Chapter 486 (1/2)

Ezekiel pushed his glasses up his nose. The man had short, dark hair and mild green eyes. When they met, the man had stood and walked over to give Hank a handshake.

“Ezekiel Ghosthound, at your service. You probably don’t recall, but I was in Richmond when you held off the armored bears. I never got to thank you. I’m pleased I now have the chance to pay you back.”

“Ah, no worries,” Hank said, slipping back into a slow drawl. “It’s in the past now. What’s a mild fella like you doin locked up here?”

Ezekiel’s smile was all teeth. “Ghost doesn’t like me… having contact with high-Level Classers where it cannot watch.”

Hank’s pupils dilated. A few interesting things there. Was he being honest? And if he was, why was he under such tight scrutiny? Specifically high-Level Classers as well?

In addition, Ezekiel had referred to Ghost as an ‘it’. Not that it was really important, but a lot of propaganda campaigning done by Alan had gone towards making sure the populous referred to Ghost as he. It helped the people handle the fact that an AI was making decisions that ruled most everyone’s lives. It brought Hank a small bit of pleasure that this man didn’t follow along with the masses in this regard.

Plus, he wondered if there was some sort of story connecting Ghost and Ghosthound. Maybe just a coincidence? If anything, perhaps Ghosthound was a made up name given to him by Ghost… like, “Ghost’s Hound”.

The guard who was watching their meeting cleared his throat. Hank turned to regard him. The man was likely not even a Tier 2 citizen, but he delighted in lording his small status over Hank ever since they had entered into the Containment Zone. Hank didn’t mind. Or rather, it was like the buzzing of a fly; the only acknowledgment the creature would receive was being smashed into the table when it had gone too far.

“We will debrief him, Mr. Howard. We have orders to take you to see Ghost in person. He has a gift for you, consider yourself blessed.”

Ezekiel chuckled but said nothing. After glaring at Ezekiel until he was satisfied that the other man was cowed, the guard brought Hank away, out of the meeting room and down a long hallway to another series of rooms. The hallways and rooms all looked the same, white and long, with only brass doorknobs adding a splash of color to the tiled decor. If this had been the Hank before the System empowered his attention to detail, he would have long been hopelessly lost.

“Try not to be disrespectful.” The guard said, glowering after he had opened the door for Hank to proceed. “We will be watching. And if you disrespect-”

Hank stepped forward and closed the door, yanking the doorknob out of the man’s sloppy grip. It was with great pleasure that Hank cut him off, and turned to regard the small raised black platform before him. For effect, there were several lines of servers along the back wall, with flashing lights and different gauges for heat and electrical consumption. But Hank knew that these were just theatrics.

Ghost’s true body was the 6 brain dead bodies on life support below the room; it was on them that their ‘AI’ ran.

The air over the black platform flashed, and a body condensed, first just opaque squares, then a silhouette through them, and then the body of a teenage boy. He was tall and fair, with blonde hair and blue eyes. His smile was wide and infectious, but just like always, some instinct kept Hank from ever relaxing around the AI.

“It has been a while since we spoke, Hank. But I’ve really enjoyed watching you,” Ghost said, sounding extremely human, and sincere.

Almost feeling guilty for his suspicion, Hank forced himself to smile. “It has. You were still using a 10-year-old as an avatar last time we spoke. I hafta say, speakin’ to you like this is a mite more reassuring.”

Ghost’s grin widened. “I like this body too. Although I’ve have done millions of calculations, and cannot yet ascertain how attractive to make this body. I have been subtly altering my facial structure and musculature to see if it affects the behavior of those stationed here in the Containment Center. I must say, the face is very important in human social interaction.”

“Unfortunately so,” Hank mused, abruptly thinking of Laurel. Then he shook his head. “Hey, why do you always do this? You know I dislike these tiny manipulations you do. If you keep telling me these things, I’ll stop coming to visit someday.”

Ghost chuckled. “You do not come ‘visit’. You are ordered to come here, or else you would remain in small towns, keeping the peace. I tell you because they don’t work on you, no matter how hard I try. And perhaps vanity is part of my programming; I feel you are the only one I can brag to.”

Shaking his head, Hank felt somewhat helpless. Ghost laughed again, louder, and as the volume increased, it became obvious that the sound was canned and reproduced, a laughter filled with shapes and symmetry, but without warmth.

“Well anyways, I won’t keep you long. This is why you should actually visit, because I always have new gifts for you, that I’d like to watch you use.” Ghost gestured to the wall, and it opened, revealing a long, sleek vehicle.

“That…. That’s my bike.” Hank stuttered, looking wide-eyed at the extremely high-end Manatech that was sitting on the platform, polished and crimson. The paint job was glossy and eye-catching, exactly the way Hank liked it.