Android Paradox (13 page)

“This place always creeped me out,” Shortcut said. “I kind of wish I’d stayed home.”

“Anything can happen here. Does that make you nervous?”

“Crime is low in the UEA. Except here. Considering I’ve never been robbed, mugged, violated, or beat up—yeah, I guess you can say I’m a little nervous.”

“Your help will be valuable here,” X said. “You can enter places I can’t.”

“And be scarred for life during the process.”

They entered a smoky bar. It was loud and crowded. A man in dingy clothes and a wide-brimmed hat sat alone in a corner booth, bent over a mojito.
 

X and Shortcut slid into the booth.

“How did you know it was me?” the man asked from under the hat.
 

“Pretty simple, Ballixter,” Shortcut said. “All we had to do was look for the person whose drink had the highest temperature. Any human in this place would have downed it by now.”

“Nice to see you both,” Ballixter said. Though he was retired, he looked as young as X. “This alcohol is bad for my innards. Any longer, and I might have had to drink it. It’s not a good idea to draw attention to yourself here.”

X clasped his hands and leaned over the table. “Ballixter, you know why we’re here.”

“I knew it wouldn’t take long for a UEA agent to get here after all the android activity last night.”

“What kind of activity?” X asked.

“People have been getting robbed by androids, and there are rumors that more are going rogue. Things have gotten weird in the district lately, X. Some of these UEA androids aren’t themselves. They’ve been talking very strangely. Keep referring to an Android Winter.”

“We’re here because we detected a cluster gathering here,” Shortcut said.

“Makes sense,” Ballixter said. “Last night, there was some fighting at the sanitation plant. All the workers got kicked out and the place was locked up. If you detected a high concentration of androids, that’s probably where they are. Who knows what they’re doing in there, but it can’t be good. The air in the district is different now. Used to be that you couldn’t trust humans. They’re unpredictable sometimes. Now it’s the androids that worry me.”

“Why?” Shortcut asked.

“Because they’re predictable. And when you’re up against a predictable foe, you know what they’re going to do.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Not when you are both androids. The problem then is that they know what you’re going to do, too. Both parties have supreme knowledge of the other’s tendencies. Then you start to second-guess yourself because you wonder who will succeed first. You venture into the darkness not really knowing if your strategy will work, because at the end of it all, you’re predictable also, and they’re going to make the same predictions about you.”

“That’s why I hate this mission,” X said. “We’ve never had an android civil war.”

“If we did, it would destroy the planet,” Ballixter said.

Shortcut gulped. “Guess I never thought of that. I’m going to sleep very well tonight, gentlemen. Thanks.” He leaned to look out the window at a passing android, and his arm brushed against the dirty curtain. A cockroach fell out and landed on the table.

“Gross!” Shortcut said. He tried to smack it, but it jumped off the table and scurried away from them. “This place is disgusting.”

“How can we get in, Ballixter?” X asked.

“It’ll be tough. You’re walking into a lion’s den, you know that. But then again, that was probably your mission, wasn’t it?”

X nodded.

“Start with the sanitation workers. They were displaced, and as I understand, they’re bitter about losing work because of the android invasion. You’ll probably find one or two in the bars here. People around here tend to drink themselves stupid when life happens to them. Be smart and let Shortcut find them. The workers aren’t too keen on androids right now.”

Shortcut’s lens lit up. “We’ll search the UEA database. Shouldn’t be too hard.” He began scanning the employment records with his algorithm lens.
 

“Be careful,” Ballixter said.

X got up from the table. “Thanks, friend.”

“Oh, and X—watch yourself. I don’t know if this is related to all the goings-on or not, but there’s been an android hunter in the city lately.”

“A hunter?”

“Someone’s been tracking down and mutilating androids. We found an ex-UEA agent this morning in an alley with all of his circuitry missing.”

“Was he rogue?”

“No. That’s why it concerns me. Whoever’s doing this, they’re probably taking the parts back to the badlands to sell them. Apparently, android parts are hot commodities there right now, with the recent depression.”

