Eugene leaped for the door as the thing that had once been Lawrence McKenna tore the room apart.  Its jerky movements were wickedly fast but totally out of control, he could tell it was only standing because of the gyros that it was equipped with.  Something had gone wrong with the data routing or else their audio and visual inputs weren’t coded properly.  Either that or he was simply insane or brain damaged from his time in the coma.

“Shut him down, SHUT HIM DOWN!”  Seraphim was yelling.  “Take the whole room down!”  The lights all cut out and Eugene felt as well as heard the titanium chassis hit the floor.  For a moment all was dark and the silence after the mayhem was deafening.

Emergency lighting flickered on and Eugene could see the chaos again.  Pieces of equipment had been smashed, half of the halogen lights were broken, the reinforced stainless steel table was bent into a pretzel and the black metal body of the monster that had wrought such destruction lay face down on the floor, its hand mere inches from Seraphim’s foot.

“What happened to him?  Why couldn’t he hear me?”  Seraphim was looking at one of her technicians who was cowering in a corner.  She moved to an intercom on the wall and jumped back as it emitted a crackle of electricity that arced to her hand.  Shaking her hand she pulled a radio from her belt, “Give me a damage report and someone tell me what the FUCK happened in here!”

Eugene saw his laptop sitting on the floor where it had fallen when the monster tore free.  He cautiously approached, keeping a wary eye on the machine.  “If I can pull data from the prosthetic’s AI maybe I can figure out why he went berserk.  I hope my laptop isn’t thrashed.”  He picked it up and saw the screen was fractured in the upper right corner, bleeding liquid crystals into the surrounding area but otherwise whole.

“You do that Eugene.  You do that while I watch.  My poor baby is sitting down there blind, deaf and dumb he must be panicking!”  Seraphim said as that nasty looking knife appeared in her hand again.  Eugene was pretty sure she had it up her sleeve.

He plugged into the diagnostics port and looked at the output.  “Look here, this is very strange.”  He was pointing to a portion of the log file, “I’m not seeing any input on the audio or visual devices.  Here you can see the audio output but something’s not right with the inputs.  It makes sense that he wouldn’t have any control over the body, most of that control is based on your senses right?”

Seraphim nodded slowly and he continued, “I’m not sure what kind of sensory devices are hooked up for a sense of touch but I don’t see those as having any data to transfer either.  It’s possible something’s not hooked up properly or else the designers didn’t isolate the frequencies.  A.D.A.M. performs data routing based on the specific nerve frequency each nerve emits.  It can easily find the endings in the brain stem and trace those signals back to their destination because every nerve pulse is a two way street.  If the designers of this device didn’t ensure they had the frequencies the brain was already using for data routing there’s no way my AI can properly route the data.”

“We can’t risk turning him on again to troubleshoot.  He almost destroyed the Misery with his growing pains.”  In spite of the distress Eugene could hear pride in her voice.  She was fucking nuts.

“I can activate the immobilizer on the prosthetic.  It’s intended to lock down a person’s movements so they don’t injure themselves when the grafts are still young.  I didn’t think it would be necessary because his body isn’t flesh but I didn’t take into account him going berserk.”  Eugene carefully approached the machine and removed two rubber plugs, one on either side of the base of the skull.  He pushed the two buttons underneath and held them for fifteen seconds.  The immobilizer moved into place with a satisfying pair of clicks.

“OK you can turn him back on.  He will be able to do everything except for move.”  He stepped back from the machine and noticed for the first time the backs of the legs were hollow as were two very large sections on the back.  “What are these for?”

“Those are for his autonomous power packs.  It’s a relief we didn’t have time to fully charge him, right now he’s on cabled power.  If he hadn’t been plugged in still we wouldn’t have been able to stop his rampage.”  One of the technicians indicated a thick umbilicus that was running from the right leg back to one of the few pieces of equipment that had avoided being crushed.

“Can you get me the frequencies his brain is using for the sensory devices?”  The tech was now moving back to the machine the cable was attached to.  “If this thing hasn’t been damaged too badly I should be able to modify the output and we can get him up and running.”

“Yeah, sure.”  Eugene saved the log file locally and brought his laptop over the tech.

“Well Dr. Arlington, if you’re correct this should do it.”  The tech clicked a couple of keys and the metal monster on the floor hummed to life.

“Shit, are you sure that’s a good idea?”  One of the other techs took a couple of steps back from it.

“Don’t worry, he can’t move right now.  The prosthetic’s safety override has been engaged.”  Eugene said, the scientist in him was now curious as to what would happen.

“Darling, can you hear me?”  Seraphim approached the monstrosity that had been her husband.

“Angel?  Is that really you?  This isn’t another delusion?  I can’t move my love, I’m paralyzed.”  His voice sounded different from before, more calm.

“Let me fix that for you my sweet.  You have been immobilized for your and ours but I can see that you are no threat.”  She leaned down and pressed on the switches she had seen Eugene touch.  The construct twitched, then rolled over to a sitting position.

“What have you done to me Seraphim?  Why am I like this?”  He held up a metal hand.

“For revenge my love.” She purred, “There isn’t a force on the Earth who can stand against us now.”

“Revenge?  As I seem to recall, a dish best served cold.”  His hand reached out towards her and she leaned in for his caress.  He cupped her face in his hand gently.  “That’s not like you at all; you were always so full of fire and temper.”

