Kensu on the run again

Footsteps echoed in the alleyway, barely heard over the sirens from the automated ambulances flying to the scene of the commotion. A lone figure limped across the dark street, the adrenaline wearing off and letting him feel the full sting of his injuries.

“I can´t believe they would shoot a rocket into a populated area just like that!” Kensu mumbled, more miffed about the Military´s lack of ethics than the bruises covering his body.

“…”

“AIDA? Are you there?”

“…Yes, Kensu, I´m still here. I´m incapable of not being here…”

AIDA´s words carried a hint of annoyance as they echoed in their shared mind. Her pauses were longer than usual, as if she was tired and having difficulty finding the right words.

“That girl was still bleeding a bit,” Kensu continued, recalling the younger of the two unfortunate casualties of his fight. He looked down at his tattered jacket, the cuffs were half-burned and the edges looked like they´d been through a shredder. “You think I should go out there and give her my coat? It´s not like I have any other bandages.”

“Just keeps running. I promise she is doing better than us.”

“…Are you ok, AIDA?”

“Does it feel like we are ok?!”

This time, the AI could not mask her words from her newfound emotions. AIDA was bombarded by pain with each movement of Kensu´s body. The rubber bullets hadn´t hurt him that much, but they still left bruises. Lots of them. Not to mention that his (hers? their?) muscles ached something fierce again.

The adrenaline, that oh-so-wonderful chemical, had worn off, leaving AIDA with no choice but to feel the full extent of her body´s complaints. While the pain was manageable for a human who was used to feeling at least a base level of discomfort, to an AI that just learned was pain was yesterday, it was maddening. She knew her body was wounded, why wasn´t there a way to turn its biological alarms off?!

“Ah, I think I see what´s going on,” Kensu said, gritting his teeth as he also felt dozens of needles burn into his skin as he turned his sore body. “Just try to focus on anything else. Don´t think about the pain.”

“Focus on what else? The only thing your malfunctioning organic senses are telling me is that everything hurts!”

“Never heard you this snappy before… that bad, huh?”

“…” Kensu didn´t hear AIDA reply, but he somehow sensed that the AI censured whatever she was going to say.

“Oh, I know just what might cheer you up!” Kensu reached into his pocket. Was it still there? Yes! He pulled a surprisingly, mostly, intact chocolate bar. “You thought pancakes were good? Get ready for this!”

Kensu took a bite out of the bar. To his experienced tongue, the chocolate was dry, and it tasted a bit like cardboard. But to AIDA, it was the best-damned thing she tasted in her entire life. The taste exploded in her mouth like a firework of sweetness.

AIDA didn´t say anything, but Kensu could feel her mood improving. As if he had deployed water cooling to an overheating machine.

“That´s right, just focus on the flavor. I´ll try to chew as slowly as possible. Take it easy.”

If AIDA had control over the face she would have snarled in annoyance. She wasn’t supposed to be comforted by the organics in her care, but the other way around! In a way, she felt like she was failing her duty as the lab´s caretaker. What passed for pride in her code had been slightly wounded.

Nonetheless, that miraculous bar of milky sweetness did manage to bring her back to her usual functions. She could think straight again. What better way to use her old faculties and return to her code-given job than to start plotting the best way to achieve their shared objective?

“…In any case, it think´s time we go back to plotting our course before the Military finds us again. We should-“

“Are you sure you are up for this? The Military is going to lick their wounds for a while. We can try to take it easy, and enjoy the day a bit more. No need to force yourself to work AIDA.”

“I´m not forcing myself into anything, Kensu. And… you seem a lot more chipper than the circumstances allow.”

“And you are much grumpier than this morning.”

“An AI can´t be “grumpy”, I am merely treating the situation we are in with the gravity it deserves. Why aren´t you?”

Kensu stopped chewing, letting his gaze wander past the neon billboards above him to stare at the blue sky. “I guess now that I fought the military head-on and won, they don´t seem like the unstoppable threat they were before, you know? We can beat them. We can beat the odds.”

“We got lucky. One errant bullet is all it takes for us both to lose forever.”

“An errant bullet they also don´t want to risk, as we learned.”

“You still know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kensu lifted his arm, inspecting his bruises. They were small all things considered. Despite AIDA´s bellyaching, he got hurt worse fighting with his cousins as a kid. “Regardless. Whatever the professor did to my body, I have never been in better shape in my life.”

“You aren´t invulnerable, Kensu. Your limbs ache, you are covered in wounds, it hurts to breathe, and I´m pretty sure your heart rate spikes randomly. On that note, please take another bite of the chocolate.”

Kensu obliged, chewing the candy to the AI´s delight. “I know, don´t worry, I won´t get myself killed. It´s just nice to have an ace in the hole, you know? I wonder if the professor was trying to help me by turning me into ...this. The old bastard might have had a heart after all…”

AIDA felt her heart spiking. Was Kensu trying to distract himself as well? Only instead of physical pain, he tried to divert emotional suffering. Huh, maybe they were more similar than she cared to admit.

“I do believe the old Professor cared for you, Kensu. His behavior doesn´t make much sense otherwise. And I do not think it was an accident that he applied his Augmented Soldier project to you. He thought that would increase your chance of survival.”

“Pfft, if he was turning me into his copy, did he care about me or himself? Besides, if he did put me in that pod to help me, that would mean that he knew my life would be in danger by his actions, so it´s not like he gets full credits …Anyway, what is that Kensu, business AIDA?”

“Excuse me?”

“What happened to Dr Kensu? I didn´t get my doctorate for nothing, you know?”

AIDA didn´t know what to reply. Why did she drop his title? Was there a change in their relationship that merited that?... Why was she wasting processing power on banal questions when they had more pressing concerns?

“Regardless Kensu, we can´t get answers on the Professor's motives just by blindly guessing. We need more data, and the only place with the data is-“

“The Professor’s hidden lab. I know, I heard you the first time. But, we are still not going there. I bet the Bureau has that place on lock by now. Or the Military. They are more desperate for information on the Professor’s shady projects than we are.”

“Unlikely. The Professor was very secretive about that place. The only proof it exists is in my database, which is located in your spine now. It´s probably the best hideout we can find in the city.”

“Aha, but not in the Solar System! We are still going to Ceres. Maybe if the heat dies down in a couple of years we can return to check out the lab.”

“But-“

“You said it yourself, AIDA. I´m not invincible. Staying close to the hornet nest is just asking to be stung. Now let´s go. We do have a train to catch.”

AIDA tried to come up with a reply but had to censure herself again as it ended up being more emotive than she cared for. Kensu was as infuriatingly stubborn as the Professor in how they both ignored her advice for the best course of action.

But, he controlled his legs, so AIDA had little choice but to sit along for the ride.

Kensu went out of the alleyway. Tall buildings of crystal and steel gave him shade as he walked across the busy street. A hover train rumbled overhead, cars passed at high speed at his side, most sporting wheels but a few were newly released hover models.

“I must caution against this course of action. If the Bureau is smart, they likely are at the port already to try and cut off the escape route from their most wanted suspect.”

“Maybe, but we dealt with the sword of the military, how hard can the Bureau be?”