The Winter War (40 page)

The floor manager was a harried
looking brunette in T-shirt and jeans who looked like she could not
wait for the evening to be over. She held up a hand for Aneka to
wait. Aneka gave her a quick smile and waited.

‘Thank you, Beatrice,’ Julietta
was saying. ‘Beatrice Crook everyone!’

‘Are you ready for this?’ Aneka
asked silently as the applause started.

‘I’m… nervous,’ Al replied. ‘I’m
not used to speaking to people.’

‘You speak to me, and Cassandra,
and Ella now too.’

‘Yes, but not to
people.
I’m an observer, not a communicator.’

‘You’ll be fine. You’ve got a
sexy voice, remember?’

As Crook moved over on the
couch, Julietta began introducing Aneka. ‘Our second guest tonight
is both more famous and less well-known than Beatrice. Almost
everyone has heard of her, but she’s not a public figure. When the
Federation heard that a woman had been found frozen in stasis who
had been born before the Xinti War, there was surprise and
interest, but that interest waned as she got on with living in our
century. She gave a few interviews, but we never really got to know
who she was. But then we found out
what
she was and how she
had come to be that way. Now we want to know more.’

The blonde got to her feet,
holding an arm out in Aneka’s general direction. ‘Ladies and
gentlemen, Aneka Jansen.’

The floor manager waved Aneka
forward, and the glare protection on her eyes cut in as she stepped
into the beam of a spotlight. The three screens at the back of the
stage lit up to show her head and shoulders as she walked on,
trying very hard not to show how nervous she was feeling and
remember to smile.

Julietta was a kisser. Just on
the cheek, but it had to be done. Aneka had to bend down a little
to proffer the cheek, and the blonde did look a little enviously at
Aneka’s chest. They sat down, Aneka giving Crook a smile which was
reciprocated far too brightly for it to be real.

‘Aneka,’ Julietta began, setting
her face on serious, ‘let’s get the technicalities out of the way
first. What do we describe you as? A robot? An artificial person?
The Herosians are saying that you are a Xinti?’

There had been a lot of
discussion about that one. Ollander, Elroy, and Ella had all
counselled her the same way: be honest. ‘Well, the Herosians are
right, technically. I call myself a robot operated by Aneka
Jansen’s ghost. My friends tell me I’m being too hard on
myself.’

Julietta smiled, but Aneka could
see why she was considered a good presenter. She knew exactly where
to take that answer. ‘You’re
technically
a Xinti?’

‘On two counts. Physically I
underwent the same process they employed to convert themselves into
digital minds. At some point in their history a plague hit their
world. It was something horrific, spread rapidly, killed quickly
and horribly. The only way they could think of to save their
species was to use nanomachines to pull their brains apart, mapping
the neurons as they went, and use the data to make software models.
That’s what they did to me, and then they put me into this body,
which was built using their technology. So, physically, I’m a
Xinti.’

‘But the brain they mapped was a
Jenlay one.’

‘Human back then, but yes. The
other technicality is that the Xinti warrior caste inducted me.
They said I represented their highest ideals. So,
technically,
I’m a Xinti warrior. I even have a Xinti name,
Yrimlos, though I prefer not to be reminded of that.’

Julietta nodded. ‘When you and
your party came back from Negral you stated that you had no love
for the Xinti, but that the artificial intelligences there were not
Xinti.’

‘That’s true. Though I’d add
that the Xinti were not the monsters legend paints them. Not all of
them anyway. They were people, just like any Jenlay, or Herosian,
or Torem. We found an artefact on a ship in the Negral system. A
picture of two Xinti just like you’d find pictures of couples in
any house in Yorkbridge. She had left him on their home world to do
administrative work on a battleship during the war. She found out
that he had been killed just before dying herself while helping to
save injured soldiers, and all that’s left of their lives is a
hologram in storage at the university.’

‘That’s… sad,’ Crook said from
the other end of the sofa. It sounded genuine.

‘Yes,’ Aneka added, ‘but I’d
still happily fillet the people who did this to me, if they weren’t
all dead anyway.’

‘You’re quite sure they’re all
gone?’ Julietta asked.

‘Negral had seen no evidence of
them in centuries. They believed they were extinct.’

