“Okay. Alex.” She giggled. The events of the last day were making her hysterical, and she was exhausted. “I’m sorry. I’m tired and not thinking straight. I just want to climb into bed and sleep for two days.”
“You shouldn’t be alone after experiencing all this trauma. I think you should come stay with me in my penthouse.” He flashed a smile at her. It was the same smile that had made her heart flutter just a couple of days ago.
“I couldn’t. But thank you for the offer.” Amanda was surprised at the words that came out of her mouth. She would have given anything to stay at his place before AD-214 had broken out of Cyborg Sector.
Alex shook his head. “I insist. It won’t be safe for you anywhere else. I have a sophisticated electronic security system, and I can supplement it by putting guards at the door. My chef is excellent. Would you like to enjoy a gourmet meal?” He reached out a finger and ran it down her cheek. “There’s an amazing view.” His hand continued to glide down her neck. “And there’s even a king-sized bed. I think we can be very comfortable together,” he finished as he wrapped his fingers delicately around her breast.
Amanda slapped his hand away. “Dr. Feldman!”
His pale brows knit together in anger. “Don’t be such a tease, Amanda. You apparently wanted me just a few days ago. I’m giving you the opportunity to recuperate in luxury. Is it wrong if I want to show off a few of my talents while you’re there?”
“Talents?” Amanda asked, unable to hide the disgust in her voice. She had fantasized about this man so many times that it was embarrassing. She remembered touching herself in the shower, reaching a quick climax as she imagined him working his magic on her body.
“Oh, yes.” He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. He hadn’t taken the hint. “The things I would do to you...”
“I don’t want to hear about them.” She tried to move back toward the door. She knew there was no escape, but she wanted to be as far from him as possible.
Alex grabbed her again, pulling her back to where he could press his body on her. He slapped a hand over her mouth, pushing her head back against the seat. “You’re going to hear it. First, I’m going to remove your clothing so I can see every inch of your sexy body. Then I’m going to glide my tongue all over your sweet pussy until you scream. As a matter of fact,” he said as he pressed his fingertips against the crotch of her jeans and began moving them in slow circles, “I don’t think I’m going to wait until we get into the penthouse.”
Amanda drew back her hand and punched her fist squarely in Alex’s eye, snapping his head back. He instantly let go of her. Suddenly the cyborg clone standing outside the car had the door open and his fingers wrapped around Amanda’s wrists.
“What would you like me to do with her, sir?”
Dr. Feldman sighed. “Nothing.” He reached forward to press the intercom button in the glass between the driver and the rest of the car. “Take us back to Cyborg Sector.”
He didn’t say another word or touch her again.
* * *
CHAPTER 15
AD-214 knew he had to bide his time, but it was difficult considering all the things occupying his mind. He had settled himself into a small cave at the base of a formation of bluffs deep in the woods. There were no trails around, suggesting this was a place isolated from hikers. PD-4 had joined with him as they retreated from the warehouse. AD-214 needed to know the situation with both Red Squad and Blue Squad, and his surveillance specialist was his best chance to keep up-to-date information.
The two ate in silence next to the smoking remains of a small campfire. AD-214 had found a large file of survival information in his system, training him how to find food, start a fire, and stay sheltered in the wilderness. PD-4 was not as versatile as his captain. He was relieved that he was not by himself and eagerly dug into his roasted rabbit.
“I think it will be time to gather the remains of the unit soon,” AD-214 said to the young soldier. “I don’t want to wait too long.”
“That’s understandable, Captain. I’ve been trying to find the rest of Blue Squad on satellite images, but they’re doing a good job staying undercover. I don’t think I’ll see them until you give them a command.”
AD-214 nodded. “Have you found anything else of interest?”
The young soldier’s eyes glazed over as he began to check all unencrypted communications on the electromagnetic spectrum. PD-4 could receive local TV stations, wireless internet, satellite signals, and radio waves. “I think you would be interested in this one, sir.”
Since Amanda was no longer around, the surveillance specialist didn’t bother using the LCD screen in his chest. He merely transmitted the information through his system directly to AD-214.
AD-214 allowed his interface to access the transmission. PD-4 was showing him a clip from the news on television. It looked like Amanda being interviewed by an anchorwoman. She wasn’t wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers any longer. She had replaced her former clothing with a professional-looking skirt and jacket. Someone had plastered makeup on her face. Amanda sat in a large, overstuffed chair with the reporter across from her. He noticed that the scientist looked pale and drawn compared to the last time he had seen her.
“Good evening. I’m Robin Goodwright. Tonight, I’m here for an exclusive interview with Amanda Conrad, the scientist from Cyborg Sector, who spent an entire day being held captive by rogue cyborgs.” The reporter turned away from the camera to face her guest. “Amanda, all of America has been waiting to hear what it was like for you during those terrifying hours. Tell us, how much danger were you in?”
“That’s what I want everyone to understand,” Amanda replied. “I wasn’t in danger. I had worked with these particular cyborgs for a long time. I am more familiar with them than anyone else, and I believe that’s why AD-214 took me with him when he escaped Cyborg Sector. He saw me as part of his squad.”
Robin nodded, gleaming red hair bobbing along with her. “So what were the conditions like? I’m sure everyone has been trying to imagine what it was like in that warehouse.”
Amanda looked down at her hands. “It’s hard to explain. It was confusing at first, but I spent a lot of time talking with the cyborgs. We weren’t comfortable, but it wasn’t like I was tied up in a dungeon.” She paused, searching for the right words to say. “We were comrades more than anything, camping out while we tried to decide what to do.”
“AD-214 is the leader of Blue Squad, correct?”
Amanda nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. He’s one of the first cyborgs I worked on. I guess you could say I’ve known him longer than any of the others.”
The reporter leaned forward, putting her chin in her hand. “I’m sure you know speculation about your relationship with the cyborgs has been all over the media. I’d like to clear something up right here, right now, so the world will know the truth: Do you love it?”
Amanda smiled involuntarily and blinked her eyes rapidly, but she didn’t answer right away. “Don’t you think that’s a silly question?” she finally answered. “Everyone is always looking for a sensational story. AD-214 isn’t human. I care about what happens to him, and I want him to be safe. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
The news clip cut to a commercial and PD-4 stopped the transmission. “Is there anything else?” AD-214 asked.
The young specialist shook his head, still scanning as he stared through the wisps of smoke that rose up from the campfire. “Nothing significant, sir. Cyborgs are all over the news, but the content is discussions and debates between the newspeople and politicians. They are talking about us, but they don’t know anything. There are also a few residents who are claiming they have seen a cyborg. No rumors have been independently confirmed.”
AD-214 nodded. “Keep me informed about any new information. Do we have an accurate death toll yet?” The body count had been a favorite topic of conversation between the two cyborgs. Each distinctly remembered seeing a few of their comrades go down. For the most part, they couldn’t be certain who was still alive. AD-214 should have been able to detect them with his software, but it wasn’t working properly. He might have suffered from some file corruption from the upgrades Amanda had uploaded back at Cyborg Sector. Not knowing was frustrating. It was a small comfort that his problems also made it harder for any of their enemies to locate his team.
“Nothing, sir. Cyborg Sector hasn’t released the information to the public, and I can’t hack into their computer systems without being detected.”
They paused as a bird flew overhead, causing a ruckus in the tree branches. AD-214’s information about survival suggested that he should shoot it for later, but his stomach was too full to worry about the future.
“Sir, are you still having the memories?” PD-4 asked tentatively. “The ones we talked to Amanda about?”
AD-214 wasn’t going to lie to his soldier, though he didn’t like talking about things he saw in his head. None of them made sense individually, nor could he put them together into a sequence which made sense. “Yes. Sometimes I see more than I did the first time.”
“Do you think there’s something wrong with us? Is it something Amanda could fix if we turned ourselves in to Cyborg Sector?”
The captain snapped his head around to look at the young cyborg. “Is this something you plan to do?”
“No!” PD-4 insisted. “No. But I don’t know what to make of the images in my mind. They seem innocent, but they also make me want to focus on them instead of my duty. I’m becoming concerned they might be a virus.”
AD-214 thought about PD-4’s words. His idea was unsettling. “I think Amanda would have told us if they were dangerous,” he concluded. “She wouldn’t have wanted us to spread them to anyone else.”
That night, PD-4 volunteered to take the first shift on guard duty while AD-214 slept in the cave. The hole in the bluff was small but dry, and would keep them out of sight if anyone passed by.
AD-214 lay on his back and closed his eyes. He had downloaded the transmission of Amanda’s interview PD-4 showed him earlier and took the opportunity now to analyze it carefully. Zooming in on Amanda’s face, he studied her beautiful cheekbones and the depth of her eyes. His feelings were the same as when he sat with her in the warehouse, unable to look at anything else. He didn’t understand what was happening to him, but he couldn’t resist it.
The reporter had asked her if she loved the cyborg captain. Love. The word dangled in the back of his mind. He knew he had once known what it meant, but didn’t any longer. Did Amanda love him? She hadn’t answered the reporter but chose to shift the focus of the question.
Did he want the scientist to love him? He couldn’t be sure.
He thought back to the night Dr. Feldman and Jenny had entered the barracks long after everyone else had gone home. AD-214 should have been charging and asleep, but an error in his operating system had prevented sleep. He had watched the two come into the barracks, the dark-haired girl giggling and bouncing as she talked to the doctor. Soon enough, the two of them had been naked on the hard floor. At the time, the cyborg didn’t understand what he saw. It looked like a jumbled tangle of bodies slamming against each other and the floor.
He realized his visions involved similar actions. He was underneath a woman at first, but when his perspective shifted, he was doing the same thing with someone else. It was reminiscent of what the two scientists had done in the barracks, and he felt his cock getting hard.
AD-214 had another vision. He was in a bed again, but this time with Amanda. Unlike the other visions, he was able to control these images. He saw himself remove her clothes, peeling back the layers of denim and cotton to find her curves underneath. He ran his hands over her breasts and thighs, luxuriating in their smoothness. His mouth found its way to her lips and traveled down to her nipples. Taking one in his mouth, he sucked and pulled as he wrapped his arms around her body. When her bud was hard and taut, he moved to address the other one.
Though he didn’t remember removing his clothes, AD-214 was just as naked as Amanda was. His cock throbbed as he continued working down Amanda’s body, running his tongue over her rippling stomach and down to the paradise that waited for him between her legs. He tasted her sweetness, watching her writhe with pleasure on the bed before he couldn’t wait any longer and pushed his way inside of her.
AD-214 shook his head and brought himself back to reality. His desire was urgent now, compelling him to find Amanda and make what he had imagined in his head into reality. For the first time, the cyborg understood why MD-69 had been so desperate to do these things with a woman that he had forced himself on Amanda without her permission. He still knew MD-69’s actions were wrong. At that moment, though, he would have done anything to see Amanda in real life.
* * *
CHAPTER 16
After Amanda had refused to go to Dr. Feldman’s apartment, he sent her to a military hospital that resided on the same compound as the headquarters of Cyborg Sector. He thought she needed additional protection since she had been in the public eye over the last week. Amanda was only allowed to leave the hospital when she was under the watch of a heavily-armed escort and only when she was going to appointments requested by the media.
Right now, Cyborg Sector needed her.
The young scientist had been checked over by all the leading doctors in the military hospital. They had scanned her with all the machines they had on hand, drawn numerous vials of blood, and tested her memory. Amanda knew they didn’t find anything wrong with her, but they didn’t share the results of the examinations with her.
Instead, she was forced to remain living in the hospital as though she were an invalid. Her room was private and located several floors up. Everything in it was white: walls, floors, curtains, sheets, and even the hospital gown she was forced to wear all the time. She was only allowed to wear regular clothes when she had an interview with the press.
Amanda had asked for her phone multiple times. She knew it was in the top drawer of her desk at Cyborg Sector. The hospital staff claimed they couldn’t find it, but she knew better. Someone had confiscated it. There wasn’t anything compromising on the device, but she felt better with it in her possession. A nurse had brought a few books for entertainment, but she wasn’t allowed to watch television. She spent most of her time staring out the window at the city, wondering where AD-214 and the rest of Blue Squad were, and if she would ever be lucky enough to leave.
Unfortunately, it seemed like her stay would never end. A never-ending string of military and government officials always wanted to speak with her. She was quite a popular person for someone who spent their days and nights alone in a hospital room. Commanders, generals, and even a representative for the President visited her. They all asked the same questions but expected different answers, and it made her head spin. The news reporters weren’t allowed in the hospital, but when she spoke with them, she was able to get out of the little white room momentarily.
Dr. Gold had come to sit with her for an afternoon after they had decided it was safe for Amanda to interact with him. She almost didn’t recognize him without his lab coat or ever-present computer tablet. “I’m here as a friend, Amanda,” he said as he settled down into the chair next to her bed. “I was worried about you when you vanished.” He ran a nervous hand through his curly gray beard.
“Dr. Gold, you wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen,” she said, adjusting herself in the uncomfortable hospital bed to see her co-worker better. “I know the operations required to become a cyborg are irreversible, but something has happened to their minds. I think the cyborgs are starting to think like humans again.”
The older man looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure? According to our research, something like that should be impossible.”
Amanda nodded. “I know what’s supposed to happen, but they remember things from their past that they shouldn’t. I told Dr. Feldman about my theory when they separated me from Blue Squad.”
Dr. Gold’s face darkened slightly at the mention of the other man. “I think Dr. Feldman is only looking out for his interests right now, Amanda.” He looked around as though he were afraid someone would jump out from behind the curtains and attack him for saying such a thing out loud.
“Why?” Amanda had concerns about the man as well. He had quickly changed from wanting to slaughter Blue Squad to ordering them brought back to headquarters.
“First of all, he hasn’t shared this information with me. If the cyborgs recall memories, the head psychiatrist ought to be involved. Instead, he spends every second holed up in his office not talking to anyone. He’s also limited everyone’s access to Cyborg Sector.” Dr. Gold shifted in the hard plastic chair.
“It’s not as if the public has ever had access to Cyborg Sector. Is it possible to make it more restrictive?”
