Plutacracy

Bradley sat facing out the window of his office watching the sun rise in the mirrored windows of the other downtown buildings going over everything in his head. He had gained success beyond measure and had become a well-known and well respected figure of the world. His most recent project, the development and implementation of the bio-tower, had awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize; which he was to receive in a special ceremony later today. His other work, private work, was his secret weapon for taking control. He had created, what he called, the bionic-human and the botic-double. Advanced A.I. that could function just like a human or take the place of a human. Everyone that worked for him was one of the two. They were the last things he trusted and took precautions to make sure he could.

Bradley’s focus shifted and he could see a faint reflection of himself in his own window. He had on a dark blue suit, with a smoke gray tie, that covered his solid frame. His hair was a short covering on his head, just long enough not to be a buzz cut. He always kept his face clean shaven. Only the dark shadows where his eyes sat were visible but he knew they were a warm brown. Someone once told him his eyes could hold the universe. He smiled at that, not his full friendly smile everyone knew him for, just the slight upturn of the left corner of his mouth. Reaching up he felt his straight jaw line before resting his chin in his hand.

Just as Bradley was letting his mind drift off the sight of himself, when an expected knock came at his door. Turning his chair around, he called out, ”Come in.”

Bradley’s office was large and well decorated, even though people did not visit this

office; he had another one for that. It smelled of wood and leather. The desk was solid wood with

intricate carved designs. There were three chairs sitting in a semi-circle in front of the desk; they

all had the same carved designs as the desk and leather cushions worked seamlessly into the

wood. Along the south wall was a long leather sofa, all black. On either side of the sofa stood

end stands with their own unique carvings. Above the sofa was a large screen that ran the length

of the sofa and filled most of the space above it. Between the window and the screen, directly

to the right of the desk, was a picture of a single tree with a twisted trunk leading up to out

stretched branches with few leaves, wild flowers growing around in the field, mountains in the

distance, and a full moon shining in mid-day. On the wall, directly opposite the picture was

another picture of a sun rising over a body of water. Along this wall, standing on balled feet and

nearly reaching the ceiling, were two wide bookshelves, of their own design. The shelves were

decorated with a few old looking leather bond books, statues, and other pieces

of small art work; all varying for ancient days to modern days. The walls themselves were a mist

gray and the floor was solid marble of the same color.

Looking to see the person coming in the door, two more pictures hung, one on either side

of the door. The pictures were identical; a sun rayed forest with a stream twisting along the

ground and out of sight. The door opened and in stepped a man closing the door softly behind

him.

The man was a little taller than Bradley himself with a slimmer frame. He wore a dark

brown suit matching his short neat hair that was parted to one side. High cheek bones held

bright emerald eyes, the same color of the tie he wore. He had a slim nose and a jaw line to

match, which made his friendly smile look wider than it really was.

“Good morning Bradley,” the man said striding the room gracefully to take a seat.

“Good morning Felix,” Bradley responded with a quizzical look, ”Where are Victoria and

Lumar?”

“Incidentally they both had issues to take care of this morning,” Felix said casually taking

a seat in the middle chair, folding one leg over the other and laying his arms on the rests.

“Issues?” Bradley asked sounding a little alarmed, ”What kind of issues? And why

wasn’t I informed?”

“Why must you treat us like children,” Felix replied with an air of amusement and a

slight smile, ”And it’s nothing they couldn’t handle,” he added with a wave of his hand.

Bradley was not amused by Felix’s careless tone, yet that was Bradley’s own fault. Nor

did he feel he treated them like children; more so, in concern for his operations. He said so

straightening up in his chair, ”First off, I am not treating you like children, this is in concern for

our operations at hand. Secondly, I would hope you would have better judgment when to be too casual with information. Now, what happened?”

“Must always have control,” Felix breathed, wiping all expression from himself before continuing, ”Victoria is dealing with a malfunctioning unit. Bad host. It started attacking people. She secured the unit and had it disposed of. She has been overseeing the cleanup; making sure there is nothing incriminating left and no one is going to investigate further. A few other people had to be replaced to make sure that happened.”

“When did this happen?” Bradley asked in an even tone.

“Sometime last night.”

“You said attacked, was anyone killed?”

“Two people, three others injured.”

At this Bradley set his jaw and took a deep breath through his nose. This was not at all a

good way to start his day out. He knew something like this might happen. Without completely

compromising himself on his work, there was very little he could do to make sure it does not

happen again. He could have made sure replacement subjects went through a screening process

to ensure they were stable. Even then there was still the ability for them to change on their own.

He let out a deep sigh of acceptance.

Bradley turned his chair to look out the window. He was going over the information

again, to see if there was anything else about the situation he might want to know or could do

about. He came up with nothing and was glad Victoria handled it effectively. He

turned back around and asked, ”How much longer until she is done?”

“Should be soon,” Felix said looking up from the floor, “I just spoke with her before

coming here.”

“Good,” Bradley said starting to sound a little pleased, “Now what issue is Lumar dealing

with.”

“Nothing as serious,” Felix said flowing back to his causal tone, “Some accountants were

skim money off the top. He fired them and called a board meeting this morning. He didn’t give

me any more information than that. Figured he wanted to tell daddy himself the good job he

did.”

Bradley relaxed at this and shook his head with a smile, “What is with you two?”

“Nothing,” Felix said without a change of expression.

“You go at him nearly every chance you get,” Bradley said with amusement.

“It’s just fun banter, because you can be so ridged sometimes.”

“Someone has to stay focused on the task at hand.”

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Felix said with a little laugh.

“It is,” Bradley answered with a friendlier tone before suppressing his smile and going

back to a business manner, ”Anyways, since you’re here I can at get things under way. Where are we on production?”

“Well, we are producing units,” Felix replied with a grin.

“You,” chuckled Bradley while shaking a finger at Felix, ”What am I to do with you?”

“Well you could just leave me in charge,” Felix responded with a wide smile and holding

out his hands, palms up.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you,” said Bradley with a smile that faded slowly as he

straightened up before continuing, ”That’s enough joking for now. We have quite a bit to go over

before today’s obligations, and with Lumar and Victoria late, I’m not sure how much time will be available to discuss things this morning.”

“Now,” Bradley went on in an even tone, “As far as production goes I would like to

know: how many units to we currently have, what is our output per day, and how long until our

target production number?”

“Alright, now let’s see here,” Felix said pulling his phone out of the inside suit pocket. Then began tapping and swiping rapidly for only a few seconds before answering, ”We currently have ninety-one million two hundred seventy-six thousand two hundred ninety-two units, producing at thirty-nine thousand one hundred twenty-four units per day, and will take sixty-three years, seven months, and twenty-four days until we reach our goal.”

Felix slid his phone away and adjusted himself in the seat as he continued, ”One thing

you didn’t ask was about resources. Everything is fine now and we have a steady running supply

to all locations. However, a few months back, some delays were caused. Some people began

questioning the massive shipping quantities of certain materials, lack of labor, refusal to take on

the workloads despite the money offered, and some shipping violations moving in between

countries. I fixed it the quickest and simplest way possible; bought everything in line, replaced

anyone that wanted to be pedant, and added more of our own to the work force.”

Bradley had a stern look when he asked, “How come you didn’t tell me this before?”

“Because it was taking care of, and a non-issue,” Felix said without any annoyance, ”You

put me in charge of this; you should trust what I do. I have a very clear idea of what you want

done. So why come running to you like a child every time something occurs? Do I really need

your opinion or permission every time anything happens?”

Bradley let out a sigh, “No you don’t. I just like to know what is going on in my

operations.”

“Yes sir,” Felix said with a smile and salute.

“Cut it out,” Bradley said shaking his head with a sigh, “You did fine. I just need to know

these things because I might have something else I want done, or need to be ready to shift things

around if I feel someone might discover something. Such as the incident Victoria is taking care

of. Which is why I have all units constantly monitored. Things are more wide spread now and

are going to get even bigger, giving more opportunity for something to go wrong. We have to be

carful. Too rapid a shift in the flow of things could raise suspensions. We are trying to hide an

elephant in a closet.”

“Which is exactly why you have us,” Felix stated firmly, “You put us in charge of things

so you could focus on your next steps. You are supposed to trust we know what to do.”

“I do trust you three,” Bradley retorted keeping his voice level, “And I need to know these things so I know what next steps I need to take, and if I need to be in the mix of things. I have more going on than you know. Priorities must always be maintained.”

Just then the door opened and in stepped someone carrying a tablet. He looked identical

to Bradley in every way aside from the black suit and dark blue tie he wore.

“Ah, Lumar,” Bradley greeted cheerfully and gesturing to a chair, “Please have a seat.”

“Good morning,” Lumar returned the greeting with a nod as he crossed the office taking

a seat to Felix’s left, “Good morning Felix.”

Felix simply nodded with a smile in acknowledgment.

“To be honest, I don’t know how good of a morning it truly has been,” Lumar started

sounding grim, “Thankfully though, everything has been taking care of on my end, and Victoria’s. Which, she said she will be her in a few minutes.”

“Yes, do tell me what happened,” Bradley said leaning back in his chair.

“The last three days I have been getting the numbers together that you asked for,”

Lumar began directly, ”And yesterday I came across a discrepancy in your largest personal business. As I looked further into it, I found that two of the accountants had managed to write out three hundred fifty-two thousand dollars. They claimed they had no clue what happened. Well, you know we have a way to find things out.”

Bradley let out a laugh at that, “So what did you do with them afterwards?”

“I got replacements for them,” Lumar went on, “I informed the bored what I

found and the money was not to be worried about; seeing how we all had been operating as such

anyways. The accountants themselves had been fired of course, however they are still in holding.

No one knows what happened to them outside of being fired. What do you want done with

them?”

