Deanna's Surprise Pt. 02

We -- Reika and Irene had come with Deanna this morning -- laughed, then I introduced Scott. "My owner remembers your mother with a lot of fondness," he shook Deanna's hand. "He was in her grade eight class at Crowland Central."

"Chetwin Villard, right?" she asked. Scott nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, Mama told me about him. One of the brightest kids she ever taught, even if he sometimes acted the fool in class. There were several times Mama wanted to drop a desk on his head."

"There're times he admits, especially now, that she would've been more than justified in doing that, Ms. Hordye."

"Deanna," she offered, then leaned in to kiss his cheek.

With that, the tour began. Mapleview Public School was built with four classrooms, staff spaces, a furnace room, plus washrooms for the children. Unlike other public schools, it never had a built-in gymnasium; physical education classes were always held outdoors except when it rained. The architects, so Mother learned when she purchased the building, wanted to create a country "one-room schoolhouse" atmosphere. It really didn't work in the long term. With the decreasing numbers of available students forcing budget cuts on the local school board, Mapleview had been one of the first places axed when it came time to shed unproductive property. Between that time and the day Mother purchased the property, it served as the barracks for the local branch of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, a dance hall for the neighbouring Pentecostal church and an equipment storage facility for one of the many telemarketing firms now calling Welland home.

In a show of nostalgia for the old school, Mother had the interior restructured in such a way that, while allowing her to work without obstruction, paid homage to the many students who once filled Mapleview's halls. The two classroom spaces on the school's south side, once holding the Grade 1-2 class and the Grade 4-5 class, now served as the laboratory. The classroom on the east side north of the lab, where the Grade 3s attended classes, was divided into a storage room and a guest bedroom. The class on the west side north of the lab, the old Grade 5-6 classroom, now serves as my personal living space, with bedroom and private bathroom. The principal's office, located between there and the foyer, is my office. The boys' and girls' washrooms were converted into four guest bedroom spaces. The staff room, which sat north of the foyer, serves as my kitchen. The hallway leading to the old north entrance is presently another guest bedroom. The furnace room has been shrunk to half its old size, now equipped with a fusion generator that answers all my power needs. A communal bathroom, complete with showers, takes up the rest of the space, plus the small stationary storage room that once stood beside the boys' washroom.

As I showed Deanna around the laboratory, I noticed Reika, Irene and Scott quietly excusing themselves to give us some privacy. I didn't indicate this to Deanna. One look at her told me that she was now struggling to call up the faint memories she had of Mapleview. Walking to the east side windows, she blinked on seeing the trees Mother planted there. "She took out the basketball court, huh?"

"Yes, plus the sand pits and the soccer posts down by the creek," I moves to stand beside her. "What do you remember, Deanna?"

She fell silent for a moment, then smiles. "Grade Five. We were playing football on the rise near where they had the baseball diamond."

It was quick for me to realize what she now spoke of. "You told Mother how pretty she was, even though she was as skinny as a rail." "Didn't matter to me," she shook her head, then sniffed. "I still remember her smile."

"It's the day she realized how much you really cared for her."

Silence fell as Deanna leaned her hands on the windowsill. "Why, Lenn?"

"Why what?"

"Why did she create you?" she gazed at me. "Was it her way of saying 'I'm sorry?' Giving me what I wanted in the end?"

"I suppose so," I admitted. "Even if I am an IP-'bot, I wasn't programmed with all of Mother's memories. And there are certain elements of Mother's memories that I would prefer not to reveal to you. Her privacy does mean a lot to me, even now. But I will say this, though..." I turned to gaze on her. "A couple weeks before she vanished, I put myself through an internal diagnostic and accidentally discovered the hidden command she installed in me before I first came on-line. The one that..."

"That's now forcing you to seek me out as your owner of record?"

"Yes," I nodded. "When I confronted Mother about this, I asked her, 'Don't you still love her?'" I paused, then sighed, my eyes misting over as the emotion of the memory got to me. "She told me that she felt herself unworthy of your love. Her exact words about the high school incident were 'If I could, I would do anything, anything, to give Deanna back what my words took away from her.'"

"It was my hand that drove the knife, Lenn."

"But it was Mother's words that drove your hand, Deanna. And by all rights, she shouldn't have reacted that way on seeing you. Even with you being an intersexual in body, your core spirit, your innermost soul, is that of a woman. You've always been that way! You've always been treated that way by everyone around you! That's what Mother loved in the end."

Silence fell as my future owner considered what I just said. With my words, I was vaguely hinting at something that had befallen Mother a month prior to the encounter with Deanna in the girl's change room at Welland Centennial Secondary School that caused so much pain for them both. I couldn't say anything directly about that incident. It not only would violate Mother's privacy -- in so far as it would flagrantly disregard a conscious decision Mother made about that incident -- it would also reveal something dark about someone Deanna most likely looked on in a positive light still. Did I have the right to adversely affect Deanna's viewpoints concerning that person? The First Law of Robotics was quite clear on the matter. No, I did not. Still, given how intelligent and perceptive Deanna truly is...

