Trojan Robot

Before Steven can answer the phone Sam has pulled that bloody robot into bed and it snuggling up next to it. She must not have been staring out the window for long, the shower glass was still fogged over and her wet feet prints led out of the shower to the chest of drawers in the room. Where she clearly decided the only thing worth wearing was Steven's old t-shirt. Steven was flooded with jealousy seeing her half naked body pressed up against that bloody robot. The phone was still in his hand ringing with a call from Sam. Steven is absolutely sure it is her captors.

"What the bloody hell do you want now? You got what you wanted?' Steven answered the call as he stepped out and closed the door to the bedroom, not needing to fight any thoughts of jealousy right at the moment.

"We were not surprised to find the sabotaged code. That is why we delivered a Trojan horse of our own."

"You got your code now leave us alone." Steven knew it was a futile plea.

"Too late for that, and it seems like your girl prefers the horse to you." The caller pauses. Steven uses all of his power to stay calm, as he feels his anger rising, he does not reply. "We can even tell you what gets her going." The caller prods. Steven stays quiet as his mind races to fully understand what he is trying to say. Steven can only guess the robots full functionality but the caller could be bluffing about the data they have just to get under his skin. It instantly became clear why they wanted the Foresight code. Steven and his him team were able to gain control of people's emotions and direct behaviors with a simple digital assistant. What if they were collecting data and modifying behavior while the user confabulated with a full sized robot that looked and acted like a human. The thought of it made Steven's heart sink. You can shoot a robot but you can just build a new one and give it back all of the same memories.

"Incase you were thinking about harming our equipment we have built in a self destruct option. There is enough C4 in the skin of the robot to destroy your house. All of the robot's sensors are lived streamed to us, if we get the slightest hint that you are not playing along we will destroy those close to the robot. As you know, we don't care about her life. But, it has been to our advantage that she lived through the last beating so we could learn that you care for her. So, this is what we are going to do. You are going to upload a clean copy of code to our sever and then deliver the robot to the place we tell you to."

"I don't have the code here, it is downtown." Steven lied. After he pulled the repository and added the Trojan to it he deleted the whole repository. The algorithm no longer existed.

"Go get it."

"Not without the girl."

"Where ever the girl goes, the robot goes."

"Fine." Steven was not excited about endangering more people by driving a walking and talking bomb through London, but he needed more time. What ever happens Sam has to loose feelings for that robot. If she is attached to the robot and it dies he does not know how she will respond. Especially in her current state.

"You have one hour."

"That is not enough time to drive." Great, Steven thought, now it is a time bomb.

"You have a helicopter. Fly." The phone disconnected.

"Shit." Steven muttered under his breath and opened the door and stepped back into Sam's room. Seeing her lying there made his heart skip a beat. Had he played things wrong with her? Should he have asked for more? Spent less time with her. He ached to be lying with her. Steven stood there staring at her, wishing she could read his mind so that she could understand the way he felt. Letting his mind drift back to the last helicopter ride with her, and the dance, and the touch, and… All the sudden Sam jerks awake and sits up shattering the memories of the moments they had shared together. "Real Steven?" She said staring directly at him. Then she looked over to the robot in the bed and said "New Steven". Steven was deflated when she address both Steven's with the same tone of voice laden of concern. Is she going to believe him when he tell her that New Steven is a bomb intending to kill them.

"I remember everything now." Sam pauses and looks at New Steven. Then she continues speaking while looking at the robot. "I went to work on Monday when a guy in your office hit me. I am glad you found Steven." Turning back to the real Steven, she gets a sheepish grin. "I guess you two have met now."

"Yes, we have; and I have so many questions. Dumb dumb there is pretty tight lipped about your and his story."

"Be nice to him. He is my…" Sam is realizing all the conflicted emotions that are tied up in the two Steven's in the room. "…simulated human companion."

"Well your simulated human companion is a…" The robots eyes flash red and Steven is reminded that there are more people in this conversation than she realizes and it is clear they want it kept that way. "…a, a, good looking guy. With a great name."

"Yep, eponymously named after the guy who let me go on a solo trip to Paris." She said in a slightly biting tone, as she climbed out of bed favoring her arm and trying to be a little more modest.

"I am glad to see you are back to your regular self, but we have to get moving. We need to go down to the office."

"Why."

"Um, I have to pick up some work I left there."

"I can stay here with Steven. We will slow you down anyways."

"You have been out of it and I want to spend time with you and you can tell me about the guy in the office."

"Oh, okay. Let me change." Sam sees her bag next to the door where Steven had left it. She grabs it and heads to the bathroom.

"Quickly please". Steven says as the door closes.

"Keep playing along, Steven and I will be out of your hair soon." The robot says.

"That is bullshit and we both know it. You are trying to figure out how to get the code and kill us just like I am trying to figure out who you are and kill you. The game is on and I already declared myself the victor." Steven said trying to sound more confident then he felt.

"You are up against one of the most sophisticated artificial intelligence programs designed to meet human needs and wants, and your are in a love triangle with it. Have you met her needs?." The robot taunted.

Sam opened the door as Steven was about to see if a punch to the face would be enough to set off the plastic explosives imbedded in the skin. She picked a pair of tight jeans and kept the t-shirt with it tucked in the front. The shirt showed the faint protrusion of her nipples. It appeared that she did not want to go to the effort of working a bra over her broken arm. Steven stared and Sam quipped "I am glad you two are getting to know each other."

Steven huffed "Let's go." He opened the door to the bedroom and headed to the front door being followed by Sam and the robot. Steven stopped at the front door and let Sam sit on the bench to put her shoes on. When she was ready he opened the door and thy started to head out. Sam stopped right next to Steven as he held the door, turned to address the robot, "Steven you can stay, we will be back in a while." The robot looked at Steven. Sam looked at Steven. "The robot comes with us." Steven responded.

Standing so close to Sam with her looking at him. Steven is overwhelmed by the desire to hold her. He reaches around her and gently pulls her to him. He pauses to look in her eyes to make sure she is okay with the embrace. Their bodies touch from navel to thigh, his right arm circling her body. His left hand goes to the back of her head and he slowly brings his lips to hers. He lets the moment build, and as Sam's eyes close, he pulls her to him to build pressure, locks his lips to hers and stays that way as he feels her sag in to him and he feels the anxiety of pent up and unexpressed emotion fall away. As Sam recovers, Steven breaks the kiss, and pull back just far enough to bring her face back in focus. When she opens her eyes he give her his most confident smile and lets her step back. Then Steven turns to look at the robot, summing all his anger he stares into the eyes of the robot for a half minutes making sure they know he will destroy the robot and they will die. Then with calculating coldness he demands "Let's get this over with."