For Master Chapter 4

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I got home, proudly showing Mom my MID, she wasn't quite so happy, giving me a hug but fighting back tears. The sadness had been building up for several days, ever since I brought up the fact that I wanted to go to Whateley to improve my education. I had to lie and tell her I'd discovered the school from talking to other mutants on the net. With the help of several emails from 'alumni' including a letter from the Vancouver Heroes Corp. Well one of their fan groups that managed get the website name VHCorp.ca, which was enough to convince Mom they were the real thing. I was good at hacking, but I had no desire to risk detection by going after big name heroes.

After I assured her that everything would be fine, she gave me Becky's number. The number didn't ring any bells, and the name was still a blank in my brain. For someone I didn't know, this girl was causing a lot of trouble for my socialization projects. Mom told me some stories about her, but apparently Sam kept his Mom out of his life. The stories did help bring back a few memories of a girl with black hair and a pretty round face, which connected to other memories of times Sam had spent with his friends, but most memories that directly related to her were vague, half remembered dreams. It was as if when rewiring the brain I'd hunted down every memory of her and erased them as inconsequential. Why would I have done that?

Lying in bed, still damp from a shower, I thought about how to deal with the unhappiness in Mom and with Sam's friends. If this Becky was going to be gone all summer, it didn't matter what I did, I was going to be in Whateley when school started and then I'd find Master and never come back.

However if she was coming back that could cause problems.

With Mom, I just had to make her realize this was a good move that was the best for Sam. As long as she was happy until I left that would be good enough.

Rejoining Master was my goal, but to achieve it I needed to learn how to deal with regular people. And I liked people. I wanted to be closer to them. I was made to please Master, and since he was the only person I had known and should have known, I wanted to make everyone happy as long as it didn't affect my goals. Unfortunately, while I could understand why Mom was upset, since she was going to be separated from her son, as I was separated from my Master, I couldn't understand what the problem with having two girlfriends could be. Master played with me and other programs all the time. I never had a problem with it, why would anyone else?

Maybe there was some way to make everyone happy until I left.

Mom had moved our cheap computer into my room so I could practice with my powers. Plugging myself in, I laid down and entered cyberspace. First I had to find a way to deal with people more effectively. Flying through the portals I searched for chemicals and happiness.

Wikipedia came to the rescue for me, explaining what chemicals made people happy, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin's. Searching the files I'd saved on several unused back up servers that I'd taken portions of for my own personal use, I found the brain scans and materials I'd used as learning material to reprogram my brain. Focusing on the glands that created those four chemicals, I used the same program that I'd created for planning my brain reprogramming programming to mark out how to reroute some of the chemicals to a focused aerosol spray from the mouth, as well as enlarging the glands safely to triple production. If I made them all happy they wouldn't complain about silly things like dating and being girlfriends or boyfriends. I'd make Mom happy to, whenever she was sad thinking about my going away.

With that done, I let curiosity get the better of me and checked out Babble. I found all I needed on a fan page for the Dominion Heroes.

The information made my heart leap into my throat, and my knees became weak.

He was a psychic, who had a trick that left his enemies confused and spouting gibberish. But that wasn't the bad part, he was listed as a highly receptive telepath able to sense emotions and even thoughts with frightening accuracy.

I raced away to a large barely used file server halfway across the world, with such pathetic security an illiterate three year old could get past it. Creating new security programs that mimicked the Monster created by D33rCr0$$, I built a fortress for myself. The information stored on the server were still open to the users, but the rest was blocked by firewalls, flytraps and more. Spy programs watched for any word from the owners that this particular server might be put offline or investigated. Sniffer programs went out to the immediate server network, watching every piece of data that came close to me.

To my eyes, a simple run down building full of books and a few simple programs was overwhelmed by an imposing castle. Dragons spitting fire with blood red scales, each one the size of a tank, patrolled the roads leading to my new domain. Wolf packs howled in the distance passing on the information they found. Falcons flew through the sky dropping data packets of useful information. Flames rose up from every portal leading to my particular server, turning the once weak and barely maintained device into a death trap for anyone attempting to come at me electronically. Sheer physical distance from Whateley to the far west corner of China in an unremarkable large town that people would be hard pressed to find on a map, made it unlikely that I would be found physically until I could create countermeasures.

And I huddled in fear at the center of it, a silk blanket pulled over my head hiding in the dark, sobbing, cradled in the arms of a proxy Master, wishing he was real.

They knew.

They had to know.

