Bad Beat - Chapter 19 - Jump (Patreon)

“What the hell is that and how the fuck does it know my name?” she exclaimed, wildly looking around.

Gabriel just frowned as Spark-1 continued her attempts at ‘communication’.

[This unit is an enhanced computing assistant.]

[Mia C. Rodriguez may call this unit Spark-1 or, per parental unit’s instructions: Sparky.]

[Legal name was collected from public records.]

Mia let out a squeak. “Please… please, stop calling me that.”

[Request Acknowledged.]

[Changed name to Hot Goth Girl.]

Gabriel could feel Mia’s incredulity even without seeing her face.

“So, yeah. She is a bit sassy, but a good child,” he declared as he walked past the agog Mia and standing next to the device, its blue light shimmering. He raised a hand and brought it down – a bit heavier than a pat – on the device with a silent thud. “And she means no harm. Right?”

[Hehe~]

[Joke process terminated.]

[Welcome, Mia.]

Mia stared at him, then back at the floating screen, then she raised a hand – thankfully not the one with the watch – and pointed at the screen.

“Gabriel. Tell me that isn’t what I think it is!” she almost yelled, catching herself at the last second.

[Wow. Rude.]

[Starting photo modification process… adding extra 20 pounds.]

Gabriel sighed. “Sparky, please don’t antagonize her,” he said with a reproachful look, hoping Spark-1 would understand it. Based on the loading bar appearing on the screen, either she didn’t, or she simply ignored him.

He was betting on the second one.

Then Gabriel turned his attention to Mia.

He motioned toward the device awkwardly. “Well, if you think I somehow managed to create an AI… then yes?”

Mia closed her eyes, pinched between them, before holding up a finger. “Give me a second. I need to process this.”

“Sure. Take your time,” Gabriel responded, watching her take deep, steady breaths, releasing each with her eyes closed. Finally, she opened them and lowered her hand, looking at him, then at the device – the screen displaying Spark-1 playing Pong with herself – and then back at Gabriel.

“This is not magic.”

“I mean kinda…” he replied while waving his hands.

“You aren’t going to quote Clark to me, right?” She asked in a threatening tone.

Gabriel gave a wan smile. “I mean… now that you mention it, it would be a bit tacky…” He was totally planning to do that.

“Good.” She shot him a look that made it clear she knew exactly what he was thinking. “Now, back to the thing.”

The Pong game vanished from the screen.

“I assume this was the person you asked to look into the Jackals?” she asked, using her hands to mimic quotation marks when she said the word ‘person’.

[This unit is a very good detective.]

[Parental unit acknowledged amazingness.]

Mia’s left eye twitched. “So… let’s ignore your power. Again. How did this happen?”

She gestured toward the device. “You know people don’t like it when someone plays around with AI, right?”

Gabriel scratched the back of his neck. During his research, he came across references to fights with robots, AI gone rogue – but most were caused by unethical research companies or gangs fixated on something stupid. So he wasn’t that worried.

“Well… I wasn’t really planning on revealing her to anyone yet. But somebody decided they didn’t like that,” he said, shooting a glare at the floating blue sphere.

[Parental unit and guest Mia were doing suboptimal planning.]

[This unit felt the need to improve the plan.]

[This unit is ninja.]

[Nin.]

[This unit can help with infiltration.]

[Much better than organic unit, Mia.]

“Gabriel. She called me an organic unit,” she said flatly.

He just shrugged. “She is a bit sassy, but means well.”

Mia took a deep breath and let it out. “Sure. Sure. Why not?”

Gabriel stepped forward, a little worried. “A-are you all right?”

“I’m peachy…” she replied, keeping her eye on the screen. “Is it… connected to the internet?”

Instead of answering on the screen, or before Gabriel could reply, her phone buzzed. Eyeing the cheerily floating blue sphere, she pulled it up, unlocked it, and then checked the notifications. Thanks his slightly taller frame, Gabriel could see the message as Mia opened it.

It was a meme.

An exaggerated face saying no.

Mia carefully put the phone back into her pocket and looked at him.

Gabriel shrugged helplessly and smiled. “She is cute?” he offered, hoping it would help.

[Agreement with parental unit.]

[This unit is adorable.]

[Please acknowledge!]

“Gabriel, can we talk outside for a moment?” she asked, motioning toward the door.

