The Android Chronicles Book One: The Android Defense (24 page)

Mandelie looked
baffled.

Luke managed to detach
himself from Carlie at last.

“You look great, Carlie,” he
said.

Carlie giggled. She looked
at Mandelie.

“Oh, right! I’m supposed to
take you to Damian. Follow me, please.”

Mandelie and Luke followed
Carlie into the cool, elegant villa and into a huge room with
breezy windows and overlooking green gardens. There was a pool
table in it and a lounge area with expensive leather chairs and
sofas, as well as an impressive collection of antique rifles
hanging on the wall.

Damian was sitting in his
wheelchair near the marble fireplace. He wore a light blue shirt
and jeans. His hair was cut short and made him look very much like
the way he did before his accident.

He grinned when he saw Luke
and wheeled towards him.

“Luke!”

He held up his hand and
slapped a high five with Luke.

“It’s nice to see you again,
Damian,” Luke said.

“You too, pal,” Damian said.
“You too. It’s kind of like old times, huh? Except for this damn
thing.” He pointed to his wheelchair.

A maid came in and set a
tray of drinks on a table.

“What have you been doing?
Keeping yourself busy?” Damian said.

“Assisting Dr. Miles,” Luke
said.

“My father said he’d help
you curate the circus, Damian,” Mandelie said.

“Great,” Damian said. “I’m
having a press conference tomorrow in front of the Adventis
building. I’ll make sure to thank him publicly.”

Mandelie was
surprised.

“That’s –“ she
began.

“Surprising?” Damian said.
“I’m full of surprises.”

Carlie came back into the
room with Jake and Brigite, who was wearing a midriff-revealing
tank top and a micro miniskirt, and her usual six-inch platform
heels.

Damian looked slightly
stunned.

“I forgot the way she makes
an entrance,” he said. “It’s not for anyone with a heart
condition.”

“Damian, this is Jake
Masner,” Mandelie said. “He’s Brigite’s boyfriend.”

She threw in the comment on
purpose since Damian was eying Brigite in a slightly covetous
way.

Damian shook hands with
Jake.

“You’re a lucky man, Jake,
to have Brigite. She was my favorite out of all the
X-droids.”

“That’s sweet, Mr. Foster,”
Brigite said. She batted her eyelashes.

“Let’s all sit down in the
lounge,” Damian said. He still seemed slightly shell-shocked by
Brigite.

Mandelie and the other sat
on the leather couches and chairs. Carlie sat as well, never taking
her eyes off Luke.

“I was telling Jake on the
way over here how I used to give you erotic massages all the time,
Mr. Foster,” Brigite said.

“Yeah, those were some good
times,” Damian said.

Carlie cleared her
throat.

“I haven’t told Brigite yet
about the circus, Damian,” Mandelie said. “I kind of figured she
wouldn’t need any convincing. Jake doesn’t know yet
either.”

“What circus?” Brigite
said.

“Adventis is setting up a
circus to show off everything we’ve done in android technology,”
Damian said. “Mandelie and Luke have agreed to help. So has Dr.
Miles. How does it sound to you, Brigite? You’d get to go on
display and do your thing in front of thousands of people for two
nights.”

“It sounds fun,” Brigite
said.

Damian looked at
Jake.

“You’re welcome to help out,
as well.”

Jake shrugged.

“Sure. I’ll lend you guys a
hand.”

“Great,” Damian said. “Let’s
get down to it. We’ve already booked the Staples Center for two
nights.”

“Damian and I were talking
themes,” Carlie said. “We want something that’s reminiscent of an
old-time circus, but updated with a modern technological feel. I’ve
already put in a call to an event decorator.”

“What do you want me to do?”
Luke said.

“I’d like for you to be on
display,” Damian said. “Walk around, talk to people. You’re not an
Adventis android, so you don’t have to stay in one spot for people
to look at you, but I’d like for you to be sort of like a tour
guide for all the people who come. Do you think you could do
that?”

“I think it should be
manageable,” Luke said.

“Alright,” Damian said.
“We’ll have all our Adventis androids set up in exhibits all over
the room. I’m getting every one of the older models out – the
X-droids, the Fantastic Domestics, et cetera. They’ve all been
deactivated and stored in our factories, but they can easily be
reactivated. My technicians are working on some entirely new
androids now as well.”

“I’ve contacted a very
popular DJ,” Carlie said. “He’s blocked out those two
nights.”

“Good,” Damian said. “We’re
kicking this thing off in style tomorrow.”

“The engineers have been
working nonstop,” Bernard said to Madrick, as they entered the
factory. “I think you’ll be pleased with their
progress.”

“I’ll decide that for
myself,” Madrick said.

The two of them walked
around the huge room. Mary Alsin was carefully building the frame
of a miniature android that transformed from a plain metal box into
an android in a few moments. Jozeph was waving his hand in front of
a skeleton android whose face followed the movement of his hand.
Harris was feverishly adjusting the head of his android, which
looked like a normal human being except that his head spun around
every few seconds.

Madrick and Bernard stopped
in front of one of the glass experiment rooms. Gustaf was standing
in it. He saw them and came out of the room.

Madrick was speechless by
what he saw inside the experiment room. There was a huge metal
android skeleton, parts of its body covered with flesh, other parts
left purposely exposed to show the crackling electric current
running through its frame. Its face was normal-looking above its
cheekbones, but an exposed android jaw beneath them. It was nearly
seven feet tall and terrifying.

Madrick took his hat from
his head. The huge android made a gesture as though he was removing
an unseen hat from his head as well.

“I’ll be damned,” he said.
“What is it?”

“It’s your avatar, Mr.
Castleshank,” Gustaf said. “It’s your android avatar.”

