Babylon looked different in the morning. At night, the neon lights reflected everywhere, while during the day, the numerous glass windows and concrete skyscrapers stood out more. Although I imagined that on the altnet it would probably look different.
I was standing on the pedestrian platform, waiting for a cab to pick me up. Trams and buses could typically take you to a stop within walking distance of your location, but where I needed to go, a car was required. Through the sea of cars, a cab pulled up next to me, and I hopped in the backseat.
"What is your desired destination?" A feminine monotone voice called out to me.
I glanced up at the driver's seat, where I noticed a doll waiting for my response. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it was illegal for humans to drive. They were all operated by androids, otherwise known as "dolls." With this law being implemented, vehicle accident rates essentially dropped to zero, what a shocker.
"The Police Headquarters' building," I responded. BDN was considered to be part of law enforcement, so they operated out of the same building.
The doll's eyes blinked. "Police Headquarters, central core district." It hesitated. "Unable to confirm Neural link. Please provide manual confirmation by allowing me to conduct biometrical confirmation."
I groaned internally. One of the marvelous things about being unable to connect with the altnet was that dolls treated me as if I were an anomaly. Some of their methods for confirming identification were a bit odd… this one was surprisingly tame.
I let it do its thing, and within a few awkward moments, we were out on the road heading off to BDN.
(...)
As we neared the central district, the buildings grew ever taller until the police building stood out. It soared over 5000 feet and was as wide as a football stadium.
Its outer radius was blocked off by some sort of fencing with dolls packed to the wazoo. This structure was essentially the government's way to flex its power over not just Babylon but the whole world. Although it wasn't officially the tallest building in the world, that went to the space elevator that sat smack dab in the heart of Babylon itself, it still symbolized the government's authority over Earth.
Its gray metallic color made it look even more intimidating than the other buildings, which were mainly glass and steel; it stood out like a sore thumb. My thoughts were interrupted as we pulled up to one of the gates.
Multiple dolls stood outside, armed with powerful rifles; they stared as my cab pulled up. The window rolled down, and one of them stepped up to the door.
"What is the purpose of your visit?"
"I'm a new hire for BDN, and I have an appointment with Aurora." I flashed my phone using the credentials Yasmine provided. Her eyes blinked rapidly while scanning my device.
"Indeed, you are Kael Everhart. We have been expecting you. Please exit here, and we will escort you to the BDN department."
She was polite, but surrounded by terminators, the situation still felt intimidating.
"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess." The police officer politely opened my door, and I said goodbye to the cab driver.
Some of the gate dolls escorted me to a police cruiser. The earlier doll said, "Please enter, and we will proceed to BDN."
I got in slowly, and I was a bit taken aback as the doll sat down next to me, "This isn't how I'll enter work every day, right?"
"No, once you're officially employed, you will be given access to the administration entrance that gives you easy access into the facility."
"Ah, okay, that's good, no offense to you lovely ladies, but I'd rather not be escorted in a police cruiser for my daily work commute."
She smiled brightly, "That is okay, Kael Everhart, you have not offended us in the slightest."
We spent the remainder of the ride in silence as I looked out the windows to take in the sight of where I'd potentially be working for my foreseeable future. I know I had said these dolls were packed to the gills, but somehow the number seemed to increase the closer we got to the underground parking entrance.
I was a bit surprised that I didn't see any superheroes around, but I guessed that this area mostly consisted of police dolls. A sudden thought came to me, and I turned to the police doll sitting next to me.
"I'm curious, do you have a name?"
She paused briefly, her eyes staring into blank space. "My unit number is #3032, I go by Rosa, and I am a Mark I Valkyrie doll."
"Oh, I've heard about the Valkyrie dolls. I should've realized it sooner. This might be an inappropriate question, but is there a reason you're specifically guarding the entrance you picked me up from?"
Almost everyone paying attention to the news knew who Valkyrie dolls were; they were rolled out only about two years ago, with a total of roughly 10000. They are essentially advanced police dolls who use logic engines and can use the altnet to respond to certain threats.
In other words, they were the SWAT units of the police dolls who had the technology to disable you using the altnet, before you even knew what happened. Pretty scary all things considered, and it was frankly surprising that there was even one waiting for me in a city that consisted of almost a hundred million people.
She once again paused briefly, probably deciding whether she could tell me or not, "I have been ordered to escort you to Commander Aurora for your employment at BDN."
"Commander Aurora?" I questioned dumbfoundedly.
"Yes, Commander Aurora of the Valkraye units."
My jaw nearly fell to the floor. "Wait, sorry, if I misheard that, but Aurora is a police doll?!"
"Yes, Officer Aurora is the commander of the Valkraye units." She repeated. Her words had me in complete shock, although she had physical features that made her appear superhuman; that's what I had figured she was. In a world of people who had superpowers, that would've made perfect sense; however, for her to actually be a doll was more shocking.