Dr. Gold shook his gray head. “I don’t mean like that. Most of the scientists have been asked to go home on paid leave. Dr. Feldman gave some excuses, of course. He said there wasn’t as much work right now, and they had to wait to get the Blue Squad situation under control. You and I both know that there is more work to do now than ever before. Completely excluding the fact that Blue Squad’s minds are reverting, they went rogue. That fact alone is cause for alarm and constant monitoring for all cyborgs.”
“That’s true.”
“They shouldn’t be holding you like this,” Dr. Gold continued. “You were only missing for one day, and it’s clear to me that you haven’t suffered any damage. You’re a prisoner, Amanda. They’re covering it up by treating you like a patient.”
Amanda took the opportunity to look at her situation in a new light. Dr. Feldman was upset with her, and probably for more than a punch in his eye. There were guards stationed outside the door to her room as well as other critical points in the building. She had asked them numerous times to stand down, but they always gave her a different excuse.
“I think you’re right. It sounds like it’s time I got out of here.” Amanda thought she could take down the guards at the door. They weren’t cyborgs, at least, and she had a lot of recent experience swinging things at people’s heads. She’d have to be quick if she wanted to escape the building before the rest of the security team could respond.
“No,” Dr. Gold whispered quickly. “It will only make things worse. If you run away, there’s no guarantee they won’t send the clones after you and shoot you down like they did to Blue Squad.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“That’s all right. I’ll have to bide my time and find some other way to leave.”
Amanda lay awake in bed that night, running through various schemes in her mind. She wished she had the same military strategy information that AD-214 did. He would know what she needed to do.
Unwillingly, she lost herself in a fantasy in which the cyborg captain came to rescue her. She imagined AD-214 quickly cutting down the human guards at the hospital before he burst into her room. The cyborg would scoop her up in his strong arms and carry her out ceremoniously. Nobody would try to stop them because to oppose the cyborg would be like asking for a death sentence.
With the door shut and the lights off, Amanda slipped a hand under her hospital gown. There hadn’t been time to think about sex lately, but right now she had all the time in the world. She stroked her soft folds, nipples instantly becoming hard in the cold room as she continued her daydream.
She thought about AD-214 taking her someplace safe, far away from any cyborg clones, the military, or other scientists. He laid her in a soft bed lined with satin sheets. The smooth fabric felt luxurious against her bare skin as the hospital gown fell into a heap on the floor. The cyborg pressed his lips against hers, gently at first, then slowly becoming more insistent. His tongue flicked into her mouth, running over her teeth, dancing against her own tongue.
Amanda knew in reality that there was no safe place for the two of them, but reality had no place in her dreams. She knew that somewhere in the cyborg’s soul he remembered what sex was and how fucking a woman felt. Amanda rolled him over on the bed to climb on top of him, looking down into his handsome face. She ran her hands through his dark hair and down the back of his neck, feeling his shoulders and sliding down over his chest and stomach. Her hands wrapped around his hard cock, stroking and encouraging him.
Sliding down on the satin sheets, Amanda pressed her breasts down on AD-214’s crotch so that his erection burst through her cleavage. The sensation made her quiver inside. Amanda slid down farther and slowly took his cock into her mouth. His skin was soft and hot as she ran her tongue down his shaft, sucking and pulling with her lips.
The cyborg moaned with pleasure on the pillow as he rocked his hips to jam himself further into her mouth. Reaching down with his hands, he began to massage her breasts gently.
A pulse of excitement shot through Amanda’s body as she realized the cyborg was as turned on as she was. Keeping a steady rhythm on his cock with her mouth, she reached back to touch herself. She knew her body well, having spent plenty of time with it in the shower. This time, she didn’t have to spend time working herself up. She was already halfway there. Slow, hard taps against her center of pleasure made her moan around the cock in her mouth. Her inner walls began to quiver, but she didn’t want to come alone.
Pulling herself up onto her hands, Amanda impaled herself on AD-214, shoving him as far up inside of her as she could. She rode him hard, breasts smacking against the side of his face, hands clutching the sheets behind him.
The cyborg grabbed her ass, strong fingers digging deep into her flesh as they moved together, their pleasure mounting simultaneously. Amanda’s core consumed him, pulling him deeper inside as she came. She could feel the heat of his hot seed as he pumped it into her.
Suddenly Amanda was back in her hospital room with her fingers wet inside her. It wasn’t fair to have to come back to this after such an incredible fantasy. Now she was having visions of her own, just like the cyborgs. It embarrassed her that she thought of him that way, but she had lied to the anchorwoman who had sat her down for an interview. She did love him. And she knew from her experience at the warehouse that the cyborgs were perfectly capable of tapping into human urges and needs. Amanda would get him back, and she would help him realize his full capabilities.
First, she was going to have to reveal her knowledge about the cyborgs to the rest of the world. Blue Squad would never be allowed to live in safety until both Cyborg Sector and the world understood they were not merely robots.
When she looked at her computer, she realized she wouldn’t have to wait long to put her plan into motion. There was a message waiting for her from Robin Goodwright, requesting another interview.
* * *
CHAPTER 17
The cyborg captain knew it was time. AD-214 had been living in the woods for too long, waiting idly for something to happen. It wasn’t comfortable for him to be still all the time, watching and waiting, listening to the reports from PD-4 without knowing what he could do about them.
A new snippet of news had come over the television that caught his attention. It wasn’t even much in the way of information. The stations were letting their audiences know when to listen to their broadcasts. It gave him a plan.
Amanda was scheduled to give a press conference in three days. There was no indication as to what the press conference was about, but anything involving Amanda was guaranteed to be important to him. The location was as interesting as the time of the news conference. It was going to take place in front of the military hospital where she was staying.
AD-214 was uncomfortable with the idea of her being in the hospital. He knew it meant she was still firmly under the control of Cyborg Sector, an organization he would never fully trust again. Considering all the information about her in the news, he was certain she was alive, but that didn’t mean she was doing well. He had noticed she didn’t have her customary brilliant glow about her during the interviews with the newswoman.
He had hoped the press conference would take place outside. It would still be well-guarded in an area with easy access to cyborg clones and other military officials, but if he made his way to the location, he would have a chance to see her in person, and perhaps find an opportunity to get her back.
AD-214 sat up in the cave, taking care not to bump his head on the low ceiling, and relieved PD-4. The young soldier yawned and gratefully took his turn to rest.
The stars shone brightly overhead in the night sky. The two cyborgs only dared to build campfires during the day, and the one they used to cook an early dinner had burned out long ago. There were no lights from the city here, and it was easy for the cyborg to pick out each star. He didn’t know their names, but looking up at them gave him a feeling of connection to something. He wasn’t sure to what he felt connected. It made him feel the same way he did when he thought about his memories. There was something bigger than himself in the universe.
He wanted to reach out and understand it. But he couldn’t do it on his own. He needed Amanda.
Opening up the shared compartment of the network, he began to summon the remainder of his troops. It was risky giving out his coordinates. Some from Cyborg Sector might know how to tap into their systems, but he had no choice. He needed the help of the other cyborgs in his unit.
He didn’t get a response until he mentioned Amanda by name. Signals began flashing in from all directions, giving their estimated times of arrival. Blue Squad had scattered far and wide in their flight from pursuing military forces, but they were swift on their feet. They wouldn’t be easy to spot traveling through the night. AD-214 hoped they would all make it safely to him.
It was less than thirty minutes before he heard a soft rustling in the brush. The captain charged his plasma gun. The squeal was piercingly loud in the quiet woods, but the noise served a purpose. If the newcomer were an enemy, they would understand he was armed. If it were one of his men returning, they would know they had found the right location.
“It’s me,” called a familiar voice from the bushes. “ND-45.”
“Come out.” AD-214 lowered his hand but didn’t release the charge from his weapon. He waited for the other cyborg to emerge.
The hard gray eyes of ND-45 glistened in the starlight. He was the cyborg who hadn’t wanted Amanda with them. He had accused her of betraying Blue Squad and would have killed the human if the captain hadn’t stopped him. AD-214 was surprised to see him show up so quickly.
“Are the others coming?” the weapons specialist asked.
“Yes,” the cyborg leader confirmed. “They should all arrive within twenty-four hours.”
The two soldiers stood silent, assessing each other. Eventually, AD-214 spoke up again. “Are you here to save Amanda? Or do you intend to convince the others that they should kill her?”
“I’m here to get her back,” ND-45 replied, chin up and proud. “I was wrong.”
“What changed your mind?” The captain thought about his words after he said them. They had come to his mouth readily enough, but they didn’t make sense. How did one change his mind? The information in his system could be analyzed and understood, but did not change. A soldier could not simply do as he wished. Then again, the soldier standing before him claimed he was suddenly analyzing the same information and getting a different result.
“She can fix us,” ND-45 replied, his words short and curt.
AD-214 studied the soldier. Circles hung below his eyes, and his uniform hung loosely on his thin frame. He realized that most of his soldiers had probably been by themselves, without the benefit of someone to stand guard while they slept or help obtain food. “Where have you been?”
“Underground. I went into the city when we scattered, and I managed to find a series of underground tunnels. There are people there, but they aren’t like the people above. They’re dirty, and most of them are drunk. At first, I thought they would turn me in, but those people didn’t even notice my presence. I went up in the evening to scavenge whatever food I could find.” He frowned. “Most of it tasted awful.”
It was clear that the weapons specialist had been living in poor conditions, but AD-214 didn’t know where his loyalties lay. “What do you think Amanda will do for you?”
ND-45 licked his lips and looked at his commander hesitantly. “I don’t want to remember anymore. The things I see in my head won’t let me rest. Every time I close my eyes, I see something different. Most of the time, it’s the same scene. There are doctors all around me, cutting and sawing at my legs while I’m screaming. I can feel everything.” He looked down at the ground, and AD-214 knew he was experiencing a terrible memory again.
“Other times, it’s something else,” he continued. “None of it makes sense, but together they all tell me that who I am and what I’m doing now are different than before. When I taste the food in my mouth, I know it could be better. I lie down to sleep, and I imagine myself in a more comfortable place. I want everything to be as good as my ideal visions.
The cyborg captain nodded. The experience of AD-214’s memories didn’t feel like this, but he understood what ND-45 was trying to say. The visions made him question everything he did. “What if she can’t get them to leave your mind?”
The weapons specialist scowled. “Then I will have to try something else.”
There was nothing more to say. The two waited for everyone else to assemble.
By the time the sun was about to set the next day, everyone who was still alive had arrived at AD-214’s campsite. They had lost half their unit, leaving only ten remaining besides their captain. They were small in number, but they would have to suffice.
When everyone had eaten and rested, AD-214 began discussing strategy. He had PD-4 share all the information about Amanda. Blue Squad stayed up long into the night, each of them taking turns sharing what they came across during their time out in the world. They rapidly revised their plan according to the new information.
An unspoken subtext to the conversation was an implicit acknowledgment that Amanda belonged with them. The clones should never have captured her and imprisoned her in a military hospital. They spoke of how the young scientist understood them and how she seemed to care for all cyborgs.
“She isn’t like the other researchers,” PD-4 murmured from his place to AD-214’s left. He stared into the campfire, which they had been confident enough to build now that everyone had arrived. “She’s not like Dr. Feldman, and I think she was afraid of the clones. We have to get her back. She’s worth the risk.”
The men around him agreed heartily, and they made their plans to arrive at the military hospital in the morning. They would retrieve Amanda, no matter what it cost.
* * *
CHAPTER 18
Every morning, AD-214 had a few moments of privacy. There was a short period when he was awake, but his systems were still booting up, and that time was his own. He blinked as he stared up at the sunshine filtering down through the tall pines surrounding him. His body wouldn’t move. The cybernetic implant controlling his somatic nervous system was not active yet, but he was content to see the world without the busy interface overlaying his vision. Typically he saw a brightly colored assemblage of boxes and windows that constantly analyzed everything and processed the environment. For a minute, he could see the world around him naturally and without hindrance.
Since the rest of Blue Squad had arrived, he had not bothered taking shelter in the small cave in the nearby bluffs. He slept under the stars with the other cyborgs. He knew, somehow, that even though they were not programmed to sleep in the open, it would be a good experience for them. As he watched tree branches swaying in the early morning breeze, saw a bird flitting about with its mate, and smelled the earthy scent of the ground underneath him, he knew he was right. He could hear the sounds of the other soldiers rousing and the murmurs of idle chat amongst them.
His interface took effect like it didn’t want to be left out. The center of his vision was instantly occupied by a large, bright green rectangle, muffling the natural colors of the woods. The electronic lime-green of his visual interface overlaid the pale cerulean of the sky, the vivid emerald of the pine branches, and the glittering shafts of golden light which filtered through them. A red alert box blinked up in the corner, and AD-214 activated it. He knew it was his internal calendar, telling him that today was the day they would rescue Amanda. As ready as he was for this mission, he was still intrigued by the fact that he didn’t need the calendar. He knew what day it was without reminding.
The biomechanical processors were now active. As AD-214 sat up, the cyborg captain ignored the facial recognition software that told him he was surrounded by his teammates, sitting by the burnt remains of a campfire. Part of him wanted to be able to deactivate that part of himself. There was no need for constant identification of his communications specialist and the other men in Blue Squad. But he knew the recognition might be useful as they headed toward the military hospital.
ND-45, the weapons specialist, trudged out of the woods and toward the campfire. He held the ears of several rabbits in his meaty fist. “I’ve got breakfast,” he said in his usual dour tone.
AD-214 nodded gratefully and moved to stoke the fire again. When he had called his men to return, he didn’t think ND-45 would respond. The soldier had made it clear that he didn’t trust humans, including Amanda Conrad. But he had come to understand how important she was, and AD-214 was sure that utilizing his skills at gathering food was his way of apologizing to the rest of his squad. ND-45 sat down and began skinning the rabbits earnestly.
“I think we have everything ready to go,” PD-4 said nervously, as he sat down next to his captain. The young surveillance specialist had been restless during the night. “I tapped into a local weather camera placed right outside Cyborg Sector, which gave me a good view of the military hospital for the last several hours. It looks like they’re going to hold the press conference in front of the building. They’re already setting up a podium.”
AD-214 nodded. “And what about security?”
