Go Fish
Ezekiel Xaris was sat on the wooden floor, beside the bed, the vest's cylinders still glowing omniously, holding his hand of cards. "...Y'got any Aces?" He eyed the man named Thomas and then the other man carefully while the majority of the other hostages were sat speaking amongst themselves. The broken window had been covered with what remained of the curtains, blocking the distracting draft when his wrist comm chirped.
Thomas looked through his cards and grinned "Go fish."
Ezekiel Xaris: "God damn it." He shook his head and readjusted his glasses, keeping the fronts of his card hidden from their view. "You're too good at this, y'know." He raised an eyebrow, looking down at his wrist. "Hm." Raising the arm, he swiped his thumb across the screen, an image of his thumb print briefly fading on the display before the message appeared. He skimmed it's contents smiling with a little relief.
/incoming message ident:(Phoenix)//Nice work. We were prepared when she attacked. She is captured. I took some hits, but I'm ok.
Thomas eyed the man curiously "So what's it say? We done here or what?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "That depends. What'd you have planned for tomorrow?"
Thomas eyes him appraisingly, then taps his earpiece "Banshee this is Tycho. What's our status?"
Ezekiel Xaris lifted his left hand, which had never left his weapon. He placed it on his knee, not a threat, simply a reminder.
Thomas eyed the man with increasing menace as the silence grew longer. "The fuck is going on?"
Ezekiel Xaris tilted his head."You thought you found me here 'cause you're just that good? It was a trap. Hope you enjoyed our phone call. The one you traced back to a certain station."
Thomas' eyes flashed with alarm, and he shifted, as if to action, but his eyes snapped to Zeke's weapon and he remained where he was. "Where's Audri?"
Ezekiel Xaris remained still and composed, his form barely shifting. "She's alive. We aren't you.” he blinked. "Huh. 'We'. Been a while since I've played on a team effort. That's a bit odd."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Audrianna is in our custody. I assume she tried to attack, rather than negotiate?"
Thomas relaxed slightly, more out of defeat than of a desire to play it cool. "You'd have to ask her. I wasn't there."
Ezekiel Xaris: "I intend to." He frowned faintly. "You hardly seem the religious extremist type that values an attitude over a life. What's your deal?"
Thomas looked away "Sister couldn't pay her bills. Company took her in on indenture. Installed implants. Mandatory conversion, they said." the man's voice shook. "When they were done with her, she was more metal than human. They took the life right out of her. You could see it in her eyes. Like there was nothing there."
Ezekiel Xaris shook his head, leaning back. "Damn. I'm sorry."
Thomas: "That's what these toasters have in mind for everyone. Replace my sister. Replace Audri. People like you and me, we're obsolete."
Ezekiel Aries: "It's pretty easy to think like that, ain't it?" He crossed his arms, pistol still in hand. "In all of human history, the enemy is the enemy. Us verses Them. And 'Them' is even more unified than we are. Every single one of them has the same goal, the same thoughts, the same everything. Used to be countries, now it's species." The man shook his head, clearly irritated. "I meet a single toaster, as you keep putting it, that actually has what you're afraid of in mind, I'd shoot them dead without a minute's hesitation. But you're letting what happened to your sister blind you. You ain't a machine, you're a man. You need to think for yourself. And I mean actually think, 'steada blindly carrying on with this shit, justifying it with what's happened to you. If I'd been in your shoes.. I'd have spent years taking down that company.. I'd've killed every single one of them that knew about it and let it happen. But I wouldn't damn an entire kind of life for the actions of a few."
Thomas: "We've hit them 12 times in the past 4 years." he said proudly. "But see, it's not just them. This kind of shit goes on everywhere, and you know it. And pardon me, pal, but it seems you did meet a toaster with exactly that in mind, and instead of shooting her, you worked with her to sell a good woman - a real woman - up the river."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Yeah? She has that exactly in mind, does she?" He tilted his head. "Then why am I still human? I know the goals of the place she's working in - the ones they don't talk about. But do you know who the station that she was on belonged to? The one you traced?"
Thomas: "It's not the place she's working in?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "No. And I ain't gonna come right out and say what it is, 'cause that could jeapardize whatever they're working towards. But it ain't too different from your goals. Well, what you think are your goals."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Phee, that's her name by the way.. one she chose herself because she wanted to be someone new. She isn't trying to be Audriana.., Phee has never been the monster you've tried to fight. She lived and worked with humans her entire life.. and when she worked in Insilico.. with Tokuma, after taking the Western region from Gemini.. She risked her life every day for the civilians. Not 'cause they were human.. not 'cause she was better than them, but 'cause she has this thing about protecting life. She has this ideal she tries to live up to, hella lot better than mine. And you didn't see what she went through, when terrorists.. as fucking blind as you lot.. were killing our people.. releasing pathogens and plagues that murdered hundreds of people we called friend.."
Ezekiel Xaris looked away, a haunted look flickering past his eyes. "...You didn't see it.., you fucking idiot.."
