Stephanie Steele

Steele spent the next couple of days in Freddy’s apartment mulling over her situation and hiding in his bedroom whenever some shady character came to do whatever business Freddy peddled. She couldn’t be openly seen on the street either. She knew whoever was in charge at the station would have figured out that she wouldn’t have blown herself up and if Annie’s hard drive had survived the blast then that would have confirmed it anyway. They would have suspicions she was still alive and therefore would have tapped into the Face reader network and as soon as she stepped out of a residential area a Face reader would identify her and give away her location and she’d be caught and scrapped. To that end she had decided a complete new face and identity was called for. Again, she had Freddy to thank for that.

As she lay on Freddy’s bed, while he did another deal, waiting for the all clear to come out, she wondered what had happened to Rachel’s body. After the most passionate night she’d ever had with someone, excluding Uma of course, she was sure that maybe, just possibly, that there was a hope she’d get over Uma’s death and move on.

She was never attracted to other androids the way she was attracted to humans. There was just something about a real person that an android couldn’t offer. Maybe it was the microscopic difference in skin texture, or the feel of the hair, or the excited pounding of a lover’s heart against her own chest while in the throws of passion. Maybe.

Or maybe it was just the knowing that an android’s feelings were just a programme, love that could be erased with a few simple key strokes. Human love was real. She’d experienced it with her Indian lover. But Rachel had ignited a fire in her that she had only experienced with Uma before, and she wanted that again. She was sure now that she would eventually get over her lovely Uma, but she’d never forget her. Never!

When Freddy had done with his nefarious activities Steele was able to come out of hiding and continue where they had left off. To find herself another face. A scanner intermittently crackled to life on a shelf. Freddy had tapped into the police radio channel and they could hear every call the PD put out. That way they could have a warning if trouble was about to break down the door.

She poured herself a drink from a bottle of scotch. It was all Freddy had. It tasted like it looked. Cheap. But it was alcoholic and did the trick. She sat at a computer Freddy had linked to Cyber Corp’s android manufacturing designs department and sipped the nasty liquid. It stung her throat, gave her a burning sensation. Not at all smooth. Once she’d made her choice he’d simply create her new face from their template and replace her face with a new one.

She thought about new hair as well. Maybe she’d keep what she had but dye it and cut it short. Freddy was busy creating her new identity to go with her new face, but there were so many to choose from. Cute blonde, intelligent brunette, sexy red head. The choices were endless.

“You decided yet?” Freddy said, looking up from his work at another computer, his eyes peering over the rims of his glasses. He pushed them back up again and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve.

“There’s so many.” She continued scrolling a second then sighed. “Any ideas?”

Freddy rolled his chair over to hers and pointed to a picture of a cute blonde. She looked like an actress she’d seen in a movie once. Maybe that’s where they got their designs from. Based them on beautiful leading ladies in movies. She wrinkled her nose as she studied the chosen template. “You think?”

“She’s good looking. Looks intelligent. Sexy but not dirty sexy. That’ll do fine. I’m assuming you still want to attract a certain kind of partner” He said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Eventually.” She said with a certain amount of hesitation. “Okay, the blonde’s face, but I’m keeping my hair colour.”

“Right, I need you to . . .” He brought what resembled an optician’s eye examination machine and placed it in front of Steele. “. . . put your chin on the rest and keep absolutely still. It’ll take a few minutes to scan your current facial details.” He said, setting the machine away when she’d done as he asked. “You want some music?” He put some on anyway. “Play audio file forty one.” He commanded, and the soothing lilt of a female voice sang softly in the background.

Steele kept still as Freddy told her. The music was nice and she felt relaxed. It would be strange looking into a mirror and seeing someone she didn’t know looking back at her. It would take a long time to get used to something like that. The face had reminded her of Rachel a little. She liked Freddy’s choice. It was a beautiful face but not too striking that she would stand out in a crowd. An ordinary looking, girl next door, type. Maybe she’d not get as much attention as she was used to from now on. Well, probably not. The city was filled with sleazoids who would take a chance with anything they could stick their dicks into. A girl gets used to that she supposed, or maybe not, depended on the girl.

She thought about Uma, Mia and Rachel and how she’d let them down. It still hurt, and would for a long time. She thought about having Freddy erase her memory of them and Leon now that he was dead. Memories she could do without, but quickly changed her mind. This was what shaped her. What made her, her. She didn’t want to forget Uma. No, she’d keep her memories for good or bad. She’d never forget them, or the other girls that the mayor had destroyed.

Of course the truth would never come to light now. She’d never be vindicated. It would be buried along with whatever they scraped off the walls and floor and she’d be forever the android who murdered two police chiefs and a city mayor. She satisfied herself that at least she had got him. At least no more little girls would suffer at his hands. At least she had achieved that. No one but her and Freddy would know it, but at least she had got him. Her thoughts were interrupted by something on the police scanner.

