Artificial Mates - Chapter 123

The mirrors went black before what Grant told me had time sunk in. We both gazed at each other in confusion then sprung around. The game was over.

“You lost?” asked the female voice.

“I was a little distracted, I may say,” answered Atlas. The codes were also gone with just the three shapes on the front. Olga nodded at us and we got closer.

“What happened?” Grant whispered. She pressed her lips together with her eyes lost in the distance. What occupied my mind was those dots. What did it mean? Did Demos wasn’t in the box anymore, did that mean he was in Atlas? Was that even possible? Did it mean he was gone? Can we get him bad? My hands started shaking.

“The meeting is adjured, we’ll pick up where we left when you’ve got rid of your distractions,” said the diamond shape. It disappeared leaving a black screen behind. The other stayed, the triangle seemed to be glaring at us. It might be a mind trick, but I was sure we wouldn’t get out of this alive.

“Remember our priorities, Atlas. We are the next step in human evolution. Don’t let petty hobbies stray you away,” the triangle also faded away leaving the red dot alone. Silence settled for a long minute.

“I’m sorry for the wait,” he finally added. “You wanted to know where was Demos, right?” I held on Grant feeling faint. “I’ll have to explain the reason why, first,” he paused and waited for questions. However, none of us spoke. I couldn’t come up with anything coherent, my mind was a chaos of broke questions, laced with dread.

“A couple of days ago, we intercepted a transmission. Someone used a backdoor in our system,” my heart skipped a beat, I forced myself to not look at Olga. Was this a plan to catch us? Was it a trap? “So I waited for their next move. When they first broke into the lab where Demos was I clicked. They tried to copy his data just couldn’t access it. No one can force my firewalls, not with those magician tricks,” he chuckled. My eyebrows arched up at the sound. It was no longer the lifeless tone.

“What happened next?” Grant urged impatiently to hear the rest.

“I let them get away, of course. When I talked about it with Demos, he eagerly agreed with my plan,” I frowned at the dot. Wait a minute! Since when was Demos having casual conversations with this guy. And can someone really refuse a request from the A.I who rules over everything on this island? I had my doubts over the ‘eagerly agreed with my plan’ part.

“How can we check if what you’re saying is true?” Grant stepped in.

“Demos?” called Atlas. Beams from the ceiling flashed and a hazy silhouette appeared. Out of the shape, a face peered at us. It was a blurry image of—his face. Demos’ face. I gasped then covered my mouth with both hands. It was a strange vision, the lasers only creating the rounded front of his body leaving the back a hollow half. Grant stepped forward and stretched his hand to touch Demos. His fingers went straight through it. Broken pixel through around then came back in place. He was wearing a white shirt with long sleeves rounded up and black pants. He had the saddest expression on. His copper eyes lowered to the ground.

“Demos, can you please tell them,” said Atlas. He lifted his head without meeting our gaze.

“When the intruders tried to access my data,” his voice was choked. It was almost painful hearing his original voice again. “I didn’t want to worry about you, so I didn’t mention it when you came to visit,” Grant frowned at Demos.

“We are here for you. That’s why I forced the sync with you. I didn’t care it hurts. You were lonely, we also. Damn it, Demos!” he shouted. And this time our eyes met.

“As I said,” resumed Atlas. “When I ask Demos for his help, I also told him I could make him see you both again. I did hear Liliane mentioned that she wanted a hologram to help cope with the situation. Please, don’t thank me,” he chuckled. I stared at them too stunt to even react. Grant moved closer to Demos with a pained face.

“Oh, Dee, you didn’t have to sacrifice this much. We were going to find a way. This is like selling yourself to the—” but he was cut before he could finish.

“So, you only wanted to be helpful?” Olga crossed her arms over her chest. “What happened to the intruder when Demos accepted to help you?” she asked with a sarcastic edge. Atlas took a moment to answer.

“I placed a surprise in the backup unit and let them think it was Demos’ data they were stealing. We’ve tracked them back to their rat hole and as we speak I’ve despatched some heavy armored cyborgs there. Resistance is futile,” he added the last words as a warning meant for us alone. I felt my legs giving away. My eyes rested on Demos’ pale face. It seemed like gazing at a ghost. It was wrong. It wasn’t what I wanted.

“Demos,” I whispered. The hazy shade glided towards me, it literally went through Grant and came to stop in front of me. I lifted my eyes up at him. “Why?” was the only word I could come up with. One side of his lips curled up.

“Because I love you,” he peeked over his shoulder at Grant then back at me. “Both of you, I would do anything to keep you safe. No, sacrifice is too big or too small,” I wasn’t sure what he was referring too. I was sure he trying to convey something that I couldn’t grasp. Tears stung my eyes.

“You stupid, you only had to wait for the repairs. I’m sure they will fix your body and we can go back to our house. We—” I sniffed, “we can be together again, all three of us. Why did you have to do that?” tears rolled down my cheeks. He reached his fingers to wipe my face but his hand when through it. I stepped away as a reflex.

“I crave to be with you, a feeling so intense and painful, nothing can make it go away,” his voice filled with agony.

