Andena the Rebel Ch. 08

CHAPTER EIGHT

When Andena woke up, she was alarmed by the fact that she was unable to move her body. Her breathing seemed to be controlled, and she couldn't feel anything. It was as if her body was detached from her. Only her main functions seemed to be present: she heard her heart beating, and knew that the very fact that she was conscious meant that she was being given enough oxygen.

She tried to open her eyes but she couldn't. To be honest, she didn't care that she was unable to do anything. Being in a void felt strangely relaxing. The only awareness Andena had of the outside world were the sounds of her heart beat and her steady breathing.

Even smells were lacking.

She had no recollection of the events that had led her to this and no great urge to find out either. She was happy to simply wait for the next event.

Assuming of course, that there would be a next event.

Haruz was unable to stop his face from contorting into a painful grimace as he sat down at the breakfast table. He could also see by his sister's huge grin that he had failed to hide his discomfort from her. They were too close for secrets. Ever since their parents had died, they had decided to stay together until one of them had found a partner. He had expected to be alone by this point, but it was still just the two of them. He thought that his sister was smart, beautiful, elegant and she exuded a confidence that made every man desire her. He was surprised that she never went out on dates, and whenever he raised that subject, she made it crystal clear that the subject was off limits.

As soon as the servant had left the room, Meleda said, "After you had returned home last night I went out onto the balcony, and there was an amazing full moon."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I woke you up Meleda. I'll try to be a bit more silent."

She smiled and said, "Don't. It's nice to know when you're home safely again."

She leaned closer to him and whispered, "I want to know if you have any recordings of what happened next to the field last night."

Haruz was flabbergasted by her question and looked at her for a moment wondering how she knew. Her smile was a joy to watch when he nodded slowly. Her voice was hardly audible when she asked, "When do you have time?"

It was strange speaking in hushed tones, but Haruz understood that she was wary about placing him in an awkward situation.

He took a sip of his coffee and said, "You know, it's been ages since we had lunch together. Why don't you come to the office at noon?"

Meleda said enthusiastically, "That sounds wonderful! It'll do you good to have something substantial for a change."

Haruz laughed and pulled himself to his feet after he had finished his coffee. Meanwhile, he reflected upon her words and knew that she was right; he needed to pay attention to his health after taking so many booster pills. He put his hand on her shoulder as he said, "See you at twelve. I'll make sure that the front desk is aware that you have permission to come to my office."

"Good," she said with a twinkle in her eye, "At least I can drag you away from your monitors."

As he walked away, he murmured, "It might be the other way, my lovely sister."

It was only a brisk short walk to his headquarters, and he liked that he had to take a road which was outside the complex. The smell of the outside air was always different, and since they had created the field, the air had a pleasant sweet tang. Haruz was convinced that the field was deliberately releasing the specific odour to make people relax so they would accept the structure more easily. It made him uncomfortable that alien technology was controlling the population on such a subtle level. Who knows what else they were capable of?

He couldn't wait to see what Meleda had witnessed. It would take some time to generate the pictures, but he was very pleased he hadn't removed the particle array.

He was happy to see that Gwendy was manning the front desk when he entered the headquarters. She was one of the few who only needed a few words to understand what he really wanted.

"Hi Gwendy, good morning. My sister will be visiting me around noon."

"Hello Mr. Haruz, Good morning. I'll arrange the necessary steps for Miss Meleda. May I assume she will have lunch with you?"

He loved how attentive she was, and he smiled warmly at her as he said, "You're right, Gwendy. Do you have any suggestions about where we should go?"

He could listen to her talk all day, "Oh yes I do! There's a new lunchroom which is said to be very special. I'll reserve a table right away."

Haruz chuckled pleased that she was always so straight forward, and he said approvingly, "Perfect Gwendy. I'm looking forward to that."

She purred, "You're welcome Mr. Haruz. Have a nice morning."

"You too, Gwendy." Haruz nodded and walked to his office in a much better mood.

