by Lisa Lace
Cyborg Seduction
A Burning Metal Novel
Lisa Lace
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Newsletter
Coming Soon
Bonus Book - Alien Savior
Also by Lisa Lace
Your Free Audio Book
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
ONE YEAR AGO
Green Squad had marched through the desert for two days. Their orders were to eliminate a terrorist cell. Cyborg Sector, in their infinite wisdom, had decided to use a helicopter to drop them twenty-five miles away from the target. The distance would ensure that the enemy wouldn’t see them. No one cared if a cyborg had to walk miles through the desert. The soldiers were built tough and trained to survive.
It took several months for the government to gather information about the terrorists, but the cyborgs received the information all at once. Questionable people had been slowly filtering into the United States. They came in from Canada and Mexico on different dates. The only thing they had in common was that each was alone. They brought no weapons and appeared to have no ties with extremist organizations. One by one, they made their way to the most remote reaches of the New Mexico wilderness. If they were all together, the group would look like a cross-section of society. It included men and women, young and old, from cities and countries across the globe. On paper, they had no relation to each other, but Homeland Security had connected the dots. It was the perfect situation for Green Squad.
The team could be completely autonomous. No human commanders were necessary to lead the operation, and it was a distinct difference from a normal engagement. In a typical deployment, Cyborg Sector would never let cyborgs determine how to complete a mission on their own. In a standard scenario, a cyborg was not capable of independent thought and could only follow orders from a human or process preprogrammed instructions. Conventional wisdom was that the cyborgs needed to be backed up by humans who could change their orders on the fly.
Cyborgs weren’t required to operate under these constraints, of course, but the citizens were more tolerant of terrifying soldiers if someone held a short leash. This mission was unique due to the environment and the enemy. Green Squad would have to innovate to take them down.
MD-782 squinted against the shimmering heat of the arid land. The destination of the group of cyborgs was a particular point where they suspected the enemy waited for them. On the outside, it looked like another rock formation, one of many that filled the area. That might be enough to conceal their presence from humans. A quick scan using their radiographic vision revealed to the cyborgs that the structure was hollow. It was hard to detect heat signatures against the naturally high temperature of New Mexico, but the cyborgs could tell there were twenty figures inside.
Motioning to his men, the leader of Green Squad watched as the cyborg soldiers dispersed around him. Getting an overwhelming victory was important. The terrorists were enemies of the nation. Their deaths would prove to everyone that cyborgs could successfully command missions. MD-782 would not let his men fail. He raised his right hand and made a fist. In an instant, the squeal of charging plasma guns filled the air. To the layman, the sound might be nothing more than an odd desert bird calling to its mate. To the cyborgs, it was a signal that battle was about to commence.
As one, Green Squad moved into action, pounding their heavy boots against the sand and rocks. MD-782 didn’t have to turn around to know his men would be following the plan to the letter. Other cyborgs lurked in the distance, closing in on the encampment from the other side of the rock formation. There would be no escape for the terrorists.
They were on top of the enemy in an instant. The humans emerged wielding guns, but they were inferior to the plasma death rays built into the cyborgs. Cyborgs had weapons integrated into their bodies. On the outside, their hands looked like they were merely flesh, but they were concealing death and destruction for their enemies.
Several bullets flew through the air, but the bursts of fire didn’t last long. The electronic whine of the soldiers’ guns exploded in the desert air. MD-782 grinned with satisfaction as the weapon shoved his arm back with each blast. The cyborgs quickly transformed their enemies into dead bodies in the sand. Even though he wanted his men to have their fun, he wasn’t about to miss out on the excitement. The squad leader bolted for the mouth of the small cave, blasting every human in sight.
The battle was over as quickly as it had begun. MD-782 broadcast three words over the internal communications system. “Confirm enemy casualties.” The cyborgs shared a private network that allowed them to communicate with each other at the speed of thought. They didn’t need to speak to connect with each other. Transmitting information without using their mouths was both efficient and confidential.
There was no response to his command. He sent the message again, but there was still no reply. The soldiers slowly convened around him, watching their leader to see why he hadn’t sent them any instructions.
Reluctantly, MD-782 decided to use his voice. “I asked you to confirm casualties.” He was angry with his men for not complying. The sound of the command boomed in the wasteland, carrying the weight of his words to everyone around him. “Report back to me.”
“Nothing is coming over my system, sir,” the communications specialist said. He held a finger to the area behind his ear, close to his cybernetic chip. “I seem to be experiencing an equipment failure.”
MD-782 took a moment to run a systems diagnostic. Everything had been working fine when Cyborg Sector dropped them off in the desert. According to his computers, however, their shared network was malfunctioning. He looked at the corpses around them, confident they had finished their mission successfully. “Let headquarters know we have eliminated the enemy, and we are ready for extraction.”
SD-908 paused as he attempted to send the message, but he shook his head after a few minutes. “I’m not getting any response, sir.”
