Selected Assistant by Robin Roseau

Author:Robin Roseau [Roseau, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-30T05:00:00+00:00

Niecor

Neither Felicia nor I decided Sunday was an excuse to take a day off work. We spent the morning setting up test after test, trying to convince the avatar to reset. Nothing worked. Several times, we gave each other knowing looks. And then, just when I was going to mention lunch, the robotics laboratory door opened, and several of the aliens walked in, Amanda with them. I saw Jasmine, Forever Twilight, and Cape and Bight, the Martians who Felicia had been spending time with.

Before they reached us, Felicia and I gave each other one more look. “I know,” I said.

“We can keep trying.”

“We’re wasting time. We both know what we need to do.” I paused. “Although…”

“What?”

“Maybe the problem is the stuff Bay removed, or disabled, or whatever he did. We already know it’s a system reset caused by an overload. Face it, Felicia, the reason it’s not failing is because something is missing that was there when I first reproduced the failure. That either means something that’s turned off, or it requires a human in the mix.”

Jasmine heard that part. They all probably heard it. She sort of… expanded, like a peacock billowing out its feathers. I wondered if it were conscious, but it was certainly difficult to ignore. Everyone turned to her, even Forever Twilight, the Niecor who had helped to catch me during the hunt.

“What is she arguing to do, Felicia?”

“We’re not arguing,” Felicia said. “We’re voicing what we both know.” She shifted her gaze back to me. “Not yet.”

“Fine,” I said. “But Bay needs to put it back, or turn them back on, or reverse whatever it is he did. We’re not testing the same system that I broke.” I turned to Jasmine. “I will not touch the brain interface without your approval, but we need to eliminate the other choices.” I paused. “Are you really this distrusting?”

“I’m sorry,” she replied. “Years of working with human women.”

“And we’re that untrustworthy?”

“Think about the situation most of them have been in,” she added. “And Andie and both sisters have quoted the line about being easier to beg forgiveness than permission. For that matter, Muriel can be as manipulative in that way as anyone.”

“I bet the only time you say ‘no’ to her is when it’s about her own health.”

“Pretty much,” Jasmine agreed.

“Jasmine, there’s no way I’m getting back into this thing with the intention of failing it without proper safety settings, and I can’t do that myself. If you need to test drive it to understand why I’m so adamant, then let’s set that up.”

“You’re right,” she said. “But not today. We came to get you for lunch. You have a date this evening with Forever Twilight, but she thought you might like to begin early. Dr. Depths prescribed light exercise for you.”

“We could all use a little light exercise,” Amanda added.

“Are you calling me soft?” Felicia asked.

“Is that really what you heard her say?” Jasmine said.

“She’s teasing me,” Amanda explained.

“I’m not sure being hunted would be light exercise,” I pointed out.

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