Chapter Two
Amanda stood by the coffee station and fidgeted. The government was happy to provide as much coffee as anyone could drink, and they took advantage of it. Amanda typically preferred hers without caffeine, but she needed a little bit of liquid encouragement this morning. It had been late by the time she finally tumbled into her small, bleak apartment and fallen asleep in front of the television. She needed to be awake and alert today; Dr. Alex Feldman was in the building.
Dr. Feldman had been the original genius behind Cyborg Sector. He had become interested in software programming and the wiring of the human brain when he was a teenager and created the current version of the cyborg operating system while he was in college. When the military approached him about his model, he gladly sold it to them on the condition that he was allowed to head the project.
Nobody else had the experience of Dr. Feldman. He was irreplaceable. Even the highest ranking officers treated him with respect and deference. The other scientists, no matter their stature, scurried about like lab mice when he was around. He never kept regular office hours, and nobody ever said anything about it.
At the moment, the door to Dr. Feldman’s office was open. She watched as he sat behind his desk, blonde hair slicked back over wire-frame glasses. He was far more handsome than any scientist had a right to be. At the moment, he was flicking through files that had landed on his desk while he was gone.
With a shaking hand, Amanda poured an extra cup of joe and marched across the room to his office door. She knocked on the frame. “Need some coffee?”
Dr. Feldman looked up and smiled. “It’s more like battery acid here, but yeah, I’ll take some.” He held out his hand to accept the Styrofoam cup from her hand, and she hoped he wouldn’t notice how much she was trembling. He always made her feel nervous. “Are you going to be working with me on the AI project today? I could use someone who knows what they’re doing.”
Amanda’s stomach leaped into her throat. Did the famous Dr. Feldman want her to work beside him? She was qualified to help him work the bugs out of the artificial intelligence system they were trying to install into the cyborgs, but she didn’t think he knew who she was. Most of the actions performed by the units were sent directly by human military commanders watching from a distance. The goal was to get the cyborgs to a point where they could function autonomously, so they could still be effective even if communications to headquarters were interrupted.
“I’d be delighted,” she replied, trying to keep the thrill out of her voice. He wouldn’t want to be shut in a lab with Amanda all day if he thought of her as a fan girl.
“Great. Let’s get started, then. I don’t feel like sorting through all this paperwork today.”
He stood up from behind his big desk and accompanied her to the control room. From here, all of the barracks were visible through huge windows that looked down onto the cyborgs. A massive dashboard took up the majority of the room underneath the windows, containing various computer interfaces, alert lights, and emergency buttons. “Show me what you’ve come up with recently.”
Amanda eagerly took the rare one-on-one time and immediately dove into explaining her latest work. She turned on one of the monitors to display erratic brain waves that were the result of her most recent tests, indicating that one of the cyborgs wasn’t responding well to its programming. “What I’m hoping to achieve is a system so intelligent that each cyborg can function as a team, including the other soldiers in its squadron without any outside input. Currently, each cyborg in a unit has its primary specialty, but there is some overlap. For instance, the communications specialist has specialized implants assisting with tapping into satellites and radio waves, but the captains aren’t using all the information.” She held her breath, waiting to see if Dr. Feldman would berate her over a small detail.
But he merely nodded. “They’re trying to rely too much on themselves. They don’t fully recognize each other as teammates.”
“Exactly. I made some adjustments to their facial recognition system, hoping to link it in with an AI and create more of an artificial human experience for them. So far, I’m not convinced it’s working. In testing, some of the captains killed their squad members when asked to recognize them by their facial features instead of their system code.”
Dr. Feldman nodded again as he looked over her results. “You’ve done thorough work. It’s impressive, and it gives me a lot to think about.”
He stood so close that Amanda could feel the heat of his body through his lab coat. She blinked, trying to shut out the image of what it would be like to be with such a man. But her lips tingled as she imagined kissing him, and she wondered — not for the first time — what it would be like to have him run his hands over her body, to hold her, and to make love to her.
“I have a lot of respect for you, Amanda,” he said, interrupting her fantasy. “You’re young, but your thinking is advanced.” His eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked down at her.
The corners of her mouth snuck up without her permission. “I know you’re busy, but if you’d like to discuss the project more, I’d be happy to take you out for some real coffee.” She didn’t know how the words appeared in her mouth. She hadn’t planned on asking him out, but she had already said them. Amanda couldn't take it back.
The expression on Dr. Feldman’s face changed instantly, and he took a small step backward. It wasn’t intended to be obvious, but it certainly sent a message. “I’m sorry, Ms. Conrad. I don’t like to fraternize with other researchers outside of the office. It might send the wrong message to everyone else.”
“Of course. How silly of me.” Amanda’s heart thudded so loudly that the cyborgs could probably hear it in the next room. “That’s where I’m at on the project. If you have any insights, feel free to shoot me an email.” She hurried out the door.