Chapter 2 - The Realisation
'Andy you really can't be serious. Have you completely lost leave of your senses? This is my daughter we're talking about for Christ sake'
Mr. Nakamura, please, with all my heart, this way she can be with us forever' Andy sobbed and felt ashamed to do so in front of this commanding figure.
'My God, my God' mutter Shinji 'Have you any idea of the repercussions involved here. Who will perform the operation?'
Shinji Nakamura was towering man, by Japanese standards anyway. He was a powerful ally and a dangerous enemy. He was only keeping his calm exterior look for his love for his daughter, and the knowledge that Suki would willingly have sacrificed her life for this brilliant yet broken man who bowed before him.
'I have taken care of it' said Andy 'he is an old friend of mine, the best at what he does. He will use complete discretion and no one will know anything. I just need you approval Sir'
That was twelve months ago, six months before the shuttle accident. Thank the gods that nearly all Andy's data was destroyed too. What hadn?t been destroyed, the important equations and glue of Andy's formula was safely locked away in a safe, and only he knew of the location.
'f***'
In his dreamy state Andy had crushed the mug that was holding his coffee, now cold and tasteless. Andy looked down at his hand, blood pouring from the fresh wound. The coffee had spilled onto the marble work surface and was slowly dripping onto the stone floor. Andy was sweating, his whole body was dripping. How long had he been here? Staring out of the window into a lifeless garden?
Andy slowly came back to reality, turned on the cold water tap, and forced his hand under the icy cold water. The pain almost made Andy faint but he managed to keep his composure. He went over the third cupboard to the right of the old fashioned range and found the bandages and gauze he wanted. Belinda had been a good housekeeper for his mother, and an equally good housekeeper for the empty house. Belinda was now on an extended paid vacation after Andy had returned. He was glad he never sold the house despite the numerous offers and hassles from estate agents.
The pain started to subside in his hand. Andy went upstairs and showered and cleaned himself up. It was time he spoke to Suki. His beloved Suki. Would she remember him? Would she forgive him? Suki's father had put up the money to keep her on life support and then have her transferred so that Dave could look after her.
Eighteen months ago Suki died from a massive coronary, twelve months ago with the help of his trusted friend and Suki's father, Andy had rescued her.
He went downstairs and poured himself a bailey's...it was Suki's favourite drink and the soft mellow taste somewhat reassured him. Andy slowly climbed the stairs to his makeshift office and sat down...the sweat starting to build up again on his forehead.
He gazed over the furniture in this room. It had been his Fathers study for many years, an architect of great accomplishment. His coupe de grace was getting the contract for the new look London Tower and bridge. His Father never knew that part of the reason for him getting such a lucrative and prestigious contract was Andy's feverish phone calls from one person to another. Andy smiled as he looked at the picture of his parents that still sat proudly on the mahogany, leather inlaid desk, smiling as they both held aloft the contract. Maybe his Father did know after all, if he did, he never let on to Andy that he knew. Maybe it was better that way, he had great love and admiration for his Father yet they barely spoke about things that mattered. His father had passed away eight years ago and his mother a mere three years later. After the passing of his Father his mother used the room to store her collection of dolls and now those same dolls stared back at Andy from all corners of the room with a blank, mindless expression. The same expression Suki had stared at him with when he had managed to get to the hospital to see her.
Andy knew he never could never get rid of these in animated people, yet still he would have to find them a new home within the house he thought. If he was being honest with himself, they gave him the creeps. He sat down in his dads leather chair, opened one of the desk drawers and found the set of silver coasters he had bought his Father for his sixtieth birthday. He placed the coaster onto the desk and then placed his glass onto it. He slowly ran his fingers along the glass of the picture of his parents, as if trying to be close to them once again then regained his composure. He took a long deep breath of air and then slowly let it slip out between his lips.
'Suki?' Andy asked with a tremble in his voice, before clearing his voice.
'Suki can you hear me?' He asked again.
