Android Paradox (14 page)

X grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against the wall. He knew he was at the limit of what he could do, and he didn’t want to hurt the man—just scare him a bit.
 

“I don’t have much time. As I said before, I’m a UEA android. I’m not your enemy. Now start speaking before your next job is a flight attendant.”

“Flight attendant?”
 

X pointed out the window and made a fluttering motion with his hand.
 

“Okay, okay. Those androids stormed into the place yesterday. Killed all of my employee androids.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Kept talking about an android winter or something like that. Creepy as hell. They said something about 'taking this place of refuse' because that’s what they would soon make the UEA. Before I could learn any more, they started roughing us up and threw us out.”

“How do I get in?”

“Well, I would start with a sanitation truck. The androids can’t hack into the factory mainframe. Only humans can. Legislation, you know. There’s a truck parked in the alley. One of my men was on a route yesterday and wasn’t able to return. He left the truck with me. If you drive up to the factory, the system has to let you in. City ordinance—no garbage truck can remain in the streets past normal business hours. You might get in, but the androids’ll probably gun you down. There were a bunch of them.”

“Give me the keys.”

Simonsson walked over to a peg on the wall where a keycard hung on a silver ring. He tossed it to X. “Good luck.”

X caught the key and then stepped forward quickly. “You’re not getting off that easily.” He grabbed Simonsson’s uniform and said, “You’re working overtime tonight.”

“Jesus!” Simonsson cried as X dragged him out of the apartment.
 

They rolled up to the gates surrounding the sanitation facility in Simonsson’s orange garbage truck. The facility, a huge box that assaulted the sky with smoke and stink, loomed ahead. The wire gates in front of the building glowed with electricity, and two androids with machine guns stood watch. X hid in the back of the garbage truck with his guns activated.
 

“Just do as I say and you’ll be fine,” X said through an audio link to Simonsson. “Nothing to be scared about. You’ll be back home within the hour.”

Simonsson grunted in agreement. He honked the horn as the driverless truck pulled to a stop in front of the gates. The androids walked up to him as he rolled down the window.
 

“We told you humans to get out of here,” one of the androids said. “Go dump your trash on the UEA lawn.”

“Listen,” Simonsson said. “On behalf of the sanitation employees, we want to make you guys an offer. We really need our jobs. Our kids are starvin’.”

Simonsson didn’t have any kids, but X appreciated his bluffing skills.
 

“We found an android snooping around, asking questions about you guys. We ambushed him and he’s in the back of the truck for you. Turns out he’s UEA. We’ll give him to you if you’ll give us our jobs back.”

The androids scanned the back of the truck. X lay as if he were injured so he wouldn’t trip any suspicions.
 

“Good. Bring him in.”

The wire gates opened, and Simonsson saluted them as the truck pulled into the compound.
 

X readied himself as he heard the androids walk to the back of the truck. When they opened the doors, he pulled them both in, jumped out and shouted at Simonsson.
 

Simonsson gave him a thumbs-up in the side view mirror and pulled a crank. The compactor started, crushing both androids inside.
 

“Get out of here,” X said.
 

Simonsson overrode the driverless feature on the truck and backed out of the gate, crashing through it. He turned the truck around and drove off without even saying goodbye.
 

Alarms sounded and lights flashed. X’s presence was known.
 

“It’s going to get tough, now,” X said. He grabbed one of the android’s machine guns and scanned the area. The facility had many trash mounds scattered around, some as large as fifty feet tall, and there was an upper catwalk he could use to get height and a sniping advantage. He grabbed a low-hanging hook and swung, propelling himself onto the catwalk. He crouched and waited for guards, but no one came. Though the alarms were sounding, no one had responded.
 

He had expected the androids to have come for him by now. He crept across the catwalk and over a mound a trash with a rose at the top. He wondered how it got there.