The young officer shook his head. “It’s hard to tell at this hour, sir. The only people I’ve seen are lackeys getting the stage ready and a sound guy in charge of running the microphones. I haven’t seen any extra security measures yet.”
“You can bet that will change before they bring her outside of those doors,” AD-214 warned. “Everyone gather around. I want to go over things one more time.”
His soldiers responded quickly, moving toward him. He motioned for them to sit on the various rocks and logs they had collected in their camping space. There was no point in wasting even the smallest amount of energy; they would need it later today.
“As we discussed last night, I have no doubt that they will be using cyborg clones at the press conference today. Cyborg Sector has yet to activate any other squads since our escape, and I don’t think they will. It’s too risky for them if they don’t know what happened to us. They need soldiers they can control without fear of any repercussions. Even though we expect resistance, we must remember the strength of Red Squad.”
AD-214 studied the faces of his men. In their expressions, he could see them remembering their brothers who had fallen in the attack on the warehouse. It was the first battle where cyborgs had fought themselves, and it had affected them deeply. Blue Squad had lost half its numbers and been forced to flee for their lives. Worst of all, they hadn’t been able to protect Amanda, letting the enemy capture her.
“We’ve planned as well as we can,” he continued, “but we have to be ready for surprises. We have to be able to think on our own, even if we don’t have any commands waiting in our systems for us. It’s going to be difficult. You aren’t used to operating like this, especially since we have to be covert. Most of you know how to fight openly. I have to warn you again that an all-out battle is only an option when everything else has failed.”
The cyborgs nodded their understanding, but AD-214 wasn’t certain they were all on the same page. How could he know if a free-thinking cyborg would make the right decisions? The scientists hadn’t programmed them for independent thought.
“Let me see your uniforms.”
The men lined up in front of him for inspection. Their camouflage combat gear had been modified surprisingly well considering that they’d had to pilfer their materials from nearby residences. AD-214 didn’t like stealing, but it wasn’t like they could find sewing needles and thread growing in the forest. His soldiers had only borrowed from homes that were unoccupied, with their owners busy at work or the grocery store. They only took what they needed.
The resulting modifications were a removal of the blue badges that marked them as part of Blue Squad. In their place were squares of red material. After some debate, they had also removed the identification numbers underneath the colored badges. It was possible someone might recognize the designation of one of the rogue cyborgs. Although they couldn’t replace their identifiers with valid call-signs from Red Squad, it was better than nothing.
They didn’t have the equipment to modify their individual features such as varying heights, weights, and appearance that characterized them as different cyborgs instead of clones. AD-214 and his men could only hope that nobody would look at them too closely until they had an opportunity to execute their plan.
“Does anybody have any questions?” the cyborg captain asked as he studied his squad. They looked tired, uncertain, and worried, yet there was a gleam of determination in their eyes that told him the plan would be successful. It had to work. They were going to get Amanda back, no matter what.
“All right, then, let’s move out. PD-67 will lead the way until we get close, but after that everyone will have to go on their own. Our communication systems will have to stay off-line. Make sure you know what you’re doing. Once we get there, there will be no time for uncertainties.”
The soldiers of Blue Squad nodded and fell into formation behind their leader. The navigation specialist easily led the way through the forest. They crossed through streams and skirted around bluffs, but they never ran into anything they couldn’t handle. PD-67 had planned the route carefully.
AD-214 felt a sense of trepidation rising in his chest as they neared the city limits. Would Dr. Feldman and Cyborg Sector be watching for them? What would they do if their scheme failed? They couldn’t fail. They only had one chance, and he knew it.
Soon enough, the group emerged from the wilderness at the back of the compound that contained Cyborg Sector, the military hospital, and other government buildings. Each building had a private security force. Blue Squad did not have to penetrate an outer wall like they would if the compound were a military base. Despite the lower security, they still had to make their way individually over to the front of the hospital, ending up at the press conference location. Someone would ask questions if they saw a large group of soldiers going somewhere.
AD-214 nodded to ND-45, who had volunteered to be the first one to enter. The captain and the surveillance specialist would be the last ones inside. AD-214 was too recognizable now that his face had been plastered all over the news. PD-4 was needed to plan the invasion tactically as they slowly infiltrated the ranks of the cyborg clones.
The captain watched with impatience as his men slowly separated and entered the compound from different sides. Nobody was stopped or questioned. He hoped the rest of the day would be this easy.
* * *
CHAPTER 19
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Dr. Gold asked for what seemed like the millionth time.
Amanda looked over her shoulder. She could see his reflection in the mirror over the sink in the hospital room bathroom. It was hell trying to put makeup on using a tiny mirror and fluorescent lights. Dr. Feldman hadn’t let up his guard on her, keeping her restricted to her room for anything except for media events. If he had any idea of what she had planned today, he would have prevented her from talking to reporters too.
“Of course not. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready. I’ve already done plenty of interviews, and this press conference is going to be under my control, at least. But the process is nerve-wracking.” Amanda had cobbled together a small bag of makeup since her arrival at the hospital. She pulled out a tube of lipstick and swiped it slowly across her lips.
“I’m sure it is. You don’t see me out there. I don’t think the media would go as crazy for this ugly old mug as they do for you.” His lips parted in a deprecating smile. “I’m worried about you.”
Amanda smiled back. “I don’t think you’ve done anything else since the incident with Blue Squad.” Dr. Gold had been the only person who came to see her, or at least the only person Dr. Feldman had allowed. It would be hard for anyone to deny him since he had worked for Cyborg Sector for over twenty years, but Amanda could no longer predict Dr. Feldman’s erratic behavior. She was suspicious that keeping her in the military hospital wasn’t about her protection at all. As for Dr. Feldman, he had been surprisingly absent from her life despite the fact that he was the one currently in charge of her welfare. It might have been because of the satisfying punch she landed square in the middle of his handsome face.
Dr. Gold had also given her plenty of reports about odd happenings at Cyborg Sector. New cyborgs were being created more rapidly than before. Dr. Gold wasn’t privy to who authorized their surgeries or the reason for the ramp-up.
“Something is wrong,” Dr. Gold insisted. “I have a bad feeling, but I can’t quite put my finger on the problem. I understand that Sector wants to get Blue Squad back. We can’t leave them out there to fend for themselves. It’s irresponsible of us.”
Amanda nodded as she placed the cap on the lipstick and reached for her mascara. She worried desperately about what would happen to Blue Squad once they returned, AD-214 in particular. “I know,” she said. “I don’t think I can change what’s going to happen. My hope is that I can affect people’s perspective on cyborgs. I’ve thought a lot about how helpless I feel trapped in this hospital, but the truth is that I wouldn’t be any more capable of changing things back in the lab. I have the opportunity to do something here, and I’m going to take it.”
She finished applying her makeup, zipped up the bag and turned back toward the bar room. On an impulse, she jumped up and grabbed the thick curtain rod separating her bed from the rest of the room.
“If you discover anything I can do to help you, let me know. I admire you for your convictions. You are an inspiring person, Amanda Conrad.” He watched with rheumy eyes as she pulled her chin up to the bar repeatedly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been able to do a single pull-up.”
Amanda laughed despite the fact that her abs were heavily engaged. She reveled in the feeling of her muscles stretching and pulling to lift her weight repeatedly. Dr. Feldman hadn’t allowed her to use any of the numerous gyms that were in the government compound, but she wasn’t going to let that a couple of pointless rules stop her from staying in shape. Besides, lying around in a hospital bed only made her feel sick. She knew she must look like a mess right now as she attempted to exercise with her blonde hair blow-dried smooth, full makeup, and a skirted business suit. It wouldn’t have been her first choice for regular workout attire, but nothing was normal at the moment.
A brief knock came at the door. “It’s time, Ms. Conrad,” said the guard.
Amanda dropped to the floor and reached out for Dr. Gold’s hand. “You can help by coming with me right now.”
They descended through the numerous indistinguishable corridors of the hospital with a swarm of guards around them. Amanda made a point to ignore them as best as she could. These clones were not her cyborgs, and she had seen enough of their identical faces. Instead, she marched through the building as though she knew what she was doing.
When she emerged into the sunlight, Amanda was taken aback by the huge crowd amassed in the parking lot. News reporters with flashing cameras swarmed the bottom of the steps just below the podium, but the hoi polloi were present as well. She could see nothing but a sea of people stretching all the way to the back of the lot. The crowd was so deep that she wasn’t sure the announcement system would reach to the back. Even if they couldn’t hear her now, they would listen to her news again over the news or Internet broadcasts. It made her stomach swirl to know that so many people were listening to her, but it also gave her needed encouragement.
Amanda had changed what she wanted to say more times than she could count. But as she stepped up to the microphone, she found the words easily came when she didn’t obsess over each sentence.
“Ladies and gentleman, I want to thank you for showing up here today. It means a great deal to me that you would take time out of your day to hear what I have to say.”
The crowd didn’t react. The people patiently watched Amanda.
“As you already know, I have been heavily involved with Cyborg Program since its inception. I’ve worked with cyborgs in the lab for several years, but I learned more about cyborgs in the single day I spent with them in the warehouse than I did in all my years in the office. I understand how they work physically, but I want you to know that there is more to them than even the best scientists can understand.”
She flinched involuntarily, waiting for someone to react. Up until this point, the crowd didn’t think much of her speech. It was time to get down to the essence of what she wanted to say.
“The government has painted a picture for you of cyborgs as nothing more than mindless killing machines. I’ll be the first to admit that this concept is close to their initial purpose. The military thought they would be a good alternative to human soldiers risking their lives for our country. These cyborgs are not mere robots any longer. I want to ask you something today. Let me rephrase that. I beg you to remember that they are still human at their core. They look human, and yet we’ve been able to justify treating them like they are something else. I have first-hand knowledge about the cyborgs. They can think, feel, and remember, just like you and everyone else you know.”
The crowd was stunned for a moment, but murmurs of dissent began to spread down its lines. Amanda knew she might start a riot, but it was too late to go back.
“The years I spent in Cyborg Sector were nothing compared with the time I spent with them while they were in hiding. They showed me their human sides and didn’t hold anything back. It is my sincere hope that you will listen to me and understand that these beings are as capable of sadness, anger, and even love as you or me.”
The audience was thoroughly worked up now. There were cheers from the back, but there were pockets of anger as well. Amanda could hear people booing, yelling, and calling her rude names. She smiled. People didn’t like the truth, and their reactions showed they understood her message.
She gestured behind her, where she knew a squad of soldiers had assembled on the steps of the building. “Even the cyborg clones that are present with us today, acting as security and keeping all of us safe, are still human. We grew them in a laboratory, but I believe they are as capable of laughing and crying as we are.”
Amanda had churned the spectators to a full froth. Though they had stood still and attentive at the beginning, they were now thrashing out against each other as the different factions collided. Some people obviously disagreed with her, those who only wanted the threat of the rogue cyborgs to be eliminated by deadly force. But there were others who understood what she was saying, and those were the ones she was trying to reach. Most importantly, they were willing to believe her.
Strong arms clamped around her elbows and began dragging her back toward the doors. Her time here was over, but she wasn’t upset. Instead, she pulled forward, so she was just within the microphone’s range. She wrapped the fingers of her right hand around it firmly, determined to get the last word. “They’re people, too!” she shouted.
A roar of cheers came up from the back of the crowd. The soldiers pulled at her again, causing the microphone to fall to the ground. Amanda allowed herself to be taken away, knowing she had accomplished everything she wanted.
* * *
CHAPTER 20
AD-214 had linked directly with PD-4’s surveillance system. He didn’t want to take his attention away from the military hospital’s parking lot for a moment. There was no room for mistakes in the rescue mission.
He was glad to see that the crowd gathering in front of the hulking brick building was growing by the minute. If there were more people there, it simplified the task of joining the group without unwanted attention. The clones would be occupied watching the crowd, and shouldn’t notice Blue Squad members as they slowly appeared.
AD-214 shifted his feet around. He wanted to get into the building, but the timing wasn’t right. ND-45 had managed to come around the side of the hospital building. The remainder of Blue Squad had to wait while he found his opportunity. It didn’t take long. ND-45 reported back within a few minutes. He was in the crowd, and nobody had noticed him. The cyborg captain sent in the next man.
When it was finally the surveillance specialist’s turn, AD-214 had to break the bad news. “I want you to stay here.”
“But, sir, why?”
“No, don’t argue. I know we’re deviating from the plan, but our presence will be noticeable if you’re on the inside with us. Someone will notice you while you’re involved with your system. It won’t be bad to have a cyborg on the outside.”
The young soldier nodded reluctantly. “Yes, sir.”
AD-214 headed determinedly through the grassy field that ran up against the back lot of the hospital. As he rounded the corner, he studied the rows of windows. There were several neat rectangles, each aglow with fluorescent lights that shone through the glass despite the bright sunshine. From PD-4’s blueprints combined with news footage, the cyborg could tell which window was Amanda’s. She had drawn her curtains.
As his boots thudded down on the concrete, AD-214’s attention shifted back to the crowd. Since he was approaching from the back of the building, his back would be to Amanda as he entered the crowd. He didn’t think she would notice him at all considering the sheer amount of people that were there. But if she happened to see him, how would she react?
Secretly, he had fantasized that she would notice him. He had imagined that as he pushed his way to the edge of the crowd, she would immediately recognize him despite the minute changes to his uniform. In his mind, she interrupted her speech to exclaim that he was back. She would rush down the stairs, shove her way through the crowd, and leap into his arms. He longed to wrap himself around her, to scoop her compact body off the ground and press her against himself. Amanda would look into his eyes and see him as more than a cyborg. For her, he could be a man.
Shaking the fantasy out of his head once again, AD-214 made his way down the side of the crowd where the cyborg clones waited in a line. They stood at attention, each of them looking remarkably alike as they watched over the mass of people. The rogue cyborg captain could already see that Blue Squad had replaced several of the clones, giving him hope. If the soldiers were required to stand too close to one another, their individuality would be a dead giveaway.
AD-214 moved closer to a clone. He admitted that the scientists had designed them well. They were tall and broad-shouldered, with enough muscle mass to make them look intimidating and not enough to slow them down. They shared the same critical weakness endemic to all cyborgs: their chips were implanted directly above their left ears. Although the clones grew around their chips, the region was as susceptible for them as it was for the regular cyborgs.