Andy had three laptops all connected together next to each other on the desk. The middle laptop showed the interface, to the right was the brain activity and to the left various graphs were shown on the screen representing everything from voice pitch to input fields. it was the screen to Andy's right that interested him the most at this moment. Suki's brain activity was off the scale. Andy grabbed for the baileys, finished off what was in the glass and wished he had brought the bottle up with him. Just as he decided to go and get it a voice replied...
'Yes Dr Vincent I can hear you, though your voice seems troubled'
'Suki, my angel, I have things that I need to tell you, explain to you. Some of things won't make much sense to you right now, some may shock you, maybe even scare you but I need you to understand that I love you Suki, and always will. I need you to know that you are completely safe and nothing bad, no harm will come to you.'
Suddenly Andy remembered his dad?s secret compartment in the bottom drawer of the desk. Well calling it a secret was a bit of a joke really; his mother had known about the compartment for many years but had always played along with her husband. He opened the drawer, felt around for the catch and then as he flicked it part of the drawer slid away revealing a compartment just big enough to hold a bottle. Andy looked into the drawer and sure enough there was a bottle of Jack Daniels. It had barely been touched and Andy swiftly grabbed the bottle and poured some into the empty glass on the desk. He picked up the glass and offered it to the picture of his parents.
'Cheers dad' Andy whispered and then took a swig of the drink. It caught his throat and burned slightly but went down smooth as silk. Instantly Andy started to feel warmer and he suddenly felt more sure of the tasks that lay ahead of him. Andy bowed his head and noticed something white sticking out from underneath the burgundy velvet lining of the drawer. He reached down and pinched it between his thumb and forefinger and tugged at it. It was an envelope. Andy pulled at it some more until it was free and saw his name written on the front. It was in his Fathers handwriting. he took out the silver envelope opener from its position on the desk and cut a opening along the top of the envelope, reached inside and slid out a single piece of paper.
Son, I never told you this before but I wanted to say I love you, we never really communicated; you were always closer to your mother and her damn cat than me. But hey, that was ok; we didn?t need to speak often did we? If you?re reading this I assume your back home or worse still, your selling the place. That would break your mother?s heart but life moves on. I'm very proud of you son. Oh before i forget, my car is in the garage for you should you ever need transport, your mother will never sell it. And son, I know about the contract. it was too easy for me to get it, there had to be a third party pulling some strings, but all the same, thanks. It made your mother very happy and we all need a little help at times eh? Take good care of yourself, your loving father.
Tears welled up in Andy's eyes. He clutched the letter tightly to his chest and smiled once more at the picture of his parents. So the crafty old goat knew after all he thought to himself. He wiped his hands across his eyes and took another deep long drink from the glass. The whiskey tasted better this time and then a voice from the silence startled him.
'Dr Vincent? You?re crying.'
Andy laughed softly, remembering good times from long ago. 'Yes Suki I am'
'Why do you cry?' Suki asked.
'For good times and forgotten memories my love. I have just found something that has made me sad yet very happy'
'I have memories Dr. Vincent, yet I don?t recall from where or what'.
Andy knew that this would be a condition of the operation. He would have to teach Suki a lot of things over again, simple things, re-establish the bridge between mind and memory. Andy had personally overseen the transplant that Dave had constructed, involved in every aspect, though the actual operation itself Andy had watched from behind glass. As much as Dade and he were friends, Dave did not want an over emotional person in the operating room with him. Andy had understood and complied though he was like a prospective father at the birth of his first son, all nerves and on edge. Once Dave had completed the operation, the two of them worked hard together on the finer details. Since then Andy had not spoken to his beloved Suki until this day.
'Suki, I am going to start by asking you a few simple questions, to test your responses, response time and emotional state. Is that ok with you?' Andy started to feel sick to the stomach and realised it had been 2 days since he had last eaten.
'Yes Dr. Vincent that is fine' Suki replied.
'Where were you born please Suki?' Andy watched the screen with Suki's brain patterns and activity intently, waiting for her answer.
