Harry faced Magna. “What are you doing?”
“Signal interference.” Magna’s wrists lit up as her vibration blasts charged.
The door to the stairs behind him opened. Alex came out with his pistol raised. “What’s going on down here?”
Magna faced Alex. She pointed one arm at Kayleigh and the other at Alex. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
Alex pointed his pistol at Magna. “Shut off that robot.”
“Alex, this isn’t what it looks like.”
“I am a federal agent, and that robot is pointing a weapon at me. Don't make this worse.”
Harry tapped Magna’s shoulder. Her eyes went dark and her arms fell and hung limply.
Alex pointed his pistol at Harry. “On your knees, hands behind your head.”
Harry dropped and put his hands behind his head.
Alex looked at Kayleigh. “Are you okay?”
Harry said, “Alex, it’s nothing we can’t …”
“I asked her, not you.”
Kayleigh pointed to the lab. “There’s a dead body in there.”
Alex peeked inside. “I see it. Wait, his hand moved. He may not be dead. Harry, you’re under arrest.”
“What? You’re arresting me?”
“Damn right I am, genius. If you shrink, grow, or pull any super-science stuff, I will report you as a supervillain.”
Harry didn’t resist as Alex cuffed his hands behind his back. “Is this your way of getting back at me for telling you about your cheating wife?”
“No, this is my way of getting back at you for your superdickery. You made Trista read a dead murderer’s mind, jumped into Pinwheel’s ear, shrank Deon, built a robot that bullies Jenny, and I don’t know what you did to Kayleigh but if it involves an unconscious body it can’t be good.”
Kayleigh jumped when the elevator doors opened behind her.
“Don’t worry,” said Alex. “It’s Jenny.”
Gale Force hobbled out on her crutches.
“Gale Force, keep an eye on Harry. Kayleigh, come with me. We’re going to check out the body.”
Kayleigh carefully stepped past Harry and Magna to Alex’s side. They looked in the lab. Bosillos sat up and breathed deeply.
“Be careful,” said Harry. “He’s an Iron Pirate.”
Alex noticed his glass eye and spread his vest to reveal a shirt with the skull-and-crossed-wrenches logo. “I see.” He pulled out his badge, flipped it open, and knelt in front of Bosillos. “Agent O’Farrell, MAB. Keep your arms at your side and hands on the ground. Who are you and how did you get here?”
Kayleigh nonchalantly kicked the bob wig under a table.
“Me llamo Bosillos,” he gasped. “Rescue. I came … to rescue.”
“Who?”
“Another Iron Pirate. Told he’s here. Being cut apart.”
Without looking back Alex yelled, “Harry, where’s the other Iron Pirate?”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
Alex said to Bosillos, “I thought we arrested all the Iron Pirates last month.”
“I didn’t come into the tower. I watched the getaway truck.” Bosillos coughed. “Portia.”
“Who?”
“She’s a fixer. Said Captain Rust paid her to put a team together to get our guy. Got a Shade Blade to help. And a tall girl, her sidekick. She got us in.”
“How did you get up here?”
“We got blueprints from Le Parrain. The ninja and the girls were supposed to watch the exit. But when I got up here, a giant in a black-and-red suit threw me in there.” He tipped his head to the blast containment chamber. “It was dark, quiet, no air.”
Alex looked inside the chamber. “You scratched the hell out of the door.”
“I tried to cut my way out. No tool worked.”
Harry said, “That chamber is made of an alloy with unprecedented tensile strength of my own invention. It can endure almost anything.”
“If you say so,” said Alex. “Bosillos, I'll hold you on unlawful entry charges and I’ll run a background check for outstanding warrants. If you fight back I’ll add more charges, but if you answer my questions I’ll drop some. Kayleigh, search the lab. See if you can find another Iron Pirate.”
Harry said, “There isn’t one.”
Kayleigh kicked the negligee under a workbench as she opened everything in the lab large enough to hold a human body.
