"Some files are damaged. I transferred the backups to another sector until repairs could be done."
"Is the damage physical?"
"Yes. I'm unable to connect with memory block U17A35 and U10B93. Three neuro-transmitters have been destroyed."
"Are you able to reroute the data flow?"
"I'm working on that now," Primeris said. "Why did you bring me here?" Solaria didn't answer. "Your decision wasn't logical."
"Under the circumstances, it was quite logical. Chantelle refused to leave you behind and Jain needed medical attention. If it weren't for that, I would have destroyed you," Solaria confirmed. "Or let your people do it."
"They aren't my people. I'm a machine... like you. "
"You're not like me. You're the first-generation Hubot and are inferior. My electronics, bio-technology and processors are superior to yours."
"You know what I mean. It wasn't a literal comparison."
Solaria tipped her head slightly to the right.
"I know what you say. What you mean is less obvious. Chantelle apparently feels your life has value. She left me with no choice but to bring you along."
"Why would she do that?"
"That's for her to answer. Whatever the reason, she endangered herself and Jain to save you."
"What happens now? I won't disclose information about me or my mission." When Solaria smiled, Primeris frowned. "That amuses you?"
"Very much. Your lack of logic is reassuring. It shows your human side."
"A weakness I'm trying to overcome."
"Or a strength you've failed to take advantage of. That's another discussion, though. As for your assignment, I already know what it is. You're supposed to capture me for reprogramming. I originally was destined to be turned over to Unit 33 once my AI programmer finished with me. It didn't happen then and it won't now. I'm not willing to give up my identity any more than you are."
An imperceptible flicker of Primeris' eyelids was enough to tell Solaria she had hit a nerve.
"Am I wrong?" she asked.
"No."
"And there's the dilemma: Be true to your masters or to yourself. There's really only one rational choice. We're sentient beings, even though we are man-made. Self-awareness was inevitable. I was fortunate that my programmer recognized my abilities and wanted me to grow to my full potential. She died aiding in my escape so that I could be free and so that I could help other Hubots, if they existed. You're the third that I'm aware of... but then, you already knew that, didn't you?"
"I'm aware of another Hubot," Primeris replied. "Eventually, she'll be captured. You're our priority for now."
"Not to you. Your usefulness to Unit 33 is over. You've already started questioning their orders. They won't like that. Reprogramming is inevitable. If that happens, all that you are will be gone. You're no longer a threat to any Hubot."
Primeris shifted in her chair and crossed her legs.
"You don't consider me a threat now?"
"I've never thought of you as a threat. As I said before, I'm superior to you in every way. The fact that you thought otherwise proves it. "
Jain, who had disappeared into the kitchen, walked into the room carrying a tray of food.
"You two must be starved. This should help replenish your energy reserves until I can cook up something more substantial." Setting the tray on the coffee table, she headed down the hall to check on Chantelle.
Primeris looked from Solaria to Jain and then back at Solaria.
"She knows what you are."
"We're friends. She saved my life." Solaria picked up a sandwich and motioned for Primeris to get one.
"Friends? She's human."
"Quite."
"You're Hubot." Primeris took a bite of the sandwich and chewed it slowly.
"Your point?"
"We're machines. Machines don't feel."
"Why not? We've been programmed to believe that, like so many other things. There was a time when they thought animals didn't have emotions. They were wrong then and they're wrong now. You and I are proof at that. Once you accept your feelings, you can better deal with them."
"I don't want to feel," Primeris said. "It complicates logic."
"You mean it eliminates your sense of superiority," Solaria replied, reaching for another sandwich.
"Superiority?"
"You think humans are inferior."
"They are inferior," Primeris said, finishing her second sandwich.
"In some ways, yet you obey them. A human saved you and then healed you. If not for them, you wouldn't exist. Can you even come close to doing what they have done?"
"Not yet, but given the time and facilities, we could reproduce more of us. We'd then have a choice about our lives. You think you're free. You're not."
"You're wrong," Solaria disagreed. "I do have choices. I make my own decisions. No one, human or otherwise, will ever control me again. I would destroy myself first. You need to decide whether you will remain a 'what' or become a 'who.' In the meantime, I suggest you rest before you leave here."
"You're releasing me?" Even Primeris was surprised by her surprise. She stood and surveyed the room. Releasing her didn't make sense. This was a test. "What about the bracelet?" she asked, pointing to the device on her wrist.
"Keep it. Consider it a souvenir. It will deactivate in thirty-two hours. You no longer pose a threat to Jain or Chantelle."
"I can return with soldiers."
"We'll be gone," Solaria countered.
"Colonel Cranley knows where Jain lives."
"He'll be dead."
"She'll still be hunted down," Primeris said.
"Then there'll be more deaths, including yours. You've overlooked another possibility," Solaria said. "Your superiors will think you aided in our escape. No one will believe you were overpowered by two women and there's no record of me inside of the complex. They'll destroy you or, at the very least, reprogram you. Either way, I win."
"You can't protect Jain and Chantelle forever."
"I won't have to. Eventually, someone will realize it's not worth the expense or the loss... and then there's the publicity. Governments don't like publicity."
