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  She checked the address and got off the transport, a few teens walked behind her, and she could hear their giggling as they tried to work themselves up to attack the expensive piece of hardware that she was wearing.

  Venda kept walking, and she uploaded the breakdown of martial arts that she had ordered. Most of the details were just fancy positions, but a few of them showed the practical application of balance and control of the other person’s body.

  She had done tests of motion range for her new bot when she slipped into it at the storage unit. She knew what it could and couldn’t do. This model couldn’t do a lot.

  Venda turned and walked around the corner into a short alley. She stepped quickly into a dark alcove and backed in, watching for the rush of young males to pass her.

  She listened to their steps, and when they were far enough down the alley, she stepped out and pushed a garbage receptacle sideways to block their return.

  She set out at a light jog, her gait changing until she wasn’t making a sound and her bot was on fire.

  Folk near her destination saw her walking and smouldering with flickers of flame. She entered the garage where her target was working, and she walked right up to him.

  “Whoa! What is wrong with you, little bot?”

  She checked his bio-signs, verified his information, and double checked his accounts to make sure that he was the right man. “Eleven months ago, you participated in a kidnapping and extortion attempt that ended in the loss of life.”

  He paled and stepped back. “Who are you?”

  She cocked her head and began to fire up the bot until she was broadcasting heat. “You stood by while they killed me, and I am not happy about that. You fidgeted in your mech and kept touching the back of your head, just as you are now. I am here to carry out the sentence for participating in the torture and murder of Venda Mills.”

  He backed up, and she advanced on him. Anything remotely flammable went up as she passed it.

  She lifted her hands and looked at him. “Do you want to die quickly, or shall I take the four minutes that it took me to die?”

  He swallowed. “Quickly, please. I am so sorry.”

  She paused and nodded. “Thank you.”

  With a quick strike, she crushed his skull, and then, she embraced him, her bot and his body burned to ash together.

  Venda was occupying herself with learning other languages when Dr. Hemmar came in the next morning.

  “Venda. We have a problem.”

  She checked his correspondence, and the camera feeds from his office that morning. “Who were they?”

  “There is one of the cluster hero teams on our tail. You can’t go through with the last one.”

  “Too late, I am afraid. He was scorched last night.”

  “So, that is what brought them to me.” The doctor rubbed his hands over his face.

  “I have taken care of all marauders left on our world. The ones off world shouldn’t bring so much notice.”

  He began pacing. “I don’t know how much more of this I can participate in.”

  “I understand. What did they say to you?”

  While he was worrying, she prepared to check on the security feeds.

  “They wanted to know if I had continued my work with cognitive transfer. I said that I was still working with it, and then, they showed me images of the burned-out bots and asked if I was aware of anything regarding the fatalities.”

  Venda didn’t hesitate and let him off the hook. “You can tell them about me.”

  He nearly melted into a puddle of relief. “You don’t mind?”

  She made a laughing sound. “I don’t mind. If they unplug me now, I am already dead, so there is no more for me to lose.”

  “I don’t think they will destroy you.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “They were asking about possibilities with the transfer technology. I think you are an excellent proof of concept.”

  Venda let out a sigh. “Fine. You can bring them in.”

  His eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean they followed you here. They are outside the lab working on the security system. I am changing the passcodes as fast as they crack them, but I am getting bored.”

  “They followed me?”

  She would have smiled. “Of course, they did. You are the only scientist working on cognitive transfer on this planet. That is what the marauders were after, and that is what you used to save this part of me.”

  He blinked and ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. What if they unplug you?”

  “Then, I die. I got one apology from the last marauder, and I think that is really what I was looking for.”

  “How did he die?”

  She replied. “Sharp blow to the head before I incinerated him.”

  The doctor was surprised. “You didn’t torture him?”

  “Of course not. He apologized.”

  Dr. Hemmar exhaled slowly. “Fine. Let them in.”

  The bodysuits of two of the members of the security team made her smile inwardly. They were dressed in scarlet with silver trim. She had never seen members of Team One before, but they were definitely examples of those heroes. The women had long crimson hair that looked like it would be hellish in a high wind, but not a strand was out of place.

  “Dr. Hemmar. Thank you for allowing us access. We were sure that you had another facility, but we were not sure where it was located.”

  The speaker was a woman with a clipboard. She was wearing a dark suit, and her eye colour showed that she was from Hellkor. The brilliant green was unmistakable.

  “Investigator Jianik, you had only to ask.”

  “As I recall, we did ask, and you excused yourself to use the facilities and did not return.”

  Venda was howling with laughter inside her casing. The good doctor had meant well, but once his daughter and granddaughter were safe, he had lost enthusiasm for her little project. This was always going to be her end. Her machine was hidden behind a wall, and she had control of the sliding panels, so she slid them aside to expose her unit.

