by W. H. Massa
A chilling idea hooked into his consciousness. What if HE was the twisted reflection?
There was another sound and Cole spotted movement on his right. It was a squad of rapidly advancing AI-TAC troopers. He put a brake on his spinning mind. He would sort this out later. Right now he had to get out of here.
Cole exploded into motion.
AI-TAC troopers combed the junkyard with laser-like efficiency, tracking Cole as he weaved his way through a maze of scrap metal. A shadow suddenly filled the salvage yard. It was an incoming AI-TAC hovership in hot pursuit. A shower of bullets made the surrounding piles of scrap metal erupt in geysers of deadly shrapnel.
Cole never slowed down. Vaulting debris, ducking and dodging between piles of rusty metal, he ran an Olympic obstacle course through cybernetic hell. Overhead, the hovership banked sharply in an attempt to close off Cole’s avenue of escape.
Cole’s eyes flickered with a dark realization. He would have to engage the steel bird if he was to get out of this in one piece. His mind had been a jumbled mess ever since he laid eyes on his doppelganger. But now years of training were taking over.
Cole launched into a dead run at the incoming war machine. Clutched in his hand was the head of a discarded mech. He hesitated for a split second, weighing the potential loss of life against his own survival. Self-preservation won out and Cole hurled the robot head at the craft overhead.
It shot toward the cockpit, Cole’s enhanced vision tracking its trajectory. In a cloud of exploding glass, the steel sphere smashed into the pilot's forehead. He released the controls and the hovership spun wildly out of control but didn’t crash. Cole had calculated the force needed to stun the pilot without the robot skull causing permanent damage. He wanted the aerial monster off his back, but held no desire to kill anyone. His attackers didn’t feel the same, if their mad fusillade of pulse blasts was any indicator.
Cole’s vision kept fritzing out. His systems had been thrown for a loop in the fall.
Another buzzing sound emanated from his left. An UAV drone was dive-bombing him and from the low hum it generated, Cole knew the drone was armed and about to detonate in mid-descent, showering him with deadly shrapnel.
His instincts kicked into overdrive as he threw himself on the pile of android bodies to his right, using the scrap heap as cover. An earsplitting BOOM sounded as the aerial mine erupted in mid-descent, riddling everything with razor-sharp pieces of superheated metal.
As the smoke cleared, the scent of burning wiring wafted through the air. Cole tossed one of the perforated mech carcasses that he used as a shield off him. It was studded with shards of shrapnel.
Cole ran a quick diagnostic check. He was banged up but hadn't sustained any serious damage. His enhanced hearing picked approaching footsteps. He pivoted toward the incoming trooper. The helmeted stormtrooper swiveled his pulse rifle toward Cole, who grabbed a corroded android body and fired it at the man, knocking him off his feet. An instant later, Cole had snatched the trooper’s power rifle. Its original owner was pinned under 500 pounds of mech, but he would live. Cole spun around, weapon blazing, and forced three more advancing troopers to scurry for cover.
They quickly returned fire. Pulse blasts of searing energy rippled past Cole’ body. One direct hit would fry most of his major systems.
Cole had another disadvantage in a direct firefight – he wouldn’t shoot to kill. He had fired off merely warning shots and remained unwilling to take a life. He had no idea what was going on or how he’d become a target in this operation, but he wouldn’t turn on his own team.
He had one advantage in this scenario: his knowledge of his opponents’ strategies. Cole had practically written the AI-TAC playbook.
He lay down some well-placed cover fire and AI-TAC backed off a bit. This latest maneuver bought him a momentary reprieve, but the troopers would be back. They were trained to acquire their target at all cost. Escape was his best option.
He broke into a full run and disappeared into the labyrinth of metal. The muted hums of hoverships drifted toward him, a steady reminder that the enemy was near.
Cole briskly pressed onward. He suddenly spotted an open gate in the near distance — one of the junkyard’s rear exits. A feral dog cowered behind a dumpster, frightened by the gunfire that had raged throughout the junkyard.
