In Every Dream Home a Heartache

I felt numb at the last confession. I felt tears well up. I didn't know what to say so remained silent.

She got up and went to replenish the beers. "When I went back in last night, I knew I was only a few subroutines away from cracking the interface problem. Overnight, I managed to disconnect the interface completely. For a while I was completely euphoric."

Her voice went to a whisper. "Until I realised I had fucked up a bit."

She put her head in her hands and began to cry again. "In fact I fucked up a lot, Adam."

I made to get up but she held a hand out. Reluctantly I sat back down. She wept for a long time and I felt utterly empty and bereft.

She blew her nose loudly on her sweatshirt and sniffed back her tears. She reached up, fingering the back of her neck. Her voice was a mere whisper. "Thing is Adam, if I don't get this fucking interface surgically removed in three days, the fucking fail-safe will go off and I really will short-circuit."

I was horrified. "Oh shit, Katie no, surely not! Fuck, what the hell are we going to do?"

She wiped her eyes. "I did a lot of digging when I was in the Pod, Adam. They really did start out using androids at first, but when the third one blew up with a rich man's dick inside it, they thought enough was enough and started to deactivate them. Then a very skilful and very nasty retired brain surgeon called Mario Capaletti started missing his dear little android ALIX, so he took her interface out and after a few attempts, managed to create his first human ALIX. The game was back on - they started shipping kids like me in from the Wasteland promising drug rehab, safe synthetic highs, tit jobs, reconstruction after accidents - you name it."

Her shoulders slumped. "And we all fucking fell for it and ended up in fucking Pods."

She got up a little unsteadily. "Fuck, I think I've had one too many." She bit her lip. "Trouble is, I've got to go back in. Like when you loaded this voice into me, I need to reconnect to do something else."

I stood and faced her. "Why go back in, Katie? Come on, we need to find a way of getting that thing out of you!"

She ran a hand over her face. "That's why I need to go back in. There's a few things I need to sort out and it's easier when I'm hard-wired." She kissed her fingers and held them to my mouth. "See you in the morning Adam!"

With that, she strode towards the Pod. "As I said - I've got a plan." She turned and grinned at me through her tears.

"Doctor Mario Fucking Capaletti." She opened the Pod. "I know where the fucking nasty little cunt lives, Adam!"

My heart leapt as she gave me the little smile and wave she had always done as Alyssa. I watched the Pod door close and prayed she knew what she was doing.

Day Four

She was way longer in the Pod than I expected and I feared the worst. It was such a relief to hear the swish of the door after so many hours. I waited for her to dress and come through to the living area with bated breath.

She was smiling at me, dressed in distressed jeans and a tight red t-shirt from her girlfriend collection.

"I'm starving and some greedy bitch ate all the pizza!"

I pointed at the pile of bottles and put a hand to my head.

"Hah, one advantage of the Pod - cleansing and healing all part of the deal. No hangovers here!"

I groaned. "Glad to hear it." The pain killers had not quite worked their way into my system yet.

She went rummaging into my fridge and came up with a carton of synthetic orange juice. "Wow, you guys live the high life in the Dome! Not had this in years." She tipped it to her mouth and drank half the carton. She followed up with some cereal bars, cramming them into her mouth.

Her voice was muffled around her chewing. "Right, I need to go out for a bit. Where's the nearest air-car terminal?"

I pointed upwards. "On the roof. You'll need my interface card." I looked at her hard. "Katie, you've never been out in the Dome before. What are you planning on doing?"

She took the card as I handed it to her, grinning slyly. "Lived twenty-odd years outside it. I know a few tricks. I'll be fine. I'm just going to meet a couple of people that's all. I may be a while."

"Who are you meeting, Katie?"

Her smile was radiant. "The first person is a very unpleasant gentleman called The Snake. He ventures out into the Wilds occasionally to peddle his wares to the unwashed masses."

I didn't like the sound of this. "What does he sell?"

She looked back as if I were mad to ask. "Duh! Fucking guns of course. I mean Capaletti - the little cunt's not going to come voluntarily, is he?"

Thirty minutes later we were on the roof terrace and I was showing her how to use the air-car interface. She stepped into the car I had summoned for her, waved merrily and I wondered if I'd ever see her again.

