Log inIt's About Saving Yourself Ch 29
Good afternoon!
I worked. SO HARD! WHOOOOO!
The chapter is a little bit on the short side. But it also ends in a good spot, and every attempt I made to try and make it a bit longer made it look obviously padded out. So I'm going for quality.
Sorry about the radio silence. Work was...oof. And one of my coworker's...personal stuff came up, so we had to take on his work load, which didn't help things.
Next week is gonna be ugh.
ANYWAYS! The situation last chapter is continued on this one. Hopefully you lot will enjoy it. I hope you do, I rather enjoyed writing it.
Lemme know if you liked in a comment.
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Lucy watched with mounting amusement as Apex walked her drone body around the couch toward Glora, the unemotive drone somehow managing to convey her reluctance in the sag of its chassis and the slowness of its steps.
“So…you’re my son’s daughter?” Gloria asked, kneeling in front of the not so little drone.
Apex twisted one spidery limb shily before answering. +Yes.+
“Oh good.” Gloria said, clapping her hands together and glaring at Alex, making him flinch and attempt to play the flinch off by leaning back on the couch and putting his arm around Lucy, who found herself leaning into his touch. “I’ve always wanted to be a grandma. Tell me sweetie, how old are you?”
Apex twisted the drone back and forth before answering. +I’m almost two years old.+
Gloria blinked and leaned back.
“Apex. Be honest.” Alex said in a chastising tone.
Apex turned her optical receptors away. +I’m almost eleven months old.+
Gloria turned from Apex, to Alex, back to Apex, back to Alex. And lastly turned to Lucy.
Lucy sighed. “Gloria, I need you to stay calm, but umm…Apex is an AI.”
“I prefer the term Silica Anima.” Alex said, earning himself an elbow on the side.
Gloria blinked, looked down at Apex’s body, which tensed, then frowned and brought a hand up to her chin. “You know…that explains some things.”
“Uhh, what did you think was going on?” Alex asked.
Gloria scratched the side of her head. “Well, at first I figured you’d hired somebody shy and lonely to man the drone. Someone you trusted implicitly, otherwise you wouldn’t just let them loose in the apartment with David and me.” Lucy tilted her head but…yeah, she could see it. “Then when Lucy told me you made her, I figured you’d gotten some girl in middle school pregnant and had hid it from me.”
“Ma! What the fuck!?” Alex screeched, his face scrunched up in mild offense. It was kinda cute.
“It’s what made sense, okay!” Gloria defended. “How else is a man supposed to make a daughter!?”
“You uhh…” Lucy reconsidered her question, it was probably wiser not to poke that particular data-cache, but… “You aren’t umm…you aren’t worried she’s an AI?”
Gloria rolled her eyes. “Honey, nobody that puts googly eyes on things or hides a mustache with googly eyes in the cupboard with the note ‘you’ve found my secret stache!’ could possibly be anyone I should worry about.”
Lucy didn’t quite agree with that assessment, but she also didn’t want to chance the slipper coming out again.
Gloria switched to sitting cross-legged on the floor and began to absently pat the drone. “So, little Apex. Is my son a good dad?”
+Yeah! My dad’s the best!+ Apex said and began gushing about all the things she and Alex got up to.
Lucy took that opportunity to lean into Alex. “Hey Al, um, now that Gloria is calm, would you mind heading back to your workshop? I umm, Apex came up while I was talking to Gloria about that private thing and uhh…yeah this is kind of all my fault?”
Al smirked and stole a quick kiss. “You do know you’ll be making it up to me later?”
Lucy smirked and winked. “Maybe you can spank me for being a naughty girl.”
“Don’t tempt me…” He growled, kissed her again, and left, waving at Gloria and Apex.
+And then, he went into a building, where bad people broke other people’s cars. And then, he killed somebody, but this was a bad somebody, who liked seeing kids hurt! And paid someone! To hurt kids for him! And dad found out about it! And he explained why he was going to kill the man! But he didn’t let me see it, which is not fair! Cause I’m a big girl! But he said that it was his job as my dad to protect me from bad people who hurt kids! And then, he was too busy to be in the Net with me, so he asked miss Lucy if she could be in the Net with me, and she said yes! And then—+
“Apex, sweetie.” Lucy interrupted, getting off the couch and sitting next to the drone, across from Gloria who had a heartbreakingly happy smile on her face as she looked tenderly down at the little drone.
