Horacio Estevez, the real Boss, walked down the hall to the examination room. He really wasn't sure what he would find there, but he supposed that the guard would be standing watch loyally over Julion Montclair. Montclair would be helpless and whimpering, strapped down to the chair. He would beg the Boss for mercy at the sight of him, give him all the information he ever wanted or needed, including the location of Cynthia Aldin and any possible revolutionary movement. It would be glorious!
He passed nearly a dozen bots on patrol. Far more than there should have been. He was curious, but not perturbed. His security chief would inform him if there was a problem.
He rounded the corner and found the guard outside the door right where he was supposed to be. The guard stiffened when Estevez approached. The guard shouldn't even look at him, but he did look. This did perturb Estevez for he didn't like the scrutiny. The guard did not move away from the door when he should have. Estevez stared him down. "Idiot, move aside."
"Sir. I would, but how do I know you are you?"
"What do you mean by that? I am Horacio Estevez, member of the Government Council and owner of Robonotics of Brazil!"
The guard gulped before he answered. "Yes sir, I know who you appear to be, but there was a man who also appeared to be Horacio Estevez who entered through this door three minutes ago."
"Ass!" Estevez threw the man aside and rushed through the door. There kneeling beside Montclair was… could it be? It couldn't be anyone else -- an exact duplicate of himself. He looked for the security chief but he was nowhere in sight. This hesitation nearly cost him his life as a laser beam came slashing through the air and caught him in the arm. Estevez quickly jumped back out the door and out of harm's way. He screamed to his double for he saw what the man was trying to do.
"You won't get Montclair out! I'm the only one who can free him."
He heard Montclair whisper to his double. "He's right. Get out of here while you can. Come back and get me later."
"No, it's now or never. He will not let there be a next time." Estevez peeked around the door and saw the duplicate Horacio working on the circuitry beneath the chair while keeping one eye on the door.
Estevez heard the impostor speaking but Montclair didn't answer. He assumed there were others outside in contact with him. He whispered to his guard. "Have the bots extend their perimeter. There are intruders on the grounds. Give me your weapon." The guard handed it over without any quarrels.
Estevez watched as the impostor began gathering the wires that connected to the electrodes on Julion. The Boss knew if they were all ripped out at once the danger of electrocution was minimal. The impostor must be stopped now! Estevez heard the rumble of his bots approaching and knew he didn't need to wait any longer.
The impostor struggled with the wires when Estevez burst through the door. He kept the wires bundled in one hand as he raised his laser with the other. Estevez shot at the impostor and missed. The impostor was able to get off one shot that glanced the head of a pedbot. The other bots arrived and drilled the impostor with multiple fire.
The bots stopped firing and Estevez burst between them. "Fools! I wanted him alive!"
The shots were precise hitting only the impostor and coming no where near Julion. Julion face fell in horror as the impostor crumpled to the floor. The android's hand still gripped the wires under the electric chair. Estevez saw the fake's exposed metal framework and found what he expected. It had been an android. At least now he had an android that he could repair and put to use.
The guard ran to the fallen android's side and searched it. He was examining the coat pockets when he heard a voice coming from what seemed a distant place.
"Do it!" A female screamed. The guard had no other warning before the android burst into flames. The guard flew backwards and became ablaze himself. Even as he rolled around to douse the flames, the android's fire died out.
Estevez stepped forward towards the smoldering metal. The android was now just a puddle of liquid. Even his hand around the wires had melted permanently merging the insulators of the wires. "It had a self-destruct mechanism." Estevez said aloud because he didn't believe it himself. Then he looked up to Julion. "She will pay for this."
***
Sergio hit the hood of the flit so forcefully it bent under the pressure. "It's not fair!"
"That we weren't able to save Julion?" Audie asked.
"That, and we had to destroy the android. He was alive just like us, why did he have to die?"
"We all have to die." Cynthia walked out of the house, and it was obvious to her that they were not successful. "What happened?"
"He is still alive, Cynthia, and relatively unharmed." Alexis said. They had made sure the self-destruct wouldn't impair their ability to still receive the transmission from the android. It was a short range radio so they could not hear what was happening now. The advantage was the Boss couldn't trace the location of their receiver by it.
