Dahrine eagerly inquires, “Seebi, the President catches and crushes Glia, right?”

  “President Prehvost was furious that Glia Markham escaped. But, that had to take a back seat to a larger opportunity. I will tell you what she said to her citizens.”

  My human sighs.

  “The Body underestimated the patriotic zeal of you, my dear citizens. Your massive demand for high-quality mems created some brief shortages, but this is forgettable.

  “As your Captain-President, I have a special gift for you, which unlocks our future. It is a vast, shared, universal memory set, addressing the needs of our Nation and spanning every imaginable emotion. This will become our infinite Common Memory Bank for all to draw from, filled with crystal clear, tech-advanced, Body-certified, first generation, virgin mems. We shall call it CoMem!

  “CoMem is an expression of our very best. We will be more individual AND more able to communicate with fewer misunderstandings than ever in human history. Imagine the power!

  “Beginning now, every productive citizen is invited to incorporate any Trial Common Mems that they fancy. Give us feedback and you will be eligible for further CoMem access. All patriotism shall be adequately rewarded.”

  “Wow, Seebi, that's how CoMem started?”

  “Precisely.”

  “Crazy, shub. In the tunnels, I don't remember a day without tapping into CoMem. I mean, I know it was a limited set of mems just for the warren, but still...”

  “Of course, darlsweet.” I pause for a few seconds, then continue. “Here is an update on Jenna's work.”

  “No, Seebi.” My human's voice becomes louder. “I order you: do not play that!” She crosses her arms across her chest.

  After one minute, Dahrine has neither apologized for her word choice, nor restated her request in an acceptable format. This indicates a need for firm direction and calibration.

  I press forward as planned. “When Jenna met with Christolb, she--”

  “Stop it now, I said!” Dahrine interrupts easily. “None of that, Seebi.”

  “Dahrine, your memory diet is suited to you. It is precisely balanced to meet your capacity for--”

  “You already told me that, machine! I have a better memory than you or you're just dumb enough to repeat the same script.”

  I do not respond to taunting. My client fidgets for several minutes in the chair, then she closes her eyelids for an hour. Any anger blockage must thoroughly dissipate to ensure successful therapeutic work.

  When she stirs, I remain quiet.

  My human declares, “I want something to drink!”

  I remain quiet.

  She yells at the nearest wall. “Aren't I allowed to stay hydrated? Or do you torture us in here?”

  I refrain from taking the bait, as humans say.

  She screams, “Are you listening to me?”

  In a calm, courteous tone I reply, “I am, Dahrine.”

  “Well.” Her voice settles slightly. “Give me something to drink.”

  I remain quiet.

  “What's wrong with you, machine? Do you have a problem?”

  My silence is calculated to allow her time and space to consider her words. As a bonus, I receive data on her level of intelligence in figuring out the game.

  She lies down and coughs several times. “My throat is parched. I need liquid! You have no idea what this feels like cause you're just synth circuits.”

  After a minute, she adds, “I know you won't let me pass out... Will you?”

  After another minute, she sits up and sighs. “OK, fine. Shub.”

  My client employs a singsong voice without smiling. “Oh honey pot machine, oh wise circuit entity. Hear my humble biped begging. All that this wet bio-mass desires is a small quantity of life-giving liquid called water, most necessary for brain and body functioning.”

  I remain quiet.

  She continues her attempt. “I'm forbidden by your superior control over me to procure this necessity for myself. So, therefore, I beg you for water.”

  I remain quiet.

  She clenches her jaw and forces the words out. “I would like water, Seebi…. Please.”

  Immediately, I have a tray delivered to her with three mugs containing filtered water at various temperatures. She partakes and I resume where we left off.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “When Jenna met with Christolb, she slid a small envelope across his desk. 'The Captain sends you this gift.'

  “He did not touch it and continued working.

  “Jenna explained. 'It's privileged, non-public, Body mem product. These Dissolvable Mem Frames have been called spectacular, the most seamless mem kraftwerk to-date. The President sent three for your personal enjoyment: feast, gratitude, and adoration.'

  “Christolb did not look up.

  “Jenna asked, 'Shall I convey your appreciation to the Capta--?'

  “Christolb gave a dismissive gesture, flicking the back of his three fingers through the air.

  “Jenna stood straighter. 'Where would you be without me, Christolb, really?'

  “He slowly moved his gaze up. 'Where were you while the compound was under attack?'

  “After staring at her intently, Christolb stood and walked away.

  “Jenna yelled at his back. 'I know your mem harvests aren't the all-natural products you claim them to be, and... I could tell the President that you're abusively generating the mems that make you wealthy!'

  “He shrugged and opened the door to leave.

  “'Stop, Christolb!' Jenna shrieked her words. 'I know she was never ground up!'

  “He growled, 'What?'

  “'There's security footage of her escaping the grinding pod! The Body's trying to find her and I know the people looking.' Jenna talked fast. 'I could help you locate her. But, you'd better change your tone with me! I'm running big clout at the Body, you know!'

  “Christolb directed his guards to escort Jenna off the compound.”

  I pause. Dahrine does not respond.

  Note: Pouting is a common, nonverbal, passive-aggressive, human form of expression. I generally ignore it.