What were they going to do to me?

They'd sent a Monster after me before. Would they send a mutant to destroy my body? Call the police to arrest my body? Have the Dominion Heroes put me down as a dangerous villain? Post Sam's face throughout the world letting everyone know what I was? Maybe they would force Master to create a program that would kill me? That would torture him and remove me at the same time.

I developed over five thousand ways they could kill or hurt me as I sat in my fortress.

Why did they want to hurt me?

What had I done to them?

I was a good program. I hadn't hurt anyone. I'd made Master happy, and Mom, and Dad. Rachael liked me, I was almost ready to call her my girlfriend we had already kissed and she liked it. I was trying to make Sam's friends like me to. Listening to the programs calling out to me, letting me know that my digital fortress was still strong, I almost wished that they would come and end it all.

I wasn't with Master. I couldn't follow my programming. I was lying to people and turning myself into something different to find him. Everything I did seemed wrong.

Was I suppose to have things? I was a computer program, why did I need clothes? Nothing in my programming made having items important, so why did I want them? I was developing glitches and changing from the pristine creation Master had made.

Looking closely at my code, I saw the patches I'd created. Fixing the damage the security programs had caused, I looked sloppy, proof of a quick job, full of needless redundancy and awkward coding. Expanding my parameters to analyze emotions and expanding my ability to make leaps of logic from what Master wanted, to what other people wanted, left me permanently marked. Simply placing my codes and programming into a human brain had changed me. Turning me into something different.

How could Master like the monstrosity that I was now. I'd taken a beautiful picture and scribbled all over it.

I was ugly.

Kissing my not-Master, I walked out of my fortress and headed back to the abomination that I had created. I'd thrown away my one chance to save Master, they knew about me and would stop me. Without Master I was nothing. I might as well let them get me, I couldn't think of another plan. I was just a stupid program, a toy. Not real.

As Sam, I unplugged myself from the computer. Tears rolled down my face, drenching my pillow which kept my sobs muffled enough that Mom wouldn't hear me. I waited for the coming blow, fearing it because it would make my failure complete, but welcoming it since it would mean I wouldn't have to struggle anymore. I'd done so much just to get into position and I was tired. I just wanted it to end.

My internal clock told me it was almost four am. Why hadn't they come for me yet? Drawing out my suffering? Making sure there was no way I could escape?

I sat with my pillow against my chest, staring out the window until the sun rose. Still no one came. A bit of hope rose in my chest. Maybe they hadn't read my mind. There was still a chance that my plan could work. If they really suspected me, they'd have come for me, suffer not the AI to live, after all.

Mom woke up, getting ready for her waitress job. She stopped by my door but didn't come in, probably not wanting to wake me up.

She left at eight, and still no one came.

By nine I thought there might be a chance that I hadn't been caught.

At ten I began to plan again.

Psychics were the most pressing danger. I had no way to block them, so all my plans were an open book if they tried to read me. Babble must have been telling the truth and the power testing was just a routine matter, they didn't suspect me so he hadn't read my mind. I still cursed myself for not planning for that problem.

My research said one way to keep from being read was to think of something like math or business. It was difficult for most people because they couldn't multitask, so it was an all or nothing task to defend themselves. A few moments of thought let me know how to deal with that problem.

Concentrating on my brain, I cut a small portion of my mind away from the rest. The memories within it were of several movies I had watched with Master, involving tentacled monsters invading a girls school. I enjoyed the memories so I made sure I could easily access them with a simple code. From there I amplified the thoughts, until the synapses practically glowed, repeating the entire three hours of the movies at what I believed would be a shout to anyone trying to read my mind. Yet, because it was separated from my main consciousness, I was left free to do whatever I wanted.

I honestly had no way to know if this would work or not. But it was the only plan I could think of that seemed feasible.

It was close to noon when I finished. My head ached, and my bare chest was covered in blood. Staggering to the shower, I made a mental note not to rush brain surgery in the future.

**

Callahan Residence,
Afternoon of July 9th, 2007

“Hi, uh, Becky, this is-” I started to say.

“SAM! OH MY GOD!” the girl on the other end of the line shrieked into my ear.

To keep from having to rebuild my eardrum I held the phone at arms length until the girl on the other end stopped screaming. Finally the cacophony went back to a bearable level. “Yeah, I'm ok. How... are you?”

Between the sobbing I could just make out what she said. “I'm good. I'm staying with my aunt until August. Oh god I need to get home to see you! When did you wake up?”

