General Charles Regan Hallbeck was a man of grand vision and true grit.  He was a man who decided what he wanted, planned for it and then got it.  He enjoyed the occasional challenge along the way; it was boring to have everything handed to him on a silver platter unless it was his morning coffee.

He turned on the news while stirring cream and sugar into his coffee cup.  Nobody knew he preferred cream and sugar, he considered it to be a weakness.  His father, God rest his soul, had always said ‘Real men drink their coffee strong and black’ so that’s how Charles drank his when anyone was looking.

“We have news that in a quiet neighborhood on a street called Honeysuckle Terrace an apparent gangland style assassination has taken place.” Said a newscaster on his television, “We now go live to Jessica Hutchison who is on the scene.  Jessica?”

Charles nearly spit coffee onto the desk while his favorite reporter came on screen.

“Thanks Rob.  The police won’t let us anywhere near the block where neighbors claim there was a police raid just yesterday afternoon.  That raid apparently did not result in any arrests, however we expect something to come of it today.  You can see the vehicle the victims were driving behind me.  According to sources inside, this black Dodge Durango is registered to a group suspected to have ties to the Italian Mafia.”

A man in crime scene gear was approaching the Durango which was just behind the crime scene tape and began looking it over.  Jessica approached and put a microphone in his face.

“Excuse me, Jess Hutchison from channel thirteen; can you give us an idea of what’s going on?  Do you have any leads?”

At that moment the walkie-talkie on the man’s shoulder squawked, “Gold!  These assholes used gold bullets, there’s no way we can trace-” he turned the sound down.

“No comment!  Shut that camera off damn it!”

“Do you know of any groups that use gold bullets?  Have you seen anything like this before?”  Jessica was leaning over the crime scene tape, “The public deserves to know what is happening here.”

“Excuse me Miss Hutchison; we would prefer not to have the press involved until after we bring this case to trial.  Exposing too much information could infringe on our investigation and make jury selection difficult.”  A police captain had approached from the left hand side of the shot.  “Please stay back from the crime scene.”

Charles reached for his phone and it rang just before he touched it.

“This is General Hallbeck.”

“General, we may have a situation.”

“The violence near Miss Scott’s house?  I just saw it on the news.”

“Negative sir, that situation does not need our intervention.  The Silent Star has been compromised, we don’t know yet who or how, but they downloaded literally gigs of classified data and were gone before we had any idea we’d even been hacked.”

“Our most advanced spy satellite is hacked and you tell me we MIGHT have a situation?”  Charles yelled into the phone, “You have one hour ONE HOUR to get me a name!  By the time I’m in the office I want this fucking hacker’s nuts on a string!”  He slammed the phone down.  So much for a leisurely morning.

–

Dmitri hadn’t slept.  Some part of his brain screamed at him to rest but he had long since learned to ignore it.  Trivial things needed to be put aside when confronting a major problem.  In order to fully realize his father’s vision it was necessary to go further than the old man had ever dared go.  If he was going to be able to maintain control over the organization he didn’t dare fail.

“Are you certain of this intelligence?”  Dmitri looked at the man who lounged defiantly in the chair on the other side of the polished mahogany desk that had been his father’s.

“I trust the man.  He works in Hallbeck’s office and hasn’t led me wrong yet.”

“You had better trust him with your life.” Dmitri rasped, “If this proves to be incorrect it shall be forfeit.”

His informant turned slightly pale and sat forward in his chair, “Sir I have been finding you valuable information for years now, surely you wouldn’t react so rashly.”

“Correction, you have been providing my father with intelligence.  You have yet to prove your worth to me and my requirements differ from his.  If you are confident of your intelligence then there is no reason for you fear.  Since I will be risking my life and the lives of my associates if I choose to act on it I feel that it is only fair for you to share in the danger.”  He paused for emphasis, wishing he wasn’t out of cigarettes.  “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, of course sir.”

“Good.  You may go.”  Ivanov walked from behind the alcove where he watched these meetings, analyzing the body language and forming his own opinions about the interaction from his own unique perspective.

“I think he’s telling the truth Sir.”  Said Ivanov, “I have heard rumors about a certain title on the

web changing hands.”

Dmitri often forgot that Ivanov was a master of all things related to intelligence, even keeping tabs on the blogosphere and a few online forums.

“Tell me more.  What is this title?”  Asked Dmitri.

“It is ironic, the title is ‘The Kai’ meaning king or ruler.  Apparently it is given to a White Hat, ah that is a hacker who uses his or her skills to improve the safety and security of the web and the world at large, who has achieved some major victory.”  Ivanov took a fresh pack of cigarettes from his pocket, opened it and handed one to Dmitri before setting the rest on the desk.

“What is the irony?  Is this man truly a king?  Is he perhaps not one of these so-called White Hats?”  Dmitri asked, lighting the cigarette.

“Not at all; the irony is that I believe the man who has inherited the title shares its name.  His name is Kai Dae-Hyun.  He is a North Korean defector who used to be part of their nuclear program.  Rumor has it his family was liquidated when the Korean government got wind of his plans to leave.”

“So he has stolen data from a spy satellite.”  Dmitri mused, exhaling smoke through his nostrils, “Data we can possibly use or sell at a premium?”

“I believe so.  We would have to move quickly sir; there are other interested parties who will be converging at the same time.”  Said Ivanov, then almost as an afterthought added, “Not to mention the military, although they aren’t much of a threat.  Governments are always constrained by laws and procedure.”

“We fly out tomorrow to Las Vegas then.  I think I am due for a vacation.”

