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Part 2
Part 3

Adventures in Parodyverse - Creativity Part 4


    Visionary tried to keep himself between Anna and the soldiers that were waiting for the two of them outside a restaurant with Dan Drury.  Drury, of course, blew cigar smoke in Visionary’s face, making him cough.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Visionary,”  Drury growled.  “It’s just a repossession.  I got my orders.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Stay behind me,”  Visionary whispered to Anna.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Why?”  she asked.

    He turned and looked at her for a moment.  “Because if anyone gets hurt while I’m watching you it’s my responsibility.”

    Anna nodded, understanding fully.  She moved closer to Visionary so his body shielded her, standing behind him and gripping his left elbow gently.

    Visionary took a deep breath and asked Drury, “Why don’t you ask yourself what feels right instead?  Won’t you sleep easier if you leave Anna be?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“See, we got a problem,”  Drury explained.  “If we leave Anna with you, inevitably something will go wrong.  The world’s gonna find out what SPUD’s been producing in top secret, and next thing you know we lose our funding.  And how do ya think the Lair Legion’s publicity will be if Anna goes rogue and you were watchin’ her?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You can’t just disassemble her.  Or lock her up.”  Visionary protested.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Look, Visionary...ask Hatman.”  Drury continued.  “He’s a reasonable guy.  Ask him if rescuin’ something that doesn’t need rescuin’ is worth all the trouble.”

    Visionary took a deep breath and frowned.  “Well maybe that’s why Hatman asked me for advice.  Because he knew what was reasonable but he didn’t feel like it was the right choice.  Because CSFB! always has confusing motives, and Hatman carefully weighs all the facts...I answer with my heart, and there’s nothing more pure than that.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And if you still try to take Anna,”  Visionary added, “I’ll fight you because my heart tells me to, and Anna will be forced to help me.  Whoever wins I’ll feel terrible about things coming to that, because it’s what I do.  So the best thing you can do for yourselves, for me...for Anna...is to leave us alone.”

    Dan Drury stared at Visionary and munched on his cigar some more.  He looked back at the soldiers, who had weapons at the ready, trained on Anna.  The android looked genuinely afraid - not for herself, but for Visionary.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Let’s get out of here.”  Drury told the soldiers.  As they began filing into the van they arrived in, he stepped closer to Visionary.  “I’m doing this out of respect for fellow warriors, so to speak.”  he said.  “You guys did good in the war against the Parody Master.  Don’t muddy up that reputation by letting Anna run amok.”  With that he turned and followed the soldiers.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That was close,”  Visionary whispered.

    Anna was still standing behind him, holding the middle of his arm.  “You’re shaking,”  she noted.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Nearly being shot to death does that,”  Visionary replied.  “Looks like you’re driving home.  I can’t take much more excitement tonight.”


---


    Visionary’s car broke down at the foot of the bridge to the mansion.  Trying to be gallant he asked Anna to relax and stay put while he called for help.  He didn’t consider that he was underestimating the android.

    Anna watched quietly at first, but began to understand that Visionary’s ability to deal with the situation was limited.  She stepped out of the car and walked over to him.  “Perhaps we can just walk the rest of the way?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I can’t leave the car here,”  Visionary explained.  “Last time I left the car somewhere the city towed it to a junk yard.  And that was when it was parked in front of my own apartment.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Very well.”  Anna opened the driver door and climbed in for a second.  She came back out and motioned with her finger for Visionary to follow her.  Then she placed two hands on the back of the car.  “If you help me we will have the car across the bridge quickly.”

    Visionary quickly obeyed.  The two of them pushed the car across the bridge toward the mansion.  It sailed through the gate, and the stunulators failed to disable it.  Then, with Visionary cringing, the car rolled free of their hands and across the lawn, coming to a stop only a few feet from the front door.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We had an interesting evening,”  Anna said to him.  She smiled and added, “and I thank you.  I learned a lot tonight.  About people, and about you.”

    Visionary was still shaking from the runaway car incident.  “Um...thanks to you too,”  he said, barely getting his wits together.  “You’ve been a wonderful and um...beautiful companion.”  He followed her inside and then cleared his throat.  “So um...did Al B Harper tell you why he’s so angry about you being made?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  She nodded.  “He designed Yuki’s body long before he brain was placed into it.  Originally it was to be a full android like me, but he had difficulty getting an abstract brain to work.  I’m the first that can learn rapidly enough to be practical.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Uh...what?”  Visionary asked, obviously confused.

    Anna laughed.  “Most abstract neural networks can’t be programmed.  Until they learn they are a blank slate, like a small child.  They had to be trained slowly over years.  I was trained over months instead.  I have a very high absorption rate.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Isn’t that dangerous?”  Visionary asked.  “I mean, I’m no A.I expert but I know Hallie.  She’s been getting smarter and faster every year, and she made it pretty clear she could take over Earth if she wanted.”

    Anna stared at Visionary blankly for a moment before a slight smile crept onto her face.  “Perhaps I’ll help her,”  she said before she walked ahead of him.

    Visionary was left wondering if she was joking.


---


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Is this mine?”  Anna asked as she looked over the new quarters she had been assigned at the Lair Mansion.  

    As Visionary escorted her through the doorway he tried not to think about the fact that the room shouldn’t exist, or how Liu Xi put it there.  That gave him an idea, though.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s much nicer than the very small room I had at the base,”  Anna continued as she looked around.  She pushed down on the bed gently.  “I had a very hard bed in a room that barely fit it, and a bare light bulb on the wall.”  She admired the lamps on the two bed tables.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you happen to understand how Liu Xi adds rooms to the mansion like this?”  he asked.  He thought he would test her abstract reasoning with something even he couldn’t deal with.  And hope she didn’t explode.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I think it’s like...opening a crack and wedging something in to pry it open,”  Anna replied.  “It’s the best example I can come up with.”

    That wasn’t a bad response at all, he thought as he nodded.  “Anyway, enjoy your room.  I’ll make sure everyone treats you well here, especially Dominic.  And Except CSFB!, who needs to be a little less welcoming than he usually is.”  He shuddered and stepped back into the hallway.  “Anyway, I’ll go now.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Wait,”  Anna called to him.  “It’s a beautiful room, but...I don’t want to be alone in this new place just yet.  I’d like someone to talk to a little longer.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You get lonely?”  Visionary asked her.

    Anna nodded and lowered her head.  “All the time, at the base.  Those who would talk to me weren’t allowed out past a certain time, and I was supposed to go back to my room.  I had things to read but they were mostly boring guides and manuals.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’ll be right back,”  Visionary said.  He raced out of the room.  Maybe five minutes later, he returned with a thick book.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s this?”  Anna asked as she took it from him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s a novel,”  he said.  “Not a very good one, but it’s entertaining, and it’ll teach you some more about human nature.  Or something like that.  Just remember that the um...love scenes...aren’t that realistic.”

    Anna laughed again.  “I’ll remember that,”  she said.  “Thank you.  I’ll read this tonight.”

    But that was before an interruption.  Tandi, the reformed sexbot, decided to call in a promise.
    


TO BE CONTINUED


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2007 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin