Dashing devil 5 bold beg.., p.5
Dashing Devil 5: Bold Beginnings, page 5
“Hellooo, handsome,” Tinker’s AI grandmother purred at him, dragging out the o.
Tinker, who now looked even more startled than she did at his arrival, spun back around and gasped, “Granny, what the hell are you doing!?”
“Hahahahaha,” the warm but aged voice chortled as the image flickered and the image of what a grandmother was supposed to be returned. She was on the shorter side, though still a foot taller than her granddaughter, and pleasantly plump from a life of good eating and comfortable conditions as she aged. She looked healthy and spry, if not in the best shape.
Pale blue eyes sparkled with mirth as she had a laugh at her granddaughter’s expense from behind silver-rimmed half-moon glasses. A curly mass of white hair kept in the simple style of someone who decided that there were more important things to deal with than hair care topped her head. Now, Tinker’s grandmother wore a simple green top with a blue flower pattern over a long skirt with a white apron tied over her waist. She had heavy laugh lines around her mouth and eyes, currently exaggerated by her active chortling.
“Sorry dear, but I do identify as a woman. Wouldn’t any woman want to look their best when a man like your Boyd walks into the room?”
“That’s gross, Granny! Please don’t do that ever again,” Tinker complained before the panic of Boyd’s sudden arrival kicked back in and she spun around to face him.
He didn’t like the terror he sensed from her—not that he needed their Bond for that, given how much of it showed in her big hazel eyes. “Hey,” Boyd said immediately, “no one is going to take your grandmother away, I promise.”
He paused in the doorway, not wanting to close in just yet and risk spooking her.
“Really?” Tinker asked, beautiful hope in her tone.
He felt and appreciated the weight the words ‘I promise’ from him carried for her. “Yes,” Boyd assured her. “You are a Hero, which means there are a bunch of options normal folks don’t have, but we can talk about that in a minute. First, I think it would be polite if you introduced me to your grandmother.”
The hope in Tinker’s eyes flowed into sparkling delight as a huge smile split her delicate lips.
He paused to appreciate his smallest love’s cute dimples and other assets. Her now more obvious copper highlights looked nice in her brown hair which had been woven into twin braids that fell over her chest. The wonderfully soft, light pink romper that covered only the very tops of her thighs had a few buttons left undone at the top.
After taking his moment, Boyd strode forward to stand next to her, holding out his hand for her to hold. She took it with a grin and turned to face her grandmother. “Granny, this is Boyd. Boyd, this is Granny. She’s an AI who has been with me since I was elven.”
“Oh, you’ve got to tell him my first words to you, dear,” Granny chortled.
“Granny…” Tinker blushed, sounding embarrassed again. “Can’t we talk about that later…”
“Nope!” Granny exclaimed as she transformed into a little green man with long ears who suddenly picked up several hundred years’ worth of warts, age-spots, and wrinkles. This figure stated firmly, “She is too old. Yes, too old to begin the training.”
Boyd blinked, then chuckled at the perfect imitation of a certain mentor figure from Tinker’s favorite movie franchise.
“Granny!” Tinker sounded more embarrassed than ever.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Granny,” Boyd addressed her as she had been introduced, assuming he would be corrected if it wasn’t appropriate. “And let me add that your impression was impeccable.”
“The pleasure is all mine, grandson,” Granny beamed back at him, so he must have gotten it right. “I’m just going to go ahead and drop the ‘in-law’… too much of a mouthful. And thank you, Aiden did love his little jokes. That one was programmed in me. Well, it was either that or ‘you’re a wizard, Emilia’… as determined by a random number generator. I’m glad I rolled what I did considering that Yoda is right in my name.”
For some reason, Boyd felt another spike of panic over their bond when Granny said ‘Emilia.’ Tinker was terrified he might make a big deal about it. He did want to talk to her about her family, and about her name—but would wait for her to bring either subject up.
