by Lisa Lace
AD-214’s predicament gave her an idea. “Dr. Feldman, I need to ask you a favor.”
The man snorted with laughter. “A favor? Do you think you’re in a position to ask for things? I suppose you could put yourself in the right position...”
Amanda ignored the innuendo. “AD-214 is still functioning. I want to shut him down all the way. I know you don’t think highly of Blue Squad, but I do. I don’t want him to suffer. Let me put him out of his misery, at least.”
“He’s not dead?” Dr. Feldman asked as he took a small step backward. “Of course he is. I know what a taser can do to a cyborg.”
Amanda shook her head. “Maybe a typical cyborg would be overwhelmed, but you and I both know this one is not normal. He’s stronger than you imagined.”
Dr. Feldman hesitated as he stared at the figure on the floor in horror. “How do you plan to shut him down? You have no equipment. We’d have to take him to Cyborg Sector. It would be easier to shoot him.”
Amanda nodded. “Yes, we will have to take him to the lab,” she agreed. “But it’s the only way to get the job done. You can bring all the clones you want. I promise I’ll return willingly to my hospital room once it’s complete.”
He considered it for a moment. Amanda could see concern reflected in his eyes. He had no reason to trust her, but his fear of Blue Squad was greater than his fear of a female scientist. She felt as though she could read the thoughts running through his head, and could see the precise moment he realized the safest option was to make sure the leader of Blue Squad was undeniably dead.
“All right. You win,” Dr. Feldman agreed with a sigh. “But don’t try to pull anything. Any member of Red Squad can take you down in an instant.”
Amanda didn’t need reminding of something she could see with her eyes. There was no point in arguing with Dr. Feldman, especially considering that she was getting what she wanted. Her stomach churned nervously as the two clones lifted AD-214 between them and carried his body out the door. Cyborg Sector was right next to the hospital, conveniently placed for anyone who chose to donate their dying body and live forever. The walk there, however, seemed to last forever as thoughts and concerns raced through Amanda’s mind.
There was a chance her plan would fail. She knew everything a person could know about cyborgs, but she also knew that the human element meant sometimes the best plans ended with unexpected results. Her software upgrade was proof of unintended consequences. There was also the possibility that she wouldn’t be fast enough. She would have to keep her hands steady, but it would be hard considering the adrenaline pumping through her system.
The mismatched group had no trouble getting into Cyborg Sector and climbing to the lab. Dr. Feldman served as a living access pass to open the facilities. It was his kingdom, for now. With luck, Amanda was about to bring his reign to an end.
“Put him on the table.” Dr. Feldman gestured to a stainless steel exam platform, and the two clones dropped their burden on it with a clang.
Amanda winced as she heard AD-214’s body land harshly on the table, but she knew he would be able to take a beating. He had gone through worse trials than this, and he was still here with her. Now it was her turn to fight for his life.
“I’m not going to do anything with you and your goons hovering over me,” Amanda said, trying to make herself sound as stern as possible. “You can lock the doors and watch from the observation deck. I won’t have you breathing down my neck.”
Dr. Feldman sighed. She was wearing on his nerves. “Very well. But I’m not accommodating you any further on this.” He turned on his heel and strode off across the lab to the staircase.
Amanda got to work quickly. There was no time to waste since Dr. Feldman might realize at any minute what she intended. The scientist pulled over a cart containing a computer with numerous wires sticking out of it. She began to connect the computer to AD-214’s chip, her heart beating quickly. She had never performed this sequence of actions before, but she had to take a chance. The worst thing that could happen now was AD-214’s death. If she didn’t do anything, Dr. Feldman was going to kill him anyway.
When she had the correct wires connected, Amanda turned to the computer and began adjusting its settings. She increased the frequency, checked the readings briefly, and then turned the frequency down again. After another adjustment to one of the wire connectors on his biochip, and one more check of the monitor, she was ready to begin. Amanda leaned down and muttered into the cyborg captain’s ear, pretending she was still fiddling with the wires. Then Amanda quickly disconnected the entire setup, slipped AD-214 a quick injection, and made her way toward the observation deck.
Amanda climbed the steep steps to the floating chamber with ease. She was in good shape, and the exercise started adrenaline pumping through her body. The room was set up like a large office, with a massive wooden desk facing a transparent wall that gave a perfect view of the lab below. Like the rest of Cyborg Sector, it was sparsely decorated and more functional than beautiful.
“That was quick,” Dr. Feldman observed. “I would have thought you would take more time to terminate someone you were so concerned about.” He smiled, one corner of his mouth edging higher than the other in a smirk of satisfaction. He thought he had the upper hand again.
“He had suffered enough,” Amanda said with a sigh as her shoulders sagged. “And there’s another thing, too. I realized you were right.”
He stiffened and focused on her acutely. “I’m always right. But what specifically are you referring to this time?”
“About Blue Squad, about me...I guess about everything. I let it all get out of hand, and I should have listened to you in the beginning. You could have helped me. I might never have gotten into this mess if I had only taken your advice. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Dr. Feldman nodded. “Everything makes more sense in hindsight. I am the world’s foremost expert on cyborgs, in case you forgot.”
