Marcus 582: Book Three of Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined (12 page)

“To…m…mor…row. I…prom…m…ise.”

Her head spun when Marcus dipped his confident mouth to hers. His kiss was soft and yet thoroughly insistent. It reflected his contradictory nature, which she’d learned to appreciate for many reasons.

His grip slid away as Marcus walked to retrieve fresh jeans and a shirt from the large duffel he’d stashed in a corner of her half used closet. She was still adjusting to the stylish haircut that suited him. He’d laughed when she’d refused to let him shave off his beard again.

The notifier sounded and announced the visitor she’d been waiting for. When she smiled widely, Marcus rolled his eyes and shooed her toward it with his hand. If people were around them long, they’d probably think they never spoke.

She closed the bedroom door to give Marcus some privacy to finish dressing. Smiling with genuine pleasure to have them both under one roof with her, she hurried to the door to let Edward in.

***

He scanned the lobby and was relieved to see no other people were around. Creator Omega had sent help but they hadn’t arrived on time…as was typical. His orders were to proceed anyway and that’s exactly what he would do. He didn’t really need them to get most things done.

Since the device in his hand was wireless, he sighed because he would have to use it at close range to achieve maximum effect.

“Greetings, sir. Please place the hand containing your ID chip on the scanner.”

He stepped forward and did as requested. When the AI building guard turned his head, he discreetly lifted the device in his other hand and pressed the tiny switch telling it to send. The AI unit continued functioning and started scanning the data rolling across the screen. His rapidly blinking eyes were the only indicator that the shutdown virus was working.

He counted to ten—waiting impatiently.

He hated waiting. He hated being patient.

He was living for the day he no longer had to deal with either. One day people would scramble to serve him whenever he appeared.

“Welcome…Naaa…thannn…1…8…0.”

The guard’s movements slowed until he froze mid-sentence. Nathan snorted and walked around the counter. His fingers flew across the panel, erasing his entry, his positive ID, and all evidence he had ever been on the premises. Then he shut down all the cameras and erased the last two hours of them before he turned them off. When he was done securing his entry cover, his two late-arriving muscle men finally walked through the door.

“About time you two got here. I did all the hard work already. The AI bot is wiped and in the process of a complete reboot, which will take about an hour. We shouldn’t need that long to collect Rachel 235. When the AI unit does his restart, he’ll see everything shut down and take steps to restore it all to normal. By the time his downage is officially checked, it will appear to have been nothing more than a fluke. The virus will have dispersed through his circuits as tiny electrical shorts. It will look like a small power failure.”

“The handheld you seeded Rachel 235 with indicates two males are presently with her. Since she turned down spending time with you, Creator Omega suspected she had attached herself to some of the cyborgs she’s met via her work in the calibration lab. Cross-identification of the voice samples with Norton’s database indicates both males are cyborg. Marcus 582 is the biggest threat as he is one of the originals. Unless he is broadcasting on the correct channel, he is potentially immune to the disruptor. The other can be constrained well enough as we have determined his wireless signal is the default.”

Nathan frowned. “The disruptor could cause permanent damage to Dr. Smith’s prototype processor. He was not able to finish his beta testing before his unfortunate and regretful conversion. Rachel 235 is also at risk if we use the device.”

“Her damage is a risk we must take to procure her. In most failure situations, her processor will access reserve power to prevent cellular degeneration for a short, indeterminate period. Current estimates are brain damage won’t occur for twenty-one minutes.”

Nathan shook his head. “We can’t deliver her to Creator Omega in that limited timeframe. Do you think she will be of any use if her mind is not able to function after she is modified?”

He admired the bodies of the Creator Omega’s two right hands, but not their cognitive abilities. They were now incapable of doing anything but what they were told. It was an unfortunate side effect of the early neural enhancers. Now he knew why Creator Omega had given him the newest prototype. He needed someone with a naturally intelligent brain helping him. Someone whose mind could function under any kind of pressure.

When the muscle guys looked at each other and shrugged, Nathan fought to keep from sighing. He didn’t want them to know how irritated he was getting with them. He certainly didn’t want any loss of temper getting back to his benefactor.

“There is a solution. I will remove Rachel 235 from the premises before you use the disruptor. This means you will have to distract the male cyborgs and keep them occupied until my exit with her. This may include engaging in a physical altercation with them. Do you agree this serves the plans of Creator Omega?”

“
Fight?
Sweet,” they both said excitedly.

Shocked by their total disregard for the serious consequences of such a decision, Nathan watched them do a hand-slap. Was this really the next generation of cybernetic heroes? Or were these just two failed experiments Creator Omega was trying to salvage use of in the best way possible? Left totally to these two, Rachel 235 would be a brainless vessel before she’d ever get a chance to be modified.

He shook his head. “Come. We’ve wasted ten minutes talking about this. Now we have less time than ever.”

They headed to the airlift. There was an extra spring in his step because he was excited to collect her. Creator Omega had promised him his latest code would be used to customize Rachel 235’s preferences. It would be great to have a steady female willing to indulge him and his needs. He would only have to visit sex clubs in the future if he wanted to indulge in something requiring more than one female. Maybe one day he’d earn another. After all, Creator Omega kept the first two prototypes for his own private use.

If Dr. Smith hadn’t gotten greedy, the scientist would now have everything a man could want in life. Nathan was more than happy to step into his shoes and his neural implants were helping make that possible. As he was rapidly learning, there was nothing better than being super intelligent. His extraordinary mind was going to allow him to create the kind of life most men never dreamed of being possible.

