PART V
Mark sat at the bar, his finger trailing along the edge of the shot glass full of whiskey. It was cold in the bar, just like it was cold outside. The lack of warm bodies on a Tuesday night meant that the bar would stay that way since the owner was determined not to run the heat if there wasn’t going to be anyone to enjoy it. Mark had asked but decided he didn’t care.
Dr. Imizoi sat next to him, nursing a beer. The doctor was gray and slightly bald, but held good humor in his eyes, even as Mark had proceeded to whine throughout the night.
“I swear, Doctor. She’s got to be cheating,” said Mark, staring at his reflection on the surface of the fragrant liquid.
“You know that you’re not the first person to ever suspect their wife of cheating, Mark. What makes you so sure?”
At that, Mark picked up the glass and threw back the shot. He winced at the burning sensation that accompanied it but welcomed the feeling of warmth. He wasn’t much of a drinker, but tonight was as good a night as any. “As if the phone calls weren’t enough? Middle of the night, she leaves the room and makes a phone call. Talks to someone on the phone said that I don’t suspect a thing, then pretended that never happened whenever I confronted her on it the next morning. Said I dreamed it or something. Can you believe that?”
Dr. Imizoi shrugged. “I might. Couldn’t you have been?” He took a sip of the beer. It wasn’t good beer, just whatever they had on tap, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“That’s what I thought at first, but then…it was the little things. I noticed she doesn’t smile right around me anymore. She laughs at things she never would have thought were funny, forgets inside jokes we’ve had since we were kids. It’s like she’s thinking about something I can’t even see.”
“She gets upset with you? Talking about relationship problems?”
Mark shook his head. “No, we’ve been fine. The kids are great, the bedroom’s fine. Money’s not a problem, thanks to you. I don’t know…”
Dr. Imizoi chuckled. “That’s why you let me come along, isn’t it?”
“N-no. You practically invited me, remember?”
“Doesn’t count when you come to work with a long face and a short temper. Gotta keep morale up, right? What better than two co-workers sharing a drink?”
It was Mark’s turn to chuckle. “You’re the head of the program. I’m a salesman.”
“A damn good one too!” said the doctor, raising his bottle like a miniature toast. “Look, people are scared before they make the switch. What if it’s a lie? What if they just die? What guarantees do we have? And it’s your job to calm them down. And it’s hard to do if you’re worried about the same thing.”
Mark stared down at his now-empty glass. “Is it that obvious?”
Dr. Imizoi patted him on the back. “You deal with the people when you make the sale, but you don’t see them after the transition. They’re always happy they did it, but it’s the loved ones that freak out. You’re wondering if this could have been because of the operation?”
Mark paused, then nodded slightly. “I’ve read all the promo. I believe it, but it’s just…since she downloaded into that android body, I feel like she hasn’t been my Sam.”
“Hate to say it, kid. The download was a smashing success. Immortality realized. She’s the same as she was.”
Mark sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
“You catch her cheating, though?”
“No. Well, not exactly.”
“Not exactly? Seems like it’s a pretty cut and dry thing to me.”
“I was out getting some groceries one night after work. She had said she was going to be at the Mason’s. You know, James and his wife Jesse? I tried calling her because I couldn’t remember if she wanted salted or unsalted almonds, but she didn’t pick up. So I called Jesse to see if I could get a hold of her. Jesse picked up and said Sam wasn’t over, and James was at work.” Mark waved a hand to the bartender, who came over to silently refill Mark’s glass before stepping back to his position a few feet away, where he kept a watchful eye on the baseball game.
“I see. How’d Jesse take it?”
Mark shrugged. “She wasn’t as worried. James made the switch too, but apparently, he’s been a model husband. Plus, they have each other’s locations on their phone. He was back at Tracer.”
The doctor stood, removing his coat from the back of the chair and sliding it over his thin arms. “Hey, if you’re concerned, that’s not a bad idea. Turn on her location. See what she’s up to. Might make you feel better.”
