would have
made you a gift of however many you wanted."
Ravian's head
turned briefly towards Sabre. "You assume a great deal, Atrashka.
Firstly you assume that he's a cyber, and secondly that I own him.
Neither assumption is correct."
Atrashka shook
his head. "But My Lord, I can see he's a cyber, and if you don't
own him, why is he guarding you?"
"He's not. But
allow me to introduce you. This is Sabre, formerly a cyber, now a
free man. Sabre, this is Atrashka, head of Cybercorp."
Atrashka's eyes
widened. "He's the... He's the rogue we've been hunting? My lord,
you must put restraints on him immediately. He's dangerous,
unpredictable."
"I
disagree."
"My lord, you
don't understand, he's -"
Ravian raised a
gloved hand. "Do not insult my intelligence. He is no threat to me.
But your outburst tells me much of what I wanted to know. You did
not, for one instant, think he was mentally deficient, did you? You
know he's fully functional, and so are all the clones you torture
with your control units."
"No, I was told
about him. He's an exception. The rest have minimal brain function.
They're not aware of what happens to them."
Sabre snorted,
and Atrashka cast him a nervous glance.
"Why should he
be the only intelligent one?” Ravian asked. “Of all the tens of
thousands you've produced over the years, why would the only one
ever to possess intelligence be the one who gets free of cyber
control through a freak accident? That's a hell of a
coincidence."
"They do
happen. I assure you, My Lord, the rest are deficient. They have
underdeveloped brains. I can show you the proof."
"I'm sure you
can trot out a tonne of manufactured evidence, and I find your lies
most annoying."
"I..." Atrashka
looked even more nervous. "What are you going to do?"
Ravian turned
to Sabre. "You are silent. Have you nothing you wish to say to the
head of Cybercorp?"
Sabre glanced
at her, then approached Atrashka, who backed away until the cyber
stopped.
"Why would I
bother?" Sabre asked. "It would be a waste of breath. He knows what
he's done, and insulting him would be like stepping on a worm,
hardly satisfying at all. He's just a bureaucrat who tortures
children and turns them into cyborgs. You're the one with the power
to punish him. I could rip his arms off, but someone else would
just replace him, and the atrocities would continue. I would rather
not have met him at all. Now I'll have to have another shower."
Ravian
chuckled. "You see, Atrashka, he's not only intelligent, he has
more integrity than you'll ever be able to grasp. I have judged
him, and found him to be not only worthy of saving from your
enforcers, but of my employ. He now has my protection. My judgement
extends to his companions. Tarl Averly's death sentence is
rescinded. Kole Arvan and Tassin Alrade are pardoned. You will
cease all attempts to capture them forthwith."
"But My Lord,
Tarl Averly is a former technician. He knows our secrets, and is
therefore a security risk. He could endanger the lives of
high-ranking officials who enjoy cyber protection if he allied
himself with criminals or assassins. He sabotaged a large number of
artificial wombs and caused millions of credits worth of damage to
our facility. He's guilty of -"
"I'm not
interested in your judgements," Ravian said. "What he did was born
out of disgust and disillusionment. He realised that what he was
doing was wrong, which is more than you can say about yourself. His
sentence is rescinded."
"Yes, My
Lord."
Ravian held out
her hand, and an aide placed a transparency in it, which she
offered to Atrashka. "Your orders, Chief Executive."
Atrashka took
the sheet and read it, his florid visage paling. "This is
impossible, My Lord."
"How so?"
"There's no way
to measure the pain cybers experience. As far as we know they feel
nothing."
"They feel
everything," Sabre said.
"Just because
you did -"
"Do not return
to that lie," Ravian said.
"My lord, we
can't drug them while they're in training."
"You could
made you a gift of however many you wanted."
Ravian's head
turned briefly towards Sabre. "You assume a great deal, Atrashka.
Firstly you assume that he's a cyber, and secondly that I own him.
Neither assumption is correct."
Atrashka shook
his head. "But My Lord, I can see he's a cyber, and if you don't
own him, why is he guarding you?"
"He's not. But
allow me to introduce you. This is Sabre, formerly a cyber, now a
free man. Sabre, this is Atrashka, head of Cybercorp."
Atrashka's eyes
widened. "He's the... He's the rogue we've been hunting? My lord,
you must put restraints on him immediately. He's dangerous,
unpredictable."
"I
disagree."
"My lord, you
don't understand, he's -"
Ravian raised a
gloved hand. "Do not insult my intelligence. He is no threat to me.
But your outburst tells me much of what I wanted to know. You did
not, for one instant, think he was mentally deficient, did you? You
know he's fully functional, and so are all the clones you torture
with your control units."
"No, I was told
about him. He's an exception. The rest have minimal brain function.
They're not aware of what happens to them."
Sabre snorted,
and Atrashka cast him a nervous glance.
"Why should he
be the only intelligent one?” Ravian asked. “Of all the tens of
thousands you've produced over the years, why would the only one
ever to possess intelligence be the one who gets free of cyber
control through a freak accident? That's a hell of a
coincidence."
"They do
happen. I assure you, My Lord, the rest are deficient. They have
underdeveloped brains. I can show you the proof."
"I'm sure you
can trot out a tonne of manufactured evidence, and I find your lies
most annoying."
"I..." Atrashka
looked even more nervous. "What are you going to do?"
Ravian turned
to Sabre. "You are silent. Have you nothing you wish to say to the
head of Cybercorp?"
Sabre glanced
at her, then approached Atrashka, who backed away until the cyber
stopped.
"Why would I
bother?" Sabre asked. "It would be a waste of breath. He knows what
he's done, and insulting him would be like stepping on a worm,
hardly satisfying at all. He's just a bureaucrat who tortures
children and turns them into cyborgs. You're the one with the power
to punish him. I could rip his arms off, but someone else would
just replace him, and the atrocities would continue. I would rather
not have met him at all. Now I'll have to have another shower."
Ravian
chuckled. "You see, Atrashka, he's not only intelligent, he has
more integrity than you'll ever be able to grasp. I have judged
him, and found him to be not only worthy of saving from your
enforcers, but of my employ. He now has my protection. My judgement
extends to his companions. Tarl Averly's death sentence is
rescinded. Kole Arvan and Tassin Alrade are pardoned. You will
cease all attempts to capture them forthwith."
"But My Lord,
Tarl Averly is a former technician. He knows our secrets, and is
therefore a security risk. He could endanger the lives of
high-ranking officials who enjoy cyber protection if he allied
himself with criminals or assassins. He sabotaged a large number of
artificial wombs and caused millions of credits worth of damage to
our facility. He's guilty of -"
"I'm not
interested in your judgements," Ravian said. "What he did was born
out of disgust and disillusionment. He realised that what he was
doing was wrong, which is more than you can say about yourself. His
sentence is rescinded."
"Yes, My
Lord."
Ravian held out
her hand, and an aide placed a transparency in it, which she
offered to Atrashka. "Your orders, Chief Executive."
Atrashka took
the sheet and read it, his florid visage paling. "This is
impossible, My Lord."
"How so?"
"There's no way
to measure the pain cybers experience. As far as we know they feel
nothing."
"They feel
everything," Sabre said.
"Just because
you did -"
"Do not return
to that lie," Ravian said.
"My lord, we
can't drug them while they're in training."
"You could
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