“I know.” Amanda let a tear drip from the corner of her eye. She had to keep him here as long as possible, but she didn’t know how long mere sympathy would last with the hardened soul running Cyborg Sector. “Most of all, I wish I had taken you up on your offer to let me stay with you. We could have worked together during this entire debacle, getting my mistake shut down and fixed. We would have made an excellent team.” She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and thrust her chest forward slightly as she leaned back against the desk. “Do you think you could ever forgive me?”
“I can imagine forgiveness being possible in the future.” Dr. Feldman moved closer. He turned quickly and pointed to the door. “Go,” he ordered the clones. They stomped out of the room and shut the door behind them. Dr. Feldman watched as they descended the stairs and marched out of the lab, closing that door as well. The two were alone now. The doctor’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Of course, it would take some extra work on your part. You would have to prove yourself worthy.”
“Oh, I will, Dr. Feldman.” Amanda tossed her hair behind her. “I’m ready to do my best for you.”
The doctor had his arms around her in an instant. He kissed her passionately, working her lips apart so he could explore her mouth with his tongue.
“Oh, Dr. Feldman,” she moaned as he worked his way down her throat to her collarbone.
“Alex. Please call me Alex.”
Amanda helped him unbutton her shirt, exposing her breasts. She’d left her hospital room in such a hurry that she hadn’t had a chance to put on a bra, but the doctor didn’t seem to mind. He took her nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. He had each of her breasts in his hands and eagerly pushed them into his face, smothering himself with them.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he asked, words muffled by the flesh of her chest. “You wanted me all along, didn’t you?” He pushed her further back onto the desk, sending piles of papers flying to the floor.
The young scientist complied, climbing backward onto the desk and sacrificing herse
lf to him. “God, yes. I’ve wanted you so badly.” Amanda ran her hands through his blonde hair as he plunged his face into her chest once more. Her arm movement pressed her breasts harder around Alex’s face. He moaned with pleasure as he reached for the waistband of her pants.
Chapter Twenty-Five
PD-4 continued to wait in the woods, stationed on the backside of the government compound. He felt useless as he watched his fellow soldiers as they slowly infiltrated the ranks of the cyborg clones, replacing them one-by-one as they uploaded their software updates. The surveillance specialist had seen several of the clones stagger away from the hospital, clutching their heads and reeling in confusion. Even though they were the enemy, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for them. He knew the overwhelming feeling of regaining your sense of self after many years.
From this distance, it was difficult to distinguish between individual members of the crowd, which rapidly devolved into a riotous mass. It was impossible to determine how well things had been going, but PD-4’s orders were to wait. Finally, as the crowd dissipated, he received a single short message from his captain. “I’m in.”
More waiting followed the momentary relief of contact from AD-214. Once Amanda and AD-214 left the building, PD-4 knew they would be heading for his location. Any other members of Blue Squad that made it through the extraction would reunite with their commander and head back through the woods.
According to his internal chronometer, the rendezvous should have happened thirty minutes ago. There had been plenty of movement around the large brick building, but PD-4 had not found any orbital satellites which showed him an exterior view of the hospital. The ones he used before had moved off in their orbits, and new ones had not moved into the correct position. He scanned everything on the electromagnetic spectrum: radio transmissions, cell phone signals, television broadcasts...even servers with unprotected access, but he discovered nothing of value. There was plenty of coverage on the press conference itself, but that wasn’t necessary information.
When he had given up hope and was about to go into the hospital himself, he received a message from AD-214. It came over his private network. Strangely, the message was a digital recording, not a live transmission. It was the last sort of communication he had expected. Something like that took time and effort, which was more than what a soldier on a rescue mission would typically have. It involved more than simply sharing information. He opened it anyway, eager for new orders.
“This is Amanda Conrad,” a voice whispered. “I’m in Cyborg Sector, in the laboratory on the fourth floor. AD-214 is close to death, and we need your help. If anyone in Blue Squad is still here, please come.”
The transmission ended abruptly. PD-4 stood up for a moment, stunned as he studied the buildings in front of him. He had been so busy checking communications that he hadn’t noticed AD-214 and Amanda moving from the hospital to Cyborg Sector. His commander was somewhere in there, back where everything started, and he was mortally injured. Amanda was with him, and somehow they had not escaped. The surveillance specialist quickly shared the information with the rest of his squad. They were supposed to be in various locations at the hospital, so he hoped they were within range. After he had forwarded Amanda’s message, he began a slow march through the field toward Cyborg Sector.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“God, you’re sexy,” Dr. Alex Feldman groaned as he reached for the button on the front of Amanda’s jeans. “I can’t wait to get inside of you.”
The young scientist pulled Dr. Feldman’s hands back up to her breasts and distracted him with a deep and sensuous kiss. “Don’t make it go too fast,” she begged. “I don’t want it to be over. I’ve waited so long for you.”
“You should have said something,” Alex replied. He moved back down to her chest and spun his tongue around her nipple. “I would have been happy to accommodate you.”
