Chapter One

The world outside the windows of the large building that housed Cyborg Sector had long gone dark, but Amanda Conrad remained at her desk. She was only vaguely aware of the fact that the other employees had already left for the day, having arrived safely at their homes after fighting downtown traffic, and were probably just finishing up dinner with their families. She ignored the street lights that flickered on and off in the world outside, illuminating the rain-moistened streets and ushering the stragglers home.

Amanda could have returned to her house, and nobody would have minded. She’d already put in a full day of work, but she couldn’t help working a little bit extra. Every time Amanda coded a new set of instructions into the computer, she came a little closer to developing a better operating system for the cyborgs. She couldn’t stop while she was in the zone. The silence of the office around her only made it easier to concentrate.

“Are you coming?” came an impatient voice over her shoulder, breaking her concentration.

Amanda looked up, squinting as her eyes readjusted to the real world. Jenny stood next to the elevator, her dark hair draping in a glossy curtain over her shoulder, resting her hands on her hip. “Almost. I'll probably finish in another minute.”

Jenny gave Amanda a skeptical look. “You know everyone else has been gone for hours, right? It won’t kill you to get out of here once in a while. I’m going to a party across town. Do you want to come with me?” She whipped a compact out of her purse to check her makeup. Jenny was one of the junior researchers in Cyborg Sector, but she liked to act as if she owned the place. She often treated Amanda like a little pet, trying to groom her into Jenny Mark II.

Amanda had been trying to stall Jenny’s efforts for as long as possible. She shook her head. “I still have a lot of work to do here. I’ll pass this time, thanks.”

Her friend rolled her eyes. “Of course you’re going to pass. It's not just this time. It’s every time! I don’t think you even came to the office Christmas party. One of these days, I’m going to stop inviting you, and then you’ll be all alone with the machines.” Jenny stepped into the elevator and pressed a button, waving her fingertips at Amanda as the doors closed.

The comfort of silence descended over the office. Bending back to her computer, Amanda was instantly interrupted again. “She’s wrong, you know.”

Amanda jumped in her chair, startled by the new voice. She thought Jenny had been the last person remaining in the office. “What do you mean?”

Jake stood up so she could see him over the divider. The large room that housed the desks of all the scientists assigned to Cyborg Sector was split up by short cubicle walls. Only the most talented people, like Dr. Feldman, had private offices. But the cubicles were enough to give each of them the semblance of privacy, and they often found that the close quarters assisted with collaboration. The design gave everyone equal access to the large labs that extended out to either side of the office room.

“She said everyone was gone, but you and I are still here,” Jake explained as he grinned down at her. “All alone, in this big building. It’s dark and rainy outside. It’s a perfect night to catch a cab over to Smith Street and grab a beer or two.” Jake was one of her fellow researchers, but he didn’t act like a typical scientist in his off-hours. He spent his weekends partying with anyone who was willing to tolerate him and often stumbled into the office hungover on Monday mornings.

Amanda pushed her glasses up her nose, hoping to conceal the fact that she was rolling her eyes at him. Jake had been talking to her like this ever since she came to work for the military. It was true that there weren’t a lot of women around, but she knew they weren’t a good match.

Her long blonde hair was always kept in a braid because she didn’t know what else to do with it. She wore glasses over her chocolate brown eyes, and she hardly ever wore makeup. While some of the female scientists chose to look professional and sexy under their lab coats with tailored dress trousers and pumps, Amanda usually went for jeans and sneakers. After all, there was no dress code.

Jake wanted girls that liked to drink until they would say yes to anything. The type of girl who wanted to spend a night out partying instead of at home with a good book. He wanted a girl that wouldn’t think twice about a one-night stand, not a girl who was looking for something real. Amanda had better things to do with her time than to mess around with a guy like Jake.

“No thanks.” She turned back to her computer and pushed a few buttons on her keyboard.

“Come on. Just for an hour. You put on this façade of a serious woman who’s into her work, but I know that somewhere underneath there’s a sexy little vixen waiting to burst out.” He leaned against the cubicle wall and his eyes wandered down to her chest.

“Nope. The only person in here is a big nerd, Jake.” She flicked a long blonde braid over her shoulder.

He sighed. “Fine. But don’t say I never tried to do you any favors. I wouldn’t be surprised if I came in here tomorrow morning to find you in the same position and wearing the same clothes. You know they won’t pay you more if you work extra hours, right?”

“Whatever.” Amanda’s position was salaried, but she wasn’t here for the money. She had gone into cybernetic research because she wanted to make a difference in the world. When she was in college, she hadn’t imagined working with cyborgs in a military capacity, but it certainly paid the bills. Her friends teased her that she was in this line of work because she got to hang around with people who were more machine than person, and she wasn’t required to make small talk.

They probably weren’t entirely wrong.

“Have it your way. I’m outta here.” Jake disappeared back into his cubicle for a moment before heading toward the elevator.

Unable to concentrate any longer on her work, Amanda got up from her desk and went through the heavy metal door at one end of the room marked “Authorized Personnel Only!” In case that wasn't enough of a deterrent, someone had taken it upon themselves to add a big “Danger!” with a red Sharpie. Even though the office was large, it looked minuscule compared to the size of this room.

The military called it the barracks for the cyborgs. Rows of bullet-proof glass boxes each held a single body upright. Anytime Cyborg Sector had a new hire, the first thing they said was that this room disturbed them. Amanda could see that they would feel uncomfortable. There were hundreds of men in here, each wearing a camouflage battle uniform. A wire extended from the backs of every skull. The eyes of the cyborgs were closed as if they were asleep.

Amanda had been frightened by the room long ago, but by now she found it intriguing.

The military kept the cyborgs in charging mode when they weren’t in use. They required almost no nutrition to maintain their bodies. An IV drip provided nourishment and doctors kept their bodies in artificial comas. Their minds could download automatic updates that kept them prepared for any situation when they were activated.

Amanda sauntered down the rows of cyborgs, glancing carefully at each one. Many of them tended to look similar. She never understood why their features tended toward uniformity. When the government began its work on cyborgs, they had started with people who donated their bodies to science. Eventually, they moved on to clones, but there was a high failure rate. The vast majority of cyborg bodies still came from volunteers.

She knew each one was genetically different, but there was something about the integration process when they became more than human that gave them all a certain look. They had pale skin, glassy eyes, and a robotic precision to their movements.

She stopped in front of the last box on the end of the second row. Each cyborg had a label on his cell. The label was color coded to indicate his unit, and the identification numbers showed the origins of the body. This one was designated AD-214: Army Donor number 214. His label showed he was on the Blue Squad.

AD-214 was her favorite.

Like many of the other soldiers, some parts of his human body had been replaced with artificial limbs. In the beginning, the government wasn’t interested in making them pretty, with faux flesh arms or realistic eyeballs that would help them blend in with society. They needed their cyborgs to be functional and intimidating. Eventually, they realized it was valuable to have assets that were visually no different from a regular person.

Doctors had replaced AD-214’s right hand and left leg during his integration into the program. The artificial hand was a piece of machine mastery, able to reproduce tiny movements. In Amanda’s tests, the cyborg could pick up a single grain of rice or crush someone’s throat. His leg, unseen under his pants, enabled him to run faster and jump higher than most Olympic athletes.

Most of the time, Amanda was focused on improving AD-214’s performance, command functions, or operating system. Now, for a moment, she allowed herself to slip out of a scientific mindset. She studied the firm line of his jaw, his high cheek bones, and the shock of dark hair that they could never seem to get under control.

Even after all the work done on his body, he was still handsome.