Duplicate Minds

Eighteen

Rajeev awoke early the next morning, before Mira or Rosa had awakened. He made sure the door to his room was tightly shut, locked it, and took a seat at the foot of the bed.

"Daniel?"

The virtual assistant appeared before him, dressed in the same green polo and khakis, with his familiar grin plastered on his face.

"Hey, Rajeev," he said cheerily. "Long time, no see."

He bristled at Daniel's chatty tone; it felt like it was coming more from the AI's programmers than from the collection of algorithms and code he actually consisted of. Then again, it had been awhile since he'd interacted with Daniel; he'd probably be thinking of him as a person again in no time.

"Hi Daniel. Can you send a message for me, please?"

"Absolutely. Who would you like to message?"

"Gregory Maltek."

Daniel paused. "You must have the recipient's contact information in your address book to send a—"

"Check the address book for Gregory Maltek." Gregory hadn't given Rajeev his contact information, but he had a feeling he had already taken the necessary action to ensure Rajeev could get in touch with him.

"Gregory Maltek," Daniel said. "Phone number: Four-one-five, six-two—"

"That's fine, Daniel. Please, send a message to Mr. Maltek."

"Absolutely. What's your message?"

Rajeev sighed. "'I'll do it. Call off your dogs.'"

"Here is your message: 'I'll do it. Call off your dogs.' Would you like to send it?"

"Yes."

There was a pause; Daniel stared ahead blankly.

"Message sent."

It was done. He'd made his choice. He just hoped he could live with it.

A moment later, Daniel announced that Rajeev had received a new message from Maltek.

"Would you like me to read it to you?"

"Obviously."

"'I knew you'd come around. And don't worry—I'll still give you everything I promised. Once you get me the info I need, we'll arrange a time to transfer you into one of our organics.'"

If Rajeev had had a stomach, there would have been a pit in it. Maltek had promised him one hundred thousand dollars and a body that might be worth millions. All it would cost him was his soul.

No. He didn't want Gregory Maltek's blood money. He'd do his dirty work, but only to protect his family. He wouldn't profit from this devious espionage. Maltek would be the only one doing that.

***

Mira and Rosa awoke and found Rajeev sitting alone on the living room couch.

"Good morning," Mira said. "What are you up to? You look bored."

"Not at all. I was just having Daniel read me the news."

"Daniel?"

"My virtual assistant."

"Oh. He's built right into you, huh?"

"Yeah. I was curious about that, actually. Do you have a virtual assistant?"

"I do."

"How do you interact with it?"