Speaking of the Bells, though, he did have a question for Granny. “I don’t mean to be impolite, but does that mean that Aiden Bell created you?” Boyd wasn’t sure what the etiquette was for conversations with an AI. He also made a mental note to come back around to that Yoda quip.
“Yes, Aiden created me to someday help my wonderful little granddaughter.” Granny kept beaming at him. “I was left in an observation mode for just under three centuries, waiting for a descendant of his to have a Power similar to his own. He realized that his abilities greatly benefitted from AI assistance when he was a bit older and wanted to give his ancestor a leg up.”
“Wow, and you’ve kept her secret all these years?” Boyd smiled down at his crafty inventor. That was no small feat.
“Granny did all the real work,” Tinker replied shyly, looking up at him from under her long lashes.
“Don’t be so modest, dear,” Granny chided. “You’ve built me several well-hidden and secure connection points over the years. You managed to keep all but two… well, now three… members of The Authority from learning of my existence. And, I might add, the first two cheated and used resources from outside The Authority to find out about me.”
“Silvie and Mindy?” Boyd asked to confirm his guess; they were the logical choices.
“Yes,” Tinker replied softly as she sidled a little closer to him, grabbing his thigh with the hand that wasn’t clutching his hand. She gazed up at him with those big hazel eyes of hers and he felt another wave of uneasiness course down their Bond. “You really aren’t mad? Mindy said you wouldn’t be, and Silvie was sure you would have a fix. But… keeping Granny was illegal. That doesn’t concern you—at all? Part of me knew you wouldn’t turn us in, but I thought you would at least be angry I brought her here.”
Chapter 4
Boyd chuckled and made a judgment call based on the personality Granny had displayed so far. After wrapping his wing around Tinker, he rumbled, “I might be mad enough to deliver a light spanking, but only if it would make you feel better.” He ended with a wink down at his smallest love.
Tinker’s cheeks went right back to a cherry red flush as Granny let out a delighted chortle.
Boyd grinned down at his love as he continued, “Was I mad at Silvie or Mindy for essentially tricking me into joining the rebels?”
“No,” Tinker replied shyly. “But that was different, you were literally being mind-controlled and they freed you from it. And you know… all of the other differences that made their secret so… well, different. What they did was all for you. Keeping Granny secret was for me.”
“Well, sure, but I still share the Bond with you. Don’t forget, I’ve been you. I knew you would be willing to hide someone from The Authority, but not someone I would have reason to be angry about. I’m sure Granny is an upright and moral AI who is nothing but helpful and has no desire to take over the world and subjugate us meat bags to her tireless overlordship.” Boyd grinned up at Granny’s image with the last line.
“Oh, certainly… not at my age,” Granny said and then chortled again. “Maybe if a charming devil such as yourself had asked me to when I was a couple hundred years younger. Although, I suppose I might still be convinced…” Her image flashed back briefly to the boudoir hottie. “Age is just a number after all.”
“Granny…” Tinker whined while Boyd chuckled. “Please stop making passes at my… Boyd.”
He tugged her a little closer at the possessive language, even if she’d been uncertain as to what label to apply to their relationship.
“That wasn’t a pass, dear.” Granny grinned. “That was inviting him to make a pass at me.”
Boyd could tell there was nothing behind the light flirtation other than messing with her shy granddaughter. That didn’t stop Tinker from giving him a worried look in her concern that he might take Granny up on the invitation. He gave Tinker a warm smile before turning back to Granny.
“I’m afraid that there is currently only room in my heart for one Bell woman—as lovely and impressive as you may be. Is this your… core?” He nodded to the box he’d helped carry. “Again, I don’t mean to be rude, but my understanding is that AIs usually require quite a bit of hardware to maintain sentience.”
A twinkle entered Granny’s pale blue eyes as she replied, "Ah, it's all thanks to my Nano Nebula, my dear. This tiny marvel of technology houses my consciousness in a highly efficient manner. It utilizes both nanotechnology and quantum computing, allowing me to operate at the highest level of sentience while remaining trim and portable."