Blue Squad had trained as much as possible over the last three days. They had limited resources, but ND-45’s plan seemed to be working. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any Blue Squad members currently standing in the crowd.
AD-214 surreptitiously brushed his fingers against the chip in his head, making sure to contact the right spot, as he reached up to touch the cyborg clone’s chip with his other hand. The soldier convulsed for a moment, although AD-214 had not shocked him. The burly clone turned to look at the soldier standing behind him with fear and confusion in his eyes.
“You’re relieved from duty, soldier,” AD-214 said, his voice quiet and soothing.
The clone nodded mutely before stumbling away from the crowd, one hand on his head.
The rogue cyborg quickly stepped into his place and assumed the role of guard. He felt the corners of his mouth pulling themselves up into a smile, but he yanked them back down. He had to appear grave despite the success. It had been a brilliant idea to spread the same software upgrade to the clones that had made Blue Squad start retrieving their memories. They didn’t have physical weapons that would be able to defeat the clones, but they had a different way to fight. The plan was to take the battle directly into the minds of the clones.
The cyborg biochips could communicate with each other as long as there was a physical connection, even if the systems were down. The system was designed to have multiple redundancies in case of failures. ND-45 had proposed to use their bodies as connectors, and the idea had worked perfectly.
The leader of Blue Squad wondered what the affected clones would do as they regained their sense of self. The reaction of the one he had personally infected was what he had expected. Eventually, someone would notice bewildered clones wandering through their neighborhood and report their sightings to Cyborg Sector.
AD-214 could hear Amanda’s voice coming in loud and clear over the speakers connected to her microphone. He was standing perpendicular to her, and he only had to tip his head slightly to see her. He refrained, keeping a strict military pose. He didn’t want to do anything to blow his cover.
The audience was becoming restless. Everyone looked far more agitated than expected for a single press conference. Reporters and their photographers fought for the prime spots closest to the podium. Groups of angry citizens shouted rude words, shaking their fists and waving homemade signs in the air. Other individuals whooped and cheered, hugging each other and jumping up and down. It was enough to make anyone pay attention to the speaker.
It was impossible to avoid looking at Amanda as she spoke warm words about the cyborgs. Her large, brown eyes were somber and serious as she tried to bring the gathered people around to her point of view about the soldiers. She looked confident in her blazer, wearing just enough makeup to accentuate her beauty. The scientist spoke from the heart with incredible power.
AD-214 wrenched his attention away from her. He had never doubted that rescuing Amanda was the right thing to do, but her speech was enough to allay the fears of even the most hardened cyborg. She belonged with them, and they needed her.
Unfortunately, this was not the best time to retrieve her. Coming to the press conference was only the first step in a long process. The members of Blue Squad were smart enough to know they could not descend on her in front of multiple witnesses and take her with them. They would reveal their position, and it would be too easy for Cyborg Sector to call in reinforcements and overwhelm the small rescue party. They had to find the right opportunity.
Amanda was shouting over the microphone now. The crowd screamed back, some with her and some against her. The squeal and thump of a dropped microphone signaled that the press conference was over.
AD-214 allowed himself to look toward the building once again. Amanda was going back toward the building willingly with a smile spread across her face. Reporters rushed to the podium, shouting random questions and angry they had not had the opportunity to interview her.
There were still plenty of clones on guard duty, and AD-214 left the crowd without encountering any of them. Instead, he snaked his way through the throng of people, ending up at a side door of the hospital where a group of soldiers was entering the building. His tracking software tagged some of them as part of his unit, making him breathe a sigh of relief.
He hung back as the soldiers filed through the door, making sure he was the last one in line. As the other cyborgs marched through the dark hallway of the hospital, he stepped aside and opened a door.
AD-214 had loaded maps of all levels of the hospital into his memory banks, ensuring he could always find a concealed location. Fortunately, there were janitor closets all over the building. While he couldn’t reduce the chance of someone coming and finding him to zero, it was the best place to bide his time. He could overpower any maintenance man that came by to grab a mop or roll of toilet paper.
With nothing to do but wait, AD-214 turned off the light and made himself comfortable.
* * *
CHAPTER 21
Amanda couldn’t remember a riot that had ever been good for the people involved. She avoided watching the news because she didn’t want to see a conflict. It was hard for her to see people arguing and fighting, and Amanda thought there were better things on which for her to concentrate. But now, as the cloned cyborgs pulled her toward the entrance of the hospital, she exulted in the chaos she had caused.
The crowd that came to hear her speak was in a frenzy. There were moving bodies everywhere trying to follow her up the stairs, work their way to their vehicles, and running into each other in the middle. They hadn’t all appreciated the words that came out of her mouth, but they had listened to her. The resulting disorder would ensure that reporters gave the press conference a prominent place on the evening news.
Once inside, Amanda shook off the grip of the soldiers and headed back for her room. She was familiar with the routine. This time, they demanded that she turn right on the first floor instead of going up the elevator. They led her into a luxurious office and closed the door.
“That was a curious thing you did, Ms. Conrad,” Dr. Feldman remarked. He steepled his fingers on the large desk in front of him and looked at her with mild interest, as though she was barely a living creature. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less from you.”
Amanda shrugged, trying to stay calm even though she hadn’t expected to see him here. She knew she would have to talk to him about her behavior sooner or later, but she wasn’t sure what Dr. Feldman intended for her. “I don’t have anything better to do while I’m here. Maybe if you let me go home, I could occupy myself with a different activity.”
Dr. Feldman shook his blonde head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, especially after your press conference. I explained I was keeping you here for your protection, but the danger has doubled now that everyone is touting you as queen of the cyborgs. You’re safest here.” His smile looked thin and cruel despite his words.
Amanda looked around at the plush office with her brows drawn together. “You have an office here, too?”
“Of course not,” Dr. Feldman scoffed. “But they let me borrow it whenever I have some business that needs to be taken care of.” He flicked his hand toward the door. “You can go now, unless you’ve changed your mind about my proposition. I’m sure you’re getting tired of the hospital room.”
Amanda put her hand on her hip. Dr. Feldman still couldn’t get over it. He had her trapped and was trying to convince her his penthouse would be a better place to stay. “Sorry, but no dice.” She turned and walked out the office door, scurrying past the guards and escorting herself to her hospital room.
The guards caught up with her easily, but she still refused to look at them. The cyborgs, even the clones, reminded her too much of AD-214 and Blue Squad. Amanda thought about them constantly, worrying about what they were doing and how long they would survive. The scientist knew they had plenty of survival skills programmed into their systems, but would they be able to apply them now that they were fully self-aware?
When Amanda and the clones reached her room, she entered without protest. As much as the depressing place was wearing on her, she was not about to let Dr. Feldman entertain the notion of changing her mind.
A guard took his place outside her door, just to the left. There was always someone in the vicinity of her room. Amanda usually kept her eyes focused on the floor or down the hallway to avoid looking at him, but today something made her glance at the guard as she crossed the threshold.
She whirled around, certain that there was something different about that particular cyborg. Though she couldn’t put her finger on it, the fact that she could detect anything different about a clone was alarming. The door slammed in her face, and the electronic lock gave a sharp click as it engaged. Amanda didn’t have the chance to see him again.
The scientist paced around in front of her door, trying to think of a way she could persuade the guard to open it. She wanted to look at his face. There was something about the way he stood and the shadows in his cheekbones. Since there was a bathroom already attached to her room, she couldn’t claim that she needed to use the facilities. A complaint that she was ill would make the doctors give her another round of uncomfortable and unnecessary testing. Could she say she had left something behind at the press conference? She hadn’t brought anything with her, and they knew that.
Amanda shook her head. How could she think the guard was different when she refused to look at them? Her time in this hospital had been a little over a week now, and Amanda hadn’t looked at the clones once since she arrived. She was beginning to lose her mind or see things...maybe a little of both.
Feeling impatient, Amanda strode across the room and yanked open the curtains. Her window faced east, and she usually kept the draperies shut against the morning sun that burned through the glass. Now, however, she wanted to see if there was still anything happening in the parking lot below her.
Most of the crowd had scattered. The front stairs where the conference had taken place were almost directly underneath Amanda’s room, hidden from her perspective, but she imagined the stage hands had quickly dismantled the podium and taken it back into the building. Battered signs lay crumpled on the asphalt, trampled by hundreds of feet. The news crews were loading their equipment back into their vans and heading toward the offices of Internet news and television stations to assemble their click-worthy articles. A remarkable amount of trash skittered across the lot in the breeze, and a fat man in a blue uniform chased them with a dirty street sweeper.
Though most of the cyborgs had come into the building when they had dragged her inside, a few remained out in the parking lot to supervise the clean-up and make sure none of the rioters stuck around. Amanda zeroed in on them, trying to match them with the guard in the hall. But from her standpoint three stories up, the cyborgs looked the same as they always had: tall, intimidating figures that watched their surroundings with eagle eyes. Not one of them appeared different from the others.
Amanda’s heart sank as she turned away from the window. She had been hoping it would be otherwise. Though she didn’t expect any members of Blue Squad to know that she was here or be able to rescue her, she couldn’t let go of the idea that she needed to be with them. It was ridiculous to think they would come to fetch her. How would they get away? Where would they go after Amanda reunited with them?
Feeling adrift in a sea of politics and lies, Amanda flopped on the bed and stared up at the ceiling tiles.
* * *
CHAPTER 22
AD-214 had spent a long afternoon waiting in the janitor’s closet. The thick scent of heavy-duty cleaners assaulted his nose, and his stomach rumbled noisily. For a cyborg, such things were minor inconveniences. But he longed to come out into the hospital corridor, march down it like a captain, and rescue Amanda. Instead, he watched the time slowly tick by on his interface as he scanned through the same files over and over, wondering if there was a change in the data.
One maintenance man had come into the closet. AD-214 didn’t want to kill an innocent man, but he was prepared to do what was necessary. Hidden in the farthest corner from the door, he tensed up when the knob rattled. He would have to make sure he eliminated the janitor before he screamed or called out. Otherwise, everything he and Blue Squad had worked for would be wasted.
When the scruffy old man entered the closet, he didn’t bother reaching for the light. He swung the door open far enough to let in light from the hallway, reached for a roll of paper towels, and left just as quickly.
AD-214 relaxed after that. When he had studied the blueprints for the hospital, he had no way of knowing what parts of the building were more commonly used than others. Apparently, he had luckily chosen a maintenance closet that was out of the way and rarely visited.
Now it was time to get out. The guards were about to change their shifts. If everything had gone as planned with the rest of Blue Squad, PD-67 had been stationed outside Amanda’s room for the last several hours. The navigation specialist’s job was to keep anyone else from removing Amanda until AD-214 came to retrieve her. As much as he had wanted to rescue her immediately, he knew he needed to wait. He had to let the excitement from the press conference die down and get the cyborgs back into their routine.
His task now was to move from the maintenance closet to the third floor without being noticed. It shouldn’t be difficult, but his heart pounded in his chest as he quietly turned the doorknob. AD-214 opened the door slightly, just enough so he could see into the hallway and make sure no one was looking in his direction. The fluorescent lights gave a sickly glow to the pale linoleum and pea-green walls that hadn’t been touched for decades. The single beep of a heart monitor sounded from further down the hallway. No humans or cyborgs were present.
The captain slipped into the hallway and silently shut the door behind him. His next goal was getting to the stairs at the end of the hall. Focusing on the dark brown door, he confidently marched like he belonged there.
AD-214 heard a noise to his left. The cyborg continued his path, but he heard the sound again, more clearly this time. It was asking for something.
“Water.”
The voice was barely a whisper, like the rustle of dry paper being blown about by the wind. AD-214’s feet halted, waiting to see if the other part would continue speaking.
“Please.”
A door stood ajar a few feet down the hall on the left. A small tag next to the door indicated it was room 158. The light wasn’t on, but it was the only possible source of the whisper. AD-214 knew he had things to do. His prime directive was to complete his missions without letting anything else interfere, yet he found himself wandering to the door and pushing it completely open. He groped blindly on the wall and turned on the light switch.
The room was small and smelled of rancid sweat. The light pulsed and flickered, as though it couldn’t quite decide if it wanted to be on or off. The light revealed a man lying in a hospital bed. He lay on his back, reaching out blindly around him. His lips were parched and cracked. Numerous tubes ran from his arm into a machine by the side of the bed.
“Water, please,” he repeated.
AD-214 stepped closer. The man was ancient, the skin on his face loose and wrinkled. Most of the hair on his head had vanished along with his youth, leaving behind dark blotches on his exposed scalp. The patient was withered, as though someone had left him out in the sun too long.
At first, the cyborg wasn’t certain what to do. AD-214 had never encountered an old cyborg before, and the only things in his medical files were instructions on applying first aid in the battlefield. He supposed the shriveled man was telling AD-214 what he needed. The pitcher of water on a nearby table was the solution.
Without a word, the cyborg poured water into a small plastic cup and handed it to the old man. The patient gratefully gasped as he poured it down his throat. He guzzled it with more strength than AD-214 would have thought possible, then removed the cup from his lips with a satisfied sigh.
“Thank you.” The elderly patient’s voice was stronger now as he focused his cloudy eyes on his new nurse. “A soldier, eh? I was a soldier once.”
AD-214 didn’t respond but stared down at the crumpled figure on the bed. He didn’t look anything like a soldier. His arms jutted awkwardly out of his paper gown and what little flesh he had remaining seemed to hang off his bones. The old man didn’t look like he could sit up in bed on his own, much less fight a battle.
“Will you stay here and talk to me?” the old man asked feebly. “I’ve been here forever, and nobody comes to visit me. I want to hear about what it’s like to be a soldier these days.”
AD-214 frowned. He couldn’t reveal anything about himself to the man. “I am on a mission.”
The old soldier smiled and nodded, head bobbing on a skinny neck. “I understand. Well, good luck to you, son. And thank you again.”
The cyborg turned on his heel, left the room, and headed once more for the staircase. The patient had disturbed him. He should never have deviated from the path that would complete his mission, and he had wasted valuable time talking to the man. Still, he didn’t regret it. There was something about the elderly man that didn’t fit into his operating parameters.
