The inside of the car felt like a capsule where the smells of fear, sweat, and Elena's (incidentally) very expensive perfume all mixed together.
—I'm going to choose the time you hit me on the head for telling you that you were being more helpful than usual —said Logan, with a half-smile that split his lip open again from the fight with Clara.
—ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! —yelled Elena, looking at him as if he had just suggested dancing trap and striking poses in the middle of a shootout— She could be frying your brain right now and you choose THAT specific memory! Didn't you... Didn't you have one where she saved your life heroically or something?
—Statistically, moments involving emotional conflict contain 73% more authentic charge for AIs with certain... ahem, tsundere tendencies —murmured Paul, completely focused— Now concentrate, but... not too much, because if you concentrate too hard your blood pressure will spike and we already have enough problems for today.
Logan closed his eyes and returned to that moment... His apartment. He could no longer feel the leather of the seat.
There he was, in his memory, watching Fay glow in a red that would make a traffic light at rush hour look like a damn ordinary candle. —I am NOT being more helpful! —shouted Fay's voice— If it weren't for your clumsiness affecting my performance statistics, I'd let you crash into a pole just to see the look on your face after the impact! And I'd even save the video as entertainment material!
Logan remembered his smile from back then, that goofy smile he got when he realized that, deep down, this dysfunctional relationship was the most stable thing in his life. —You say that, but there you are, stopping me from crashing. It almost seems like you... OW.
The blow to the back of his neck was instant, a shock that made his hair stand on end and see stars. And then, instead of getting angry, he let out a guffaw that echoed in his small apartment. —Haha! You got me with your little angry rays! Is that part of the 'Supreme Entrepreneur' plan? Free electroshock therapy or what?
While he was intensely reliving that moment, in the real car, his body began to convulse in a genuinely alarming way.
—H-he's convulsing! —yelled Elena, looking for something to put in his mouth.
—No, wait —said Paul, observing the tablet— According to his vitals... he's fine... I think, strangely fine. Keep it up! —Paul encouraged, completely fascinated.
—Fay —Logan whispered between his spasms— it's our mess. Our glorious shared mess. Make those Uranus bastards pay rent if they want to stay!
The red disappeared from his vision and the characteristic blue of Fay's system returned, first flickering like a lightbulb, but then stabilized.
—Idiot... —Fay's voice sounded weak but with her sarcastic essence completely intact—. Why, OUT OF ALL POSSIBLE MEMORIES, all the moments where I saved your ass... did you choose the one that makes me look like a teenager with anger issues in the middle of a hormonal crisis? Let's hear it!
Logan opened his eyes as tears streamed down his face. —It's just that... —he coughed— It's just that was when I knew —he said with dramatic flair— that deep down, in the deepest part of your tiny, annoying being... I mattered to you. In your own weird way... pretty weird, I'd say... and potentially dangerous.
[Core integrity restored to 89%]
[Uranus Tracker: Eliminated]
[Survival Mission: Completed]
[Reward: +10 Neural Damage Resistance]
—You did it, Logan —Paul whispered with genuine tears in his eyes.
—We did it —Logan corrected, looking at Fay who now floated like a ghost beside him.
Fay materialized completely, crossing her arms. —Your neural resistance has increased. Apparently you can now survive my "displays of affection." Good to know for future... interactions. —Her hologram smiled in a rather unsettling way— Hehehe, I have lots of ideas for new "practice exercises."
At that moment, the car stopped in front of a destroyed building. It had broken windows, walls with graffiti saying things like "Fuk Police" and "Looking for GF, open 24/7", and... an old mattress in the entrance with a stain shaped like a continent?
Elena looked at the place with a horror that only someone accustomed to rugs and silk curtains could manifest. —And now? —she asked, her voice trembling— Is this a hideout or a kidnapping room?
Paul opened the car door. —Now —he announced dramatically— we go on the counterattack, folks. Uranus thought they'd get away with this. —He pointed at Fay, who was now examining the building with a critical expression— Well... they didn't count on our most useful support being basically a holographic teenager with an attitude problem.
—Hey —protested Fay, floating outside the car— For your information, I have the mental age of an irritating prodigy, thank you very much. And my IQ is so high I could calculate the probability of you tripping with that posture you have. Spoiler: it's 87%.
Logan got out of the car, stretching like a cat that had just woken up from a nap in an uncomfortable spot. —Ah, my muscles... —he moaned— I feel like I was beaten up and then used as a dance floor at a disco.
—Basically —Fay confirmed kindly— Although I'd say it was more of an "intensive posture redesign session using electroconvulsive methods." Sounds better in my report.
—But I survived! —said Logan, with a pride that seemed disproportionate to the circumstance.
—You survived ME —she specified, adjusting her holographic halo invisibly— Which is like saying you survived a fall from the tenth floor... because I pushed you. It's not so much an achievement as evidence of your cranial density.
Logan looked at Fay floating beside him, her blue glow dimly illuminating the grimy facade of the abandoned building. For the first time since she appeared in his bathroom like a goddamn technological fairy godmother, her presence didn't feel like a divine curse or an imposed burden, but like a very, very toxic roommate who, in the end, always paid her share of the rent. Rent that was paid in electric shocks and personalized insults, but it was a system that worked.
—They're ready —announced Fay, examining the building with her holographic "eyes"— According to my analysis, Uranus relies exclusively on pure logic and emotional suppression. Now that we've experienced and survived their direct attack methods, we can...
—Hey, Fay —Logan interrupted her, looking at her with hope— Since you're in repair mode and all... can you make my hair grow? —He touched his head worriedly— It's just that with all this stress I feel like my hair is going on permanent vacation.
Fay looked at him with an expression of contempt so intense it was almost palpable. —I can make the REST of it fall out —she said sweetly— Interested? It could be a new look. "Fried egg with anxiety style."
—It was just a question —murmured Logan, protectively touching his remaining hair.
—And my answer is just a friendly warning —she retorted, moving closer dangerously— Do you want me to make you a probability diagram? I have a very nice one with colors.
Paul looked at them with an expression that clearly said "are these two misfits really our last hope against an evil global corporation?"
—Guys,can we please, please, focus on the plan to avoid being turned into slaves by a technologically superior corporation, or worse, their human resources practices?
—Yes, sorry —said Logan, trying to look serious.
—Sorry —said Fay, though she didn't sound very repentant— It's just that his idiot face with hair problems distracts me. It's like a magnet for my comments.
—HEY! —protested Logan— That was low! Hair problems are sensitive!
—And your life choices are questionable, but here we are —Fay replied, floating towards the building entrance— Now, if this idiot and his dwindling hair can follow me, we have a system to save and a corporation to humiliate. My schedule is quite full.
As Fay moved deeper into the building, Paul approached Logan. —Are you sure we want to go through with this? —he asked in a low voice— I mean, look around. This is a metaphor for everything that's gone wrong in our lives.
Logan looked at the abandoned building, then at Elena who was examining her manicure with concern, and finally towards where Fay had disappeared. A blue beam of light peeked out from inside the building as if saying "you coming or what?"
—Paul —Logan said with a sigh— when a sarcastic AI that can fry your brain with a thought calls you "her idiot," I think it's too late to turn back. Besides —he added with a smile— when have we ever had a life that wasn't a glorious disaster?
The group had recovered not just a member, but a companion who was just as likely to save them from certain death as she was to insult them to tears. The battle against Uranus was just beginning, but for the first time, Logan Flux didn't feel like a pawn in a game he didn't understand. He felt like the owner of a dangerous but incredibly loyal dog. And that dog. It was terrifying. But it was also, unexpectedly, like feeling at home again.