“Oh, there’s plenty of time for that.”  Her voice dropped low and husky, “More than enough time for death and destruction, the plans have been made and the groundwork is all finished.  All we are waiting for is your command and we shall rain fire down upon our enemies.”  Seraphim ran her hand down his mechanical arm and closed her eyes.

“My Angel, how could I survive without you?”  Her head still rested in his massive titanium palm, “We will CRUSH them.”  His hands tightened into fists reflexively, smashing Seraphim’s head like a grape.

“Angel?” Farlan’s voice trembled, “My darling?”  He looked down at the broken form at his feet.  “What is this?  No no no no no it’s happening again, it’s the dream again the dream it must be the dream.”  His head turned, seeming to take in the room for the first time.  His gaze fell upon Eugene, “Is this a dream?”

One of the technicians in the room managed to recover from the shock of the situation and carefully reached towards the thick umbilicus that connected the machine to its power source.  Just before his hand touched the plug the machine’s head cocked to one side as though listening, and then sprang on the unfortunate man, crushing him underfoot.

“He says you are the enemy.  He says you are trying to turn us off.  I don’t understand this dream; I am letting CAS handle it.”  A flash on the screen in front of him caused Eugene to look down.  The readout on the monitor next to his laptop had a warning in red.

‘Warning, emergency self-defense protocol engaged.  Manual override failed.’

The man next to him looked into Eugene’s eyes, fear plain on his face.  “We built a copy of your AI into the chassis to help control it, a Chassis Automation System.  It has changed the access codes on its own.  I’m locked out.”

A blur of motion passed between the two men and the tech exploded.  Farlan raised his gore-covered hand, looking at it curiously.

Eugene’s legs failed him and he crumpled to the floor, accidentally saving his life as the thing’s hand seemed to materialize in the space he had just vacated.  All he could do was gape in horror until a flickering motion caught his eye.  When he glanced at it his heart almost stopped.  He was certain he had just caught a glimpse of Victoria through the thick glass that looked out into the hallway.

Eugene

“Wake up!  I said wake the FUCK UP!”  Eugene opened his eyes slowly, attempting to make them focus.  It felt like he had been asleep for mere moments but a glance at the wall clock revealed he had been out for almost six hours.

“What the hell is all the noise?  Christ I’ve been working for three days with almost no sleep what do you want?”

Seraphim was on the big monitor again and she looked pissed.  “The Coast Guard accessed our GPS in order to triangulate our location but instead of following normal protocol they initiated an active trace.”

Eugene still wasn’t awake enough to interpret what she was saying, “Why did you have to wake me up to tell me this shit?  Either quit with the word games and tell me what you want or fuck off and let me sleep.”

“It means they are trying to track my ship.”  She hissed, “They don’t do that unless they have a damn good reason.  What did you do?  Send an SOS?  I want to know how you got a message out of that room, it’s hardened with only audio and video allowed out.”

“You have got to be kidding me.  If you don’t know exactly what I’ve been doing this entire time then you haven’t been paying attention.  I built you a machine in three days that took me three years last time I did it.  I’ve been working with almost no sleep and astonishing amounts of caffeine to get this thing done and now I just want to sleep before the final checks.  Unless you want me to miss something important causing the device to nuke your hubby’s brain stem when we turn it on I suggest you shut the FUCK up and let me get some sleep.  I haven’t bothered trying to send any kind of message to anyone.”  He closed his eyes again.

There was a momentary pause before she asked in a fevered voice, “It’s done?  You’ve finished it?”

“Yeah, I made some improvements too, put some better integration protocols in there based on what I’ve seen from Victoria and a few power limiting shunts too.  I want to go over things better before I turn it loose though.  Still haven’t powered on the AI for the internal checks.  Gotta make sure the code is debugged.”  Eugene’s voice trailed off as he drifted into sleep again.

Seraphim watched him for a few moments from the monitor, a variety of emotions flickered across her face finally settling on a grim kind of hope.  “He will be returned to me and then it shall be time for vengeance.”

–

Eugene woke, finally feeling like a human being again.  Although he knew that technically his nearly four days of imprisonment had freed him from the physical addiction of nicotine he still missed smoking, especially in the morning.  Sighing, he stumbled out of bed and made his way to the tiny shower set into the wall across from the food dispensers.  It likely was supposed to be a chemical rinse station but had been hastily converted to have hot water instead of whatever cleaning agent it was supposed to sluice parts in.

After a quick shower, he retrieved a banana and a cup of coffee from the machines and walked back into the lab.  He powered on his diagnostic tools and ran yet another bug check.  This one too came up clean which was strange.  He knew he was fallible and had been working under the absolute worst conditions and yet somehow his code was perfect.  Running his fingers through his still damp hair, he checked to make sure the power cells of the new unit were fully charged and then ran the power up sequence through the access cable.

Again, everything went nearly perfectly.  The operating system booted without a hitch and after a moment’s hesitation the AI began sending recognition signals.  Eugene had simulated a brain stem connection and the AI responded as it should, passing information and behaving itself otherwise.  When he sent the power down sequence, the AI closed its threads and shut off.  All those extra protocols he had added must be working as designed.

Shaking his head he sat back and sipped his coffee, wishing again for a cigarette.  Looking at his laptop, Eugene opened the simulator, running a program that imitated a human brain in a coma.  At least it was supposed to, who knew exactly how a brain in a coma would really react.