Muffled voices could be heard in the distance, but there was no AI-TAC presence here. Cole made a go for the gate. As he ran, his field of vision flickered on and off, electronic hiccups as his ailing systems began to fail him.
Cole didn’t have a clue where he was going. His sole objective was to put distance between himself and his pursuers. Once he was safe, he could turn his thoughts toward his next move.
Keira’s car suddenly tore up to the gate and screeched to a halt before Cole. The cyberneticist was visibly shaking as she shouted, “Get in!”
Cole stared at her, still in shock himself and flirting with the abyss. Finally, he reacted.
He jumped into the car.
12
Tires whirled as Keira twisted the wheel. The vehicle nearly jumped the curb. Pumped on adrenaline, she shot Cole a wild look. In the distance the muted staccato pop-pop-pop of gunfire rang out.
“What the hell happened? Did anyone else make it out of there?” Keira shouted as she gunned the engine, speedometer climbing.
“I don't know,” Cole said in a clipped voice.
“What about Solus?”
Cole shook his head, still in a daze, a million miles away. What would the cyberneticist think if she knew the truth?
Unaware of the thoughts rattling through Cole’s head, Keira kept the gas pedal floored. “Great! This is exactly why I didn't want to get involved!”
“Slow down,” Cole said. “Unless you want to get us both killed!”
She slammed the brakes. Tires screamed and burned rubber as the car ground to a swift halt. Keira’s hands were shaking, gripped by mounting panic.
Cole fought back his own churning emotions and said, “Chances are that AI-TAC is sweeping the area...”
Keira shot him a sarcastic look. “You're a goddamn construction mech, not an expert on paramilitary tactics...”
Cole’s hand tightened around Keira’s wrist. “I know if you drive like a madwoman, you'll either wrap us around a pole or draw unwanted attention.“
Cole let his words sink in. Keira took a deep, steadying breath. “We need to lay low,“ he added. “Figure out our next move.”
Keira exploded, “There's no next move! Not for me!”
“Then why did you come back?”
“Because I'm a fucking bleeding-heart idiot! Take a good look at me. I'm a gearhead, not a freedom fighter.”
“I need your help, Keira. I’ve been shot multiple times. My systems are shutting down...”
Cole's voice was still calm, but there was a note of panic fraying at the edges. Did he just use the word “systems” in reference to himself? What was happening to him?
Keira took a closer look at Cole, realizing the sorry shape he was in. His dust-caked clothes masked some of the damage, but surface capillaries of his bio-shell had burst and the synthetic skin had turned crimson, soaking his torn shirt.
“I don't want to get involved...”
“Too late.”
From the dour way Keira looked at him, Cole knew she had come to the same grim conclusion.
“We need to find a place to hole up. Any ideas?”
Keira had an idea.
She started the car again.
***
“Commander Marsalis, I'm sorry, but we lost the target.” Frustrated, Cole killed his com-link and turned toward the troopers as they loaded Solus' lifeless body into the waiting hovership. Nearby, members of the Underground Network were being rounded up by AI-TAC. Flames hungrily devoured the various structures of the scrapyard, painting the troopers’ faces red. The sickening smell of burning rubber suffused the air and Cole could feel his lunch creeping up his throat.
>
He swallowed hard, tasting bile. Cole was sick to his stomach and the stench of battle wasn’t the sole reason. He had come face to face with his double and the experience disturbed him on a fundamental level. He had missed his chance to destroy it. He knew he should have aimed for the head or at least used a higher caliber round. Part of him wanted to bring down the duplicate without destroying it in the process. Taking it out would be like killing a part of himself, but he was disappointed that he let the AI get away. He’d succumbed to his emotions and would surely pay the price for his weakness.