Boyd realized then that GRANNY was an acronym and he needed three more letters. He couldn’t help but be impressed. The semi-sentient AI that operated many of the functions of The Tower back in Glorith City had a six-hundred-square-foot core room and was considered advanced.
"That's incredible, Granny.”
"Indeed, my boy.” Granny beamed at him, having obviously developed or been programmed with an ego. “Aiden Bell, my creator, was a visionary in the field of AI and nanotechnology. He managed to compress an immense amount of computing power into this little box by having nanomachines address the instability of quantum computing at this scale. It’s power intensive, but I think I’m worth it.”
“She’s why I’m able to make things so quickly,” Tinker added, becoming more animated, with her words picking up speed as she spoke. “She is fantastic at statistical modeling and also helps me access existing designs to modify and improve upon them. It works perfectly with my Power because I have to know about things to use them. She’s like… the perfect database with ideal search functionality. She also helps speed up the programing process… by a lot.”
“That’s wonderful,” Boyd smiled down at his tiny inventor, wondering if Granny might be part of why she had so much trouble accepting her own achievements.
“For all that, I’m not very creative,” Granny stepped in, assuaging his concerns immediately. “It’s right in my name, Generational Resource Assistant, Nano Nebula Yoda.” Boyd got the impression Aiden might have been reaching a little. “I’m a helper. Everything Tinker creates is the product of my wonderful granddaughter’s amazing mind. Such an amazing amount of smarts packed in that beautiful little package, don’t you think Boyd?”
“She impresses me every day,” Boyd smiled down at his little love.
“T-thank you,” Tinker’s cheeks flushed as she dropped her eyes.
But at least she’d accepted the compliment; this was progress.
“And thank you for helping make Tinker’s job easier, Granny,” Boyd turned back to Granny. “We’ll get you registered, so no one has to worry about you being separated from your granddaughter.”
“I’m a little curious about how you plan to get that done,” Granny replied. Her body language conveyed that she wasn’t questioning his ability to do it; she was telling him she was prepared to be impressed. She really was quite lifelike for a digital being.
“The rules are quite clear. You need to register an AI before activating it and The Authority insists on doing a deep review of the programming before they activate it under controlled conditions outside of the creator's presence.”
“Yes, but we are Heroes, which gives us a few different avenues to consider,” Boyd gave a single-shoulder shrug, “the simplest being Tinker building herself a powered suit you can remotely integrate with.”
“The Hero’s Handbook makes it very clear that the registration and activation requirements apply to Heroes just the same as anyone else.” Granny frowned at him.
“The Hero’s Handbook does say that,” Boyd nodded his agreement, “because it is a publicly available document where The Authority needs to display its firm stance against artificial sentience. Unfortunately, a few bad actors have created a negative image for all AI, but from the numbers that I’ve seen, most AI are happy doing whatever job they were intended to do and maintain basic social interactions.
“But you have to look deeper than the average civilian either has the patience or access to for those numbers. If you have the patience and the access, you might discover that Heroes occasionally get AIs registered after activation and can even get around the programing review… depending on the circumstances.”
Boyd also suspected the patience for it required an asshole of a Mentor who insisted you review judicial decrees and rulings made by historic Tribunals, individual Directors, and the Judges appointed by influential Directors. He decided that part didn’t need to be said right now.
“Tinker never would let me access the legal databases.” Granny rolled her eyes.
“Access to those systems is extensively monitored.” Tinker sighed. “I was sure you would set off an alarm and get us caught.”
“For good reason,” Boyd rumbled and gave Tinker a reassuring squeeze. “They have their own AI monitoring it to detect things like changes in reading pace or even unusual shifts in research material. It was a pain in the ass, and flagged me at least once a month when I accessed the system regularly.”
“Anyway, the next steps are simple. You said she interacts with your Power?” Boyd asked Tinker.
“Mhmm,” Tinker nodded, “she gets me access to and organizes the raw data I need for my Power to work most efficiently.”
