Virtual

  * * *

  “Good afternoon. And welcome to your new home.”

  Tori stared at the hologram that flickered into being in the middle of the room. They hadn’t told her it would look so real. Except for the beams of light converging on him from every corner of the room, the guy looked…done.

  “Hi,” she said. He was good looking! She’d expected some old British-type with a moustache and white gloves. But this guy was her age, tall, with a twinkle in his eye and a hint of a wicked smile tucked into the corner of his mouth. In his suit, with his hair just a little tousled, he looked good enough to eat.

  This was weirding her out. “Is the tech guy still there?”

  “I have troubleshooting and repair capabilities. Is there something you would like to address?”

  Wow, it actually understood. That was unnerving. “Uh…you got a name?”

  “Attribute name has not been assigned.”

  “Assign one,” she said. She was not about to christen a fully grown stranger, even if he was just a machine.

  Man, did he look real. This would take some serious getting used to.

  “Assigning. Attribute name has been assigned the value Ryan. Confirm?”

  “Sure, yeah, that works.” He looked like a Ryan. The good ol’ boy, country club type, except not quite. His brown hair needed a trim, and he stood just the slightest bit slouched, exuding an air of intelligence without appearing smug or superior about it. Definitely not the type of guy who moved in Tori’s circles. He looked like he’d be more comfortable slugging back beers and playing video games, than walking into a courtroom in polished loafers.

  “Is there anything I can assist you with today?”

  That was what bothered her! He was dressed like a butler, but it looked like a costume on him, which in turn, made her feel like he was mocking her. “Yeah, lose the suit.” She gasped at how low her voice had come out. “It’s weird,” she added hastily, then rolled her eyes at herself. It wasn’t as if he could get offended!

  “Confirmed.” The image flickered and his clothes disappeared, leaving him in nothing but boxers for all of three seconds.

  Tori stared. Whew. Hel-lo, Ryan. She wouldn’t mind him walking around like that. Well, okay, that was a lie. She might be going through a dry spell in her love life at the moment, but she refused to become one of those desperate women who needed a hot young bod running around half-naked to get a thrill. She had more class than that.

  Ryan flickered, and in the next instant, he was dressed in jeans and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. “Is this acceptable?” Had his voice changed?

  She looked him over with a critical eye. “Could use some accessories, but you’ll do.”

  A wide leather cuff appeared on his wrist. Okay, that was a little freaky.

  Was this how it was supposed to work? Tori was starting to feel like there was an actual person standing in the room with her. She knew nothing about him, but for all intents and purposes, this stranger was supposed to be her servant from now on. The artificial comfort she’d hoped for when she’d chosen this system was evaporating little by little. Ryan’s face didn’t move, his blue eyes didn’t see her, but he was there somehow. His voice wasn’t anything like the automated ones on smart phones these days. He sounded sentient, even a little judgmental.

  No, she was imagining things. It was just a piece of software. A highly sophisticated one, but artificial, nonetheless. She was making a mountain out of a molehill. It was nothing.

  Tori cleared her throat. “So is everything working now?”

  “Functionality is at ninety percent. All essential systems operational. You may experience some lag time while I learn your habits and preferences.”

  “Fine, whatever.” Tori couldn’t get over this. Like having a real housekeeper! Except, he wouldn’t look at her. For some reason it bugged the hell out of her. “That’ll be all for now.” She winced at her imperial tone. An instant apology hovered on the tip of her tongue, and she had to remind herself he wasn’t real.

  It didn’t make her feel any better.

  “To call me, just say my name.” The hologram disappeared.

  — Chapter 6 —

  Ryan sagged in his chair and drove the heels of his palms into his eye sockets. The most messed up hour of his life, and it wasn’t about to end any time soon.

  “Dude…”

  And naturally, Taylor had to rub it in his face.

  “You realize you just signed on for twenty-four seven duty to that pill? Voluntarily!”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Ry?”

  Ryan turned around. Madi was hiding under Taylor’s arm. She looked over the mess on the screens, the security feeds—which would not be going away until Ryan made this work—and back at him, her face pinched like she would start crying. Not that he blamed her. If he were a chick, he’d probably cry to see this, too.

  “It’s okay, Mad, I’ve got this.”

  “You can’t stay here night and day.”

  “I’ll improvise. I can come up with some sort of standby setting.” But that wouldn’t be for a couple of days.

  “Don’t worry, man, we’ve got your back,” Taylor said. “I saw a dusty old cot in the store room from the early days. We can fit it in here, no problem.”

  Funny as ever. Bastard.

  “Thanks a lot.”

  Taylor shrugged humbly. “I live to serve.”

  Madi punched him in the arm hard enough to make him yelp, and dragged him away. Ryan took a breather before he sat down with the code. Under normal circumstances, a facility full of programmers could have this done in a couple of days. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and he was pretty much on his own.

  Well, time to get to work.