“Or it might kill me,” said Mark, staring at his glass. “Well at least you’d know the truth,” said Dr. Imizoi, giving Mark a final pat on the back as he left the bar.
Mark sat on the couch, staring at the luminous screen of his phone in the darkness. A blue dot pulsed on the screen, Sam’s profile picture above and the name of a motel in the city in red letters below. It was all but confirmed, but Mark didn’t know what to do. Did he pretend it wasn’t happening? Confront her when she got home?
Getting up and putting his phone in his pocket, he nodded to himself. That would be best, right? The kids were here and asleep. They were twelve and fourteen, so it wasn’t that they wouldn’t be okay for a couple of hours, but he was the only one home. Who knew when she would get back?
Still, as if possessed, Mark found himself grabbing his keys and jacket. His body was already taking him to the motel. He had to see. He couldn’t just sit and wait for life to crumble around him.
The motel wasn’t far, maybe a ten-minute drive. Mark put the location into his car’s AI and let it drive him, leaving him momentarily alone with his thoughts.
Immortality Realized. That was the slogan. Digital transfer of consciousness to an android body. Completely tested beyond a doubt, indistinguishable from their human counterpart. It was the dream, and it was Mark’s job to sell it. But when it had come time for him and Sam to upgrade, they had sat down to talk about it long and hard. She told him he should go first. He had earned the money, he needed to be around to take care of the kids. But he insisted she go first. He told her it was because she was the love of his life, that the kids needed a mother more than they needed a dad constantly at work. These were true, but they weren’t why he did it. He had been afraid. What if the switch didn’t work? What if something had gone wrong? His thoughts weren’t about the well-being of his family. They were about the pure, animalistic fear of death. Maybe she had sensed it. Maybe that was where the rift had come up. He was a coward, and she sensed it. Maybe she needed someone who wasn’t scared.
The car pulled up a block away from the motel, Mark pulling it off of auto and manually parking it. From there, he got out of the car and went up to the reception desk. There sat a young blonde woman, early twenties at the absolute oldest, tapping at a keyboard in front of her. When she saw him, she looked up and smiled helpfully. “Hello, sir. May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m trying to see if my wife came by? Her phone…says she’s here.”
There was a flash of pity in the girl’s eyes, but she tried to hide it. “I see. Name, sir?” He must have been far from her first snooping spouse, and he doubted he would be her last.
“Mark Haven. Her name is Sam.” Mark pulled out his ID to show her, less to give her the spelling and more to assure her that he wasn’t some crazy stalker.
The woman nodded before tapping at the keys with renewed intensity. Every clack seemed to reverberate in Mark’s skull, stretching out the moment until he thought he would go insane. Finally, the woman shook her head. “Sorry, sir. No Sam Haven checked out a room. Do you know who she might…um…”
“Be with?” Mark suggested, scowling.
She gave an apologetic expression and a shrug.
“No. I don’t know —” Mark paused, realizing he might know exactly who. “Check out James Mason. He’s a work friend.”
The girl nodded hesitantly, resuming her clack of keys.
After a moment, a sigh escaped from her lips.
Mark let out a sigh of his own. “That’s a no, I take it.”
“No, I found it,” said the girl.
“Ah.” That was worse somehow.
“Look, can you do me a favor?” asked the girl. “If you’re going to go up…can you just promise me you won’t make a huge scene? People are sleeping and —”
“It’s okay. I’m not going to go crazy…I hope. I just need…to see it,” said Mark. “What room?”
“Thirty-seven.”
Nodding, Mark was on his way.
The room was on the ground floor, near the pool area of the hotel. The area was silent, the tension thick like fog as Mark’s heart pounded in his chest. Coming to the door, he stared without moving. Did he want to do this? If he did, it could mean the end of everything. Seventeen years in love, ended for…what? Steeling himself, he knocked on the door. He had to know.
