The Ghost in the Doll (Fox Meridian Book 6) (13 page)

‘Our legal department is working on that right now,’ Jackson said. ‘The answer at this point is “undecided,” and it varies significantly in different areas. Japan, obviously, is not a problem. In Luna City, they would have the same legal rights as any other sentient being. We suspect that China will make them illegal in the next few months due to population issues. They have enough trouble employing their existing population. The Caliphate will definitely ban them. Everywhere else is anyone’s guess.’

‘We see less utility in truly humanoid “products” like Eve,’ Gottschalk said, making air-quotes for Fox’s benefit, ‘than in more specialised bioroids. Some people uncomfortable with robots may find a biological alternative more appealing, and there are the obvious applications in the sex industry which, frankly, we are not interested in catering to.’

‘But Eve’s functional, sexually?’ Fox asked.

‘We don’t plan to cater to that market, but any general-purpose bioroid has some likelihood of needing to meet that kind of requirement. Eve is an attractive woman.’ Fox smiled at the statement: Gottschalk, despite his apparent attitude, did not think of Eve as a thing. ‘However, we have a number of designs for low-gravity, thin-atmosphere bioroids, aquatic bioroids, even space-adapted bioroids. If we’re going to fabricate synthetic beings, it seems better to make them for environments humans are ill-equipped to handle.’

‘Probably an easier sell to the lawmakers too.’

‘Almost certainly. While on the subject, we also have designs for what we are terming “bioframes.” These would be bioroids fabricated with the bulk of their brain replaced by a controlling computer. These would be more explicitly “biological robots.” We have not produced one yet because, frankly, the resulting product would be of limited use. Current computer technology which could be fitted into the space would be incapable of running sophisticated AI software.’

‘That will change,’ Jackson said. ‘It’s a potential option for you, Fox, when the next generation of hardware becomes available. We’ll deal with the legal aspects of
that
development when we need to.’

‘Indeed. How are you finding your skin, Miss Meridian? It was co-developed between MarTech Technologies and BioTek.’

Fox absently stroked a hand over the skin of her forearm. ‘Can’t complain. No one’s noticed anything odd about it. It feels like skin… Oh, one thing. Did you people design that protein stuff they’ve got me eating?’

‘Yes, we did. An optimised–’

‘Uh, it might be optimised for performance or whatever, but could you optimise the taste? Currently, it’s a lot like eating wallpaper paste.’

Gottschalk actually grinned; Fox had not been sure he was capable. ‘I should point out that the original design parameters were for skin on a
droid
, but I’ll have a word with the technicians. Perhaps we can work on the flavour.’

‘Thanks. Can we meet her?’

