Public Secrets (Artificial Intelligence Book 1) by Liza O'Connor Page B
Authors: Liza O'Connor
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thought I was talking about computer programming, but I was talking about writing. Now that I’ve accepted these are real people, I can’t continue. I won’t do it. I’ll destroy your story. Nor will I ever write again.”
Luke thought her dramatic plea intriguing. She would have been more persuasive, however, if her claim weren’t so absurd. “I’m curious, Ms. Simon. How do you actually get these real stories if not by research? Do you hold a séance?”
***
Carla didn’t miss the mocking disbelief in the FBI agent’s voice. “You want to know?” she asked, seething in rage. “Then let me show you.” She grabbed the laptop off the couch and sat down at the desk. After booting it up and logging in, she went into the character directory. “First I choose a main character from one of the characterizations I’ve created over the last twenty years. This one looks promising: Luke Gallagher.” She hit enter. “Now for a heroine: Julie Ogden.” Again she hit the key.
“That’s enough!” Luke snapped, slamming the lid of the computer down. “I don’t know how you—”
“No, you wanted to see how I write, so I’m going to show you. Carla pushed the screen back up. “Now we need secondary characters...” She randomly selected names from both the men and women lists, not even paying attention to the selection. “Finally, I’ll bring up a blank page and begin my story.”
***
Luke watched her fingers fly across the keyboard. On the screen, the story of his life began to unfold, starting in his senior year of college. He read the details of how he’d met and fallen in love with a junior named Julie Ogden. Carla’s description of his feelings the first time he’d seen her enter English lit was more precise than his own memories. She portrayed their breakup six months later with frightening exactness, except there were details about Julie he had never known. Reasons for her anger and unjust accusations. Re-living his responses to her questions, now knowing what she knew, he understood why she had called him a liar and struck him across the face. God, had he really been that stupid back then?
Then the story split: her in New York City and him in California. Both were successful in work but complete failures in love. No one was ever quite right. He watched the power struggle in his office from the perspective of a reader, and suddenly actions that had seemed incomprehensible now made sense. All these years he had thought George Scott was his friend when in fact the bastard had been playing him and Tom off against each other.
“Chad, come look at this,” Luke whispered, not wanting to disturb Carla’s flow but wanting a witness to the story unfolding before him.
With reluctance, Chad stood behind Luke and read over his shoulder. Carla described the scene between Chad and Luke in his room exactly as it had happened, except in her version, Davis was listening at the adjoining door between their rooms.
She followed Luke as he interviewed people at the bank, the jewelry store, the gas station and finally at River Rats. When Luke left River Rats, the action remained at the site and a new character entered. He was only referred to as “the man”, but Carla whispered his name as he forced the lock and entered the room.
“It’s Eder.”
He obtained Luke’s room number from the hotel desk and waited for Luke to go out. When Luke drove to the mansion, so did Eder. He stopped and watched in a red car half a block up the hill.
Luke moved away from the screen and looked out the window. A red car was parked halfway up the road with a single occupant sitting inside. “This is fucking weird,” he murmured.
“This is a fucking mind game.” Chad glared at Carla. “And I’m not buying it for a second. You and Davis are working this together, aren’t you? That’s how you got the information. That’s how you came to be seated next to me on the plane.”
Carla turned off the computer and closed it
Luke thought her dramatic plea intriguing. She would have been more persuasive, however, if her claim weren’t so absurd. “I’m curious, Ms. Simon. How do you actually get these real stories if not by research? Do you hold a séance?”
***
Carla didn’t miss the mocking disbelief in the FBI agent’s voice. “You want to know?” she asked, seething in rage. “Then let me show you.” She grabbed the laptop off the couch and sat down at the desk. After booting it up and logging in, she went into the character directory. “First I choose a main character from one of the characterizations I’ve created over the last twenty years. This one looks promising: Luke Gallagher.” She hit enter. “Now for a heroine: Julie Ogden.” Again she hit the key.
“That’s enough!” Luke snapped, slamming the lid of the computer down. “I don’t know how you—”
“No, you wanted to see how I write, so I’m going to show you. Carla pushed the screen back up. “Now we need secondary characters...” She randomly selected names from both the men and women lists, not even paying attention to the selection. “Finally, I’ll bring up a blank page and begin my story.”
***
Luke watched her fingers fly across the keyboard. On the screen, the story of his life began to unfold, starting in his senior year of college. He read the details of how he’d met and fallen in love with a junior named Julie Ogden. Carla’s description of his feelings the first time he’d seen her enter English lit was more precise than his own memories. She portrayed their breakup six months later with frightening exactness, except there were details about Julie he had never known. Reasons for her anger and unjust accusations. Re-living his responses to her questions, now knowing what she knew, he understood why she had called him a liar and struck him across the face. God, had he really been that stupid back then?
Then the story split: her in New York City and him in California. Both were successful in work but complete failures in love. No one was ever quite right. He watched the power struggle in his office from the perspective of a reader, and suddenly actions that had seemed incomprehensible now made sense. All these years he had thought George Scott was his friend when in fact the bastard had been playing him and Tom off against each other.
“Chad, come look at this,” Luke whispered, not wanting to disturb Carla’s flow but wanting a witness to the story unfolding before him.
With reluctance, Chad stood behind Luke and read over his shoulder. Carla described the scene between Chad and Luke in his room exactly as it had happened, except in her version, Davis was listening at the adjoining door between their rooms.
She followed Luke as he interviewed people at the bank, the jewelry store, the gas station and finally at River Rats. When Luke left River Rats, the action remained at the site and a new character entered. He was only referred to as “the man”, but Carla whispered his name as he forced the lock and entered the room.
“It’s Eder.”
He obtained Luke’s room number from the hotel desk and waited for Luke to go out. When Luke drove to the mansion, so did Eder. He stopped and watched in a red car half a block up the hill.
Luke moved away from the screen and looked out the window. A red car was parked halfway up the road with a single occupant sitting inside. “This is fucking weird,” he murmured.
“This is a fucking mind game.” Chad glared at Carla. “And I’m not buying it for a second. You and Davis are working this together, aren’t you? That’s how you got the information. That’s how you came to be seated next to me on the plane.”
Carla turned off the computer and closed it
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