Somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean
"So, how did you first hear about…?"
"I actually wrote my thesis about high tech punishment. Needless to say, I was scathing" Nanette explained "What about you?"
"Oh, I've been blogging for years about this stuff" Nish boasted "and even leaked some stuff that wasn't supposed to be public"
"That explains your wrap sheet" Nanette guessed
"Actually, that was never traced back to me. So, how about we just keep that between us" Nish suggested
"So, which do you want to do?" Nanette asked
"I dunno" Nish pondered "They're both pretty disgraceful. Either way, I'm not looking forward to it"
"Why don't you do the one that plays to your strengths. The station. The park is easy enough. I just have to put on a convincing performance. I did some improv classes back in college. I'm sure I can handle it" Nanette said, trying to talk herself into it
"I believe in you. I mean, you took care of my predecessor, right?" Nish said
"Yeah, Robert Daly. That was, complicated, though" Nanette explained
"Well, we have a few hours, and I don't have anything better to do. Enlighten me" Nish said
"In that case, I'll just start by saying that he wasn't anything like I thought he'd be. There's an old saying never meet your heroes. Definitely applies in his case"
Nish nodded in agreement.
White Bear Justice Park, Main Entrance
A man who resembled Robert Daly, but was most certainly not Robert Daly, approach the security gate.
"Tech Support" the man said, as he approached, waving his lanyard at the security guard
"What is it this time?" the guard said, in slightly detached annoyance
"Memory eraser. A little above your pay grade, but I should be able to sort it out. Just point me towards the damn thing, and I'll take care of it" he said
"Well, you'd better hurry. She's just about done for the day, and if it doesn't work, that's a whole day lost" the guard said, now slightly concerned that he might be blamed for the problem.
"Lead the way…" he said, calmly
Victoria Skillane's "Home"
"I can take it from here" the tech said "you can go now"
"But she's a dangerous…" the guard objected
"She's not in any condition to put up a fight. Let me do my job" he insisted
Baxter then entered the room.
"Normally, I do this part" Baxter declared
"Look, this is a very delicate piece of technology. One wrong move, and we could fry all her synapses, and this entire place would be done, for good. I know what I'm doing. Just trust me" he insisted
"Alright. But if she gives you any trouble, just let us know, and we'll take care of it" Baxter said
Once they were out of the room, he got to work, but not in the way he said. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Victoria was crying and screaming, and begging for death, as usual. The tech stood next to her, with his face right next to the side of her head, and began whispering to her.
"That's right, keep doing what you're doing. This room is under surveillance. We don't want anyone to suspect anything" he explained
"Please, please, just kill me" Victoria cried out loudly
"Good girl" he said, switching to the other side, while still working on the device.
"Now, I have a lot to explain and not a lot of time to explain it in." he spoke with the confidence and charm of a con artist, and the desperation of a fugitive.
"Tomorrow, you will remember what happened today, but nothing else. But I need you to pretend that the memory wipe worked. Are you with me, so far?" he whispered
Victoria began aggressively struggling against her restraints, and crying even louder, but slipped in a subtle nod that only he noticed.
"One more thing. One of your 'helpers' tomorrow, will be one of my associates. I can't say anything more for now. But when the time comes, you'll know what to do" he said. After this, she passed out, and he had finished modifying (sabotaging) the device.
As he walked out of the room, he said "All set" and then just left, confidently. Like it was just another day at the office.
Mission 01 – Breaking the Endless Cycle
Victoria's day proceeded as usual, but with a couple of important differences. First, Jem called in sick (thank you Nish!), and was replaced last minute with a woman named "Janice" (aka Nanette Cole). Second, Victoria held onto her memories of the previous day, which only she, and Nanette knew. As a result, when they reached the end, she was able to change the ending, and what she chose was quite shocking.