The stairwell was unoccupied for the moment. AD-214 and his other soldiers had assumed that most of the staff and patients would be using the elevators. The stairs would keep them away from people more than any other route. The captain reached the third floor with ease. His body had fully adjusted to life without the support system of Cyborg Sector.
This section of the hospital was as busy as the first floor was deserted. Nurses checked charts on the doors of patient rooms and consulted with doctors. Several patients shuffled slowly down the hall in sock-clad feet, clinging to their IV poles for support and not paying attention to hospital gowns which flapped open in the back. AD-214 held his breath as he studied the activity, but he let it go in a rush of relief as he saw that the only soldier on the floor was a member of Blue Squad.
PD-67 stood in his place next to a patient door down at the opposite end of the hall. He stood at parade rest with his hands clasped behind his back and feet placed shoulder’s width apart. His gaze rested on the wall opposite him.
AD-214 headed through the door and into the hallway. Since it was right before the time for a scheduled shift change, nobody bothered to acknowledge the presence of a second soldier. He marched up to the navigation specialist, and they quickly saluted each other.
Before he let PD-67 go on his way, he touched the inferior officer’s arm and whispered in his ear. “There’s an elderly man in room 158. He can’t leave, but make sure you trigger the alarms on his life support system on your way out.”
The younger officer nodded and headed in the direction of the patient’s room.
AD-214 took up the post at Amanda’s door with tense muscles. He couldn’t enter the room too early. Each stage of their rescue mission brought him closer to her, but the wait made it seem like she was farther away than ever. It was tempting to go in now, but the third-floor hallway was full of people. It was wiser to bide his time and wait until the floor was less crowded.
After what seemed like an eternity of watching the other occupants of the building out of the corner of his eye, AD-214 saw his opportunity. The patients had returned to their rooms, and most of the nurses had followed them or disappeared to other parts of the hospital. Nobody was paying attention to an insignificant soldier at the end of the hallway.
Reaching behind him to release the electronic lock on the door, AD-214 slipped inside. The patient room was much larger than the male patient’s. The light fixture worked, but a long curtain blocked his view of the room. The only thing he could see was an open door to the private bathroom off to the left.
“Is someone there?” Amanda’s voice called from the other side of the curtain.
The cyborg didn’t answer. AD-214 had planned every step and prepared for every possibility, yet he didn’t know what to say to Amanda now that he was finally in the same room with her.
“Yes?” She sounded a little more impatient this time. The curtain whisked aside to reveal the blonde scientist. Tousled hair hung about her shoulders. The slightest remains of mascara clung to her eyes, giving her a smoky appearance that set AD-214 smoldering deep inside. She had been in the process of changing into her night clothes and hadn’t had the chance to button up her shirt all the way. Round breasts peeked at him from between the placket, tempting him to rip the clothing off and carry out the fantasies he had in the cave. The nightshirt hung down to her bare thighs. AD-214’s breath caught in his throat, and his tongue went dry in his mouth.
As soon as she saw him, the hand that had yanked back the curtain immediately went to her mouth. Her feet padded softly on the linoleum as she took two steps back, and her eyes flicked to the door behind him. He knew it was locked. He had secured it personally.
“AD-214?”
* * *
CHAPTER 23
Amanda blinked warily, expecting the vision of AD-214 before her to disappear. She had imagined this, fantasized about it, and hoped for it, but had never believed it would come true. She reached out an arm to touch his sleeve, just to be sure.
“How are you here?” she asked. “How did you get in?”
The cyborg captain shook his head impatiently. “There’s no time to explain. Get dressed.”
Amanda nodded as she reached behind her to retrieve some pants from the bed. She pulled them on without taking her eyes off AD-214, too caught up in the moment to worry about modesty in front of him. “I’m ready. What’s the plan?”
The soldier produced a sheaf of papers from a pocket. “I have forged orders to transport you to Cyborg Sector. They should get us where we need to go, or close enough.”
“Okay.” Amanda pulled her shoes on as she tried to wrap her head around the situation. It seemed impossible, yet it was happening. Her brain didn’t want to cooperate, however, refusing to think of what she should be doing beyond following AD-214’s orders.
The big cyborg stood before her with broad shoulders and a look in his eyes that meant business. Amanda felt a tingling sensation deep inside her, as though she were coming back to life. She wondered for a moment if this was how the cyborgs felt once they had gained sentience. It felt incredible as the numbness and disconnectedness fell away from her body. During her stay in the hospital, she had been the helpless Amanda Conrad, subject to the whims of Dr. Feldman and the media. But now that AD-214 was back, she was strong and could get through anything.
“I think I’m ready,” she said, taking a final look around the room. There was nothing here for her. She didn’t want to take a single thing with her.
“Good. We spent a lot of cycles coming up with this escape plan. We have to act like we are supposed to be here. Pretend I have authentic orders to bring you with me. Do you think you can do that?”
As far as Amanda was concerned, AD-214 was supposed to take her with him. That part would not be a pretense at all. “Yes. Let’s go.”
The pair emerged into the hallway. It was still relatively quiet. The nurses and doctors were so busy that they didn’t pay attention to the human and the cyborg. Nevertheless, Amanda’s stomach jumped around inside of her. She didn’t know the consequences of being caught, and she didn’t want to find out. They still had to move all the way to ground level before they had a chance to escape.
Even if they got away from the hospital, where would they go? As they advanced down the hall, she realized that she should have asked AD-214 to reveal more of his plan. Amanda never looked at the soldiers who escorted her around the building, and someone might discover her plan if she turned around and started to chit chat with her captor.
AD-214 led her to the elevator bank. There were only two lifts and a line of people waiting for them. They were anxious to go home now that their hectic shifts were over.
Amanda wanted to ask why they didn’t take the stairs and run down to the lower levels. In all the time that she had been here, nobody had ever used the stairs. Even the doctors, who should have been endorsing extra exercise, were content to stare at their phones or study their charts as the elevator carried them to their desired floor. But the cyborg captain had assured her there was a plan, and all she could do was trust him.
Eventually, the scientist and the cyborg piled onto an elevator with two nurses, a doctor, and a janitor. The group all stood facing the elevator doors. Nobody spoke except for the nurses.
“What a long day. I swear, I thought I would never get out of here.” The speaker wore pale purple scrubs and had curly red hair piled on top of her head.
“Tell me about it,” replied the other nurse. She had hair black as night, pulled back into a sleek bun. Her scrubs had tiny cartoon characters all over them. “I badly need a cigarette.”
“I didn’t think they were allowed to schedule us for so many shifts during a week,” the redhead replied as she rubbed her lower back. “I need to talk to the union or something.”
The dark haired woman gave a tired laugh. “Good luck. It won’t make any difference. There were too many people who quit last week. I don’t know where they’re all going.”
“Must be someplace great,” the first nurse agreed. “They aren’t even giving notice. It’s more like they just disappear.”
“Hang on.” The second nurse touched an earpiece that Amanda hadn’t noticed. She listened for a moment and heaved a heavy sigh. “Looks like I won’t be going home yet. There’s a patient on the first floor who needs urgent care right away. The other first floor nurses are busy in the emergency room.”
“I’ll help you, Fran,” the redhead said. “We’ll get it done together.”
Amanda snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye at AD-214, wondering what he thought about the situation. Being stuck in an elevator with a group of random strangers was a uniquely human experience and not something a cyborg would ever encounter on a regular basis. Since he was caught somewhere in between, she wanted to know how he interpreted this situation, or if he even registered it at all.
To her surprise, there was a small smile on his face. It was just enough so nobody else would have noticed it, but the grave look of a soldier on a mission had faded from his countenance. She would have to ask him about it later.
The elevator chimed and opened its doors, letting the group pour out onto the first floor. AD-214 held Amanda firmly by the elbow. Though she knew it was to keep up appearances and make her look as though she were his prisoner, she liked to imagine it was something more. Could the cyborg ever think of her as his possession?
He steered her to the left, toward the main entrance to the building. PD-4 must have provided accurate surveillance information because the clones always took her through the front of the hospital whenever they brought her out of the hospital room. Things were spot on so far.
They hadn’t even needed to use any of the forged paperwork AD-214 brought with him. No other soldiers had appeared in the hallway to interrogate them. They were almost out of the hospital.
The front doors took up her entire vision as they moved to escape. They were nothing more than panes of glass with the hospital visiting hours printed across them in vinyl graphics. But she could see the parking lot through them, and from there, freedom.
Amanda’s heart leaped in her throat as AD-214’s hand clamped down more tightly on her arm. They were going to get away from all of the madness with Dr. Feldman, Cyborg Sector, and the media. She didn’t know the rest of his plans. Perhaps the cyborg captain only intended to escort her back to her apartment, but she would have a chance to confess her feelings. It might be wrong in the eyes of the world, but if her time here had taught her anything, it was that she should be honest with herself.
Amanda and AD-214 reached the lobby. After they crossed it, Amanda could shove open the glass doors, dash past the two C-class cyborgs stationed on the other side of it, and make her way to freedom.
“Hold it right there.”
The voice coming from behind them sent chills down Amanda’s back. It was a voice she had once hoped would speak to her late at night after a romantic dinner and a few glasses of wine. Now it only meant trouble. Amanda slowly turned to face Dr. Feldman.
He stood a few steps behind them, holding a small device pointed in their direction. “It was a nice try,” Dr. Feldman said, coming slightly closer. He was wearing his typical uniform of a lab coat and slacks. He would have been a handsome figure if Amanda hadn’t known he was such a jerk. “Nobody noticed you were here at first. But it turns out we have some observant nurses — or perhaps horny ones — who noticed some of the cyborgs had suddenly become better looking. I have to congratulate you on your plan, but please realize I have to stop you.” He gave a slick smile.
“Let her go,” AD-214 replied. Standing this close to him, Amanda could feel the rumble of his deep voice in her body. She knew she shouldn’t have been thinking about how sexy the sound was, but she couldn’t help it. He was hot, powerful, and he was trying to save her. She sidled even closer, making sure their bodies touched together.
“You know I can’t do that,” the doctor replied with a shake of his head.
“She hasn’t done anything illegal.” The cyborg stood straight and tall, firm in his stance both physically and verbally. “You have no right to keep her here.”
Dr. Feldman raised an eyebrow. “She hasn’t? Dr. Conrad has allied herself with a group of dangerous, rogue cyborgs. She’s lucky that I’ve kept her in the hospital instead of letting the government cart her off to jail. It’s clear from her speech that her association with you is no accident. How do I know she didn’t change you and the rest of Blue Squad on purpose? It would be easy to convince a jury that a scientist fell in love with one of her creations, and found a way to make it love her back.”
“You know I didn’t!” Amanda protested. “We discussed this back at Cyborg Sector and outside the warehouse. It was a fluke of the software upgrade and something I couldn’t have predicted. What happened is a miracle.”
The doctor shrugged. “One person’s miracle is another person’s abomination. What matters to me is that I have the captain of Blue Squad here again, and I can use him to retrieve the others. Once they are reunited, I can have them destroyed and erase the problem.”
Amanda’s mouth dropped open in horror. Her heart pounded behind her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“Why wouldn’t I? A cyborg has no rights and is the property of the United States government.” Dr. Feldman gestured at the other people in the lobby, who had stopped to watch the altercation with widened eyes. “I think the general populace is ready to abolish the threat of independent cyborgs. As the head of the program, the responsibility of executing the order is mine.”
While Dr. Feldman talked, Amanda studied the lobby, looking for the best way to escape. The cyborg clones outside the front door had started to move and were now approaching them from the rear. The false paperwork wouldn’t help them now. Nobody could override what Dr. Feldman had to say when it came to his scientists and his cyborgs. The only other way to leave the lobby was to go through the doctor and out the back door.
She felt AD-214’s muscles begin to tense, and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was. It was easier to get past a single unenhanced human than two biologically engineered cyborgs. They charged Dr. Feldman together, without speaking. Amanda expected the other scientist to shrink away, believing he would let them pass and command the clones to follow him. To her surprise, Dr. Feldman’s face twisted into a grin of satisfaction as the couple ran at him. He held out the device in his hand, something Amanda hadn’t paid any attention to before now. Two tiny barbs shot out from the end, springing on coiled wires as they launched toward the cyborg captain. They buried themselves in his skin.
An electric shock raced up Amanda’s arm where she clung onto AD-214, forcing her to pull away from him. The cyborg crumpled to the floor with a thump, muscles convulsing and twitching. The barbs from the modified taser had plunged into his skin. Strong hands groped at them, trying to pull them out, but Amanda knew what was happening. The electrical impulses were shorting out his biochip. The weapon was not disabling AD-214. It was killing him.
Dr. Feldman released the button on the taser and gave a short laugh. “They look so tough, and yet they’re easy to take down if you know the secret. I’ll have to improve the design for the 2.0 models.”
Amanda knelt next to AD-214 as the clones closed around them, weapons at the ready. Her cyborg was completely motionless. They had failed.
* * *
CHAPTER 24
Amanda Conrad didn’t notice how hard her knees hit the floor as she fell next to AD-214. The cyborg captain who she had hoped to save had been killed by a person she once thought was on her side. Dr. Feldman had proved in the last few weeks that he wasn’t the man she thought he was. He stood over them now, triumphant in the destruction.
“Now that that’s over with,” Dr. Feldman said over her shoulder, “I suggest you return to your room unless there are some other Blue Squad members around here. I can take care of them too. It’s completely up to you.”
The clone cyborgs once stationed by the front door were now next to them, holding guns pointed at Amanda’s head. A wrong move would land her on the floor just like AD-214 with blood spilling onto the clean linoleum. Whirling with angry words in her mouth, Amanda turned to Dr. Feldman. “You didn’t have to do this. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”
“How do you know?” the doctor countered. “You didn’t think he was going to break out of Cyborg Sector. Or did you? That’s the one thing the media needs to be clarified. They keep acting as though you’re a hero for surviving your time with Blue Squad and speaking out for them. You were the one who changed his programming. You were the one who made him become self-aware. None of these problems would have happened without you. Perhaps you planned all of this.”
