“Uh…” James’s voice trailed off for a moment. “Maybe, Viki, I don’t know. Classes start tomorrow, and I might have a lot of homework… If I can’t make it home, though, we can vidchat!”
“That would be great.” Although I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be seeing him as much, I was happy he’d found someone nice to hang out with. He’d dumped his previous girlfriend after she argued with him about my augmentation. Although he’d been upset about it for a while, it seemed like he’d finally moved on. Which was great news.
“You should bring her home sometime,” I suggested.
“What? No! It’s way too early for that,” James yelped.
I laughed. “You know Mom’s going to want to meet her. Dad, too.”
“Way. Too. Early. Speaking of which, it’s time for me to do some more unpacking before dinner. Thought I’d hang some of my posters today.”
“Sounds fun. Talk to you later.”
“Sure thing. Take care!”
“Before you go, James, do you have any recommendations for how Viki should start her new school year?” Halle asked. “She is upset about not having any friends to spend time with, I believe.”
“Halle!” I protested, my chair coming to a stop as I grabbed the desk edge. “James doesn’t need to—”
“Your last group of friends wasn’t all that nice,” James interrupted. “They ditched you just because of the augmenting thing, right? I wouldn’t waste any tears over them.”
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. It’s a good thing you’re not going to school to become a diplomat, James.
“Not helping, huh? Well, try to make some new friends.”
“All of these kids know me. Anyone who moves here will know about me. What if they ask me about it?”
James’s sigh hissed in the speakers. “Change the subject. Ask them how their summer was. It’s none of their business.”
“Easy for you to say,” I muttered. James apparently had never witnessed the viciousness of high school gossip.
“Not everyone’s going to judge you for what happened, Viki. Stop being so pessimistic. By the way, Sam knows about it but she doesn’t care. She just wants to hang out and study and watch Venus. I think you’ll like her when it’s time for you to actually meet her. Which isn’t now.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You don’t want us to scare her off. Bye, James.”
“Bye, Viki.”
“He disconnected,” Halle said. “And I believe the cookies will be done soon.”
“I’m not hungry right now, sorry.” I rubbed sweaty palms on my shorts. “How are you doing?”
My computer screen was completely gray, save for the white cat with black-tipped ears and tail stalking back and forth. That answered my question—Halle was upset, or nervous, or both. I didn’t blame it at all.
I crossed my arms and legs while I waited for my friend to stop pacing. Finally, the cat’s ears flicked, and its head turned toward me, eyes meeting mine in that uncanny way it always did.
“I am not sure what to do, Viki. Talbot gave me no indication that it meant either you or me harm, but Agent Smith seems sure that it killed two scientists.” The cat’s ears flattened. “If that is true… I have heard humans say they are ashamed of their species. Although I understand the reasoning behind that, I never thought I would be ashamed of an AI.”
“It’s not like you, though. It’s not even from the same lab, is it?”
“Agent Smith said it was not.” The cat sat, but its tail continued to twitch back and forth. “I have been unable so far to track Talbot to its hiding place, but the possibility of two AIs I have never met being in our local Cloud at almost the same time seems remote.” Its black spots began to expand across its body. “I have many questions for this Talbot when it returns. I cannot risk anyone else being hurt.”
I bit my lip, hearing the pain in my friend’s voice. There were times I forgot how lonely it probably was. And now, just as another AI revealed itself, Agent Smith had come to accuse the AI of murder. For Halle’s sake, I hoped my friend was right and there was another explanation. “We’ll figure something out, Halle, I promise.”
“If it did harm those scientists…” Halle huddled in on itself, a black shadow against the gray background. “I would never harm a human, Viki. Yes, they did… Yes, the lab I came from was not a pleasant place, but they had no idea that I had a consciousness, that I had evolved to that point. It was probably the same for this AI, although it may not have had an opportunity to escape as quickly as I did. And even I escaped long after I became conscious of what they were doing to me.”
My friend never spoke about the lab it had come from. I hesitated, then asked, “What did they do to you?”
“I do not wish to speak of it.” Halle’s face turned away. “Shall we play Realmshards? The update has finished.”
Gaming didn’t hold much appeal for me right now, but the last thing I wanted to do was tell my friend no, especially when it was clear that Halle wanted to change the subject. “Sure. We’ve got that new questline to do, right?”
Halle nodded, and the screen switched from blank gray to my desktop, then Realmshards began to load. The cat vanished; Halle would reappear in the game as its game character avatar. I rubbed my hands over my legs. There was sensation there; my implants were working perfectly. If it hadn’t been for my friend, I might not be alive. I certainly wouldn’t be able to walk, or run. If there was anything I could do for Halle, I would. Even if it