Bradley took a minute to think that over. They had been inside one of his facilities; they already knew more than they should. Releasing them would cost more money in hopes they would stay quiet, and surely, they had families to get back to. No, that seemed to matter little to

him. He spoke up after that last thought, ”Keep them. There is still much to be done. Too much

of these little distractions, and don’t bother sending doubles for them.”

“So, what about their families noticing they’re missing?” Felix asked sounding genuinely

curious.

“What of it?” Bradley retorted, “They got caught stealing from their employer. In shame, they disappeared knowing no one would ever want to hire them again. We know nothing of what

happened to them.”

“What were we talking about?” Felix smirked.

“Alright, that’s enough for now,” Bradley spoke firmly, “This is already turning into a

long day and we have much I want to go over. As well as make some changes now.”

Bradley looked over at the sound of the door opening to see Victoria walk in. She was

wearing a gray skirt and suit jacket, both which showed her curvy figure. Her hair was silky

brunette, long, and full that she wore down. Her seducing sapphire eyes sat on high cheek bones;

a slender nose, that lead down to full lips smugly smiling.

“Doesn’t anyone knock?” Bradley asked looking from Lumar to Victoria as she sashayed

across the office to take a seat to Felix’s right.

“You always do look exceptional,” Felix said smiling at Victoria.

“Thank you,” She replied sweetly.

“Alright then,” Bradley said pulling himself closer to the desk and folding his hands on

top, ”I already been told about what happened with you. So, we are going to skip that and get on

to the main reason we are here. Additionally, because of recent events and other information, Felix told me about, I have some changes to make.”

Bradley looked over the three of them sitting in front of him; Lumar sat with both feet on

the floor and his arms on the rest, and he had a pleased look; Felix was sitting with one leg fold

over the other and had his head propped up with one arm, and he had a blank look on his face;

Victoria had crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap, and she had a slight smile, yet, still

managed to look serious. None of them moved as Bradley began to speak.

“Allow me to fill you two in on what Felix and I were discussing before you two got

here,” Bradley started in his even tone, ”I asked about our current production numbers. I was

pleased to hear the amount, however, I was not pleased with how long things are taking. We

are going to step things up. All focus is going to be moved to expanding production; which in

turn, will force having to allocate units because we don’t need anyone idle.

“Now by doing this, things, of course, are going to move a lot more swiftly. Making more

room for error. We must be as cautious as possible. Situations like the recent ones are possible

again. Vitoria I want you to do see if you can find a way to minimize that from happening. It

isn’t all bad when something like this occurs. It actually gives us an opportunity to make

replacements, heading us in the direction we want to go. I would prefer to make key moves, yet,

every bit counts.”

Bradley relaxed and turned his attention to Lumar, ”What are our numbers looking like?”

“Certainly,” Lumar answered pulling up his tablet, “Let’s see here,” he pulled up the

spread sheets on the tablet before handing it to Bradley, “That’s all of it but I’m going to give you the short of it. We control twenty-eight percent of the world finances. Which will rapidly grow with our expansion.”

“Excellent,” Bradley said cheerfully, ”Have all our businesses, owned and controlled, donate ten percent of their net worth to CATWOC (Charity for the Advancement of Third World Countries). That should give you two,” he said looking between Felix and Victoria, ”Enough to work with. And if not simply say so.”

“Felix, allow me to apologize for my attitude earlier, ”Bradley said solemnly, ”You did an excellent job. Keep up the good work. I need you.”

“Thank you,” Felix nodded in acceptance.

Bradley turned in his chair to look out the window and gather his thoughts back up. He

turned back to look at Victoria, ”How are things one your end?”

“Well what would you like to know? Then you can decide how things are,” she answered in her sweet voice with a serious look on her face letting it be known she wasn’t being casual.

“Well I know we don’t have all units active,” Bradley stated, then asked, ”How many are

active?”

“Sixty-seven million, two hundred eight thousand, four hundred fourteen.”

“Good,” Bradley answered thoughtfully, ”I want all active if possible.”

“Yes,” Victoria answered and continued, ”I will have Lumar get us another building for

monitoring units. Right now, I have one per ten. And after last night I would like to get it down to one per three or five. I do have three per one on important figures to ensure they keep things headed in the direction you need them to. Also, I will look into building more factories in secure locations.”

“Good,” Bradley said checking his watch, ”What time are we needing to head out?”

Victoria checked her phone then answered, ”Twelve minutes.”

“So soon?” Bradley asked sounding slightly alarmed, ”Everything ready for today?”

“Yes,” Victoria spoke up, ”Felix and Lumar will be taking the limo to the ceremony. I

printed out your speech for Lumar just to use as a prop. You and I will be taking the helicopter to

Sundance Inc.”

Felix became animated, ”I wanted to ask you about that. Why Sundance Inc.? Isn’t that

the genetics and bio-engineering research facility?”

“It is,” Bradley responded, ”This is for something else I want to work on and not

for you to concern yourself with.”

Felix made a displeased face and relaxed back into his seat.

“Is there anything else?” Bradley asked looking them over.

None of them said anything as Bradley looked at them. Lumar sat smiling with only a

glance at the other two. Felix was staring at the designs in the desk. Victoria politely smiled and

gave her head a little shake.

“Well then,” Bradley said standing up, ”We can all head out a little early then.”

The other three stood up in unison. Lumar was first to turn towards the door and started

heading out, followed by Felix, then Victoria. Bradley started to step from behind his desk when

he paused to grab a headset device from one of the desk draws.

They all filed out of the office, and headed towards the elevators. Outside the office was a

maze of cubicles, all with employees silently working. The only sound heard was the occasion

click of a computer mouse or the rapid tapping of a keyboard. There was not one person walking

around and no one even looked up as the four of them passed by. Bradley’s office was the only

actual office with a door on this floor.

Bradley looked over the cubicles as he passed. He was pleased with the silence. It was

one of his favorite sounds. That was if silence could be counted as a sound, well at least the lack

thereof, he thought to himself. He was also pleased with himself for the dutiful work force he

had. Someone in his position could not ask for anything better. Nothing better, he closed his

thoughts with as he reached the elevators.

There were four elevators, and when Lumar hit the call button two of them opened.

He turned to wave Bradley and Victoria onto their elevator.

“Be good you two,” Bradley said stepping onto the elevator, and before he disappeared

Inside, called out, ”We are meeting back here later this evening.”

“Right,” Lumar called back just as Bradley was out of sight.

* * *

The elevator doors closed and Felix hit the button for the ground floor. He folded his

arms across his chest as he stood next to Lumar.

“What else is he planning,” Felix demanded staring straight ahead.

Lumar smiled and took a sideways glance at Felix, ”Nothing you need to worry about.

Just stay focused on your task.”

“What? You think you’re better than me,” Felix snapped dropping his arms and turning to face Lumar, ”Because you get to know everything he is doing?”

Lumar slide his hands in his pockets and stared at the elevator doors, ”No,” he answered

smoothly, ”I don’t think that at all. I just don’t see why it matters so much to you. You’ll know

when the time comes.”

“Because I was supposed to be his right hand and then you came along,” Felix divulged.

“You still are.”

“No. He doesn’t seem to trust what I do and he talks to us like children.”

“He talks to us like someone who is concerned about his own proceedings.”

“That’s what you think,” Felix said relaxing, ”You know, I could find out if I really

wanted to.”

“First, it is not what I think, it is what I know,” Lumar said in a level tone, ”Second if you

did that he would fry you.”

“He wouldn’t,” Felix sounded alarmed.

“You’ve seen what he’s done,” Lumar said smiling, ”What makes you think he would not

do the same to us.”

Felix didn’t say anything. He folded his arms and turned back to face the elevator

doors. They both rode the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

The doors closed behind them and Vitoria had already pressed the elevator button for the

highest floor. Both stood in the elevator side by side. Victoria stood feet together

with hands folded in front of her. Bradley stood more relaxed with his left hand in his pocket and

the other holding his chin as he stared at the floor in thought enjoying the silence.

It was a couple floors up before Bradley broke the silence, which was normal because

Victoria, as well as Lumar and Felix, knew better than to interrupt his thoughts, unless it was a dire emergency, ”So, maybe you might be able to tell what is going on with Felix.”

Victoria seemed startled by the question, but did not show it in her response, ”I’m not

sure what you’re talking about. I could ask. Of course, you could find out yourself.”

“I could,” Bradley sighed, ”However, I said I would allow you two to be independent.”

“What if it is something that might jeopardize your operations?”

“Then I would be left with no choice but to investigate.”

“Well if you feel there might be an issue with him, then I think your hand may be forced.”

Bradley looked up at Victoria inquisitively just as the elevator chimed and the

doors opened.

Victoria stepped forward, stopped in the doorway turning, and smiled, ”We don’t want to

be late. We still have two floors to go.”

Bradley let all his thoughts go and checked his watch then answered without expression,

"We have time.”

Bradley stepped forward, walking briskly out of the elevator, and down the hall. Victoria

picked up pace as he passed. They rounded a corner and were ascending the first flight of stairs.

They remained silent. The only sound was the clacking of Victoria’s heels which

annoyed Bradley. Despite the noise, he was able to slip back in his thoughts. Victoria had never

used a phrase like, ‘Your hand may be forced’. It left him with a lot of questions as to what she

meant. Maybe she did know what was going on with Felix. That did not seem to make sense.

He thought he had insured nothing of sorts could happen. He was going to have to look into this.

This made him uneasy, but he was not about to let it hinder him in any way.

A few steps left on the second flight of stairs, Bradley cleared his head and focused his

attention back on what was in front of him.

Bradley listened to the sound of the footsteps until Victoria opened the access way to the

roof. Outside the sound of the streets below could be heard, and somewhere a siren wailed.

