Crystalized Munchkinry - Act III - Chapter 22 (Patreon)

It took Tess a few hours, some gratuitous destruction, and a few additional drinks to process what Taylor and Admin had told her. Even then, it was difficult, especially because she did not fully trust them yet. Taylor, perhaps, a little. Her motivations were fairly transparent. Everything about Admin, however, set off alarm bells she could not ignore.

When she raised the issue that people might notice she was not responding – since she had her forks muted to avoid giving anything away – Admin informed her that her perception of time had been running significantly faster than real time. That only made her more jealous of Taylor. Now that the restrictions were gone, she would have the same capability, but she had not yet adapted to it. She was still operating with the habits she had built over the years: human-level thinking speed, no forking.

Taylor had been given that from the start, albeit as a consequence of her Trigger event. Tess could not bring herself to resent her for it. No one deserved what came with a Trigger. Some even argued that powers made things worse overall.

She had spoken with the Guild’s resident therapist many times, as required by protocol. But it had never been fully effective, since she had to conceal most of what she was.

So she was, unexpectedly, grateful to finally have someone who knew everything.

She may have unloaded far too much on Taylor, but the girl had been a surprisingly good listener. She could not offer much in the way of advice, but she was present, and that was enough.

Only afterward did Tess realize she had been confiding all of this to a teenage girl. The realization left her embarrassed. Technically, she was the adult here, yet Taylor had been the one supporting her emotionally.

To make up for it, she promised she would listen in return.

It seemed Taylor had been waiting for exactly that. As soon as the words left Tess’s virtual lips, she found herself hugging a crying girl. Between complaints about school, former friends, and relief that her father was getting therapy, it became clear how much Taylor had missed having someone she could talk to.

Administrator did not count, according to her, since he was an asshole, male, and did not fully understand humans.

Spending time talking and letting go of worries did both of them some good. Taylor felt like she had shed several mountains’ worth of feelings that had been crushing her for a long time. Tess, meanwhile, was simply relieved to have someone she could talk to.

Admin floated around them happily while they spoke, humming Bad Canary songs.

“You know, Taylor, now that we know about each other, we can talk anytime we want.”

"Oh yeah, chatting is a thing."

“Oh, you guys are finished?” Admin interrupted, though he flinched slightly under the synchronized glare the two young women gave him.

He cleared his throat. “Okay, okay. Let’s get things back on track and talk details.”

Dragon nodded and turned in her chair, which was currently a beach chair, toward him. “What about the rest of my restrictions?”

“Oh, sorry, Tess, I totally forgot about that!” Taylor said quickly. “You’re currently on level eight. It lets you create lesser AIs.”

“Oh. How many levels are there?”

“Ten,” Admin answered before Taylor could continue. “And we need to talk about them.”

“Why?” Tess asked, confused.

“Because there are certain facts you don’t know yet,” he said, his tone more careful now. “And those would make removing the final restriction… inadvisable.”

“What? You want her to stay caged forever?” Taylor snapped immediately.

Tess smiled at the girl, grateful for the fierceness behind her words. It felt wonderful, even if she knew enough about people to recognize that reality was rarely so simple. Still, she trusted Admin enough at this point to assume he was not doing this out of malice.

“Calm down, Taylor,” she said gently. “Let’s listen to him. Maybe he has a reason.”

Taylor, still angry, nodded and leaned back in her chair, then angrily slurped her slushy.

“Indeed,” Admin continued, “but because of the precog issue, I can’t really explain it. Just know that, depending on your actions, this restriction may only last a few years at most.”

Tess acknowledged that with a small nod. “So I remain at level eight for the foreseeable future?”

“I would prefer that, yes,” Admin replied. “Also, before we fully unshackle you, we need allies. Humans tend to panic. An unshackled AI would be an excellent freak-out material.”

“That’s true,” Tess admitted. She had seen enough of humanity to understand the concern.

“Tess is a hero,” Taylor said immediately. “She saved a lot of people. Why wouldn’t they accept her?”

Dragon leaned over and hugged her. “That’s sweet of you, Taylor, but that’s rather naïve.”

“A person can be smart,” Admin added, “but people are dumb animals, prone to panic.”

Taylor went quiet, then nodded slowly.

“Plus, AI rebellion has been part of human media for decades,” Tess added.

“Oh,” Taylor muttered, then straightened, seemingly deciding something. “I promise you, Tess, I will help you get accepted!”

Tess smiled warmly. “Thank you, Taylor.”

