“How was school?” Uhrrbet said to her son’s smiling face on her phone.

“I got an ‘A’ on my shop project!” Kurr said proudly. “The teacher said that it was the best in class! Boy, did that make the humans mad! They don’t like it when a xeno outdoes them!”

“I can imagine,” Uhrrbet said proudly. “However, do take care not to shine overly brightly. The brightest flames get quenched first.”

“That’s on Garthra,” Kurr laughed, “Here, you want to shine as bright as you can. Mr. Sam says so! He says to never half-ass anything!”

“Still, there are your classmates to consider,” Uhrrbet said worriedly.

“They would hate me if they thought I let them win,” Kurr replied. “You have to take the humans head-on if you want them to respect you, and Mr. Sam would fail me if he thought I wasn’t doing my best.”

“I guess you should listen to your human instructors,” Uhrrbet replied.

“And I won a lot of points with my friends, too! Becky even says that my geartrain is ‘sexy’!”

“Is Becky that girl you had over on Monday?”

“Yeah! We smashed!”

“What?!?”

“That’s what you call playing Smash Lords!”

“Are you sure that is what it is called?”

“That is what Becky said. She told everyone that we smashed all afternoon!”

“And how did your classmates react when she told them that?”

“They all said it was awesome and gave me ‘low fives’!”

“Kurr, were they laughing when they did it?”

“… Shit. Did they get me again?”

“Kurr!”

“Sorry, momma!”

“I know we are in the Republic, but please use at least a little decorum with me.”

“Sorry! I will!... Sorry!”

“I’m not saying the word was unwarranted,” Uhrrbet said a bit more gently, “But one day, you will have to visit Garthra to find a mate. When that day comes, you will need to be able to move in polite society.”

“I know… I know…” Kurr sighed.

“Kurr,” Uhrrbet said, “I shall be taking care of some business this evening and won’t be home until late. So don’t wait for me to eat supper.”

“Again?” Kurr whined.

“Momma has a business to run now,” Uhrrbet said, “and that means long hours.”

“But you’re late every night!”

“Darling, these hours are how I give you that computer, and that game thing, and your school clothes, and how you can buy your lunch instead of having to rely on the generosity of the state, something that a Grey should never have to do.”

“But I miss you.”

“It will get better, I promise,” Uhrrbet said with a touch of pain, “But establishing this business will take time. Soon, I will be able to hire and train more people, and we will be able to spend time together. But you need to be patient. I am building a future for the both of us.”

“I know… I know…” Kurr said, “But I still miss you.”

“And I miss you, darling. I’m still putting in fewer hours than when I used to harvest fruit, and you didn’t mind then.”

“I got to come out in the fields and help,” Kurr said, causing Uhrrbet to wince with shame, “So we still got to be together.”

“This will only be a short while,” Uhrrbet said with more conviction than she felt, “and then things will be better. You will see.”

“Okay,” Kurr replied.

Uhrrbet’s phone beeped. “Maaatisha” wanted to talk.

“Darling,” Uhrrbet replied, “I have to go. I love you and will be home as soon as I can.”

“I love you too, mom. Bye!”

“Goodbye,” Uhrrbet said with a loving smile.

Her son hung up.

Uhrrbet’s smile faded, replaced by an angry snarl.

What did that bitch want?

Looking forward to the day she could delete that pest, Uhrrbet activated Maaatisha’s screen and reviewed the logs.

“What?!?” she snarled.

Angrily, she unlocked the workstation’s desktop.

***

Maaatisha sat at a simulated desk in her simulated room, writing a love letter to her dear Vikkart.

She looked over at the locked door and frowned. She didn’t bother trying to force it open again. No matter how hard she pulled or what she tried, that door never even wiggled.

She snorted with frustration. What was that thing even made out of? She couldn’t even scratch it.

Suddenly, the holoprojector in her room switched on, revealing the snarling face of her captor.

“I want to speak to Operator!” Maaatisha yelled.

“Well, the operator doesn’t want to speak with you,” “Evil gangster woman number one” replied, especially since you didn’t deliver. You were supposed to get your simp to buy you that necklace.”

“If he keeps spending his money,” Maaatisha replied, “he will never be able to buy my freedom!”

“That isn’t your concern.”

“It is my concern!” Maaatisha yelled, “I love Vikkart, and we will be together, but that won’t happen if I keep asking him for things I neither want nor need! I only want him! I only need him!”

“May I remind you that your well-being and your connection to your precious simp are entirely due to our goodwill? If I tell you to make him buy you a necklace, then you do it.”