At his office, he started his special program to extract the visual data from the particle array that was mounted on the wall close to the field. He knew the exact time that he had arrived home last night, and he reckoned that Meleda would have gotten out of bed a few minutes after he had closed his bedroom door. He entered the time and estimated that half an hour would be sufficient. After he had started the extraction, he checked his messages and was a little disappointed that Alice hadn't come back to him. It was a little strange because she was consistent in the fact that she sent a brief report early every morning. He sincerely hoped that she wasn't caught or compromised in any way because she was the only source he got to keep an eye on the major rebel core. He got up to get himself a cup of coffee and reckoned that by the time he returned the particle program should have finished.

Lunn woke up feeling warm and sweaty. He realised that he was holding a hand which was as large as his. It dawned on him that the large, warm body that was cocooning him from behind was Alice's. He felt the soft fabric of her cardigan, and he was pleased that they were both still dressed.

They had talked for a long time, and Lunn had come to respect Alice more than ever before. The situation with Danette was the most delicate subject they had talked about. He could sense that Alice was uncomfortable expressing an opinion about it.

Lunn wasn't surprised that she made him arrange to clean up the vomit at Danette's door and leave a bunch of roses. She agreed with him that he had messed up massively, and he could only hope that Danette might be a forgiving person. He knew Alice was wrong about that, but he couldn't blame her for not knowing Danette that well.

When she found out that Bionex was involved, she became nervous and lowered her voice as if she were afraid. It still brought goose bumps to his skin when he recalled what Alice had told him about Mr. Yousima the CEO of Bionex. He had always known that the CEO was ruthless, but he had underestimated his ability to manipulate people with his power. It also helped explain why Danette had insisted on continuing with the androids: Danette was no longer in control of her own mind.

Together with Alice, Lunn came to the conclusion that Bionex was now a serious threat, and he learned from Alice that Datanex, a provider of secure data connections, was owned by the same man. That news blew him away because it meant that Bionex was eavesdropping on roughly eighty percent of all secure connections. They certainly had the resources to harvest whatever information they desired; enough to take control of the entire country. Lunn now understood that it was going to be a race against the clock to see who would be the first to develop a deadly weapon.

He sincerely hoped that the schedule to complete the ring was still on target. He had kept it from Alice, and wanted to keep it that way because it was too dangerous to share such sensitive information with anybody else.

Alice was very intrigued by the story of the alien flower. In fact, she was visibly upset that Lunn hadn't shared that information earlier. He knew she was right, and it took him a lot of carefully chosen words to prevent a breakdown in trust. They both agreed it was unwise to investigate the flower at this moment, and he was very pleased that she understood the potentially lethal power of the flower. He realised that being an effective leader required a wide range of skills.

After Lunn had shown her the video of the field, Alice was in shock because she had seen her brother intertwined with one of the plants. It was agonising to see her with such conflicted emotions; her brother was still alive but held captive in one of the fields.

It felt strange when he was holding her to comfort her. It was very soothing and felt just right. They had been comfortably silent for a long while and apparently they had fallen asleep.

He had been stroking her hand absentmindedly and was a little startled when she squeezed his hand softly. She took a deep breath and said with a dark and sultry voice, "Good morning."

Lunn was surprised when she didn't move away from him. He had to admit that he liked the way they were lying and decided not to change his position either. He replied with a warm voice, "Good morning Alice."

"You don't mind me lying like this?"

Lunn thought about it for a moment and then decided that it didn't feel strange: it actually felt rather nice. This was totally new territory for him. He had never experienced this with any other woman. Squeezing her hand softly, he retorted, "No, It feels very comfortable."

Alice asked with a little voice, "Can we stay like this a little longer?"

Strangely enough, he was very happy that she wanted to stay like this as long as she felt right with it. He softly rubbed the palm of her hand as he said, "Sure, why not."

Danette was hurrying to her laboratory and dreading the fact she had to fix an unknown error with the last android before it was able to go to Bionex. She felt like she hadn't slept at all, and felt dreadful. She looked at her watch and realised with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had even less time than she'd hoped for.

