Android: Golem (The Identity Trilogy) (40 page)
Read Android: Golem (The Identity Trilogy) Online
Authors: Mel Odom
Blaine tried to hold his breath, but the gas worked on contact. In 1.3 seconds, his body went limp and he dropped onto the alley floor.
The other SWAT member shoved his hand in my direction. The gas wouldn’t work on me, but the electromagnetic charge keyed to my disconnect frequency did. My systems shut down and the world went black.
Epilogue
Two weeks later, after an intensive internal investigation that proved me innocent of any wrongdoing, I returned to the NAPD. I discovered that my return was not met with any kind of enthusiasm. Louis Blaine had stood up for me and offered testimony to the effect that he and I had been working together. While his story somewhat confirmed my guiltlessness, his alliance—temporary though it might be—also made me less trustworthy to the other members of the homicide division than I had ever been. I couldn’t help wondering what Shelly would have made of it and how she would have felt. But Shelly was still gone. That was unalterable.
Even though we’d been on the same side of the investigation, Blaine didn’t want to keep up the contact. “It’ll go easier on you if I drop out of this.”
He looked sad, if I’d accurately interpreted his behavior and facial expressions. I wondered if it was because he was once more alone.
“No, I want access to you, to your thoughts and guidance.”
That surprised him. “Why?”
“I don’t think I am going to be afforded the same training opportunities that I was when my partner was still alive.”
After a moment, Blaine nodded. “You’re probably right about that.”
“So, I would like to know that I’m welcome to speak to you whenever I feel I must.”
“There are a lot of people who are gonna be suspicious of that.”
“They’re probably the same people who won’t be helping me with my training. I don’t see a loss.”
Blaine grinned. “You’re probably right again.” He stuck out his hand.
I took it and we shook.
“Come see me when you need to, Detective.” He clapped me on the shoulder and told me he would see me around.
*
On my return, Lieutenant Ormond sent for me and I met with him in his office.
“Close the door and have a seat.”
I did both of those things, then I waited.
Ormond leaned back in his chair and regarded me silently for two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. “I told Commissioner Dawn that we would be better off without you.”
I accepted that.
“But she’s not willing to let you go just yet. You and Floyd are still her opportunities to ‘upgrade the police department’—her choice of words, not mine. She doesn’t want to try to sell a fifty percent success rate.”
“Floyd is performing satisfactorily?” I was curious.
“That’s what you want to know?”
“Yes.”
Ormond pursed his lips. “Floyd is his own can of worms. I don’t think either of you are suited to this kind of work. This is people business. Human.”
I didn’t point out that many of the murders I’d been witness to after the fact were often viewed as
inhuman
.
“Humans need to be working this, not bioroids.”
I didn’t disagree.
Ormond sighed and wiped his face with his hands. “I also told the commissioner that I felt losing Shelly Nolan had left you damaged.”
“I am fully functional. All necessary repair work has been finished. I assure you, I am at peak performance.”
Ormond tapped his chest over his heart. “Not the mechanical stuff. In here. If I hadn’t seen you go through everything you’ve gone through, find ways to bend the rules and the Directives, I would never have believed bioroids were capable of compassion.”
“Compassion is a necessary ingredient for police work and homicide investigation. I have been programmed to show and understand compassion.”
Shaking his head, Ormond held up a hand. “Stop. You’re just going to make me tired.”
I had finished anyway.
“Losing Shelly, losing your partner, affected you. You’re no longer the same—” Ormond halted himself.
I felt certain he’d been about to say
person
,
or perhaps
detective
.
“You’re no longer the same.”
Evidently, he didn’t want to quantify me in any manner.
“I think that’s why your face has changed. I believe you recognize what I’m saying is true.”
I did, but I knew that wasn’t why my face had changed. I was pretty sure I’d already figured that part out.
He looked steadily at me. “Do you have any questions?”
“No.” I only wanted to know where I’d be working and when I could get started. The NAPD would have work for me, but I still had a case that had been largely unresolved.
“We’ve got a reassignment for you.” Ormond looked happy and relieved.
I didn’t say anything and waited to hear what he had to tell me. I did wonder if the reassignment would be a problem for me.
“You’re going to be tasked at Heinlein. Since you’re so good at working cold cases, you’re going to get to work some of them there.”
“Who made this decision?”
Ormond lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t know who made the decision, Drake. I only know that the top brass and the corp are in agreement with this.” He paused. “And I am, too. I think the Moon will be a good move for you.”
I wondered how much of that reassignment decision was Haas-Bioroid. With me working on the Moon, I would be much easier for them to keep tabs on.
“That’s paranoia talking, partner.” Shelly sat in a corner of Ormond’s office, but he didn’t see her. “And it doesn’t matter where they put you. You can still work this case.”
*
While I waited for all the e-documentation to be implemented, I worked cold cases. Blaine and I started to meet occasionally to talk over things. That made me more of a pariah at the NAPD than before. I didn’t know if spending time with me was detrimental to Blaine’s public appearance. He never mentioned it.
The Cartman Dawes case was being silently swept into a corner. I figured the NAPD was fine knowing the killers were mercs, and those mercs were now dead. There didn’t seem to be much push to solve the case beyond that. Nobody was talking, and Haas-Bioroid obviously wanted the situation locked away and would stop at nothing to do precisely that.
The day before I left, I got a PAD ping at my desk down in the basement and discovered that a facial recognition report I’d asked for had come in. I’d forgotten that I’d scanned my own features into the database looking for a hit.
What came back intrigued me. I was wearing the face that closely approximated a dead man’s: Simon Blake.
“I made you.”
Looking up from my desk, I saw the black-haired woman sitting across from me. I recognized her now, though I didn’t know why I hadn’t known who she was earlier.
She was Mara Blake, the missing neural channeling software designer.
“I didn’t trust Haas-Bioroid.” She looked calm, but I could see the fear in her eyes now. “I’ve never trusted any of the big corps.” She took a breath. “After Simon was murdered, I used a copy of his neural channeling to make you, Drake. You were as close to Simon as I could make you.” She smiled. “I’m good at code. Haas-Bioroid never found the hidden architecture I placed within you.”
I looked at her, understanding then some of the things I had been seeing. The events on Mars had been real. The memories were real. They were bits and pieces of Simon Blake surfacing as my OS was being rewritten. That was what had changed my face. I was remembering that I was more than Drake 3GI2RC.
“You’re my last ditch salvation.” Mara looked at me. She smiled again. “Something has gone wrong. If I went missing or turned up dead, the daily signal I send to you will be stopped. Those parts of you that are still Simon will rise to the forefront and you’ll be compelled to find me. Or avenge me.”
I stared at her, curious about everything I was going through, about any other changes that might yet occur.
“I hope it’s to find me, Simon.” Mara shuddered. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be dead.” She blinked away tears. “So, if I’m just missing, find me. Find me soon.”
“I will.” That was a promise. No matter how many enemies stood between her and me, I couldn’t let them win. Unconsciously, I put out my hand to take hers, but of course she wasn’t there and my fingers found only the desktop. “I will find you, Mara.”
About the Author
Mel Odom is the author of over 140 books in science fiction, fantasy, and tie-ins, including the award-winning series
The Rover
, as well as tie-in fiction for such names as
Forgotten Realms, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
and
Shadowrun
. He is also the author of bestselling cyberpunk thrillers
Stalker Analog
and
Lethal Interface.
He writes all the time. In addition to writing, he also teaches at the University of Oklahoma in the Professional Writing program.
You can catch up with him at
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