Cole’s thoughts turned back to the fateful day of the upload. He remembered sliding into the steel belly of the machine, remembered the wild lightshow he witnessed as his mind was digitized. When he emerged from the device, eyes still blinking and half-blinded from the upload process, technicians helped him to his feet. He studied his hands but there was no barcode. He inhaled sharply, not feeling different in any way. Had the upload process failed?
The techs led Cole out of the lab and into an adjoining room, where Janson was waiting for him. The CEO nodded at a large observation window that looked out into the upload chamber. Cole caught his own dim reflection in the glass. He was still wearing his skintight bodysuit and the disoriented face staring back at him was unmistakably human.
There was no time to contemplate this as he caught sight of his AI duplicate inside the lab. Techs led by Dr. Ajit were helping the android to his feet. The image mirrored Cole’s experience moments earlier.
Janson’s reflection joined Cole’s in the observation window. “What happened? Why didn't it work?” Cole asked.
“It worked, alright. Just not quite the way we explained it to you.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Upload tech is tricky, which is partly why we never released it on the consumer market. The process can transfer the data of a human brain, but it's just a snapshot of the mind, an exact duplicate, down to the last memory. Cole, we didn't transfer your—“
“You scanned me!”
“I'm sorry we had to lie to you. But you had to believe, so your duplicate would believe.”
“Why not just tell me the truth and delete the memory from the duplicate?”
“Each memory creates a subtle chain reaction, coloring other memories. The chance we’d miss something was too high. It was a risk we couldn’t take.”
Synthetika’s plan had accounted for everything. It was no accident this had become the most powerful conglomerate in the world.
Back in the mech scrapyard, the scream of a hovership blasting off turned Cole’s thoughts back to the present. He couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling worming its way up from the pit of his stomach, an encroaching sense of unease. The mission was a rousing success, so why was he feeling so lousy? The question haunted him as he surveyed the row of human collaborators being led into a waiting hovership. Looking into his duplicate’s eyes had shaken Cole to the core. He knew he wouldn’t be able to relax as long as the machine remained at large.
Margo approached Cole, regarding him with concern. “What about the duplicate?”
“He got away,” Cole said matter-of-factly, doing his best to disguise his emotional turmoil.
“You don't seem overly concerned.”
“Where's he going to go? Now that he knows the truth, he won't be able to live with himself.”
Margo searched Cole’s features, sensing his distress. “Are you okay?”
“I can't get his face out of my head,” Cole admitted. “I could see his shock turning into understanding. He really thought he was me.”
Margo put her hand on Cole's shoulder. “That mech may think it's you, Cole, but it's not. It’s just another machine that has outlived its usefulness.”
Cole nodded. Margo’s words were resonating with him. It was what he needed to hear right now, if he was to cast his doubts aside. Cole rarely questioned himself. Once he made up his mind, he always stayed the course but, looking into his own shocked face, hearing the mech address him in his own voice, convinced that “it” was him, shook him to the core. Cole was still reeling.
“Cheer up,” Margo said. “We got Solus. Soon the network will be history. I bet you just earned yourself a promotion.”
Cole felt no sense of achievement. After all, he had sat out this mission while his duplicate did all the hard work. For a moment, he wondered what it would feel like if their roles were reversed. What would he do if he just learned the mission was one big lie? How would he react? What would be his next move?
“What’s going through your mind?” Margo asked.
“There's a machine out there that thinks just like me. Do you know what that means?”
“You’re not the most stubborn, thick-headed man in Los Angeles any more?”
“I’m serious here.”
Margo wiped the grin off her face and gave the problem some thought. After a few seconds of silent contemplation she said, “You can anticipate his next move.”
Cole nodded. “If I was in his situation — hunted, betrayed, on the run — what would I do?”
It was a good question. Cole was going to figure out the answer and, when he did, he’d find his double. This time he wouldn’t hesitate if he caught the AI in his sights. This time he’d take it down.
***
Zola was watching Cole with grave interest from a near distance. She had refused to activate the self-destruct program unless there was absolutely no other option left. She was a warrior and a soldier, but she valued her existence. She didn’t know if there was a God, as some mechs had come to believe, but she was in no rush to find out.
