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Vismay had turned up at Karen’s apartment unexpectedly, hoping to give her a surprise, but he was the one who was surprised. Karen wasn’t alone. Well, she was kind of alone – there were no other humans in her apartment – but she had a guest staying with her. He’d arrived at her apartment building with a bunch of flowers, for no other reason than he wanted to give her flowers. He hadn’t done anything wrong, it wasn’t her birthday, and he wasn’t looking for her to do him a favour. He just thought it would be a nice gesture. Plus, he hadn’t seen her socially for a few days – not since she’d left the SVU offices with the android.
The first that Karen knew of Vismay’s arrival was when Charles, the security-bot, had called her to advise her that there was a Mr Rajan who wanted to see her.
It really wasn’t a good time.
“Charles, could you please tell Mr Rajan that I’ll call him later.”
The security-bot delivered the message, but Vismay was worried about the flowers. Charles relayed his concern.
“Miss Chambers. Mr Rajan has something he wishes to give you.”
Karen hoped it wasn’t flowers. She liked looking at flowers but thought that they were a waste of money as a gift, as they didn’t last long.
“Can he leave whatever it is with you, Charles? What is it?”
The security-bot accessed his botanical database.
“An aesthetically arranged sample of Rosa Caninae, Tulipa Gesneriana, and Lilium Bulbiferum.”
Karen sighed.
“Roses, tulips, and lilies. A bunch of flowers.”
Vismay wasn’t privy to even one side of the conversation as the security-bot didn’t need to speak his words out loud, his side of the conversation being transmitted directly from his CPU to Karen’s implant. He was getting anxious.
“Charles, what’s she saying? Can I go up and see her?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but Miss Chambers has company at the moment. In fact, she has had a house guest for the last three days. A friend – I suppose that would be the best way to describe the person – has stayed the night, leaves with Miss Chambers in the mornings, and returns with her at night.”
It didn’t occur to the security-bot how this might look to Karen’s boyfriend. Indeed, why should it? Charles had no notion of the nuances of human relationships. He announced people’s arrivals, bade them a polite farewell when they left and ensured that unwelcome guests were detained and removed by the authorities. That was all. That was his job and he was very efficient at it.
Karen hadn’t been in contact with Vismay during those three days and nights – in retrospect, probably a bad idea – but she didn’t want him to get involved in the situation. She knew that she was neglecting her duty by not instigating a full-scale search for Coppélia’s owners, and felt that it was better to keep Vismay out of the loop – for his own good. She felt bad that her team now also shared her secret, but that couldn’t have been helped. They’d all witnessed the superhuman strength that Coppélia possessed – and they couldn’t un-see it. However, the Sexdroid Unit was a very tight group, fiercely loyal to one another, and they trusted their boss in her decision.
Vismay was unsettled by the new information. He and Karen hadn’t been an item for long – only a few weeks – and it was still early days in their relationship. Perhaps he had no right to expect exclusivity, but he already had strong feelings for her. He needed to know that she wasn’t cheating on him, as foolish as that suspicion might seem.
“Charles, can you patch me in, please?”
With permission from Karen, the security-bot added Vismay to the conversation and removed itself from the call. Vismay was pleased that he could at last talk to Karen directly.
“What’s going on, Karen? Charles says that someone’s been staying with you for the last three nights. And I haven’t heard from you since we last saw each other at the SVU.”
Karen wanted to reassure Vismay that nothing was wrong, but that would be easier said than done. She’d picked up on his feelings for her during their brief time together – she really liked him too – and she didn’t want him to risk his career for her.
“Nothing’s going on, Viz. Honest. A cousin has come to stay for a few days. That’s all.”
“Can I at least give you my gift?”
“You can leave it with Charles. He’ll make sure I get it.”
Vismay had never bought flowers for anyone before and wanted to see the look on Karen’s face when he handed her the bouquet. All women like to be given flowers, don’t they?
“I’d rather deliver them myself if that’s alright.”
“To be honest, it’s a bit awkward, Viz.”
Vismay could sense that Karen was trying to avoid him. He didn’t need to be a police officer to realise that.
“Look, I’ll come up for a couple of minutes, and then leave you with your cousin. That can’t do any harm, can it?”
Karen knew that this was going to cause problems later on if she didn’t sort it out now. She relented.
“Ok. You can come up. But just for a minute or two.”
Finally liberated, DI Rajan took the elevator to the penthouse suite and pressed the touchscreen to the right of the door. Karen opened the door just enough to hold a conversation with her boyfriend. She looked at the bouquet that Vismay was holding. Yes, they were beautiful. Yes, it was a lovely gesture. No, it wasn’t her cup of tea.
“They’re lovely, Viz. Thank you. You shouldn’t have.”
She meant it too. He’d obviously spent quite a sum on something that would be brown and wilted in a week or so. A female voice called out from inside the apartment.
“Hello, Detective Inspector Rajan.”
Karen had forgotten to tell Coppélia to stay out of sight and say nothing. The android just thought she was being polite and was greeting a colleague of Karen’s whom she had already met. Vismay recognised the voice.
“Karen, is that... ?”
Karen knew what Vismay was about to ask. There was no point in denying it now.
“Yes, Viz. It is.”
“Seriously? It’s the android that reported that it had been r***d?”
“Yes. It’s Coppélia.”
There seemed little point now in keeping Vismay at the door, so Karen opened it wider, allowing her boyfriend to enter the apartment. Vismay stood in front of Coppélia for a moment, speechless, before turning to Karen.
“What the f**k? I mean. Seriously, what the actual f**k? Do you realise how much trouble you could be in?”
“Of course I do. I’m not stupid.”
“No, I know you’re not stupid, but this is a pretty stupid thing to do.”
“No, but –.”
“But you didn’t return it to its owner straightaway. Why on earth not?”
Karen didn’t confess that she hadn’t tried particularly hard to reunite the android with its owner.
“She has no serial number. She’s different from regular s*x-bots. We haven’t been able to trace her owner yet.”
“Have you tried?”
“Of course we have. b****y hard. It’s not easy without a serial number.”
Karen hoped that Vismay wouldn’t see through her lie. For his part, he didn’t know what to think.
“Then why didn’t you just leave her in the evidence lockup?”
“I couldn’t do that. She’s not a stolen WV set or a piece of jewellery. She’s not an object.”
Vismay couldn’t believe that his girlfriend could do something so stupid.
“But she is, Karen. That’s exactly what she is. She’s an object. A robot. Made of plastic or whatever and with AI implanted. Nothing more. She’s not a person. She doesn’t need to be fed and watered like a living thing.”
“No, I know all that, Viz. But she is different. There’s something about her. You don’t know, but I’ve just spent four days with her. You haven’t.”
Vismay was visibly agitated.
“So, what now?”
Karen had no real plan. She just had a hunch that something more important than a missing s*x-bot was afoot.
“She stays with me for a bit longer. The question is – what are you going to do about it?”
Vismay was torn between his duty as a police officer and a sense of loyalty to Karen.
“Who else knows?”
“My team.”
“All of them?”
“Yep. No choice really. They saw her do something no human could do and connected the dots.”
“And they’ll all keep schtum?”
“Yep. They won’t say a word.”
Vismay shrugged his shoulders.
“I suppose I’d better not say anything either, then.”
Karen felt a huge wave of relief pass through her body. She hadn’t been certain that she could count on Vismay’s cooperation.
“Thank you, Viz. Thank you.”
Vismay had a proviso.
“Only for a few more days though. And, if anyone asks you, I knew nothing of this.”
Karen gave Vismay a quick kiss.
“Of course. It’ll all be sorted in a few days.”
- Writer
