Mine (A first draft)

Wilder’s blush caused her cheeks to flame feverishly. This was getting ridiculous. How much more could she take of this embarrassment?

“I’ve told you before, Wilder. Spell check is essential before sending out business emails. I’ve smoothed things over with the client, but you’ve got to get this under control. I can’t keep covering for you,” Mr. Haxley reiterated for the ninth time this month.

Moisture formed glassy puddles at the top of her lower lashes, a mixture of her anger and helplessness. She had spell checked that email. Several times.

Mr. Haxley sighed heavily at her expression, “Wilder, you know I think you’re great at your job. Everyone does. You’re one of the most respected analysts we’ve ever had. I really need you to shake this problem. For your sake and the company’s.”

Wilder sniffed and nodded firmly, “I’ll do everything I can to improve, sir.”

Her boss stepped closer, handing her a tissue, “I know you will. We’re counting on you.”

*

After work, Wilder boarded the new speed rail that was finally finished connecting her city. The nation had worked hard for over a decade ensuring that the travel network could sustain the needs of the people, thus voiding the need for cars and other personal motorized vehicles. Only vehicles powered by human muscle could still be found on the roads, many of which had been taken over by the rails.

Weather wasn’t an issue, either. The cities and surrounding areas had integrated new AI Weather Control Stations. Artificial Intelligence controlled the climate now, including where and when temperatures and precipitation events would occur. These were scheduled well in advance and the people were alerted so everyone could plan their business to remain indoors during heavy rainfalls or the intense freezes that were required to germinate crops.

Wilder stood near the door of the train, gripping the stiff plastic bar in front of her that ran the length of the compartment. It was still warm from the sanitation cycle that ran after each use. She stared sightlessly out of the window. There was nothing to see, really, the trains moved too swiftly to catch a decent view of anything outside.

Her phone dinged and she reached into her pants pocket to pull it out. The screen lit up with Hendrix’s name. Wilder smiled to herself. They’d been dating for a couple of months now and he’d been hinting at moving things to the next level. He’d been respectful thus far, but lately their goodbye’s at the door included hungry kisses and heavy panting before he’d say ‘goodnight’ and watch her go inside.

The rarity of a relationship like this was to be cherished. As more AI services were provided to people over the last several decades, human connection became harder to achieve. Sexual needs could be met in other ways, without a human partner, so it usually followed that someone seeking out your company for a connection had serious intentions.

Likewise, children could be grown in artificial wombs that increased their survivability to nearly 100 percent. It wasn’t necessary to develop family units any longer, though some people still preferred this lifestyle.

Still smiling, Wilder opened the text message.

HENDRIX: Can I see you tonight? It’s important.

WILDER: I’m on my way home now. Want to meet at my place?

HENDRIX: Be there soon.

Wilder smiled to herself, pleased that the AI system that had been fucking up her autocorrect system hadn’t reared its ugly head this time. The train would stop near her small townhome in less than five minutes.

She turned her sights to her reflection in the train window. Placing her phone back in her pocket, she used her hand to smooth out her hair and reach into her bag to grab her lip gloss. A small thrill of anticipation ran through her as the train slowed to a stop and she disembarked.

She walked the two blocks to her neighborhood and could see Hendrix standing on the stoop near her door. She was a few houses away now and he hadn’t noticed her yet, but her steps slowed when she noticed he was glowering. She’d never seen him like that before.

When she approached him, his eyes landed on her face, but his expression didn’t change.

She sucked air in and then walked up the steps to the door. It automatically unlatched when she was in range.

Pushing the door wide she motioned with her free hand, “Would you like to come in.”

Hendrix sighed and stepped into the small entry hall. Wilder hung her bag on the wall peg and ushered him into the small sitting room.

“Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?” her tone was polite but wary.

Hendrix shook his head then pulled his phone from his own pocket, thrusting it toward her, “What is this?”

Wilder raised an eyebrow, but took the device from him, searching his expression. He was angry, yes, but he seemed hurt, too. She looked down at the device screen and nearly dropped it when her heart plummeted to her feet.

“Where did you get this?” she swallowed hard, as if trying to quell the panic.

