The Cyber Chronicles IV - Cyborg (5 page)

Kole gave him
a cheerful nod. “Well, we found the one we want.”

“
Have you now?”

“
Yes; the one with the two wounds on his chest. Name your
price.”

Tassin gazed
past them at the doorway through which Sabre had vanished, wishing
he would come back. The other cyber strode out and went back to the
shuttle to fetch another box. Faint scrapes and thuds came from the
warehouse’s gloomy depths, as if Sabre packed crates or moved
boxes, and she was drawn to the sounds. She needed to see him
again, desperately, to assure herself that he was not just a dream
of a figment of her imagination. Having found him after all this
time, she could not bear to let him out of her sight for another
moment. She headed for the door.

Behind her,
the Vorn said, “Hey, you can’t go in there.”

Tassin walked
down one of the untidy aisles between the crates. Towards the back
of the building the illumination increased, overhead lights casting
a harsh glare. As she rounded a stack of crates, her breath caught.
Sabre moved a pile of boxes from one side of the warehouse to the
other, his golden skin gleaming in the lights. Her vision blurred
as fresh tears seeped into her eyes. Swallowing hard, she stopped a
pace away and gazed at him, her heart aching with profound joy. She
had found him. It seemed as if she had dreamt of this day for an
eternity, perhaps because she had spent so much time lost in
impossible imaginings that she had not thought would come true. Now
he was right there, within reach, and she longed to touch him.

The cyber
crossed the warehouse, picked up another crate and carried it over
to the stack beside her, placing it on top of the previous one. She
reached out, her hand brushing his arm as he swung away.

Tassin had
known it would be difficult seeing him returned to cyber control,
but this was far worse than she had imagined. His face was so
familiar, so dear, yet blank and uncaring. A strange mixture of
elation and grief tore her heart, and she scrubbed the tears from
her face as footsteps approached from the direction of the door.
She turned to face Vorn as he marched up, quailing a little at his
thunderous expression.

“
You’re not allowed to be here,” he said.

Tassin
followed him back to his ratty office, where Kole waited, looking
worried. Vorn returned to his seat and picked up his cup of coffee,
slurping it.

“
That’s the cyber I want. We will buy him,” she
said.

The smuggler
raked her with hard brown eyes, snorted and pushed a button on a
device on his desk. “Cyber One, come to the office.” His voice
boomed around the warehouse.

After a
minute, Sabre appeared in the aisle between the stacks of crates,
striding towards them with his lithe, graceful gait. He entered the
office and stopped in front of the desk, assuming a guard stance,
hands clasped behind his back, legs slightly apart.

Vorn jerked
his chin at him. “You sure this is the one you want?”

“
Yes.” Tassin gazed at Sabre, wanting to hug him, but acutely
aware of Kole and Vorn watching her. “How was he
injured?”

“
Tassin…” Kole’s voice held a tinge of concern and
warning.

Vorn sat back.
“Well, now, that’s none of your business, is it?”

“
No, absolutely not,” Kole agreed. “So, name your
price.”

The smuggler
looked disgruntled. “I really don’t want to sell him. I need
him.”

“
He’s not a common labourer,” Tassin said, “he’s a
–”

Kole gripped
her elbow. “Hey, cool it. We all know what he is.” He faced the
smuggler again. “Look, you can buy a new one with what you get for
him. He’s a bit banged up, like you said, and an older model.
Surely you’d prefer a new one?”

A tense few
seconds ticked past in silence, then Vorn shrugged. “Fine. Seven
hundred thousand credits.”

“
That’s what a new one costs,” Kole protested.

“
So that’s what I need if I’m going to get a new one, isn’t it?
You said price was no problem. That’s the price. Take it or leave
it.”

“
We’ll take it,” Tassin said.

“
Yuh.” Kole looked unhappy. “We’ll come back in a few days with
the money.”

“
No!” She turned to him. “We have to take him now. He’s being
abused!”

“
Tassin…” Kole drew her aside and lowered his voice. “You don’t
have any money. You have to sell the sword first.”

