| Part Twenty-Three: For All the Chocolate in the Matrix They relocated to the kitchen, where luckily there were enough chairs for all of them. Gemini had some initial trouble getting them to sit down, but stern looks from Smith earned all around compliance. Gemini took her time choosing what kind of chocolate would suit each Agent. If asked, she would have a tough time explaining why she chose the way she did. It just seemed appropriate. She had a lot to choose from. Each variety she owned had its own separate container; tins and boxes and canisters resided all through her kitchen cupboards. “Choosing just the right chocolate is important,” she told them. “Some people won’t eat anything but the most expensive Swiss imports, while others love the cheap domestic candy bars.” “You will eat any of it,” Smith said. Gemini frowned at him but decided not to start an argument. Her shoe squeaked on the linoleum floor when she turned back to her cupboards. “Lots of humans like chocolate,” she said. “Smith said it might be addictive...well, I’m happy to be a chocoholic.” She glanced at Smith when he said nothing. He had returned to his old blank Agent expression so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Finally she chose. Agent Brown got some of her best gourmet truffles, Jones got Tootsie Rolls. Gemini made a show of presenting each Agent with his treat. She thought Agent Brown would appreciate the rich mouth-watering expensive chocolate, while Agent Jones might be the type to like the extra chewing Tootsie Rolls required. “Why?” Jones asked. She shrugged. “Just intuition, I guess.” She refused to watch Brown because she already knew how his sneer would look and she wasn’t really in the mood to see his disapproval. Finally the Agents settled down to sample her favorite vice. Gemini herself dove into her stash of powdered chocolate drink mix. She licked her finger and dipped it directly into the canister. Smith refused to join in the feast. She decided not to pressure him. There were still some lines that she couldn’t cross with him. She was beginning to feel good again. It had been a while. Nine days of emotional ups and downs would test anyone’s internal strength. She remembered that was her biggest fear when she first became a Watcher: fear that she wouldn’t be strong enough. Before, she’d always sort of relied on others for her strength. First her family, then Derek, then for a while even Ephram. Ephram. Damn. Even thinking his name made her eyes sting a little with unshed tears. Gemini did her best to hide this from the three assembled at her table. She’d been lying to Tyger and to herself on the phone. Tyger had never really approved. Tyger had never really understood. Smith made a small noise, almost a snort. He’d been watching the silent group and must have picked up on Gemini’s sudden sadness. She made sure he noticed she was ignoring him and went back to her chocolate. Smith made the noise again. Of course he would think it another example of human triviality. “Your addictions as a species are numerous,” he said. “However, few of them lack such logic as does your focus on chocolate.” Gemini frowned at Smith’s smug superior attitude. She had to find something the AI would find addictive and show him that his focus too could be just as corrupted. He kept trying to distance himself from humanity. Eventually he’d find out that the two weren’t so alien to each other after all. If Smith had learned to feel, and if he could have the pride to deny it, he was more human than he used to be. “The texture is...unique,” Jones said after chewing another Tootsie Roll. “I thought you would like it. See?” Gemini said. Smith said nothing. She made a face at him. He almost made one in return, she could tell, but then he realized his colleagues were in the room. Jones’ expression changed to something closer to disgust. Gemini felt disappointed. Not everyone liked chocolate. Brown remained silent as he allowed a truffle to melt in his mouth. Gemini grinned. Maybe, just maybe she could win at least one more to the ranks of chocoholics. Smith refused to like it, but his team might be converted. Of course, no Agent would succumb so easily, not even to the wonder of chocolate. “What do you think, Agent Brown?” He looked slightly put out that since she spoke to him, he could no longer ignore her presence. “Is this high quality chocolate?” he asked. “Yep. It’s expensive, so don’t eat all I have.” Brown almost smirked. She wondered if he had picked up that mannerism from Smith. Jones stoically consumed nearly a quarter of her candies. A good sign, she decided. Brown mulled another piece of dark chocolate around in his mouth before declaring, “Several chemicals may be the cause of chocolate’s addictive nature.” “Yeah, but how does it taste?” Gemini asked. Brown looked at her as though something unusual had grown out of her forehead. “Taste is irrelevant.” “Taste is the most important part of the chocolate experience!” Brown ignored her outburst. “It may indeed be addictive to humans. Controlling humanity