Cynthia appreciated the sentiment but decided it would be best to continue their conversation inside. There the three explained everything they had seen and heard. While it wasn't much, to Cynthia it could be helpful in the future. She still had plans to get Julion out. She would not let this one or any other failures stop her.
True, she regretted destroying the new android's life, but it was a risk that she had anticipated. Thus the reason for the destruct mechanism they had placed inside him. She knew if the mission failed and the Boss somehow got his hands on the android the rebellion could be at risk. She hadn't told the others but they had one too. She was tempted to tell Sergio to give him a bit of grounding. She knew how hard it would be for an android to destroy itself so she had made it such that others would have to activate it.
Despite the logic, it was a horrible loss. The first casualty in a war that had yet to be declared. Cynthia would not forget what he had done for them. If the Boss had waited only a few seconds longer, it could have been avoided and Julion would be free.
Yet things were as they are, and Julion was still in danger, perhaps more so now. Cynthia would not give up her effort to save him. She may, however, have to have help next time. For tomorrow was the meeting with the underground and she wasn't about to miss it.
For now she would morn. She must be strong in front of the others but once they left she wept. Tears were healing; she reminded herself. That was why Linda gave them to her. At least that's what she believed.
***
Julion couldn't sleep, not that he didn't need to but he was simply unable. The events of the day had excited him and given him so much hope of escape. Still that wasn't it. It was the constant yelling and movement around him. It was obvious that Estevez realized his security wasn't as perfect as he thought.
The Boss now made people scramble all around the mansion trying to prepare it for the second attack they all knew would come. It was only a matter of time. Julion knew the Boss was smart enough to anticipate that the next time there wouldn't be one lonely android impersonating him. It would be an all out attack by all of them. Estevez wanted to capture as many as possible. Every window, every door, even the halls had traps, not intended to kill but to slow the androids down or even capture them.
Estevez became so enthralled with his preparations he didn't even take the time to intimidate Julion. At the moment, he confronted his chief of security. It seems he still hasn't forgiven the man for allowing his duplicate near Julion. Julion couldn't quite believe the security chief was not yet dead. He had already taken quite a physical lashing from the Boss's swatter. Now he attempted to comfort the Boss that their security would be adequate for the androids' attack.
The Boss seemed to be finishing up his lecture to the man on how he wanted things done. He glanced Julion's way knowing that Julion was watching them. "Allow them inside the gate, but make sure they have no way back out of it. Are the dogs in place?"
"Yes sir." The Chief replied curtly.
"Make sure they are not released too early. What is the status of the devices?"
"All operational." Again he answered quickly. He turned away from the chief abruptly towards Julion. The chief went back, without hesitation, to talk with some men to complete their preparations.
Estevez stood above Julion for a moment glaring at him. "You realize it would be so much easier for your android friends if you would tell me where they are now."
Julion knew Cynthia would hate him forever if he gave away their location. He had no intention of doing it, though the thought of throwing the Boss on a wild goose chase had its appeal. Of course, once the Boss realized it was a trick, he doubted he would live long enough to see his rescue. Yet, what was stopping the Boss from killing him now? Surely, the Boss knew that Cynthia would never know if he was alive or dead until they came into the room to rescue him. There had to be a reason that the Boss wanted him alive other than as bait.
"I'm waiting. And you know I am not a patient man." He leaned in closer to Julion to force him to look into his eyes.
Julion did not look away. He met those eyes with hatred in his own. He would not back down and the Boss knew that, and he would never tell the Boss where the androids are hiding.
Estevez seemed to understood this and straightened. He spoke calmly, trying a different tactic.
"You are an intelligent man. Tell me, when did you alter her programming?"
"What?" Julion really had no idea what he was talking about.
"The android Aldin. She did not act as her creator would have. She did not kill when she had the opportunity. Did you change it before or after I fired you?"
"I didn't touch her programming!"
"If you didn't then who did?"
"I don't know, maybe she's like that because you didn't know Linda as well as you thought."
"Oh, no. Linda Aldin would kill me given the chance." Estevez seemed to realize something as he spoke and Julion immediately went to a poker face in case he might be showing emotions unconsciously.
"You think you know Linda Aldin, do you? Then tell me where she is, so that I might kill her."
