pretty convincing as a human?"
The elevator stopped, and we got out. The cat said, "As human as any cop. But the eyes are the windows to the soul, right?"
Blake laughed. "Touché."
A short walk brought us to a door labelled "laboratory." Blake looked into the blink box, and the door opened. She led us in.
In a small white room, a short bald Indian man and a lab bot that looked like mobile emergency room machinery were peering into a headless humanform body laid out on a table. Cables had been pulled from the bisected chest like organs in an anatomy exercise.
The body was not meant to survive close inspection. It had nipples and a penis, but they were no more convincing than a department store mannequin's. Its skin was too smooth. It had no hair. Only its hands showed the attention to detail that would make you buy the illusion. They were weathered and chapped, like those of a guy who spent his weekends outdoors.
Judging from the video, the head was as good as the hands or better. Dressed and animated, Doyle had been convincing. Walking quickly through a crowd, he wouldn't inspire a second look. To the untrained eye, he would've been human; obviously, he had fooled the cat. On video, he had fooled me. But as I studied his artificial form, I doubted he would've fooled me in person.
Blake said, "Hey, Prof."
The man grinned. "Kris Blake. We finally meet."
"This is Zoe, the chimera that thing attacked. And Chase Maxwell, who she hired to look into this."
Prof nodded at us. "I won't be saying anything conclusive for a few hours yet, I suspect."
"Mind if we take a look?"
"Just don't forget to tip your tour guide."
"Thanks."
The lab bot wheeled backwards so we could move closer. The cat said, "Where's its head?"
Blake said, "U. N. Security wanted it."
I said, "UNSEC? This is big time."
Blake nodded. "A copbot killed an unarmed human. Big time's an understatement."
"Did you get a look at the head?" I asked.
"Impressive work," Prof said. "Best animatronics I've seen. UNSEC probably can do more with it than we can, especially if it comes out of Japan or Europe."
Blake asked the cat, "Does seeing it remind you of anything you didn't tell Chumley or Vallejo?"
The cat shrugged. "It was more convincing dressed." She stepped closer to Doyle's body for a better look.
The lab bot said, "Electrical activity—"
The body sat up and flung out its arms, knocking Prof and the lab bot across the room. As the body swung its feet to the floor and turned toward the cat, I flexed my hand. The SIG slammed into my palm and fired. I held the trigger down. Slugs tore into the body's chest, stomach, and groin. The body twitched but kept coming.
I stepped between it and the cat. The body snatched the SIG from my hand and threw it across the room.
"Run!" I yelled. That's a thing you do at a time like that, as if you think the idea hasn't occurred to anyone else.
The laboratory door had closed behind us. I don't know whether it would've opened if the cat had tried it. She didn't. As the body reached for her, she kicked it in the chest.
It stumbled back. I shoved it, trying to knock it over. The body slapped the cat aside. One hand pinned me against the wall. The other hand gripped my gun arm as if to snap it off. Maybe it thought I carried a back-up pistol in the Pocket. I did, once, until I hocked it.
All I could do was yelp in pain. Whatever I might've done next was made moot when Blake grabbed the body from behind and spun it away from me. It backhanded her as it fell, knocking her against the lab bot.
The cat and I circled the body. It rose and turned between us. I wanted to make a dash for the SIG, but that would've left the cat with no one to distract it.
Useless clever notions flashed through my mind. Start a fire so water from the sprinkler system would get in the body's damaged casing and short-circuit it—but I didn't see a way to make a fire, and the emergency system probably didn't use water. Trick the body into
The elevator stopped, and we got out. The cat said, "As human as any cop. But the eyes are the windows to the soul, right?"
Blake laughed. "Touché."
A short walk brought us to a door labelled "laboratory." Blake looked into the blink box, and the door opened. She led us in.
In a small white room, a short bald Indian man and a lab bot that looked like mobile emergency room machinery were peering into a headless humanform body laid out on a table. Cables had been pulled from the bisected chest like organs in an anatomy exercise.
The body was not meant to survive close inspection. It had nipples and a penis, but they were no more convincing than a department store mannequin's. Its skin was too smooth. It had no hair. Only its hands showed the attention to detail that would make you buy the illusion. They were weathered and chapped, like those of a guy who spent his weekends outdoors.
Judging from the video, the head was as good as the hands or better. Dressed and animated, Doyle had been convincing. Walking quickly through a crowd, he wouldn't inspire a second look. To the untrained eye, he would've been human; obviously, he had fooled the cat. On video, he had fooled me. But as I studied his artificial form, I doubted he would've fooled me in person.
Blake said, "Hey, Prof."
The man grinned. "Kris Blake. We finally meet."
"This is Zoe, the chimera that thing attacked. And Chase Maxwell, who she hired to look into this."
Prof nodded at us. "I won't be saying anything conclusive for a few hours yet, I suspect."
"Mind if we take a look?"
"Just don't forget to tip your tour guide."
"Thanks."
The lab bot wheeled backwards so we could move closer. The cat said, "Where's its head?"
Blake said, "U. N. Security wanted it."
I said, "UNSEC? This is big time."
Blake nodded. "A copbot killed an unarmed human. Big time's an understatement."
"Did you get a look at the head?" I asked.
"Impressive work," Prof said. "Best animatronics I've seen. UNSEC probably can do more with it than we can, especially if it comes out of Japan or Europe."
Blake asked the cat, "Does seeing it remind you of anything you didn't tell Chumley or Vallejo?"
The cat shrugged. "It was more convincing dressed." She stepped closer to Doyle's body for a better look.
The lab bot said, "Electrical activity—"
The body sat up and flung out its arms, knocking Prof and the lab bot across the room. As the body swung its feet to the floor and turned toward the cat, I flexed my hand. The SIG slammed into my palm and fired. I held the trigger down. Slugs tore into the body's chest, stomach, and groin. The body twitched but kept coming.
I stepped between it and the cat. The body snatched the SIG from my hand and threw it across the room.
"Run!" I yelled. That's a thing you do at a time like that, as if you think the idea hasn't occurred to anyone else.
The laboratory door had closed behind us. I don't know whether it would've opened if the cat had tried it. She didn't. As the body reached for her, she kicked it in the chest.
It stumbled back. I shoved it, trying to knock it over. The body slapped the cat aside. One hand pinned me against the wall. The other hand gripped my gun arm as if to snap it off. Maybe it thought I carried a back-up pistol in the Pocket. I did, once, until I hocked it.
All I could do was yelp in pain. Whatever I might've done next was made moot when Blake grabbed the body from behind and spun it away from me. It backhanded her as it fell, knocking her against the lab bot.
The cat and I circled the body. It rose and turned between us. I wanted to make a dash for the SIG, but that would've left the cat with no one to distract it.
Useless clever notions flashed through my mind. Start a fire so water from the sprinkler system would get in the body's damaged casing and short-circuit it—but I didn't see a way to make a fire, and the emergency system probably didn't use water. Trick the body into
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