Adventures in Parodyverse - States of Consciousness Part 1


    Anna entered Hatman’s office, but then stopped to knock politely on the door as it was partially open.  She stood there quietly then, waiting for him to respond.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What do you need, Anna?”  Hatman asked, finally looking up from a large, thick book he was reading at his desk.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You should read in a more comfortable position.”  she suggested.

    Hatman was about to protest, but as he sat up he felt his neck and upper back cramp as it reacted to the sudden movement.

    Anna wasn’t the type to gloat, however.  She continued on with the topic she originally wanted to talk to him about as she watched him rub his own neck.  “You wished to know my secrets, correct?  So much that you invited Dan Drury to talk with you about me.”

    That prompted Hatman to stop rubbing his neck and look up.  He watched Anna cross the room and move behind him.  She held out a hand...and he looked at her fingers.  They looked gentle, to someone who didn’t know the power behind them...that they could kill a person.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Would you mind a little help?”  Anna asked gently.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Uh...sure.  I mean, no, I don’t mind.”

    He leaned back as Anna’s secretly deadly fingers kneaded his neck and shoulders so gently, he could have completely forgotten how strong she was.  Replacing that thought was a question about the topic she brought up a minute ago.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t trust Dan Drury.”  Anna continued.  “You shouldn’t either.  Every time he speaks with you...or me...he has an agenda.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“He’s proven himself honorable from time to time.”

    Anna leaned over to his side, without stopping the massage.  “He is honorable.  But he still has an agenda.”

    Hatman nodded, but didn’t reply.  He just wanted Anna to get to the point.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Jay, I’ve been researching to complete some memories I have.”  she said.  “I apologize for not telling you earlier, but I didn’t want to trouble you with partial memories I could not resolve.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Go on.”  he urged.

    Anna then stopped massaging, and moved around to his side.  She offered him a hand and a smile.  “Come with me, please.”  she said.  “I have something to show you.”


---


    Hatman didn’t really expect to see Yuki in the Lair Mansion hangar, where Anna led him.  But somehow, he also knew it would happen.  Yuki was always something of a mentor to the android.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So she got you to come with us.”  Yuki teased Hatman with a smile and slapped him on the back.  “I knew curiosity would get the better of you.”

    Jay looked at Anna.  The android gave him a sideways look and a nervous smile.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Let’s roll.”  Yuki announced as she walked up the ramp into one of the Lairjets.

    Anna took Jay’s hand and led him behind Yuki.  The ramp slammed shut behind them.

    It was a half hour flight, north over Paradopolis and then Gothametropolis.  Until there were nothing but farms, and then nothing but forests and bare hillsides.  They were essentially out in the middle of nowhere.

    The plane began descending above a large cabin by the side of a lake.  The vertical jets of the plane kicked up clouds of dust as it approached the ground, finally landing, in a thin haze.

    Yuki didn’t wait for the dust to clear before opening the door.  The engines were still spinning down as she stepped out into the high wild grass.

    Hatman followed, and then Anna.  He looked back at Anna, who seemed neither fearful nor excited - she seemed content at being among friends.

    The cabin door opened, its occupant no doubt alerted by the racket of the plane landing in the middle of a field in a normally silent location.  It was a woman with dark hair, that had streaks of grey.

    And that woman’s mouth was hanging open, her eyes a mixture of sadness and surprise.  Those eyes were looking directly at Anna.


---

    
    The woman’s name was Lia, a name which seemed familiar at first but didn’t quite click with either Hatman or Yuki.  Until they spent the few minutes trying to figure it out while Lia was out of the living room getting drinks for them all.

    She was actually Dr. Lia Anne Paul, an leader in the field of artificial intelligence research at Paradopolis University.  Two years ago she left the University for a lucrative job in the ‘private sector’.

    As it turned out, the sector she chose wasn’t private at all.

    Her cabin wasn’t large, but not small either.  It looked as if it was built more for the purpose of isolating its owner than for spartan vacation accommodations.  Built for luxury and comfort on the inside, but not betraying that fact to the outside.

    The strangest part was that for an expert in artificial intelligence, everything in the cabin was very simple.  There was no automatic smart lighting, and just a normal television.  The kitchen had a manual microwave and toaster.  But there were several computers, all top of the line...

    ...and upstairs, the attic was an open laboratory filled with very high-tech computer equipment, and small half-built robots.  Though at this point they seemed to be more hobby than professional.

    Even as she gave them a short tour, Lia didn’t take her eyes off of Anna.  She seemed a little shocked and dismayed to see her.

