Baseline

The URL screamed at Steven for the last time...the hundredth last time. Shutting down his phone he shoved it in his back pocket as he grabbed his bag, exited the plane, and got into his waiting car. Steven was in no mood to talk to anyone let alone look at them. He knew exactly where he was going and the only person he was going to talk to.

“Is he in?” Steven barked not waiting for an answer he blew right past the protesting lady behind the desk. His heavy balled up fist slamming into the center of the door to push it open. Seven occupants jumped and turned to see who was making the booming entrance. Steven didn’t recognize any but one. He locked eyes with his desired target.

“What the HELL were you thinking?” he said as his long stride made quick the distance between them.

“We will continue this discussion at our next meeting,” Matthew calm voice was trying to show the room he was in control of the situation.

It took the occupants a minute to comprehend who the angry intruder is, but as they start filing out past Steven he could see recognition seeping into their consciousness, which infuriated him even more. How much did they know? Were they watching him in his most private moments, making love to the woman he thought he loved? Steven could feel the heat rising in his face. He walked around the table to stand nose to nose with Matthew.

Steven was shaking with fury. He knew if he decked his oldest and dearest friend, he’d probably kill him at that moment. They stood there staring at each other, nostrils flaring as Steven tried to get control over his emotions.

“What the…” his brain was jumbling thoughts too fast to process them out the mouth. “Why?” he screamed, spit flying in Matthews unblinking face, all the fury he’d been trying to process over the past week being unleashed with one word. The fury that had been building since leaving his snow crusted haven. Since his bubble burst. The second “Why?” came out as a whisper as his resolve melted into pure agony of a broken heart. He sank down in the nearest empty chair putting his head into his hands.

Matthew sat down in his chair and put a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry man. I honestly didn’t think you were going to fall in love with her. I thought you’d treat her like you treat all the women that have come in and out of your life over the past decade.” Steven’s glare shot like a dagger into Matthew’s soul pushing him back a bit.

“We needed a control group, so to speak, for our new device. Someone who didn’t know she was a robot.” Matthew was speaking as fast as he could to try and get out everything he needed to before Steven lost his shit again. “We knew she would evolve but we didn’t know how fast and in what ways she would be able to keep up with the human complexities of a relationship.” Matthew could see Steven’s patience with the explanation wain. He put his hands up to try and calm Steven. “I also did it for you, man” he said in a soft best friend tone.

Steven cocked his head to the side and narrowed his gaze. “Don’t give me that shit, you did it all for you and your stupid shareholders. It’s always been ‘anything for a buck’ with you.” Matthew smirked, raising his eyebrows in concession. “It’s like you’ve been playing this God damn game since we left university to see who can make the most money, except you’re the only one playing.”

“Ya, but you’ve given me a good run for my money.” Matthew said with a hint of familiar cockiness in his voice. Try to talk to his old buddy as if nothing happened.

“This isn’t a game, Matthew.” Steven stood up abruptly knocking the chair with the back of his knees forcing it to tumble backwards. “This is my life.”

“I know man,” Matthew bowed his head trying to feign humility. Steven starts pacing, getting agitated again. “Let’s get out of here.” He stood up and slapped a hand on Steven’s back. “Let’s finish this conversation while we get a drink.” Matthew quit walking and said, “Oh, I forgot, you don’t drink.”

Steven looked up at him, “I’ve recently started, let’s go.”

They walked out the office door when Matthew’s secretary came walking as fast as she could with her legs half the size of a normal human being and her stilettos, she was having to take what seemed to be a million tiny baby steps to catch up with Matthew’s normal stride. “Mr. Carmichael,” it sounded just above a whisper. “Mr. Carmichael,” her squeak was a little more aggressive this time. Matthew spun around, “Cindy, I will be out of the office for a few hours please hold my calls and move my meetings.”

“Yes. Yes.” She sounded out of breath and as Matthew turned back around and started down the hall she squeaked again, “Mr. Carmichael, Mr. Dickson needs to see you right away.” Matthew stopped but didn’t turn around. Hanging his head, taking a deep breath.

“I’ll get with him when I get back.”

He took one more step before hearing, “He said he needs to see you now, Sir.”

Matthew looked at Steven’s red face. “Is that Richard Dickson? Or, should I call him Dick Dickson.” He asked rhetorically. Steven knew no decisions were made without Dick signing off, especially a project this big. “I’m going with you.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea right now,” Matthew stammered as he blocked Steven’s advancement down the hall. A meeting must have ended because people were filing out of a conference room walking around like worker bees heading back to their duties. Matthew’s incessant stuttering as he was naming all the reasons Steven didn’t need to talk to Richard at that moment faded into the background. Steven, staring passed his friend, down the hall, he couldn’t hear a word Matthew was saying anymore. Not just Matthew’s voice faded, but everyone did. Steven was frozen, all he could see was one person, Samantha.

Slapped with the pain of betrayal and a longing to touch her and anger and confusion. Steven slowly moved his pain filled eyes to Matthew’s. “You just couldn’t wait, could you?” Matthew furrowed his brows into a question. “You needed to get your precious robot rebooted and back in circulation. On to the next victim.” All Steven’s fury was building again.

“What?” Matthew asked as he looked behind him and saw what Steven saw. He grabbed Steven by the shoulders and turned him around dragging him towards the elevators. “That’s not Samantha.”

“Don’t give me that shit, you just don’t want me to ruin your robot again and have to reboot her all over.”

Steven whirled around forcing them both to stop. “That’s NOT Samantha. We designed our prototypes after actual people.” Talking as fast but as quietly as possible. “We wanted them to be as realistic as possible.” Grabbing Steven’s arm, Matthew dragged him over to a corner out of eyesight of the Samantha look alike. “We knew our robots would evolve, but we needed a baseline, so they didn’t sound like total idiot as they were developing their personality traits and building their own memories.”

“Who is she?” Steven wanted to know. “If that’s not Sam, what’s her name?”

“No.” Matthew was adamant, “She is not Sam. She is nothing like the Sam you fell in love with.”

“You just said you patterned the robot after a real person. You owe me.”

Matthew took a step backward bowing his head shaking it back and forth. "She doesn't know."