“Good day?” she asked.
He smirked. “You know how my day was.” Lovey had cameras and sensors throughout the ship. She kept a protective eye on them at all times. It was a comfort, knowing that an accident or injury wouldn’t go unnoticed, even in the most out-of-the-way corners. Lovey was always there to call for help. But it was the sort of thing that made a man pause before scratching his balls or picking his nose. Having an AI around forced good manners.
“I still like to hear you tell it.”
“Fair enough. It was a good day. I think we’re ready for the punch tomorrow. Everything’s working fine, far as I can tell.”
“What do you think of Rosemary?”
“She seems nice. Hard to say. She’s a little quiet, and was pretty lagged to boot. We’ll all need some time to get to know her.”
“I felt so bad about having to flash her when she came aboard. She looked rough afterward. Not a very nice thing to do when meeting someone for the first time.”
“I’m sure she understood you were only doing your job.” Jenks walked along the wall panels, looking them over for the little red lights that meant trouble. Lovey hadn’t alerted him to any problems, but if something went really wrong, she might not be able to let him know. He did the rounds twice a day, just in case.
“Do you think she’s pretty?”
Jenks raised an eyebrow toward the nearest camera, then glanced back at one of her analytical pathways. The filament was old; it would need replacing in a tenday or two. “Sure, I guess. Not, like, falling-out-of-my-seat pretty, but if I were a lady, I’d be content looking the way she does.” He stepped up onto a workstool and examined the upper circuit row. “Why do you ask?”
“She seemed like the sort you’d find pretty.”
“How so?”
“Do you remember that adventure sim you played two years ago? Black Sun Falling?”
“Of course I do. Great sim. There were archaeologists who said they couldn’t tell the difference between the Arkanic ruins in the sim and the real deal.”
“Do you remember the love interest you chose?”
“What was her name… Mia. Yeah, well-written character. I liked her storyline a lot.”
“Mmm-hmm. And it occurred to me when Rosemary boarded the ship that she’s got a nice smile and a short crop of curls, just like Mia did. So, I thought she might be your cup of tea.”
Jenks chuckled. “That’s a fair line of reasoning. I didn’t know you kept track of these things.”
“I like to know what you like.”
“I like you.” Jenks got off the stool, set down the coupler, and walked to the pit. The inspection could wait. He put on the heavy sweater that lay folded by the edge of the pit, just where he’d left it the day before. He climbed down into the temperature-controlled air, a cool contrast to the warm yellow light that pulsed from Lovey’s core. “If I had found her pretty, would that bother you?”
Lovey laughed. “No. Jealousy’s stupid.”
“Just because it’s stupid doesn’t mean you can’t feel it.”
“True, but what would be the point of me getting jealous over someone who actually has a face? Or breasts, or hips, or however it works. You’re designed to find bodies attractive, Jenks. Enjoy them.” She paused. “If it were legal for me to have a body, what kind would you want me to have?”
“Well, there’s a question,” said Jenks. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”
“Liar.”
Jenks sat down and leaned back against the wall. He could feel the light vibration of her cooling system buzz against his scalp. He had, of course, thought about Lovey in a body. Many, many times.
“What kind of body would you want to have?” Jenks countered. “That’s way more important.”
“I’m not sure. That’s why I’ve been paying attention to what you pay attention to. I don’t know what it’s like to be in any form other than what I am, so it’s hard to voice my desires on that front. It’s not as if I’m in here pining away for legs all day long.”
“Tell that to the FDS.” The Friends of Digital Sapients were one of those organizations that had their hearts in the right place but their heads firmly up their asses. On paper, Jenks believed a lot of the same things they did, namely that AIs were sapient individuals worthy of the same legal rights that everyone else had. But the FDS went about it all wrong. For starters, they didn’t have a lot of techs in their ranks. They ignored the actual science behind artificial cognition in favor of a bunch of fluffy nonsense, making AIs out to be organic souls imprisoned within metal boxes. AIs weren’t like that. Comparing an AI to an organic sapient was like comparing a Human to a Harmagian. You could find similarities, and they deserved equal respect, but under the hood, they operated in fundamentally different ways. Jenks was all for proper recognition of AI rights, but the FDS’ inability to speak about digital minds with any sort of accuracy was more of a hindrance than a help. Acting all sanctimonious while spouting bad info was a terrible way to win a debate, but a great way to piss people off.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Lovey said. “They act like all AIs want a body. Granted, I think I do, but that doesn’t mean all of us do. That’s such an incredibly organic bias, the idea that your squishy physical existence is some sort of pinnacle that all programs aspire to. No offense.”
“None taken.” He thought for a moment. “That’s kind of hypocritical, isn’t it? We assume organic bodies are so awesome, everybody else must want them, then we go off to get genetweaks to look younger or slimmer or whatever.”
“You’ve got a few modifications yourself. No tweaks, but still. Do you think that’s different than someone wanting to look a few years younger? Aren’t all bodily changes about vanity?”
“Hmm,” said Jenks. He felt the weight of the spacers in his ears. He recalled the thin sunburn sting of a needle driving ink down into his skin. “That’s a good question.” He tapped his mouth with his fingers. “I don’t know. You know I get pretty squicked over tweaks, so I guess my opinion there isn’t exactly objective. But I do think something like an anti-aging tweak is done out of a lack of self-esteem, because you feel like you’re not good enough as you are. All the things I’ve done to my body, I’ve done out of love. Seriously. I’ve gotten ink to remind me of all sorts of places and memories, but at the core, everything I’ve had done has been my way of saying that this is my body. That I don’t want the body everybody else told me I should have. Dr. Chef’s the only doctor I’ve ever had who’s never once told me that my life would be easier if I got a few tweaks. You know, so I could be a normal height. Fuck that. If I’m going to make changes to my body, they’re going to be changes that were my idea.”
“I think I feel the same way,” Lovey said. “Even though it’s a moot point for me. Any body talk is entirely hypothetical for me unless some laws change.”
“Do you really want to have a body?” He hesitated, feeling awkward about what he wanted to ask next. “It’s not just because of me, is it?”
“No. I go back and forth on it, but I think the pros outweigh the cons.”
“Okay,” Jenks said, folding his hands across his stomach. “Cons first.”
“Cons. Can only be in one room at a time. Unable to simultaneously look inside the ship and outside of it. Needing to physically jack my head into the Linkings any time I want to look something up. Or, well, I could use a scrib, I guess, but that seems so slow.”