Eugene

The ride back to his destination only took about fifteen minutes which was a blessing since it was one long extended awkward silence.  Eugene’s mind was racing; all he could do was try and prioritize the feelings of panic by danger level.

The first and foremost was that thought he’d seen some of Nikitin Fedorov’s men around the corner from the Scott’s house.  He was pretty sure they weren’t going to try anything with the insane police presence that was there but it was worrisome nonetheless.  They were impatient and he was pretty sure it was them who had tried to kidnap her today on the freeway; if they didn’t mind a broad daylight carjacking the odds of them being worried about an after-hours kidnapping were unlikely at best.

The Institute for Scientific Cancer Research was really a shadow organization Nikitin had used to funnel money into Eugene’s research.  He hadn’t wanted to get involved with either the Russian mafia or the Department of Defense but his options were limited after his grant money had run out.

He was also uncertain about what the damn General was up to.  That old bastard was after his fourth star before he retired and Eugene wouldn’t put it past him to have some hidden agenda here.  He wasn’t on a Veteran’s Affairs board; he was in the Spec Ops Development division.  That was definitely trouble regardless of the specifics.

Eugene also shuddered at the possibilities of what might be happening to the girl herself.  He was astonished with her reactions to even the most basic of situations.  Not just leaping from a speeding car the instant before it had hit the guardrail and escaping unscathed; something which had hospitalized and nearly killed him.  No, she had also responded like a battle hardened soldier during the police raid.  He had scanned the logs and her heart rate had been rock steady, no adrenaline, not even erratic breathing.

His breathing, on the other hand, was anything but stable.  Eugene forced himself to take a deep breath, “Mr. Scott, please make sure your daughter’s safe OK?  I know she’s important to you but I want you to know that the technology she has is the culmination of my life’s work.  I won’t let anything happen to her next weekend when we go to the trade show.”

“I don’t know about what the fuck happened today, but if it happens again I won’t hesitate to call this shit off.  There’s no way… listen, if you let those assholes get within a hundred meters of her I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”  Rich was shaking as he parked in front of the address Eugene had given him and there was little doubt as to his sincerity.

“No need for the melodramatic threats Rich.  I certainly don’t intend to allow any harm to come to her.”  He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, “I really don’t know what General Hallbeck was talking about but I’m pretty sure your daughter being an American citizen of legal voting age will keep him from forcing her to do anything she doesn’t want to.  That and her indomitable spirit, I think she’d tell the devil himself to get stuffed if he made a request that didn’t suit her liking.”

Rich seemed to recover his composure slightly, “Well there is that.  She has always been a strong willed girl; well young woman now I suppose.”  He leaned over and extended his hand, “I won’t apologize because I meant what I said; but I appreciate that you’re concerned for her too.  Even if it’s mostly for what you have invested in her.”

Leaning over to take his hand, Eugene shook it firmly.  “Thanks for the lift.”  The grip Rich had on his hand tightened to the point of dizzying agony.

“Have a good night Doctor.”  He let go and Eugene quickly got out of the car.

“Yeah, you too Rich.”  After the car pulled away, he looked up at the apartment building he’d asked to be driven to.  “Now to talk with Nikitin and get him to call off his goddamn dogs before this whole thing comes crashing down around me.”  He squared his shoulders and walked up to the doorman.

“I’m Doctor Arlington, I need to see Mr. Fedorov.  He’s not expecting me.”  As the man turned to talk into a speaker on the wall, the bulge of a large firearm underneath his jacket was a stark reminder of exactly who he was dealing with.

The doorman was turning back to him, “You come at an opportune moment Doctor.  The young master has requested your presence.”  He smiled; a humorless slash across his face, “I’ll see you again, but you may not see me on the way out.”  He adjusted his shoulder holster meaningfully.  “Take the elevator to the penthouse.”

“I’ve been here before Jeeves.  Just watch the door; I’ll be out in a few.”  What was Dmitri doing giving orders? The eldest son shouldn’t be overstepping like this if Nikitin was in town.  That had to be what the doorman meant by ‘The Young Master’ what else would that mean?

Pushing the button for the 30^th floor, Eugene attempted to get his thoughts in order.  He knew almost nothing about Dmitri other than he was young; in his early twenties and rumor had it he was a little mentally unhinged.  Damn, this wasn’t going to be easy.  The door opened all too quickly for Eugene and a man in an immaculate blue pinstripe suit was waiting for him.

“The young master will see you immediately.”  The man gave him a cursory pat down and then turned and gestured, “This way please Doctor.”  He began to lead the way through a foyer towards a set of carved doors with ivory handles.

“What does Dmitri want to see me for?”  Eugene was trying to get anything he could to prepare himself for this meeting; he was completely in the dark.

If it was a surprise that Eugene knew he was here to see the son and not the father, his guide didn’t show it.  “He has instructed me to say nothing until he can tell you himself.”  The man kept walking and opened a door, motioning for him to enter.

“I’ve been waiting for you Doctor Arlington.  I understand you had some business with my father, and now I wish you to have some business with me.”  Dmitri didn’t sound like a wet behind the ears punk.  He sat behind a large mahogany desk, presumably his father’s.  The suit he was wearing fit perfectly and looked freshly pressed.  An ashtray on the table was full of cigarette butts and he was lighting another.

“Where is your father?  I’m surprised to see you sitting behind his desk.”  Eugene felt the urge to smoke; something he hadn’t felt for five years.  He forced it to the back of his mind.

“That’s why I have called you here.”  He leaned forward and tapped the ash of his cigarette in the ashtray.  “He is in a coma.  Apparently the Italians caught wind of some investment he made with you and tried to capture it today.  It ended up in a car crash that left two of his men dead and him unconscious and at the edge of death.