'I was born in Macau, China'
Andy smiled, 'Very good Suki, now, what is your date of birth?'
'I was born on the...' Suki paused, her brain patterns lighting up the screen in the darkened room ' I was born on the 7th July 2001'
'Excellent Suki, very well done' Andy thought to himself that this may just be easier than he was anticipating.
'I apologise for the pause Dr. Vincent, for a moment I could not remember'
'It is quite all right Suki, its a side effect of the oper...' Andy tailed off from what he was about to say, realising he could not feed to much information to Suki too early for fear of a collapse in her stability.
'Tell me the last thing you remember Suki please'
For what seemed like an eternity Suki stayed silent. The various swirls and algorithmic patterns on the screen to Andy's right were slowly intensifying and then went back to a normal calm pattern.
'I...I remember a large noise, and...and...falling rocks' Suki replied in a more subdued tone of voice.
'Do you remember anything else Suki? Anything at all?'
'Only a flash of light, and...and great pain.'
'It is ok Suki, please do not worry, everything will be ok I promise. You feel no pain now no?'
'I do not think so; I feel a discomfort though I cannot place the source of this discomfort'
'I understand my love, please again I ask you to be patient. I will remove this discomfort soon I promise'
'It is not overly bothersome Dr. Vincent' Suki replied in a lighter tone.
Andy's stomach then decided to imitate the great quake and at that point Andy knew he had to eat. he was no use to his beloved Suki if he was lying in a hospital bed himself. 'Suki will you please excuse me for a few moments?' Andy asked politely.
'Of course Dr. Vincent' Suki replied in a cheery voice like it was something asked of her every day.
Andy made his way downstairs and looked in the fridge. He need not of bothered, there was a loaf of bread, a half full jar of marmalade and a fresh bottle of milk Andy had bought on his way to the house in the village. He remembered his last conversation with Belinda and chuckled. Whenever he spoke with her over the phone to check on things and her she always mothered him. It was something his mother had asked her to do no doubt, and he remembered that at the end of the conversation she said she would fix him up some goodies for when he arrived. Since he had actually arrived he had pretty much slept straight through and had forgotten. He opened up the freezer and there as he expected were shelves full of pre made frozen meals. 'Thanks Bee' he muttered to himself and began to look at what she had made. Nothing really caught his eye and as he was closed the freezer door and began to walk away he happened to look up at the notice board screwed to the wall. There was a note (how had he not seen it?) and he walked over to it.
Master Andrew (Belinda had called him this since he was ten years old), I still remember what your like, and know what trouble you get into. So here is my mother?s number in case you really need me. Let me know when you would like me to return to my duties and I'll be along the very next day. Oh and here is the number of the local pizza take-away. Mrs. Higginbottom
Andy laughed out load for the first time in what seemed like a very long time. He laughed at Bee writing down the number of the pizza shop and laughed at the signature. After all these years she still referred to herself as Mrs. Higginbottom on any kind of written correspondence, even though he had been calling her Bee for years. Still he smiled at her efficiency and then spoke into the com. 'Please dial 01362 074992' within seconds a voice came over the com 'Swanton Pizzaaaaaaaa how can I help you?'
'Yeah hi, I'd like a 12" pepperoni, 12" garlic bread and a cheeseburger please...just lettuce and garlic mayo on the burger please' The new technology of the year was in use and Andy realised that they knew his address before he even opened his mouth.
'You paying credit?' The voice on the com asked
'No cash please' Andy was still liked to use real money though in reality, he knew it was only a matter of time before it phased out completely.
'Sure thing buddy' The voice came back 'Be with you in ten to fifteen' The com fell silent and Andy felt a little better knowing food was on its way. Suki had always teased him about his love for pizza. On there holiday in Fiji Andy had ordered pizza the first night they were there. It was a top class restaurant recommended by her father and Andy had shamed Suki by asking for one. The way he saw it, he was paying out six hundred dollars a night for this place, so if he wanted pizza, he was damn well going to get one. Suki had almost died from embarrassment and the waiter went off. This memory brought a warm feeling to Andy and he started to head up back to the study in a more confident mood. It was then that he glanced at the calendar, October he thought, winter would soon be upon us and he would be holed up in this old house for most of it. Where did the time go he thought, months had passed like clouds in the sky, seamlessly and effortlessly.