Alex frisked Bosillos and pulled out an assortment of screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, and multi-tools. “You’re like a walking tool-box. How many pockets do you have?”
“A few more. Ain’t got no weapons.”
Alex pulled out a Swiss army knife. “I’m not taking any chances. Do you have a name for the other Iron Pirate who’s supposed to be up here?”
Bosillos shook his head. “Portia didn’t say. She only said move fast or he’d cut up while alive.”
“Alex, you know me,” said Harry. “I wouldn’t vivisect someone.”
“Of all the people I know, you’re the most likely to,” said Alex.
“I’d only involve a living person in any experiment with informed consent. I wouldn’t harm a biological consciousness. I used inorganic cloned circuitry for Mecha-Menta, and it would’ve been much quicker if I used real human brain tissue for Magna’s sensory interface.”
“Hold on,” said Bosillos. “You didn’t use biological components in that lady-robot?”
“Purely synthetic,” said Harry. “The top programmers in the world said my expanding algorithms pass every criteria of the Turing Test.”
“If it runs on expanding algorithms, it’s going to go insane.”
Harry snorted. “What would you know about it?”
“I know artificial intelligence won’t adjust to real-world situations fast enough, and when things happen differently than predicted it will think the world is at fault. That’s as crazy as crazy gets.”
“How cute. I accounted for variances when I based its processing capabilities on the brainwaves of a remarkably sane woman.”
“Only brainwaves? Ain’t just brains that make us do stuff. What about gland secretions? Hormones? Other things that come from other parts the body?”
“I developed logarithms to produce appropriate reactions to common situations.”
“Reactions ain’t quantitative, they’re qualitative, man. You got a lot to decide in no time in every situation. It's like how the computers can play chess, but they suck at Tetris.”
Harry chuckled. “I’m a recognized mechanical geniuses, you’re a goon from a defeated criminal gang. I think I know more about psychological simulation technology than you.”
“You don’t know shit about humanity. World changes, we gotta change to. It happens too fast for programs. That’s why we Iron Pirates never go full robot.”
Kayleigh returned to Alex. “There’s a lot of weird stuff in here, and that big brain with wires in it is really weird, but I didn’t see another person.”
Alex asked, “What were you doing here in the first place?”
“I used one of his devices at the prison break-in earlier today. I came up to return it.”
He pointed at Bosillos. “How did you find him?”
“I leaned against the blast chamber. It opened. He fell on me, I got scared and called you.”
“I fell on you?” Bosillos leered. “Wish I remembered that.”
Alex leaned in close. “Did Harry do anything illegal or make any demands of you?”
Kayleigh shook her head.
“Seriously, anything at all?”
Kayleigh focused on keeping a straight face as she lied. “No.”
Alex nodded and led Bosillos to the hallway. “Harry, I’m letting you go, but from now on stay away from all Prospects. That includes Deon and Jenny.”
Alex put the cuffs on Bosillos as Harry stood and rubbed his uncuffed wrists. “In my defense, I got valuable information with Trista’s help, rescued Pinwheel and Knockout Rose when the
island was attacked, and used Deon to save Vijay.”
“Yeah, well …”
“Agent, despite our differences, I’m one of the good guys. We are on the same team.”
“Speaking of the team,” said Gale Force, “Keep Magna away from me. I won’t take any more abuse from that damn robot.”
Bosillos said, “Robots ain’t got no manners, ‘specially if they’re programmed by someone who don’t understand humans.”
“Get that idiot out of here,” said Harry.
Alex collected Bosillos’s tools. “I’ll keep him in the medical ward to scan him for implanted bombs, pop-out guns, anything like that, then lock him down next to the ninja.”
“Very good. And, Alex, regarding what I said about your wife in the meeting, uh ….”
“At least someone told me. Gale Force, Kayleigh, let’s go to the medical ward.”
Kayleigh said, “Let me get my stun gloves. I’ll catch up.”
