The Android Chronicles Book One: The Android Defense (23 page)

Madrick paused and wiped
imaginary tears decorously from his eyes, and then
saluted.

“It’s been an honor and a
privilege. But as y’all know, a company is a company and needs to
take new risks in order to expand in new ways. Frontier has spent
decades building its reputation for quality products and innovative
technology. With our reputation established, I feel that we’re
ready to start the next revolution in technological engineering,
the next revolution in androids!”

A spontaneous round of
applause erupted.

“Frontier intends to use its
prosthetic technology as well as the participation of a number of
leading robotic engineers to build androids like the world has
never seen before. Oh, I know the world had a brush with androids a
ways back … but we won’t talk about that now.”

Madrick grinned, and a
smattering of light laughter was heard.

“We’re going to do it right,
and we’re going to do it big. Once our androids are finished, I’d
love for all of you here in this room – my respected colleagues and
peers – to be the first ones to see them.”

The audience applauded
energetically.

“I guarantee your minds will
be blown on that day,” Madrick said. “I, Madrick Castleshank,
solemnly swear that Frontier will deliver on its promise for “top
tier, front tier, everything tier” quality and that android
technology will finally have the honorable place in innovation that
it deserves. Thank y’all so much for having me, and have a good
night!”

Madrick walked back from the
thunderous wave of applause and shot Bernard a sly grin.

“Well, how was
that?”

“Superb, Mr. Castleshank,”
Bernard said. “Superb.”

“Top tier, front tier,
everything tier,” Damian said. “I think I need a vomit
bucket.”

He was sitting in his
bedroom watching Madrick’s speech on his touch screen. Carlie sat
beside him, her eyes fixed on the iPad in her lap.

“Did you hear how he called
us out?” Damian said. “If I had been there in person, something
might have happened.”

“You’ve been to hundreds of
those things before,” Carlie said. “Missing one won’t make a
difference.”

She had said the same thing
when Damian had missed the meeting for the first time the previous
year.

“Anyway, I’ve already gotten
a ton of emails from the people who were there, asking about you
and saying you were missed. Remember, your speech three years ago
brought down the house. You got a standing ovation.”

“That was then,” Damian
said.

“And now, I’ve got some good
news for you,” Carlie said. “I booked the Staples Center for the
circus. It’s all set.”

Damian looked
exhilarated.

“Fantastic.”

“And I’ve already sent out a
press release to all the outlets,” Carlie said. “The event should
be all over the news by tomorrow night. Worldwide. I’m also setting
up a press conference for you to talk about the event live. It’s
time to steal some of Madrick’s thunder.”

Damian pounded his fist into
his hand.

“God, that feels good. We’re
coming back, Carlie. I can feel it.”

Carlie’s iPad vibrated. She
looked down at it with narrowed eyes.

“An invitation to a black
tie buffet at Madrick’s Napa Valley ranch just came in.”

“A black tie buffet,” Damian
said. “What a hick. You and Elena go on my behalf, Carlie. He’ll
probably have moonshine and a melted cheese fountain. I’m better
off not seeing it.”

“I’ll schedule your physical
therapy session for the same time,” Carlie said.

Chapter 17.

“Where should I set up the
pole, Jake?” Brigite said.

She was walking around the
small living room of Jake’s apartment, stepping over piles of video
games and dirty laundry. She wore a sparkling red bikini and six
inch spike heels, her bright blue wig looking extra
voluminous.

Jake’s four roommates
Steven, Chris, Jonathan, and Mike were gathered in the kitchen and
watching her as though they were witnessing a miracle.

“Um, I don’t know, Brig,”
Jake said. “Wherever you can find room for it. Guys, have any of
you seen my Wheat Thins?”

He was rummaging through the
kitchen cabinets.

“Dude. Jake. Are you not
seeing this?” Steven said. “Your girlfriend is setting up a
stripper pole in our living room.”

“Yeah, it looks like she
is,” Jake said. “Are you guys really sure you haven’t seen that
box?”

“I’m eating your Wheat Thins
right now,” Jonathan said, in a dazed voice, as he munched crackers
while watching Brigite bend over and plant her pole in a
clutter-free spot on the floor. “Sorry.”

“Man, Jonathan. That’s my
favorite flavor.”

“You’re welcome to have my
Doritos, Jake,” Mike said, his eyes glued to Brigite as she waxed
the pole with a cloth. “You can have a billion Doritos. Just …
thank you for bringing her here this afternoon.”

“Yeah,” Chris said. “Hey,
Brigite, do you want me to turn on the fan or
something?”

Brigite flexed her body
around the stripper pole, her bikini barely containing her
assets.

“No thanks,” she said. “I
prefer the room hot.”

“It’s way hot,” Mike said.
“Way, way hot.”

Gustaf was working in the
privacy of a glass-walled experiment room in the factory when he
heard a soft knock on the door.

He looked up and saw Carel
standing on the other side of the glass. Stifling a curse word, he
walked to the door and opened it.

“I prefer not to be
disturbed,” he said.

“I just wanted to tell you
that the lunch has arrived,” Carel said. She looked past him at the
huge android skeleton frame on the table. It was made of gleaming
metal and looked like the frame of a bear.

Before Gustaf could stop
her, she walked to the table and looked down at the frame in
awe.

“Wow. This is way better
than what I’m doing. Can you tell me about it?”

“No,” Gustaf said. “Please
let me continue my work. I will eat at another time.”

Carel drifted back to the
door but then turned.

“Why are you so unfriendly?”
she said. “I’m just trying to get to know you.”

Gustaf took a step toward
her, his face suddenly contorted into a violent
expression.

