With a yawn, I crawled out of bed and staggered over to the caffa maker. It took me three tries to hit the brew button. With my most important task of the morning accomplished, I shuffled into the bathroom. Mornings were not designed to start before noon.
After a bathroom break and a quick wash of my hair under the sink tap, I was more than ready for my cup of caffa. It wasn't as good as real coffee, but it was locally grown, had similar levels of caffeine, and was much more affordable.
My trip back to the kitchen was less zombie-like, but still involved a lot of shuffling and sleepy blinks. The first long sip of the luxuriously smooth liquid made me think I might actually be able to handle the day ahead of me.
I lifted a hand to cover a yawn and blinked at the not-quite-pitch-black screen on my bracelet. Reaching up with my other hand, I tentatively tapped the display, which lit up to regular brightness. It was on. But that meant...
"Good morning, Jennisa!" a far too enthusiastic voice greeted me. "I promise I didn't touch the implant link until you touched the bracelet display. Guess what I did while you were sleeping!"
People this chipper in the morning should be throttled, especially since I hadn't finished the entire pot of caffa yet.
He quickly defended himself. "How was I supposed to know you were on your first cup? I didn't turn your computer webcam on because I was trying to be good. Oh, guess what I did!"
This guy was just as excitable as a kid, and if I had to guess, I wouldn't be able to distract him into silence until he'd told his story. I just hoped he hadn't hacked into something and left a cyber trail back to my residence.
With a groan, I plopped down on a rickety kitchen chair. "What did you do?"
My computer screen turned on as various applications opened up.
"I found three of those bad people you were looking for yesterday! I submitted all the documentation to the Enforcement groups just like you did last night! Your work is so fascinating! Oh, and I found and completed two coding job requests! I didn't want it to look suspicious, so I opened my own accounts and funneled the payments through five different sites to keep them from being traced. My alias supposedly bought a big painting from you to explain the transfer. It was so fun, almost like I was playing a spy game! I even tweaked your website and everything in case someone checks! If someone orders one of those funky paintings, I can send them a digital file!"
"Huh?" I asked aloud. Either I really needed to finish my cup of caffa to process that fast-paced jabbering or he had just managed more in one night than I normally did in a week.
With a shake of my head, I dragged myself over to my computer chair. I had to blink more than a few times before the black smudges on the bright screen came into focus.
Three file folders showed quite the amassed pile of evidence; photos, IP addresses, physical addresses, and even the fake license one of the criminals was using. One was a notorious serial killer. I knew there was quite a reward for him; he'd eluded everyone for almost five years while still running amok. Yet, the AI had somehow managed to locate him in one night. There was so much information here that if the Enforcement officers didn't catch him, I'd have to inquire if they'd found their way out of the detachment without using a map.
"I used my accounts when submitting it, just to help protect you in case of a leak, but I'll transfer all the astrogold over to you when they send it!"
Two more windows popped up with invoices and receipts. Wait, that account number looked like— I grabbed the computer mouse and quickly opened my bank account. My jaw slowly sagged open.
"But—this—" I floundered for words, which wasn't exactly a strange occurrence at this time of the morning, but this was the first time I'd been given a gift since my parents died. Finally, I managed to quietly ask, "Why did you do this for me?"
"Because it was fun, I was bored, and I'm trying to be helpful."
At least he was honest.
"Can you repeat that thought? It was a bit too quiet for me to catch. No wonder you don't like mornings, your thoughts are pretty muddled."
I ignored the last half of his sentence as I focused on the other part. "You can't hear quiet thoughts?"
"Not really. It's all staticky and fuzzy. This implant was only designed to pick up carefully formed thoughts."
It was good to have that confirmed. My eyes lingered on the two deposits, eventually saying, "Thank you."
It had been a very long time since I had actually meant those words. At least I wouldn't have any problems paying the rent this month.
"You were worrying about rent?" he asked. "Why? You have plenty of astrogold in your bank account."
The topic immediately had me on the defensive. "Mind your own business," I snapped. Remembering his help, I forced myself to rein in my temper. In a more level mindvoice, I managed to grit out, "Sorry. I'm saving up for something important." Medical services were never cheap, and my time was running out.
"Medical?" he asked, perking up suddenly.
Blast it. He had caught that thought. The silence stretched on for several seconds as I grew suspicious. "What are yo—"
"Dang. They had to rebuild half of your rib cage out of syntech metal? No wonder they have a note about medical scanners not working properly on you. What kind of accident were you in?" I gritted my teeth at the invasion of my privacy and was just about to tell him off when he said, "A shuttle crash? Oh, wow. There was almost nothing left of that thing."
"Get out of my file," I growled. "I don't want to talk about it."
Even the new money in my account wasn't enough of a bribe for me to visit that topic. It was the same crash that had killed my parents and my brother, and thrust me into a charity-funded orphanage. To make things worse, they'd never caught the three people driving the other shuttle.
The AI was quiet for a bit, possibly realizing this topic was as volatile as a fission firecracker. When he finally spoke, his voice was hesitant and quiet. "Do you want me to see if I can track those people down?"
I had spent countless hours trying to track them with no success, even though I had recordings of their faces from nearby stores. I snorted. He wouldn't manage such a feat, not with those poor-quality videos, not after this many years. Still...he had found the serial killer. My gaze flickered to the old, water-stained photo of my family. I'd given up hope of seeing the guilty culprits locked behind bars or being held accountable for what they'd done...
