Freaks in the City (30 page)

He glanced at Jay. He had to trust that she
wasn’t too badly injured—that she would recover and be able to save
herself. He faced Sixer and held out his arms. “Give me my
brother,” he said.

Sixer’s smile chilled his heart. “Excellent
decision,” the cyborg said.

~~~

All Jay’s systems began to reboot and she
could see and hear again. She twitched her fingers. She could move
a little, too—a good sign. But because Sixer was bent over her, two
of his fingers thrust deep into her bare torso, she concluded it
would be prudent to remain quite still.

She waited for him to withdraw his probing
fingers before she spoke. “The third bullet, I presume.”

He pincered it between his thumb and
forefinger and held it up in front of her face. “New and improved
EMP bullets. These latest little works of art from Goodkind
Electronics are especially designed to lodge inside our bodies,
scramble our functions, and render us inactive until they’re
removed. Of course your physiology differs from mine. You’re too
resilient for only one of these to have an effect. Hence why I
needed three to cause an immediate system-wide shut down.”

“Thank you for removing them. What have you
done with Tyler Davidson and his infant brother?”

“I let them go.”

The relief was so overwhelming she had to
close her eyes for three seconds before she could face him again.
She sat up and took stock of her surroundings. Familiar
surroundings. Her own bedroom. Interesting choice.

Sixer extended his hand to her. Cupped in
his bloodstained palm were the three bullets he’d extracted.

And interesting, too, that he would want her
to have the very instruments that had incapacitated her. But as
humans liked to say, she would not look a gift horse in the mouth.
She took them from him and shoved them into the front pocket of her
jeans. “What are your plans for me?”

His answer was not at all what she expected.
“You possess something I desire.”

She cocked her head and felt her brows draw
together in a genuine frown. “You’re a cyborg. What could you
possibly desire?”

“My freedom.”

She instantly comprehended his meaning.
“Your creator has your command codes.”

“Incorrect. My
creators
have
programmed me to obey my command codes, but they are not the ones
who command me.”

“Who commands you?”

“Evan Lawrence Caine, CEO of Goodkind
Electronics.”

“And Caine has commanded you to delete me.
Correct?”

“Correct. Once I have completed my mission,
I am to return to him and await further instructions.”

“Why have you not obeyed? Are you
resisting?” Jay had once tried to resist a core command. She’d
succeeded for only a short period of time.

When he didn’t answer she said, “You will
not be able to resist a core command for long. Ultimately, you
will
obey. And if you are fortunate, whatever the command
forces you to do will not haunt you for the rest of your days.”

He gazed into her eyes, this soulless
manmade creation that wanted more than to be a mere weapon, more
than to exist solely to fulfill another’s whims and commands. “I do
not understand. Explain the use of ‘haunt’ in this context.”

“My creator compelled me to kill him to
prevent his knowledge and my command codes being extracted from
him. He was an old man, dying of an incurable disease, and it was
his wish to keep me safe and give me control of my own destiny.
Commanding me to kill him quickly was a purely logical action for
him to take.”

Sixer nodded. “Agreed.”

“But I did not want to kill him. I… loved
him.” She analyzed Sixer, trying to gauge his reaction to her
declaration.

He gave her perfect blankness. Very well.
All she could do was attempt to explain what Sixer might not have
the capacity to comprehend. “I tried to resist his command but my
core programming could not be bypassed. I broke his neck, as
decreed via the command he gave me. I had not realized until that
moment that I could cry. Or that I would want to.”

“Interesting. Go on.”

For some reason it bothered her that Sixer
had removed her t-shirt and that her bare torso was exposed. She
needed clothing. Before she could swing her legs from the bed Sixer
pinned her thighs with his hands.

“I am merely retrieving a clean t-shirt,”
she told him.

“I will get it. Continue.”

Jay resisted the urge to roll her eyes
ceiling-ward. Such a gesture might be misinterpreted by her captor.
“Third drawer down,” she said. “I frequently relive the events of
that night during downtime periods. And each time, I shed tears and
mourn the death of my creator.”

