Occasionally Heroic A.I. (17 page)

"Go and shoot! The guns are non-lethal, so don't hesitate."

Lara took a hand I was using to cover my eyes, and led me out of the shop. More than a dozen men, including Agent Two, were shielding their eyes, or putting their hands out to feel for something, anything. One of the agents found his way to their leader, and Agent Two smacked his soldier's hands away, and squinted at Lara and I.

"Straight ahead, fire!" he ordered, lifting his own gun.

I lifted mine, set it to chain bolt with my right index finger, and fired. An erratic strand of electricity shot from the barrel, and jumped from CBA agent to CBA agent. Those that were hit, fell to the floor, shaking and stuttering. There were a few others left, but my gun could only then fire single bolts, as the yellow LED indicator light showed the battery was low.

Lara shot a few rounds of tranquilizer darts that put a pair of agents down into a heavy doze. She even shot Agent Two in the arm, but he only pulled the dart out and threw it to the ground. He was about to lift his gun and shoot more, as his sight was better, but his arm was fast asleep. Before he could lift his right hand and pull his trigger finger using his left, Lara and I made a break for the exit.

The group at guard were about to open fire, when all of the lights shut down. The only light that appeared were single bolts of lightning I shot that struck the unsuspecting guards. The gate began lowering, and Lara guided me to it. I continued to fire and Lara was now on the other side yelling for me to follow.

They could still shoot through the gate. I had to take out as many of them as I could before joining her.

"Top left! To the right!" Lara assisted, shooting her own dart gun at the guards.

I looked around at my handiwork and noticed that the LED light was a fading red. In that moment, I was so pleased with myself, that I began laughing triumphantly.

"Hurry, it's almost closed!" Lara rushed.

"Oh, right!" I slid most skillfully under the lowering gate. My unkempt hair, however, didn't make it in time. The portcullis enclosed tightly and I shrieked like a girl. The electricity from the gate was charging through my hair and tingling my scalp. "Help! Help!" I called out helplessly.

Lara unsheathed a knife from her boot and cut my pinned hair free. The knife's handle was decorated with videogame characters. I leaned up with an elbow, felt my lopsided hair and decided it was a good time to get a haircut anyway.

"You carry a knife in your boot?" I asked in awe.

"I figure that Jack Burton would always say-"

Before she could finish, I kissed her. That's right, we finally kissed. While she still supported my head with one hand, we kissed. I've never felt more in love.

Lara had already met Wade, Martin and Irene. My system lay on the coffee table, in front of Adam and Lara. It was used as the terminal for the meeting. In my webcam, Lara looked to be in constant anticipation, while Adam looked delighted to introduce his A.I. to her.

Wade couldn't stand still before she met them; he was either pacing while he waited, or asking Martin if he should change his avatar to be something a little more welcoming. Martin was at ease, and waited patiently. Me, I stood just to the right of Martin, invisible to them all.

"Maybe a clown fish - users love clown fish," Wade tried convincing.

"I think you should just be yourself," Martin suggested.

In that moment, Wade's avatar boxed in to form his computer case. "I feel a bit square, like this."

"Like yourself - like you usually are," Martin corrected him.

He then transformed into his usual humanoid avatar, except with larger muscles and a smoldering look on his face. Martin shook his head in disappointment, but said nothing.

She had already known them by name, as Adam told her all about us, on the taxi ride home from Machine Mountain.

"Lara, there is one last person I'd like you to meet," Adam began. "And I know she wants to meet you more than anyone in the world."

Despite not programming myself to blush, I felt as though all the eyes were on me, despite being invisible, and that my red cheeks could show my nervousness. I revealed myself, although just as a stutter at first. I flickered in and out of sight, as my emotions were in control.

During these long years, I've dedicated my life to Lara. I know everything about her. I have even helped her. I've blocked dirty websites that she accidently clicked on; vanquished viruses; guided her on the right path; and I was even her DJ when she set her music to random. She has always been my best friend, except, I had just then realized that I have never spoken a word to her. It was frightening.

What do you say to someone that you have wanted to talk to since your first spark of existence?

"Aurora?" Lara called out. Her eyes searched the computer screen. She continued to speak, "As soon as Adam said your name, I remembered the video game I began creating before I worked at Jericho Communications. I named the heroine of the video game,
Aurora
."

"That's where I got my name from," I said, and finally allowed them to see me. "As well as my appearance."

Lara's eyes brightened. "You're just as I wanted to create her!" she exclaimed.

"After you created the draft of the 3D model, I borrowed your concept art and finished it," I told. "I also continued making the game after you started working at Jericho Communications."

"That is amazing, Aurora," she commended.

"It is in its beta process, and it still needs a lot more work. I would need your help on most of it." I felt shy, but I realized that Lara would accept me, no matter what. She was kind. "You can play it, if you would like to."