Amanda understood what the cruel smile on Dr. Feldman’s face meant. If media coverage about the cyborgs turned negative — and that was certainly possible now that AD-214 had broken into the hospital — he could frame her for everything. Pressure had been on Dr. Feldman ever since Blue Squad’s escape from Cyborg Sector. Some called for the immediate closure of the program, and others wanted the doctor to step down from his position. If he could blame someone else, he wouldn’t be in the hot seat. Amanda would be locked away, paying the penalty for his crimes, and he would be free to continue destroying lives.
Amanda could accept the position of a scapegoat for a good cause. What she couldn’t accept was the cruel treatment of the cyborgs who she had come to think of as friends. Amanda was about to voice her opinion when she noticed a twitch in AD-214’s eyelids. It was barely noticeable, so small that she would never have seen it if she hadn’t been watching him intensely. This minute flicker gave her simultaneous feelings of hope and dread. The cyborg captain wasn’t dead yet. He may have been saved by Dr. Feldman’s overconfidence when he stopped the taser’s electric impulses a few moments too soon. AD-214 must be suffering, either in pain or fighting to regain consciousness.
AD-214’s predicament gave her an idea. “Dr. Feldman, I need to ask you a favor.”
The man snorted with laughter. “A favor? Do you think you’re in a position to ask for things? I suppose you could put yourself in the right position...”
Amanda ignored the innuendo. “AD-214 is still functioning. I want to shut him down all the way. I know you don’t think highly of Blue Squad, but I do. I don’t want him to suffer. Let me put him out of his misery, at least.”
“He’s not dead?” Dr. Feldman asked as he took a small step backward. “Of course he is. I know what a taser can do to a cyborg.”
Amanda shook her head. “Maybe a typical cyborg would be overwhelmed, but you and I both know this one is not normal. He’s stronger than you imagined.”
Dr. Feldman hesitated as he stared at the figure on the floor in horror. “How do you plan to shut him down? You have no equipment. We’d have to take him to Cyborg Sector. It would be easier to shoot him.”
Amanda nodded. “Yes, we will have to take him to the lab,” she agreed. “But it’s the only way to get the job done. You can bring all the clones you want. I promise I’ll return willingly to my hospital room once it’s complete.”
He considered it for a moment. Amanda could see concern reflected in his eyes. He had no reason to trust her, but his fear of Blue Squad was greater than his fear of a female scientist. She felt as though she could read the thoughts running through his head, and could see the precise moment he realized the safest option was to make sure the leader of Blue Squad was undeniably dead.
“All right. You win,” Dr. Feldman agreed with a sigh. “But don’t try to pull anything. Any member of Red Squad can take you down in an instant.”
Amanda didn’t need reminding of something she could see with her eyes. There was no point in arguing with Dr. Feldman, especially considering that she was getting what she wanted. Her stomach churned nervously as the two clones lifted AD-214 between them and carried his body out the door. Cyborg Sector was right next to the hospital, conveniently placed for anyone who chose to donate their dying body and live forever. The walk there, however, seemed to last forever as thoughts and concerns raced through Amanda’s mind.
There was a chance her plan would fail. She knew everything a person could know about cyborgs, but she also knew that the human element meant sometimes the best plans ended with unexpected results. Her software upgrade was proof of unintended consequences. There was also the possibility that she wouldn’t be fast enough. She would have to keep her hands steady, but it would be hard considering the adrenaline pumping through her system.
The mismatched group had no trouble getting into Cyborg Sector and climbing to the lab. Dr. Feldman served as a living access pass to open the facilities. It was his kingdom, for now. With luck, Amanda was about to bring his reign to an end.
“Put him on the table.” Dr. Feldman gestured to a stainless steel exam platform, and the two clones dropped their burden on it with a clang.
Amanda winced as she heard AD-214’s body land harshly on the table, but she knew he would be able to take a beating. He had gone through worse trials than this, and he was still here with her. Now it was her turn to fight for his life.
“I’m not going to do anything with you and your goons hovering over me,” Amanda said, trying to make herself sound as stern as possible. “You can lock the doors and watch from the observation deck. I won’t have you breathing down my neck.”
Dr. Feldman sighed. She was wearing on his nerves. “Very well. But I’m not accommodating you any further on this.” He turned on his heel and strode off across the lab to the staircase.
Amanda got to work quickly. There was no time to waste since Dr. Feldman might realize at any minute what she intended. The scientist pulled over a cart containing a computer with numerous wires sticking out of it. She began to connect the computer to AD-214’s chip, her heart beating quickly. She had never performed this sequence of actions before, but she had to take a chance. The worst thing that could happen now was AD-214’s death. If she didn’t do anything, Dr. Feldman was going to kill him anyway.
When she had the correct wires connected, Amanda turned to the computer and began adjusting its settings. She increased the frequency, checked the readings briefly, and then turned the frequency down again. After another adjustment to one of the wire connectors on his biochip, and one more check of the monitor, she was ready to begin. Amanda leaned down and muttered into the cyborg captain’s ear, pretending she was still fiddling with the wires. Then Amanda quickly disconnected the entire setup, slipped AD-214 a quick injection, and made her way toward the observation deck.
Amanda climbed the steep steps to the floating chamber with ease. She was in good shape, and the exercise started adrenaline pumping through her body. The room was set up like a large office, with a massive wooden desk facing a transparent wall that gave a perfect view of the lab below. Like the rest of Cyborg Sector, it was sparsely decorated and more functional than beautiful.
“That was quick,” Dr. Feldman observed. “I would have thought you would take more time to terminate someone you were so concerned about.” He smiled, one corner of his mouth edging higher than the other in a smirk of satisfaction. He thought he had the upper hand again.
“He had suffered enough,” Amanda said with a sigh as her shoulders sagged. “And there’s another thing, too. I realized you were right.”
He stiffened and focused on her acutely. “I’m always right. But what specifically are you referring to this time?”
“About Blue Squad, about me...I guess about everything. I let it all get out of hand, and I should have listened to you in the beginning. You could have helped me. I might never have gotten into this mess if I had only taken your advice. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Dr. Feldman nodded. “Everything makes more sense in hindsight. I am the world’s foremost expert on cyborgs, in case you forgot.”
“I know.” Amanda let a tear drip from the corner of her eye. She had to keep him here as long as possible, but she didn’t know how long mere sympathy would last with the hardened soul running Cyborg Sector. “Most of all, I wish I had taken you up on your offer to let me stay with you. We could have worked together during this entire debacle, getting my mistake shut down and fixed. We would have made an excellent team.” She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and thrust her chest forward slightly as she leaned back against the desk. “Do you think you could ever forgive me?”
“I can imagine forgiveness being possible in the future.” Dr. Feldman moved closer. He turned quickly and pointed to the door. “Go,” he ordered the clones. They stomped out of the room and shut the door behind them. Dr. Feldman watched as they descended the stairs and marched out of the lab, closing that door as well. The two were alone now. The doctor’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Of course, it would take some extra work on your part. You would have to prove yourself worthy.”
“Oh, I will, Dr. Feldman.” Amanda tossed her hair behind her. “I’m ready to do my best for you.”
The doctor had his arms around her in an instant. He kissed her passionately, working her lips apart so he could explore her mouth with his tongue.
“Oh, Dr. Feldman,” she moaned as he worked his way down her throat to her collarbone.
“Alex. Please call me Alex.”
Amanda helped him unbutton her shirt, exposing her breasts. She’d left her hospital room in such a hurry that she hadn’t had a chance to put on a bra, but the doctor didn’t seem to mind. He took her nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. He had each of her breasts in his hands and eagerly pushed them into his face, smothering himself with them.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he asked, words muffled by the flesh of her chest. “You wanted me all along, didn’t you?” He pushed her further back onto the desk, sending piles of papers flying to the floor.
The young scientist complied, climbing backward onto the desk and sacrificing herself to him. “God, yes. I’ve wanted you so badly.” Amanda ran her hands through his blonde hair as he plunged his face into her chest once more. Her arm movement pressed her breasts harder around Alex’s face. He moaned with pleasure as he reached for the waistband of her pants.
* * *
CHAPTER 25
PD-4 continued to wait in the woods, stationed on the backside of the government compound. He felt useless as he watched his fellow soldiers as they slowly infiltrated the ranks of the cyborg clones, replacing them one-by-one as they uploaded their software updates. The surveillance specialist had seen several of the clones stagger away from the hospital, clutching their heads and reeling in confusion. Even though they were the enemy, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. He knew the overwhelming feeling of regaining your sense of self after many years.
From this distance, it was difficult to distinguish between individual members of the crowd, which rapidly devolved into a riotous mass. It was impossible to determine how well things had been going, but PD-4’s orders were to wait. Finally, as the crowd dissipated, he received a single short message from his captain. “I’m in.”
More waiting followed the momentary relief of contact from AD-214. Once Amanda and AD-214 left the building, PD-4 knew they would be heading for his location. Any other members of Blue Squad that made it through the extraction would reunite with their commander and head back through the woods.
According to his internal chronometer, the rendezvous should have happened thirty minutes ago. There had been plenty of movement around the large brick building, but PD-4 had not found any orbital satellites which showed him an exterior view of the hospital. The ones he used before had moved off in their orbits, and new ones had not moved into the correct position. He scanned everything on the electromagnetic spectrum: radio transmissions, cell phone signals, television broadcasts...even servers with unprotected access, but he discovered nothing of value. There was plenty of coverage on the press conference itself, but that wasn’t necessary information.
When he had given up hope and was about to go into the hospital himself, he received a message from AD-214. It came over his private network. Strangely, the message was a digital recording, not a live transmission. It was the last sort of communication he had expected. Something like that took time and effort, which was more than what a soldier on a rescue mission would typically have. It involved more than simply sharing information. He opened it anyway, eager for new orders.
“This is Amanda Conrad,” a voice whispered. “I’m in Cyborg Sector, in the laboratory on the fourth floor. AD-214 is close to death, and we need your help. If anyone in Blue Squad is still here, please come.”
The transmission ended abruptly. PD-4 stood up for a moment, stunned as he studied the buildings in front of him. He had been so busy checking communications that he hadn’t noticed AD-214 and Amanda moving from the hospital to Cyborg Sector. His commander was somewhere in there, back where everything started, and he was mortally injured. Amanda was with him, and somehow they had not escaped. The surveillance specialist quickly shared the information with the rest of his squad. They were supposed to be in various locations at the hospital, so he hoped they were within range. After he had forwarded Amanda’s message, he began a slow march through the field toward Cyborg Sector.
* * *
CHAPTER 26
“God, you’re sexy,” Dr. Alex Feldman groaned as he reached for the button on the front of Amanda’s jeans. “I can’t wait to get inside of you.”
The young scientist pulled Dr. Feldman’s hands back up to her breasts and distracted him with a deep and sensuous kiss. “Don’t make it go too fast,” she begged. “I don’t want it to be over. I’ve waited so long for you.”
“You should have said something,” Alex replied. He moved back down to her chest and spun his tongue around her nipple. “I would have been happy to accommodate you.”
The truth was that Amanda had tried to say something, but she hadn’t been aggressive enough. The brilliant Alex Feldman didn’t fall for an invitation to go get coffee sometime. Apparently, he wanted something bolder and sluttier. “I was too shy,” she explained. “I knew I wasn’t worthy of you.”
“You could be,” he whispered. “Think about the empire we could build. We don’t have to work for the government. We could create an army of cyborgs for ourselves.” He ran his hands down the inside of her pants, squeezing her ass as he pulled her pelvis against him. She could feel his bulging cock. “Nobody would be able to stop us.”
“Do you really think we could?” Amanda asked. She was fully laid out on the desk now, and the doctor had climbed up on top of her.
“I’ve already started.” Alex pulled back and gave her a wicked grin. “I’ve been working in the two weeks since Blue Squad’s escape. I’ve made over fifty new cyborgs, enough to replace the losses from Blue Squad and more.”
“You’ve had that many donors?” Amanda asked innocently, knowing clones could not grow that quickly.
He shrugged as he reached for her waistband once again. “Let’s just say I’ve made my own.”
Amanda’s stomach quivered as he slowly unzipped her jeans. She hadn’t meant to let things go this far, but she was running out of ways to distract him. He laid her pants open, then began wiggling them down off her hips, exposing the top of her lacy panties.
“Nobody has the courage to go against me,” he continued. “They know they might end up being converted into cyborgs themselves. The world will be at our feet, Amanda. Of course, I won’t leave you in charge of the software programming. You can help me in the lab then come home and fuck me every night. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
As his fingertips reached toward the hot flesh between her thighs, an explosion sounded from the lab below.
“What was that?” Dr. Feldman turned to the huge window forming one wall of the observation deck.
Amanda propped herself up on her elbows and grinned. “Is there trouble in paradise, doctor?” She knew what he was seeing underneath him. Blue Squad had found her. She just needed to keep Dr. Feldman busy while she waited for them to arrive, and she had been successful.
“You little bitch!” Dr. Feldman shouted as he turned to her. “You led me on!”
Zipping her pants as she jumped up from the desk, Amanda became aware that he was watching her breasts bounce even though he was insulted. A man was a man, no matter what. “Was that wrong?” she asked innocently, blinking up at him. “Considering what you did to me and to these soldiers? I did what was necessary to get what I wanted. I would think someone like you would admire my convictions.” She moved her hands up to work on her shirt but didn’t take her eyes off him.
“I’m going to kill you for this.” He lunged at her, fists flying.
She dodged his first attempt, but he whirled back around for more. Amanda could hear a commotion below her. She hoped they were taking AD-214 out of Cyborg Sector. There wasn’t much more she could do for him. He needed time to recover. With luck, she had bought him enough.
Dr. Feldman didn’t give her a moment to worry about the cyborgs or how successful their rescue was. Instead, he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her toward the floor. “I’m going to knock you senseless,” he ground out through gritted teeth, “and then I’m going to fuck you any way I want.”
Amanda curled up her legs and launched a foot at his crotch, Dr. Feldman’s filthy words fueling her anger. Still hard from their encounter on the desk, his dick was a vulnerable spot. His fingers slipped away from her neck and he stumbled backward.
Amanda leapt to her feet and reached for the doorknob, but he grabbed her waist before she could turn the handle. He pitched her backward onto the desk. The hard wood slammed into her and she found herself on the floor. Looking up, Amanda could barely see Dr. Feldman through the stars dancing in front of her eyes.
