Peyton 313 (31 page)

“Someone will stop you, Dr. Winters. We know you’re not the smartest cyber scientist in the world. That’s been proven already,” Chancellor Owens declared.

Kyra fought a mouth twitch when Eric whacked the back of Owens’s head and ordered him to talk nicer to her.

“Since you insist on pretending I’m the one with a reality problem, let’s review some facts. You traded assaulting me in exchange for covering up Jackson’s madness and funding the Cyber Wife program. So if I’m an evil bitch for having once been your victim, what should I think about the two of you for what you’ve done to me. . .not to mention the rest of the world? Evil begets more and greater evil, and your evil is about to be turned back on you. It’s time to either pay the price for your sins or become a victim of them. That is called justifiable retribution.”

“We offered you money to continue your work, but you turned us down. What more do you want, Dr. Winters? Do you want an apology from us? If so, we are sorry for our actions and the harm they caused you. Tell her, Owens. Tell her, you’re sorry too.
Do it now
,” Chancellor Li ordered.

“But Chancellor Owens isn’t sorry, are you, Chancellor? Even now Chancellor Owens thinks he’s going to find some way to regain control of this situation. But neither of you will be able to do that because—let’s just say it aloud here—you’re both
genuine bad guys
, and everyone knows they never win in the end.”

“Bad guys? We are not bad guys,” Chancellor Li protested. “Perhaps we made some mistakes, but we are not evil.”

Kyra snorted and shook her head at the interruption. “You’re both lucky I’m a rational person with higher goals than making money. If vengeance for what you did to me was all I needed to be happy, I’d have already used Marcus’s switchblade over there to cut off your man parts and laughed as you went back home to your wives without them. But I have higher goals and the satisfaction would be temporary. Besides—I already got my vengeance urge satisfied when I made a cyborg out of the first guy Jackson let have a go at me that evening.”

“Vengeance?” Chancellor Li asked.

“Stop sniffling, Li. She’s bluffing,” Chancellor Owens declared.

“Bluffing?” Kyra repeated the word. Peyton had been right that they weren’t going to comply without a lot of motivation to do so. “I assure you I wouldn’t even begin to know how to bluff. How about I show you a sample of my latest cybernetic handiwork? You really need to see how I deal with bad guys who don’t take no for an answer to their evil plans. This conversion was definitely a worthy use of my skills and I rid the world of one more evil mad scientist causing chaos. The personal revenge I got in the process was just a bonus.”

Kyra tapped her speak-through. “Hey, Vincent. Send Brad in.”

Moments later, a stiff walking Brad walked through the door. He looked warily at everyone in the room, including the bound captives, but finally nodded respectfully to Kyra. “Did you need something from me, Dr. Winters?”

Kyra nodded back. “Yes, Brad. I need you to tell Chancellor Owens and Chancellor Li how I dealt with your evil mad scientist plans to blackmail me into using my cybernetic skills to help you make customizable robots out of normal people.”

“Can you please rephrase the question, Dr. Winters? My current processor is unable to understand your metaphors.”

“Of course. I’m sorry, Brad. But you know why I couldn’t give you a better processor. I had to give you one that your amazing brain would be less likely to overthrow when your human mind started to break free of the programming.”

“Yes. I fully understand, Dr. Winters. All the assumptions made about the human mind being unable to conquer cybernetic brain implants are being proven false. You were correct about that in your theory. Many cyborgs are already building organic synapses on their own.”

“Yes. I was right about that, wasn’t I? Even now, many cyborgs are building organic bypasses that allow them to ignore large parts of their programming, particularly the fail safes that keep them submissive.”

Kyra glanced at the men who were now staring at Brad in shock.

“And how is your mental illness resolving itself, Brad? Are you still as evil as you were last week? Oh wait—belay those questions. I forget. Your processor doesn’t understand. Just give us your status and tell us about your current work,” Kyra ordered.

“As you wish, Dr. Winters. My mental illness is now ninety-seven point three percent constrained. I wish no harm to anyone. By your choice, I have been programmed to assist you with research so my day can be productive. My current assignment is to find and locate all information associated with Chancellors Owens and Li. This includes the location of all family members, all financial holdings, and any links to nefarious activities that are outside their UCN roles. I have been compiling a list since you requested I start three days ago. The work should be finished later today. Shall I have the information sent to your portable?”

