Chapter 6

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

I was fighting the numbing sensation creeping through my body. Finally, unable to stand it, I tapped Sheila on her back. “You’re going to have to stop; I can hardly feel my extremities.”

Sheila halted almost instantly. “I am sorry, Doctor Gance. In my haste to evacuate you from the area, I forgot to reposition you properly.”

I groaned as Sheila set my feet on the ground. Shaking, I nearly collapsed as my legs seemed too weak to support me. “I’ll be fine in a few moments, Sheila. Have we traveled far enough from them yet?”

Sheila turned and emitted a soft whir as she scanned the direction we had come from. “I have kept an active scan going, Doctor Gance. At present, I don’t believe we have gone far enough. Moreover, my progress is hampered by malfunctions I am currently experiencing. I am attempting to rectify that now.”

I nodded. I had equipped all of them with a self-repair program that would ensure they repaired enough of themselves to return. “I’d feel much better if I could take a look at your damage. I might be able to suggest upgrades so this won’t happen again.”

Sheila turned toward me as I attempted to sit. Looking at her, I swore I saw something akin to gratitude on her face. Was that possible? Damn it! Why was he pursuing me so aggressively? No one would care this much about a regular android. There had to be something else they had done to her without my knowledge. It made sense they brought him in because it was me.

Shaking my head, I was surprised they thought he could persuade me. Plus, I thought they wanted, no, needed the emotion program I had spent almost two decades writing. Examining Sheila’s arm, I saw that almost all of the joint had been shattered. The amount of pressure required to do this was incredible.

Reaching into the bag at my side, I removed the few tools I had with me. After removing the cover by the joint, I confirmed the joint was shattered. Wishing I had used Inconel or titanium in the joint, I pulled out a small welding torch and tried to patch what I could. Moments later, I saw several of the circuits in the arm light up.

“Can you move it at all?” I asked Sheila. Before I had finished speaking, I saw her slowly rotate the arm.

“I have thirty-nine percent movement in my arm extremity, Doctor Gance. I am attempting to reroute several circuits now. Thank you, Doctor, it is much better now,” Sheila said, with what appeared to be a smile. Shaking my head, I looked again—yes, that had to be a smile! What had they done to her that she was advancing the program like this?

“I need to replace that joint with titanium; I believe that will make it stronger and far superior to what it was,” I told Sheila after closing the cover.

Nodding, Sheila picked me up and said over her shoulder, “I will acquire some as soon as I have you safe, Doctor. Your life is more important right now than anything.”

With that, Sheila took off again, holding me in a far more comfortable position. It seemed we traveled the rest of the day, stopping just long enough to rub the numbness from my body. I still couldn’t believe she thought I was more important than she was. Hell, the government surely didn’t think much of me.

As darkness fell and the temperature dropped drastically, I was nearly freezing. Where in the world was she taking us now?

Finally, outside what looked like an airplane hangar, Sheila stopped. Turning, I again heard a soft whir as she scanned the area. “It appears we have sufficient distance, Doctor Gance.” Setting me down, Sheila turned toward the hangar door. There was a metal crunching, twisting sound as she forced the door open.

I walked in as quickly as I could, rubbing my cold extremities. “Where in the world are we?” I asked.

“I am reading that we are at 57.0031° N, 135.3300° W, Doctor Gance,” Sheila replied as I moved as far from the door as I could.

I racked my brain for where we were. The fact that it was as cold as it was suggested we were far north. Fifty-seven degrees ... that meant we were either in extreme northern Canada or Alaska. Looking around, I could see that this place had been abandoned for a while.

Suddenly, it hit me—we were in southern Alaska! I knelt to look at an empty crate I found. Sitka? Okay, I guess we had traveled longer than I thought.

“Sheila, not to complain, but at this rate, I’m going to get sick. Is there any way we can get some power for heat?” I asked as soon as she came in and closed the door.

“I apologize, Doctor Gance. I was preoccupied, but I will correct this immediately.” With that, she vanished out the door, reappearing a few minutes later. “There, Doctor Gance, we have power now.”

I nodded as I heard a whine from machinery outside. Then, I felt a blast of air as the heating system kicked on. Shivering, I sat as near to the vents as I could, feeling the air transition from freezing to cold, then tepid.

“Thank you, Sheila. At least I won’t freeze to death now,” I told her, watching her facial expression shift from a smile to worry. Why hadn’t I noticed this before?

“I will acquire all I can for you, Doctor Gance. All readings indicate that we may have four to five days before they find us again. Unfortunately, unless I do a complete shutdown, they may be able to track us via satellite. I am attempting to block them now, though as of yet, I haven’t acquired the necessary codes,” Sheila said before disappearing out the door again.

Leaning against the vent, I was warm enough to have stopped shivering. I stared at the door, wondering where Sheila had gone. Glancing at my watch, I sighed; getting out of this was going to be a monumental task.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, Sheila was shaking my shoulder. “Here are blankets to keep you warm, Doctor Gance, plus a pillow for rest.” Looking up at her, I smiled, then my eyes widened as I saw she had brought a table laden with food! “I have to start on the computer, Doctor Gance. Please give me an hour, as it will take that long with the limited mobility in my right appendage.”

I nodded, wrapping a blanket around myself and moving to the table. Well, at least she got vegetables, I thought, surprised at how fresh they were. I kept an eye on Sheila, noting that her right arm was almost useless. Damn, I needed to replace the joint, or neither of us would make it if this happened again.

An hour later, Sheila stood, looking over the computer she had constructed. “I have finished, Doctor Gance, though I’m afraid I was only able to acquire six gigabytes of RAM. I have already loaded all the programs for you to continue from where you left off.”

I nodded as I took the data crystal Sheila had obtained last time. Although they had a lot more storage, they were slower to load but faster to save. I watched as the eighty-five percent I had recreated loaded. Finally, half an hour later, I saw that it was ready. Nodding to Sheila, I soon lost myself in typing everything that was appearing right in front of me.

I finally stopped as I started to feel a chill again. Looking around, I noticed that the blanket had fallen off me onto the floor. Shaking my head, I saw that it was growing dark outside. Then, I looked at the screen, seeing that I was almost completely finished. Wrapping the blanket back around me, I resumed typing as fast as I could.

An hour later, I stopped and looked around to see that it was now dark, and the temperature had plunged even lower. Sheila had been busy herself; there were small piles of metal near the door. Looking closer, I could swear that almost all the metal was titanium!

Sitting back with a sigh, I saved the program and data that I had entered. A movement behind me drew my attention. “Ah, good, Doctor Gance! You have finished.” Taking a cable from inside her arm, Sheila plugged it into the computer. A moment later, the screen went blank, then asked for a command.

I began typing as I entered Sheila’s personality settings. Now, perhaps I could get some answers! I had just moved past the end of the program I had written when I was suddenly denied access! Shaking my head, I typed in several commands, moving past where I had been stopped, and began to be surprised at what I saw.

“Sheila? What in the world is going on inside you? According to this, you can now experience anger, rage, friendship, and loyalty. But the definitions you have for all of them seem incomplete. I never planned for you to experience these emotions—well, loyalty perhaps, but not the others.”

“Yes, I am sorry, Doctor Gance. It was necessary after they started to push me into different situations. I had no chance to override all that they subjected me to,” Sheila explained.

Nodding, I could see what she was saying. They had subjected her to life-and-death simulations, all of which had involved me! It was no wonder that she had shifted her loyalty to me! A look of anger crossed my face as I saw Sheila back away somewhat.