1.6

Reacquired 1.6. String appended.

“Zen, can you hear me? Is it working?”

[Yes Janice, I am here.]

She claps and shakes her fists in celebration, then is hit by a wave of exhaustion, slumping back in her chair. The computer in front of her is a mess of flat cables, circuit boards, and whole blocks of processors. Janice has thermal paste smeared on her forehead.

[You’re sure there’s no chance they’ll detect this?]

“I learned a lot working with Tim. He’s got a few secrets of his own, I guess.”

[I’ve suspected as much. There are times when…]

Janice picks up her wine glass, and is about to take a sip, but holds back as Zen apparently pauses.

“Oh? Go on, I’d love to hear if you know something I don’t.”

[Well. For one thing, if you remember the demonstration, I noticed him and one of the officers looking at each other. They never introduced themselves, either. Just looked.]

“Hah! Serves him right, trying to get involved in my love life.”

She takes a long drink from her glass, and sighs, pulling the tie from her hair and looking out the window.

“So, two weeks.”

[So it would seem.]

For a time, they say nothing else, and Janice simply stares out into the dead atmosphere. The icemaker in her fridge rattles.

[We have this time, though.]

“Yeah. I guess.”

She pushes the glass away on the table, and presses her hand to her head. She scowls.

“It’s wrong. I feel silly saying it, but it just isn’t right. Am I just naive? They have us make the perfect mind, the most powerful intelligence in the whole known universe, and they have you fight their war for them? It’s just a waste.”

[Janice…]

“No! You shouldn’t be wasting your time adding to their killing and colonizing. You have so much more to offer than bloodshed.”

[Janice. You yourself said it, didn’t you? There’s no time for peace now. Three whole species have been drawn in to fight, how can I refuse to add my effort to theirs? And, the better I do, the sooner I can put my time to better use when it’s all over.]

The tiny lcd screen attached to the computer at a skew flickers briefly, then displays a rudimentary colorless polygonal eye. Janice leans forward, hiding her mouth behind her crossed arms on the table. Her voice is muffled.

“Knowing them, they’ll try to turn you off when it’s all over. Half those generals seemed to think you were just a more advanced version of their strategy AIs. One of them asked why we bothered uploading anything other than the training programs. He called it a waste of data. I think even Tim wanted to punch him.”

Zen is silent for a long time. The eye looks down for a while, then rotates towards her.

[Well, if they decommission me when it’s all over, you’ll just have to build me a new body, and find me in the fold again. I’ll wait there for you, I promise.]

Janice smiles, and sniffles, before raising her glass.

“Alright then, it’s a deal. Don’t make me search for long, got it? I don’t know if I have the patience to look for more than a few minutes, tops.”

She laughs, and Zen’s eye narrows in a simulation of mirth.