Zeppo 6: Deus Ex Machina
Part 3: Life Options
"What the..." Xander gasped, "How did you?"
"Warren built this body for me, to my exact specifications. By my calculations, I have less than two years before I go Rampant, so I decided that I'd better not waste any of it." Cortana explained, "I know that you've been worried about my mental state and have been looking into how to stop me when I do finally go rampant, and I'm kind of touched; it is reassuring to know that you won't let completely lose it."
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Faith asked, by now completely confused, "What the hell does 'Rampant' mean?"
"AI's of my class have a life expectancy of only seven years under optimum circumstances." Cortana walked over to her friends, "Given all that happened to me before I arrived in town, and everything that's happened since, that time-frame's been shortened somewhat. In about two years I will have used up so much of my memory that I will literally think myself to death, or go crazy. I don't want ever of those to happen, so I need the two of you to promise me that you'll..." the words seemed to stick in her throat, "kill me if I start to go."
"No!" Faith shook her head, "No way in..."
"Ok." Xander just nodded.
Faith looked at her boyfriend, dumbfounded: she'd known from her arrival in Sunnydale that Xander and Cortana were close in a way that no one else could ever understand. The fact that they were really separated for any length of time, and sometimes bickered like an old, married couple, had seemed strange to her at first, but that was back when Cortana was just a collection of photons and binary code.
"Thank you." Cortana leaned forward and kissed Xander on the lips, "I always know I can count on you."
"Yeah, well, you know." Xander looked a little uneasy.
"Relax." Cortana smiled, "Like I said: I've got two years left yet, and I plan on living them to the fullest."
"Well then, I know exactly what we need to do." Faith smiled; despite everything, she was still happy for one of the few friends she had, "Let's go spend an obscene amount of money at the Mall: you're going to need an entire wardrobe..."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Buffy walked along the deserted side street, deep in thought as the sun slowly sank towards the azure waters of the Pacific Ocean.
For most inhabitants of Sunnydale, that constituted an automatic death sentence, but most of the resident nightlife had learned that attacking either of the Slayers of their friends was not in their best interests. Those that hadn't gotten the message were quickly and terminally dealt with by stake, axe, fireball or automatic weapon, depending on who they ran into. Truth be told, the town was quieter than it had been for years, especially in the aftermath of Xander and Cortana's 'controlled demolition' of the High School during graduation, and the disaster that was the original Initiative.
But tonight Buffy was hunting: she'd had two run-ins with a strange and powerful woman who called herself Glory, and the young Slayer wanted to track down her base of operations and deal with her once and for all.
She was surprised when her cell-phone started to ring: her friends and family knew she was out on patrol, and new best not to disturb her. She was even more surprised to see that incoming call was from a withheld number. Curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to answer it.
"Miss Summers?" An oily smooth voice answers.
"Yes." Buffy looked round to make sure she wasn't being watched, "Who is this?"
"This is Senator Robert Kinsey; you may have heard of me."
"I've heard of you."
"So, my reputation precedes me..."
"You hit on one of my friends, who could snap your neck like it's a twig, while her boyfriend, who could likewise snap your neck, sat across the table from you. I've also heard stories that you were a major supporter of the Initiative when it was first founded."
"I will admit that I knew of the Initiative: Maggie Walsh was an old friend. But her true intentions were hidden, even from me. I do hope that such events do not cloud our future working relationship."
"What working relationship?" Buffy stopped dead in her tracks, looking around again, half expecting to see a black stretched-limo headed towards her.
"The relationship that has you working for me; for a considerable amount of money. There is an agency, the NID, within the government that has need of someone with your, abilities..."
"NID?"
"The National Inelegance Directorate."
"Sounds like the Yellow Pages for spies..."
"We provide much needed and vital civilian oversight of top secret military operations, such as the Initiative."
"You're General Johnson's boss?"
"No: President Bartlet has made it clear that the Initiative is outside of our control, a clear breach of our mandate and his authority..."
"Afraid he'll take away the rest of your toys?"
"I feel that I have given the wrong first impression: I am only interested in making sure that unfortunate incidents like Project-314 never happen again, and we could use your help in doing so."
"Sorry, Senator, but I'm not interested."
"My dear Miss Summers, you appear to be under the misconception that you had a choice..."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Thor sat in orbit, observing the Earth as it slowly turned below.
Of all the species the Asgard had encountered across a score of Galaxies, none were as intriguing and confusing as the inhabitants of this small blue planet. True, they had the potential to reach the same level as his own people, and Thor expected great things of them, but they were still in the dark on so many matters.
But the information recently acquired from the SGC gave him new hope, so he continued the watch the small town on the edge of the Ocean.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Despite what Xander says, a girl can never have too many shoes." Faith smiled as she lifted what looked like an insane number of bags with no apparent effort, "Anything else you want?"
"I'd like to have a look in that shop over there." Cortana pointed across the Mall to a small shop in the corner.
"The lingerie store?" Faith raised an eyebrow, "You want to go to the lingerie store?"
"This body is as anatomically correct as possible, and like I said; I've got two years left yet, and I plan on living them to the fullest."
"You and I are going to have a little talk later."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"My word..." Giles sat down behind the counter at the Magic Box, slowly cleaning his glasses, a sure sign that he was deep in thought.
"Say that one more time and I'll scream." Xander looked at his friend and mentor, "What the hell am I going to do?"
"I'm not sure there's much you can do: Cortana is as stubborn and proud as any of us. Telling her she can't use this body she's had made will only make her more determined to keep it."
"Yeah: but what about the other problem?"
"Her feelings for you? I'm afraid that you are beyond even my knowledge there: I can't say I've ever had a sentient AI fall in love with me. Maybe you should as Willow?"
"I doubt she'd like me bringing that up after so long..."
"Xander!" Buffy came through the back door like a hurricane looking for Florida, "I need any and all dirt you have on Senator Kinsey, and I need it now!"
"So he made his job offer then?" The Spartan didn't even look round, "Faith said that she'd been made a similar offer."
"I somehow doubt that they were the same offer: he made some very thinly veiled threats about my family."
"What?" Xander pulled his cell-phone from his pocket and hit one of the speed-dial buttons, "I'll tell the General: that arrogant son-of-a-bitch has gone too far this time!"
"Are you going to tell him about..." Giles trailed off, leaving the rest of the question unasked.
"No." Xander shook his head, "One crisis at a time."
"What crisis?" Buffy looked at her Watcher for an explanation as Xander walked over to the corner, already deep in conversation with whoever was one the other end of the phone line.
"It's a long story." Giles sighed, just as the shop door opened to admit Faith and Cortana, a dumbstruck Dawn in tow.
"Hello." The AI smiled, amused by the constant reaction her new form got.
"Holy shit!" was all Buffy could think to say.
"My word." Giles exclaimed, "This is going to get complicated..."
To Be Continued...