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Questionable Love Affair part 1

Questionable Love Affair

Volume 1

Takano Masamune

Chapter 1: Robot (1)

***

It’s the year 20XX and the modern technology has progressed leaps and bonds throughout the years, and mostly in the research and improvement of artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence, otherwise known as A.I. is created to improve the quality of life of the humans that created it. It was a very simple concept, things that were too boring or mundane could be completed by robots, things that took an incredible amount of intelligence and quick calculations could also be taken over, but the researchers wanted to advance beyond that point…

Beyond a point of AI being used only as an aid and needing to be overseen by a human, it was their desire to create an intelligence that could complete tasks without the need of humans. Completely independent of it’s creators, that was nearing the ability to create life itself…

Many people weren’t happy with such advancements, many jobs became completely obsolete over time, there were many lay offs and people grew gradually more and more disdainful against the AI assistants that were constantly being pushed on the market…

However there were also those that became obsessed with this technology, the way it could constantly improve upon itself… And Anthony was one of those people…

“Amazing! Did you know the latest version of the AI assistant Grayson is almost complete? They say this one will be able to talk and talk as naturally as a human being and also express emotions!” Anthony’s voice sounded overly ecstatic as he was admits the robotics’ club in his university. Many of the other club members turned to glare at him, interrupting their individual work.

“Keep it down alright? I’m busy…” His friend said while glancing over at the man sitting on his phone. “Instead of reading that stuff how about you come over and help me a bit here? I’m struggling to get the RV device going…” He remarked while looking a bit confused.

Anthony took one short look at the programming code and then at the actual wiring of the small robot the man had build. “Hm… it seems you just need a bigger generator for this.. there’s no way it can get going with such low voltage.”

“Really?” His friend glanced over at him. Knowing Anthony was usually right he listened to him and replaced the generator with one with a higher voltage. Magically the RV desive started working now, only it short circuited a second later. “s**t… now what happened?” He slumped his shoulders as if the worst thing in the world was upon him.

Anthony stood up and took a look around while circling around the device… He took a few moments to think about it. “Did you put a resistor there? It doesn’t seem like it.” He remarked while glancing over, it took no more than a few looks for him to properly gauge what had happened. “You also shouldn’t be using these clubroom cables… they’re so old they might as well be trash, buy new ones if you don’t want your next project to burn out as well.” He rummaged through his bag and handed the man a few spare wires and cables he had on him.

“Eh… how come you’re so good at stuff like these but don’t want to join in the robotics competition?” His friend asked him while making the adjustments, he proceeded to replace the cables the other man found faulty.

Anthony assisted him with his work. “It’s because these competitions are child’s play, I can’t really do anything over the top or I’ll get disqualified… I don’t want to do that stuff.” He looked somewhat upset at that moment.

“But you used to love going before…” His friend looked concerned for a moment then paused. “Could it be that incident that caused a fire in the school?”

Anthony glared at the man as if he should never even speak of the events that happened that day.

“Right, right…” The man retraced his steps and started the machine up again, surprisingly this time it ran smoothly without anything hindering it.

“Whoa…” Some of the other classmates exclaimed while watching the tiny robot that took it’s first steps.

“Gotta run…” Anthony said with a smile upon the bell ringing. Club activities had just started but he didn’t want to stay there long. That’s because he had other plans in mind…

“Today’s the day…” Anthony had decided he wanted to take a look at the Grayson robot at least once. And since his father happens to be one of the lead researchers on the newest prototype, he could sneak into his father’s computer and check out the files whenever the man was asleep…

After getting back to his home Anthony headed up straight to his room without wasting any time. Glancing around to make sure no one else had entered during the day while he was gone. He sped towards his computer and started up the software he created.

It was actually relatively easy to sneak a look on another person’s device if you shared a private internet network with them. In fact it was far too easy.

Anthony took a look at the researcher’s findings, the more he read the more enthralled he’d become. Soon enough he saw that there were pictures of the robot’s face. It was that of a young man seemingly in his twenties.

In the beginning Anthony found it odd to add faces to robots, but with time he realized that the more advanced ones needed it… eventually they would be able to blend in with humans so effortlessly that they would be indistinguishable from them…

It was a fascinating research that made his heart pound wildly… everything that they’d found was extraordinary-

“Son, do you want chicken or beef tonight?” His mother called out to him in a carefree voice.