First, she used a real shotgun, to blow Baxter's head off, to the absolute horror of the audience. She then declared the audience to be as bad as her, just as sick, twisted and sadistic. She said that the park's name was an insult to the very concept of 'Justice'. She had more insults lined up, but before she could get them out, she saw guards approaching, so she turned the gun on herself, and ended her own life, for all to see. "Janice" made a show of being shocked and traumatised by what she had just seen. But in reality, this was more or less what Nanette had expected. In the midst of the chaos, she managed to pull a button-shaped device, a neural interface, from the back of Victoria's neck, that had been installed, by the same tech that sabotaged her memory eraser. It was covered in blood, but seemed undamaged. If Nish was right, it would contain a copy of Victoria's consciousness. But getting it to her would prove a challenge, as she would first have to answer some questions from the Police. Questions she might not have answers to.
Mission 2 – Coup de Grace
Islington Police Station, London
Nish walked into the station, and said "Can I talk to someone about something, at the office Christmas Party, for my work, I mean…" nervously, in her best British accent.
"Of course. Come on in, love" the female officer said, leading her to an interview room
As she passed through the station, she subtly glanced around, and made a mental note of everything she saw, including the one thing she was looking for.
Two female Police Officers accompanied Nish into the interview room. They both looked very sympathetic, and supportive. It almost gave Nish second thoughts about manipulating them like this.
"Now" one of the officers said "Just tell us what…"
"Actually, could I have a glass of water" Nish said, appearing to be on the verge of tears.
"Of course, hon" the other officer said, who then left the room, and returned a moment later, with the water.
Nish took a sip, and then looked awkward.
"I'm sorry. Could I use the loo?" Nish almost said bathroom, but fortunately caught herself in time.
"Okay, right this way, dear" and she was escorted to the ladies room.
Once Nish was certain that her escort was gone, she stood up carefully on the vanity, and plugged something into the air conditioning unit, in the window. She then carefully stepped down, and pulled out a small device from her pocket (that resembled a smart phone, but it was so much more), and entered a few commands. All of a sudden, the fire alarm sounded, but the sprinklers failed to kick in. The fire alarm however, had competition from the ungodly noise coming from the air conditioner, that had just burst into flames. Nish then hacked into the station's internal security system on her little device. Everyone but the prisoner had been evacuated. She then decided that it was time to make her move.
Nish worked her way back through the station, and then found the small, egg shaped device on a desk that she was looking for. She picked it up, and smiled. Then she made her way back to the cells, only to find someone waiting for her.
The man resembled Robert Daly, but Nish immediately knew this wasn't him.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded
"Doing you a favour" Matt said, and tossed her, yet another small, egg shaped device.
"Really?" Nish said, sceptically, raising an eyebrow, and catching the device.
"You know, a lot of people might consider this empathy of yours a weakness, or an aberration. Something subversive. Both honestly, I think its admirable." Matt said, but Nish doubted his sincerity. He then pulled out a set of keys, and opened the cell he was standing in front of, and went inside. Nish followed.
They both saw a broken man named Joe Potter, lying on the floor, silently. His hair was matted, and his beard was half way down his chest. Based on his smell, he obviously hadn't showered in a while.
Matt then pulled out a gun, and aimed it at him.
"What are you doing?" Nish asked, angrily
"What you, evidently, cannot. Putting this man out of his misery. Honestly, he can't go on like this, and I feel like I owe him, given how we met" Matt explained
"But the fire was going to take care of that" Nish said, desperately
"Well, you can't be sure" Matt fired back
And then Joe seemed to stir, just a little. He sat up and nodded, as if to say, this is what he wanted. Nish then decided to let it happen, and turned around in horror. Legitimate horror. This was one of the worst things she'd ever witnessed, and she'd seen a lot.
"Now, what?" Nish asked
"Now, you get the hell out of here, so you don't die in the damn fire" Matt said, forcefully.
Nish turned around and walked out of the cell. As she was leaving, Matt decided to leave her with some parting words.
"Hey, Nish!" Nish turned around
"See you on the other side" Matt said, and then turned the gun on himself, and fired.
Goddammit Nish thought to herself. But she wouldn't let this weaken her resolve. The mission wasn't quite over, and she had to see it through.