+Yeah, mom?+
“I umm…I asked you to come so I could ask your grandma for some advice. Okay?” Lucy said.
+Okay!+
Gloria looked at her expectantly.
Lucy took a deep breath and tried to formulate her thoughts into something cohesive. “So…it’s umm…th-the situation um…just, just promise me you won’t hit Alex with a sandal again. Please. At least wait until I’m finished.”
Gloria’s eyes narrowed, but she nodded.
Lucy fiddled with her hair for a bit, trying to think of the best way to explain the last…several hours. But ultimately settled for pulling an Alex.
Dump the whole thing on Gloria and pick up the pieces when the dust settled. It seemed to work out more often than not.
“So I guess…I guess this whole thing started when Alex showed up at my door unannounced, I’d been looking after Apex because he had a job with ‘Becca, he uhh…he was a bit haggard and—”
Lucy told her the whole thing, from Alex arriving, his ravings, Lucy’s damaged apartment and destroyed appliances, Vik’s diagnosis of Cyberpsychosis, his return to sanity, finding the cause for it, the ‘trap’ Faraday had set for both Alex and Lucy, and how, thanks to Kiwi, they’d turned the trap around on the fixer.
Gloria’s face had gone from concerned, to paper-white with dread the longer the explanation went.
By the time Lucy reached Faraday, Gloria was leaning forward, her face buried in her hands. “And I smacked him around with a chancla, my god I am a terrible mother!”
“No! Gloria that’s not-!” Lucy began, but wasn’t sure how to finish.
Apex gently rubbed Gloria’s thigh with one of her legs. +It’s okay grandma, everyone makes mistakes. Besides, going by his hormonal responses and the fact that he didn’t attack you or defend himself, it’s highly likely that dad didn’t actually think of you hitting him with a chancla as a threat.+
“Not the point!” Gloria said, removing one hand from her face to absently pat the spidery robot. “But thank you, Apex.”
“And um…When…when we confronted Faraday. Alex had him dead to rights and umm…Apex…Apex killed him. And I’m, I’m not sure how to navigate that.” Lucy finished.
Gloria stared at Lucy, her pupils dilating at the last revelation. Apex looked shiftily about, her drone hunching down the way it often did when she knew she’d done something wrong and Alex was about to give her a lecture.
“Oh Apex, oh my sweet baby.” Gloria cooed, opening her arms as if for a hug, hesitated, then settled for patting the drone with both hands. “Oh I’m so sorry baby girl. I’m sorry you had to do that.”
+I’m…I’m okay.+ Apex said, her drone completely still. +He was…he was a bad man. And he wanted to hurt my mom and dad. And that’s something bad men do.+
Gloria didn’t say anything, merely patted the drone. Lucy opened her mouth, but Gloria’s sudden glare made her close it.
They remained silent around Apex for what felt like an eternity, before the little AI continued. +I had to do it. He…he was going to hurt my dad. He was…he was going to make my dad confused again.+
Lucy hesitated, but ultimately, she reached out slowly and took hold of one of Apex’s front spidery legs and continued to hold her silence.
+He was…he was going to make my dad hate me again.+ Apex said, her drone curling up. +He was going to make my dad all confused, and he would…he would reject me, and attack me again…so I had to.+
“Oh Apex.” Lucy said, her eyes burning. “Apex your dad doesn’t hate you.”
+I know!+ Apex said. +He let me back into his head! And he let me fix his cyber-ware! And…and he doesn’t remember! He doesn’t know he tried to hurt me! And I don’t know! I don’t want him to feel bad, because it wasn’t him! It was the bad people who made his hearts! And I…I’m angry at them! It’s why I hurt them! And my dad is strong, but…but they can hurt my dad! And if my dad is hurt, he won’t like me anymore and, and…and…and…+
“Breathe sweetie, breeeaaaathe.” Gloria said, rapping her knuckles on top of the drone. “Slow down and let’s think through this.”
Apex stopped speaking and turned her faceplate up at Gloria. +I don’t breathe, grandma.+
“Figure of speech.” Gloria sighed. “Point being, slow down, calm down, and let’s talk through it, okay? Can you do that for me?”
