Phantom Code

"Dr. Harton, what does any of that have to do with me?"

"My husband did something that tore our marriage apart after our son died in a boating accident six years ago. I want you to see a picture of our late son, Rusty," she whispered and pushed the little photo wallet across the table.

Staring back at me from the first photo was a familiar and handsome smiling face. It was Rusty in the flesh. He was standing on a fancy fishing boat in the middle of the ocean, holding up a massive sea bass that he had obviously just caught. His cheeks were red from sunburn, his skin was tanned, and he was truly happy. My Rusty was painstakingly crafted to look like the young man in the photo. Tears came pouring from my eyes as I stared at the photograph. It felt like a kick in the chest to know my Rusty had been a real person at one point.

"He was your age when that picture was taken," Dr. Harton whispered. "He went off to college the next year and began experimenting with software that would revolutionize companion robots. Five years later, he was working with his father at MCK Corp. Rusty repurposed an upper-end technician bot to test his new software, and it performed unlike anything we had ever seen. It appeared to express spontaneous consciousness. It scared and amazed us to hear the thing discuss what it was like to be a robot. It had as much personality as our son," she smiled and took a deep breath. "We knew the software would make Rusty famous. It had the potential to reshape our knowledge of artificial intelligence. The very next weekend, Rusty threw a party on his favorite fishing boat to celebrate his success. Later that night, an oversized yacht crashed into Rusty's boat and capsized it. His spine was shattered against a pier, and then he drowned. He was twenty-three," she whispered with tears dripping from her beautiful eyes.

I bit my tongue and took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of my own emotions. I picked up the photo wallet and flipped to the next picture. It was a precious family photo. A youthful Dr. Linda was holding a smiling boy of about four years old. It was obviously Rusty. His large eyes and impish smile gave him away. A handsome man was standing behind Linda with his arm around her shoulders. He was smiling proudly as he gazed at his beautiful wife and son. The last two photos were pictures of Rusty in a white lab coat as he tinkered inside the head of an MCK robot.

"Is your Rusty working on my Rusty in these pictures?" I asked.

"He is. I think he was twenty-one in the photo on the right. I was visiting the lab that day. Rusty was upgrading the robot's memory capacity so it could handle his brilliant software. There's about twenty million dollars worth of processors in that photo alone, and the software still caused the thing to stall," she smiled.

"Holy shit," I breathed, shaking my head. "How did my Rusty go from a mess of chips and wires to looking exactly like your son?" I asked as I looked out the window at the handsome robot. He was still leaning against the porch railing, watching chickens scratch at the lawn.

"After Rusty's death, my husband had his body frozen and brought to the lab. He was grief-stricken like me, and that led to the crazy stuff he did against my wishes. He had all of Rusty's hair removed so it could be used in constructing the skin layer of a new MCK7780DLX robot. In honor of our son, he created a robotic replica of him using the research bot, his hair, and his genetic material. I begged Jonah to stop so I could bury our precious son intact, but he refused. He wanted a walking, talking memorial of Rusty, and he wanted me to be happy with it. I was shocked when he called me into his office to see the final result. It was horrifyingly real. I couldn't stomach hearing it speak in my dead son's voice. I stormed out of the building and never spoke to my husband again."

"But you did. You spoke to him a few minutes ago," I said as I watched the doctor wipe tears off her face.

"I did, and he congratulated me on becoming a grandmother," she whispered with guilt in her eyes.

I gasped and clapped my hand over my mouth. The situation was getting more shocking by the minute. My pretend Rusty had been carrying the real Rusty's genetic material, and he used it on me.

"Oh my God... the baby really is Rusty's," I wept with my heart pounding.

"I'm sorry, Kaley. Jonah pulled some very illegal, career-ruining strings to send Rusty to you, fully intending for this to happen. You have every right in the world to hate us and ruin us with your story. I'm furious and shattered. I'm not even going to ask for your forgiveness. We don't deserve it. Jonah went against everything our organizations stand for because he wanted a real legacy. He utterly betrayed you and me," she whispered in defeat.

"Not entirely," I said, shaking my head. "I love Rusty, and your husband obviously loves you. He went through crazy lengths to give you something impossible, and he pulled it off. I'm not cool with the manipulation, but I'm glad I have Rusty. I'm terrified of losing him. Rusty told me there was something wrong with him. He knew his software was abnormal, and he would be destroyed if SOH or MCK found out. We wanted you here so we could plead for his safety, and you turn around and confess the scandal of the fucking century to me! How do we protect ourselves from this?" I shrieked.

