"Come on. Close your book. We're good to leave." Paloma beckoned her youngest daughter in the reception hall of the clinic. "So are you going to tell me who those people were?" Mercedes really wanted to know the names of those who were to blame. Paloma on the other hand wanted nothing to do with any of this. She was an upstanding citizen and a well educated professor working at Corvis University, so of course she was afraid to lose her life and all that she had earned. Perhaps the threat of the unknown had yet to reach her youngest daughter. "Please stop asking. I know you just want to satisfy your curiosity, but curiosity killed the cat... and I will never let my little kitten be taken from me." Paloma scooped little Mertz into her arms causing the girl to smile in reflex. It had been a long time since she had last been pick up like this, it felt nice.
On the bus ride home Paloma was replaying the event from earlier in her head. Why would those hitmen need her to attend a class reunion? When Paloma woke up in the ambulance she checked the invitation as soon a possible. It was a simple invitation and only provided the bare bones details for the class reunion. Two weeks from now at the Duke estate. In celebration of their class's graduation anniversary, as well as a new dawn on Mercury.
'If it's at the Duke estate, then that means Richard will be there. It's his house after all...' What could possibly happen then? Were those hitmen hired to make sure she went to see Richard? He was one of her suitors in high school after all. But that woman was confused by what the other was doing? "-om Mom! It's our stop!" Mercedes was tugging on Paloma's sleeve. The professor snapped out of her train of thought, shaking her head. The mother daughter pair walked the last few blocks to their home.
After getting home and calming down the rest of the family, Paloma laid in bed staring up at the ceiling. 'Just what was their reason for doing that?' She let out a long tired sigh. "I guess I won't hold class tomorrow. Better safe than sorry." She spoke aloud to no one. Her mind wandered to her days in high school.
When Paloma was in senior year there was nothing she couldn't do. Queen of the school and mistress of many the weak man. There were of course many suitors but only four stood out to Paloma. First was Aaron, the standard jock archetype. It was comical how exact that description was. Everything from being the quarterback for the American football team to looking like a crossbreed between a bodybuilder and a triangle. Paloma didn't can for him at all, it's just how comical his whole existence was that stood out to her. Then there was Pyong, heir to the Eoh family at the time, and now the head, he was an aggressive but compassionate man with the visage of a young lion ready to hunt. After him would be Richard, the lordling who thought that all in the school should be his, even though he wasn't next in line for the Duke family's head. Back then that title belonged to- A knock on the door brought Paloma back to reality.
"Hey sweety. Are you doing alright. I know you said... It's just I wanted to check on you again." Paloma's husband Markel stood in the doorway. With the light from the hallway making it difficult to see his face, leaving only a silhouette. He walks in and carefully lays down on bed, letting Paloma adjust to his weight on the mattress. "I'm sure it'll be okay dear." He hugged her as they took a deserved break.
Down the hall in Mercedes room the youngest of the Kerunu family was pacing back and forth. Then rolling on her bed. Then back to pacing. "Why won't mom tell me who they were. I know that she knows." She was anxious and frustrated. Though at what exactly was hard to tell. She walked over to her bookshelf and started to glide her finger across the edges of the glass pads.
"Don Quixote, Of Mice and Men, Darker Still, Her Majesty's Swarm, Lyre's, Michigan: a horror story." The list went on and on. But Mercedes wasn't looking for a book to read, she wasn't even thinking about the titles. She was just occupying herself. Anything to take her mind off the recent events. The light tapping as she moved from panel to panel was a relaxing rhythm but reaching the end of the shelf and the sudden halt of the monotonous melody broke Mercedes out of her short trance.
"Did they do anything else besides knocking out mom? Why did they knock out mom?" Mercedes started to monologue to the empty room. "Did they poison her? Did they put a chip in her? I know that kind control isn't supposed to exist but what if that's just a lie? Maybe that isn't my mom but a double. What if they're after me and she-" A ping on her phone breaks Mercedes' panic attack. She walks over to see a message from RAFE.
[Take a breath. Your acting like Hwang right now. Calm down and think.] Mertz stared at the message for a good long moment. "I did not know you were listening to me." She said, an octave higher than usual.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[It's in the user agreement.] RAFE assured her. [I can act upon any external stimuli that what machine am within may assume is intended for. Phones are made for listening, seeing, recording, and many other things.] Mercedes focus was now on interrogating RAFE as much as possible, completely forgetting her worries from the moment before.