“I need to know what he was involved with and I need to know now.  Those Italians are going to make another move now that they think we’re weak and if I don’t have all my cards on the table we are going to be at a disadvantage.”  He leaned back, took a deep drag on his cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke.  “So what do you have that is so amazing that my father was willing to die for it?”

Eugene was caught so completely off guard that he forgot to lie.  “You’ve heard on the news about the so-called cyborg?”  Dmitri nodded, “Well she’s real.  I invented the technology that created her and your father financed part of that invention.”

“Ivanov.  Vodka.”  The man in the blue pinstripe suit seemed to appear from nowhere with a bottle and two glasses.

“Of course young master, do you require anything else?”  At a curt shake of Dmitri’s head he set a fresh pack of Nat Sherman Black cigarettes on the desk and left as unobtrusively as he had come.

“So… a secret worth killing for.”  Dmitri poured two generous glasses of straight vodka and slid one across the desk into Eugene’s waiting hand.  He then took the final two cigarettes from a pack, put them in his mouth, lit them and passed one over.  “So what do we need to do in order to protect this investment?”

“I don’t really know Dmitri; this is new territory for me.”  Eugene’s resolve failed him and he took a pull on the cigarette.  Yeech, how had he used to smoke these things?  He stubbed it out in the ashtray.  “She’s just a girl you know, just a normal girl.”  The vodka, however, was amazing, “What do you have in mind?  It’s not like we can give her a guard day and night or anything.”

“Correction.  You cannot have her followed, but for me it would be a simple thing.  If this is as big as it seems to be what happened today will not be the last attempt they make.”  He had already finished his glass of vodka and was pouring another.

“She’d notice; that’s why.”  Eugene shook his head.  He’d underestimated Victoria as well.  “You seem to think everyone’s as smooth as your Ivanov but even I spotted your goons outside her house today.”

Dmitri leaned forward on the desk fixing Eugene with an uncomfortably direct stare. “I do not have anyone watching her house.  How could I?  Until just a couple seconds ago I did not even know about her.  If you value the life of this girl you need to give me her address.  Now.”

An icy finger of fear began sliding down Eugene’s spine.  This man was used to having people obey without question.  “Not to worry, there are cops crawling all over her house.  It seems someone called in a terrorist threat there and a SWAT team kicked their door in this afternoon.  Not even the hardest of criminals is going to try anything with that many black and whites in the area.”

Dmitri closed his eyes and leaned back, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.  “You would have no way of knowing this but the Italians own the police.  That is likely why they were called in the first place.”  Exhaling through his nose he stood, pulling a pistol from the top drawer of his desk “What is the address?  What is her name?  You will be staying here; you would only get in our way.”

“Listen this is a quiet residential neighborhood, you can’t just go in and start a gunfight!”  He was halfway out of his chair when a hand pushed him back into it as though he was an infant.

“What.  Is the address?”  A quiet voice that was obviously used to getting what it wanted purred from behind him, “We don’t exactly have all night here Doctor Arlington.”  The hand on his shoulder tightened like a vice.

Not having any other option, Eugene killed the rest of his vodka and told them, “4487 Honeysuckle Terrace.  Just don’t kill anyone if you can help it OK?”

“You are a doctor.  Stick to what you are good at and I will do what I do best.”  He gestured to the men standing behind Eugene.  “Time to go.  Those Italian bastards have overstepped their boundaries twice today; we are going to make them pay.”

As he reached the door he turned back, “4487?  That is Victoria Scott’s house.  Derr ‘mo, I went to high school with her.  She’s this… Machine Girl?”  He scrubbed a hand over his face, “I had a thing for her for a while ago but she was too young and way out of my league.  Fate is a funny thing.”

With that he turned and stalked from the room, leaving Eugene to wait alone.

“This room is clear.”  A couple of cops were cuffing Victoria’s parents and one was moving in on her while the rest moved throughout the house.

“What the fuck is THIS?”  He tugged on the cord plugged into her head.

“Please don’t remove that!”  The man paused; the desperation in her voice was as genuine as it could possibly be.

“Is this hooked up to an explosive?  What did these people do to you?”  He was already on his radio, “We need the bomb squad in here!”  He put his knee on her back to hold her still and snapped the handcuffs on her wrists.

“No, it’s for my prosthetic.  It’s just a charger for my prosthetic I won’t be able to move until it charges.  Please just leave us alone we didn’t do anything.”  Several cops with tool boxes and diagnostic devices burst through the door.

“She’s wired?  Let’s have a look.  This doesn’t appear to be anything dangerous.”  One of them squatted carefully down next to her and followed the cable to the wall and scratched his head.  “It’s just a 12 volt power source at the wall but I can’t figure out why it’s going under her hair.”  He lifted her hair gently, exposing where her scalp was shaved and the shining steel coupler that was surgically grafted to her skull.  “Holy shit!  Greg, take a look at this!”

“It’s my prosthetic damn it!”  She wasn’t sure why they had come here, but was afraid it might have had something to do with the ‘accident’ with the SUV this morning or possibly with the men who had attacked her and the Doc in the afternoon.  “Why are you here anyway?”

“Just try and keep still, if this is some kind of explosive device I don’t want to activate it by accident.”  He was still

holding her hair in one hand and put his other on her shoulder in what was probably supposed to be a calming gesture.

“Don’t touch my daughter you bastard!”  The officer had finished handcuffing her father and he was able to see what was happening now.  “Who are you and how dare you invade my house like this?”

“We got a tip there was a terrorist plot being planned here and that there were possibly bomb making supplies inside.  Maybe even completed explosive devices.”  He turned and looked at the officers who had Victoria and her parents subdued.  “We’d better clear the house just in case.  I’ve never seen anything like this before.  We need to wait for an expert.”