"Marlenn's a lesbian, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is."

Deanna hummed, resting her chin on her palm as she gazed outside. "And she was dating Drew Keir, so she was a bit bi-curious at the time..." she muttered under her breath before her eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh, fuck..." she spat out, then gazed at me for a moment before asking, "Did something happen between Drew and Marlenn before she bumped into me in the change room at Centennial?"

I nodded.

"Bad?"

I nodded again.

"Oh, hell...!" Deanna covered her eyes, then she gave me a wearied look. "Didn't he even guess what she was?"

Feeling safe to say this, I smiled. "She never admitted it to him. At least not before you saved his life. Afterward, it didn't matter."

Hearing that, Deanna closed her eyes for a moment. "Right..."

I couldn't begin to believe this one.

Yet it made all the sense in the world.

As anyone can tell you, the teenage years are a very confusing time, regardless of a person's gender or preference. With the onslaught of hormones as the body matures, gearing up to bear offspring, a teenager's personal sense of self becomes a questionable thing even at the best of times. Tack that lack of internal emotional and psychological balance with a perceived lack of support or advice from one's parents. Spice in a scarcity of proper sexual education from either the parents or the schools. And for the piece de resistence, overwhelm the poor kid with a tsunami of provocative images, words and concepts thanks to the media. Plus we have to remember peer pressure, religion...

You get the idea, I hope.

In some ways, I had it quite easy compared to my peers. Being an intersexual instantly demanded a wide open acceptance of my personal sexual needs from my very first wet dream. With Mama's support -- and yes, with support from my father -- plus a lot of excellent psychological counselling, I was made to see how I could be close to anyone I desired, man or woman. I was taught never to view myself as anything less than human. I could be, as Russ admitted to me a couple days ago, both best friend and lover to anyone I chose. I was truly special. And when the right moment came, someone would come and see how special I was. From there, we'd go forth and create something even more special.

With all that positive encouragement, I do admit now that my counsellors didn't adequately prepare me for what happened between Marlenn and myself. Part of it was also my fault. I'd held a torch for Marlenn Ioanis for the longest time, since we both were Grade Two students here at Mapleview Public School. I don't remember exactly what it was that made her seem so special to me from that young an age, but it happened. No sense denying it now. No other person, guy or girl, could match Marlenn in my eyes. I cared for her, I loved her and above all that, I respected her. What she believed in, I acknowledged. What interested her, I took interest in. And yes, if she decided to date someone else -- though watching her do that did hurt me a lot -- I was willing to respect her choice.

She literally could do no wrong in my eyes.

She was my Polaris. My guiding star.

Then, that day came...

That damned day!

The day her words showed me how wrong I was about her.

No.

How wrong I was about myself...

And how much I had allowed Marlenn to influence my life...

And then I...

Oh, God!

Marlenn...

"You aren't a monster."

I blinked, staring at the robot bearing Marlenn's face, speaking with Marlenn's voice, born of Marlenn's memories, her dreams and hopes.

"You never were, Dee," she gave me the smile that long ago turned my heart into mush. And still did now.

I reached up to wipe my eyes clear. "You never were either, Lenn."

Yeah, this was only a replica of Marlenn...

But she had Marlenn's memories.

Could she have a copy of Marlenn's soul?

Right then, I just didn't care.

She understood that much and acknowledged the same with her next words. "Nor was Drew," she stared out the window.

I thought about it, then slowly nodded. "Let me guess. Too much beer? Someone spiked the punch at some party?"

She nodded. "You were right in saying that Mother was bi-curious at the time she dated Drew. Even if being a lesbian isn't frowned on these days, she still wanted to do whatever she could to please Papa and Mama. Unlike your mother, Papa and Mama were..."

"More demanding," I finished for her.

Another nod of her head. "Yes. Besides, Drew was, at the time, a very nice person at heart. And he was dating the most popular girl at the school, after all. The guys were no doubt razing him, wondering when he was going to make the big 'score.' Well, one night, he did."

I closed my eyes. "Was it her first time?"

"Her first time with a guy," Marlenn nodded. "Also, her only time with a guy."

Wondering briefly who it was that plucked her cherry, I stared out the window again. I was certainly no virgin by the time I had reached Grade Twelve. My old next door neighbour, Neoma Cramer, showed me the ropes back when I was in Grade Nine. For the longest time afterward, I always wondered if Mama and Mrs. Cramer hadn't conspired together to make it happen. Chuckling at that stray thought, I pinched the bridge of my nose, then sensed Marlenn gazing curiously at me. "Just remembering the time I had my cherry plucked," I explained to her.

"Neoma?" she asked. I nodded. "She lives up in Peterborough now, last I heard," she added.

"Yeah, married with a couple kids. Jim Graham told me a couple Saturdays ago," I confirmed, then breathed out. "So what's Drew doing now?"

"He's a private investigator. Did time with the Niagara Regional Police before getting his license. He's..." she paused for a moment, then stared out the window. "He's been investigating Mother's case ever since the police pretty much dropped it when Papa died."

"Ah!" I nodded...