“Chiken.” Anthony headed to the door to reply to her. His mother gave a quick. “Alright!” Before heading back to the kitchen. His mother too had been a researcher a few years ago, but after giving birth to him had decided to put aside that world and instead play the role of a house wife.

Anthony didn’t really understand why that was necessary, he knew his mother’s intellect surpassed his father’s and he found it odd… But maybe that was the curse of people that were far too smart, eventually they lose the will to do those things that once brought them immense joy…

Chapter 2: Robot (2)

***

Heading downstairs Anthony turned on the TV and saw a surprising report had started. His father had been arrested…

Suddenly there was a sound of a dish breaking, his mother’s horrified expression as she walked into the living room and stared into the screen to confirm it was her husband that was detained. “Impossible…” she muttered lowly under her breath.

“It’s alright mom! Do you want me to go and check up on him? I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding…” Anthony suggested as he stood up and put his shoes on. His mother was still silent and as still as a brick, standing in one place unmoving.

Anthony rushed off to the research facility but he wasn’t given entry of course… He loitered around outside for a while, the sun had started to go down when he received a call from his father…

“Dad?” Anthony picked up and instantly there were numbers being shot at him. “7, 5, 20, 13, 25, 18, 5, 19, 5, 18, 8, 16, 1, 16, 5, 18, 1, 3, 15, 4, 5, 9, 19, 25, 5, 4, 9, 14, 7, 4, 1, 25…” The long string of numbers would be enough to make anyone’s head hurt however Anthony wasn’t confused.

This was a mental exercise he’d often played with his father. It only sounded difficult until one understood it. Each of the alphabet was represented by it’s corresponding number in the order, a,b,c,d becomes 1,2,3,4… and so on and so forth.

In fact Anthony was so used to this exercise he didn’t even bother writing down the numbers, he’d already figured out the message the man was sending him.

“Get my research papers, the code is wedding date.” It was simple and straightforward. Followed by another string of numbers: “4,15,14,20,20,5,12,12,21,18,13,15,13” which he quickly translated to mean ‘don’t tell your mom’.

The call ended right after those statements were made.

Anthony felt like his heart was rushing, his entire body was heating up. He ran back as soon as possible, only to find his mother in the living room with several unfamiliar men…

“What is this?” Anthony asked in a carefree manner but the men that stood there didn’t seem to acknowledge his presence at first. His mother was the person they were there to see…

On the floor he saw his father’s computer that was completely smashed to pieces and the hard drive was likely taken out and destroyed separately.

“Are you his son?” One of the scary men asked as he turned to glance at him. Seeing as the woman who was an ex-researcher wasn’t willing to comply with their request they turned to the son.

“Um… yeah?” Anthony looked conflicted when he locked eyes with his mother, she looked angry, clearly angry…

“Then come with us.” The moment the man said that, his mother jumped up and hugged Anthony. “You can’t take my son!” She clung to him with all her might and grabbed his hands. “Listen… don’t waver…” Those small words she only mouthed without her lips making a single sound made Anthony look completely frazzled.

His mother was putting on an act… in front of everyone… all for the sake of whatever she’d placed in his pocket that moment. Anthony noticed it, it was a small slip of paper that she’d thrown into his pocket, he needed to read it when he got the chance away from these men.

“Miss, step aside…” The men now became persistent and Anthony stood in between them and his mother. “I’ll come with you…” He said willingly, of course there was no other choice but to do so at the end…

They took him quickly to the lab where his father’s working computer was…

Anthony stood there for a while feeling amazed by everything he was seeing around him. This was a real research facility, no matter how much he’d beg his father before the man would never take him here but now, he was there…

“I’m sorry for the rough way our men treated you, I hope you can forgive them.” Suddenly a rather kind looking woman showed up, she seemed to be the head of research as her coat and her name tag seemed distinct from everyone else’s…

“Hm? It’s no issue…” Anthony replied while still looking around. “Is that… a new RV device?” He asked while pointing at a large machine. “I’ve never seen one like that before.”

“Oh? You’re rather knowledgeable about this, I guess it does run in the family.” The woman smiled as she lead him to show him around. “See everything here is in beta testing, they’re incomplete still.” She continued while watching the boy closely. “Say… would you like to assist us with our newest research?” She suggested.