Thomas: "Bud, I don't know from plagues. And I know all about the protecting life thing. That's Audriana's purpose. We call ourselves the Protectorate. It's in the fucking name. And while I'm real sure you're sold on this Phee thing, forgive me but it sounds just like all the other robot propaganda we hear. This Phee is like Audriana, but better, faster, knows which fork to use for salad, blah blah blah. So she's like Audri, but better. Do you think that's a line we wouldn't have heard before?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "No, I think you're hearing the lines you wanna, so you can focus on your own." He didn't turn his head back to face him, instead moving his eyes, a fierce stare fixing on him. "At what point did you hear me claim she was better than Audriana? At what point did I even try'ta compare them? But hell, seeing as I judge people.. PEOPLE, by their actions.. 'least I ain't seeing Phee out to hunt Audri. You wanna protect life? That's admirable. I respect that. Hell, I'd die for that. And that's exactly why I'm sat here wearing this fucking vest holding a gun. Cause all I see is a bunch of fools out to kill an innocent - fools who didn't even bother to fucking check to see if they were targetting a monster or a woman. Fuck, the kinds of targets you could actually be choosing.. AIs making power grabs at the expense of hundreds of lives.. the kind of shit, human and not that I've encountered..Th'Protectorate's off'ta a bad start."
Thomas chuckles "Look, dude, you're wearing that vest and holding a gun because you're infatuated with a doll. A doll made with the memories of my partner and mentor going on years. If you knew the real Audri... the one who stops an entire counter raid because she's found one survivor of an AI attack, running through smoke, tears streaming down her face trying to carry that child to safety in her own arms... the one who gave me hope and something to live for...I think you'd be pissed to learn you settled for an imitation. And take that holier than thou eyeball of yours and turn it around, would ya? You're not hunting Audri, but you captured her? What did you do, accidentally lead her into a trap?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Audri sounds like a real hero. Good for her. How long's it gonna take for this to penetrate your skull? Phee isn't her. She ain't an imitation, she ain't even a double anymore. And she don't want to be." He crossed his arms. "Audriana is fighting the wrong battle here. And that's fucked up. If she's as great as you're making out, she needs to be taking on the real monsters - like the fucks that orchestrated the AI attack you just mentioned. AI's like that. But you need to wise up to the fact, and it IS a fucking fact, that not every AI is gonna be a monster. You think every human is a Hitler? Think. If Phee has inherited anything from Audriana at all.. You've gotta believe it's good. 'Cause the way you're talking, what exactly do you think Phee is?"
Thomas: "I think Phee is a trophy. A symbolic captured leader. Maybe her purpose was to get to Audri, I dunno. Seemed she took it real personal. Maybe that's all it was. A target they knew she couldn't resist."
Ezekiel Xaris: "The AIs behind it, they aren't above using humans and people to fuck with others. They don't care about suffering, do they? Phee isn't your enemy. And those fucks are playing you. And even worse, they're degrading you and your ideals. Cause Phee is alive.., and they were gonna let you murder her just to make sure you got innocent blood on your hands too."
Thomas: "What fucks are playing us? What are you talking about?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "It isn't obvious to you? She was made to piss off your leader, right? Imagine if Audri woke up one day to find out she's a machine? That's how Dawn, the actual copy of her, must've felt. The guy who made her wanted to make them both suffer. I think you're being played." He began to collect the playing cards, feeling like informing him further. "Dawn died, Phee is all that's left of her. The person you think is a copy of your friend grew from that, there's not even much of Audri left in her." He laughed. "..Phee didn't even know her name."
Thomas looks genuinely confused "How the fu.... but... didn't know her name? Bullshit."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Yeah, 'cause telling you about that and letting you pretty much know that we'd be unprepared for things Audri has in her past would be the best idea I've ever had. It's the truth. When I told her there was a woman gunning for her, claiming she was a copy of her, the first word that came from her mouth was 'Impossible'."
Thomas: "What do you mean she died?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Dawn?"
Thomas: "Yeah."
Ezekiel Xaris: "The Corps in IS found out she was a certain class of AI, I think. They had her terminated. Phee was a peice of her that managed to transfer and grow inside a cyborg friend of hers. Actual cyborg, she was a human that had a body replacement after some kinda accident. That's how I think it went down. I'm probably off on the details. Phee pretty much idolizes Dawn."
Ezekiel Xaris laughed at the next thought that occurs to him. "Which means if Dawn was a copy of your friend.." he laughed more.
Thomas shook his head dismissively "Sounds like bullshit to me. Dead is dead. If she's still around, she ain't dead."
Ezekiel Xaris: "I think of it like an egg. Steada a sperm or a peice of genetic material, a bunch of chromosomes, it was a part of her mind. And it gestated and grew into something new, inside of a woman that carried her. Like a daughter. I even think she thinks of that woman as her mother, but she's too shy to outright say."
