by Jack Heath
Shuji laughed. “Well done, Mr. Macintyre. That is indeed the essential core of the camouflage technology. However, it’s even more sophisticated than you’ve guessed. Please, look at it yourself.”
Six walked uneasily around the invisible bot. He could see a flickering around the edges, and sometimes the things he saw through it were blurred or distorted, but somehow it was hidden from all angles.
“The plastic covering doesn’t just hide the front; it covers the whole bot, like a poncho or a cloak. Once we finished that function, we decided to name the bot Harry.”
Six didn’t understand the reference.
“After Harry Potter, Six,” Agent Two said hurriedly. “Children’s book character of pre-Takeover times. He had a cloak that made him invisible.”
“After Potter, I presume,” Six said smoothly. “How quaint.” He chuckled appropriately.
Two snorted. “Nice save, muggle. I thought you read books!”
Shut up, Six thought.
Shuji continued. “The digi-cams that receive the feed are at its feet, so they film from underneath the cloak. And there are three of them, so it can project from all sides. Also, the digi-cams are mobile, so when there’s only one threat—in this case, you, Mr. Macintyre—the digi-cams rotate according to your movements and always project the relevant image.” She shrugged. “There are drawbacks, obviously. The bot can’t actually move in camouflage mode, nor can it attack. And it has to rely on the digi-cam feeds to see, which are less sophisticated than its eyes. Still, I have no doubt that this technology will be useful in the field, and the bot can switch back very quickly.”
She demonstrated. “Bot, standard!”
With a faint swoosh, the bot reappeared. Its expressionless face gazed at Six.
“I talk to it in simple terms only out of habit. The early models couldn’t understand anything more complicated than noun-verb-noun sentences. But we’ve come a long way since then; Harry has probably understood our entire conversation. How are you today, Harry?”
“I am functioning satisfactorily, Dr. Shuji,” the bot replied.
“As you can see, the conversation won’t be scintillating,” Shuji said. “By the way, the bot can swim, too. Harry, show Mr. Macintyre your webs, please.”
The bot held out its hands and extended its fingers. With a ching sound, the fingers became connected by silver plates.
“There is also a propeller in each of the feet. On that note, while it is not technically capable of actual flight…”
The bot jumped into the air, and a blast of flame appeared behind it. It hovered menacingly just below the ceiling of the testing lab.
“…it does have a built-in HR905 jet pack, with which it can jump up to fifty meters vertically, and levitate at any height it jumps to.”
The bot shut off the jet pack and landed on its feet with a resounding clang.
“Scott,” Shuji said, “I think you’ll have to agree that this machine is the biggest advance in weaponry in centuries.”
“She’s working towards the sale, Six,” Agent Two said. “We still need a few more minutes on the source, or we won’t be able to save those hostages. Stall her.”
“The air tank that Force is working on has got nothing on this,” Shuji was saying. “The new laser rifle from Gear is showy, to be sure, but it’s a commercial gimmick, not a serious weapon. It’s not in the same league as my soldier bots. The targeted DNA virus that the Lab is designing…”
Six’s head snapped up.
“…will be nowhere near as effective or as immediate as this, just as Project Falcon, their superhuman assassin project from twenty years ago, wouldn’t have been this good, even if it had worked.”
She knows about Project Falcon, too, Six thought. She’s obviously had dealings with the Lab before. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say that was a challenge. “How is Harry on hand-tohand combat?” he interrupted.
“Superb. Its reflexes are the best you’ll ever see, as is its strength, speed, and coordination. In short, it’s nothing less than perfect, as with all its systems. Why do you ask?”
Six looked at her evenly.
“I want to fight it,” he said.
“What?” Six’s earpiece crackled.
“What?” Shuji demanded.
“I want to fight it,” Six repeated.
“Mr. Macintyre,” Shuji said, suddenly nervous, “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Six, no offense,” Two said, “but that thing could kick the stuffing out of you. Bad idea, man.”
“If it’s as good as you say it is,” Six said to Shuji, “then it should have no trouble beating me, and it won’t be damaged.”
“Damaged?” Shuji said incredulously. “It’s immune to damage! It’s the safety of my number-one business associate that I’m worried about!”
Six raised an eyebrow. “I’ve won the North Tarriga Bay Tung Wu Do championship three times in a row,” he lied. “I’m the best kickboxer you’ll find this side of the Tower, and I was middleweight champion of the City for two years.” He adjusted his collar modestly. “When I was younger, of course.”
There was a pause.
“Is this a joke?” Shuji asked finally.
“I’m perfectly serious,” Six said. “I assume the bot has a non-lethal mode?”
“Well, yes—”
“Then switch it on. I can handle myself, believe me.” He walked to the center of the room and stood still.
“Mr. Macintyre—”
“Mr. Macintyre will be safe, Dr. Shuji,” the bot interrupted.
Six and Shuji stared at it.
“Preliminary medical scans indicate that this is the fittest, healthiest human being I have come into contact with,” the robot continued. “He has no diseases, heart conditions, or any other factors to consider that are beyond my control. While I am in non-lethal mode, he will not come to harm.”