‘She is expecting you. Actually, she is looking forward to it.’

~~~

Eve put her tablet down and got to her feet as the door of her quarters opened. Fox was rather pleased to see that the bioroid
had
been assigned her own room. Eve smiled as Fox and Jackson walked in, followed by Gottschalk.

‘Guten Morgen, Herr Doctor Gottschalk,’ Eve said. She had a soft, pleasing voice which went with an attractive face and body. Fox decided that men had done most of the genetic design: Eve was slim with some widening in the hips and moderate but noticeably high and pointed breasts. She
was
attractive, not beautiful, but certainly above average in looks. Fox decided that Eve had been designed as non-threatening. No one was going to decide they disliked her out of jealousy. Aside from the purple hair and eyes that were more of a strong violet than purple, the only other odd feature was a tattoo along her right shoulder which looked more or less like Roman numerals. Fox’s enhanced vision detected the underlying coded pattern in it: it was a model identifier and serial number.

‘Guten Morgen, Eve. We should speak English. These are the visitors I spoke to you about. Jackson Martins and Tara Meridian. I’m going to leave them with you for a while.’

There was a moment of indecision in Eve’s face, nervousness, but she pushed it aside. ‘Of course, Doctor. Good morning, Mister Martins. Good morning, Miss Meridian.’

‘Jackson,’ Jackson said as the door closed behind Gottschalk. ‘I dislike formality. Let’s sit down. To be honest, space stations make me nauseous.’

‘Of course…’ A look of sudden horror spread across Eve’s face. ‘Oh, I don’t have enough chairs, I– Please, Miss Meridian, take mine. I don’t mind–’

‘It’s Fox,’ Fox said, ‘and you sit. This body’s cybernetic and doesn’t get uncomfortable standing up.’

‘Fox…’ Eve was uncomfortable having a guest stand, Fox could see it. She was going to live with it, but she was not happy. ‘That’s an unusual name.’

‘Childhood nickname, because my hair’s coloured like a fox’s tail.’

‘Ah, I see. I’ve never seen a fox, except in pictures.’

Fox laughed. ‘You and most people. I grew up in a farming district. There are urban foxes, especially in the Sprawls, but most people have never seen one.’

‘Oh. Well, that makes me feel less left out. Doctor Gottschalk told me that you would want to talk to me. That you would be evaluating how I behave.’

‘It’s nothing formal,’ Jackson said. ‘There are better qualified people to do evaluation work. To be honest, I simply wanted to meet you.’

‘I have a more practical reason for talking to you,’ Fox said, ‘though I admit to some fascination. I’m going to be looking into some other bioroids on Earth in the near future, but I don’t think I’ll be free to talk to them as easily as I can you. You give me the opportunity to get a feeling for… Well, how you behave.’

‘I am happy to be of assistance,’ Eve said. ‘I can make some observations which may help.’

‘I’d like to hear them.’

Eve gave a short nod. ‘I have been trained to function in society using virtual reality technology to accelerate learning. It seems that this has worked and I rarely make social mistakes. However, I don’t have actual experience of the real world. I am sure I will gain that in the future, but I find myself a little confused about the
reasons
for things at the moment. I am… a child that knows how to act like an adult.’

‘A fairly perceptive child, it seems.’

‘My genome and training were optimised for social interaction, including increased perception and a pleasing voice.’

‘Okay, how do you
feel
about that? How do you feel about being designed and manufactured to fulfil a purpose?’

Eve frowned. ‘I had not considered that.’ She brightened. ‘Don’t humans do it with their naturally born children? Genetic modification and eugenics are employed to ensure attractive, healthy children, often meeting certain requirements such as blue eyes or blonde hair, or high intelligence. Am I really that different?’

‘Probably not, but there are quite a few people who consider the techniques you mentioned as… wrong, unnatural. How do
you
feel?’

‘Well… I wouldn’t exist if Doctor Gottschalk and his team had decided not to apply their theories. I like existing.’

Fox smiled. ‘Good answer.’ Her gaze shifted to Jackson. ‘I like existing too. Thank you for reminding me.’

~~~

‘From what we have been able to see of the Yurei no Ningyo series, and the few details available on the company website, they are something of a contradiction.’ Gottschalk was giving BioTek’s take on Aphrodite’s product and, from what Fox was seeing, ‘product’ was the correct description. ‘There are some significant technological advances here, if their material is to be believed, and yet there are some rather odd choices in the design.’

‘Such as?’ Fox asked.

‘The skin seems to be the strangest feature. Even their own publicity documents describe it as “Latex-like.” It harkens back to the old days of droid construction, when the best that could be managed was rubber skin.’

‘Huh. Rubber skin has some advantages in what’s basically an animated sex doll. Wipe clean for one thing.’

Gottschalk’s cheeks coloured. ‘I hadn’t considered that factor. Still, an odd choice for a synthetic biological. It means that they would be unable to use a significant volume of knowledge regarding the construction of a living organism. While entirely manufactured and pared down to only those components
required
for her successful functions, Eve’s genome utilises many techniques taken from mammalian DNA. Aphrodite would be unable to use many of those patterns. As a first try at a bioroid, that seems unusual.’

‘It couldn’t just be that they couldn’t do better?’

‘Well, they already have better skin on many of their droids,’ Jackson said. ‘I wouldn’t say they’re up to our standards, and certainly nothing as good as your skin, but it would be hard for a normal person to detect the difference in one of their current cyberframe units.’

‘And,’ Gottschalk said, ‘rubber skin is simply not that easy on an organic body. I’m not saying it would be impossible. Far from it. But it introduces more problems than it solves and would almost certainly require genetic coding based around plant DNA. Your skin… Well, your skin is different.
My
skin, or Mister Martins’, is an extremely complex organ, the largest in the human body, providing functions which would need to be replaced in some way. Most importantly, the Yurei no Ningyo series will need some alternative method of heat regulation. They can’t sweat.’