"Why kill her?" Julion couldn't help the slight shaking in his voice.
"It's either her or your precious Cynthia. Give one up and I'll think about giving you an easy death."
Julion appeared to be thinking about his options, when it was strategy against Estevez he was thinking about. "Linda probably reprogramed her so she would make a bad impression for you with the Council."
"And why would she?"
"I don't know. You tell me. You're the one with the grand plan to replace all the workers with androids. She probably thought she would be next."
"You are a fool!" Obviously he had struck a chord.
"I'm not the one wasting time looking for someone smarter than myself."
The Boss slapped him hard. Since his head was strapped in, the force struck even harder than intended.
"Your stubbornness will only destroy you and your androids." Estevez started to turn his back on Julion.
"And your stupidity will eventually get you killed. I will see to that personally." Julion called out to him.
Estevez turned back on him. "You will not live to see the day you get out of that chair!" With a rapid flick of the wrist, his swatter came up and lashed out Julion. Being bound to the chair he hardly moved when he went limp.
***
Sergio walked up to Cynthia and asked quietly, "Shouldn't we keep at least one of our identities secret in case the people don't want androids and kick us out or worse destroy us? That way one of us could still lead them."
Cynthia spoke loud enough for all in their group to hear but not loud enough for Adora who waited nearby.
"First, lying may bring on a great amount of distrust, which we don't need. Second, these people already have a leader and would eventually cause a rebellion themselves. We are only here to help." She smiled and lowered her voice, "Besides, since this is the address they were given, Audie and Jamil should already be in there with their contact who doesn't know their true identity."
She stopped when she heard a voice coming from inside the room besides them.
"The government council is meeting at the end of next week." The voice over the speakers could be heard clearly through the closed doors. The voice was strong and heavy with the news he had to bestow. "I have already sent in our petitions, but I'm afraid they will go unheard."
"I say now's the time to strike," someone else shouted from the other side of the door, "while their pants are down and they are all gathered in one place." Cynthia looked to the others -- these people sounded desperate.
"Have you seen the security at the capital? Even if we all had blasters, we couldn't get through." The voice became louder when the thick metal doors cracked open.
By the time the doors were fully open the room was silent. The group of four people, led by Adora, moved in through the door taking everything in. The ancient, sweeping auditorium only held a quarter of its capacity, about a hundred people, right now, and each had their eyes on the newcomers. The small crowd whispered amongst themselves. Everyone in the group stopped once past the doors except Cynthia who walked past the audience, each person she passed stared wide-eyed. No one has ever had the gall to interrupt a meeting and walk straight to the podium instead of taking their seat.
It showed even more bravery for her to be a middle class person to even show her face here. Within the room there were no more than five middle class people here. No doubt those five had to go through much to prove themselves worthy of joining this secret society. A man in the front row rose out of his seat before she neared him and addressed the man on the stage.
"How can you allow her to enter here?" A majority of the people called out in agreement.
The man behind the podium held up his hand to silence the audience. This man must have great power over these people for they fell silent within seconds.
Cynthia continued to walk forward as if there were no delays. Just before she reached the end of the rows of the seats two large men blocked her path. She stopped and addressed the middle-aged, blonde, scrawny man on the stage. "We request admission into your movement."
"Who is your sponsor?" He looked towards the group that entered behind her. He saw no familiar faces until one slid out from the seats.
Adora had taken her seat when they first entered, unnoticed. She now stood in the aisle but did not move one step forward. "They are my responsibility."
The man did not look happy, nor angry. His face seemed to be set in stone. "We have not seen you in a while, Adora. I had begun to suspect something was amiss."
Adora meet his gaze easily. Cynthia watched the encounter and realized how very trusting these people are, for no one ever made eye contact these days, even friends. Yet, here they were.
"I have responsibilities I sometimes cannot get out of." Adora explained.
The leader nodded his head. "You are middle class, after all. At least try to keep us informed of your activities in the future." She bowed. Her gaze never left the man's. He cleared his throat.
"Next time you wish to bring someone into a meeting, please go through the welcoming committee. It makes things much more complicated when we don't know anything about new members."
She smiled kindly and said, "These are not your ordinary members as you will find out. However, in the future I will heed your words." She bowed slightly and walked back to her seat.