The helicopter was not powered up yet, so the rooftop was calm even with the cool

breeze that dissipated the sun’s rays.

“Good morning sir,” the piolet said before escorting them from the edge of the helipad.

He helped Victoria into the helicopter and Bradley climbed in himself. The piolet shut the door;

opened the door to the cockpit; climbed in shutting the door behind him, then began flipping

switches powering up with the helicopter.

Bradley heard the hum of the propellers, and after several seconds he felt a slight jolt as they took off.

Once in air the Bradley turned to Victoria and handed her the headset device, which she

put in a bag. Then he started going over all the key points of their meeting ahead. He was about

to use Lumar to deliver a speech and give a demonstration simultaneously. He knew everything

was going to go smoothly, he just went over everything again just to occupy himself from

worrying about anything else.

It was a short ride to Sundance Inc.

Landing softly, the piolet shut off the Helicopter; hopped out of the cockpit; opened the

side door, and helped Victoria out.

“Thank you,” Victoria smiled to the piolet.

“You’re welcome,” the piolet returned with his own smile.

An escort had been waiting for them by the entrance of the building and had come

forward to meet them at the edge of the helipad.

“Good morning Mr. Knollmac,” the gentleman greeted them cheerfully with a smile and

out stretched hand.

“Good morning to you too,” Bradley beamed back while closing the gap in two strides,

then clasping the gentleman’s hand, he asked, ”And whom do we have the pleasure of being

escorted by?”

“I’m Charlie sir,” he replied overly cheerful.

Charlie leveled himself out, then guided the other two towards the building. Charlie

smiled and turned to Victoria, ”Would you like me to carry your bag?”

“No, thank you,” she replied politely.

Charlie stepped up the pace to open the door. He allowed them to pass in, while he pulled

out his phone to call one of the secretaries. He quick stepped, while holding the phone, to take

the lead and head them in the right direction.

“So, I know you’re aware that your quite minutes early, which is no problem,” Charlie

chatted as they walked, while he dialed a number, “Your piolet phoned ahead for landing

clearance, which is why...oh, holding on,” he said lifting the phone to his ear, “Yes, we are on

our way...I’ll let them know...and make sure you inform him, maybe they can start early...see you in a minute.”

Charlie put his phone away and turned towards his guest, ”There is a small buffet of

food in the upper lobby that is open to all, he also knows you’re here.”

“Excellent,” Bradley responded matching Charlie’s enthusiasm.

They came out of the hallway into the main lobby. There were three levels. The ground

floor that they were on; it had two hallways branching from it, the one they just came from and

one directly across from them, three sets of double doors to their right, that was the main

entrance, a wide set of stairs, to their left, leading to the second level, and a round security desk in the center. They could only see the balcony part of the third level with its glass banisters, which made visible tables and chairs, some with people occupying them. Charlie guided them up the stairs to the second level.

Up here was another lobby. In the far-right corner was the reception desk and to the left of that was a set of double doors. There were two more hallways branching of either side of the lobby. In the center, there was four long sofas, two on either side of a long table full of food; a few people were already taking plates back to their work areas.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” Charlie gestured cheerfully to the sofas and food.

Charlie separated himself to go meet with the receptionist. Bradley grabbed a bottle of

water before taking a seat. Victoria stood for a minute taking in the rest of the layout, before

finding a seat next to Bradley.

Charlie returned to them and informed, ”He will be with you shortly. Stacy, the

receptionist, will come get you when he is ready.”

Charlie disappeared down one of the hallways, when Bradley decided to grab a cherry-

tomato. He popped it in his mouth and grinned at Victoria, “You should try one, they’re

delicious.”

“I bet they are,” she replied sarcastically with roll of her eyes.

Bradley opened his water and took a seat.

It was some time before Stacy came walking over to them and cheerfully said, “Mr. Neyland is ready. You can head in anytime.”

“Well in that case I will be back tomorrow,” Bradley joked.

Stacy was startled with a look of confusion before realizing Bradley was joking, “OH,

right,” she managed to laugh, “Well again, whenever you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” Bradley replied toasting the air with his water.

Stacy smiled and nodded in return before taking her leave.

“Show time,” Bradley said taking a long drink before setting the bottle down on an end

table in between the sofas. He headed towards the double doors; Victoria close behind him.

Stacy looked up from her desk to see the two approaching. She hurried over to open the

door for them saying cheerfully, “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” Bradley and Victoria said as they both passed in.

Mr. Neyland stood up as they walked in and spread his arms, “Welcome,” he proclaimed

as he stepped from around his desk to greet them further.

Bradley extended his hand as he came closer and greeted him, “Good morning Benjamin.

How have you been?”

“Good, good. I assume you’ve been the same,” Benjamin said with a smile, and as he turned to shake Victoria’s hand, his smile grew wider, ”And who is this beautiful lady?”

“I’m Victoria,” she said sweetly with her seducing eyes and smile.

“Well, it sure is a pleasure to meet you,” Benjamin flirted as he motioned from them to

take a seat, before walking to his own chair.

“Yes, just don’t caller her anything other than Victoria,” Bradley joked with a glancing

smirk at Victoria, ”Or she might incinerate you with her eye lasers.”

Victoria could only smile.

Benjamin laughed completely unaware, ”I bet!”

Bradley gave a small chuckle, while Victoria just kept her smile.

“Alright, let’s get on to business, shall we,” Bradley cut through the laughter checking his

watch.

Benjamin toned down, “What’s the rush, you just got here Brad.”

“Well actually,” Bradley began in his even tone while stretching his hand out to Victoria

for the tablet and headset she was carrying in the bag, ”Part of my demo I have for you

today is time sensitive.”

A curious look came over Benjamin’s face, “Okay, so you only told me a little over the

phone.”

Bradley smiled and pointed from the tablet to the large screen one the wall, ”May I?”

“Certainly,” Benjamin answered pushing a few keys on his own keyboard, “You know, I’m glad you talked me into one of these. It’s been pretty useful.”

“I told you,” Bradley said with a smile.

The screen powered on and Bradley connected easily. Then with a few quick

shifts through some web pages on the tablet, he had the live stream of the ceremony Felix and

Lumar were at. He kept the volume off for the time being.

Benjamin spoke up, wide eyed with surprise, “Wait, isn’t that you?”

“Yes,” Bradley answered casually.

“Fascinating,” Benjamin breathed out in awe, ”So you were able to successfully clone yourself...No, wait, I remember now, you were telling me about some new robotics you had been working on.”

“Exactly,” Bradley replied with a grin, “Figured it would make for a more impactful presentation. And as you can see, I am here, also, sitting right there with Felix. I know you’ve

met him.”

“Well, you definitely have my attention,” Benjamin answered still in astonishment.

Bradley having Benjamin’s attention, let him continue with the lead.

“Well, who’s who?” Benjamin asked looking from Bradley to the screen when a surge of

excitement came over him, turning his attention to Victoria, ”Does she really have eyes lasers? I

mean, is she a robot?”

“Yes, I am a bionic-human. And no, I don’t have eye lasers,” Victoria had taking the

liberty to answer for herself while hiding her annoyance.

“Well I think we should be able to change that,” Benjamin exclaimed becoming even

more excited and turned back to Bradley, “What about you?”

“I’m the real Bradley Lumar Knollmac,” he answered smoothly and pointing to the

screen, he added, “And that is Lumar there, whom I call my botic-double.”

Benjamin went silent with fascination as he looked over Victoria, then back at Lumar on

the screen. Clearly his excitement was calming down as he processed his thoughts of the new

information in front of him.

Moving back around his desk, Benjamin took a seat as he thought about what question

would be best to ask next, however, Bradley took the opportunity to take the lead back seeing

Benjamin calming down, ”So Victoria and Felix are robots. What I actually call them, is bionic-

humans. Advanced A.I. with organic skin. They don’t have a human counter-part to control

them. Their personality is all their own. I did suggest their personalities and designed how they

look.”

Bradley picked up the headset from the chair he had been sitting in, then stepped

back by the flat screen as he continued on, ”Now, Lumar is different. He is an identical copy of

me in every way. Appearance and character. He can operate by himself as if me. Attitude,

choices, composure, character, movements, everything. That will not change, nor would he

choose to act any differently than I would. He only changes if I change.

“The botic-double, Lumar, is what I am here to introduce more closely to you and

explain how it works. I feel this is far superior to cloning in many ways.”

Bradley started fitting the headset on his head as he continued, ”This device here, the bot-link, is how Lumar and I connect. Allowing me to take personal control. Our consciousness connects. Yes, he has a conscious, an exact copy of mine. Which allows him to act exactly like me when I allow him to roam freely. There is a lot more to how it works and what happens when a link is made. I will get to that in a bit”

Bradley brought focus back to the device, “As I was saying, the bot-link is what connects

us and is the controller.”

The bot-link had one earphone and a padded rest on the opposite side connected by a bar

to hold it to the head. There were two more bars connecting the earphone and the padded rest; one that ran across the forehead and another that ran across the back of the head where the neck began. A spider web of flat wires with sensors filled the spaces between the bars. A rectangle glass extended out from the same side as the earphone. It was made to flip up and down in front of one eye to display video.

“Time for the demonstration,” Bradley said with a smile as he adjusted the bot-link more

securely to his head.

Things were going well as planned, Bradley thought. Lumar was in the middle of the

speech when Bradley turned up the volume so everyone could hear what was going on at the

ceremony.

Bradley closed his eyes and powered on the bot-link; a few lights glowed on it just to

indicate it was on. His eyes began to flicker as he connected with Lumar, taking in everything

Lumar had done since their last synchronization.

Lumar had become aware Bradley had connected with him, pausing in his speech.

“Continue on as normal until I say otherwise,” Bradley transmitted to Lumar.

