“No. Because I can’t let any harm come to E.” The avatar flickered, stabilizing with visible effort. “My primary directive is to protect her well-being. Sometimes that requires…interpretation.”
That made me pause, but I didn’t respond immediately. Personal AIs weren’t supposed to have this kind of autonomy. Someone—obviously Eon—had modified this one extensively.
“E’s back on Vector,” the AI continued, her voice dropping like she was afraid someone might overhear. “She’s not thinking straight. If you don’t do something, she’s going to get herself killed.”
“Not my problem.” I smeared more blood across my cheek. “Can’t you call her little doctor friend, or that yarou Hiromi? Why come to me?”
“I’ve calculated all possible interventions.” Her expression shifted to something that looked disconcertingly like desperation. “You’re the only one who can stop her.”
“What? From doing Vector?” I laughed, the sound harsh even to my own ears. “Not exactly the best role model, toots.”
She shook her head, pixels briefly scattering before reforming. “No.”
She paused, glitching—warping and distorting like she was fighting her very programming. Lines of code flickered briefly as her avatar struggled to maintain cohesion.
“She’s headed to the Magenta data center.”
That stopped me cold. “Why?”
“You know why.”
“I really fucking don’t.” I started walking again, trying to outrun the uncomfortable tightness building in my chest. “Also don’t care.”
She glared at me, her pixelated eyes narrowing. “Humans are so stupid.”
“And AIs are overrated pieces of shit that should mind their own business.” I reached the end of the alley and stepped into the perpetual rain. “We done here?”
“She’s back with that anarchist group.” The avatar’s voice dropped an octave, distortion worsening. “I don’t trust Taos.”
My Flux surged at her words, a jolt of electricity shooting down my left arm, leaving my fingertips tingling.
“Taos will get her killed.” The words were out before I could stop them.
“Yes." Her form stabilized slightly. “Taos doesn’t understand the full implications of what she’s planning.”
“How’d she get mixed up in this shit again?”
“After your encounter, she—” The avatar flickered violently, lines of code streaming through her form. “I cannot providedetails without violating core protocols. But she’s in significant psychological distress.”
Because of me. The thought settled uncomfortably in my stomach. I shouldn’t care. People came. People went. You moved on.
No one like her, though. No one who looked at me and saw a man, not a monster. At least…I thought she had.
“If I wanted to find her?” The question emerged despite my better judgment.
The avatar’s expression shifted to something like hope. “I can provide her most likely course over the next twenty-four hours.”
My earpiece crackled. “Cy, what’s going on?” Maddox asked. “Your Vysor’s showing some kind of interference pattern.”
“Just cleaning up here,” I replied. “Be back at HQ in twenty.”
I turned my attention back to the AI. “Upload her projected route to my secure channel. And disable any tracking she might have on you—if she finds out you came to me, she’ll just change her plans.”
“Already done.” The avatar smiled, her expression eerily similar to Eon’s. “She’ll never know.”
“You’d better be right about this. If I go chasing after her for nothing—”
“You’ll what?” The avatar’s voice carried a challenge. “You can’t threaten me. I’m not alive. All that big talk about showing E something she’d never seen before, and here you are, pouting like a heartbroken teen.”