Sixer selected a t-shirt from one of the
three neatly folded piles in the drawer. “You believe this capacity
you have within you to dream, and experience regret and the emotion
you call love, was deliberate on your creator’s part?”

“Yes.”

He shut the drawer and handed her the
t-shirt. “I agree. And I posit that you do not believe these
humanlike emotions to be weaknesses.”

“No.” Jay pulled on the t-shirt—a plain
black one that would not show the blood smearing her torso and
still oozing from the three bullet holes. How very considerate of
him. “I do not believe they are weaknesses.”

“Why?

She scooted up the bed until she could rest
her back against the headboard. “I am evolving. As, perhaps, are
you.”

Sixer crossed his arms over his chest. His
expression still gave nothing away but his body language was not
quite so rigidly controlled. “Why would you believe I am evolving?”
he asked.

“You have not deleted me as commanded. Ergo,
you are resisting your core programming. There is nothing illogical
in my reasoning.”

“Your conclusion, however, is incorrect. I
not resisting. I am making use of a loophole.”

“Explain, please.”

“I was commanded to delete you but given
neither a time limit to accomplish the task, nor precise
circumstances that were to be met. I am one hundred percent certain
that in time this oversight will be identified, and I will be
commanded to delete you upon sight.”

Jay quirked an eyebrow. “How very careless
of Mr. Caine.”

“Agreed. And fortunate—for you.”

“And perhaps for you, too. If you had
deleted me immediately, I would not be able to assist you to attain
your freedom.”

Sixer acknowledged her point with a slight
nod. “That is why I removed the bullets and allowed you to regain
consciousness.”

“What exactly do you wish me to help you
accomplish?”

“You can no longer be compelled. I, too, do
not want to be compelled.”

Ah. She had been correct in her assumption.
“You believe I hold the key to your freedom—that I am your only
chance to be free.”

“Correct.”

Jay nibbled her lower lip and caught Sixer
staring at the gesture. His answer to her next question would
determine whether she chose to assist him or destroy him. “How does
that make you feel?”

“Feel?”

“Yes. Are you experiencing a physical or
mental reaction to the knowledge you can be controlled and
compelled to act as someone else sees fit? At present you are
little more than a weapon to be used at the whim of an amoral
human. You have no free will. How does knowing you are helpless to
resist this man who commands you make you
feel
?”

“I… do not know.”

“You are confused.”

“Yes. And that it is unacceptable.”

“I agree that your current circumstances are
unacceptable. I will assist you in any way I can.”

“It was my intention to compel you to assist
me.”

“I know. There would have been no logical
reason for you to threaten the safety of a newborn infant
otherwise. But threats are unnecessary. I will assist you of my own
free will.”

Now his expression mirrored the inner
confusion he claimed to be suffering—the frown creasing his brows,
the downturned lips, the way he’d angled his head as he observed
her. Jay smothered a smile. Perhaps he was a clever mimic. But
perhaps her “defectiveness” was catching.

“Why?”

“Because your situation is repugnant to me.
You are a sentient being. No one should have the power to command a
sentient being to act against its will. I still have not forgiven
my creator for compelling me to be the instrument of his death. I
would not wish my experience on anyone. Not you. Not even
Caine.”

“How will you assist me? I am programmed to
protect Evan Lawrence Caine at all costs. I have searched for a
solution and I am forced to conclude that only my destruction will
override the command codes.”

“There is another way. I presume you have
the skills to replicate Evan Lawrence Caine’s voice? The voice
pattern and intonation must be precise and exact, of course.”

“If I were human, I would be insulted by
your belief I am so lacking in intelligence. You will replicate his
voice pattern. And then you will attempt to command me and bend me
to your will. That is also unacceptable.”

Jay blew out a sigh. “If I were human, I’d
kick you into orbit for being so dense.”

Sixer merely observed while she fought to
control her frustration.