Carel gasped when she saw
the giant frame behind him sit up suddenly. She ran from the room
quickly.

Madrick’s ranch was a
sprawling forty-acre estate tucked away in the hills of Napa
Valley. It was not nearly as tacky as Carlie expected it to be but
there was an abundance of fake plaster statues that made her
grimace.

There was a huge,
well-dressed crowd in attendance, mingling with each other in the
back of the ranch house where a catered buffet was set up under a
white tent. Carlie recognized a number of CEOs and other notable
persons. She did not see a cheese fountain but waiters were
maneuvering through the crowd, carrying plates of cheese rolls and
glasses of champagne.

Madrick caught sight of her
and Elena and made his way to them. He was the only one not in
black tie. He wore a denim tuxedo and his usual cowboy
hat.

Carlie held her hand out to
him.

“Nice to meet you in person,
Mr. Castleshank.”

“It’s Cass-la-shank, honey,”
Madrick said, taking her hand. “It’s French. Where’s your
boss?”

“He’s having a physical
therapy session,” Elena said. “He sends his apologies.”

Madrick laughed. He eyed the
two of them.

“And his bimbos. Well, well.
It’s probably better that he didn’t come, he’d probably feel out of
place. Help yourselves to the drinks, ladies.”

He left them.

“And I thought Damian was an
insensitive bastard,” Carlie said.

“You said you wanted to ask
me something,” Luke said. He and Mandelie were having dinner at an
Italian restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, sitting at a table
outside.

Mandelie took a sip of her
sparkling water. She wore a short lacy black dress and low heels.
Luke looked like he had stepped out of the pages of a magazine in
his long-sleeved dark shirt and jeans.

“I went to visit Damian
Foster a few days ago,” she said. “He said he needed to ask me
something.”

Luke raised an
eyebrow.

“How is he?” he
said.

“When was the last time you
saw him?” Mandelie said.

“The day he was shot,” Luke
said.

“Well, it was kind of a
shock to see him in a wheelchair,” Mandelie said. “It made me feel
… sorry about the way we’ve treated each other in the past. You
probably don’t have as much reason to dislike him as I
do.”

“I spent enough time in his
presence to understand a few of the things that motivate him,” Luke
said.

“You know that his company
is struggling, right?”

“I’ve heard,” Luke
said.

“Damian wants to organize an
android circus,” Mandelie said. “A display of Adventis’s android
technologies including its new models and its older ones. He thinks
that will put his company back on top. He wants my help and your
help.”

“The things humans think
of,” Luke said. “Did you say you would help him?”

“I did,” Mandelie said. “But
I’d love it if you could be involved too.”

“On what terms?” Luke said.
“As an android on display, or behind the scenes? I have a feeling
Damian would want me to be on display, but that’s asking a lot from
me. It might be a risk.”

“I don’t know what Damian
wants,” Mandelie said. “But he promised me the circus would be safe
and under control. The decision is yours, really. You can help out
in whatever way you choose. I thought we might go see Damian
tomorrow. I’m asking Jake and Brigite to go too.”

“Brigite would probably be
happy to be on display,” Luke said.

“I think so too,” Mandelie
said. “So will you come with me tomorrow and hear what Damian has
to say?”

Luke took her hand. Mandelie
could feel the heat of his grasp flowing into her body.

“If you’re a part of the
circus, I’m a part of it too,” he said. “I owe Damian a visit. I’ll
go with you tomorrow.”

“How was the black tie
buffet?” Damian said, when Carlie returned later in the evening and
came to his room.

“Pretty much as you’d
expect,” Carlie said. “I brought you a gift bag. Madrick
insisted.”

Damian opened the bag and
looked into it.

“Salt and pepper shakers
with cowboy hats on them. What a nice touch. Wouldn’t expect
anything less from him.”

Carlie walked to the balcony
doors and closed them.

“You look great,” Damian
said, eying the back of her dress.

“Good night, Damian,” Carlie
said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

She left the
room.

Damian turned on his massage
system. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Chapter 18.

“Why are we going to
Damian’s place?” Brigite said, sounding bewildered, as she sat in
the passenger seat of Jake’s dust covered Chevy.

“I don’t know, but Mandelie
said she and Luke would be there and she wanted us there too,” Jake
said. “I never got to meet this Damian Foster guy. What’s he
like?”

Brigite shrugged. “He’s
okay. He’s nice when he wants to be, and terrible when he wants to
be. I used to give him erotic massages all the time.”

Jake began coughing. Brigite
hit him on his back.

“He really liked them,” she
continued. “And he did have a really nice body, for a human. There
was this particular area that he liked me to spend a lot of time
on. I would put the oil on my hands and-”

“Brigite, you don’t need to
tell me the details,” Jake said. “Really.”

“Okay then,” Brigite said.
“I think your roommates really enjoyed my pole session, didn’t
they?”

“I’m pretty sure they did,”
Jake said. “I think Mike is still recovering in his room right
now.”

“But you’re the only one I
gave the lap dance to,” Brigite said. “Did you like that trick I
did with my hand at the end of it? I’ve been working on
it.”

Jake began coughing
again.

“It was great,” he said,
between gasps. “It was really nice.”

“Do you need some water or
something, Jake?” Brigite said.

Mandelie and Luke walked up
the steps to the front door of Damian’s villa. Luke seemed at ease,
but Mandelie felt a little jittery. She rang the doorbell several
times in a row.

The door was opened by
Carlie, whose eyes lit up when she saw Luke.

“Luke, is that you?” she
said.

Her knees actually began to
wobble. Pushing Mandelie out of her way, Carlie threw her arms
around Luke and gave him a long, lingering hug.