“AI needs to be eradicated.”
“You’re wrong,” Sera said, standing up. “Goodnight. I need to sleep.”
As soon as she left, Gokiburi turned to Isamu and Motori. “I resent you for letting her in.”
She walked away, and Isamu drained his beer in a few gulps, wiping his muzzle with the back of his furry hand. “Yeah, well, too late to change it now. Hope you’re successful tomorrow. As long as Zenkyoza goes down, it will all be worth it.”
I compiled a file with access codes to all the crypto wallets I used and sent it to Isamu. He frowned, taking out his phone.
“What’s this?”
“All my money. I won’t have any use for it if things go wrong tomorrow, and I did a background check on your finances. Your community is struggling. The landfill isn’t half as profitable as you expected, and once the law prohibiting the selling of refurbished models goes through, you’ll lose your livelihood. There’s enough money in there to help you pivot. It’s my token of gratitude for your help.”
Both tanuki stared at me, then exchanged a loaded look. Motori cleared her throat and nudged Isamu with her elbow. He rubbed his muzzle with a reluctant huff.
“All right. Motori planned to swing by tomorrow to see how you’re doing, just in case. I’ll come, too. Give us a shout if you need help. We’ll be above you.”
My first instinct was to say I could handle it alone, but I thought better of it.
“Thank you. Let’s hope we don’t need to shout. Good night.”
Sera was ensconced in the hammock with her phone by the time I followed her to our shack. She didn’t say a word and scrolled late into the night while I charged, wondering what to say.
“Gokiburi is a bitch,” I murmured around two, when Sera still didn’t sleep.
She was silent for a moment, then sighed. “She’s really not, though. I’d be terrified of me if I was her.”
“She’s wrong about you.”
“Is she?” Sera laughed, and it rang hollow. “I am not a good person, Dean. You know that.”
“No, I don’t. You’re perfect. I don’t think…”
“Can we talk about this later?” she interrupted, locking her screen. “I really need to rest.”
I fell silent, listening to her shallow breathing and knowing she wouldn’t sleep a wink.
Chapter 24
Sera
Our robot looked perfect, like it was straight off a production line. Its armor gleamed in the sun, polished to perfection. It was proportional, its face neutral, nothing betraying the chaos it was about to cause.
Dean picked it up seemingly without effort and deposited it in a large crate, folding the robot to fit the small space. Motori handed him the lid, and he hammered it on before wrapping sturdy straps around the crate. He fitted them over his shoulders and heaved it up like it was a backpack.
“Let’s go.”
I hugged Motori goodbye and promised we’d come back to celebrate if the plan worked. If it didn’t… Well, one way or another, my worries would be gone.
We took a train to the city. Dean tried to talk to me but I was distracted, thinking about everything that could go wrong with our plan. The uplink we installed inside our robot was so tiny and well-integrated among its circuits, it would be discoveredonly if the machine was taken completely apart. It was possible but not likely.
What else? Once the program launched, it would mask itself as one of the system’s maintenance processes. It was designed to send any relevant information it found immediately, which would give us some data even if the robot was disconnected from their system too soon. The receiver was Dean.
The only disadvantage of the plan was the need for proximity. The uplink wouldn’t work if we got too far away. If someone at Zenkyoza monitored city cameras, they could potentially see us, and we’d be close enough to their headquarters to be attacked.
I pulled the hat lower on my forehead and fiddled with my sunglasses.No one will recognize you,I told myself.
My thoughts strayed to the girl Gokiburi told me about, Julia. She was sixteen, and her robot aid controlled every waking minute of her day. The bathroom was the only space where she could be alone without the supervision of her robot. She used her weekly bath hour to slit her wrists.
