A.I. (part 11): Epilogue

[Corwin]

Tim walked into the club. Immediately, all eyes turned to him. He
expected that. After all, he was 7 foot 3. He wore a blue spandex
shirt that showed every inch of his hyper-muscular body. No one was
bigger. His jeans were custom made to fit over his massive calves and
quads. Ever ripple of his quads and hams shown through the fabric.
His dick made a nice bulge too. Tim oozed sex. That's why the stares
didn't surprise him.

He also wasn't surprised to hear whispers of 'steroids' and
'freakish'. That made him laugh. The guys that said it were the ones
staring the most. Denial. They wanted him and they knew they could
never have him. Besides, Tim didn't want them. He had only one target.

He scanned the room. 'Not here yet,' he thought. Tim walked up to
the bar and ordered a red wine -- Francis Coppola Pinot Noir. He
sipped the wine and waited. Annie Lennox's 'Pavement Cracks' came on
the juke box. He laughed. Hadn't this all started with an Annie
song?

Tim watched the door, seeing the men come and go. He finished his
wine and ordered a second. Then he saw him. Tim recognized him
immediately. His blonde hair was a bit longer, but other than that,
he hadn't changed. Tim unconsciously smiled. Seeing Derek put
butterflies in his stomach.

Derek took a seat at the end of the bar, then scanned the room. His
eyes were drawn to the big man. Recognition took longer. Tim had
changed. Derek looked confused as the goliath moved toward him.
Maybe if Derek were looking at Tim's face rather than his pecs, he
would have known it was Tim from the start. Instead, it wasn't until
Tim sat down beside him that recognition took place.

"I'm sorry," said Tim as the Derek finally realized who the man was.
"I... well, you see.... You were treated badly. It's a long story.
I hope you can forgive me."

"Tim! My god, they told me you were dead!"

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," Tim laughed.

"That note? And the phone calls! And, wow, look at you. You're
magnificent!" Derek was smiling.

"It's a long story," said Tim apologetically. "I just wanted to see
you to, well, to see if you could forgive me and maybe, well, maybe
start over."

Derek smiled like the Mona Lisa. His eyes were soft. He looked down
and touched Tim's forearm, running a finger along the distended vein.
Peeking up, he said, "So, tell me this story."

That was a month ago. That first night, and every night after that
(and some days, too), they made love. They became inseparable. Tim
did have to remind himself that this Derek wasn't only there to please
him. He wasn't the android built only for Tim's happiness. That was
an added bonus. Tim found that the real Derek's idosyncratic nature
made the relationship tangible. Learning all about a real person made
Tim feel alive.

Tim visited the post office box, and found the information about the
Swiss bank account Hal had set up. There were also three boxes of
serum and a note: "For your real Derek, if he wants it. Hal"

Derek did want it. Tim was his trainer. Like Hal, Tim was merciless.
Tim programmed the robot drone to administer the formula, and he found
the stash of nutrient Derek needed to quench his hunger. Derek
compared the serum to the feeling of jumping from an airplane, a
free-fall that ended in a jerk and a thump. Derek grew, becoming more
handsome as he became more muscular. His masculine good looks became
more powerful, more confident. "I don't want to be as big as you,"
he'd tell Tim. "Just big enough so that you don't totally dominate
me."

'As if,' thought Tim. Tim was still getting stronger. The serum in
his system never seemed to be totally maxed out. When he needed more
strength or size, he produced it. On one weekend hike, to impress
Derek, Tim began to toss around a multi-ton boulder. As he did, he
felt the warmth, power and euphoria of the serum kicking in. His body
pumped, ripping the tight shirt. Derek laughed at him, telling him he
if his skin turned green, they were through.

Tim knew that eventually, the powers-that-be would come looking for
him. He secretly bought property in Canada, England, France and
Sweden. He sold his house in San Francisco, and Derek quit his job.
After all, they were set for life.

Tim recalled the last month as he stood line to board the plane to
Montreal. Derek waited with the bags. The airline clerk was friendly
enough, apologizing for the new security rules imposed by the TSA.
When she stepped away for a second, Tim noticed the old video display
terminal. The cursor's blink seemed to be winking at him. He looked
around, rached over and typed, "hal?"

