Chapter 2: three weeks into past
Valencia 704 was a weapon, or so she began to realize. She had been dressed in a form fitting black armor far from bulky, lightweight and relatively comfortable. She was escorted down the hall of the clean, white facility.
Her brain calculated everything, every opening, every word, and every movement, and all that surrounded her. Her narrow eyes flicked around purposefully, memorizing every detail of the path they were taking.
She was escorted by two men, each wearing similar white lab coats. One was taller than her with a wispy goatee and a round, bald head. The second was younger, blond and broad shouldered, carrying himself with a confident air.
Something flicked in her vision, and she let a red film slide over her left eye. She found she could suddenly see through the wall, seeing heat readings and objects on the other side of the walls. She looked back to the men. Each were sporting weapons in their coats, lying flat and hidden on their waists.
Suspicion made her edgy, and her fingers curled into her palm, forming a fist. She would fight if she had to.
But the men led her down into a room with dark black carpet, glass walls, and the woman, Loraine Crewel, standing at the far side. The men opened the doors, allowing Valencia to walk in. Still tense, she did. She made sure the red lens had slid out of her vision before facing the woman.
"You're brain is only partly a reality," Crewel said as Valencia 704 stood in front of her, mimicking the scientist's position by folding her hands behind her back, "The rest is made with circuits. As such, we are able to download files into you like we would to a computer. Sit in the chair, please." Her hands gestured to the chair sitting in the corner.
It was reclined slightly, with the shape and appearance of a dentist chair. Wires were hooked up to the back, thick cables, others thin cords.
Valencia eased herself into the chair stiffly, trying to maneuver her body into the sitting position required for the chair. She leaned slowly back into the head rest, and Crewel approached.
The robot felt a hatch at the back of her neck open up, and stiffened as a thick cord was inserted into a plug on her silver spine. Her body shuddered, and she gave herself a shake.
Crewel opened up a laptop onto the table nearby, "I am downloading the entire contents of this computer into your memory chip. It will feel like a rush, but just relax. Everything here was designed for your mission, and will be crucial to either common knowledge or your purpose."
Valencia heard the tapping of her long fingernails on the keyboard, and a deep sigh escaped her lips. She licked the corners of her mouth, feeling her tongue slide across the soft skin, moistening it. This was a curious feeling, to feel in general. To have gone from nothing to something in a nanosecond.
"Download initiated in three... two... one." A long fingernail pressed a key, and Valencia's body jerked violently. Her mind was thrown far away, spectating a round orb stained white and green over blue. Earth. Then it zoomed in at a million miles an hour, rushing through streets and houses and computers, flashing through hard drives and circuits.
Valencia's eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath, nearly falling from the chair. Panting with exertion as her eyelids fluttered wildly, she gripped the sides of the chair. The metal bent beneath her grip, and she tilted her head back to look at Crewel.
The scientist stared back at her with cold eyes, "What's the capital of Nigeria?"
"Abuja."
"What's the distance of the earth from the sun?"
"92.96 million miles."
"Who was the first president?"
"George Washington."
"What is 4,003,987 multiplied by 5,349?"
"21,417,326,463," Valencia replied without hesitation. "It's like... everything is now..."
"You are smarter than the average human. By far," Crewel added with a disdainful sniff. "But now, you are ready for your mission."
"My mission," Valencia replied, brushing tangled black hair from her eyes, "I am ready to hear it."
"There is a man," Crewel began, turning her computer around to face Valencia 704, "Under the name of Jaden Castillo." A picture appeared on the computer of a man, and Valencia studied it closely, analyzing him with a furrowed brow.
Dirty blond hair covered his head, slicked messily back so only a few strands fell onto his heavy brow and golden eyes. A scar covered the left side of his face, jutting from his forehead down past his cheekbone. He had a strong jaw and a cocky smile that revealed perfectly white teeth.
A high collar brushed beneath his chin, leading down into a gray trench coat patched with light brown leather, that was ripped at the shoulders to reveal well-muscled arms, and the hem at the bottom edge was tattered and worn. He wore a black shirt torn at the collar bones as if someone had attempted to strangle him but failed, and loose brown pants with a gun holster hanging from his gray belt that was clasped at the front with a silver buckle.