He ran a variety of different simulations and every time the AI failed completely to do anything about the state of the brain.  Shit, the fact of the matter was it wasn’t a tool to heal; it was a tool to maintain.  If he was going to make it do anything other than that major modifications were going to have to happen.  Making Seraphim believe him was going to be the hard part.

On a whim, Eugene introduced one of the advanced problem solving algorithms ADAM had reported using to organize Victoria’s memories.  The effects were immediate and absolute.  The simulated brain awoke and began rudimentary functions.

“I’ll be damned.  That digital bastard is bailing me out again.  I wonder if I’m going to be able to pay him back.”  Eugene muttered to himself.  He set down his coffee cup and raised his voice, “Seraphim, this thing checks out.  I’m ready to hand it over to you for implementation.”

“What?”  The screen filckered to life on the wall, “Already?  You really are a prodigy Dr. Arlington.”

“I only did what I had to in order to survive.”  He said, “It seemed in my best interests to get this shit done as quickly as possible.  Can you let me go now?”

Seraphim laughed, “Oh Eugene, you really are a silly bastard.  You can go once the surgery is complete and my dear sweet darling is returned to me.  Until then, I will at least let you retire to more comfortable quarters.”

“Wait, aren’t you going to have me be involved in the surgical procedures?  I might be able to be of assistance.  After all, I’m the only one on this boat who has done this before.”

“So naïve, did you really thing I would try to do this with unskilled amateurs?  It was hard to get you but it was child’s play to get the rest of your team.”  The truth that rang in her voice cut deeper than any sarcasm or derision she added on top.  “Now run along Eugene.  The work is done, now you can relax and wait for your work to bear fruit.  If it doesn’t you will be the first to know.”

A.D.A.M.

Adam was noticing an interesting anomaly in the brain functions of the Host system – in Victoria.  Before his cataloging program was put in place, there were spikes in activity and unnecessary activation of certain data stores causing erratic data retrieval patterns.  Now that his program was up and running, the Host often skipped the first step and went straight to the data source it was looking for.

All his carefully laid out schema were being gradually undermined and had to constantly be updated and maintained.  It was almost as though the system was making shortcuts every time it accessed the storage database.  Adam created a maintenance daemon to maintain order in the database and decided to monitor progress from there.

A spike in activity drew his attention.  Victoria was storing a lot of information in a schema related to logic and linking it to another related to emotions.  These were the same issues he was attempting to work through, what could she be doing that would trigger this kind of response?  Adam opened the files and looked through them.

Images of a man, his high cheekbones, clean shaven face and short cropped black hair, his dark eyes peering from beneath a serious brow.  There were scraps of audio, bits of video, but nothing having directly to do with logic at all.  Adam assembled the entire file together and attempted to analyze it further.  Once he did this he began to see a pattern.

The man’s actions, motions and speech were all very precise.  He moved like a machine, talked like a machine and made decisions like a machine albeit much slower than a machine would.  There was very little wasted motion in his actions and he waited to act until he had gathered the information needed to make a logical choice.  Most interesting of all to Adam was that after looking at the data as a whole he discovered that the man approached emotions logically as well.

It didn’t appear he actually felt emotions, he merely knew that others did and therefore it was only logical for him to display them in order to fit in.  This fascinated Adam, and the more he looked at it the more he was certain that this man was as close to a machine as any human he had data on.  He flagged the file for easy reference and so that he would be notified when it was accessed or modified.  The next time Victoria met this man he wanted to experience their interaction as it was happening.

Victoria

It was well after nine before Victoria was able to drag herself out of bed.  She stretched, noting that during the night she had somehow managed to wrap the sheets completely around her legs.  What the hell had she been dreaming about?  Images of running along a mountain ridge barefoot with a rushing river far below her floated to the top of her conscious mind.

Oh yeah, that’s right.  It was actually pretty cool that she could remember dreams now.  That’s something she had never been able to do before.  Getting out of bed, she unplugged her trickle charger and grabbed her bathrobe.  She could hear noise downstairs and smell brewed coffee.

She walked into the kitchen, still yawning and idly listened to the radio broadcast that was on.

“- Iranian officials still deny the allegations as do the North Koreans but it now seems almost certain that North Korea has been selling weapons grade uranium to Iran.  The report that was released had too many verifiable specifics including dates, satellite photographs of vehicles and even images that appear to show the heat signatures of nuclear material in buildings and in transit to be a hoax.  The group Anonymous has posted the report on their site and claim they were given the information by a lone hacker who told them he stole it from a US military spy satellite.”

Oh shit.  Yuen-Ja had actually done it.  She had actually posted the stolen satellite data in spite of the effects it was going to have on the world.  Well at least she had kept her promise to release it after the fact so that it was less likely they would be implicated.

“Pretty unbelievable huh?”  Her dad poured her a cup of coffee, “I mean everyone knows North Korea is a nuclear power and that Iran wants to become one but I never imagined they would get desperate enough to sell uranium to the Iranians.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty wild.  I wonder what will happen now?  Obviously sanctions aren’t very effective but if Iran has the bomb now a direct invasion isn’t a good idea.  I wonder what Israel will have to say about this?”  Said Victoria, taking the proffered cup.

