Stephanie Steele

Noel Chandler emerged from his cruiser, scooted around the other side and taking the item by the arm, eased her out of her seat. He was pleased the girl was still doped enough to not know what was going on. It would stop her making a fuss, and right now he didn’t need that. He just needed to get somewhere he would be safe. He was grateful the street was quiet. There’d be no witnesses seeing him and the girl together. He looked back into the sky and listened for signs that he’d been followed. There was no sound except that of distant thunder.

Relieved, he made his way into the Cyber Corp office building, pulling the $300,000 worth of goods behind him. Once inside he intended to call police officers who were members of the Order. Yeah, Edwards and Leonard weren’t available but there were others. They’d fix this and get rid of that psycho droid once and for all. Once this was over he’d find leverage on Andrea Tattenbach the new chief of police, get his own man elected as mayor and it’d be back to the way it should be. Tomorrow he’d offer the item to the next highest bidder. He could still make a profit out of this. The Order would live forever. Nothing that bitch droid could do would change that.

Steele was relieved she had avoided killing anyone. The girls in the store might be prostitutes but they were still people. Despite the fact she had dispensed with more people than any other cop on the force she still hated taking a life, especially lives without wrong. What did please her however, was the fact that she’d got rid of Nixon. That girl was trouble. She’d known it from the start, sensed it. But the allure of sex, such sweet sex as it turned out, had been too much. She had been weak and given in. Never again, she told herself. I’ll never be taken for a fool like that again. If she ever had another relationship it would be on her terms. But who could top her beloved Uma? It would be a hard task. One she wasn’t expecting anyone to live up to. Droid lovers could kiss her ass. She was all about humans. Real flesh was better than synth flesh by far. She sounded like the Order, lusting after the real deal. But her needs were legitimate. The Order’s weren’t.

The cruiser sailed over rooftops. Black smoke exhaled from its rear pipe, adding to the pollution that choked the planet. It began to splutter and cough. A warning signal flashed.

SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT

Steel pulled back on the steering. “Just a little longer.” She noted the nav distance showed less than a mile to her destination. This would be her final case if she didn’t complete it, didn’t bring Chandler, Leon, to justice. She’d also have another dead girl on her hands. And how many more? That was unacceptable.

The cruiser broke through the dirty sky. Ahead she could see the Cyber Corp building looming large. She was able to bring the cruiser low and onto the approach road which led up to the Cyber Corp building. Like the window in the market place with the perfect girls on display a large glass target came into view. This time she was aiming for it and not trying to avoid it. She could see Chandler’s cruiser parked outside. He was definitely here. “Crash and burn baby!” She said under her breath and kept her aim true.

In the reception area of Cyber Corp Noel called for a lift to his office. As he waited holding on to a twelve year old wiggling prize he heard a distant whining noise growing louder. He looked towards the entrance and saw the bright lights of an approaching cruiser. He immediately thought it was Steele. There was no doubt about it in his mind.

He looked to the two android guards standing by the door. “Stop her!” He screamed, clasping a pre-teen hand and jerking its owner away, through a door and down a corridor.

Not for the first time Steele braced herself for impact.

The glass doors of Cyber Corp burst inwards. Fine ice thin particles quivered in the night air. Bent metal obliterated in a second. The droids were sent to android Heaven. Alarms rattled a war cry, calling for troops to marshal. The only soldier who heeded the call was a six foot brunette with fire in her sapphire eyes who emerged from the broken shell of a police cruiser willing to put her life on the line, to protect and serve, to go into battle for justice and the wronged.

The lift was still on the ground floor so he hadn’t gone that way. A quick listen at the stairwell meant he hadn’t taken the long route upstairs. There was just one other option. A second door, she didn’t know where it led, on the other side of reception was the only choice.

Noel waded through sleeping machinery. It was pitch black but he knew the place like the back of his hand. He yanked the arm of the trailing twelve year old trying to get her to hurry.

Amy’s eyes flickered and tried to focus a little. Her head was swimming but her mind was returning.