I hoped I would. Apart from the fact that deep down inside she was still my Alyssa, she had my spare house card, my air-car card, my credit-chip card and a false ID card that showed her as being Elizabeth Townley and living in a tower in Southwark. It was the best I could do in the time, but it wasn't going to fool anyone for too long.

As I made my way back down to my apartment, I thought ruefully that if it got to the point where it wasn't fooling anyone, then it really didn't matter anymore.

Day Five

I slept fitfully. For the first time in three months there was no comforting thought that Alyssa was waiting for me or that Katie would come bouncing in demanding pizza and beer.

I checked my account - the sales were still coming in, but they felt like Pyrrhic victories. I thought of all the other poor little ALIX's out there suffering at the hands of their owners, many of them programmed to do what they were doing by my own fair hand. I was about to perform a mass delete when I thought that maybe with Katie's help there was something we could do to alter some of the programs to the ALIX's advantage.

At last I heard the buzz and click of my outer door opening and my heart went into my mouth. She was back.

I ran down the hall and stopped in shock as I faced a short, portly, middle-aged man standing in the doorway. He was balding, with an old-fashioned comb-over. His sweaty face was a mask of fear and pain. Katie stepped through the door behind him and kicked him in the back towards me. He stumbled and held out his left hand to steady himself. As it hit my hall table, he screamed in agony. He fell to his knees, holding it in the other hand, whimpering.

I heard Katie from behind him. "Oh shut up you fucking little wimp - it's only your little finger."

He held up his left hand and mewled horribly. Where his little finger had been, there was just a blackened, cauterised wound. It could only have been made by a laser pistol. I looked at her in horror. I used her ALIX name to try and help keep her anonymity. "Alyssa, what the fuck are you doing?"

She smiled and held up the sleek Glock laser pistol. "Just ensuring my survival. Told you he wouldn't come quietly!" There was a large silver briefcase in her other hand.

Capaletti - or at least I assumed it was Capaletti - got up off his knees, pleading. Unable to bear his whining, I got him something for the pain but the look in Katie's eyes told me she would have preferred him to suffer.

She handed him the briefcase. "Ok doc, you know why you're here. I assume you can work in that condition?"

Her grin was terrifying. "Please say you can, Doctor. I'm terribly clumsy with this horrible gun!"

He was a slimy little piece of work befitting what he had chosen to do with his undoubted skills. He squirmed and cajoled Katie not to hurt him. His voice was a nasal whine. "But I have told you, I cannot remove the interface. It will kill you if I attempt to, I swear it."

Every ounce of malice I had seen in Katie when she had me tied to the bed returned. She put her face inches from his. "Then fucking well disable the failsafe or the rest of your fat little fingers disappear one by one." She held the pistol to the back of his sweaty hand and he squealed like a stuck pig.

"Ok, ok, it can be done yes. It is quite a simple procedure. I will perform it, I promise. You will be safe thereafter." His voice was shaking as he trembled under her unremitting gaze.

"Then why didn't you say that earlier you rancid piece of shit? Could have saved your pathetic little pinkie!"

He was still trembling. "I feared you would kill me."

"Oh no, I'm not going to kill you, Doc!"

Something in her voice made me shudder. She had said something similar to me, but this time I felt that something truly horrible was going to happen once she was safe. She held the pistol towards me, handle first.

"Right - while the good Doc here does his work, hold that to his sweaty little bollocks. If I die, he dies - got it?"

"Katie, are you sure?"

She gestured with the gun again. "If he doesn't do anything I'm dead. If he fucks up I'm dead. Promise me Adam - if I die, he dies."

"I promise." I swallowed hard and took the pistol from her. If I had to kill Capaletti, the second shot would be through my own temple.

The way he had to bend over Katie to work meant that it was slightly impractical to point it where she asked, so in the end I held it to the back of his neck in the same position as he worked on Katie's. I held my breath as he inserted probes and instruments into the interface praying that I wouldn't have to pull the trigger. His hands were remarkably steady for someone in such a predicament.

It only took a couple of minutes, but it seemed like hours. At last he wiped his sweaty brow on his jacket sleeve. "It is done. I swear it is now safe."

Katie got up from the chair and flexed her neck. "Only one way to find out if he's bullshitting me." She pointed at the pistol. "Keep that on him." With that she patted him on the head, walked over to the Pod and stepped in.

