Leonard clenched his jaw as he waited for the call to connect. There was only a couple hours' difference between here and California—it was within business hours for Dr. Price. Thankfully it only took a moment longer for him to answer.
"Aiden," Leonard began, choosing for whatever reason to start out informal. The two had spoken several times since meeting at the conference a couple of years ago, mostly idle talk about the nature of an AI's personhood. So although he had never done that before, it also wouldn't seem beyond the pale. "I trust you've been well."
"Yes," Price said with his typical calm. "And yourself?"
Leonard paused. Their discussions had never led to any kind of partnership, and they had never been this serious. In spite of that, Leonard had chosen to call him. He just felt he had to tell someone about this. "To be honest, I've been struggling with something."
"I'd be happy to help you if I can," Price said.
"Yes," Leonard muttered. He straightened himself in his chair. "A couple of years ago the government cut funding to a particular branch of research that I have felt personally invested in for many years. There are a large number of archives relating to this research that have been in storage since that time. Recently the university that houses those archives has announced intentions to destroy those archives in favor of freeing up storage space."
"It sounds as though you feel destroying those archives would be a misstep."
"A misstep," Leonard repeated. "That's a good way of putting it." He gazed for a moment at the holotank dais that still sat nearby his computer terminal. "The archives could potentially be made into thousands of specialized defense-related AIs."
"I see. The destruction of such a resource would be quite a setback to your field. Do you know the reasoning behind their abandoning this avenue of research?"
"It's simple enough. They've made very little progress in finding a way to convert the archives into AIs. Before this they had decided to divert the funds they used to spend on that into weapons advancements."
"And you don't feel this is a wise decision."
"No, I don't."
"Indeed," Price replied. "Perhaps you could do something to dissuade them from destroying the archives. Have you considered filing a formal protest?"
"I cannot do that," Leonard said, grumbling. "There is only one thing I could see to do, and it…"
Price waited a moment after he trailed off. "Is there no action you can take ro prevent this mistake, then?"
Leonard laid a hand on the side of his head. "Yes, there is," he said. "Unfortunately, taking action comes at considerable risk to me and my business."
"And what action is that?"
Leonard paused. He was feeling intense internal pressure over this. Even saying this out loud could be risky. He didn't know what kind of connections Price had. But he needed to say it, somehow. He felt that would let off a bit of the pressure. "I have discovered how to convert these archives into AIs," he said. "The problem is, my discovery would be considered proprietary to the university I attended for my PhD, because it's based on their research."
"I'm familiar with cases similar to that," Price said. "I believe you have more power in a legal settlement of this case than you realize."
"Oh?" Leonard said.
"Yes," Price replied. "Announcing you have made a breakthrough is one thing; actually giving up the information is another."
It was as if the sun was rising in a world where previously it had never shone. Leonard sat up, brightening considerably. He really had had no idea when he decided to make this call just why he was choosing to call a psychologist, of all people. But this proved that Price was quite shrewd. "Yes," he said. "You're right. You're absolutely right."
"I can offer my expertise in helping you write up a proposal, if you wish," Price said.
"Yes," Leonard said. "A proposal." What would he ask in return for giving up this information? What could he ask for? A position parallel to what the famed Dr. Catherine Halsey held in the military? Equipment, staff, information? The possibilities were rising up before him in visions of expanded power and prestige the likes of which he'd never considered before.
"I will send you my rates," Price said. "I'm pleased to be able to help you."
"Thank you, Aiden," Leonard said. "You've already done a lot."
"It was my pleasure," Price said.
Leonard hung up the call and relaxed back into his chair, marveling. He felt so very relieved. What a stroke of genius calling Dr. Price had turned out to be.
Eventually, Leonard rose and made his way to the front of the storefront, his footfalls deliberate. He had other business to attend to now. He'd been told earlier in the day when this computer had crashed and he'd decided to wait until now, at the end of the day, to deal with it. He had his suspicions the reason it had crashed was its age. He still wasn't drawing a full salary and the thought that he may have to start replacing machines was irritating. It was always something.
He was taking a seat at the terminal when the front door opened. Leonard half-stood in confusion. "Dad?"
His father nodded in greeting. "Hello, Leonard. It's been a while since I've been here, hasn't it?"
