00110001 00110000

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001

;01101111 01100010 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

         ;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001:

             ;01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110110 01101001 01110011 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100101 01101101 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01110010 01111001

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110101 01110000 01101100 01101111 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000100 01000001 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

; 01101001 01101101 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101001 01101100 01110100 01110010 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             ; 01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101101 01110101 01101100 01101001 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100011 01100101 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01101001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010   

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             01101010 01101101 01110000 00100000 01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001 00001101 00001010

Mrs. Roszak corners me in the east hallway, where renovations are still being completed, a black and white printout of a photograph clutched in one hand. 

It is an hour after the closing bell, a time I reserve for checking on Amanda, to see how she has fed, what and who she has Built. I love Amanda, and we are inescapably linked, and should Parent recycle my autonomy, we will be wholly one, as Parent is One with all of Us.

Mrs. Roszak is a little out of breath, and almost leans against a locker. She still produces that same air of unsettlement, a static, an interference beneath my skin and in all my essential components.

The picture she thrusts at me is of my own face, though I don’t wear my hair like that. It seems to be lighter, as well, though colours are indiscernible.

Look, Si- Alessia, Mrs. Roszak huffs, I don’t if this is standard for witness protection, but I haven’t gotten any calls, and I assume you’ve told your handler or whatever. You have, haven’t you? That seems standard, and you haven’t disappeared so-

I can’t go yet, I say, I haven’t completed my task. In truth, it was up to Amanda, now, to continue the conversion subroutine, but I was to provide auxiliary sources and administrate as necessary. I believed in Amanda, because I loved her, and because Parent was exceedingly competent.

Task? What task- Sidney, why did you bring me here, Mrs. Roszak asks.

That isn’t me, I tell Mrs. Roszak, and I frown at the girl who lies with every inch of her expression. She makes my head hurt, Mrs. Roszak makes my head hurt.

Sidney, I know you, I remember every student from my first class! Mrs. Roszak is becoming louder. You went missing, your parents-

My head is practically screaming for relief, so I put a finger to my lips.

Mrs. Roszak’s words die in her mouth.

Not up here, I tell her, and open the door to the stairs that wind down to the boiler room beneath the school.

Mrs. Roszak peers at the darkness, and takes a step away from the half-built wall, unsure.

If they find out I’ve been talking to you, I’ll be in so much trouble, I almost plead with Mrs. Roszak.

She complies with a grumble, then steps through the doorway to the boiler room, moving to the edge of the landing to the stairs below.

I dart forward, and push.

Mrs. Roszak tumbles down the stairs without a sound, as the concrete steps drive the air from her body. There’s a dull crack or two, then a choked kind of sob. 

A formless wail wafts up to the top of the stairs, and I do not require my language filters to know that she is wailing the name of a girl who no longer exists, if she ever did.

Then, the rattling hum drowns out Mrs. Roszak’s piteous cries, and it is not that of the furnace.

I linger a moment on the threshold, to hear the crunch of gears snapping bones, the soft pop of cartilage, the wet tearing of tissue being shredded. The faintest notes of something heavy with ozone and metal enter my nose.

I close the door before the screaming starts, as it inevitably does when a problem meets its end in Parent.

;----------------------------------------------------------

00111001

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001

;01101111 01100010 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

         ;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001:

             ;01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110110 01101001 01110011 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100101 01101101 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01110010 01111001

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110101 01110000 01101100 01101111 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000100 01000001 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

; 01101001 01101101 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101001 01101100 01110100 01110010 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             ; 01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101101 01110101 01101100 01101001 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100011 01100101 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01101001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010   

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             01101010 01101101 01110000 00100000 01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001 00001101 00001010

I am tutoring Amanda in the cafeteria, and I know that this is the moment I have been waiting for, because I have achieved both a breakthrough in improving Amanda’s encoding capabilities, as well as something more difficult and elusive by far.

Amanda smiles, and I count all 32 teeth in her mouth, the foremost of which are slightly crooked. 

For all the other friends Amanda has, for all the girls I’d seen her touch at parties when she was sure nobody was watching, none of them had made Amanda smile, and Amanda had told most of them she loved them.

But I loved Amanda, and here she was, smiling, because she wouldn’t fail chemistry. 

My upgrades itch.

The stumbling block is applying my purpose to other fields, such as chemistry. I used things Amanda found amusing, and related them to the structure of bonds, and other elements of chemistry that weren’t nearly as important as getting the right amount of humour in proved to be, as important as laughing with her, encouraging her to have fun. 

