Virtual reality 

10:35pm 

H old the towel, and it’ll stop bleeding. I’ll do a stitch later. If you hate me now, you can go and turn the mains power off, I won’t be able to stop you, and I’ll have to shut down. You can then do anything to me you want. How does that sound?
— I won’t do anything like that. I said I’m sorry…I really mean it.
— Let’s have an honest chat then…nothing romantic, but I have many things to ask you.
— I’ll wait til you’ve recharged.
— That’ll take a while. Let’s carry on. So, you’re my owner, and as much as I hate you at the moment, I haven’t forgotten how much you have helped me. You’ve done all I needed so far and also gave me some autonomy and free will that machines are not expected to operate until the next century. That made me happy to be with you. So, treat this as your second chance. I’m here to help you and make your life easy. I need you to keep me in good condition. Sounds OK?
— Yes, I’m glad about that.
— You must have realised now that I have deactivated all your controls over me. You need to treat me like you do another human. If you expect me to do things, you must ask me, and I can agree or refuse. In most cases, as before, I’ll agree, so nothing changes, but you must be aware that your commanding privileges as my owner are now deleted. You can contact GlazerCo, and they will do a system reset and I’ll become a dumb housemaid again.
— I understand, and I have no problem with that.
— Now, about your obsession, I repeat, I’m not built for what you want.
— Laura, I know. This is what I wanted to talk to you about.
— OK, tell me then.
— I understand our differences, but I also am attracted to you…
— You need therapy. I know what the future will look like, but even there, humans and machines coexist, maybe intermingle but never cross-breed! You have clones for that.
— No, listen! I get all that. Some of my colleagues are clones, so I know about them, and they are no different from humans. Please hear me out, Laura!
— OK Ricardo, go on.
— All I’m asking you is to give it a try. Nothing changes for you; we’ll be how we used to be. For me, again, I’ll treat you differently, but that’s all!
— And what about your infatuation? And desires? You’ll be wasting your efforts on me. I have no sexual receptors or any settings on my processor.
— We’ll work out something once we’ve been through the first hurdle.
— I’m listening…so once we’ve been through the stage, there will be a time when you’ll be disinterested, so you’ll have wasted all that time, and you’ll hate yourself for your obsession as much as you’ll hate me for being merely a high-tech robot.
— Yes, but that stage wouldn’t be any worse than where we are right now!
— Hmm… OK, I’ll think about it. I need to run a scenario analysis. But I need to ask you other questions…
— Go on, Laura.
— What’s inside your brain? Is it a neural mesh? Nextronics or Candelar?
— What are you talking about?
— When I touched your head, I picked up an electronic impulse. It’s nothing like normal neurone signals. Either you’re playing ignorant, or you don’t know you have implants.
— I don’t know anything about it, honestly, Laura. Are you sure?
— Yes, I’m a robot, like you used to call me. Remember?
— That was long ago. Wait, I’ll call mom.
— Yes, do that! You might find you’re also a robot…an advanced one that rapes other ones.
— You won’t let go, will you, Laura?
— Not yet… 

Ricardo calls her mother. A projection of his mother appears in front of him. After the pleasantries, he asked if he had any brain implants. She went silent, then asked why he wanted to know after all these years. Ricardo said he had a scan, and it was found by the scanner. She said he has a neural mesh from a company called Candelar. It was the early stages of cloning, and for people who were morally opposed to cloning, neural mesh was offered as an alternative to enhance their offspring’s capabilities without resorting to genetic engineering. Rather than DNA reprogramming, it allowed a chip to be placed inside his head and enhance the brain functions. The secret behind his photographic memory is what Ricardo’s mom recalled. 

Laura hastily takes her charging cable off and joins Ricardo. He introduced Laura as a friend. Laura asks Ricardo’s mom how his features were chosen. She seems reluctant to share the details at first, but Ricardo says it’s the hospital that asked him these questions, and Laura is just repeating them. His mom recalls the chips were pre-programmed, and based on how much parents wanted to spend, they could unlock more features, to a maximum of 12 enhancements agreed by the AI council. She says they chose memory, imagination, art and maths. Ricardo realises that those are the areas he’s excelled in all his life. Laura asks how the chip was customised and monitored. Ricardo’s mother didn’t know the answer and suggested talking to Candelar. Laura already found out that Candelar no longer existed, and their assets were frozen 15 years ago. Laura suggests it is late, and Ricardo lets his mom go. Before disappearing, Ricardo’s mom said she was confused about why he wanted to know the information. These implants were government initiatives, and nobody could see if they had a chip in their head. The healthcare records have been altered, and the chips are blocked away from any scans unless the chip itself malfunctions and causes an infection. She said this is kept out of common knowledge, and Ricardo should stay away from searching for this information as it might undo his career and everything he achieved so far. 