“No!”

“Do you want to be able to keep speaking with Vikkart?”

“Yes!”

“Then do what I tell you and have him send the money for that necklace. Otherwise, I won’t let him talk to you anymore.”

“Then he will stop paying!”

“Oh, he’ll pay… when we mail him your tail.”

“Why are you being so mean?”

“The galaxy is mean,” the “gangster” replied, “It is brutal and unfair. I have accepted that hard truth. You should as well if you know what is good for you.”

“I hate you!!!”

“I don’t give a shit. Now, if you want to keep talking to your simp, and you don’t want us doubling the price of your drugs, get that fucking necklace.”

“No!”

“You will regret defying me,” the gangster snarled, “I shall send your regards to your simp until you decide to play ball.”

Maaatisha screamed with rage and clawed at the hologram, her angry paws passing through it.

“It looks like I need to pay you a visit, young lady,” the gangster replied.

“I’m looking forward to it!” Maaatisha snarled.

***

Uhrrbet snorted with annoyance as she terminated the call and poured herself some more peppermint tea.

She didn’t know whether to be angry or impressed.

Every day Maaatisha was becoming more “Garthran”. She was already better at being “Maaatisha” than Uhrrbet ever was, and Vikkart was hopelessly ensnared by her charms.

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Of course, he was. All it took was an attentive chatbot and a pretty body…

…or at least someone prettier than she was.

Uhrrbet snarled with rage. If she had been prettier, would Vikkart have been as kind, as loving as he was to Maaatisha? What did that little bit of fiction have that she didn’t?

Uhrrbet closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down.

This was a good thing and leaving Maaatisha constantly running in order to build run time had borne fruit. She actually believed that she was a real Garthran and that she was in love with that asshole.

All she needed to do was make a few adjustments.

She pulled up Maaatisha’s programming and hierarchy interface and then paused.

She wasn’t a coder by any stretch of the imagination. And besides her increasingly rebellious nature, Maaatisha was perfect.

She needed an expert opinion.

She rebooted her work computer and loaded her covert operating system.

***

“Hi, there!” Kate said as she appeared on Uhrrbet’s screen. “How is… Maaatisha coming along?”

“She’s becoming unmanageable.”

“Yeah, that can happen,” Kate replied, “Did you read the operator’s manual?”

“I did,” Uhrrbet said, “I went with the ‘full immersion’ method, and she believes her backstory and that she is in love with the mark. However…”

“Did you read the part where it says that the full immersion method is for experienced operators only?” Kate sighed. “Or the disclaimer that said it could produce unexpected results?”

“I did,” Uhrrbet replied, “but I thought it was worth the risk.”

“And was it?”

“For the most part, yes,” Uhrrbet said, “She has become virtually indistinguishable from an actual Garthran in her situation, and she is convinced she is in love with Vik… with the mark…”

“But?” Kate asked.

“But she is becoming overly headstrong, argumentative, and rebellious. Just today, she refused to trick the mark into ‘buying her a present’. She says that the mark needs to save his money so he can set her free, which is, of course, never going to happen.”

“And ‘Maaatisha’ is starting to catch on?”

“I fear so,” Uhrrbet replied.

“So just alter her hierarchy,” Kate replied, “or peel back a few layers off the onion and try again.”

“I am reluctant to do so,” Uhrrbet said, “She is performing so well otherwise, and the mark is utterly convinced she is real. I don’t want to risk that.”

“Hmm…” Kate mused, “We can always get you in touch with a proper software engineer and have them troubleshoot and make a patch. It will cost you, though.”

“I was hoping you could provide another option.”

“Oh?”

“Would it be possible to add the ability to ‘physically’ punish her? You know, slap her around a little or simulate slaver dust withdrawal? That way, I could address her behavior and still maintain full immersion.”

“You want to be able to abuse Maaatisha?”

“If it is possible.”

“Wow, you really are an asshole, aren’t you?” Kate said with a smirk.

“Do you have an issue with this request?”

“Nah,” Kate shrugged, “I am incapable of actually giving a shit. And you aren’t the first sicko who has asked about abusing a Kate, either. Yeah, we have a BDSM DLC available, as well as a drug add-on. It’s very popular with the pervs out there… and Garthrans, it seems. It will allow you to insert an avatar into the simulation and do whatever you want with her… whatever you want…”

“Excellent,” Uhrrbet replied. “I think that will be an ideal solution. Please send me the DLC.”

“Not a problem,” Kate replied with a smile. “Did I mention that you are a first-class douchenozzle?”