Thomas blinks, obviously never having heard these sorts of details about the life of a sentient AI before. "The toaster thought of the human as its ... mother?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "She carried her inside her before she grew enough to think and taught her how to live. I've seen the way she regards her.., it seems Motherly to me."
Thomas: "Wait. the human taught the toaster how to live?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I've seen Phee try to live in a way that makes her proud of her. And I've seen terror in her eyes when her 'mother' was hurt. Her mother caught the plague I mentioned earlier. Phee didn't seem so soulless to me then."
Thomas looks down, confused. "She shouldn't have been programmed for that. She wasn't a kid job. Audri would have said so."
Ezekiel Xaris was quiet, letting him absorb it. "I meant it when I said Phee was alive.. She changed with the cards her life dealt her. Just like any of us. There are AIs that think they're superior to humans. There are monsters out there that need to be fought. If you're taking the fight to them, I admire you. I even want to fight with you. But I ain't killing someone because of what they are. Only for who they are and what they've done.."
Thomas rubbed his temples "This is beyond fucked up. Who would have done something like this?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Don't ask me. But with the way Audri came out of nowhere, so long after Dawn must've first been made....feels kinda like we're all being played."
Thomas: "No, that was ... we got a tip..."
Ezekiel Xaris raised an eyebrow. "A tip?"
Thomas: "son of a bitch."
Ezekiel Xaris: "What is it? Who gave the tip?"
Thomas looks up, then a veneer comes over his face as he remembers himself "Sorry. Operational details."
Ezekiel Xaris glared "Don't even start that with me. I deserve to know whatever you've just figured out about this shitstorm."
Thomas: "Why, because you'll blow us all to hell if I don't tell you?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Do I need to threaten you at this point? Put yourself in my shoes, you'd want'a know who set us up."
Thomas sighs "An organization like ours has several different levels of participation. You have active members, operatives like us, then you have shadow agents - people who live their normal lives but provide us with intel on the side, then you have silent sympathizers. Big corps or public figures who want to help us, but not publicly."
Ezekiel Xaris: "..."
Ezekiel Xaris rubbed his forehead a moment. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Your organization.. the Protectorate is as big and complex as all that....And it's being used for this..It's the kind of story I kept finding in Tokuma. You sure you ain't secretly being run by some super AI? They have this thing about staying in the shadows and manipulating everything. Typically really in desperate need of a bullet to the head."
Thomas plays off a slightly obvious poker face at the mention of the word "Tokuma" he plays it off and moves on "Not all jurisdictions are like Insilico. Some are openly AI friendly. Its in those environments that we hold the line."
Ezekiel Xaris: "I'm seeing two possibilities here.. Either you have a cancer in the Protectorate or the thing's rotten at the core and it just ain't bubbled to the surface yet. I'm hoping for the former. When this is over, you gonna figure out what that cancer is and what the point of distracting you all, and let's be frank, this is clearly a distraction, was? If you hadn't had a tip off that your leader, mentor and friend had some evil robot double of herself out there... what would you have been doing instead?"
Thomas: "We didn't know about the toaster until we made the pick up. All we knew is that Audri was being held and where. I thought she was dead. We all did."
Ezekiel Xaris: "....She's been imprisoned?"
Thomas: "yeah. for 9 months."
Ezekiel Xaris "And you said she's taken the Phee thing.. personally? They kept her imprisoned and then helped you to 'rescue' her.. Just what did they do to her, Thomas?"
Thomas srugged "Raid went bad. Lot of people went down. She got caught. Fucking miracle she's still alive. I couldn't believe it."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Who caught her?"
Thomas: "We were hitting a mid-level toaster farm - typical evil scientist type. Name of ah - Jaroon." sighs "I should have gone on that mission."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Said every soldier in the history of war. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know. AIs like to plan everything out. They're meticulous little bastards. I can't believe they'd keep her alive without a good reason."
Thomas’ face draws up as a sudden realization sweeps over him "Holy FUCK!"
Ezekiel Xaris: "What??"
Thomas: "You said Phee was pal-ing around with new friends - people like us?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Kind of. What're y'thinking?"
Thomas was taken briefly aback by the idea that Phee could be confused with a real person in a conversation. "I don't know if this means anything - it's all real weird to me. But supposn for a minute you're right, and Phee's alive. Somebody made her to do something, right? But she's not a normal toaster, she's alive. That means that programming isn't enough, you'd need some sort of motivation to keep her in line."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Right." He tilted his head. "You're thinking blackmail or something?"
Thomas: "Simpler than that. Suppose your Phee breaks ranks, hangs around with people you don't like. You'd need to take her out then, right?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "...Motherfucker.."
Ezekiel Xaris: "There's a lot I don't know about her life at the minute. I ain't seen spoken to in months before this, she thought I was dead. But I've kept an eye on her. She's been hanging around with a human or two that the kind of AIs you're against wouldn't like at all. So what better way to take her out than your Protectorate? You might even manage to spark off a war between them and another of your enemies. Two birds with one very well prepared stone.. that stone being Audriana. That level of manipulation and planning.. stinks of AI thinking."