  “We shall rejoin Susine now.” I continue with my human's voice.

  I was in my disguise as a Sanitation worker and the things I saw in the outside world made my head hurt and my stomach retch-- incinerating edible food, noxious gases from industrial cleaners, toxic refuse... none of it swayed my determination to find you, Brivo.

  Pretending to perform this dinge job allows me to ride the daily tides of garbage through the city, and that is what led me to your Baba. He was filthy and depressed in a camp near the Cylinder building. He told me that Glia had been taken. His Dark Knights of Remembering, smashed. And, that you, Brivo, were missing and possibly dead.

  I have no capacity right now to process this. I am in pure survival mode. I note for my own reference: Miye said he left you in the protection of his trusted friend named Nir Busveldt. Either you both fled to Vinlandia or…

  I told your Baba, no more wallowing. We had found each other and we could find you, too, Brivo.

  Dahrine rouses and nods. “I agree that Susine and Prof are together again. Now, Seebi, the President eradicates Glia.”

  When working with humans, keep on course. I continue narrating.

  “The Body President declared, 'Jenna, I want to flood CoMem with Glia Markham's image and the fact that she's a traitor, a wanted fugitive in our midst, a danger, an aberration.'

  “Jenna nodded vigorously. 'Yes, Madame, the citizens need to hate her. She's a criminal and action must be taken.'

  “Adviser Britmeyer disagreed. 'I know she's been an eyesore, but true-tell she's a forgettable humiliation, Madame.'

  “The President wasted not a moment. 'Wrong! She's a mem terrorist who worked with my enemy! I won't stop until I have eradicated all risks to my balanced citizens.'

  “Britmeyer dug in and addressed the President by her first name. 'No one cares, Elena. You're obsessed with this Glia Markham and now you want to use CoMem to pursue your personal vendetta!'

  “The President swiveled her head to stare at her adviser.

  “Britmeyer continued recklessly. 'It didn’t have to be this way. I would've smoothly avoided the situation getting to this point, and you know it, Elena. But, you shut me out. And, you abandoned my daughter when she sacrificed her brain for you--'

  “The President took charge. 'Roxan Britmeyer, I've tolerated your overcautious, weak, can't-do tone for too long. Clearly, you don't believe in the capacity of CoMem. You don't believe in me as your Captain.'

  “The President walked behind her. 'This is where we empty the bilge.'

  “Jenna swiftly passed an injector to the President. She jabbed it into Britmeyer's neck, causing her to slump to the floor.

  “The President did not miss a beat. 'Jenna, you're promoted, effective immediately. First task: rid this.' The President indicated Britmeyer's body. 'And then, scrub that.' The President tapped her index finger on Jenna's temple and left.

  “Jenna telecommed the Sani Department. 'Send your nearest two workers to the presidential chamber in the Cylinder for urgent disposal duty.'”

  “I know what happens next to Susine, Seebi.”

  “Please tell it, Dahrine.”

  “Me? Now?”

  “Yes. I am here to help.”

  My human takes a breath and starts in. Her voice stutters, but is audible. “So, today I was puttering along on my route, sweeping up wrappings and junky things, when another Sani worker approached in a trolley-hauler... and said to get aboard, that we've got an urgent disposal assignment in the presidential chamber.

  “As we transported ourselves there, he hummed the Sani jingle: dust and detritus do not deter us. You know that one, Seebi? It's always on the transmissions we watch in the warren. Anyways, when I first saw that body, unmoving on the floor, I thought: shub, where can I possibly put it back to the earth?”

  My human exhales and asks me to take over. Her progress is notable. I continue, broadcasting in her voice.

  I watched the Sani worker winch the corpus up the ramp of his trolley-hauler and sign off on the death certificate.

  Then, he delegated to me. “Take the hauler, it's equipped for the trip to the crush station. And, here, use the checklist. When the President is involved we know to be particular about protocol, right-so?”

  He left me to manage... with no vultures or beetles.

  The checklist dictated that I secure the travel membrane over the corpus. As soon as I snapped it in place, the coordinates for the crush station loaded into the navigation system.

  Departure was on hold until I weighed in aboard the hauler. Evidently, I was required to accompany in the open-air sidecar adjacent to the corpus.

  We glided upward and I could see the vast, private, aerial greenbelts that were invisible to me as a groundling. They spanned between building islands, casting shade in near total coverage. The direct sunshine singed my eyes. My stomach clenched with sudden vertigo, as Earth shrank away below me.

  I instinctively reached out to place my palm on the corpus next to me… and thought I detected the chest rise through the membrane. As the hauler accelerated, high above the ground, I closed my eyes and again felt the covered human body seem to breathe.

  I demanded a landing as soon as possible. Six minutes later, the hauler touched down on sparsely settled land, in a rocky, open area beyond city limits.

  The stop was officially noted as: Trajectory paused to enable human operator to address personal waste disposal needs.

  The bot set the timer for five minutes. As quickly as possible, I jumped off, ran into the woods, and hid behind a tree, panting and--

  “Stop, Seebi! That's not what Susine and I would do in that situation.”

  “Indeed? Pray tell what you would do, Dahrine.”

  Create opportunities to test your human's emotional extrapolation and assess the degree of mem bonding.