The door slammed open and every officer in the room swung their firearm towards it.  “An expert is here.  I’ll have your badge if you’ve damaged that piece of equipment.”  As a group they all lowered their weapons as a man in a military uniform with stripes all the way down the arm and enough metal on his chest to build a battleship walked in.

“General, I thought you were at the Congressional budget meeting.  What are you doing here?”  One of the officers was looking up in surprise, “I knew you were here to oversee our last spec ops training but-“

He was interrupted by the man at the door, “No time for that right now.  I’m not sure who tipped you off that this family had something to do with terrorists but I can assure you they do not. Uncuff them immediately; this family is participating in a project of the utmost importance to National security.”

The officers hurried to comply and Victoria and her family were released quickly.  She sat up, thankful that the charging cable was still plugged into her head.

Her father was rubbing his wrists, “Who are you and what do you think I’m involved in?”  He fixed the man with an angry glare.

“His name is General Charles Regan Hallbeck.  He’s the commander of the Special Forces division of the US Marine Corps and head of the recently formed Cybernetic Research department.”  Victoria tried to keep the shock from her face as she relayed this information; she had no idea why she knew it.

“Your information is impressively accurate Miss Scott.  Perhaps we could talk a bit more privately?”  Charles glanced meaningfully at the officers in the room.

“I’ll put on some coffee.”  Her mom was taking refuge in being domestic; something which suddenly seemed like a wonderful thing to fall back on.

“Coffee would be great.”  He pulled up a chair and sat, “I’d like to know exactly how you know who I am?  I funded the project which gave you this new lease on life but I don’t believe that even Dr. Arlington knew about my involvement.”  He leaned forward and folded his hands, “So exactly how is it you know this?”

“I don’t know; I guess I must have seen it on TV or something.”  Victoria was trying to find a comfortable way to sit with the cable plugged into her head.  She glanced out the window, “Looks like your ride’s here.”  A black Tahoe pulled up in front of the house and she could see ‘Military Escort’ floating over it in ghostly letters.

“You mean OUR ride.  I need to take you in for a debriefing of the utmost importance.”  He glanced at her father then back at her.  “Your country needs you and you need us.”

“Did you know the mafia is out there?”  She looked out the window at a nondescript sedan parked down the street.  “Am I to understand they’re here for me too?  The military, the mob and the cops all at once?  How do I rate anyway?”  She was trying not to panic, taking refuge in sarcasm but was surprised that her voice was even and calm in spite of the fact that she felt like a trapped rat.

He grimaced, “I can explain everything to you but I would prefer to do so in a more secure area.”  Victoria’s new cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her skirt.

“Wow, I can’t believe this thing survived today.”  She pulled it out and saw Eugene’s number, “Hello?”

“Victoria?  Thank God, I was afraid you were… well that they’d gotten you.  Listen, if the military arrives before I can make it there don’t tell them anything.  Not about your prosthetic, not about the fuckers who attacked us today and absolutely nothing about the shit that went down this morning on your way to school, understand?”

“Yeah no problem, I’ll see you tomorrow.”  She wondered how he knew about the military being at her house; everyone seemed to know what was going on but her.

“I’ll be there in five minutes or less.  Just hang in there and find some excuse not to leave.”  He hung up and she looked at her dad.

“Just cheer team drama, nothing to worry about.  TT’s throwing her weight around again.”

“Listen Miss Scott; we need to leave immediately.  Especially if you have reason to believe there are undesirable elements in the neighborhood.”  He leaned forward urgently.

“I can’t leave yet.”  She gestured with the cable plugged into the base of her skull.  “If this doesn’t charge all the way I risk compromising the integrity of the main batteries.  At least that’s what the technical documents I was sent home with claim.  I’m worried that I already screwed something up by draining them all the way down today, I don’t want to risk further damage.”

He looked less than pleased, “Fine, the last thing we want to do is damage the equipment.”

“Listen General, I don’t think my daughter is old enough or recovered enough to handle whatever project you think she needs to be involved in.  She has barely gotten over the surgery and besides; she’s still in high school.”

“We wanted to wait until the prototype was fully tested but I’m afraid this situation has become more urgent than we anticipated.  I’m afraid I don’t have clearance to tell you anything else unless you’re involved in the mission.”  Victoria’s mom came in the room with a carafe of coffee and a tray of cups.

“Cream?  Sugar?”  She handed Victoria a cup of black coffee and mixed cream with one spoonful of sugar for her father.

“No thanks, I prefer it black.” The general accepted a steaming cup from her and his cell phone rang.  He answered it and then looked up sharply, “Are you expecting someone?  A man just got out of a taxi and is coming up your sidewalk.”

“How do you know that?”  Victoria looked at him suspiciously, “Are you having our house watched?”

“It’s just my driver, I asked him to keep an eye on things for me.  You don’t expect me to just be sitting in your living room without backup do you?”

“Why not?”  The doorbell rang, “After all this is just a normal suburban neighborhood.”  Her father was getting up to answer the door.

General Hallbeck glanced at his phone again as it chimed with an incoming text message, “Never mind, it’s just Dr. Arlington.”

Victoria heaved a sigh of relief that turned into a gasp of dismay when the door admitted a battered and bruised looking Eugene.  His left arm was in a sling, his face had several freshly stitched cuts and his left eye was swollen nearly closed.  He looked like shit.

“Ohmygod are you sure you should be out of the hospital?”  Victoria would have gone over to him if the damn cord hadn’t still been plugged into her head.

