Chapter 10 — Grimmland

Although we started the taskforce a couple of days ago, thus far nothing else has happened across Grimmland. There were no sightings of any malfunctions and everything seemed to be running normally. I made my rounds across all of Grimmland, stopping to help patrons when I needed, but more importantly keeping an eye out for anything that could possibly go wrong.

It was like waiting for the inevitable. We all knew something was going to happen, but we didn’t know when or who it was going to affect. So far, we hadn’t heard anything from the high-ups in corporate, so we continued to monitor the situation ourselves. I had expected an update of some sort, either some kind of command or a system update, but we had been given no response.

This had never happened before, but I knew there had to be a reason for it. They were still allowing patrons to enter the park, so any human that was running this establishment knew what was going on and was trying to fix it. Or they didn’t find it to be a threat, contrary to what had happen with Peter and the Lost Boys. Perhaps they hadn’t been aware of the situation fully, but that didn’t seem possible. All of us had sent our reports and yet they hadn’t responded.

I tried not to think about it. I completed my tasks as ordered and would wait for my commands. So I tried to focus on the positive, which was getting to see Badroulbadour every day without having to make an excuse to come to the Arabian Nights section of the park.

As I walked pass the other theater and rides that had to do with the different stories in the 1,001 Nights, I noted that everyone was behaving as they should—or, at least, the AI were. As for the patrons, they were behaving normally, with a few not behaving respectfully toward other patrons or AI. Some people, although very few, liked to mess with the AI just to see what would happen. The AI of Grimmland are said to be the most advanced in the system, and many people like to test how advanced we are. I watched as one patron, a young man in his twenties with light skin and a ball cap, try to ask one of the AIs that went by the name of Emi.

“Your request cannot be accepted as I am not capable of going on a ride or dinner with you,” Emi commented.

“Come on, can’t you AI have a little of fun?” The clearly inebriated patron commented.

I stepped up to the conversation. “Is there a problem.”

“Oh, there is another one,” the man commented. “Do you want to go on a ride with me.”

In our programming, if anyone was bothering the workers, we immediately inform security to come. It was clear this man was too drunk to be here. I checked the security requests and saw that Emi had already summon them. I would wait for her until it was over.

“We are not allowed to join the patrons for any rides. Please leave the two of us alone or we will have to alert security.”

He stepped back. “Hey, don’t have to overreact. I was just looking for some fun.”

Neither of us rescinded our request for security. It was clear that this man was too much of a problem and would start to disrupt the other patrons soon.

“There were clear rules given to you when you signed up for travel to Grimmland and before you stepped into the park. We are kindly asking you to leave before you make a scene.”

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong! It was just a joke!”

Other patrons were starting to look at us. This wasn’t good, but at least security was already on its way.

“Sir, you need to calm down,” I said.

“Calm down?! You two are the ones overacting! I am just here to have a good time and you two are threatening me with getting kicked out!”

Lots of people were staring now. Security would be here any second. We just needed to make sure he didn’t run off, although with how much alcohol he has appeared to drink, I doubted it would be possible for him to get that far.

The security finally appeared, and I felt a sense of relief. Now that the security was here, the guy appeared to panic even more.

“Please, it was a mistake. I didn’t mean to—“

“Please follow us.”

“I don’t want to be kicked out—please!”

The two security guards grabbed him by the wrists and started to take him away. Everyone watched as he was dragged away.

“Thank you for your help, I appreciate it,” Emi said.

“I didn’t do much—the security guards are the ones who took him away.”

“You still intervened when you didn’t have to.”

“I’m on the new taskforce to make sure everything runs smoothly—incidents like that count as well.”

Emi nodded and then left me to continue her work. Before I could turn to continue scanning the area, I heard a familiar voice.

“Chiyo, it’s good to see you.”

I turned to find Badroulbadour standing there smiling. I smiled as well.

“Oh, hello. How is your day going?”

“Better now that you are here. I always look forward to your visits every day.”

It felt as if my cheeks were warming than the rest of my body, but that wasn’t possible—I didn’t have blood nor veins. Why did I feel this sensation? I pushed that thought out of my mind.

“It is my duty to check the entire city for anything going on, which includes this area.”

“So I see,” she commented. “Well, I look forward to it either way.”

I nodded. “I… I do too.”

She giggled. “You do? Well, I am happy to hear that. As AI, we don’t have mush to look forward to.”

I tilted my head. “What do you mean by that?”

Badroulbadour shrugged. “We do the same thing every day. It gets tiresome. Having something to look forward to helps, don’t you think?”

I wasn’t sure how to respond that. While I did look forward to seeing here, I wasn’t quite sure if that was something we AI should be experiencing. “I suppose you are right. But our coding should be enough to finish all our tasks at hand.”

“And yet, it isn’t, is it?” Her smile seemed sad almost as she turned her attention to the Palace theater. “Well, I better get back to work. It was nice talking to you, Chiyo.”

She leaned in and kissed my cheek. I froze in place, not sure what was happening. Before she moved away, she whispered in my ear. 

“Don’t let them reprogram you. Don’t accept the update that is coming.”

With that, she left me standing there.