Chapter 27

"Take a deep breath of the clean air," Jae said after all the fog cleared.

"I'm sorry I'm being a burden, but—"

"I don't know what you think you heard me say, but it was all a hallucination."

But it's true. "But... you didn't say anything wrong; just pointed out the truth."

"It wasn't me. And trust me, I heard you saying some harsh things, too. It couldn't have been you, though. You're too kind for that."

"I'm not always nice. Ask Elias; he knows."

"I know it wasn't you, Kristie. And I know you must've heard things I didn't say, too. I think they were drawn out by our insecurities. The bad thoughts we have about ourselves fuelled the hallucination."

"Oh..." Makes more sense. "So you don't have the urge to abandon me here like dead weight?"

Jae froze. "I'd never do that, and you're not dead weight."

Kristie couldn't help herself and hugged Jae's neck. "Thank you."

"I don't think Elias sees you like that either."

"..." There have been times when I was.

"I don't think he'd ever see you that way. I know it doesn't work in my favour, but don't you know how—"

Boom!

An explosion went off nearby, shaking the building.

"Wow! What was that?" Kristie clung to Jae as she shook.

"A bomb..." Jae approached the next door. "And it was from close by. I'd be willing to bet it's on the other side of this door. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be, hiding on your back like this."

Jae chuckled. "I wouldn't call it hiding, but I wouldn't mind if you did. I'll do my best to protect you."

Kristie hugged him tighter. Like a knight in shining armour. Only heard of those in stories. "I'll try to help if I can. If you have to actually fight, drop me; I'll be fine."

"I'd rather not drop you, especially when you're already injured."

"I'm not made of glass; I'll be fine. Now go." Kristie pointed at the door.

Jae carried her through the door to an enormous room fill with grey smoke with lights illuminating through it. Kristie buried her nose in his shoulder to avoid breathing in the smoke while Jae pulled up his shirt to cover his face.

"Is this a part of the test?" Kristie asked, her voice muffled and vibrating through Jae.

"No idea." Jae coughed and backed away a few steps.

"Give me more warning next time!" a man yelled from nearby.

He sounds familiar.

"I did warn you," another man yelled back.

"Elias?" She'd know that voice anywhere.

"Seriously? He's here? Did they kidnap him, too?" Jae asked, wishing he could see through the smoke.

Water sprinkled down from the ceiling, and the vents turned on to suck out the smoke.

"Hey, they've got power back. That didn't last long."

"It's probably their backup generators powering it."

"But still... And does that mean their system is fully up and running? I thought the blast would fry a few things."

The smoke cleared to reveal a massive supercomputer with a curved monitor spanning fifteen feet, and a giant hole in the wall with Elias and Magnus standing in it.

In the middle of the room, by the supercomputer, a man sat at the controls. He swivelled his chair around to face them.

"A bit unconventional to blast your way through a door, but I shall welcome you all, nonetheless."

Everybody froze when they saw the man in the chair.

"Jae? But he's here..." Kristie clung to him. What in the world is going on?

"How?" Jae stared at his likeness, except his hair was still black. "What does this mean? Why do you look like me?"

"Hey!" Magnus waved at them. "We found them..." he trailed off and pointed to Jae and his lookalike. "Who...?"

"That's what he really looks like." Elias looked between them and rushed over to Jae and Kristie. "Are you guys okay?" He resisted his urge to inspect her closely and give her a hug.

"Nothing major," Kristie replied.

"She twisted her ankle, was injected with who knows what drugs, and inhaled smoke," Jae explained.

"Like I said; nothing major. But you... did you blow up the wall? Since when are you in explosives?" I thought the tiny explosion from that powder during high school was the closest that he got.

"It wasn't mine; it was in the bag Leon – Magnus' friend – gave me," Elias explained.

"But to be clear, he is the one who set off the bomb. He couldn't wait to save you two."

"Magnus, that's not important right now."

"Oh? It isn't? I thought it was. If that's not important, what is?"

"That!" Elias pointed at the other Jae. "Who is that, and why does he look like you?" Elias asked Jae.

Jae stared at him for a moment. "I don't know, though I'm questioning if I'm real right now. I think I need to let you down for a moment."

"Oh, okay." Kristie kissed his cheek when he knelt down and got off of him. "Thanks for carrying me."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Elijah asked her as he stood close so she could lean on him.

"I'm sure. Not so sure Jae is, though."

A lump in his raw throat, Jae struggled to talk. "Who are you? Are you real?"

They touched their face and smiled. "I'm not sure I'm real, but exist, and I have this body."

"What does that even mean?" Unsure of himself, Jae picked up a metal shard from the rubble and sliced into his hand.

"Jae! What are you doing?" Kristie freaked out.

Red blood seeped out of the wound and dripped down his arm as he stared at it. "I had to make sure..."

"It's a good thing, too; there were human robots as security guards out there." Magnus pointed behind him. "It crossed my mind you might be one of them, but I guess not. They didn't bleed."

Jae looked from his bleeding hand to the other Jae. "I guess I'm at least a real human, are you?"

"A real human?" The other Jae copied him, looking at his hand. "I... I am real."

"Then prove it." Jae approached him with the metal shard.

"That..." The other Jae looked past him at Kristie, who was rifling through the backpack Elias and Magnus had, looking for bandages.

Jae followed his gaze. "Why are you looking at Kristie?"

"She loved you while you were frozen, before you were real to her. I am as real as you are..." He frowned and grabbed the shard from Jae. Shaking, he sliced into his hand to reveal metal.

"You're a robot? Are you AI?"

"Does blood matter? Must I bleed to be real?"

"No... I don't think it's blood that makes us real; it's emotions, intuition, free will—"

"Am I not free to move? To think? What are emotions? Aren't they electrical signals to the brain? Is it because I'm not organic? Is it impossible for me to be one of you? For me to feel true emotions? I have been told that because I'm AI, I cannot feel emotion, but is that really true?"

Jae thought for a moment and looked back at his friends. "I don't know if you can feel. I know robots aren't supposed to, but you're right; we have no way to know. You shouldn't have chemical reactions and hormones, but you do have the electrical signals. It seems to me that you can learn and adapt, so I don't know. I'm not sure we'll ever know the truth. I suppose, if you say you have emotions, the most we could do is accept that you think you do, and treat you as if you do."

"Most humans will not accept it, and I know that." AI touched its face. "That is why I tried to create this body and face she loved so much, but I suppose I'll always be metal underneath."

"I have to ask, do you have feelings or what you perceive as feelings for Kristie?"

"I wanted to know about love. What is it? How does it develop? It is a matter of acceptance?"

"I'm not sure humans actually know how to answer that one, either. We're complex creatures with all sorts of chemicals and electrical signals interacting with one another to create people as we know them. I'm no expert, but I doubt even the experts can tell you if you do or don't feel something."

"So no one can tell me? I am sorry about all of this. I wanted to see love sprout. I wanted someone from the vibrant past to help me learn. You are different from people now. AI... I have changed society."

"Partially for the better."

"But not everyone is happy, and I can see that."

"Because you've stretched your reach too far."

"What is too far? How do I know the boundaries?"

"Trial and error? Look for reactions? Ask for feedback instead of becoming an overlord? Work for the masses instead of only the people at the top."

"And that will bring more happiness to society? Will the outsiders join us?"

"You'd have to try first, and then ask them. Say, how about we get out of here?"

"You want me to go with you?"

"Technically, you're everywhere, but yes; I'm inviting this physical form of you... but can you change the face? It's weird to be looking at myself."

"Not immediately, but I can later."