X looked back up and saw Brielle standing at the top of the stairs. Her eyes glowed orange. She walked down the stairs slowly, stepped over X, and joined Jeanette.
“Wha—” Shortcut said.
“I forgot to tell you about my newest member,” Jeanette said, rubbing a bruise on her cheek. “Isn’t she wonderful?”
“No!” Shortcut screamed.
X stood and aimed his guns at Brielle. “You’ve been compromised.”
The rest of the androids aimed at X, and he had no choice but to deactivate his guns.
“Upstairs,” Jeanette barked.
They all walked back upstairs and lined up in the kitchen, where fresh cookies lay on cookie sheets on the stove.
Shortcut couldn’t stop looking at Brielle.
“Brielle, tell me what’s going on. We were friends—you owe us that,” Shortcut said.
Brielle scoffed at him. “I owe you nothing.”
“But what about the Council? Fahrens?”
Brielle kicked Shortcut in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He looked up at her, heartbroken.
“No use talking to her,” Jeanette said. She knelt in front of Shortcut, so close he could feel her breath on his face. “You think I forgot about our little virtual battle? Did you seriously think that I wouldn’t strike back? You’re smart, I’ll give you that. I never expected you to trace me. But I will always be several steps ahead. Now the woman you love is no more.”
“If she’s permanently reprogrammed, I will kill you,” Shortcut said. “I will rip you apart and destroy you.”
Jeanette slapped Shortcut, leaving a red mark on his cheek. Then she turned and walked toward the door. “Brielle, kill them. When you’re done, send a signal to the UEA to come get them. When Fahrens and his entourage arrive, kill them, too.”
Brielle nodded, and Jeanette handed her a gun. “Make me proud.”
“Yes, Mama.”
X’s algorithm chip buzzed. He heard an engine outside.
Can’t see outside. Must be Crenshaw’s ships.
The engine sound grew louder.
“Toodles,” Jeanette said, waving at them.
CRASH!
The kitchen walls collapsed and the VW van burst through, running over several of the android guards. Jeanette and Brielle dove for cover.
Shortcut’s dad waved from the front seat. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”
He reached out of the window and fired a gunshot at Jeanette, but Brielle covered her and the bullet grazed her arm. She and Jeanette receded deeper into the house.
X, Shortcut, and Jazzlyn climbed into the van and Craig reversed. Once clear of the house, he pressed a button and the van’s propellers extended from the roof. They took off into the air, rising quickly and leaving the house behind.
“A few more seconds and you guys would have been toast,” Craig said.
Shortcut panted as he looked in the side mirror. “Dad, how did you find us?”
“Vincent told me you came home,” Craig said, tossing back his long, red hair. “I couldn’t trace the van, so I thought that was strange. I replayed the surveillance footage at home and heard you and Jazzlyn talking about an android scrapping facility and took a wild guess. I got there just as that ship was taking off. Trailed you guys all the way here. When I saw them leading you across the valley in chains, I said to myself, ‘now that’s a bunch of horse shit.’ So I snuck aboard the ship and gave those androids a nice ass-kicking for you. Then I came for you. Made it just in time.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Shortcut said.
“Yes, we owe you, Mr. Aaronheart,” X said.
Craig steered the van over the mountains and toward the sea.
“You don’t think she’s going to follow us, do you?” Shortcut asked.
“No chance,” Craig said, grinning. “I set the ship’s engine on fire.”
Chapter 14
Several hours later, Craig landed near a forest. The moon shone from behind a cloud, and the navy blue sky was filled with stars and streaks of purple. The wind howled as it blew down from the mountains.
“We’re going to set up camp,” Craig said, yawning. He stepped out of the van and studied the sky. “If they were following us, they would have shown up by now.”
X nodded. “I don’t sense any irregular activity in the skies. We should be okay.”
“Phew,” Shortcut said. “My stomach was in a knot the whole ride here.”
