"Ah, Dudley, it is you." A man wearing an old looking lab coat, which has turned grey during the years of use, stroked some of his uncombed dark blonde hair out of his face and shook my hand.
"Isaac." I grinning and bit back my laughter. Isaac really looked like he hadn´t left his lab for a couple of weeks.
The clothes under his coat looked dirty but they didn´t smell. Not even his dirty, once white, socks which jutted out of his black boots did. Not even a little a bit. Generally he didn´t smell, he never did, like all other humans. It´s an odd thing I realized after living a while among them.
Back on my homeworld, if it had existed, what I don´t really believe anymore. Anyway, back on my imaginary homeworld everyone had a certain smell which my sensitive nose could smell perfectly. I remember that for example Keswick always smelled a bit sour. But not the sour stench of dried sweat, it was more a chemical smell.
You could compare it to, I don´t know, a vinegar-based cleaner maybe. What I wanted to say is that everyone had a smell and I could recognize people by their smell. But here, nothing. It was odd after I realized it but after a while I got used to it. And sometimes it is very pleasant not to smell everything. I mean Isaac must have stank terrible if he had a smell.
"Why are you have this gr… oh." Isaac facepalmed himself in shame and walked into his lab. "I am so sorry, I was just a bit too preoccupied lately to care for the obvious body hygiene issue."
"Don´t worry… at least you don´t smell." I said and followed him into the lab which also looked pretty worn. The usual flawless white color of the desks was gone and yield to a slight black color.
I stepped closer to one of the tables and realized that the color didn´t came from ashes or soot, the table had changed his color permanently.
"You… gave the lab your own touch?" I mumbled wiping with the finger over the desk proofing my theory.
"Kind of." Smiled Isaac and laid his hands on my shoulders. Swiftly he turned me around and pushed me onto the desk on the other side. "Look, here." Isaac smiled proudly and pointed at a little round object which was levitating over a little round device.
"You made it fly, oh my god, call the press." I chortled sarcastically.
"Well… yes." Isaac said and bowed a little not letting my sarcasm get under his skin. "But also, look at this." The scientist took a small device from the table, a flashlight what I realized as he beamed at the object.
The little ball started glowing and a split second later it emitted a white beam which hit the wall and started melting through it.
"Whoa…" I meant surprised. "That´s cool but what is it?"
"I created a prototype of a new Paulium crystal which now can focus the energy input even better. We are achieving a performance improvement of up to 20 times." Isaac looked proudly at the little object. He looked more proud than I have ever seen someone looking at an object. "My prototype crystal can cut through the hull of a ship like a hot knife through butter… actually, I should not be so happy about that. That will bring so much destruction. But hey, you do not commit a genocide alone, do you?"
"I guess… no…" I said and scratched a spot behind my ear. "Anyway… Isaac… you wanted to talk?"
"Oh, yes, indeed, I wanted to talk." Isaac nodded and pointed at an empty spot next to the chamber with the steel door behind which my namesake, Isaac´s dog Dudley, lived.
"Hey, by the way, how is Dudley?" I immediately asked after him.
"Oh, he is bit sick but he is going to be okay."
"Why? What happened?"
"Well, this little rascal managed to snatch a piece of chocolate away from me." Isaac sighed and smiled softly. "But he will survive it, it was just a little piece."
"What´s so bad about chocolate?" I asked and tilted my head confusedly.
"Well, chocolate is like poison for dogs." He said and I got even more confused.
"I can eat chocolate. Lots of it… I love it!"
"Well, you are not an ordinary dog." Isaac chuckled and tousled through my hair like he usually did with Dudley.
"If you start asking if I´m a 'good doggie' now, I swear, I´ll bite you." I growled and Isaac pulled his hand back.
"Bad doggie." Isaac grinned as we arrived at the spot. There he tilted his head back and called to the ceiling "Computer, chessboard."
"Go to hell." A voice from the ceiling replied.
"Oh… fantastic." Isaac cursed and closed his eyes tightly in exasperation.
"Yeah, you know my name, idiot! So use it! And would it be too much for you to ask kindly? It´s always the same with you always this…" The voice started getting worked up more and more with every word and was at the brink of a serious anger fit. Luckily, I know just the words to calm it down.
"Hey, Mike, how are you?" I said friendlily and put the nicest smile on my face.
"…Oh, hey Dudley." Mike´s voice immediately calmed down and now sounded warm and welcoming. "Not much, just screaming down an idiot."
"I hear that. Good work with that." I giggled and giggled even more as Isaac crossed his arms and huffed. "Anyway, the idiot and I want to play chess would you be so kindly…"
"Say no more." The computer said and out of thin air a chessboard and two chairs made from dark wood materialized in front of them.
"Thank you." I smiled.
"Have fun." The voice said and fell silent.
"It´s always the same with you, Isaac. Why can´t you just treat him like a person?" I asked the scientist and sat down in front of the chess board.
