoner nonetheless.” She said a little sadly. “You've known all along that I'm your prison guard.”

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed and walked over to the bed and hit the button to change it back to a table and couch. I sat down and left her lots of room to join me, then pulled up the backlog of programs I could fix for the System. Alyssa didn't sit down next to me, so I opened one of the programs and started to use my hands to manipulate the code in my HUD. The new visual ability made me miss my immersion chamber even more.

Alyssa stayed quiet as I worked, and unlike what I normally did, I had assigned a timer and an alarm to tell me when to stop working. I set it for a reasonable hour, which was also unlike what I normally did. When the timer clicked empty and the alarm went off, I had already saved my work and submitted it for processing. I stood up and hit the button to change the couch and table back into the bed.

I climbed onto the bed and tucked myself under the blanket and waited. I was pretty sure she was going to join me, since it was the only bed in the small apartment; but when she did, she didn't try to cuddle up to me and kept her back to me. After a few minutes and she didn't move, I turned my head and looked at her.

“This prisoner would like to apologize to his guard for being somewhat unreasonable.” I said.

“Shut up.” Alyssa said in a calm voice. “This delusion of yours doesn't want to listen to your stupid jokes right now.”

“Alyssa...”

“You better shut up, or I might give in to my urge to punch your ignorant face in.” Alyssa said. “If you're lucky, you'll turn your head fast enough to take in on the synthetic side.” She said. “Maybe.”

I didn't say anything in response, and she took in a breath and let it out. Her hand moved to her face and I leaned up enough to see her dry sobbing and trying to hold it in. I settled back and closed my eyes, locked my synthetic limbs, and tried to go to sleep.

“I can sing you a lullaby.” My AI Amanda said. “You always went to sleep quickly after them.”

I thought about responding, then realized I didn't remember her ever doing that. I started to dry sob myself as she started to sing. I tried my best to hold it in, because I didn't recognize the melody at all.

I must have drifted off eventually, because the next thing I knew, it was morning and I was being woken up.

“You're being summoned by the colonel.” Alyssa said.

“But...”

“Nurse Deloris is meeting us at the base.”

I nodded and unlocked my limbs, rolled out of bed and stood up. Alyssa avoided my gaze and I went to the bathroom to use the facilities and check myself in the mirror. The evidence that I hadn't had much sleep was quite evident, so I washed my face and rubbed my eyes, then gave my hair a quick comb through. I still looked like I hadn't gotten any sleep, and that would have to do.

I left the bathroom and met Alyssa at the door to the apartment, and then she opened it to reveal 19 soldiers. They came into the apartment and took all 19 of the still sealed large cardboard boxes. Alyssa went to the closet with my things in it and took out my backpack. She opened the partially empty cardboard box, took out several of the circuit boards, and tucked them into my backpack.

Alyssa closed the box, put the backpack in the closet, and handed the box to another soldier. “There's thirty of them in it, so mark it accordingly.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” The solder said and stood at attention for a moment, then left the apartment.

“Jack, let's go.” Alyssa said and motioned to the door.

I thought about protesting and telling her I didn't want to go; but, I knew that would just make her sad. We both knew that it would be pointless. We left the apartment with the soldiers and rode up in the elevator with the last two soldiers and the boxes of circuit boards they carried. We arrived at the lobby and were met by even more soldiers.

I was a little surprised by this, and then we left the building and I saw the actual military presence. “What the hell is going on?” I asked. A full platoon of troops were there, and the boxes of circuit boards were loaded onto a military crawler and sealed up.

“This way.” One of the soldiers said and motioned for us to follow, and he took us to another transport. Alyssa and I climbed aboard and sat down, and the entire platoon moved out. It wasn't until several minutes later that I realized there hadn't been a single civilian anywhere in sight.

They really want to keep it to themselves. I thought and looked at Alyssa, and she continued to avoid my gaze. Neither of us said anything as the platoon made it's way across the Cavern, and quite a while later, we arrived at the large military base. No one stopped us or checked us for anything. The transport stopped in front of the main military HQ, and a soldier told us to get out and follow the sergeant.

I wasn't stupid enough to ask 'what sergeant?', because I knew that the sergeant in question would appear in due course.