“You’re such a fucking cunt.” Dr. Feldman grabbed Amanda by the ankles and dragged her back out into the middle of the floor. “I think it’s time I treated you like one.” Trusting her injuries to hold her down, Alex began undoing his trousers.
Dr. Feldman had underestimated Amanda’s fitness. She was stunned and hurt, but not beaten. She landed a heel on each of his knees, bending them backward and sending him crashing to the floor. She scrambled to get up and take the advantage from him.
The doctor had fallen down with a thud, but he was surprisingly fast getting up. He was on his feet in an instant with a cold look of hatred in his eyes. “I’m going to kill you, and then I’m going to extinguish all of your robot friends. But first, I want them to see what I can do to you.” Fingers wrapped around her throat once again as Dr. Feldman used his thumbs to push against her windpipe, smashing her into the window.
Amanda grabbed at his hand, desperately digging in with her fingernails and flinging her feet out to kick him again. Her sneakers made contact with his body, but he didn’t seem to notice her resistance. She was losing her strength, and he hadn’t seemed to tire at all. He wasn’t even breathing hard.
The observation room around Amanda was slowly going dim as purple spots and stars danced before her eyes. The fingers around her neck felt like steel, slowly crushing the life out of her. Even if her death was imminent, she took comfort in saving AD-214.
Just as the room was about to turn completely black, the door exploded off its hinges and landed flat on the floor. AD-214 strode into the room, his face contorted with rage. He didn’t say a word to Dr. Feldman, but headed directly toward him and punched his fist square in the doctor’s jaw.
Dr. Feldman didn’t seem affected by the blow, but he dropped Amanda and turned to the cyborg. Gasping desperately for breath, Amanda crawled to the far side of the room, putting as much distance between herself and the two fighting men as possible. Her vision slowly returned, but she didn’t have the strength to get up and move. She knew now that her efforts in the lab had been enough to get the transmission to the other cyborgs and revive the captain. She had reset his circuits, making him reboot, and injected his body with adrenaline.
The doctor was not intimidated to fight a cyborg. He put up his fists and began returning punches. AD-214 had an advantage as far as height and weight, but Dr. Feldman had insanity on his side. He kicked and punched as though he thought himself invincible, landing punches on the cyborg’s stomach, face, and neck.
AD-214 absorbed the attack and returned it twofold. He fought his way closer to the man until he grabbed hold of his shoulders. He picked up the doctor and slammed him into the glass window. The cyborg pulled back to give enough space to hit him again. Blood smeared across the glass. Dr. Feldman’s eyes rolled back in his head, but AD-214 kept on going.
Amanda wanted to order her soldier to stop and say the doctor had had enough. But she knew Dr. Feldman would never rest until every member of Blue Squad was dead. AD-214 was doing what was necessary for survival.
A crack formed in the glass where Dr. Feldman’s limp body was being thrown into it. The crack widened as AD-214 continued his pounding, until the acrylic burst in the middle. Dr. Feldman went straight through it, the hard plastic tearing at his body as he fell. His flesh ripped away. Amanda covered her eyes with her hands and curled into a ball on the floor of the observation room.
A heavy fist landed gently on her shoulder. “Amanda, you need to look at this.”
“I don’t want to,” she begged. Her voice sounded strangled and garbled, affected by Dr. Feldman’s hands around her throat and her wailing. “Don’t make me see it.”
“You have to,” AD-214 said soothingly. “Trust me.”
Allowing the cyborg to assist her, Amanda turned around until she could see through the glass. Blue Squad members had swarmed into the room, fighting off the remainder of the cyborg clones that tried to stop them. Dr. Feldman lay on a lab table below, motionless. His skin had been pulled apart from the fall through the window. Underneath his skin, Amanda could see the glint of metal.
“No,” she whispered. “That can’t be.”
“The evidence is right before your eyes.” Without bothering to ask if she could walk on her own, AD-214 scooped her up into his bulky arms. He went back through the ruined doorway and descended the steps leading to the lab. It was the only way out of the observation room, and there was still more to see.
When they reached the concrete floor of the lab, AD-214 gently set Amanda on her feet, keeping a steady hand around her waist. The rest of Blue Squad paused to watch. The clones were held at bay for the moment.
Amanda slowly shuffled to the exam table where Dr. Feldman had landed. She jumped and skittered, terrified that he would reanimate and attempt to kill her again. She took a deep breath. Blue Squad was with her. She wasn’t in any danger.
The soldiers held their breath as she slowly approached the body on the table. He had long tears in his skin that slowly dripped blood onto the concrete floor. Skirting around the puddles and making sure to not get any of the red ooze on her, Amanda moved toward his head. She had already seen cybernetic organs next to his human ones, but there was something else she had to investigate.
Dr. Feldman’s face lay slack against the table, his head rolled to the side. She gently lifted a lock of blonde hair over his left ear with a trembling hand. At first, she was relieved to find nothing but human flesh over his ear. But just before she let the hair fall back into place, she noticed that something was unnatural. The skin was a different color here, and rougher than the rest.
Cringing, she used her other hand to poke at the area, peeling up an inhuman flap of skin with her fingernail. It was the same artificial flesh Cyborg Sector used to make the mechanical parts of their soldiers look natural. Otherwise, their exposed metal parts would immediately reveal they were not human. The faux flesh also covered AD-214’s right hand and part of his left leg. Amanda had carefully sculpted it to fit onto his metal understructure.
Flicking the piece of fake skin aside, she saw exactly what she was afraid of. Dr. Feldman had a cyborg biochip implanted on the top his ear. He was not human. He had fooled everyone in the scientific and military community for years.
“It’s time to go,” PD-4 said, breaking the tense silence in the room. “The van is ready to meet us at our rendezvous point.”
Without another word, Blue Squad and Amanda quickly left Cyborg Sector and headed back into the woods.
* * *
CHAPTER 27
The vehicle bobbed and swayed through the city streets as it worked its way toward the interstate. AD-214 and the other members of Blue Squad were crushed together on the open floor of the cargo van, staying away from any windows.
PD-4 had led them on a quick trek back through the woods to a small farm where the white van waited for them behind a barn. "Geoff’s Painting" was plastered across the side in large letters, and Geoff himself patiently waited for them. He was perched in the loft of the barn wearing white coveralls and a painter’s cap, using a pair of binoculars to watch the woods for his cargo.
“Are you sure you want to drive us?” AD-214 had asked as the human descended from the barn. “It’s going to be dangerous, and we don’t want to risk innocent lives.”
The painter was wiry thin, with a bushy black beard that still had bits of paint stuck in it from a previous job. “Hell, yeah!” he exclaimed, startling a nearby horse. “I get to be part of history if I’m the driver for Blue Squad. Besides, if someone sees you behind the wheel they’ll call the police in an instant. No offense, but you’re all pretty recognizable now.”
Without any further discussion, the cyborgs and Amanda piled inside. Geoff had removed most of his painting supplies from the van, leaving only a tarp so the cyborgs could cover themselves at a traffic stop. AD-214 made sure he had a spot next to Amanda, though none of the other soldiers would have fought him for it.
“How did you arrange this?” Amanda whispered. “And how do we know we can trust this guy?” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the driver.
The captain smiled at her. A single eyebrow danced high up on her forehead, showing she was critical of the situation. He liked that she didn’t accept things as they were. Curiosity was one of her most attractive qualities. “PD-4 has had plenty of time to watch the news and observe other transmissions. It gives him a pretty good idea of what’s going on in the world. It turns out that Canada officially opened its borders to cyborg refugees, offering a safe haven. They were already considering it and your press conference gave them the final push. There are sympathizers in America as well, willing to do whatever they can to help us. Geoff is one of them.”
Amanda turned back to study the driver, who seemed excited and nervous as he navigated the roads. “As long as you’re sure.”
“We can easily kill him if he betrays us,” AD-214 replied. He laughed as Geoff sat up straighter in his seat.
“Canada opened up its borders for the ten members of Blue Squad?” Amanda asked. “That’s not a lot of refugees.”
“Eleven, including you,” ND-45 said from his position at the back of the van. He stretched up to peek out a small window.
Turning to Amanda with a grin, he said, “There are more free cyborgs now than just Blue Squad.”
“There are?” Amanda asked a bewildered look on her beautiful face.
ND-45 took the opportunity to brag. “We converted some of the clones while we were breaking into the hospital. A few of us uploaded the system upgrade to the soldiers who were still at Cyborg Sector. With any luck, they’ll continue to spread enlightenment until every cyborg in existence is free. Canada’s borders will be flooded. You’re welcome.” He puffed out his chest.
“It was all ND-45’s idea,” AD-214 explained. “When he saw I was able to share the software among soldiers in our unit, he thought it would be a good idea to use the shock and try to overwhelm the clones. It’s nice to think we might have helped some of the others remember who they were.”
The blonde scientist looked up at him, questions dancing in her dark eyes. “You don’t mind remembering your past? I’ve been haunted about what I did to you. I had no idea that the software would have such a dramatic effect on your personality.”
AD-214 laid a hand on her cheek. A tingling sensation shot up his arm whenever he touched her skin. She seemed to be begging for his forgiveness, but it wasn’t needed. A cyborg was content with his duties and his missions because he didn’t know any other way of life. But AD-214 knew what life was now. He only had a small taste of it, but it was enough for him to know that he wanted more, and did not need to hold grudges. “No,” he said, “I don’t mind at all.”
The girl started at his gesture, then leaned into his hand. “All I want is for you to be happy.”
A wisp of hair fell across her face, and the cyborg captain used his other hand to brush it back behind Amanda’s ear. He couldn’t remember ever seeing anything as beautiful as Amanda before. It had been a long time since he had been able to appreciate beauty. It wasn’t something he could describe or share through the network with other cyborgs. Amanda’s beauty was for him alone. It was wonderful.
“Happy?” he replied with a smile. “Yes, I think I’m learning to be.”
After many hours of driving, most of them spent in silence and with the warmth of Amanda sleeping against his chest, AD-214 straightened in his seat. Geoff announced they were approaching the Canadian border.
“I don’t think I’ll be going with you,” the painter explained. “I have to do some work with my business. If the news reports and the talking in our organization is correct, the Canadian government will provide you with transport to a safe house.”
The patrol guards at the border seemed startled by the large men that poured out of the back of the van, but they quickly arranged the next leg of their journey for the cyborgs. Blue Squad rode in comfort this time. They were given an oversized bus filled with food and bottled water to travel in instead of a cramped van. In two more hours, they arrived at the safe house.
“The place is all yours,” the driver explained as he pulled into a circular driveway in front of the large home. “The refugee committee rented it out for you specifically. There will be guards around the perimeter of the grounds in case someone decides it’s their duty to eliminate cyborgs from existence, but between you and me, nobody up here has been too upset about cyborgs. You’ll have to worry about sightseers more than enemies.” He peeked at the driveway behind the bus, where a silver sedan was pulling up. “Here’s your house manager, Mr. Forby, right now. He’s in charge of getting you all the food, clothing, and other items you might need.”
Blue Squad piled off the bus to meet the short, fat man who greeted them each with a smile and hearty handshake. “I’m happy to help you folks,” he said eagerly. “And the beautiful Ms. Conrad, of course. It’s an honor to have you here. I’ll show you around, and then I’d like to discuss your needs with each of you. Several donation sites have popped up around the country, so we should be able to accommodate you.”
The safe house was large, with enough private rooms for everyone. As the chaos in the foyer slowly died down, AD-214 pulled Amanda aside.
“My men have told me that they want to give me the master bedroom. There’s more than enough room there for me. Would you like to share it?”
* * *
CHAPTER 28
Amanda’s blood pulsed heavily through her veins, making her dizzy. “Of course I will.”
AD-214 gently took her small hand in his one and led her up the stairs. If the other cyborgs noticed what was happening, they gave no indication.
The hallway on the second floor of the house had doors on either side that led to separate bedrooms. AD-214 breezed past them, heading for the door at the end of the hallway. He pushed it open and gestured for Amanda to go in first.
It wasn’t extravagant, but it seemed like a luxury hotel after her stay at the hospital. The king-sized bed was vast, covered in plush blankets and pillows. A private bathroom with a garden tub and large mirrors stood off to the right, and a seating area with two chairs near a pair of French doors took up the left side of the room.
“It’s wonderful,” Amanda breathed. She wanted to rip off her shoes and wiggle her toes in the luxurious rug that took up most of the floor space.
“I don’t know how long we’ll be staying here,” AD-214 said as he closed the door behind them, “but I think this will serve for the moment.”
Amanda turned and looked up at the cyborg. She had come to know his face over several years while she worked at Cyborg Sector. It had always looked hard and distant until Amanda uploaded the fateful software. Now she had seen him smile, frown, and twist in anger. Amanda knew how he worked internally, how his biochip affected his body and vice versa. Now she wanted more.
“I have to ask you something,” she said tentatively. “Do you know who you used to be? Before you were at Cyborg Sector?”
The soft look that was on his face since they had reached Canada hardened again. He strode over to the French doors and started outside, not facing her as he replied. “Not really. There are only pieces, like a puzzle that won’t ever be complete.”
Amanda followed him to the sitting area and sank into a chair, worn out from their travels. “Can you tell me about your memories?” she asked.
“I already did,” he replied curtly.
She didn’t let herself feel offended by his tone. She was probing into sensitive material. “Not all of them.”
His jaw tensed for a moment. “How do you know?”
“I don’t know for sure,” she replied. “It’s just something in my gut. You shared your story about being injured, but you had a distant look in your eyes during other times. I always thought there was more to it.”
AD-214 let silence descend between them, and Amanda was afraid he would change his mind about sharing his room with her. But he heaved a sigh and spoke again. “There is more. You’re right. But in the beginning, I understood it even less than the other visions. I had a lot of time to think while I was out in the woods.”
He paused, and Amanda gave him time to collect his thoughts. “I see a woman.” AD-214’s voice sounded distant as he stared into the distance. “Sometimes she is making love to me. I think she might have been my wife.”
A streak of jealousy burned its way through Amanda, but she said nothing. If he decided that he wanted to try and find her, it should be his idea.