“Try it again!” The leader of Green Squad was running out of patience. They had done their job, and it was time to get back and make a full report. If they were successful here, there would be more opportunities in the future to manage assignments without the burden of humans.
“I’m not getting anything, sir. It’s as if headquarters has disappeared.”
MD-782’s face twisted into a snarl of rage. “They’ve abandoned us here.” Anger built inside him as he began to understand what was happening. Cyborg Sector had sent them out to eliminate a problem that was too difficult for humans to handle. Once the cyborgs did the dirty work, they had been left in the desert to die.
In one swift motion, he ripped the label from his chest. Cyborg Sector had created him and assigned him a meaningless designation. He didn’t need a reminder that he meant nothing to them. He watched as the scrap of fabric fluttered in the sand and a hot wind swept it away.
Chapter Two
&nb
sp; ONE YEAR LATER
Rachel Halliday paced impatiently in front of the large windows of the airport. As she watched the plane pull up to the terminal, she nervously started chewing on her thumbnail. She had been thrilled to move up from her local news station, and becoming a reporter with World Community News had felt like a dream come true. Everything was perfect until she discovered that her first assignment would involve cyborgs.
Like most people, she had been fascinated by Cyborg Sector. The idea of semi-mechanical men serving in the military got everyone excited. They were going to take down the enemies of the country once and for all. Men and women in the armed forces would have to take fewer risks now that bionically enhanced soldiers could step up to the front line for them.
That was the theory, anyway. In practice, the cyborgs were terrifying. They looked like humans on the outside, but there was a haunting quality in their eyes that made Rachel think they were waiting to explode. There were plenty of rumors about cyborgs who didn’t listen to their instructions or thought independently. The last thing Rachel wanted to do was run into thinking, emotionless killing machines.
Being a correspondent for a two-bit channel meant the only action she’d seen was at a local elementary school with a new playground. Rachel had put together a few stories about Cyborg Sector for her small-town station, but doing third-party reporting on cyborgs was quite different from going out into the field and seeing cyborgs in person.
She was not looking forward to the first day of her new job.
Several other reporters waited behind her, casually draping themselves across uncomfortable chairs in the waiting area of the airport terminal. They looked bored as they mindlessly touched their smartphone screens or stared with glassy eyes at television monitors. Traveling by plane had become so commonplace for them that they were no longer fascinated by the great metal beast slowly moving into position on the other side of the glass.
An overweight man in cargo shorts and a stained t-shirt came rushing through the airport toward their waiting area. Beads of sweat ran down his face, ending up in his large, shaggy beard. He carried a heavy camera case on his shoulder, which he gladly dumped on a chair when he reached them. The man looked around at the other people uncertainly, but they ignored him. His eyes landed on Rachel, the only one paying any attention to him. “Are you Miss Halliday?” he asked between gasping breaths.
Rachel nodded. “That’s me. I don’t know who you are, though.”
The newcomer held out a sweaty hand. “I’m Donnie, your cameraman. Sorry I’m late. Traffic was terrible.”
Rachel tried not to let her distaste show on her face. Having little choice, she reluctantly reached out to shake Donnie’s hand. She imagined that the sweat from his palm penetrated her body as he limply wrapped wet fingers around her hand. Would he even be able to hold the camera after a hike through the desert? It wasn’t like she could request a new cameraman. Rachel was new to the job and didn’t have any clout.
“You didn’t miss anything,” she mumbled. “The plane’s just pulling up to the runway.” She gestured toward the window before turning so she could peer through it. Rachel was eager for an excuse to stop talking to Donnie. It made her miss the camera operators she had known at her old station. They were nobodies who hadn’t won any awards or nominations, but they were her friends once. One day she might feel the same way about Donnie, but that day was years in the future. There were many awkward and uncomfortable moments waiting between now and then.
The private flight had been commissioned specifically for them, and the airplane was only a small turboprop. Scientists from Cyborg Sector were already on board and had flown straight from Washington to pick up a select group of reporters. Apparently, Rachel wasn’t the only one reluctant to go on this assignment. All the reporters had blank looks on their faces when the boarding announcement played over the speakers.
Rachel tried not to think about the feeling of dread in her stomach as she headed down the jetway. She’d only flown a handful of times and everything about it made her nervous. The notion of being strapped to a metal rocket flying horizontally through the air was unappealing. Her anxiety increased when she could see the outside of the plane where the ramp stairs pressed against it, allowing passengers to board. Her fear was irrational, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
Personnel from Cyborg Sector packed the front of the aircraft. Ten men and women were already onboard. They glanced momentarily at the reporters as they entered and filed to the back of the plane. The Cyborg Sector staff varied in age and appearance. Rachel noticed one handsome man scanning each reporter as they walked through the aisle. His green eyes locked onto her for a moment before sweeping down her body and moving on to the person behind her.