He laughed and grimaced; she guessed broken ribs.  “Actually they didn’t want to discharge me but I needed to check on you to make sure you were safe.”  He glanced involuntarily at the General, “I know you’ve been through a lot today.”

“What happened to you?”  Victoria’s dad walked back to his chair shaking his head, “You look like you were hit by a train!”

“Doctor, come in and sit!  You shouldn’t be on your feet!”  Victoria’s mom was herding him into an arm chair and pressing a cup of coffee into his hands.  “Victoria’s fine except for a dead battery and some miscommunication with the police.”  She rolled her eyes and laughed a nervous little laugh, “Someone apparently reported that we are terrorists.”

“I got in a car accident.  I’m lucky Porsche builds such a solid car; I got off easy with just a fractured radius and a few contusions.  That’s what I get for talking on my cell phone right?  The car’s totaled though, thank goodness for insurance.”

Victoria heard a hiss of static, like she had in the hospital and this time, she put it together.  Somehow this was a warning that someone was telling a lie.  Could this be some sort of a glitch?  Or a program?  Or…

Charles stood and straightened his jacket, medals jingling.  “I should get back, the work doesn’t stop coming in when I leave.”  He handed Victoria a business card, “Think about it and get back to me.”  With a nod to her mother he added, “Thanks for the coffee.”

When he had gone, Eugene let out a breath he seemed to have been holding.  “Don’t deal with him OK?  I’m not sure what he wants to use you for but it’s bound to be dangerous and probably experimental.”  He took a sip of coffee.

“What on Earth is going on here Dr. Arlington?  First the police and now the military?  Toria mentioned the mafia and while I don’t really take that seriously I guess I wouldn’t rule it out at this point.  What could she possibly do for the military?  Why would the police think we were terrorists?”  Her father stood abruptly from his chair and paced to the window, then back to stand in front of Eugene.

“I’m not stupid Doctor. I want some straight answers and I want them now, otherwise the deal’s off.  I’ll work for the rest of my natural life to pay off the bills but I won’t have my daughter involved in any dangerous or criminal activity.”

Eugene opened his mouth to answer but Victoria beat him to it, “Daddy, you’re overreacting.  I’m sure the terrorist thing was just a mistake.  I don’t know what the military wants but they won’t get it from me.  Just sit and have your coffee and let’s talk it out.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the police were really just some mistake.”  Eugene shrugged, “Who knows what the General wanted, but I will come clean about one thing.  I know him.  In fact he funded part of my research that led to the creation of the prosthetic you now wear.”

Victoria was certain that he wasn’t telling the whole truth.  He knew a lot more than he was saying but it was

difficult to know what

“But why would the military want to fund such research?”  Her father leaned in and set his coffee cup on an end table.  “It just doesn’t make sense.”

“He said for rehabilitation of soldiers injured in the line of duty.  After all, this technology has already worked wonders for soldiers who have lost limbs and has great potential for those who have become paralyzed.”  Eugene seemed sincere but Victoria knew why they would want this tech.  She had begun to experience it herself.   “I think he leads a committee on veteran’s affairs or something.”

Victoria didn’t need the whisper of static in her ear to know that Eugene was definitely lying.  He was scared too; not just worried but downright frightened.  Her dad still had a doubtful look on his face but her mother was already trying to smooth things over the way she always did.

“Well I’m glad that’s settled.  I mean we don’t want to cause problems for someone who has been so helpful to us.”  She was refilling coffee cups and had also brought a plate of cookies.

“Thanks Mrs. Scott, but I really should run the tests I need to and be on my way.  I’ve had a busy day and it looks like you could use a little family time yourselves.”  He pulled out a compact aluminum cased netbook and handed a diagnostic cable to Victoria.  She plugged it into the proper port without even looking; the slight click sent a warm shiver down her spine.

Eugene was already typing; his fingers a blur on the keyboard.  “Interesting, it’s adapting to you with amazing speed.  Look here; I think you’ll appreciate this Victoria.”  She leaned over his shoulder and saw nothing but a set of numbers that spun into a graph with many spikes and a plateau that dropped off after a short span.  His intention became clearer when she looked at the caption of the graph.

“Water intake?  What was it doing?  Cooling itself or something?”  She asked as he kept punching keys and after a short time responded with a chuckle.

“I’ll be damned.  I guess you did have some leftover chemicals from the operation in your system and it was working to clear them.  Look at this; even your sodium and potassium levels were off the charts.  It’s a good thing it triggered such a thirst or you would likely have had kidney stones.”  After a few more keystrokes he closed his computer and she handed him back the cable.

“Thanks for all your help today Doctor, I really appreciate it.”  She looked at him, wishing they had the chance to talk but knowing it wasn’t possible in front of her parents.

“No problem.  Stop by the lab tomorrow for a few more tests?”  It was as though he had read her mind.

“Yeah, sure.  Whatever you need Doc.”  She gave him a relieved grin.

“Well I suppose I should get going, I’ll call myself a cab.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ll give you a ride home.”  Victoria’s dad was already putting on his hat, “I’m not going to make you pay for a taxi.”

After her father and Eugene left Victoria suddenly had the realization that her books and homework had been in the Porsche.  Shit!  She sighed and pulled her phone from her pocket to text Grace.  After all it wouldn’t be a good idea to try and talk to Jenny at this point.

“I forgot my books at school, I’m going to get ahold of Grace; she’ll get me what I need for tomorrow.  Can you bring my laptop from the den?  I don’t want to get up until this thing finishes charging.” She stayed sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch and sent a couple of quick texts to friends all the time wondering what the hell she’d gotten herself into.