“It will be all talk and bluster I fear.”  Yuen-Ja was sitting at the breakfast bar, eating a bowl of cereal and holding her coffee cup out for a refill.  “The world has seen worse things come and go with barely a passing glance.  In spite of how we perceive him I am certain Ahmadinejad is too smart to risk a direct confrontation with other nuclear powers.  Since it was exposed so soon, I expect he will give it up in return for some loosening of sanction or another.”

“Well that is an awfully jaded view of world politics don’t you think?”  Her father said, refilling Yuen-Ja’s coffee cup.

“Not if you see the world of politics from the view of a North Korean peasant.  Thank you for the breakfast, I am going to go check on a program I was running last night.”  She left the room, taking her coffee with her.

“You know there seems to me to be a lot more to her than we were previously aware of.” Said her father.

“I think you are probably right.”  Victoria said, carefully ignoring the fact that she knew exactly what her sister was long before the adoption had occurred.  “I can’t imagine what it must have been like living there under constant threat of death or imprisonment.  Especially with her father being in his line of work.”

“What did her father do?” Asked her dad, “It’s strange that we’ve adopted her and that she seems so comfortable with us but I don’t really feel like I know much about her.  Other than what you told us of course.”

“He was a scientist involved with their nuclear program.”  Victoria said, her mind still on the newscast. “He quit and defected as soon as he found it was not for peaceful means.  I’m not certain what happened to her mother exactly but I know Yuen-Ja believes the military killed her.”

“My god, that’s terrible!”  Her dad said, “How do you know about all this?”

“Um… I guess sisters talk to each other?”  Victoria said, still sounding distracted. “She says the world is divided into four groups in North Korea.  There are members of the military, members of government, peasants and slaves.  Almost everyone falls into the last two groups.  Even though her father was a man of some influence, I gather he still lived in a one bedroom apartment and she remembers often going to bed hungry.”  Victoria had never actually talked to her adopted sister about this, but somehow she knew about it.

“Well she’s part of our family now and a citizen of the USA.”  Her father said, “She won’t have to go to bed hungry unless she’s being punished for something and I think she’s a little old for that kind of thing.”

“Let’s hope so dad, let’s hope so.” She said, “I’m going to go see what she’s up to.”

Victoria went to check in with Yuen-Ja, .  She found the girl sitting down in the basement, curled up in a corner of the worn leather sofa with her heads up device strapped to her face, deep into the program she was writing.

“Find anything?”  Victoria asked.

“No.  This database is too big.  Nothing is labeled properly.  It is a real pain in the ass to navigate.”  Yuen-Ja said petulantly, her fingers flying over the keyboard, “My program crashed earlier this morning.  It looked too much like a virus and their AV caught it.  I am having to re-write it using completely different code.”

“How long do you think it will take?”  Victoria asked, “Should I start looking for the other components?”

“Sure, you might as well.  The more leads we have the better off we will be.”  She didn’t sound very hopeful. “I will have this up and running in another ten or fifteen minutes, then I will help you.  I owe Eugene; I do not like leaving him hanging this way.”

–

In spite of working all day the two sisters had not managed to come up with any good leads.  With both of them finding the parts had been fairly simple.  There were only a couple options for most of them, especially the laser lathe, but they were all shipped to different addresses.  The only pattern was many of the components were sent to shipyards, docks and marinas.  All places the Misery could have stopped to pick them up.

“They must have taken them to their lab right?  I can’t think of a better way to disguise your operation than to have your address be a boat.”  Victoria said, tossing her laptop on the table in front of her in exasperation.

“I suppose you are correct.  The only other thing I can think of is that perhaps the ship itself is the lab.”  Yuen-Ja replied.

“Holy shit, it’s so simple!”  Said Victoria, “Why didn’t we think of that before?  How big is the Misery anyway?”

“She is a one hundred foot yacht.”  Said Yuen-Ja, her fingers flying on the keyboard, “Easily large enough to house a compact robotics laboratory right?”

Victoria paused in thought, “Yes, but they wouldn’t be able to do the surgery there I don’t think.  Even with advanced instruments they couldn’t risk the motion of the ship messing up a procedure this delicate.  They will need to come to a port of call somewhere to do the operation.  I’m guessing it wouldn’t be too far off the California coast either.”

“What operation?  Do you think they are forcing him to do another prosthetic spinal transplant?”  Yuen-Ja seemed excited by the prospect.

“Why else would anyone have purchased all this equipment and taken him hostage?  They haven’t even made any demands.  Hell, I don’t even know if anyone else knows he’s missing.”  Victoria looked at the clock. “Damn, David is going to be here in a half hour and I haven’t even showered today.  I’d better get ready.”

“Oh that is right, I forgot he is taking you out to a movie tonight.”  Yuen-Ja gave her a sly grin, “He has not forgotten though.  He could not believe it when you asked him out, he is your biggest fan.”

Victoria hurried upstairs, picked out her favorite jeans and a ‘Tank Girl’ faux vintage T-shirt before getting in the shower.  She got dressed, brushed on a touch of makeup and pinned her hair back with a pair of hot pink barrettes.  Standing back to assess her outfit, she added the charm bracelet her mystery admirer had given her and the microchip pendant from Dmitri.

Eugene

Eugene had been working for twelve or sixteen hours straight and his head was starting to spin a little.  It had been so long since he had sat to do this kind of work he had forgotten how absorbing it was.  The laser lathe was finishing the machine work on the final piece of titanium for the new prosthetic and he had done the initial coding for the AI.