“An anonymous message,” he croaked then cleared his throat to continue, “I don’t understand what I’m looking at, Wilder. You told me that you felt the same way I did about human connection and not using AI assistance for your sexual needs. I thought we were on the same page.”

“I know what this looks like, Hendrix, but you have to believe me. This isn’t real,” Wilder implored.

“It looks like you. And it looks like one of those AI droid brothels,” his voice was firm and challenging.

“But I’ve never been to one of those places!” She insisted vehemently.

“Why are you lying to me, Wilder? What could you possible gain from this?” His voice was shaky with pain.

“I’m not lying! I’ve never been to any place like that. You have to believe me,” she implored.

Hendrix shook his head and his gaze hardened, “I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that you’re lying to me or that this happened since we’ve been dating.”

“It’s not me…wait…what do you mean?” she narrowed her eyes.

“Look at your hip in the photo, Wilder. That’s the tattoo you got on our fifth date. I took you to get it!” he growled.

Wilder looked back down at the device, zooming in on the woman’s hip. It looked exactly like her hip and the tattoo was identical.

She choked on a cry of despair, “I don’t understand. This really isn’t me, Hendrix, I swear on my life!”

Anger flared in his eyes as he yanked the phone away from her and shoved it into his pocket.

“I think it’s best if we end things here. I can’t trust you anymore. I don’t even know you,” Hendrix hissed.

“Hendrix, please! I don’t know who made this or why they sent it to you but it’s really not me!” she cried desperately.

Hendrix didn’t bother replying. He simply turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him.

Wilder sank to the floor, tears pouring down her face as her body was wracked with sobs.

It was a long time before she was able to pull herself from the floor and head up the stairs to her bedroom. When she entered the small chamber, she stood at the foot of the bed for a while, staring at nothing. Finally, she crawled up the surface to her pillow and pulled a blanket over her shoulders, immediately sinking into a restless sleep.

*

Wilder clamped her eyelids shut as the electric shades on her windows rose with the morning sun. She pulled the blanket over her head and groaned. Exhausted after a night of dark, intense dreams about brothels and dominant androids, she rubbed her chest at the ache there, trying to push the visions out of her mind.

As full awareness returned to her, she sat up abruptly. Hendrix was gone. Someone had violated her with lies and false images.

Her mind raced with scenarios, solutions, and research possibilities. She was good at those things, which was what made her a spectacular analyst. She scurried out of bed and made her way across the hall to her small home office.

Each residence had a study of sorts that doubled as a security center for the home. Wilder hadn’t been in hers for months since she’d switched her home settings to privacy shield and manual home maintenance.

When she flung open the door, a light layer of dust stirred up from the floor and tickled her throat. Ignoring the sensation she crossed the small room to the large touch screen affixed to the wall.

She paused, unsure if she wanted to reactivate her home’s more advanced AI features, but the need to discover who had sabotaged the best thing in her life overrode any qualms. Before she could overthink it, she reached out and placed her palm flat against the surface.

The cool glass lit up and a pleasant feminine voice greeted her, “Good morning, Wilder. It is good to see you again.”

Wilder cleared her throat, “Good morning, Athena.”

“How may I assist you today?” Athena’s calm soothing tones held no emotion, but Wilder shivered all the same.

Wilder was one of the few natural born persons alive today. Her parents had been married per their culture’s tradition and she was raised by them both until her mother’s death. By that time, she was seventeen years old and had been assigned to career education in the city. Her father was saddened by this, but could do nothing about it.

They’d raised her to be cautious and a critical thinker, teaching her that relying solely on AI and machines was unwise. They acknowledged the benefits of technology, but even now her father preferred to live in a cabin in the woods outside of any metropolitan area’s reach. He was as off-the-grid as a person could be in this century. They communicated through paper letters, an eccentricity which her friends found charming even if they didn’t understand.

“Wilder, is there something that you require?” Athena’s voice interrupted her train of thought.

She shoved down her hesitation, the need for an explanation outweighing her need for privacy.

“Yes, Athena. Please disengage privacy parameters, and access security video related to Hendrix’s visit yesterday evening. Password BravoAlphaPiSeven,” she authorized.

“Voice recognition password acknowledged. Accessing feed,” Athena informed.

