32
April 11, 2027
“You ready?” Karla asked Alainn as they dismounted the chair lift. Her heart-shaped face was framed in a red beanie under a black helmet, the exact same as Alainn wore.
The slope was a sheet of fresh powder. They had probably had the final heavy snowfall of the year the night before. Greg and a couple of the higher-ups set off explosives at four that morning for avalanche control. There were a couple ski tracks on other courses already, but theirs was still pristine.
They were two drops of red on a perfect white expanse.
“Could I just have one minute? This is the first time I’ve been up to the top since I got back.”
“Sure. You want to just meet me down there?” Karla said, driving the ends of her poles into the snow with a thwack, snick.
“If that’s cool,” Alainn said.
Karla smiled a smile that made Alainn think she definitely knew.
Damn Greg.
Alainn had ended up spilling everything to her best friend—a story so outrageous she barely believed the words that came from her own lips. Honestly, she didn’t blame Greg for talking. It must be weird for Karla that Alainn was Greg’s roommate. If she were in his place, she’d want to reassure her, too.
Karla nodded. “All right, I’ll take the right side of the slope. See you down there.”
“Thank you, Karla.” Alainn turned from Karla, hearing the soft swish of her departure. Through the thick leather of her gloves, she pulled off the helmet and ski cap and let her hair fall. The wind had not picked up yet, but the cold air nipped at her cheeks and ears.
She stood at the apex of her mountain.
Beyond her, endless hills of black and white stretched, a wide expanse of buried wilderness. Her mountain always whispered out to her, Here, you could jump into the air and fly away. This is as close as you’ll ever be to free.
It said nothing that morning. The mountain waited in silence, watching Alainn. Taking a step to the side, Alainn considered that maybe she just wasn’t at the right angle. Instead of feeling free, she felt utterly alone.
She pulled her gear back on and tucked stray wisps of hair into it, feeling defiant curls sticking to her cheeks.
The mountain rushed under her skis as she sped down the slope. Air gusted over her face, up the bridge of her nose, and over her eyes. Weaving through the trees at the sides, Alainn confirmed the left side of the slope had no dangerous buildup or fallen branches.
Karla waited at the bottom. They said nothing to each other as Alainn slid in beside her, just started moving off to another lift. Small splotches of red were on most of the long white hills, framed in black lines of forest.
After three more slopes, they headed in to find the office bustling with patrol suited up in red coats.
“I’m making you ladies some of this,” Terry called from where he hulked over the communal stove. He opened up two packages of instant noodles and added it to the pot.
“Oh, please,” Karla called as she and Alainn knocked the snow off their feet on the thick rubber matt.
“Thanks,” Alainn said, falling into the chair.
Terry glanced up at Alainn. “I think you’re supposed to say, ‘That’s nasty.’ Then I’ll say, ‘Shut up, you’re eating it.’ Then you say, ‘Looks like cat barf.’”
She looked through her lashes at him, almost managing a smile. “Looks like cat barf—smells like it, too.”
“Better. And shut up, you’re eating it.”
“See, no point in fighting you,” she mumbled.
“Eight thirty, guys. Slopes are opening up. You are officially on duty!” Greg called from his office—in reality, his desk was just partitioned off from the rest of the room, so it did not quite qualify as an office. He slapped the partition twice before ducking back behind it.
“Another day in paradise,” Terry said as he slopped soup bowls in front of Karla and Alainn and threw down forks.
Alainn immediately dug into the hot noodles, though the fake chicken soup really did taste a little like cat barf. The draft from the cold air hitting her on the outside and the warm liquid going down her throat used to be her favorite sensation, pre-Lorccan.
Post-Lorccan, not so much.
The office was too loud for much conversation, but Terry managed it anyway. “Twelve tongues I’ve saved this year, five of them adult tongues. I think I deserve some sort of reward.”
“I’m guessing you took your reward from some of those adult tongues,” Karla said wryly.
“You . . .” He pointed at Karla. “You are not allowed to bring up tongues and kissing. I’m still in too much pain.”
Karla rolled her eyes. “Ha. Shut up, Terry.”
“Hey, Alainn!” Greg stepped out from behind his alcove, his eyes moving back and forth in confusion. “Hey, uh, the front just called over and said there’s a woman with a monkey here to see you. You think that maybe—”
Alainn stood up so fast her chair toppled backward and soup sloshed all over the table.