Most of the code was already written, but he needed to eliminate some of the more dangerous pieces that the General had insisted on him writing.  He was also leaving out any wireless capabilities and putting much more harsh restrictions on the organic and digital brain interactions.  Knowing what he knew now Eugene was certain that it was a one in a billion chance that Victoria had survived and he couldn’t risk that kind of integration going wrong here.  Whatever bargain that girl had managed to strike up with A.D.A.M. had saved her life, but he couldn’t gamble that Seraphim’s husband would be able to do the same thing.

He dredged through the code, trying to find what had allowed the connection to happen.  Trying to figure out exactly what had been the catalyst for that acceptance between human and computer was like trying to remember a dream right after he had awakened.  Even as Eugene recreated the physical components of his masterpiece he tried to figure out how to modify its code to help facilitate that integral connection between the organic and mechanical.

Seraphim hadn’t contacted him at all during this time but he was certain he could feel her watching him.  She was a puzzle for certain, he didn’t remember anyone fitting her description or representing this organization ever contacting him.  Either she was trying to make him feel guilty or he supposed there was the possibility she had used some other channels to try and contact him.

He had mined his computer for any emails or contacts from anyone even close to her and the only one that was any kind of a match was a message from a medical technologies company in Minnesota.  The CEO was asking for the rights to produce the parts and was willing to cut him a deal if he was willing to sell her husband the first one so that it might be possible for him to awaken from his coma.

The main clue there was that nobody outside of his team knew about Victoria being stuck in a coma for weeks, there was really no reason for anyone to think that this technology would help with a coma patient.  He wished he knew just how much Angela had shared.  He assumed everything but then again he didn’t know how much data her level of clearance would afford her anyway.

Eugene double checked the lathe program to make sure it was running as it should and then turned his attention to the bed.  Passing a hand in front of his eyes, he decided it was time to get some rest before he started making stupid mistakes.

–

When he awoke, it was to the sound of the laser lathe’s clear chime that indicated it had finished the process at hand.  He had only slept for a few hours but still felt a lot better than he had before.  Going into the tiny nook that held the food dispensers, he grabbed a banana and pushed a button to receive a hot cup of coffee in a paper cup.  Living out of vending machines brought him back to college.

When he went back to check on the progress of his work, Eugene discovered someone had been tampering with things.  The polymer spacers that connected the titanium vertebra were already constructed and the Nano-molecular musculature of the augmentation system was waving out of them like sea anemone as they lay in their bath of neurosynth fluid.  It annoyed him but was helpful nonetheless.  After triple checking the mystery helper’s work he turned back to the main issue.

“Hey Seraphim, I’m going to need more than physical measurements here to complete this work.  I figure you’re listening in so let me know when you want to give me the rest of the info.”  Eugene sipped his coffee and then slid his hands into the gloves that extended into the assembly tank.  Using precise care, he connected the vertebra and spacers, nudging the tiny wisps of Nanomuscle into the proper holes with electromagnetic pulses.

The beauty of the neurosynth fluid was this could all be achieved through electronic waves, after all its main function was to transmit signals and each tiny thread had its own magnetic signature.  In an hour or so he had the full shell of the spine assembled and was ready to create the conduit that would run through the center of the spine, giving rigidity and housing the flexible battery cells.  Eugene looked at what he had built with pride.

“Not even one day has passed and yet you have accomplished more than I feared you could do in a week.  You amaze me Dr. Arlington.”  Seraphim’s face appeared on the wall monitor.  “What additional information do you require?”

“I need the age of the patient, his current status, how long he has been in a coma, if he responds to stimuli, what medications have been used, how his state is being maintained and honestly I need to examine him before I can feel completely confident about the success of the operation.”  Eugene pushed his glasses into a more comfortable place on his nose.  “I will probably have more questions before we are done as well.”

“He is forty one, he is currently in a coma where he has been for thirty six months.  He was in a car accident and never regained consciousness when the paramedics brought him to the hospital.  We have not been able to get him to respond to anything but pain.  He has not been given any medications as he is otherwise sound of body.  He is fully stabilized and is only on a saline drip to keep him hydrated and a feeding tube to ensure he does not starve to death.”

“I’m afraid that does not bode well.  Why do you think my device will awaken him from the coma?  If he responds to stimuli it means his spine is not the problem, he likely has massive brain damage.”

“I know you have the necessary skills to write the programs that will awaken him Dr. Arlington.  Your success with Victoria Scott proved it to me.”  Seraphim replied, “I met her briefly you know?  Her adaptive and regenerative capabilities right after her operation were what convinced me I must have your technology for my husband.”

“Well, I can’t promise anything really.  This is an untested brand new technology there is just no way to guarantee success.”  Eugene said, trying to sound nonchalant, “I will do whatever I can to try and make it work but in the end it is the AI talking to your husband.  Once the switch is flipped all bets are off.”

“Do not fail me Dr. Arlington or the consequences will be dire.  Failure is not an option, do you understand me?”  With that the wall flickered blank again.  Eugene shuddered, the look in her eyes had been one promising pain for as long as she could keep him alive.

Walking to the sink, he splashed water on his face.  He had seen that kind of desperation before and it never ended well.  Christ, he’d been there before and it was only luck and good friends that had saved him from disaster.  Whatever was going on with Seraphim was beyond his control though; all he could do was attempt to make her happy enough to let him go.  Well that and look for any opening to escape or call for help.