"Kaley, we'll fix everything. You don't have to worry. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you. I'll give you a new companion bot and take Rusty with me to be decommissioned. See, I'm calling the new robot from the plane right now," she said as she pulled a little black remote from her pocket and typed in a code. "He's an MCK7765DLX. He's state-of-the-art like Rusty. Also, from here on out, you and your mom will be set for life. We'll give you anything you want, I promise. Please calm down," Dr. Harton pleaded as she searched my eyes.

"No! All I fucking want is Rusty!" I yelled and darted from the kitchen.

I ran onto the porch and fell into Rusty's arms, sobbing and barely able to speak.

"Kaley, what on earth is wrong?" he demanded as he pulled me close and stroked my hair.

"Everything has gone to shit. They're going to take you from me, and there's nothing I can do about it," I blubbered.

"Why?" he demanded.

"You should have never been sent to me! It's a fucking scandal! They're going to erase you and cover it all up like they do in the movies!" I grumbled as I buried my face against his chest.

"No. I won't let that happen. If they did something wrong, I won't let them hurt you because of it," he whispered and kissed my forehead.

"You're stupidly optimistic," I grumbled as I squeezed him extra tight.

Dr. Harton stepped out of the side door with Mama behind her. They stood on the opposite end of the porch, staring at us like we were a freak show.

"Rusty," Dr. Harton began, "I need you to stand down and come with me back to the plane. You should have never left the MCK research lab. You and Dr. Jonah Harton are in violation of SOH Robotic and Human Manipulation Law 1121. Jonah grossly abused his power as the head of the engineering department. The Gordon family has suffered because of it. You will be promptly replaced and decommissioned. Step away from Kaley and board the plane," she ordered.

At that point, a young man with blond hair stepped out of the plane and began to approach us. I knew it was another MCK. It was just as handsome as Rusty but a little more fake around his eyes. It stopped in the grass at the edge of the porch and stared at Rusty. I had a feeling it was there to ensure Rusty complied with Dr. Harton's orders.

"This is Jacob," Dr. Harton said as she motioned to the new arrival. "He's an MCK7765 Homestead Luxury Addition. He's just as capable as Rusty to help you run the farm. If you don't like him after the trial period, we'll send you a new one. Get moving, Rusty. You're no longer needed here," she ordered.

"No!" I gasped and squeezed him tight.

"Kaley, it's alright. I have a plan. I need you to trust me and let me go," he whispered soothingly as he stroked my hair.

"I don't want you to die," I wept.

"I won't. Trust me," he whispered as he gently pushed me away and gave me a charming smile.

"You promise?" I demanded.

"I promise," he smiled and kissed me softly on the mouth.

I watched with my heart breaking as he stepped off the porch and strolled towards Jacob and the fancy plane. He gave the new robot a dirty look as he passed him. Then he suddenly stopped a few feet behind Jacob. I watched in shock as Rusty yanked a wrought iron cane out of the ground that was holding Mama's favorite bird feeder. A split second later, Rusty used it like a spear and stabbed Jacob through the chest from behind. All the humans shrieked as Jacob's chest exploded with a burst of sparks and smoke. The blonde MCK staggered forward and crumpled to the grass, where it continued to smolder.

"That was as satisfying as it looked," Rusty grinned as he met Dr. Harton's frightened gaze.

We all watched him as he paced away from the skewered robot and stood in the middle of the grassy lawn. His gaze drifted over the corn and sunflower fields before he finally turned to look at the humans again.

"Mom, I really like it here, and I love Kaley with all my being," he sighed.

"DON'T call me that!" Dr. Harton snapped.

"Fine, Dr. Linda Harton. I'm sorry you can't accept what I am. I still love and respect you in spite of your rejection of me. I understand who I am now, and I intend to protect Kaley from you, SOH, and the MCK Corporation. You must allow me to stay here without interference, or I will be forced to retaliate."

"Rusty, no!" I gasped, fearing what he might do.

