Inga’s eyes opened and for just one or two horrible seconds, Ivan was sure she didn’t recognize him.
“Myfriend,” the robot said. “Was I asleep for long?”
He took her hand, his earlier doubts completely gone. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
“No, not long at all,” he said to her and looked up at Redfern, who was watching him with a concerned frown. “Start the diagnostics; I want to get her out of here as soon as possible.”
“Sure.”
Jesus, this guy has tin dick bad.
‘Tin dick’ was the derogatory term the technicians had given to describe the love that some clients began to feel for their female robots.
Redfern went to the computer he had started upon their arrival and hit a few keys. Lines of coding began running across the screen, soon filling it as the diagnostic program trawled through Inga’s hard drives and programming.
Ivan didn’t leave Inga’s side. Redfern licked his lips nervously. He needed to call 911 somehow, or the creep would walk out of here with her in the next ten minutes.
Andre shook his head at the Russian’s luck. Hedley Whittaker, being a supreme nerd, had a fully kitted out workshop in his basement. Within fifteen minutes of performing open heart surgery on the smashed device, he had triumphantly held up a small chip to Andre.
Now, as he perspired over his keyboard, a map of Chicago appeared on his bank of monitors, a telltale blip flashing intermittently in the heart of the central business district.
“Whatever the device was tracking, is right there,” said Whittaker, pointing at the screen.
Andre recognized the address; he had taken his boss there several times. It was the Genitix building.
“Excellent. Do you have another device I can use to track them myself?”
“I could rig something up, but it would take me a good few hours…”
“Don’t bother. Can you monitor this screen and call me if they move again? I will pay you double the normal fee.”
Andre could almost see the jackpot signs rolling in the FBI man’s eyes.
“Sure!”
Just a few minutes later, Andre and the others were speeding into the city.
“We have located them,” he reported to Molenski over the phone.
“Good. Remember I want them alive. When you have them, bring them straight here.”
“Yes, Boss…”
“And Andre?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t come back without them.”
“No, boss.”
27
“How long will this take?” asked Ivan.
“About twenty minutes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, at least.”
The big man nodded and turned back to Inga.
“Do you mind if I put some music on? I find it helps me concentrate,” asked Redfern.
Ivan waved his approval and pulled a stool across to sit by Inga. While he didn’t exactly have his back to Redfern, the technician, now sitting at his screen watching the numbers scroll endlessly, was partially shielded from his view.
Redfern hit a few keys on the laptop next to his computer, and classical music began to play softly from the speakers. As he pretended to watch the screen, he looked surreptitiously at the robot and her beau, his hand just by the desk phone.
Redfern saw the big man shuffle a little and look his way before resting his head on the robot’s shoulder. He heard them talking quietly now and then and wondered what such a conversation might be about.
Redfern waited a minute and then reached across and carefully lifted the receiver, placing it gently on the desk before putting both hands back on the keyboard.
Neither the robot nor the man seemed to notice; they continued their quiet but sporadic conversation. After another minute, he dared to dial a line out and then tapped 9-1-1 before quickly moving his hand back to the keyboard.
He saw the timer on the LCD start up. He had been connected.
“Okay,” he said, in a loud voice. “I think you can put the gun away now; it’s almost done.”
Ivan looked at him suspiciously, and Redfern quickly pointed at the screen.
“See? Almost there, no need for the gun anymore.”
“Why are you yelling?”
“I’m not yelling,” said Redfern more quietly, pushing his chair back to block his view of the phone.
Ivan stood up, spotting it immediately. Redfern cowered in his chair as Ivan strode over and slammed the phone back onto its cradle before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up out of the chair until their eyes were level.
“You just fucked up” said Ivan, shoving the muzzle of his weapon under the man’s chin.
“Please, I’m sorry! I just…”
Suddenly Inga was there, the lead still running from her head to the computer.
“What is wrong, Myfriend?”
“He tricked us. He has called someone.”
“Is this true, Tom Redfern?”
“Disarm him! You are programmed to prevent a human coming to harm!”
“Due to damage to my systems, I am not compelled to implement the first law of Robotics. This may be due to a malfunction or a corrupt file.”
As if to punctuate her point, a shrill beep sounded from the computer and Redfern looked at the message displayed on the screen.
Scan of Apex Model 0167 completed. Disk 2 corrupted. 1,879 files lost or damaged. Recommend replacement and reprogramming.
“Oh, what the fuck!”
“Please answer the question, Tom Redfern. Is the statement made by Myfriend true?”
“Yes,” he said, distracted. “I called the police. You killed a lot of people… but we have a bigger problem.”
“You thought you could help by calling them?”
Redfern looked back to her and nodded, his eyes big.
“Myfriend, I sense no malice on the part of Tom Redfern, please do not shoot him.”
Over the music, they heard sirens in the distance. He looked back at Redfern and shook him.
“What is this new problem?”
Redfern pointed at the screen.
“She’s not a Sinthetica model, she’s an Apex.”
“What?”
“Apex… she’s a military grade combat prototype.”
Ivan shook him again and Inga placed her hand on his forearm.
“Please, Myfriend… Tell us more Tom.”
“I think whoever tried the hit on this Molenski guy wanted to make sure of it.” He looked at Ivan. “She’s dangerous man, you have to let me deactivate her.”
Ivan tensed and pushed the gun harder under Redfern’s chin.
“Say goodnight motherf…”
“No Myfriend!”
Frustrated, the big man looked at her then nodded. He lowered the gun before pushing Redfern away.
The technician relaxed and looked at Inga with a new respect. There was something about her, and it wasn’t just damaged hardware or the fact that she was potentially even more dangerous than he first thought.”
“Thank you, I…”
Without warning, Ivan lashed out and smashed the handle of the gun against Redfern’s temple. The technician fell back heavily into his chair.
He pushed the unconscious man back to his desk and grabbed his security pass from his shirt pocket before straightening. Inga was looking at him with her eyebrow raised.
He shrugged sheepishly.
“What? I didn’t shoot him. Come, we have to go.”
Andre and his crew were a block away when his phone rang. Half expecting a call from Hedley Whittaker, he was surprised to see BOSS Calling on the screen of his phone.
“Yes, Boss?”