Freaks in the City Read Online Free Page B

entered the room and headed for the
weapons laid out on the mats by the north wall. Only Scars
hesitated, glancing first at the door as it closed behind the last
man, and then up at the Caine and the techs, before striding over
to the weapons cache. The significance of that heavily reinforced
door had not escaped him.
    Caine appropriated the spare seat next to
Williams so he would have an unobstructed view of the action via
both the monitors and the viewing window. He watched intently as
the volunteers tested the various weapons for balance and grip, and
made their selections.
    Sloane thumbed the mic. “Cyborg Unit
Six-Point-0. You are instructed to defend and disable only. Human
life is to be preserved. Human safety is paramount. Do you
understand?”
    “I understand.”
    “Confirm instruction.”
    “I will defend and disable. Human life is to
be preserved. Human safety is paramount.”
    “Very good, Six-Point-0. Standby to
engage.”
    “Standing by.”
    “Who’s up first?” Williams said into the
mic, his tone oozing false good-humor.
    Caine leaned forward. “Volunteers are to
engage en masse.”
    Williams gave him stunned eyes, opened his
mouth as if to speak and then shut it with a snap. He gulped, and
then spoke into the mic. “Uh, slight change of plans. Make that six
against one—the one being Sixer, uh, Six-Point-0, of course.”
    Sloane hurriedly took over. Caine suspected
he didn’t trust Williams to not run off at the mouth and start
spouting reasons why pitting humans against the cyborg was a bad
idea. “Gentleman, on my mark. Cyborg Unit Six-Point-0, await
command to engage. Confirm.”
    “Confirmed.”
    “Three. Two. One. Engage!”
    What followed was a melee of whirring
weapons punctuated by grunts of pain, shouts, and screams, as
Caine’s pride and joy—the culmination of his extraordinary
vision—disabled its opponents.
    A grin split his face. It was surreal, as if
he were watching some child’s cartoon where a superhero took on a
bunch of bad guys and dispatched them with ruthless efficiency.
And, just like in a cartoon, men flew every which way. Those not
immediately rendered unconscious scrambled to their feet and
retrieved their weapons before re-engaging, only to be disarmed and
tossed aside a second time. And to Caine it seemed as though mere
seconds passed before five men lay unconscious, leaving only one
man standing. Scars.
    Caine glanced at the timepiece on the
control panel. The countdown showed a little over two minutes had
passed.
    “Engage,” he muttered. “What are you waiting
for?”
    But Scars refused to play. Throwing up his
hands in the universal gesture for surrender, he backed up.
    Six-Point-0 stalked him.
    Sloane yelled into the mic. “Cyborg Unit
Six-Point-0, do not engage. Repeat: do not engage. Opponent has
surrendered. Opponent is no longer a threat. Repeat: opponent is no
longer a threat. Do not engage!”
    Six-Point-0 continued to advance.
    “Cyborg Unit Six-Point-0, this is Sloane,
Goodkind Employee ID 7-8-3-1-2. I command you to standby and await
further instructions. Repeat: standby and await further
instructions. Confirm command.” A pause, and then, “Confirm
command, damn you.”
    Williams gabbled into his mic, his voice a
shrill screech. “Cyborg Unit Six-Point-0, this is Williams,
Goodkind Employee ID 1-0-2-2-1-4. I command you to shut down
immediately. Repeat: shut down immediately!”
    The retreating man’s gaze darted about the
room. His angry expression morphed to fearful as both techs
screamed instructions into the mic and the cyborg ignored them all,
intent on its target.
    “Shit!” Williams’ mutely pleading gaze fixed
on Caine.
    The tech knew Caine could access the
cyborg’s core programming and override all commands. Of course
Caine ignored the tech’s silent plea. Scars could flee, but the
only cover was the obstacle course, and if the man chose that
option his opponent would be on him in an instant.
    But although bloodied and