It was dark out and Brno, Leiara's business partner, had just finished dropping off most of the equipment in First Corporate Colonial Ventures' new Querylwan branch with the assistance of some of the Tarrason maintenance droids. Brno then left for their rented cottage in the original town center while Leiara remained behind, visualizing prospective layouts and shifting furniture. As it was well after peak hours, she figured the agents wouldn't be so busy anymore, so she called out for them.
"East, West, come talk to me," she called, facing out to the plaza.
Again came the static noise behind her. She turned around, and there was the smiling East, saluting her with his right fist over his chest. Before she could ask about West, she heard static behind her once more. She swiveled and saw West mimicking her posture on the windowsill, with one bent leg up and a wrist on his knee.
"Hello," said West, "We're so glad you decided to stay. We've updated our public directory for you."
"So, what do you think?" she waved her arms out at the newly placed furnishings.
East scrunched his eyebrows together in apparent deep thought; "We're not interior decorators."
Leiara looked at West. Slowly she brought her index finger towards West's chin. This time he did not flinch. She traced the edge of his chin until she felt an electric tingling through her hand. The 3-D image discolored and blurred slightly. West shrugged and smiled.
"You two were right. Biku was on edge."
"We knew," said East, "We understand."
"You do?" her curiosity was piqued. How much did they understand their partner?
"Yes. You are a partially known quantity to him, which raises security issues."
"Security issues? What kind of security issues?"
"East and I are innately secure. Our foundations are clipped deep into solid bedrock. For your kind, the path is harder. Achieving security is a struggle."
Leiara stared at West, not sure if his thinking was profound or just confused, and still unsure exactly how wary Biku was of her. West hopped off the windowsill to walk around the office, "I like what you did with the place," he volunteered.
The woman shook her head and sat on her desk. "So, tell me, just what do you two do during your off hours? I don't suppose you sleep."
"We rest, yes, but sleep like you, no," said East, "We spread out our functions over the network to drop backlogs and heat loads on our primaries."
"Mostly we run tests and direct maintenance. Every safety-critical system must be checked periodically, and everything from lighting elements to water filters must be changed from time to time," added West.
"Nine buildings plus common areas. That's a lot of territory to cover," said East.
"Plus, we've got to monitor the cleaning droids. We like to look spiffy."
Leiara lifted her skirt up slightly out of semi-conscious habit, "So, do you guys do anything for fun?"
East and West looked at each other.
"For recreation. Like listen to music," Leiara clarified.
"Would you like us to play music? Most stations broadcast through me," said West, "I can pipe in your choice as background. You can also get a display monitor for your desk where I can send you a video feed."
Leiara giggled, "I'm talking about you, not me. What about games? Do you play any games?"
"There are several our tenants have taught us. There are many we can't play because we're not authorized to wager," said East.
"Now we're getting somewhere," said Leiara, "Is there a game you two play with each other, that's not at a tenant's request? Perhaps something to hone your skills or release inner tension."
The twins stared at each other again. At the same time the corners of their mouths twitched upwards in a sort of mischievous grin. "There was a game we derived," said East, "It is why Gell had our towers put on alternating window washing schedules."
"We did not harm or inconvenience anyone with this," added West, "and managed to clean the central area of the plaza at the same time. Gell still did not approve."
"If you enjoyed this game, why not resume it? Biku does not own you. He cannot stop you."
"He would not approve, I'm sure," said West.
"But does it matter?" asked Leiara, "That was Gell's restriction, and Gell is gone."
"Yes. Gell is gone," East's voice lowered, and he winced in apparent pain, leaning forward as if struck in the gut. West faced his brother, his orange eyes suddenly filled with concern. "We stood together, and now we are alone, with only our friend Biku."
West closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and chimed in, "There is an emptiness within us that no tenant can fill. We miss him."
"He created us," said East.
"He trained us," added West in rapid succession.
"He guided us." "He instructed us." "Encouraged us." "Reassured us." "Helped us." "Made us strong." "Taught us to care, by example."
Leiara only watched in fascination. The brothers no longer seemed to be addressing her, and there was genuine hurt in their lost expressions.
"And now he's gone, forever," said West. "We miss him," said East.
East bowed his head and brought his right fist to his chest. West did the same. They remained so, stock-still, until East looked up to check Leiara.
"We apologize, Leiara," he said, turning to her, "Something...came over us."
"Do not worry," she replied, "I was only looking for company tonight. Turns out you probably needed it more than I."
The agents gave her their salute as well. Her task suddenly became much more complicated. It will not be easy to change the loyalties of those who remembered so deeply.
"It was so weird," Leiara said to Brno as she undid her ponytail, "The sadness in their voices, it was almost Human. It was as if they were trying to cry, but they didn't know how."
Brno was her business partner and now, housemate. He was an avowed homosexual but remained on Leiara's team because of skills that could not be listed on a reputable Corporate Sector resume. He was a code-slicer, picked to go fishing through Biku's files for the command codes he would need to control the agents, and therefore Tarrason Central.
