Girl of Flesh and Metal

by Alicia Ellis

  I buried the anger trying to boil to the surface. I’d strangled three people because of Ron, and Liv had helped him. But also, Liv had stood by me through everything. The least I could do was forgive this.

  “Are you mad?”

  I threw an arm over her shoulders and squeezed. “I made my own choices. He duped both of us.”

  Tension drained from Liv’s face. “I don’t know why he did it, though. He’s got nothing against AI. He thinks the androids will make life easier for everyone.”

  “He said his dad has cirrhosis because he started drinking after the treatment for his mom failed. He blames CyberCorp for his dad’s health.”

  Liv nodded in understanding. “I should have seen it.”

  “How could you?”

  “He’s so angry about his father. He gets all twitchy every time the subject comes up, but I figured he was mad at his dad for drinking.”

  “I guess he picked a different target to be pissed at. He must have reached out to Philip to help him. Dr. Kim and Dr. Fisher both said it would take a super-expensive computer to bypass security on the EyeNet.”

  “Or maybe Philip reached out to him. Either way, they’re both evil.”

  According to my father, they’d removed the bad data from my system and modified my code to destroy anything else received from the EyeNet. If anyone else wanted to commit murder over CyberCorp, at least next time they would have to do it without my help.

  We stepped back on the moving walkway and headed down to the parking garage.

  We’d almost reached Liv’s car when a set of service elevator doors opened across the lot. Two men rolled out a flatbed cart supporting twelve Model One androids. The men hauled the cart toward the back of a large truck with the CyberCorp logo splashed across the side in huge letters. Under it, in smaller letters, were the words Home Delivery.

  I stopped walking and called my father.

  He answered on the first ring, faster than he’d ever answered my calls in my entire life. “Hel—”

  “Why are Model Ones being put on a delivery truck?” I asked, before he could get the whole word out.

  He paused before saying, “I feel like this is a trick question. Isn’t the answer obvious?”

  “What about the EyeNet bug?” I’d seen firsthand what a bug in CyberCorp’s AI could do, and I had no desire to see it a second time, regardless of whether it involved me.

  “I told you it’s been resolved. We handled that bug three weeks ago. These machines are all patched up.”

  “They are?”

  “Yes. The only reason you had an issue is that Ron made sure you got the old software, the version without the patch.”

  “Don’t you want to be sure? You know, take some time to double-check them?”

  He gave me an exasperated sigh. “Lena, we’ve double-checked, triple-checked, and quadruple-checked those androids. Believe it or not, I know what I’m doing. I’ve managed to run this business for twenty-one years without your assistance.”

  “Yeah, okay. Sorry. I’m still shaken up about the whole thing.”

  His voice softened. “Why don’t you go home and rest? I’ll have Marcy cook whatever you want for dinner, and your mom and I will both be home around six.”

  “Everything okay?” Liv asked when the call ended.

  I cocked an eyebrow at her.

  She laughed. “You’re right. That was a stupid question. But what did your dad say?”

  “They handled the bug weeks ago. The androids are all patched up.” I repeated the words back mechanically.

  “You don’t believe him?”

  “He’s got no reason to lie to me.” Even as I said those words, I stomped across the parking lot to the home-delivery truck. The two men had already loaded up the Model Ones and were walking around to the front of the vehicle.

  I waved to get their attention. “Hi. Can I ask you a question?”

  “We’re on a schedule,” the one on the passenger side said, as he climbed into his seat. His glance landed on me as he reached for his seat belt. “Miss Hayes?”

  “Have these androids been updated with the latest software?”

  The man’s posture straightened. “I don’t know anything about an update. All we do is pick up and deliver. You can take a look if you want.”

  “Thanks. It’s important.”

  “You got it.”

  He jumped out of the seat, circled to the back of the truck, and rolled the door open. Inside, twelve Model Ones stood on their pallet, ready to go. He interlocked his fingers and let me use them as a step into the back of the truck.

  I squeezed between the first and second rows of androids, chose one, and opened the small panel on its lower back. When I pressed the power button, the android hummed to life. A screen inside the panel displayed information about the machine, including its identification number and software version.

  The software was dated last week—which meant they had the patch.

  I jumped down to the ground and thanked the man for his time.

  “What did you find out?” Liv asked, after the truck pulled away.

  “It’s fine.” Tension leaked out of me as if a valve had opened. More than anything, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for the next week. “Everything is fine.”

  Liv climbed into the driver’s seat of her car, and I slid in next to her on the passenger side. The auto-drive took us out of the parking garage and onto the main street.

  As we rode, in the rearview mirror, CyberCorp Tower receded into the distance. It became smaller each second, but still ever present.

  Technology was part of my life now, like it or not. I just hoped the rest of the world was ready for that too.

  Dear Reader,

  Lena can’t relax yet.

  She’s not at fault for her actions, and the main culprit is still out there. More importantly, the Model Ones are coming to a home near you.

  Nothing to worry about there. Those robots are perfectly safe.

  Right?

  Be the first to hear about Lena’s next adventure, Clash of Flesh and Metal, by signing up for my newsletter.

  As a subscriber, you can download the free prequel short story, Dreams of Flesh and Metal, available now.

  Get your free story.

  Sincerely,

  Alicia Ellis

  Acknowledgments

  There are so many people who helped and inspired me to complete this book, and it wouldn’t exist without them.

  Thanks to my parents and to Victor for being a constant source of support.

  Thank you, Kenya, for always motivating me to keep moving forward in this whole writing thing.

  Thank you to Susan Jessen, Rachel Lauderdale, Kelly, Sonja Griffing, and Kristin Potchynok for being amazing beta readers. Seriously, guys, I am so grateful.

  Thanks to Dani across the pond for believing in this book and for insisting that I change the title. That original title was not good.

  Lastly, thank you to my readers. Your time is valuable, and I appreciate that you took a chance on me. I have a ton of new stories in the pipeline, so please stick around. My contact links are on the next page.

  About the Author

  I decided to write books about ten minutes before graduating law school.

  Now, I'm an Atlanta attorney moonlighting as an author, electronics junkie, and secret superhero. With degrees in computer science and a healthy diet of fiction, I love all things high-tech and unreal.

  I write fantasy and science fiction for young adults.

  Now you know where to find me:

  www.writeralicia.com

 

 

 
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