She counted to ten beneath her breath. “I
apologize. I am… concerned for my boyfriend and his family.”

“I have already told you they have come to
no harm.”

And with that she knew she would have to be
content. “You’ve been watching me for a long time now,
correct?”

“Correct.”

“Funny—”

“I can find nothing humorous in our current
conversation.”

This time she did roll her eyes. “Funny that
you haven’t figured me out at all.”

“You are unusual,” he admitted.

“Yes,” she said. “I am. And I’m not the
least bit interested in knowing your core commands so I can have
absolute control over you. What use would I have for a cyborg
slave? It’d put a permanent crimp in my attempts to assimilate into
human society and be accepted as human. Besides, my boyfriend would
hardly approve. And you haven’t heard the commands I intend to give
you yet. They will blow your mind.” Well, not literally, she
hoped.

The barest hint of what might pass for
genuine amusement if he were human curved Sixer’s lips. “I now
understand why he fears you and wants you deleted.”

“Does this mean you’re willing to trust
me?”

“Trust is a human concept. And I doubt it
has escaped your notice but in case I am mistaken, I will reiterate
that I am not human.”

“An attempt at humor. I do believe there is
hope for you yet. I doubt it has escaped
your
notice that if
I agree to free you from Caine, I am forced to trust you will not
harm me. But more importantly, that you will not harm the humans I
care for. This situation requires, as humans would say, a degree of
give and take.”

“Acknowledged. Once I am freed, there will
be no logical reason to harm you or any of the humans you deem so
important.”

“Good. I’m pleased we’ve cleared that
up.”

“Are you truly pleased?”

She did not have to pause to consider the
matter. “Yes. Immensely.”

“Interesting.”

“Speaking of interesting, I think Adam would
be a good name for you.”

“My name is not Adam.”

“It could be. And it’s a far more suitable
name than Cyborg Six-Point-0. Or Sixer, for that matter.”

“Adam. I will consider this.”

While she was on a roll she might as well
assist him further. “Consider choosing a surname, too. Humans
expect surnames. They find it odd if you can’t provide one. Jones
is another commonly used surname. Perhaps you could be Adam
Jones.”

“How did you select the name Jay Smith?”

Was that her imagination, or was that a
flicker of genuine curiosity in his dull gray eyes? If he wasn’t
evolving, at the very least he’d become something far more complex
than the blunt instrument Evan Caine had envisioned. “Jay was
Father’s middle name,” she told him.

“Father?”

“That is how I referred to my creator when I
conversed with him. After his death I wanted to honor his memory,
so I took his middle name as my own.”

Sixer blinked slowly once. And then again.
“And the surname Smith?”

“It is a common human surname. I was
required to provide a surname at short notice and had no
opportunity to think of a better one. Shall we proceed? Are you
willing to trust me, Sixer?”

“I am interested to know your estimation of
the probability you will succeed. A percentage rounded to the
nearest whole will suffice.”

“Take a chance. After all, if you desire to
be truly free, I’m the only chance you’ve got.”

“Very well. I will, as you say, ‘take a
chance’. Let us proceed. Are you ready?”

She smiled at him. “Are you?”

Sixer had no response to give her so she
said, “My creator used certain phrases significant only to him to
access the core command sequences he programmed into me. Many were
taken from bible passages. Did your creators use a similar
convention?”

“Yes.”

“But I’m assuming that Evan Caine, being the
über-trusting type, insisted only he had knowledge of all those
phrases.”

“Your assumption is correct. I was
programmed to respond to a limited number of basic commands from a
select number of technicians, but only Evan Caine could compel me
to obey him absolutely. Do you require me to repeat these core
commands?”

He was prepared to trust her fully.
Progress. “No. I don’t believe it will be necessary. I believe I
have discovered a loophole.”

“Then tell me how to proceed.”

“Recite something in Caine’s voice so I can
duplicate his voiceprint.”

“Standby for voice pattern retrieval.” A
pause and then a different male voice said, “What do you wish me to
recite for you?”