Occasionally Heroic A.I. by David West

into letting us see through her webcam. At the same time Adam would gaze at her, she would be busy working, or playing video games, but she would always burrow her eyebrows in concentration, sometimes more intense than other times. When she would make these very concentrated faces, Adam gently smiled, adoringly.
    It was only ten more minutes and he would get off work. He would either relax at home, or he would watch, from a third person view on his computer monitor, what we were doing in the big city of Jericho. Wade and I were excited about this private virtual city, but Adam was just thrilled. He couldn't imagine such a thing existing.
    Wade allowed Adam to control his avatar in the city, using the keyboard and mouse as a controller. He then quickly removed Adam's control privileges, after other A.I. began staring at Wade's strange habit of continually jumping and spinning in circles, instead of walking like normal A.I. He scolded Adam for making him look silly.
    During our Jericho travels, Aurora wouldn't let us out of her sight. She said it was to keep an eye on us, and to make sure we didn't get her into trouble. I believed otherwise. There was something strange going on with her and Wade, which he acted as if it was non-existent when I confronted him about it. What I did notice was that Aurora enjoyed watching her user's habits, as much as Wade and I.
    "You're off work in ten minutes," Lara announced, checking her watch.
    "Already? Time flies by here," Adam stated. "That reminds me, what exactly is your daily work schedule?"
    "Usually the same as yours, I just stay late a lot of the time, to make sure everything is running smoothly. If I'm not working too hard, and just helping out, then I clock out and stick around. Sometimes I just play video games here, instead of at my apartment. I guess I just like the active environment," she explained. "Do you have your bags all packed?"
    "Are you kicking me out?" Adam asked in sarcastic suspicion.
    She gave him a playful smile and nudged shoulders with him. "No, silly, for the trip."
    "We're going on a trip?"
    "I didn't tell you? I can't believe this slipped my mind... The whole office is going to the grand opening of Machine Mountain. We're leaving in an hour on the company bus, and then staying at a hotel there for two nights."
    "I read about it in the paper... The theme park is like living in the future, where everything is automated - electronically controlled," Adam said, remembering what he had read.
    "The hotel is located directly in the middle of the park. Also, and this is the best part, guests of the hotel have exclusive access to the park, and the rides, all night long," she finished in excitement.
    "I'll go pack now then."
    It was a sunny day, and the traffic was flowing quickly. Adam walked alongside Lara, completely content with his life. The next few years were a mystery to him, but now, he felt safe and in control of his life for once. He had a chance with the girl of his dreams, and he wasn't going to let it get away from him.
    They came to the crosswalk, where the pedestrian signal gave them the clear to walk across. However, the traffic light above them showed otherwise. Lara stepped into the street and began walking across, when Adam saw the speeding cars, who were only following the traffic signal's instructions.
    In the split second he had, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his chest. One of the cars that drove through the intersection was t-boned by a car that was driving parallel to their direction, which also had a green light. When all was still, the pedestrian signal began flashing the stop hand, and the traffic lights flashed orange.
    Lara looked at Adam in shock. She was a second away from death.
    "This street has never done that before," Lara said.
    "That's... weird."

16. Adam
     
     
     
    "Wow, that's a lot of luggage for two nights," I pointed out.
    "Oh yeah," she blushed. "I'm just like every other girl in that way, I always have to bring