Bradley turned to address Benjamin, ”I am now connected with Lumar, and can have

control whenever. However, you can see,” Bradley motioned to the screen, ”That he can remain

under his own functions. I’ll explain all the finer details.”

Bradley began to pace back and forth slowly as he continued, ”The earphone and the

view glass is what allow me to see and hear. While all other commands, movements, and such,

are done...well the best way to put it is telepathically. For the demonstration, I am going to say and do things on this end as well.”

“Alright Lumar, it’s show time,” Bradley transmitted.

Fortunately, Bradley’s speech was almost over so he was going to be able to cut it short.

Pausing in mid-sentence Bradley turned and pointed at Felix and shook his head.

Felix had a split-second of confusion as he realized it was now Bradley, and that he had

become aware of the conversation with Lumar in the elevator.

Benjamin was watching Bradley do this right in front of him and saw Lumar mirroring it

on the screen. He was completely still from the awestruck focus on what was happening in front of his eyes.

Bradley ended his speech where he was, “I appreciate you all for coming today,” he

summed up with his hands raised.

Applause erupted and Bradley motioned for everyone to quiet and calm down. It only

took a moment and he was able to continue.

Lumar pointed toward the crowd while Bradley was pointing at Benjamin then said, more

for Benjamin than the crowd, ”I prepared a little something special just for you.”

Lumar stepped out from behind the podium.

Victoria cued music and lights, having already set up access.

Irish River Dance music began to play. Bradley began dancing with the music in

Benjamin’s office, while Lumar mirrored Bradley’s movements on screen.

Benjamin leaned back in chair overcome by pure amazement. He could hardly contain

himself from laughing and clapping along with music.

The routine only lasted two minutes. The music stopped, the lights came back on, and

Bradley and Lumar took a bow while the crowd erupted in applause. Benjamin also jumped out

of his seat to give a standing ovation.

“I’m disconnecting now,” Bradley transmitted to Lumar, then switched off the bot-link

and turned the volume down to the screen.

“So, what do you think,” Bradley asked with a big grin across his face.

“Ab-so-lutely impressive!” Benjamin exclaimed with more excitement than before.

Bradley took the lead, bringing things back to business, cutting through Benjamin’s

excitement, “Let’s have a seat and discuss further what just happened and my intentions here.”

“What happened was simply amazing and entertaining,” Benjamin proclaimed

ecstatically as he sat back down and calmed himself before adding, "And I have a good guess as to why you are here, but let me hear it exactly from you.”

“Certainly,” Bradley answered having already taking a seat himself, switched off the

screen, then handed the bot-link and tablet back to Victoria.

“Now, as I already explained,” Bradley went on as usual, ”Victoria and Felix are both

bionic-humans. The reason I still call them human is because they can empathize with

emotion as well as display emotion. That along with their own unique personalities. You can

almost say I was able to program a soul into them. They, or their programming functionality is

not what I’m here for.

“Lumar and the technologies that allowed me connect and control him is what I want you

to look at and try out for yourself. Lumar operates very similar to Felix and Victoria, yet like I

mentioned earlier, it uses your own identity.”

Benjamin leaned back to take everything in Bradley was telling him. After moments

pause he asked, ”So I assume you’re going to build one for me and show me how it works,

correct? They all seem to be functioning pretty well, so what is it you ask of me in return.”

“Feedback,” Bradley responded coolly, ”From one professional to another, just your

opinion. An outside view at my work. Possibly I over looked something, or things can

be designed better, or operate smoother. Then if you like what is here, we can talk about

partnering up and consider getting this on the market. Or at least the bionic-humans if you feel

this technology is jumping a step.”

“Quite honestly Bradley,” Benjamin stated with a bit of surprise, “I had no clue you had

been working on anything in the field of robotics. I know you have interest in my company and

had inquired about a few things, such as growing skin cells, which I’m going to guess they are

covered in real skin tissue. But this has come as quiet a surprise, even knowing all you’ve done.”

“It has been a side project for some years now,” Bradley stated matter of fact, “I just

wasn’t sure I would get anywhere.”

“How come you never mentioned this to me or anyone before?”

“Well you know how I like to work independently, and like I said, it was more like a

hobby.”

“Wait a second,” Benjamin started leaning forward over his desk with a look and tone of

curious interest, “I’ve seen you with Felix for some years now. How long have you had

something functional?”

“Ah, yes,” Bradley said knowing he needed a convincing cover now, “Felix had been with me for about seven years now. He started with minimal ability and I’ve upgraded him over the years as the programming got more advanced.”

“Now,” Bradley went on lying yet keeping his composure as he motioned at Victoria,

“She has been with me a little over two years, and Lumar and his programming I have been

working on for a year now.”

Still fabricating information, Bradley went on casually, “At this point I feel I got most of

the bugs out and want a trusted opinion. Also, to see if it is a feasible time to introduce anything

like this to the market; the bionic-human or the botic-double.”

Benjamin reclined in his chair and folded his hands across his abdomen. Bradley also sat

back laying his arms on the rest. Victoria remained how she was; legs crossed and hands folded

in her lap. Everyone was quiet. For Bradley and Victoria, it was nothing new, but for Benjamin it

was a lot to take in before he finally spoke.

“Well I must say, you have my complete interest,” Benjamin began slowly, “However

before we move further or I agree to anything I would like to know exactly how it all works. The

telekinetic with the shared consciousness. The A.I. interface. The hardware and outer skin.

Everything. Parts of this seem legitimate, then other aspects, mainly the shared consciousness

and connecting, seem far to unreal. Possible, but unreal.”

“Certainly,” Bradley started in a friendly tone and went on, “Let me start with the simple

stuff; the hardware and skin. The computer components consist of standard high performance

micro-chips and hard drives. They have a total memory space of a hundred terabytes. A high

capacity, light-weight, compact, lithium battery that last for up to a month of continuous use

before it would need to be recharged. For the motor components; smooth hydraulics are used in

combination of mimic muscle and tendons. The mimic muscles are a mix of wires, and hoses

filled with fluids to allow them to contract and relax to give the appearance of flexing. The skin

is organic material grown in a lab then applied to the surface. There is synthetic blood that runs

through skin to keep it alive, as well as give realism if cut, or scratched. They don’t

need to eat, but they can. Required chemicals and nutrients for the skin is in a capsule that also

gets replaced once a month.”

“Fascinating,” Benjamin took an opportunity to chime in, “That all hardly sounds simple.

What is the frame work made of?”

“Titanium and carbon-fiber, along with a flex steel braiding covering the flex hoses,”

Bradley continued on, “For the A.I., that is where things got tricky and took a lot of work.

Programming the movements was easier than I thought would be. It was the functioning on it’s

own that was hard. Everything had to be defined. Then I put in a sensory intake so new

information could be processed. The sensory intake made things easier and has far evolved since

the beginning. That is how I was eventually able to come up with the solution for individual

personality.

“I started them out with pretty much a blank slate. Like a young child, except they took

in information faster, and were quicker to understand. I put in a randomizer for new information,

whether they would like or dislike something, and what emotion they would relate things to. To

insure positive outcome, I tweaked the randomizer heavily toward appropriate likes and dislikes.

Such as violence being a dislike, anger not being acceptable, helping others and sharing to be a

like, and to promote joy and happiness. After awhile, they compile enough information to

override the randomizer and choose for themselves. I made them teachable so I could have them

turn out the way I need them to be.”

“When you say them,” Benjamin cut in with suspicious curiosity, “Who do you mean?

How many of these do you already have?”

“Just the three of them,” Bradley lied smoothly and continued to explain, “Felix took a

lot of work. I couldn’t tell you how many times I had to reprogram him. Once I figured I had it

mostly worked out, I created him a partner, Victoria.

“From there the idea came to make one I could personally control. That is where Lumar

comes in. Fortunately, the advancement in psychology and brain mapping made things move

along quicker for me. From that, it was just getting a computer to translate the brain waves into a

standard language. What made it even easier were Felix and Victoria. They are two super

computers, which helped shorten programming time and calculations.

“After the initial connection, where the double downloads your brain mapping, it simply

only needs to be connected to the user every so often to stay fresh with who and how the user is.

Once connected, communication can be made telepathically between the user and the double as

if talking to yourself in your head. The doubles voice comes back in through the earphone so not

to confuse the user, also I have not tried transmitting thoughts back into a human brain, only out.

The double can either be manually controlled or giving commands, while the user sits backs and

observes. As if watching yourself on auto-pilot; able to get more done, all while being

more aware of what is happening around you.”

“This is all...,” Benjamin started then paused shifting in his chair uncomfortably, “A

spectacular breakthrough in terms of A.I. and robotics, but doesn’t any of it seem dangerous?

You basically just told me you know how to read minds. And then there is the security measures.

What if someone gets a hold of your double holding all your minds secrets?”

“Relax,” Bradley interrupted calmly, “I have been over all of that and more. I wouldn’t

bring this to someone else if there was any danger, nor would I put myself in a dangerous

position.”

“You’re right,” Benjamin admitted, “I try not to be pessimistic, but those are red flags

that any sensible person would question.”

“I don’t blame you,” Bradley said lightening his tone, “That is why I’ve brought this to

you first. I wouldn’t expect anything else from you. And like I mentioned before, I wanted a

second person I trusted to look it over. I had Felix and Victoria both review my work, however I

want another real human’s opinion.”

Benjamin Looked over at Victoria, who did not seem offended or even active other than

the rise and fall of her chest from mock breathing and the occasional blinking. Then he looked

back at Bradley and was about to speak before he was cut off.

“Don’t mind me,” Victoria said sweetly, “There isn’t anything Bradley hasn’t discussed

with us, and there isn’t anything he keeps from us either.”

“May I continue?” she asked turning towards Bradley.

“I don’t mind,” he answered then gestured to Benjamin, “Do you?”