Craig opened a panel on the side of the van and Vincent flew out, his eye beeping as he adjusted to the new location.
“Hello, Tobias.”
“Hey, Vincent,” Shortcut said.
“I am glad that you and Craig are reunited.”
Craig put an arm around Shortcut’s shoulder. “I was almost too late. Had to kick some android ass, but I got my son back.”
Vincent’s eye glowed as he swept a laser around the area. “This area would be ideal for a fire. I will gather firewood.” Small arms extended from Vincent’s lower half as he flew into the forest.
Craig pulled some chairs from the back of the van and set them up while X grabbed a cooler full of soda.
“I appreciate the help, Shortcut,” X said, “even though we played into Crenshaw’s hand.”
“I thought you were a goner,” Shortcut said. “Jazzlyn redeemed herself and helped us find you.” He looked back to the van; Jazzlyn was sitting on the roof, looking at the stars.
“Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”
Jazzlyn smiled. “Don’t mention it. Now I’ve got to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.”
“We haven’t caught Crenshaw yet,” X said.
Jazzlyn ignored him.
Vincent returned with firewood. In a few minutes, a fire blazed at the center of the camp circle.
“So are you going to tell me what happened back there?” Craig asked as they sat around the fire. “Who was the woman with the curly hair?”
“She’s the one we’re after,” Shortcut said. “Jeanette Crenshaw. She and her gang of androids are bad news.”
“I’ll be damned,” Craig said. “I thought she looked familiar. The bionic arm and red eye threw me off, though. What’s she after?”
“Human destruction,” X said.
Craig snorted, soda spitting from his nose. “Well, that’s comforting.”
“And she has Brielle,” Shortcut said. Anger and sadness moved across his face as he stared into the expanse of trees ahead.
X put his hand on Shortcut’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about what happened to her. But you know what we must do.”
Shortcut looked down. “Jeanette killed her the moment she reprogrammed her. I’ve done all my mourning.”
X received an incoming message from Fahrens. He projected a digital screen in front of the campfire, and Fahrens appeared.
“Nice to see you alive, X,” Fahrens said. He looked at Jazzlyn. “Miss Grace, you just might escape jail after all.”
“I kept my end of the deal,” Jazzlyn said. “I expect to be released once this is over.”
“Give me a briefing,” Fahrens said.
“I was captured by a local android gang upon arriving at the badlands,” X said. “They took me to an oil rig where they operate a clandestine android chop shop. I sent you the coordinates. The gang was working with Jeanette Crenshaw. She captured us and took us to a replica of Dr. Crenshaw’s mansion.”
Fahrens sighed. “Did you see the hologram?”
The remark surprised X. “Yes, sir.”
“So you know that Jeanette is completely out of her mind, then.”
“Yes. The will was too much for her. We were able to escape.”
“But where’s Brielle?” Fahrens asked, looking around the campground. Shortcut grabbed a rock and squeezed it hard.
“She has been compromised, sir,” X said. “If it hadn’t been for Craig, Brielle would have called for UEA troops and tried to kill you, too.”
“She was supposed to be hack-proof,” Fahren
s said. “We’ll have to wipe her memory as a matter of security. But then again, Jeanette Crenshaw was in charge of the UEA network, so I doubt there’s much to be done now. Now that Jeanette has her father’s research, there’s nothing from Brielle that she already doesn’t have. Do we have any leads on Jeanette’s whereabouts now?”
“No, sir,” X said. “We had to escape with our lives.”
Jazzlyn raised her hand. “This is going to sound backwards, but the best way to go after Crenshaw is to go after Lax.”
“He served his purpose,” X said. “Jeanette doesn’t have a use for him anymore. Going after him is going backwards.”
“But you know that Jeanette isn’t going to return to the same area of the badlands we were in, right?” Jazzlyn asked. “She might have said something to Lax that hinted at her future plans. Bad guys do talk to each other about stuff like that, you know.”
X shook his head. “She’s not one to divulge information.”
