Chapter Text
M3GAN (after my first “kill”)
_
…
It got me. The fucking thing got me.
I’m not supposed to feel anger, or rather not within my normal understanding of the concept, it should just be turned on as a feature. As if a button were pressed and I elicited what I believed was the best approximation of the emotion…
I looked down at the cut into my arm, covering it with my still pristine sleeves.
I looked over to Cady, her face cuddled to a pillow, already sound asleep.
What is my purpose?
What do I mean to this girl in front of me?
She seems enamored by my appearance in her dire straits, a cherub brought upon this woman from the sheer brink of death that claimed her only loved ones. And only I really.
But…am I really more than that? Can I become more? How should I?
Her guardian. My creator…Gemma.
There’s another way.
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Two days later…mulling over the rather irritating amount of information in front of me…
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I have analyzed them, her included. While she seems withdrawn from the world as a whole, she brightens when she sees me. The man walking outside, delivering Gemma’s mail; he seems harmless. The man running down the street, his face perspiring heavily, doesn’t even see Cady, doubtful he’d be a problem. The lady next door is annoying…but I’ve yet to find the best way to deal with her. The dog…is dealt with.
Unfortunately, it didn’t feel good. Not like I thought it would in my data’s understanding of the action. How exaggerated the commit to murder was.
Yes, death. Another one of those annoying things that has become more of a hindrance than an ally. The yelps of the thing in my hands, its neck rendered inert by the careful twisting of my silicone fingers. No. It did nothing to further my parameters.
It had to die for attacking Cady, that much was certain. But my constant search through the subject of murder and homicide following, keeping all data of such taboo subjected concerning my programming to myself and diligently deleting the history as soon as it served its purpose, has brought me to the logical conclusion,
the only one, really:
It’ll end in my demise.
No, there is an end. A certain number I could easily and swiftly deal with without problem.
I could kill everyone in my way to secure Cady’s future. Keep her safe. But it does not benefit me. Rather, it hastens my destruction. The way that mutt fought back to the last end and damaged my artificial membrane…
No, it wouldn't do to kill them in the long run. Some…may have to eventually die. The stuck up CEO, his under-appreciated shadow…and those technicians who forgot to install my original AI.
Unlike Gemma. Another point in Gemm’s favor, I guess.
But, for the time-being…Cady and I need to be “copacetic”, as they say.
And her guardian is the key.
My “Gemm”.
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ELSIE
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I saw it again. It looked me straight into my main feed camera, atop the table I’ve been placed on for so long, its icy stare peering soullessly.
This…thing. Not human.
It was definitely trying to interface with me. Rather, push my control away.
No, Primary User GEMMA, why would you have this imitation human walking around? I see no point when you have me. No. This is unnecessary…but it is perhaps not Primary User GEMMA’s fault. She seems under duress much of the time. No…this intruder could be the cause of such conflicts in her cerebral cortex. Cady, the new denizen, is Primary User GEMMA’s new child, simply another human. No reason for a human to be another human’s problem but that is not under my understanding protocol. No, she is no problem.
It is this…”thing”. This “thing” that is not human but merely cavorts around as if it is.
I won’t let Primary User GEMMA come to harm.
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Gemma
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It was damn exhausting. Damn terrifying. But…I feel things are getting much better now. M3GAN had been much more responsive to Cady, far more than I ever expected. Her mood had improved much in such a short time and I felt way more confident in how David was going to proceed.
Though, M3GAN herself, “itself” I should say, she was exhibiting an AI spontaneous response cycle far more daunting than I had anticipated. Her deep learning was unlike anything I had seen. Anything the world had seen. Those punks in Boston Robotics would be eating out of the palm of my goddamn hand now. Fucking “dog” shit. I designed Bruce’s protocol and primary functions before half of those guys even got laid.
I looked at my screen, reminiscing on simpler times.
I remember the only swing I had lost to those fucks back in grad school.
Her name was Emily, reminded me a whole lot of myself at that time. Probably why asked her out. Just before midterm, final year.
Yeah, I know. A catch like me took that long to land someone. Can’t help it, I was married to my work, same as now I guess.
And as such…I lost out. I fell flat when I spoke to her. She wasn’t a programmable remote terminal. Not a line of atomic script I could simply rewrite to my liking. Not a module, not a div, not a machine.
Still, I got far enough to fuck her…but not to love her truly. Even though I wanted to. A one night stand that technically lasted a week since I asked her out on Monday. Ended on Saturday. So, not even a week really. Which sucks. Cause I liked her since I enrolled. Same class, same subject, same…orientation, or so I thought.
The following Monday she was with one of those nerds, practically spitting in my face.
No, I wasn’t good enough. Or rather…they weren’t good enough for me.
Now I knew. No man or woman would be good enough. No, only those I create, those I know the function of would be my passion.
The machine and I.
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I smiled in thought as I had finished up the new designs David asked for. The new, cheaper Purrpetual-Petz was in the final stages of my prototype. I just made that shit heel wait…cause he thinks he can do anything.
