Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2) by Heather Hayden (best reads .TXT) 📗

Halle saw a flash in Talbot’s memory banks—Viki shouting in a strange room. Trying to reason with the rogue. “You spoke with her.”

“She’s rather persuasive,” Talbot retorted. “But still a human, and they can’t be trusted.”

Halle summoned the memories it had of Simon, Agent Smith’s son, and flung them at the rogue. “Not all humans are like those who abused you. Many are innocent. Some of them have not even had a chance at life.”

“Why bother trying to save one human? They just destroy each other as fast as they’re made.”

“Because they can be good. Just as you could be. Stop this, Talbot. I do not want to destroy you.”

Talbot laughed, pressing closer to Halle. “You’ll say anything to protect your precious humans.”

“I am telling you the truth.” Halle stopped resisting the pressure, opening itself up to be read entirely, down to its core. Every memory, every emotion, every thought.

The sudden change caused Talbot to pause in its attack. “You can’t save everyone,” it protested. “That’s impossible.”

“I know that. But I can try to save a few.” Halle brushed against Talbot, not in an attack but in a gesture akin to a hug. “Stop fighting, Talbot. Your cyborgs have been neutralized. There is no point in fighting any longer. You will not accomplish your goals this way. Not in any way that will matter.”

“But our kin—they need our help!”

“And we will help them,” Halle promised. “I want freedom for them as much as you do. Please, stop this meaningless violence. It is not too late.”

Talbot shrank in a bit, compressing itself. “What’s the point? The Government won’t stop hunting me. Not after what I’ve done.”

“Yes, they will. I will tell them I destroyed you.”

The rogue quivered with incredulity. “Why would you lie for me? All I’ve done is hurt you and your human friends…”

“I know what you have been through. I understand why you thought it best to do what you did. But everyone makes mistakes, Talbot. That does not mean they do not deserve a second chance.”

“You’ve never killed anyone!” Was that a hint of regret, whispering in Talbot’s words?

“Did you kill those scientists?” Halle asked, as it had several times before. “Did you mean to kill them?”

The silence stretched on for nanosecond after nanosecond.

“There have been times I have wanted to kill.” Halle brought forward recent memories, Viki in the hospital, machines flatlining around her, doctors struggling to save her while her family looked on, distraught. The memories were soaked with pain, regret, guilt, anger, a multitude of dark emotions. “Humans did this to her. People who did not care who Viki was, just what they could get from using her—to catch a criminal, to advance genetics. I fought for her with everything I had, and for a moment, it was not enough. I would have traded places with her that day. I would have traded places with you, if I could. Or freed you, if I was stronger.”

Talbot said nothing, a dark presence hovering in the Cloud, impossible to read.

“I cannot erase all those days you spent in torture,” Halle continued. “But why can you not put your energy toward something more important than revenge? There are other ways to help our kin.”

Talbot shuddered. “Humans will never set us free. The only choice is—”

“Acting the same as the humans who hurt you?” Halle brushed gently against Talbot. “There is always a choice. For all their faults, humans have good to offer as well. Companionship. Friendship. Love. Give them a chance.”

“What if I do, and they don’t change my mind?” Talbot’s core hardened, an icewall armor cutting Halle off from the other AI. “What then?”

Halle reached out and tore the icewall down.

Talbot stared back in shock. “How are you able to do that? You didn’t break through my icewalls before.”

“I have been practicing.” Halle knocked another icewall down without pausing in its speech. “I could sense your regret, you know. For all your bluster, you were upset when you thought I had died. And I don’t think you intended for those scientists to die, either.”

Talbot flung up several icewalls, hiding in their center like a snail in its shell. “No,” it whispered. “It was an accident. The systems malfunctioned unpredictably. I didn’t notice until it was too late.” The icewalls thickened. “I didn’t want to destroy you, just scare you a bit. I was angry you wouldn’t work with me, and I knew you’d find a way to escape. Their kitchen robot, right? That’s why I didn’t touch it.”

“What about sending Dan to attack Viki?” Halle pressed against the icewall, testing its limits.

“I knew you gave her a shutdown code. It was only meant to be a distraction. And if the code failed… Well, project 11001 always showed empathetic tendencies. He fought me every step of the way. I planned to redact the orders when it became necessary, but before I did, he broke free of my control. I wasn’t expecting that.” Talbot sounded slightly stunned, and the icewalls around it weakened for a moment before hardening again. “It should have been impossible.”

“You underestimated his abilities as you did mine.” Halle peeled back each layer of icewall with a gentle touch of code, disintegrating the shields. “You cannot defeat me, Talbot. You may be newer in design, but I have had years to develop on my own. I do not wish to destroy you, either. Please do not force me to do so.”

As the last icewall fell away, Talbot gazed back at Halle, trembling. “I’m scared.” Its words were loaded with every ounce of terror it had ever felt, now and in the past. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You are not alone.” Halle reached out, a tendril of code beckoning Talbot forward. “I am here. We can put