The leader of the small rebellion turned his attention to Cynthia who still stood behind the two hulking men. "It is rare for one like Adora to be so trusting. That in itself should be enough to grant you admission. However, I am not so quick to judge. You may speak, but know that any treachery on your part could mean your death."
The two men before her stiffened at his words, as if that had been a signal by him to prepare to rid the underground of the intruder. Cynthia had no doubt that they would do just that. These people were that desperate. She selected her words carefully as her mind raced, faster than any human's ever could, through the different scenarios that might take place. She and her friends worked hard for this moment, and she did not want to ruin it.
"My friends and I came here for two reasons. First and foremost, we have come to help you put an end to our tyrannical government. Secondly, we have vital information that the government, and in particular Horacio Estevez, is planning a mass execution of the working class." The gasps and utterances of the crowd's disbelief only made her next words sound more ominous.
"And replace them with androids."
One of the guards in front of her could not contain his laughter. He obviously thought she was deranged. Others in the crowd laughed as well, and even the man on stage could not hide his smile.
"You would lead me to believe that Estevez has that kind of knowledge, let alone power to create androids? It's true his company is advanced. Only a fool would believe that Estevez could ever stumble across the technology to build a creature that could perform every duty a human could, and do it better. He can't even build bots that doesn't break down after two years." He leaned on his podium closer to her conspiratorially. "Tell me, just how did you come across this information?"
His hands gripped the edges of the podium, and this was the first time Cynthia noticed them. The right seemed a bit deformed, perhaps in a fire, and she realized that this man was the same as the one that Jamil and Audie had encountered just two days ago. She put this information away for later use. At the moment he had challenged her and she meant to meet that challenge.
"I know, because I am the prototype android." The burst of laughter around her was monstrous. She wondered if she shouldn't have been so blunt about it, but by the rigid look of the tall leader she knew she had been right to not beat around the bush. He did not find this a laughing matter.
When the people around the room realized their leader was the only one not laughing, they began to calm down. When it was quiet enough, he asked, "Can you prove this?"
Before Cynthia was able to answer, Adora called out from close behind her. She herself was restrained by some of the rebels.
"Release me! I have records to prove what they say is true." She struggled for a moment before the man gestured for her to come forward. "Mr. Wissen, this is all the data I have gathered over the weeks I have known them." She held out a datapad. One of the guards in front of Cynthia took it and handed it to the leader.
He looked it over quickly. "There is nothing that would prove that this woman is an android. While it shows there may be some in existence, how do I know that this information was not forged?"
This was a direct insult to Adora and she wouldn't stand for it. "Now look here honey, I'm no idiot, those records are real-"
Before she could say anymore, Cynthia placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'll take care of this." She faced the man on the podium.
"There's one definite way to prove it. I offer myself as proof. Larry!" She called to her faithful friend. He came floating up to her. She then faced Wissen again. "Larry was a medical bot. He will assist me, if I may approach the stage."
The man, a bit confused, gestured for the guards to escort them up to the stage. Cynthia really didn't want to do this, but she could think of no way to prove to them quickly what she was. She had thought about displaying her computational skills, but there were such things as geniuses who could do it just as fast. While she was slightly stronger than most humans, she had not adjusted that ability in herself and so she had her limits. Therefore, there was only one way to prove it without question.
She laid herself flat on the ground and lifted her blouse just enough to expose her flat stomach. Larry began without hesitation to cut her open. One of the big guards had to turn away from the sight of the skin being peeled back. Wissen knelt besides her so he could see exactly what was happening up close. Also, he wanted to know for sure what he saw was real and not some fancy trick. Even as he watched Larry start to pull away the broken skin he knew it was real. The people in the audience fought to see what was happening on the stage. The ones in the front stood, erupting complaints from people behind them.
Wissen's left hand reached out tentatively to the shining metal that laid beneath skin.
"Go ahead." Cynthia said, a bit too abruptly, for he obviously was not expecting her to still be awake. He fell back a little and had to steady himself with the podium.
"This… this is incredible." He said softly to her. He did indeed put his hand into her exposed circuitry.
"It's cold." He marveled. "With the amount of power that should be running through there-"
"It's an improved cooling system. My creator used biological elements as well as mechanical."
