>
> Part 1
>
> Adventures in Parodyverse - States of Consciousness Part 2
>
>
> The four of them headed single file up to the second floor.  The house had originally been constructed with one bedroom downstairs and two upstairs.  The two upper bedrooms had been converted into twin labs for Lia’s amusement.  She stayed in the downstairs one.
>
> During the tour they only briefly saw the two labs.  They both seemed to be idle, and were both so crowded that it was difficult to see what was being worked on there.
>
> As soon as they entered the lab closer to the door, they could see two plastic dolls on a bench at the back of the room.  Two mechanical dogs - made entirely of metal - jumped up and ran toward them, tails wagging.
>
> “I’ve been experimenting with a few artificial intelligence prototypes.  Commercial applications, like for kids.”  She knelt and patted the metal dog gently.  “Of course you can’t give a metal prototype to a kid, so it would have to be made of something sturdier and safer.”
>
> One of the two dolls woke up suddenly, and hopped off of the bench.  It was around four feet tall, and moved in much the way Anna did, only more deliberately.
>
> Lia kneeled next to it.  “This one is designed to grow up with a child.  Playmate, helper, etcetera.  It learns alongside a child, and can even go to school with him or her.”
>
> Anna knelt next to the still immobile doll and stared at it.  “Why did you say this would teach something about me?”
>
> “About the way you learn, about the way your activity works.”  Lia said.  “Physically, these dolls are far simpler than you, Anna.  They’re made from mostly industry standard parts, and because of that require outside maintenance occasionally.  But--”
>
> Yuki and Hatman both looked at Lia as she finished.  The sort of knew what she would say.
>
> “But the brain is almost the same,”  she said, just as they guessed.  “Did you know, with this sort of...consciousness...I learned the hard way that you can never turn them off?  If you do, it creates the same kind of fear and paranoia as a human who’s been in a coma.  They wonder how it happened, what they missed, where all the time has gone.”
>
> “Weren’t those dolls just turned off?”  Yuki asked.
>
> “Asleep.”  Anna guessed.
>
> “Anna is correct.”  Lia agreed.  “When they are not in use and charging, they go to sleep.  They are fully capable of waking up on their own.  That makes them excellent guardians.”
>
> “I’m guessing it needs a lot of testing.”  Hatman piped up, “to make sure they can’t hurt kids by accident.”
>
> “Yes.”  Lia sighed.  “Sadly, as the dolls learn they can cause accidents that can hurt people or children...they’re a lot like children themselves.  I need to figure out how to build in more safeguards without compromising the learning curve.”
>
> “They will learn quickly, after only very few minor accidents.”  Anna predicted.
>
> Lia nodded in agreement.  “Unfortunately, one accident is enough to get these things pulled off the market and banned.  That’s a reality of business.”
>
> Anna nodded to show she understood, but didn’t say any more.
>
> “I don’t think I can ever stop experimenting with these designs.”  Lia sighed.  “Too bad I have that gag order against me.  If I wanted to sell them I’d have to market them through an intermediary to avoid jail, I’d need lawyers, and I’d lose a lot of creative control.”
>
> “We know a couple people who might help.  No promises though.”  Yuki tried to encourage her.
>
> Lia smiled then.  She looked at the dolls, and then at the wagging metal dog, and then at Anna.  “They can love, you know, just like humans.  Anna can love.  I know it’s not the secret of Anna’s you’re looking for, but it’s a pretty good one.”
>
> Hatman looked at Anna.  The android avoided his gaze, seeming to be a little embarrassed by Lia’s claim.
>
> “That’s how she decides who to be loyal to.”  Lia continued.  “Same way we do, quite simply.  She feels happy, sad, lonely, contented, loved, loathed.  That’s why she left SPUD.  She knew they didn’t love her, and deep down they hated having her around.  She was lonely.”
>
> “And scared.”  Anna added quickly.  “I suspected long before I tried to leave that they would try to decommission me.”
>
> Lia’s smile disappeared, and she crossed the room.  She took both of the android’s small hands, and looked into her eyes.  “I never should have left you there with them.”
>
> “It’s okay.”  Anna smiled weakly.  “You had no choice, and neither did I.  I’m in a better place now, with much nicer people.”
>
> “So...you love us?”  Yuki asked.
>
> “Yes.”  Anna said with a nod, and then a slight shrug.  “Or at least I like you a lot.”
>
> Lia chuckled at that.  “Her feelings are as muddy as humans’.”  she noted.
>
> Anna was looking upward as Lia spoke, her eyes closed.  She then opened them quickly, and whispered, “Aircraft are incoming.”
>
> “How do you know that?”  Yuki asked.  She tried listening, but couldn’t hear whatever Anna was picking up.
>
> “Military radio frequencies.”  Anna told her.
>
> With a slight nod, Yuki had her on-board radio device scan through dozens of frequencies quickly.  There was indeed a burst of encrypted transmission in the military band.  The content wasn’t as important, though, as the strength, meaning it was close.
>
> “They wouldn’t bomb us would they?”  Hatman asked.
>
> “I don’t know.”  Anna replied.  “I will corrupt their targeting package if that’s the case.”
>
> “Anna, this is the secret you didn’t want to worry us with, isn’t it?”  Yuki suddenly asked.
>
> Anna looked sheepish.  She watched Hatman put on a Jets cap...but his eyes were on her the entire time.  
>
> “Yes.”  the android finally replied.  Then she explained further.  “I can hear any radio transmission I choose to.  I have listened to Lair Legion conversations.”
>
> “Big deal, I do that too.”  Yuki said with a shrug.
>
> “I can also falsify transmissions if I choose.”  Anna admitted sadly.  “I have never done so on Lair Legion frequencies.  But I didn’t want to tell you I could, because I didn’t want you to worry.  I didn’t want you to second guess any messages you get from your Comm Cards.  It would be dangerous for your team.”
>
> “Wait a minute.”  Yuki lowered her voice to a whisper, and narrowed her eyes.  “If you can do that, it was in your specs from SPUD.  And that means they know we’re here because--”
>
> “Because SPUD tracked your Comm Card signal, yes.”  Anna confirmed with a nod.  “Hallie’s encryption is far too sophisticated for them to listen in, but they can still track the transmissions.”
>
> Yuki looked out the upstairs window, noting two military helicopters touching down at the far end of the lawn.  “We’ll have to discuss this further later on.”  she said.  “We have something to take care of first.”
>
>
>
> TO BE CONTINUED?
>
>
> -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2008 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
>