Adam Read Online Free

extermination order was courtesy of their current government and enforced by all law personnel and the military. Even some more psychotic fringe groups got in on the killing, some overzealously so. Ever since the cyborg uprising, anyone with artificial limbs or parts was ostracized and in danger from the extremists who vowed to eradicate all cybernetic beings.
    If this sample came from a cyber unit, then what did this mean? Was the military holding a live one for testing? Had they preserved a body? Or was this an attempt to somehow combat the cyborgs or reactivate the cyborg program?
    All questions with no answers, a cruel jest for a mind that liked to know why. It frustrated her almost as much as the stubborn tech she could see through her microscope but had resisted all her attempts to reactivate thus far.
    Even though it galled her, she’d practically begged her superior for more information. That didn’t get her far.
    “I need a fresh sample.”
    “You have what you need.”
    “Perhaps if I could see where it came from?”
    “That’s classified.”
    “Can’t you give me even a clue as to what you expect me to achieve?”
    “Figure it out.”
    Figure it out, they said, and so she worked blind. Without a basis of comparison, or even the slightest idea of what to expect, she tread in unknown waters, hoping for a lucky fluke, which shouldn’t be how science worked, and yet some of the greatest innovations and cures, she reminded herself, were found by chance.
    Or accident.
    “Damn.” She cursed as the vial she held slipped through her gloved hands and smashed on the floor. Despite knowing the protocol for such an incident, her first impulse was to drop to her knees to clean up the mess, even as a siren went off.
    The female robotic voice announced her clumsy shame to everyone. “ Contamination in Lab three. Evacuate the immediate premises and report to the outer chamber for decontamination.”
    Ah hell. Laura sighed. So much for her latest attempt to reactivate the nanos. It would have to wait. Dropping the chunk of glass she’d snagged on the floor, she stood and headed to the sealed and pressurized door leading to the detox chamber.
    Stepping in, she tried not to flinch as the portal behind her slid shut and clicked. Locked in an eight-by-eight room, all glass so it wasn’t entirely claustrophobic, she still didn’t like the small space. She also didn’t like the fact that Blue Eyes stood just on the other side of the exit, rifle held slung over his chest in a ready position, his eyes tracking her every move.
    His orders? If she tried to avoid the decontamination or showed signs of illness, keep her there or, if she tried to escape, shoot her. The military might have reassured her that the sample she played with was benign, but at the same time, they weren’t screwing around with it.
    Placing her glasses on a shelf, Laura closed her eyes as the first layer of cleansing began. A rain shower of water from overhead, a chilly one, sluiced her from head to toe and siphoned through a floor drain. It was followed by a mist, some kind of cleansing agent, which supposedly killed any live bacteria on contact.
    Next step, remove her gear. Given the samples she worked with weren’t considered hazardous, she didn’t have the goggles and air exchangers others had to wear, but she still had her hair bound in a plastic cap, her hands gloved in rubber, and wore a long lab coat, which was resistant to fluid, but not impermeable.
    Her street clothes were slightly damp, and if she were done for the day, she’d usually keep them on and step out at this point, but this was a decontamination procedure. As soon as she’d shed the coat and hair net, the shower came on again, soaking her.
    Lovely. So much for the silk blouse that said dry-clean only.
    The deluge of water stopped and left her dripping. She wasn’t quite done.
    “Please remove all your garments and place them in the disposal chute.”
    Strip to the skin? Surely