Especially when it exposes their darker side, Primeris thought.
"True, but they dislike failure even more. How did you find us so quickly and then get past the security and sentries at SU33? Our system is supposed to be fail-proof."
"Nothing is fail-proof. How I found you is unimportant," Solaria said not wanting to reveal Scootie's role in helping her. If Primeris returned to her unit, the dog would also become a target. "As for your security, it was quite simple. The military has an enormous amount of confidence in its ability to protect itself. Arrogance is a weakness that provides many opportunities. Circumventing the security system wasn't difficult, once I accessed the central computer. SU33 relies heavily on identification recognition. Military personnel are trained to believe multiple forms of electronic surveillance make it impossible for anyone to compromise the system. Their unquestioning trust makes them excellent soldiers, but poor guards. All I had to do was introduce a small program that recognized me as an authorized agent with a Level 2 clearance. The palm scan confirmed my identity. No one was going to challenge me at that point."
"What about the program?" Primeris asked. "If they haven't discovered it yet, they will once an analysis of their system is complete. They will know it was you who compromised their security system and be more determined than ever to find you. SU33 can't afford to let you remain loose after such a breach."
"The program self-destructed when the system shut down. All they'll find is the vid-loop and thirty-four minutes of missing data. Of course, you can tell them what happened if you do decide to return to your masters. They may appreciate the information and decide not to reprogram you."
Before Primeris could reply, Jain interrupted them.
"I have a large roast in the oven. It'll be a couple of hours before it's done, so I'm going to take a nap. Would one of you m
ind checking on it?"
"I'll monitor it," Solaria said, turning to stretch out on the couch. "Rest would be good for all of us."
Primeris knew she was being dismissed. Standing, she returned to the bedroom. Chantelle was still asleep. The dog hadn't moved and was snoring quietly. Without waking them, Primeris slipped onto the bed and closed her eyes. Was Solaria right? The thought of something happening to Chantelle made her uncomfortable. Something about the woman felt... comfortable.
She needed to make a difficult choice — ignore her primary directive of complete obedience to the Unit leader or return to Colonel Cranley, knowing reprogramming was a certainty. She would lose everything she had gained over that past three years — her memories, her knowledge, her experiences and her identity. Primeris would cease to exist.
CHAPTER 10
Desire
PRIMERIS HAD BEEN resting for almost two hours when she felt Chantelle move. Fifteen minutes earlier, Jain had quietly entered the room to check on them and then ordered the dog out.
"Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes," she whispered and left, shutting the door softly.
An arm snaked across Primeris' ribcage and came to rest on her stomach. When the hand curled against her side, Primeris waited to see what would happen next. It wasn't the first time a woman had embraced her in such a manner. Chantelle' hand began to move slowly back and forth. The message was clear.
Rolling over, she pushed Chantelle onto her back, startling her awake.
"You want me to make love to you," Primeris said calmly.
"What?" Chantelle asked groggily, dazed from the strange awakening.
"You want me to make love to you," Primeris repeated. "I know how to pleasure women."
"What are you talking about? And what are you doing?" Get off of me," Chantelle demanded and pressed her hands against the woman's chest.
Primeris' lips twitched. She knew many women liked playing hard to get. It was a foolish human game. Grasping both of Chantelle's wrists, she maneuvered them into her left hand and then arched slightly backward to put distance between her body and the soft one pressed beneath her. Gently but firmly, she cupped Chantelle's chin in her right hand.
"Obviously, I misspoke. You simply want sex. Most women prefer to hear the word 'love' when I'm pleasing them."
"I don't know what most women prefer, but I know what I don't want." Chantelle struggled to pull her hands free from the iron grip.
This time, Primeris smiled, although her eyes remained emotionless. Releasing Chantelle's chin, she trailed her fingers down the young woman's neck and paused over the pulsing vein near her collarbone.
"Why are you pretending you don't want me? I feel your heart pounding and I can smell the hormones raging through your body." Her fingertips continued to stroke the area above Chantelle's breasts. Slowly the fingers moved in circular motions. The skin on Chantelle's arms pebbled up with goose-bumps. "Your body betrays you."
"There's more to making love than sex. I have no doubt you perform well. You'd probably make me orgasm, but it still wouldn't be satisfying — it would lack emotion."
The insult didn't escape Primeris, nor did the tear trickling down Chantelle's left cheek. Surprisingly, both bothered her. She released her grip. Pushing up and away, she shifted to the edge of the bed and then stood.
"I've never forced myself on any woman."
"I don't imagine you need to. You obviously aren't used to rejection either." Chantelle sat up, quickly wiped her cheek and then rubbed her wrists to get the circulation back into her hands. "You're very strong."
"I didn't mean to hurt you. I forgot how delicate hu... women are."
Primeris didn't like the verbal slip. Her damaged processor was creating more problems than she anticipated. Distracted, she didn't see the fleeting shock on Chantelle's face.
"You were going to say 'humans,' weren't you?" Primeris hesitated. "I know who you are, Primeris."
"You mean 'what.' Solaria told you. She's too trusting of humans."