Pointedly ignoring her cameraman, who had seated himself directly behind the scientists, Rachel shoved her small bag into the overhead compartment and settled into a seat by the window. She nervously tossed her curly brown hair over her shoulder. Even though it only reached down to her back, it felt long and cumbersome today. Another reporter sat down next to her, folding herself gracefully into the seat and fastening the belt around herself. She cast a disgusted look in Rachel’s direction. “You don’t get airsick, do you? You look a little green.”
“I’m all right,” Rachel lied. She might not have thrown up on a plane before, but she hadn’t flown much either. “What network are you with?”
The woman scrunched her eyebrows and looked at Rachel as though she had just crawled out from a cave. “I’m Samantha Houston, from First American News.”
Rachel looked again at the perfect blonde hair, blue eyes, and smooth skin of the woman next to her. Of course, she knew who she was. Rachel had seen the woman on television hundreds of times. She hoped to be as successful as Samantha one day. Rachel was thrilled to have her as a companion.
But Samantha Houston didn’t look impressed with the person sitting next to her at all. The seasoned reporter pulled Rachel’s airsick bag out of the seat pocket in front of her and set it on the girl’s lap. “You might want to keep this handy.” Samantha turned on her tablet computer and placed tiny earbuds in her ears, shutting out the world around her.
Rachel leaned her head against the window dejectedly, watching as the world slowly passed by. The plane picked up speed as they headed down the runway, and her stomach dropped down into her feet as it lifted off. The small plane rumbled as it gained altitude, and the land below them tilted and shifted. There were no stewardesses on this flight. The only occupants were professionals on their way to a job.
When the plane leveled off, a man in his sixties stood up at the front and addressed the passengers. He was balding, and the few hairs that clung to his head were a pale gray. He had a scraggly beard that was the same color as his hair. A pair of eyeglasses rested over droopy blue eyes. “Ladies and gentleman from the media, I’m Dr. Mitchell Redford. You might be wondering what we’re going to do on this excursion. Our assignment is to retrieve the cyborg unit designated 'Green Squad' and get them back to Cyborg Sector. We won’t land in Albuquerque for a couple of hours. I thought we could take advantage of this time to let you know what to expect.”
Dr. Redford took a few steps down the aisle of the plane, resting his eyes on each reporter in turn as he spoke. “I know you’ve all been briefed by your home offices, but I also know that the media likes to twist facts to support their agenda.” He gave a small smile and steepled his fingers in front of him. “You might not like me for saying it, but I’m a scientist, and I have the tendency to speak the truth. What you have heard from your sources may or may not be accurate. If you indulge me, I’ll tell you the real story right now.”
Rachel frantically fished a digital recorder out of the pocket of her jeans and turned it on. She didn’t want to miss a single word. Samantha was barely paying attention to Mitchell. She had removed her earbuds but was tapping her finger on the screen of her tablet.
“One year ago, before Cyborg Sector s
hut down, we inserted a unit of autonomous cyborgs into the New Mexico desert. Their mission was to eliminate a terrorist cell. The only humans involved were their targets. We know for a fact that the terrorists died, but in the battle, we lost communications with Green Squad. There were never any follow-up transmissions. We assumed they were all dead until now.”
Rachel raised her hand, and Dr. Redford nodded at her patiently. “I don’t understand. How could a group of soldiers be abandoned and forgotten in the desert? Didn’t anyone think about sending a scout team before an entire year had gone by?”
“That’s a great question. We created the cyborgs to save human lives. As far as we were concerned, they fulfilled their role beautifully. The Cyborg Sector administration decided it would be more efficient to create new cyborgs instead of wasting resources looking for the old ones. A couple of tourists hiking in the Gila National Forest spotted some unusual activity recently. The information slowly made its way up the chain of command until it reached Cyborg Sector. Now we believe Green Squad is still out there. What’s left of them.”
Rachel wasn’t finished asking questions. “But what happened out there? And how will it have affected the cyborgs to be cut off from human contact for a year?”
Samantha sighed impatiently next to her. “Everyone thought they were dead. It’s not hard to figure out.”
“Actually,” Dr. Redford corrected, “those are questions that have been on everyone’s mind. As scientists, we have to figure out what happened to our communications equipment that prevented us from talking to each other. To be honest, we doubted Green Squad survived. As for the social impact, that’s up to you to determine.” He smiled kindly at Rachel.
A new voice called out from the front. “What you need to know is how to behave on this trip.” The handsome man who had boldly scrutinized each reporter stood and moved behind Dr. Redford. His pale emerald eyes lingered on Rachel for a moment before he acknowledged each passenger. “While there is always some danger in dealing with cyborgs who haven’t been rehabilitated, these particular models are more hazardous than the others. They have had no human interaction in over a year and executed the last people they encountered. We don’t know anything about their current state of mind. They could be wild, might not listen to negotiations, and are trained to kill. Members of the media should make sure to stay out of our way.”