“Perfect. What does your activation log show, Granny?” Boyd turned back to the big screen.
“I wasn’t designed to keep such logs.” Granny smirked knowingly. She was likely designed specifically not to keep such logs.
“Perfect.” Boyd nodded. “We’ll have Royce file the paperwork to make it seem like Granny was accidently born out of a learning program for a powered suit Tinker is building herself. It will have to be pretty advanced to justify AI integration, but I don’t imagine that will be a problem for Tink.”
“Wait, why would I need to build myself a powered suit?” Tinker asked, tugging on his shorts where her hand still gripped his thigh.
He looped his tail along her pink knee sock-covered ankle in return.
“I don’t want a suit. I’m base support. Your gear has learning programming, couldn’t we just say she was born from that?”
“Because my gear isn’t advanced enough and, before you suggest it, I don’t want it to be.” Boyd smiled gently when Tinker pouted at him for cutting off her next suggestion. “I would have to train up on how to do field repairs on it, and well,” he wiggled his big crimson mitt that wasn’t still holding her tiny hand, “equipment that qualifies typically involves a lot of fiddly bits too small for me to manipulate.”
“But… I don’t want to go back to the field.” Tinker kept pouting. “Why would they approve a powered suit for a base support?”
“Because you are base support to a Hero The Authority has deemed ‘irreplaceable’ and it might come in handy if he is ever attacked while on base.” Boyd smiled down at her. “You’ve seen our budget, right? Do you really think anyone will put up a stink about registering an AI that just might keep me from falling into outside hands?”
“I guess not.” Tinker blinked. “But… does it have to be a powered suit?” She gave Granny a nervous look.
He sensed a dread growing in Tinker. Not liking it at all, he took a closer look. Gaining an understanding of the cause of his love’s emotions came a little easier after the boost he’d gained from Mindy’s having reached the Devoted level. Thanks to that, Boyd was able to discern that Tinker was about to lose a decade-long argument.
“A tech-user’s powered suit is the very pinnacle of their art,” Granny replied, revealing the nature of the argument. “You should have started working on it in middle school, dear. It is a travesty that you insist on wearing that tool rig instead.”
“Tech users who put on powered suits die,” Tinker replied firmly, stomping her foot. “All of them. The only exceptions to that are tech users who have at least some resistances.”
She pulled away from Boyd and looked up at him, a plea in her big hazel eyes. “Remember what you did to Archangel’s armor? You could do the same to your own. That’s as tough as armor comes. Powered suits don’t work.”
“Powered suits don’t work for brawling,” Boyd agreed. “Don’t design it for a brawl. Maximize maneuverability then defense, and include some combat capability because a good offense can be the best defense. Your focus should be mid to long-range offense. Hit and run… with an emphasis on ‘run’.”
“Sort of like my bracelets?” Tinker asked, glancing down at the twin pink bands that had become a permanent part of her wardrobe.
“Exactly like your bracelets,” Boyd agreed and stepped over to pull her back under his wing. “If you design it so that you can get into it quickly enough, you’ll even be able to use it for half of your evasion training.”
“And something like that would get approval for an AI registration?” Tinker asked, still skeptical. “It sounds more like I would be running away than protecting you.”
“In most cases, running away will be the best way for you to protect me,” Boyd rumbled with a smile. “I love you Tinker, but you are squishy. I’m going to worry about you in any combat situation. You getting out of the fight will allow me to act more freely... just like sometimes I’ll have to get out of Silvie’s way.”
Tinker’s cheeks picked up a little extra heat at being called squishy. He knew she liked feeling vulnerable and small—specifically with him, if not the rest of the world.
“Okay, I guess I could design something for mobility and… maybe recon? That’s the role I seem to have filled so far with the team, when everyone is in the field.”
“That would be perfect.” Boyd nodded his agreement. “You don’t have to rush it, but I’ll feel a lot more comfortable once you have it. We can keep Granny hidden for a while longer, but why risk it? Now, I overheard a conversation about showing me something important enough for Granny to decide it was time to reveal herself.”