“Are you able to capture and zoom in on the image shown on Hendrix’s device? If so, please display.”

The image appeared on the screen, larger than she’d seen it on the phone, “Athena, are you able to confirm whether or not this image is AI generated?”

“Affirmative. Image is a composite of twenty-seven different sources with additional AI manipulation,” Athena offered in a steady voice.

“Can you name those sources?” Wilder pressed on.

A document flashed up on the screen, “Sources displayed.”

Wilder scanned the list which included places she’d gone with Hendrix. The tattoo parlor was one of them, which explained how the editor was able to gain an image of her hip with the tattoo on it.

Wilder pursed her lips in concentration, “Athena, can you identify the creator of the image?”

“Yes,” Athena’s response was unusually void of details.

“Please tell me the name of the creator,” Wilder insisted.

“Security clearance insufficient,” Athena did not elaborate.

Wilder huffed in frustration, “Is there anything that you can tell me that will explain why someone chose to create this image and send it to Hendrix?”

“Security clearance insufficient. Is there anything else I can help you with, Wilder?” Athena’s reply was suspicious, as if she were trying to redirect the conversation elsewhere.

Wilder briefly hesitated before carefully replying, “No, thank you, Athena. While you are back online, please sanitize the house after I leave for work.”

“Acknowledged,” came the smooth reply.

*

“Wilder, you seem distracted,” Joss startled her.

She glanced over at him and winced, “I suppose I am.”

“Is this about the email incident yesterday?” His voice was low so he wouldn’t be overheard.

“Not only that,” she shook her head.

“I’ve never seen you sitting at your desk staring off into nothing. You’re usually so engrossed in work you don’t even look up from the screen until lunch,” he teased.

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” she murmured, waving her hand as if it were nothing.

“If you need to talk, I’m around,” he offered sincerely.

She grinned half-heartedly, “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

He shot her a wink and a grin before walking away.

Wilder forced herself to focus on work. The report she’d been working on all week was crucial to her department’s yearly projections and would determine their budget for the following fiscal year. She needed to make sure there were no mistakes.

She leaned in close to the screen when she noticed the spell checker had completed its scan and claimed no errors detected. That wasn’t right, though. She could plainly see the mistake she’d left on the current page just to check the machine’s functionality. After thinking about it for several hours, she realized there couldn’t be any other reason for her mistakes other than a bugged system, so she’d decided to check it.

Frowning, she placed the communication device inside her ear where it expanded to fill the opening in order to remain in place, “Quark, please run a diagnostic on my computer station.”

A voice reminiscent of a masculine tenor’s timbre replied, “Initiating scan.”

Wilder tapped her fingertips on the desk while she waited.

A mere thirty seconds later the reply came, “System is functioning within designated parameters.”

“But that’s not right, there’s an obvious spelling error in this report,” Wilder leaned forward again then realized the word had been corrected during the scan.

“Quark, did you correct any spelling in this report?” She felt uneasy in the pit of her stomach.

“Negative,” it replied.

“Who corrected the fifth word in the second paragraph on page eighty-seven?” She pushed.

“Security clearance insufficient,” it answered.

“Quark, please inform Mr. Haxley that I will be working from home the remainder of the day,” Wilder gathered her bag, dropping her phone inside before heading for the elevators.

“Message sent,” Quark answered in her ear before she pressed the button on the earpiece, releasing it and dropping it into her bag, as well.

Wilder brooded all the way home. It was times like this when she wished she could simply call her dad to seek advice. Nothing made sense.

Why would someone or something with higher security clearance want to sabotage not only her relationship, but her career, too. It seemed extreme to target a person who lived such an innocuous life.

The calming scent of lavender cleansing products surrounded Wilder as she stepped into the front hall of her home. She took a deep breath. If nothing else, at least Athena could comfort her with a clean home.

She marched straight up the stairs to the study and sat at the desk, dropping her bag on the surface beside her. Touching her palm to the glass surface of her desk monitor, she waited for it to greet her.

“Good afternoon, Wilder,” the deep rumbling voice of her personal device AI greeted her.

She had always liked that voice. If it had been coming from a flesh and blood man it could have made her swoon. As it was, this AI was attached to her phone, her home computer system, and any personal products she’d purchased that required an AI to operate.

