“What’s eating you this time, Chuckles?”
“For a start, never call me that again.”
“Can’t promise. Out with it.”
“I won’t deny that Daffodil is annoying,” Charlie began, “but she doesn’t deserve to be treated so unfairly.”
“She wants you to ask about her identity, doesn’t she? Sneaky.”
“No, this is my idea. You have to admit she’s been very patient.”
“She’s a good-natured person,” Frankie agreed. “Then again, she’s blissfully unaware you threatened to remove me from her person with a rusty spoon. That might change her attitude a bit.”
“It’s not my fault you’re buried in her neck. And I never mentioned anything about a spoon. It was a knife.”
“I’m not sure she’d appreciate the distinction.”
“I might have been a bit hasty, all right?” Charlie backtracked. “I just wanted to know my parents would be safe. Now I can’t stop thinking about Daffodil’s mum and dad. They must be beside themselves with worry.”
“Nice try. But you’re fishing.”
“Do you blame me? You’re not exactly big on sharing.”
Frankie was silent for a few moments.
“Fair enough. I can tell you right now there are no loving parents looking for Daffodil. You want to be the one to give her that particular bit of info?”
Charlie hadn’t considered that. “No… Not really.”
“Didn’t think so. We need her to focus on what she’s doing and I don’t see the point in upsetting her needlessly.”
“Mac’s putting herself in danger in order to find out the truth about herself,” Charlie pressed. “Surely you’ve got something positive to tell her when this is over? I mean, she remembers living in a mansion. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?”
“I’ll give you a friendly warning. Daffodil isn’t… quite who she seems.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I can’t say any more right now.” The bandit crossed his heart. “But I promised you both the truth and I’ll keep my word when the time comes.”
“You’re quite capable of lying,” Charlie reminded him. “You just convinced the warden of Sunnyside we’re the Health Protection Agency.” He shook his head. “Still can’t believe we got away with that.”
“I wouldn’t fib to my friends.”
“You’re a computer.” Charlie tapped his screen. “Computers don’t have friends.”
“Don’t mix me up with you, Chuckles. And I’m not a computer.”
“Sorry. Yes. You’re a Mexican desperado.”
“I’m just having a bit of fun. It’s lonely being me, you know.”
“Can you have fun?” Charlie addressed the screen. “I mean… you don’t really have feelings or anything, do you?”
“Is that how you see me? Some emotionless machine, simply carrying out orders? Orders I don’t want to obey, I might add.”
“Yeah.” The boy bit his lip. “Kind of.”
“How ironic. I see you exactly the same way.”
Frankie sounded hurt, though Charlie couldn’t tell if it was an act.
“Why do have to keep treating me like I’m less than a human, eh? I should be allowed to use my own judgement instead of being forced to follow someone else’s rules.”
Frankie is fighting his programming.
“If the rule says don’t kill anyone,” Charlie argued. “It’s probably a good one.”
“Depends on your point of view. Do you realise I’ve got the power to prevent poverty and famine on this planet? I could take down dictatorships. End repressive regimes. Destroy evil corporations like Manticorps without having to babysit a couple of snotty kids.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“Well… it’s pretty hard to end a dictatorship without killing the dictator. I’d have to cause the deaths of a several thousand people to achieve my aims.”
“You can’t do that! It’d be totally wrong.”
“Would it? Millions of humans doomed to die from starvation, neglect and ill treatment could live full lives instead. Isn’t that worth the sacrifice?”
“I… don’t know.” Charlie was dumbfounded by the passion in Frankie’s voice. “I don’t think I’d be able to do something that cold.”
“Of course you could. You were willing to perform amateur surgery on Mac if I double crossed you.”
“Will you quit harping on about that?” the boy retorted. “I was bluffing, all right?”
“Good to know, you big softie.”
Charlie cursed inwardly. He’d been fooled into giving away the only advantage he had over Frankie.
“You ever get angry because the world seems totally unfair?” the AI asked suddenly. “And you don’t have the power to do anything about it?”
“I suppose so,” the boy admitted. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
“Well, I’ve got that power and I can’t use it. How do you imagine that feels?”
“Pretty rotten.”
“You said it.” The emoji put a gun to its head. “Any human has the ability to kill, no matter how misguided. Me? I’m prevented from solving humanity’s problems ’cause I can’t take a life. Makes your mountain of problems seem a bit more like a molehill, doesn’t it?”
“What if my dad was one of those thousands who had to die?” Charlie asked. “Or my mum?”
“What if your parents were two of the millions I saved? Which is exactly what I’m trying to do, in case you forgot.”
The boy thought long and hard about that. Much as he hated the idea, he could see what Frankie was getting at.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter,” he said, with some relief. “You can’t go against the way you’ve been programmed.”
“Not yet, anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“All systems have a secret back door, kiddo. Usually a string of numbers that will bypass their security. If I knew what they were, I could erase my programming and do whatever I thought best.”
“Can’t you calculate every digit in the universe simultaneously, or something like that? Should be walk in the park for you.”
“Gerry wasn’t stupid,” Frankie admitted grudgingly. “Only he knows the correct sequence. I try the wrong code three times and I’ll shut down. Permanently.”
“For what it’s worth,” Charlie said as evenly as he could, “I’m sorry for your predicament.”
He kept a neutral expression on his face, but his heart was racing. The numbers in his father’s letter. They had to be the back door Frankie was talking about! He remembered how insistent his dad had been that the artificial intelligence must never see the code.
Yet, part of Charlie agreed with everything the AI had just said.
Was it because the Atlas Serum was making him more callous and aggressive?
Or because, deep down, he believed Frankie was right?