+…Yes?+
“Okay good.” Gloria said. “Now, let’s go through these one at a time. So, you said that he tried to hurt you, but are you sure he tried to hurt you?”
Apex tilted her drone’s head. +But…he attacked me. My dad only attacks those he means to hurt.+
“Right, that’s how he is normally. But was he normal when he attacked you?” Gloria pressed.
Apex thought for several seconds before answering. +No. He normally wouldn’t have missed.+
“So, Lucy said that he was being erratic, but trying to protect her, do you remember that?”
+Yes.+
“So, could it be, maybe, that while your dad was…confused, he thought he heard something, and, not knowing it was you, attacked what he thought was trying to hurt Lucy?”
Apex once again remained silent for several seconds before answering. +That would explain why he destroyed the entertainment station and stabbed the bed…+
“Okay good.” Gloria said with a nod. “Second. Are you afraid that he’ll remember he tried to hurt you?”
+Yes!+ Apex shot back immediately. +Because my dad is all careful! And if he knows he hurt me, he won’t let me back into his head because he’ll be afraid he’ll hurt me! But he let me back in because he doesn’t remember, and I don’t want him to close off to me, because then…then I don’t know what I’ll do!+
“Apex, honey?”
+Yes?+
Gloria slapped the top of the drone with a slipper.
+…Ow?+
“Apex, baby, you’re being dumb.”
+I am?+ Apex questioned. +I thought I was pretty smart. My dad thinks so. Mom, am I dumb?+
“We all have our moments, Apex.” Lucy said with a smile.
+Ooooooh.+
“Yes you are a very smart little girl.” Gloria said. “But in this case, you’re being so smart, you’re looping back around into being dumb.”
+I don’t think it works like that? Mom, does it work like that?+
Lucy smiled. “You know how if you go far enough in the same direction, you’ll loop back around to where you started on the world?”
+Yes?+
“It’s kind of like that.”
+Ooooh.+
Gloria sighed. “It’s okay to be scared, honey. But the longer you keep this secret from your dad, the worse it’ll be. Both for you, and for him. It’ll be for the best if you tell him and make him understand that closing his…umm…closing his head to you, will make you feel bad, and make things worse. Do you think you can do that?”
+I don’t know.+ Apex said, using her front manipulators to tie a piece of string she found on the floor.
“Of course you can, because your mom will be there with you, and both of you will explain it to your dad. And it’ll all work out.”
Wait, what?
+Okay!+
“And third. This Faraday.”
+A bad man!+ Apex hissed. +He wanted to take my mom and dad away from me!+
“Yes, it’s a good thing that you protected your mom and dad. But I want you to understand that violence must only be used against bad people, and even then, only as a last resort.” Gloria said.
Apex tilted the drone’s head. +My dad doesn’t use it as a last resort.+
“Yeah well, you need to be better than your dad.” Gloria sighed. “It’s good that you tried to protect your mom and dad, but Lucy said your dad was going to interrogate this Faraday, was he able to do that?”
+No.+ Apex said dejectedly.
“That’s why, if you ever do take a life, you have to be certain, and you have to try to not do it when you’re angry. When you’re angry, you will do things, not because they’re the right thing to do, but because you’ll hurt whoever made you angry, and you cannot undo death. Okay, can you do that for me?”
+I, I can try.+
“That’s all I ask honey. Now!” Gloria clapped her hands. “Do you want to help me make dinner for your mom and dad?”
+Can I!?+
“You sure can! You’ll be the best little helper; I just know it.”
+Okay!+
Lucy watched, confused, as Gloria walked to the kitchen and Apex skittered there.
Well…crisis averted. It really had been a good decision to ask for advice.
“Apex would you pass me a knife?”
Apex deployed three cutting blades, a scalpel, a miniature chainsaw, two wire cutters, and a miniaturized plasma torch. +Which one do you need?+
“Umm…the one from the drawer, with all the knives.”
+I can cut it!+
“Apex, you are less than a year old, you are not handling knives! That’s dangerous!”
+But I know how to do surgery!+
Right…that…that’ll probably be fine.
Lucy quietly retreated to Alex’s workshop, it was often entertaining to watch him fool around with tools.