Thomas: "Yeah, it does."
Ezekiel Xaris frowned, thinking it through further, his expression turning dark. "They're gonna try again. And they're gonna be after you now that we're combined information and figured some of this shit out."
Ezekiel Xaris didn't talk about the other thoughts that had occured to him. That they'd been observing Phee, and originally clearly had a plan for her, one she's not completing to their satisfaction, but a plan nonetheless. What was it all for?
Thomas: "If this Phee is anything like Audri, they aren't going to figure this out talking to each other. they're going to be too hot to slow down and think it out. They need us."
Ezekiel Xaris nodded. "That's probably what those AIs anticipated. But they couldn't expect us."
Ezekiel Xaris stood up and brushed himself down. "Right." The man looked around the other hostages. "You're coming with us." He then picked up his coat, a long black on and slipped it on. "First things first.." Xaris took hold of one of the cylinders attatched to the vest and gave it a hard tug. It came away with a slow unsticking sound as the adhesive peeled away. He pressed his thumb over the glowing part and the light ceased. He then began unscrewing the top and the lid gave way. He brought it to his lips and drank. "Coffee will go cold if I don't drink it. You want one?"
Thomas blinks and silently seethes. "All this time you....fuck it. Yeah, I'll take one."
Ezekiel_Xaris: "Good man." He tossed him a cylinder. "Don't worry. The gun's real. I think."
Thomas opens it as he saw Xaris do, and takes a sip "Goddamn that's good coffee."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Part of the last of my supply. Comes from a small place in Insilico. Best coffee on the damn planet." He gave him a small grin before entering in a few commands to his terminal. "Phee. You reading me?"
Phee's voice comes over the comm "YES! WHAT?!"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I'm gonna need some transport to you. Between your friend's guy Thomas here and myself, I think we've figured a lot of this out. And I doubt you've made any headway with Audrianna. From what I hear, she's as pig-stubborn as you."
Phee: "That's some timely intel, there, Xaris. Timely indeed. She's impossible. Impossible! Can I kill her? Please?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "No. No way. Not in the least." He glanced over to Thomas, mouthing 'sorry' before looking back at the terminal. "No."
Ezekiel Xaris: "In fact." He stood up and walked to the man, holding his wrist near him. "Just put her on the line. Thomas.., whatever you think'll calm her down. You know her better than I do."
Phee: (a few beeps follow as Phee transfers from internal comms to the cell's intercom) "Thomas! Terminate the hostage now! That's an order!" Audriana's strained voice rings loud over the connection. "Why you little..." Phee's voice came in the background, then the sound of a cellblock security shield coming down.
Thomas: "Ma'am, I believe we have a preeminent priority. I believe that in order to preserve the opportunity to exploit it, you'll appreciate it if I belay that order." Thomas interjected.
Ezekiel Xaris nodded. He hadn't raised or pointed his weapon at all, giving the man a chance and demonstrating some trust. If it wasn't justified, he wouldn't make that mistake twice.
Ezekiel Xaris: "...You have a hostage?"
Thomas shrugs "Audri gets kind of um ... confident."
Phee: (sounds of a scuffle come over the connection)
Ezekiel Xaris: "Oh for God's sake.. We need to be up there. This is ridiculous. Exactly what the enemy wants but.. still.. kind of.. childish. It was more impressive with guns."
Phee: (the unmistakable sounds of a catfight come through)
Thomas looks at Xaris ominously "What are they doing to her?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I think they're trying to restrain her. She must've gotten out of whatever cell they put her in."
Ezekiel Xaris shook his head, looking back at Thomas, "You have any more ships? I can't see Phee getting one to us quickly enough."
Thomas' eyes widen "yeah, yeah, but won't they shoot us down after what happened with Audri?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I'll be on it. Just make sure there aren't any more of your people on it. We don't know what they've been told and we don't need any more complications."
Ezekiel Xaris brought his wrist close to him again. "Phee we're on our way. NO fighting. Restrain her, put her in a cell, LEAVE HER IN THE CELL. The more you two fight, the worse our problems."
Thomas: "Ma'am, he's right. There's something bigger going on here. We're all being played."
Phee: (the fight culminates in a thud, then the sound of the shield going back up)
Ezekiel Xaris: "Try not to even talk to each other. Put your shutting up caps on, 'cause you're just gonna keep pissing ea-..Hello?" He paused at the thud.
Audri calls out in a ragged voice "Thomas you are a fucking traitor."
Phee: "Zeke, I don't know how much more of this I can put up with."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Phee.. Leave the room. Please. Audriana.., I promise you. By the end of this week, this should all be over. By the end of the next few days.. you will be free and unharmed. You just need to.. get past this killing each other bullshit. ...There's gotta be something you still have in common. Anything! Fuck, what do you both love? Come to some kind of understanding." He blinked. "Tomorrow. Come to some kind of understanding, TOMORROW. Phee, leave that fucking room this instant. We're on our way."