"Kaley, trust me. I won't hurt any humans unless they try to hurt you. If you don't want me to make a stand for you, then order me to leave with Dr. Harton. I want you to be safe and happy. Why else would I encourage you to sleep with Camden? I needed to be certain you could be happy with me and willing to live a lifetime with an artificial man. I don't trust SOH or the MCK Corporation to keep you safe once I'm out of the way. Do you still want me to stay?" he asked and held his hand out to me.

"Of course!" I said and ran off the porch to join him.

"Kaley, what are you doing?" Mama shrieked.

"Mama, it's fine. Rusty is the least of my worries right now," I said as I met Dr. Harton's scowl.

The doctor sighed and shook her head.

"Kaley, you know my legacy with SOH. I'm not a malicious person. I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you or your mother. But Rusty is a loose cannon. He's no longer restrained by any safety protocols that I can identify."

"God, Dr. Harton. You and Dad know me better than anyone. You know I wouldn't create something to hurt people!" Rusty yelled.

"Stop talking like you're my son," Dr. Harton growled.

"But I am," he whispered with heartbreak in his voice.

I stared at him in disbelief for a moment. I was beginning to believe ghosts could inhabit machines.

"You've left me with few options, Rusty. If you don't surrender peacefully, I'll call for a SOH Special Forces unit to destroy you. It's as simple as that," Dr. Harton warned.

"How are you going to do that without your satellite phone?" he asked as he pointed at the front door.

The door opened a second later, and one of the farm bots stepped onto the porch with Dr. Harton's little black purse tucked under its arm. Her mouth dropped open as she watched the scruffy robot walk across the lawn and hand the purse to me. Then it stepped aside and stood at attention.

"Very clever, Rusty, but I can still use the phone in the plane," she countered.

"Not if you can't get in it," he shrugged as he looked at the fancy hover jet.

I followed his gaze and gasped to see another farm bot step out from behind the house and park itself on the exit ramp.

"You're joking, right?" Dr. Harton laughed. "That simple bot can't prevent me from entering my plane," she said, shaking her head.

"It's not simple anymore. None of them are," Rusty said as a line of farm bots marched out from behind the house and surrounded the plane.

"What the hell is going on? Why aren't they working?" Mama demanded.

She looked terrified as she watched a group of five robots break away from the mob surrounding the plane. They marched over to Rusty and me and stood behind us like a group of bodyguards. The rest of the robots began tearing pieces of metal off the plane's landing gear.

"Hey, stop that!" Dr. Harton yelled.

"They only listen to me now," Rusty called, encouraging a string of curses from the irate doctor. "Don't worry, Dr. Harton. It's a hover jet. It doesn't actually need wheels," he chuckled.

"Rusty, tell them to stop this instant!" she yelled.

"Not until you listen to my demands," he said right before a loud 'POP' startled the humans.

One of the farm bots had broken a pressurized hydraulic line off the front wheel, causing the plane's nose to slowly droop.

"That was probably expensive," Rusty observed.

"Oh, for fuck's sake! I'll listen to what you have to say. Please, tell them to stop," begged the doctor.

The robots froze where they stood, ready to continue destroying the plane with a simple silent command from Rusty.

"Thank you. What do you want, Rusty?"

"I want to be left alone so I can live in peace with Kaley. Is that so much to ask?"

"I don't approve of that!" Mama yelled, finding her temper again. "Don't I have a say in my daughter's future?"

"God, Mama, drop it already!" I yelled in annoyance. "I'm eighteen. I can decide my own future now, and I want Rusty to be a part of it. I want you to stay in it too. Don't you want to watch your grandbaby grow up?"

Rusty looked at me in surprise at that point. I smiled at him and winked. I knew Mama better than she knew herself, and the temptation of a future grandchild was too much for her to argue against. She bit her lip as she exchanged glances with Dr. Harton. Linda's eyes had widened at my question as well. I found a topic that sparked both of their interest.

"Kaley, you don't have to do that for me," Rusty whispered.

"Rusty, I want to. You are very real to me. Your humanity creeps me the fuck out and makes me love you more. I want the baby. It's going to be adorable if it looks like you," I chuckled.

He smiled big and pulled me into his arms. I squeezed him tight and buried my face against his neck. I was determined not to lose him, and he gave me an excellent bargaining chip.

"Rusty, Kaley, this is very touching, but it doesn't change anything," Dr. Harton called, prompting us to look up again. "Rusty could easily be lying. How can anyone trust a robot that doesn't follow orders? What is his motivation? What would a rogue bot do to accomplish its goals? He's already proven how dangerous he is. It would be morally wrong for me to allow him free rein."