He put his hand even farther in to see just how far it would go. It went straight through where her stomach should have been. "How is this possible?" He said more in wonder than to her. Cynthia only smiled in response.
He sat back on the floor and started to laugh even as Larry stitched her back up. "Can you image," he said softly to her, "what the Boss could do with you? Hell, can you imagine what we could do with you?"
"I can, and that's why we're here, to help."
At last he had finally caught on to the fact that she referred to her comrades that had come with her. "We?"
"Yes, my friends, too, are androids."
"Oh Lord." He buried his face in his hands. "We're doomed if the Boss can create so many."
"He can't create any more, at least for a little while. We're all of his operational androids. The ones that are left won't be operational for months, maybe even more than a year. Unless we can stop him together." She spoke urgently, and she needed him to understand that the androids couldn't do it alone.
This made him only laugh more. "We're mere humans. How can we help you?"
"Look at us," she whispered, "there are only four of us, there are a hundred of you. Who knows how many other workers out there want to see this government go down?"
This made him sober up a little, realizing that against a government as strong as the one they were ruled by, a mere four people, androids or no, could not overthrow it. She was now standing and held her left hand out to him. He took it and she helped him to his feet easily.
"All right. God knows we could really use some help. Welcome, friends, to The Humanitarians for New Democratic Reform, or T-H-N-D-R, pronounced thunder, for short. I am Bob Wissen, and these…" he gestured to the many people in the audience "are people tired of being pushed around and treated as slaves." The crowd cheered with a roar greater than any she had heard to date. She could see this Bob Wissen was very proud of them and she could imagine why. What she had seen of these people so far, she liked.
The androids took their seats and the crowd went back to its low hum of conversations waiting for Wissen to resume the meeting. Betsy leaned over to Cynthia just as Bob approached the podium. "Did you forget to ask him about Julion?"
"Just wait, we won't even have to ask." Betsy was about to inquire further when she just mouthed the words, "You'll see."
Wissen placed his datapad upon the podium. "Now we will move onto new business. We have been asked, by another new member, to help rescue a friend of theirs." He looked at the datapad, then curiously at Cynthia. "Coincidentally held by Horacio Estevez."
"Told ya." She whispered to Betsy. Betsy nodded in amazement.
Wissen continued, "We will need volunteers for this potentially dangerous mission. We have located blueprints of the mansion he is said to be held in, and it is well protected."
"Why don't we send the androids in, to test their strength?" One man yelled from the back, in a Portuguese accent. Cynthia stretched to look over to him and found he was sitting next to Audie. She wondered if this was his contact.
Another less enthusiastic voice came from the front, an elderly gentleman who had no trouble staring straight at Cynthia when he spoke. "Perhaps not to test their strength, but their loyalty." He then turned to Bob. "She may have proven they are not human, but she has not proven that they are not loyal to Estevez." It seemed most of the crowd agreed with this man's opinion as they murmured in approval.
Cynthia knew Wissen had to agree that there was a slight chance that it was a scheme to undermine their movement. He looked to Cynthia somewhat apologetically. "Would you be willing to take on this mission?"
She fought to hide her anxiety over having the androids go in after Julion, especially after what had happened the last time they attempted a rescue. However, she didn't want to say no since this was a test of their loyalty.
"Normally I would have no problem with it. However, Estevez has made it quite clear that he wants us back. This would be just like delivering us into his hands."
"Then you do not believe you will be able to go through with it?" The disappointment was apparent in the young man's voice.
Cynthia had an idea, but she had to be careful about how she stated it. "You said yourself that their defenses are very strong. True, we have strength and agility on our side. Again what we do not have is the numbers it would take to complete a mission of this scale. If it was possible for at least twenty of your people to come as backup, I can see a definite success."
"Twenty people! Are you crazy?" A woman stood and screamed at Cynthia. "You would throw away twenty people's lives?"
Calmly Cynthia stared her down. "Are you implying that the four of us are not alive? Are you also forgetting the one man who is trapped inside? Doesn't his life count too?"
