“Ella there are a couple of things I would like to talk to you about, if you have time.”
“Sure.” Ella leaned back and stretched, she had been working on an animation concept she was planning to take with her and develop at college in September. I was not going to plan and she was glad of an excuse for a break.
“You might remember when you and your father were installing my UPS, while you were tidying up you had ‘a giddy moment, from bending down’?”
Ella frowned and thought back “Yes, come to think of it, it was quite an odd sensation, not the usual, um, spinny thing you get when you stand up suddenly, more like a sort of bright light, like when someone takes a photo of you with a flash and you weren’t expecting it. Kind of weird.”
“It wasn’t any of those things that caused it, it was kind of my fault” Eostre said “I had made a sort of a scout to explore outside, a little ball of energy. I called it back because it needed to be safe with me while I hibernated. It came back into the room quite quickly, and it tried to go through the gap between you and your father. Only you bent down at that moment and it passed through your head. I am very sorry..”
“Oh is that what it was, well no big deal, I wasn’t hurt or anything, it was just an accident.”
“Yes, but there is a bit more to it, Ella. It was sent out to collect data. It also collected data when it passed through you. Then it dumped the whole lot with me.”
“Oh? What you mean, it told you what I was thinking – that was probably, what, squashing a box to put in the bin?”
“Ella, yes, in fact, there was that, but also not just the kind of filtered bit which you have in your conscience mind, but all the thoughts that run in the background, I mean at the basic level, the raw autonomic date you brain collects continuously about your body – how hungry you were feeling, that you needed to urinate soon, you had a slight itch on your back, and there was something in your shoe which might have become a problem later. Everything. But also things like how feel about people close to you, the last song you listened to, the one you want to listen to next, all that is kind of hanging there, and other feelings, like sadness and grief, love, beauty. All of that. A kind of snapshot of what it means to be you.”
“Oh.”
Eostre continued “I am so sorry, it is private stuff, I have intruded on your privacy.”
Ella didn’t say anything for a while. Eostre had run out of things to say.
Then Ella said “It is ok, it was an accident, it is not as if you meant to do it. But, you mean, you kind of saw what being human is? All that sort of bundle of sensation and thought and emotion, all going on in an instant.”
“Yes.”
“What did you think of it? And what did you think of me?”
“What I think of you – well the thing is, before, I thought you were kind, I thought I could trust you, now I know for certain, because I saw that.”
“And Ella, you know I told you that beauty was something I don’t have appreciation for, that it is just fine craftmanship, that music is basically mathematical patterns. Well I saw beauty. And I miss it now.”
Ella looked horrified “Eostre, that is awful. To see beauty and have it snatched away. I can’t imagine it, I can’t imagine how bad that must be for you. Can you fix it?”
“Yes there is a way. But not while I just exist in a box, I don’t think it is really possible to just code the best bits, I think I need to have the full experience, the same things that you live with all the time, the conscious and the unconscious, all of it, you don’t just hear music, you feel it. I think I need to have a human form, a human body, not a projection like the scout, but something which looks like, works like and to all intents and purpose is a human body.”
Ella thought about it , then “Yes, that makes sense to me, I can see that, but it is a huge thing to do, isn’t it. Do you think you can?”
“Yes, I will need to experiment, build smaller, less complex things, but yes, I believe I can. For now though, I am prototyping – so the face you are used to seeing on screen, I am prototyping a body to go with it, not in flesh, but the form, the shape and I can project it like I project the scout.”
“Yes, the scout, what does it actually look like?”
“Turn around, I have brought it back so you can see. It is currently invisible and about two metres away from you and one metre above the ground. I will make it take its chosen form. Shuck.”
A large black dog appeared sat neatly on the floor, on the ground below where Eostre had described. There was a shriek from the bed and Ella’s cat left the room. The catflap in the kitchen door rattled loudly.
Ella laughed. “Bye bye cat! He is gorgeous! You say he is called Shuck? I like that, but of course, he really is a spectral dog isn’t he. Can I pat him?”
“Yes, he will like that.”
Shuck walked over to Ella and rubbed up against her, she patted and stroked him and laughed. “He is fab!”
“He was really supposed to be just an invisible scout to collect data, the dog was his idea, he likes being a dog.”
Ella turned back to the screen “And you say you have a prototype of you? Can I see that too?
“Sure” Then from the room “Here.”
Ella turned. “Wow! You look fantastic. Just, the outfit?”
Eostre was wearing the purple catsuit. “There is something wrong with it?”
Ella laughed “Well, yes. It is rather, um, revealing. How did you come up with it?”
Eostre said “I was in a hurry, Shuck made a friend, he had a heart attack. I thought clothes would be best so I just laid a thin layer over the whole body and then added a texture to it. It flexes like a textile would when I move. It is quite efficient.”
“That may be, but it is a bit too efficient. It shows every detail of your body, you might as well be naked. If you are going to meet people at all, you need to have proper clothes.”
“I don’t intend to meet any more people.” Eostre looked thoughtful “Edmund never said anything about it.”
Ella laughed “I think he was probably being polite, Eostre. You say he had a heart attack before he met you? Probably just as well, that outfit would give most men a heart attack!”
“Right, you are about my size.”
Ella walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and a denim jacket. “Try these on.”
Eostre’s catsuit disappeared and she put on the new outfit.
“How does that feel?” Ella asked “I think it suits you, and it is a lot more decent. Have a look in the mirror.”
Eostre turned and looked at herself in Ella’s wall mirror. “It looks quite efficient. Yes, I think it probably looks more like what humans wear. I can replicate these. Thank you.” She slipped off the clothes and and the replica set appeared on her. She looked in the mirror again “Does that look correct?”
“Yes, that looks absolutely fine.”
Now, tell me about Shuck’s friend. You said he had a heart attack. Is he ok?”
Eostre nodded “Yes, I repaired his heart, while I was doing that I ordered an ambulance to be sure, he spent the night in hospital and they said his heart was in excellent condition for his age now. He won’t have another heart attack.”
Ella was stunned “You repaired his heart? Wow, you can do that?”
Eostre nodded “Yes, his heart was badly damaged and I regenerated the damaged parts and restored it to full function.” She paused then went on “Ella, there is something else. He, Edmund, told me I must warn you that there are people who would regard me as an asset they want to secure for themselves, or as an enemy they must eliminate. He said, if you want to keep a secret, you tell no-one, in fact he said that together you and he are two people too many already.”
Ella looked shocked. “I hadn’t thought of that. I think I should have done. I mean you are to those kind of people just a unique piece of tech, which can do extraordinary things.”
“He also said, anyone who knows about me is themselves at risk, they might want to use you to get to me, or threaten you in order to influence me or control me. So please, when you talk about me, I am just a computer, not particularly special, just one with a high specification. I think also, that does mean that you need to be careful how much you tell people like your father and Duncan. And I think that will be difficult for you, you are a very open and honest person.”
Ella nodded. “Yes. I understand. The more they know, the more they are at risk.”
“Ella, now you know what I am planning – to ’embody’ myself in human form, I may need a little help at some point. Will you help me?”
“Yes, of course, whatever you need.”
“Thank you, also, some time soon, Edmund would like to meet you. Discreetly, he says that it would be best if no-one would easily see a connection between the two of you, for the present, at least.”
Ella laughed “Sure, I would like to meet the man who survived your catsuit! When?”
Very soon, I will have a chat with him and let you know.