with such an addiction has possibilities...however, widespread application seems inefficient.” Brown pocketed several candies as though he needed reserves for further study. The others stared. Brown shrugged. Gemini decided not to point out how human a gesture that was. The AIs’ interaction reminded her of brothers. Briefly she wondered if Agents even had a sense of taste. They must have a sense of taste, Gemini decided. If, as Smith said, it was illogical to write an incomplete program, then the Agents must all be fully able to pass for human. That would mean they had all five senses. So why were Jones and Brown behaving as though chocolate didn’t affect them? Pride, perhaps. It wouldn’t do to demean oneself and enjoy a lowly human indulgence. Gemini wondered what Agents did for recreation. Tiddlywinks with manhole covers? Shoot bullets at each other to dodge? “Efficiency isn’t everything,” she said. That earned her three scowling faces. “Do not say that to a machine,” Smith said. Gemini stuck her tongue out at him. Suddenly, Jones stood up. “This is poor use of our time,” he said. “Chocolate is a base human indulgence.” The large Agent began going through her kitchen, opening drawers and observing the contents. Gemini let him. Her Watcher habits compelled her to see what would interest the Artificial Intelligence. He probably hadn’t seen the everyday things of human life. Even non-sentient creatures were curious by nature. Gemini let Jones indulge his curiosity. As long as he didn’t move on to investigating her underwear drawer, she could tolerate it. Circuit wandered in, pretending she wasn’t looking for attention. Agent Brown watched the cat for a while. Gemini began to wonder if this was the beginning of another epic staring contest. Circuit no longer looked angry with the Agent, but one couldn’t always tell with cats. The feline was first to blink, however, ending the unspoken whatever-it-was between the two. Or perhaps it was the beginning of another unspoken relationship. Circuit could be an Agent fancier. The furry little pervert already favored Smith. Brown reached down toward Circuit, his index finger extended. Gemini silently admired the Agent’s knowledge of the proper way to greet a cat. It appeared that Brown was trying to make amends. Good, Gemini thought. There had been a damn sight too much tension in her home today. But Brown ruined the moment by offering Circuit a bit of chocolate. Gemini leapt to stop the Agent. Chocolate and cats did not mix. With a squeak she shoved Agent Brown’s hand away from Circuit. Brown withdrew his hand sharply from her touch, as though coming into contact with her skin was a very bad thing. Her center of gravity was already off, and Brown’s motion made her fall forward. She ended up in Agent Brown’s lap. It lasted about two-thirds of a second. Brown stood up, unceremoniously setting Gemini on her feet and releasing her before she had time to gain her balance. He definitely hadn’t evolved a better opinion of viruses. Before Gemini could curse Brown for his actions and for moving with more grace than she would ever have, Smith gripped her around the waist from behind. Holding her in strong hands, Smith sat back down and pulled her with him onto his lap. He favored her with a sneaky caress of her hips. The cat ran away, spooked by the large creatures leaping around the kitchen. The Agents radiated disapproval again. Gemini decided to ignore them. It wasn’t up to them to approve of what she did with Smith. “All that effort to save a piece of chocolate?” Smith asked. Gemini humphed. “Chocolate makes cats sick. And you have no right to talk, because you haven’t really tried it.” Smith scowled. “I still fail to see why chocolate is so important. There are other things more important.” She knew what he was. He was an Agent, a machine. Nothing but a sentient grouping of code. But he was more. He was her lover. She was no longer a virus to him. That had to count for something. Did Smith understand how erotic this situation could be? Sitting on his lap was swiftly leading her thoughts into impure areas. If she explained it bluntly to him, Smith might attempt to rip her clothes off in front of the others. She tried to think of a way to distract him. Not that she didn’t want Smith to get amorous, but right now it just wouldn’t fit well with the human standards of interaction. She did not want the Agents to watch her and Smith get intimate in her kitchen. Gemini reached for the canister of chocolate powder. She laid a chocolate-covered finger against Smith’s lips. “Chocolate *is* important,” she said. “It can be...erotic...” Smith raised a quizzical eyebrow. For a moment she worried that he didn’t understand her. She didn’t want to spell things out for him, not in front of the others. Damn them, they were only emphasizing the fact that Smith was not human. That he belonged somewhere else. He stared at her for a long while, then Smith smirked just the tiniest bit. Good. She imagined she could see the moment when he understood. His eyes glittered with a