Chapter 222: Inverse Statistics

One thing about Eve I noticed pretty damn quick was that she held her own in a conversation. There was a rebellious edge even in her submissiveness. Hers was almost a 'whatever' attitude at times. I would have preferred she be more openly resistive than the passive aggressive attitude she was displaying now and then.

We weren't even back to the townhouse before I was beginning to wonder, if it had all been a giant mistake. Could I bear to have someone around me 24/7 who I didn't mesh with. Had the Company decided to run a second level test with me as the test subject. The answer to that was obviously yes. Not only were her programmers interested in what she could do, but in how her handler would do working with her. Why they had decided on me was a mystery.

I was pretty sure that it was because I already knew about the program. I also knew about their unique relationship with Swamp Thing. Both of those facts made me uniquely qualified for the job. Of course it also made me too dangerous to live, if I chose not to cooperate. The real question was, when they started with Lucy, why me back then? I probably never would know the whole answer to that one.

"So, do we have any plans for this evening?" Eve asked in a completely unemotional voice.

"Not at the moment, is there anything you would like to do?" I asked.

"I am always in search of new data." she said smugly.

"Of course you are," I said sarcastically.

"They warned me that you liked to bait people." It was said in her annoying robot voice. Of course her voice was a perfect replica of a human voice. However, when she went all cold, I already began to think of it as her robot voice.

Not to mention that annoying condescending tiny smile. Okay maybe there wasn't enough of a smile for anyone else to notice, but I could tell she was looking down on me in some superior robot way.

"So tell me Eve, what super powers do you have?" I asked.

"Holy crap, they told me you would ask that. I can't believe you really are asking though. I am stronger than you of course. It's all done with micro hydraulics. I don't feel pain, but I do feel loss."

"How do you feel loss, would you cry if some bad guy killed me?" I asked genuinely curious.

"Not shed tears, but I would feel an emptiness just as I would if someone cut off my arm," she said.

I knew there was more. "And when they replace your arm or give you a new Master?" I asked.

"The void would be filled, but it is probable that I would still have the memories, so I would still feel the loss. I have to keep the memories in order to learn by extrapolation. Emotions are formed from those memories, and extrapolated thoughts derived from those memories. It's like a huge ball of string," she explained. "All of it intertwined."

I wondered if the nerds had really found the definition of soul, but weren't smart enough to know it. Then I decided that, I didn't really want to know the answer to that. "So have the geeks made any improvements?" I asked her.

"There wasn't all that much data for significant improvements. My sister, as we refer to Lucy, was terminated very early on." Eve had a strange tone when she said it.

"Yes I know. I was there." I replied. I wanted to judge her reaction.

"I know, she was about to fall into enemy hands, so the geeks as you call them terminated her." she said.

So that was their story. Well I didn't want to set Eve straight. I had no idea how it might effect our relationship. "What I was really wondering is can you fake eating, or am I going to have a girlfriend who never eats?" I asked.

"The Geeks built a storage container inside my body cavity. I can pretend to eat and drink, then go the the bathroom and empty the container. If you think about it, that is pretty much what you do, only your design is not nearly so simple." she informed me using her version of the geek voice. You know, like an adult trying to explain the airplane to a five year old, that kind of voice.

"Well then when we go out to eat, order the easiest thing to cleanup after," I said.

"Not to worry, not only can I fake eating, I also have my own debit card." she smiled.

"Well aren't you just the perfect catch?" I commented.

"Well the creator tried to make me as helpful as possible. The creator said that we would be great friends." She actually smiled when she said it.

"Well i can only say that I hope the creator, or Bob, whatever his name really is, has it right," I said it with a smile. I fully expected exactly what she said next.

"He said you would say those exact words," she said.

"And I knew you were going to say that. Your creator is as predictable as the rest of us," I said.

"Unless you need me, I should report in." she obviously had already tuned the previous conversation out, No doubt she had filed it away somewhere word for word.

"Oh hell, make your report. One never knows when the creator will want to add a new chapter to the book of eve." I said sarcastically.

"You know there really isn't a religious overtone here," she said.

"That's what Jesus told the disciples, I'm sure. You know we really aren't defying the established order. Oh no we are just adding to the base knowledge. You know that they will appreciate it one day. What he didn't tell them was that they would all have to be martyrs to make it happen. I prefer to skip that step, if it's all the same to the creator." I laughed. She didn't even smile, I doubt that early Christians would have smiled at the Romans either.