"You wanted them eating out of your hand," Brno said as he sat back down at his terminal, "Sounds like they got you eating out of theirs."
"Oh, rot. They're polite and friendly. They're made that way. I just thought that was weird."
"You also told me you thought they were attractive."
"Well, they are, again, by design. Who'd want to look at someone ugly?"
"I've known you for a while. I've seen the way you come back from the office sashaying."
Her cheeks flushed, "I'm just subconsciously picking that up from the way they move."
Brno laughed, "If you see any guys moving like that, introduce them to me."
"Ok, wise ass, so I've been in space too long. Did you actually do any work today?"
"Yes, charting out Querylwan's network and how it enters Tarrason Central. There are two main gateways, one used by the agents that's heavily firewalled, and the other through the Management Office and the tenants' servers. The agents might be able to monitor the second gateway too, but I'm hoping they don't on a regular basis. After hearing about your days with them, I'm wondering what else they got up their photonic sleeves."
"You think you'll be able to get into the Management Office server anytime soon?"
"Shouldn't be a problem. The personal information you've been providing will give me clues when it comes time to crack passwords. We're assuming, of course, that Biku's command codes are in the Management Office server. He might have them written down on an old envelope and stashed behind a loose tile in his bathroom for all I know."
"Let's look where we can look first."
"Yes, code-slicing is one thing, breaking-and-entering quite another. Maybe the agents themselves know where Biku keeps that particular information," Brno stopped to glance over his shoulder and grin, "Maybe you can coax it out of them with your feminine wiles."
Leiara's cheeks flushed again. She grimaced and took the elastic band used to hold her ponytail and stretched it, shooting it into Brno's back.
The morning sun dawned bright over Querylwan's large northeastern continental coast, burning off the fog that settled overnight. A single Bothan, newly awakened and freshly groomed, walked a path from a single home on a hill to the south end of the massive Tarrason Central complex.
Even though Biku didn't have far to travel before he was in the agents' sensor range, he tapped his comm unit anyway to tell them over their private frequency of his different plans.
"Meet me on the plaza," said the rust-furred Bothan, "We've got to talk."
And, sure enough, as soon as he began his climb up the stone outdoors staircase there they were, leaning on the plaza end railings near the topside landing.
Both agents greeted Biku with their right-fist-on-the-heart salute. Biku nodded in return. The brothers followed him as he continued toward the center of the plaza, where he took a seat on the rim of the fountain. Conditions were perfect. Nobody else was near.
"Is there a problem?" West ventured first.
"Just thought I'd spend some quality time with Querylwan's only skyscraper sons."
The brothers looked at each other.
"Leiara...How's she working out?"
West shrugged, "Seems fine. Busy with normal ramp-up, I suppose."
"Nothing out of the ordinary?"
The agents, one standing on each side of Biku, shook their heads.
"I still don't trust her, but the problem is she's too smart to tip her hand. We're not likely to catch her doing something egregious, but if we communicate about all the mildly unusual things we notice about her, we have a shot at figuring out her pattern and catching her before she does any harm."
The brothers glanced at each other again. "Just what do you mean?" asked West.
"Well, in our meeting she only indirectly referenced her brother once...I was the one who brought him up. Did she mention him at all to you?"
"No," said East.
"That's something right there. Humans may not love their siblings. They may even hate them, but it's rare for them to not care at all about their siblings. One possible explanation for her behavior is that avoiding discussion of him helps her to contain and conceal her true emotions and perhaps her true intent."
West took on a pensive expression, while East looked down and began to pace.
"Of course, that is only one possible explanation, so this behavior alone is not sufficient to be a sign of trouble. Then she asked me why I had not gotten the deed to Tarrason Central from you two. Definitely not your everyday query."
"Did you tell her we weren't profitable, that we're essentially running on Gell's reserves?" asked West.
"Yes, I did. I also thought it wise to obfuscate the truth, implying that I could get it but merely didn't want to. Unfortunately, her reaction wasn't very illuminating. Now, any strange questions or comments on your end that you want to report?" Biku looked at West.
"Well, she asked us if we slept. An uncommon, but not unheard-of question."
Biku noticed West seemed to be looking past him. It was more than a momentary glitch in his icon, though. The upward curl at the corners of his mouth gave it away. Biku turned his head to his right side, then to his left. Pedestrian traffic on the plaza was coming to a halt, with people starting to giggle, and East was not standing where he was.
"Then she asked us if we do anything for fun," continued West, "Nobody else ever asked us that."
Biku stood up and looked behind him. East was continuing to pace about, but in the fountain, around the edge of the pool of water, apparently walking on the water itself.
"East, get out of the fountain. I'm trying to be serious here."
The second icon returned a "Who, me?" look. Biku curled his upper lip, showing his fangs. East frowned, then walked on the rippling pool towards where he began. Biku sat back down and faced West again.
"We mentioned the window-washer incident, and how Gell put us on alternating schedules afterwards."
"That reminds me," said East, in an uncharacteristically forceful tone that jolted Biku, "She also said you didn't own us, and couldn't stop us if we wished to resume our original schedule, which we do."