“Turn the music off!”

“Pause audio file forty one.” Freddy barked at the computer. The music instantly paused. They listened to the police scanner.

A female voice in the PD control room said, “Repeat, cruisers eighty eight and thirty four attend Twenty Seven and Main to provide back up. African American female approximately ten years old found in back alley.”

Police codes had been abandoned in favour of plain English long ago. It was simpler and less confusing. No room for error or misunderstanding.

A male voice responded. “Cruiser thirty four on route.”

A second male voice. “Cruiser eighty eight on route.” Silence. “Hey control. This Leon again?”

The female controller spoke back. “Forensics are on their way. We’ll know more soon, but yeah, looks like it.”

Steele plonked the whiskey on the counter and stood. This couldn’t be right. They must have got it wrong. Or she’d got it wrong. “I have to take a look.” She told Freddy as she headed towards the door, snatching her coat from a chair as she passed.

“They’ll arrest you if you go anywhere near that place.” He told her. He was seriously concerned here. She was putting herself at risk, and him for that matter. God, she was trouble.

Steele didn’t have her cruiser. It was still parked outside her apartment or the cops had towed it. Even if they hadn’t it was too risky going back there. They probably had someone staked out there just in case she was stupid enough to turn up. She could have taken Freddy’s cruiser but she’d have had to park in a main street and a Face reader would have recognised her as soon as she stepped outside. Twenty Seven and Main was only ten blocks away. She could get there in no time, and avoid the Face readers by using back alleys.

She was careful to stay in the shadows and with her coat collar turned up she could partially hide her face. It wouldn’t be enough though. The streets were crawling with the PD’s new army of metal cop droids. She peered out of the black shadows of an alley. The street was just three blocks away from her location but she had to cross a busy street at the end of every alley to get to the next. She’d made it undetected so far by timing her run exactly when the Face readers were furthest away and the droid cops had their backs turned. She was sure her luck would hold but a face reader had nearly got her two alleys back. She’d had to pull her coat fully over her head. It could have drawn attention to her but she’d got away with it, so far.

The street she was about to cross was busier than the others. The food market gave lots of cover but there were more people about, and more people meant more Face readers, and more cops. She counted five Frankenstein type cops mingling with the crowd. What she needed was a disguise. There was a stall not far away from her selling hats, scarves and other accessories. If she could make it to that she’d stand a chance. She waited until the cops were a good distance away and as far as she could tell no Face readers were in her immediate vicinity.

She made a dart for the stall, keeping her head down. She was half way there when a Face reader came out of nowhere. It must have been behind one of the other stalls. Now it was heading in her direction. She had to think fast. It was nearly within recognising distance.

A woman was standing arguing with a market trader over the price of some tin food. Beside her was a young boy of about six years old. Steele scooped up the boy and pretended she was a relative, hugging him and lifting him in the air, telling him how much he’d grown and how she had missed him, all the while turning about to keep the Face reader behind her.

The reader kept trying to get in front to send her an ad vid specially for her but it couldn’t get a clear shot of her to read her identity. The mother of course was horrified to see a complete stranger picking up her child and what she thought was some loony tunes trying to abduct her boy. Everyone knew there were children going missing right across the city and every parent was on their guard.

The woman shouted abuse at Steele and tried to prise her son from her arms as Steele continued her dance with the Face reader. The fracas drew the attention of a droid cop. Steele saw him coming, forcing his way through the crowd. She pushed the boy into the mother’s arms, apologised, dipped her head away from the reader which turned its attention to the mother and using the crowd for cover slipped between stalls.

The cop however had zeroed in on her and was following. She ducked into the next row of stalls and doubled back towards the accessory stall. She hastily selected a hat and scarf and over paid the bemused Afghan stall owner who wanted to give Steele her change. Steele popped the hat on her head and wrapped the scarf tightly about her face, dipped into the alley and disappeared into the shadows of a doorway.

She saw the droid cop walk into the alley entrance but it came no further. It turned and walked back the way it came without any further investigation. She gave it a minute to make sure it had gone then set off at a fast pace in the opposite direction.

Steele reached the crime scene and stood across the street to assess her plan of action. The alley had been cordoned off as per routine. A single cruiser and two human uniformed cops were guarding the entrance. From where she stood she couldn’t see into the alley too clearly. She felt in her jacket pocket and found her police badge. It had been in the shredded remains her of old coat when Freddy had found her and he thought she’d be needing it. Something else to thank him for.

She fastened up her coat to hide her female form and clutching the badge she crossed the street, winding her way through heavy cruiser traffic, and walked up to the cop she thought looked most likely not to object to her presence. She flashed her badge at him just long enough for him to see the Paradise City detective badge but not long enough to read the name. He nodded and let her pass through without objection.

