Kendra made a face. “Really?”
Archie turned toward her and spoke in smooth, almost gentle tones. “I merely employed the quickest and most efficient means of disarming them.”
“No pun intended.” Lynch was still smiling.
“Interesting,” Stevie said thoughtfully. “Archie just chose to join our conversation even when a question wasn’t specifically asked of him. He’s done that a few times recently. When Kendra just said ‘Really,’ he decided he had the most informed and accurate answer, and he joined in.”
“Correct,” Archie said. “I try to be helpful when I can.”
Jessie’s eyes narrowed on the robot. “No offense, but this thing creeps me out a little.”
“Maybe Lynch is right,” Kendra said. “He might just take some getting used to.” She stepped toward Archie. “Is that your primary function? To be helpful?”
“Of course. I try to do whatever is needed or required of me.”
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yes. You’re Kendra Michaels.”
“How do you know that? Did Stevie and Lynch tell you about me?”
“They mentioned your name, but I confirmed your identity from scanning your face and running it through a facial recognition application.”
“Off the shelf,” Stevie said. “No big deal.”
Archie continued, “I can give you a biographical rundown, from your childhood education at Woodward Academy to your college education and news reports of gaining your sight at the age of twenty. I’m familiar with your PhD thesis and your involvement in helping solve several high-profile criminal investigations.”
“All this from one glance at me?”
“And an examination of information from several public databases.”
“I guess this took, what, half a second?”
“Actually, my wireless data node is somewhat slower in this remote location. It took about nine seconds to gather all this information.”
Stevie stepped closer. “Archie is usually equipped with a satellite modem, but I disabled it. I was afraid it might make it easier for certain interested parties to track our whereabouts.”
“Do me, Archie,” Jessie challenged.
Archie turned toward her in a movement that was incredibly lifelike and graceful. “I know that you were a decorated soldier in Afghanistan, Jessie Mercado, and that you were a prizewinning contestant on theAmerican Ninjatelevision game show. I just viewed several clips from YouTube.”
Jessie groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Oh, great. I don’t suppose you have any way of reaching back out to YouTube and deleting those.”
“Sorry, that is beyond my capabilities. But I can provide you with the names of several individuals in the hacker community who might be able to perform tasks such as this.”
“Absolutely not. I’m just joking.”
“I see. In any case, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. That show helped you get the job working security for music star Delilah Winter, and you quickly became the head of her security detail. Since then, you’ve been the owner of Jessie Mercado Investigations in Santa Monica, California, USA.”
Jessie turned to Kendra. “Somehow, I’m not feeling any more at ease with this.”
Kendra nodded. “It’s unsettling when ChatGPT does things like this on my laptop, but for some reason, it’s a bit more disturbing coming from you, Archie.”
“I understand. I believe that’s why my creator didn’t attempt to make me look more human. The more that machines such as me resemble human beings, the more common are feelings of unease.”
“Catch!” Lynch shouted as he tossed a coffee mug toward Archie.
The robot’s left arm shot up and caught the mug.