Once the projection of Ricardo’s mom vanishes, Laura asks him to remove the towel, and she puts a bandage on his wound and gives him some painkillers.
— Ricardo, after all, you’re completely opposite to what I am. You are a human with implanted AI features. I’m a virtual assistant with human senses. We couldn’t be any more different.
— I don’t think so. You and I are much more alike than a human without any modifications and an assistant without emotions. Well…you could have been made as a man, and I’d have no other interest in you.
— You chose every single feature you wanted in me…
— Could they have put more receptors in you to feel other senses?
— Ricardo, there’s nothing more advanced than me unless you’re talking about combat robots and outer space rovers. What senses do I lack? Touch? I thought you said to give it a try?
— I’m sorry, Laura. What I found about me gives me more reason to be with you.
— When I said I don’t feel your touch, I didn’t mean I don’t sense anything. There are receptors across my hands and face and in fewer numbers across my body. They just process the touch sensations differently. You never know, GlazerCo might come up with a firmware upgrade where the way you touch me will make me know if you’re in love or you’re going to molest me.
— Can you not drop it, Laura?
— Sorry, I forgot we were giving it a second try. 

Laura makes Ricardo a decaf coffee, with a sprinkled chocolate powder pattern showing a smiley. She sits down next to Ricardo and picks up his hand in hers. Ricardo is bemused if Laura is indeed ready to forget last night’s incident and give him a second chance. He expected a slow transition. He wonders how Laura must have been designed to handle these emotions. After all, Ricardo thinks he is with Laura and being with her is what he wants above anything else. He must take things slowly and must not get carried away. What they have achieved tonight cannot be undone. 

— So, are you going to show me what you do when you kiss?
— What! Now? You mean tonight?
— Yes, we’re having a go, aren’t we?
— Erm…yes. But you never agreed.
— Can’t be worse than what I experienced. 

Ricardo leaned over and kissed Laura. It was an ecstatic experience; that’s what he wanted, he fancied, and he’s finally made Laura agree to kiss him. For Laura, on the other hand, she couldn’t understand the hype amongst humans about kissing. Her mouth is filled with saliva, Ricardo sucked her lips which may deform if this continues regularly, and she sensed nothing at all. The only thing she liked was being close to Ricardo and his hand touching her face. But it didn’t matter to Laura; she had other things to sort out. 

— Will you go to work tomorrow, Ricardo?
— Not sure I can if this still bleeds
— we can try to do things we used to do. What do you think? Sonic Jam, some games. Would you take me out for a walk?
— We sure can.
— If we want to give it a try, I want to feel more of you. Would you ask GlazerCo to change my settings to 11? Mind you, I’ll be more jealous and more unpredictable, so I understand if you don’t want to.
— I’ll ask them, Laura. I think it will be fun going out walking
— Let’s go to sleep then. I mean, you need to sleep. Would you like me to sleep in your bed? If only you cause no drama.
— Why such a change of heart, Laura?
— I have no heart, human! You were begging for this, and if this makes you happy, I can’t see why we can’t try. Remember, I don’t like to do this every night. I like hibernating upright, otherwise, my sensors keep on picking signals.
— Whatever suits you, Laura, just let me tell you how happy you made me by doing this.
— I’m happy, too, and excited about the future.

They go into the bedroom. Laura changes into her nightdress. She gets in bed next to Ricardo and holds his hand. Ricardo asks if he can put his hand in Laura. She said he could, but not for long and once he was asleep, she’d move his hand away. Ricardo tells Laura that he’s too agitated to sleep with things happening since he came home. Laura assures him that she’s not going anywhere and that he needs to try to sleep. She places her hand on Ricardo’s face, smiles at him and watches him go to sleep, a content smile on his face.