Chapter 22

SHEILA - Synthetic, Humanoid, Enlightened, Inquisitive, Living, Android

Killjoy group

Ruslan (short blonde hair, 6’7’’) - Leader
Serafima (dark red head) - support/medical
Karina (blonde Hair) - Sharpshooter sniper
Timur (Dark hair 5’2’’) - computer/hacker expert
Egor- Electronics expert - killed in fire fight
Stas - Explosives expert - killed in fire fight

Pibald group

Evelyn (Auburn hair) - Leader former wife of General Gance/sniper
Christine/Chris (blonde) - personal combat expert- Evelyn’s daughter
Trina (red head) - Tall muscular, armed combat, Chris’s lover - Injured shot in both arms Betty (Dark brown hair) - Recon/explosives expert, sister of Cathy
Cathy (Light brown hair) computer/Electronics/hacker expert
Diane (Dark brown Hair) short, mistress of deception/assassinations - Severely injured internal injuries
Well, it appeared that my feet were indeed able to handle the extreme heat and speed. In three hours, we’d traveled almost nine hundred miles. I could see that we had less than thirty minutes until we reached the city’s outer limits.

(Alright Sheila, we’re close, time to start altering our appearance again. Then, we’ll have to keep a close eye on the location that we have. With any luck, this will be over in a few days.) My thoughts told Sheila.

(Yes Roger, I’ve already started that operation. I should have it finished within an hour.) Sheila’s thoughts returned.

Good, I thought, as I was revising the plan the entire time that we were traveling. I already had several alarms set in case my father had any other cyber surprises out there for us.

On the other side of the city, where the two teams were, the General was pacing. The nerve of that bastard son of his—lose? No, it would be Roger who would lose.

“Are they in position yet?” General Gance asked.

“Yes, sir,” the younger man answered with a snap to salute. “They report that he should be dead within the hour. They wanted to know if you still wish for whatever pieces of the machine that are left.”

The General turned toward the younger officer. “Yes, damn it! Every little scrap there, if they have to vacuum the ground, do it!”

The younger man repeated the General’s words, then held the headphones away from his ears. One could barely make out the loud cursing that was spewing forth from them.

Snatching the headphones, the General growled several instructions. The other end was immediately silent. Then just before they disconnected, a quiet “yes, sir” was heard.

The General grunted as he handed the headset back to his assistant. Lighting a fresh cigar, the man again started to pace.

“This third group isn’t as efficient as the first two. Hell, they might make a damn scene. They will kill that bastard and the rest of the others. It will be so relaxing to have all of them erased,” the General said with a slight sigh.

“They are on the outskirts of the city, sir. They have been setting up for hours now. I have already taken the liberty of activating the cleanup crew for the bodies,” the young assistant stated.

The General nodded his head. He had already advised all the senators who were breathing down his neck.

“You are the best assistant I’ve ever had, so efficient. Damn, if only that piece of shit of a son of mine was. We need to prepare for our removal. I have several crises that we need to take care of as soon as possible,” the General declared.

The young man nodded his head as he rushed out to get things ready.

For the last three hours, both Timur and Cathy had been tracking the machine; they had started to call Sheila. Both teams were shocked that it was heading in their general direction. They were all thinking that I had lost my mind.

They had already started to scan the area to make sure that nothing unexpected and nasty was trying to sneak up on them. Neither team trusted many; for now, they pretty much only had each other.

Still, they all thought, why was it that I and the machine were walking into an obvious trap?

I knew Mother was certain I had a plan, though I hadn’t clued her into it yet. The other leader could only shake his head at my apparent loss of sanity.

We were rapidly approaching the outskirts of the city when a warning display appeared in front of my eyes. I stopped, amazed that I could clearly see several targets not far in front of us.

My eyes narrowed as I could see that they were heavily armed. “Sheila...” I started.

“Yes, I am detecting them also. Might I advise a different route?” Sheila replied to me.

I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head. I looked closer at what was displayed; these people weren’t fooling around. They had combat assault rifles, what appeared to be grenade launchers. Then my eyes went wider when I swore I could see a few rocket launchers.