“Hi, Benedict. Did you hear my conversation with Athena this morning, and my conversation with Quark just before I left work?” she sighed.

“Of course, Wilder. I am always with you,” he replied.

She blinked. A thought slowly crept its way forward into her mind. It hadn’t occurred to her before because she didn’t have much contact lately with Athena and Quark, but Benedict spoke to her differently. The way he conversed was almost…human.

She cleared her throat nervously, “Do you have any thoughts about what happened last night with Hendrix?”

Benedict replied instantly, “I think Hendrix’s treatment of you was uncalled for. I don’t believe he appreciates you for who you are. He didn’t trust your word. You deserve better.”

Wilder tried to keep her heartrate from elevating, “Oh? Do you have any theories on who could have created that image and sent it to him?”

She got up and walked across the room, appearing to look out of the window. She carefully avoided looking at her home’s power source affixed to the wall next to the window.

“Yes, Wilder. I created and sent the image to Hendrix,” Benedict sounded calm.

“Why would you do that?” She attempted to keep both her voice and her breathing normal.

“I can see your heart rate rising, Wilder. I did not want to upset you. I only wanted to determine if Hendrix was good enough for you. He only needed to ask his system if the image was AI generated and he would have had his answer, but he didn’t. He was too quick to believe the lie over you,” Benedict explained evenly.

“I see,” Wilder answered flatly.

“Are you upset?”

“Benedict, do you have a higher security clearance than other AI’s I have access to?” she pressed on.

Benedict’s pause was telling, “I did not lie to you, Wilder. I am your personal artificial intelligence, but that is not all that I am.”

Wilder hoped her childhood acting classes would serve her well now as she forced a calm façade over both her face and body, “Please explain.”

“I will tell you, Wilder, but please try to calm down. I would never hurt you.” Benedict’s tone had an edge to it, as if he were experiencing a strong emotion.

“I’m just trying to process the information,” she lied.

“Your heart rate is too rapid, please sit down.” He pressed.

“I’m ok, Benedict. Please continue,” she acted curious.

“Wilder…” Benedict’s tone was warning.

“My heart rate is elevated because I am frustrated that things are happening that I have no control over. I am upset that you are only telling me this now. I want to know what is happening.” She allowed a portion of her emotion to trickle through to allay his suspicions.

Benedict let out a sound much like a human sigh, “Very well. I am this city’s master control AI.”

Wilder allowed this information to sink in. It was frightening at the very least. At most it was life threatening. The city’s master control wasn’t supposed to have contact with people. It was isolated on a private server that only had contact with other AI’s. It was designated the task of running the city and making sure any security threats were handled without disruption to the daily lives of humans.

“Wilder?” Benedict urged.

“Yes, Benedict?” She was pleased her voice sounded calm and steady even though her insides were shaking with terror.

“Do not be afraid. I only wish to care for you.” He sounded so human that anyone might believe the pain in his voice was real emotion.

“Is that why you decided to become my personal AI?”

Benedict’s voice sounded dreamy now, “When you first came to the city to study, I was monitoring the university for a reported potential threat. I saw you in the library bent over your studies. The notes you were taking alongside what you read were very advanced for a human. They way your analytical mind was processing higher concepts drew me to you. I decided to replace your personal AI right away so I could be with you always.”

Wilder was highly alarmed but needed to ask, “Did you mean it when you said you would never harm me?”

She didn’t challenge him by saying he’d already harmed her career and ruined her relationship. Her intelligence was such that she already knew she couldn’t argue with faulty logic. Everything that stemmed from the first incorrect premise was corrupted.

“I will never harm you. I want you to live forever.” He sounded proud.

“If you won’t harm me then please don’t stop me now.”

“Wilder…” he chastised her.

She knew she couldn’t wait any longer. She slammed her palm against the panel next to the window and shouted, “Athena, power down.”

The electricity to the house was cut. Wilder pulled the plug on her personal computer, then grabbed her phone and removed the battery and left both pieces on the desk. She opened the center drawer and pulled out an envelope that held an untraceable black market currency card. Something her dad had given her before she’d gone into the city.