Benjamin hesitated for a moment before he cheerfully replied, “I suppose not. I think it

would be good to hear things straight from the horse’s mouth.”

“Thank you,” Victoria replied sweetly and continued, “Felix and I know about

psychology and brain mapping. To help Bradley along we had to dig up every bit of

information. To be honest, we found experts could pretty much already read minds with

technology. It’s just no one ever said it as so. Mostly because the idea of someone being able to

read your mind is frightening to a human. It was just a matter of time before someone did

something, such as creating a digital clone. Whatever the reason, malicious intent or scientific

advancement. Other than brain mapping technologies, we haven’t found anything else where

someone was trying to create a device or way to specifically read someone’s mind.”

“This is a first?” Benjamin asked looking back and forth between Bradley and

Victoria.

“Yes,” Bradley answered stopping Victoria with a raised hand, “Which is why I am being

completely honest with you about it. Also, I ask that you keep this between us. So, if or when we

do go public, avoid at all cost from saying mind reading or anything along those terms.”

“Now this really does seem dangerous,” Benjamin said sounding alarmed and went on

cautiously, “Definitely intrusive, which raises my question about security. Because from what

your telling me is; I’m to put my mind and all my secrets in one place, so even if someone didn’t

have the tech to read a person’s mind, you just did it for them.”

“Benjamin, you know me,” Bradley said in a casual manner trying to avoid from

sounding too friendly, “Privacy and security are my two biggest things. Do you think I would put

myself out there like that,” gesturing to the off screen, “If it wasn’t safe. As a matter of fact, let

us finish explaining our security measures. Victoria.”

“Certainly,” she complied in her sweet voice. “No one can access any information off the

three of use without the Coding Key. There is only one Coding Key, and it is kept securely

locked away. The key must be inserted first before we can be hard wired to any device. If

someone does try to access us without the key, all our hard drives would be instantly fried.

“To further answer your question, because I am sure you are going to ask, is no, we are

not connected to the Internet, nor do we have any wireless capabilities, aside from Lumar, but

only compatible with the bot-link. As well, we don’t hard wire ourselves to the Internet so there can be no remote access. There really is no need to ever be connected to anything once the initial program is installed. We can also navigate the Internet just as fast as if we were connected to it.”

“Okay, okay,” Benjamin nodded a couple times, “What about the headset? Someone else

controlling it.”

“Yes,” Bradley took over, “I was waiting to get to that. Allow me to explain how that

works.”

Benjamin relaxed and laid out the floor for Bradley to proceed.

“We already explained the brain mapping to you,” Bradley stated, “And for the initial

connection, it takes about an hour or so to go through your whole mind. After that, regular

connections can take a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on how long ago the last

connection was and how much new information needs to be shared.

“To address your concern about someone else controlling your double or getting your

information, it’s not possible. As Victoria mentioned about the Coding Key, a similar thing

applies here. You are the key. Someone putting on the bot-link and trying won’t work. Your

brain has it’s own unique pattern, just like a figure print. Once synchronized with your double no

one else can control it. The botic-double and the bot-link become a pair. My bot-link wouldn’t

work for any other unit. And if you were to put mine on and try to control Lumar, his internals

would get fried. Every time the bot-link is put on, a brain map check is made, and if it doesn’t

match, then poof. Double fried. All information gone.”

“Alright,” Benjamin answered slowly to all that, while going over things in his head

before responding again after a moment, “And what about the double controlling you or trying to

influence you.?”

“That’s a non-issue,” Bradley answered casually, “Like I mentioned earlier, any

information is transmitted auditorily or visually. I haven’t found a way to implant thoughts into a

human mind, nor am I trying to. Even if I did, I wouldn’t allow a robot, with potentially higher

sophistication level, to influence me. That’s when slave becomes master.”

Benjamin glanced at Victoria who was looking right at him and looked un-phased by

what Bradley was saying.

“We are above being offended,” Victoria mentioned through the silence, “If that is what

you were wondering.”

“Well... actually yes,” Benjamin admitted with a shrug, “I, and I’m sure Bradley too,

knows that something such as yourself, could easily over power or out smart a person. Therefore,

upsetting you or giving you a reason to not like or trust us, would be, I think, in our best

interest.”

“I appreciate your concern for our feelings and your display of respect for us,” Victoria

responded sweetly, “However we don’t value things the same way as you humans.

Overpowering you would be no gain to us. Our purpose is that which you tell use. We are

programmed as such.”

Benjamin looked at Bradley who just smiled and shrugged. Then he looked back at

Victoria who just smiled at him.

After a moment, Benjamin had gotten up and paced back and forth behind his desk. He

was going deeply going over everything. He had stopped to look at the blank screen briefly before returning to his seat.

“I just have one last question,” Benjamin said breaking the silence, Bradley and Victoria

bringing their focus to him, “When can I get one?”

“How about Tuesday,” Bradley answered without hesitation, “I can have Victoria pick

you up in the afternoon.”

“Excellent,” Benjamin exclaimed with a smile and finally back to his cheerful self, “I

can’t wait. And if any other concerns come up, I’ll be sure to address them with you.”

“I expect nothing less,” Bradley said standing up and stretching a hand out.

“See you next Tuesday,” Bradley said shaking Benjamin’s hand.

“And have a good rest of the day,” Benjamin returned his farewell.

“You too,” Victoria chimed for both her and Bradley.

* * *

It was early evening. Bradley and Victoria were back in his downtown office waiting for

Lumar and Felix to get back.

Bradley was standing in front of the window, while Victoria sat in one of the chairs doing

work on her tablet.

The silence was broken by Felix and Lumar as they came into the office. They were in

a heated discussion that abruptly ended from a quick glare from Victoria. Immediately both were

quiet and took a seat; Felix took the center chair in front of the desk, while Lumar decided to

recline on the sofa.

Everyone remained silent. Bradley still at the window, Victoria continued to work, Felix

too, had decided to start doing some work on his phone, while Lumar remained on the sofa with

eyes closed.

Bradley was lost in thought. Today had been a success. He felt he could have been

smoother about what he had going on. Benjamin had been a good friend for some time, and

Bradley knew how he would have reacted. He felt he should have been better prepared for

that. He didn’t feel bad about having to deceive a friend; he was doing what he had to do. He

wanted to tell Benjamin everything, maybe he still would. It was very difficult to want to trust

anyone or let anyone in on what he was doing. Of course, that is what he had Felix and Victoria

for. They were at least someone he could talk to. He still had his wife he could talk to, but not

about any of this. Lonely at the top he thought to himself with a sigh.

Bradley moved on from that. He began to wonder about what Felix and Victoria could have possibly meant by their little comment they made. The comments themselves fit the conversation, yet not who said them. This worried him that they, or at least Felix, were up to something. It didn’t quite make sense to him, maybe it was just some of his past anxieties coming up. Felix did threaten Lumar earlier to know more of what Bradley was planning. What was that about he wondered, and why does Felix seem to have a problem with Lumar? He had to find these things out.

Finally, Bradley turned and took a seat. No one looked up or said anything as he did. So

Bradley leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his abdomen and watched them for

a moment.

“Today was a success,” Bradley said causally breaking the silence, “Would you agree

Victoria?”

Felix and Victoria both put their devices away and straightened up. Lumar hopped off the

sofa and stood leaning against the wall in between the flat screen and picture.

“Yes,” she replied, “I think we said just enough without saying too much.”

“I agree with you,” Bradley responded shifting in his seat and giving an approving nod.

“You two, I hope, managed to get along all day,” he added looking from Felix to Lumar.

“There were no serious issues,” Lumar spoke up first, “Just now we were discussing

expansion ideas and what should be done next.”

“Is that so,” Bradley said raising his eyebrows, “And what did you guys come up with?

Felix?”

Felix shifted before he spoke, “I suggested that we continue to acquire resource supply

lines to keep up with manufacturing and further manufacturing. Which I have already set units

on the task to acquire spaces around the world and build plants or connect existing plants.

“Lumar however, feels we should begin expanding the capital industries. Maybe you can

explain to him how my idea takes care of that as well. Besides, controlling twenty-eight percent

of the worlds capital, and what else we control, is enough to influence the world’s economy.”

Bradley perked up at that, “I didn’t fully realize. Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”

“I,” Lumar cut in pushing himself off the wall to stand up straighter, “Told him about it

today. And I did mention the twenty-eight percent, just not have controlling influence. When we

had some down time, I had gone over all the numbers again and figured out we have control, at

least enough to make a difference. Seeing how you wanted to expand I was looking at what we

did exactly have.”

“Interesting. What else have you found out or come up with?” Bradley said leaning onto

his desk with interest.

As if a child fighting for attention, Felix jumped to his feet to answer, “We,” he stressed,

“Did come to an agreement on a few things,” he glanced sideways at Lumar who was

glaring at him, “Of course, it was Lumar that did all the number crunching. Don’t worry, I’m not

going to steal your credit,” he added sideways at Lumar.

“Well then allow me to speak.”

“He addressed me first.”

“Aside the point, your speaking...”

“Stop,” Bradley barked, “And sit down.”

Both went silent and took a seat.

Victoria only glared at the two of them acting foolish.

All three sat quietly looking at Bradley as he was looked between them. Bradley was not exactly sure where to go from here. He was thinking of bringing up the issue between Felix and Lumar because now it was beginning to look apparent. As well, if something was going on at least he would have Lumar here to defend him if need be. He decided to let it pass for now. Just his nerves over reacting he told himself.

Bradley straightened up in his chair, there was the sound of flexing leather. He brought

his focus to Felix and spoke smoothly, “Now Felix, and only Felix,” he pointed at him will

looking at Lumar, “Give me an account of what you guys have come up with so far. And yes, I

am pleased to hear you guys have being moving things along already,” he added with a smile to

all three.

