I AM A GIRL CYOBORG PET

by ROUNAK PURI

  "No. Hang on what's happening?" I said ,'Argoto' was the brain washing keyword Zola had used on me.

  "Zola said brainwashing but she actually used her acupuncture skills on you." said Joe.

  "But I saw the video of Rockwood and Kayla. Kayla could took the collar off" I said.

  "Kayla only changed collars minutes before that interview. She had been upgraded to an iCollar 3.0 like you, but if you notice the collar she was wearing in the meeting was a green and black standard cortona collar. We were all amazed you didn't pick that one up.We hadn't figured on your lack of attention to detail skills, and yes I have changed my hair color thank you for not noticing" said Joe.

  "I was going to mention it but you know zombie horde outside" I confessed.

  "Forget it If The commission had figured out Kayla was lying they would have killed her. She lied about being a collaborator the second time around. It was the only way Rockwood could make the whole - Jenny was just an experiment, don't take her away - , lie work. Kayla really put her backside on the line for you. She was taking really big risk, but she did it for you."5

  I sat down on the bed. I didn't know who was more dizzy.

  "But he said he didn't love me. I was just an experiment" I said hardly able to say the words.1

  "That was what we technically call 'a lie' in the trade. If he told them the truth they would have either killed you or sent you to a huge amount of obedience training. Rockwood wouldn't find it easy to be more than a second assistant to a Unicorn in Alaska after that too. Zola thought she had him. He could say yes he loved you and the commission would take you away for upgrading, or he could say no and Zola could use it to create a split between him and you. He thought if he lied blatantly enough you would pick up the errors. She had people looking at your collar cam constantly to make sure he didn't contact you. That's why he sent you on the pod delivery mission."

  "How was sending me delivering pods help?" I said.

  "Did you look in the pods?" Joe said

  "No"

  "I know you didn't, you know how I know ? I was sitting next to Master while watching your collar cam stream he's shouting 'LOOK IN THE POD YOU IDIOT'' He was sure your natural curiosity would make you look." Joe continued.

  "Look. look at what?" I said. I was feeling something for the first time and I wasn't sure what.

  Joe pulled out a small tablet and used his collar to bring up some photos.

  "I took these when Kayla and I went to check out the Osprey a couple of months ago" said Joe. I swiped at the photos the first one was of the landed Osprey where Areanna had dragged me out. You could see the solar panels facing the sun. There were a few more it looked like pictures captured from a collar cam. The photos got closer and then into the deck of the Osprey. The next one was of the pod. Then the pod with a hatch marked 'do not move this hatch' lifted up. It covered a small porthole window. The next picture was clearly down the view of the portal. It was on to a face.

  "That looks a bit like My half brother Jez" I said.

  "It should do, that is your half brother Jez" said Joe.

  The next picture looked familiar "That's my cousin Mary" I said.

  Then I got to the next photo and my heart jumped out of my chest over a building in single bound. It was a picture of my mum smiling and an arm around a smiling Belinda with the buildings of the Artificial island 7 behind them.

  "Mom!" I said.5

  "And your dad too" said Joe.

  "Which one?"

  "Number one your bio dad" said Joe.

  "I thought they had all been packed" I said.

  "Packed into a suspended animation chamber yes." said Joe.

  I paused. "So when Villeria said they were being 'put to sleep' she meant it literally"

  "Yeah but it's a big secret. Don't tell anyone, the quadratic alliance would hit the roof if they knew" said Joe.

  Then a huge harpoon hit my heart. I was starting to realise what happened.

  "So Rockwood actually loves me. Really truly." I said to Joe.16

  "If you had seen him over the last month... months desperate to find you then you wouldn't ask. He wants to tell you him self. I was sent to ask you if you would talk to him again. Him just him. He doesn't know what you have been doing for the last few months. He said what ever you choose he would understand, but if you could bare to talk that would be the only wish he would ever have. He promises not to bring any slave robots with him. So If you want to go afterwards he's good with that. "

  "He still loves me?" I said still stunned.

  "You don't choose who you love Jenny. Even if your a cyborg" said Joe.