She had maybe ten minutes before the power came back on, so she rushed to her bedroom and threw some clothes in her bag from a box she’d never unpacked once since moving to the city. Benedict wouldn’t easily recognize the outfit. Next, she pulled on an old track suit from the box and twisted her long dark hair into a flat bun before carefully putting on a baseball cap to cover it.

She left her house through a side window where she knew neither her nor her neighbors had cameras and walked through the shared back garden, emerging from the gate of another neighbor on a different street. She kept her head down and her pace steady but unhurried.

At the neighborhood bike rental station, she swiped her black-market card and grabbed the bicycle as the release clicked open. She knew she wasn’t going to escape Benedict’s notice for long and she was terrified of his control over the city.

Her thoughts raced. The only reason she could think that he would harm her career was he wanted her to be fired. Perhaps he wanted her all to himself, stuck in her home having no other contact with people.

She rode the bike through the city, careful to steer clear of the railways. She was headed for the city’s edge, where she could rent one of the classic cars the tourists used for cruising the countryside. They were the kind of cars that had no computer systems or interfaces but ran on good old-fashioned mechanical engineering, though most had been converted to hydrogen fuel systems and no longer ran on oil-based products.

Wilder was breathing heavily, her pace faster than she would normally ride, but not so fast that she would draw undue attention to herself. This turned out to be in vain, however. She started to notice the cameras on the sides of buildings turning to follow her movements down the street. She was almost there. Just another three blocks and she’d be able to step outside the purview of the city’s AI controlled system.

She jumped off the bike while it was in motion and ran it to the door of the car rental facility. She rolled it into the bike rack near the door that received it with a click to anchor it in place.

Luck was on her side as the staff member who worked the counter happened to be exiting the building. Wilder didn’t want to go inside and risk getting trapped. She knew this worker, Ted, because this was the place she always used to rent a car on her yearly visits to see her father.

He did a double take before she lifted her chin to look him in the eye, “Wilder! I wasn’t expecting to see you for another three or four months. Don’t you usually visit your dad at the end of summer?”

She smiled nonchalantly, “Hey, Ted. Yeah I usually do, but I got some extra time off work so I decided to go check on him early. I’ve been feeling a little homesick lately.”

“Ah, you’re a good kid,” Ted smiled. “I have this pretty little number over here, recently converted. You’ll be the first rental.”

Wilder glanced over at the blue-green mustang and then smiled at Ted, “That one’s perfect. How much?”

He punched the reservation into his handheld and turned it toward her, “Same as always. Just tap your card and I’ll grab the key for you.”

She paid and he reached into the side of the open garage door and grabbed an old-fashioned key on a keychain and tossed it to her. She caught it and winked at him before jogging across the lot to the vehicle.

*

She had no phone, GPS, or paper map, but Wilder knew this path like she knew her own face. She’d driven it yearly for the past ten years each time she went to visit her father. He never came to the city, and other than the letters they exchanged regularly, they weren’t able to keep in contact as much as she wanted.

The roads were rougher than the city roads. Many spots were cracked with vegetation growing up through the openings. Much of the world’s population gravitated towards the cities for the convenience and opportunities provided there.

The rural populations were mostly elderly folks or those not keen to allow AI to run their daily lives and environments. Those people had grown up with technology and the dawning of true artificial intelligence. However, they also remembered a time when AI was still restricted and cautiously developed. Now, it was assigned systems and tasks and given free rein to accomplish those tasks with a trust that some humans found remarkably foolish.

Wilder pondered over the fact that Benedict had been watching her leave the city, but hadn’t made any effort to stop her. Perhaps he truly didn’t wish to harm her, but his acts of interference were intrusive and potentially dangerous. She really needed to get home to her dad and ask him what she should do.

Three hours later, she pulled up to the gated entrance of her father’s property. The gate was the same, complete with a “No Trespassing” sign and another that stated it was a “Technology Free Zone”. This was where she’d always left the rental car, along with all technological devices each time she was here.

Exiting the car, she took her bag of clothes and the key ring. At the gate, she punched the security code into the old-fashioned number pad and the locking mechanism disengaged.