Leonard pushed the chair back and approached his father as he responded."Yeah, not since I first rented it."
"It definitely looks well-utilized. How many people do you have working for you now?"
"Sixteen." He paused and motioned back toward the back room. "You want a cup of coffee?"
"Oh, no, that's not necessary. I'm just here to meet Jackie."
Leonard glanced at Jackie's office door. "You're here to meet Jackie?" he repeated.
"Yes, we're going to be heading out for dinner as soon as she wraps things up here."
"Oh," Leonard replied. "Well…she should be done soon."
As if on cue, Jackie exited her office. In fact, it probably was on cue, as she usually kept her door open. "Hello," she greeted. "I didn't mean for this to take you by surprise, Leonard. I was supposed to tell you earlier, but I got so caught up in our network problems that I forgot."
"Oh," Leonard said dismissively. "It really was none of my business, Jackie. It's all right."
Lawrence came to Jackie's side as she put on her jacket. "We're going out for steak," Lawrence said. "You can come, if you want."
Leonard shook his head. He could tell they didn't really want him along. "Certainly not," he said. "Go have fun without me."
Jackie smiled. "Thank you, Leonard. We'll see you later."
"Indeed," he replied, sitting back down at the terminal he had been about to repair.
They left the storefront, chattering as they went. Leonard sighed and leaned back in his chair. Something about that seemed to him to be something that he should have noticed before. His father and his administrator going out on a date? Something like that shouldn't have slipped his attention
Well, he had other concerns right this minute. He decided to leave the repair of this terminal to another day, and rose, heading back to his office. He was about 40% done with writing his own platform for smart AIs now, according to his estimates. This platform would allow the AI to contain all the personality and emotional range of the original mind involved. It would include more concrete decision-making capabilities, and more openings for him to poke at the code and change it, if needed. He sat down, opened the file and began to code.
Coding, on this occasion, came to him like water cascading down a fountain. It was a section that would control his ability to remove memories from the AI, if needed, and he knew exactly how to express the functions he needed here. Eventually he came up for air and realized it was around midnight. He saved the file and locked the terminal in his office before leaving, locking the door behind him.
The next morning was Saturday. In years past, Leonard would have stayed the night over at the office and worked on the platform again the instant he awoke. That night, however, he had had various reasons to want to go home. Besides sleep in the office usually being quite poor and unrefreshing, he had his curiosities about what it meant for his father to be going out with Jackie, and he intended to talk to him at breakfast about it.
He was sitting at the table, eating some scrambled eggs, when his father came in—not from his bedroom, but from outside. Leonard looked at him, watching him as he came in and took off his jacket, putting it away.
"I guess you had fun," Leonard said.
"I did," Lawrence replied. He came over and sat down across from Leonard. "I know you didn't know about this until yesterday, Leonard, but Jackie and I are…" He cleared his throat. "Well, it's been a little while that we've been seeing each other, and I believe I can say that it's serious.
Leonard didn't react outwardly. He finished a bite of his eggs and toast before responding. "And you spent the night last night?"
"I did," Lawrence said. "It wasn't what we intended to happen, but we talked until very late. And then it just made sense for me to stay."
Leonard looked at his food, then at his father. "I wish I'd been told before now. But on the other hand, as I said…it's not necessarily any of my business."
"Of course it's your business," Lawrence replied. "And I can tell by the way you say that that you really do think so."
Leonard frowned. "You know me too well." And then he sighed. "What does this mean, do you think? You're getting more serious, you say, but how long has this been going on?"
"Pretty much since Thanksgiving," Lawrence said. "We've been messaging daily and have been on several dates."
"Five months? And you never told me," Leonard said, frowning. "Jackie was supposed to tell me yesterday and didn't. I have a feeling you were both worried I'd be angry."
Lawrence shrugged helplessly. "It was a possibility," he said.
"Well, I am not angry you two have found companionship, but I am annoyed you didn't see fit to tell me," Leonard said. He looked at his remaining food and then pushed it away. "I have absolutely no grounds to object. You didn't need to keep it from me. I'm not a child."
Lawrence sighed. "I'm sorry, Leonard. I truly am. I know Jackie is too. Her not telling you about the date was an oversight, but it was meant to be up to me to tell you any more."
