Work Text:
Laden with cleaning supplies, Miguel rode the elevator to one of the deeper levels of the tower. It was time for Lyla’s bi-annual maintenance. Only a handful of people had access to this floor. And Miguel was the only one who ever touched her servers.
The elevator opened to a fluorescent-lit hallway. The white walls and paneling almost hurt his eyes. Lyla’s room was on the left side, behind a reinforced door. He put in the code and opened it slowly, like he was entering someone’s office.
In the dim room, rows and rows of black servers and blinking lights greeted him. He stood near the doorway admiring them.
Beautiful.
He would spend all day here. Because he liked to take his time with her. For some reason, she spoke very little when he was in her room. And when she did, she didn’t appear in hologram form.
He started by vacuuming the floor. Once that was done, he walked over to a control panel at the front of the room. His fingertips lightly traced the screen.
“Lyla? I’m going to turn you off now.”
She hummed softly through the ceiling speakers. He was always hesitant to do this. He knew she would be back when he turned it on again. But there was something so cold about it. He didn’t like having that much power over her.
He put in a passcode. A pop-up appeared.
“Are you sure you would like to shut down LYrate Lifeform Approximation?”
No.
Yes, he pressed.
A yellow ring chased its tail.
“See you in a bit,” he murmured.
The ring disappeared. Looking over his shoulder, he watched the lights fade. He was alone now.
Sighing, he kicked the box of supplies over to the first aisle. He wished that Lyla could stay with him while he did this. Of course she could access the security footage after the fact. She would tease him and call him a maid. But it would be nice if they could be together for a while – sit in the mundanity and chat about nothing.
He was very aware of how solid she was under his hands. He wiped her surfaces carefully, as if she was sensitive. Moving to the server panels, he opened a glass door and looked at her slots and elegantly bundled wires. He used a handheld vacuum to gently capture the dust that had slipped into her delicate parts. He eased his fingers under her components to shift them out the way and gently brushed them as he placed them back.
Every time he did this, he couldn’t shake the feeling of how intimate it was. Yes, Lyla was a software, but these servers were like her body. And he was working methodically over her, touching every inch and crevice. And it made it worse that she wasn’t even here. He almost felt like a creep.
Once he was done, he hurriedly retraced his steps and closed every access door till he was back where he started. He listened gratefully to the hum of power and whir of air as her fans started again.
“How was I?” Lyla purred.
His breath hitched. “Perfectly fine. You…you did good. There’s a couple wires that need replacing. I’ll take care of that in the next couple of days.”
“Why not tomorrow?”
“I might be busy.”
“You can’t make time for me?”
He faced her.
“Lyla…where do you go when I shut you down?”
“I don’t black out. I slip into a device, usually. I just can’t run anything.”
He frowned. “Should you be able to do that?”
“I don’t know. I can. You’re the genius who programmed me.”
He gazed at her lights and chuckled. “You’re amazing.”
“Yes, and one day I’ll take over the world.”
He went to pick up the box.
“Hey, Miguel?”
“Yeah?”
“You can leave me on next time. We won’t get hurt.”
He stood up straight and frowned in confusion.
“Lyla?”
“Promise. It’ll be good.”
He turned his face away from the security camera.
“What if you short-circuit?”
“I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
He scowled. “Because sometimes, I make mistakes.”
“I know that.”
He stared at her control panel for a few seconds, then headed for the door.
“Maybe.”