X frowned. “I can handle android hunters.”

“This isn’t a regular android hunter. Whoever it is, they’re fast, smart, and evasive—even for a human. Just be careful, that’s all I’m saying.”

Shortcut gulped. “What a fantastic place to live. I think I’ll start searching for a home in this lovely district.”

“There’s something else I wanted to ask you,” X said. “You’re a Crenshaw like me.”

“Yes.”

“And since you’re ex-UEA, your memory chips were restored to you upon retirement, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“What do you mean ‘unfortunately’?”

“Sometimes it’s better to live in ignorance, X.”

“What can you tell me about Dr. Crenshaw?”

“Everything I know. I was in the second generation of androids under him, and we spent a lot of time together. I knew the whole family.”

“I have been … curious about him lately,” X said.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know once your mission is complete. There’s a lot to learn about the Crenshaws. They were an interesting family, for better or worse.”

X nodded and started out of the bar. “We’ll be talking soon.”

Chapter 17

X and Shortcut sat on a covered park bench in the middle of a dreary park as Shortcut scanned the employment records for sanitation workers. The rain had let up, and was sprinkling the surrounding area with a drizzle.
 

A scantily clad man in a leather jacket, thong, and high heel boots walked by. He was watching something on his lens—probably a pornographic video—and he spoke to himself as he passed. He stopped, gazed at Shortcut with a slight smile, and then kept walking, his boots clacking against the wet sidewalk.
 

Shortcut shivered and said, “We need to hurry up. This place is creeping me out. I’m pretty sure that guy just had some very sick thoughts about me.”

“If it was a he,” X said. He watched as Shortcut grew more nervous.

“That’s not funny, man,” Shortcut said.
 

X knew what he had to do. Appeal to his emotions. Get him so upset that he’ll walk away. It was for his protection.
 

Ever since the meeting with Ballixter, X had gotten the sense that this mission was going to be dangerous. Too dangerous. His algorithm had chirped and buzzed nonstop from the moment Ballixter started speaking. Two dozen androids in the facility, with more on the way.
 

He might not come out alive, and he had accepted the possibility that he could die. If that were true, he couldn’t let the same thing happen to Shortcut. He couldn’t let him come to harm.

They focused on a digital screen hovering in front of them. A list of three hundred people appeared and Shortcut scrolled through it with his eye movements.
 

“Is this the same list you have?” Shortcut asked.
 

X reviewed the results of his own search. The list was exactly the same. “No. Half the people on your list aren’t even employed anymore,” he lied.

“What? This algorithm lens was supposed to work.” Shortcut looked at the screen again. “Let me narrow it down to the ones who have been there the longest.”

The list narrowed down to fifty. “Now, let’s try the employees with the cleanest records,” Shortcut said.

A photo of a man and a woman appeared. He tapped the photo of the man. “That’s our best bet. He’s a long-term, loyal employee, and friendly with androids.”

X narrowed his search down to the same list and verified that the man would give them the best odds. “That’s not what I show,” he said.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Shortcut asked, “Isn’t at least one of these correct?”

“No,” X said. “Your algorithm lens is flawed. Neither of your people is employed by the city anymore.”

Shortcut tapped his temple. “The algorithm must not be ‘warmed up’ to me yet.”

X stood. “Algorithm lens technology still has a long way to go. They’re not applicable to this mission.”

“They should be.”

“You could have jeopardized this mission if I had trusted your data,” X said. “If we had cornered that man and he wasn’t a sanitation worker, or if he was unfriendly, he could have given us away. Not acceptable, Shortcut. Stick with trying to impress Brielle, but leave the unapproved, mock-android technology at home.”

“Mock android! I was trying to help you out.”

The first pangs of embarrassment. Appeal to his ego and he’ll crumble.
 

“I appreciate that, but we were doing fine as a team before you started upgrading your body. You don’t need to do that, Shortcut. You’re smart enough.”