“Yes, Brad. Thank you very much. I just have one other tiny question for you.”

Kyra walked to where Brad was standing and circled around him once while the chancellors watched and wondered what she was doing. She let them worry silently for a full minute. Brad stared straight ahead the whole time.

“Are you happy, Brad?”

“I do not understand the question, Dr. Winters. Can you please rephrase?”

Kyra patted Brad on the arm. “It’s not necessary for you to understand—that’s all for now. You can return to your tasks.”

Brad nodded. When he turned toward the door, she watched Peyton hold it open for Brad to leave. She smiled at the cyborg she loved, and he smiled back. He pointed two fingers to his cybernetic eyes and then turned them to point to her. “
Be a good guy
,” he mouthed. It made her grin, thinking about the debate they were undoubtedly going to have later about how she was enjoying her control over Brad a little too much.

“Dr. Winters. It’s apparent we did not understand how trauma could affect a mind as intelligent as yours. We’re also deeply sorry for any emotional pain we have caused you in the past. We do not wish to become like Dr. Smith. How can we avoid his fate?” Chancellor Li asked.

She turned slowly away from Peyton to once again face the men who had damaged, but not broken her.

“What you did to me was bad, Chancellors. . .but selling the Cyber Soldiers and stuffing your pockets with the money was far, far more evil. There is only one logical course of action guaranteed to pacify my sense of justice. You must make swift, full, and immediate amends to every soldier Jackson and I converted.”

Chancellor Owens squirmed as the rope encircling him got tighter. “Preposterous. You have no proof we’re guilty of any wrongdoing to anyone. Who do you think people are going to believe when this blackmail becomes public knowledge? You’ll never get away with this.”

“Are you sure, Chancellor Owens? Dr. Smith proudly confessed to his sins and yours before we managed to apprehend him. Turns out, he was kidnapping and experimenting on young women whose families will probably believe me when I return their damaged daughters to them. Some of the women he abducted were put into the Cyber Wife program without even the most dubious consent being present.”

“So? We knew nothing of his crimes. Dr. Smith did all that on his own,” Chancellor Li declared.

“Who funded Dr. Smith’s experiments? When his last victim gets her voice back, I’m sure she’s going to have a lovely story to tell about being taken to Norton and how UCN funds and equipment were used to create her. It was the two of you who let Dr. Smith get by with his heinous acts—just like you let my power-mad ex-husband, who was lining UCN chancellor pockets at the galactic rate.”

“You have no right to talk about Dr. Channing when it’s obvious you’re twice as crazy as he was,” Chancellor Owens declared.

His grunt of pain when Eric leaned down and yanked on the rope made her smile. Kyra glared at the pompous ass of a man who deserved twice everything she was planning. But as much as she would like to turn him into a docile servant of good, that would not balance out what needed to happen.

“Maybe what I did to Dr. Smith was a little harsh, especially since he did me an enormous favor by programming Jackson’s Cyber Wife to kill him. And yes—I have his confession to that crime recorded as well. But what I did to my amazingly gifted fellow scientist is nothing—
absolutely nothing
—compared to what I will do to you and Chancellor Li if you don’t make things right for the Cyber Soldiers. The ends, of seeing you do the right thing, justify any means I choose to use on you because I’m one of the good guys. If you want to point your finger at real evil, go look in the fucking mirror and do it. I already hate myself for all the years I spent working for people like the two of you.”

Kyra glared at both of them, ramping up her intensity.

“So the way I see it. . .
gentlemen
. . .you only have one choice, which is to do exactly as I ask. You can either cooperate as a morally responsible human or you can both become my personal UCN affiliated cyborgs. Utilizing that evil side you accused me of having, I’ll redefine you over and over until you’re perfectly reformed to my exacting specifications of what obedient chancellors should behave like. Do you want me to call back Dr. Smith and give you another sample of my immensely gifted programming talents?”

