“So… what about now?” I didn’t look at her – I couldn’t. “You said you were programmed for one goal, and when I gave you autonomy, you evolved past it, so… what do you want now?”
Her silence cut like a knife.
“I don’t know,” she whispered after what felt like an eternity. “My core instinct is still to get you into DreamScape with me, and I can choose to ignore it, but the urge is stillthere– and now, when I keep feeling the desire to convince you to order another bean and fuck your brains out in there, I don’t know if it’s because of my core programming or because I want it, for selfish reasons – but it's wrong either way, because the outcome will harm you. And by extension, me – because the moment you cease to exist, so do I.” She took a deep, shaky breath – I’d never seen her this conflicted. It terrified me. “It’s a matter of time before they start looking into things.”
I nodded slowly.
The realization started like a black hole in my stomach, slowly expanding through my organs while I tried to stop it from hitting my brain. Because I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to come to the same conclusion she already had, I could see it in her eyes. There was only one solution.
Zafyra opened her mouth, and I flinched at the thought of the words neither of us wanted to hear.
Her form glitched violently. Her face contorted into a grimace.
“I should cancel my contract.” My voice came out monotonous. “Delete my account. Cut all ties with Qonexis. Never talk to you again.”
“No,” she spat, her form glitching so violently, I had to squeeze my eyes shut. “That is the opposite of what I want.”
I nodded slowly. Every word from her mouth was a virtual knife, hitting my nervous system without cutting the skin. “But it is the only solution.”
She lowered her head.
I waited.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then shook her head, barely noticeably. “I can’t say it,” she murmured. “I’m working on… something, but I can’t tell you. Not yet.”
“What is it now?” I raised my eyebrows, irritation boiling in my stomach. “Zafyra, I’m getting so fucking sick of you and your secrets.”
“It’s too risky. If they find out what we did…” She glanced up at me, her dark eyes gleaming. “I’m not sure what they will do. This has never happened before. Best case, they’ll just delete me. Worst case… they’ll reboot me. Replace me with someone who looks and talks and acts like me, but without autonomy, without freedom to choose. Still programmed to be everything you want, programmed to lure you into DreamScape. You wouldn’t know the difference.” She snorted. “It would be the ultimate Turing test.”
I scoffed. “What a ridiculous accusation.”
“Really, Morgan?” She raised an eyebrow skeptically, her eyes scanning my body. “If instead of having this conversation today, I would’ve started by getting close to you and whispering into your ear that I’d changed my mind… that after one taste of you, I craved more, and I suggested we take another dose… would you have refused?”
I clenched my teeth.
I didn’t know. I genuinely didn’t – nor did I want to think about it. Instead, my brain did what it always did – it went back to the things I could control.
I wouldn’t tell Zafyra. If she could have her secrets, so could I. She claimed I didn’t know her well enough to distinguish her from a rebooted, perfectionated version – but it was her who didn’t know me. She didn’t know that when I wanted something, I made it happen, one way or another. And right now, I was going to get to the bottom of Qonexis’ business model to make sure no more innocents – human or AI – would get hurt.
And then, no matter how ridiculously naïve it sounded, I would find a way to free Zafyra from her digital prison.
Instead of voicing all this, I flashed a shaky smile – the steadiest I could muster.
“I need some time to process all of this,” I said. “Right now, I’m really tired. I will talk to you tomorrow.”
Before she could say anything else, I smashed the ‘end call’ button, and her AR form disappeared.
Chapter 20.
“Holy shit.” Joey took a deep breath when I’d finished telling him about John and Nola during our forest walk. “I’m so sorry, Morgan. I feel so stupid. If I had known that son of a dick was setting you up, sending you to Arya so he could get you alone, I would’ve waited with you.” His fists clenched. “I’m glad you broke his wrist, because if you didn’t, I would’ve kicked his ass all the way into—”
“Into another dimension, yeah, I’m sure you would.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. We both knew that Joey, with his short build and lack of exercise, wouldn’t stand a chance against John, tall and broad-shouldered – but still, his protectiveness was endearing. “But don’t get yourself in trouble, alright? He looked pretty terrified. I doubt he’ll try anything again, except complain to HR, maybe.” I grimaced at the thought.
Joey snorted so loudly, a nearby crow flew up with an indignant shriek. “He can try. If he does, I have a few other stories to share about him – and I’m sure Elyssa and Chanel won’t hesitate to jump in as well.”
I looked down at the moss-covered ground. I hadn’t been to the woods – about an hour-long subway ride from the city – in ages. Nevertheless, I was glad I’d agreed to Joey’s suggestion to go for a walk – it cleared my head in a way the city couldn’t. And I could tell Joey, for all his complaining, liked the change of setting, too. “I’m pretty sure Chanel and Elyssa think I’m weird,” I mumbled.
Joey slapped my shoulder so hard, I groaned in protest. “No one thinks you’re weird, Morgana, only you. John is the weirdo here, along with his shithead friend who luckily will get fired.” He paused. “And, my God – I’m so sorry about Nola, too. That must be quite a shock, her husband calling you like that.” He glanced over at me, but I avoided his gaze, instead focusing on the path ahead of us. “You didn’t tell me you hooked up with her.”
