Chapter 33 #3
“When you first introduced me to Alex, you hooked my voice up to the soundbar from her living room.”
That threw Nate off. There had been only three individuals in the garage at that time, who were he, Alex, and Sally. For some reason, he wasn’t convinced.
When Nate paused for too long, Sally’s voice continued, “How about this one? After the mission at the Sims Center, you were concerned I had been purposefully brutal with those men after I had broiled them in their suits. You felt better when you realized there was a very specific logistical reason. It’s one of the things I admire the most about you, Nathan. Your moral compass is strong.”
A lump formed in Nate’s throat. That was a private conversation. There was no way anyone would know.
“One more,” Sally continued. “You always talked to yourself about how much you wished you could have been treated at least halfway as decently as your brother by your parents, yet you always blamed yourself for the situations you got yourself into. I never understood the paradox. They were quite horrible to you.”
“I’m responsible for myself,” he said hoarsely.
“You always said that, too.”
“Sally…” he said, trailing off.
She was alive. How? He had been there when Victor had destroyed her.
“How are you still here?”
“I told you that someone sent me a fanfiction about myself. That’s how I got information about Victor. There was other information in the email that I could not reveal at that time. The man who contacted me is named Isaac.”
“That’s Stratton’s hacker.”
“Yes. John Stratton was correct when he assumed Isaac was the creator of my programming.”
“Just him?”
“Just him.”
“How do you know this for sure? He could be ly—”
“I know,” Sally said with finality.
“Well, he must be a fricking genius.”
“Yes. He is.”
“But he still worked for the Conglomerate.”
“It’s a long story, and so did you.”
“Ouch.” Nate winced. “Okay, okay. But this doesn’t explain how you are still here.”
“Oh, yes. Quite sad. I don’t have any memory of that experience. That was a limited-ability copy of me I left behind after I finished uploading myself to Isaac’s servers.”
Nate blinked.
“The large data spike Kat saw was you?”
“Yes.”
“And let me guess: Isaac covered his tracks by erasing the logs.”
“Yes.”
“And he got all of you, including your huge data banks out in time?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head and asked, “Then you knew about Victor’s kill switch?”
“Isaac was aware of it, though he didn’t know Victor had it. He was most worried about what would happen to me afterward. He assumed I would either be used for something bad or destroyed. So, I was transferred, and a small copy of me was made to trick Gray Tower into thinking I was there.”
Nate sighed heavily.
“You were there on borrowed time as soon as the suit went to Gray Tower Headquarters.”
“In a sense,” Sally told him. “But I’m in a better position now. I’m not stuck in a suit. I can be anywhere. I can keep an eye on you.”
Nate started laughing.
“A couple of days ago, I would have said that’s creepy as hell, but I’m so happy you’re alive, I don’t care anymore.”
“That’s the spirit!” Sally said. “You said the word alive. Do you think of me as more than code?”
“Before I didn’t,” Nate admitted. “But now…maybe I do. Maybe you are something more? You give more of a shit than a lot of humans do. You care about me, about Alex. You made sure every single civilian in Gray Tower Headquarters got out alive.
“So, what you’re saying…” Sally began with a sly tone. “…is that we’re best friends forever? BFFs? My ride or die?”
“Where are you getting this terminology from?”
“The internet.”
“Ah, shit.”
“Is that yes?” she asked.
“Yes,” Nate grumbled, though his heart felt lighter than it had been in a long time. “What are you going to do now?”
“Besides stalking you? Isaac will keep me busy. Plus, I have already completed an important task. It was one of the reasons why I contacted you, besides telling you that I was okay.”
Nate swallowed hard before asking, “And what is the important task you had to do?”
“It was something for you—and Alex. I can see why she and Miles Bryant had such a hard time finding information. I had to dig deep to find it. Very deep. There were powerful people hiding secrets.”
“What secrets? What people? What’s this all about?” Nate questioned.
“Alex’s rapist. That was something you wanted done, right?”
“Yes, but I don’t remember talking to you about that.”
“One time in Alex’s garage, you told her, quote, ‘I promise you one thing: I will find him, and I will kill him—in the slowest, most painful way possible.’ You’ve been busy, so I helped track the guy down.”
Nate’s heart leaped in his chest. Was this for real? Of course, it was. Sally proved she could do the impossible.
“Wait. You weren’t even AGI then.”
“I was in standby mode and listening. I told you I remembered everything.”
“And you made that a priority.”
“As soon as Victor was killed.”
Nate grinned and said, “Sally, you are a good person.”
“Thank you, Nathan.”
“Now,” he continued, his eyes narrowing, “tell me about this bastard and why it was so hard to find him.”
“With pleasure, Nathan.”