Thomas touched his earpiece "We need immediate evac. Orbit capable shuttle on my coordinates in 30 seconds. MOVE!"
Thomas looked through his cards and grinned "Go fish."
Ezekiel Xaris: "God damn it." He shook his head and readjusted his glasses, keeping the fronts of his card hidden from their view. "You're too good at this, y'know." He raised an eyebrow, looking down at his wrist. "Hm." Raising the arm, he swiped his thumb across the screen, an image of his thumb print briefly fading on the display before the message appeared. He skimmed it's contents smiling with a little relief.
/incoming message ident:(Phoenix)//Nice work. We were prepared when she attacked. She is captured. I took some hits, but I'm ok.
Thomas eyed the man curiously "So what's it say? We done here or what?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "That depends. What'd you have planned for tomorrow?"
Thomas eyes him appraisingly, then taps his earpiece "Banshee this is Tycho. What's our status?"
Ezekiel Xaris lifted his left hand, which had never left his weapon. He placed it on his knee, not a threat, simply a reminder.
Thomas eyed the man with increasing menace as the silence grew longer. "The fuck is going on?"
Ezekiel Xaris tilted his head."You thought you found me here 'cause you're just that good? It was a trap. Hope you enjoyed our phone call. The one you traced back to a certain station."
Thomas' eyes flashed with alarm, and he shifted, as if to action, but his eyes snapped to Zeke's weapon and he remained where he was. "Where's Audri?"
Ezekiel Xaris remained still and composed, his form barely shifting. "She's alive. We aren't you.” he blinked. "Huh. 'We'. Been a while since I've played on a team effort. That's a bit odd."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Audrianna is in our custody. I assume she tried to attack, rather than negotiate?"
Thomas relaxed slightly, more out of defeat than of a desire to play it cool. "You'd have to ask her. I wasn't there."
Ezekiel Xaris: "I intend to." He frowned faintly. "You hardly seem the religious extremist type that values an attitude over a life. What's your deal?"
Thomas looked away "Sister couldn't pay her bills. Company took her in on indenture. Installed implants. Mandatory conversion, they said." the man's voice shook. "When they were done with her, she was more metal than human. They took the life right out of her. You could see it in her eyes. Like there was nothing there."
Ezekiel Xaris shook his head, leaning back. "Damn. I'm sorry."
Thomas: "That's what these toasters have in mind for everyone. Replace my sister. Replace Audri. People like you and me, we're obsolete."
Ezekiel Aries: "It's pretty easy to think like that, ain't it?" He crossed his arms, pistol still in hand. "In all of human history, the enemy is the enemy. Us verses Them. And 'Them' is even more unified than we are. Every single one of them has the same goal, the same thoughts, the same everything. Used to be countries, now it's species." The man shook his head, clearly irritated. "I meet a single toaster, as you keep putting it, that actually has what you're afraid of in mind, I'd shoot them dead without a minute's hesitation. But you're letting what happened to your sister blind you. You ain't a machine, you're a man. You need to think for yourself. And I mean actually think, 'steada blindly carrying on with this shit, justifying it with what's happened to you. If I'd been in your shoes.. I'd have spent years taking down that company.. I'd've killed every single one of them that knew about it and let it happen. But I wouldn't damn an entire kind of life for the actions of a few."
Thomas: "We've hit them 12 times in the past 4 years." he said proudly. "But see, it's not just them. This kind of shit goes on everywhere, and you know it. And pardon me, pal, but it seems you did meet a toaster with exactly that in mind, and instead of shooting her, you worked with her to sell a good woman - a real woman - up the river."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Yeah? She has that exactly in mind, does she?" He tilted his head. "Then why am I still human? I know the goals of the place she's working in - the ones they don't talk about. But do you know who the station that she was on belonged to? The one you traced?"
Thomas: "It's not the place she's working in?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "No. And I ain't gonna come right out and say what it is, 'cause that could jeapardize whatever they're working towards. But it ain't too different from your goals. Well, what you think are your goals."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Phee, that's her name by the way.. one she chose herself because she wanted to be someone new. She isn't trying to be Audriana.., Phee has never been the monster you've tried to fight. She lived and worked with humans her entire life.. and when she worked in Insilico.. with Tokuma, after taking the Western region from Gemini.. She risked her life every day for the civilians. Not 'cause they were human.. not 'cause she was better than them, but 'cause she has this thing about protecting life. She has this ideal she tries to live up to, hella lot better than mine. And you didn't see what she went through, when terrorists.. as fucking blind as you lot.. were killing our people.. releasing pathogens and plagues that murdered hundreds of people we called friend.."
Ezekiel Xaris looked away, a haunted look flickering past his eyes. "...You didn't see it.., you fucking idiot.."