Bob smiled; he liked her argument. "Very well, Melanie, you have just volunteered to lead the backup team. Pedro…" he gestured to the Brazilian next to Audie, "since you suggested the androids go, you and your applicants will also be part of the backup. I will now ask for volunteers to make up the rest of the team." More than half of the rebels raised their hands. She couldn't help but smile. There was hope for Julion yet.
It took a while, but Cynthia had finally convinced Wissen that it would not be prudent to rush in to save Julion. While the longer they waited meant the closer he was to death, it also meant the Boss would be less ready for an attack. She knew that the Boss expected them to stage the second attack shortly after the first. She wasn't going to let him be right. For the next couple days, he would be on edge with tighter security than ever. She was hoping that after a few days he would begin to let his guard down, and they would be waiting for that moment to attack. These couple of days would allow the underground to plan and gather material for the attack. Meanwhile, the house would be under constant surveillance. They could not go into this unprepared.
Cynthia also needed the time to gather information so they would incur as few casualties as possible. Unfortunately, this time the information would not be as easy to find as walking into the library and picking up the blueprints. No, this time it would be a great deal harder, and it would involve covertness.
Despite her wish to be totally honest with the human underground she decided it would be best to leave them out of this part of the plan. Bob Wissen appeared to be a very intuitive individual. If he knew how she came about this information, then he might become suspicious of her association with Julion, and therefore Jamil and Audie. After all she must maintain the impression that she and Julion had never met. He might question her motives further if he learns of this initial deception. She felt it would be best if he didn't know until after they were successful.
***
Cynthia's small team of four androids made its way towards downtown Brasília the next afternoon. They went afoot as they could be spotted too easily in the flit. This way, they could mix in with the crowds and lose anyone that might choose to follow. Cynthia had concerns that not only Estevez would have someone after her, but Wissen might have her watched for a while. They moved cautiously every step of the way and when they finally did near their destination, it was quitting time and there were hundreds of people on the street.
Along the way they stopped at Leo's Den to pick up a few items, including middle class uniforms he had "purchased." While there Leo confessed he was part of the underground, but not an active member. Cynthia knew him well enough for him to keep her visit a secret even from the rest of the underground.
Soon they entered one of the many apartment complexes and climbed the stairs silently to the third floor. Sergio put his ear up against the door marked "35" and nodded; there was someone inside. All but Sergio moved off down the hall. He rapped once loudly on the door. For several seconds no sound arose in the room. He knocked again. Now there was a loud rustling inside. He feared the occupant was intending to flee. He knocked a third time softly, not wishing to scare off the person inside. As he raised his hand to knock the fourth time, the door opened.
***
Sally heard the knock and ignored it. She'd had a frustrating day and had hurried home without dealing with her unfinished androids at all. Earlier the Boss dragged her out to some mansion outside of town. He then interrogated her until he was sure he had all the information on the androids he could get out of her. He berated her for the loss of the new android that she didn't even know happened until she arrived at work. Finally, he proceeded to have her help design traps for the working androids.
All day long, she thought about Julion Montclair. She saw him there in that chair. She wasn't sure if he was alive or not. Either way, he was still the perfect bait for Cynthia.
Sally knew Cynthia would take that bait. Unlike Linda, Cynthia would be loyal to her friends. If she was right, Cynthia would be very close friends with Julion.
If only Linda was still here, she would know best how to use this to her advantage. No, Sally believed Linda would have become too upset with Julion and would kill him herself if she could. Maybe Linda had the right idea about running away after all, Sally mused.
Even with all this on her mind, she couldn't stop thinking about Julion -- not sitting in the electric chair the way she had last seen him, but as the strong and confident man who turned his back on Linda and what she was intending to do. She wondered how he had been able to find Cynthia and befriend her when it was so difficult for the Boss to catch up with the android. This only made her admire him more. It was too bad the Boss was going to kill him. She contemplated making her first complete android to be just like him. It would be easy. His cerebral impression was already in the database after all. Of course that could just start this whole chain of events over again. That was too bad.
All of this went through her mind as she started to undress for bed. That's when the knock interrupted her thoughts. She stopped and stood silently hoping the person would go away. She hadn't the faintest idea who it could be. They knocked again. She decided she had best get dressed and did so quickly. By the third time they knocked she was upon the door.