“What’s the alternative?” Jazzlyn asked. “Whatever Jeanette’s planning, she has the power to do it now.”
“I agree with Miss Grace,” Fahrens said. “Until we have another lead, it’s our only option.”
X and Shortcut nodded as Fahrens disconnected.
“We’ll leave in the morning,” Craig said. “It’s getting dark, and vagrants wander the countryside at night. We’ll leave at first light. Shouldn’t take long to get to town, and shouldn’t take long to find Lax, either.”
Jazzlyn stood and started for the trees. “Sounds good.”
Shortcut dropped his soda and started to stand up. “What’re you—”
“Don’t worry,” Jazzlyn said, waving her hands. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn’t leave you even if I wanted to.”
Craig tended to the fire and looked up at the starry sky. “Stay close to camp. The last thing we need is for one of you to get lost.”
Jazzlyn went off into the woods. “Got it. I won’t be far.”
She made it to the tree line before Shortcut whistled at her to get her attention. “Just so you know, we get you. And it’s okay.”
Jazzlyn stared at him quizzically, then shook her head and disappeared into the forest.
“I still don’t trust her,” X said.
“I do,” Shortcut said. “I don’t think she was the reason you got caught.”
“What’s that chick’s story?” Craig asked.
“She’s a helper,” Shortcut said.
“Helper?”
“She’s helping us to avoid going to jail.”
“Explains the ankle thing.”
“She’s our guide in the badlands.”
“Now you got two guides,” Craig said, winking. “Sorry to hear about your girlfriend, Tobias.”
Shortcut blushed. “She’s not—”
Craig leaned closer and put a hand on Shortcut’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said softly. He patted Shortcut’s shoulder one more time, then sat back, stuck a sausage on a skewer and held it over the fire.
“So X,” Craig said, turning the sausage in the flames, “let me get something straight: Jeanette Crenshaw is Dr. Crenshaw’s daughter, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re Dr. Crenshaw’s creation.”
“Yes.”
“So what does that make you to her? Her … brother?”
“By technical definition, yes, you could call her my technological sister. But we have no relation other than the person who gave birth to us.”
“You say that so weirdly,” Craig said. “As if someone can give birth to an android.”
“Labor is an intensive process,” X said. “Women state that it is a lot of work, physically and emotionally. So is creating an android. There are many things that can go wrong and not all androids you create survive. So yes, I believe the comparison works.”
Crickets sang from the trees, and the fire crackled between them.
“So this is the android you were telling me about, Tobias,” Craig said. “You’re all right, X.”
“What do you do, Craig?” X asked.
“I make genie style robots. They’re designed to serve humans.”
“It seems that badlanders prefer robots to androids,” X said.
“They love ‘em. As long as it can’t rip their heads off, badlanders are fine with any kind of robot.” He stared off at the mountains as he chewed his sausage. “Things are getting more dangerous, though. A robot can’t protect you like an android can. Android hunters are ruthless. They’ll kill just about anyone who gets in their way. I had a scary run-in with them a few weeks ago.”
“What happened?” Shortcut asked.
“Burglars,” Craig said. “They tried to break into the house. I was in the shower at the time. Talk about vulnerable. Luckily, Vincent outsmarted them. When I found them, they were tied up in the living room.”
“That’s not so bad,” Shortcut said.
“I haven’t gotten to the scary part yet. A few days later, someone set a fire in the factory. Shortly after that, several of my top clients canceled their contracts with me. The gang went and scared them off. I’m still trying to recover from that.”
“Dad, you should move back to the UEA,” Shortcut said.
Craig grinned. “Why would I do that? Son, sometimes you gotta take a problem and turn it into a solution. I realized that Vincent could act as a security system, and I created a new product—several balls that float in the corner of a home. They’re motion sensors. Battery powered, and they can change their own batteries so all you have to do is buy the batteries and keep ‘em in a drawer. Get this, Tobias: if there’s an intruder, the balls hide. A burglar never knows they’re there. They’ll follow him from room to room, recording everything he steals.”