A forensics team in their white all in one overalls, hair nets and masks were busy around the body. A small tent had been erected to protect the crime scene from the elements. Steele got as close as she dared. Everyone was so busy they didn’t pay her any attention. An upgrade came on line. She raised an eyebrow as she ran the folder. Freddy you are a genius, she thought.

She reached behind one of the forensics guys and touched the girl’s naked foot, collecting a DNA sample. Her visual display scanned the scene and zoomed in on a patch of blood. Her analysis determined within a second that the blood was the girls. The time of death popped up in her visual display – 5.36 hours ago. A white coated man moved the girl’s leg, knocking over the beer bottle, and Steele saw it. Leon’s stamp on her inner thigh. The unmistakable shape of a red heart and the letters L.E.O.N in the middle. Her core temperature seemed to dip for a moment. This could mean only one thing. The mayor wasn’t Leon!

Her drive jolted as she processed this information. She turned away from the scene, her processor concentrating on what she’d just discovered, so much so that she didn’t notice Frank entering the alley. One of the human cops at the cordon spoke and he turned back to speak to him. The cop’s voice made her aware there was someone there and she looked up and saw him. She quickly turned her back and retraced her steps along the alley, passed the body and the forensics team and beyond a second cordon at the other end of the ally. She stopped to check Frank hadn’t recognised her. He hadn’t. He was now scanning the body as she’d just done. She heard him speak. “You’re wasting your time. There’s no DNA on the body.” When he looked up the alley Steele was already gone.

A figure leaned forward from a doorway to watch Steele disappear down the street then stepped out and walked off, heading in the same direction, following her.

Steele needed a drink to clear her head. It sounded stupid that she’d need something that actually mists your thoughts to get them to make sense, but it made sense to her.

The Tavern was quiet. Not many people around to notice a rogue android cop on the run. Red was serving a couple at the other end of the bar when she slid onto her regular stool. She discarded the scarf and hat onto the bar hoping that Red hadn’t been watching too much news lately. Red saw her and came over.

“Stranger, how you doing?” Red said, happy to see her.

That didn’t sound like the voice of someone shocked to see a killer cop in her bar.

“You planning on getting into the same state you were in last time you were here?” She seemed a little perturbed now. “Just, the blood doesn’t come out of the floor too well.”

“Did something happen?” Steele asked, knowing that something must have, otherwise why was she having a go at her? She flashed her a smile that seemed to ease the tension.

“You could say that. Some creep tried it on with you and you busted his teeth out.”

She must have missed that episode of Drunken Cops in Bars. “I’ll try and control myself this time Red.” She said, trying to sound sincere.

“Michelle.” Red reminded her as she poured Steele her usual. “And this time I’ll keep the bottle.” Red walked back to the other end of the bar clutching the bottle of tequila. Steele raised her glass to her and sipped her drink. As she put the glass back on the bar Freddy slipped into the seat next to her.

“So the tracker’s still turned on I see.” She said, staring him directly in the eye.

“I thought it best given the circumstances.” He waited for her to tell him what she’d found out. She didn’t. Just sipped her drink. “So?”

She turned her glass between fingers and thumb. “It was Leon.”

“But I thought . . .”

“Time of death was less than six hours ago. I killed him . . . thought I’d killed him . . . two days ago, so unless the mayor escaped that blast then someone else is Leon. I’ve fucked up Freddy.”

“Puzzling.” Freddy felt like a drink himself but decided against it. Something told him he was going to be busy real soon doing something important and he’d need to be sharp. He looked at Steele to see what she wanted to do and saw her look change from despair to realisation. “What?”

She replayed the images of the sex house raid at Archie’s Bar. She had the manager pinned to a wall and had just shot off his fingers. He was begging for his life. “Please, they’ll kill me. I can’t . . . He’s a powerful man. He has more power in this city than you can imagine. More than you. More than the police chief. More than the mayor. No one can touch him.” One thing stood out - “MORE THAN THE MAYOR.” If the mayor was Leon then why would he say that? Because he knew Leon was someone else.

Then she replayed the footage of the mayor before he exploded the grenade. “It wasn’t me who killed your girlfriend. She was too old for my taste. Someone else had her.” The phrase – “SOMEONE ELSE HAD HER” repeated on a loop.

She stopped replaying the footage and said to Freddy, “Leon isn’t one man. Can you get access to the mayor’s bank account, E-mail, anything that might provide a clue to who he was working with?”

Freddy raised his chin with some pride. “Can I? You’re talking to Freddy the Chip here. I can do anything.” He wrinkled his brow. Steele was leaving. “Where’re you going?”

“To find what’s left of Nixon. See if she can be salvaged.”

“I can build another Nixon.”

“No thanks. I want the original. Your cruiser parked outside?”

“No you don’t understand. I have . . .” She was already out the door before he could finish. “Shit!” He raced after her.

He exited the bar just in time to see his cruiser disappearing into the poisonous fog just above roof top level. “Damn it Steele. How am I supposed to get home?”