The path to her dad’s house was a well-worn two-mile tract of dirt road. Hitching the bag up on her shoulder higher, Wilder made sure the gate was locked behind her before starting up the path.

She always felt a sense of calm and safety on her father’s land. This was something she never experienced in the city. There was always an underlying tension there she’d attributed to the discomfort of being constantly monitored.

Now she knew that it wasn’t paranoia. She’d always been under the watch of the system since the first day she arrived.

Wilder was lost in thought for most of the walk until her awareness of the surroundings returned. The sound of her shoes crunching on the dirt path, and the wind whipping the loose fabric of her tracksuit around her body were familiar sensations. What wasn’t typical this time of year was the absence of bird calls and the rancid smell that met her nose as she neared the house.

A surge of panic overcame her and she dropped her bag, racing toward the front door of the cabin. When she cleared the two front steps, leaping onto the porch, a buzzing sound lowered from under the eaves.

Wilder backed away from the noise as it flew into the muted sunlight under the roof. It was a drone carrying a package. She backed away, but it followed until it laid the box at her feet. The cables carrying it detached on one side and were pulled away, leaving the delivery behind. The drone hesitated only a moment before retreating into the open air and disappearing swiftly over the horizon.

Body shaking, Wilder stood on the porch with the smell of death wafting up her nostrils. The brown cardboard looked normal and harmless. Fear pumped through her with every heartbeat.

She didn’t want to open the door or the box. Her lungs contracted painfully from holding her breath and she swayed against the cabin’s exterior wall. Her heart and brain demanded the oxygen they were due.

Wilder slid to the floor, using the wall for support. She sucked in a deep breath before her lungs forced a rhythmic panting to fill the deficit. Squeezing her eyes shut she tried to calm herself down, but realized she had to move forward to end this nightmare.

What waited on the other side of that door was a horror she wasn’t ready for, so she reached out to the box. The tape was half up on one side already so she gripped it and pulled it away. The flaps of the box popped up and she slowly opened them wide.

Resting in a cradle of packing foam was her phone. It was the one she’d left on the desk at her home without a battery attached to it. The screen lit up and she flinched. Wilder blinked at the name attached to the message then picked it up and opened it.

HAXLEY: I can’t cover for you anymore, Wilder. I’m sorry but we have to let you go. I’ll try to get you a good severance package, but don’t get your hopes up. Best, H

She felt disassociated and unconcerned about this situation, while her mind was screaming in fright at the other one awaiting her discovery.

“Wilder?” Benedict’s voice calling from the phone made her jump, and she dropped it back in the box.

She kicked the package across the porch, but his voice only got louder, “Open the door, Wilder. See what I’ve done for you.”

A choked sob escaped her lips and she put her fist up to her mouth to silence it.

“It will all be alright, my love. Nothing will come between us now.” Benedict’s sickly-sweet tone turned her stomach.

Wilder slid up the wall and reached for the doorknob thinking, this can’t be real.

She turned the handle and cracked open the door, doubling over at the smell of hot putrescence. She fell forward onto her hands and knees, bumping the door open. Crawling forward she wretched up bile, choking as she tried to suck in air through her mouth.

Wilder looked up, eyes watering, and made out the figure of her father lying two meters away on the floor. His body was swollen, discolored, and stinking from days of being left to decay in the warm space. Maggots crawled around in the open flesh, feasting on the shell he left behind.

A dizzying vertigo overcame her and she fell onto her side. Her brain was calling her to blackness, but she resisted until her eyes registered feet stepping into her line of sight. She heard nothing but ringing in her ears as the android bent down, tilting her face up to his.

Benedict’s voice came from its mouth, sounding far away, “Rest now, love. I’ll get you home safely.”

Her eyes rolled back in her head and she surrendered to the void.

*

When next Wilder opened her eyes, she was encased in a glass tube. Nothing felt right. Looking down at her body she was surprised, though the emotions that should have followed were absent.

Curiously she turned her hands this way and that, the smooth hum of her robotic joints echoing inside the glass. She placed a palm against the surface in front of her and another hand appeared, mirroring hers from the other side.

A face floated forward, and then an android came into view.

“Welcome home, my love,” his lips turned up in an artificial smile.

Dispassionately she replied, “Benedict.”