MOTOKO

We were mostly prepped with a new idea for our tactical assault when the doorbell rang.

"That must be Becca!" I whooped happily leaping over the couch, for a second I was tempted to open the door with the barrel of my Burya in her face, but while it had been funny she had done that to David, it had also been a bit mean.

I did check the camera before opening the door. Seeing her outside I quickly pulled it open.

"Becca!"

"Uh. Hey. Sup choom." She greeted, and I smiled at her awkwardness as I reached out and tugged on her hand pulling her in.

"Everyone! This is Rebecca, she's going to join us on our raid today!" I called out, and I noticed all of my chooms heads looking over the back of the couch to see.

Rebecca was very small so everyone had to sort of tilt their head downward.

Jun especially.

"Rebecca, this is my team, Malcolm, Ichi, Hiromi, and my brother Jun." I introduced all of them as I pointed out all of them, each of them greeting her back with a wave or something until Jun who smiled at her from how he was looking over the back of the couch.

"Any choom of my sister is welcome. Feel free to come and take a seat." He offered and I looked down towards Rebecca only to see her disappearing as she sauntered over to the couch and took a seat rather close to Jun.

Disgust.

For a split second, I swore I saw an expression of pure disgust on her face, but it was gone so quickly that it was possible I imagined it, "Hey Tats. Call me Becca, kay~?" She trailed off, with a teasing trill to her voice.

Oh no.

"U-uh. Sure?"

"Nova." She offered back with a smirk on her face that I recognized.

I screamed internally. No! Jun! Not another one! Not Becca! This couldn't be happening!

That smirk belonged on Pilar's face, and had no place in my conapt.

I had to interrupt them, quickly. With the help of my fortified ankles, I flipped gracefully over the couch, and managed to wedge myself in between them. My landing had the secondary effect, as the cushions redistributed our combined weight, groaned, and sent Rebecca flying. She let out an aborted squawk of indignation as she rolled over the table, and knocked the Tachikoma over with her passage.

Oops.

There was muffled laughter as Rebecca righted herself, and straightened her combat jacket. She stood up, and the Tachikoma fell off her lap and onto the floor, where it began to crawl after a moment of hesitation. Rebecca's curiosity was stronger than her revenge impulse though, and she gave it a curious poke, "What's this?"

Hiromi immediately leapt to answer, a hint of smugness in her tone, "Oh, that's Motoko's AI."

"AI?" Rebecca's eyebrows furrowed, as she kept poking it, and it fell over onto it's back. She watched it struggle for a second, before she righted it, and it proceeded to start crawling across the floor again.

How many times did I have to explain it? Ugh. Maybe I should have kept it in my room, "It's not an AI! The Tachikoma v0.000001's running off a single chip, and still has to be linked up to my laptop so the silicon doesn't fry."

Rebecca smiled, eyes darting at the others as if she was expecting them to break out into laughter. The others were smiling as well, but in a 'this is preem way' rather than what she was seemingly expecting. Her optics settled back on me, "So it's a toy?"

I shook my head, grinning as I gave her a confidant thumbs up, "No, it's gonna be a recon and assassination SCSM."

This time, she did laugh, but it was short lived when nobody laughed with her, "Huh?"

I gestured to the drone, "Like I said, it's gonna infiltrate hard to reach places, like small vents, and assist during gigs."

Rebecca eyed the drone for a second, before she turned to me again, a frown on her face, "Okay, ignoring the fact that if it can fit, you can fit too... you said it's supposed to be a SCSM? How's a vending machine supposed to fit through vents? How's it gonna zero people?" She snickered, "By falling on 'em?"

Malcom was the one that answered, "She said she's gonna put a gun inside it, so probably like in Bushidō 4."

Rebecca scoffed, "I fuckin' hope not, choom." She pulled out a stick of gum and stuffed it into her mouth, "Everyone knows that the evens are hotter garbage than the drek that passes for BDs in DogTown."

He waved her off, seemingly unconcerned, "Well yeah, everyone knows that odds are the best." I wasn't so sure about that, Malcolm, Body of Law was trash too. He grinned at me, "But this is 'Toko, she's got the golden touch, least with BDs. Her shit is way better than 'Smash or Pass: The Adam Smasher Adventure', or 'Linaverse: Odyssey'. By this point, I kinda trust anything she does."

I interrupted before they could get an even worse idea, "No no, wait! It's not gonna be a vending machine, it's gonna be a SCSM AI!" Now everyone looked confused, so I frowned, "What?"

Looks were exchanged, but it was Ichi that was seemingly the bravest, "Motoko, a SCSM is a vending machine."

"I -" I bit off the immediate answer of mentioning Brendan. He probably hadn't been invented yet, so it'd be weird if I did. Which brought to mind a whole different set of problems.