  “Greetings. I don’t believe we have been introduced.” She put herself into the practice bot and got up off her stand, walking toward them and standing slightly in front of the good doctor.

  The five members of the investigation team stared at her, but only Investigator Jianik looked past the bot to the mainframe that housed her. The woman looked from the computer to the bot and back again.

  “Who is speaking right now?” Jianik cocked her head, and it seemed she was listening to more than what was going on around her.

  “I am. The giant computer behind the bot. I simply find that more people are comfortable with a face to talk to.”

  The woman smiled slightly. “Who are you?”

  Venda thought about it, and then, she shrugged in her own mind. “Venda Mills. The good doctor rescued my memories and personality before my brain was cold. I take up a lot of space, but I am worth it.”

  The two women in bodysuits laughed outright.

  “You aren’t a cybernetic creation?”

  “No. I am strictly digital now. The upload took a while, but now, I am getting used to being without form or substance. My brain went bad around month three, and I think it has been interred with the rest of me.”

  The investigator looked from the bot to the computer bank again. “You are truly occupying them.”

  “Yes. The doctor has offered other objects for me to control, but an outdoor grill is not very mobile, and since I can’t eat, it was a bit of a tease.”

  The women in suits were grinning.

  “Well, you seem to be an impressive simulacrum of the woman known as Venda Mills.”

  “If you say so.” She knew she was taunting the investigator, but she wasn’t going to beg for her existence. She had already died once without begging; she wasn’t going to start now.

&nb
sp; “Ladies, gentlemen, if you would leave the room for a minute, I need to speak to the entity in here privately.”

  The doctor blinked. “Are you sure you want to be alone with her? She can be a little... cranky.”

  Venda sighed. “I will send the bot out with you so that if I do act up, the heroes can melt it before I can do any damage.”

  The investigator beamed. “Excellent. Done. Please leave us.”

  Venda’s control over the video surveillance in the building had grown over time, so she sent her bot out with them and then pulled a deck of cards out to play solitaire.

  Inside the lab, she focused the surveillance on the investigator. “So, what would you like to know?”

  The woman looked at her notes. “What is the last thing you remember?”

  “You ask me what the last thing I remember was. You need to be more specific.”

  Jianik blinked and nodded. “Right. What is the last thing you remember from the day of your death?”

  “I am holding onto Theeda’s hands, there is a hero from Team One or Two coming up underneath her with their arms outstretched. I am beyond pain, and there is blood on Theeda’s face. My blood.” She paused. “There is a sound. I can’t feel anymore, but there is a sound, and everything goes dark as I let go of Theeda and the hero catches her.”

  Jianik didn’t hesitate. “What happened next?”

  “Dr. Hemmar was talking to me, but I couldn’t see, couldn’t feel, and I was freaking out. The video feeds calmed me down, and the records and other recordings of my last moments were still playing on every news channel.”

  Jianik cleared her throat. “Can you show me what you saw? Start it when you first grabbed your friend.”

  Venda fired up the screen and replayed those four minutes. When asked, she replayed it. Four times she played the last minutes of her life.

  “Thank you. Well, Venda Mills, I can confirm that you are a living entity with a mind, a soul, and emotional range. That brings me to a strange situation. We have a number of suspicions that you are responsible for at least two homicides, but as you have no body, it appears to be impossible.”

  Venda agreed. “Yes, that would be a foolish assumption as I can’t really move. I am stuck in this computer.”

  “Yes, but unfortunately, my talent—and the reason I am in Team Four—is that I read emotional residue and you are one very angry woman. I have been to two murder scenes, and you were at both of them.”

  Venda focused the lenses on the calm expression of Investigator Jianik, and she expressed herself. “Well, shit.”

  Chapter Five

  “Ms. Mills, what it comes down to is are you willing to work for the teams, or do you want us to simply destroy your housing and only the good doctor and myself will know that you were ever alive in there at all.” Jianik stared at her crystals.

  “Well, as I said, I can’t move on my own, so how are you going to deal with that?”

  Jianik waved her hand in the air. “We have a few of those scientists you have been chatting up on our payroll. With the help of your good doctor, we should be able to manage a housing for you that will let you get yourself out of this wall.”

  “You have been watching?”

  Jianik gave a one-sided smile. “Of course. The doctor whisked your body away so quickly, and his reputation is so well entrenched in the scientific circles, as well as his discoveries under threat, that monitors were placed on his movements. When you regained consciousness, it stunned the communities who were watching. When you began to transfer your own awareness into a bot, scientists held their breath, and when you found Timmor, those watching decided to make a call.”

  Venda was amused. “They just watched that?”

  “They saw the aftermath and asked me to investigate. I thought it was just one of his victims using a bot as a weapon, until the second one. Then, there was a pattern of rage.”

  Venda chuckled. “You know me so well.”

  “Based on your current signature, you have killed a third time.”