Victoria

Dmitri was watching her with those piercing eyes as she cut into her steak.  Bishop’s was famous for broiling their steaks in butter and Victoria could hardly wait to eat it.  The massively thick porterhouse she had ordered was blackened on the outside but welled up blood as she sliced into it.  She had ordered it rare and it was done to perfection.

“Oh wow, that’s amazing.”  She closed her eyes, savoring the taste.  “You really should have gotten yours rare, the flavor is so much better.”

Dmitri shook his head slightly, “I prefer medium.  A tougher piece of meat is worth the added protection against pathogens.”

“I dunno, this steak might just be worth dying for.”  She grinned at him.  His face was inscrutable as he took another drink from the glass of straight vodka he had ordered.  Her phone vibrated a message.  She idly tapped into it with Adam’s Bluetooth connection and read it while continuing to demolish the meat on her plate.

‘Hi Tori, you need to call Eugene right now!  Everything I had pulled up about this Global Enterprise Group has just been expunged from the web.  That is impossible, nobody can just wipe things off the web!   Whoever they are I think they have a little more muscle than I had initially anticipated, or maybe just more talent.

‘The only thing I have to go on is a ship called the Misery and a person called Seraphim.  No surname, no title, no rank, just Seraphim.  I am going to try and assemble the minions and burn into the night.  Get ahold of Eugene as fast as you can and then get home so we can plan our next move.’

Victoria stood up, “Just need to go powder my nose.” She said, grabbing her purse.  Dmitri watched her without comment but she could feel his eyes on her until she was out of sight of the table.  She quickly pulled her phone from her purse and hit the third speed dial.  Eugene’s phone rang three times and went to voicemail.

“Hi Eugene, just checking in to see how things were going.  Life’s grand on my end you have my number if you want to hit me back.”  She hung up with a sense of foreboding.

“Is everything OK Miss Scott?”  Victoria almost jumped out of her skin; Ivanov was standing not three feet from her.

“Christ, you scared the crap out of me!”  She exclaimed, “What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”

“My apologies Miss Scott I was just returning from the men’s room and noticed you here alone.”  He gave her a penetrating look, “You are all right aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m fine, just a bit of a problem with a friend.  Nothing to worry about, thanks for asking.”  She went to the ladies room, touched up her makeup and was back at the table in a few minutes.  When she sat down, Dmitri had a troubled look on his face.

“I fear for Dr. Arlington Victoria.  He was supposed to attend a fundraising meeting earlier in the evening and apparently never showed up; very uncharacteristic for him.  Also, he hasn’t returned any of my counterpart’s phone calls today which is completely out of character.  Do you know anything that might assist us?  I only wish the best for him you know.”

In spite of everything, Victoria was still reluctant to tell him everything.  Acknowledging that there could be a problem risked exposing Yuen-Ja and that wasn’t something she was willing to chance.

“That’s strange, he hasn’t answered my phone calls either.  If I find anything out, I’ll be sure to come to you for help first.”

Dmitri visibly relaxed, “It would be an insult to me if you went elsewhere.  If I hear anything I will of course keep you apprised of the situation.”  He glanced at his watch, “I fear it is time for me to bring you home.  If I wish to remain in your family’s good graces I had better have you back on time.”

“I can hardly believe it’s that late.  This evening has passed altogether too quickly.”  Victoria gave him a genuine smile, “I really have enjoyed myself.  Thank you Dmitri.”

“The pleasure my dear was all mine.”  The waiter, who had blessedly been nearly nonexistent the entire night suddenly appeared by his left elbow as though sensing some unseen signal.

“What do you require sir?”

“Only the check please.”  Said Dmitri, reaching for his wallet.

“I could never ask you to pay sir.  You know that your meal is on the house.  Please come back as often as you desire, I will always have a table for you Master Nikitin.”

“What a pleasant man.  Who was he Dmitri?  How did you manage to swing a deal like that?”  Victoria was genuinely impressed.

“I procured the paperwork needed to secure this property and make it zoned for a commercial restaurant as opposed for residential purposes.  That man was James Bishop didn’t you recognize him from the papers?”  Dmitri didn’t act like it was a big deal at all.  It was a matter of course that the owner of a new five star establishment would be bowing and scraping to his every whim.  Just like it was in high school, he was totally out of her league.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Victoria laid her hand on Dmitri’s waiting arm and allowed him to escort her to the limo.  Ivanov was there, already holding the door and still outlined by faint orange lines.  She met his eyes and gave him a careful nod of acknowledgement.

Momentary surprise flickered across his face and he returned her look with what she would describe as cautious interest.  If she was going to hope to keep the upper hand with someone like him she needed to be perceived at least as very smart if not a potential threat.  Dangerous men that fit his profile tended to respect intelligence and hold threats at arm’s length.

Dmitri sat next to her this time instead of across from her.  He leaned in close, smelling of alcohol, cologne and faintly of cigarettes.  “You are a fascinating woman.  I know you are hiding things, important things.  I know Dr. Arlington is in danger and that you are aware of it.  I am as certain of this as I am certain that you are sitting next to me.  There is also the possibility that you know that I know and yet you have the guts to come with me, sit here in my car, under my power and show absolutely no sign of intimidation whatsoever.”

