Page 5 of Operation Iron Heart

“Here,” came a squeaky little voice. It was Willie Junior, his short blond hair sticking up all over the place, rushing out of the bathroom with his trousers still round his ankles. He was followed by Logan, his dark-haired older brother, who, as usual, had been helping him go to the toilet.

Marci couldn’t stay on the sofa for another second. Like a lioness protecting her young with her own life, she leapt up and grabbed the two boys into her arms, quickly pulling up Willie’s trousers. She cast a hostile look at Rob 007. “If you do anything to hurt my children, I will rip your cold heart out of your chest myself!”

“Mom, why are you being so mean to the man?” complained Willie squeakily. “He made us hot chocolate and ordered pizza while you were sleeping.”

I wasn’t sleeping, she wanted to scream at him. I was kidnapped and almost died. But that would have only frightened the boys. She was just pleased that this monster hadn’t hurt her children.

“Marci, I’m sorry if I scared you,” the man started to say, his voice surprisingly deep and friendly, only serving to emphasise how incredibly attractive he was. “You and the children have nothing to fear from me. I didn’t mean for you to faint, even if it was quite useful,” he added with an apologetic smile, briefly revealing his flawless white teeth. “As you can see, at least your vital systems seem to be functioning properly.”

“Seriously?” Marci stared at him in disbelief. This guy clearly had a screw loose – literally. Maybe screwing Rochelle had burnt a fuse and now he was back to playing the charmer, despite his brutishness. He stood next to the kitchen units looking relaxed, his arms crossed, which made his shoulders and upper arms appear even more muscular than they had before. His pose was a painful reminder of Will, who often stood the same way, even if he hadn’t been quite so huge and overpowering.

“Who are you and what do you want here?” she asked in a shaky voice. She realised he was still wearing the tight clothes from Rochelle’s wardrobe; standing there with his perfectly shaped bare feet, he looked like some kind of Adonis, fleeing from a jealous husband.

“If you just want something more sensible to wear, you can have some of my ex-husband’s things,” she continued, pointing to a wardrobe in which she stored Will’s old clothes. She hadn’t yet been able to bring herself to give his clothes away, maybe because she hoped that he might come back to her one day. When she was feeling melancholic, she sometimes sniffed his shirts just so that she could at least remember his scent. “Will was about your size and the stuff’s just lying around. There’s probably a pair of boots that might fit you, too.”

“It’s not about clothes, Marci,” said the robot calmly, looking into her eyes with surprising directness. The way he said her name so naturally, as if they’d known each other for ages, unsettled her even more. But she didn’t dare say anything. Maybe it was better if she didn’t know that much about him and just gave him what he wanted so that he would disappear as quickly as possible.

“I can’t give you any money,” she said apologetically, pointing almost bitterly to the shabby furniture. “Look around, I’ve got barely enough to buy food for the children and my credit card is maxed out. I can’t give you anything.”

“It’s not about money, either,” he said quietly, unfolding his arms.

“For God’s sake, what’s it about, then?” she cried in desperation, the fear rising in her again. Maybe this guy wanted to rape her, after all, he was a sex robot and it looked like he hadn’t had his chance with Rochelle. Maybe his creators had given him the ability to be permanently up for it, programming him with an infinite libido that now demanded satisfaction. Marci’s gaze wandered discreetly to his crotch where, she was relieved to see, the tight trousers seemed to be holding the instrument of his lust under control. She looked hurriedly at the exit. At least if he sends the children out before he…she hoped fervently…

“It’s about Will,” he murmured, his expression darkening. Marci could not have been more surprised. She thought she saw a painful shadow pass over his otherwise expressionless face.

“About…Will?” she repeated disbelievingly, almost choking in shock. “Wh-what do you know about him?” she stuttered, feeling her heart racing.

“Everything,” he said gently, which unsettled her even more. His expression as he looked at the children was suddenly no longer hard, but almost sad. “Will gave me a task,” he explained firmly, “and I’m here to carry it out.”

Marci felt completely lost, but whatever this robot had planned for her, she would do her utmost to get Willie and Logan out of the room so they didn’t have to witness anything. She was on the verge of tears but managed to remain composed as she told the two boys as calmly and naturally as possible that they should go to Louise, who lived next door and often looked after the children when she was late getting home.

Fortunately, Rob 007 didn’t seem to object, and she breathed a sigh of relief. After closing the door behind the boys, she took another deep breath and stayed a safe distance away from the robot. He was still next to the kitchen units as if he’d been parked there, looking at her but not moving.

“Listen,” she said bravely, “you can do what you want with me, but please let me live. The boys have nobody except me. Maybe Will sent you to take them away from me. Then I wouldn’t care what happened to me.”

“It’s not what you think, Marci,” said the robot, the deep sympathy in his voice unsettling her.

“No? It isn’t?” She couldn’t suppress the sarcasm in her question.

“Will and I…” he began hesitantly, “…we fought against the Chinese together.”

“Fought? Against the Chinese?” Marci looked at him in disbelief and was barely able to contain a sudden wave of fury. “Are you kidding me? Where exactly was this? In a gambling den?” This is getting better and better, she thought, all her fear leaving her. She put her hands furiously on her hips. “Listen, I haven’t got time for these games. Tell my husband he’s a miserable liar. I don’t believe a word he says. He can stick his bullshit. If he wants to see the boys, he needs to start paying for them – otherwise, I’m not interested.”

“He was with me on the killing fields in the Gobi Desert,” replied the robot, unfazed by her anger. It was as if he wasn’t interested in her arguments and it was the most normal thing in the world for her husband to have joined forces with a fighting machine that had now been reprogrammed into a sex robot. And all of that, thousands of miles away, in a region where apparently no human beings could survive.

“Shut up, dammit!” she shouted at him forcefully, crossing her arms over her chest. “Will was a police officer, not a soldier. Plus, people don’t fight on the front, only robots. Even I know that.” She looked at him suspiciously – this supposed machine that actually looked no different from a human – and searched his stubbly face for a clear sign that would reveal he was lying to her. “Maybe you’re not a robot at all, you just act like one. Maybe it was actually you who killed Will and stole his identity and you’ve now come to pick up the rest of the stuff you need?!”

“And that’s why I turn up at Rochelle’s as an escort robot and she’s expecting me?” He raised his perfectly shaped eyebrows and looked at her almost mockingly. That just made her even madder.

“I know, it doesn’t make any sense,” she snarled at him. “Nothing here makes any sense, in case you hadn’t noticed. So do me a favour and just piss off!”

“You have to believe me,” he assured her, looking deep into her eyes with an honest expression, which only made her even more furious. “Will was my friend.”

“I don’t believe it,” countered Marci. “He’s never cared for tin cans! If you are indeed one!

“Come here,” he said. “Look at my pupils. Then you’ll see that I really am a robot.”

Marci shook her head frantically, but moved a bit closer. Slowly and extremely reluctantly. As he was a good forty centimetres taller than her, he bent down over her so that she could look deeply into his right eye. Looking closely, she could see a tiny screen integrated into the lens that couldn’t be seen from a distance and was apparently the reason for the peculiar glow in his eyes that she’d previously admired. It looked like that tiny thing provided him with a constant stream of electronically generated information.