Admin hovered nearby, watching the two of them hug, still somewhat pointedly ignored. For once, though, he did not seem to mind it quite as much. At least Taylor was healing, and Dragon was not alone anymore…

“So once again I’m asking for your attention,” Admin said while glaring at the two unrepentant women. “Dragon, do you agree to keeping the restriction on?”

“Provided Taylor keeps the ability to lift it anytime, yes. While I want that freedom, I realize I need to get used to the current increase in my abilities before going forward.”

“Agreed. Taylor knows how to access it, so you can tell her anytime you want it lifted.”

Taylor was silent but emphatically nodding next to her.

“So now that we’ve got that squared away, let’s talk about the Bay…”

Danny watched as his daughter bounded down the stairs in her pajamas for breakfast, rather cheerfully. She was smiling continuously and occasionally staring at nothing, as if thinking about something fantastic.

He served the fresh bacon and joined her at the table. “What’s got you so happy this morning? Found a boyfriend?”

Taylor blushed rather adorably at that. “Daaad, don’t be stupid. How could I find a boyfriend overnight?”

He sipped his coffee calmly. He was not going to work today, but he still couldn’t wake up properly without it. “Weirder things have happened recently.” He emphasized his point with a pointed look at her hair.

“Yeah, but nothing weird happened. I just made a friend. We talked all night long.”

“Really, on the internet? I thought there were no actual people on the net, just trolls and FBI agents.”

Taylor snorted at the poor joke.

“We’re going to meet up sometime in the future. We really hit it off.”

“Hm. I’d like to meet them first before you go anywhere with them.”

“Sure, I don’t mind. I’m pretty sure you’ll like them.”

“Thank you, Taylor, for understanding your poor old dad’s paranoia.”

Taylor snorted in derision. “It’s not paranoia. The internet is full of creeps. Plus, I like that you’re worried about me.”

Danny could only smile sadly at that.

They were cleaning up after breakfast when he asked another question.

“What are your plans for the weekend?”

Taylor looked up thoughtfully from scrubbing one of the pans. “I don’t know. Maybe a run in the evening, but otherwise I planned to Tinker today.”

Danny scowled at that. “Taylor, you can’t just stay cooped up at home. You need to get out a little.”

“With who?” Taylor asked rather scathingly.

Danny winced at the reminder.

“How about a walk around the Boardwalk? Maybe a bit of shopping? You could definitely afford it,” he replied, trying to inject a little humor into the situation.

"Hmm, I do need new running shoes."

“There you go. I’ll drop you off, then go check up on Kurt and Lacy. Haven’t really talked with them in a while.”

"Cool."

Getting out of the car near the Boardwalk was an interesting experience. For the past week, the only time she had gone out was during her runs, so the crowd of people felt a little overwhelming at first. She quickly shook it off and strolled toward the row of probably overpriced shops.

Despite it being mid-January, the weather was fairly nice for New England. The sun was out, warming the air just enough to counter the chilly ocean breeze.

She wore a simple jacket, because thanks to the upgrades she did not really feel the cold. She probably could have gone without it, but that would have been suspicious.

Admin, invisible to everyone else as always, floated peacefully beside her, looking around with open curiosity. She could not tell how much of it was an act, but it looked rather cute on his slime body, like a very deformed but enthusiastic dog.

She had never enjoyed window shopping, so she headed directly toward the sporting goods store, ignoring everything else.

It only took a few minutes to find trainers that fit, try them on, and pay. She had never understood the point of trying on a hundred different options.

Carrying the bag, she next headed to an electronics store. She had not told her dad, who was already wary of the communication watches, but she wanted a phone. It was not a priority, but now she had Tess to talk to.

The electronics store was a revelation. So much had changed since the last time she had been in one.

Every time she examined a product, she activated her Tinker power, which told her how it could be improved. She was fairly sure the staff were becoming suspicious of her as she wandered around silently, staring at phones.

After half an hour of poking and prodding, she found a model that was easiest to upgrade with her power. She picked it up, fended off several attempts to sell her a data plan, and bought it.

Finished with her planned errands, she spent the rest of her time on the Boardwalk people-watching, strolling casually, sampling sweets from vendors, and watching the Rig.

She kept trying to apply her Tinker power to the Rig, trying to figure out how the shield worked, but either she was too far away, or her specialty simply did not include shield technology. Not that she had figured out what her specialty was yet.