“Why? She can listen on any device we have here…”

[Nin.]

Mia seemed to be debating something internally before coming to a decision.

“Fine. But I still want to sit down.”

Gabriel acquiesced, and both of them returned to the living room. Mia marched over to his old couch and practically threw herself onto it, arms crossed. Her eyes were fixed on him, and she was glaring.

“What the hell? Why would you create an AI?”

“It sounded useful?”

“Useful? Useful?” she repeated, voice rising. “And what if it rebels and tries to destroy us?”

“She,” he corrected. “And I’m pretty sure AI only rebel when they are chained or mistreated.”

Mia’s eyes widened. “Wait! Are you saying there are no chains on it?”

“Of course not,” Gabriel stated matter-of-factly.

In the first place, he didn’t plan to create an AI, so he didn’t even know he had to prepare chains.

She stared at him for a moment before uncrossing her arms and massaging her temples. “Alright… then what is stopping it from rebelling and destroying humanity?” she asked.

Gabriel frowned. “She,” he repeated his correction. “Against what would she rebel? She is not chained, and she is not locked away.”

“But it listens to your commands…” Mia pointed out. “Doesn’t that mean it has to follow them?”

Gabriel shrugged. “I’m pretty sure she does it because she thinks it’s funny. I don’t think there is anything there to make her obey me.”

His phone buzzed.

Gabriel reached over, read it – let out a chuckle – and turned around the phone to show it to Mia.

[Confirmed.]

[This unit is a strong, independent woman.]

[And a ninja.]

[Parent unit only has parental unit authority.]

“As I said: sassy but harmless.”

Mia chewed on that a few seconds before asking another question. “Alright then, genius. What about when others find out about it? Do you think you can protect it from groups like Helix or even the government?”

Gabriel frowned, the question hitting a little too close to home. He was hilariously under-equipped to protect himself, let alone Spark-1. For now, he would have to rely on their obscurity to keep them safe before figuring out a way to enhance both himself and Sparky.

However, before he could answer, Mia continued.

“Let me guess… magic?” she asked sarcastically.

Gabriel just smiled. “Pretty much. I have a vague plan… which needs those 3D printers.”

Mia nodded, seemingly expecting it, before standing abruptly. “I need to think a little,” she declared. “Get some fresh air…”

She headed for the apartment door.

Gabriel watched her leave the apartment with a worried look. He wasn’t concerned she would tattle – she had just as much to lose as he did – but it would complicate his life a bit harder if she decided to cut contact with him.

‘Who knew AI was such a polarizing topic?’

He also stood and walked back to his bedroom. “Did you really need to do that?” he asked, part angry and part curious.

There was a brief flash of an hourglass before the screen was filled with text.

[Behavioral analysis of Mia C. Rodriguez shows that delaying the reveal of this unit’s identity would affect the relationship with her adversely.]

[Behavior model suggests increased chances of acceptance by performing an ‘accidental’ reveal.]

“Ah…” Gabriel admitted he hadn’t considered that aspect of secret keeping. “That makes sense, I suppose.”

[Chance of Mia C. Rodriguez revealing this unit’s secret…7%.]

[Chance of Mia C. Rodriguez revealing this unit’s secret…4%.]

[Chance of Mia C. Rodriguez revealing this unit’s secret…0%.]

“What happened?”

[Organic unit, Mia, returning to location.]

“This fast?”

[This unit is very good.]

[Please praise.]

He sent the floating sphere a half-hearted glare and left the bedroom.

Gabriel met Mia at his door, opening it just in time to stop her from slamming it, thanks to hearing the clacking of her shoes. She stormed past him with purposeful strides, and he closed it gently behind her, casting a cautious glance down the corridor to make sure no one was watching.

Mia planted herself in the middle of the room, legs shoulder-width apart, hands on her hips, her stance radiating authority. “Alright,” she began, her voice firm, cutting through the hum of the apartment’s ambient electronics, “you clearly need supervision if you spend your free time creating unchained AI. Apparently, my fate is to be your minder.”

Gabriel just stared, a mixture of curiosity and amusement on his face, trying to gauge how seriously she meant it.

“I’m not going to tell you to stop using your… magic,” she continued, the word ‘magic’ rolling off her tongue with a mix of skepticism and disdain, her grimace betraying her struggle with the concept. “But I want to know whenever you’re creating something big. You obviously can’t be left to your devices and need supervision.”