    Then she explained why.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I thought you had been scrapped.”  the A.I. expert finally said to Anna.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I was supposed to be.”  Anna replied quietly.  “I escaped.  The Lair Legion adopted me.”

    Lia laughed, and spun around almost happily.  “Ohhhh, I told them that would happen.  They wanted to stick her in a closet and only call upon her when they needed her.  I told them they can’t treat such an advanced A.I. like a machine.”

    Yuki then guessed, “And that’s why you’re here, and not working for SPUD?”

    Lia nodded without hesitation.  “I resigned.  Except when you resign from SPUD...your career is over.  You can’t talk about anything you did there, you can’t write books or papers, and you can’t do similar work for any company or country.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I suppose it makes sense.”  Hatman commented.  “It is a government organization with highly guarded secrets.”

    It was then Hatman realized what Lia was implying.  He turned and eyed Anna, who seemed interested in the conversation, but hadn’t come to any conclusions.  His eyes then met Yuki’s...he could tell she was thinking the same thing.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t have a file of SPUD secrets.”  Anna piped up, sounding a little hurt, as if she felt like she was being accused.  When Hatman and Yuki both focused their attention on her, the android was looking down.

    Yuki spoke up first.  “Anna, I’m sorry, but it is a valid question considering where you’ve been.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I know.”  Anna replied.  “If I had any such secrets I would have told you so...told you that I had secrets but could not tell you about them.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s fair enough.”  Yuki nodded.  She then changed focus back to Lia again.  “So why did you create Anna, anyway?”

    Lia chuckled at that question, and began slowly pacing the room, her hands clasped behind her back.  “All I can tell you is SPUD wanted a robot capable of working autonomously, that could handle any threat they could conceivably encounter.  Including the Lair Legion, or other superheroes or villains.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That doesn’t sound much like--”  Hatman began, looking at Anna again.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, it doesn’t.”  Lia laughed again.  “I disagreed philosophically with their parameters.  So I stuck to their specs, all right, but designed something far more advanced than they would be able to deal with.  It was my greatest triumph, and also the best way I could think of to thumb my nose at them.”

    Lia then looked around her cabin and sighed sadly.  “At least I thought it was a good idea at the time.”

    Yuki crossed her arms and decided to ask a point-blank question, the one she knew was on Hatman’s mind too.  “Dan Drury keeps referring to a secret about Anna.  One that’s classified, and one we’d be shocked if we knew what it was.”

    The scientist looked at Anna’s worried face, and she smiled.  She had a look of pride in her eyes, like she was looking at a daughter who had grown up.  “I think I’ll let Anna tell you when she’s ready.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“She still doesn’t trust us?”  Hatman said.  It sounded a bit like an accusation, and made the android look even more worried.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I trust you.”  Anna replied softly, avoiding all eye contact.  “I simply don’t...want to burden you with additional worries.  You have so much to deal with already.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s not something dangerous, is it?”  Yuki asked, looking from Lia to Anna and back.  “She’s not going to explode if we make her angry?”

    Lia laughed.  Anna too finally smiled.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m not capable of exploding.”  Anna assured them.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes, that would have gone against everything I tried to accomplish.”  Lia agreed.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“In that case--”  Yuki gently patted Anna’s shoulder.  “Whatever this secret is, we can live with it.”  She looked at Hatman and added, “We can wait till you’re ready to tell us.”

    Hatman gave Yuki a forlorn look - the whole purpose of that trip was to discover that secret.  Yuki returned a smile, and mouthed ‘trust me’ silently, so he tried his best to do so.

    Then Lia turned serious.  “SPUD doesn’t know you’re here, does it?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, not at all.  Why?”  Yuki replied.  Her smile disappeared when she realized Lia wasn’t kidding.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“If they follow Anna here...I’m forbidden to have contact with her.  They’ll throw me in a dark cell until I die.”  Lia said that with an underlying fearfulness, but with total composure.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Since we brought her here, it’s hardly your fault.”  Hatman told her.  “I wouldn’t let them do that because of something we caused.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I wouldn’t either.”  Anna contributed, sounding determined.

    Lia smiled and hugged the android briefly.  “You’ve really grown up, haven’t you?  I’m so proud.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So what about that lab upstairs?”  Yuki remembered from the earlier tour.  “I mean, you’ve been up to something.  Have you been building another Anna?”

    The scientist tilted her head, and then waved her index finger in the air as she said, “Oh, something like that.  Want to see?  Maybe it’ll teach you something about Anna.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sure.”  Yuki enthusiastically replied.  She looked at Hatman, who nodded.


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