  "Hang on what about thingying me. I was told he was using me like a drug" I said.

  "Who told you that?" said Joe leaning back confidently.

  "ohh I see what you mean - Zola."

  "The neutraliser kinds of allows him into your mind,but it means you get into his." Joe started " For a while you form a group consusness. Two minds linked as one forming this single entry which apparently called it's self 'Brokney'. You revel your self completely to each other. "1

  "A single mind? Called Brokney?"

  "It generally doesn't work - the minds must be sympathetic to each other. You too just clicked" said Joe.

  "oh so he wasn't sucking the brain blood out of me" I said sitting down.

  Joe half smiled "No more than a phone call - you share ideas"

  "Really that's it? So why could I never remember" I asked.

  "He rohypnoled you or rather you rohypnoled your self. Rockwood generally did that as a precaution, when you were in his mind you would know what he knows and he knew about ... well some pretty important stuff. You would have remembered it while you were awake. Brokney knew that Jenny couldn't be trusted. You would have to be locked in the harem and Rockwood wanted you outside and a live incase he got found out. Well Brokney thought it was for the best."

  "So you're saying I hack my own brain" I said.

  "No, Brokney nobbled its brain and you were 50% of Brokney"4

  "Wow I so hate my self when I'm thingyed" I said.

  "Well if you don't like that then never get blind drunk" said Joe.

  I felt I was out of control over thin ice I didn't know how I felt. I was like I had been through an emotion steam press and my two dimensional self didn't know how to feel any more, but it wouldn't hurt to talk to that cyborg.+

  "OK send him down" I said.

  Joe stood up and pressed a button on his collar.

  "Big momma, Big momma It's a go for the other packages" said Joe to his collar leading the way outside again

  *****

  Chapter 91/Resistance/I was thinking the barrier needs a theme

  Joe led the way outside and shielding his heavily makeup eyes looked up. I looked in the direction and saw a contrail with two small dots falling from it. Loop and about twenty werewolf marines were standing outside. As soon as we walked out everyone was looking at Joe.

  "Loop Guru man it's good to see you" said Joe smiling "Rodi you too" he added to Rodi.

  "Is that you DarkZero ?- you've changed a lot man" said Rodi.

  "They did a lot of surgery on me, but the good news is they didn't put my face in the middle of my sternum" said Joe looking at what part of Joe's anatomy Rodi's was staring at.

  "Can I be your boy ?" said Redshirt.1

  "I don't know, let me ask my girl friend." said Joe to the sound of the anguished sighs of those around.

  " We better clear this area" he added.

  Joe let Redshirt carry his exotic gun while he slinked up the stairs to the perimeter wall on his high heels. We got to the parapet looking out over the valley beyond when the first dot exploded in to a ball of airbags. The other dot shot forward and then bloomed white as well. The second ball of airbags flew over our heads hit a large building behind us and then bounced in a shower of dust and rust into the compound behind the wall. The second one hit the metal wall bounced off and shot to land near a tree in the sea of zombi
es.

  Joe looked back into the compound and shouted "Kayla!" and ran back down the steps. I looked out to see the distant figure of Rockwood emerging from the airbags beyond. He was immediately set upon by a number of zombies. He moved at lighting speed and did some cool kung-fu moves to knock them to the ground. He started to move faster than anyone I had seen before in my life. Soon he had run and fought his way to a space before the gates.1

  "You OK?" I shouted down.

  Rockwood took on about twelve Zombies and deftly took each one down without triggering the mine on their bodies. Soon he was standing in a circle of downed zombies frozen in a fighting pose and looked up. You wanted to say 'oh yeah'.

  "I'm fine, can I come in?" shouted Rockwood back.

  "Sure, I'll open the gates" I said. Rockwood using his elbow on the face of the zombie behind him with out looking said "No need"3

  Rockwood ran at the guard tower jumped to the side pushed of from the wall and jumped again on to the platform next to me. Very Jackie Chan.

  "Glad you could make it" I said to Rockwood as the zombies became more active.

  I got the feeling Rockwood wanted to hug me but felt self contious in front of every one.