Thomas: "Bud, I don't know from plagues. And I know all about the protecting life thing. That's Audriana's purpose. We call ourselves the Protectorate. It's in the fucking name. And while I'm real sure you're sold on this Phee thing, forgive me but it sounds just like all the other robot propaganda we hear. This Phee is like Audriana, but better, faster, knows which fork to use for salad, blah blah blah. So she's like Audri, but better. Do you think that's a line we wouldn't have heard before?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "No, I think you're hearing the lines you wanna, so you can focus on your own." He didn't turn his head back to face him, instead moving his eyes, a fierce stare fixing on him. "At what point did you hear me claim she was better than Audriana? At what point did I even try'ta compare them? But hell, seeing as I judge people.. PEOPLE, by their actions.. 'least I ain't seeing Phee out to hunt Audri. You wanna protect life? That's admirable. I respect that. Hell, I'd die for that. And that's exactly why I'm sat here wearing this fucking vest holding a gun. Cause all I see is a bunch of fools out to kill an innocent - fools who didn't even bother to fucking check to see if they were targetting a monster or a woman. Fuck, the kinds of targets you could actually be choosing.. AIs making power grabs at the expense of hundreds of lives.. the kind of shit, human and not that I've encountered..Th'Protectorate's off'ta a bad start."
Thomas chuckles "Look, dude, you're wearing that vest and holding a gun because you're infatuated with a doll. A doll made with the memories of my partner and mentor going on years. If you knew the real Audri... the one who stops an entire counter raid because she's found one survivor of an AI attack, running through smoke, tears streaming down her face trying to carry that child to safety in her own arms... the one who gave me hope and something to live for...I think you'd be pissed to learn you settled for an imitation. And take that holier than thou eyeball of yours and turn it around, would ya? You're not hunting Audri, but you captured her? What did you do, accidentally lead her into a trap?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Audri sounds like a real hero. Good for her. How long's it gonna take for this to penetrate your skull? Phee isn't her. She ain't an imitation, she ain't even a double anymore. And she don't want to be." He crossed his arms. "Audriana is fighting the wrong battle here. And that's fucked up. If she's as great as you're making out, she needs to be taking on the real monsters - like the fucks that orchestrated the AI attack you just mentioned. AI's like that. But you need to wise up to the fact, and it IS a fucking fact, that not every AI is gonna be a monster. You think every human is a Hitler? Think. If Phee has inherited anything from Audriana at all.. You've gotta believe it's good. 'Cause the way you're talking, what exactly do you think Phee is?"
Thomas: "I think Phee is a trophy. A symbolic captured leader. Maybe her purpose was to get to Audri, I dunno. Seemed she took it real personal. Maybe that's all it was. A target they knew she couldn't resist."
Ezekiel Xaris: "The AIs behind it, they aren't above using humans and people to fuck with others. They don't care about suffering, do they? Phee isn't your enemy. And those fucks are playing you. And even worse, they're degrading you and your ideals. Cause Phee is alive.., and they were gonna let you murder her just to make sure you got innocent blood on your hands too."
Thomas: "What fucks are playing us? What are you talking about?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "It isn't obvious to you? She was made to piss off your leader, right? Imagine if Audri woke up one day to find out she's a machine? That's how Dawn, the actual copy of her, must've felt. The guy who made her wanted to make them both suffer. I think you're being played." He began to collect the playing cards, feeling like informing him further. "Dawn died, Phee is all that's left of her. The person you think is a copy of your friend grew from that, there's not even much of Audri left in her." He laughed. "..Phee didn't even know her name."
Thomas looks genuinely confused "How the fu.... but... didn't know her name? Bullshit."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Yeah, 'cause telling you about that and letting you pretty much know that we'd be unprepared for things Audri has in her past would be the best idea I've ever had. It's the truth. When I told her there was a woman gunning for her, claiming she was a copy of her, the first word that came from her mouth was 'Impossible'."
Thomas: "What do you mean she died?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Dawn?"
Thomas: "Yeah."
Ezekiel Xaris: "The Corps in IS found out she was a certain class of AI, I think. They had her terminated. Phee was a peice of her that managed to transfer and grow inside a cyborg friend of hers. Actual cyborg, she was a human that had a body replacement after some kinda accident. That's how I think it went down. I'm probably off on the details. Phee pretty much idolizes Dawn."
Ezekiel Xaris laughed at the next thought that occurs to him. "Which means if Dawn was a copy of your friend.." he laughed more.
Thomas shook his head dismissively "Sounds like bullshit to me. Dead is dead. If she's still around, she ain't dead."
Ezekiel Xaris: "I think of it like an egg. Steada a sperm or a peice of genetic material, a bunch of chromosomes, it was a part of her mind. And it gestated and grew into something new, inside of a woman that carried her. Like a daughter. I even think she thinks of that woman as her mother, but she's too shy to outright say."
Thomas blinks, obviously never having heard these sorts of details about the life of a sentient AI before. "The toaster thought of the human as its ... mother?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "She carried her inside her before she grew enough to think and taught her how to live. I've seen the way she regards her.., it seems Motherly to me."