“There are other times, though.” AD-214’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I see her angry, throwing things at me. Making love to someone else. I don’t remember the details. I don’t know if we were married or what happened between us, but it didn’t end well.”
“I’m sorry,” Amanda whispered. She trembled at the thought of such heartbreak. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault, and you didn’t do anything. The last thing I want is for you to feel sorry for me. It’s good to tell someone about who I used to be.” His voice was rough with anguish.
“You still can be that person,” Amanda said, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. It was hard to sit still when there were so many emotions swirling around the room. “I know we did a lot to you in Cyborg Sector. You’ve got a cybernetic hand with a plasma gun and a biochip in your head. We programmed who you were, overriding your personality. I believe you are still human inside. You can still be an individual.”
“No.” AD-214 shook his head. His dark hair that had been kept closely cropped during his time at Cyborg Sector had grown longer in the last weeks. His bangs fell forward as he looked down at the floor. It wasn’t long enough to conceal the chip over his ear. The device was dull from his time outside and battered around the edges from fighting other cyborgs. “I don’t want to be that person anymore. I don’t want only to be a cyborg. I want to be someone different. A person who can be with you.”
Amanda blinked tears out of her eyes, grateful to hear that he felt the same way about her. It was both a relief and sad at the same time. “Nothing’s stopping you.”
He reached for her hand but didn’t look at her.
There was one more question Amanda had to ask. It had burned inside her ever since she found out AD-214 was self-aware.
“Do you remember your name?” Her question hung in the air once she had voiced it.
He shook his head, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“I ask because I can’t call you AD-214 anymore. That’s a name Cyborg Sector gave you. It’s more of a number to identify you in the computer system. You’re more than a number.”
For the first time since they had started this discussion, the cyborg looked her in the eye. “I’m glad you think so. But I don’t have a name.”
“Can I give you one?” Her heart pushed its way up into her throat. Was it too bold to ask such a thing?
The big man nodded. “What would you name me?”
“Adam,” she said, the name rolling off her tongue without thought. “It starts with the same two letters. Plus, you were my first cyborg. The first man I created.”
A small smile crept its way across his lips. “I like it.”
“I have something else to ask of you.”
“Anything, Amanda. I would give you anything.”
She stood and moved close to him, looking straight up into his face. “Take me to bed, Adam.”
* * *
CHAPTER 29
AD-214, now known as Adam, wrapped his arms around Amanda. He had been in this position before, but he had always been trying to rescue her. Now he had the luxury of holding her for pleasure. He knew from the gentle look in her eyes that she wanted him to envelop her.
He had seen what she and Dr. Feldman had been doing on the observation deck while he recovered in the lab. The large glass wall let him peer in easily as he lay helplessly on the exam table. Even in his weakened state, Adam understood what she was doing. He knew she was keeping the doctor occupied; she had whispered as much into his ear once she finished sending the transmission to the other members of Blue Squad.
Still, it was infuriating. Adam had been fighting to get back to her since Dr. Feldman stole her at the warehouse. Though Adam had never claimed the young scientist as his, he knew Dr. Feldman had no right to her. It was horrible to watch without being able to move. The doctor did things to Amanda that the soldier had longed to do himself. Fortunately, his men showed up just in time to distract Dr. Feldman, which had been the same time Adam finally came back to life.
Now it was his turn with Amanda.
He wanted to pick her up and throw her on the bed while ripping off her clothing and everything he had fantasized about. But this was what he had craved, and he had to make it last. He cupped her face in his hand. Gently at first, he used his tongue to pry open her lips and explore every surface. Her tongue reached out to dance with his, intertwining, licking, inviting. Amanda stood on her tiptoes to touch him, leaning her curves against his muscles, reaching her arms around his neck to pull him closer. She sunk her teeth gently into his bottom lip, letting him know how much she wanted him.
The bulge between Adam’s legs responded, pulsing with desire. He picked Amanda up, one firm buttock in each hand and tongue still in her mouth as he carried her to the bed. He finally had to break their kiss as he tossed her down. She leaned back against the mattress on her elbows, smiling up at him with the tip of her tongue against her front teeth.
Adam took his time undoing each tiny red button on her shirt, rejoicing to see her body slowly emerge. He studied the way her large breasts pressed against the last button, eager to burst their way out of the fabric for him to see. The round, fleshy globes were everything Adam had imagined. Now he could finally put his hands on them. He ran his palms up the sides of her trim waistline, across the flat plane of her stomach, and up to indulge in the mounds she gladly revealed to him. They were firm and round, each one more than he could hold in the grip of one of his large hands. Adam pulled one nipple into his mouth, gently sucking as he flicked his tongue. Her tiny bud reacted quickly, rising to a hard nub inside his lips.
Amanda was enjoying their time together too. She smiled at the cyborg as she tugged at his clothing, pulling at the buttons on his fatigues. “You can’t be the one having all the fun.” She managed to undo his fly and impatiently tugged to get access to his lower half.
The soldier accommodated her, pulling away his pants and shirt quickly. He paused as he realized that he had bared herself before her, including the parts of him that were not human. She claimed she wanted him, but did she want a robot? Would she reject him when she remembered he was technically a cyborg, even if his mind didn’t think like one?
Amanda sat back and gazed at his naked body with appreciation, reaching out to run her hands over every plane of his muscled body. “I’ve seen you many times,” she whispered. “I know what you look like. This time is different. You’re real, and you’re mine.” She touched his chest, sculpting his pectorals with her fingers. Her hands glided down his smooth back, gracefully swept around his butt, then came forward to wrap around his cock.
Only a couple of strokes in, she looked up at him mischievously. “Lie down. You should relax while I take care of you.”
He immediately obeyed, and Amanda began again. Adam’s cock responded to her massage as she ran her hands up and down his shaft. His dick grew as hard as a rock in her grip, a drop of clear liquid gathering at its tip in his anticipation. The soldier had wanted her for a long time, but he had never imagined it would feel this good. Her fingers were firm and knowledgeable as they worked on him, teasing him, promising more to come.
The warmth of her mouth as it descended on his cock felt like heaven. Amanda took in his length, keeping the fingers of her left hand circled tightly around the base of his dick. Her right hand massaged his balls, cradling and exploring them, not allowing them to be left out. She was involved in her work, her forehead creasing as she concentrated, working hard to bring him pleasure. It made Adam feel like a king.
Adam moaned, and the sound encouraged Amanda. She kissed him as she consumed his entire cock, feeling the tip butt against the back of her throat. It was hot and soft as he pushed into her. Still deep throating him, she flicked out her tongue and ran it around the base of his shaft, opening her throat even further. Amanda sucked hard as she pulled back up, then dove back down to continue her work.
“You better be careful with what you’re doing,” he warned huskily. “I can’t promise I’ll be nice if you torture me like that.”
Amanda let go of his dick with a pop of her lips. Her mouth glistened with saliva as she grinned. “I don’t want you to be nice.”
He took her at her word. As she opened her mouth again, Adam buried his hands in her hair and forced Amanda down onto his cock. He pumped his hips, glorifying in the slick feeling as he fucked her sweet mouth. He could feel every surface on the thin skin of his cock. Her teeth, her tongue, the inside of her cheek. Amanda didn’t protest, push back, or thrash in pain. She opened her throat and took in every inch he slammed into her, keeping up with his rhythm.
When he thought he might shoot his wad into the back of her throat, Amanda jerked her head back. “Not so fast, big boy. You’ve got to do some of the work, too.” She licked her lips and leaned forward to cradle his package between her breasts. They were cool and soft against his warmth. He continued to rock his hips, sliding himself between her gorgeous round tits, smearing her spit on them and making them glisten.
Adam grinned. “I do?” The soldier was more than happy to return the favor. He sat up and pulled at the waistband of her jeans until they fell to the floor in a heap. Next, he grabbed her around the waist, bringing her with him as he lay back down and positioned her pussy on top of his face. Her sex was completely waxed, a bare luscious mound with a slit down the middle that would tempt any man lucky enough to see it.
Without hesitation, he probed his tongue between her soft folds. She tasted like salt and sex as he plunged his tongue further inside. Looking up, he could see she was enjoying the attention, cradling her breasts between her hands. Her head was thrown back in ecstasy, which only drove him harder to please her. Adam took her entire pussy into his mouth, sucking and licking, teasing her clit with his tongue until she was wet. Keeping his mouth concentrated on her clit, he brought his fingers up to explore her further. He pushed into her darkness, feeling the slick smoothness reserved for him.
As much as he enjoyed licking Amanda, Adam needed to be inside of her. Once again he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down until she was over his cock. She braced herself on her hands and knees and grinned at him. He knew she was just as ready as he was. Amanda plunged herself down, her tight pussy squeezing around his shaft as she descended. The warmth and wetness were too much to bear as she rocked her hips back and forth, but he still wasn’t ready for anything to be over.
The scientist put her hands on Adam’s shoulders to hold herself up as she moved back and forth, searching for the right spot. She ground down on him, pushing his cock as far up inside her as she could. She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip in ecstasy. “I love having your dick inside of me,” she whispered.
“Is it big enough for you?” he asked teasingly, knowing already what her answer would be.
“It’s almost too big.” Amanda leaned back, sitting up straight and riding him like a cowgirl. Her breasts enticingly bounced as she changed position. She moved her hands to hold her breasts still while the rest of her body moved, caressing her nipples with her thumbs.
Adam reached up and gently pushed her hands away. Touching her breasts was his job. He took hold of each one of her gorgeous globes, setting her hands free to run through her hair.
“You know how to fuck me, don’t you?” Her words barely squeaked out as the head of his cock rubbed against her g-spot, intensifying her pleasure. Amanda’s walls began to convulse around him, pulling him further inside her sex. “I love that big, hard cock inside of me.”
Adam thrust upwards with his hips. Every muscle in Amanda’s body tensed as she came, back arching and a deep groan escaping from her lips. Amanda bit her lip in ecstasy, and her eyes were shut tight as she convulsed. “Now it’s your turn, baby,” she whispered. “I want you to come all over me.”
“No, you don’t,” he replied as he put his hands on her hips.
“Yes, I do,” she insisted. “I want you to fill me up with your hot cum.”
“Beg me.” He wanted to know how badly she needed him.
“Please.” Her voice sounded high as she continued to run her slick pussy up and down his dick. “I can’t stand it. I want you to get yours.”
“What else?” Adam liked this game. She had teased him long enough, and it was time for him to tease her and make her vulnerable.
“I want you to fuck me harder than you’ve ever fucked anybody in your life. I want your dick buried inside of me, pounding me and showing me how you feel. You can do whatever you want to me. Give it to me all over my face and my breasts so I can lick it off. I don’t care. I just want you to come.” She continued to pump her hips, and Adam knew he wasn’t done with her yet.
He picked her up, her compact body as easy to lift as a ragdoll. Placing her on the bed next to him, Adam stood next to the side of the bed. He grabbed her and pulled her ass toward him, shoving himself between her cheeks. Her trim waistline extended up into the smooth muscles of her back, giving him a gorgeous view as he pounded into her over and over again. The firm round muscles of her ass slapped against him again and again, and Adam drove harder.
Amanda squealed in surprise, but in a moment, she rocked her hips back and forth, moving with the soldier as he pulled in and out of her. She tilted her hips up to take him all the way inside. “You’re bad,” she moaned.
“I think you’ve been bad,” Adam said as he reached forward with his left hand to grab a chunk of her blonde hair, now sexily tousled and begged for him to take charge of it. He yanked it back, pulling up her head. Next time, they would have to do this in the bathroom with the large mirrors so he could see her from both sides.
She gave a guttural noise of pleasure. “How bad have I been?” she challenged.
“Very bad.” Adam ground out the words as he slammed into her ass, her wet pussy kissing his balls every time they slammed into it. He didn’t remember sex being like this before. He had been missing out. “So bad that I think I need to punish you.”
“Yeah? You like punishing me with that robot cock of yours?” Amanda’s voice sounded deep and breathy.
He shoved his hips harder into her, rising to her challenge. “That’s not all. I think you deserve more.” He raised his right hand and smacked her butt with it, keeping contact to feel it jiggle against him.
“You’re right,” Amanda purred. “I do deserve more. I’ve been a bad girl.” Keeping herself up with one hand, she reached the other back to touch herself, stroking and circling her clit.
Adam jerked harder on her hair as he spanked her again. He left a red hand print on her ass cheek, but she slammed it harder back against him, begging for more. Adam hit her again. He felt his balls tense, and he knew his moment was coming soon.
“Yes!” she screamed. “Fuck me harder!”
The soldier hammered into her ass, so fast and hard that she bounced away from him with each thrust. He dug his hands into her hip bones to keep her in position, primed to shove his cock into her again.
He couldn’t wait any longer. His muscles tensed as his cock convulsed inside Amanda, shooting his seed out like a gusher. It was a release like he had never felt before, like every ounce of stress and strain was draining out of him. Stars exploded before his eyes. When he finished, they fell together to the mattress.
* * *
“What do you think will happen now?” Amanda asked as they lay together. They had pulled up the sheet to cover themselves, but they remained naked, continuing to explore each other’s bodies as they cuddled. For a long time they lay in silence, relishing what they had done together and each secretly planning for the next round. The afternoon sun shone through the French doors. They would have to go downstairs for dinner eventually, but for the moment, they could truly relax.
Adam turned to her and smiled. “If the other members of Blue Squad heard any of the screams, they probably think we’re in here murdering each other.”
“At least they figured it out in time before they came barging in with us. That might have been awkward.” Amanda’s cheeks flushed at the thought.
“If anything, they would have been jealous,” the soldier said, cupping one of her breasts in his hand and kissing the nipple gently. “They can’t all be lucky enough to land the gorgeous Ms. Amanda Conrad, Queen of the Cyborgs.”
She laughed, and it was a beautiful sound. She sobered quickly though as she thought about the other soldiers. “I hope they can be as lucky as us. Will other women see them as humans who deserve love? And great sex?”
Adam rolled over so that he was looking down at her, hovering over his woman. “That’s definitely a selling point,” he said. “But for now, I want to keep enjoying what I have. I love you.”
Amanda put her arms around Adam and pulled him close. As her eyes fluttered shut, she felt herself start to smile. She loved being with a cyborg.