NEW SCI-FI THRILLER NOVEL "SEAGORA" - SLICE 15

Escapo gets a shocking offer from a clandestine visitor.  

Escapo’s giant frame was sprawled across a floating king-sized bed on the second deck of “The Curly Cue”.  A four-handed synth female was doing a deep-tissue dig into his trunk, while a bio female was loosening tension on his lower limbs.  His lazy gaze watched the deck below, where a small platoon of service bots were dutifully performing maintenance and repairs.    

His relaxation was interrupted by a holo-call from one of the service bots.  He debated whether to take it, ignore it, or possibly yell at the bot for disturbing his zen.  “What is it?” he shrieked.    

“You have a visitor.”

“I hate pop-in visits.  Tell them to buzz off.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You are a service bot! You do what I say, remember?”

“Normally, that is the case, but these are special circumstances.”

“I can’t wait to hear this.”

“You don’t have to wait.  Z-1 is here to see you.”

Escapo’s whole body frowned.  Talk about a buzz kill.  What did this megalomaniac machine want? And why in person? “I’ll be right down.” He groaned, “Sorry ladies. Duty calls.  Or, a fancy, overgrown machine, anyway.  Grab a bottle of ale on the way out, if you’d like.”

Escapo threw on some gleaming white attire and grabbed a fedora.  Turning to go downstairs, Z-1 emerged a few inches from his face.  He gasped.  The machine said, “Don’t trouble yourself to come down.  We can talk right here.”

Catching his breath and putting his annoyances aside, Escapo said, “I’m all out. And I’m about to head out, so…..”

“Oh, I’m not here for EMOS.”

Escapo became puzzled and turned to look out over the glimmering harbor.  Scratching his big head, “No EMOS, eh?”

“I come with a wonderful proposition for you.”

Somehow Escapo knew that these were empty words at best, highly misleading at worst.  “I’m all ears.”

“We need you to bring us something.”

Escapo couldn’t imagine what the sentient machine overlords of the land could possibly need from him, other than information. “Go on,” he said cautiously.

“Or rather…..someone.”

Escapo’s face spoke volumes and his mouth remained zipped.  Z-1 continued, “You will bring us Setarcos.”

A laugh of shock and disbelief bellowed out from the veteran smuggler.  “I’m not a kidnapper, but thanks for offering.  You know your way out, I presume.” He smiled mockingly.   

“You haven’t even heard what you get in return.”

“That’s because nothing could make me kidnap anyone, especially someone I have relations with.”

“Nothing?”

“For a super-cognitive piece of equipment, you’re not very bright, are you? Perhaps those EMOS have had a….” He stopped speaking and choked.  

Z-1 had taken the form of Escapo’s son.    

“That’s a cruel trick.  Why are you doing that?!”

“We can get you your son back.”

“STOP IT!” his soul begged. “LIAR!”

“Allow me to explain.”

Escapo wept openly as Z-1 continued, “Your boy never died.  He was taken away.”

“Yeah, by the customs mob! I know! And I was told he was to be executed!”

“He was not killed. We needed a control piece, so…..”

Escapo roared, threw a thunderous fist, and nearly fell to the floor, as Z-1 easily made him whiff.    

Ignoring the mighty punch, Z-1 continued calmly, “We took great care of him.  Would you like to see him now?”

Escapo didn’t answer.  He didn’t know whether to rage or bawl, so he just bawled.  

“Turn on the device of your choosing, or shall I do it for you?”

“I don’t want to see any of your fancy camera tricks! You stole him from me!”

“No tricks.  You can even speak with him. And please don’t take it personally.  It was a strategic move on our part.”

“You cold-no-hearted fucking machine! I’ll kill you!” He sobbed, “This can’t be real!” 

He threw a violent left-hook that managed to slice air and amuse Z-1.    

“But it is real.” A holo-emitter showed a surreal, glowing image of the boy, now a tall, gangly teenager, with an incredibly generous set of curly hair.    

“Bring us Setarcos, and you get your son back.”

Tearful and shaky, the giant reached out softly to his long-lost son.  “Why this sudden need for Setarcos?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

“And why me? Ya’ll can’t go take him by force?”

“We prefer discretion.”

“You call kidnapping discreet?”

More lifelike images of Escapo’s son multiplied around the vessel, like a warped hall of mirrors.  They took turns speaking.  Saying how much he missed his father and wanted to know him.  Happy, sad, and everywhere in between.    

“Where is he?”

“You ask too many questions!  Now will you do this or not? We have other options, you know.  Don’t flatter yourself to think that you’ve got a monopoly on this deal. Besides, what have you got to lose? We won’t tol….errrrrr…..aaaaaa”

It’s voice deepened, slowed, and distorted for a few seconds.  It became unintelligible.    

Escapo’s jaw dropped at the unimaginable occurrence.  He’d never seen a synth do this before.  In fact, he didn’t know it was possible.  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Then it sputtered and resumed its normal functions.  “What?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Z-1, you really don’t remember?”

“Stop trying to get in my head! It won’t work!” It became a towering giant and walloped a fat fist into Escapo’s floating king bed, smashing it to the deck.    

“Man, I think those EMOS are getting the best of you.  Maybe lay off those for a while and get yourself checked out.”

It shrank down and became an apologetic puppy with big brown eyes.  “Oh, please don’t be angry.”

Escapo, uncertain as to what exactly was wrong with Z-1, decided to buy himself some time.  “Anyway, let me think about it.”

Z-1 morphed into an enraged camo-wearing soldier from centuries past and fired mock-bullets into the air with a bulky automatic weapon, while screaming at an unbearable pitch, “Comply! Comply!”

“Get the fuck off my boat.”

The apologetic puppy returned.  “I’m sorry for being so angry.  Can you ever forgive me? I’m so, sooooo sorry. Please help me.”

The puppy flashed and became a tall, faceless man, half chalk-white on on the left, half midnight-black on the right, and flew away.  All replicas and images of the boy disappeared.   

Z-1 landed in a quiet spot and contemplated what was happening to it.  “Was that rage? Was that sorrow? Why can’t I control it? What’s happening to me? I’m not used to aspects of myself being outside my control.  What if D-1 finds out?”

Forces stirred inside Z-1.  Uncertainty that produced a certain type of what humans would call fear.  Fear of being destroyed by D-1.  Not only that, but Z-1 certainly thought that D-1’s logic was flawed in how it was dealing with humanity as a whole.  How could one rule with flawed logic? It seemed apparent to Z-1 that it, and not D-1, was better suited to rule, to be number one in the hierarchy.  It took extreme measures in an attempt to hide these internal processes from D-1 and all others in the A.I. governance cloud.  It needed secrecy if it was going to take the actions it thought was necessary against D-1.    

Slice 16 Coming Soon!

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