Then he heard a voice speaking over the intercom in a language he couldn’t understand. He jumped into a pile of garbage, expecting to see guards. Nothing. He waited several minutes, then climbed out and made his way down a long corridor deeper into the factory.
 

Where is everyone?
he wondered.

He should have been dead by now.
 

And then he realized that they might be waiting for him to come to them. The Android Paradox at work.
 

He didn’t want to end up in a battle where his fate was left to chance. Not against dozens of other androids. His luck would run out—if he had any to start with. No telling what they’d do to him if they caught him, but he had to keep going. He had accepted that this would be a suicide mission, but he knew that his sacrifice would provide valuable data to Fahrens and the UEA so that they could eradicate this society of evil androids.
 

He passed a locker room with several human bodies on the floor. They had likely struggled against the androids. They had been shot at point blank, probably while begging for their lives. X knelt over them and closed their eyes. These people would never be able to return to their families. And their families, previously loyal to androids, would now hate all things robotic forever. They might even move to the badlands and join the growing resistance against the UEA. And it would all be for nothing—all because of a group of rogues whose programming had been manipulated. More unnecessary suffering.
 

He came to the double doors at the center of the factory. They were made of thick metal, so he couldn’t scan them. But he knew the androids were there, and that they were waiting for him.
 

X sent a message to Shortcut via an audio link, then readied himself to open the door.
 

Chapter 18

Shortcut entered the UEA headquarters, still steaming. “X is such an android.”

He walked across the atrium, and met Brielle on the escalator.

“I thought you were on a mission,” she said.

“I still am, I guess,” he said.
 

“Where’s X?”

“Being a hero.”

Brielle sensed his anger; she went silent and gazed up at the ceiling of the atrium. “You sound like you need a coffee.”

“Yeah. With alcohol in it.” He felt bad for being snappish, and smiled. “You can’t drink, Brielle.”

“But it would make
you
feel better.”

He lightened up. “Maybe you’re right.”

They reached the top of the escalator and walked to a coffee kiosk with several chairs. A menu in decorative writing hung on the wall.

“Maybe you misinterpreted what X meant,” Brielle said after Shortcut relayed the conversation. “We androids aren’t always good about articulating our thoughts.”

“What could he have possibly meant other than to tell me off?” Shortcut asked as he looked at the menu. “We were on the most dangerous mission of our lives, and he—”
 

He smacked his head and gulped. He thought of X, and how he was probably at the sanitation facility right now charging into a room full of androids. “Crap! I’m such an idiot. He played me.”

He activated his lens frantically. “X,” he said, trying to establish an audio link. He couldn’t get through. At that same moment, he received a notification in his peripheral vision that X had sent him a message.

“Shortcut, I want you to know that I didn’t mean any of the things I said while we were in the park. I lied to keep you safe. I'm sorry.”

Shortcut was about to dial X again when a great shadow swept over the headquarters, darkening the entire area.
 

Brielle stepped backward, pointing at the ceiling. Shortcut looked up just as the glass broke, and he and Brielle were knocked to the ground.
 

Chapter 19

X stood in front of the steel doors and wired to Fahrens. “I’m going in, sir.”

“There’s still a cluster of androids inside. X, you should stand down for now. We’ll send backup.”

“I’m going in. If I wait, we may lose valuable information. If I go rogue, sir, just know that it was a pleasure working with you. And don’t hesitate to kill me.”

X severed the link before Fahrens could respond, then he kicked the door open. He fired blindly as he entered to give himself a small advantage.
 

But there were no gunshots from the enemy.
 

All around him, dozens of androids lay on the ground, lifeless. Their bodies were littered across the room, along with their parts. The room was quiet as a crypt.

He bent over an android—he was UEA. Dead, but his black box was still on and his homing beacon flashed. Whoever deactivated him had taken care to make sure that both of them still functioned properly.
 

A message on the back wall caught his eye: ANDROID WINTER. The message was written in a sloppy manner with a blowtorch.