“That thing is creepy,” Six’s earpiece said. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Six.”
“Well, you have been warned,” Shuji said finally. “Nonlethal mode notwithstanding, this won’t be pleasant. Are you sure you want to go through with it?”
Six nodded firmly.
“Very well. Mr. Neeq, take Mr. Macintyre’s coat.”
“No thank you,” said Six, shrugging off the big soldier’s hands. “I’m fine.”
When he looked back towards the bot, it had vanished.
Invisibility cloak? Six wondered. No, the machine definitely wasn’t there.
Six dived to one side as the droid plummeted out of the air and splintered one of the floor tiles with its fist.
“In a real combat situation,” the bot rasped, crouched on the floor, “the first strike will always take the opponent by surprise.”
“Mr. Macintyre,” Shuji said, after a pause, “I think this is a bad idea.”
“Why?” Six asked. He pointed to the bot. “It’s quite correct.” Then he leaped into the air with his arms stretched wide and his fists clenched, spinning like the blades of a helicopter, before sending a fist crashing down towards the bot’s steel skull…only to have his blow halted millimeters above the droid’s head as it grabbed him by the throat and held him in the air. Its synthetic eyes scanned him again.
“You are not like the others, Mr. Macintyre,” it said.
“No,” Six agreed. You killed the others, he thought. But you won’t kill me.
Six grabbed the steel wrist of the hand that was choking him. Then he forced his chin down into the fingers. The robot let go as its synthetic knuckles bent under the pressure.
Six fell to the floor, landing hands first. Springing back like a cat, he swiftly twisted his torso and kicked the bot’s legs out from under it. As the bot fell, Six flipped back up onto his feet and darted backward so it couldn’t do the same to him.
The bot hit the ground with a clang. In the blink of an eye it was on its feet again.
“No,” it said. “Not like the others at all.
”
There was no change to the tone of its voice, but Six assumed that behind that dark masklike face, a very advanced CPU was working hard to assess the situation and figure out what it was dealing with. I must not win, he reminded himself, or my secret will be out. Shuji knows about the Lab and she knows about Project Falcon. If I win, she might put two and two together. He ducked as the bot flew overhead, steel boot first.
Not that winning would be easy, he thought.
He grabbed one of the bot’s arms as it flew overhead, and then threw the machine to the ground. It landed on one hand, wrapped its ankles around Six’s neck, and tossed him away.
Six hit the wall with a thump. He thought he heard a tile crack behind him, but all of his bones were intact. The robot was clambering to its feet very quickly, but to Six’s eyes it was all happening in slow motion. Six jumped straight up and twisted his body sideways in midair so both his feet were pressed against the wall. Then he pushed off and rocketed horizontally towards the robot’s head, fist first.
This time, his fist connected.
The bot shuddered as Six knocked it over. He was on top of it before it had time to get up again. Pushing against the ground with one steel foot, the bot threw off Six’s weight and pounced upon him. But by the time it hit the ground, Six was no longer under it.
Six jumped high into the air behind the bot. The strike from above, he thought as he rose. That’s the bot’s weakness.
The bot switched on its jet pack and followed him up.
Fine, Six thought. I can trick it.
In midair, he threw a punch at the bot’s chest. The bot blocked it easily, but as it did, Six grabbed the outstretched mechanical arm with his other hand, pivoted off it, flipped upward, and let go.
Suddenly the bot was blinded. All of its eyes had ceased receiving. It flailed its arms around, trying to strike its opponent. It switched the feed from its eyes to the digi-cams in its shoes. They were functioning, but they couldn’t locate Six, either.
Six was doing a handstand on the robot’s head, with his coat covering all of its eyes. He wobbled precariously as the bot flew around the room with its jet pack, searching for him with the digi-cams in its feet.
The bot paused.
Six could picture the circuits buzzing in its synthetic brain.
Only the crackling of the jet pack marred the silence.
“Six, are you receiving? The source is en route, I repeat, the source is en route. He’ll be at the bathroom in seven minutes—so if you’re still alive in three, get going.”
Silence again.
Then the bot flipped upside down, with Six still holding on to its head, and cranked the jet pack up to full.
It’s insane! Six thought wildly. It’s doing a kamikaze dive for the floor!
He let go of the head and pushed off with his feet, throwing himself clear.
He landed on all fours. As soon as his limbs touched the ground, it shuddered with an ear-piercing clang as the robot slammed into it headfirst.
Six collapsed on the floor in a crumpled heap, briefly disoriented by its shaking and the noise in his ears. The sound rang out like a bell, reverberating around the room and against the walls and floor.
Flight time: 9.9 seconds.
Six stood up and dusted himself off. This, he thought, has been an interesting—
Bang! Six was knocked over as a robotic fist hit him in the solar plexus.
Even as he fought to stay conscious after the force of the blow, Six flipped over backward and landed on his feet. For a moment he struggled to breathe.
Bang! He was hit again in the same place. This time when it knocked him down, he stayed down.
The thing sure packs a punch, he thought, wheezing. But now that I’m on the ground, I bet it follows standard groundfighting techniques—which means that its movements can be predicted. This fight isn’t over yet.