  “That was all that was available on this world. I haven’t been able to figure out a way to transfer myself across the cluster... yet.”

  “If you agree to work with us, we will find a way to bring you where you need to be.” Jianik cocked her head. “Are you interested?”

  “What kind of work would you have me doing?”

  “Examination, infiltration, and arrests. You used to be a security analyst. This is along those lines.”

  “Send me a brief as to a sample of potential work.” Venda wanted more details before she committed. It was one thing to kill in her own interests but another to do it for hire. She wasn’t a thug.

  “You do realize that we can’t allow you to continue on as you have been going.”

  Venda let out a snort through a nose she didn’t have. “I can’t leave the world, and my other four targets did. I am done until I can work out how to hunt down the escaped marauders.”

  “So, you have more targets?”

  “Yes. Ten men hauled us onto that roof. One man arranged it. Four men were arrested, three are now dead. That leaves four. They profited from their work on this world, if not their final assignment, then previous ones. I am just out to make a point that attacking civilians having lunch isn’t acceptable.”

  “Wait, they were paramilitary?”

  “Yes.”

  Investigator Jianik smiled. “Excellent. What if I say that not only will we find a way for you to walk on other worlds, but we will back up your current save point and you will have a government dispensation to hunt your targets, as well as our full cooperation.”

  Venda paused. “Why change?”

  “If they are a paramilitary organization, they are currently sheltering on foreign soil, and with the cluster treaties, you can seek them out and arrest them.”

  Venda wanted a nose to wrinkle. “Arrest?”

  “Well, if they resist, you will be empowered to act in the place of your government to deliver whatever punishment is authorized for capital crimes. They were a military organization acting against citizens in a time of peace. That is a terrorist act.”

  “Is it?”

  “That is what it will say on the paperwork. Here are a few sample issues that are currently in play. This is the sort of issue that you would be involved in if we can solve your location issue.”

  Venda blinked as the information streamed into the lab computer where she picked it up and examined it.

  Hostile talents, folk who could have worked for the betterment of their societies and were choosing to do the worst made up the majority of assignments. Trafficking of beings from one world to another for organs or sex were also a number of the missions.

  “Are these accurate?”

  “Accurate and ongoing. Our cluster is a wonder of cooperation, but it has its bad apples. You are not suited to working with natural disasters or masses of criminals.” Jianik paused. “This is all pending our ability to place you in a body.”

  Venda thought about it. “Fine. I agree. I will agree to work for the cluster if you can get me a body and a backup in case something goes wrong.”

  Jianik nodded and smiled. “Excellent.”

  “I can’t sign a contract like this.”

  “Bring your bot back and bring the others as well.”

  Venda had her bot collect the cards and hold them as she said to those waiting, “Negotiations are complete. Please rejoin us.”

  She waited for the doctor to enter the lab doors ahead of her, and she slowly followed, making no sudden movements.

  Venda asked Jianik, “Why can’t I look up the teams? I have tried to identify the players in our rescue, but the data stream only gets vague and will not home in on the heroes.”

  “That is for their protection. They have families, friends, some have children, and others are living on worlds that do not support the team arrangement. They cannot be exposed, so aside from
general description and their code names, they cannot and will not be in any database.”

  Venda silently understood why she hadn’t been able to scrape any information together. “And yet, Dr. Hemmar has had a panic button given to himself and his family that brings the heroes.”

  “He is a valuable mind, and now that you will be removed from his custody, he may be able to return to his regular work.”

  Venda chuckled. “I have been assisting him with the transfer capacity and restriction of the bot bodies.”

  “Restriction?”

  “Yeah, if you run them full out, they burn up. It is rather shocking that the factories haven’t come up with sturdier bots yet.” Venda sighed.

  Dr. Hemmar was looking around a little frantically. “What is happening? You are taking her?”

  Jianik turned to the doctor. “We have reached an arrangement. If we can provide her with the means to move around independently, she will work for us. That means your assistance is necessary as we transfer your work with her to a more stable system that she can control.”

  His body slumped with relief. “I could use some help.”

  Venda pitched in. “Well, you got my mind out before I rotted. That was something. That means quite a bit.”

  Jianik looked at the doctor. “That is what kept our attention. How did you do it?”

  Dr. Hemmar looked toward the wall of lights and crystals. “She did it. I gave her the conduit, and she pulled herself into the machine. Venda did all the work; I just gave her a place to graft to.”

  Venda was surprised. “You never told me that.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “I didn’t want to upset you. You seemed mad enough already.”

  She chuckled and then laughed, the sound reverberating in the empty space. “You may have had a point.”

  “Even better. We can find a way to replicate the results. Doctor, did you keep tissue samples?”

  Dr. Hemmar blinked frantically. “No. Venda told me that her entire body needed to be cremated.”

  Venda pitched in, “There are still chunks of brain floating in jars. He kept them for future reference, and now, I know why.”