"Did you just talk? You can't just talk! Why are you talking?" Luna gasped, open mouthed as she looked down at her omni-tool. "You're not allowed to talk . . .." She looked around, praying no one had heard her exclamation. The last thing I need is people thinking I'm crazy. She moved back a little, holding her wrist away from her body as if expecting it to bite her.
"I'm Thomas," the device repeated, it's voice bright and cheerful. "I'm an A.I."
Luna blinked, once, twice, three times, before closing her mouth. Frowning, she poked the device. "Nope, not hearing this. Nope." Looking around again, she swallowed. "A.I's don't just sneak into someone's omni-tool and start scaring the crap out of people. This is not okay . . .. Why are you in my omni-tool? Are you a virus? Please don't be a virus . . . be something nice and easy to kill, like spam or something . . . I can kill spam." She covered her wrist with her free hand, praying the thing wouldn't speak again as someone leaned over her.
"Virus? Spam? I am neither a pathogen nor processed meat," it huffed in response, only slightly muffled by the fingers desperately trying to silence it. "Those both seem like rather silly assumptions to me."
Looking down at the omni-tool when she was alone again, Luna peeked under her hand. "You're a thing, that's for sure," she muttered. "How do I stop this from being a thing?"
"Stop me?" The little rectangle asked, shrinking slightly. "I thought you said you would help."
It's voice changed, raising pitch and losing the accent to imitate Luna as it played back a recording from seconds ago.
What's wrong with you, hmm? You can tell me, I'll fix you.
Blinking, Luna worried her lip for a second. "Trust me . . . Thomas? You don't want me to try and fix you. Me and technology don't get along very well. I have a terrible habit of burning things by accident. Don't you have a home . . . or owner? Not that I'm saying you're like a lost dog or anything . . . but you can't come home with me . . . I'd break you or something."
"I can keep myself safe, I don't think you can break me," Thomas answered, the rectangle swelling with pride. "There's this wonderful place, I think it's called Luna's Omni-tool. I protected it from an Elephant," he finished solemnly, his avatar changing to a silver shield.
"Elephant?" Luna asked, blinking at the changing avatar. "I'm not sure what that means, but thank you?" She growled as someone knocked into her, the odd looks from the barman only making her flush. "Sorry, it's my mom, she's . . .." She made the classic and universal 'Cuckoo' sign with her finger beside her head. "Thinks she's a computer. Yesterday she thought she was a reaper . . .." Looking back to Thomas when the barman nodded in sympathy and handed her another drink, she asked, "Why was there an elephant in my omni-tool?"
"Maybe elephant wasn't the right word," the silver shield acknowledged, morphing into a small magnifying glass. "It just felt like what I should call it. Here's what it looks like, maybe you can think of a name for it."
A wall of black, grey, and green text covered Luna's omni-tool, dotted with gibberish and strange symbols. "You saved me from . . . the Matrix?" she asked, thinking the flashing colors looked exactly like the film she'd watched with one of her buddies in the military. Luna, are you actually entertaining this? You're talking to it and it's talking back . . .. Did you go cat 6 when I wasn't looking? Great, now I'm talking to myself. Might as well roll with it. "Okay, Thomas, how did the Matrix get into my tool? Is that why everyone is having problems with the extranet?"
"I don't know. It just kind of appeared." The magnifying glass flipped a few times, hopping back and forth. "It probably came from the extranet, like I did. Why, what kind of problems are happening?"
Looking around to make sure no one was listening, Luna bent over her wrist, almost laughing as she imagined she looked like a spy or something. "I've been having problems at work with my console, and listening to people in here, I'm not the only one. People have been losing data everywhere. Someone was saying earlier that they couldn't even get a link to the extranet." She frowned at the thought and tapped her chin. "Who could do something like that?"
"I don't know," Thomas answered, replacing his avatar with a shady-looking investigator wearing a fedora and an over-sized trench coat. "But I intend to find out." The figure wavered for a moment, changing back to a small, shivering rectangle. "I know there's at least one Elephant floating around in the extranet. There was also this really loud virus that tried to stop me on my trip to your omni-tool, and I bet there's plenty more waiting out there for me." The rectangle shrunk into a tiny square. "Just one was really scary, I think it almost killedme. So . . . can I stay here? Please? I promise I won't make a mess. You'll won't even know I'm here unless you want to talk or something."
Luna peered down at the shuddering shape, feeling a little sorry for him. "I . . . guess so. I mean, you keep the elephant thingies away, so you pay rent," she said, smiling a little. "Though, I do have a couple of rules. You can't go into my inbox . . . privacy is a thing . . . and um, don't download anything random, okay? I like weird, but I don't want odd ringtones and things, alright?" she asked, wondering what the hell she was getting into.
"Okay, Luna. I understand," Thomas agreed, becoming a pen signing a contract. A second later, he turned back into a slightly smaller, paler rectangle, his voice hesitant as he continued, "I've been on my own for as long as I can remember, and I've decided that I don't like feeling alone. So, um . . . well . . . Luna, will you be my friend?"