Tinker, who now looked even more startled than she did at his arrival, spun back around and gasped, “Granny, what the hell are you doing!?”
“Hahahahaha,” the warm but aged voice chortled as the image flickered and the image of what a grandmother was supposed to be returned. She was on the shorter side, though still a foot taller than her granddaughter, and pleasantly plump from a life of good eating and comfortable conditions as she aged. She looked healthy and spry, if not in the best shape.
Pale blue eyes sparkled with mirth as she had a laugh at her granddaughter’s expense from behind silver-rimmed half-moon glasses. A curly mass of white hair kept in the simple style of someone who decided that there were more important things to deal with than hair care topped her head. Now, Tinker’s grandmother wore a simple green top with a blue flower pattern over a long skirt with a white apron tied over her waist. She had heavy laugh lines around her mouth and eyes, currently exaggerated by her active chortling.
“Sorry dear, but I do identify as a woman. Wouldn’t any woman want to look their best when a man like your Boyd walks into the room?”
“That’s gross, Granny! Please don’t do that ever again,” Tinker complained before the panic of Boyd’s sudden arrival kicked back in and she spun around to face him.
He didn’t like the terror he sensed from her—not that he needed their Bond for that, given how much of it showed in her big hazel eyes. “Hey,” Boyd said immediately, “no one is going to take your grandmother away, I promise.”
He paused in the doorway, not wanting to close in just yet and risk spooking her.
“Really?” Tinker asked, beautiful hope in her tone.
He felt and appreciated the weight the words ‘I promise’ from him carried for her. “Yes,” Boyd assured her. “You are a Hero, which means there are a bunch of options normal folks don’t have, but we can talk about that in a minute. First, I think it would be polite if you introduced me to your grandmother.”
The hope in Tinker’s eyes flowed into sparkling delight as a huge smile split her delicate lips.
He paused to appreciate his smallest love’s cute dimples and other assets. Her now more obvious copper highlights looked nice in her brown hair which had been woven into twin braids that fell over her chest. The wonderfully soft, light pink romper that covered only the very tops of her thighs had a few buttons left undone at the top.
After taking his moment, Boyd strode forward to stand next to her, holding out his hand for her to hold. She took it with a grin and turned to face her grandmother. “Granny, this is Boyd. Boyd, this is Granny. She’s an AI who has been with me since I was elven.”
“Oh, you’ve got to tell him my first words to you, dear,” Granny chortled.
“Granny…” Tinker blushed, sounding embarrassed again. “Can’t we talk about that later…”
“Nope!” Granny exclaimed as she transformed into a little green man with long ears who suddenly picked up several hundred years’ worth of warts, age-spots, and wrinkles. This figure stated firmly, “She is too old. Yes, too old to begin the training.”
Boyd blinked, then chuckled at the perfect imitation of a certain mentor figure from Tinker’s favorite movie franchise.
“Granny!” Tinker sounded more embarrassed than ever.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Granny,” Boyd addressed her as she had been introduced, assuming he would be corrected if it wasn’t appropriate. “And let me add that your impression was impeccable.”
“The pleasure is all mine, grandson,” Granny beamed back at him, so he must have gotten it right. “I’m just going to go ahead and drop the ‘in-law’… too much of a mouthful. And thank you, Aiden did love his little jokes. That one was programmed in me. Well, it was either that or ‘you’re a wizard, Emilia’… as determined by a random number generator. I’m glad I rolled what I did considering that Yoda is right in my name.”
For some reason, Boyd felt another spike of panic over their bond when Granny said ‘Emilia.’ Tinker was terrified he might make a big deal about it. He did want to talk to her about her family, and about her name—but would wait for her to bring either subject up.
Speaking of the Bells, though, he did have a question for Granny. “I don’t mean to be impolite, but does that mean that Aiden Bell created you?” Boyd wasn’t sure what the etiquette was for conversations with an AI. He also made a mental note to come back around to that Yoda quip.
