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“For a builder of artificial intelligence, it sure is.”

“Okay. That’s why I’m here, right?” I ask.

“Yes, but we’ll get to that. First, I want to ask how it is that you didn’t know exactly how I came across your information. Why wasn’t that at the forefront of my mind?”

“Because the information was given to you by one of your employees. You’re not exactly sure howtheygot the information. You suspect your employee is a vampire. Oh, wait... youknowshe is. I see she is beautiful. Ah, I think I know what’s going on here.”

“Please tell me, because for the life of me, I don’t know.”

“She likely slept with the bar owner, a fellow named Fang. He told her about me.”

“Which means... she told him about our little problem...”

“The problem being... the reason why you brought me here?”

“Yes.”

“The reason you want to hire me.”

“Yes.”

“Have you considered usingherto fix your problem?”

“I have... and she’s got me nothing. If anything, she made it worse.”

“How so?”

“By bringing it up to the wrong people. There’s rumblings of it in the news now, and she might have tipped off our target.”

I had seen such rumblings. Truth is, I had a fair idea as to why I’m here. Something about someone escaping.

“Plus, she can only work nights. You seem to have no problem with daylight.”

“No.”

“You are a fascinating specimen, Samantha Moon.”

“You can say that again.” But, before he does... or before he says any more, I’d like to get to the point of all this. I’m not the biggest fan of spilling my guts to strangers, even though I’d seen his face a thousand times in the news and on social media.

And so, I give him a small nudge to move this along and to stop grilling me. He nods, sits back. And I watch as his pupils shrink to pinpricks. He blinks, rubs his eyes. “I’m sorry, Sam. I can’t have you overriding my system. He shakes his head and his pupils widen dramatically and now, he nods and smiles. “Your compulsions have just been eliminated.”

“Eliminated how?”

“By the AI I’ve had implanted in my brain. An AI, mind you, that’s having a hard time believing you are a real vampire. Would you mind terribly giving us a demonstration of your strength?”

“Us?”

“Myself and Harvey.”

“And Harvey is...yourAI?”

“Yes, and I promise that I will get to the point of you being here, as suggested by your prompting. Unfortunately, I find you too interesting to let go of the vampirism angle. I’m curious by nature. It has, after all, led to all this...” He gestures toward the building, then to his head, then out to the parking lot where I presume a number of his cars are parked. He smiles as he does all this. I don’t smile. I don’t have to be here, and I don’t need to expose any more of my secrets.

“Either get to it,” I say, “or I’m outta here.”

“Wait, wait, wait, sorry. Please don’t leave. I’ll hurry, I promise. But you have to understand what a unique experience this is for me... for us.”

“Right, you and Harvey.”