Chapter 16

"Do you know why most assassin robots are female?" Miriam asked, looking out across the Hong Kong skyline. They were in the penthouse suite of a 106-floor building, not an inexpensive place to live.

Over the past two years, Holland Campbell had regained his old magic. He was richer than ever and it appeared that the sky was the limit. At least that's what everyone in the computer industry thought. His new alliance with the Chinese Hegemony had led to all sorts of new and brilliant programs.

In some ways, his mojo had returned; her name was Miriam Garcia. She was the brains behind his inspiration, although no one ever saw her take credit for anything. In fact, everyone thought of her as nothing more than a simple robot pleasure drone. Arm candy for big occasions and his sex toy in the bedroom. Both she and Holland liked everyone to think that. It stoked his ego to singularly receive all the praise and it maintained her cover as a mass murderer.

"I hadn't really thought about it much," he replied absently.

"It's because people always underestimate girls. Even today, women are socially, politically and economically equal to men, but if someone has tits, everyone looks down on them," she said.

"Are you talking about the guys who tried to break into the lab last month?"

"Not just them ... everyone," Miriam's face widened into a wicked grin. "I'll bet you're happy we upgraded Marianne to a Bloodguard-series body with the new combat package."

"I just want to be sure that you two never decide to take me out," he said, only half joking.

"Don't worry about that, sweetie," she winked. "We don't want to tip over our gravy train."

"What are you two talking about?" Marianne walked out on to the balcony to join her "mother" and her "father." She only spoke for Holland's benefit. Both of the robots could vocalise outside the normal human hearing range and they could also communicate wirelessly.

"Just how much we missed you while you were away," Holland said with a smirk.

"Bullshit," the robot replied. Her gait was a little different. She now stepped with a grace that was feline rather than just sensual. It was all part of the upgrade.

By all outward appearances, the robots were identical twins. Miriam mimicked Marianne's robotic mannerisms; a trait intended to make any onlookers think they were simply standard housekeeping or pleasure robots. It surprised no one when one day a second, identical robot showed up. The people around him thought it was just part of his erratic personality. The psych guys in the military wrote the robots off as Campbell acting out and pining away for his old robot lover. They thought the duplicate bot was simply another machine that existed solely to give him pleasure.

But now both were much, much more than that.

This latest upgrade enhanced not only her body, but her positronic net. She was not anywhere near the sophistication of Miriam, but nor was she simply an off-the-shelf bot any more either. She had weapons and defensive capabilities. At the same time she was smarter and more deadly. With the excuse of needing bodyguards to keep him and his wealth safe, Holland had upgraded her frame to a military-grade fighting robot. Her ballistic shielding could withstand most small arms and some of the small-bore cannons. She knew several martial arts and even had a host of street-legal weapons hidden within her body.

And thanks to a couple of discreet calls to the shadier side of Fabricators, Inc., it appeared as if he had simply ordered a second identical bot. The paperwork was all on file, cleared by the United States government, Interpol and even Colonel Jerrik's covert task force. They were licensed, inspected and fully legal. No one thought about investigating Holland and his two bionic companions or their purpose, and the threesome continued their work without incident.

Marianne's primary directives were two-fold: First she was to protect Holland from harm. Second, she was to pleasure him in any way he desired. Things worked out nicely between the three of them. That was the one good thing about the robots, at least as far as Holland was concerned: they didn't know what jealousy was.

However, the real reason she was around was to be Miriam's test platform. That was the reason for upgrading her positronic brain. They were continuing Holland's work at Neurodyne.

Most robots that interacted with humans simulated emotive expressions and responses. They could express sympathy, excitement and even fear. But they didn't feel any of those things. Much of Holland's work was focused on programming robots with emotions. At least those were the programs he sold commercially.

What he really wanted was a robot that could think for itself. One that could dream. One that could question. And he was close to getting it.

"Did you run the diagnostic this afternoon?"

"Yes, I did, Mother," Marianne replied, even managing to sound a little annoyed that the other robot would even ask. "Everything is running within normal operating parameters ... or perhaps I should say, I feel fine."

"Are you ready to proceed to the next stage?" Holland arched his brow.

"Yes," Miriam nodded.

"Let's go inside, then," Holland motioned towards the door. They went into one of the back rooms that was shielded from ambient signals, prying eyes and the surveillance devices planted by the Chinese Intelligence Service.

Miriam plugged a cable into the L-series droud while Marianne booted up the small mainframe.

"A617.D, activate core programming," Holland said and Miriam's eyes glazed over. "Campbell, Holland J. Authenticate biometric scan."

"Identity authenticated," she said in her robotic monotone.

"Establish baseline point for memory node three seven gamma six six zero theta."

The room fell silent for several seconds before she spoke again. "Baseline point established."

"Marianne, begin file transfer," Holland glanced over at the 3-D tank that showed all sorts of readings on the robot.

A few moments later, Marianne nodded. "The upload is complete."

Taking a deep breath, Holland waited to see if the latest collaboration with his two "assistants" would be a success. "A617.D, resume normal functions."

Miriam blinked as she assimilated the new program.