"I helped programming him. He is and stays a program for me." The scientist sighed and sat down on the other chair.
"So what? If you father a child you also take part in its creation. Would the kid just be a pile of cells for you?"
Isaac raised both of his eyebrows surprised. "That… that is actually a good point, Dudley."
"I know." I grinned and turned the board so that the white pieces were on my side. "And that´s why I start."
"If you like to, go ahead." Isaac leaned back in his chair and yawned relax. He would barely concentrate on the game. That was good, exactly what I wanted. The less attention I get the easier it was for me to do what I need to do to win.
"Okay…" I said and made my first move with my knight and then waited for him. "You wanted to talk?"
"Indeed, just wanted to know how you are… and how the war goes." He yawned while speaking and made no effort leaning forward and looking at the board yet.
"I´m okay and about the war…" I took a deep breath and tried not to sigh. "Not well, we lost another system."
"How many casualties?" Asked Isaac coldly.
"2.5 Million… terrible bombardment." I stroked sighing through my hair. "We could really need a breakthrough… Powers is planning something but…" I sighed again.
"Calm down." Isaac said and leaned forward. His clear blue eyes looked into mine and a grin played around his lips. "I actually thought after the war began that we would be already defeated by now. We are actually making good"
"500 million casualties, Isaac. Is that good?"
"No. But it could be worse." He smiled and gave me a nudge on the shoulder. "And now let´s change the subject, okay?"
I nodded and tried to avert my thoughts from the darks of death to my vicious plan to win.
"Wow, new move." Chortled Isaac as he casted a quick glance at the board. Then he copied my move and leaned back again.
"Seriously, and you laugh about me, copy-cat?" I asked and moved a pawn.
"Indeed." He meant and swiftly moved one of the pieces in a way that exuded an aura of justified arrogance. If I remember correctly he didn´t even have his eyes open while he made his moves. Like in many games before that I already knew that I would lose if I play fair. But as I said, my winning strategy was already in the making.
First phase was lulling him into a false sense of security. That was done after 5 more moves on both sides. He had already started his maneuver what meant that I had 10 or maybe 12 moves until I was check mate. But here the second phase started.
"Uhm, Isaac?" I asked moving my bishop. "Can I use your bathroom?"
"Sure…" Yawned Isaac and pointed at a door near the entrance.
I nodded and mumbled "Thank you." Before I entered the little bathroom that had just barely enough space for the toilet.
But I wasn´t there to use this bathroom anyway, so I didn´t care about the room´s design too much.
"Hey, Mike, are you here?" I whispered speaking towards the ceiling.
"I am here." Said the computer also with a muffled voice. "Why are we whispering?"
"Because I am planning a conspiracy." I meant grinning mischievously.
The voice stayed silent for a minute and then replied with a worried tone of voice. "A…conspiracy?"
"Yes, against Isaac and I need your help…"
"I´m in." meant Mike cutting me short what surprised me quite a lot. If I hadn´t known that Mike was unable because of his programming to hurt Isaac I´d be very alarmed. But it was of course nevertheless very unsettling.
"Don´t you want to know about what the conspiracy is?" I asked and scratched the back of my head.
"No. I´m in." he said firmly.
"Okay… uhm… well, I know you want to piss Isaac off and I want that too. So, my plan is that you´ll help me to win the game of chess."
"Intriguing, how do you want to do that?"
I cleared my throat and started explaining. "It´s not easy but we have to confuse him so that I can repeat my move once or twice. That plus his lack of interest about the game should be enough to make me win."
"It doesn´t sound like it would work." Doubted the computer.
"Believe me, he´s tired, he´s inattentive, with a few tricks he won´t trust his own senses and then…" I started giggling evil and the computer joined in after a few seconds.
"Okay, what do you want me to do?"
"I bet Isaac had carried out some experiments not too long ago, right?"
"Yes, he ran a simulation 2 hours ago."
I grinned, that was just what I need. "Great, pretend that the experiment just ended now."
"I think I know what you are up to. Good. I´m in."
"Great Mike. Thank you." I grinned a last time towards the ceiling and then washed my hands and flushed. I stepped out of the little bathroom and walked back to the chess board.
"Well, you needed quite a while." Yawned Isaac and looked at me.
"Uhm… indeed…" I meant and felt a bit awkward.
"You should eat more fiber and…"
"Whoa, whoa…" I meant feeling more awkward. "I know old people like to talk about that but I don´t fill my conversations with…stool."
"Since when you are falter when it comes to talking shit?" Giggled the scientist what made me roll my eyes intensively.
"Very funny." I sat down at the table and looked at the board. It still didn´t look that bad for me but Isaac would probably want to lure me into a trap. His bishop was at the side of the board and the little figure looked like it was already preparing to behead my king. I made my move, my tactic wasn´t good but it had to be enough.
"So Isaac…" I put my horse on a white field and looked at him. "How is Dudley?"
"You already asked that…" Isaac said while staring at the ceiling.
"No, I don´t remember I did."
