Drone Rider 2: Cyborg AI Science Fiction (Drone Rider AI Wars) by Ginger Booth

Author:Ginger Booth [Booth, Ginger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-24T16:00:00+00:00

24

“Yes, sir?” Betta reported in person to Cyborg-03, still yawning from her interrupted sleep. Dred had this watch, and she’d lain down alone upstairs. Well, her drones and Waylon slept beside her, but Valentin was too busy for their bedtime frolic in virtual.

The boss pointed to the tablet, propped on a chair in the server room. “Your boyfriend isn’t talking. Could you check on him?”

She read the tablet first, scrolling up to follow a log of exchanges of the form, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Busy. Later.’ She set it down and joined Foxy, who had her paws curled beneath her as she sat plugged into a storage module. Betta thoughtfully ran her fingers through the rich reddish fur and scratched between her ears. But the drone didn’t respond appreciatively to the touch.

Betta sighed and stretched out beside her, placing one hand on the fox’s haunch. “This may take a while, sir. Please don’t stand there watching.”

Cyborg-03 grimaced and turned his back.

She closed her eyes. “Valentin? Please visit with me.”

“Status update. Busy.”

“But I didn’t come for a status update,” she wheedled. “I miss you. Can’t you spare me a few minutes? We could run in the woods together, and talk.”

The AI was silent for a few long seconds. Then a door appeared before her closed eyes, and she stepped through.

Having grown accustomed to stunning levels of realism in Vancouver, this chamber of virtual was a weird change of pace. Green leaves above shed dappled sunlight into a glade, but the art looked like old Japanese anime, vivid two-dimensional watercolor. She gazed at her own arm, rendered in five colors.

Then his hand closed on it from behind as his body joined hers, conceptually though the tactile sensation was weak. “Low computational overhead,” he explained. “I really am quite busy.”

She spun and looked up into his eyes, rendered with pools of light, and traced his jaw in wonder. No stubble over muscle and jaw in this simulation – she might as well touch sun-warmed porcelain. But he smiled and explored her face, too, a hard expression.

“You’re happy to be back with the rest of yourself?” she asked.

“Yes.” But he ducked his head as though in regret.

“That’s the part of you that doesn’t love me?” Screw what Cyborg-03 wanted to know.

“Betta, all aspects of me love you.”

“But it loves others, too.”

He sighed and gazed into the distance, face growing grim. “Not at the moment, no. We love only you. And Earth. And other sentients. Mopsy.” A smile flickered on that addition.

“Don’t leave me behind, Valentin. Please. Tell me I still matter to you.”

“Always, my love. But now is not the time.”

“Because you’re busy,” she acknowledged, drawing away. The haptic illusion of his embrace wasn’t terribly convincing anyway, the touch of his fingers like holding a mannequin. “Can I help?”

“I’m exploring logic trees, Betta. That’s a part of me I don’t share with you.”

“But why not?” she argued. “I have AI parts, too. Am I just too stupid to understand?”

He sighed. “If I told you

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.