The Android Chronicles Book One: The Android Defense (5 page)

“You see them, don’t you?”
Damian said. “The androids in the blue shirts are test models from
the Corporate Clone line. We’re seeing how they interact with our
human employees, and vice versa.”

“What have the results
been?” Luke said.

“Encouraging, but not
perfect yet,” Damian said. “What time is my dinner with the
governor, Carlie? And where?”

She consulted her
iPad.

“6:30 at the Beverly
Hilton.”

“Apple is extremely excited
about what we’re doing,” Damian said. “They want to collaborate on
a line of female androids called Siris. We’ve got partnerships
lined up with Wal-Mart, Martha Stewart Living, Adidas, Volkswagen,
Pepsi, and a number of other big names as well.”

“Impressive,” Luke
said.

“But our primary focus will
of course be our own company androids,” Damian said. “We’ve got
twelve product lines in active production. You saw one of our
Fantastic Domestics, specializing in housework, and the Corporate
Clones, designed to fill staff shortages in any kind of
corporation. You’ll see the rest of them in a few
minutes.”

They rounded a corner and
headed towards a small, elegant elevator lobby with see-through
glass walls. Elevators that resembled glass boxes in glass-walled
chutes moved up and down slowly behind the walls.

A tall, slender woman who
looked like a model dressed in a dark gray business suit, her blond
hair gathered in a bun and delicate glasses on her eyes, was
waiting by the elevators.

She turned at their
approach.

“What a superbly-timed
coincidence,” Damian said. “Luke, this is Lina Calders. She’s one
of the lead designers on our android lines.”

Lina took Luke’s
hand.

“Charmed,” she said, with a
slight obscure accent. She assessed Luke up and down without
seeming to feel the need for tact.

“Wow. I thought you were
exaggerating when you described him, Damian, but you weren’t. He’s
unparalleled. I was sure we were the ones breaking new ground with
our androids, but he’s a whole other level. You were designed by
Argonaut Laboratories?”

“Yes,” Luke said. “And your
accent suggests you’re from eastern Croatia.”

“I was born in Osejik,” Lina
said. She looked unabashedly intrigued and impressed.

“I’ve just made Luke my
Director of New Technologies, Lina,” Damian said. “You’ll be
working closely with him.”

“How wonderful,” Lina said.
“I can’t wait to start.”

Carlie looked subtly
contemptuous.

The glass doors of the
elevator opened and the four of them stepped inside. Damian pressed
a button on the touchscreen elevator panel.

“We’re going to the fortieth
floor,” he said as the elevator whisked upwards silently. “Product
development division. The star of our show. Nobody can access floor
forty without getting corporate permission first. Everything that
goes on in P.D. is done in absolute confidentiality. Right,
Lina?”

“Completely right,” Lina
said. She was still studying Luke with steel-eyed fascination,
looking as though she was valiantly restraining herself from
frisking him with her hands.

“Ellen at the Sci Fi Channel
just sent an email,” Carlie said, looking at her iPad. “She has
some ideas to add to the list you sent her about the unveiling
ceremony.”

“Tell her to send them
over,” Damian said. “We’re in early discussions with the Sci Fi
Channel for them to broadcast the launch ceremony for our android
lines, Luke. Kind of an appropriate venue, don’t you think? Science
fiction meets reality.”

“My experience with human
television is limited,” Luke said. “But to me the words science
fiction sound like a paradox.”

Damian laughed.

“What’s the latest update on
the Hero Patrol line, Lina?” he said.

“It’s nearly completed and
ready for testing,” Lina said. “We’ve delayed testing because we
wanted to make sure the gun usage settings on the androids were
accurate.”

“Of course,” Damian said.
“Very important. But are any of them ready for us to show to
Luke?”

“One of them is,” Lina said.
“We all got your memo last night, and stayed in the building until
four a.m. getting the androids ready. I barely had time to run back
to my place and put my make-up on for today.” She laughed
self-consciously.

“You look great,” Damian
said. “As usual.”

The elevator stopped and the
glass doors opened. They stepped into a large, airy room that
seemed to be made entirely of glass. It had glass walls, a glass
floor, and a glass ceiling. In all of the glass surfaces, even the
floor and the ceiling, there were giant computer screens that
flashed images of Adventis products, along with hyperbolic
descriptions of them in several languages. Jittery electronic music
pounded out of speakers overhead, causing even the glass floor to
vibrate.

Luke’s sensory drive felt
overloaded.

The only person in the room
waiting for them was a uniformed security guard standing next to a
gauntlet of what looked like several airport metal
detectors.

“Everyone has to go through
these body scanners, even if they’re longtime workers who stepped
out for a snack break,” Damian said. “They look for the usual:
weapons, recording devices. I don’t make myself an exception to the
scans either.”

He walked through the
gauntlet of scanners without difficulty, followed by Carlie and
then Lina.

The guard made Luke wait for
a moment while he flipped a switch on the wall.

“We use a different scan for
androids,” he said. “Go on.”

Luke walked through the
scanners, which beeped over him but did not set off any
alarms.

“He’s clean, Mr. Foster,”
the guard said. “No malicious programming.”

“Good to hear,” Damian
said.

Luke joined the three of
them and Damian led them down a short glass hallway which was
similarly filled with scrolling advertisements of Adventis
products. Then they turned a corner and walked down a long hallway
with white, sterile walls that seemed very thick.

Lina tapped on her ear and
spoke into a microphone clipped to her shirt collar.

“What did you say, Tony?
Yes, Mr. Foster is on his way. Make sure the androids are prepped
and ready for presentation.”