As he had expected, the next steel limb to fly at him was a foot. He wrapped his right arm around the ankle, and before the machine had time to react, he reached with his left and grabbed the bot’s other leg. Then he lifted it into the air and slammed it against the tiles like a giant hammer on a strength tester at a carnival.
Six pounced on the bot, crouching with one foot on its throat. Immediately its arms whipped up and its hands wrapped themselves around his neck. Six quickly put his hands over the top of the bot’s and slid his fingers underneath to stop the bot from choking him.
There they paused, in a temporary truce.
“You fight well…” the bot said softly. “Agent Six of Hearts.”
Six gasped. How did…and then he realized something. The bot’s voice had not come from the amp; it was coming from his own earpiece!
The bot could receive radio waves. It had heard his radio transmissions.
“Your genuine title explains some, but not all, of your abilities,” the bot continued. “You are still hiding many things.”
Six squeezed the synthetic hands tighter. There was a long silence.
“All right,” he said finally. “Enough.” He lifted his foot off the robot’s neck, and the robot immediately dropped its hands from his. Six dusted himself down as the bot clambered to its feet.
“Well,” he said, turning to Shuji, “I’m satisfied. The machine can fight after all, and what’s more, it can fight well. Our business deal will proceed as planned, if you are agreeable.”
Shuji looked at him for a long time, tapping one of her fingers against a tire on her wheelchair. Then she said, “Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“Stay in character, Six,” the earpiece hissed.
“I’ve seen some very old movies,” he said with a smile. “Now if you don’t mind, I require the use of your bathroom facilities before we conclude our business here.”
Shuji nodded. “Of course. Mr. Neeq, show Mr. Macintyre to the bathroom.”
“Thank you,” Six said. “A pleasure to meet you, Harry,” he said to the bot. “Farewell, until next time.”
The bot nodded slowly.
Six and Neeq walked out the door, and it rumbled shut behind them.
“Bot,” Shuji said, “back in your case.” The bot complied, shutting the door behind it.
ONLY HUMAN
“Well, that robot certainly can fight,” Six said.
Neeq said nothing.
“And that was in non-lethal mode, of course,” Six added.
“I wouldn’t have stood a chance if it had been in standard mode.”
Neeq said nothing.
They were walking down the same corridor as before. With its limited human staff, the facility only required one bathroom—and it was close to the entrance, so visitors had no excuse to go deep into the building. This was a design flaw that the Deck was about to exploit—the hostages had to use the same bathroom as the visitors.
The conversation wasn’t going well—it was more of a monologue, really. Six needed to put the soldier at ease so he didn’t see Six as a threat, which was going to require significantly more effort now that Neeq had seen Six fight the bot.
Slight tactical error there, he thought. I got carried away. “So,” Six said now, “how long have you been working here?”
“Twenty months,” Neeq growled.
“I suppose you’ve seen the work being done, then, right from design to testing.”
“Yes.”
“Listen, between you and me,” Six said, turning to face the guard as he walked, “how efficient are the work processes? Are they…streamlined? I mean, in your opinion, do Dr. Shuji’s strategies make full use of her resources?” His smile vanished. “Everything I’ve seen today is satisfactory, but I’m no fool—I know that this is merely the tip of the iceberg.”
Neeq hesitated.
“It will be, of course,” Six said, “in your best interests to help me. I need security staff of my own, obviously. Although no one has ever attempted to infiltrate any of my various offices and facilities, a man with as much money as me still
requires…insurance.”
Neeq made up his mind.
“I can appreciate your concern, Mr. Macintyre,” he said, “but it is misplaced. Dr. Shuji’s sense of business is as faultless as it appears.”
Smart man, Six thought, and tactful. But it would appear that I’ve won him over as I intended.
Moments later they turned the corner and the bathroom door came into view. Neeq slowed as he saw there was already a guard waiting by the door.
“You have guards for your bathrooms, too!” Six said approvingly. “Security certainly is tight here.”
“Why are you here?” Neeq said to the other guard.
“Dr. Shuji’s orders,” came the reply.
“Which orders?”
“I’m protecting…an employee.”
Neeq tapped the side of his head—a signal, Six suspected, to go to closed-circuit communications. The rest of the conversation would be done over the radio waves, in private.
“Hang on, Six,” his earpiece said. “Just patching you through to their frequency now.”
“…we both wait out here, he will try something,” the other soldier was saying. “He knows that the project is nearing completion, and that his time is nearly up. If Macintyre goes in alone, he will see his chance.”
“Agreed,” said Neeq. “I will go in with Macintyre. You wait here.”
So far, so good, Six thought.
“This way,” Neeq grunted, talking through the mask again.
Six followed him through the door into the anteroom.
The bathroom was one of the cleanest Six had ever seen. The mirrors glittered like gems, and the polished marble walls and floor shone in the light from the softly glowing light notches.
The guard stood motionless by the door. Six wandered over to the end cubicle and stepped inside.
Even as he was closing and locking the door, he was weighing his options. Neeq wasn’t close enough to the cubicle door for Six’s ideal attack strategy—he could have just kicked the door out and knocked Neeq down with it. He had to think of something else.
