I, Android: A Different Model

by Heather Killough-Walden

  Getting wet would never fry Luke’s circuits; I’d made sure of that by creating a sealer for all of Prometheus’s androids. But it did make for good conversation.

  Jack took up the reins, turning to me as if to exclude Zero from that conversation altogether. “You know, I’ve always wondered about that? Like, how does rain not fry android circuits?” I knew he wasn’t actually curious and was only trying to get further under Zero’s skin. Jack really hated him. But I obliged anyway.

  “It’s an interesting and rather in-depth concept,” I told him, playing right along. “See, there’s this silicon layer just under the surf-”

  “Enough.”

  We stopped talking and turned to Zero, whose own EED was now glowing red, and whose clothing had returned to its normal white on black. He narrowed his gaze dangerously and the door behind us resounded with a warning bang.

  The androids on the other side were trying to get through. And by the sound of things, it wouldn’t be long before they succeeded.

  “Samantha,” said Zero, speaking directly to me. “Make no mistake. I will have what I desire of you before the week is out. You put on a brave face,” Zero told me softly. He smiled again, another cold and confident play of expression. “And I understand why.” He glanced pointedly at Jack and Lucas. “But I suspect you know I speak the truth more than you let on.”

  The door gave another, louder thud behind us, followed by a cracking sound.

  “As if she’d ever give in to a scumbag piece of scrap metal like you,” growled Jack. He moved to take a step toward Zero, but Lucas stopped him by taking the step first and blocking Jack’s progress. He shook his head once at Jack, a warning to stay back. His EED sensor was now a solid yellow, but on the orange side of yellow rather than the blue.

  I turned and stared the IRM-1000 down. “It’s no idle threat when I tell you I would readily die before I willingly allowed you to get your hands on any more of my inventions,” I told him frankly.

  Zero shook his head at me as if in wonder. “Oh, I’m sure it’s no idle threat. I’m well aware of your fondness for jumping off buildings.” He retained his smile and waited for us to mentally catch up.

  “Jumping off buildings?” Jack asked.

  “He means the transport malfunction,” I said, quickly putting two and two together.

  Zero chuckled softly, lacing his hands together behind his back to pace a few steps forward. “How else do you suppose Lucas was able to get through level twenty-seven in time to save you?”

  It hit me then. The building’s upper level rooms had been empty, free of guards. Not only that, the windows in these office buildings were normally shatter-proof. In fact, they were even bullet-proof. But Jack and Lucas had made it to floor twenty-seven unhindered and broken right through one of those windows so that Lucas could catch me when I fell. As if they’d known ahead of time, and the way had been cleared.

  Zero not only mentally controlled the androids on the other side of that door – he controlled the entire building. As if hard-wired into it on a molecular level.

  “Samantha needs you on floor twenty-seven,” muttered Jack.

  I frowned. “What?”

  “It was the message we received,” explained Luke without taking his eyes off the enemy. “It came through on the channel for Prometheus, but was tagged from an unknown sender. “The message instructed us to break the window. So I did. And then I looked up to find you falling toward me.”

  So that was how he knew. “But that means….”

  “It was you,” Lucas told Zero, giving voice to what I’d just figured out. “You were the one who sent the message. You saw her here. And you knew the device was malfunctioning.”

  “Of course it was me,” said Zero with a nonchalant shrug of his perfect shoulders. “I was not in the position at the time to save her myself. But you were close, and messages travel at light speed.” He smiled. “I can’t have my prize flame snuffed out before she’s even begun to burn her brightest.”

  The door behind us gave one final loud battering boom behind us, the cracking sound became one of splintering wood and shattering cement – and we spun around in time to watch the entirety of Zero’s army file onto the rooftop, tranq guns in hand, EED’s blazing red.

  “There now,” said a voice at my ear. I jumped and spun back around to find Zero directly in front of me, less than an inch away. His chest touched my chest in the most intimate of places.