"Can I play it with you?"

I felt my system flutter with relief. She wants to play the video game with me!

"Yes, it would take a few days, but I can make it playable for all of us," I said, and then rose my nose to Wade and Adam. "I'll just have to give them a handicap, since they aren't as good as us."

"Please," Wade said with distaste. "Adam and I can destroy both of you till you plead to go back to playing house in your sissy games."

"I believe I kicked your ass last time a scoreboard was in the equation."

"That time wasn't fair!"

"Oh yeah?" I shouted and poked his burly chest. "Lara - let's show these noobs how it's done!"

After I introduced Lara to the A.I., I found myself left out of many inside jokes. I saw her less as well, as she and Aurora worked on their video game together. Aurora, however, warmed up to me. She scolded me for getting Lara in danger, but, quickly after, told me how happy she was that Lara met me. Lara has been happier, she told me in private.

Wade spent most of his time boasting about our last video game match. He was so amped up, that he accidently killed me a few times, trying to shoot Aurora. In the end, he was the victor, and Aurora gave him brief congratulations and moved on. He never let it go.

As for Lara and I, we have never been closer. There was half a day when we held hands, the entire time. When one of us needed to type on the computer, we worked up a solution where we would say the word, then type it together. I would use my left hand on the left side of the keyboard, and Lara, her right, on the right side of the keyboard. Wade and Aurora suggested we could just ask them to enter what we wanted to type, but Lara and I had too much fun doing it our way.

We had a lot to do before we had to go back to work, however. We went shopping, researching, and contacted old friends, to figure out how to protect ourselves from the CBA's future attack, which we knew was coming. Lara's apartment wasn't in her name, that's why they haven't showed up at our door. But, across the street, we would occasionally see suspicious vans drive around Jericho Communications, and we knew, if we were to return, they would apprehend us.

Running was not an option for Lara. She loved her family and her job. I agreed. A month or two ago, I would have had no problem leaving, but with Lara, and at Jericho Communications, life was as I always wanted it. I even liked Lara's dad, despite him not having the highest opinion of me.

Therefore, we had to plan for several situations where we had to confront the CBA, both inside agents, and out.

"My dad says he will give us three days off, so we have to make them count," Lara said to the room.

It was an actual virtual chat room, with Wade, Martin, Irene, Aurora, and me. Three other people were in the room, sitting at the round table. We were introduced to their leader, Willard, the main administer of Jericho city. He was a quiet man, and looked to have been from the dawn of computers. He dressed in blue robes, as a wizard. Whenever Lara and I would speak, he would look up at us, and his tired eyes would have a new light that shined in them.

They were all in a system that wasn't occupied by A.I. - it hosted as a private meeting place of Jericho A.I. The room echoed, as it looked to be a futuristic cathedral, with blue, yellow and red dim LED lights that lit up the corners, and schematic patterns glowing in stained glass. It was very peaceful, and even though Lara and I were looking through Aurora's monitor, we felt like we were there, sitting at the black, round marble table with them.

"I think we should get tracking devices and set them up in all of your systems," I suggested. "An old friend told me about them. They aren't too big. We can put them in the desktop cases."

"Yes," Willard agreed.

"I will order the tracking devices tonight, have them shipped to the office, and install one on every computer system in Jericho Communications. It's a good idea even if the CBA weren't after us," Lara announced, squeezing my hand.

"Isn't that a bit of an invasion of our privacy?" one of Willard's men argued.

Willard chortled. "Are you planning on going somewhere other than your desk?" he mocked. "We shall have tracking devices. A splendid plan."

An ancient computer liked our idea! I continued to tell myself to keep face, but I could feel the corners of my mouth giving me away.

"We will need to get into the office without the CBA knowing, though," Lara pointed out.

"With Adam's track record, I don't think he will have a problem accomplishing that," Aurora said bitterly.

"Irene and I can devise another plan!" Wade exclaimed excitedly. Aurora made a displeased snort, but he completely ignored it. "This time, maybe you can actually land on the roof."

"The infamous break in. You really caught us by surprise when you stole that information," Willard's right hand man said.

"What do we do about the outside agents?" Martin asked. "How will we stop them from apprehending Adam and Lara?"

There was a long pause before the first person spoke.

"How about we contact the local news when they make their move? The CBA won't want to be seen by them," Aurora inputted.

"We will need to be a step ahead of them," I said. "We will need to know when they will make their move."

"The vans that patrol the parking lot around the office - they might have computers in them. The A.I. of Jericho Communications can try to hack into them. They know that Willard won't allow them to take us, but they won't expect him to send an attack on their vans," Aurora finished, satisfied with her strategy.

"Task some of our men to scout for wireless connections outside Jericho Communications. Find the CBA agents," Willard ordered one of his men.