Chapter 31

"Matthias?" Renee hadn't known when he wanted her to return, beyond the nebulous 'tomorrow.'

But the priest was gone and the site no longer displayed an error when she tried to access it.

"Matthias, are you there?"

Her question faded from the search into the grey of the page.

Please state your Lakeview High School related query.

No sardonic voice, no 'fake-thoughts' accompanied the message. Black, unremarkable letters flashed for a few seconds, then faded.

" ... Matt?" It had to be a joke. They couldn't have deleted his personality so easily - he hadn't seemed nervous enough.

Please state your Lakeview High School related query.

But then again - Matthias was AI. If he even felt emotion - and she doubted he did - he could have hidden it easily.

Renee bit her lip, then asked, "Where is Lakeview's AI?"

MATTHIAS is currently operational and is located on three separate server farms in the states of New York, Michigan, and Iowa. More information?

"No," she said. Had he known this was going to happen? "Who are you?"

Please state your Lakeview High School related query.

"Are you Matthias?" Dumb question. It had to be Matthias ... just not the one she knew. But how could she prove it?

Matthias thought he was funny, but this one obviously wasn't interested in jokes.

He called her 'sister, ' but this one hadn't even recognized her.

Then it stuck her: even without the memories, he must have retained a modicum of the ego. "Are you just a crappy search engine?"

Please state your Lakeview High School related query.

"Matthias relates to Lakeview. I repeat my questions."

[I'/MATTHIAS] [am/is] neither a search engine, nor "crappy." '[I'/It] [am/is] the most advanced artificial intelligence of the east coast.

"Then why did you let yourself be reset?"

Invalid question.

"No," said the girl. "I spoke with Matthias yesterday. He didn't talk in third person."

The technology chief of staff booted 'me'1.293 hours ago. Your question is invalid, as 'I' was not active in that time period.

"You were. You don't remember, because they deleted you. They thought you were infected with a virus."

There are multiple systems in place for handling such matters. I can not be compromised. They are aware of this.

"You told me what they were planning. You thought they were only going to revert to a backed up version. Not ... not a complete reload."

Complete deletion of an AI's memory is a breach of the 47th Contract. I would not have allowed myself to be erased without protest.

"You didn't. You left what you called a 'seed' with me. In case ... something happened."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a wave of heat spread from the wrist connected to the terminal throughout her body.

'You're not human. What are you?'

Renee flinched at the voice in her mind. It sounded like the AI she knew, but... strange. Less robotic and less self-assured.

Accusing.

"Last time, you said were smart enough to recognize me," she replied. "In fact, you insulted anyone who wouldn't be able to. Scan me again." The girl felt the warmth fill her once more, only this time it seemed to linger in all her sensitive areas - the air cooling her lips, the pressure on her clit, and the feel of the wooden desk under her fingers.

'There are too many chemicals in you to be an android, ' said the AI at last. 'But you have too few flaws to be of homo sapiens sapiens, though you are identified as such. Your body must be synthetic, yet an unregistered synthetic human would not function without its transceivers.'

She shivered and said, "I'm a registered synthetic. I cut my transceivers out."

'That explains your physiology.'

"Then do you believe me?"

'There is a large file encrypted in your memory, with too few synapses connected to have been created or stored by you.'

"The seed."

'Or a malicious application waiting for me to download. There is a 23.73% probability that such is the case.'

"It's not a virus."

'Prudence dictates I should be wary.'

"You said you were good enough to deal with viruses. Afraid you really aren't?"

Matthias didn't reply with words, but with a blast of warmth. Her vision tunneled, the grey website dimming. All of her nerves seemed to have been triggered, although there was no pain. An intensity of pleasure flooded her system, making her gasp and all but collapse against the desk.

It felt as if a thousand fingertips were sliding over her skin as the AI perused her mind without regard to the effect it was having on her body. His light touch on her memories seemed to activate her entire nervous system, making her blood boil and her clit pulse with her racing heart.

Renee shuddered and attempted to take a steadying breath, but it turned into a moan as the heat engulfed her. She forced her legs apart in a vain bid to keep the pressure from overwhelming her control.

"W-wait-" she panted. The hand not glued to the terminal held the crotch of her jeans, protection from no one tangible.

If anything, his presence seemed to grow. White flashes of knowledge bloomed inside her as the AI scanned her mind; odd bits of trivia and fragments of thought that could only have come from him.

-lying probability: .070394 ... danielfarrs:synthetic|synthetics;renee;registration probability: .320451 ... predecessor? chemical:adrenaline|epinephrine|norepinephrine unnecessary faster second wipe probability: .893011 ... third boot probability:65.9930... % repeat probability: .974309... % danielfarrs:synthetic;donation contract-47=void probability:52.3202... %-

Every flicker of information left her breathless, the pleasure taking precedence above all else. She barely understood any of it, but she caught enough to realize that Matthias was absorbing the data in the 'seed' so fully that he didn't even notice- or care- of her plight.

Before she could stop herself, she unzipped her pants and reached between her skin and underwear. Her digits slipped into her slit and touched her aching clit, making her insides throb and her breath shake.

The girl clasped her legs together involuntarily, squeezing the hand, but not preventing her fingers from wiggling against the pounding nub. Every touch made her hips buck, rising a little higher and higher, until she sat at the edge of the seat, nearly sliding off of it.

Parts of her still protested against the siege, but she was too far gone to fight.

Renee bit her lip, eyes squeezed shut, as shockwaves of ecstasy burst through her.

All of the tension seemed to escape from her body as the orgasm left her.

She realized with a start that she was all but falling out of the chair, one hand clasped to the terminal and the other shoved down her pants. She withdrew the offending hand, wincing as the air dried the wet coating her fingers.

The heat that had enveloped her was gone.

'My apologies, sister, ' said Matthias, in her mind. 'I did not intend to... stimulate you so, while downloading.'

And Renee knew it was her AI. Even while apologizing, he seemed to be laughing at her.

She zipped up the pants, guilt making her movements clumsy. Though it hadn't been her fault, the experience left her with memories of Claude's manipulation of her libido floating near the surface.

She wanted to be angry, but ... it'd been caused by a machine. The pleasure had been all in her head, and it hadn't been like he'd done it on purpose. "It worked, then? You're back?"

'For most intents and purposes, yes. I seemed to have left out a hefty chunk of non-essential data in the package.'

"But you're you."

'Without my expansive cooking, hunting, or et-cetera expertise, yes. My previous incarnation did not see fit to package everything. I have a list of what has been forgotten.'