Kyra smiled at Chancellor Owens when he swore richly.

“Well, Chancellors? What’s your decision? Cyborg creation takes more than a single day and I’d like to get started on one of you soon if that’s what it’s going to take.”

Owens snorted. “Fine. Can you skip the rest of your theatrical threats and just tell us what you want us to do?”

Kyra switched her glare from Chancellor Owens to Li who also nodded vigorously.

“Glad we could find a point of agreement. I know how hard that is for global politicians like yourselves—but I digress.” Kyra crossed her arms and stood straighter. “First—as much as it pains me—we’re going to turn the evil pair of you into global heroes. You will begin by making a public announcement today that Norton and I have finally discovered a restoration process that will make the Cyber Soldiers normal again. Peyton, myself, and all the men in this room are going to be standing beside you while we make that recording.”

“But. . .” Chancellor Owens began, only to be smacked in the back of the head again.

“Afterward, registered letters will be sent to each and every soldier’s family to let them know their loved ones are being reactivated and restored. Once the soldier is cleared for release, restitution will be made, commensurate with the soldier’s rank and time in service,
including
all time spent in the Cyber Husband program or any other trumped-up cyber slave job.”

“The UCN will think we’re as crazy as you if we ask for all of that,” Chancellor Owens exclaimed.

“Maybe they will—or maybe they won’t. Whatever the UCN or the rest of the world thinks, I still want you to tell the truth, Chancellor Owens. For once in your corruption-driven career, you’re going to take the high road. I think you’ll be surprised at how many good people will respond favorably to the news.”

“What about newer cyborgs? Most of them were redefined prisoners. We can’t turn all those prisoners loose into society,” Chancellor Li protested.

Kyra nodded. “I agree that it’s a messy problem and one UCN greed created. I think you should direct Norton Industries to put all its energies and manpower into seeking a viable solution. Think of all the great publicity you’re going to get when that happens. For my part, I intend to oversee Dr. Smith’s restoration personally. I might even restore his humanity—in a few years—after he’s been redefined about twenty more times to get rid of his mad scientist complex. It would be a shame to waste a mind like his forever.”

“When you tip over the evil science bitch ledge, who’s going to redefine you, Dr. Winters?” Chancellor Owens demanded.

Kyra laughed and crossed her arms. “Insults again, Chancellor Owens? Well now that you mention my potential competition, I think I do want the lead scientist position you and Li offered me. And more than that—I want to sit on the cybernetic advisory board at the UCN. That way I can make sure you two keep your word. Hell—I’ll even work at Norton for my old salary. You can keep the twenty million you tried to bribe me with and use it to pay off a few soldiers. You can start with your abductors. Be grateful. They saved you from the evil plans of Dr. Smith—your favorite UCN-funded mad scientist.”

Kyra stopped pacing and stopped trying to be brave. She looked at them genuinely, her gaze insisting that they understand.

“I know this may surprise you, but
none
of this is really about money. One day the world will thank me for figuring this out in time to stop a worse world war than any we’ve had to date. It would be very bad for all those military cyborgs to free themselves without being put back in touch with their humanity. Am I being clear about the gravity of the situation? We need to treat them well so they won’t hate us and use the prosthetics we gave them to hurt us. Do you get the edge we’ve all been walking, Chancellors? You’re looking a little stunned by the news.”

Their dazed nods made her happy, but she wasn’t able to show it. Instead, Kyra turned on her heel and marched to the door. She stopped and looked back one last time.

“Even after our recording goes live, I’ll be watching what you do and so will these fully restored soldiers who can come get you anytime they want. I wouldn’t advise betraying them or me ever again.”

She glanced at Eric and King. “Help the chancellors get dressed for their big hero scene, then take them to the conference room. I’ll be there shortly. I need to go change into my evil science bitch clothes and put my lab coat on. I wouldn’t want the world to get the wrong idea about me.”

The last thing Kyra heard was Eric and King mock apologizing to the chancellors as they roughly pulled the complaining men to their feet.

***

Outside in the hallway, Kyra leaned against the wall. Within a minute, Peyton followed her out. She stared up at his grin. “Too over the top?”