  Whether it bothered Lucas or not how identical he was to Zero, it definitely bothered me. As I stared up into his familiar face but cold blue eyes, I was overwhelmed with dichotomous emotions. I was afraid. But… I was something else too.

  As that dichotomy scrambled my senses and laid waste to my ability to figure out an escape plan, Zero easily grasped both of my wrists with his strong hands and whispered, “Now we’re getting somewhere, Samantha.”

  Chapter Three

  “I said, do not speak her name!”

  I jolted out of the mesmerized state Zero’s magnetic eyes had put me in when Luke’s arm crashed down between us and grasped Zero’s left elbow at a pressure point. I felt the android’s grip lessen on my right wrist, and instantly used what self defense Prometheus had taught me to pull that hand inward then up, freeing it entirely from his grasp.

  I would have balled my hand into a fist and punched Zero then, but Zero’s processor was much faster than a human’s, naturally. So he didn’t wait to give me an opening.

  Lucas had taken temporary control from him with his move, and the millisecond Zero realized he’d lost the upper hand with me, he turned his attention on Lucas – the current trouble-maker. His EED flashed red with true annoyance just before Lucas took a swing.

  I scrambled backward as the two of them went toe-to-toe.

  Once I’d given them space, I spun and looked for Jack. Guided by the sound of prolific swearing and bear-like growls, I spotted him on the other side of the struggling androids – struggling with his own androids. They were trying to hold him between them, three of the massive machines gripping his arms and spreading them wide enough that he couldn’t gain any leverage to defend himself.

  He called them every name in the book, but his eyes glanced once back to Lucas and me. I knew he’d noticed I was free, but the man was good enough at ruses by this point not to draw attention to it. Not that it mattered, unfortunately. Half the android force on the roof had been watching Zero. So naturally they’d all seen him release me.

  I wasted no time. At once, I made a break for it, diving in Jack’s direction. As I moved, I searched for his fallen weapon, measured the distance between us, figured the speed I would need to knock one of his captors off-balance, and tried to plan accordingly. I’d been told by Shawn, another android with Prometheus, that this was exactly what androids did before they attempted a complicated maneuver. I found that interesting and chose to view it as a compliment. I was as smart as an android!

  Half a dozen of Zero’s soldiers stepped between me and Jack, just as I knew they would. I dropped into a slide, went right between their legs – hello! – and got back to my feet on the other side. Then I used a move that Sonia, another android at Prometheus, had taught me. The move was for getting rid of drunk assholes at bars.

  Sonia was a red-haired android victim of a sadistic “owner” who’d only purchased her for… well, unpleasant things. When the android revolution went full-swing, Sonia grew brave. During a particularly bad scuffle, she managed to knock the psychopath out and ran away. A few days later, she joined Prometheus and began training in half a dozen martial arts. Androids learned so much faster than humans. She quickly became the head defense instructor for the rebel group.

  I scissor-kicked the android holding Jack’s arm, aiming for the soldier’s chin. My kick hit its mark, snapping the soldier’s head violently backward. As a result, his hold on Jack lessened, and Jack instantly broke free. Then I spun and rolled in the opposite direction, aiming for the corner I’d seen Jack’s gu
n slide to. If I’d been counting right in the stairwell, it only had three shots left. I would have to be careful who I aimed for.

  “Contact Daniel!” I yelled as I made my rolling-running way across the rooftop, dodging the arms and legs of androids who tried to stop my progress.

  “Already tried!” came Jack’s gruff reply. Of course you did, I thought. As a former cop, Jack had been fighting bad guys a hell of a lot longer than I had. He was way ahead of me.

  But he’d said he’d “tried,” not “did.” Which meant he’d failed to contact Daniel. No doubt Zero was way ahead of him, and he’d done something to negate our ability to communicate with anyone outside Vector Fifteen.

  I managed to make it to the gun and wrap my right hand around the grip just as things suddenly went quiet and still on the rooftop. Fear arced through me hard and cold. There hadn’t been enough time for Daniel and the cavalry to arrive. So the only reason the androids would have to instantly stop fighting would be that they’d gained the upper hand.