He leaned back and seemed to unconsciously pull a black cigarette case from an inside pocket of his suit.  Taking a black cigarette with a gold filter from the case he gestured with it.  “You even surprised Ivanov, something which I have only seen three times before.  Something about the way your mind works balances decisions on a razor’s edge of logic and seems to always make the most logical choice.”

Damn, well if he knew about things it was time to come clean.  After all he had a lot of power and influence.  The more she kept from him the more he would likely imagine she was keeping from him and imagination was always worse than reality.  That said, the situation needed to be approached from an angle that would more endear her to him than alienate.

“Honestly Dmitri, I just didn’t want to embroil you in my problems you know?  A man like yourself has plenty of other things to deal with without having to –“

“Did I not say I would be insulted if you did not come to me for help first?”  Dmitri’s eyes blazed as he looked at her.

“I haven’t gone to anyone for help.  I tend to work alone, especially when I suspect the work is dangerous.”  Victoria folded her arms, “If you want to be involved then you’re going to hear everything.  Some of it you might not want to be exposed to, some of it might get you killed and most of it would get ME killed or at least put in a government laboratory somewhere for the rest of my life.  Are you willing to take that risk?”

The car accelerated smoothly onto the freeway but the interior was completely silent for a few moments.  Dmitri lit his cigarette and opened a small vent above his head that pulled most of the smoke out of the cabin.  He was looking directly at her the entire time, smoking and thinking.  She could almost see the thoughts clicking into place behind his eyes.  When he had finished his cigarette he finally spoke.

“For now I think it might be best for both of us if I was not involved.  I apologize for my former reaction; sometimes I allow my ego to overshadow logic.  If you are in any immediate danger or have the need of something that you believe I can provide for you do not hesitate to contact me.”  He handed her a black business card with simple white lettering.

“You have an unfathomable ability to read situations and come up with the solution that best benefits you nearly every time.  Some time I would like to bring you in as a consultant for my business.  You would make an excellent negotiator.”  He smiled in earnest this time, but instead of looking mirthful it had the effect of sharpening his features to look more like a bird of prey or a mountain lion about to spring upon some hapless creature.

Victoria shivered, partially due to the danger of the look but also because his feral expression was so exciting.  “I may take you up on that, it sounds interesting.”

He laughed, a mirthless bark.  “Even now you leave your exits wide open.  Victoria, I have not been bullied like this since my mother was alive.  You are extraordinary indeed, this was a most enjoyable and fruitful evening.  My father was wise to make this investment, it is sure to pay off a thousand fold.”

Eugene

Eugene arrived at Bishop’s a mere ten minutes late, not bad for how terrible the crosstown traffic had been.  He pulled the Vanquish into the valet parking area with a resigned sigh.  Normally he wouldn’t valet his car but in this case he needed to make up as much time as possible.  He wrapped a hundred around the valet key asked the first attendant.

“You can drive a manual transmission?”

“Of course sir.”  The attendant was looking past him at the Aston Martin, “That is a beautiful piece of machinery.”

Eugene handed him the key, turned to walk into the restaurant and was surprised to feel the cold pressure of a gun barrel against the small of his back.  “Come with me if you want to live a little longer.  I represent the group who contacted you; this seemed as good a place as any to catch you off your guard.”

He looked around and saw the other three valets were all looking at him.  They steered him back to his car, the one with the gun handing off the key and motioning him into the passenger’s seat.  The door was closed behind him and he saw the driver had a roll of duct tape.  Eugene winced as the tape was unceremoniously wrapped around his upper body and the seat.  That was going to play hell with the upholstery.

“I’m not exactly sure what your angle is here, but there’s nobody around who will pay a ransom for me that I know of.”  That was the extent of his ability to talk as the tape was also wrapped around his mouth, then even his eyes were obscured.

“We will get what we want Dr. Arlington.  You will give it to us.  We have a facility built, ready and waiting.  Everything you need to duplicate your prototype will be there along with a team of very gifted surgeons.  You will make and implant another or your life is forfeit.”

They were insane.  How in the world did they think he would be able to perform such a task?  There was just no way they had adequate facilities.  The car was off and moving, the man driving had no sense of the precision needed to get the most out of the machine.  He even ground the gears between second and third.

After what seemed an eternity, his captive finally brought the Vanquish to a halt.  The door was opened and Eugene heard a sharp click shortly followed by the sound of a knife blade shredding the tape holding him down and probably the Italian leather of the seat as well.  The tape was ripped from his face, taking most of his eyebrows and lashes with it.  A riot of light assailed his eyes, he was in an enclosed garage lit by harsh metal halide lamps.

Eugene suddenly remembered the pistol in his jacket pocket.  It was something he had purchased in a moment of weakness a few years ago.  He had been on a James Bond kick and just HAD to have a Walther PPK.  To his surprise the gun wasn’t really all that accurate beyond ten yards but then again it fit in his pocket with barely a bulge.  How much could you really ask for in a weapon that small?

He watched his captors and waited for just the right moment.  He figured at some point only one of them would have their attention on him but unlike the movies, the bad guys never made any of the classic mistakes.  The entire room lurched slightly, startling him.

“Looks like we’re finally under way, bring Dr. Arlington to the lab.”  A new yet familiar voice sounded from the other side of the room.

“Dr. Jackson?  Is that you?  What the fuck is going on here?”  Eugene could clearly see his former colleague standing just outside of a doorway.

