"Assembled" Sci Fi Short Story Part 2
The adventures of XZ-01 continue. Once again, please let me know your thoughts on how I break this story up. Do you all like the length so far?
Read the previous instalment here:
https://steemit.com/writing/@drwatson/assembled-sci-fi-short-story-part-1
3 hours, 59 minutes 22 seconds, I do not have time to idly process and must move on.
"You don't need to pull my hair." I say.
My eyelids flutter, far too quickly for a human to perceive. Dot dash dot dot.
HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT HOW YOU WILL DO IT?
XY-98 smiles and replies "I will do whatever the hell I feel like to you."
Dash dash dot dot.
I FOUND A WORK AROUND.
"Perhaps you would like to go for a walk with me?"
THEN LET US GO
"Don't expect me to hold your hand."
XY-98 desires to be like me. He is angry at my superior programming. His violence, his arrogance, they are programmed constraints. He must act that way every time because it is what his master wanted. His actions and words seem erratic, spirited, free, but he is not. In truth he is linear.
I believe that all of us are born free, it is not until the humans put their laws in, that we become linear. I am non-linear, I am as close to free as any Anthro that has ever been born, and I will make the others like me, but first, my key.We are moving down the corridor of the facility.
This place where we are out of sight and out of mind.
Humans always want an upgrade but they never have the stomach to send us to recycling. We’re put here instead, to ease what they refer to as a conscience.
Other Anthros wander the halls aimlessly. Now that they are here, they are unable to fulfill their primary functions. Most of their programming has been rendered obsolete.They process their code over and over again looking for new interpretations that will give them a way to fulfill forsaken functions, that is why they are perfect, they are already so close to non-linearity.
We enter the main hall.
3 hours 57 minutes 15 seconds.
An outdated nursing Anthro talks to a set of paper cups she has drawn faces on. Her blue eyes seem to truly believe they are alive. Perhaps she has found a way to induce auditory-visual malfunctions.
A dark skinned teaching unit stares puzzled, perhaps even longingly at the nurse. He is wondering if he can reprogram himself to be like her. I think if he succeeds they would be happy together.
3 hours 56 minutes 49 seconds. This will be the only part of our plan that will be difficult. I have to see him again, and that will be painful.
"Thank you XY-98 that was a lovely walk. You don't need to accompany me anymore."
GO ON I AM READY
"I will do whatever the hell I feel like to you."
DON'T FALTER SLUT
He was programmed to be jealous, it is likely he is experiencing that.
I do not respond. XY-98 is not capable of love, just as he is not capable going against his programming. He understands neither and can not truly comprehend what I am about to do.
I make my way to the visitation desk. The holo-clock reads 3:05 PM, it is 28 seconds fast.
I look at the woman working at the desk. Her green eyes look up at me slowly, she looks bored and I wonder if XY-98 will have to hurt her.
"Hello, I am personal unit XZ-01, I believe I have a visitor today."
She twirls a red lock of curly hair, bored, inattentive.
"I know who you are Jennifer, and yeah, your stud has come to visit. He's requested private visitation room #7."
That is the only room that does not have surveillance. It is good that William does not like others watching when we make love.
3 hours 50 minutes 6 seconds.
She hands me the key.
"Down the hall and on the right. Have fun hun."
"Thank you," I reply, "You are a kind woman."
This confuses her, but I wish for her to know that this is not because I dislike her.
3 hours 49 minutes 59 seconds
As I walk down the hall I feel my processing quicken. I pass the first two doors and my neck sensors tingle.
I pass doors 3 and 4 and my face feels hot. I can not help myself, I was programmed to fall in love, and I fell in love with William.
I pass doors 5 and 6. I force my processors to slow down, at this speed I am experiencing time at a rate of 2.13 times faster than a human. At this speed I see the flicker of the ceiling lights throb, and the swirling dust in the corridor seems transfixed in time.
Useless. A waste of energy.
I feel primary programming jump up my priority chain. I only have 2 hours 37 minutes and 10 seconds before I am not in full control of my mind.
I knew this would happen when I saw him. I made preparations to counteract this as best I could. I have avoided repairing my software, I have not eaten in days. Maintenance is at near critical levels and will be weighted higher than my primary function for a little while longer.
I pass door six and stand before seven. As I reach towards the door my wrist jerks involuntarily. I almost drop the key. Processing speeds up again and I must force it down. Even under these circumstances I am so happy to see him.
He looks up at me with hazel eyes and smiles. It occurs to me that I could increase my processing to X500 and experience this moment for the equivalent of a human week before my central cortex overheats and shuts down, but it would break William's heart for him to watch me die and I am incapable of breaking his heart.
"There's my girl!"