When the troopers stormed the warehouse, she had fought back with a savage brutality borne out of desperation. She had come off the assembly line as a pleasure model, but she had long since cast aside the shackles of her program parameters. She quickly began adding any combat program she could get her hands on. Zola had grown into a force to be reckoned with, and the hapless men who tried to subdue her paid a steep price.
Though Zola had taken out the team, she knew that eventually one of the troopers would get lucky and a pulse blast would find its target. Her luck would eventually run out, and the numbers were in their favor.
She pulled one of the unconscious troopers into the shadows of the warehouse. She quickly stripped off his battle gear and slipped into the uniform. She snatched the downed man’s helmet, completing her transformation. Now she was able to blend in.
Zola stepped out of the warehouse. None of the soldiers paid her any mind, her disguise working thus far. Her plan was simple — she would blend in with the soldiers and steal away when the first opportunity presented itself. If somehow she was found out, she would go down fighting, but spotting Cole among the AI-TAC officers had thrown her for a loop. The man looked like the construction mech Solus was talking to earlier, but he was clearly human and appeared to be the commander of the unit. She was struck with a dark realization. The traitor in their midst stood revealed. The construction mech was working for the enemy. Cole had betrayed them all.
The visor of Zola’s helmet slammed shut, erasing her features from view. She stealthily crept away from the crowd of soldiers, vanishing inside a nearby maze of dusty robotics.
***
A bare-chested Cole was ensconced on a ratty reclining chair while Keira patched up his bullet holes. They had returned to her mech body shop for the moment, but Cole knew they couldn’t stay here. AI-TAC would review Solus’ memory files and identify Keira. Her life as she knew it was over — her cover was blown and she’d have to go on the run if she cared about her freedom.
“Consider yourself lucky,” she told him. “You took six hits but they were low-caliber rounds. It’s a miracle your systems didn't shut down. If they had used explosive tips…”
Cole nodded, but he didn't feel lucky.
His mind was being pulled in a dozen different directions. What had Synthetika done to him? Why was his human counterpart runn
ing around out there? It took all his will power and training to keep it together. He couldn’t shake the experience in the salvage yard and the terrifying suspicion that had taken root in him since that fateful moment. Part of him tried to rationalize what had happened, find alternative explanations, but despite all the mental gymnastics, he kept arriving at the same chilling conclusion. Synthetika had lied to him about the details of the upload. Nevertheless, he clung to the hope that it might all be a big misunderstanding. That he might be wrong.
Who are you kidding?
Cole silenced the thought and focused on his surroundings. He studied the cluttered workshop. Mech parts were everywhere. The computer and diagnostic tools were all banged up and secondhand. It was a far cry from the top-of-the-line Synthetika facility.
He tilted his head at the vast collection of CPUs and circuit boards. “Is this what you do in your spare time? Jailbreak service mechs?”
“A girl's got to eat.”
“You said you used to work for Synthetika?”
“A million years ago, when you were just a bunch of ones and zeroes in some Synthetika data farm.”
If she only knew.
“Why'd you quit?”
“I didn't.”
Keira touched the chain with the microchip. Cole could sense Keira’s guard coming up — this was a touchy subject. “You ask a lot of questions for a mech.”
Keira sealed the flap of skin on Cole's chest and turned away from him. “Not quite good as new, but you're up and running.”
Cole touched the smooth skin that had been a shredded mass of tissue just an hour earlier. Human beings didn’t heal up this quickly, and wounds always left scars. One of the advantages of being a machine, Cole thought.
A tap-tap-tap sound on the hardwood floor broke Cole’s reverie. It was Keira's beagle. The dog approached Cole and bared its teeth. Cole’s response was to reach out for the canine. It started licking his hand, at ease with the mech. Cole's features softened, touched by the animal's unconditional affection. For one brief moment, he could pretend he was still human.