The screen went blank. "Sssshhhhhh...." flashed for a second, then
vanished.

The end

[Bull]

Very cool story! Original and imaginative. Not to mention hot!

[msclbldr]

Great story,
Looking forward to your next one already

Thanks

Msclbldr

[Corwin]

thanks for the nice words...

got the next story plotted out -- hopefully you won't have to wait too too long

Scott

[arpeejay]

Eggs Ellent!

Am I correct in thinking the telephone query was a borrow from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress? Or is that just coincidental?

rpj

who was on the road with the kids Sunday-Wednesday and only got to read the new chapters this morning

[Corwin]

telephone query? I think I said before that the story is based on my recollections of a story called The Adolescence of P1. Computer develops AI, AI takes over guy's life, government comes in and wrecks things, big escape. The ending is very similar to P1, as I recall.

Richard, hope the kids, you and your partner are doing well.

Take care,
Scott

[arpeejay]

Oh, that's right. You mentioned the Adolescence of P1.

Still, there's a great deal of similarity to the ending of one of Robert A. Heinlein's later novels, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1967). One of the lead characters was a computer A.I. named Mike, aka Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's younger brother.) Since Mike was in charge of everything in Luna, including the telephone system, the revolutionary cabal was able to overthrow the hated Terran Authority, communicating with each other and with Mike via the phone system. At the end of the novel the revolutionaries prevailed (this was 2076, of course, and Luna had been a penal colony) but Mike's connections were shorted out when Federated Nations troops dropped a big bomb on the complex where Mike's mainframe resided. After that, Mike didn't answer when Manny and Wyoh and the others picked up the phone.

And we're having a great time, thanks. A short visit with the brother, sister-in-law and 2 nephews in Wisconsin, an overnight stay in Chicago, and now back in SE Michigan. They go back to Atlanta Sunday evening.

xoxo

richard

[brent]

Originally posted by arpeejay
Oh, that's right. You mentioned the Adolescence of P1.

Still, there's a great deal of similarity to the ending of one of Robert A. Heinlein's later novels, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1967). One of the lead characters was a computer A.I. named Mike, aka Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's younger brother.) Since Mike was in charge of everything in Luna, including the telephone system, the revolutionary cabal was able to overthrow the hated Terran Authority, communicating with each other and with Mike via the phone system. At the end of the novel the revolutionaries prevailed (this was 2076, of course, and Luna had been a penal colony) but Mike's connections were shorted out when Federated Nations troops dropped a big bomb on the complex where Mike's mainframe resided. After that, Mike didn't answer when Manny and Wyoh and the others picked up the phone.

And we're having a great time, thanks. A short visit with the brother, sister-in-law and 2 nephews in Wisconsin, an overnight stay in Chicago, and now back in SE Michigan. They go back to Atlanta Sunday evening.

xoxo

richard

OK, now anything I say will sound stupid comared to that. However, that has never stopped me from putting in my two cents. So here it goes:

This forum has way too many smart people!
I guess that's a very good thing, because it means that I get to read great stories like this one. Not only was this an excelent story that kept me wanting more, but it was totally hot all the way through. I can't imagine another story being this good, but I'm sure your next one will be great too. Scott, thank you very for a great story.

Brent

[Corwin]

Originally posted by brent
OK, now anything I say will sound stupid comared to that.

Nah. Richard and I have a history, er, I mean, we've both been around the block together, er, wait, that's not right, I mean... aw, forget it.

btw. Richard, P1 was in the 70s, so he probably stole from Heinlein. As I recall, P1 wasn't that good. I skipped whole chapters and concentrated on the geeky parts -- imagine that

This forum has way too many smart people!

I'm not smart. I only play smart on the internet.

I guess that's a very good thing, because it means that I get to read great stories like this one. Not only was this an excelent story that kept me wanting more, but it was totally hot all the way through. I can't imagine another story being this good, but I'm sure your next one will be great too. Scott, thank you very for a great story.

Brent

Ya know, this is very nice of you. I try to write a good story, and having it appreciated feels good. Thanks.

Take care,
Scott

[brent]

Thank you for helping my ego there Scott. I felt quite poorly-read after that one post.

Brent

[DonnieJvilleNC]

Corwin,

This was a great story. You did an excellent job. I look forward to reading more of your work.

Donnie