Both Karla and Terry scooted back.
“Sorry!” Alainn called to them as she rounded the table to head over to Greg. “Did you say a monkey?”
He raised his hands. “That’s what they said.”
“Okay, I forgot to tell you about the monkeys!” she called, running out the back door that connected to the resort. People clogged the halls. Their knees poked out from benches and elbows stuck out as they lifted coffee and hot chocolate to their lips. She ducked between them, her damp coat making a few people recoil.
The hallway opened up to a large lobby where dozens of people lined up in front of and around the front desk, while others stood nearby.
As Alainn passed a crowd of about ten kids surrounding a yellow lab in a ski patrol vest, a fellow patroller called Stacy nodded at her. When Alainn waved absently, Stacy gave her a small smile but didn’t stop her speech. “Now, Riley here is our newest avalanche rescue dog, and he’s actually a K-level automaton. He’s the first automaton dog we’ve used. Do any of you know what an avalanche is?” Her voice trailed off as Alainn pushed through the crowd.
Alainn saw her sitting on top of the front desk. Blue. She was surrounded by a crowd of small children and looking around while they reached up to pet her. The moment her eyes found Alainn, she screeched and held out her little arms.
The children looked back, confused. A little girl yelled, “Look, there’s a monkey in a dress!”
Blue leaped off the desk, her little monkey arms going around Alainn’s neck.
“What—how??” Alainn hugged Blue to her. Blue’s little body felt so natural, not at all like a robot or an automaton. “How are you here?” Alainn whispered.
Blue pulled away, her hand going out to point to a woman standing in the crowd. She made a monkey screech, then shook her pointing hand.
The woman’s face was slack, a mask of absolute shock. She obviously recognized Alainn, but Alainn didn’t know her. The woman was shorter than Alainn by a couple of inches. Her long, brown hair stuck out to one side of a pretty face, as if she had just taken her hat off.
A gloved hand rose, pointing into Alainn’s face. “You think I can’t figure out what’s going on here?” The woman whispered the words, harshly.
Alainn stared, and then glanced around at the crowd—everyone was watching them, avidly.
“I’m calling the police. You belong in jail.” Even though the woman’s quiet voice cracked with emotion as she said it, it sounded very familiar.
“Um . . .” Alainn shook her head, and tried to get Blue off her, but the little fingers dug into the back of Alainn’s neck.
Blue shook her head and then made a low screech at the woman.
The woman further pointed into Alainn’s face. “I’m calling the police right now. You and your father are a pair of con artists, and you’re not getting away with this!” Tears now shone on the woman’s face, shiny tracks on pale, freckled skin.
“You’re—are you Shelly Dover?” Alainn asked as the humiliating realization washed over her.
“Yes, and there’s no way I’ll let you get away with this!”
Alainn knew she should be feeling guilty. She knew this was the moment of truth where she, “the other woman,” was exposed as the villain she was. But she didn’t feel guilty. What Alainn felt was a surge of anger.
He chose Shelly; he chose to be with her.
But nope, that wasn’t good enough. Shelly had to find Alainn and make her suffer. She had to take everything Alainn had left and drive her farther into the ground.
“Stop, okay! This is where I work. This is inappropriate.”
Her job was the only thing stopping Alainn from showing up at Lorccan’s tower begging to be let in again. Shelly probably didn’t want that, either.
“Inappropriate? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Just go, okay? You can’t have me arrested. You’re just humiliating me in front of my colleagues while I’m already having a hard time coping.”
Shelly took a step backward and whispered, “You’re going to prison for this.”
Seriously?
Alainn blew out a breath and turned to the receptionist, who was openly gaping at the scene. Fortunately, she was a human and not one of the new automaton receptionists. Alainn leaned over the counter with Blue still clinging to her. “Could you call Greg at the patrol office and tell him I’m going to be a little while?”
The receptionist gave her a grimace of support and looked over to Shelly, who was on her phone—probably calling the police.
“How long should I tell him you’re going to be?”
Alainn closed her eyes, feeling the humiliation creep up her face in a flush. “That’s my . . . ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend, so I might need a little while to clear this up.”
She nodded, still grimacing. “All right, I’ll call over. Good luck.” She sounded like she meant it.
Alainn thanked all that was good in this world that Greg loved her, because she deserved to be fired, again. It was even possible he’d do it this time, but unlikely. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even close to the biggest pile of dung she had hurled his way.