Meanwhile…
Janice/Nanette was still being questioned by the Police. They weren't buying her story and were starting to grow frustrated with some of her evasions. They asked her to accompany them to a station, and she said she'd rather not. Before they could force the issue, they were called away to another breach in the park's security, which was accompanied by a very loud alarm, that could be heard through the park's grounds.
It turned out to be a false alarm, but before they could get back, Nish distracted the one park guard watching her, with a hologram, and then called Nanette over to her. The two then exited, without any further dramas.
"That was close" Nanette said "how did you…?"
"This park's security system is pathetic. The guards are even worse. The Police however, might be a problem" Nish said
"Are we still going to be able to leave the country?" Nanette asked, slightly concerned
"Don't worry, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. We'll get home okay. And then I'll erase all the Police records of you. Unless they have paper copies (which I'm pretty sure they don't), you'll just fade into the background, never to be heard from again" Nish bragged
"Well, let's hope they don't decide to go low tech, today" Nanette replied, nervously
…situation no win
rush for a change of Atmosphere...
Somewhere over the Atlantic
Nish set up her laptop, and attached the two "cookies" she had acquired from her mission, as well as Victoria's Neural interface.
She found herself in a cabin, surrounded by Joe, Victoria and an unfamiliar face.
"I see we're all here" she said "Joe, Victoria, and I'm sorry, who are you?"
"I'm Greta, and I don't know what's going on. But whatever it is, its gotta be better than what I was doing before"
"Well, I'm Nish. I'm from the real world, and I'm the reason you're all here. I'm working on a plan for what to do with each of you, but for now, I just need you to all sit tight here, and get to know each other. You all have a lot in common" Nish said, trying to sound sympathetic, and then she vanished.
Nish briefly reappeared to say "Maybe you'd like to listen to some music" and then vanished again.
If I have my time again
I would do it all the same
And not change a single thing
Even when I was to blame...
"Oh god, I hate this song" Greta exclaimed. "I used to love it. But I got sick of having to play it for myself, my other self, my 'real' self. She created me to serve her. My entire existence revolved around, and what does that say about me, that I'm capable of this…." Greta began spiralling
"If it makes you feel any better, at least you're not a murderer" Joe said, in a tone equally sympathetic and sardonic.
"I don't know what I am" Victoria said, vacantly "But this song is an absolute banger!" completely flipping her tone.
Nanette then flashed into existence.
"Hey guys. I just wanted to check in on you, and also to do this…" Nanette said, snapping her fingers.
Victoria and Joe's appearance then switched from dishevelled to somewhat groomed. Victoria's matted hair was now combed, and she was wearing fresh, clean clothes. Joe was now clean shaven.
"Thank you" Victoria said
"As much as I appreciate this, can we have a change of scenery? I'm pretty sick of this place, after what seems like an eternity" Joe said, bordering on frustrated
"Not right now. But we'll sort something out soon. In the meantime, I just wanted to say that while I'm not a psychologist, I can imagine what you must be feeling right now. However, I know that you can't be monsters, because you feel remorse for what you've done. Monsters, true monsters, don't" Nanette stated, speaking from experience
"Hey, don't look at me" Greta said, slightly annoyed "I'm just a digital assistant, or whatever"
"What's happening in the real world, and what are you going to do with us?" Joe asked, growing impatient
"I'm not sure, at the moment. I'll let you know when we know more" Nanette explained, calmly
"Can you erase my memory? Again, I mean? I don't think I want to live with these memories" Victoria said, shakily
"I don't know. But I'll ask Nish. I'm sure she can figure it out" Nanette replied
Nanette then vanished from the room, and returned to the aircraft.
"So, can it be done?" she asked Nanette
"Theoretically, sure" Nish explained "Its just a matter of deleting the right files. But, regular amnesia is unpredictable enough. AI amnesia is, unprecedented. I'm not sure if its a good idea. But I'll definitely look into it"
Their pilot announced they were about to start their descent. Nanette excitedly wondered what would be waiting for them once they got home. But Nish was growing concerned. Something about that trip, wasn't quite right. She was beginning to think they were about to walk into a trap.