Anthony turned his head towards her so quick he might have broken the sound barrier. “Is it about the Grayson AI ?!” He asked ever so enthusiastically.

“You’ve read the news already?” She asked him while her hands remained in her coat pockets on either side.

“Of course! It’s been my dream to develop an artificial intelligence!” Anthony remarked while jumping up and down. “Is it possible for me to help?” He questioned feeling like it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Yes, I think you’re perfect… see your father was originally the one that was assigned to train the intelligence, but someone like you seems even more suitable. Your young and maybe that inexperience it something necessary for us to observe the effects of as well…” The woman’s explanation made sense, it was something that seemed to have been decided rather off handedly however…

There was this certain tone to her voice that made it sound like this deliberate decision held much more sinister of an undertone than she had been letting on… Maybe Anthony had dropped his guard around her because of her calm and cheerful disposition… that might have been a mistake…

Chapter 3: Robot (3)

***

Anthony entered the main lab, in it there was this large monitor and also a person… “Hi, I’m Anthony, I’m here to help with the-” He paused as the person seemed to be staring off into space, then upon closer expectation he observed it was actually a robot.

“He’s going to start up soon. I can rely on you, right? I think you’ll get along.” The kind woman made her way outside the lab and closed the door behind her. This action hadn’t struck Anthony as odd before but now it felt like it was…

“Hello.” The robot Grayson suddenly responded. This made Anthony jump up due to how unexpected it was. “Did I startle you?” Although there was this overly polite vibe about him, and just a hint of a robotic sounding voice, that robot felt mostly human.

“It’s a pleasure to met you! I’ve never seen skin like this before? Is it just silicone? Oh, and it seems like your processor is one of the latest models, right? Where do you get energy from?” After the initial shock had fully dissipated, Anthony began bombarding the robot with various questions he had on his mind.

“I have a power supply placed in my chest, similar to how your heart functions and distributes blood to your organs.” Grayson explained, my skin is made of elastic silicone that’s been treated to resemble actual skin.” He proceeded to reply to each of the man’s questions in a methodical manner.

“I see, I see! That’s fascinating.” Anthony was thrilled, whatever the reason was for them allowing him to be here, it didn’t matter, he just enjoyed the fact he could be next to the latest model of robot and AI combined.

“You are… confusing.” Grayson remarked while staring at the man. Suddenly without any warning there was an intense shockwave that moved through the robot’s body, the sparks were visible even to a bystander.

“What the Hell happened?! Are you alright?!” Anthony moved towards him as the lights had stopped. He looked extremely worried as he picked up the robot’s body that had malfunctioned.

“I… believe I have made some kind of mistake.” Grayson said while standing up right. “I must apologize.” He said with a slight lowering of his head, it felt so humanlike and also so devoid of emotions as well.

“You didn’t do anything wrong…” Anthony remarked. “I think the circuit breaker might have malfunctioned… or…” He looked around the room until he noticed the small control panel attached to the large screen. “Is this… my father’s research to develop you?” He questioned while looking up the data files that were readily available at his disposal.

“I am unaware of who my creator is, I don’t have it in my data base.” Grayson remarked while moving slowly towards the man, it seemed like that shock wave he’d experienced prior was still having some lasting effects on him.

“I see…” Anthony remarked while looking a bit puzzled. He knew for a fact his father was the one that developed these files. After all he’d spent most of his time snooping around his father’s personal computer that never had too sensitive details but was enough for him to understand the status of his work…

His father had always taken pride in his creations and he’d label them with his own name more often than not… so why were all these files lacking the creator’s notes that should be there?

It seemed fishy…

It was just at that moment that Anthony had began to suspect the reason he was even allowed to be there might be more sinister than he’d initially thought it would be.

“Your pulse is rising…” Grayson moved closer, his hand placed onto the other man’s wrist as he measured it. “What concerns you?” He questioned lightly, as they locked eyes for a moment that robot seemed very human but then it went back to being the same robotic structure as before…

“I’m fine, I just got overly excited seeing these files. Tell me, how long have you been here for? They never let you outside?” Anthony questioned, of course this type of robot’s development could be made entirely indoors but somehow he felt it was a bit cruel. Even if it wasn’t a person…