Admittedly, I wasn't the most observant person, but she definitely looked human. Her skin had appeared fleshy, her movements didn't seem robotic, and there was practically nothing that gave away that she was a doll. Despite the creepiness of it, seeing how far the government's technology had come gave me some real hope that my suit could be repaired.
The revelation of Aurora being a police doll was so shocking that I barely registered that we had arrived at the underground entrance. Instead of the rifle-equipped guard dolls I had seen earlier, these ones were even more heavily armed. I'm pretty confident that these were actually military dolls, but I wasn't exactly sure.
Rosa appeared to be communicating with the military dolls, as all of them were staring into a blank space for a moment.
The gate opened shortly after, and the doll sitting next to me returned to the present.
"Sorry for the delay, we will now proceed to Commander Aurora's office."
(...)
The number of hallways and identification security entrances blew my mind. The place was practically a maze. After taking another elevator ride, we apparently made our final stop at the 400th floor. The view from the window was absolutely incredible; at this height, you could almost see the ocean in the distance.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your sightseeing, Kael Everhart, but the commander is waiting for you."
It was at that moment that I realized I was standing right next to the window, and my fear of heights made me take multiple anxious steps back. Yeah, I know, I can fly around thousands of feet in the sky, but I'm scared of heights despite being in one of the most secure buildings in the entire world.
What can I say, I guess it's the fact that my suit gave me a sense of control, and comfort that I didn't feel scared while flying. It was a hard feeling to describe.
"Are you alright, Sir Kael Everhart?" The doll asked.
I waved my hand unconcerned. "Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine, just have a fear of heights, ya know?"
"Although we are incapable of understanding the fear of heights, we too can understand the feeling of fear, so we understand."
I internally narrowed my eyes at the implication of her statement, but I decided to ignore it for now.
Before we entered the room, I noticed that there were probably hundreds, if not thousands, of Valkyrie units plugged into various charging outlets, and the moment we stepped in, they all seemed to have risen and turned to face us. Definitely not creepy at all.
Rosa grimaced, and the rest of the Valkraye dolls turned away, before going quiet again.
"Uhm, you gonna tell me what that was about?" I asked.
She awkwardly took the next few steps as she came up with an explanation, "The collective, otherwise known as the host, is excited to see you. We've gathered extensive information about you over the years, and to us, it's fascinating to meet someone lacking a neural implant."
"Excuse me, you guys have been keeping track of me?"
At this question, she smiled. "It is our duty, and well within our authority, to track an individual who could pose a threat to Babylon if they choose to do so."
I wanted to make a retort, but there really wasn't anything for me to argue against. The government basically created these dolls to serve as the ultimate authority of justice in Babylon. Their power is backed by the government itself; their word is law.
After a long walk down the hall of warbot lane, we eventually arrived at a metallic white door. Rosa opened it to a modest-sized office.
Standing upright in the corner, slicing what seemed to be some kind of cake, was Yasmine.
But now, instead of wearing her black suit from earlier, she was donning a blueish neon police uniform. It had red trim on the shoulders and some matte black pants, or was that just paint on her chassis? I had no idea at this point.
"I assume Rosa has made you aware of my identity at this point, correct?"
I stared at her blankly, "Shouldn't you already know since you have the host?"
She paused, "Although I can access the collective, I'm not truly a part of it, think of it as if I'm more like a visitor."
"So are you saying you're different?" Her statement confused me. She was a Valkyrie doll; if I recalled correctly, every one of them should be connected to the host.
"I am a prototype Mark IV android. I was not built to be part of the collective, as they were engineered to use logic cores."
My brain temporarily froze as I realized the implications of her words.
"You use an emotion core?" Emotion engines are basically the ultimate goal of many tech companies, including the government itself. Autonomous AI primarily uses logic, and although they are effective, they require frequent maintenance and monitoring.
Emotion engines enabled AI to replicate human sentience and confront situations that logic engines typically failed to address. Many considered that the mastery of emotional engines would be the dawn of a new age.
Given how humanistic Yasmine has been so far, it seemed this new age was not far off.
"Yes, I was manufactured with an emotional engine, but that isn't what I want to talk about with you yet, as we are here to discuss your employment."
I shoved those thoughts away and focused on our employment topic, "Yeah, I'm a bit confused, no offense to you guys, but this doesn't look like the BDN department; these are all dolls."
Aurora set her plate down with the cake. She then delicately sliced it and took a couple of bites. That brought up another question in my mind about how she dealt with food waste. However, her next sentence shocked me yet again for the millionth time this day.
"You will be working with the superhero dispatch side, yes; however, with so few superheroes, they can't actually handle everything at once. Reality isn't like the movies, unfortunately. Which is why I will be assigning 100 Valkyrie dolls to be under your direct command to assist you throughout your dispatches."