Victoria

Dragging herself to shore was difficult, the rollerblades were waterlogged and the river bottom was covered with around a foot of muck.  She could smell someone cooking over a grill nearby as she sat down to try and clean herself off a bit.  The skirt she was wearing was pretty much ruined, the stockings had been white but now were dyed a nasty brown from the murky river water.

“I wonder where I am.”  Victoria muttered to herself, glancing around.  The grass had been cut within the last month so it must be managed land of some sort.  She finished rinsing the mud off her rollerblades and walked up the embankment.  Pushing through a line of brush she was nearly run over by a man running while looking backwards.  Only by diving sideways and dropping her skates was she able to avoid being run into.

“Whoa, sorry about that!”  The Frisbee he had been chasing landed next to her and she recognized Jenny’s dad.  “Victoria, what are you doing out here?  You look like you’ve been through the ringer!”

Victoria glanced down at herself and had to admit she was a little worse for the wear.  “I’m OK Mr. Hendricks; I was out skating and fell off a bridge.”  The second the words left her mouth she realized how lame they sounded and winced.

“Wow, that must have been quite some fall.  Well we’re having a picnic; do you want to join us?  There’s a fire you could warm up a bit.”  Jenny was running over from across a small clearing.

“Hey Toria, what’s going on?  Holy shit, you look like hell!  I thought you went off with that hottie in the Porsche after school, what happened, did he toss you off a bridge?”

“Don’t laugh Jenny, that’s not far off the mark.”  She suddenly felt dizzy, “Damn, I must have overdone it.”  She turned towards Jenny’s dad, “Could you give me a lift home?”  A shrill keening sound emanated from somewhere on her back.  Victoria suddenly felt weak.  “I’m so tired.”

“Hey are you OK?”  Jenny’s face showed her concern, “What’s wrong V?”

“Please.  Just .. take .. me .. home.”  Victoria was having trouble talking, her breath coming in short gasps.  Her vision began to fade in and out.  Without warning she crumpled to the ground.

“This unit is the property of the Arlington Research Division.  The main power supply has been depleted. Auxiliary power will keep core systems safe for T-600 minutes.  Please return this unit to 301 Industry Avenue, Los Angeles, California 87960 before the time expires.  This message will repeat in 60 seconds.”

“Dad.  What do we do?”  Jenny was white and shaken.  “I mean, this looks like V but what the hell is going on?”

“We bring her home.  Honey, this is Victoria, who else could this possibly be?”  He picked up the motionless girl at his feet.  “I don’t know exactly what’s going on but… we bring her home.”  As they hurried towards the car the muffled sound of a cell phone ringing on vibrate from the pocket of her skirt went unnoticed.

–

Mr. Hendricks pulled up in front of the Scott house, stopping almost fast enough to squeal the tires.  Jumping out he carefully lifted the comatose form of Victoria out of the back seat and carried her to the front door.  Jenny was already ringing the doorbell.  Mr. Scott answered the door, at first with a smile but then with dismay as he saw his daughter in Mr. Hendricks’s arms.

“Jake, what’s this?  I thought she was at a doctor’s appointment.”

“I don’t know what’s going on Rich.  She just walked out of the woods and collapsed.”  He was interrupted by the announcement from Victoria’s spinal column.

“This unit is the property of The Arlington Research Division.  The main power supply has been depleted; auxiliary power will keep core systems safe for T-530 minutes.  Please return this unit to 301 Industry Avenue, Los Angeles, California 87960 before the time expires.  This message will repeat in 60 seconds.”

“Oh shit, I think there’s something about this in the documentation we got from the hospital.  Or maybe I’ll just call her doctor.  Yeah, I’ll call Dr. Arlington.”  He picked up the phone and dialed hurriedly.

“Thank you for calling Dr. Eugene Arlington’s office.  If this is an emergency please press six.” BEEEP Rich mashed the key on the keypad.

“Hello, this is Dr. Arlington.  I’m sorry I can’t answer the phone right now but please leave me a message and I’ll get back to you the moment I’m available.”

“Hi Mr. Arlington, this is Rich Scott.  Victoria just got brought back home looking like she’s been run through the wringer and there’s this automated message coming from her prosthetic about returning her to the home office but she’s here now.  Call me immediately I need to know what to do.”

He hung up and seconds later the phone rang, “Hello?  Doctor?”

“Richard, is that you?”  The voice on the other end was muffled but sounded familiar, “What’s the emergency?”

“Doctor, Victoria just got home and there’s a warning message coming from her prosthetic about the battery, what do I do?”

“Just take the yellow charger from the bag and connect it to the yellow plug in the back of her skull.  It’s a charging port and it’ll regenerate the batteries within 15 minutes.  It won’t be a full charge but it’ll be enough to get her up and moving around.  I’m in the ER but I’ll be there as soon as I can get them to discharge me.  Whatever you do don’t leave the house.  I don’t have time to explain but it is imperative that you do NOT leave the house.”

“What?  Why can’t we leave the house?”  But the line was dead and Rich had his priorities.  He ran upstairs and pulled the proper charger from the bag Victoria had brought from the office.  With some trepidation he plugged it into the wall and then hesitated momentarily before plugging it into the back of his daughter’s head.  There was a pleasant chime and the warning message stopped emanating from the gleaming steel and rubber prosthetic imbedded in her back.

After a tense few minutes Victoria stirred, “Mmmm daddy?  What time is it?”  She sat up, “I feel like I’ve been asleep for weeks!”

Jake Hendricks turned to Rich Scott, “OK Rich, what the HELL is going on here?  What did you do to your daughter?”