After a moment, James Mason opened the door, hand scratching at his salt and pepper hair. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans. Most importantly, he couldn’t look Mark in the eye. “Hey…Mark.”
Mark’s heart was beating in his chest. He had to stop himself from punching James in the face, for destroying his marriage as well as their friendship. “Where is she?”
James shrugged. “I…she’s in the restroom.”
“I’ll wait,” said Mark, too quickly and too insistently. “You…can. It’s just —”
“Just what, James. Why don’t you tell me exactly how it is?”
“Look, I’m sorry James. What’s been going on…happened. We’ve been talking about it since we made the switch. Can you just…wait for her at home? We’re done. I won’t touch her until she’s talked to you. Is that fair?”
Mark considered something for a moment, looking James in the eye. “Yeah, James. Fair’s fair.”
Mark punched James in the face as hard as he could.
Mark sat in his car, trying not to cry. He had completely failed to avoid making a scene, much to the presumed dismay of the hotel receptionist, but had left after that. He was still full of rage and sorrow, memories of Sam coming to him unbidden. He couldn’t bring himself to go home. What he wanted to do was go cause more of a scene, to yell and scream and cry. But all he could bring himself to feel was numbness.
Finally calming down enough to program his trip home, he took a glance at his phone. Looking at his map, he noticed something strange: Sam’s dot was moving, and quickly. But it wasn’t moving towards home. It was moving towards the center of the city. At this hour? What was even open?
Taking a glance around his surroundings, Mark saw that James’s car was still there, parked a building down. He would have seen them leave. But where was Sam’s car?
Putting the car in manual, Mark circled the block, looking for the car. When he couldn’t find it, he took another look at his map to find where Sam had gone: Tracer Corp.
Puzzled, James programmed the location into his phone and started over towards his office.
He had been looking on the floors of his department, sales, for the better part of a half-hour. While it wasn’t particularly large, he stopped to listen to darkened offices for sounds of life. Was she hiding? Or was there yet another man involved? Mark had to find her. He needed answers.
After checking the last door, Mark concluded that she wasn’t there. He sighed, defeated. Where was she? He double-checked his phone’s location, which confirmed at least her phone had come here.
Looking around, he tried to spot anything which would hint at her location. There were no lights on, no doors open, the elevators were…
The elevators! Mark walked over to them and looked at the display showing which floor each was at. The one he had come into was obviously where he was, two were in the main lobby, and the third…
Mark’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Sixty? That was Dr. Imizoi’s laboratory. Was he here? Perhaps he had seen her.
Pushing the button, Mark got into the elevator and pushed the button for sixty. After a moment, he arrived.
The laboratory was large, with the main hallway connecting many test rooms and offices. The light was visible at the end of the hall, with Dr. Imizoi’s door ajar.
Mark approached slowly, listening to voices that could be heard faintly from the office.
“Were you followed?”
“No, Doctor. Mark did not follow me.” Her voice sounded strange, monotonous and lacking in Sam’s usual warmth and flavor.
“Good. And did he find you at the hotel?”
“Yes, sir. James performed admirably. He doesn’t suspect anything, though this has a seventy-two percent chance of ending in divorce.”
Wait. Performed? What was going on?
“Good. And you turned off your location services before coming here?”
A hesitation from Sam. “No, Doctor. I forgot.”
“Dammit! Why not?”
“You told me to ensure I wasn’t followed.”
“I meant to make sure that you couldn’t be followed.
Well…let’s hope for the best. How is Mark?”
“The subject is behaving erratically, though within expected parameters. He still fears the transition.”
“Perhaps as she should. Is the memory assimilation going any better?”
“A little, Doctor. Is there any way we can speed the process?”
“Why. Is something wrong?”
