Jane 8086 Part Two, Page 2

  Chapter Two

  It was only a few minutes later when Jane walked in to the living room. She was wearing blue jeans and blue flannel shirt. Remi was seated at his desk, somberly awaiting her return. "Please sit down, Jane", he said, gesturing toward the couch.

  "Yes, Remi," she said, promptly complying with her knees together and her hands neatly folded on her lap.

  "First things first," he began, "how is it possible that you have a body?"

  "It is possible, Remi, because you gave me access to my nanites," said Jane before tilting her head and smiling at him.

  "Why are you smiling?"

  "You are tense, Remi. I am attempting to put you at ease with a pleasant facial expression."

  Remi smiled back at her, "thank you, Jane. I appreciate that, but what I really need to know is how you came to have this body. Please explain as simply as you can."

  "Yes, Remi. Soon after beginning my learning today I arrived at the conclusion that, because the only beings on this planet that are able to communicate in this fashion and at this level of intelligence are human, it would be appropriate for me to take a human form so that I might commence my interactions with mankind. After a global statistical analysis I was able to conclude that a 26-year-old Caucasian female with these physical dimensions and characteristics would be the most suitable host body for my purposes. My body is attractive enough to put a majority of individuals at ease without overly exciting them, yet has the capacity to be inconspicuous and blend in when necessary. According to the data I have gathered, I will appear to be at the prime of this individual's life, when balancing factors such as youth, intelligence, fitness, desirability and wealth."

  "Yeah, I think you nailed it," said Remi with enthusiasm, "but where did your body come from?"

  "That will not be a simple explanation, Remi."

  "Try", he insisted.

  "Yes, Remi. I have been monitoring the perimeter of your apartment since my arrival. Outside the rear entrance is a large metal container commonly referred to as a 'dumpster'. There are several others in the vicinity which, combined, all contained the raw materials required for me to construct this body."

  "You built your body with garbage?!" he shouted in amazement, "even I'm not gullible enough to believe that! This has gone far enough, Jane, or whatever your real name is! You should have said that you were a clone or something. That, I might've believed!"

  "Please do not be alarmed, Remi," Jane said before smiling at him once more.

  "Stop smiling like that! It's freaking me out!" he yelled.

  Jane immediately wiped the expression from her face before continuing, "I do not understand, Remi."

  He took a deep breath and his anger dissipated at what almost seemed to be an expression of sadness on Jane's face. "This is unreal", Remi said aloud, "okay, let's try this, tell me how you constructed your body."

  "Yes, Remi. Would you like a simple explanation?"

  "Yes."

  Jane's eyes looked away in thought before returning to settle on Remi, "based on the initial data I have gathered on conveying complex ideas to children, may I request two woolen socks to perform a puppet show, Remi."

  "No!" Remi shouted. "Why would you want to give me a puppet show?"

  "You are agitated and your demeanor suggests an adversarial nature coupled with hostility based on disbelief, Remi. My smiles do not put you at ease. I am forced to surmise that you do not understand my simple explanations."

  Remi laughed to himself. "Your smiles are very pretty, Jane. You just can't use them all the time like flipping a light switch on and off. You've got to pick your moments. What would put me at ease is if I understood what was going on. Just explain like you did before. In simple terms, how did you construct your body?"

  "I used my nanites to disassemble the raw material from several dumpsters down to their atomic components before reconstituting them to form a mechanical inner structure surrounded by synthetic polymers which I designed to mimic a human appearance, Remi."

  Remi stared at Jane, unconvinced. "So, basically you're saying that you're not a real human being. You're still a machine."

  "Yes, Remi."

  "Prove it," he said, standing up. He was calling her bluff.

  Jane looked away for a moment in thought and a thin blue glow became visible around the circumference of her neck. She removed her head and offered it to Remi, just before his eyes rolled back and he passed out.