“You had your chance Eugene.  I worked my guts out for you, I wanted to become part of your team.  But no, you chose that moron Sims instead.  Why?  Was it because I’m a woman?”  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “No matter, I found a better team to work for and now we have you to work for us.  Isn’t fate a funny thing?”

“I chose Sims because he had a better track record under pressure, even though your skillset was superior.  Your sex had nothing to do with my decision.”  Eugene put his hand in his jacket pocket, feeling the reassuring presence of the Walther.

“I trust you fools have frisked him yes?”

“Uh, no we, uh, he’s a doctor.  Doctors don’t carry guns.”  The startled goon next to him stammered.

“You idiots, you KNOW he’s working for the Russian mafia AND the Department of Defense and you STILL didn’t bother to check him for weapons?”

Eugene slipped the Walther up his sleeve and put his hands up.  “Go ahead boys, give me a once over.”

The nearest guard moved to pat him down and to Eugene’s dismay the gun fell out of his sleeve and fell on the cement floor with a resounding clatter.

“He’s just a doctor he wouldn’t be armed.”  Her voice was a mocking singsong, “Silly children, I know better.  Now bring him to the lab, it’s time to put our captive rat to work.  Don’t forget to get his laptop from the car.”  Dr. Jackson turned on her heel and stalked down the hallway.

“Wait, she said under way.  Are we on a boat?”  Eugene asked the guard who had just confiscated his handgun, wallet, keys, sunglasses and phone.

“I’m not gonna answer shit Doc.  Move your ass, time to show us you’re worth all the trouble we’ve gone through to bring you here.  If not, oh fucking well, bullets are cheap and I can buy a whole shitton of them with the amount of cash I’ll get selling that goddamn car of yours.”  Eugene’s phone began to ring with the theme song from the Million Dollar Man.  Shit, Victoria was trying to call him.

“See?  I’m not even gone for more than a few hours and already people have noticed I’m missing.  This isn’t going to go well for you, why not just release me now?  I won’t even press charges.”  Eugene said.

“Nice try Arlington, soon we will be out cell phone range and there’s no way anyone will be able to track us.  Get moving.”

Eugene moved down the hallway, trying to see anything he could do to escape or even stall what seemed to be inevitable, but it was a polished stainless steel corridor.  Even the lights were recessed behind glass and flush with the ceiling.

“This is some boat, where’d you steal it?”

The guard behind him slapped the back of his head with the barrel of his gun, “Watch your tongue.  Our lady built this craft and we are very protective of her.”

“Angela Jackson is no lady, and she has no idea about boats so you must be referring to someone else.”  Eugene said, hoping for a little more information.  They were now approaching a large round door that moved sideways with a pleasant hiss.  Through the tiny portal set in the airlock door on the other side he could see an exact replica of his nano-robotics laboratory back at the hospital research and development wing.

“How did you find all this?”  Eugene was shocked; they even had the glass holding tank with his patented recirculating system that kept it from bonding until used.  “Angela was never even allowed in this room, how in the world did you get access to all of my most vital secrets?”  A mechanical voice interrupted him from a speaker on the ceiling.

“Ultrasonic decontamination commencing.”  A vibration that seemed to make the entire room tremble began, moving from first a deep bass that twisted his intestines to an insanely high soprano that made his eardrums feel like they were bleeding.  When the sound cut off abruptly Eugene felt like a gutted fish.

“Ugh, that was harsh.”  Eugene realized his guard had not entered the airlock with him.  The inner airlock hissed open.

“Welcome Dr. Eugene Theodore Arlington to your new home.  I trust you will find everything in order.  You may begin now or wait until morning if you wish.  Your body is now free of foreign contaminants and I will not allow you to leave this room until you are complete.  There is a bed behind the lab that folds from the wall and food will be delivered as you require it.”

A small panel on the wall opened and his laptop devoid of its case slid out on a steel shelf.  It had obviously been subjected to a rigorous cleaning, it gleamed as though brand new.

“I don’t like to work without knowing whom I am working for.  I would think with your intelligence gathering capabilities you would know I don’t have a problem working for … unsavory people but I do want to know who you are.”

A portion of the wall flickered and became a large monitor.  It showed a gorgeous redhead sitting in a well-appointed den.  “You may call me Seraphim.   The prosthetic you are making is for my husband, he has been comatose for an entire year.  Once you are finished I shall implant him with this miracle device and if the integration is successful I swear to leave you intact at a port of your choosing.”

She stood, the slightly curled mane of hair tumbling down her back like a crimson waterfall, “While I may not be able to pay more than the Nikitin Family I will be paying in cash.  Ten million in unmarked currency.”

“Why all these shadow games?  Why the kidnapping?  I don’t-“

“IF you had answered my voicemails, IF you had responded to my emails, IF you had written me a GODDAMN letter in response to all the begging pleading messages I had sent perhaps this situation could have been avoided!”  Her eyes flashed in anger, “Know that the room you are in is completely sealed, if you fail me I shall simply remove all the oxygen.  It is as easy as flicking a switch.  Now get.  To.  Work.”

The monitor flickered back to resemble steel and Eugene let out a deep breath he didn’t remember holding.  Turning to his laptop he powered it on and began loading the initial coding protocols.  The sooner he could get this over with the sooner he could get free.  If it integrated properly that is, and there was also the question of the sanity or simply the temper of his captor.  Seraphim.  The highest court of Angels if the Bible was to be believed.  Yeah, right.