Jun pointed towards the vending machine in the apartment, "That's a SCSM." At my blank look, he elaborated, speaking slowly and deliberately, "A Spontaneous Craving Satisfaction Machine. SCSM."

I wanted to facepalm, but managed to resist the urge, "No, I meant like the AI on a SCSM."

Rebecca was still frowning, and subsequently pulled out her agent, "SAAI, give a brief description of AI."

A voice spoke up from it, but it sounded a bit tinny, "Of course, Rebecca. Artificial Intelligence, or Artificial Intellects, commonly shortened to A.I., refers to a computer, a robot or a program that is "self-aware", meaning it is capable of not only logical deduction, reasoning, and speaking, but also knows of its own existence, the possibility of its own mortality, and possesses creativity, desire, and emotion."

She nodded, "Good, now list the types of AI."

The agent continued to speak, "Artificial Intelligence can be categorized into three types: Dedicated Heuristic Controllers; Symbolic Analysis Engines; and Critical Pathway Plateaus. There are several other theorized classes, but they are the often confused with conspiracy theories such as tap water turning the frogs gay."

Rebecca nodded, "And everyone knows that frogs are extinct, and that the tap water just gives you a bunch of incurable illnesses." The others nodded sadly at that. Wait, incurable illnesses? Shit, maybe I shouldn't drink the tap water. RealWater it was, even if every gallon cost a hundred eddies (introductory offer only).

I held up my hands, "Wait, hold up. So what's that." I pointed at her agent.

A bit of a colour tinted her extremely pale cheeks, "It's uh, my agent, SAAI."

I made a 'go on' gesture, "It's an AI, right? So what kind of AI is it?"

There was a beat of silence, before she prompted it, "Answer the question, SAAI."

It replied immediately, "Of course, Rebecca. Agents utilize Symbolic Analysis, or Self-Adaptive AIs. Ergo, I AM SAAI."

I wasn't sure what I experienced in the instant those words were said. A moment of vertigo, maybe. It was gone as quickly as it filtered across my perception though, and the memory faded even faster. I shook the lingering dizziness away, wondering if I should have a snack, before the agent's words caught up with me, "Wait, so... AI can exist on an Agent?" My optics widened in a dawning horror, "You're self aware?!"

Jun's voice was one of concern, "Motoko, you alright? It's an Agent, of course it's not self aware." Which made no sense. How could it be an AI and not be self aware?

Rebecca cued the agent again, "SAAI, please explain about SAAI."

The agent spoke again, in that tinny, synthesized voice, "Of course, Rebecca. SAAI are those designed to emulate the thinking patterns of human beings. Most are used as personal secretaries and on-line assistance, as they are able to easily render advice. Some isolated individuals even grant them -"

She cut off the agent, cheeks suddenly flaming red, "Preem, thanks choom."

That didn't line up at all with what I knew. Brendan had a complete personality matrix, and even admitted that he wasn't a real AI. Everything I knew pointed to real AI, like Delamain, needing crazy amounts of server space. So where did SCSMs and agents fit in?

I tapped my chin in thought, "So a SCSM is a type of Dedicated Heuristic Controller?"

Rebecca nodded, "Yep," she popped the p, "And Agents are SAAI." She made her way around the table, and plopped herself on Jun's other side, sitting on the abused couch's armrest.

I ticked off two fingers as she spoke, "Makes sense, so what's the third?"

The agent didn't speak, so she rolled her eyes with an expression of frustration, "Ugh, SAAI, just answer her questions, I don't wanna be doin' this every time."

The agent happily chirped, "Of course, Rebecca." A connection request from Rebecca appeared on my HUD, which I tentatively accepted.

NEW USER AUTHORIZED

LOADING PARAMETERS

CONNECTING TO PRIMARY ZIGGURAT NETWORK HUB

PARSING REQUEST

WELCOME, MOTOKO KUSANAGI

Even as the system worked, the agent's small voice continued to chirp, "Critical Pathway Plateaus are the result of making general-purpose heuristic controllers on a large mainframe. They are often contingent upon having enough neural links established in a holographic crystal processing network, which enables Artificial Intelligence genesis by making cross-processing and holographic data recognition possible. This in turn, leads to self-awareness, though it is questionable in legal, ethical, and philosophical circles. The first CPP was Mark I, which appeared in Microtech's military tactical simulator in 2013. Someone called Stephen Law took credit for this discovery, despite it being purely serendipitous. Software-only based Artificial Intelligence would not be discovered until 2018, and after the DataKrash, are often referred to as 'Rogue' AIs."

What. The. Fuck. I managed to pick up my jaw off the ground, "So... so... Delmain." My mind latched onto the idea with the desperation of the drowning.

