Chapter Fifteen

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.