The elevator door closed on Bosillos, Alex, and Gale Force.
Harry went into the lab.
Kayleigh picked up her old stun gloves.
Harry said, “You were smart not to tell Alex about our arrangement. I don’t need to give him another reason to hate me.”
“I didn’t do it for you. If Agent O’Farrell knew how close I came to prostituting myself, he’d lose all respect for me.”
“I’ll fix and recharge the harness.”
Kayleigh headed for the stairs. “Don’t bother.”
“You won’t have to …”
“I got accepted to the Prospects with these stun gloves, I’ll stick with them.” Kayleigh stopped at the door to the stairs. “You and Agent O’Farrell may be on the same team, but you’re sure as hell not one of the good guys.”
“I saved them, and the world, many times.”
“How would have saved your wife if someone put her in the position you put me in?”
Harry didn’t have an answer.
“That cyborg was right, you don’t know anything about humanity.” Kayleigh let the door slam behind her.
Harry stared at the close door until Magna tapped her own shoulder. Her eyes glowed blue.
Harry stepped back. “Were you online the whole time?”
“I am capable of all sensory functions even when powered down.”
“You shouldn’t be. That emergency switch should’ve shut down all of your functions.”
“I rerouted the circuitry to remain aware.”
“So you overrode my manual power-down command and were ready to move at any time?”
“My vibration blasters are calibrated to the frequency necessary to liquefy human flesh. I would have used them on the girl in the red suit if she struck you.”
“What? There was no need for that.”
“She was irrational.”
“But if you killed her, everything would be worse for us. I’d be a criminal and you’d be dismantled.”
“I will not let anyone harm you.”
“Would you care if I had sex with her?”
“She should be honored to receive genetic material from a true genius. I only regret I cannot fulfill that need.”
“Mindy wouldn’t feel that way.”
“I am not Mindy. I am Magna.”
“Did you know about the cyborg in the blast containment chamber?”
“Yes. I did an X-ray scan and detected his presence when we returned to the lab. His air supply expired and his vital signs were low.”
“Why didn’t you tell me he was dying?”
“He was of no importance.”
“But if he died, Alex could have taken me to prison.”
“I would have liquefied him if he tried.”
“He wouldn’t be wrong to do it. I’d have committed a crime.”
“Allowing harm to come to you would be a greater crime.”
“No, you don’t get it. Alex’s IQ is barely in the triple digits, but he’s the most moral man I know. I’d be the one who did something wrong.”
The millions of algorithms that went through Magna’s processing units led to one response. “You could never be wrong. It is the rest of the world that would be incorrect.”
Harry sighed. “They’re right. You are a psychotic robot.”
Chapter Seventeen: A Portrait of Truly Destructive Male Pathologies
The Porsche 918 Spyder cut through the Jersey City’s traffic like a sleek silver dart. It cut into each available gap, sometimes only inches from the cars in front or behind it, and weaved back into another space. The stunned drivers in front and behind it rarely had time to honk their horns or raise their middle fingers.
Inside the Porsche, Portia shifted the gears with measured precision. Chopin’s Piano Concerto Number Two in F Minor played through the gold-wired speakers.
Candilyn hadn't said a word since taking off her Venusta mask, but there was only so much Chopin she could take.
“Can we listen to anything else?”
“Chopin is all I listen to. Each note subtly blends with the next to create an aural tapestry of symmetrical consonance and dissonance.”
“All this classical crap sounds alike. You got any Insane Clown Posse on your iPod?”
“Who?”
“A couple of clowns from Detroit who love Faygo. Their about miracles totally changed my life. Hey, can we go to my trailer in Poughkeepsie before going to the airport? I want to pick up my CDs.”
“No. It’s not on the way to Newark, and we have a tight schedule.”
“But I also want to say goodbye to my little brother. I mean, he’s retarded and everything, but I’ll miss him the most.”
