Chapter 1 #2
"Escorting me from the receiving site to the delivery point.
In the event of a complication," she paused for a breath, "I will require you to prevent harm to my body.
If harm becomes inevitable, you are to notify me"—again, an almost imperceptible pause, this time to swallow —"so I may wipe the data and prevent it from being obtained by any but my contractor. "
"Am I gonna have to hold your hand while you do this?"
The bitch refused to even look at him. "No, Legate. My hands are inconsequential."
His eyebrow shot up. "Was that a joke?"
"No."
He'd been about to laugh, but her cold rebuttal killed it. Instead, he moved to the chair and dropped his ass into it, deciding to change the rules. This woman wasn't even paying attention to this meeting. How the Hell was he supposed to learn enough about her to protect her?
Well, if she wanted to make this difficult, then he was going to need to push. Too bad for her, Sin was good at being stubborn, and right now, she needed to realize he wasn't here to amuse her.
"Come here, girl."
She rose from the ground in a fluid motion—oddly graceful for someone who wasn't known for grace—and glided toward him silently.
"Am I allowed to touch you, or is that gonna piss you off?" he asked next.
"My previous handler found it useful." Her eyes stayed on the ground, and her voice was beautifully mechanical. "The technicians dislike it if you mark my flesh."
"Oh, the technicians do, huh?" Now she was trying to blame others for her lack of social skills? Of course she was.
"Yes."
"Is there anything else I should know?"
"I solve problems, Legate. That is all."
Curt. Succinct. This woman was giving him nothing to work with.
He'd seen AI with more personality, but if she was truly as smart as they said, she already knew why he was asking all of this.
Too bad for her, boredom didn't mean she could simply ignore him.
Not if this was going to work. So if he had to pull some sort of reaction through her perfectly aligned teeth, then that was exactly what he'd do.
"You know we're about to spend a whole lot of time together, right? You always gonna be this much of an anti-social bitch?"
Her delicate hands tensed and her eyes flicked almost up to his shoes, but he doubted anyone else would have noticed it. She was damned near as cold and unresponsive as a fucking bot.
"I will try to not be offensive," she said softly.
That was not the answer he'd expected. Ingénue were said to be pampered and spoiled creatures, wanting for nothing in their life.
Their high-credit contracts provided them with excesses most people could only dream of, yet here she was, trying to be meek and submissive.
Although even her barely human responses hinted at an underlying arrogance.
Talk about mixed signals. No wonder they kept a bodyguard around each of them. She was clearly unaware of how normal people treated each other—or thought she was above it. Fucking brains. If God had meant for them to be enhanced, they would have been made that way.
"What's your favorite color?" he asked, hoping to jar some semblance of humanity from her.
Tiny wrinkles at the corner of her eyes appeared, then vanished almost as quickly. "Colors are only useful for descriptions, Legate. I do not prefer one over the other. It would be pointless."
"And yet you do." He chuckled, realizing he'd just hit on something. "Everyone does. Just answer the question."
"Blue."
"Why?"
Again her eyes flicked subtly. "It is the most common color cited as a favorite. I hoped the answer would satisfy you."
Sin chuckled. "Right. So how about you tell me the color you like best?"
Her eyes lifted to his slowly. "Blue."
"Why?" he asked her again. "What shade of blue?"
"Cobalt blue."
"Why!" She was stubborn, and stubborn clients were usually the first to get themselves killed.
Her voice was barely a whisper, a slight tremor in it indicating she might be more scared than stubborn. "Because I like to be outdoors."
He smiled, nodding at her to show he'd accepted the answer, and saw her shoulders relax under the layers of blue cloth. "That wasn't so hard, was it, Princess?"
"I'm afraid I do not handle subjective problems efficiently," she said, her voice again nearly robotic. Surprisingly, she didn't twitch at the nickname.
Sin sighed and lifted his hand, gesturing for the person outside the door to return. The lock clicked and a man in a plastic clean-suit shuffled inside with Mr. Briggs following after him.
"So, find everything you need?" The CEO asked, a patronizing smile on his lips.
"Yeah," Sin said. "She doesn't like to be called a bitch."
Mr. Briggs paused and glanced at the Ingénue. "Interesting. Now, we have you in the security system. You'll no longer need to worry about the guards—"
"Never was."
"And if you'd like to follow me, I can show you the receiving room for the Ingénue. She just got an assignment. It will only take a few moments for the data transfer."
"And where will I pick her up and drop her off?"
"The same place." Mr. Briggs gestured for Sin to follow, both of them ignoring the girl and her technician as they left.
It was her turn to see how that felt.