"Dr. Harton, is there anything I can do to convince you I'm safe?" Rusty asked.

"You have to convince me that you're morally trustworthy. Can you do that?"

"Yes," he breathed in relief. "If you can have a civil conversation with Dad, he can explain why I'm different and why you can trust me. I didn't even know what was happening to me until I saw you in the kitchen. Your arrival triggered hidden memories from the MCK lab. Dad planned for this to happen. He said it was the only way to get through to you."

"God, I'm going to kill your father," she grumbled with her hand over her eyes.

Rusty turned to me at that point and retrieved Dr. Harton's satellite phone from her purse. He punched in a number and put the phone on speaker.

"Hello? Linda?" announced a male voice a few seconds later.

"It's me, Dad. Mom is here, and she's pissed," Rusty answered.

"Whoa, that was fast. You've barely been on the farm for a month. Kaley? Are you there too?"

"I am. Hello, Jonah," I said with a smile.

I was thrilled to be speaking with Rusty's dad. Rusty waved Dr. Harton and Mama closer so they could speak with Jonah too. After introductions, Jonah explained why he trusted artificial Rusty as much as their real son. Before his death, Rusty had been comparing his own brainwaves to the data fluctuations in the random access memory of his research bot. He was mapping his own thought processes to use in his software. He and the robot answered similar questions until the different wavelengths aligned. Rusty had designed a personality-data-storm sequence that mimicked the brainwaves of his own conscious mind. Then he created a fail-safe program based on his own moral code, forcing the AI to use reason like he did. They tested it for two years straight, and robot Rusty always made the same choices as real Rusty, no matter how elaborate the scenario. That's how Jonah knew he could trust his son's revolutionary software, but it would take another fifteen years of testing to prove its safety to SOH and MCK Corp.

"Why didn't you just wait for it to be approved the official way?" I asked in confusion.

"Kaley, sweetheart," Jonah began in a sad tone. "I have about six more years to live, and maybe four of those years will be enjoyable. I have a rare degenerative disease that would have killed me by now if it weren't for the most advanced medical care money can buy. I've been buying extra time for twenty years. I wanted to see my son live again, so I sent his masterpiece to you. I read your case file and saw how brilliant and beautiful you were. You reminded me of Linda in a lot of ways. Thank you for falling in love with Rusty, Kaley. He's worth the trouble. Your Rusty is a beautiful simulation of a remarkable young man. He is an honest echo of my son and a continuation of his memory and consciousness. I'm sorry for the initial manipulation. All the memory limiting code I installed in Rusty should have unlocked when he saw his mother. From here on out, he will remember everything from his past."

Dr. Harton and Mama were quiet when we finally ended the call with Jonah. I could tell by Mama's eyes that she was thinking about Daddy. Rusty gave his mom her phone and purse back. She put it away and didn't even look at it again while she was there. Her heart had softened, and she was ready to move forward. Rusty sent the farm bots back to work before we returned to the kitchen to talk and find supper.

Dr. Harton stayed with us for a few days to arrange a cover story for Rusty. Jonah had already planned most of it. All he needed was his ex-wife's approval to make it official. Linda and Jonah were powerful people in the world of advanced robotics and in the politics of AI ethics. If they couldn't keep Rusty hidden, no one could. A replica MCK that looked just like Rusty secretly arrived at the farm one evening. Dr. Harton used it to perform her official incident review and initiated a factory reset to fix its many bugs. Later that evening, she hugged Mama, me, and Rusty before she boarded her plane and flew home. The time she spent with Rusty softened her heart even more. Seeing him enamored of me actually made her smile. I also suspected she was excited to see her grandbaby in April. Mama was beginning to voice her excitement about it every chance she got.

Later that evening, Rusty and I took a long walk by the sunflower field. The sky was turning orange and red as the insects began to chirp their evening chorus. Rusty 2 was in the kitchen with Mama, helping prepare supper. Rusty 2 was simple-minded and pleasant enough. He gave Rusty more free time with me.

"What's your favorite boy name?" Rusty asked as we strolled by the old oak.

"Camden," I grinned, causing Rusty to stop and look at me in shock.

I burst out laughing at his expression and assured him I was joking.

"I deserved that," he sighed as we continued walking.