"Doesn't that mean you can inhabit a car and then drive it in to something?" [I'm forbidden from acting in any way that could be deemed illegal in the region. In the event that the user trumps that rule, I will comply with the user but an not responsible for performing the action, nor am I obligated to perform more than the user could.] The bookworm mulled over the AI's words. "Okay... So hypothetically... If someone wanted to hack a website. And you deemed that they had the capabilities to do so. But it was illegal. You wouldn't stop them. Or help them. Unless specifically asked. And even then you are not responsible for the repercussions of the action." [Bingo.] Confetti rained from the top of the screen.
[Oh. I thought you should know. The two criminals did nothing more than talk to your mother and then knock her out.] Mertz let out a sigh of relief, then snapped to attention. "How do you know that?" [One moment please. I am not allowed to reveal other users information without their explicit consent.] Mercedes started to panic again. Were those people also using RAFE? [Done!] [Hwang has given permission.] [Hwang Eoh was there at the scene of the crime and had witnessed the entire thing first hand. Unfortunately due to shock he failed to record it. Luckily it happened in view of the building's cameras. So the police should have the faces of the wrongdoers soon enough. You are safe and so is your mother.]
"That's... Good... Yah. That's good. Thank you RAFE." Mercedes sat down on her bed once more and started to toss her pillow in the air. Her phone lay on her lap. She threw the pillow to the ceiling in a steady pattern. Fluffing it twice to keep its shape, tossing it up, hitting the ceiling, catching it, repeat.
*Paft-paft* *poof* *fomp*
*Paft-paft* *poof* *fomp*
*Paft-paft* *poof* *fomp*
The little girl's mind began to wander through many things, macro and micro alike. 'Why are the new computers from Tōbō able to maintain AIs when they only have about ten times the processing power? Does the distance between Saturn's moons effect their Wi-Fi connections? What is RAFE an acronym for? Why doesn't RAFE use a voice when that technology is already well developed. Am I allergic to anything even though I got my immune-temperance shot? Where were the pyramids before the British museum took them?' Her train of thought just kept going.
*Paft-paft* *poof* *fomp*
*Paft-paft* *poof* *fomp*
*Paft-paft* *poof* *Ding!* "Huh? What's up RA-" *fomp* "Gah!"
Mercedes put the pillow down at looked at the message on her phone. It wasn't from RAFE but instead a friend of hers. [i heard your mom was attacked is everything alright?] "It hasn't even been a whole day! How did she know?" RAFE popped up in the corner to explain. [Hwang told her to check in on you. I advised him against it. But what would the omnipresent AI know?] Mertz gave a little laugh and continued to chat with her friend. [RAFE says that Hwang told you to check in on me. I didn't know you knew Hwang Eoh.] [we share some classes] [Wait you're in college!?] [lol ya i never did tell you] RAFE once again appeared. [Let me make this easier.] A prompt to join a video call appeared.
'If RAFE is offering this call then it's probably safe.' Mercedes tidied up her hair for a moment and held her phone atop the pillow on her lap.
*Click!*
"Hello MercyM!" The abrupt salutation startled the girl. "Its nice to put a face to a name isn't it?" The girl on the call was a twentyish looking lady with smooth brown skin a handful of shades darker than Mercedes'. "So you're SmilingKaleidoscope?" "Yup! But please, face to face call me Harriet!" "I know you already know my name but I may as well extend the cordial act. Call me Mertz. Or Mercedes. Whichever you like. So how did you find out who I am?" Harriet Klein put up a goofy grin and acted innocent. "Whatever do you mean. Me? Know you? Noo~." Mercedes scowls slightly. "Relax!" Harriet waved her hand, dousing the accusation. "A few months ago you were sitting next to your mom during a lecture. I was texting you and you laughed at one of my jokes. Ding! Target found!" Harriet gave a smug smile. "Now it feels weird. Knowing that I play games with someone a decade older than me." Harriet flapped her hand again. "Please. Shit like that happens all the time, and it's not like I tried to find... out... who you are." That last part barely a whisper. It was Mercedes turn to be smug.
Mertz, after bantering back and forth for the better half of an hour, brought up something bothering her. "Isn't it strange that just a couple of weeks after RAFE was released some bad guys show up?" Harriet gave a reflexive smile. She quickly caught herself but Mercedes had noticed it. "What is it? What do you know?"
Harriet took a deep breath. "Okay, I shouldn't say any more than this: there are things in motion that cannot be undone, nor understood. Now I know how ominous I sound saying that. But please listen to me. Things will change. But you will stay safe if you focus on yourself. So please stay safe." Her breath was starting to unsteady. "I know about this only slightly less than Zoe and Hwang, RAFE probably knows more, but please don't pry. If my hunch is right, things are gonna get weird." Then she whispered quiet enough that the mic didn't pick it up. "Please... Please stay as you are, don't change like them."
Should I change the pacing of the plot?
