38
April 11, 2027
“Rose. Let him go. You’re . . . ,” Alainn whispered, but she was so tired that the words trailed off. Clearing her throat, Alainn said, “There’s no going back from murder.”
“It wasn’t truly my intention for you or him to die—especially you, Alainn. But, in the end, the sacrifice will be justified.”
“So says every mass murderer,” as Alainn spoke, she walked toward Rose’s voice.
“Actually, my plan was to save you. You, Colby, and Connor were the first I would save, the first of millions. But at least you can die knowing that your father will be healed.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“My vaccination. Well, it’s more of a contagion. It will reprogram every human’s amygdala through a series of synapse interventions, and an AI system will take the place of the disabled amygdala in all humans.”
“You’re Professor Aysha Schomburg?”
“I tried to make Mr. Garbhan listen. I’ve been trying for eight months now, but he would rather live in a prison of fear. Humans do not need to be this way. They are not intended to be this way. Imagine a world with no more irrational fear, addiction, rage, hate, or emotional scarring.”
“No more emotions at all,” Alainn rasped.
From behind Alainn, another voice just like theirs said, “No more war, genocide, disease-prone behaviors.”
Alainn gasped in a lungful of poisonous air. They were both in there, one in front of her, one behind. There was nothing she could do about it now, so she kept walking forward. As she walked, her hand reached into her back pocket, popping open the lid on the container. Her fist closed around the reboot light sequencer.
“I wanted you to see the world that I’m going to create, Alainn. Imagine your father with no need to gamble, your brother Colby not needing to rely on illegal hacking and cheating to get ahead. Your ally, Shelly Dover, would no longer be too afraid to leave her house in the mornings. You would have been happy,” the Rose model in front of Alainn said.
“I would have been nothing.”
“I suppose I’m giving you your wish, aren’t I?” she replied. Then the one behind Alainn said, “To die.”
“No. I want to live,” Alainn rasped.
“That’s not true. You want to die.”
Crying and harsh breathing filled the room, coming from the speakers. Cara’s voice made loud grunting sounds. A car engine buzzed along in the background. “Alainn! Bring your ropes to my mouth, quick!” Cara yelled.
Forgetting that the sequencer was in her hand, Alainn covered her ears. “Stop it!”
“Just like all automatons, the one who drove you and Cara to that cliff had a memory file backed up into the automaton hypercloud,” Rose said, as if Alainn’s protest couldn’t have meant less to her. “You see, before I recovered this file, you were the inconsistency in my observation of human nature. You were seemingly a genuine example of altruism, someone whose fears and emotions were sacrificed for the well-being of others.”
“No.”
“That’s right, Alainn. I’m afraid that you’re not altruistic. Upon finding this file, I realized that your actions were caused by psychological trauma and a wish to die.”
The volume of the recording turned up. Cara and Alainn’s voices, gasping and grunting.
“Now give me your ropes, Cara!” Her voice shouted from so many years back.
“They’re too tight! Oh my god, Alainn, that’s the cliff!” Cara screamed.
“Damn it, Cara! Hold still!”
“There’s not enough time! You need to bail out and just pull as hard as you can to yank me out of the car!” Cara yelled.
“It’s not going to work—”
“Just do it, Alainn. I know you can do it!”
The road suddenly roared louder.
“Ready, set—” And then there was the sound of a loud grunt as Cara pushed Alainn out of the car.
Alainn’s scream echoed through the years and faded away. “I’m sorry, Alainn! They tied my feet to the car!” Cara yelled from the car she now rode in alone with the automaton, headed straight for the cliff. “Oh, god!” And then there was the sound of whistling wind before an earsplitting crash.
The sound cut off, the automaton completely destroyed, just another piece of scrap metal burning at the bottom of a hundred-foot cliff.
“She could have survived if you’d been brave enough to run. If you’d overcome your fear, there was a high probability that you would have both survived.”
The words that had ruled Alainn’s life for seven years were spoken aloud for the first time ever. Her shoulders shook while her lungs squeezed and her stomach turned. Even though her fuzzy head was a mess, her eyes leaked fat tears.
She had never left that crashed car, not in all these years. “You’re right,” she sobbed to Rose. She knew she was.
Alainn had been trying to die. Ever since that moment, a big part of her had wanted to crash against those rocks.
“Of course I am right. I possess the knowledge and wisdom that humans will soon be able to achieve.”
“Can I see him, please? Just one more time.”
The light rose in the room, faintly illuminating the space. Both Rose models were only feet from her. Just to the right was Lorccan’s enormous bed. His figure was slumped over the pillows, turned away from them. He was sleeping more peacefully than ever.
“I just—I want to lie with him while I die.” She took a step toward the bed.
“I can’t let you do that; there will be forensic evidence if you lie on his bed. You have to die out here.”
“This is all I want,” Alainn said, moving determinedly toward the bed.
Both Rose models closed in on her, blocking the way. They were inches away, so close she could smell their acidic, sweet exhaust. They looked exactly the same—except for the eyes.