  "Yeh well I had to break a few engagements to get here, but you know I made it. Not that your special to me or anything" said Rockwood.3

  Yeh right.

  Back in the compound Kayla was being helped out of the airbags by Joe. They kissed in greeting.

  "Parmesan vomit-ey," Kayla shouted up to me waving "yeh I get it now!"2

  I looked around at the soldiers and werewolf marines all looking at Kayla and Joe kissing, and feeling this was the most dreamy and worst moment of their lives. Kayla was carrying a rifle like Joe's and a brief case. She took Joe's hand and they came up the steps.

  Most of the marines around me were pointing there weapons at Rockwood.

  "Brooklyn this is Captain Loop Guru. Loop this is Cyber Lord Brooklyn Rockwood. I would like it if you boys got a long, by get along I mean no shooting, stabbing, ripping limbs of et-cet-a-ra" I said.1

  Rockwood narrowed his eyes at Loop and Loop didn't blink at Rockwood.1

  "What ever you say Alpha" said Loop.

  "They made you the Alpha? You must tell me your career success secrets sometime." said Rockwood.

  "Yeh, I've had an invite to go on a motivational speaker circuit about it." I said.

  "You can make good money do that" said Rockwood.

  A slightly breathless Kayla reached the platform on the top of the security fence.

  "I think apologies are in order" I said hugging a slightly tearful Kayla.

  "Mine or yours" said Kayla briefcase in hand.

  "Mine all mine." I said " I'm so sorry. Joe told me all about it. I'll do my best never to doubt you ever , ever ,ever again. What have you got there?" I said nodding at the case.1

  "We brought another friend" said Kayla. She pressed a button on the handle and the case fell apart and unfolded into the familiar shape of Mr Jones.3

  "Mr Jones such a delight to see you. There was I dreading the idea of going into battle with out some reliable fashion advice. I hardly recognised you without the sketch book" I said.

  "Thanks angel, that's possibly the most flattering thing anyone has said about me. The camouflage green suits your eyes" said Mr Jones. All the marines pointed there guns at Mr Jones.

  I pointed at the cyber zombies over the wall.

  "These are the bad guys" I said waving my hands at the Zombies. "this side these are the good guys" I said waving my hands at Rockwood, Joe, Kayla, Mr Jones and all the Marines. "Remember the battle plan, don't make me get it printed on a teeshirt for you."

  "Hang on a second angel" said Mr Jones swinging away down to the ground.

  "During the war Mr Jones was an infiltration unit. He was design to use his high levels of creativity to improvise weapons behind enemy lines. I thought he could help and he won't talk." started Rockwood. Ok a robot Macgyver would be good . "He jumped at the chance. From orbit your situation is you have about 100,000 zombies outside and another 600,000 coming from various directions all under Zola's control".

  "What on earth are they for?" said Joe.

  "They were his former wife's idea of an army fit to attack Washington 2.0" I said nodding at Loop.

  "Don't look at me like that, I didn't know she was alive 24 hours ago. I'm a widower be nice" said Loop.

  I looked to Rockwood "Say you brought some cavalry and weapons so sexy they are X rated" I said.

  "I could have but it was short notice and after the battle these nice folk would all be enslaved. You too, I wanted to talk but if you really wanted out then I wouldn't stand in your way. A defence force would ruin the whole stealthy nature of my arrival" said Rockwood pointing at the marines and the folk of Liberty City.

  "So we are on our own, against an army of a million Zombies run by a deranged cyborg-et." I pronounced.1

  "They sound like my kind of odds" said Rockwood.

  "Good, we throw him at them first" said Loop.4

  "Look I don't want to die wishing I played more Plants vs Zombies, lets get some options" I said.6

  Just then Mr Jones came back with a bow about twice my height made from a thin steel strip and with a metal spike as an arrow. He used two hands to hold the bow, two to pull it back and then sent an arrow arching over the heads of the zombies hitting one in the far distance. This triggered the mine to go off killing two more Zombies. We cheered This was good but against the huge numbers out there futile.

  "We need to create an inner barrier over there. If they get past this defence they will slow themselves down as the valley gets narrower. Get them bunched together for better sweep of fire." said Joe.

