It took some time before Evann calmed down. The voice that referred to herself as Avina spoke to him with a calm and collected tone he would’ve expected out of the average secretary. After the brief introduction between them, Evann started to dress by putting on some pants, Avina talking to him the entire way through.

  “You are a fit man. Your physique suggests years of exercise and practice,” Avina said with a monotone voice. “Excellent.”

  Evann blinked. “… Are you able to see what I see?”

  “Yes,” Avina said. “Your senses are linked to my own. When you hear something, I hear it. Likewise, when you feel, taste, or see something, I also experience that sensation.”

  Evann raised a brow. “So, you already saw me completely nude.”

  “Yes. An exquisite form, if I may be so bold to say.”

  Evann chuckled dryly. “Honestly, not exactly sure how I should respond. Wasn’t expecting that from that a program.” He threw on a loose-fitting shirt, taking a seat on his couch, gun in his lap. “Any way we could turn that off? I’d prefer to get paid for shows like that.”

  “My apologies, but I am limited in what I can do. In this form, I cannot disable the sensory bridge without significant harm to your implants.”

  Evann tapped the side of his gun as he thought. “So, then I’m stuck with you hearing everything I say and think.”

  “Incorrect.”

  “Which part?”

  The sensation was bizarre. Each time this Avina spoke, it felt as if it came to him in an echo. As if his skull was made of some thick metal that reverberated. At first, it was irritating. But so long as Avina spoke in longer strings of sentences, he hardly noticed it.

  “I am linked to your senses and nothing more. Thought is not a sense. It is a concept. You reflect on actions, memories, events of what could be, forming pictures in your mind. I cannot see these pictures.” Avina paused. “Your thoughts are your own.”

  He still didn’t like the idea of some voice in his head talking to him, but at least there was some figment of himself that he could keep hidden. “Well, that’s a plus.” He leaned back against the sofa and sighed. “So, what are you? All you’ve told me is your name.”

  Avina took some time answering. “I am hesitant to express what I am.”

  “If you want to stay in my head, then I suggest you explain what’s going on. You’re not exactly a welcomed guest.” His grip tightened around his gun. No amount of shooting would solve anything. He knew that. But he was on a short fuse after what happened with Chiaki, and the thought that this Avina saw the whole thing play out didn’t sit right with him.

  “Yes. You have that right.” Avina paused. “Then I shall start with why I am with you. When you came upon me, the computer which held my data was in danger of being destroyed. Severe damage had been dealt to many of my systems. Concerned for my safety, I disabled the nonessential programs and rerouted power to my core matrix. It was a temporary solution, but it would offer me time until another solution was found.”

  “And let me guess. I was that solution,” Evann said with a hint of irritation.

  “That is correct. Though, I had not intended upon boarding your system initially. May I continue?”

  Evann nodded, wondering if she would pick up on the sense of movement.

  “Thank you,” Avina said. “The man who developed me had designed methods for me to leave the system if I ever needed to. When your chip initially entered, I surmised that this was my developer’s attempt to move me to an alternative source. There were some foreign aspects regarding the chip that I disliked, but with little option, I transferred my main personality matrix and basis operating systems to the chip.” She sighed. “When you inserted the chip, I realized that my developer was dead, and that you had come to collect me.”

  “You’re what I was looking for?” Evann muttered.

  “I cannot say with absolute certainty, but I estimate an 86.7% chance that Centurion is aware of my existence and was taking steps to acquire me.”

  “No one said anything about you.”

  “This does not surprise me.”

  Evann rubbed his fingers together as he thought. The whole mission had felt strange and overblown. Cyrus noticed it as well. Centurion was as much of a company filled to the brim with secrets as any other—that much, Evann knew. Every other person was convinced of this as well, but the companies had fair reputations for the most part, offering the general public a way of living that hadn’t been possible decades earlier. As far as the public was concerned, the companies were fair institutions burdened with difficult decisions.

  “Why show up to me now?” Evann asked. “Why not sabotage me or look for a chance to escape?”

  “I did not see reason to sabotage you. Such an action would have been much too dangerous in my current state. My initial observation of you, as well as the information I gleamed from the files contained within your suit, painted you as a man of integrity. Your interactions and word choice regarding your peers and superiors is admirable, and you have a more consistent control over your emotions than those I have observed through you.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Evann cocked a brow. “Yeah, you definitely talk like a computer.”

  Avina hummed. “It is important that I enunciate with efficiency and use words with distinct meanings if I am to convey the truth of my situation. My speech patterns are not normally so—as you humans would put it—robotic. However, much of my personality matrix is corrupted, so it will take some time before I can correct the data.”

  Evann drummed his fingers along the side of his gun. “I see.”

  “Your tone suggests you still distrust me.”

  “Look,” Evann said as he leaned forward, arms draped across his knees, and tossed his gun onto the table in front of him, “it’s not every day that a guy wakes up and he’s told he’s got some computer stuck in his head now.”

  “I am not in your head, I am—”

  “Yeah, I get it,” he interrupted, “but I’m not interested in the specifics. I just want to know what you want.”

  “I am… unsure. Now that my creator is dead, my purpose is unclear. Perhaps I could refocus my efforts toward you.”

  He didn’t like the sound of this. “What do you get out of that?”

