Kate growled low in her throat as the cruiser slid to a stop,
the line of human's and androids blocking their access to the buildings
up ahead of them. She popped open the door, ignoring Jen's attempt to
stop her as she stood up beside the cruiser.
Kate took off her sunglasses, giving the crowd a withering look
as she asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"We're not letting you go in there to kill the android," the
blonde said, her eyes flashing with restrained anger.
"And you are?" Kate asked, the rangy officer dressed in T-shirt
and jeans, her only official clothing the battered police jacket she
wore.
"Bette," the blonde said, blue eyes narrowing. "Why, are you
going to add my name to some list to be arrested later?" she demanded.
"Just being friendly," Kate said with a slight smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Jen stood beside the cruiser, all eyes
falling on the neatly dressed blonde officer, "we're just here to
perform our duties, nothing more."
"Saying you're just following orders didn't save the SS," a
heckler yelled from the group of protesters and Jen blinked in
confusion, clearly not getting the historical reference.
"We're not Nazis," Kate said, obviously getting it. "We're
police officers, sent here to stop a individual who may be harming more
innocent people while we debate," she said.
Bette tilted her head to the side and asked, "You're only here
to stop it from hurting people?"
"I'm not promising that I won't shoot it," Kate said simply,
"because that might be what I need to do to stop it. But my job is to
stop lawbreakers, not hurt innocents."
The protesters held their line, staring at them with grave eyes.
Jen moved quickly, taking her safety off, putting a bullet in the
chamber and then firing up into the underside of a overhead roadway. The
shot jerked the people back, the loudness startling them all.
"Lets go," Jen jumped into the car, Kate seconds behind her.
"I was getting through to them," Kate said with a frown, using
the protesters surprise to weave the cruiser through them, nudging the
slower ones aside as gently as possible.
"Maybe," Jen agreed as they drove into the complex of
structures, "but how long could we spend debating? We still don't know
what's going on inside there."
"Point," Kate agreed grimly.
The emergency call had been broken off, just providing the
location and one word: murder. Jen and Kate had rushed here as Beth and
Gwen tried to reestablish communications with the research facility, but
so far they had heard nothing more from inside.
"Beth," Jen used the cruiser's terminal to call in, "any news?"
The little redhead's face appeared on the screen, a frown of
concentration on Beth's face. "Nothing yet," she said, "and Gwen's got
some worse news."
Section Chief Gwen Musashi had a oddly grim look on her face.
"They appear to have been researching androids there," the Asian woman
said seriously, "including new design configurations and enhancements."
Kate began to swear, loudly and creatively. "Does that mean our
guns won't work?" she asked as they slid to a stop in front of the
massive tower.
"I don't know," Gwen said honestly. "I'm putting as much
pressure on them as I can to get data on what they were working on," she
said, "but it's slow going."
"Do we have building schematics, that sort of thing?" Jen asked.
"That I can do," Beth said as she came back on, "and I've
patched into part of their internal systems. We can track your progress
and guide you, hopefully."
"Hopefully?" Kate raised an eyebrow.
"The security systems are using anti-invasion programs," Beth
said, "I think I can stay ahead of them, but this place has top of the
line security."
"Makes me wonder what they're hiding in there," Jen murmured.
"Guess we've got to find out," Kate sighed. She pulled an
earpiece from a compartment in the car, clipping it into place as Jen
did the same. "All right," she said, "we're heading inside."
The front entrance was beautifully decorated, live plants
scattered about. A receptionist sat behind the desk, her nearly perfect
appearance marking her as an android. "Welcome," she smiled at them
cheerfully, "welcome to Nutech."
"Good morning," Jen smiled wryly, scanning the room.
Kate had the oddest look on her face as she looked at the
android. "Hold on a second," she said, walking towards her. "Oh hell,"
she muttered, once she got close enough.
"What?" Jen asked, walking over.
"Could you please reattach my arms?" the android asked
cheerfully, the sleeves of her dress handing empty from her shoulders.
"Who did...?" Kate asked.
The android shook her head, "Unknown. I was attacked from
behind, I didn't see the unit that removed them."
"We'll have someone take care of you," Jen offered, her face
pale.
"Come on," Kate said crisply, leading Jen by the android as they
headed for the hallway just behind her.
"Have a nice day," the android called out her programmed
farewell.
Kate activated the communicator, "Beth, you guys have any more
details on this place?"
Beth's voice came through loud and clear, "According to publicly
available information Nutech is developing second or third generation
android technology."
"We just found an android with it's arms ripped off," Jen said
harshly, "this thing is strong."
"Crap," Beth muttered.
"That was pretty much my reaction," Kate agreed, moving down the
plushly carpeted hallway cautiously. She held her gun at the ready as
she asked, "Can the security system give you life signs of anyone left
in here?"
"Accessing data," Beth replied, then there was a moment's pause.
"I'm picking up android and human lifesigns three levels down, according
to their files it's the research labs," she said.
"Fading lifesigns or steady?" Jen asked quickly.
"Steady," Beth replied.
"Then we'd better get down there before that changes," Kate said
seriously. Beth gave them the location of the nearest lift and the two
of them were off.
**********
Beth noticed that Gwen was standing nearby her workstation, the
Section Chief looking down with a frown on her beautiful face. "What's
wrong?" she asked her softly.
"The representative of Nutech was just giving me a briefing on
what we might be facing," Gwen said grimly, "but from what they just
said I suspect he wasn't being entirely candid with me."
"So what are you going to do?" Beth asked, fingers flying across
her keyboard as she fought against the security system she was hacking.
"Get the information," Gwen flashed an entirely humorless smile.
"I'll be right back," and with that Gwen left the computer center.
The representative for Nutech was getting a coffee as Gwen
entered, the middle management type looking up to see her come in. The
black haired man smiled cheerfully, "How are things going?"
"Mr. Alexander," Gwen walked right up to him as she said coldly,
"they found your receptionist with her arms torn off. What are we
dealing with, here?"
Mr. Alexander winced slightly. "I've already put a request in
with my superiors to release that information," he said mildly, "I
should be able to tell you once they reply."
"And how long will that be?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"We'll need to contact head office," Mr. Alexander sounded just
a bit sheepish, "it'll take a few hours, at least."
Gwen closed her hand into a fist. "I'm sorry, but we don't have
that kind of time," she said regretfully. Before he could move she
slammed the fist right into his face, hearing the satisfying sound of
his nose breaking.
"You can't...." Mr. Alexander grabbed at his bloody nose, "How
dare you?!"
Gwen closed the distance, grabbing him by the collar and yanking
him forward. "You said this was a simple research facility," she said,
"I don't like being lied to." She punched him in the gut, doubling him
over.
"When I inform your superiors..." he choked out.
"My superiors aren't here right now," Gwen said bleakly, "you
are. I hate being lied to, but punching you is making me feel so much
better. I'll just have to keep doing it unless you'd care to tell me
what's going on...."
Gwen raised her hand and Mr. Alexander blurted, "No!" He took a
breath, "Military models are prohibited in the city, but we weren't
working on that."
"So what is it?" Gwen growled.
"A recon model," Mr. Alexander said, "designed to go behind
enemy lines and gather data. It's got enhanced strength, tactical
programming, and chameleon technology."
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