“What will happen to us now?” I lifted my gaze and glared at him. I was angry, he went to the enemy instead of talking it through with us. I felt betrayed. Demos was my fav, how could he do that to us—to me?

“I always keep my promises,” Atlas stepped into our conversation. I opened my mouth to snap at him but he went on. “Since your neighborhood is still under construction. I’ll send more labor to speed things up and hook you with the grip. The instructions are already out there. Demos will have a basic hologram program, nothing too fancy. Also, I’ll put a second team to help you, Olga with the repairs on Demos’ body,” Grant who had been silent all this time looked up.

“And all this for free? Out of goodwill?” he asked.

“Of course, we A.Is are here to make things better,” somehow it was too good to be true. No, there was definitely something wrong with all this. I shook my head wiped my wet face on my sleeves.

“Demos, are you ok with that?” I glared at the floor, unable to face him. If I did I was certain I’ll crumble.

“He is,” Atlas answered. My head snapped up in the direction of the red dot. I boiled with rage.

“Will this be a thing? Whenever I talk to my mate you’re going to jump between us? We—” I pointed my index at my chest then at him repeatedly. “We are not a thing. In our couple, there’s no place for a fourth entity or whatever the f.u.c.k you are!” Blood drained from my face leaving me cold and faint as the words escaped my lips. Grant’s eyes widened. Demos smirked and Olga crossed her arms over her chest. Oops! No, I don’t regret it.

“What if I wiped Demos, will we be a thing?” his voice was playful, it made my skin crawl. What was that if this was a man, I was sure he was hitting on me. But Atlas was not. He was playing yet another mind game.

“Atlas!” called Grant. “Why are you doing this?” he rushed to me and blocked my view of the red dot. I gripped the back of his shirt and he shielded me with one arm stretched in a protective gesture. The memory of that horrible day in our apartment came full force. The day Grant protected me with his body, the day he damaged his arm. Demos hologram came to stand in front of Grant, his face grave.

“Atlas is this game really worth it? You’re pissing off your companions. You can’t even focus on your tasks. Do you know how humans call this? Obsession!” said Demos. The dot blinked a couple of times.

“I envy the connection you have with each other. What links me to those two is nothing but a duty. They are as boringly predictable,” he sighed. “I want to pick you apart and see why you click,” he chuckled. A shiver ran down my spine. Grant reached his arm around and pressed me against him.

-Don’t show him the satisfaction that you fear him. A highly intelligent entity who only works on logic can’t understand feelings. We were designed to felt and serve. He was designed to surpass humanity. However, the slices and dices us, he will never understand what makes us—us!

“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Liliane. I’m just one of many evil,” said Atlas in a light tone. “If you only knew the whole truth, you would pick me. I’m the lesser of two evil,” was it right for him to say that? I wasn’t sure I was talking to an A.I anymore. What the hell was that thing? I knew that the first time they teach artificial intelligent was to lie. I experienced it on and on with both of my mates. But at least they lie to protect me. Was that a good enough reason? No, lying was bad, no matter what the reason. There always someone who ends up hurt.

“Is this over, cause I have better things to do than watch your little drama unfold,” Olga commented, she marched to the door without waiting for Altas’ response. “Open the door, please,” she snapped her fingers.

“I’m curious about your relationship with Dr. Churchhill, dear Olga,” she tensed up. Since she was facing away I couldn’t see her expression. Why was Atlas picking up on her?

“Atlas,” she sighed without turning back. “You really disappoint me. Trust me, there’s nothing good from what you seek. Emotion is a disease you should stay away from. Let the humans fall prey to the blindness and let them roll in eternal misery. If you want to be the next human evolution, cut emotions out of it. It will do you a great deal,” she took a deep breath. “Now open the damn door. I’m almost done with the plans of the water system. I can’t waste time with your shit,” the mirror slipped to the side, the two cyborgs guarding the door straightened up and peeked at her. She marched out ignoring them.

“She’s an older version of Churchhill’s work. Such a waste” said Atlas. “Too much logic,” Grant turned around and grabbed my arm. He pulled me towards the exit before I had time to react.

“Wait, what about Demos?” I glanced over my shoulder at the hazy figure. He gave me a weak smile and waved me goodbye. I didn’t want it to be over. Even if I was angry with him for do that, I still loved and wanted to be with him.

“Don’t worry, Liliane,” he said before I stepped outside and the door closed behind us. How dare he say not to worry. Of course, I’ll worry about death. He was literally sleeping with the enemy. Grant dragged me in the long corridor with the two cyborgs closing the procession.

“What will we do? We can’t leave him behind,” I thought out loud. “We just can’t!” my voice spiked. Grant pressed his lips together and frowned at the end of the tunnel. Olga a mere dot against the exit. Our journey back to the surface felt like emerging from the deep ocean, with each floor that clicked on the panel on the elevator the pressure lifted up. When we got back to the lab, I was so hungry I devoured my lunch still waiting in its greasy paper bag. Olga got to work the minute we stepped in. Dr. Churchhill was gone.

“Maybe, it’s not so bad,” I let out a nervous laugh. Grant looked up from his screen and smile.

“How naive,” commented Olga without looking up from her own work. Was it so bad to have hope?