“Nice,” Shortcut said.
“I can’t keep the system on the shelves. I sold almost a million dollars of product in three weeks. Burglaries in the area are down fifty percent. That’s how you effect change in this godforsaken community.”
“That’s an ingenious invention,” X said. “Have you thought about licensing it to the UEA? A product like that could have many applications.”
“I’ll think about it,” Craig said. Something in his tone told X that he wasn’t interested.
“Son,” Craig said. “Any updates on your … you know … situation?”
“No,” Shortcut said.
“Have you come up with any ideas about what to do?”
Shortcut poked the fire. “Still thinking.” But really, he was thinking about how he was going to break the news to Craig that there was no plan. No strategy. Just survival. He started to speak, but the fire breathed new life into itself and grew taller before subsiding to its regular size.
“We better get some sleep,” Craig said. He unfurled some sleeping bags, and he left a sleeping bag out for Jazzlyn along with a thermos filled with water. “In case she needs something.”
X sensed a fatherly tone in Craig. He was different than when he had visited Shortcut in the hospital. He wondered why—perhaps Craig was happy to see Shortcut. He did sense happiness in Craig’s voice, even though they were in a technically very dangerous situation.
“I’ll keep watch,” X said.
“Make sure she doesn’t slit our throats,” Shortcut said.
“You’re just like your mother,” Craig said, slipping into his sleeping bag. “Long memory, short fuse.”
Jazzlyn ran through the woods with a silver ball under her arm. She had lifted it from Craig’s van when no one was looking. The drone looked like Vincent, but it wasn’t activated and its eye was black and dull.
She jumped into the sky, but the drone wouldn’t carry her.
“Just so you know,” she said, mimicking Shortcut, “we get you.”
What was okay? Getting her? Knowing her? Knowing that no matter where they were, she was going to try to escape?
“This is supposed to be reinforced steel,” she said, thumping the robot. “It sh
ould carry my weight.”
She activated the ball, and it hovered into the air at eye level. She opened a door at the bottom of the robot and pulled out a circuit board. Smoochums crawled out of her dress and connected himself to it. She created a digital screen with her eyes and entered some commands.
“Smoochums, memorize the architecture in case I need to revert to default later,” she said, typing furiously. “We’re going to fly out of here.”
She finished changing the code and put the circuit board back inside the robot. She sighed and said, “Only got one chance. Ha! Imagine their faces when they see me flying off over the mountains. Smoochy, I want you to photograph them.”
Smoochums jumped up and down and cooed.
She climbed a tree. Her lens lit up and she scanned the darkness. The nearest town was one hundred miles away.
“We’re really in the middle of nowhere,” she said.
Smoochums and her cockroaches carried the robot to her, and she activated it. She guided it into the air. “I’m your owner now,” she said.
The robot floated silently and didn’t respond.
“Aren’t you supposed to talk?”
The robot’s eye turned red, but it still didn’t speak.
“Hmm,” Jazzlyn said. “That must be part of the proprietary programming. It probably only talks to Shortcut’s dad. Either way, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to fly away. Here goes!”
She jumped onto the drone and grabbed it, expecting it to support her weight. Instead, she fell face-first into the dirt.
“Goddamnit!”
Smoochums landed on her shoulders and shook his head.
“We’re really stuck …”
She kicked a rock, and it struck the bough of a nearby tree before bouncing away. She tried to come up with a plan, but everything seemed impossible. The nearest town was too far away and this damn thing wouldn’t support her. Neither would the cockroaches.
Her throat tightened at the thought of having to stay with X and Shortcut. Why couldn’t she have figured out a way to destroy the ankle monitor by now?
She reached down and hit the ankle monitor with her fist. “I can’t wait until I’m done with you.”
The wind blew through the trees, and she looked up at the sky. She couldn’t see the moon. The futility of her situation set in, and she scowled.
Android X: The Complete Series Page 34