“
We’ve only been offered five hundred thousand for the sword,
it’s not enough!”

“
You’ll get better offers.”

“
I can’t wait. Look at him. He could be dead before we get that
much money.”

“
Oh, I doubt that.”

“
Can’t you pay for him now, and I’ll pay you back when I sell
the sword?”

Kole pulled a
face. “That’s a hell of a lot of money.”

“
The sword’s worth that much, isn’t it?”

“
Sure, it’s worth much more than that.”

“
I’ll give it to you, then you can sell it. You’ll make a
profit.”

He shook his
head. “No, that’s nuts.” He hesitated, shooting Vorn a quick
glance. “Look, a few days won’t make a difference. He’ll be
fine.”

“
He’s not fine! Look at him. I can’t leave him here. Please,
Kole!”

He raised his
hands. “Okay, okay. You can pay me back.”

“
Thank you.”

Kole returned
to the desk and pulled his silver device from his pocket. “All
right, let’s do the deal. Seven hundred thousand credits.”

The smuggler
opened a drawer and took out a small black instrument that Tassin
recognised, and a transparent sheet covered with writing. Kole
fiddled with his device, and Vorn switched on the computer screen
on his desk, typing something on the keyboard.

“
I’m ready to transfer,” Kole said.

Vorn picked up
the transparent sheet and squinted at it. “What’s the new owner’s
name?”

Kole said,
“Tassin Alrade.”

"Cyber
XCA-6352-JY9019, command input, authorisation password, moonlight.
Initiate transfer protocol."

"Password
accepted. Transfer protocol initiated," Sabre said. "Proceed."

"New owner's
name is Tassin Alrade, transfer codes are..." The smuggler peered
at the sheet. "Midnight, enigma, velocity, image, brigand,
starburn."

"Codes valid,
transfer accepted. Proceed with voice imprint."

Kole and Vorn
looked at Tassin, whose mind had gone blank. “Err… It’s a sunny
day?”

"Voice imprint
successful,” Sabre said. “Transfer complete."

Kole fiddled
with his device. “Funds transferred.”

The smuggler
frowned at the computer screen as a couple of seconds ticked past.
“Funds received. Congratulations, you just bought yourself a banged
up second-hand cyber for the price of a new one.” He smiled,
holding out the transparent sheet.

Kole took it.
“Yeah, great. Good doing business with you.”

Tucking the
code sheet away, he headed for the door, and Tassin followed,
shooting Vorn a parting glare. The man rocked back in his chair,
looking smug.

Outside, they
climbed into the air-car, the cyber taking the back seat. As Kole
guided the vehicle into the air, she turned to gaze at Sabre, her
heart aching with profound joy. She had done it, just as she had
promised. She wondered if Sabre knew she had rescued him. There was
no way to know, but she hoped he did. She knew he could hear her,
for he had told her so. What had Myon Two done to him? How had they
repaired the control unit? She remembered Sabre’s assertion that,
even if she found him, she would not be able to free him from it
again. There had to be a way, though, and she would find it. She
refused to accept that he was right, in this instance.

She turned to
Kole. “Can you… hack… a control unit?”

He shot her a
disbelieving glance. “Now you’re really asking the impossible.”

“
You said finding him was impossible, and getting here from
Omega Five the way I did. But I’ve done both those
things.”

“
Well then, you’d better hack his control unit, too, because I
can’t.”

“
I thought you were a good hacker?”

“
I am,” he said. “The best on Ferrinon, and possibly in the
universe, but no one can hack a cyber.”

“
Why not?”

“
That’s a combat machine, Tassin. Do you really think he’d be
much good if it was easy to hack him? People would be hacking and
stealing cybers left, right and centre. There’d be a thriving black
market in hacked cybers. But guess what? There isn’t. You want to
know why? Because you can’t hack a bloody cyber.”

“
So you know it’s supposed to be impossible, but you don’t know
why it’s impossible?”