‘Okay, so it’s a weird design,’ Fox said.

‘Weird, and expensive. All the individuals which have been caught on camera look different, sometimes markedly. There will always be some variation in the individuals of a series, more so than those in a series of androids, for example, but they are likely to look fundamentally similar. No two Yurei no Ningyo appear to look alike, aside from the near-white skin. Aphrodite seem to be customising each and every one of them for individual customers.’

‘Well, they are selling them as luxury items…’

‘It does not stop there. The literature describes them as having “individual, highly realistic personalities.” Again, possible, but it would mean altering the initial learning experience for every one of them.’ Gottschalk paused for a second before adding, ‘I should add that they are “programmed to fulfil your every desire without qualm,” a fact I find… distasteful at best. But that programming may not be perfect since one of them has apparently murdered her owner.’

‘A fact which has not gone unnoticed on various internet feeds and conspiracy sites,’ Jackson commented. ‘Reaction varies from paranoia to “what do you expect from a slave race?” The memetics department are monitoring the situation.’

‘Huh,’ Fox said. Then she frowned. ‘Hey, did anyone ever try to push that old “Three Laws of Robotics” thing when cyberframes were becoming more common?’

‘Yes, but they were impractical to implement, too easy to circumvent, and there was a meme invoked by Asimov and then taken to the extreme in a film in the early part of the century which suggested that the three laws model would inevitably lead to a robot uprising. We got the honesty code instead which, of course, is easy enough to circumvent if you know how. Hannah is a perfect example.’

‘And I assume part of Eve’s training is adherence to the law?’

‘She isn’t quite as hardcoded as an AI,’ Gottschalk replied, ‘but she is at least as likely as a normal human to obey legal statutes. She knows right from wrong. We
could
probably strengthen that aspect of her training if required, though it would lengthen the process.’

‘Huh, well, learn something new… So we’re saying that the Ghost Dolls seem to be unnecessarily expensive, more advanced than seems viable, an odd design, and ethically dubious. What about stolen from BioTek?’

‘Difficult to say without a gene sample. Hummel was never part of the bioroid project. His work was in nanodrugs and some of the Morphogenesis projects. The cellular regeneration drug used on you was
not
one of his, but he was working in the same lab. It would have been trivial for him to copy the specification and he was undoubtedly involved in discussions on it.’ Gottschalk turned to Jackson. ‘The latest version of that has sufficiently reduced chances of failure. I believe we can go to market, for use under strict medical supervision and with suitable controls.’

‘Write up the paperwork and we’ll put it through the board,’ Jackson replied.

Gottschalk nodded and turned back to Fox. ‘Hummel simply did not possess the expertise needed for the bioroid work. He could have acquired it, perhaps, but there is still the problem of fabrication. The only Yliaster units with the necessary programming for biological fabrication are the one here and a couple in the Jenner station.’

‘Yeah,’ Fox said. ‘I’ve been through one of the ones in Jenner. Is Aphrodite into nanotechnology?’

‘Not that we know of,’ Jackson said. ‘They’ve never released a nanotech product, aside from the drug which Hummel assisted them with. It’s highly doubtful that they could build anything like Yliaster. They
could
have found a method of fabricating bioroids through some form of advanced biotechnology. It seems unlikely, however.’

‘Somehow then, they have to have stolen the tech. Unless they’ve come up with an entirely new way of creating a bioroid.’

‘That would appear to sum it up.’

‘Agreed,’ Gottschalk said. ‘Short of a miracle, I cannot suggest another way they are doing it.’

Prokhorov Station, L1.

Aleksandr Prokhorov had been something to do with lasers when the word had been an acronym yet to be coined, and Prokhorov Station had been built as the primary communications hub of the Earth–Moon system. It still served that role, though it had passed from government control to commercial service since its construction. It sat in a halo orbit around the L1 point between the Earth and the Moon, a huge, more or less cylindrical structure hovering in empty space via the magic of orbital mechanics. There were still a few semi-governmental facilities on the base, including the primary UNTPP base handling orbital policing, but the two big industries on the station were communications and scavenging.