Steele yanked open the door to the factory floor. She stopped to assess her surroundings, desperate to be able to see in the dark and as if by magic her vision switched to infra red and she could suddenly see everything as clear as day. Freddy was the gift which kept on giving.

The conveyors and machines were at rest. She tentatively entered, her audio fine tuned to hear a pervert’s footfalls. She could hear something but couldn’t pinpoint it. She moved forward through the lines of robots which towered over her, drew her blaster ready to take down any attacker. She stopped, a movement ahead and to the side catching her attention. She fired off a couple of warning shots. She didn’t want to hit the girl if that was her.

She advanced to the end of a line and could clearly see Noel feeling his way through the dark, Amy in his slimy grasp. She took aim and fired. Missed. The battering her blaster had taken recently must have knocked the sights out of line. She gave chase, firing off more shots, each shot getting that little bit closer to him.

Noel ducked as another bullet hit a nearby machine and reached for the holo screen to start up the machines. Tapping in a code brought the factory to life. Androids continued to be assembled, the robots never forgetting their programming, just kept going. Soon the assembly line began to generate lots of heat and Steele found it hard to keep track of a moving human. She was sure she saw him enter a door across the factory floor, but the fast heating and moving machines confused her infra red and she lost sight of him.

Noel ducked into a storage room and closed the door, pulling Amy into a corner. He found what he was looking for. A metal droid destined for the war in Australia. He opened the droid’s port and made some adjustments.

Blaster in front of her and a careful finger on the trigger Steele opened the storage room door. She could see the heat of their bodies peeking out from behind some structure. She turned her blaster towards them.

“Come out.”

The impact lifted her clean off her feet. She arched through the air and landed on her back half on a conveyor, her attacker pinning her under its stronger and heavier body weight. The war droid had her in the titanic grip of one hand round her neck, while the other hand crashed down on her sublime face which had already sustained injury from the fight with another demented droid, pummelling her like a heavyweight pugilist. When it’d hit her she’d dropped her blaster and it was lying somewhere on the floor out of reach. Her attempts to hit it back were futile. Its reach was longer than hers so her fists missed their target. She tried body shots but its hard outer skeleton couldn’t be dented by her softer hands.

As another awesome fist connected with her jaw, twisting her head to one side, allowing her to see something far worse. The conveyor she was trapped on was one that took flat sheets of metal towards a stamp which came down with half a tonne of pressure and pressed those sheets into moulded shapes for assembling the droids, and she was heading straight into the stamp. If she couldn’t get this bot off her, her head would be reshaped and used as a part for some war machine.

With Steele now occupied Noel made a dash for it. He dragged Amy across the factory floor to a metal staircase which led to the next level and more stairs to other levels. Each level had its own balcony and each balcony had access to the offices where the staff could see the assembly line out their office windows. Each level being for differing staff departments. The higher the level the more important you were in the company. Noel’s office was on the top floor along with other execs of the company.

He pushed Amy in front of him and up the first staircase, forcing the groggy girl forward one step at a time. It was slow but they made good progress. He looked over his shoulder as they reached the first level to see that his droid was doing the job he ordered, destroying the detective who had dogged him and the Order for so long.

The stamper was getting closer and closer. With every stamp it created a mighty thunking sound. Unable to reach the giant’s face with her fist Steele began beating at the arm which held her fast. It was the only place she could score a direct hit and it maybe have an effect. After several impacts on the arm it seemed to give a little. She felt the grip on her neck relax a touch. It spurred her on, smashing her fist harder into the elbow joint until its grip slipped.

Steele had only seconds left, she had to get free, so with one great effort she raised a knee and pressed it into the droid’s chest and heaving it up, she flipped it. It landed ahead of her and tried to rise, but its arm was dragged by the moving belt and into the stamper. The arm was crushed. When the stamper rose it pulled itself free and looked at its mangled arm which was hanging useless by its side. Steele backed away and found her blaster. She offloaded several rounds into the robot but it just kept coming at her, unrelenting, unable to stop until it carried out its order, to destroy her.

