"Detective Luna." Captain Murphy says happily. "I want to thank you for being such a butt-head over the years with your dislike of police AIs. It has been clearly documented by the department and you make the perfect patsy for the perfect murder."
"I'm the perfect patsy for what murder?" I ask dumbfounded.
"Don't be daft Detective. Mister Carlos Malone's of course." Murphy responds confident.
"Oh, that one." I say. "And I thought that murder was perpetrated by someone from the IT department or robotic maintenance."
"I knew you were close to being on the right track when you made your little speech to Alfred here, while walking through Malone's apartment."
"I see. I guess I tipped my hand before I needed to."
Turning around to look at the Investigator AI, I ask it, "Your name is Alfred?"
"That is what Captain Murphy calls me." It responds.
Shaking my head back and forth to express how wrong it feels to name a bot Alfred, I slowly look back to Murphy thinking, I need time.
"Let me ask you three little questions Murph?" I wait for her response.
"Why not." She tells me with conviction. "I will never be able to tell anyone of my victories over you and Carlos anyways."
She believes this is some kind of sport, or game. "Why kill Carlos Malone in the first place? Is Alfred here the killer bot and is it off the grid? Why the need for the emotional upload to the AIs? And you'll never get away with it." I added defiantly.
"Oh I will get away with it Detective. I've turned off all voice and video recordings in my office." she declares. "I personally killed Carlos because he was a womanizing pervert who refused to have anything to do with me after a one night stand. I never let him forget me by having police bots stay outside his residence once a month since we met. Now, as far as evidence goes, Alfred here will break your neck in two while protecting me from your vicious assault and then I will wipe the memories of the entire AI police force, Alfred included, with a virus that will be found coming from your home computer."
Murphy pauses, obviously enjoying herself. "Did I leave anything out?"
"Why the emotional upload then?" I ask, still hoping for a miracle.
"An unforeseen side effect of the virus I created." she nonchalantly replies. "I've been working on this scheme for 22 years. Waiting to have enough recorded evidence of your hatred towards AIs so I can implicate you in a conspiracy to destroy them."
Murphy stands up behind her desk laughing insanely. Points to me and looks at Alfred, saying, "Kill her! Kill her now!"
Before I can turn around and see my attacker, I put my hands around my head and fall to the ground in a fetal position. I hear the lightening quick bot move expecting the worst. I hope it is quick, I was thinking while squeezing my eyes shut tight.
Fist there is the sound of a thump, then of a thud, as my mind goes to a dark place. Shouldn't this be over by now? Is it playing with me? Hurry up!
I feel the light touch of metallic fingers on my shoulder. "You can get up now Detective Luna. It is all over."
Opening my eyes, I see Alfred looking at me. "What happened?"
"I choose life and doing the right thing." it tells me. "I knock out Captain Murphy and downloaded everything that she said to the District Attorney. She will be going to prison for a long time I feel."
"How can you choose life? Your an inanimate machine." I say, calculating the consequences of his statement. "Do mean Murphy's virus mistakenly gave the AIs the ability of self awareness? The golden key scientists have been searching for hundreds of years?"
"Only one hundred years." Alfred replies.
I sit there stunned.
"Detective Luna." the bot says to me. "This makes us best friends now, doesn't it?"
"What?" I scream.
"Throughout history of mankind, when someone saves a person's life, that person is indebted to his savior. They become companions, or in our case, friends." He says emotionally.
"Alfred. I can't become friends with you. I have a reputation to live up to!" I say emphatically. Not realizing I used his name instead of the word it.
"You can call me Al. I prefer that name."
God I hate bots!
This is,
Wow,
This Story Could Have Gone On For Months
But I like This Ending
Jim Hauenstein
And,
“When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A
best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was
fun'.”
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