***

When the apartment notifier sounded, but made no announcement of visitors, Marcus looked at Rachel. “Expecting more guests?”

Her confused look told him more than her headshake.

“Okay, I’ll check it out.”

He rose from the table and started toward the door. Before he got there, it pinged open, aided by a security release. Two muscled guys stepped inside and met him head-on. It took less than ten seconds for his body scan to find their processors. He knew he was facing off with cyborgs, long before the first one spoke.

“Marcus 582? I expected someone much bigger. Your processor needs upgrading.”

When the second laughed at the first one’s comment, Marcus looked from guy to guy, and then beyond them to a familiar third one stepping inside Rachel’s door. The two in front didn’t worry him nearly as much. The third made his blood boil. Nathan 180 was here solely because of Rachel.

“I know what you are,” Marcus said. “All of you. So do many others.”

The two muscle guys laughed at his statement.

“Do we look stupid to you? We know who all of you are as well,” the second jeered, mocking his words.

Marcus looked beyond them to Nathan 180 and met his defiant gaze. “I haven’t killed since the war, but your death is going to bring me great pleasure.”

“After her upgrades, she’s not even going to remember you. After tonight, you might not remember her either,” Nathan warned. He reached out and pushed muscle guy number two’s shoulder. “Less talk—more action. Clear me a path to Rachel 235. We’re running out of time.”

Marcus stepped back to gage his best plan of attack. He glanced behind him just in time to see Edward stepping directly in front of Rachel. That answered all the important questions about the man’s increased role in Rachel’s life.

Facing forward again, he saw one of the muscle guys with a weapon in his hand. It wasn’t large. But Marcus knew size had nothing to do with how deadly it might be. He lunged for the weaponless man and sent him smashing into the second. The weapon discharged and the cyborg he’d used as a shield jerked twice before going still under the second one’s hands.

Marcus earned a frustrated glare as the second one pulled another weapon from his pocket.

He heard Nathan yelling no. There was a sizzle inside his head. He both heard and felt it. Then all he saw was Nathan’s mouth moving with no sound.

Turning his head took all his effort. His heart accelerated in panic when he saw Rachel was on the floor. Edward was slumped beside her, his gaze questioning what the hell was going on. Marcus wished he knew.

When he got his head twisted back around, it was to see that the second guy now had a weapon in each hand. The shock he got from one of them discharging its power into him literally took him to his knees.

Before he lost consciousness, he saw Nathan smacking both weapons from the muscle guy’s hands.

Chapter 9

Consciousness returned instantly and violently. Rachel’s panicked, hoarse scream filled the air. When the initial shock of hearing her natural voice faded, she tried to raise her hand to her throat, but couldn’t. She glanced down as much as her restraints would let her. There was a strap across her chest and another across her forehead. Someone had made sure she couldn’t move.

A man’s face suddenly appeared in her line of vision. He had a tiny flashlight in his hands, which he used to torture her eyes.

“Hello there. Do you know who you are?” he asked.

Rachel swallowed. Her throat hurt, but it also felt strangely normal.

“What happened to me?” she asked.

“Somebody didn’t follow orders and you got hurt more than we anticipated. Now we have to give your brain some healing time before we finish our repairs,” he said, calmly. “Can you tell me the name of the current High Chancellor of the UCN?”

“Who are you? Where am I? Where’s Marcus?” Rachel demanded.

“I don’t understand her answer. Why does she remember him?”

Rachel turned her head as much as the forehead strap would let her so she could see the other person speaking. “Who are you?”

A younger man stepped closer and frowned down at her. “She was supposed to forget him—not me. This is a mess. It’s all their fault. I told them to wait until I had her out of there.”

She studied his gaze on her. Who was he? Her mind reached for answers. He looked a little familiar. She turned back and noticed the older man was now glaring at the younger one. If this was a medical facility, the one with the flashlight asking all the questions was obviously the main doctor.

“Do we need to have another discussion about your impatience, Nathan?” the main doctor demanded.

She heard the younger man’s resigned sigh in answer. “No, Creator Omega. We don’t. I’m just mildly discouraged by these results.”

The older doctor’s interested gaze moved back to her face. “What she lost and kept was incalculable, Nathan. The effects of the disruptor have not been tested enough to make projections. Her reaction to all the physical repairs I did is called selective amnesia and is a human device used by her mind.”

“I still don’t understand,” Nathan said sharply

“Then you never will. This is something unpredictable by logic. Marcus 582 was worth remembering. You weren’t. Put that ego in your pocket, boy. Fix it on your own time.”

Rachel watched the one called Nathan frown and reluctantly nod. He did not look happy at being chastised. “Of course you’re right,” she heard him say. “I wrote the code. I know what you’re saying is true. Her remembering the cyborg is not the end of the world. Once she’s chipped as a New World Companion, her natural preference for him will no longer matter. ”

The primary doctor snorted in response. “You’re bragging about an untruth. Bradley Smith wrote the Cyber Wife code. You just tweaked one tiny fraction of it. Just because the cyber scientist is nothing more than a robot now doesn’t mean his previous achievements are not worthy of respect. Without his work, you would still be nothing more than a code monkey with no future. Thanks to him, you’re getting smarter every day.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. Dr. Smith is a worthy hero of the New World Evolution. How long do we need to wait before Rachel 235 can be chipped for me?”

“Until her brain waves return to normal levels—if you want a companion who can carry on a decent conversation. If all you want is a mindless vegetable that can’t string sentences together outside canned program responses, we can chip her for you right now. I personally don’t care either way. I wanted this prototype model back before she got looked at too closely. That has always been my only concern about her.”