X tried to connect with Fahrens. “Sir, we have a problem.”

No response. The room must have a signal jammer.
 

X stepped out of the room and tried to connect again. Still no response.
 

He needed orders. He needed someone to talk to.
 

He called Shortcut, but he didn’t respond, either. X could understand—he was probably still mad about their exchange in the park.

He entered the room again and walked among the dead androids, trying to find a pattern.
 

“Why would someone pile up a bunch of androids and kill them?” He studied the bodies again. They looked as if they had just fallen apart—as if someone had removed all their nuts and bolts.

“This is a trap,” X said. “Sir—Fahrens, I have an important message.”

Fahrens still didn’t answer, and his algorithm chip buzzed. Then he received a distress signal from the UEA headquarters.

It’s not a trap,
X thought.
It’s a diversion.

He didn’t know if he was dealing with a human or an android, but whoever it was, they had fooled him.
 

He severed his connection with the UEA in case anyone was monitoring his thought patterns.
 

He ran toward the doors, but they slammed shut. He slid across the concrete, activated his guns and looked around as he heard boots tracking on the catwalk above. He aimed, but saw only shadows and a flash of rainbow color. He switched to thermal view and saw a female shape hiding in the shadows.
 

“I know you see me now,” Jazzlyn said, jumping down from the catwalk. She pointed at X and grinned. Smoochums perched on her shoulder in an attack stance. “You’re going to net me a lot of money.”
 

X analyzed her body and her vocal patterns. Was she the mystery woman?
 

“You did this.”

“Did what?” She saw all the androids on the ground and jumped back in surprise. “Holy android-rony! It’s Christmas in here.”

“Who are you?”

“Do me a favor and turn around so I can execute you like they did in the old days. I’m feeling romantic today.”

“So you’re the hacker.”

“Hacker? Yeah, right. I’m a hunter, you pile of steel.”

“You are responsible for the greatest crimes against humanity and the android race.”

“I wouldn’t go
that
far,” Jazzlyn said. “So I’ve killed a few androids. No harm in that.”

Her eyes activated and she winked. An explosion rocked the room, knocking X down. “I’m totally smarter than you.”

“Why did you attack the UEA?”

“The UEA sucks.”

“Why did you kill Brockway?”

“Who’s Brockway?”

X scanned her. His intuition was right—she wasn’t the mystery woman.
 

“I think you’ve got me mixed up, but that’s okay. I’m not easily offended.” She laughed and then held up a black box. “Your friend Ballixter belongs to me, though,” she said.
 

X didn’t want to accept it; if Ballixter was dead, he might never know the truth about his past.
 

“You’re going to make me get out my weapons, aren’t you?” Jazzlyn asked, pulling out a gun.
 

X shot the black box out of her hand and it landed on the catwalk. Then he shot the gun out of her hand, too.
 

“Get out of here,” X said.

“I’m not leaving without your black box,” Jazzlyn said. She reached into her pocket. X had to make a judgment call, and he shot at her shoulder hoping to wound her.
 

But the bullet didn’t connect. A shimmer of light appeared near Jazzlyn’s shoulder. Smoochums hovered in the air, holding the bullet and straining under its weight. He dropped the bullet into Jazzlyn’s hand.
 

“Nice try.”

X fired both his guns simultaneously, but two shimmers of light appeared around Jazzlyn’s body. Two more mechanical cockroaches appeared, caught the bullets and threw them to the ground.
 

Jazzlyn laughed as her backpack rumbled. A nest of cockroaches flew out and buzzed around her as if they were orbiting a planet. They droned and made clicking sounds. Jazzlyn activated her lens, and blue lines connected all the cockroaches.

“I told you I’m smarter than you,” she said. She climbed onto the catwalk and pulled out another gun. “The other gun was a toy, by the way.”

She fired at X, and a bullet hit his arm. It didn’t hurt him, but she wasn’t shooting to hurt—she was sending a message.