“Yes, Aiden created me to someday help my wonderful little granddaughter.” Granny kept beaming at him. “I was left in an observation mode for just under three centuries, waiting for a descendant of his to have a Power similar to his own. He realized that his abilities greatly benefitted from AI assistance when he was a bit older and wanted to give his ancestor a leg up.”
“Wow, and you’ve kept her secret all these years?” Boyd smiled down at his crafty inventor. That was no small feat.
“Granny did all the real work,” Tinker replied shyly, looking up at him from under her long lashes.
“Don’t be so modest, dear,” Granny chided. “You’ve built me several well-hidden and secure connection points over the years. You managed to keep all but two… well, now three… members of The Authority from learning of my existence. And, I might add, the first two cheated and used resources from outside The Authority to find out about me.”
“Silvie and Mindy?” Boyd asked to confirm his guess; they were the logical choices.
“Yes,” Tinker replied softly as she sidled a little closer to him, grabbing his thigh with the hand that wasn’t clutching his hand. She gazed up at him with those big hazel eyes of hers and he felt another wave of uneasiness course down their Bond. “You really aren’t mad? Mindy said you wouldn’t be, and Silvie was sure you would have a fix. But… keeping Granny was illegal. That doesn’t concern you—at all? Part of me knew you wouldn’t turn us in, but I thought you would at least be angry I brought her here.”
Chapter 4
Boyd chuckled and made a judgment call based on the personality Granny had displayed so far. After wrapping his wing around Tinker, he rumbled, “I might be mad enough to deliver a light spanking, but only if it would make you feel better.” He ended with a wink down at his smallest love.
Tinker’s cheeks went right back to a cherry red flush as Granny let out a delighted chortle.
Boyd grinned down at his love as he continued, “Was I mad at Silvie or Mindy for essentially tricking me into joining the rebels?”
“No,” Tinker replied shyly. “But that was different, you were literally being mind-controlled and they freed you from it. And you know… all of the other differences that made their secret so… well, different. What they did was all for you. Keeping Granny secret was for me.”
“Well, sure, but I still share the Bond with you. Don’t forget, I’ve been you. I knew you would be willing to hide someone from The Authority, but not someone I would have reason to be angry about. I’m sure Granny is an upright and moral AI who is nothing but helpful and has no desire to take over the world and subjugate us meat bags to her tireless overlordship.” Boyd grinned up at Granny’s image with the last line.
“Oh, certainly… not at my age,” Granny said and then chortled again. “Maybe if a charming devil such as yourself had asked me to when I was a couple hundred years younger. Although, I suppose I might still be convinced…” Her image flashed back briefly to the boudoir hottie. “Age is just a number after all.”
“Granny…” Tinker whined while Boyd chuckled. “Please stop making passes at my… Boyd.”
He tugged her a little closer at the possessive language, even if she’d been uncertain as to what label to apply to their relationship.
“That wasn’t a pass, dear.” Granny grinned. “That was inviting him to make a pass at me.”
Boyd could tell there was nothing behind the light flirtation other than messing with her shy granddaughter. That didn’t stop Tinker from giving him a worried look in her concern that he might take Granny up on the invitation. He gave Tinker a warm smile before turning back to Granny.
“I’m afraid that there is currently only room in my heart for one Bell woman—as lovely and impressive as you may be. Is this your… core?” He nodded to the box he’d helped carry. “Again, I don’t mean to be rude, but my understanding is that AIs usually require quite a bit of hardware to maintain sentience.”
A twinkle entered Granny’s pale blue eyes as she replied, "Ah, it's all thanks to my Nano Nebula, my dear. This tiny marvel of technology houses my consciousness in a highly efficient manner. It utilizes both nanotechnology and quantum computing, allowing me to operate at the highest level of sentience while remaining trim and portable."