‘But they were attacked by a
Xinti ship.’

‘Maybe. But if they were then
those Xinti are all dead now. The entire Negral system was
destroyed when its star went nova. Nothing could have survived
that.’

Someone was probably talking in
Julietta’s ear; she shifted topics before they got too deep into
politically hot subjects. ‘Tell us about your life on Old
Earth.’

‘I was a soldier. I’d wanted to
be one since I was a girl. I dressed my doll in combat fatigues and
I was a boyish sort of girl, until puberty anyway. I was actually a
little annoyed when boys started looking me in the chest instead of
the eyes.’

Julietta gave her a grin. ‘And
you looked like you do now?’

‘Almost. I think we have a
picture…’ She turned to look over her shoulder and the back screen
changed to show the family portrait Aneka had got from Old Earth.
She had not brought the physical copy back, but it had been in her
memory and now it was useful. ‘That’s me back then. The flesh and
blood me. My hair was blonde, not white. The Xinti took their ideas
on what a woman should look like from the internet, so they bumped
me up a cup size and got rid of most of my body hair. Back then I
had to shave my legs if I wanted to wear a skirt. Can’t say I miss
that.’ That actually got a rumble of laughter out of the audience
as well as Julietta and Crook.

‘And the other people in the
picture?’

‘My parents, Hugo and Lauren,
and my brother, Alan. I never had a place of my own, so when I came
home I would stay with them. I travelled a lot, first with the
Army, then with a private security firm. I did corporate
protection, and then rescue work. It was on one of those missions
that the Xinti took me.’

‘Hostage rescue. You seem to
have got back into that since arriving here.’

‘It’s more of a hobby now.’
There was more laughter. ‘I’ve been in the right place at the right
time, and I’ve been able to help where others couldn’t.’

‘Yes, I understand that the
spaceport on Harriamon was accessed through an airless tunnel, and
then you killed or disabled ten armed men to save the colony.’
There was nothing Aneka could really add without sounding like she
was blowing her own trumpet so she smiled and nodded. ‘What is your
body actually capable of?’

‘Well, I’m not indestructible,
as my partner keeps reminding me. I’m more or less bulletproof, but
I wasn’t built to resist lasers. I can survive in a vacuum for
several hours, but I have systems that need oxygen. I’m strong, far
stronger than a typical Jenlay. I can hear sounds you can’t and see
in frequencies of light you can’t. I remember everything, no matter
how much I’d like to forget it, but my memory was damaged by the
long period in stasis, so I don’t remember everything from before
then.’

‘Amazing, and you’re also never
alone.’

‘Uh, no.’

Julietta turned to the audience.
‘Normally we only have two guests on the show, but tonight we have
a third, very special, guest. Hopefully he’s connected through to
our sound system here. I’d like to introduce Aneka’s support AI,
Al.’

Al’s smooth, deeply masculine
voice flowed from the speakers around the studio. ‘Good evening,
Miss Julietta. It’s a privilege to be allowed to appear on your
show, if only as a voice. May I say that you’re looking
exceptionally elegant tonight?’

Aneka bit down on a laugh; the
woman actually blushed! ‘Thank you, Al. Please call me Stephanie.
Did I get that right, you are Aneka’s “support AI?”’

‘That is correct, Stephanie. I
was made specifically for the purpose of coordinating Aneka’s
systems, operating her electronic warfare systems, and observing
how she reacted to the world around her. Our original purpose was
to observe Humanity from within, so to speak, and it was felt that
an independent observer of Aneka was required to give a complete
picture.’

‘You were “made” to do that? I
think most Jenlay have very little idea of how an AI is made.’

‘I’m afraid that AI programming
is not one of my areas of expertise. I can tell you that my purpose
is part of my core programming. I was coded to help Aneka adjust to
her new circumstances.’

‘I’m a little uncomfortable with
it myself,’ Aneka put in. ‘Xinti AIs in particular tend to view
themselves as inferior to, uh, natural intelligences. It’s not so
much that Al
wants
to be my servant as that it’s his nature
to be.’

‘I have a purpose,’ Al replied.
‘Much of Human, and Jenlay, history has been taken up with people
trying to discover why they are here, what their purpose is. I
believe that knowing why I exist is a positive thing. I have come
to understand why Aneka is uncomfortable with my nature, however. I
view it as a very positive aspect of her character.’