Thomas: "Wait. the human taught the toaster how to live?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I've seen Phee try to live in a way that makes her proud of her. And I've seen terror in her eyes when her 'mother' was hurt. Her mother caught the plague I mentioned earlier. Phee didn't seem so soulless to me then."
Thomas looks down, confused. "She shouldn't have been programmed for that. She wasn't a kid job. Audri would have said so."
Ezekiel Xaris was quiet, letting him absorb it. "I meant it when I said Phee was alive.. She changed with the cards her life dealt her. Just like any of us. There are AIs that think they're superior to humans. There are monsters out there that need to be fought. If you're taking the fight to them, I admire you. I even want to fight with you. But I ain't killing someone because of what they are. Only for who they are and what they've done.."
Thomas rubbed his temples "This is beyond fucked up. Who would have done something like this?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Don't ask me. But with the way Audri came out of nowhere, so long after Dawn must've first been made....feels kinda like we're all being played."
Thomas: "No, that was ... we got a tip..."
Ezekiel Xaris raised an eyebrow. "A tip?"
Thomas: "son of a bitch."
Ezekiel Xaris: "What is it? Who gave the tip?"
Thomas looks up, then a veneer comes over his face as he remembers himself "Sorry. Operational details."
Ezekiel Xaris glared "Don't even start that with me. I deserve to know whatever you've just figured out about this shitstorm."
Thomas: "Why, because you'll blow us all to hell if I don't tell you?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Do I need to threaten you at this point? Put yourself in my shoes, you'd want'a know who set us up."
Thomas sighs "An organization like ours has several different levels of participation. You have active members, operatives like us, then you have shadow agents - people who live their normal lives but provide us with intel on the side, then you have silent sympathizers. Big corps or public figures who want to help us, but not publicly."
Ezekiel Xaris: "..."
Ezekiel Xaris rubbed his forehead a moment. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Your organization.. the Protectorate is as big and complex as all that....And it's being used for this..It's the kind of story I kept finding in Tokuma. You sure you ain't secretly being run by some super AI? They have this thing about staying in the shadows and manipulating everything. Typically really in desperate need of a bullet to the head."
Thomas plays off a slightly obvious poker face at the mention of the word "Tokuma" he plays it off and moves on "Not all jurisdictions are like Insilico. Some are openly AI friendly. Its in those environments that we hold the line."
Ezekiel Xaris: "I'm seeing two possibilities here.. Either you have a cancer in the Protectorate or the thing's rotten at the core and it just ain't bubbled to the surface yet. I'm hoping for the former. When this is over, you gonna figure out what that cancer is and what the point of distracting you all, and let's be frank, this is clearly a distraction, was? If you hadn't had a tip off that your leader, mentor and friend had some evil robot double of herself out there... what would you have been doing instead?"
Thomas: "We didn't know about the toaster until we made the pick up. All we knew is that Audri was being held and where. I thought she was dead. We all did."
Ezekiel Xaris: "....She's been imprisoned?"
Thomas: "yeah. for 9 months."
Ezekiel Xaris "And you said she's taken the Phee thing.. personally? They kept her imprisoned and then helped you to 'rescue' her.. Just what did they do to her, Thomas?"
Thomas srugged "Raid went bad. Lot of people went down. She got caught. Fucking miracle she's still alive. I couldn't believe it."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Who caught her?"
Thomas: "We were hitting a mid-level toaster farm - typical evil scientist type. Name of ah - Jaroon." sighs "I should have gone on that mission."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Said every soldier in the history of war. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know. AIs like to plan everything out. They're meticulous little bastards. I can't believe they'd keep her alive without a good reason."
Thomas’ face draws up as a sudden realization sweeps over him "Holy FUCK!"
Ezekiel Xaris: "What??"
Thomas: "You said Phee was pal-ing around with new friends - people like us?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "Kind of. What're y'thinking?"
Thomas was taken briefly aback by the idea that Phee could be confused with a real person in a conversation. "I don't know if this means anything - it's all real weird to me. But supposn for a minute you're right, and Phee's alive. Somebody made her to do something, right? But she's not a normal toaster, she's alive. That means that programming isn't enough, you'd need some sort of motivation to keep her in line."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Right." He tilted his head. "You're thinking blackmail or something?"
Thomas: "Simpler than that. Suppose your Phee breaks ranks, hangs around with people you don't like. You'd need to take her out then, right?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "...Motherfucker.."
Ezekiel Xaris: "There's a lot I don't know about her life at the minute. I ain't seen spoken to in months before this, she thought I was dead. But I've kept an eye on her. She's been hanging around with a human or two that the kind of AIs you're against wouldn't like at all. So what better way to take her out than your Protectorate? You might even manage to spark off a war between them and another of your enemies. Two birds with one very well prepared stone.. that stone being Audriana. That level of manipulation and planning.. stinks of AI thinking."
Thomas: "Yeah, it does."
Ezekiel Xaris frowned, thinking it through further, his expression turning dark. "They're gonna try again. And they're gonna be after you now that we're combined information and figured some of this shit out."