"Jaden Castillo," Valencia repeated, her eyes narrowing. Her finger brushed the picture, "Fighting styles?"
"Custom. None of our programed bots have beat him. Which is why we tried you, a robot with the mind and feelings of a human. You are capable of improvising, of changing fighting styles, of conviction. You are capable of victory."
The robot nodded her head steadily, "My orders?"
"Find him. Kill him. And show no mercy."
Her hands clenched into fists, a grin creeping across her face, "As orders are, I shall do. Just give me a location."
Loraine Crewel smiled. "Then let's give you a little test assignment, shall we?"
Valencia nodded coldly.
"There is a man on thirty first street not too far away. He has recently stolen a computer chip from us. I am tasking you with retrieving it."
"And what to do with the man?"
"Kill him."
The grin returned to her face, "As orders are, I shall do."
Two days later...
Valencia 704 crept down the street, a black mask wrapping around her nose and mouth to conceal her identity. The house in front of her matched the image in her head that had been downloaded, and she strode up to the front door. Her feet crossed the pebbled walkway swiftly, and she came to a halt in front of the door. The wooden porch covered her head, shielding her from the dark rain flooding around onto the streets.
There was the sound of the door being unlocked, and it cracked open. An eye peeked through the crack, "Wh-who are you?" the man's voice was shaky, as if he was frightened.
Valencia pressed a hand on the door, and the man panicked, trying to force it shut. His entire body weight slammed into the door, but her arm didn't buckle. She forced the door open, and the man fell onto his back. He scrambled back across the floor, but from the gears in her wrist, a blade protruded.
The man screamed, but Valencia caught him by the shirt collar, lifting him with one hand off of the floor, "The chip. Where is it." Her voice was completely emotionless, carrying no tone.
"U-upstairs, by the computer! Don't kill me, please-" he was interrupted by the blade entering his throat, and blood spilled from his mouth. Valencia dropped him to the floor, stepping over the body as she headed for the stairs.
"Frank?" A head peered around the corner, and a younger man gasped. "N-not one of you!"
Valencia ripped the knife from her wrist, and the blade spun through the air. A second body hit the floor, and she lifted her feet over it as she ascended the stairs. Upstairs had three people in it, each she slaughtered without blinking an eye.
She found the chip in the computer, then slid it into the containment unit in her forearm. She saw a small dog cowering in the corner of the room, and she gave it a long look. She crouched in front of it, holding out a hand. It whimpered, pressing itself into the wall.
"I am blowing it up. You should leave."
The dog whimpered again, ducking its tiny head.
Valencia plugged up a small square to the computer, then picked up the dog. It whimpered a third time, trembling all over. She carried it outside, holding it carefully in her arms and not setting it down until they had crossed the street. Then an explosion shook the neighborhood, and Valencia didn't care to look at the smoke rising up behind her from the remains of the charred house.
The dog sat beside her now, and Valencia smiled at it. Then she pressed a finger beside her ear, "Valencia 704 report. Five dead, chip recovered. House is ashes."
"Well done."
"As orders were, I have done."
There was almost pride in her voice as Crewel replied "Indeed you have."
Three Weeks Later...
"Status Report:
Subject: RoboticHuman1.0 Valencia 704
Successful mechanics and brain grafting.
Memory chip- functional
Body- functional
Fighting style- better than anticipated
Adjusting to surroundings well. Gaining unwanted independence. Eliminate and readjust. Pull from assignment.
Head's orders. Terminate project. Immediately."
Loraine Crewel slammed the report on the desk with a curse. They couldn't stop the assignment now! Valencia was getting so close. The past weeks had been dedicated to locating Jaden Castillo, and they had finally found him. Of course, she had noticed Valencia 704's gradual change as she grew into familiarity with her human side.
But she couldn't withdraw her prized creation now. Not when they were so close to achieving their goals.
Crewel pulled a paper shredder out from beneath her desk, setting it onto the table. With a buzz, the letter went through it, spewing out in tiny shreds into the plastic bucket. No letter had ever arrived from headquarters, and she had received nothing.
Valencia 704 would remain on the field.