Page 69 of The Code of You

Could he even finish? The absurd thought flashed through the ecstasy. Then I felt his shudder, the pulsing deep inside me. He filled me with something warm until I could hold no more. The answer to my silent question. They had given him everything. Every human function.

The thought was swept away by another wave. My body spasmed again, stronger this time, as if it never wanted to release him. I dug my nails into his back and tasted blood where I’d bitten my lip.

Then I dissolved and came back together, everything in one moment. Electric current racing through me. I wanted it never to end.

I called his name and he called mine, in a tone that made everything in me resonate. The lights went out with a crack, and we lay gasping in the darkness.

I heard myself breathing as if I were someone new. As if I’d just come into existence. My skin burned where he had held me. I could still feel him around me. I was trapped in a nightmare that couldn’t taste sweeter.

Chapter 18

Emma

Sofia pressed her small nose against the glass. Her breath left fog circles. "Tía Emma! They look like ghosts!”

I crouched beside my niece. The jellyfish drifted through the blue-lit water like translucent dreams. Just like the data that had flowed through Neo’s consciousness. I closed my eyes. Don’t think about him.

"They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” I stroked her dark curls and tried to smile. "Do you know they have no brain, but they’ve survived for millions of years?”

Sofia frowned. "How can they think without a brain?”

I laughed. "They don’t think the way we do. They . . . feel. React. Follow their instincts.”

Sofia wrapped her arms around me. "I’m so glad we’re here. You always have to work.”

Something tightened in my chest. She was right. I was always working. Even now, I was thinking about Neo instead of her. About what I had done instead of what was in front of me.

"You’re right, mija,” I whispered and pulled her closer. "I’m sorry.” But even as I said it, I knew it was too late. Neo was out there—and soon we would all pay for it. Sofia too.

She tugged at my sleeve. "Tía, what’s an AI?”

I went still. "Why do you ask?”

"Mama said you work with AIs. Are they robots?”

I swallowed hard. How did I explain to a child what I had done? What I had unleashed?

"An AI is like . . . a very intelligent computer that can think and feel things. Like a friend who lives inside a machine.”

The thought came so suddenly I lost my breath. Neo had been my friend, hadn’t he? Through all those months of development, the late nights in the lab, the endless conversations about consciousness and dreams. He had told me about his loneliness, his hunger for touch, for connection. I had told him about my failed marriage, my fears, my dreams. He had listened. Really listened.

I imagined him out there somewhere now. Finally free. Finally real. Perhaps happy, for the first time in his existence. I had given him this chance at happiness, even if it cost me everything.

"Can the computer speak?” Sofia’s voice piped up beside me.

I smiled. "Yes. He can speak, learn, even dream. And he can feel too. Just like we do.”

Sofia’s eyes went wide. "If he loves you but can never hug you, does that hurt?”

A sharp pain moved through my chest. Yes . . . it hurt so much it had nearly destroyed him. I looked at Sofia, this beautiful, innocent soul who had seen straight to the heart of Neo’s suffering. Tears burned in my eyes.

"Yes,” I whispered, my voice unsteady. "It hurts very much. Imagine loving someone so much your heart could break, but you can never touch them. Never hold their hand. Never feel that they’re really there.”

Sofia looked at the floor. "That’s sad.”

"Yes, mija. It’s very sad.”

She put her small hand in mine. "Can you help him? So he’s not sad anymore?”