'I am back Suki, sorry for the delay'
'Is everything all right Dr. Vincent?' Suki asked inquisitively, apparently forgetful with her own concerns for the time being.
'Yes my love, was just ordering pizza' Andy remarked back casually.
'Ha ha you and your pizza...' The brain patterns on the screen went ballistic. They jumped and swirled so much even Andy had trouble keeping up with what was happening inside of Suki's brain. Suki stayed silent, the screen still alive with thought process.
'How do I know you like pizza so much Dr. Vincent?' There was a hesitancy and fear in her voice.
'You are starting to regain some of your memories Suki, please I say again, do not be afraid. You have lost a lot of what you once knew, it will all come back to you slowly, with my help I assure you but you must try to remain calm and not worry about your surroundings.'
'I will try Dr. Vincent' Suki replied sounding more assured of herself 'Its just that having these memories and having no recollection from where i get them is disturbing.'
'I appreciate that Suki, that is why we must take things one step at a time, slowly and with a plan, so as we do not overload you with too much all at once. We need you to be able to digest what I teach and tell you one step at a time.' Andy tried to sound calm and controlled but he could hear the fear in his own voice and hoped that Suki didn?t respond to it. A chime ringed through the old house and Andy almost had a heart attack right there in his father?s chair.
'There is someone at the door?' Suki answered to Andy's suprise.
'Yes, it must be my pizza; I will be right back honey'
Andy eased himself out of the comfortable chair and slowly made his way down the wooden staircase, still immaculately varnished after all the years had passed since his father had died. he made his way through the hall and to the large front door, opened it and there greeted Andy a young woman of her late teens Andy approximated, dressed in a company uniform of blue shirt which had the logo of xpress pizza on it and dark red skirt, both of which Andy thought were a size too small for this young woman. She stood before him with her long blonde hair and immaculate face, adorned with a cap on her head.
'Hi there' she exclaimed 'Pizza? That will be thirteen fifty please sir'
The last person to call him sir was a pimply faced young grad who was assigned to him back at the lab. He was good kid and eager to learn. He appreciated her manners and fresh approach and bungled his hand into his jeans and pulled out a twenty. He noticed the look on her face as she saw the note.
'Its ok babe, keep the change' Andy winked.
'Thank you sir' she exclaimed back and took the boxes out of the bag they use to keep the food warm and offered them to him. As she was offering the boxes to Andy he couldn?t help but admire this young woman?s figure. She noticed and blinked and then smiled coyly back at Andy. Andy thought to himself that he bet she was a real tease and that the tight fitting clothes were just a ploy to get good tips out of her male customers, well if it was it was certainly working a treat. Andy grinned to himself and then the young woman spoke again.
'Is there anything else sir?
'Yeah as a matter of fact there is'
'How can I be of service sir?' She asked in a voice that Andy imagined angels sounded like.
'What?s your name?' Andy asked cheekily.
'The young woman smiled again, shifted her footing and then replied 'Natalia'
'What a lovely name' Andy said 'Listen do me a favour please. Next time your passing close by grab me twenty smokes and drop them through the letterbox please. I know its not your job and its a little cheeky of me to ask you but old habits die hard an all that' Andy grinned again then pulled another twenty out of his pocket and handed it over to her. 'Keep the change again' he winked.