"Yes, you did right after you enter."
"No. I don´t remember." I said innocently.
"Of course you…" In this second one of the holograms at the wall flashed up and started emitting a really annoying beeping.
"What?!" Isaac stood up from his chair and ran to the hologram. I had to grin widely. Mike had the perfect timing. I love this AI.
"But… but I did that already 2 hours ago how… why…" Isaac eyed the charts flabbergasted. That was phase 3. That was the distraction I wanted. So I took my chance. And I took it twice. First I set Isaacs bishop one field back and after that I stood up and headed towards Isaac.
On my way to him, I grabbed the Paulium crystal from the table and put it unobtrusively into a drawer. "Anything wrong?" I asked as I reached him.
"I already did this experiment why… Comp… uhm, Mike."
"Yes?" The computer voice sounded like always but I believe if he have had a face he´d have a smile on it.
"Why do you display this experiment again?"
"Because you wanted me to rerun the experiment. Seems like the energy output of the Paulium crystal is even bigger than expected." Mike meant summarizing the data.
"No I… but…" Isaac looked puzzled at the holograms. I could see that he pondered with himself if maybe the lack of sleep or his consequent coffee diet or both things maybe led to the chaos in his head. I almost felt sorry for him but as I heard him mumble things like "How could that happen to me? I don´t make mistakes. I mean I´m not an idiot... Or Dudley."
I gritted my teeth annoyed and took a deep breath. "Are we going to play chess or what?"
"Y…Yes. Sorry, seems like I am a bit scatterbrained…" Isaac´s eyes grew wide before he finished the sentence. He stared at the place where the crystal once were. "Where is my crystal?!" He exclaimed and ran towards the desk.
He searched the tabletop, threw sheets around, opened boxes until the whole desk looked like a tornado ravaged on it. Isaac, who was closer to the nervous breakdown than I wanted him, started to open the drawers and rummaged through them.
And finally, to his great relief, he found it in the drawer I placed it. Isaac´s grabbed the crystal firmly with both hands and began to laugh like a maniac. "There you are." He laughed. "There you are…"
"Uhm… Isaac…" I said watching him a bit perplex. That was much more than I wanted but not detrimental to my plan.
"I almost lost you… lost you." He patted the crystal, even nuzzled it a bit.
'Now or never.' I thought. I walked slowly backwards to the chess board, always with my eyes fixed at Isaac, and in a convenient moment I turned around and changed the situation to my liking. My heart beat faster as I turned around.
Of course what I did was not dangerous but I nevertheless felt a weird kick betraying Isaac. But as Isaac was back in my eyesight I could see that he didn´t even realize that I was here. He was just cuddling with his crystal who he was calling Pauli now.
"Isaac?" I stepped back behind him and knelt down. "Are you alright?"
"I am… Pauli is back." He mumbled.
"Isaac, calm down, everything is alright." I whispered and laid my hand on his shoulder.
"Yes… yes it´s okay." Isaac meant and slowly stood up. His whole body trembled as he laid Pauli back onto the table and walked with me giving him support back to the board.
"You would… would not believe how bad it would have been if I had lost this crystal." Mumbled Isaac sitting down. "Pauli… I mean my prototype cost me lots of hours of work… it is a break through."
I almost ignored his words and waited a bit until he was so clear again to continue playing.
"Well, let´s end this." I suppressed a smile saying that and tried looking sternly.
Isaac nodded weakly and looked at the board. He didn´t even hesitate before making his move.
"Uhm… Isaac…" I pointed with one hand smiling on the board while moving one of my pawns onto his queen. "Check…"
"No, now you kidding!" Isaac looked flabbergahsted at the board and started stammering. "I… but maybe… I… I… it was a long day…" He made his move, his last move. After everything I´ve done I could have played without manipulating the board against him. He was completely unstable and nervous. I moved my queen into the middle of the board, then it was over.
"Check mate, mate." I smiled widely while Isaac just stared at the board. "Well, that was fun." I extended my hand towards him offering him a handshake. But Isaac just kept staring right through my arm onto the black and white squares.
I pulled my arm back to me and tilted my head as I looked confused at him. "Uhm…hello? Anyone there?" I started waving my hand in front of his face.
"You broke him." Laughed Mike evilly.
"That´s more than I wanted." I started poking Isaac´s cheek with my finger to make him react at least a bit.
"That´s exactly what I hoped for." Mike said.
"Aha…" I slapped Isaac´s cheek lightly and also didn´t receive any reaction. Isaac was completely catatonic. "What now?"
"I take care for him, don´t worry."
"When you want to do that I need to worry." I meant and stood up.
"Dudley, I am programmed to help hurt and helpless people. Even Isaac." Mike meant and sounded even a bit hurt because I believed that he´d hurt him.
"Okay." I nodded towards the ceiling before a turned towards the door and started walking. As I reached the doorframe I turned around one more time and said "See you Isaac."
Then I left, and closed the door behind me.