“
I haven’t actually tried to hack one, no, but I do know why
it’s impossible.” He guided the air-car around a tall glass
building. “Apart from the impenetrable security codes, which,
apparently, change every hour according to the time at Cybercorp,
and consist of random numbers, if anyone tried to hack him, he’d
defend himself. He has a cybernetic interface that will literally
fry any computer you hook up to him. That thing on his head is the
most sophisticated and powerful AI ever created, and it’s
programmed to fight back.”

“
Even against his owner?”

“
Yeah, if his owner tries to hack him; it’s about the only
thing an owner can’t do to a cyber. Also, you need the right
equipment, because his unit can’t be accessed remotely, except by
his override’s coded signal. That’s another security feature. You
need a cable that fits into the brow band’s access port, and you
can only get one from a cyber accessories store. Even so, they’re
only meant for lower-level access, and you still couldn’t hack him
unless you had the codes.”

Tassin turned
to gaze at Sabre again, her joy spoilt by his blank gaze. It
reminded her of the first time she had met him, when he had stepped
out of his casket and stared through her as if she did not exist,
like now. The warehouse where they had found him was far from
Kole’s apartment, and it took almost an hour to reach it.

By the time
they arrived, she was fuming with impatience, longing to be alone
with Sabre and tend to his injuries. As soon as Kole parked the
car, she climbed out and headed for her room, Sabre following. She
closed the door and turned to him, taking his hand. She longed to
embrace him, but shyness and decorum, as well as the wounds on his
chest, prevented her.

“
I found you.” Her throat tightened again, and she swallowed
hard. “I almost gave up hope, Sabre. You hid the damned sword! Why
did you hide the sword? I needed it to get here. It was the only
way I could, and you hid it. It took me three years to find it!”
She scanned his face for some sign that he had heard her, gripping
his hand in both of hers. “Show me you can hear me. Squeeze my
hand. Sabre? Please, give me a sign.”

His hand
gripped hers, and her heart leapt, then sank again as she scanned
his impassive features. “That wasn’t you, was it?”

“
Question not understood.”

She blinked
and lowered her gaze to the laser burns on his chest. “All right,
let’s get you fixed up first. Remove your harness and vest.”

The cyber
unclipped and stripped off the webbing and dropped it on the bed,
then removed his vest. “How did you get these injuries?” she
asked.

“
Information about previous owners is classified.”

“
Sit on the bed.”

He obeyed, and
she fetched a bowl of water and soft clean washcloth from the
bathroom, sat beside him and dabbed at the injuries, chewing her
lip.

Sabre turned
his head towards her. “This unit requires cleaning prior to medical
attention.”

She lowered
the cloth, realising that he was right. Dust filmed him, and dried
sweat made runnels in it. Whatever he had been used for before she
had rescued him must have been extremely taxing and dangerous. “Use
the shower.”

Tassin sat on
the bed and listened to the water run, thinking about what had
happened so far and what still lay ahead. What if he was right
about her not being able to free him again? What if he remained as
he was for the rest of his life? Would she be able to bear it?
Finding him had seemed like an impossible dream until she had found
the sword, but then it had come true quite quickly and without too
much mishap. The sword had made it possible to buy him as well, so
she owed everything to it, but certainly it could not free him.
Kole could not help her in that endeavour either, so she was on her
own, but she had no clue how to go about it. If Myon Two had
repaired the damage to the brow band, it might well be impossible.
Then all she could do was take him back to Omega Five and give him
a good life, as much as she was able. Certainly it would be better
than the one he had had with the smugglers. Then there was the
problem of how to get home without the sword, once she sold it to
repay Kole. There had to be a way of freeing Sabre, though, and she
had to find it. If only she knew what Myon Two had done to repair
his control unit.

The hiss of
running water stopped, and a minute later Sabre emerged, clad in
his shorts, towelling his hair. She patted the bed beside her.

“
Come and sit, so I can tend to your wounds.”

He settled
beside her, and she dug the tube of antiseptic cream out of his
medical kit and smeared it on the burns, then stuck dressings on
them while he stared into space. Remembering his painkillers, she
shook two onto her palm and ordered him to take them, then gazed at
him.