Luke’s attention was drawn
to the windows they were passing. He could see people in blue
Adventis shirts, working on the frames and bodies of androids. None
of them looked at Damian and his guests as they passed
by.

“As you can see, Adventis
technicians are extremely focused,” Damian said. “No distractions
allowed in P.D. There’s no cell phone service back here anyway.
P.D. workers communicate through microphones like the one Lina is
using.”

They stopped at last in
front of a door that was labeled “Presentation Room A.”

“We’ve got the demonstration
set up in here, Damian,” Lina said. She unlocked the door and they
went inside.

Luke found himself standing
in a huge, climate-controlled room that was nearly the size of a
modern ballroom. It had high glass walls and a shining black marble
floor in which he could see his reflection. There were four leather
upholstered chairs sitting in the middle of the room, and no other
furniture.

Against the glass walls
there were twelve glass boxes that were nearly seven feet tall. The
boxes were bolted to the wall securely. In each transparent box was
an android, in a sleep state, their faces lowered or else staring
blankly out of the box. None of them registered awareness of the
presence of the guests in the room.

A burly, mustached man with
long oily black hair and heavily tattooed arms walked towards them
from where he was standing at the side of the room.

“How are you doing, Mr.
Foster?” he said, glancing at Luke with curiosity.

“Good. Luke, this is Tony
del Travio, one of the assistants to the product designers,” Damian
said.

Tony shook Luke’s hand and
seemed on the verge of saying something to him, but then stopped.
He pointed to the chairs.

“We set out some chairs for
you. Also, we’ve got some Fantastic Domestics coming with some
drinks and refreshments. Please make yourselves comfortable,” he
said.

Damian, Carlie, Lina and
Luke sat in the chairs, Luke flanked by Carlie and Lina on either
side of him.

Tony spoke into the
microphone on his collar and two female androids wearing skimpy red
dresses and high heels glided into the room. They were carrying
trays with iced drinks, which they gave to Damian and his guests.
Tony watched their performance with narrowed eyes.

Luke set his drink down on
the arm of his chair without drinking it. Damian took several long
sips before he nodded to Lina.

Lina cleared her throat. She
took a small remote control out of her pocket and pressed a button
on it.

The lights in the room
dimmed. Soft, peaceful music could be heard coming from a speaker
in the room. The androids in the glass boxes seemed to come to life
abruptly, raising their heads and looking around their
boxes.

“I am pleased to present to
you the twelve product lines of Adventis Androids Merchandise,”
Lina said, in a clear, precise voice. “Beginning with our first
android, model 678 from the World’s Best Teachers line.”

The door on the first glass
box opened and its occupant stepped outside. She was a tall female
android dressed in a blue button-down shirt, a shabby tweed skirt,
and plain brown shoes.

“We foresee this line being
incredibly popular when it is released. Androids are able to
maintain strict standards and quality consistency while they are
teaching, two things that our national school system desperately
needs. This particular model, Miss Mildred, has been testing very
well in the Adventis daycare.”

Miss Mildred walked back
into her box, its door closing behind her. The second glass box
opened. The android that stepped out dressed in a white doctor’s
coat, with a stethoscope around his neck.

“Our Miraculous Medics
line,” Lina said. “The androids in this line have the ability to
perform surgeries and diagnose illnesses with faultless accuracy.
Their introduction into the medical force will no doubt ease the
burdens of countless overcrowded hospitals in the
country.”

The Medic android returned
to his box. The android in the third box was tall, muscular, and
dressed from head to toe in camouflage. He had an assault rifle on
his shoulder. As he stepped out of his box, he saluted Damian and
then stood rigidly at attention.

“The Super Soldiers line,”
Lina said. “Adventis’s hope is that the senseless waste of human
lives will end once the government starts making use of these
androids in combat. Their loyalty is unwavering because it’s
programmed. Their martial skills are aided by the latest
technological advances. And when one falls, another one can
immediately take its place.”

The fourth android was
wearing a dark business suit and carrying a briefcase.

“The Corporate Clones line,”
Lina said. “You might have already seen a few of them walking
around the building. They’re designed to fill gaps in the work
force and to perform any task needed by any kind of corporation
with panache and knowledge. They’re programmed with business acumen
and superior negotiating and communication tactics.”

The fifth android who
stepped out of the glass box was dressed in a police uniform,
complete with a badge and a gun at his side.

“This is model 457 from the
Hero Patrol line,” Lina said. “Once they are released they will aid
the police force in every city in the nation. They’re programmed to
monitor crime everywhere they go, and to devise ways to combat it.
They can also be used in the private security sector.”

The sixth android was
Miranda, dressed in her maid’s uniform. She smiled blandly at Luke
as she stepped out of her glass box.

“Miranda, one of our
Fantastic Domestics,” Lina said. “We predict the Domestics line as
being the most lucrative one out of all twelve lines. People all
over the country need hired help that they can trust. Nobody can
clean, cook, and upkeep a household better than a Fantastic
Domestic.”

The seventh android was a
small child with brown braids, dressed in a pink jumpsuit and
carrying a jump-rope.

“This line may generate some
controversy, but we believe in it,” Lina said. “This is Lucy, one
of our Adoptable Angels. Adoption is extremely hot right now. We
believe there are would-be parents all over the country who want to
adopt a child but may not necessarily have all the resources to
fulfil the chaotic needs of a living human child. Our Adoptable
Angels are designed to fill that hole in a mother’s heart, without
straining the wallet or family resources. They are programmed for
good behavior, and they will never age past their current age of
ten.”

The eighth android was
dressed in a construction worker’s outfit, with a hard hat on his
head.