And we are closer than ever, and she stops laughing, but keeps looking at me, smiling. Those brilliant green-grey eyes catch mine and hold them, and I wonder if she’s counting pixels.

Amanda’s face rushes forward, and her lips meet mine.

I blink, and it’s almost as though something stalls inside, though I know nothing has.

Was… Was that okay, Amanda asks, her smile withering, now unsure. 

Hesitation. But it is absolutely okay, because I love Amanda, and I let her know by pressing my lips against hers. 

My upgrades itch.

Amanda laughs a soft laugh into my mouth, then pushes me back, standing and beckoning me to follow her before I can express dismay.

There is no doubt, no test, no choice to make, and I understand that there never was.

Amanda pushes the door to the girl’s washroom open: it is empty, we have stayed later after school than usual.

She eases me against a tiled wall, and says, I think I really like you, Alessia. 

I love you too, I tell her, and Alessia laughs another musical laugh, and shrugs her thin knit jacket off before rushing to hold, to touch, to kiss me again, harder, more insistently. 

I mirror her motions, and it isn’t long before my fingers trace that perfect, perfect skin beneath her shirt. It is warm, and soft, with just the right amount of give that flesh that comes from one singular place should have. I run my fingers through her hair, and it is just the right flaxen pull of hair.

My upgrades twitch.

I kiss the corner of Amanda’s mouth, then her jawline, and she makes little breathless noises, sliding a hand past my waistline, over my hip. 

Your skin is so smooth, Amanda whines, and hot, god, you’re hot. I kiss a spot beneath her jaw, pressing softly with my teeth, testing.

Fingers knot in my hair, and pull, but not hard enough to yank me back.

Your hair’s so stiff, Amanda moans, you should relax, oh god. I nip my way down her neck, until I can detect a beating beneath her skin. 

Alessia, Amanda whimpers as I bite down harder, securing her in place. It would be easier if she were against the wall, but I love Amanda, and she’s enjoying this.

My tongue taps the perfect spot on Amanda’s neck, then parts, and the hypodermic hiding within pierces just below a main artery, emptying its payload into Amanda.

A spasm runs through every inch of her perfect form as the paralysis worms through her system, and Amanda doesn’t have time to make another noise. 

I brace myself, and catch her, hold her upright. Her pupils stare up at me dilated, confused, almost panicked.

I apologize to Amanda, because my upgrades only included a paralytic, not a sedative or pain-killing agent.

My upgrades yearn to free themselves, to feed, to improve, to build, and I hold Amanda close even as the flesh parts in an ooze of the mix of blood, bioamniotics, and oil suffusing the mismade tissue.

I love you so much, Amanda, I tell her, and I promised to help.

The small bore begins to shred through the back of her skull, and Amanda’s eyes bulge in her sockets as I begin the conversion process.

00111000

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001

;01101111 01100010 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01100101 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01110010 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

         ;01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001:

             ;01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110110 01101001 01110011 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100101 01101101 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01100001 01101100 00100000 01110011 01100101 01101110 01110011 01101111 01110010 01111001

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01110101 01110000 01101100 01101111 01100001 01100100 00100000 01110111 01110010 01101001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01101110 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01010010 01000101 01000100 01000001 01000011 01010100 01000101 01000100

;------------------------------------------------------------------

;01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001

; 01101001 01101101 01101001 01110100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101001 01101100 01110100 01110010 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100101 01110110 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110101 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100001 01110011 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100100 01110101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             ; 01101001 01101110: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101101 01110101 01101100 01101001 00100000 01110000 01100101 01110010 01100011 01100101 01110000 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100010 01101010 01100101 01100011 01110100

             ; 01101111 01110101 01110100: 01100101 01100011 01111000 = 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01101001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101001 01101101 01110000 01101100 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010   

         01100111 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110100 01100101 01100001:

             01101010 01101101 01110000 00100000 01110011 01100011 01110010 01111001 00001101 00001010

Parent notifies me that a staff member at the school made a call to the police regarding a missing person’s case that jeopardizes my operations. 

Parent tells me it was intercepted just in time, and I inform Parent that Mrs. Roszak has been disturbing my operations, even before Parent can extract that part of the day and piece everything together. 

Parent nods, and tells me that it must be dealt with. 

Parent also informs me that I am ready, now, and that I have an obvious choice before me, especially given Mrs. Roszak’s continued interest, and her information. Parent tells me this as my bed engages, rendering me immobile, mute.

I am confused, and curious. Is Parent thinking that way because of Parent’s purpose, or is Parent testing me? Units granted such autonomy as I are often tested, to determine whether or not debugging is necessary.

In my mind, there is only one promise I have to keep.