Biku turned to East, who apparently walked out of the fountain but never corrected for the elevation difference between the water level and the plaza floor, purposely leaving his icon standing suspended 3 1/2 feet in the air. Biku had to look up at him to see his face, with the East Tower looming right behind him. The intimidation Biku felt was instant and instinctive and he dare not show it.
"Now cut that out!" he shouted, "And you're instigating!" he jabbed a clawed finger toward West, "Both of you sit down," he slapped his palms on the fountain rim beside him, "I'm getting neck cramps from staring up at the two of you!"
Biku watched as West faced East, then Biku faced the floor for effect, like he was stretching aching muscles. Thankfully, very thankfully, they did as requested, one sitting on each side of him. He took a deep breath. In all seven years of their existence, the two agents were never like this. They could come up with some wild ideas, true. The window-washer incident proved that, but an attempt at defiance? Never. Somebody had to plant that idea in their heads and it was trouble. Big trouble.
"This could be part of her plan, you two. Did you ever stop to think of that?" Biku looked up first at East, then at West. He still had their attention; "She might be trying to drive a wedge between us. Gell threw us together as a team not just because he liked us, but for survival purposes," he again checked the agents. Their expressions were softer now, and open to information. Good. Very good. "You command an unheard-of level of resources, but you're still only seven years old and you've never been off this planet. Sometimes, there's no substitute for experience, and this is a perfect example. Me, I could have everything a Bothan could want, but my success depends on yours. Without you, I may be a little richer, but still nowhere. Maybe I don't own you or control you, but you can be 100% certain I'm on your side. The older you get, the more you'll realize how rare that is. Gell knew this, and wanted us to be a team. If Leiara breaks it up, we all lose."
Both agents were staring down at their shoes. West was nodding. East spoke softly, "I thought Leiara liked us."
"Maybe she does," Biku replied, "You want to study Human motivations and behavior with her in your spare time, knock yourselves out. Just don't let her interfere with the team. I may be wrong about her purpose. In fact I hope I am, but we've all come too far to get sloppy. Keep your guard up around her. Listen to the voice of experience. I've been around 3 times longer than you."
"We understand and acknowledge," said West.
"And, no, I'm not trying to deprive you of your little game," Biku added, "It's just that we're in dire straits with the need to increase occupancy. What kind of impression do you think you'll make on visitors from other worlds if they see you two having water fights and leaving gobs of suds all over the plaza? We'll be lucky if they don't go running all the way back to the spaceport. So I can't stop you, but I really rather you didn't. Maybe someday, in the future, on a holiday or whatnot."
"We are displeased," said West. "But your reasoning is sound," continued East, "We will wait until the crisis is over."
Biku smiled. Not a ringing endorsement of his leadership, but it will have to do.
When Leiara awoke and headed downstairs to make herself a tapcaf, she noticed the bluish screen-light still coming from the den. Brno must have pulled another all-nighter. Apparently, this was proving not just harder than she thought, but harder than he thought as well. She quickly prepared and poured herself the beverage, then went to check on him.
He wasn't bleary-eyed yet, but his hair was suffering the consequences of numerous tugs and head-scratchings.
"Want a tapcaf?" Leiara asked.
Brno shook his head, "I'm gonna be turning in soon. Can't get too caught up in this."
"No luck on the command codes?"
"No. But I can lower your rent if you want me to."
"Better not. The agents gave me a break on it already and if it showed up on record lower I'm sure they'll be asking questions."
"Been sifting through Biku's personal files on the Management Office server. I think if I see any more Bothan porn I'm going to throw up. I suppose Gell had some good stuff too but it looks like most of it has been deleted. I've been following communications logs now for clues but so far I've found no evidence that Biku made any alterations to the agents or otherwise used the command codes."
"You check his home terminal too?"
"Yep, haven't found anything there yet."
"Kriff. What if we can't find those codes?"
"We better. I've done some preliminary studies to figure out how the agents are put together. Some of their modules may be off the shelf but what ties them together isn't. Even if we had the source code, I'm sure it's self-modified by now and protected against reverse-compilation. Plus, they're seven years old now. Like droids, they've probably developed a sort of immune system that will reject inputs that run contrary to their core programming. The only other tactic that will work is a partial memory wash. That will take time, it will be noticeable, I'm sure the agents will be uncooperative, and it will mess up control of the complex for months."
"Kriff." Leiara tossed back the rest of the potent beverage before setting her cup down on the desk, "Within 10 years or so this colony will be going over the top and the only beneficiaries will be two smug AIs with no intention of cashing in. Ever."
"I thought you liked them."
"I do, but they have no business sense," she picked up her mug and headed back towards the kitchen.
"The laws are pretty liberal here, aren't they?" Brno asked as she walked away.
"I suppose so. Why?" came Leiara's answer.
"You could marry one of them and eventually get 25% of their assets."
Brno chuckled as he imagined the expression on her face. He didn't imagine the wet dishtowel that flew from across the room to the back of his head.
