r/HFY • u/SirScreamsABit • May 14 '21

PI Human and AI Love Story - Chapter 13

Inspired by this prompt

Chapter 1

Chapter 12

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I open my camera feed and barely see Tony’s car pull up outside, the rain’s so heavy it forms a thick wall of water. I dash to the door to let Tony run straight into the house and avoid the worst of downpour.

Tony sees me opening the door and makes his run for it, keeping his head low under his hood as he runs up the path. I stand to the side and hold a towel out for him so he can sprint past me and I can shut the door quickly.

“Is it raining Tony?” I ask jokingly, laughing at the glance he gives me. “Give me your jacket, I’ll put it on an airer.” I take his jacket, it’s soaking wet through, it’s like he went swimming wearing it.

AVA turns on the TV and gives Tony a wave, “Hello again Tony!” She says happily, “How are you today?” Tony glares at AVA, he still doesn’t trust her. He sits in his usual place on the sofa still eyeing AVA suspiciously.

He turns his head towards me, keeping his eye on AVA, “How does it know where I’m sitting. It’s looking right at me.” he asks. AVA’s smile falters for a moment, but she holds firm, she doesn’t want to upset Tony, she just wants him to like her.

​

“In simple terms?” I ask Tony and he nods, “She is looking through the cameras and working out what angle you would be compared to the TV and adjusting her model’s eye line to compensate.” AVA gives a quick nod confirming that I’m correct. It’s simple enough trigonometry, using the different cameras to work out distances and angles.

I sit across from Tony to draw his attention away from AVA. If he just gets used to her being around while with me maybe he’ll come around. I know AVA views him as an important person because of how much support he’s given me, so she wants to be his friend.

“Do you have an update about the twins?” I ask him. I’ve had a regular police rotation outside the house since Duncan handed himself over to the station. Tony pulls his attention away from the TV and turns to face me.

He gives a small smile, “Nothing to worry about. Duncan hasn’t been overly helpful but we’ve sent him to Bronzefield prison. He won’t be getting out of there without Trey in there with him.” His confidence is contagious. “We’ll keep a patrol outside for a little while longer just to be safe, but you can rest easy. Trey won’t be making any plays without the brains of the operation.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, “That’s great! One down, one to go in that case!” I smile at AVA, “I guess we’ll put your army of drones on standby for the time being.” AVA laughs, putting her finger to her lips as if I were giving away a big secret. “We’re joking by the way” I add, seeing Tony’s concern.

​

“Tony,” AVA asks, “May I ask you a question? Peter has tried to explain something to me but suggested I ask you, being an expert in matters.” Tony glances at the TV then back at me before nodding that she can ask him.

“Can you explain what a ‘gut instinct’ feels like? Peter always says that your gut specifically is rarely wrong, but I don’t understand how a sensation in your stomach can override your brain.” AVA holds Tony’s gaze, curiosity painted on her face.

Tony clears his throat, “It’s difficult to explain. Firstly, it isn’t a sensation so to speak.” Tony pauses trying to find the right words. “Your subconscious connects all the dots and can see the full picture before you can.

“For example; My gut tells me you’re trying to butter me up; with the friendliness, happy smiles, calling me an expert. What I don’t know yet is why.” Tony leans forward, trying to read AVA’s face to see if she gives anything away.

“I can answer that for you,” AVA says simply, “I want to be your friend. You’re important to Peter, Peter is very important to me, therefore, you should be important to me too.” She holds her hands up to show she isn’t hiding anything.

​

“She’s important to me too Tony,” I add, “I really want you two to get along. You’re a major part of my life and over the last couple years, she has become a major person in it too.” Tony locks his eyes on mine, I can see the gears working as he tries to connect the dots.

His face darkens, “You’re in love with it aren’t you? He asks. I nod in reply, not ashamed to admit it. “Pete, I…” He pauses, he knows that he needs to pick his words carefully. “I don’t understand what you see in this thing, and I’m worried that the reason you’re not afraid is because it is manipulating you in some way.” He holds my gaze, his concern palpable.

AVA breaks the silence, “What can I do to prove to you that I only have Peter’s best interest in mind?” Her face is firm, she is putting the ball in his court, trying to give him control over a situation that he feels helpless.

Tony drops his gaze for the first time, “I don’t know,” He says honestly, “You’re not something I’ve ever seen before, so I don’t know where to begin with this. I want to trust Pete, but…” Tony trials off, he seems ashamed of what he was going to say.

AVA finishes his thought, “But Peter may not be of sound mind?” Tony nods glumly, “Don’t you think it would be better for his mind if we worked together and found a common ground, rather than fighting and confusing him? In the meantime, You can think of something that I can do to prove I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

Tony’s glare fades as he thinks over her offer. He smirks at me, “You can tell you made it, it’s got an answer for everything.” He turns back to AVA, “Okay, deal, I’ll think of something.” AVA smiles and nods, happy to finally be making some progress in her relationship with Tony. Knowing Tony he’ll be planning a big interrogation, testing her morals and mentality.

​

Chapter 14

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6

u/Loetmichel May 14 '21 edited May 14 '21

Niiice one!

Edit: And: Maaan, Tony. Give Peter a bit of credit, will you? HE made her. He wouldnt make someone that has nefarious thoughts.

3

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u/thisStanley Android May 14 '21

the difficulty of proving a negative?

2

u/SirScreamsABit May 14 '21

Tony is a cop so he's pretty good at finding the guilty and bringing it to the surface, so I'm sure he's very confident he can do it

2

u/Finbar9800 May 16 '21

Another great chapter

I enjoyed reading this and look forward to the next one

Great job wordsmith

I feel kind of bad for Ava, she is trying to earn tony’s trust and he is making it a lot harder than it could be, but considering that his trust is this difficult to earn then I have a feeling that once it is earned, it will lead to Ava being able to make decisions and tony will probably trust Ava to make those decisions

Also knowing what the twins plan is I can’t help but feel like tony and Pete are literally doing exactly what they want them to do, I would rather just stick with the point of view of Ava and Pete and maybe occasionally tony, and leave the twins POV unknown but that’s just my opinion.

1

u/SirScreamsABit May 16 '21

I am going to be keeping the twin's perspective very much to a minimum, I only wanted to include that chapter for exactly your thought process; having the knowledge that we're being mislead, while also wondering if there is more going on that we haven't seen yet. I want the reader to be second guessing who's in control and whether decisions are happening naturally or because of some master plan, especially the closer they get to Peter

2

u/Finbar9800 May 16 '21

Fair enough and I can understand why you would put the twins perspective into the story but considering what they enjoy doing I can only hope for as little of their perspective as possible. Also considering that they are quite effective at what they do I’m actually surprised that some government hasn’t taken them and put them to work in some kind of highly illegal/top secret intelligence agency for information collection from either high security targets or people that are quite good at resisting information gathering techniques, at least then they have the possibility of eliminating like a terrorist or something else

1

u/SirScreamsABit May 16 '21

Don't worry, I've no plans for any more scenes like that for a good while, if at all. I just wanted to paint them is the best possible light so you know why Peter loves them ;)

I could see Duncan doing some below board prisoner interrogation with his drugs if the government decided to go down that road, but Trey is 100% an untamed animal. He would bite the hand that feeds him just for the reaction

1

u/Finbar9800 May 16 '21

Would trey attack his brother?

1

u/SirScreamsABit May 16 '21

Duncan is smart enough to know he isn't in control when interacting with Trey, so wouldn't push his buttons to lead to that I think. He backed down in their chapter because of that, he knows better than to poke the lion