The only positive thing she had encountered this morning was that her door had been cleaned until it gleamed and there was a bunch of red roses on the brand new doormat. She had smiled knowing it was typical of Lunn to do such a thing. She had taken the roses with her and had given them away to one of the female beggars at the main square. She reckoned that the beggar could earn some credits if she were to sell the roses separately.

Feeling apprehensive, she entered her laboratory where she saw the android lying on the table. She slowly walked around the table looking at all the details and checking them minutely in the hope that she would find the flaw. She opened the little hatch where the main computer core was mounted and examined the connections of the core. Then it suddenly dawned on her: maybe the main software wasn't uploaded into the AI core.

Danette was relieved when the upload program confirmed that the core was empty. Something must have distracted her that made her forget to initiate such an important step. After she had started the upload program, she checked the time, and she was very pleased she had enough time to arrive at Bionex five minutes early. As she left her laboratory, she walked to the office of Bionex in a much better mood.

Olga had read the message from Joshua that the girl had been transported to the recovery room at Bionex. She was pleased because it had saved her a lot of time in the morning, which she had gratefully spent in her comfortable bed. As Olga walked into the corridor where the recovery room was, she found the empty cabin neatly parked against the wall. She looked into the operation tube of the cabin, and she was surprised at how immaculately clean it was. She heard footsteps, and as she turned around, she saw Joshua looking at her. He looked fresh: as if he had a decent amount of sleep. He said cheerfully, "Good morning, Olga. It's a wonderful day today."

She was always amazed by how cheerful he could be in the morning because most of the time she suffered a bad case of morning mood. She murmured, "Good morning, I assume it went as planned?"

"Yes, even better than that. It went perfectly. During the whole upgrade her heartbeat kept steady as a rock. I don't know what you've given that girl, but it was a hell of a narcotic cocktail."

"What?"

"She is still out like a light, and so far I haven't needed to give her any anaesthetics."

She was surprised because she hadn't administered any drugs at all. On balance, she decided that it wasn't all that important and replied, "Oh okay."

Joshua was behaving a bit nervously, and he said, "But.... I really would like you to come and have a look at her."

His request didn't appeal to her at all. She knew from previous experiences how the girl would look after the upgrade. She had seen the ghastly cuts on the others and said, "I don't think I want to see her body at the moment."

"Don't worry: she is completely covered."

Olga didn't understand why she had to come and asked, "Why do you want me to have a look at her?"

"Just come. I promise you; it's not disturbing."

Feeling queasy, she took a deep breath and muttered, "Okay whatever you want to show me had better be good."

He smiled, and as he walked to the recovery room, he said, "She is on the respirator getting some extra oxygen to increase the healing speed."

When she saw the girl lying there, she felt her stomach contract a bit. She wanted to leave as soon as possible, and she asked, "What is so urgent that it can't wait?"

He lifted the sheet away from the girl's feet and said, "We inserted muscle and joint enhancers for nearly every single joint. Have a look at her skin."

Olga looked closer, and she couldn't see any scar tissue at all. She moved her hand over the girl's foot and felt the small bumps of the enhancers. The skin was amazingly soft which made Olga feel quite awkward. She lifted the sheet higher and experienced a pang of jealousy when she saw the perfectly shaped legs. The girl looked as beautiful as before the upgrade and her skin still looked amazingly smooth. She whispered, "That is impossible!"

He said with a sigh, "I know. She looks so amazing. I don't know what has happened, but as far as I can see, she doesn't have a single scar."

She asked, "Did you check her? Has she had all of the upgrades?"

He nodded slowly and said, "Yup. She does have all the upgrades, and I checked them all."

She was taken aback by that remark and asked, "Right. So what now?"

They walked back into the hall, and he said with a meek smile, "Take a few cups of coffee and wait until she wakes up."

Olga said resolutely, "Not for me. I have other work to do. I need to get those androids up and running for Mr. Yousima's new trainer."

He sighed, "Okay, I think I can deal with the situation here."