kind of intensity that a human man was unlikely to ever show. Smith gripped her wrist. Deliberately he took her finger into his mouth. Whether she should worry about Smith’s new focus on demonstrating things for his colleagues...she wasn’t sure. She liked this change in him. She liked that they were communicating without words again. Reading between the lines had to be a defining trait of sentience, and Smith kept getting better at it. Among other things. Smith sucked on her chocolate-covered digit, drawing on it firmly. A small gasp escaped Gemini’s lips. She didn’t look over at the others. Smith held all her attention. Maybe he no longer cared, since he would be defragmented. Yes. That must be it. Once he decided to do something, he committed all his energy to it. She loved his focus too. Together with all the traits that made Smith who he was, she loved his dedication. The selfish part of her loved his dedication to her. The tip of Smith’s tongue was doing very interesting things to her fingernail. He was enjoying this, the ability to throw her off-balance with such a blatantly erotic move. She loved it. Her gaze held his. He might have more in store. He did. Lightly, Smith gripped her second knuckle in his teeth and softly snarled. She hoped he was pretending. He was perfectly capable of biting her finger in two. Smith sucked her entire finger into the warm wetness of his mouth. Gemini gripped his shoulder with her free hand. She moaned softly. Damn, Smith was a serious exhibitionist. She could only imagine that the carnal ideas going through his mind matched her own right now. His long fingers firmly encircled her wrist. His mouth did progressively more suggestive things to her finger and she began to wonder if letting him take her clothes off right now was really such a bad thing. Smith reached out and dipped his own index finger into the canister of chocolate. He held it against her mouth while his tongue caressed the pad of her finger. That marked the end of her restraint. Greedily Gemini took the proffered digit into her mouth and lapped at it as though it was her only source of sustenance. She met the vigorous challenge in his eyes. Her teeth skated over his knuckle and he rumbled in appreciation. She was recklessly lost in the moment. Smith’s heated stare changed subtly. She felt his free hand sneak inside her waistband for a secret grope beneath the table. Delightful, magnificent bastard... Jones cleared his throat theatrically. Smith blinked. Gemini watched the cold seep back into his eyes. Not fair, she thought. The others were intruding on their intimacy. She could almost feel the press of time around them, more urgent now since Smith had announced his upcoming defragment. Gemini wanted the Agents to leave. She wanted time with her machine. “Explain how such behavior is interpreted as sexual,” Brown said. Gemini answered instead of Smith, “It just is.” Smith sighed. She smirked. She knew what he thought of her patent answer for things. She also knew Smith would prefer to let her explain things when it came to sex. For some reason his AI pride kept him separated from their intimacy. Gemini wished she could get him completely involved. She always forgot who she was when they were intimate and she wanted to have the same effect on Smith. Yes, it was selfish, but wasn’t she entitled to some selfishness by now? Jones scowled. He obviously did not understand this. “The mouth and finger are not sexual organs,” he said. “The mouth can be...if you’re orally minded,” she said. “You are definitely orally minded,” she murmured in a voice she hoped Smith alone could hear. She smirked at him. He returned the look. Jones started to chuckle softly. So much for being out of an Agent’s hearing range. Brown gave his colleague a strange look. Yep, Gemini thought. Like brothers. The four watched each other for a while. Eventually Jones returned to his investigation of her kitchen. He seemed fascinated by the contents of her silverware drawer. Gemini could sense Brown’s disapproval and Smith’s slightly defensive tension in response. Smith continued to hold her on his lap. Slowly Brown set the truffle he’d been eating down on the table. He seemed to be observing the detail of her yellow tabletop. Then he looked directly at his superior with eyes that reminded Gemini of mercury. “Are Jones and I required to have sexual intercourse with the human female as well?” he asked. His tone was not hopeful. “No.” Agent Brown did not blink. “The Mainframe has requested your accumulated data. You have refused, and for your refusal you will be defragmented. The Mainframe will acquire its requested data...if not from you,” he glanced at Gemini with those mercury-blue eyes and she felt dirty, “it may order Jones or myself to copulate with the female in order to obtain the needed data.” Gemini tried to cuddle closer on Smith’s lap without seeming to. Smith scowled, gripping her waist beneath the table. At least she thought he did. Surely he did so to comfort her? Jones made a sound not unlike a hissing turtle. |