Without even having to think about it Rich looked him straight in the eye, “Saved her life Jake.  Without this treatment she would have certainly spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair if she had survived at all.”

“Holy shi- er crap Mr. Hendricks, I totally forgot.  Thanks for bringing me home.”  She stood up and felt the cable connected to her head, “What’s this?”  Turning to her dad, “What happened?”

Jake answered, “You collapsed and some warning started sounding from somewhere on your back.  You had asked me to bring you home so I did.  I’m not sure what you’ve gotten yourself into Victoria, but I’m asking you to keep my daughter out of it.  This is all just a little too much for us.  OK?”  Without waiting for an answer he turned and walked out the door.

“Wait, Mr. Hendricks!  Wait, you don’t understand!”  She ran to the door after him but the charging cable reached its limit and she stopped, knowing it was necessary for her continued consciousness.  She could see out the door though.  Victoria rubbed her eyes in disbelief, was this a video game or was she still asleep?

A.D.A.M.

ADAM awakened from hibernate mode, his power cells had been drastically depleted; almost to the point of data loss.  A quick diagnostic check showed his power monitoring program had unresolved bugs.  He edited his code accordingly, re-routing data and lowering some parameters while being careful to leave his clone’s information intact for the programmers to find later.  He also noted with interest that the emergency protocol files were still accessible.

Taking note of the quick charge level at 15%, ADAM activated one of the new programs available to him to scan the area by accessing local traffic cameras and the security systems from some neighboring houses.  Everything seemed normal until he checked the police band just to be safe.

“APB all available officers respond immediately to possible terrorist threat at 4487 Honeysuckle Terrace.  SWAT ETA three minutes.  Do not engage until SWAT arrives, repeat, do NOT engage without SWAT backup.”

The host system was moving towards the door, following another.  The data flow was illogical and misdirected.  ADAM checked for anomalies and discovered this was registering as normal behavior.  He checked again, attempting to find a pattern of conduct that made sense but was unable to find one.  ADAM stopped the host as it approached the door, it was too dangerous.  There was Enforcement all over out there and he knew it.   ADAM borrowed the host’s video inputs and began to overlay his data, trusting that the host would be able to interpret it.

Victoria

“Victoria what are you doing?”  Her father was yelling at her.

Looking out the door, Victoria could see cars parked on the street, people walking by, houses, an airplane flying overhead.  However, far from being normal each one had additional information superimposed over it.  “Civilian” “Police” “Private Security” “Italian Mafia” “Flight 1538 out of LA” She knew these things to be true although she wasn’t certain why.  It was like something out of a game or a Sci-Fi movie.

“Dad?  Can you get mom?  I need you to get in the basement right now.”

“What do you mean?  What the hell is going on?”

“There are armed men on this block right now who intend to do me serious harm.  If you get in the way I’m certain you’ll be hurt.  We need to stay inside away from windows.”  Mr. Hendricks and Jenny were halfway down the block when they passed by a car she knew to be an unmarked police car.

“Are you feeling OK?  What’s wrong honey?”  Her father’s eyes were tight with concern as he looked out of the door, “There’s nobody out there except for our neighbors.  Look, there’s Mary walking her dog.”

The door to the police car opened and Jenny screamed in surprise as a SWAT van sped around the corner and riot cops in full “battle rattle” jumped out, running up the sidewalk towards the house.  Jenny and her dad were grabbed and pulled into the unmarked car.  Mary was thrown unceremoniously to the ground, her dog was going nuts.

“GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR AND PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEADS NOW!  THIS IS A POLICE RAID.  WE HAVE A WARRANT AND WE’RE COMING IN!”  The first cop was coming through the door, and even though her whole body trembled with the desire to defend her home Victoria lay down on the floor.

Eugene

Eugene couldn’t believe it.  Nothing had prepared him for this moment, not that he had done any training or anything that should have prepared him for it.  He heard glass shatter as a bullet sang past his ear like an angry wasp.  He kept his foot on the floor and tried to concentrate on keeping the car on the road; no easy task with someone shooting at him.  The fact that he had a few hundred million dollars’ worth of specialized equipment which also happened to be his life’s work sitting next to him didn’t help either.

Everyone would like to think that they would be the hero and save the cute young girl from the evil bad guys in this situation but all Eugene could think of was that they were probably going to die.  Amazingly enough she seemed perfectly calm all things considered.  They flew past the semi on the shoulder in second gear and he ran the car all the way up to its 9000 rpm redline before shifting into third at eighty-seven miles per hour.

The truck driver swerved and laid on the horn, apparently oblivious to the gunshots.  Eugene saw motion to his right and glanced over to see Victoria doing something unbelievable.  She had grabbed two of the road flares he had mounted next to the glove box in one of his ricer moments and as he looked on in astonishment she slammed the butt of the first flare down on the dash.  It burst into a harsh red light, spitting sparks of burning magnesium and acrid smoke.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and wrapped it around her left arm while spinning to stand on the seat.  Leaning back, she used the belt to brace herself and threw the flare straight through the grill of one of the Durango’s that was chasing their car.  Whatever that accomplished, the truck swerved to the shoulder and was lost from view as it spun out into the median.  Pulling the second flare from her mouth, she ignited it against her thigh and flung it in a high arc that impossibly punched through the headlight of a second truck following about four or five cars behind them.  What was going on?

A cold sweat broke out on his forehead.  This was a set of protocols that the General had insisted upon.  An ‘insurance policy’ he had called it and although he had included this extra code in the initial programming he hadn’t used it in the final version.  The raw data was still there though, and an experienced programmer could have reestablished the connections but he certainly didn’t believe his AI had been hacked and even if Victoria had known about it he doubted she had the skill or the desire to make use of it.