Boyd realized then that GRANNY was an acronym and he needed three more letters. He couldn’t help but be impressed. The semi-sentient AI that operated many of the functions of The Tower back in Glorith City had a six-hundred-square-foot core room and was considered advanced.
"That's incredible, Granny.”
"Indeed, my boy.” Granny beamed at him, having obviously developed or been programmed with an ego. “Aiden Bell, my creator, was a visionary in the field of AI and nanotechnology. He managed to compress an immense amount of computing power into this little box by having nanomachines address the instability of quantum computing at this scale. It’s power intensive, but I think I’m worth it.”
“She’s why I’m able to make things so quickly,” Tinker added, becoming more animated, with her words picking up speed as she spoke. “She is fantastic at statistical modeling and also helps me access existing designs to modify and improve upon them. It works perfectly with my Power because I have to know about things to use them. She’s like… the perfect database with ideal search functionality. She also helps speed up the programing process… by a lot.”
“That’s wonderful,” Boyd smiled down at his tiny inventor, wondering if Granny might be part of why she had so much trouble accepting her own achievements.
“For all that, I’m not very creative,” Granny stepped in, assuaging his concerns immediately. “It’s right in my name, Generational Resource Assistant, Nano Nebula Yoda.” Boyd got the impression Aiden might have been reaching a little. “I’m a helper. Everything Tinker creates is the product of my wonderful granddaughter’s amazing mind. Such an amazing amount of smarts packed in that beautiful little package, don’t you think Boyd?”
“She impresses me every day,” Boyd smiled down at his little love.
“T-thank you,” Tinker’s cheeks flushed as she dropped her eyes.
But at least she’d accepted the compliment; this was progress.
“And thank you for helping make Tinker’s job easier, Granny,” Boyd turned back to Granny. “We’ll get you registered, so no one has to worry about you being separated from your granddaughter.”
“I’m a little curious about how you plan to get that done,” Granny replied. Her body language conveyed that she wasn’t questioning his ability to do it; she was telling him she was prepared to be impressed. She really was quite lifelike for a digital being.
“The rules are quite clear. You need to register an AI before activating it and The Authority insists on doing a deep review of the programming before they activate it under controlled conditions outside of the creator's presence.”
“Yes, but we are Heroes, which gives us a few different avenues to consider,” Boyd gave a single-shoulder shrug, “the simplest being Tinker building herself a powered suit you can remotely integrate with.”
“The Hero’s Handbook makes it very clear that the registration and activation requirements apply to Heroes just the same as anyone else.” Granny frowned at him.
“The Hero’s Handbook does say that,” Boyd nodded his agreement, “because it is a publicly available document where The Authority needs to display its firm stance against artificial sentience. Unfortunately, a few bad actors have created a negative image for all AI, but from the numbers that I’ve seen, most AI are happy doing whatever job they were intended to do and maintain basic social interactions.
“But you have to look deeper than the average civilian either has the patience or access to for those numbers. If you have the patience and the access, you might discover that Heroes occasionally get AIs registered after activation and can even get around the programing review… depending on the circumstances.”
Boyd also suspected the patience for it required an asshole of a Mentor who insisted you review judicial decrees and rulings made by historic Tribunals, individual Directors, and the Judges appointed by influential Directors. He decided that part didn’t need to be said right now.
“Tinker never would let me access the legal databases.” Granny rolled her eyes.
“Access to those systems is extensively monitored.” Tinker sighed. “I was sure you would set off an alarm and get us caught.”
“For good reason,” Boyd rumbled and gave Tinker a reassuring squeeze. “They have their own AI monitoring it to detect things like changes in reading pace or even unusual shifts in research material. It was a pain in the ass, and flagged me at least once a month when I accessed the system regularly.”
“Anyway, the next steps are simple. You said she interacts with your Power?” Boyd asked Tinker.
“Mhmm,” Tinker nodded, “she gets me access to and organizes the raw data I need for my Power to work most efficiently.”
“Perfect. What does your activation log show, Granny?” Boyd turned back to the big screen.