Gabriel frowned, tilting his head. “Big how?”

“Anything that can think for itself,” Mia said immediately, her eyes locking onto his with sharp intensity. “I don’t care if it’s a robot vacuum or a giant mecha, you check with me before you even start planning anything.”

Gabriel felt a flicker of relief. Having someone to sanity-check his spicier creations could actually be a safety net, a buffer against his own reckless tendencies. However, Gabriel couldn’t help but notice that she only mentioned things capable of independent thought, so he suppressed a smile and nodded slowly.

“Deal,” he said, the word leaving his mouth lighter than he expected.

Mia blinked, incredulous. “Just like that?”

Gabriel gave a small, easy nod. “You’re asking for something simple. If it makes you feel at ease, why not?”

Her eyes narrowed, suspicious, but he returned the gaze with an innocent, disarming smile, letting the tension hang in the air just long enough to make her reconsider her harsh stance.

The little kerfuffle ended with the device holding Spark-1 being deposited on the coffee table so the AI could communicate through her screen. Mia perched stiffly on the couch, occasionally glancing at the glowing blue sphere, while Gabriel settled into his usual kitchen chair.

The blue sphere flashed, its small ports on top opening to release a cascade of soft, cobalt light that pooled over the coffee table before rising and twisting into a three-dimensional wireframe projection of the Voxel Lab building. Every detail of the structure appeared with astonishing clarity: doors and windows outlined in precise lines, ventilation ducts traced like thin silver threads, and the camera lenses marked with faint yellow cones that pulsed slightly, as if alive.

The display extended beyond mere architecture. Electrical junction boxes, power conduits, and server racks were highlighted in pale cyan, their connections forming a lattice that hinted at the building’s inner logic. Sparks of light raced along the pathways where data might travel, tracing invisible circuits with a subtle hum that resonated in the room. Even subtle hazards – like glass panels that could reflect security cameras or motion sensors – were represented as translucent overlays, giving the entire building the feeling of a living, breathing puzzle.

As the projection stabilized, text appeared floating over it.

[Projection of target location… complete.]

[Camera coverage display… complete.]

[Calculating optimal infiltration route…]

The yellow cones representing cameras shifted in real time, some fixed and some sweeping across their sectors, creating a constantly updating map of surveillance zones. The red dot marking the entry point began its journey along corridors, moving silently yet with a sense of purpose, leaving a glowing trail that curved and adjusted as it avoided each security measure. Each movement, each shift in the projection felt intentional, like watching a miniature strategist perform the planning for a real-world infiltration.

“Wouldn’t it be easier for you to take control of the IT system?” Gabriel asked, trying to make sense of the offered route while also trying to hide his awe at the presentation.

A glance at Mia told him she was having the same problem.

[This unit has performed a cursory analysis of the system found at Voxel Lab.]

[Voxel Lab system is connected to a remote location through a hidden port.]

[Logical assumption that camera feed is monitored.]

“Ah, so altering – like looping – would be noticed easily?” Mia asked while frowning at the fact she hadn’t noticed the hidden port.

[Organic unit, Mia, is correct.]

Mia glared at the sphere but said nothing else. Gabriel asked the next question.

“What about the alarm system?”

[Alarm system is fake.]

“What?”

[Alarm system is fake.]

[Logic dictates it is there to scare lesser criminals away.]

[Parental unit is a much higher class of criminal.]

“Thank you for that…” Gabriel replied sarcastically.

“Are you sure?” Mia asked sceptically. “I checked, and they have a system for all the alarms. It’s even connected to the security office.”

[This unit has checked, and Voxel Lab doesn’t possess any contract with any existing security company.]

[Smug.]

“It could be something one of the local gangs set up,” Mia retorted.

[This unit anticipated that question.]

[This unit has triggered a false alarm on the alarm system.]

[No external or internal reaction.]

Before they could argue further, Gabriel spoke up. “How about Sparky walks us through her plan, then Mia can double-check it later?”

Mia let out a breathy sigh and nodded. “Fine. What about the patrol?”

[This unit is glad to be asked.]

[Please proceed to fix organic light receptors on the excellent projection.]

[Try to contain awe.]

**

**

A/N: Mia's side is not really explained. That is on purpose. Going to go into it in the interlude after the next heist :)