Steeling herself, she turned back to Shelly.
Shelly was off the phone, meaning that the local police were probably on their way. Unluckily for Shelly, the police here were not only all still humans, but Alainn knew each of them. Meaning they’d take the time to listen to Alainn’s side of the story and wouldn’t arrest her.
“Shelly, how about we step outside? I’ll let you whisper at me or wait for the police or whatever. Just not here, okay?”
Blue screeched at Shelly, again, holding her little hand out.
Shelly looked between Alainn and Blue. She sucked in her cheeks, still looking shocked. Even this upset, her face was beautiful, like a Renaissance painting of an angel.
Obviously, she was of the avenging angel sort.
Shelly lifted a dry-erase board that she had tucked under her arm and put it in Blue’s outstretched hand. In Blue’s other small hand, she placed a dry-erase pen.
Blue took both and propped the board against Alainn’s chest.
Alainn stretched her neck back as the board pushed into her throat. “What are you doing, Blue?”
But she ignored Alainn, opening the pen with both her hands. As the pungent dry-erase pen scent wafted up, Blue used two hands to write across the board. When she was done, she handed the board back to Shelly with a teeth-baring screech.
Shelly read the message, looked between Blue and Alainn again, then said, “I won’t yell at you anymore. But let’s stay inside where it’s warm. I still—I don’t believe you. This—” She held up the board.
You are wrong, was written across it in rough letters.
Shelly continued, “This could just mean you’ve conned Blue as well.”
“Okay, come on.” Alainn knew a quiet spot. Well, it was quiet in the mornings, when everyone was on their way out to the slopes.
At first, it seemed that Shelly had changed her mind, but, slowly, she followed Alainn out of the crowd. She stayed a few steps behind.
In contrast, Blue continued to cling to Alainn like she might disappear.
Alainn stopped at a fireplace that had yet to be lit and fell into one of the couches in front of it. If she was going to be torn into, she’d at least be comfortable while it happened. Shadows of exhaustion and sadness had hovered over her head all day, but now, looking at Shelly, they threatened to descend. She petted Blue’s little fake head, hugging Blue to her like she was a transport back to Lorccan.
Shelly didn’t sit. She stood above Alainn yet kept her distance. The stones of the fireplace jumbled behind her. Her knees bent and she twitched, looking like she might take off any second.
Alainn took a deep breath and decided to start this thing. “I did fool Lorccan—Mr. Garbhan, I mean. But it’s over now, and my father delivered Rosette, the Rose robot that he paid for. So, legally, you have nothing on us.” Alainn looked at Shelly, straight into her angelic face. “I didn’t get anything out of it—nothing moneywise, I mean.” She blinked furiously.
“You’re a liar,” Shelly mumbled.
“Seriously, stop whispering,” Alainn said. “What do you want from me? I’m sorry that I was with him and I wasn’t a robot. I’m sorry that I fooled him. But I’m not fooling him anymore. I walked away so you two could be happy. Maybe that’s not enough to redeem me in your eyes, but it took everything I had to do it.”
Blue nuzzled in close to Alainn as she furiously wiped away tears.
Swallowing hard, she continued, “Maybe I shouldn’t have done what I did, but it’s over now. My dad delivered what Lorccan paid for. You can’t charge him or me with anything.”
“Except for the millions of dollars you extorted from him!” She took a step back as she said this.
Alainn grabbed her forehead, afraid her brain was about to explode. “I already told you. My dad gave him the Rosette 82GF he paid for. It’s done. Go be happy together and leave me alone.” Her voice broke.
Shelly leaned back, confusion and anger warring in her expression. “I’m talking about the millions of dollars you and your father have extorted from him since you were replaced with the robot.”
“That didn’t happen.”
“Not only did it happen, there’s more than enough proof to put you away for life, Alainn Murphy. Or should I call you Jade?” She glared at Alainn but stepped toward the lobby, like she might actually bolt.
“You’re wrong. I was in a coma for two weeks after I left. The moment I was strong enough, I went to Lorccan’s tower and Rosebud, the AI who controls his house, refused to let me in. She told me that you two were happy, and I needed to let him go. The day after that, I came here. To work.” Alainn raised her hands up around Blue. “I can prove all of that, so whatever proof you think you have on me, you don’t.”