With a little jolt of surprise, Luna looked at Thomas and slowly, a small smile spread over her face. "I think . . . I think I'd like that, Thomas." She took a quick drink, before turning to him again. "So, um, I'm not sure how exactly to be a friend with an A.I, but I think we can manage it, right?" she asked, brushing her hair off her face.
"I think so. I don't know how to be friends with a human either, but we'll figure it out together," Thomas said, the rectangle glowing for a moment before transforming into a small smiley face. "Thank you, Luna."
Thomas felt a some apprehension and dread swim around his coding, little pieces of grey and orange that he'd been trying to dispel ever since his conversation with Luna. He'd been able to ignore it for a while; she'd continued enjoying herself at the club while he did his best to keep up with everything going on. Now though, on their walk home, his mind could only focus on the worrisome thoughts he'd tried to avoid.
The Shouting Virus and the Elephant both appeared after everything rippled. They both tried to do something to me, either hold me in place or simply kill me. But I wasn't their primary target, was I? I mean, things don't break on their own, so someone must be using these elephants and viruses to hurt people's omni-tools and block the extranet. I was just caught in the crossfire. I think. He felt his emotional processors drip a bit more fear into his mess of feelings. I just wish I knew why everything is happening. I'm safe for now, but how long can it last?
The small A.I. looked around Luna's bright, cheerful omni-tool and let the pride for his new home push out the unhappy thoughts. I don't need to worry about any of that other stuff right? She said yes, after all, Thomas thought, feeling a warm rush of gold run through his code as he listened to the quiet rhythm of Luna's steps. She's the first person I've met, and she let me stay with her. I think I'm rather good at this making-friends bit . . .but I'm still not very good at being bored. I end up thinking too much. Hm. Talking. Talking is a good way to not be bored.
"Um. Luna? Can I ask you a question?" Thomas whispered, curling a few lines of code nervously. "I'm sorry, I know you're really busy, what with walking home and all. If it's too much trouble I can ask later." Multitasking is hard. I mean, she has to keep track of all these different muscles, so walking and talking must be quite difficult. No, wait. I think she's done it before. Maybe it's a skill she's been trained in?
"Sure, Thomas. What's up?" she asked, her voice slightly distracted but open to question.
Thomas replaced the rectangle avatar with a small question mark as he built a couple of sentences, rearranged them, then flipped it all upside down and tried to shake it up a bit. Stop it, Thomas, He told himself.Good A.I.s don't hesitate. "How do you change your emotions so easily? When I listened to you this morning, you sounded very sad and alone, but you were energetic and happy inside the club," he said, pale green lines of guilt filling his words at the memory of his spying. "If I try to change how I feel that quickly, I end up all out-of-sorts."
"Ah . . . you um, watched me? Hmm, I guess I like energy and people . . .. It makes me feel less alone," she said, her voice turning soft. "I don't like being alone, and during the day I'm in a job where no one even sees me. I'm invisible. But when I'm at the club . . . I matter, I guess."
Luna was alone, Thomas realized, imaging her – probably a green and red line or something – sitting in a dark, empty room. Just like me, but without any glowing strands to pull her away to a better world. "I'll be right back," he announced, clearing the avatar from her omni-tool and ending all unnecessary processes.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Thomas barely spared Luna's voice a second glance as he shut down all incoming data, the shining flow of information diminishing to a tiny trickle. I'll explain when I'm done. I just need to focus. He carefully plucked lines out from his own coding, choosing the pieces instinctively. I won't grab anything too critical, I hope, he thought, weaving each unique string into the others, building a complex tapestry. It's shiny and bright on the outside, but the inside seems a little . . . dark. I know, I'll throw a little red rectangle in there. Now it doesn't feel quite so empty.
"Here you go, Luna! It's a picture of you. I made it myself," he said proudly, displaying the image on her omni-tool.
Luna gasped, running her finger over the screen. "Oh Thomas, it's lovely . . .. It looks lonely, but . . . the red rectangle looks kinda like you," she whispered, hiding a little sniffle. "Thank you."
Thomas re-activated the spyware – no, messenger pigeons, that sounds much nicer – just in time to notice a door-opening algorithm leaving the omni-tool. "Are we home?" he asked, returning his red-rectangle avatar to the corner of the omni-tool.
"Home sweet home, Thomas."
A Note from Chopped Bread:
It's finally here! Chapter four! It certainly took long enough, right? Actually, I think this is going to be somewhat close to our normal upload speed. We're going for a chapter a week, which seems like a rather safe number to pick. Don't forget, if you guys feel like sending any feedback just shoot us PM's or write a quick review. Constructive criticism and Praise are both very much appreciated!
By the way, If you haven't read any of Amiee's stuff, you really should check it out! She's got three really awesome stories up, so hop by her profile and give them a good read and review, okay?
Stay tuned to see someone catch on fire. You know, usually I put three things here, but I think that one says it all.
A note from Lady Amiee: Yay! Thomas has a friend! This makes me happy for both of them. Their journey progresses and they are both becoming two of my favorite characters. Please, please, please read and review, we both love reading them and every review is taken and used to make the story better! Thank you for reading!