Ezekiel Xaris didn't talk about the other thoughts that had occured to him. That they'd been observing Phee, and originally clearly had a plan for her, one she's not completing to their satisfaction, but a plan nonetheless. What was it all for?
Thomas: "If this Phee is anything like Audri, they aren't going to figure this out talking to each other. they're going to be too hot to slow down and think it out. They need us."
Ezekiel Xaris nodded. "That's probably what those AIs anticipated. But they couldn't expect us."
Ezekiel Xaris stood up and brushed himself down. "Right." The man looked around the other hostages. "You're coming with us." He then picked up his coat, a long black on and slipped it on. "First things first.." Xaris took hold of one of the cylinders attatched to the vest and gave it a hard tug. It came away with a slow unsticking sound as the adhesive peeled away. He pressed his thumb over the glowing part and the light ceased. He then began unscrewing the top and the lid gave way. He brought it to his lips and drank. "Coffee will go cold if I don't drink it. You want one?"
Thomas blinks and silently seethes. "All this time you....fuck it. Yeah, I'll take one."
Ezekiel_Xaris: "Good man." He tossed him a cylinder. "Don't worry. The gun's real. I think."
Thomas opens it as he saw Xaris do, and takes a sip "Goddamn that's good coffee."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Part of the last of my supply. Comes from a small place in Insilico. Best coffee on the damn planet." He gave him a small grin before entering in a few commands to his terminal. "Phee. You reading me?"
Phee's voice comes over the comm "YES! WHAT?!"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I'm gonna need some transport to you. Between your friend's guy Thomas here and myself, I think we've figured a lot of this out. And I doubt you've made any headway with Audrianna. From what I hear, she's as pig-stubborn as you."
Phee: "That's some timely intel, there, Xaris. Timely indeed. She's impossible. Impossible! Can I kill her? Please?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "No. No way. Not in the least." He glanced over to Thomas, mouthing 'sorry' before looking back at the terminal. "No."
Ezekiel Xaris: "In fact." He stood up and walked to the man, holding his wrist near him. "Just put her on the line. Thomas.., whatever you think'll calm her down. You know her better than I do."
Phee: (a few beeps follow as Phee transfers from internal comms to the cell's intercom) "Thomas! Terminate the hostage now! That's an order!" Audriana's strained voice rings loud over the connection. "Why you little..." Phee's voice came in the background, then the sound of a cellblock security shield coming down.
Thomas: "Ma'am, I believe we have a preeminent priority. I believe that in order to preserve the opportunity to exploit it, you'll appreciate it if I belay that order." Thomas interjected.
Ezekiel Xaris nodded. He hadn't raised or pointed his weapon at all, giving the man a chance and demonstrating some trust. If it wasn't justified, he wouldn't make that mistake twice.
Ezekiel Xaris: "...You have a hostage?"
Thomas shrugs "Audri gets kind of um ... confident."
Phee: (sounds of a scuffle come over the connection)
Ezekiel Xaris: "Oh for God's sake.. We need to be up there. This is ridiculous. Exactly what the enemy wants but.. still.. kind of.. childish. It was more impressive with guns."
Phee: (the unmistakable sounds of a catfight come through)
Thomas looks at Xaris ominously "What are they doing to her?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I think they're trying to restrain her. She must've gotten out of whatever cell they put her in."
Ezekiel Xaris shook his head, looking back at Thomas, "You have any more ships? I can't see Phee getting one to us quickly enough."
Thomas' eyes widen "yeah, yeah, but won't they shoot us down after what happened with Audri?"
Ezekiel Xaris: "I'll be on it. Just make sure there aren't any more of your people on it. We don't know what they've been told and we don't need any more complications."
Ezekiel Xaris brought his wrist close to him again. "Phee we're on our way. NO fighting. Restrain her, put her in a cell, LEAVE HER IN THE CELL. The more you two fight, the worse our problems."
Thomas: "Ma'am, he's right. There's something bigger going on here. We're all being played."
Phee: (the fight culminates in a thud, then the sound of the shield going back up)
Ezekiel Xaris: "Try not to even talk to each other. Put your shutting up caps on, 'cause you're just gonna keep pissing ea-..Hello?" He paused at the thud.
Audri calls out in a ragged voice "Thomas you are a fucking traitor."
Phee: "Zeke, I don't know how much more of this I can put up with."
Ezekiel Xaris: "Phee.. Leave the room. Please. Audriana.., I promise you. By the end of this week, this should all be over. By the end of the next few days.. you will be free and unharmed. You just need to.. get past this killing each other bullshit. ...There's gotta be something you still have in common. Anything! Fuck, what do you both love? Come to some kind of understanding." He blinked. "Tomorrow. Come to some kind of understanding, TOMORROW. Phee, leave that fucking room this instant. We're on our way."
Thomas touched his earpiece "We need immediate evac. Orbit capable shuttle on my coordinates in 30 seconds. MOVE!"
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