Page 12 of Operation Iron Heart

Marci frowned and looked at him sceptically. “And how did Cathrin evade the system and build all of this? I mean, MacIntyre and his competitors are bound to have joined forces with the PanAmerican government and they monitor everything. I can’t imagine he just happily let his employees walk out of the factory gates so they can then start up their own company?”

“Cathrin had a lot of freedom,” explained Jack, “because her research work was incredibly successful. Also, the idea of creating the first lifelike, male sex robots didn’t come from Dr Tanaka or Rochelle MacIntyre, but from Cathrin Porter,” he added with a rueful smile. “Cathrin thought it was unfair that only female robots were being designed for humans’ pleasure. She wanted to create something similar for women that went beyond the normal mechanics of a sex robot. Something that expressed feelings, catered for women’s wishes and didn’t just offer stupid compliments. Someone you could have a decent conversation with. Someone…”

“Who could replace a human partner…” finished Marci, looking at him smiling.

“Exactly,” added Jack, clearing his throat. “MacIntyre and his engineers, however, weren’t interested in a male robot that, in their words, would just sit up and beg. The design was too challenging and not profitable enough. Cathrin insisted on wanting to expand her emotional program for robots, though, and that’s why she was allowed to move to CRU; however, its boss, Dr Tanaka, was only interested in lifelike female sex robots and developing their ability to suffer specific perversions. Initially, Cathrin played along and focused on developing female robots that cried and screamed when they were tormented for Tanaka’s amoral clientele. It wasn’t until one of the women ended up covered in blood on Cathrin’s repair table in the lab, blew all her fuses after her processor was rebooted and she was due to be sent back to the customer, that Cathrin realised what had happened. The female robot had experienced the suffering just as intensely as a human would have done. As a result, Cathrin not only helped her escape but also fled with her. They headed for the Canadian border in a stolen speed glider and stumbled across an awakened combat robot who was badly injured and hiding in an old mine. He knew how to program gliders to get across the Canadian border unnoticed. They immediately set about founding our organisation and rescued and supported more and more awakened robots. They eventually discovered an ancient uranium mine and worked together to turn it into a rebel enclave. There are now hundreds of us living here, with more arriving every day. One day, we’ll have a whole army that can topple the ruling government and return order and peace to the world.”

“Wow,” replied Marci nodding approvingly, although she wasn’t yet certain exactly how she felt about Jack’s revelations.

Jack indicated to Marci that they’d nearly arrived at Cathrin’s office, and she followed him with what he’d said still buzzing in her mind.

Even though she definitely didn’t agree with the current government, she was unsettled by the thought that the country might one day be run by robots, but she didn’t want to just blurt out her opinion before having a better understanding of Cathrin Porter and her allies.

“I don’t understand,” she queried with a sigh. “If CRU already knew how to build such robots, what role did Rochelle MacIntyre play?”

“When she divorced MacIntyre, Rochelle got a software package and his CRU shares as a settlement. Apparently, the package also contained an older version of the source code needed to equip a robot with the desired emotions. In all the rush, Cathrin had forgotten that this version still existed,” added Jack calmly. “As Tanaka wasn’t interested in equipping his female robots with romantic abilities, he and MacIntyre didn’t care that Rochelle now had the code. Presumably, Rochelle stumbled upon Cathrin’s original idea when she was looking through company documents and decided to revive it. She then commissioned Tanaka to design a robotic lover but insisted on keeping the programming key. And that keycode can’t be copied; it has to be inserted in each robot using a special programming chip and can’t simply be downloaded from a robot’s database, either, as it would destroy its entire programming. Cathrin always saw this as a kind of life insurance so that MacIntyre didn’t simply get rid of her and give her job to someone else. Rochelle knew about it and didn’t trust her business partners either, that’s part of why she didn’t grant her ex-husband any of the expected profit. Tanaka didn’t have a share, but he did get a vast salary. In terms of wealth, had the deal come to fruition, Rochelle would definitely have been on a par with her ex.”

“And because you couldn’t let that happen, she was killed and CRU was blown up,” replied Marci as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake up the boys.

“No, that’s not it and I didn’t kill Rochelle either!” said Jack, his patience clearly wearing thin. “We were only interested in the old source code. We had to stop it from falling into the wrong hands again. I just put her into a temporary sleep so I could get the chip out of her safe undetected and flee with it. I don’t know who killed her afterwards.”

