The Android Chronicles Book One: The Android Defense (25 page)

He put the last touch on it
and stood back. He activated its programming with a remote control.
An electrical current shot through the android’s partially exposed
frame.

Gustaf put on a viewing
field and a pair of sensory gloves.

He sat up on the table and
placed his metal feet on the ground. He opened the door of the
experiment room and walked through the empty factory.

He went up the stairs to the
rooms on the second floor. He put his metal hand on one of the
doors of the rooms and then stopped. He walked down the hall and
opened the door of another room.

He went inside.

Carel was lying in her bed,
fast asleep. Gustaf looked down at her with his partially human
face. He pulled the blanket down and looked at her figure in its T
shirt and shorts.

His partially flesh-covered
hand wandered down to the waistband of her shorts. It lingered
there.

Carel tirred and mumbled in
her sleep. Gustaf quickly pulled the blanket back over her
body.

He took one last look at her
and left.

Gustaf heard the android
returning down the steps towards him. He removed his viewing field
and his sensory gloves, but the feel of Carel’s skin still lingered
in his mind.

Madrick cocked his pistol
and shot at a target that was set up on the lawn in back of his
ranch house.

“Good shot, Mr.
Castleshank,” Bernard said.

“An android circus,” Madrick
said. He fired several more shots in quick succession. “It’s the
stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.”

“Idiotic,” Bernard
said.

“But if Damian’s determined
to have his little circus,” Madrick said. “We ought to make an
appearance. Grab some of that limelight. Don’t you
think?”

“I think he wouldn’t expect
it,” Bernard said.

Madrick smiled.

“Let’s plan a nice little
surprise for him.”

He began loading more
bullets into his gun.

Chapter 22.

Luke was drifting into a
sleep state on his cot in the laboratory when he heard a strange,
muffled sound.

He got up and made his way
to the front room of the laboratory. The room was completely dark
but he could see easily. He saw Brigite sitting in a corner, tears
streaming down her face.

“What’s wrong?” Luke said.
He sat on the ground beside her.

“Jake said he couldn’t be my
boyfriend anymore,” Brigite said. She wiped tears from her face.
“He said I deserved someone better than him.”

Luke put his arm around her
shoulders.

“Maybe it’s for the best,”
he said.

“I thought things were going
well,” Brigite said. “He let me give him a lap dance and I was
going to surprise him by handcuffing him to his bed.”

“Like Mandelie said,” Luke
said. “Jake’s a slow bloomer. His maturity is not completely
developed yet. You might have been a little overwhelming for
him.”

Brigite rubbed her
eyes.

“I’m never falling for a
human being again,” she said.

She leaned her head against
Luke’s shoulder. Luke patted her bright blue hair and said
nothing.

“I know I’m an idiot,” Jake
said. “But it had to be done.”

He, Mandelie, and Trista
were gathered in Mandelie’s living room. Jake’s dreadlocks tumbled
around him in an even wilder mess than they usually
were.

“Neither of us said you were
an idiot,” Trista said.

“She’s way out of my
league,” Jake said. “It’s too much pressure. I like her a lot, of
course, but I can’t date her anymore.”

“How did she react?”
Mandelie said.

“She stormed out of my
apartment,” Jake said. “All of my roommates tried to chase her
down. When they came back, they all called me an idiot.”

Trista sighed.

“Well, what’s done is done,”
Mandelie said. “It’ll definitely make things awkward for you at the
circus tomorrow though.”

“I bet it will,” Jake said.
“Hopefully she’ll forgive me in time and we can be friends
again.”

“I still can’t believe
Damian’s putting on an android circus,” Trista said. “Wish I could
be there to witness it, but my little demon cousin needs me to be
his chaperone to a birthday party tomorrow. I’m thinking of leaving
him there and hopefully another family will adopt him.”

“I’ll tell you all about
it,” Mandelie said. “I really think it’s going to go off well,
actually. It’s sold out.”

“Good for Adventis,” Trista
said, in a hollow voice.

Chapter 23.

The Staples Center had been
transformed into a circus. Multicolored strobe lights shot into the
sky all around it. The words “ADVENTIS TECHNOLOGIES PRESENTS: A
CIRCUS OF WONDERS” were projected on every side of the building in
shimmering lights.

A huge red carpet stretched
out of the entrance. It was packed with crowds of people waiting to
get into the circus. The line stretched through the parking
lot.

Inside the arena a huge
triangular tent had been set up. Its material changed colors from
white to blue to yellow to orange every few seconds.

Miranda and another
Fantastic Domestic stood outside of the tent, handing exhibit
guides to everyone going inside.

Walking into the tent was
like walking into a genuine circus. The floor was covered in
confetti. Exhibit stages rose off the ground everywhere, on which
Adventis androids stood on display. More Fantastic Domestics surged
through the crowds, greeting people and offering tickets to the
concession stand.

On one of the stages, a
Miraculous Medic was pretending to operate on another android,
cutting him open for all to see. On another stage, a World’s Best
Teacher was teaching a classroom of Adoptable Angels, writing words
on a chalkboard. On a third stage, two Super Soldiers were standing
on top of an army tank. On another stage, a Corporate Clone wearing
his suit and carrying his briefcase was talking loudly on his cell
phone, while a Worker Bee threw candy and souvenirs to the crowds.
On another stage two Hero Patrol policemen were leaning against a
police car, occasionally entertaining people with announcements on
a bullhorn. A Haz-Mat Handler dressed in his anti-contamination was
repeatedly being doused in slime from a construction crane being
operated by a Blue Collar worker in his hard hat. On another stage
a Tender Loving Caregiver was holding the hand of another Adoptable
Angel, who was waving to onlookers and drawing enraptured
exclamations from them.