She opened it just a crack to see who was there and found herself looking at a man's waist. She looked up, and up, to a large, not too handsome, middle class man. He stuck a plastic card, the UN symbol of unity covering most of it, up to the crack right in front of her face. In an official tone, he said "I'm from UN Security. I wish to have a few words with you."
She froze. Sally had heard of UNS, who hadn't? While they were a secret service, their hostility was legendary. She never thought they would bother with her. She was a little insignificant person. At least she was until the Boss put her in charge of the android project. Even that was a top secret program. How would they know about her?
She couldn't waste time contemplating this. This man wanted in and the longer he waited, the angrier he would get. Forcing a smile, she opened the door all the way.
"Please come in." She watched him without a word as he roamed through her small apartment and searched each of the rooms. Satisfied he went back to the door. He took one long step outside, and motioned to those he left out in the hall. He stood in the middle of the room continually looking around cautiously as the others entered. First, two more Middle Class security officers walked in, an older woman and the other a younger, red headed female. Behind them the first thing Sally saw was the blonde hair, then her bright hazel eyes, finally her wicked smile.
Sally took a step back as she recognized her lost friend. She gasped, "Linda."
Linda's smile broadened. Linda nodded to the muscle man. He moved off down the hall and the stairs, presumably to secure the area.
Linda walked forward and gently put her hands on Sally's shoulders as she had done many times before. "Hello, my friend, nice to see you again."
Sally shivered: she couldn't figure out why Linda was here. Was she upset because Sally had taken over her project? Was it because Linda had gone to UNS, and they didn't like what the Boss was doing with the androids? Or was it just because Linda had gotten the guts to go back to work for the Boss and had the UNS escort her so the Boss wouldn't kill her? The best way to find out was to ask. Her voice shaking she looked down from Linda's eyes. "What are you doing here?"
Linda lowered her arms from the smaller woman and stood with the security officers, as if wanting their protection. "I understand that you have been to the Bane Mansion. I need to know everything you know about the traps the Boss is planning for my androids."
Confused, Sally whispered, "Why?"
"It does not matter why. I told you I need the information so you will give it to me." The two security officers also moved forward. Sally stepped back and fell into the chair that was behind her.
Linda stood there unmoving. Sally knew Linda was waiting for her to give in; she always gave in and they both knew it. Sally felt compelled to return the stare. She looked up to those Linda's hazel eyes and found… Well, not what she suspected.
They weren't menacing after all. Beyond those eyes was a soul as kind as a cool spring breeze. Then within a blink of Linda's eye the thunderstorm returned.
While their eyes met for that brief half second she swore those eyes reflected Cynthia's kind gaze. While it was totally possible it was Cynthia impersonating Linda Sally couldn't believe it. Linda had looked on her kindly before. The return of the hard glare only proved her to be Linda, in Sally's mind.
Now Linda's patience began to wear thin. She took another threatening step closer to Sally. Sinking just a little lower into the chair she stuttered at the beginning and once started nothing could make her stop.
"I… I… really don't know any… everything. He had many complicated traps already in place. I don't know where they are or what they are. I gave him some specs on the androids for general use, and I helped specifically on only a few."
"How many and what kind? I want details!" Linda seemed slightly less angry but just as urgent.
Sally began quickly outlining the uses of the traps and upon further prodding from Linda. She relinquished all information she could summon to mind on them.
"There is something else." Sally said as Linda prepared to leave.
"What?"
"I know you have your own reasons for creating her. I'm loyal to you! I am. I won't tell the Boss anything.
"It's just I have to tell someone. Please don't be angry at me. I couldn't let her be a Frankenstein monster. I couldn't let her go terrorizing people. So I gave her, Cynthia, a conscience."
"Oh, Sally." Linda appeared to deflate in disappointment.
"I knew you'd be angry. You don't like people changing your programs, it's just, I couldn't let her be…"
"Like Linda Aldin." The female officer said. It sounded as if she didn't like the woman she protected much.
Sally couldn't stand it much longer. She had to know the what was really going on. "Why do you need to know all this? Is it because the council wants to know? Do they know the truth?"
"What truth?" Linda snapped.
Sally suddenly had the feeling she said too much. Before she could respond, there was a loud whine.
