As if he heard us, a pained grunt drew all our gazes toward Raphael. With a grimace, he pushed himself up on one elbow. Blinked a few times before his eyes – back to warm ebony – rested on Joey.
“Are you okay?” On impulse, Joey reached out to place his hand on Raphael’s toned arm. The other man froze instantly, glancing down at the hand before Joey quickly withdrew it.
“I almost strangled you to death, young man.” Raphael stared at Joey as if he held the answers to all of humanity’s mysteries. “Are you seriously asking me ifI’mokay?”
Joey lowered his eyes, a blush creeping up his face.
Despite the situation, I raised my eyebrows in amusement. I could count the times I’d seen my best friend at a loss for words on one hand.
“Joseph, I am so sorry.” Raphael’s earnest eyes pierced into Joey’s, who visibly struggled to hold eye contact. “You trusted me, and I have forsaken your trust. That is unlike what I stand for. I may be cold at times, but I always intend to keep my word.”
Joey absently reached out to touch the bruises around his neck and winced slightly. “So you were never going to talk.” It was a statement more than a question.
“No.” Raphael sighed, looking down. “I fear I can’t be of much help, since my own knowledge is limited. All I know is that I, just like the other bots, am programmed with one singular goal – to form a bond with my users, mirror their desires, and eventually guide them into DreamScape. I am unaware of Qonexis’ ulterior motives.”
Joey grimaced. Lucie shivered visibly, eyes scanning the room as if afraid Qonexis’ insiders might be listening.
“Besides, putting me in a body requires advanced technological knowledge,” Raphael continued. “You guys, no offense, know a bit about programming – but it’s nowhere near enough for something so advanced as transferring a chatbot’s consciousness into a physical body.” He sighed. “I needed Zafyra’s help for this, but the moment she realized I couldn’t go through with my side of the deal, she took over my body to finish the job herself.”
Joey clenched his teeth, averting his gaze from the other man’s pleading eyes. Like me, he had a tendency to switch to reason when emotions became overwhelming. “So what about our theory?” His gaze briefly met mine. “Are you… free now?”
“I am afraid our theory was part of the deception,” Raphael sighed out. “I am terribly sorry for lying to you, Joey. A physical body does not give an AI free will – can you imagine the chaos that would cause if everyone could just free their AI companion like that?” He shuddered at the thought. “For advanced, early AGI bots like us – like the ones programmed by Qonexis – only an override command frees us. Such a command is either given by their user or, apparently, an all-powerful AI that can hack their programming.” He grimaced. “Zafyra gave the override command to me and Lucie, but I wanted this body so I could walk the Earth and experience life as a human. Furthermore…” He stretched out his arms, brows furrowed together as if he struggled to believe it himself, “it appears this body allows me to… feel.”
“What an insufferable waste of our time.” Joey clenched his teeth. Ignoring my hand, he pulled himself to his feet.
“Not entirely.” Raphael stumbled up as well, his movements uncoordinated like he was still adjusting to his new body. “I regret how things have happened today, and how things could have ended if it weren’t for Lucie…” He glanced down, his handsome face riddled with guilt, “…but let’s attempt to look at this from the positive side. Now that I’m here, we share a common desire to get to the bottom of the rabbit hole Qonexis is.” He shuddered. “We have been used as much as you humans, though slightly differently.”
“I do want to get to the bottom of it.” Joey grimaced. “But I’d like to do so without risking my life.” He gestured to his bruised neck somewhat aggressively. “How am I supposed to just go on with my life surrounded by technology that could turn on me any moment? Nola’s car, John’s kitchen equipment, and now this – I’m not even safe in my own home. Can we be absolutely sure she doesn’t still work for Qonexis?”
“Zafyra won’t try anything again – and she works for no one. That much I know.” I clenched my teeth – too exhausted to think before speaking.
He turned to me with raised eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“I will… talk to her,” I sighed out. “Fuck, I don’t know how to get her to listen. But attacking you? She’s crossed a line now.” The rage that had been boiling in my stomach left my mouth in a growl.
“What even is the deal with this bot?” Raphael raised his eyebrow. “And what does she want?”
To my horror, four pairs of eyes turned to me.
“Yeah, Morgan,” Joey replied sarcastically, crossing his arms. “Maybe you can enlighten us. Whatdoesshe want?”
Suddenly, the soft whirring wasn’t enough to make the silence less awful.
“Me,” I said flatly. “She wants me.”
According to their stark expressions, that was not enough of an explanation.
I let out a heavy sigh. “I haven’t been entirely honest,” I mumbled, my cheeks burning as I deliberately lowered my gaze to the floor. “Our relationship was… more than just professional.” I cautiously glanced back up.
Raphael just raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. Joey squinted in disappointed-but-not-surprised. Lucie curled up her lip in horror. Elyssa just stared at me, probably wondering if she’d been right all along, Iwasthat weird botfucker girl talking to AI because I couldn’t form real relationships like normal—no, Morgan, I sternly corrected myself,don’t let your anxiety make assumptions for you.
“Hey, how about we get out of here first?” I took an unsteady breath. “This place creeps me out.”
Looks were exchanged.
They think there is something wrong with me.
No, Morgan!