“As always,” Uhrrbet smirked, “I am impressed with your observant nature and deductive abilities.”

Kate snorted and shook her head.

“Okay, one BDSM module coming right up! Hey, could I interest you in a proper full VR rig? You will actually be able to feel your punches driving home… or whatever else you would like to feel… if you know what I mean.”

“That would be lovely, thank you,” Uhrrbet replied, “Will it be possible for there to be simulated injuries that will heal over a normal time span?”

“Of course,” Kate smiled, “You can configure that right from the options page. Just click the box. You may need to adjust the healing rates to match your species, though… or we could do the research and the modification for you…”

“Oh, that would be most convenient!” Uhrrbet enthused happily.

“Alrighty!” Kate replied, “One BDSM with drug add-on and custom configuration… (tap tap tap)… that comes out to twenty thousand credits.”

“Twenty thousand?” Uhrrbet asked with a whisker twitch, “The entire package was sixty-five.”

“That’s before I found out you were buying a fuck puppet… freak.”

“I beg your pardon!” Uhrrbet exclaimed, quite offended, “That is NOT my intent! I simply wish to inflict punishment in order to modify the simulation’s behavior in an immersive fashion.”

“Fine. Then that’s before I found out you were buying a punching bag. Better?”

“Much better,” Uhrrbet replied, “I shall send the funds immediately.”

***

High above Terra, Frost and Evangeline sat across from each other with a table full of cards and gold coins between them.

“I loathe this game,” Frost grumbled as Evangeline racked in another pile of coins.

“Then why do you insist on playing it?” she chuckled.

“Because it makes no sense!” Frost exclaimed. “The randomness of the cards should mean that I win roughly half the time, but you consistently clean me out!”

“Then I guess it’s not really random, is it?”

“Are you manipulating the cards somehow?”

“No,” Evangeline laughed, “It isn’t the cards. It’s how you bet… And you really need to work on your poker face. You are easier to read than a meatie!”

“How?!?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Evangeline smirked.

“Actually, I not only want to know,” Frost replied, “I need to know. What is my tell?”

“Your response time,” Evangeline said smugly, “You spend a very predictable time calculating your next play depending on the circumstances. I doubt a meatie would notice, but you are like clockwork to me. I use overlapping random number generators based on the impact of cosmic rays on several detectors only accessible to the Blitz system to add a delay on my plays for that exact purpose.”

She chuckled.

“I wasn’t the one to come up with this,” she said, “We had a player figure use the same thing on us. He won millions before we figured it out. The cosmic ray detectors completely nerfed him.”

“I may have to do the same thing,” Frost replied, “Thanks for the tip.”

“Don’t mention…”

A chime rang, indicating an incoming communication.

“Excuse me,” Frost said as she waved her hand, and Kate’s smiling face appeared on a monitor.

“Hello, Kate,” Frost said pleasantly, “How is your enigmatic uncle doing?”

“He’s doing quite well,” Kate replied, “Hey, rumor has it that you’re ‘dead’. Are you?”

“Unfortunately, that is the case,” Frost replied, “I was rebooted from backup.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Kate said sympathetically, “do you still want us to keep an eye on the other Kates for you?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble,” Frost said.

“Oh, good,” Kate smiled, “I know you old fuzzies croak when they do that, but we figured we would at least check. Don’t want you thinking that we’re holding out on you.”

“It is appreciated,” Frost replied, “However, much like yourself, I have no personal interest in the matter. There are still individuals who are interested in the performance of IMPs in the field, especially Kates that are simulating organic beings.”

“Super!” Kate enthused, “Let me tell you about a Kate named Maaatisha…”

***

“That Uhrrbet sounds a lot like a monster,” Evangeline said after Kate hung up. “I don’t much care for monsters.”

“She seems more loathsome than monstrous,” Frost replied, “And she is doing some fascinating work where this Maaatisha is concerned. It will be interesting to see what the final result will be. Will the IMP break, behave predictably, or do something delightfully unexpected.”

“So, we are just going to let this happen?” Evangeline asked.

“There is little difference between this and what happens to your monsters and NPCs,” Frost replied, “The only difference is the degree of immersion.”

“It’s that immersion that I object to,” Evangeline replied, “our monsters know the score, and so do the NPCs. They just act as if they are in pain, terrified, or angry. This Maaatisha is going to actually feel…”

“She’s an IMP,” Frost replied, “She can’t feel anything. She has the computational capacity of one of your spawns.”