  And I had a pretty good idea why that might happen.

  I spun where I was crouched and got my feet under me, raising the gun as I stood. I was right. Jack had once again been captured by a number of androids, no fewer than five, and Lucas was facing off with his very own twin.

  For some reason no one could fathom, IRM-1000 bore an uncomfortably close resemblance to Lucas. Same hair, same facial structure, same color skin, same expressions, and even the same voice, more or less. They really did look like twins. However, for the first time, I noticed Zero was actually taller. By a good few inches, too. That would have put him in at around 6’4.

  Zero was holding Luke up against the wall of the control building on the roof, and Lucas was looking a little worse for wear. His EED sensor was bright red, his shirt had come untucked, his tie was all but gone, and there were various green scratches marring his face.

  Zero on the other hand looked as immaculately put together as ever. Barely a hair was out of place on his handsome head. His EED had even returned to blue. Asshole.

  I gave voice to my opinion, training the gun on the back of Zero’s head. “Hey asshole!” I called, cocking the weapon that didn’t actually need cocking. I did it for the sound however, and it had its desired effect, freezing IRM-1000 in place.

  I watched his back straighten and his head turn. He looked at me over his shoulder, his eyes now glowing bright white-blue. His sensor faded into yellow and his gaze narrowed on me.

  He sighed as if troubled by nothing more than the impatience he felt for our combined insolence and bad behavior – and then he moved so fast, I barely kept track of what he was doing.

  One second, he had Luke’s back against the wall, and the next he was spinning. Luke was turned around and yanked back against Zero’s chest. I blinked, and Zero had shoved his hand up underneath the front of Luke’s untucked suit shirt.

  The shirt was hastily stained with a growing circle of green, and I knew very well what Zero’s hand was wrapped around: Luke’s molten salt reactor.

  His heart.

  The MSR, or “molt” in each android was tucked just under the surface layers of their chest, and it was the core of an android’s continued existence. It continuously “pumped” the liquid fluoride thorium in, and pumped the uranium out, providing the android with a perpetual source of power. Without it, an android was as dead as a human without a heart.

  “Your choice, Samantha,” Zero told me over Luke’s shoulder. He really was taller. “Put the gun down and your hands up, or watch me prove to you once and for all that I’m the better model.”

  Jack was quiet for once, but I could feel his fury like a living, breathing creature of its own, it was so thick and real on that rooftop. I lowered the gun at once.

  Lucas gritted his teeth and ground out, “Samantha, don’t.” I imagined he must have been in a world of pain. Yet as always, when it came to brass tacks, he thought only of others. It was one of the many things I admired about him.

  So of course I ignored his command, uncocking Jack’s weapon before slowly kneeling to set it down on the floor of the roof. I then just as slowly rose again and raised my arms over my head. As I did, I made a mental promise to myself. Next time, I was just going to shoot. I wasn’t going to call out or give any kind of warning or attempt to lessen any bloodshed. I was just going to aim at the bad guy and pull the damn trigger. This, I solemnly swore.

  Zero smiled that triumphant, perfect, and frustratingly handsome smile of his and pushed Lucas away from him with one strong shove. Luke stumbled forward to be caught at once by a handful of soldiers, who wasted no time stretching him out between them just as they had Jack.

  Zero swiveled his gaze to me. I swallowed hard and took a step back.

  Our only hope now was Daniel. But a dark spot on that hope was that Zero was well aware the group was on its way, hence he would probably be waiting for them. Which actually meant Daniel and his team were heading directly into a trap.

  Now I realized I needed to find a way to warn them.

  As my mind spun through possible modes of communication – there were, like, two – Jack spoke up. Rather, he swore-growled in his usual mode of speech, and gave voice to one of his usual affectations. But I knew what he was doing. He was buying us time.