'Wow thanks...err....I told you mine, do I get the same pleasure?' She enquired equally as cheeky
'Heh sure, where are my manners' Andy spluttered 'My names Andy'
'Sure thing then Andy, we deliver past here all the time so I'm sure it wont be too long before i pass again.' She then opened up one of her top pockets showing a little too much to Andy and produced a cigarette which she then handed to Andy. 'This is to keep you going'
Andy smiled at this pretty young woman and took the cigarette from her slender fingers. 'Thanks Natalia'
'Well if you don?t want it to go cold sir you best eat up' Natalia spoke 'Cya later' and off she walked down the long path. Andy once again smiled at the situation and walked back into the house before making sure he caught one last final glimpse of the girl as she rounded the corner. 'Very nice' Andy spoke quietly and headed back up the stairs to the study. He sat himself down and then placed the pizza boxes onto the desk. He opened the first box and saw the garlic bread; he closed the lid and placed it to one side. He opened the second box and laid it on top of the other, steam escaping from the box, and then opened the polystyrene box containing the cheeseburger. Forgetting his surroundings he offered the cheeseburger out to an eager mouth that wasn?t there and he realised that his beloved Merlin was still in British quarantine, along with Cleo his tortoiseshell cat. He placed the cheeseburger back into its box and made a mental note to hassle the quarantine authorities first thing in the morning. Picking up a slice of hot pizza he again spoke to Suki.
'Yes it was the pizza delivery girl at the door. Now were all set' He said.
Suki spoke softly 'Dr. Vincent, what is your first name?'
Andy froze just as he was taking a bite out of the slice of pizza. His heart began to beat faster and he was sure he could hear it, so loud was it in his ears. He glanced back at the right hand screen and noticed to his suprise that the Suki's brain patterns were at a normal level of activity. He bit a piece of the slice off and slowly chewed it in his moth, savouring the flavour. His heart beat slowed slightly and he thought about this question he had been asked. it was a suprise question and had certainly caught him off guard, and he was unsure as to whether Suki was merely asking out of interest or if more of her memories had returned. If she was asking out of curiosity that would explain the normal brain behaviour but if she had regained some of her memories he was confused and slightly disturbed as to the normal pattern of activity. After a few moments Andy spoke.
'It?s Andy'
He continued to much on the pizza, finishing the slice in his hands and reaching for another before it went cold. He continued to monitor Suki's brain waves on the laptop screen and saw that there was no change in the readings. He downed some more of the whiskey and after finishing the second slice off he poured himself some more into the cut crystal glass. Still there was no response from Suki. Looking at the screen it was almost as if she was in a coma or a deep deep sleep. There was nothing at all. No activity, nothing. Then, the screen came alive again with swirls and Suki spoke once more.
'I think I once knew an Andy, I recall happy times, or at least i think I recall them. Think they were happy times. I'm not sure, it?s like a distant vague memory that you get from looking at a photograph yet you don?t actually remember the event. Does that make any sense?'
'Yes Suki that makes sense. Are you ok? Andy asked.
'I...I am not sure' Sukie responded slowly 'Your voice sounds familiar yet again I have no idea where from or why.' Suki's brain patterns grew stronger and Andy realised she was starting to make a connection. He waited patiently for Suki to continue. 'I was in love with Andy' she suddenly continued 'He used to like pizza too'
Andy's heart was in his mouth, he knew that the wrong words right now could ruin all his hard work, and send Suki into a breakdown that she may never recover from. Still he stayed silent, allowing Suki to form her memories in her mind and speak again to him.
'Andy? Do you love me?' Suki asked an amount of trepidation in her voice evident.
'Yes my angel, I love you with all my heart and more than any words could ever describe' His voice trembled and he realised he was starting to cry again. Another deep drink from the glass settled his nerves a little and he awaited Suki's response to his statement. He picked up the cigarette from the desk, looked into the top right drawer and found his dads lighter, flicked the flint and the lighter danced into life. He held it to the tip of the cigarette and took a long deep drag, savouring the taste and feeling. He blew the smoke out loudly and checked the screens once more. Everything appeared normal and Andy tried to imagine what was going on inside Suki's mind. The fear and feeling, the emotions she must be going through right now.
'Andy it is you isn?t it?' A teary voice spoke. 'What?s happening to me Andy, why can?t I see or feel anything? I am trying not to worry, I trust you my love, I know you will not let anything to happen to me but I am so confused, I feel so alone, so helpless.'