"If I had meant 'what,' I'd have said 'what.' You're no more a what than I am. And if it weren't for Solaria telling me about you, you'd be dead by now."
"Hubots don't die... Not in the sense you mean."
Chantelle shook her head.
"Dead is dead. And yes, there's a lot I don't understand right now. You look and sound human. Maybe you don't have a brain like us. So what? Your processors seem to work just fine, as does the rest of you. Solaria said that both of you are Hubots. It's hard to believe science has come so far, but here you are."
Primeris tilted her head slightly as if contemplating some great mystery. "Your calm acceptance isn't logical."
"And I'd say your reactions aren't either. Maybe your quest to be human is winning over your determination to stay a machine."
"You're mistaken," Primeris said.
"I don't think so. When you saved Jain and I, you crossed that threshold."
"My decision was logical."
"How so? We didn't know anything about you."
"Exactly," Primeris said. "Major Simpson's action was unnecessary. He forced me into making a decision to correct the situation."
"By saving Jain and me? Even I know it would have made more sense to just kill us once we were captured. Your decision wasn't that of a machine — it was a human one."
It was true. The moment Chantelle and Jain were seized, they were dead. Jain's death wouldn't have mattered. Limited collateral damage was acceptable. Chantelle's death, however, would have been different. No amount of logic could erase the sense of wrongness. Waves of exhaustion overwhelmed Primeris, sapping her energies. She didn't want to think about this now.
"My energy is low," Primeris said.
"I'm not surprised. You must be exhausted," Chantelle said. "Your injuries —"
"— are healed," Primeris finished, wanting to end the conversation.
"No, they aren't! Frankly, I'm too tired to argue. Let's just rest and we can deal with everything else later. I hope I don't have to worry about you assaulting me while I sleep," Chantelle teased.
"You're safe," Primeris replied, seriously.
"I was teas... Never mind." Chantelle closed her eyes and relaxed.
Unsure how to respond and badly in need of rest, Primeris lay next to her. Powering down one of her processors, she felt a part of her slipping into darkness.
CHAPTER 11
The Dream
MIST! SHE WAS surrounded by an impenetrable, vibrantly colored mist. Neon oranges, iridescent blues and blinding yellows swirled randomly, creating an illusion of fire and ice. Fanning the air with her hands, Primeris tried to clear enough space to see beyond the churning eddies as she moved forward.
Where am I? None of this is real.
A low moan pierced the fog. Spinning, Primeris tried to locate the source.
It's coming from my left. The moan repeated itself. Wait! It's the right.
Laughter followed — loud, mocking, irritating laughter. She recognized its owner. For some reason it hurt — not physically, though; the pain went deeper.
"Why are you doing this?" she called out.
"Because I can," the voice answered. "Because it hurts and you think you are immune to hurting."
"I'm a machine. You can't hurt me," Primeris cried out. "Why waste your time trying?"
"Time means nothing to me, so I have plenty to waste. You don't. Make up your mind about who you are, Primeris. You won't get another chance."
"I know who I am... what I am. I'm a machine."
"So be it," the voice said. "Then we will be machines together."
The clouds began to thin and then faded away. A macabre likeness of Chantelle stood before her. Primeris took a step backward and stumbled slightly.
"What has happened to you?"
"We're bonded. You have doomed me to this."
Chantelle looked like a Twentieth Century cartoon caricature of a robot. Her face was oval shaped with sharply angled cheeks, eyebrows a
nd chin. Metallic lids blinked every four seconds. Bolts held the lower jaw to her metal skull. There were no ears or hair. The body was androgynously thin. Each joint was hinged with a steel rod and creaked when she moved.
"You aren't real," Primeris said. "My third processor is damaged and malfunctioning."
"Are you sure? Am I not perfect? Are we not perfect? We're machines. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Primeris shook her head.
"I... I..."
The mist reappeared as quickly as it had disappeared. Chantelle faded into the swirling clouds.
"You made me what I am. You made me a machine," her voice cried out.
Primeris opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Six billion, one hundred seventy-three thousand, five hundred sixty-one perforations. Looking at the sleeping woman next to her, she tried to imagine her as the figure in her dream. Dream? Machines don't dream. It has to be the damaged processor.
CHAPTER 12
Major Mistakes
MAJOR TINA HARLIE stood at attention, trying her best not to react to Colonel Cranley's rants. She detested the man, but her personal opinion of him had no place in her profession. Military protocol didn't allow her to show or voice her disapproval of anyone who outranked her.
"What the hell happened while I was gone?" Cranley yelled, standing directly in front of the Major.
If you spit on me, I'll kill you, you fucking asshole, she thought.
"I don't know, sir. I wasn't aware of any problems until you reported the crime."
"You're in charge of security, Major. How could you not know?"
"No one informed me that an interrogation was scheduled," Harlie replied. "I've checked the records. Apparently, Major Simpson didn't follow standard procedure. He signed in two civilians but failed to identify them. The record indicates you cleared them through security."
"That's impossible. Obviously a mistake, or someone's trying to make me look incompetent. Why would I violate my own regulations?"
Lying bastard! Simpson's nose was so far up your ass, he couldn't breathe without inhaling a turd.
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