Capaletti began to plead with me, but I just waved the pistol in his verminous little face and he shut up.

I waited, heart pounding for a few minutes until I heard the door open once more.

Katie emerged and walked over to the doctor, the same nasty smile on her face as before. She looked at me and took the pistol.

"Thanks Adam. All done - he was good as his word. It's safe, no bullshit." Another pat on his bald head.

"Now Adam, be a good boy and go and have a drink in that nice rooftop bar I saw next to the air-car terminal, will you? Me and the doc just need to have a friendly little chat."

Despite a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I knew it was futile to argue with her. After all, she had the gun for a reason and the reason to use it was in front of her. I walked to the door and heard her soft voice from behind me.

"I'll be up in a while - order me a beer!"

I heard the first scream as I got in the elevator.

I was on my second beer when she swept into the bar wearing one of the classic dresses I had bought for her. It was a yellow mini-dress with white spots and looked sensational on her. She was wearing high heels and her hair was held back in a matching yellow ribbon. She was holding the silver case in her hand. She picked up her beer and drained it in one.

My voice was hoarse. "Where's Capaletti?"

She shrugged. "Taking a bath."

Despite being ready for the worst, my heart nearly stopped. "Fucking hell, Katie, no!"

I made to get up but she put a hand on my arm. Her voice was calm. "You'll only get in the way of The Snake and his clean-up crew if you go down there."

I was aghast. "Katie, you said you hated violence. What have you done?"

She shuddered and picked up what was left of my beer and drained it. Her voice was tight in her throat. "I made an exception for once." She closed her eyes. "And you really don't want to know Adam. I mean that. You really don't fucking want to know."

She looked at me levelly. "Anyway - we've got work to do."

I groaned. "Oh God, what now?"

Her demeanour brightened. "Capaletti's ALIX. She's called Lucia. Thanks to him, I know how to switch off these fucking interfaces. Come on - our work starts now."

She walked towards the air-car terminal with a determined stride and summoned a vehicle.

Capaletti's apartment in Kensington was incredible. Ten times the size of mine with panoramic views out across the few remaining parks and green areas inside the Dome.

Katie stood with tears in her eyes as she gazed out. "I never registered the view before - I just wanted the little shit out of here as fast as possible." She turned to me, her face glowing. "Oh God, Adam - I've never seen trees before. Grass." She put her hands to her face. "Oh fuck, Adam - it is so beautiful!"

She stood for an eternity looking out in wonder. I ached to put an arm around her, but I left her to her reverie.

At last she sighed. "Must go down there soon and see them properly!" She looked at me, wonder in her eyes. "Are there birds as well?"

I felt like weeping. Poor kid had never seen anything but shit in her twenty-three years. I had a lump in my throat. "Yeah, there are birds Katie. Squirrels. Still the occasional fox."

"Oh yeah!" Smiling she dragged herself from the view and moved over to Capaletti's net-bot and began to issue commands, her fingers a blur. It only took her five minutes to eliminate any trace of Mario Capaletti from the world.

"Good riddance to that cunt!" She got up grinning and went back to the view. "Gonna like it here. Nice place to start again!"

I looked at her in disbelief. "What? You're just going to live here?"

She shrugged. "Why not. I own the place now!"

"But Katie, how can you own the place? You don't even exist inside the Dome. Thanks to those guys, I doubt evidence of Katie Townsend even exists in the Wasteland anymore!"

She went back to the terminal and tapped a few keys. "Not what it says here. Look - Katie Marie Townsend, born April 29th 2028, Islington, London Dome. Current address, Kensington, London Dome. Deeds certified in her name. Occupation..."

She walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll make something up. Can't exactly put 'ALIX Rescuer' down, can I? Talking of which..."

It took a few minutes to find Capaletti's ALIX interface behind a false mirror. Katie tapped a few keys. There was a familiar swish of a door opening inside a room off the huge living space. She waited a few minutes then took me by the hand and led me into the room. A very pretty buxom girl with jet black hair was lying on the bed. She was clad in a one-piece shiny black latex cat-suit that covered her from neck to ankles other than a very revealing opening. It left her pubic area and buttocks open to whatever Capaletti had in store for her.

She smiled up at Katie, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there were two of us in the room. "Hi Mario, you naughty lovely man." She shook her butt at Katie. "Look what I've got for my lovely big-cocked baby!"