“Your father did it—”
“My father hasn’t heard from Lorccan. I know because . . .” Alainn smacked her hand into the armrest of her chair. “That’s what convinced us that Lorccan didn’t want me back.”
Little hands came up to Alainn’s cheeks and wiped away the tears that she couldn’t stop.
Leaning away, Alainn shook her head. “You know what? I’m not listening to this anymore. I know I should feel guilty that I was with Lorccan while you two were dating—having your phone-call thing, whatever, but I can’t feel guilty about being with him, and I don’t. Maybe that makes me a bad person,” she squeezed her eyes shut, “but I’m trying to do the right thing here. What I’m going to do is walk away so he can be happy with you, and that’s as much as you’re going to get from me. Please don’t ever come back here, and don’t you dare try to set my father and me up for some extortion crime. It won’t hold.”
Instead of leaving, Shelly stayed, but still hovered like she might bolt. “He’s given your father millions of dollars in the last few weeks for chips and microchips to try to bring you back.”
“What?” Alainn’s voice came out high-pitched, not like her regular voice at all. “No he hasn’t.”
“Yes, he has,” she said.
“You two are together. Why would he do that?”
“Lor and I are just friends. He is my friend, and I care so much about him.”
A sob hiccupped from Alainn. “You’re lying. Rosebud 03AF showed me the video of . . . she showed me the video . . . of when you said you were going to come to his tower. He was so happy.”
“He suspected that Connor Murphy was cheating him. He wanted me to look at the microchips, chips, and Jade herself, but he wasn’t going to risk her by sending her back out.”
“He wants me back?” Alainn looked Shelly straight in the eyes, begging her to—Alainn wasn’t sure what—to tell the truth, maybe, whatever it was.
“He’s paid millions of dollars—he’s falling apart. He’s spending all day trying to make that robot remember who she is.”
Alainn shook her head.
“It’s destroying him. What’s happening—it’s destroying him.”
“No.” She shook her head again.
“Yes, Alainn. You’re killing him.”
“I’m not doing it. I tried to get back in.”
Blue finally released Alainn, reaching out to Shelly. When Shelly handed her the dry-erase board, she set the board on Alainn’s knees and started writing.
Rosebud 03AF is broken.
Alainn leaned in. Sniffing back the emotion, she asked, “How is she broken, Blue?”
Blue took her palm and erased the word “broken.” Instead, she wrote the word “gone.”
“Rosebud 03AF is gone?” Alainn stared at the message. “What happened to her?”
She erased the board and scrawled, I don’t know.
“She was there when I visited three days ago,” Shelly said, looking at the message.
Again, Blue erased the message and wrote, It’s not her. It’s someone else.
“The new robot?” Shelly asked.
“No,” Alainn whispered, sitting back in the chair. “No, there’s a third Rose model.” To herself, she muttered, “Why would she be willing to kill you to get you out?”
“What are you talking about?” Shelly asked.
“Last year, when Lorccan commissioned the first humanoid AI robot, my dad did create her. But Rose 76GF—she wasn’t at all compliant. She started overwriting her ethical programming, and she refused to go when we were supposed to send her to Lorccan.”
“There are two Rose robots?” Shelly asked, her gaze skipping from place to place. “And, you, also?”
Alainn nodded. “Yeah, there are two—Rose and Rosette. Rose planned everything. She created the microchips that would disguise me as a robot to Rosebud 03AF. She only gave me a few minutes to decide whether to go through with the plan. I found out later that Lorccan would actually have been willing to give my father another month’s extension. Why would she send me in there?” Alainn looked away and then answered her own question, “She must have needed the money. But why does she need money?”
Shelly watched Alainn carefully.
Alainn looked down and repeated to herself. “Why would she be willing to kill you to get you out? Was it just to extort money? Did she just want to extort money from him? But how could she know that he’d care whether or not I reset?”
“What are you talking about?” Shelly asked, as she lowered her head to look at Alainn.
“Rose 76AF—the first Rose robot—fed me poison to get me out. That’s how she made it look like I was malfunctioning. The first way she tried to get me out didn’t work, so she resorted to the poison. She’d been trying to get me to drink it for months. It almost killed me.”
“Poison?”
Alainn looked up at her. “Yeah. My brother was suspicious and he asked me why she’d be willing to kill me to get me out.” She shook her head. “But she wasn’t doing that. She must have been willing to kill me to get Rosette in.”