If it got hold of her again she knew it’d do some damage, maybe even succeed in taking her out. All she could do was run. She ducked into the storage room and locked the door. It wouldn’t hold, she knew that, but at least it would buy her some time. Boom! It was at the door and bashing a huge fist against it. Steele backed away as the door began to give. It wouldn’t be long, just a matter of seconds.

She found a light switch and flicked it on. Her infra red cut and her vision reverted to normal. But what she saw didn’t make her feel any easier. She brought up her blaster ready to make a stand, for facing her were row upon row of war droids all standing to attention and ready for battle.

None of them moved and it took her a moment to realise they were inactive. She was relieved. A mighty crash behind her reminded her of her problem. She turned around looking for another escape route. There were none. The only way out was through the door she’d just come through. But there was one thing she could try.

She went to the nearest droid, ripped off the port access panel which was in the back of the torso and accessed the system. An electronic voice spoke to her, asking her to provide a voice sample for voice control. She told it her name and that she was the primary user and only her voice was to be recognised, making her the only one able to give it commands. She recognised all the components in there but there was one she didn’t. It was some kind of fuel cell. A bomb! What the . . ? These things were capable of being suicide bombers! They were fucking walking time bombs! Maybe she could use that to her advantage. There was a manual setting enabling the user to set a timer delay. Steele punched in a thirty second count down and activated the droid.

“Do you recognise my voice?” Steele asked it.

It turned and looked at her. “Yes. You are my primary user. How can I be of assistance?”

“My life is being threatened. I order you to prevent that droid from killing me.” She pointed to the door. It turned to look at the door which was about to give.

The door came off its hinges and the war droid squeezed through the hole it had just made, its eyes fixed on Steele. It came towards her with murderous intent.

The other droid turned its head to Steele. “You’ve activated my self destruct.”

“I know. Stop that droid.” Steele shouted as she retreated.

The war droid ignored its counterpart and marched by it towards its intended victim. The other droid stood stock still, uncooperative.

Damn it!

“Stop that droid!” Steele yelled, but it remained lifeless, ignoring her orders.

Steele was forced to shoot the war droid, maybe try and hit a soft spot. The blaster ran out of bullets. Steele fumbled in her pocket for a new clip as she ejected the old one.

The war droid was in front of her as she brought up her blaster. It reached for her with its one good arm. Steele off loaded her clip into its head and saw it moving away.

The other droid had its arms around it in a great bear hug, preventing it reaching her. It looked at Steele.

“Go!”

Steele squeezed passed the pair in an embrace. There was just enough space between them and a row of other statuesque droids. The war droid didn’t give up. Its good arm reaching, its claws grasping for her.

“You have five seconds.” The friendly droid told her.

Steele knew what it meant. She bounded through the doorway and made a run for cover as fast as she could.

The explosion took Steele off her feet and slammed her into the base of a machine, a whirling arm above taking the blast also. The arm buckled and stopped working. Other machinery caught the blast and was either torn from their mountings or severely damaged in other ways.

The blast shook the metal staircase which Noel and Amy were just reaching the top of. He steadied himself and flashed a hand in front of a recognition plate, slid back the glass door and pushed Amy through. With a quick look over his shoulder he saw Steele was lying on the floor. He hoped she was gone but somehow doubted it. A movement in her arm told him so.

He ran across his office to the door and scanned his hand on another plate. A warning sign flashed up.

OFFLINE

He cursed and tried pulling on the door. It remained locked. With no way out he headed back to the sliding door on the balcony.

Steele was just getting to her feet five stories down. He still had time. He reached through the door and roughly yanked Amy by the arm, pulling her through the opening. He bounded down the balcony, the structure rocking lightly under his weight, and tried the next office door. It was locked.

Steele had seen him dart in and out of his office on the fifth level and was now on her way up. Her body weight made the stairs creak and grind as she sprinted upwards. Below her she could see the explosion had ripped part of the storage room apart and there was a fire burning fiercely which provided light to see by. She hoped the whole damn building would be razed to the ground. But not before she had completed what she had to do.