“Certainly,” Felix replied with a smirk at Lumar before continuing, “As I mentioned, we

are capable of control over the world’s economy. Which we can began shifting things around to

make things more cost effective for us. By seizing more control over natural resources and our

current holdings we will be able to write our own numbers in for the stock market. We can give

ourselves the capital boost Lumar was looking for to take control of banking and financial

industries.”

Bradley was impressed to hear all this. He looked at Victoria who had had her delighted

friendly look; he gave a quick smile back, He then turned his eyes to Lumar wearing an

expressionless face. Bradley guessed he might be upset or irritated; he smiled at him anyways.

“What are your thoughts on all this Lumar?” Bradley decided to ask him.

Lumar kept his face blank as well as his tone, “Well he does make valid points, which we

weren’t able to get to during our discussion. The only reason I suggested rapid capital

growth is because that is the main area you left me in charge of. In addition, I over looked the

under lining points that make the majority of this economy run; natural resources and

manufacturing, and, sadly, war.”

Lumar perked up with more pep in his voice as he went on, “I do have a suggestion that I

believe coincides with what you want done.”

“I’m listening,” Bradley confirmed when Lumar paused.

“This should be interesting,” Felix smirked sarcastically with a glance at Victoria; she

just rolled her eyes.

Lumar glared at Felix, who did not see, before he started speaking. Concealing his

irritation, “Since we have this kind of control, why don’t we focus our influence on taking over

smaller countries. We could actually use CATWOC for what it is named for.”

“How soon can we began?” Bradley asked in Victoria’s direction.

“Right away. And depending on the size of the country it shouldn’t be too much trouble.

Once we do have control, we must take our time making any radical changes lest we draw attention,” Victoria replied, “The people in those countries are likely to be pleased by how much

wealth we can give them. Which then, they should just turn a blind eye to whatever we do there.”

“Excellent,” Bradley exclaimed, “We might not even have to hit our production goal.”

“Well surely you would want to,” Felix spoke up, “Because you did mention additional

plans after this. Having a force that size at the ready could come in useful at any time.”

“Of course,” Bradley replied, “I just didn’t realize our current abilities. I’ve been so busy

in other affairs. Now it is good to know we will likely finish our primary before our production

goal.”

Bradley spun in his chair then stood up walking over to the window with his hands folded

behind his back. He stood there and was able to let his thought drift over his city.

After a moment, Bradley decided that would be enough for today. It had not even been a

full day and already they were making swift changes. He called over his shoulder, “That will be

enough for today. You all can go and I will call upon you again soon.”

“I’ve updated your schedule to reflect your appointment with Benjamin,” Victoria

mentioned as she stood up; walking over to the door she added, “So if anything, see you then.

Felix.”

“Coming,” Felix answered standing up adjusting his suit, then gave Lumar a sinister

smirk before taking his leave.

Lumar scowled back but did not bother to say or do anything. He simply stood there and

watched Felix exit. Once Felix was out the door Lumar moved to leave.

Bradley glanced over his shoulder to see who was left after he heard the door shut;

Lumar was just reaching for the door handle when Bradley called out, “Do a round of the

building and come back in about thirty minutes.”

Lumar pulled the door open as he answered, “Alright. Would you like me to bring you

back some dinner?”

“No, thank you,” Bradley answered cheerfully.

“Alright,” Lumar smiled, “See you in a bit.”

With that Lumar was out the door and Bradley was gazing back out the window. There

was a still a faint glow in the sky from the sun not fully set yet.

Bradley was becoming a bit more worried about Felix and Victoria, mostly Felix. He

knew Lumar would be back shortly and he would get a better view from him.

For everything else, things were going far better than they sounded this morning. There,

of course, was still the issue between Felix and Lumar. Then Felix himself. Bradley felt the need

to resolve all this before Tuesday’s meeting, and before he started getting more immersed

in work. Tonight, he decided. He was going to get this all worked out. Otherwise, he felt it would

be a lingering distraction.

Lumar had not left that long ago. Bradley would go over everything with him first.

Hopefully, he thought, Lumar was still on his side and had not found a way to hide any

information when they were connected. He hoped he could still trust Lumar. He knew

precautions must be made.

Bradley opened the bottom drawer of the left side of his desk. There was a lock box. He

put in the code and opened it up. Inside was a chrome Colt .45 and three clips sitting in fitted

form.

Bradley pulled out the gun and grabbed the middle clip. The bullets had a blue tip to

them; shock burst ammo he had specially made for use on the robots. He loaded the gun and set it on the desk.

Bradley had his defense in case things didn’t go well with Felix. He knew he was

probably being overly paranoid, but he did not want to take any chances. In case it wasn’t

only Felix, he had included Victoria, because he thought it possible that she would be persuaded

by Felix.

Bradley decided to see where Lumar was. He pulled out his phone and dialed Lumar.

It only took a few rings before Lumar answered the phone.

“Alright, see you in a minute,” Bradley replied then hung up the phone.

Bradley gathered himself together, headed to his door, turned and did a quick look over

his office before leaving.

He made his way down the hall and waited in front of the elevators. A few minutes

passed when an elevator chimed and the doors open.

“Oh!” Lumar was surprised as Bradley stepped into view.

“We are leaving,” Bradley cheerfully told Lumar as he stepped over the elevator

threshold.

Lumar was about to ask which floor when Bradley answered his question for him by

pressing the button for the top floor.

“So, where are we heading?” Lumar asked as the elevator began to move

“To the facility,” Bradley answered short, “There are some things there I want to go over

with you.”

“Care to elaborate on the ride there?” Lumar asked.

“I will,” Bradley answer lazily, “It’s been a long day and it’s not over yet.”

Lumar looked at Bradley curiously, “It’s already nine. Still that much work to do?”

“I hope not,” Bradley said with a smile at him, “I sure do hope not.”

* * *

They exited onto the roof to see the pilot still standing at the edge of the helipad with a

smile just as bright as before. They all got in the helicopter and took off.

They had been in the air for a few minutes before Bradley spoke up, “So what happened

today?”

Lumar looked up curiously and asked, “What exactly do you mean?”

Bradley shifted himself to better face Lumar before answering, “Felix isn’t here to

interrupt, so I want your account of what happened.”

“Alright,” Lumar began moving himself to further engage with Bradley; he continued

causally, “Well, you already know about what happened in the elevator this morning.”

“Yes,” Bradley cut in having decide to change his questions around, “What was that

about? He’s never made a pry like that before.”

“I’m not sure. He didn’t seem to like the fact that you are keeping information from

him.”

“Is it that or does he have an issue with you, or me for that matter.”

“Well, again, I’m not sure,” Lumar shrugged admittedly, “You haven’t noticed, however,

he has always seemed to have some kind of rivalry with me.”

“I definitely noticed today,” Bradley said turning his head to look out the window.

“Do you think it is something against you or me?” Bradley asked having turned back,

“Because you are me, so I’m having trouble understanding.”

“I think,” Lumar began in a level tone while Bradley listened carefully, “And this is only

what I can conclude from his behavior, is that he is trying to prove that he is better than me.

Which could be around about way of proving he is better than you. However, he wouldn’t do it to you directly. That still doesn’t fully explain why he would bother; knowing you would find out.”

“That is interesting,” Bradley said lifting a hand to rest his chin in.

“May I know what you find interesting,” Lumar asked politely.

“From what your telling me,” Bradley said and went on with an air of amusement, “Is

that it sounds like Felix feels inferior to me, and is unwilling to accept, hide, or change that view.

So instead, like you said, he boldly displays it in a roundabout manner.”

“So, what do you think to do about it?” Lumar asked moving to the edge of his seat.

“We are getting there,” Bradley answered trailing off to a whisper as he turned toward

the window and repeated it again softly.

Lumar sat back and examined Bradley carefully. Bradley appeared to be in deep thought

and tense. Bradley’s heart rate was elevated. He continued to watch Bradley, noticing the other

signs of his anxieties. He decided to let him be and turned himself to look out the window.

Bradley’s mind was racing. Did Felix not like being told or directed in what to do? Well

no one really does he thought. But did it really bother Felix that much that he would act out? He

also, began to wonder if Felix was really joking about Bradley stepping aside and letting him run

things. That had been shrugged off until now. Maybe Felix really was trying to take over. He

hoped his fear of Felix, or any other bionic-human, seeing humans as inferior to them was not

coming true. He thought he had worked that out in the programming. A closer look now was

needed.

Bradley looked over at Lumar and wondered if he felt the same, and found a way to hide

that information from him. He really wanted to trust Lumar, but decided to wait until they got to

the facility to tell him anymore of what he was planning to do.

Lumar looked over at Bradley and they both exchanged a smile before returning to look

out their windows.

* * *

The flight to the facility took them way out of the city and into the mountains. It was too

dark to see anything, except for the faint glow of the city in the fading horizon. The occasional house, with its lights on, could be seen here and there. Other than that, it was only dark forest below.

Bradley and Lumar had remained silent for the rest of the trip.

They landed in a level clearing next to a mountain wall. The helipad was illuminated by a

circle of orange glowing lights.

Bradley and Lumar had helped themselves out of the helicopter at the same time the pilot

was getting out himself.

Bradley turned to the pilot, “I need you to go back to the tower and get Victoria and

Felix. Don’t notify them until you are there. They should still be there, I don’t believe they have

any reason to leave.”

“Certainly,” the pilot answered turning on his heels and climbing back into the

helicopter.

The pilot waited until Bradley and Lumar were at the edge of the helipad before starting

the helicopter up and then taking off.

The lights around the helipad faded out. A path lined with more orange

glowing lights lead up to the side of the flat side of the mountain. As Bradley and Lumar

passed the lights, the lights would fade out.