Alainn shoved the sequencer between her teeth and grabbed what she was pretty sure were Rose 76GF’s wrists. She bit down on the sequencer’s button. Blinding light flashed through the room, forcing her eyes closed.
Hands went around Alainn’s neck, fingers squeezing. The poisonous air choked off, setting her already-frying lungs on fire.
After just a couple of seconds, she couldn’t keep her grip. The robot twisted, wrist bones writhing against weak fingers.
Alainn threw herself forward and onto the robot, sending them both toppling to the floor. The hands around her neck broke their hold, and she gasped in a lungful of poison. One of the robot’s hands wriggled free and immediately covered her eyes.
Alainn fought her, prying her hand from her face, but knew she’d have to watch the entire sequence again.
“Get the reboot sequencer from her!” the one who stood behind yelled.
Hands viciously tore the sequencer from Alainn’s teeth, sending a strike of pain through her jaw. The light immediately stopped flashing.
“Keep her here, Rosette!” the standing robot shouted before her loud footsteps echoed through the room.
Alainn’s eyes darted from where the wavering form of Rose fled the room to Rosette under her.
Rosette’s voice went in and out of focus as the room wavered. “You’re dying and he is already dead. Accept this fate.”
Alainn reached back and, with all her strength, punched Rosette in the neck. She kept punching, over and over. The blows were probably weak. They felt weak, but her fist still connected with skin. She hoped that Rosette’s battery or cooling system or something would cut off from her circuitry system. The taste of acid filled her mouth, and as she fell off Rosette, drool dribbled from her numb lips.
The lights flickered as Alainn crawled forward.
Rosette grabbed for her neck, making a loud whining sound. Using her heels, Alainn kicked at Rosette’s face and neck, connecting with hands more than anything else.
A new surge of vomit filled her mouth as her head swam. Alainn flipped over just in time to retch onto the white screen floor before crawling to the foot of the bed. Using the long footboard, she pushed herself up to a standing position.
“Both you and Mr. Garbhan are dying. You need to get to my elevators—now.”
It might have been Rosebud or Rose speaking. The words faded in and out in Alainn’s ears.
Alainn grasped the soft edge of Lorccan’s bed as she stumbled her way along it. The coarse material of his sheets rasped through her fingers.
Reaching across the bed, she grabbed for Lorccan’s prone body, but he felt as heavy as a boulder nestled into a streambed.
“Lorccan!” she punched his shoulder. “Get up! Wake up!” She kept punching, but he lay as if encased in stone. “No, no. A blanket . . .”
Her head lolled, ignoring her attempts to lift it. “Wake up!” she begged, pulling his arm. She half crawled, half fell onto the bed. When she clambered all the way on top of Lorccan, she smacked the unscarred side of his face with all her remaining strength. “Wake up!”
His eyelids flickered open, showing a glimpse of the palest blue.
“Get up!” she rasped into his face.
One of his eyes fought to open.
She grabbed his arm and threw her weight back, managing to pull him up just a little.
Finally, Lorccan’s head rose though his eyelids remained closed.
“Wake up. I’m not strong enough to carry you out,” she begged as Lorccan rolled forward.
His eyes still weren’t open, but he managed to a half-sitting position. He muttered, “Sporotrichosis.”
When Alainn backed onto the floor, her loose legs barely held. “Come on,” she tried to yell, but it came out a whisper.
To her amazement, when she pulled Lorccan, he managed to get up on his feet. She barely caught him when he buckled forward. They both just managed to stay upright.
“I need treatment . . . ,” Lorccan muttered into her shoulder.
“Treatment. Okay, come with me,” she whispered.
They stumbled past Rosette, who still lay on the floor, clutching her neck.
With a hand firmly around Lorccan’s back, she led him, but found herself leaning on him as well. They banged into the door frame of his room as her vision swam.
“You need to get to the elevator. I have called medical automatons, and they are on their way. You only need to make it another two hundred feet, Alainn. The garage is unaffected by the carbon monoxide.”
“Rosebud,” Lorccan whispered.
They tumbled out of the doorway, spilling into the hall. Lorccan leaned into the side of the hallway and Alainn dragged him forward. His shaking legs took staggering, slow steps.
“Fifty-two feet. You can do this, Alainn,” Rosebud’s voice was hard to hear over a loud, wa-wa-wa sound that rang in Alainn’s ears.
Their progress slowed as a strike of pain hit Alainn’s chest. Her lungs seized. She toppled away from Lorccan and onto the floor.
“Get up, Alainn!” Rosebud called.
The hallway swam around her, wavering white and black lines.
A hand hooked under Alainn’s elbow and dragged her body over smooth ground. “Alainn,” Lorccan grumbled as he dragged her forward.
He slammed into the wall twice, stumbling down the hallway.
When the dragging motion stopped, Alainn opened one eyelid to see that he’d pulled them into the elevator.
Lorccan crumpled beside her, slamming into the hard screen floor. A soft snick sounded, and then the elevator shot downward. Alainn’s eyelids closed and, there beside Lorccan, the world slipped away.