The truth was that Amanda had tried to say something, but she hadn’t been aggressive enough. The brilliant Alex Feldman didn’t fall for an invitation to go get coffee sometime. Apparently, he wanted something bolder and sluttier. “I was too shy,” she explained. “I knew I wasn’t worthy of you.”
“You could be,” he whispered. “Think about the empire we could build. We don’t have to work for the government. We could create an army of cyborgs for ourselves.” He ran his hands down the inside of her pants, squeezing her ass as he pulled her pelvis against him. She could feel his bulging cock. “Nobody would be able to stop us.”
“Do you really think we could?” Amanda asked. She was fully laid out on the desk now, and the doctor had climbed up on top of her.
“I’ve already started.” Alex pulled back and gave her a wicked grin. “I’ve been working in the two weeks since Blue Squad’s escape. I’ve made over fifty new cyborgs, enough to replace the losses from Blue Squad and more.”
“You’ve had that many donors?” Amanda asked innocently, knowing clones could not grow that quickly.
He shrugged as he reached for her waistband once again. “Let’s just say I’ve made my own.”
Amanda’s stomach quivered as he slowly unzipped her jeans. She hadn’t meant to let things go this far, but she was running out of ways to distract him. He laid her pants open, then began wiggling them down off her hips, exposing the top of her lacy panties.
“Nobody has the courage to go against me,” he continued. “They know they might end up being converted into cyborgs themselves. The world will be at our feet, Amanda. Of course, I won’t leave you in charge of the software programming. You can help me in the lab then come home and fuck me every night. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
As his fingertips reached toward the hot flesh between her thighs, an explosion sounded from the lab below.
“What was that?” Dr. Feldman turned to the huge window forming one wall of the observation deck.
Amanda propped herself up on her elbows and grinned. “Is there trouble in paradise, doctor?” She knew what he was seeing underneath him. Blue Squad had found her. She just needed to keep Dr. Feldman busy while she waited for them to arrive, and she had been successful.
“You little bitch!” Dr. Feldman shouted as he turned to her. “You led me on!”
Zipping her pants as she jumped up from the desk, Amanda became aware that he was watching her breasts bounce even though he was insulted. A man was a man, no matter what. “Was that wrong?” she asked innocently, blinking up at him. “Considering what you did to me and to these soldiers? I did what was necessary to get what I wanted. I would think someone like you would admire my convictions.” She moved her hands up to work on her shirt but didn’t take her eyes off him.
“I’m going to kill you for this.” He lunged at her, fists flying.
She dodged his first attempt, but he whirled back around for more. Amanda could hear a commotion below her. She hoped they were taking AD-214 out of Cyborg Sector. There wasn’t much more she could do for him. He needed time to recover. With luck, she had bought him enough.
Dr. Feldman didn’t give her a moment to worry about the cyborgs or how successful their rescue was. Instead, he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her toward the floor. “I’m going to knock you senseless,” he ground out through gritted teeth, “and then I’m going to fuck you any way I want.”
Amanda curled up her legs and launched a foot at his crotch, Dr. Feldman’s filthy words fueling her anger. Still hard from their encounter on the desk, his dick was a vulnerable spot. His fingers slipped away from her neck and he stumbled backward.
Amanda leapt to her feet and reached for the doorknob, but he grabbed her waist before she could turn the handle. He pitched her backward onto the desk. The hard wood slammed into her and she found herself on the floor. Looking up, Amanda could barely see Dr. Feldman through the stars dancing in front of her eyes.
“You’re such a fucking cunt.” Dr. Feldman grabbed Amanda by the ankles and dragged her back out into the middle of the floor. “I think it’s time
I treated you like one.” Trusting her injuries to hold her down, Alex began undoing his trousers.
Dr. Feldman had underestimated Amanda’s fitness. She was stunned and hurt, but not beaten. She landed a heel on each of his knees, bending them backward and sending him crashing to the floor. She scrambled to get up and take the advantage from him.
The doctor had fallen down with a thud, but he was surprisingly fast getting up. He was on his feet in an instant with a cold look of hatred in his eyes. “I’m going to kill you, and then I’m going to extinguish all of your robot friends. But first, I want them to see what I can do to you.” Fingers wrapped around her throat once again as Dr. Feldman used his thumbs to push against her windpipe, smashing her into the window.
Amanda grabbed at his hand, desperately digging in with her fingernails and flinging her feet out to kick him again. Her sneakers made contact with his body, but he didn’t seem to notice her resistance. She was losing her strength, and he hadn’t seemed to tire at all. He wasn’t even breathing hard.
The observation room around Amanda was slowly going dim as purple spots and stars danced before her eyes. The fingers around her neck felt like steel, slowly crushing the life out of her. Even if her death was imminent, she took comfort in saving AD-214.
Just as the room was about to turn completely black, the door exploded off its hinges and landed flat on the floor. AD-214 strode into the room, his face contorted with rage. He didn’t say a word to Dr. Feldman, but headed directly toward him and punched his fist square in the doctor’s jaw.