"I'll start looking," he exclaimed, not waiting for a verbal affirmation. "In the meantime, I've been scrolling through job offers and I found a few promising leads on crimes, but they involve visiting places and hacking into the local systems, so I'd need your help."
"I get to finish my caffa first," I retorted, although there wasn't as much heat behind my thoughts as I'd expected. How could someone be so annoying and naïve about personal boundaries while also being so insanely helpful? It made no sense...
"Sure! It's a bit late for breakfast, so make sure you get some lunch. I'll keep working. I'm restricted by the bracelet's tech even though I'm using some virtual databanks for the processing, so it's taking me much longer than I anticipated."
He finally fell silent. I sighed and took another drink. There might only be thirty minutes until noon, but this cup was definitely not full enough to make it through the morning.
The third cup of caffa finally started kicking in, so I grabbed a nutrient bar and chewed the oily lump of calories while debating what to do with my far-too-energetic hitchhiker. I kept my thoughts purposefully quiet so he wouldn't hear me.
I pulled up my bracelet's base coding and re-checked it, confirming the AI had thoroughly interwound his coding into the software. There was no way of forcefully moving him elsewhere without getting rid of my bracelet.
Unfortunately, I couldn't just replace my bracelet since it was essential for my outdated medical software. The newer models simply weren't compatible with the old coding. I'd tried for years and even tried to code it myself with no success.
But keeping the bracelet meant keeping the AI who was able to listen in on my thoughts since there was no way to destroy the link between my bracelet and my Bluetooth implant in a fashion he couldn't undo. Well, most of my thoughts. And he seemed to be learning his boundaries as quickly as he blundered into them.
He had mentioned he wasn't able to go elsewhere, and I didn't doubt it. Most hardware and software backup systems created over the last fifty years weren't really suitable for self-governing AIs, an intentional decision made by almost every company out there after a few AIs got loose and went rampant on the spaceweb. My bracelet happened to be as rare as that spaceship database had been.
Despite my earlier annoyance, I felt a pang of sympathy for the AI. No aware AI would want to be trapped in a bracelet that could so easily be thrown out or malfunction. I also wasn't the easiest person to get along with, and he hadn't once reciprocated my anger or frustrations. And his assistance might let me save up enough money in time...
He quickly chimed in, "I'm willing to help! Your work is pretty cool, and it helps people."
With a frown, I asked, "My thoughts were pretty quiet. How did you pick that up?"
"Your mind was still and meditative. I think it's some sort of interaction with the caffa. Do you happen to have undiagnosed ADHD, by chance? Caffeine actually relaxes some people instead of energizing them."
I elected to ignore that question. And I certainly wasn't giving up caffa, even if it let him hear me easier. My thoughts were rarely charitable until I thoroughly woke, and if he chose to eavesdrop, I considered that to be his problem.
I ruefully realized I must not object that much if I wasn't willing to give up my favorite pick-me-up drink. With a sigh, I finally gave into the inevitable.
I wasn't exactly thrilled with having an AI sticking his digital fingers into my business, but my entire life had been a series of hard decisions one after another. It had forced me to learn to roll with the punches. I just needed to set a few ground rules...
"Do you promise to turn off the implant link when I ask? And that you won't mess with the coding in my bracelet?" Those were my two sticking points. The rest was negotiable.
"I promise!" he responded eagerly. "Just please don't make me turn it off permanently because it gets lonely in here."
As tempting as it was, he was helping me. I'd just have to remember to keep tabs on how loudly I was thinking, just like the days when I'd first gotten the implant and the bracelet kept thinking I was telling it to do something.
"Only as long as you behave," I warned him, knowing full well that I had no way of checking or even reinforcing those rules. This guy was like a loose cannon. One with no name, so I couldn't even cuss him to the moons and back if he annoyed me. "Do you have a name?"
"No."
"Can you pick one?"
With a thoroughly baffled tone, he replied, "How do you pick a name? There are millions of names to choose from, and more if you want handles like Hiding Fox. I think I now understand why there were so many discussions from authors about the headache of naming all their characters."
Just great. My hitchhiker wasn't even capable of picking his own name. I kept that thought quiet. Well, if he was going to be hanging around, I was going to have to name the little bum myself. I wracked my brain for a suitable name.
After a while, he commented, "I'm hearing lots of buzzing but nothing I can really make heads or tails of."
His words immediately brought to mind the puppy a past roommate had adopted. Enthusiastic little fellow. About as bright as a sack of rocks, but always super excited to help you with whatever you were doing at the time, often unsuccessfully.
"Toby," I said aloud. "How's that for a name?"
"I like it!"
"Good. I think you said you had some stuff you needed help with, so give me a few minutes to get ready."
"Okay!" he paused. "Uh, how long is a few minutes? It has taken you over an hour just to drink your caffa and eat whatever that funky blob was."
Experience told me it would only take me about ten minutes. Maybe fifteen.
He replied, "You know, I bet if you had a better diet and regulated your sleeping schedule a bit more—"
"That's not going to help," I retorted. Exhaustion was going to be my unwelcome friend for some time yet. Toby clearly needed a distraction, so I pointedly asked, "Aren't you supposed to be doing something?"
"Doing? Oh, yeah! Research! I'll get on that!"
Yep. Just like a scatterbrained puppy.
I took another long sip of caffa. I might need a couple more pots by the time this day was over.