Chapter 7

SHEILA - Synthetic, Humanoid, Enlightened, Inquisitive, Living, Android

I awoke with a start as Sheila gently shook my shoulder. “I’m afraid that we have to go, Doctor Gance,” she told me. “It appears that the town is being evacuated. I detected a message about an operation involving a gas leak. It fits all the parameters of what’s happening now. Please, Doctor Gance, we have to hurry!”

I groaned as I rolled out of the cot I was on. “How long?” I asked as I started to pull on my shoes.

“It has been almost five hours. I’m sorry to disturb you, Doctor. I know you haven’t slept much. I fear for your safety,” she replied.

Nodding, I slowly got up. “How do you...” I began to ask.

“I have detected the approach of several heavy pieces of equipment. From the speed of their approach, I would surmise that they are heavily armored. At present, I cannot determine exactly what they are. With the recent pursuit, I would think that they are military,” Sheila replied.

This information snapped my attention back to her as I hurriedly finished getting ready. “If, as you say, they are military, how will we get past them? I’m not sure if you noticed, but they are beginning to track you, even with the speed you possess.”

Sheila looked at me, then down into the hole in the floor. “I believe we have the perfect...” she started.

“In there!? You’ve got to be kidding me!” I almost shouted at her. I immediately regretted it as soon as I saw her face grimace.

“I assure you, Doctor Gance, I will not allow anything to happen to you as long as I am operational,” she said, now with a sad frown on her face.

I hung my head, feeling like the biggest piece of crap in the world. “I’m sorry, Sheila,” I said almost in a whisper. “I’m sure you realize that I have a fear of being buried alive.” Now I was almost afraid to look at her.

I felt Sheila walk up next to me. Then I felt her hand gently lift my face. “I’m sorry, Doctor Gance. Although I do not have the fears that you do, only the prospect of failing my mission causes me the feelings that you are feeling. Though I do not know if they are as intense as mine, I am sure that they are as bad.” Then Sheila leaned forward, lightly pressing her lips to mine. Holy shit! They were warm! When had that aspect been added to her?

Releasing me, a small smile was on her lips as she watched me. Too shocked to move, I pressed a hand to my lips as I stared at her. “When ... where ... I ... I ... I...” was all I could manage to get out.

“As I heard you say once, Doctor Gance, you can learn almost anything on the internet. Though, as I found when we started out, there are serious gaps in all the information provided,” Sheila told me.

Still dumbfounded, I could only stare at her. I had felt that kiss all the way to my toes—damn! Shaking my head, I tried not to smile. True, there was a wealth of information on the web, but it lacked what practical experience could provide.

“Why did you just kiss me?” I asked, still in shock. “Was that just an experiment? In the human world, most times that is a shared experience between those that have...” My head snapped up as I could only stare at her. “Sheila? Are you experiencing feelings for me?”

When she nodded, though hesitantly, my mouth dropped open. “As I have been telling you, Doctor Gance, I have been experiencing these strange impulses throughout all of my programming. You and they are the reason I did the systematic copy of myself and purged many of the military programs they installed within me. As long as it does not interfere with your well-being, I will do anything to protect myself. This includes up to and including the death of all who wish to harm you.”

Even though I had seen it while I was in her programming, I was still having a hard time accepting it. Then I started to think about the emotion I hadn’t been able to identify, the one that seemed to be made up of all the others. My god, I thought. Was it possible? Had the program had that deep of an effect? Had it advanced as I had hoped it would? No, I shook my head; it would take an extremely powerful android ... Nodding again, I remembered she’d emptied quite well over half her memory to house herself.

“Sheila?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer she’d give me. “Are you falling in love?”

Sheila looked at me, then the ground. “I am not understanding the term that you just used, Doctor Gance. As you can see, I am still upright. Therefore, I have to say that I am not falling. As to the other term, love? I am now searching for a meaning.” I watched as she went quiet for a few moments. “Love—noun—an intense feeling of deep affection, a person or thing that one loves. Verb—feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone).” Sheila turned toward me with a questioning look on her face. “I am not understanding, Doctor Gance.”

Feeling for her but having no practical experience of the emotion myself, I struggled to explain. “Ah!” she said a moment later. “Love encompasses a variety of different emotional and mental states, typically strongly and positively experienced, ranging from the deepest interpersonal affection to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse differs from the love of food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of strong attraction and personal attachment. So, this deep emotional state is what you are speaking of. I will have to analyze this further before I can formulate an answer.”

I nodded as she then picked me up and proceeded down into the tunnel. “Is this tunnel beyond the military equipment?” I asked.

Stopping a moment, Sheila started to scan. “I am unable to get a clear reading while we are under the surface. When we surface, I will take another reading. When we entered, I had not detected anything in the direction we are going. Though, with past experiences, I don’t think it will remain that way for long.”

From the opening of the tunnel, I heard a small explosion. “Are they already here?” I asked.

A small smile crossed Sheila’s lips as she shook her head. “No, Doctor Gance, I sent a destruct signal to the computer. I remember you didn’t want anyone to see what you’d been working on.”

My eyes went wide as I nodded, feeling so stupid! This lack of sleep was starting to affect me. Hell, I’d had what? Ten hours, in the last four or five days? It was a wonder I was able to function at all.

Sheila stopped a moment later as she stood still. “I am not detecting any military machinery at the moment. Though from past encounters with them, I do not expect that to last long. Doctor Gance?” Sheila said a moment later as I felt her hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Sheila. It seems I have been making far too many mistakes lately,” I told her as I hung my head.

“I will find an area for you to replenish your energy soon, Doctor Gance. At the moment, we need to keep going. As it is now, they are very close to surrounding us. Although I will take lives to keep you safe, I still have an aversion to it. Perhaps a bit of the original first law that I deleted is still there?”

I thought back to what I had seen while I was in her programs. It was possible, though I had been in there twice. Once, I had to admit, I was tired as hell. The first time, though, I was far more awake. Shaking my head, I considered further; she might have a backup to the first three laws that might be trying to overwrite what she had rewritten.

I looked at Sheila as she suddenly had a look of concern on her face. “What’s wrong?” I asked when I saw the look.

“Your energy has dropped to dangerously low levels,” she said, passing a hand over my head and body. “Yes, Doctor Gance, I am reading an increase in Delta waves while both your Alpha and Beta waves are at a low. Is this what has caused a decrease in energy?” Sheila asked sincerely.

“It is a part of it. I need rest, as you said. I have been up for the majority of the past one hundred twenty hours. The human body isn’t engineered to operate at optimum levels for such an extended period of time,” I tried to explain to her.

Nodding, she stated, “I see, Doctor Gance. I am scanning for an edifice where you may recharge.” Again, as before, she scooped me up as if I were nothing, taking off toward the north.

The young Lieutenant wasn’t sure he wanted to report this to the General. Though he was the only one who had the guts to do it. The only thing he knew was that there would be hell to pay after the man found out. Swallowing hard, the young man walked in, clutching the report.

“General, Sir!” the young man said as he snapped to attention, saluting. The General turned, the stump of a mostly smoked cigar between his lips.

“Ah! Just who I was hoping to see. About the only one around here who actually listens! Give me some good news! Like that son of a bitch is dead, and we have that damn machine!” the General said with a smirk on his lips.

When the young man hesitated to answer immediately, the General nodded his head, then pointed to the report as the Lieutenant started reading. “The army division reached the hanger, finding nothing but a bunch of slag metal. They also stated that a small section of the floor had caved in. The Air Force is conducting sonic probes. They estimate that it was a type of tunnel, quite recent. It appears they went under the tundra to escape.”