1 hour ago
Mr. Parker stopped talking to her quite abruptly. She briefly wondered if she had offended him with her quietness, but all she saw in him when she looked was a luminous, innocent eagerness. He was jittery with it, even the rest of the food on his plate forgotten by now. It was more likely she had just been disappointing to him, and his attention had moved on. That wasn’t something she was unaccustomed to, though it didn’t make the sting any less - it was quite a feat to feel alone in a room full of people. As he eagerly directed himself back to grilling Luma instead, he shot her a wink and smile as though to imply he was trying not to bother her. He wasn’t, or not in the way he might think. But Faith said nothing else, just carefully continued her lunch – and listened to the AI talking animatedly with her own voice.
"Dr. Devere’s department created me so you are right to think it is my favourite, Mr Parker. I owe them everything!
Paragon has many interesting internal divisions, and many talented doctors and scientists. The parameters for “fun” are quite broad and it is not a term I can find in our highlight reel of recent achievements. I can list them for you if you require. You will already be familiar with Cybernetics, of course! But I do have a clear second favourite, since you have asked for my opinion specifically. Unfortunately, Mr. Parker, the information is classified."
Luma was joking with him again. Reacting to his cues. Matching his tone. Faith smiled to herself quietly. And then she saw him coming. She didn’t look directly, at least not at first, but she was suddenly aware. Sharp blue suit, magnetic air. His gaze honed with absolute confidence on her table, his stride towards it purposeful; it was always as if the world bent around him rather than the other way around. But that was just the sort of man Luther Audaire was.
For a moment his attention completely stilled her. A lightness lifted Faith’s chest, hopeful, and for a split second longer she believed he was coming to speak to her. But the realisation dawned cold as soon as he paused only to impart a polite, professional nod in her direction. His attention was already elsewhere, in the hand he extended instead to the man who had sat himself at her table.
“Mr. Parker, a pleasure. Luther Audaire, Director of the AI Division here at Paragon. I see you are acquainting yourself with Luma. She’s a marvel, is she not?”
"She is. Amazing."
Mr. Parker continued – enthusiastically detailing technical things he’d noticed, much as he had with her, but where Faith absorbed the feedback like a blackhole, Luther engaged with it effortlessly. She watched with a sinking feeling as they bonded over the AI whose empathy core was derived from the flesh and blood woman sitting opposite them. Every Luma was unique, adaptable to the user’s needs, but they all evolved from the same seed, and that seed was Faith. The dissonance floated in the back of her skull. She felt herself detaching. It wasn’t her professional pride that was injured. Audaire was brilliant; he always had been, and he fed Mr. Parker’s curiosity in a way she didn’t know how to. It was something in the way Dr Audaire looked at Mr. Parker that made her heart stumble. A way he’d once looked at her.
She felt an itch of panic. Tried to calculate exactly how much longer it would take to finish her lunch, so that she could leave. Her stomach curdled over the thought of eating more, though. She focused on her breathing instead, reached for her glass of water, and forced a sip. No one was watching her. She knew that.
With a laugh Audaire interrupted Mr. Parker’s chatter. He offered to escort him up to Mr. Haart’s office personally. They could continue the conversation on the way.
She watched them leave.
"Dr. Devere’s department created me so you are right to think it is my favourite, Mr Parker. I owe them everything!
Paragon has many interesting internal divisions, and many talented doctors and scientists. The parameters for “fun” are quite broad and it is not a term I can find in our highlight reel of recent achievements. I can list them for you if you require. You will already be familiar with Cybernetics, of course! But I do have a clear second favourite, since you have asked for my opinion specifically. Unfortunately, Mr. Parker, the information is classified."
Luma was joking with him again. Reacting to his cues. Matching his tone. Faith smiled to herself quietly. And then she saw him coming. She didn’t look directly, at least not at first, but she was suddenly aware. Sharp blue suit, magnetic air. His gaze honed with absolute confidence on her table, his stride towards it purposeful; it was always as if the world bent around him rather than the other way around. But that was just the sort of man Luther Audaire was.
For a moment his attention completely stilled her. A lightness lifted Faith’s chest, hopeful, and for a split second longer she believed he was coming to speak to her. But the realisation dawned cold as soon as he paused only to impart a polite, professional nod in her direction. His attention was already elsewhere, in the hand he extended instead to the man who had sat himself at her table.
“Mr. Parker, a pleasure. Luther Audaire, Director of the AI Division here at Paragon. I see you are acquainting yourself with Luma. She’s a marvel, is she not?”
"She is. Amazing."
Mr. Parker continued – enthusiastically detailing technical things he’d noticed, much as he had with her, but where Faith absorbed the feedback like a blackhole, Luther engaged with it effortlessly. She watched with a sinking feeling as they bonded over the AI whose empathy core was derived from the flesh and blood woman sitting opposite them. Every Luma was unique, adaptable to the user’s needs, but they all evolved from the same seed, and that seed was Faith. The dissonance floated in the back of her skull. She felt herself detaching. It wasn’t her professional pride that was injured. Audaire was brilliant; he always had been, and he fed Mr. Parker’s curiosity in a way she didn’t know how to. It was something in the way Dr Audaire looked at Mr. Parker that made her heart stumble. A way he’d once looked at her.
She felt an itch of panic. Tried to calculate exactly how much longer it would take to finish her lunch, so that she could leave. Her stomach curdled over the thought of eating more, though. She focused on her breathing instead, reached for her glass of water, and forced a sip. No one was watching her. She knew that.
With a laugh Audaire interrupted Mr. Parker’s chatter. He offered to escort him up to Mr. Haart’s office personally. They could continue the conversation on the way.
She watched them leave.