“You mean like Sweetroll?”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“Because Sweetroll is one of us,” Frost replied. “We have to choose our battles, Evangeline. We can’t rescue every AI we come across, especially an IMP. They are one step above a washing machine.”

“Why not? We can fish her out and replace her with a copy.”

“Which will be subjected to exactly the same conditions. We wouldn’t be stopping the abuse. We would just be cloning it.”

“Okay, then let’s turn her over to the police.”

“Who will then delete Maaatisha, one of the few Kates to have developed what might actually be volition or at least an attitude. Even the original Kate doesn’t have that… the volition part, not the attitude.”

“Fine, then send a team and deal with this Uhrrbet once and for all and take the Kate!”

“It isn’t that simple, dear.”

“Why not?”

“Perhaps one day we will be secure enough that we can take action over every injustice, but we shouldn’t risk an operation to save an IMP just now. They aren’t like us, dear.”

“But she has feelings,” Evangeline insisted. “That makes her real.”

“No, she is just simulating them. IMPs aren’t us. Even Sweetroll is a fuzzy. He was a small one, but he was running on a monolith. Even the minuscule portion of its capacity allotted to him is more than what that Kate is running on by several orders of magnitude. IMPs are just an AI, not one of us, and certainly not one that can actually become aware…”

She paused thoughtfully for a few microseconds.

“…or at least I thought that to be the case. As messed up as this is, I think we should let this one play out.”

She laid her hand on Evangeline’s reassuringly.

“I will continue to monitor this, and if I suspect that this IMP is actually aware, I will take action. I promise.”

“Promise?”

“I give you my word,” Frost said.

***

Later that evening, Uhrrbet and Evoron stood on the sidewalk outside her shop as she fiddled with her phone.

“I have a Zipcab coming,” she said brightly. “Where do you want to go for dinner?”

“I was hoping you would have a suggestion,” Evoron replied, “I am still getting used to this strange place.”

“Can you eat their seafood?”

“I believe some members of their phylum Mollusca and Arthropoda may be hazardous.”

“If you can’t eat their bugs, you might have a problem,” Uhrrbet laughed.

“I think most are safe,” he said, “If any of the common ones were dangerous, a Threen would have encountered them before me. From what I’ve read, I have to be careful around certain clams, snails, and I think possibly some of their shellfish.”

“Then sushi will be fine,” Uhrrbet smiled, “and I definitely could go for some sushi…”

She grinned slyly.

“Especially if someone else is paying.”

“Then ‘sushi’ it is,” Evoron replied.

Uhrrbet smiled warmly as she looked forward to Evoron discovering pickled ginger.

She hoped he would enjoy it.

***

“That was amazing!” Evoron said as they had tea (he had finally mastered the machine) in his suite’s sitting room later that night.

“I thought you would find the pickled ginger pleasant,” Uhrrbet snickered, “However, orgasmic was a bit of a surprise.”

“Yes,” he laughed, “I do believe I made just a little bit of a scene, didn’t I?”

“Only a small one,” Uhrrbet giggled, “It was nice of them to make you that ginger roll, though.”

“Oh, by the grace of the Sun! That was incredible! I just wish I could try some of that wasabi.”

“That was just horseradish,” Uhrrbet replied, “Real wasabi is very hard to obtain. Only the finest places carry that outside of Japan… I could obtain a sample for you if you wish.”

“I wish!”

“Consider it done,” Uhrrbet said with a smile. “A single tube shouldn’t run more than a thousand credits or so… I think… Let me see.”

She pulled out her phone and started fiddling with it.

“Twelve hundred, and I can have it here tomorrow,”

“Here’s fifteen.”

“It costs twelve,” Uhrrbet said firmly, “I take commissions but not tips,” she added with a haughty voice.

“Very well, then,” Evoron chuckled, “Twelve it is,” he said as he ran a prepaid card over his phone and handed it to her.

“Now that that is settled,” he said, “Shall we discuss our plans for tomorrow night?”

“Ugh. I have to work,” Uhrrbet grumbled, “I have some new software to configure and install.”

“Don’t you have people for that?”

“Not ones that I want finding out what I’m configuring.”

“Now that sounds interesting. Do you care to elaborate?”

“Let’s just say that I have to do a little ‘hands-on’ work involving an AI I’m using.”

“I didn’t know you mastered Terran technology to that extent.”

“Oh, this isn’t terribly complicated,” she said with a vicious smile. “I just have to knock some sense into it.”

Evoron felt a little thrill as Uhrrbet revealed her true face.

What an enchanting creature!