"You seemed a little distracted this evening, Deanna. Are you alright?"

I blinked on hearing Master Lily's comments, then slowly nodded. The final class of the day had been dismissed. I now stood alone with my teacher in the main training hall; Pauline and the others had gone home for the night an hour ago. Taking a deep breath, I knelt before her, then lowered my eyes. "Oumma, I've come to learn some things about Marlenn Ioanis and..." I shrugged. "I don't know what to do now."

Her eyes instantly softened on hearing me call her "Mom" in Korean. "Pauline told me that the Marlenn you encountered on Tuesday night at the Retreat is actually a robot replica of her. And that the real Marlenn disappeared sometime ago. What happened?"

"Ne, Oumma, it's true," I nodded. "And it's quite a story in and of itself..."

I explained everything to her. At the end, Lily looked as overwhelmed as I felt when the full back story over what happened between Marlenn and myself finally clicked in. "So in the wake of what happened between Andrew and Marlenn, when she saw you in the nude at school..."

"What could've been her fondest dream was instantly morphed into her worst nightmare," I finished. "And it all tumbled from there."

"Does anyone have any idea what happened to Marlenn while you were in India?"

"No," I shook my head. "At least, Lenn didn't tell me..."

I blinked on hearing the main door to the tojang open and close, then jolted on hearing a familiar voice call out, "Hey! Anyone here?!"

"What are you doing here, Tom?!" I gaped as Tom Fenris walked up to the doorway to the main room.

I was quick to notice that he wasn't alone. And like I did when I first saw Marlenn at the Retreat some weeks ago, it was easy for me to recognize the gentleman who had come with him. "Hello, Deanna," Andrew Keir gave me a weak smile. "It's been a while."

I gave him Mama's patented evil eye. "You, Drew, owe me an explanation."

"An explanation, an apology and a few other things too, I'm sure," he admitted with a nod, holding up a thick file folder...

"So you believe this was a kidnapping?"

After introductions were made, we shifted to the small kitchen that also doubled as Master Lily's work office. I got some ginseng tea made for the others as my teacher confirmed some matters with Drew concerning Marlenn's case. "Yes, Master Choi, I strongly believe it is a case of kidnapping. If not, then a case where somehow, the 'kidnapper' played up on Marlenn's feelings to have her come willingly with them."

"Like a cult of some sort?" Lily asked as I served the tea.

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded thanks as I gave him a cup. "In the half-year before she disappeared -- this is according to the robot Marlenn and some of Marlenn's customers -- she became very obsessed about something. Exactly what it was, no one knows. From what I've been able to discover, she spent a lot of time on the 'Net researching things about genetic medicine and stem cell research."

"Stem cells?!" I blinked. "Did Marlenn take any courses like that in university?"

"No, she didn't," Drew responded. "Her course load was typical when it came to people getting their science degrees in robot technology."

"Then why would Marlenn be interested in stem cell research?" Lily asked.

Drew sighed. "It took me a little while to come up with this theory. And I have to warn you right now, all this is..." he held up a finger in emphasis, "...is speculative. Marlenn, from what I've discovered, went out of her way to keep some things secret even from Lenn's scrutiny. Deanna, Lenn told you about Marlenn wishing to find a way to give you back the ability to be a mother," he stared concernedly at me. After I nodded, he pressed on. "Well, given how neat her disappearance was, I now believe, quite strongly, she felt that, for whatever reason, the only way she could ever 'win' you back was to give you what she took away from you."

I stared at him, then sank into my chair. "Oh, Lenn, why...?" I gasped, then shuddered as Tom slid a supportive arm around me. I tried to stem back a fresh bout of tears. If Marlenn had to accomplish this to win me back, she had only put another impossible barrier between us.

As I considered that, I heard Lily note, "It seems far-fetched, Andrew."

"Yes, ma'am, it seemed that way to me. That is, until a friend of mine in Ottawa contacted me about a year ago concerning Deanna."

I started on hearing that. "Me?! Why me?!"

Drew stared at me. "My friend had been asked a year earlier concerning a background check on you and your family, Deanna," he told me before opening the file folder he had with him. From it, he gave me several photocopied pages of what seemed to be government documents.

I looked at them, then felt my throat suddenly dry up on recognizing what the top sheet was.

"You, Deanna, aren't as alone as you might think," Drew's voice echoed in my ear...

The door opened, revealing someone who had grown old and lazy.

Someone I personally hoped I never had to see again.

"Hello, Father," I greeted Sander Hordye with a mirthless smile.

His eyes went wide, then darted to my left and right to confirm that Tom and Drew were standing behind me. He then focussed once more on me. "Deanna," he gave me a curt nod. "Don't you think it's a little late to come visit me? It's past eleven, for..."

"Actually, it's a lot late for a good many things, Father," I cut him off as I took a threatening step into his apartment. I loomed over him by at least twenty centimetres. And he knew very well that whatever respect I had for him had vanished forever from my heart sometime after he moved out on Mama. "Like why is it you and Mama never once told me about my very own twin sister?!"

His eyes went wide...