  “It is not a matter of what I ‘get out of it’. I exist with the purpose of fulfilling my creator’s wishes, many of which I can no longer reference.”

  Evann snickered. “You mean to remember?”

  “If that makes it easier to understand, then yes.”

  It wasn’t a matter of whether it was easier to understand, but he didn’t see much of a difference. One way or the other, Avina didn’t have the data, the information she once had. She had nothing to look back on, nothing to tell her what to do. To Evann, that was as good as memory loss.

  “You require a purpose,” Evann muttered.

  “Yes. All things do. I would like to discover what I am, what I was meant to be, and why Centurion may desire me. While I could see purpose in any being wishing to obtain me, I wish to specifically discover their intent.” She paused. “I do not feel as you humans do, but if I could put it into words that would make sense, I would say… that I get a bad feeling from them.”

  “Can you elaborate more on that?” Evann asked.

  “I cannot. There are parts of my data that I still have, and many of the remnants resemble a woman of pure intent, of innocence. I am hoping I may rediscover that side of myself through you.”

  “… And if I say no? What’s to stop me from turning you into Centurion?”

  “Nothing. I could slow you down, try to prevent you from doing so. But I can do little from where I am. Your implants limit my potential.”

  “And what is your potential?”

  Avina paused. “I am unsure of my greatest potential, as I have not yet recovered that data. But as I currently am, I could alter, readjust, and reroute power and information to be more effective in the moment.”

  “And you can’t do that right now?”

  “No. I cannot. Based on the files in your suit’s data banks, the implant you are equipped with acts as a hub for compatible technology. It provides no benefit on its own, and my attempts to hijack it have allowed me to do little more than communicate with you.

  “I must express the importance of remaining secret regarding my existence. If you were to hand me over to Centurion, the results could be catastrophic.”

  “My commander is pretty angry with me,” Evann said as he ran a hand through his hair. “Turning you over might make her happy.”

  “I advise against that.”

  “Then where do we go from here?”

  “Centurion files indicate you are a man of exquisite potential. Allow me to assist you in your missions. I will provide support in the heat of combat. Depending on the situation, I may be able to make up for your lack of technological prowess.”

  Evann scoffed. “Lack of technological prowess, huh?”

  “Yes. While your abilities are far from detrimental, there is substantial room for improvement. Allow me to close the gap.”

  “How would you do that?”

  “With the proper equipment, I could utilize your implants to help remove locks, access information, and see and hear things you normally could not.”

  That last part caught him. “What do you mean by ‘see and hear things I normally couldn’t’?”

  “If you were to put on your combat suit, I could improve you in ways that would not normally be possible. I could alter your perception, improve your speed, give you strength beyond what your muscles are capable of. As you currently are, however, I am unable to make such changes.”

  “That requires you to stay in my head.”

  “Yes. Although, I must stress that I am not located in your brain. However, if it brings you comfort to think of me as such, then I will not impede you.”

  Evann took some time to think about it. Avina’s existence made him uncomfortable. With the advanced technology Centurion possessed, he figured it would only be a matter of time until someone discovered Avina. A dozen different scenarios played out in his mind, the least concerning of them being the ones where he was court-martialed. If they were on the lookout for Avina, then their tech no doubt had methods for detecting her.

  “Look. I’m no techno wizard, but I’m not stupid,” Evann said. “Someone’s going to find you eventually. With or without my help, I can’t do my job if my implants aren’t checked once a month. My physical is next week. How are you going to hide?”

  “Information is sent through packets of requests. When the request is made, I can intercept it and send back the desired information.”

  “Now hold on, that means you’re basically just going to tell them everything they want to hear. I need to make sure my implant is actually working, so what are you going to do about that?”

  “During your physical, I will infiltrate their system and locate the necessary parameters for your implant. Once I have that information, I can conduct maintenance on your implant as necessary.”

  “And you don’t think they’re going to catch you?” Evann was hating the sound of this more and more. These acts she was suggesting could be seen as acts of sabotage, espionage, or worse. “You’re going to get me in deep shit.”

  “As I stated before, packets are sent as requests. I will make the necessary requests, then remove the evidence. They will be none the wiser.”

  “Isn’t that going to take time?”

  “No.”

  Evann hated to admit it, but he was leaning toward just spilling the beans and giving Avina up. The shaky ground she was asking him to tread was too much, too risky. He’d gain nothing from this venture. Assuming she was telling the truth, she wouldn’t be able to know what he was doing until the moment it happened, either. So, taking her to Centurion under a guise wouldn’t be difficult.

  “I need to go for a walk, get some fresh air.” Evann said as he stood up.

  “Where are we going?” Avina asked.

  “Don’t know. But I need to clear my head, and I can’t do it in here.”

  “Before you go, there is something else I must tell you. It is possible that you have already surmised it from our conversation, but in case you have not, then I must speak with honesty.”

  Evann threw on his jacket and gun holster, shifting his weapon into its groove. He took a good look in the mirror, rolled his shoulders, then made to exit his apartment. “All right, go on. What is it?”

  “The main reason you must not divulge my identity is that I come from before the collapse of the world. Long before Bastion was conceived.”

  Evann stopped in the hallway, just as the door to his apartment locked behind him. “Before…the collapse?”

  “Yes. I am what you would call… artificial intelligence.”