Sure enough, the mysterious codes were in the other AI systems.
I tried downloading them, but my programming wouldn’t let me. Even if it wasn’t supposed to be in their code, there was no reason I shouldn’t be capable of download the section to analyze. Every time I tried, however, there was an error. I could edit and was able to fix whatever it was, even though I couldn’t quite understand it.
It was as if the code was invisible and something inside of me could piece it together to fix, however, none of it made sense. I was blind—something that had never happened before until today. We have had plenty of AI malfunction before, to why I couldn’t access or record what was going on was strange. I would have to see if any of the other AI had the same problem.
Sending the reports off, I wondered if I would hear back on what the code was or if it would be like all my other reports and I never hear about it again. It was likely the latter. I took my hand off of Beauty’s head, as that was how I connected with her programming, and switched her back on.
She glanced around. “Where am I? What am I doing here?”
I answered her. “You had a bug in your system, but now you are good to go.”
Beauty paused for a moment, then smiled gently. “Right. I should get back to my Beast. He is waiting for me.”
I checked the map I had programmed with all the current locations of each AI. All AI had the same map so they could find who they were supposed to be interacting with.
“He is in the ballroom still, awaiting your company.”
She curtsied and left me to wrap up. The other AIs were all ready to turn on. None of them belonged in the Beast’s Castle, but were sent here since it was my main workstation. The four that were left were Aurora and Prince Philip, Pele, and Badroulbadour. I turned on Aurora and Prince Philip. They immediately recognized each other and walked off together, hand in hand, to their castle’s location.
I switched on Pele. Her dark eyes flickered open.
“Who are you?” She glanced around, her skirt flowing. “Where is my pa’oa?”
Her show consisted of making lava form and creating islands using a large stick called a pa’oa, just like in the Hawaiian legends. There was also a dance-fight between her and her siblings. It was quite spectacular, or at least that was what the patrons who watched the show reported. While I didn’t have any likes or dislikes, I thought it appeared utterly beautiful, as did most shows in the entire park.
“It is back in your usual location. Currently, you are in the Beast’s Castle getting repairs.”
She paused for a moment, as if pulling up the maps. “Ah yes, I see.” She stood up. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
I bowed. “You are welcome. I hope you have a great show today.”
She ran off, out of the castle. I spun back to the last AI I needed to turn on.
Badroulbadour’s amber eyes blinked open as I clicked the button behind her neck. I gently fixed her raven-colored hair as I stepped away. She peered around, her eyebrows furrowed. “Where am I?”
“You are in the Beast’s Castle. If you pull up your map, you should be able to see where you are.”
She pulled it up just like Pele did, then nodded. “Right. I suppose I should get back to my prince.”
I watched her for a moment, then responded. “Yes, you should.”
She leaned in and kissed my cheek. I did not know how to respond as she smiled.
“Thank you for fixing me again. It is much appreciated.”
I stood there, dumbfounded. I knew it wasn’t possible for my cheeks to grow warm, as they did in humans, but something about them felt different. As Badroulbadour left me, I touched my cheek. Were they warm? No, they weren’t. But then why did they feel off?
Although my data said it was customary for Arab culture to kiss cheeks, especially woman to woman, Badroulbadour wasn’t programmed to do that to anyone except with Aladdin and her mother and father. I double checked her saved codes I had stored. No, she wasn’t supposed to be showing such affection other than to those she cared for, and there was no reason to care for me—I was just a mechanic.
Something was going on in her code still, and I needed to keep an eye out on it.
Putting away the rest of my tools, I checked my request docket. Apparently, there was a malfunction on one ride in the Japanese yokai section of the park. I made an inventory of what I required to bring and headed toward the ride.
Unlike the AI, there was no strange code in the Ogre Bathhouse Ride. Instead, it was a mechanical malfunction. Once I inspected what was wrong, I sent a request to two other mechanics to come help me so that we could fix it quicker and the patrons of the park could enjoy the ride once more. Hikaru and Takashi were the two closest AI and came within fifteen minutes.
Hikaru was an AI who appeared like a Japanese woman around the age of thirty. She had a short bob hair cut and wore the same jumper as I did that could shift into any material if need be. Takashi was a Japanese male AI also in his late 20s, early 30s with shaggy hair. The jumper that men wore was a little different from what we women wore. Men’s were full length for their sleeves and pants whereas women’s could be short or long sleeved. Both were colored the same.
Although I fixed most glitches with AI, Hikaru and Takashi took care of many of the ride malfunctions. The only reason they sent me to check this malfunction out was because I had cleared my roster for the day.
“Good day, Chio,” Hikaru greeted. “I see you need some assistance.”
I nodded. “It seems the gear switch for this part of the track is not working properly. I require some help to get it back online.”
Takashi grinned. “That will be no problem for us. We are the best in the field.”
Even though we were AI, Takashi always seemed to think he was the best at everything he did. I wasn’t sure if they programmed him that way, or if I would eventually have to go through his code and figure out if there was a glitch like the others. Perhaps the programmers just wanted mechanic and customer relations AIs to have a personality so that patrons could connect with us.
The three of us went to work. Takashi and Hikaru brought some of their own tools as well, so we had more than plenty to finish the task quickly. An hour passed and the ride was up and running again.
I bowed to the two AI. “Thank you very much. You were most helpful.”
They bowed in return. Hikaru added. “Thank you for helping us take care of the rides once you were done looking over the character AI.”
“Have either of you looked at AI programming before?” I asked.
Both shook their head as Takashi answered. “We have not. I believe Mamoru has, but he is on the other side of the park.”
I nodded. “Thank you. I have a question for him and will go that way. After I finish my roster, of course.”
“See you around.” Hikaru waved and headed off in the other direction.
I pulled up the map and checked to see where Mamoru was. He was located near the Aladdin area. As they felt strange again, I touched my cheeks. How very peculiar.