The biggest stage – made of
glass and filled with glowing lights - was reserved for the
X-droids, four of them in all including Brigite. They writhed and
shimmied in sparkling bikinis around a huge, flashing disco ball,
while a DJ played behind them. Despite her neon orange bikini and
glittering high heels, Brigite’s face was more subdued than it
usually was. But she smiled and played to the cheering, whistling
crowds surrounding the stage, flipping her blue hair and shimmying
to the floor.

Adventis’s newer androids
were getting a lot of attention as well. There was one that was
performing aerial feats on a trapeze above the crowd. She was a
limber-looking blond girl who alternated between the trapeze and
climbing on the ceiling or the walls of the tent. Another android
looked as though he was made of ice and repeatedly froze into a
block, only to burst through it in an explosion of flames. A third
android was rearranging his body, putting his head on the floor and
his feet on his neck.

Luke was moving through the
sea of people, wearing a red and yellow ringmaster’s costume. He
bumped into Mandelie, who wore a simple blue shirt and
jeans.

“You look adorable,”
Mandelie said, with a grin.

“Damian failed to mention
the costume when he told me what I would be doing,” Luke
said.

Mandelie kissed
him.

“I’m going to go find Jake.
He’s at the concession stand,” she said.

Luke nodded and continued on
his way.

Damian and Carlie were
watching the festivities from a private box overlooking the
arena.

“It’s a hit,” Carlie said,
in satisfaction.

“Madrick won’t be able to
top this,” Damian said. “Where’s Elena?”

“I haven’t seen her since
the event started,” Carlie said. “Want me to go look for
her?”

“Yeah,” Damian said. “I hope
she didn’t get lost.”

Mandelie found Jake at the
concession stand. He was holding a giant pretzel and was watching
Brigite with a mournful expression.

“She looks so good,” he
said. “Maybe I am an idiot.”

“You did what you thought
was right,” Mandelie said, taking a piece of his pretzel. “Just
give her some time. She’ll understand, eventually.”

“Where’s your dad?” Jake
said.

“He’s running a little
late,” Mandelie said. “He’s bringing the electrical vest. He wants
to show it to people.”

Carlie made her way down the
stairs from the private box. She turned around a corner and felt
someone grab her and press a cloth over her face.

Carlie struggled and then
sank to the ground.

Elena put the cloth in her
pocket and looked down at Carlie’s unconscious form.

“I never liked you either,”
she said.

Chapter 24.

A long black car drew up in
front of the Staples Center. It opened and Madrick Castleshank
stepped out, dressed in a black suit and wearing his viewing field
and sensory gloves. He was followed by Gustaf Jorg, who was also
wearing his viewing field and gloves, and then Madrick’s android
avatar and Gustaf’s android.

The four of them walked
towards the building, drawing amazed looks from the people around
them, who clearly thought they were part of the circus.

As they approached the
circus tent Madrick crackled his knuckles.

“Are you ready?” he said to
Gustaf. “Let’s tear this place to the ground.”

The four of them burst into
the tent. Madrick and Gustaf stood back while their androids
charged ahead of them.

Madrick flexed his huge
android muscles. He grabbed a Fantastic Domestic and lifted her
high above his head. Then he crashed her to the ground.

The sound of shattering
metal and screams was heard. Luke stopped in the middle of the
crowds and looked around.

Madrick and Gustaf pushed
people out of their way. They jumped onto the stages and began
destroying the androids on display.

People began screaming and
rushing to get out of the tent at the sight of the huge, partially
human androids. Luke finally saw Madrick and Gustaf when they
jumped onto the stages.

He immediately pushed his
way towards the stage where Brigite was still performing. She was
dipping low to the ground when Luke grabbed her arm and pulled her
down from the stage.

“Luke, what are you doing?”
Brigite said.

“Don’t say anything,” Luke
said. “Come with me.”

The DJ had stopped playing
music and the X-droids began screaming and running from the stage
as Madrick and Gustaf jumped among them.

Brigite heard the screams as
Luke pulled her through the crowds.

“What’s happening?” she
said, in terror.

From his vantage point on
the stage, Gustaf scanned the crowds for Luke. He could not see
him.

Suddenly huge streams of
electricity shot through the room and struck Gustaf, knocking him
off his feet.

Dr. Miles was standing on
the opposite end of the tent, wearing the electrical vest. He
pressed a button on the vest and more streams of electricity
erupted from it.

Madrick jumped from the
stage. He hurled people and androids out of his way until he
reached Dr. Miles and picked him up bodily.

“What have we got here?”
Madrick said through his android jaw. “This is an interesting
looking garment, Dr. Miles.”

“Let him go!”

Mandelie ran towards
Madrick. She threw herself on him and began punching him as hard as
she could.

Madrick simply threw her to
the ground, where she was placed face down next to Jake by
Gustaf.

“That man electrocuted me,”
Gustaf said, his voice tight in anger as he looked at Dr. Miles. “I
will kill him.”

“All in good time,” Madrick
said. “I want to have a little chat with Damian first.”

Damian had been watching the
chaos beneath him in horror and disbelief. He spun around in his
wheelchair and headed for the elevator.

Before he could push the
button the elevator doors opened and Madrick stepped out in his
terrifying android self. He was wearing the electrical
vest.

Damian rolled back, shock on
his face.

“At last we meet, face to
face, Damian,” the android said.