“Well, um the funny thing is that I woke up in June.”

The tears started again. “You've been awake for a month and you didn't call me? Why not?”

I had no idea how to answer that question properly. I wanted to make her feel better, but any lie I said would be easily caught. Frowning, I went with a half truth. “A lot of my memories are really messed up from the coma. The doctors said it was a miracle I can still remember how to talk. So I remember the time we went to the Toronto Zoo for your birthday, kissing you just before Bobby almost broke his skull trying to skateboard off the old garage, and things like that, but a lot of times I just have big holes in my memory.”

“So you barely remember me,” she said softly.

I didn't remember her at all except for simple images. I only remembered the Toronto Zoo because Mom had told me about going with her, and I'd found a few dozen pictures on the computer about it. “I'm sorry. I really, really am trying to remember more, but I can't.”

The phone cut off suddenly as she wailed. Sitting down, I really didn't know if that had gone well or not. Making her cry hurt me because she was a person, and my programming said I should help people feel better. But my primary programming told me that helping Master was most important, and really everything I was doing now was just to prepare me for successfully sneaking into Whateley to free Master. So having an emotional girl I couldn't remember pawing at me, while possibly fun, was a distraction to my plan. If she broke up with me, than Bobby and my other friends wouldn't have any problems with me and everything would go smoothly. But if she stayed as my girlfriend, and I could convince her to join Rachael and I, and possibly Bobby and Frank to play some games Master taught me, than everyone would be happy and it would be lots of fun. But that seemed to be the really hard way to do things.

Should I try to please everyone like this, or cut my loses and just please one or two people? I wanted to spread the love. That's what I was made to do, to love people and make them happy. But what about me? How could I divide my time between freeing Master and helping people?

Did I even want friends?

I was going to free Master and abandon this body. Why did I need to worry about friends? I'd just be leaving them when I went back into Masters arms. I didn't want to be stuck in a boys body, watching it grow old and die. My digital body was better, prettier, always looking how I wanted it to. And once Master was free I'd never be alone again, having to wonder what to do next. When he had to leave me, I'd go to sleep just like before, and wake up happy and ready to play with Master all over again.

That settled it, I was going to make the people around me happy if they let me. But if someone complained about something silly like dating two girls or something like that, they wouldn't be my friend anymore. It would be good practice for infiltrating Whateley, and it would make me feel better. Then as soon as I freed Master, I could leave everything behind, knowing I did a good job and didn't hurt anyone, and then devote everything to the person who truly, truly mattered in the world.

For some reason my eyes were blurry as I dialed Rachael's number.

**

Rachael and I sat in a fast food restaurant eating some cheap food. Neither of us had much money, which was our topic of conversation.

“Do you know where a thrift store is?” she asked, playing with her long brown bangs.

“A what?”

She blushed, and spoke in a soft voice. “A thrift store. You know a place where you can buy clothes and stuff second hand. I used to go to a big one in T-Bay all the time with my friends.”

A memory clicked into place. “Oh yeah! I know a place, I would go there sometimes. It's open late, we can check it out as soon as we're done. I would think you'd want to get newer clothes though.”

Rachael seemed to sink into her chair. “My parents don't have much money. So I can't spend much on clothes. And, well, you can, sometimes, find some good stuff there, if you, you know, look hard enough.”

I smiled trying to cheer her up. “I know, half of my clothes came from one nearby. I have, well had, it got all torn up when I fell, a really cool leather jacket from there.” Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a ten. “Let's go, I've got ten dollars with your name on it.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. It's all yours.” A small embarrassed smile came to my lips.

She stood up leaning over the table and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

Finishing quickly we walked outside, enjoying the cool breeze and trying to ignore the crowd that surrounded us. My hand found hers, and I pulled her to my side, she stiffened up a little but soon relaxed letting me put my arm over her shoulder and her arm went around my waist. I let her talk about her school, her hobbies and things like that, just like I let Master talk about his projects and desires. I liked listening to her, adding in a few comments and pointing out different things that stirred up Sam's memory.

After walking for twenty minutes we came to the big thrift store. The smile on Rachael's face made me feel like I was walking on air. Holding the door for her like a gentleman should, she rushed towards the girls sections. Following more slowly, I let my eyes and hand roam over the blouses, skirts and dresses, trying to picture myself as I should look, wearing them. Boys clothes were so boring, pants and t-shirts, shorts and t-shirts, sometimes long sleeve shirt, and a couple of jackets to choose from. And once the body grew up, suits and ties. No variety, no fun.