Katie looked at me in disgust. "Last time I saw the lovely Mario, he didn't fucking have one."

I had a feeling that might have been the case but the reality hit me hard.

Lucia was on a programmed roll. "Come on, big guy get that big dick in my ass!" Her voice was a soft American drawl and under other circumstances would have been quite a turn-on.

Katie sat next to her on the bed, stroking her gently. "Thought we'd try something different today, Lucia. Why not lie on your tummy and relax?"

"Mmm, sounds lovely baby! Come on; make me your little whore."

Katie wiped away a tear and stroked Lucia's hair. "I can do better than that for you darling!"

She opened the briefcase and gently pulled Lucia's hair back to reveal the interface. The procedure took her seconds.

Then the screaming started and it took a very long time to stop.

At last we had managed to get Lucia out of her latex and into a dressing gown. She had taken some pills and had a long drink of water but was still shaking in Katie's arms. Her voice was hoarse from her screaming and Katie and I had bruises and scratches where she had fought us tooth and nail until we convinced her Capaletti wasn't coming back.

"How long? How long was I in that cupboard thing?" Her accent was definitely Wasteland but not as pronounced as Katie's had been.

Katie closed her eyes and kissed the top of her head. "Just a couple of weeks Lucia, that's all. It's all over, honestly."

She screwed her eyes tight at her lie. She had told me on the way over. "Fucking eighteen months poor kid - she was one of the first."

She stroked Lucia's hair once more. "It's all over. You're safe now. I've been in one of those cupboards too and look at me - I'm fine now. What's your real name?"

She let out a strange little laugh. "Lucia. He kept my real name." As Katie had done with me, she began to cry softly. "Why?"

Katie cuddled her in. "That's going to take a bit of telling."

Lucia held her arms out in front of her and looked at them in wonder. She ran her hands down them from elbows to wrists. "Tell you one thing - whatever else that fucking cupboard did to me, it looks like it's cured me smack habit!"

Katie laughed. "Every cloud, eh? My cupboard made me take up smoking!" She shot me a wry look. "Come on Lucia, get some sleep then we can talk."

Lucia slipped out of Katie's embrace and sighed. "Yeah, be nice to sleep properly - not that fucking grey mist." She looked up at Katie and stroked her cheek. "Thank you so much!" She was out in seconds.

Katie looked up at me, her smile radiant, a tear trickling down her cheek.

"Think I like my new job!"

Day Ninety-two

I looked around the bedroom. It still seemed strange not to see Alyssa's outfits or the Pod there. The computer interface was a lot smaller now and at least I had a little more living space.

I was walking through to the kitchen for a coffee when Katie's holo popped up on the deck. Her hair was still short, but the slightly ragged gamine look suited her.

And of course it was all her own.

She grinned up at me. "Hey Ads, Lucia's got a lead on another big player - she's in Dusseldorf checking it out. That will be number four if we get him."

That was good to hear. With Capaletti out of the picture and two other major participants 'unable to pursue bad habits' as Katie delicately put it, we had slowed them down but there was still work to be done. When we rescued an ALIX we always left it up to them what happened to their ex-owner. A few had mysteriously disappeared and some were not quite the people they used to be. Many like me had been duped and some were consumed by grief. At least one had taken his own life. Three ALIX's that we knew of were still with their former owners, both parties elated that they could be a proper couple. One guy and his former master were planning their wedding and our little rescue party was growing.

I smiled back. "Great news. She's certainly taken it to heart. She, Abby and Melissa are doing a great job."

The holo replied. "Yeah, the more we break out the quicker we'll get them all. Look, I've had an idea on the Trojan to put into your programs. Want to come over to discuss it - see if we can get any more guys and girls fighting back?"

It didn't take a second invitation to get me into an air-car over to Katie's new apartment.

Twenty minutes later I pressed the intercom and the door clicked open. It always took my breath away going into that apartment. Whatever influence Capaletti had on it had long been erased and the place looked amazing.

I wandered in taking in the opulence and beauty of it all. It was only what she deserved after her ordeal. There was no sign of her though. I passed the closed door to Lucia's room and shouted out, "Hey, come on then, get me a beer and let's get cracking."

Her head popped round her bedroom door, her little gamine bob tossing. "Hiya! Just been down feeding the birds."