Virtual

  * * *

  Ryan turned off his webcam and unplugged the mic. What the hell was wrong with him? The webcam had to go. He couldn’t control his expressions well enough to keep the holo-Ryan impartial—which, what was up with that? When did he become not impartial? What did he care if Victoria wanted to drag a stranger into her house for drinks and whathaveyou? She was a big girl. If she wanted to let that artificial Ken doll put his hands on her, that was her choice. Had nothing to do with Ryan. He was just her housekeeper.

  She laughed at something the Douche said, and Ryan shoved away from his desk. It was so obvious what he was after! If he didn’t get into Victoria’s pants today, Le Douche would be back again another day to give it another try.

  Ryan paced away, then turned and paced back. The way Le Douche was leaning in pissed him off. She was obviously not going for it. Just look at the way she leaned away from him. Give up, pal, you don’t stand a chance.

  He huffed and raised his hands in surrender, stomping away. “Not my business.”

  This had nothing to do with Victoria having a booty call, anyway. He was still riled about Gordon and it was affecting his judgment. Maybe he should go out, get some air and clear his head. It wasn’t like he was going to be needed any time soon.

  Yeah.

  Or he could make it a night in. Watch a movie or something. Madi had made him some kind of casserole dish. That way he could keep an eye on Victoria in case she needed the cops to step in.

  Movie and casserole it was.

  He heated up a plate, put in the DVD, and sprawled out on the couch.

  Ugh, Le Douche had his hand on Victoria’s knee.

  Ryan stuck a forkful of casserole into his mouth and spat it right back out with a curse. Great, now his tongue was burned. Back to the movie. One of those action masterpieces full of senseless violence, lots of car chases, bullets, and explosions. They were all the same, perfect for zoning out to and letting his brain turn to mush.

  Le Douche was kissing her! And she was letting him! God, Ryan was going to be sick. He got up and turned off the monitors. Out of sight, out of mind.

  And back to the movie.

  He already knew it would be crap. Just like the rest of his night.

  — Chapter 11 —

  The sun was shining bright when Tori woke up the next day. She’d overslept. There were ten messages in her voice mail about three meetings she’d missed this morning and a reminder to be on time for the preliminary hearing this afternoon. Tori ignored all but that last one. There were some things she simply could not skip, no matter what happened in her life.

  A lot had happened last night, but Liam sleeping over was not one of them. Tori wasn’t that far gone. Apparently she was far enough, though, to still be having Ryan-themed wet dreams, which was why she was seeing Liam again. Soon, she thought. He was her most immediate reality check, and she could really use one of those right now.

  Ryan appeared in the kitchen just as she was pouring herself a cup of coffee. Odd, she hadn’t called him. “Have you enjoyed your evening?”

  Tori’s cheeks flamed. “Yes, actually.”

  “Your guest put in a request for a personal access code. Such requests need the owner’s approval and security clearance. Shall I issue a code?”

  “No!” She had to backtrack in her mind to make sure she understood. “Wait, what?” Liam had requested an access code? That basically meant he wanted keys to her house, didn’t it? “He asked you for a code?”

  “The request was logged last night. As you requested not to be disturbed, it was not processed until now.” His tone was a little more clipped than usual.

  Tori tilted her head a little. He was motionless, looked the same as always, but something about him said he disapproved. An uncomfortable suspicion surfaced, one she hadn’t considered before—which was blatantly stupid on her part. “Ryan, tell me your system specifications.”

  “The Hearth Global Virtual Home Assistant is a fully integrated house monitoring system composed of five subsystems controlled by a central processing unit with a data uplink to Hearth Global’s knowledge base. The unit located at 2279 Willow Way corresponds with ID number 150639-42G, owner Victoria Marlow. Classified Model 6-GX Beta.” He rattled off the specs without pause, and although it was still the same voice, it sounded artificial, as if it were a recording. Funny how she’d never noticed Ryan never sounded like that.

  “Beta? What does that mean?”

  “Per the agreement signed with Hearth Global, 150639-42G was selected for Beta testing new features in various stages of development.”

  Tori’s eyes narrowed. “Elucidate.”

  Ryan didn’t move, but his eyes darted to her, then back forward like a good little artificial soldier. He didn’t answer.

  Tori crossed her arms over her chest. Fine, if he wanted to pretend he didn’t understand, she’d clarify. “Continue.”

  “Hearth Global is in the process of developing upgrades for several functions of Model 6-GX.”

  Oh, he was so hedging! “Like what?”

  “Automated processes, scheduling, response time, security, and personalization, on the user end.”

  “Personalization?”

  “Adjusting system settings according to user habits and preferences.”

  “Tell me more.”

  “Energy saving in terms of heating and lighting where it’s needed, as opposed to everywhere at once. Syncing irrigation systems to weather stations for optimal usage. Updating the database of spoken commands for faster, more reliable responses—”

  “Stop.”

  Ryan stopped talking.

  “I can change user preferences, is basically what you’re saying. So if I wanted to host a party tonight, you’d adjust the lighting and heating to accommodate my guests?”

  “Correct.”

  “And if I started drinking red wine instead of white, you’d change my weekly grocery order list?”

  “Correct.”

  “And if I ask you a random, but specific, question about your functionality and capabilities not necessarily programmed into your database, you’ll answer.” She deliberately made it a statement.

  A longer pause this time. “Cor-rect.”

  Tori’s pulse sped up until she felt it throbbing in the sides of her neck. Don’t be rash. Get as much information as you can before you freak out.

  “Your holographic user interface is being upgraded to more closely simulate human interaction. While still in the testing stages, certain minor problems may occur, but the end result is projected to be a more seamless, natural presence in your home.”

  “What is your favorite color?”

  “Attribute color has not been assigned.” He’d said the same thing about his name that first day.

  “Assign one.”

  “Assigning. Attribute color has been assigned the value green. Confirm?”

  “No. How did you select that value?”

  “Command not recognized. Please restate your question.”

  “What is your favorite color?” she pushed.

  “Attribute color has been assigned the value green.”

  “How did you select it?”

  “Command not recognized. Shall I assign a different value?”

  “Yes.”

  “Assigning. Attribute color has been assigned the value eggshell. Confirm?”

  Tori couldn’t unclench her jaw to speak. Machines weren’t supposed to be capable of mocking people. The deadpan delivery, the flat look in his eyes, the hard press of his mouth… whoever was on the other side of this connection, controlling her hologram, was definitely mocking her. Which meant he couldn’t be a computer program.

  Embarrassment heated her cheeks, while raw vulnerability made tears well in her eyes. “Deactivate,” she said, her voice quivering. How could she have not seen it before?

  “Command not recognized.”

  She hadn’t wanted to see it. “Turn off.” It had been too sweet, too good for
her to want to question her good luck.

  “Command not recognized. Please—”

  “Enough already, you son of a bitch, just shut the hell down!”

  Ryan turned and looked right at her. “Victoria—”

  “No…” She couldn’t process this right now. “I have to get to work. Do not issue access codes.”