‘You appear to consider her
something other than an artificial intelligence? I assume you both
know that there’s a move in the Senate to have you classified as
such?’

‘I’d heard,’ Aneka said.

‘Aneka is
not
an
artificial intelligence,’ Al said, very firmly.

‘An argument could be made,’
Aneka went on, ‘that I am, but I guess it depends upon your
definition of AI. If a mind running on a computer is an AI, no
matter how the mind got there, then I’m an AI. If how that digital
mind was created matters, then I’m not. I’m afraid that’s something
for the lawyers and politicians to decide.’

‘Whatever the case,’ Al said,
‘Aneka would still be a citizen of the Federation, as am I. I must
say that it is pleasing that I can now be acknowledged as such
openly.’

‘I’m sure it is,’ Julietta said,
‘but, Aneka, isn’t it a little awkward at times, always having Al
in your head?’

‘I think it’s easier for me than
for him, actually. He can read my thoughts while I just hear his
voice. He’s considerate. He respects the fact that I need time to
myself. But he’s an independent mind with thoughts of his own and
he’s got very limited ways of expressing himself. He can’t control
my body. He can’t speak except over a wireless connection. He sees
only what I want to look at.’

‘My purpose makes that easier to
bear than it would be for an organic,’ Al replied, ‘but I admit
that it can be a little frustrating at times. It would be
convenient to have my own body at times, but I simply cannot
contemplate wishing to leave Aneka.’

‘That sounds almost like love,’
Julietta commented.

‘Platonic love,’ Al replied.
‘Perhaps. I’m not sure I’m capable of the same form of emotional
expression that you, or Aneka, are capable of. Is it love if it’s
written into your basic code?’

Julietta smiled. ‘I think you
could say that is what love feels like.’

‘Al’s my friend,’ Aneka said, a
little quietly, and then remembered she was talking to an audience.
‘I don’t know what I’d do without him. And there’s been all this
talk of me being some sort of heroine for saving people, well I
couldn’t have done half of it without Al there to back me up. If
I’m a heroine, he’s a hero.’

‘I just do as I’m programmed to
do,’ Al replied.

‘And a modest one,’ Julietta
said. ‘And on that note, our time is up. I’d like to thank our
guests for tonight, Beatrice Crook, Aneka Jansen, and Al. I’ll be
back next week on
Federation Life
!’

Aneka let herself relax as the
applause started. It seemed very loud. That had to be good,
right?

Yorkbridge Mid-town, 11.10.527 FSC.

‘I think the term “unbridled success”
is appropriate.’ Elroy and Ollander were up on the big screen in
the lounge, in separate windows. Elroy was the one speaking, but
despite his words he did not look entirely happy. ‘The morning poll
results are in and there has been a three per cent increase in
positive reaction to you, Aneka. More importantly, there has been a
seven per cent
decrease
in negative reaction.’

‘I was in the audience,’ Ella
said, ‘and everyone around me seemed pretty happy about her. I was
proud of her, and Al.’

Ollander’s lips twitched at the
corners. ‘Yes, I believe some of the less official polls have some
interesting things to tell about public reaction. A poll of seven
hundred and sixteen naval officers found that eighty-three per cent
of them would like a pin-up poster of Aneka for their bunkroom.’
Aneka shifted a little in her seat. Ella just grinned. ‘A poll of
eleven thousand six hundred Jenlay citizens found that seventy-two
per cent of men and fifty-four per cent of women would like to date
Aneka.’ Now Ella shifted in her seat, snuggling a little closer to
her girlfriend. ‘Sixteen per cent of men and fifty-nine per cent of
women would date Al if he had an appropriate body, and ninety-six
per cent of women and three per cent of men would like him to
record erotic audio books.’

‘I hope Cassandra doesn’t see
these polls,’ Al commented.

‘She doesn’t strike me as the
jealous type,’ Aneka replied. Aloud she said, ‘That all sounds
great, but you’re not looking too happy, Councillor.’

Elroy frowned, but it was
Ollander who replied. ‘Jackson is concerned over another interview
request which has come to my office.’