“I wasn’t designed to keep such logs.” Granny smirked knowingly. She was likely designed specifically not to keep such logs.
“Perfect.” Boyd nodded. “We’ll have Royce file the paperwork to make it seem like Granny was accidently born out of a learning program for a powered suit Tinker is building herself. It will have to be pretty advanced to justify AI integration, but I don’t imagine that will be a problem for Tink.”
“Wait, why would I need to build myself a powered suit?” Tinker asked, tugging on his shorts where her hand still gripped his thigh.
He looped his tail along her pink knee sock-covered ankle in return.
“I don’t want a suit. I’m base support. Your gear has learning programming, couldn’t we just say she was born from that?”
“Because my gear isn’t advanced enough and, before you suggest it, I don’t want it to be.” Boyd smiled gently when Tinker pouted at him for cutting off her next suggestion. “I would have to train up on how to do field repairs on it, and well,” he wiggled his big crimson mitt that wasn’t still holding her tiny hand, “equipment that qualifies typically involves a lot of fiddly bits too small for me to manipulate.”
“But… I don’t want to go back to the field.” Tinker kept pouting. “Why would they approve a powered suit for a base support?”
“Because you are base support to a Hero The Authority has deemed ‘irreplaceable’ and it might come in handy if he is ever attacked while on base.” Boyd smiled down at her. “You’ve seen our budget, right? Do you really think anyone will put up a stink about registering an AI that just might keep me from falling into outside hands?”
“I guess not.” Tinker blinked. “But… does it have to be a powered suit?” She gave Granny a nervous look.
He sensed a dread growing in Tinker. Not liking it at all, he took a closer look. Gaining an understanding of the cause of his love’s emotions came a little easier after the boost he’d gained from Mindy’s having reached the Devoted level. Thanks to that, Boyd was able to discern that Tinker was about to lose a decade-long argument.
“A tech-user’s powered suit is the very pinnacle of their art,” Granny replied, revealing the nature of the argument. “You should have started working on it in middle school, dear. It is a travesty that you insist on wearing that tool rig instead.”
“Tech users who put on powered suits die,” Tinker replied firmly, stomping her foot. “All of them. The only exceptions to that are tech users who have at least some resistances.”
She pulled away from Boyd and looked up at him, a plea in her big hazel eyes. “Remember what you did to Archangel’s armor? You could do the same to your own. That’s as tough as armor comes. Powered suits don’t work.”
“Powered suits don’t work for brawling,” Boyd agreed. “Don’t design it for a brawl. Maximize maneuverability then defense, and include some combat capability because a good offense can be the best defense. Your focus should be mid to long-range offense. Hit and run… with an emphasis on ‘run’.”
“Sort of like my bracelets?” Tinker asked, glancing down at the twin pink bands that had become a permanent part of her wardrobe.
“Exactly like your bracelets,” Boyd agreed and stepped over to pull her back under his wing. “If you design it so that you can get into it quickly enough, you’ll even be able to use it for half of your evasion training.”
“And something like that would get approval for an AI registration?” Tinker asked, still skeptical. “It sounds more like I would be running away than protecting you.”
“In most cases, running away will be the best way for you to protect me,” Boyd rumbled with a smile. “I love you Tinker, but you are squishy. I’m going to worry about you in any combat situation. You getting out of the fight will allow me to act more freely... just like sometimes I’ll have to get out of Silvie’s way.”
Tinker’s cheeks picked up a little extra heat at being called squishy. He knew she liked feeling vulnerable and small—specifically with him, if not the rest of the world.
“Okay, I guess I could design something for mobility and… maybe recon? That’s the role I seem to have filled so far with the team, when everyone is in the field.”
“That would be perfect.” Boyd nodded his agreement. “You don’t have to rush it, but I’ll feel a lot more comfortable once you have it. We can keep Granny hidden for a while longer, but why risk it? Now, I overheard a conversation about showing me something important enough for Granny to decide it was time to reveal herself.”