“And who blew up the CRU labs? Was that someone else, too?”

“No, that was us,” he admitted flatly. “But no humans were killed.”

“What about robots?” She raised an eyebrow and looked at him questioningly.

“Maybe.”

“And where do I fit into this? I mean, it was a funny coincidence that I of all people was in the house when you attacked Rochelle.”

“That wasn’t a coincidence,” he shrugged apologetically. “We planned everything. Just like it wasn’t a coincidence that MacIntyre LLC chose your Will as a hybrid candidate. MacIntyre was looking for the right humans for his hybrid programme and Rochelle gave him Will’s name because you worked for her so she knew of his existence. But we only found that out later. And she would have used you and the children for her horrible experiments anyway, sooner or later. MacIntyre has already developed a program that can turn women and children into compliant hybrid robots.”

Marci stopped abruptly, causing Willie Junior to stretch sleepily in her arms. “Rochelle was capable of doing something like that? Are you sure?” she asked alarmed.

“Cathrin found out all about it from an agent who sits on the board of directors at MacIntyre LLC. I’m sorry,” he said curtly, “but it’s all part of a collusion – the various robot manufacturers are all in it together. Rochelle was part of it, too, even though she’d separated from her husband.”

“And how did you come to play the part of a sex robot?” asked Marci in disbelief. “I mean, you would have to have known that Rochelle was expecting a delivery of one?”

“Cathrin found out from her whistle-blower at CRU that Rochelle had ordered a prototype of their latest male escort model,” Jack explained. “And we were looking for a suitable opportunity to get access to her safe. When I found out about the order, I asked Cathrin for permission to take over so that I could get you and the children out at the same time, and she agreed straight away. And that’s exactly what Silver and I did.” Looking at Willie Junior, asleep in her arms, Jack’s expression suddenly turned hard. “Time was of the essence. They were already testing how to build hybrid components into humans that would grow with them, and were working on how to manipulate their memory using a chip so they could be abused for their own purposes.”

“But who would buy robots like that? If you knew that they were actually humans?” asked Marci in horror.

“Believe me,” replied Jack scornfully, “people who can afford robots like that don’t care who or what it is. Their main concern is that they’re cheaper than an original model. And they absolutely don’t care whether they’re adults or children. It’s a pretty grim affair, and I don’t want to go into the details right now.” Jack’s troubled gaze fell on the two sleeping boys.

Marci swallowed, unable to suppress the shock and disbelief in her eyes. The thought that Logan or Willie Junior could have suffered the same fate as Will while she was at work almost drove her over the edge.

“Does that mean you were never in Tanaka’s factory and were never reprogrammed by them either?” Marci looked at him, clearly surprised.

“No,” he admitted almost ruefully. “Silver and I just intercepted the transport van and shut down the robot that Rochelle was expecting. I then got into the crate in its place.” He grinned modestly. “Really quite simple. Especially as our research told us that Rochelle hadn’t made any particular requests about what her new lover should look like. We could have put a giant monkey in it.” He laughed again at how foolish Rochelle and her security team had been.

“To be honest, I’m relieved that you’re not a good-time robot,” said Marci drily a moment later. “They’re probably incredibly annoying if all they can think about is sex,” she remarked. “I mean, women normally expect a bit more than that.”

Jack responded with a gentle smile that could have been interpreted in many different ways. “I’m afraid my skills as an all-round entertainer are not that impressive,” he admitted slightly stiffly. “And anyway, nobody’s tried them out yet.”

They reached a door that slid open at Jack’s command and he led her into a brightly lit room that contained no furniture except for a simple white plastic table, a large sofa and a couple of comfortable-looking chairs. And a huge holoscreen.

Marci was surprised when an older woman immediately stood up to greet them and introduced herself with a friendly smile as Cathrin Porter. Marci was astonished by how unremarkable she looked – she was slim, but not thin, and about one metre sixty. Her round blue eyes held an incredible warmth and compassion, even though as the hard-core commander of a rebel army, she probably had to make tougher decisions than simply accepting a few refugees. Her impeccably styled silver hair was cut in a sleek bob that made her wrinkled face look younger. Like all the other residents/inhabitants they’d met so far, she wore a loose-fitting grey jumpsuit that looked much the same as everyone else’s. Somehow she didn’t match Marci’s mental image of a tough scientist, far less a genius designer in the highly competitive robot business. She reminded Marci more of a favourite aunt who might tell you wonderful stories at bedtime.