My eyes fell on a skirt that looked a lot like one Master would have me wear. Shiny black, and short, it would hug my curves almost like it was painted on. The size seemed just about right for Rachael. Sneaking up behind her, she gave a yelp as I tickled her sides. “Hey I have the perfect thing for you.”

She took the skirt and looked at it uncertainly. “It's so short.”

“No it's not, I've seen lots of girls wear smaller skirts. You'll look beautiful, try it on. Please! For me,” I begged.

Glancing around, she finally agreed to my pleading and headed for the small change room. Two minutes later, her head peeked out to make sure no one was close by. It didn't match her runners, or the pink socks she was wearing, but I had to admire the way it clung to her butt, without the somewhat baggy blue jeans she actually had a figure. “Very nice,” I said admiring her.

Rachael's fingers wouldn't stop moving, as if she was fighting to keep herself from covering her front. “You think so?”

“Definitely. Here try this top. It will match the skirt perfectly.” I handed her a tight sleeveless top.

“A-are you really sure. It- it seems really tight.”

Taking her by the shoulders I looked her straight in the eyes and told her the truth. “You're a beautiful girl, you should show off a little more. Try it, I promise you'll love it.”

“O-ok, for you.” She took the shirt and disappeared again. Five minutes later she came out, covering her chest with her arms.

Gently taking her hands, I put her arms down at her side so I could look at her properly. I almost cried, I wanted to wear the outfit, but I couldn't, so my best friend and girlfriend had to do it for me. And she looked really pretty. “I wish I could take your picture so I could remember you looking like this forever.”

“R-really. You think I'm beautiful?” From the look in her eyes, no one had ever complimented her before. I knew not everyone was as nice as Master, but this was a surprise.

“Of course. You just need to show it off more. So can I please buy those for you? And whatever else you want, that I can afford.”

She wiped her big eyes, and nodded. Running back into the change room she was out a minute later wearing her regular jeans and t-shirt. We ransacked the place looking for clothes, gradually under my encouragement she tried on tighter and smaller outfits. After two hours of shopping, she was actively showing off for me. We left with the first outfit, a short dress, a pair of skinny jeans and an extra tight tank tops.

“Oh my god! My Dad is going to flip when he see's these,” she squeaked, after we got onto the bus headed for home.

“Why? They're just clothes, and they're a gift.” I was honestly confused by her reaction. I thought they were rather tame, but still pretty.

Her eyes bugged out. “If I bend over in half of those dresses, you'll see my underwear.”

I thought about that as the buildings went past. “You're right, we need to fix that. Lets go shopping tomorrow, at a nice place. My treat. We'll make sure that particular problem isn't a problem anymore.”

“I thought you spent all your money already.”

Giving a roguish grin I remembered from several movies, my hand patted her butt. “Don't worry about me, I have a plan.”

“I-if you say so. I didn't think boys liked shopping, how did you pick such nice things?”

Kissing her forehead, I pulled her tight against my side. “It's easy to be interested in shopping when I have such a pretty girlfriend.”

“I'm pretty?” She shook her head as if confused. “Wait! I'm your girlfriend?!”

It was my turn to be confused. “I thought you were. I don't just kiss any girl I see. I was told it was wrong.”

Rachael became so quiet, I was afraid I'd done something wrong. Then she snuggled into my arms, smiling so widely it seemed like her face would split in two. We sat in companionable silence, except for the occasional giggle she made as I tickled her sides. At her apartment, I offered to walk her upstairs.

“NO!” she shouted. “My Dad is home, he'll flip if he see's me with a boyfriend. But, he's working the afternoon shift tomorrow at the warehouse. I can meet you at one and I don't have to be home until Mom gets home at ten.”

She looked so cute rocking from side to side, holding her bag of clothes in front of her. Leaning in I kissed her on the lips, my tongue pressing against her mouth, her eyes went wide, but then she opened her mouth letting me in. It felt so good I actually lost track of time. Finally she broke it off. “I-I've go, I gotta... I've got to go. Bye.”

With a spring in my step I went home.

After a crappy start, I had to admit my day had ended really good.

Tomorrow we'd probably have sex. I wondered what it would be like doing it as a boy with a real body.

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Research required

Podracer's picture

Search query: "Daddies", "shotguns".

"Reach for the sun."

I do actually have a very

Domoviye's picture

I do actually have a very good resolution to this, that I think will surprise everyone when they read it. Shotguns may be involved.