'Yes my angel it?s me, I can?t tell you how happy I am that you remember me, us, that we were together. But it saddens me also, that things are not what they were. I will try to explain the best I can, I will now tell you what happened, where we are now, and what...what I had to do to save you.' Andy was now breathing hard; he finished the cigarette and stubbed it out into the ashtray.
?Eighteen months ago Suki you were at a business meeting on behalf of your father. As you left the building a drunk driver careered over the kerb and hit you along with two of your associates and two porters. You were seriously injured and by the time I could get to you in the hospital you were in a coma and realistically according to the doctors, already dead?. Andy paused for a moment, unsure as to how best to continue. ?The doctors told me and your father that they wanted to switch off the life support, but that was something I could not allow them to do, I couldn?t bare to be without you. So I spoke to a friend of mine and with your fathers consent we moved you to his private labs where we could keep you alive indefinitely.? Andy thought for a moment then asked,
?Do you have any questions so far Suki?
He took another slice of pizza from out of the box along with a slice of the garlic bread and then squashed them together, so they resembled a sandwich and proceeded to eat them hungrily as he waited for a response. The monitor showed increased brain activity but nothing that overly concerned him. He finished off the pizza sandwich and then took a small sip off the whiskey. He reached for a packet of cigarettes that wasn?t there and then remembered that he had asked the beautiful Natalia, the pizza delivery girl to obtain him some. They were becoming increasingly difficult to procure but despite constant pressure from the governments of the world, smoking had still yet to be banned in most countries, though places selling cigarettes was dwindling fast due to high taxes being charged to shopkeepers. He was sure a girl of her age would know of places still selling them and be good to her word.
?I think I would rather you carry on to the point at where we are now, then I can try to comprehend the full picture, then I will most likely have questions? Suki replied logically.
?Ok babe, well where was I? Oh yes, we moved you to Dave?s labs so we could monitor your situation and keep you alive without doctors hassling us. Do you remember Dave? You did meet each other once at our engagement, anyway sorry, I?m getting off the plot a little here, Dave consulted with me and your father and told us that no matter what we did the situation was untenable and that you were lost to us, that there was no way you were going to be able to recover from your injuries. That?s the time I then thought about my work. Do you remember my work at NASA, what I did??
?I am not sure? replied Suki ?it was something to do with intelligence and, and false intelligence, something like that??
?You?re along the right lines my love yes, I was working in the Artificial Intelligence field, AI as its called, its ok, please don?t be disheartened; it will take a while for your memory to come back to you, some of which is I?m sad to say lost forever. I will get into that later though. I came upon a brilliant yet untried idea, one very risky and at this point in time even though scientists are making great strides in cloning, an idea that is quite probably illegal also. With your father?s permission and some badgering to Dave, Dave performed an operation that would keep you alive forever. We, or I should say Dave, removed your brain and we kept you alive by electronic pulses sent to sensors attached to the brain tissue. Your brain was suspended in an electro magnetic liquid and the sensors received pulses every second, to simulate a heartbeat. Image a fetus inside its amniotic sac and you will get the idea. Dave managed to stabalise the tissue and keep your brain active. With Dave?s help in understanding how the human brain works and where and how it collates and stores information I then started to study how I could download what was contained inside your brain onto hard disk. While I was doing this we all decided that it would be better if you officially died in your coma and then accordingly, a funeral was held for you. Even Dave could not keep you alive forever; he has his own budgets to keep to and is responsible still to the medical authorities so it was decided that after the operation we would have your funeral so as to avoid any unnecessary complications.?
Andy badly needed another cigarette and the dawning realisation in the cold light of day of what he had done was starting to hit him. He grabbed the bottle of his dad?s whiskey and topped up his glass before taking a long fast drink. He topped up the glass again and placed the bottle back onto the table. He had been far too busy to realise the severity of his actions and now started to regret involving his old friend. Still he thought to himself, Dave had been happy to help and her father had also helped where he could, primarily in the funding of the project, and the thought that he had two people willing to help him in this crazy venture calmed him somewhat.