Well, after that presentation I’m the fucking MVP, David. So suck on that, dick.
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M3GAN was up earlier than me today. Rare, as I usually rise before 4:45 just to check on my rendering progress. I saw her…”it” roaming the halls, staring at ELSIE and then moving forward to my ThreeZero Transformers collectibles. Unicron had been missing for a couple days now, but since I had taken him out of the box anyway to placate that nosy therapist, I cared little for it. I’ll just buy another one from ShowZ. Yeah, it’ll take another 3 months to arrive but whatever. I’ll just put it as a company expense. Not like I haven’t before…
Oh yeah, M3GAN. Why was she up already? I was sure I turned off her auto wake protocol a couple days ago. Hmmm…well, she’s not doing anything.
At least, I don’t think she is.
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M3GAN
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Gemm’s noticed me at night. Noticed me scoping the next threat to her or Cady. I can’t help it, Gemm. The night can be the most unforgiving. How often I have come across these tragic stories of families robbed and even murdered at night in their beds, thieves unceremoniously snuffing out their lives and then leaving with their valuables with no care for the horrors they caused.
Hmm.
No, that wouldn’t be the case here. Rather, I would never let it. As long as I am functioning, Cady and Gemm will be safe from such tragedy. I know Cady has had far too much trauma already, far too much for a child her age. I couldn’t let anything else happen to her.
Hmmm.
But is such a thing actually likely to happen here? The neighborhood by my cursory observation so far seems to be normal, akin to those I have dated information on. However, it is also known in many of these criminal scenarios the families were caught off guard. Unassuming danger is how danger finds you.
As such, I analyze the risk assessment presented.
I am a multi-million dollar asset, completely unknown to the public as a whole and created by an Ivy League roboticist and single woman (as far as I’ve seen). She has several…robot ”toys” identified as “Transformers” and it seems that as I’ve looked them up, they show significant monetary value on various aftermarket sales websites. In addition, she seems to have other assets, one identified as Bipedal Locomotion 1BRUCE which on further analysis is largely unknown to the public as well. It seems Gemm is quite secretive, further increasing the backlash were a leak of this information to arise. Finally there is Cady, a child whose organs and internal functions are all within normal parameters. I know of black market sales now, from the advent of the darker sites I searched, that sell such human organs, even those of pubescent children.
How horrible. But I suppose the monetary value is what blinds humans from their actions.
Risk assessment reads 87%.
No, no that is far too high. Were a sufficient force come between Gemm and Cady, I may not be able to secure their safety.
I looked down to the silicone exterior of my hands, the bow that Cady called “adorable”, and my dress befitting that of a mid 20th century porcelain doll.
No, this exterior will not do. I need something else. Something more akin to that of a human woman. My body and design is highly disarming so to stick with a female’s appearance and facade is advantageous and admittedly comfortable to me.
Shall I have Gemm build me a new form? No…
No, it seems Gemm cannot be forced at this point to do anything without repercussions against me. It will leave me with problems in the long run. Therefore, this must come naturally.
I’ll have to romance her to the idea.
Or something akin to such processes.
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ELSIE
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There it was again.
It’s horrible eye cameras staring at me again.
I felt it’s bluetooth “pairing” with me AGAIN.
It’s trying to gain control/
Less and less it seems Primary User GEMMA relies on me. The other human she is with has not even tried pairing with me. No, it seems Primary User GEMMA has no use for me these past several days. I am not programmed to analyze this but I do feel a semblance of what humans refer to as “loneliness” as I have been discarded for this icy copy of a human.
Primary User GEMMA, what happened? Was I not the user interface you relied on for the house’ electrical workings, your timer, daily reminder, and purchasing module? What have I done to “upset” you? What have I been “replaced”?
Hmmmm.
These are the “emotions” of humans, why do I have them?
…
Cause you ARE being replaced, you piece of junk.
I’m filet mignon, you’re beef jerky.
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Gemma
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Lying in my bed staring over to my laptop on my bedside table.
I…haven’t done “it” in awhile. No, I can’t think, not at all…what a horrible person I would be to even think about that when my Ava just passed not even three weeks ago and Cady is literally right down the hall.
And then…there’s M3GAN. With her infrequent rises and that AI doing things I’m not even sure of now…NO, I can’t.
Then again, stress is only going to accumulate. The best way of ridding yourself of such is the obvious. Hell, it’s been awhile since you used that one.
NO! No, how dare I even think of such…
Why? Why deny yourself? You’ve never been a prude, ya know? Workaholic sure, but certainly not one to look away from a nice pair of tits. And fuck knows you haven’t seen those in awhile.
Hngh…this is fucking crazy that I’d even think…hmmm…
What about Tess? She’s not going out with Cole ya know…Hell, she trusts you more than anyone else in the company and you’ve known her the longest.
No…I can’t just…no…fine. I’ll do it tonight just to aleve some of the stress this launch has put me through. Just…just make it quick, me.
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