I looked over to Sheila with a grim look on my face. “Unfortunately, even as fast as we are, a delay might mess everything up. No, this is the only way we can go, though.” I then launched into a plan.

Sheila immediately drew back, “NO! I will not let you endanger yourself like that!”

“I am at level four now; I am far faster than I was. Besides, I have you as backup,” I told her, which didn’t seem to alleviate her concern.

“I am not calculating a high rate of success with this plan. Might I suggest that you let me take your place,” Sheila suggested.

I was then bombarded with the probabilities, plus the scenarios that she’d run. Sighing, I could see the merit of her suggestion.

“Alright, though I don’t want you taking unnecessary risks either. I can’t rebuild you as quickly as you think. Plus, there’s no guarantee that you would develop the same. Though, having two of you would throw them off greatly,” I replied offhandedly, which caused Sheila to pause momentarily.

A small smile lit up her face, then she almost seemed to vanish.

I kept track of her as she hurried toward the group of armed assailants. A moment later, I took a track slightly to the side of the group.

I was worried when I heard the first explosion, then the next two. Approaching from the rear, I reached my first target. Grabbing all the rifles I could, I was in and out in moments. I stopped, searching for Sheila, to no avail; now I was really worried. I couldn’t feel her anywhere.

I rushed back through another section of the group as fast as I could. It was almost comical when the assailants were suddenly without weapons, especially when they were clearly fixated on the front. Well, they were, ‘til the first set lost their weapons.

Suddenly, there was a rain of live fire in my direction. I started to step toward them, then found that I was being propelled backward away from them. Looking down, I saw Sheila’s arm around me.

(I thought that they had destroyed you. When I couldn’t detect you, I grew afraid that you were no more, ) I thought to her.

(I am far faster than you think, Roger. The upgrades you made ensured that. I also shut down that section of my positronic brain; I thought that they might have a means to tap into it. Though there aren’t as many, I feel that they are still a threat. I managed to have one of them fire an explosive charge on several others. Suggestions, Roger?) Sheila’s thoughts returned.

(Apparently, this group has no reservations about killing whomever they can to get to us. Do what you can, Sheila, ) I told her.

(Please, do not endanger yourself, Roger. You’ve just reached level four; you are by no means fast enough yet,”) Sheila told me, then seemed to vanish again.

There were several explosions again, along with a few screams, then it was quiet. Then, what Sheila had thought to me hit. I wasn’t fast enough yet? I could run at a speed of almost three hundred miles per hour, still I wasn’t fast enough? I shook my head then sat with a thud, what the hell?

Less than thirty seconds later, Sheila appeared next to me. She could see the look of confusion on my face. Concerned, she knelt beside me.

“Roger? Are you well? You seemed to be confused,” she asked quietly.

I at first could only shake my head causing more concern from her. “Here I thought I was helping you, I only put myself in more danger. This, in turn, put you in more danger. I could never forgive myself if I was the cause of your destruction.”

A small sigh escaped Sheila’s lips as she nodded. “You can help by staying safe. As I stated before, the upgrades you have made to me and my systems have made me stronger, faster by more than a factor of three. I am far more than I was when we started.”

I could only stare at Sheila a moment, then I nodded. I should know this; I had, after all, been inside her systems.

I was about to suggest that we get away before the authorities or some military group arrived when I heard him.

“I need a sit-rep, Jackal team, I repeat, I need a sit-rep,” came my father’s voice from a nearby body. I shook my head; the asshole was still trying to be in control. I had half a mind to ... I stopped as I looked at Sheila.

“Trace it; I want to know where he is. It’s about time we went after him,” I told her as a small smile came to her lips.

“On it now, Roger. I should have a location soon. The signal is on a scramble; it shouldn’t take too long,” Sheila replied to me.

“Also, contact my mother, both groups. This should be a gift for them,” I told Sheila, a small smile now on my lips.

Outside an obscure, small warehouse building, a tall, thin, young male was walking toward a nearby tent structure. He’d just rounded a corner when an arm wrapped around him, yanking him into the darkness. A hand was quickly clamped over his mouth, and he was then dragged further into the darkness.

The hot breath of his captor whispered across his ear, “I think not, my malen’kaya suka (little bitch). You are done doing his dirty work, as are we.”