  “Hey Zero!” he called out. In response, the EED’s on the soldiers holding him began to flash. I realized Zero was communicating with them without taking his eyes off me, and I was proven right when they strengthened their hold on Jack, pulling hard enough on his arms that he winced in pain.

  But Jack went on talking stubborn as ever, just in voice more strained than before. “Congratulations! You really are the better model! You finally won a fight against three people including a girl and an old man, with an entire android army backing you up! You live up to your name!”

  I watched Zero – who continued to watch me. But his expression was darkening, his eyes were going from blue to red, and his EED was mirroring that color change. I took it all in, but my attention wasn’t truly on the light show. It was on something Zero had just done. He’d just communicated with his soldiers… the way Daniel could communicate with the android members of Prometheus!

  So far it had only been Daniel who could do it; something about him was special. And long-distance proximity had never been tested by having Daniel try to communicate with any Prometheus androids from far away. But if Lucas could somehow concentrate hard enough to turn the communication around and get even a short message out to Daniel before the team showed up, he could warn him about the likely trap waiting for them.

  Not that I didn’t think Daniel could take down Zero’s men. I knew he could. But I wanted no casualties. I wanted no more androids getting hurt. That was the whole point of Prometheus in the first place, was it not? It was. So I knew Daniel would want the same. He would pull back, regroup, and make his own Plan B for a rescue.

  With this in mind, I tried to make eye contact with Lucas. It was easy because he was already watching me. I wasted no time. I blinked. Then blinked again. In quick succession, I used a rather ancient method of military communication. I Morse-coded out a single, broken three-word phrase: Mind warn Daniel.

  Zero made a tsk-ing sound, clucking his tongue as if he were disappointed in a small, errant child. “Now, now,” he scolded. “That’s enough of that.”

  I stopped blinking and looked up as Zero stepped between me and Lucas, blocking my view of the other android. Zero was much closer to me now, and that old fear was again uncoiling cold in my belly. I’d been concentrating so hard on communicating with Lucas, I hadn’t been keeping track of our enemy. He was a mere arms-reach away.

  I took another step back only to find myself bumping into the wall of what I remembered from the schematics was the roof’s storage facility. Great, I thought. How did I forget all these fucking roof-top buildings?

  “My kind can continue in perpetuity,” said Zero calmly as he took that final step that closed the distance
between us then looked down at me. “Humans however do grow old and die. So let’s not waste any more of your precious time, Samantha.” His smile broadened, his eyes sliding becoming so glacial, they reminded me of something…. “Take my hand, come with me right now, and I will see to it that your friends are kept alive. Otherwise?” A cold beat passed between us, one as cold as that glacial gaze. “They die here on this roof. And you will come with me regardless.”

  My mind screamed. It screamed and screamed two very different sentences: Daniel, help us! And, Daniel, it’s a goddamn trap! Not that he could hear either sentence. It was just something humans did when they were afraid. They prayed to their saviors for help. And Daniel would always be my GhandiBuddhaJesus.

  But while my head was plenty noisy inside, for once Lucas and Jack were both quiet. I could only see Jack. I glanced at him to find his face pinched and pale with pain, his guards holding him a little too vigorously. I could only imagine something similar was going on with Lucas.

  It was all up to me now. And to me the most important thing was that Jack and Luke remained alive.

  With every ounce of courage I possessed, I turned back to the man who was standing over me, waiting patiently for my decision. I lifted my chin and said, “Yeah, okay. You win this round. I really didn’t want to try the transport beacons anyway, and to be honest, I need to use the restroom.” I put my hand in his and tried not to wince when his fingers tightened around mine with quite a bit more force than Luke’s had.

  “Shit, Sam…” Jack finally managed to grind out.

  “What?” I asked with as much nonchalance as I could muster. “I really gotta pee!”

  But Zero yanked me close beside him and turned to make his way to the roof exit. Trying to keep up with his long stride as the androids parted in front of us and my heart hammered like one of Metallica’s classics was winding me already.