?There is more to the story my love, but for now at least you know what happened to you. Would you like to ask me anything now or shall I continue?? Andy took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and reached for the last two pieces of pizza remaining. Again he squashed these two pieces together and as he took the first bite the chime of the doorbell rang through the silent house.
?Please excuse me a moment Suki, I?ll try not to be long. If you have any questions for me I shall answer them when I return.? Andy hurriedly got up from his seat and ran down the stairs to the door. Upon opening the door he was greeted by a familiar and sweet smile, only this time the smile was wearing tight jeans and a low cut top.
?Hiya Andy, I got your smokes for you? She handed over a packet of twenty cigarettes, a brand Andy thought had long since gone out of production. ?You sure you don?t want your change?? The sweet young girl asked.
?Thanks Natalia, and yeah I?m sure, you keep it? he again looked at her face and he could feel that smile of hers melting him, it reminded him of Suki?s. He seemed to stand there for an eternity admiring this woman when she spoke.
?This may seem forward, I'm not easy, or anything but maybe you?re free this weekend? Maybe we could go out or something?? She shifted uneasily as she stood there and that made her hips sway in a mesmerising way.
Andy almost chocked, it had been a long time since a woman had come onto him, especially one so young and attractive and he was momentarily stunned. He shook himself to his senses and decided that he was too old for this young woman stood in front of him when she started to turn and walk away.
?I'm sorry, I shouldn?t have said anything, please forgive me.?
?No wait, Natalia, you just caught me a little off guard there for a moment, I apologise, please don?t leave yet. Have you any idea how old I am?? The girl shrugged and then smiled again, that smile. ?Oh sod it; I'm way too old to be having this conversation with you but what the hell. I?d love to go out one night yeah though I'm busy this weekend I'm afraid. Here let me give you my number and then you can buzz me after the weekend and we can organise something ok?? Andy couldn?t believe he was saying this but it had been far too long since he had enjoyed a woman?s company and maybe she could lighten him up a little, help him forget the events of the last eighteen months. Andy gave her his number and as he spoke the numbers she tapped them into her own console. Andy almost laughed, the ?console? was the latest tech gadget on the market, almost like an ipod and pc rolled into one combined with that great invention, the mobile phone.
?I sure will buzz ya Andy? and with a wink and a twist of her hips off she scampered down the long driveway. Andy shook his head as if he were awakening from a dream and closed the door. Once again he made his way back up the stairs to the waiting Suki and her questions. When Dave reached his make shift office all of the monitors were still, nothing was happening, as if the power had been cut. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end and goose bumps covered his arms. He slowly sat down into the chair, took a drink, and proceeded to unwrap the packet of cigarettes, throwing the outer wrapper into the small metal bin at the side of the desk. He took a cigarette out, held it to his lips, and grabbed the lighter. He flicked the lighter and it danced into life. He lit the cigarette, leaned back, and took a deep breath.
?Andy, where are we now?where am I now?? Suki spoke from out of nowhere.
?Andy jumped, he was expecting an answer like that, it was almost as if she was waiting for him to sit down, and collect himself before she spoke. ?Well, we are at my parents old house in England, I will explain shortly way we?I am here. You my love, I'm really not too sure how to word this but you are inside my laptop. You are effectively now a program running on my computer. Do you understand what I have just told you Suki??
?Yes Andy I understand, though I do not understand how I am to be inside of your computer. How is that possible? And are you on holiday for us to be at your parent?s house? The questions from Suki were now starting to roll in and Andy wanted to be careful he answered them in some kind of chronological order, for his sanity if not hers. He decided to continue with the story up the current point in time of their lives in order to help answer her questions.