  "Kayla, Rodi, Joe and the delightful Mr Jones. Get building an inner perimeter like Joe said. Grab who ever you need to help. See if you can put traps in the ground. Mr Jones you have my full permission to be creative"2

  Kayla and the others rushed down.

  "I was thinking the barrier needs a theme." said Mr Jones to the others going down the steps. "Perhaps Autumn or perhaps transience".

  War as art I liked the idea.3

  I looked at Rockwood. "Brooklyn - are you here to have your piece and go?"

  "I came back to see how things between us stood. If you want to stay free...well I didn't want to bring any attention which would stop you getting away. If you're staying, I'm staying. I'll either live by your side or die by your side. I'll set you free, but I won't give up loving you." said Rockwood. I kind of melted inside. It felt good, how can it feel good to die next to someone one?10

  "Could you get us out of here?" I asked.

  "You or all of you ?" Rockwood said.

  I nodded "all or nothing"

  "Not with out a fair number of you being enslaved. Zola is out to get me as much as you. She would just vector in the commission for public safety. Get me in trouble for illegal slave trading. Take you. Moving a small city full of people isn't easy to do in stealth. Our only advantage is that she was using the Zombie blood to power some secret extraneous computation servers for her and Bitmarck . She wants to keep this under wraps as much as we do."

  "What is out best option?"

  "You and me Sneak out of the city together leave dog-boy to become Zola's lap dog and exchanging food for zombie blood. Or pray there is a secret back entrance to the abandoned mine Zola doesn't know about. I can't out think her - we are probably about matched based on pure compute power. I drained a lot of slave blood looking for you, I don't have any reserves to call on. Zola and I are fighting over my connection back to the rest of my brain. I"m not sure how reliable this connection will be. If it goes it's just me and my on board three blood chips against a few thousands blood chips in Zolas centeres."1

  Just then Private Whistle spotted something.1

  "Vehicle approaching" he said.

  "What where?" I said not seeing anything.

  "One of Zola's Ospreys landed" said R
ockwood looking out. "Someone on a motor bike is coming towards us. She's a slave."

  After a while I caught sight of the chick on the bike, the zombies slowed down but still walked to the bike. The slave girl stopped before the gate and looked up and took her helmet off revealing a hot blonde with short cropped hair.

  "Brooklyn, Darling let me in!" said the slave.

  "She's a skype slave - she's acting Zola's words" said Rockwood.

  "What makes you think I don't know that? I was your skype slave remember?" I said.

  "I thought dog boy here might not know." said Rockwood.5

  "Can it tin man" said Loop.9

  I turned to the skype slave.

  "Listen shark wick baby, I'm not opening no gates for you and your Zombies. You tell us what you want coz I got some werewolves here you think your ass hole count is low and want to up it for your." I shouted. Can a Cyborg have to many double negatives? 1

  "What do I want? What do I want? " said the slave as Zola "I want the same thing I always wanted. The same thing I wanted from the moment I met you Jenny. I want you. I want you and nothing but you. I thought you knew that. Did Brooklyn tell you I offered 10,000 bit coins for you? Did he tell you I offered him his stupid bill? So now I'm offering you my heart? Do you know how much I can't think straight when your around? My tongue goes dry, I can hardly breathe. Excuse me"

  The slave turned round shot a zombie which was getting too close and then turned back to me.

  "Where was I? OK I wasn't totally honest about things when we first met. I'm sorry about that, you know what it's like the first time you get to speak to some one you really like you tend to... well make things more black and white than they actually are. I just wanted you to like me. Can you blame a girl for that?"1

  "Bring that real ass of yours within firing range and find out" I said.9

  "Hey don't shoot the messager" said the slave girl and changed her accent "Look sweetie, I've got a deal. You come with me. Give me a couple of months to show you, I can make it work and this lot can go free. If after a couple of months your not happy you can leave. All of those nice people your with don't have to get crushed by the army of Zombies, but the worse loss will be you and the long echoes of bliss we could have together.. sounds like a sweet deal right?"1