“Then why do you even need me? Seems like I can’t ever add value to your superhero operations.”

“You’re the brains. I’m also the brains, and the muscle.”

“Sounds like I’m redundant.” His voice was hurt, and X detected embarrassment and frustration. One more insult and he would walk away.
 

“It’s okay, Shortcut. But this is a critical mission.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Shortcut said, jumping up. “I do a lot for you that you don’t even recognize. I bought this lens because I hoped it would help me help
you
. Sure, I want to impress Brielle, but I wanted to help. Guess it wasn’t worth it.”

He backed out of the covered bench area and rain fell on his hair, gathering in bright beads as it ran down his face. He stuck his hands in his leather jacket and the jacket creaked as he tugged it. X knew that the damage had been done.
 

“Fine,” X said. “Walk away. I’ll complete this mission by myself.”

“Fine!”

Shortcut stormed away as thunder sounded and a branch of lightning lit up the sky. He crested the hill, turned around to look at X one final time, and then disappeared behind it.

X knew that remorse was the appropriate response, but he didn't feel anything. He could only think about the mission at hand, and how he was probably going to die. At least Shortcut wouldn’t suffer at the hands of an android army.
 

He brought up a photo of the male sanitation worker and programmed his address into his GPS. Then he stepped into the rain, pulled his hood over his face and jogged deeper into the district.

X stood in front of a large, brick tenement building. It was falling apart, but yellow windows were lit up here and there. As he walked up the stairs, two rats ran underneath the porch, burrowing into a pile of trash and trampling over cellophane as they disappeared into the foundation of the house. One rat was real, the other robotic.
 

He came to the front door. It was green and rusting. A digital wall of shimmering light appeared before he could touch the handle and a robotic voice spoke to him.

“You do not have the authority to enter this residence,” the voice said.
 

“I’m a UEA android,” X said.
 

“Please provide identification.”
 

X gave his agent number, and the wall shattered. An alarm sounded in the building, and a few seconds later a man jumped out of the second floor window and landed in the bushes. He jumped up, saw X and dashed into the shadows. He wasn’t the mark, so X let him go.

This was the red light district way. The residents had installed the security door to protect themselves. X acknowledged how smart it was, but he also acknowledged that he was not here to pick a fight with anyone. He opened the door and entered a hallway that looked more like it belonged in a medical ward than an apartment building. The overhead light flickered and hummed like a strange insect. He detected the stench of sex, spilled alcohol, and urine.
 

He reviewed his mark’s information as he walked up a dark stairwell. Horace Simonsson. Age thirty-six. Director of Android Operations at the city sanitation facility. Loyal to the company and one of the most senior managers. He managed a team of fifty androids and made a decent salary, but he blew all of his money at the slots and on marijuana. He came from the badlands, and he lived in the red light district because it was the closest thing to home. He was friendly with androids, so he would most likely be receptive to X.
 

X thought about Shortcut and how impressive his algorithm lens had been. With just a few smart gestures, he had come to the same conclusion as X. He had made a decision with android accuracy. X decided that if he survived this mission, he would apologize to Shortcut and give him that compliment. He deserved it.
 

He made his way up to the fifth floor and knocked on Simonsson’s door. Simonsson, a man with dirty blonde hair, opened the door.
 

“What do you want?”

“I’m with the UEA,” X said. “I need to come in.”

X entered before the man could respond.

He swept the apartment with one long side-to-side look and confirmed that it was safe. It was a studio apartment with dividers set up. One of the windows was open, and a breeze blew through the room. The scent of marijuana also lingered in the air.
 

Simonsson didn’t look pleased to see him. “Yeah?” he asked. “If you’re looking for a criminal, you got the wrong place.”

“You’re a sanitation worker,” X said.
 

“And?”

“I need to get into the sanitation facility.”

“Why? To join all the other crazy androids in there?”

“Yes. So I can destroy them and get you your job back.”

“I don’t trust you. We can’t trust you stinking androids anymore. Not after what happened last night.”