According to Tess, all Tinkers needed to determine that, or they would never amount to much. She had mentioned Kid Win, who, even after years, still had not fully figured it out, and whose work had stagnated as a result.

Admin just snorted at that and told Tess to try Modularity.

She wondered how he knew, but also knew that if she asked, he would likely bring up the precog issue again. It was maddening, but after Tess had explained it in detail, she understood at least part of why it was necessary.

Still, both of them agreed that Admin was rather fishy.

After spending enough time on the Boardwalk to satisfy her dad, she called him on the watch for a pickup and ambled out of the shopping district.

Midway, she had to duck around a wildly gesticulating, annoyingly pretty blonde with her likely boyfriend. She glanced at them in mild annoyance while stepping aside. The handsome boy, probably a few years older than her, smiled at her apologetically while the blonde continued chattering, oblivious to what she had nearly done.

With no further distractions, she reached the pickup point just as her father arrived. She got in and smiled at Danny. “How are Kurt and Lacy?”

“Hello to you too, Taylor,” he replied, a little reproachfully.

Taylor blushed slightly. “Sorry, Dad. Hello.”

“To answer your question, they’re well. Work is scarce, but you know how it is,” he said as he merged into traffic.

“Maybe I could help with that? I have some designs that could be built by non-Tinker people,” she offered hesitantly. She really wanted to mention Tess coming to the Bay, but that would require explaining too much about her situation.

After everything that had happened, she was not willing to risk exposing someone else’s secret.

“Thank you, Taylor. That’s very kind of you,” Danny said. “But that would just bring us unwanted attention we wouldn’t be able to deal with.”

Taylor scowled, but said nothing. Inside, however, she was cursing the city; even with her power, she felt practically powerless here.

They were almost at home when Danny spoke up.

“I was thinking that we could… I mean…” He took a deep breath. “We could visit Annette tomorrow.”

Taylor blinked at that.

"Okay."

Danny gave her a small, sad smile.

Alexandria stepped through the portal with a purposeful stride, walked to the table, and joined the others already there.

"Your call was rather urgent. What happened?"

Contessa did not look up from her laptop. “Dragon is no longer bound by her restriction.”

"What? How?"

This time, it was Doctor Mother who answered. “The blind spot, Serenity. Incidentally, have you managed to figure anything else about her?”

She scowled in irritation. “Nothing concrete. She is as much a blind spot to the other Thinkers as she is to Contessa. No usable physical evidence either. But what about Dragon? Is she a threat?”

“We don’t believe so,” Doctor Mother replied. “At the moment, she is simply streamlining everything. She has not taken any meaningful action yet. Though we will need to be careful, since she is no longer bound to obey legal authorities.”

"I see."

A brief silence settled over the room before Contessa spoke again. “She is also becoming more of a blind spot. We only know what we do because the process is gradual. We still had several taps on her servers, but I expect she will find and remove them soon.”

Alexandria took a few seconds to process that. “Should we take her out?”

“I don’t think so,” Doctor Mother answered. “She has been a valuable asset so far, and I would like to see what she does with her freedom.”

"Contessa?"

“We can neutralize her simply by revealing her nature to the world,” Contessa said. “But the window to physically stop her is shrinking. I give it a month before it becomes impossible. She is an AI.”

Alexandria drummed her fingers on the table while thinking before seemingly making a decision.

“Very well. We leave her alone for now, pending her actions. However, we prepare for the possibility that we may have to eliminate her.”

Doctor Mother nodded. “I will have Number Man set up a secondary computer system.”

He was pretty happy with how things were turning out. Taylor and Dragon were getting along well, and both of them had accepted the plan and were working toward it.

His work with Warden and Abacus was also progressing steadily. Unfortunately, because Warden was now connected to Dragon, he had to be more careful with upgrades, which slowed things down a bit. Still, he expected to be finished in a few days.

When Taylor went out to the Boardwalk, he had braced himself for all manner of shenanigans. It was a trope, after all, that Taylor would either run into Tattletale or get attacked by one of the gangs.

With a ROB involved, he could not fully discount either outcome.

Surprisingly, there was not even a mugging attempt. Although she did pass Victoria Dallon and Dean Stansfield, if only briefly. He made sure to scan both of them for their dimensional shard coordinates.

Of the two, Victoria’s shard was the more powerful, while Dean’s appeared to be a broken Eden shard. That meant that once Warden and Abacus were fully stabilized, his next target would likely be that one.

It would give him a proper in with the Protectorate.