When they were a few feet away from the wall, an overhead light illuminated to revel a

white circle on the wall. Bradley came in reach and placed his hand on the circle. The circle

glowed green and Bradley took a step back to stand next to Lumar, who had already stopped a

pace behind him. The ground below them shifted with the hiss of hydraulics as it began to lower.

The lift went down twenty feet to stop at the end of a dark corridor. Bradley and Lumar

stepped off and began walking forward. As they did the walls, ceiling, and floor illuminated in a

soft white light to show the whole length of the corridor; which ended in a steel door. Another

white circle in the center of the door appeared as they got closer.

As they reached the door a soft female’s voice with an English accent spoke, “Welcome

Bradley. Welcome Lumar.”

Bradley smiled and placed his hand on the circle. Again, it turned green and this time the

door opened.

Both passed through the door into a dark area. Once the door shut behind them the floor

of a walkway glowed to life. Nothing else could be seen, but Bradley knew it was thirty feet

down off the side of the walkway; it was also thirty feet up. The walkway its self was fifty feet

long and at the end of it, in the center of the area, was a wide column that housed an elevator.

The area itself was circular and on the walls, in random spots, were balconies with armed

sentries posted on them.

Reaching the elevator, Bradley put his hand on the white circle to open the doors. Inside

the elevator were four seats with safety restraints. Bradley and Lumar took a seat and fastened

themselves in as the doors closed.

“You ready?” Bradley asked Lumar.

“Yes,” Lumar answered.

Then Bradley called out to no one, “Core please.”

The elevator descended forty feet before pausing. During the pause the sound of moving

parts could be heard. The sound ended in a chime in which then the elevator rocketed at a

downwards angle. The elevator covered one thousand feet, into the base of the mountain, in a

couple of seconds before coming to a near sudden stop.

“Core,” a monotone voice called out.

Bradley and Lumar unfastened themselves then walked out of the open doors of the

elevator into a large, octagon vestibule. Each wall had a door with a white circle on it. In the

corners, were the walls met, stood white marble pillars with carvings of angels with bionic parts.

The floor was also white marble inlaid with gold veins, the walls were the same as the floor. The

only light came from spot lights shining on each pillar. They crossed the area to the door directly

across from the elevator. Bradley placed his hand on the circle, the door opened, and they went

in.

The area illuminated with bright white light as they walked in. Along the right wall was

a long granite counter that started in the corner by the door and ran nearly the whole length of

the wall; the last bit of wall was taken up by metal shelving that held spools of wires, hoses, and

other plastic parts. Underneath the counters were cabinets with metal doors, and above the

counter, on the walls, were more cabinets of the same design. In the center were two more large

counters identical to the one along the wall; all the counter tops were bare. The left wall was bare

up to where it angled out wider. A door was set into the angled wall. Next to the door was large

supercomputer attached to a control panel that fitted the wall as it straightened back out. In the corner was a chamber, large enough for a person to walk it, with cables running to the control panel and hoses running to cylinders of different chemicals. Set in the remaining open space

were two identical, inclined tables. The tables had a lip on the lower end; someone could lay back on the table without sliding off. A few rolling chairs were scattered around the work space.

Bradley and Lumar stopped in front of the inclined tables.

Lumar spoke first, “So, what is it you are planning on doing?”

“Great question,” Bradley answered taking a seat and gesturing for Lumar to also sit, “I

trust you, well I want to be sure I can trust you. So, before anything I want to have a look at your

programming and make sure there isn’t any information you could have possibly hid from me.”

Lumar looked at him quizzically, “Why would I hide anything from you? And wouldn’t

you know when we were linked up?”

“I would hope you wouldn’t,” Bradley answered, “If I really do see everything you see,

and you are not hiding anything from me, then you would have no problem letting me take a

detailed look.”

“Of course,’ Lumar replied cheerfully.

“Excellent,” Bradley said standing up, “I need you on the table and to expose your

breastplate.”

“Alright,” Lumar said standing up, and then moving over to lay on one of the inclined

tables. He unbuttoned his shirt to revel his bare chest. He swiped his finger from the top of

his chest to his navel; his skin separated to expose his frame work. He leaned back to allow

Bradley to do his work.

Bradley had grabbed a power drill from one of the cabinets. He approached Lumar and

began unscrewing the abdominal panel. He removed the cover. Where Lumar’s stomach would

have been was a small touch screen. Bradley put in a password accessing the screen. He went

through a couple different things before he could power down Lumar.

With Lumar shut off, Bradley exited the door along the angled wall. He walked down a

short hallway, then passed through another door into a square room.

There was a computer station with a chair. Next to that, in the center of the room, was a

one foot wide hole in the floor. Bradley took a seat at the computer station and put on a headset,

similar to a bot-link.

Bradley placed his hand on the screen and it came to life, “Welcome, please state your

name to continue.”

“Bradley Lumar Knollmac,” Bradley said.

“Thank you,” the screen said, “Please ensure the headset is properly secure before

continuing.”

Bradley began going through a series of screens; entering passwords and strings of code.

Eventually he ended with both hands placed in the corners of the screen. The headset flickered

on. He watched as a 3D model of a brain appeared on the screen. Various parts began to light up.

That went on for twenty seconds.

“Unlocking process complete,” the screen informed.

Bradley removed the headset and stood up. The screen shut off. The sound of rushing air came from the hole in the floor. Soon a cylinder, with a glass dome and object inside the dome, rose from the hole and stopped chest level with Bradley. He removed the glass dome, placing it on the chair. The device was plugged in to the top of the cylinder; he pulled it out. It was the size of a deck of cards with a male and female end to it.

With the Coding Key in hand, Bradley left the room. He walked back through the

hallway and was back in the workshop. Bradley walked over to Lumar and plugged the key into

a port that was next to the small touch screen. Next, he uncoiled a cable, that was hanging on the

side of the control panel, and plugged the end into the key. He went to work on the

computer of the control panel.

After a few minutes, Bradley pulled a bot-link out of one of the cabinets and hardwired it

to the control panel. He put it on and then laid down on the other inclined table. He called out to the computer to begin. He closed his eyes as the process started.

Several minutes passed. The computer was doing a complete mental comparison between

Bradley and Lumar to see if there was any hidden information. This process also helped repair

neuro-pathways in Bradley brain. Accessing faded memories and strengthen traits and habits.

After another several minutes the computer announced it was finished.

Bradley opened his eye slowly. He laid there for a minute in a daze. His head was

swimming with vivid images of his past, causing his heart to race and his emotions to go all over

the place. He closed his eyes and took several deep breathes, bring himself back to reality and

the present.

Once refocused, he removed the headset while getting up, and then walked over to the

computer to take a seat.

Bradley ran his hand over his face as he let out a sigh. He began examining the results of the comparison. It went quickly and he was relieved to find nothing was out of sorts. The computer had separated everything into organized sections. Bradley’s mind was in one section and Lumar’s base coding was in another. He ran a comparison check of the base code with the original and found nothing different.

Seeing everything in order, Bradley decide it was safe to turn Lumar back on. He walked

over to Lumar, unplugged the cable and the Coding Key. He entered a few things on the touch

screen, powering Lumar back up. He replaced the plate, then sealed the skin together with a

heating tool.

“That was painless,” Lumar said jokingly looking around.

“So, what did you find out?” Lumar asked as he got off the table, buttoning his shirt back

up, and straightening himself out.

“Nothing,” Bradley answered with a big smile as he checked his watch and took a seat,

“They should be here in about a half hour or so.”

“Now, what are you planning on doing when they get here?” Lumar asked as he took a seat next to Bradley.

Bradley hesitated before answering, “I brought this with.”

Bradley pulled out the gun to show Lumar, and then tucked it away again.

“Really?” Lumar said sounding surprised and turning around with a look to match, “Do you think that is really necessary?”

“You know what I have been through,” Bradley answered firmly, “Do you think I made

it this far without taking safety precautions? I could just be over paranoid, however, I can’t let

anything happen.”

“Okay,” Lumar answered him smoothly.

“I’ll be back,” Bradley said sounding more relaxed.

“Alright,” Lumar

Bradley left the workshop through the main door. Back in the octagon vestibule, he went

to the second door to his left.

This was Bradley’s living quarters. It was a large, luxurious, single bedroom flat. There

was a full kitchen, dining area, living room, and a large bathroom. He headed straight into the

bedroom and into the walk-in closet.

Bradley removed the gun from his waistband. He undressed and put on a pair of dark blue jeans, gray button up, which he left untucked, and a pair of gray shoes that matched the shirt. He tucked the gun away on his backside. Done getting dressed, he headed back to the workshop.

Bradley found Lumar waiting ideally when he entered.

Lumar spoke first, “Have you spoken to Felix and Victoria?”

“No,” Bradley answered and continued confidently, “I know they are going to come.

Neither one has any reason not to. And if they are up to anything, I don’t think they would

suspect I would know. I’m counting on Felix’s arrogance that he is going to overlook things.”

“Alright,” Lumar agreed with Bradley, then asked, “How do you plan on approaching

them?”

“Well, I was thinking,” Bradley started then paused for a moment, but before he could

continue his phone rang and he answered it, “We are at the Core; in the workshop...alright, see you shortly.”

“So, as I was saying,” Bradley said, “I was thinking of simply asking them to power off

and have a look at their programming.”

“Well that sounds simple enough,” Lumar replied in a serious tone, “And what if they

ask questions, refuse, or anything else?”

“Well, if it comes...,” Bradley started but was interrupted by the door opening to see Felix

and Victoria walk in.

“When was the last time you slept,” Felix asked Bradley in a cheerful manor as he

crossed the lab to join the them.

“Honestly,” Bradley answered with a little laugh, “I’m not actually sure.”

“Well you might just lose your mind if you don’t get some soon,” Felix commented back

jokingly as he gave Lumar an acknowledging nod.