There was a beat, as everyone turned to look at Rebecca, who was starting to slyly lean on Jun. Jun, for his part, was thankfully trying to pull away. Which meant his fat ass was edging on my couch space. I moved, which made him move, which caused Rebecca to spill onto his lap as she overbalanced. Jun coughed as he helped her regain her balance, but I could see the pleased smirk on her face as she made eye contact with me.

Little bitch was doing it on purpose.

I frowned, "And quit makin' moves on my brother. Thought Mox didn't like Claws."

Her grin was feral, entirely ignoring my brother's protests, as she picked herself up, "I ain't a Mox. And make me."

I ignored him too, this was personal, "I'll flirt with Pilar." I wasn't actually going to, cause he was like what, forty? Gross. Old enough to be my dad. Actually, old enough to be Rebecca's dad, now that I thought about it.

Could I hook him up with Gloria? No, I couldn't do that to her or David. Step-dad Pilar. A shudder ran up my spine at the thought.

"Who's Pi-" I ignored Hiromi too.

Rebecca's expression shifted, and she narrowed her eyes, "Yeah, bad idea Kitten." She glanced at the rest of Section 9, "See, Tats here is fair game. The rest of your chooms? Even if fifteen is considered old 'nuff for NC, it's a bit too young for my taste." She turned back to me, "And you start with Pilar?" Her expression shifted, going flat, "You'll have to shoot him to get him to stop, 'cuz he's a fuckin' creep with a capital C." She shrugged, and pointed up, "Besides, there's already a strike."

Everyone glanced at the golden banner at the top of the thread, as existential dread crept in. Nobody wanted that.

The agent's voice broke the moment though, as it answered my previous question, "I apologize for the delay, but I do not have sufficient information on Delmain of Delmain Corporation to answer that question." Oh right, I'd asked about that, but the answer given pretty much cemented what Del was. I remembered that mission, and how large his control center was. How big his core was.

And despite Johnny asking to blow him up (fuckin' Johnny, didn't you learn by now that blowing stuff up wasn't the solution to your problems?) in one of the endings, the option to combine him with his personality fragments/kids existed.

Except in that ending, he ended up becoming something else entirely. And SAAI hadn't even covered what I knew about personality engrams like what Johnny had ended up becoming. Soul-killed individuals. And where did the BlackWall fit into all that? Where did I?

Too many questions, and I was the only NETrunner in Section 9. Sasha was in intensive care too - which was probably the best outcome I could hope for. It sucked to think that way, but it was true. It meant that she'd survived Biotechnica, and Maine would probably have to hire Kiwi. Which in turn, would bring in Lucy.

Maybe I could poach the latter though, if not Sasha herself.

Something to consider for the future, if they didn't get flatlined by corpo hit squads. Least it wasn't Arasaka, because then I'd definitely have a loyalty conflict. What with both Hiromi and V being suits, or suits in training for the former. Honestly? It was probably a better idea for Hiromi to go private with Section 9, but that was a problem I could solve later.

My attention was drawn back to the conversation, from where my mind had wondered. Rebecca was now chatting with Malcom, and Hiromi was setting the plan back up on the table. The tablet the map had been on had been knocked over by Rebecca's untimely, and unsuccessful, attempt at flight.

I cleared my throat, "Alright, sorry for the distraction. We were planning our ingress to the abandoned powerplant in Arroyo." I gestured to the brief, "The problem is that we don't have access to their datafort, so I need access to the external jack point, here." I gestured to one side of the plant, "And there's a lookout post on the highest tier of shipping containers, here." I gestured to the overgrown lot where the service entrance was.

Jun crossed his arms and shook his himbo head, "Still don't get why we can't just attack from the front." Was that petulance in his voice? Grow up, Jun. This was a grown up gig, not a gonkass suicide mission from the Kamikaze psycho squad.

I sighed, "We can't do that because we don't know what's going on inside. We need to get an accurate scan, to see how many we're dealing with, if there are any other exits, or if they've altered the structure." I glanced at Rebecca to, just to drive the point home, "They cotton on too quick, they'll harden their defenses and it'll be a slog diggin' 'em out."

She was paying attention, which was good, and tapped a few things into her agent. Malcom leaned over to Rebecca, indicating her agent, "You have Digital Gladiator on that?"

She raised an eyebrow in reply, and grinned slyly at him, "Depends, is your agent internal?"

He pulled one out of his pocket, "Uh, no. Isn't that dangerous though?"

Rebecca put the agent away, leaned back, and adjusted her jacket, "Only if you're an overconfident gonk." At my expression of confusion, she raised her hands to her head, "Loser's agent explodes. If it's internal..." She mimed her head exploding.

Which... gave me an idea.