Through the struts of the different levels she could see him making his way along the upper balcony trying door after door. He’d trapped himself. Up she went, the anticipation of the final showdown exciting her. She laughed internally at his stupidity and started up the stairs of level five. Nearly there.

She stepped onto the upper level. He was about twenty yards from her. The balcony stopped a further ten yards beyond him. She had him cornered. She drew her blaster from its holster with slow deliberation as she stepped closer. He tried another door and found it locked. She could see the panic in his eyes, sense his heart rate had increased significantly from his breathing. It was going through the roof.

He pulled Amy in front of him as a shield and backed away to try another door. Steele kept going, enjoying the moment. Finally she had him and without a weapon he was defenceless.

A huge explosion below sent a fireball billowing upwards. A portion of the lower balcony plummeted to the ground, metal twisting and grinding. It shook the whole structure and Steele had to grip the hand rail to steady herself.

In his desperation Noel picked Amy up and held her near the rail, threatening to drop her. “Come any closer and I’ll do it.” He said in a cowardly voice, his eyes darting from side to side.

“No you won’t. Because as soon as you do I’ll kill you.” She said.

“You think you’re so clever don’t you?” He held the girl further out. “But this isn’t over yet.”

Steele stopped walking towards him, fearful that he may just do what he was threatening. He had killed many girls before so what did another one matter right?

“Whichever way this ends, I want to know one thing.” She paused before continuing, knowing the answer was liable to cause her more pain. “Who killed Uma?”

His face broke into a smirk and he let out a laugh. “Knowing won’t bring her back.”

“Tell me anyway.” She hissed.

“Alright, you asked for it. Your little friend, Detective Rachel Nixon.” He revelled in her shocked expression. “But not before me and her had played a few games.” He chuckled. “Killing her was a mistake. It just made you more determined didn’t it? And here we are.”

Of course, it made sense now. All that flirting and coming onto her from Nixon was her trying to get nearer her so she could find her weakness and Uma stood in her way. The bitch had killed the love of her life just so she could get close enough to destroy her. Well she had destroyed her. Totally crushed her for a time. She pushed down her growing hatred that was building with terrific force. She had to keep her cool here. Rage had been her downfall in the past and she couldn’t afford it to get out of control this time. Not now she had him.

She gritted her teeth. “It’s over Chandler. Just put the girl down and surrender.”

Noel had backed away again while she was dealing with rampaging emotions. Amy was still balanced over the rail but he had found a door unlocked. The inner door was also unlocked, he could see it from where he stood. All he had to do was make a run for it.

Steele could see Amy was beginning to come round. Please don’t, she thought. If she came round now, saw what was happening, she was liable to panic and who knows what would happen.

Amy’s eyes focused and for the first time in a day she could think clearly. She looked down and saw the drop below her. Saw the fire. Saw him holding her. Saw the woman aiming to shoot with the blaster. She screamed and struggled to get free.

Noel fought to control her. His grip was slipping the more she squirmed.

“Keep still!” He screamed at her.

He felt the pain in his leg as her foot connected. His hand released her and she fell onto the rail, one leg preventing her from dropping fully over the side.

Steele opened fire, caught Noel in the leg as he dove through the door into the office, catching himself awkwardly on the frame. She started forward as another, louder explosion occurred. Flames and smoke mushroomed upwards. The blast lifted the balcony and shattered some of the structure. The part Amy was clinging to gave way and collapsed. Steele dove to catch her but missed and landed by the open door.

In a tiny moment which was no more than half a second she saw Noel exiting the inner door, reached to heave herself up and touched a patch of his blood where he’d rubbed his leg against the frame. Her database filed the information.

NOEL CHANDLER’S DNA

“Help! Help!” The plaintiff cries of a little girl could be heard above the explosions and crackling fire.

Steele stood and looked over the gap where the railing had been. Amy was hanging onto the shattered rail which was dangling by a thread itself. She was out of reach and wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. Steele’s instinct was to chase down Noel and apprehend him. If she did Amy would die. If she saved Amy, Noel would surely get away and she’d be framed for this as well somehow.

She made the decision faster than any human could.