“An ava-what?” Madrick said.
“This is amazing.”

“The electric current flow
in the android is programmed to follow the flow of the blood
current in your own body,” Gustaf said. “That is why the avatar
imitates your every gesture. You control the avatar and what it
does.”

He handed Madrick a black
band that looked like a pair of goggles except that it went all the
way around a person’s head, as well as a pair of black
gloves.

“Your viewing field and your
sensory gloves,” Gustaf said. “Put those on. You will be able to
see and feel what the android is seeing and feeling, but you will
not have to move.”

Madrick put the viewing
field and the gloves on.

He found that he was looking
through the android’s eyes. He shifted his gaze all around the
inside of the glass room, and up and down his huge body.

He chuckled.

“Open the door,” Gustaf
said. “Come out.”

Madrick looked down and saw
the door handle in front of him. He reached out and grasped it. He
felt the door handle in his hand.

The huge android opened the
door of the experiment room and walked outside. Everyone except for
Gustaf and Madrick backed away.

“Congratulations,” Gustaf
said. “You have now become an android.”

Chapter 19.

The Adventis Building was
the scene of more media activity than it had been in a long time.
Crowds of reporters, bystanders, and police officers waited for the
press conference to start.

On the steps of the
building, behind a police barricade, Brigite and Silvia, another
X-droid, were standing inside two clear boxes, waving to the
bystanders and winking at them.

Luke, Mandelie, and Jake
were gathered behind the police barricade as well.

A reporter tried to get
Luke’s attention.

“Excuse me, but aren’t you
the android that supposedly inspired all the other Adventis
androids?” he was saying.

“No comment,” Luke
said.

Inside the lobby of the
Adventis building, Damian was sitting in his wheelchair as a makeup
artist put makeup on his face. He looked every inch like a CEO in a
dark, tailored suit and blue tie. Carlie was standing beside him,
her iPad under her arm.

“Are there a lot of people
out there, Carlie?” Damian said.

“A lot,” Carlie said. “Are
you nervous?”

Damian adjusted his
tie.

“We’ll have to see,” he
said.

Inside her clear chute,
Brigite was blowing kisses and receiving plenty of attention from
the cameras. She was holding a banner that read “ADVENTIS
TECHNOLOGIES.” She wore a sparkling blue dress and a long cape that
had the words “Like what you see? Come see me at the circus”
written on the back of it. Silvia had a similar outfit and a
banner, except that they were red to match her crimson hair. Behind
them a DJ played a thumping, energetic beat.

Carlie checked the time on
her iPad.

“It’s time,” she
said.

She and Damian made their
way to the glass front doors, which opened for them.

Damian was received by a
thousand camera flashes and reporters screaming questions as he
rolled himself in his wheelchair to the podium that was set up for
him on the steps, in between Brigite and Silvia.

The DJ turned off his
music.

Carlie tapped on the
microphone on the podium and spoke into it.

“Thank you all for coming,”
she said. “It’s my honor to present to you a man who has made
himself the face of cutting-edge technologies. He is the CEO of
Adventis and known worldwide for his vision and his unstoppable
spirit of innovation. Damian Foster!”

The crowds gathered around
the building burst out into applause and cheers.

Carlie removed the
microphone from the podium and gave it to Damian.

“Thank you, Carlie,” Damian
said. “And thank you all for being here. I have to admit, I was
feeling nervous when I woke up this morning. As you all know, I
haven’t been seen in the public eye for a while. I kept telling
myself it was because I needed to do my physical therapy, or I
needed to rest or recuperate. But that wasn’t really the reason. I
was ashamed. I was ashamed of being in a wheelchair. I didn’t want
anyone to see me.”

“But then I realized people
had stopped seeing me. They had all stopped seeing Adventis as the
company it was supposed to be. One good company falters and a
competitor comes out of the shadows, eager to take the top
spot.”

Damian paused and looked
directly into the cameras.

“I’m looking at you,
Madrick. By now everyone’s probably heard about this android circus
that’s going to take place in the Staples Center a week from now.
It’ll be the greatest thing anyone has ever seen. It’ll remind
everyone why Adventis is, and always will be, the greatest tech
company in the world. All of our biggest hits will be there – our
X-droids, our Fantastic Domestics – as well as some new androids
we’ve never been able to show you before. Buy your tickets now.
They will sell out fast.”

“When I was younger, I had
the privilege of learning from one of the greatest innovators in
the world, Dr. Jason Miles. I learned everything I know from him.
If Adventis is a success – and it is – it’s because of what Dr.
Miles taught me. I’d like to give him credit for that, and I’m very
pleased to announce that he is the curator of this circus. His
genius will be all over it.”

“Before my accident, I was
sure that there was nothing I couldn’t do. After my accident, I was
sure that there was nothing I could do. At this moment, being here
in front of my building, I’m convinced that maybe something is
still possible. And I invite you all to come and see it next
week.”

A thunderous wave of
cheering and applause was heard as Damian placed the microphone
back on the podium. He turned his wheelchair and he and Carlie made
their way back to the building.

“That was fantastic,
Damian,” Carlie said. “You really outdid yourself. I’m proud of
you.”

“We’ll see if it translates
into ticket sales,” Damian said.

Chapter 20.

Gustaf stayed up late into
the night long after the other engineers had gone to sleep. The
android avatar that was Madrick Castleshank’s was resting against
the wall upright, in a deactivated state.

Gustaf was working on
another android frame, one that was tall and thin and vaguely
resembled him. It had pale blond hair and its partially exposed
human face was pale and emotionless, its eyes dead and cold. Its
body was slightly more muscular than Gustaf’s own
physique