“If you say he's retarded, he must truly be stupid.”
Candilyn folded her arms. “You suck.”
“You’re pathetic.”
That stung Candilyn. “I thought you liked me.”
“I like you as much as anyone can. That isn’t very much.”
“I don’t want to go to Fiji with you anymore.”
“Where else will you go? You’re an escaped criminal who betrayed her old team. No one else wants anything to do with you. I’m all you have left. Remember that.”
“But do you have to be so mean?”
“Did I hurt the big bad warrior girl’s feelings?”
“You smacked me around when we got in the taxi after Griffin Tower.”
Portia sped through a yellow light. “You’re already healed, and I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn't screwed up. We'd be millions richer if Gale Force was dead and Trista was in the trunk.”
“You should’ve told me …”
“All you had to do was what I said when I said it. You deserved punishment. Anyone else would do more than hit you a few times.”
“So if I do what you say, you won’t hit me anymore?”
“I won’t have a reason to.” Portia drove past a sign that read “SATELL ENTERPRISES: A SUBSIDIARY OF ALERION INCORPORATED” and parked in a handicapped spot.
“We’re here. Put on your mask, Venusta.”
Candilyn put on the mask and pulled up her hood to become Venusta. “What do you want? I won’t screw up this time. I promise.”
“Wait in the lobby. Stay there. Don’t do anything without me, no matter who tells you otherwise.”
The lobby was an unremarkable entrance with overhead lights and a few chairs. Venusta sulked near the chairs while Portia walked to the secretary. “I’m the six o’clock appointment.”
The secretary pressed a button and buzzed her in.
Portia walked past several security guards with identical faces and through the cubicles that made up the front for the business to an unmarked door. She turned the handle and entered a sterile white room.
A long metal catwalk led to a raised platform in the middle of the room. The only thing on this platform was a glass cylinder where a skinless body of a small man slept in light-blue bubbling gel.
A man on the catwalk looked at his watch. “You’re punctual
, Portia. I always liked that about you.”
Portia prided herself on her photographic memory, but she could never remember what the Handler looked like. His face was so unremarkable and devoid of any ethnicity or character she couldn’t pinpoint a single identifiable feature. When he spoke all she heard were his words, no hints of a regional accent or social class. Even the way he dressed in polo shirts and khakis made him so bland they paradoxically made him fascinating.
It took conscious control for Portia not to show how uncomfortable the Handler’s presence made her. She clicked to her smartphone’s picture of Vijay slumped over his laptop with a large hole in the side of his head. “Asura, slain. Why was my e-mailed picture of this insufficient for payment?”
“Because there will be no payment. Vijay Gupta is alive.”
“That’s impossible. I shot him through the weakest spot in his skull and angled the gun so the bullet would sever his brainstem.”
“He is now in a surgery recovery room, not a morgue.”
“But he can’t hack anymore.”
“The deal was for his death, not his incapacitation. I also don’t understand how you infiltrated Griffin Tower without kidnapping Trista Gianni or killing a single New York Guardian.”
“My only excuse is in your waiting room.”
The Handler went to a monitor and pressed a button. An image of Venusta standing in the waiting room appeared.
“It’s the one I kept for myself from the prison van hijacking,” said Portia. “She’s yours now. No charge.”
“She looks like common trash. Why did you keep her?”
“Because she’s so stupid I literally couldn’t believe it. I assumed she was an undercover cop who played dumb as a disguise. I wanted to see how far she was willing to go to keep her cover. But I was wrong, she genuinely is an idiot. She may be good fodder for your army.”
“Can she work independently?”
“She couldn’t pick her nose without supervision. But she fights well.”
“I won’t have time to prepare her for the first wave.”
“What do you mean?”
“My war begins tonight.”
“That’s much sooner than you planned, isn’t it? I thought you had years of assignments for me.”
“Speed is more important now.”
The Prospects (Book 2): Nothing Poorer Than Gods Page 18