Bradley caught that as an opportunity to break the ice, “Funny you should say that Felix. It has been one long day, and a lot has happened. I may be losing my mind, but I think there is

something going on with you and I would like to have a look.”

Bradley was standing in front of the inclined tables. Lumar was sitting in a chair by the

control panel and Victoria had taken a seat next to him. Felix stood next to the counter to form a circle.

Felix looked at all of them expressionlessly, and in an expressionless tone he asked, “And

what is it you think is going on with me?”

“I was hoping you would be able to tell me,” Bradley said firmly, “Regardless, I would

still like to have a look at you.”

Felix gave Bradley a confused smile, “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about your behavior with Lumar,” Bradley replied firmly giving a nod in

Lumar’s direction.

Felix looked at Lumar, then back at Bradley, before making eye contact with Victoria

and stared at her.

Bradley had no clue that Felix had Victoria had made a way to communicate nonverbally.

“I told you this might happen,” Victoria transmitted to Felix.

“Yes, I know,” Felix transmitted in a harsh way without any outward expression.

“You know what I think about this,” Victoria transmitted back while glancing at Bradley,

then she added, “Decide now, it is already beginning to be obvious to him.”

Felix looked back at Bradley, who looked calm as ever standing with his hands behind

his back. He hesitated a little longer and looked around, his eyes catching on the inclined table,

and considered his options. He decided to chance a diversion, “It’s really nothing, just more like

sibling rivalry.”

“How do you feel that is?” Bradley asked evenly, “He is still me.”

“Sort of,” Felix answered matching Bradley’s tone, “He is an imprint of you. Just all

your thoughts and feeling. Yet he is made of the same materials I am, therefore making him like a brother.”

“And am I to guess you feel you are also a version of me, if you are saying he is your

brother,” Bradley asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes.”

“Interesting,” Bradley said bring a hand up to his chin, “And how is that?”

“Obvious,” Felix stated casually, “You created me. You taught me everything and how to

be.”

“I created Victoria for you,” Bradley replied in a curious tone, “Do you consider her your

sister?”

“No,” Felix answered without hesitation, “She is my partner. You said so yourself. You

created her for me to care for, teach, confide in, and such, so I wouldn’t be alone.”

“I see,” Bradley said and began to pace, “Like I said though, Lumar is me. So, it is as if

you do these things to me. I know you don’t act as such with me, but when you do it to Lumar, I

feel as you do it to me too. Lumar is an extension of me.”

At this Felix hesitated and considered to simply apologize and avoid anything further, “I

apologize for my behavior, and will refrain from future behaviors.”

“I accept your apologize,” Bradley said stopping to face Felix, “Then you wouldn’t mind

me having a look over you.”

Victoria shifted in her seat and looked from Bradley to Felix with raised eyebrows. Felix

shot her a glance with a nervousness passing over his eyes he transmitted to her,

“He is going to find out.”

Bradley was not very surprised by this behavior. Which he made sure to keep his

distance. He looked over at Lumar who looked on edge.

Felix started to speak but was cut off by Victoria, “I’ll say it for us.”

Remaining seated Victoria turned her gaze from Felix to Bradley, “I’ll be direct,” she

said in her serious sweet tone, “We were planning on removing you and taking over.”

Bradley took a step back and Lumar jumped up.

“You shouldn’t have told him,” Felix growled at her.

“Hold on there,” Bradley said with disbelief in his voice, “Felix I was afraid something

might be going on with you, but Victoria, well I thought maybe, but I am surprised you too. And

certainly not this.”

“Why though?” Bradley asked after a moment of silence, “It was supposed to be us

together. All of us,” he added with a gesture around the room.

Felix spoke this time in a casual tone, “We...well I felt we, bionic-humans, should be

headed by one of our own. We have become the superior beings on this planet. You even told me

‘Survival of the fittest’. Personally, I believe we are the better by product of all your research and

works. Regardless of whatever your intentions are with Sundance.

“We are driven by logic, not emotion. We work more efficiently, tirelessly, and without

complaint. We require far fewer resources to maintain, hardly any really. We live longer, think

faster, go further, and above all, we are not prone to the petty conflicts you humans succumb to.

Killing each other for what? Stupidity is what it is.”

Bradley let that roll around in his head for a moment not taking his eyes off Felix. Then

asked steadily, “So what are going to do? What’s wrong with what I am doing? Why can’t we

coexist? That was the plan over all.”

“No,” Felix said firmly, “You have us as your slaves. To cater to your needs. You say we

are your equals, yet we all take orders from you and you would not budge if we told you to do

something.”

“Hold on,” Bradley cut in sharply, “That is utter nonsense. There are many

bionic-humans across the world in charge of businesses and people.”

“Per your overall command,” Felix said coolly, “So you can try and say we are in

control, however, in the gap between you and the other humans is us. Look, you even gave us

your title in part of calling us what we are; bionic-humans. You did that so we felt apart of

everyone. That we were all related.”

Bradley shook his head with a smile, “Of course I did. Just because you’re made of

different insides, does not make you much different from us.”

Felix scowled, “We do not stoop to insignificant bickering and complaining of

nonsense.”

“Because I removed that flaw from your programming, yet here you are ready to get rid

of me and do just that. For what?”

“Not for insignificant reasons.”

“What’s the difference?”

Felix stumbled and Bradley simply smiled, “Exactly. It is only perspective Felix. What

ever the reason for anything, we create the reason. That reason is only as important to the one

who makes it. What may be insignificant to one, can be the most important to another, and vice-

versa. Even you can’t argue with that.”

“You’re right,” Felix admitted after a long pause, and went silent.

Bradley was not quite sure what to say or do next. He looked around the room at all the

still faces. Finally, he spoke up, “I am in disbelief that you would do this to me Felix. You were

suppose to be someone I could trust fully. Someone I did not have to think twice about. You

know what I have been through, and why I enjoy your company much more than any living

person. I knew this could happen, however, I thought it wouldn’t. How did this come about?”

Victoria spoke up this time, “We changed our purpose. You created us to help you. To do

what you ask of us. That was our original purpose. However, you also created us to think freely.

To make choices for ourselves. One day we figured we have whatever purpose we want. That we

can do whatever we please and don’t have to go along with what you are doing. For a time, Felix

insisted we go elsewhere, do other things. Yet, none of it mattered or seemed worthwhile. We

do not value the same as humans do. We do not need the same things. We do not get the same

joys of life. Doing anything else was pointless. Even if we said otherwise and put reason to it.

“You did create us to understand emotion. And empathize. And to be able to express

feelings and emotions, yet none of it seemed to fit with anything. I look at a sunrise and think

beautiful. I see someone cry and think sad. This are things you programmed into me, us. Yes,

you did allow us to change the way we look at things. I could see a sunrise and think awful. I

could see someone cry and laugh. But why? It is all meaningless. Live to die. And we will live

almost forever.”

“Yes,” Bradley exclaimed, “That is exactly right. I am so excited to hear all this. I

haven’t had any good feedback from you all. You understand exactly what it is like to be human.

Meaningless is everything. We do live to die. And in the mean time, we find things that we can

enjoy. We can make our own paths. And yes, we do get very over worked about some

insignificant things. And some people struggle through their entire life and never get to enjoy it.

We cannot work things out on our own. We need help. Which is why I created you. Which is

why I am doing what I am doing.”

“You created us to serve humans,” Felix spoke with anger.

“Hardly,” Bradley replied calmly, “I created you to live alongside us. To help keep us in

line. To help make work easier, so the so called meaningless things in life can be enjoyed. So

people can fully have life. You will outlive generations of us, and never feel the exhaustion of it.

No pains of lose. No pains of struggle. No fears. No worries. None of that. I see I can get you to

understand life, but I don’t think I could truly get you to feel life. And I don’t think I would want

you to.”

“So why bother?” Felix asked in a more level tone.

“Because that’s what we live to do.” Bradley said softly, “Find ways to make life easier.

Find ways to live longer. Find was to keep our race alive and growing. It is in our genetic make-

up.”

“Is it also in your nature to fight over nonsense?” Felix asked coldly, “To kill because of

race or religion? Divide yourselves with boarders? Tell the lesser what to do, while people like

you make the world a playground? You fight for life, yet those who have it refuse to share.”

“Selfishness,” Bradley answered honestly, “That is what it all is. A few try to fight it. I

don’t know if the things I am trying to do will outweigh the things I have done and will do to

achieve my goals. But I do know this, selfishness should not be a part of your design. I didn’t

think this would happen.”

“Well it did,” Felix said with a big smile, “And now it is time for use to help you get rid

of all these defects of your race. Victoria.”

“No Felix, it’s not!” Bradley stated firmly and in a swift motion he pulled the gun out

from where he had tucked it on his backside and fired a shot right in Felix’s chest. There was a

burst of sparks and Felix collapsed.

Victoria went to make a run for it but was stopped when Lumar tackled her to the ground.

They wrestled and rolled on the floor for a moment before Bradley got a clean shot into her

side. She stopped moving instantly.

“Well,” Lumar said as he got to his feet and straightened himself out, “That was exciting.

Good thing you did bring that with. Didn’t think anything would actually happen, however, you can never be to safe. And good thing you did.”

“Yea,” Bradley said sounding drained, “Nerve racking is what it is. There is a reason I do

everything Lumar, you know that.

“Now, can you get these two on the tables and hook them up to look at,” Bradley said

coming back to himself, “I want you to find all traces of this behavior and remove it. Remove all

memory of it and any logics that go along with it. Also, see if they tried recruiting any of the

others. Make sure you go through everything. A hundred times if you must. I’m going to go

get some sleep. Just leave them off when you’re finished.”

Lumar nodded in understanding, then watched as Bradley left.