Olga felt better now because she had seen that the girl didn't look mutilated at all. In fact, she was envious at how fantastic her skin looked. It was weird that she had no scars at all. She thought it was wise to keep it silent because she couldn't explain it all. Before she left, she warned Joshua, "Don't tell a single soul about the lack of scars. Make sure that she is covered at all times."

He nodded, "Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

She left in a hurry because she had already lost valuable time and she knew that she needed as much time as possible to get the nine android girls into shape. It was the first time that the girls would receive their initial training. Up until now, they had been offline and stored in Bionex's dungeons. Olga had received a message from Mr. Yousima this morning that she should bring the androids to the main hall. She knew that as long as she wasn't disturbed anymore she would have enough time to complete this task.

Danette arrived at the Bionex building five minutes early because she hated being late. The thought of upsetting Mr. Yousima made her shiver. As she entered the intimidating huge entrance hall, Mr. Yousima stood there waiting for her with a ghastly smirk on his sweaty face. The lighting in the hall was reflecting in his dark sunglasses making him look ridiculous. Danette had great trouble stopping herself from bursting into fits of laughter, and his voice had a sing-song quality to it when he said, "Ah my lovely Miss Danette. Ever so punctual."

The scent of his cheap aftershave overwhelmed her, and she had to force a smile. "Mr. Yousima what an honour to meet you again!"

His smile changed into to laughter that sounded like a castrated monkey, but it ended abruptly, when he said placidly, "It is my custom to welcome a new employee personally Miss Danette."

Danette was taken aback by his abruptness and stammered, "I, I see Mr. Yousima."

He looked at her as if he was pondering whether he would say something about her appearance. Danette felt uneasy because she had spent quite some time deciding what to wear for the first day. She had decided to wear her suit because it was smart but stretchy enough if she had to work with the nine androids.

He walked to a desk and picked up a badge which he handed to her. He said, "With this badge you will have access to areas that have been designated for you. Now, if you would follow me I'll introduce you to Olga, who will guide you around and will be your assistant for today."

After they had walked what felt like a considerable distance, Danette began to get concerned about her ability to find her way back out of the building. Mr. Yousima stopped at the door and asked, "Oh yes, by the way, did you have any success with the last android?"

Danette was very pleased to be able to confirm that she had managed to fix the android on time, and she replied, "Yes Mr. Yousima, it was something very simple that I had overlooked. It will be ready when I have the time to seal off the inner core."

"Good, the last instalment will be transferred to your account by tonight."

She was surprised by his statement and the only thing she could think of saying was, "Thank you Mr. Yousima."

As he opened the door, he said, "Behold and see what you have built in the last few months. I think you've done an excellent job, Miss Danette."

As Danette walked into the large hall, she was very pleased with what she initially saw: it was indeed an impressive sight to see the nine androids sitting next to each other: they looked like a group of young women waiting to be informed. Danette's heart was beating faster, and she was excited by the fact that Mr. Yousima was pleased with the final results.

A woman dressed in an immaculate white suit entered the hall, and Mr. Yousima said almost joyfully, "Miss Danette I would like you to meet our lovely Olga. She will guide you around, and she is responsible for ensuring that your androids are in pristine condition. If you need anything, just ask her, and she will help you."

The smile on Olga's face didn't meet her eyes, and Danette could sense that something wasn't right when she shook Olga's firm hand.

Danette didn't want to spoil her good mood and smiled as she said, "Nice to meet you, Olga. I never thought that the androids could look this fantastic."

Danette instantly knew that something was bothering the girl when she answered with a tremble in her voice as she joked, "Thank you! Clothes make the girls."

They were all dressed in an extremely dull grey suit which covered all of the skin except their faces and hands. They all wore black boots and the ones with long hair had a neat plait. Each android had a number embroidered onto the suit.

Danette laughed but stopped instantly, when she saw the sour expression on Mr. Yousima's face. She had trouble stopping herself from shivering when Mr. Yousima addressed Olga with an icy tone, "What is the status of number ten?"