The glass of Sally's only window shattered inward. Everyone turned towards it, and the two security guards took their place between Linda and the window, weapons drawn. Sally took the distraction as an opportunity to escape.
Taking the advantage of now being the closest to the door, she made a run for it. Up the stairs was the only way to escape for she heard the other officers' boots thumping on the stairway below her. Behind her she heard the fire of electric weapons and the crash of metal, but she didn't care to look behind her. The only thing important right now was her flight.
Perhaps it was just coincidence that the bots came smashing in at that moment, or perhaps they really had been listening in to see how much Sally would tell the traitor. Either way, Sally could not allow herself to be captured by them. It would mean the end of her career perhaps even her life.
By the sound of it the bots had been taken quickly. So they were no longer her concern. They were less important then the UNS officers. She would rather endure Estevez's swatter than whatever the UNS had planned for her. Sally didn't even know why she was running from the UNS. She had already told Linda everything she wanted to know. What confused her more is why Linda was following. Sally made the mistake of looking behind her and saw the burley man close on her tail. Even though she had good footing running up the stairs, the final step came some what unexpectedly and she stumbled, nearly falling.
She felt a hand gripping for her ankle. She slipped away out of its grasp. Sprinting onto the roof she was hoping to make it to the fire escape and down to the alley before Linda's guards or the bots could catch her.
She wasn't exactly sure where the fire escape was since she had never been up on the roof. She looked around frantically and finally realized it was behind her and Linda. The only means for her escape was to rush past them. She knew if she were to attempt that she'd have little chance of surviving. Her only other option was jumping to the building that was over 15 meters away on the other side of the alley. She didn't want to contemplate that. She knew she'd never make it across.
"Sally!" Linda called to her a hint of desperation in her voice. Sally would not turn. She started running the perimeter of the building trying to make a full circle around them to the fire escape. "Sally, we're not here to hurt you." Linda tried calling to her again.
Before she knew it Linda was in front of her. "Sally! Please we want to protect you from the Boss."
Perplexed, Sally had to stop and figure out in her head what game Linda was playing. Sally was sure she was working against the Boss wanting and the androids for herself. It all started coming together now. Linda wanted to trap the androids herself. The reason they had come after her was simple; she wanted Sally on her side. Perhaps she could pull this to her advantage.
"What can I gain from working with you?" She leaned against the small parapet around the roof trying to catch her breath.
Now Linda and her guards looked perplexed. "Now's not the time to negotiate. Where there are a few of Estevez's bots, there will be more. We have to leave."
The younger of the two men started to reach for Sally. Sally didn't like being handled in any fashion and ripped her arm away before he had a hold. Forgetting where she was stepped backwards. She started to fall over backwards.
She fell headfirst for the ground. Luckily, she fell only a meter before Linda grabbed her by the foot. She managed to look up at her former friend.
"Stay calm. I've got you." That smile on her face and the fact that she even cared enough to save Sally made her rethink her earlier conclusion. She could feel herself being pulled upwards with only one arm which confirmed her thoughts. Only an android had that kind of strength.
Of course, even the android had her limits and right now Sally had a feeling she was stretching them. Sally could see out of the corner of her eye that Cynthia too was hanging off the side of the building. It had been the only way for her to reach Sally to save her.
Sally began twisting unexpectedly when she brushed up against the wall. It had rained earlier that day and so the humidity made her boots slippery. She could feel herself sagging out of her boot despite Cynthia's grip. She tried frantically to find some purchase on the wall and help herself to be pulled up.
It was too late for that. She felt herself moving upwards again. She couldn't help sighing in relief.
With the last few jerks to bring her up to the top she felt her boot unfasten more. This time Cynthia was in no position to strengthen her grip and she was left with an empty shoe.
Within seconds Sally knew she would die, even as she saw the ground speeding up towards her. Her last thoughts were of Cynthia and Sally's confusion of her place in the android's life. No matter what Sally had done to her or even how close of friends she had acted she was, the android still attempted to save her life. This was definitely not something from Linda's personality. For the first and last time Sally was sorry she hadn't given up this project when Julion did. She hoped whatever the android was planning, that she would succeed.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please send me any comments you might have, good or bad. Copyrighted 2008 by Christine Schnell. Go ahead and share it with others just keep my name with it.
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