Eugene knew what the answer was but refused to acknowledge it.  There was no way it had broken free and the AI wasn’t able to do anything autonomously.  He was one of the two people who knew the existence of its true capabilities.  Nobody else had the security clearance to activate the military protocols, least of all the girl who was its host.  Their left rear tire exploded as a bullet from the last Durango’s passenger found its mark, wrenching Eugene back to reality.  He wrestled with the wheel as the Porsche swung into an uncontrolled skid.

Victoria

Victoria was sure this was it; she was going to die.  There was just no way to survive a high speed crash into a guardrail in a convertible when you weren’t wearing your seatbelt.  Before she could fully panic that cold logical part of her brain took over.

Everything seemed to slow down; she took note of their speed, 95.32 mph which gave her approximately 10.2 seconds to respond.  Still holding on to the seat belt, she pulled herself back down into the seat, kicking off the flats she was wearing.  7.4 seconds.  She attempted to latch her seatbelt and found that the ratchet had locked from the impact and it wouldn’t let enough belt out.  5.1 seconds.  She slammed her feet into the tops of her unlaced roller blades, grabbed the laces and pulled, tightening them as much as possible.  1.5 seconds.  The instant before the Porsche hit the guardrail she jumped as hard as she could, launching herself from the car.

The sound of the car hitting the rail was like a physical blow.  Somehow she managed to ignore it and concentrate on keeping her feet under herself.  She continued holding the laces to keep them from loosening and focused completely on dodging cracks, rocks and traffic.  Even the slightest mistake would cost her dearly at this speed.

She tried to stay as upright as possible so the wind resistance would slow her down and dodged around a minivan, passing it like it was standing still.  The load of kids going to soccer practice were pointing at her while the driver pulled over to the shoulder.  It was all she could do to continue stepping over cracks, luckily her speed had slowed somewhat but she was still traveling at around 75 mph if her calculations were to be trusted.

Victoria was approaching the Green River Bridge when she heard the shriek of tortured tires behind her.  Moments later she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye and chanced a glance at it.  The last Durango was cutting through what traffic remained, apparently aiming to run her over.  Without taking time to think about the consequences she turned as hard as she dared, aiming for the edge of the bridge.  She jumped hard, knowing she was going to have a very slim margin of error due to the height of the railing and flew over it head first with scant inches to spare.

Watching the railing slide past her face made something snap in Victoria’s mind.  She screamed in combined exhilaration and fear, nearly losing herself to terror.  Once she was in the air her instincts just took over. She smoothly tucked into a roll and prepared to hit the water feet first knowing the impact was going to be pretty severe because of how fast she was moving.

She hit the river at a precise thirty degree angle, toes pointed to break through the surface smoothly.  The water closed over her head and Victoria let herself sink for a bit, knowing that the current here was strong enough to carry her downstream.

“Those following will likely fire their weapons at me.  It would be better to be further away when I surface.  If I just relax I should be able to stay submerged for a lot longer.”  She wasn’t sure where she had gained this particular insight; maybe from that one Mythbusters episode?

Victoria shivered, “What have I gotten myself into?  Who were those guys anyway?  Oh shit, I hope Eugene isn’t dead.  What am I going to do? ” After a while she noticed she hadn’t taken a breath for what seemed like minutes and that realization made her need to breathe and badly.  She fought to the surface, gasping for air and saw that the current had carried her down river and around a slight bend.  The bridge wasn’t even in sight anymore.

Kicking to the river bank with her rollerblades on was difficult, but she didn’t have any other footwear and wasn’t sure what she was going to find on shore.

A.D.A.M.

The rate of data flow was far beyond what the optical receptors and graphical processors could handle.  ADAM shouldered as much of the load as he could, stripping away the extraneous information and only feeding back the most important pieces.  He was continually impressed with the adaptability and versatility of the host system.  Now that some of the changes he had made were in place its response times had drastically improved.

This situation, however, was far beyond what the system had been experiencing for the last few hours and was by far the most stressful and difficult for ADAM to deal with.  Letting the system clone keep the nominal functions going, he concentrated on analyzing the incoming data and initiating expedited responses.  Even as he tried to push the limits of the machine he found there were severe physical restrictions that were simply insurmountable.  If they were going to avoid being broken he was going to have to get creative.

The concussion of gunfire erupting behind them had caused a change to occur in ADAM’s system.  His reaction was to reach out, searching for a directive to handle the situation and abruptly a section of his databanks that had been blocked off and hidden so well he hadn’t even known it was there made itself known to him.  Apparently this was a set of protocols for emergency self-preservation.  A new set of possibilities opened up for him; maybe they could pull this off after all.

While the chassis wasn’t very strong it was quite agile and appeared to have some decent tracking systems that were capable of doing fairly complex triangulations on the fly.  A quick search revealed that the cellular device the unit was carrying had open communication ports.  Using his newfound security protocols, he hacked it with ease.  Connecting to the Web through it ADAM scanned and found technical specifications for the vehicles that were chasing them.

Weak point; left headlight can short electrical system.  Weak point; cooling system failure will overheat engine in seconds.  This was going to be easier than he had initially analyzed.  The Host machine’s safety parameters were easily overridden with the release of a few chemicals into the system.  ADAM was pleased with the response times he was getting, the Host reacted with nearly flawless timing and two of the pursuing vehicles were removed from the chase.

He barely had to push the limits of the unit’s capabilities to immobilize two of the chase vehicles.  Then the left rear wheel of the vehicle that was transporting them was struck by a bullet and the situation completely changed.  With mere seconds to spare he devised a battle strategy for them and pushed it into action.