“It’s just…I can’t get this woman quite right. The subject looks at her like a stranger. There is something I am missing. I think that —”
Mark couldn’t stop himself. He pushed the door open, both Dr. Imizoi and the android in front of him looking over. They sat at two chairs in the middle of the room, a clipboard in the doctor’s hands. “What is going on here?”
“Mark!” The warmth was back in her voice, but it rang hollow to Mark now. “What are you —”
“What do you mean subject? Why are you both here?” Dr. Imizoi raised a hand, stopping Sam from speaking.
“Mark, it’s alright. You’re not actually in an experiment. But this is not something we hoped for you to learn.”
“I don’t understand. Why is Sam here?”
“Because she’s still transitioning, Mark. Trying to…tweak her until she more closely resembles the real Sam.”
Mark’s heart dropped. He felt he knew where it was going, but he had to ask. “What do you mean, the real Sam?”
Dr. Imizoi sighed. “Sam, would you be so kind as to let Mark have your chair.”
Sam nodded, stood, and walked over to the corner. “No, my wife doesn’t need to —”
“I need you to listen very carefully,” interrupted the doctor. “It doesn’t work. None of it.”
Mark remained standing. “What do you mean?”
“Mark, please sit down.”
“I’ll stand, thank you.”
Dr. Imizoi slumped in his chair. “The transition. We download a few memories, fill in important names and dates, take a brain scan and store it. But we can’t get it to work.”
“Then…who is it in the android?” Mark asked, looking over Sam. She stood in the corner, her face completely impassive, staring past him into the distance. “Who’s been taking my children to school? Tucking my children in at night? God, who have I been sleeping with?”
“It’s…a little bit of Sam. As I said, we have some memories. The rest is filled in with state-of-the-art AI.”
It all made sense. The little jokes that she didn’t love anymore, the way her smile had faded. The “affair.”
“I won’t make the transition. I quit Tracer Corp. I’ll go to the media. I’ll…I’ll…” Mark trailed off, his resolve quickly fading.
“I had hoped that you would find her cheating and be satisfied. can’t expect you to sell people on this idea anymore, Mark. Just like I can’t stop you from leaving this room and telling anyone you know. But, even if they believe you, your wife will never come home to you. They’ll shut this place down, seize our assets and send me away forever. What remains of your wife, your real wife, will be scrubbed from our servers and turned to magnetic white noise. If you play along…maybe I’ll crack this thing.”
“Those are my choices, huh?”
Dr. Imizoi nodded weakly. “So what’s it going to be?”
Mark sat in front of the house, a cigarette dangling between his fingers. He didn’t smoke often, but this seemed like a good enough reason. “Sam” was next to him, sitting on the stone steps of the house we bought together with what Mark now knew to be blood money.
There was no “download,” no “transition.” There were just death and the dream of a madman.
Sam tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but Mark flinched at her touch. As he did, a sadness settled over her. “I’m…sorry, Mark. I wish there was anything I could do.”
“Do you? You’re just programmed to imitate my wife. You have no idea what Sam wants. You have no idea what I want.”
Sam paused, considering her next words carefully. “I can’t pretend that I do. But I want to get her back just like you.”
Mark looked over at her, his face a silent mix of surprise and anger.
“Please don’t be upset. It’s not that I think I miss her as you do. But, it’s my reason for existing. I’m supposed to help reconstruct your wife. I’m not meant to be with you forever.”
“Then go. Just go help Imizoi and do whatever you want. I already said I wouldn’t quit and I wouldn’t go public. The preemptive settlement money Imizoi offered will put me up for life. I don’t need you.”
“That’s…not how it works, Mark. I have to be around you and the kids. It’s how I can help. Learn what she was like, make myself imitate her as closely as possible. If I do, maybe we can piece her back together.”
Mark sighed, taking a puff from his cigarette. He had cried in the car but was beyond tears now. His wife was dead, and an imposter had to help raise his kids. Apathy was too mild a word. “I don’t want you here. If Sam’s dead, she