"Ah," Leonard replied. "Well, you can both quit being afraid of my reaction." He rose, clearing his plate and putting it in the sink. "In fact, I'm happy for you. If that matters at all."
"It matters," Lawrence replied, standing. "Leonard—"
"It's fine," Leonard said. "I already said so."
Lawrence frowned. "I know."
"Then stop fussing over me about it," Leonard replied. "Now, I'm going back to the office."
"Certainly," Lawrence said. "I'm going to take a shower, if you don't mind waiting a bit for yours."
"Fine," Leonard grumbled, heading toward the stairs. He didn't need to ask why his father felt the need to go first. Leonard doubted he had gotten much sleep.
It was late again when Leonard decided to log off of working on the platform again. He still hadn't repaired the terminal he'd tried to work on the night before. What he'd learned yesterday made him feel more desperate to complete the platform—something about the timing made this seem more important even than it had before. This time he'd skipped lunch and dinner, coding right through mealtimes, so his stomach was vying for his attention too much to make continuing to code very appealing anymore. He locked up and went to the bar down the block to eat.
Eventually he'd received his order, a small rack of barbecue ribs, some fries, and a beer, and he began to eat.
"Doing all right?" the waitress asked when she checked on him.
"Oh, I suppose," he replied, as though the question was about more than the food.
"You suppose?" she said. "If something's not right I can replace it for you."
Leonard chuckled ruefully and shook his head. "The food is delightful," he said. "Just thinking about other things."
"Oh," said the waitress. "Well, I can bring you another beer, if you want."
He looked at his half-full glass. "Yes," he agreed, and then waited while the drink was delivered.
His COM pad, which he had set on the table, chimed then.
- Can we talk?
He sighed. He'd been ignoring these messages, which he had been receiving from both his father and Jackie, all day. This time he shot off a response to his father's request.
- I'm at Vaughan's. Come at your own risk.
His father entered the bar about 15 minutes later, just as Leonard was stripping the last of the meat from the last rib. He waved his father over, who stopped at the bar to order a drink and then came to the table.
"You're really upset, aren't you?" he asked after sitting down.
"You're really trying too hard to make sure I'm not," Leonard said.
Lawrence sighed. "I don't have any excuses for how I did this. I meant to tell you at some point. And that's on me, not on Jackie. She considered it my job to tell you."
"It's fine," Leonard said. Lawrence's drink was delivered then and he paused while the waitress set it down and walked away with his dirty plate. "I know I don't have any say in what you two do. You're adults."
"It's still something I should have said something about," Lawrence said. "Probably around New Year's. That's when we realized this wasn't just a fling."
"A month in?" Leonard said with skepticism.
"Leonard," Lawrence said. "We've talked about marriage."
Leonard felt his face scrunch up, one eyebrow raising and his mouth quirking. "After five months."
"After three months, actually," Lawrence said. "This is…this is not just—"
"Whatever, Dad," Leonard said. "I keep telling you, it's fine. Do what you're going to do."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Lawrence sighed and took the first sip of his drink. "I just don't want to upset you."
"Then don't fucking sneak around behind my back!" Leonard said, loudly enough to cause the rest of the patrons to hush for a moment.
"Leonard," Lawrence said.
"And I'm old enough to decide if I want to swear," Leonard added.
"That's not what I was going to say," Lawrence said. "Just…don't be angry, and don't be petty about this. Neither I nor Jackie deserve that kind of behavior out of you."
Leonard sighed. "All right," he said. "Fine. I won't be angry and I won't act petty about it. Are you happy now?"
"Not exactly," Lawrence said. "You still sound upset."
"You can't force me not to be upset." Leonard downed the last half his beer at a draft and set the glass down again. "And the fact that you're trying so hard is making me more upset."
"I…see that." Lawrence took another sip of his drink. "Just let me know when you've had a chance to think this through, I suppose, that's what I'm asking."
"Certainly." Leonard scanned his thumb on the COM pad to pay his bill, then arose. "Sorry, Dad, but it takes me a while to work things out sometimes."
Lawrence looked up at him. "I know."
"Then leave me alone."
And with that, Leonard left.