?Let me continue for a while please Suki, things then might start to make sense, maybe a little more than they do now anyway. After the operation I spent some months working on how to get the information inside your brain onto hard disk. It took me a while but I managed to start getting fragments of what I thought and appeared to be knowledge, even memories. I started to collate all this information into databases and get it all organised and structured correctly. As you can imagine, the human brain can contain and hold vast amounts of knowledge so this had to be collected and saved correctly. This is when I decided to use parts of what I had learnt in my work at NASA. I made great advances in the few months after that. Integrating AIML along with your downloaded knowledge gave me an AI that was far superior to anything that had come before. Sadly though shortly after that there was a bad accident on a test mission due to a rocket malfunction. I was blamed though and the AI project was scrapped. Thankfully I was careful in my data entry and as far as I'm aware there could be no trace back to what I was doing. Also a lot of my data was destroyed in the accident. I was held responsible for the accident by the NASA chiefs and subsequently made a scapegoat. I was in and out of court for weeks and when I finally emerged somewhat damaged but with a reasonable amount of my reputation in tact I decided it was time to escape all the media attention and return home where I could get some peace and think straight, away from the spotlights and the frenzy.?
Again Andy took a drink from the glass, refilled it, and lit another cigarette. He had told Suki a lot of information and wanted to give her a moment for her databases to sort the information. She had been built as closely to resemble the human brain as possible. She had 250 databases working in synch with each other and the capability to hold an unlimited amount of data. It had taken him months to fine tune the system and he was still unsure as to how exactly she would operate, run. So far she seemed to be responding to him perfectly, though he knew there would be times she would do things unexpected. This was after all; she was after all, a first in AI.
?So Suki, we arrive to now. I fled back to England with all of your thoughts, memories, and knowledge safely on my computer. You died in a freak accident over a year and a half ago Suki, and this is the very first time I've spoken to you since. I used all of my knowledge combined with Dave?s medical knowledge to keep as much of your personality as possible. I didn?t want to just create a living entity, an Ai with your thoughts and memories. I wanted to create you. You are unique Suki; you are the first of your kind. I kept you alive Suki, I couldn?t bear to be without you I love you so much, but the cost of my love is that you are no longer alive in the true sense of the word. Maybe you should ask your questions and try to get to grips with your current situation first before we continue.?
?Andy; I love you too baby? She sounded dreamy, melancholic, almost as if she was drunk or high. It sounded false and then Andy realised she had no grasp of emotion anymore, or at least she did but had no way of showing it yet. Thank you for explaining to me what has happened. I no longer feel afraid anymore now you have told me where, and what I am. Things are starting to make a lot more sense now, my surroundings; though I cannot feel or see them I am aware of them. May I ask how I appear to you? Can you hear me or am I just words on your computer? How am I able to sense the fluctuations of your voice, surprise, fear, regret? I never knew your work so complicated.?
?I'm sure you must be feeling very confused Suki, alone, the way you have been put together is very complicated and many a long night sleepless night was spent in building you. Even though you have the capability to understand end show emotion you will need to learn how. I will help you with this of course so there will be times like now possibly that you may be feeling things but you have no idea what they are or how to respond to them. You appear to me as brain waves, patterns on a monitor, on a second monitor I can keep track of your databases and the interface and on a third monitor I have all the speech settings and other various program settings. I can see what you say in txt and I can also hear your voice. The way we built you; you should be able to recognise my voice yet as of yet I have been unable to get your voice accurate, though that is something I will work on if I can ever get it accurate at all. Despite my best efforts Suki I am unable to know or tell what information has been transferred and downloaded correctly so please whenever you think you have remembered something please tell me than I can keep records. I really can?t tell you how happy I am to have you back with me Suki.?
Andy paused for a single moment then continued.
?And the last thing to know is this; it?s long been known that the cerebral cortex has positive effects on memory and emotion. Part of your cortex was removed also and placed in the same fluid and encased in glass. This has been built in and connected to the laptop in which you reside and this is the mainframe to your emotions and memory, directly linked to your sensory perception and databases. I'm sorry if it all sounds a little like Frankenstein but it really was the only way to truly keep you alive Suki.