Tap tap tap tap. Stop. I flicked the hand away, sat up, and opened my eyes. A balding and clearly homeless man had poked me with a stick. Annoyed, I grabbed the stick and tossed it aside. The drug addict scampered away. The dumpster, I had sat next to, now had a large dent in it. I groaned putting my hand to my face. Shit, Alice would record the damage and I would have to pay for it. Garbage collection was done by the government. I wouldn’t be able to get away scott free. I mentally called for my robotic mother…

I called again… Now I was pissed…  Alice wasn’t the type play those kinds of jokes. I didn't know where I was.  What happened with that doctor? He clearly gave me the super strength. More than two times the magnification. Hitting a dumpster with a stick should not have broken the steel sides.

That’s when I noticed the bandage on my head. It was covered in blood. I took it off revealing stitches. I could feel them, but needed a mirror to properly view what might be a hideous scar. Hopefully, the backstreet doctor could stitch properly.

The garbage disposal held broken furniture, pieces of styrofoam, and a random assortment of putrid food waste. With no luck, I went onto the next one. Finally. The Fourth dumpster had broken pieces of a mirror. Well the stitching was done well… There was a problem though. Written in sharpie was a message saying he gave me extra. In exchange for my AI, he gave me fifteen times the strength and custom designed titanium claws. He even said his farewell written across my head. I guess a military AI could be useful or sell for lots of money. A company might be able to replicate the AI after obtaining one. Droid army? Maybe. Cool but I had just been robbed. Even if the doctor had given me extra genetic enhancements, he took my only family. Something I couldn’t put a price on.

I got up and walked to where he had been hours ago. The building was cleaned out with even the potted plant taken. The back room was open with a soft murmuring coming from the floor.

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The tiles were removed revealing a lower basement. Old stairs in disrepair descended into the void. A dim light trailed down to the bottom a few stories below. I never loved creepy dark basements. I knew I had to go, and begrudgingly set off in search of evidence.

The murmuring grew louder. Halfway down it became obvious the person was trying to get help. I was cautious to run down where I might be ambushed. Fortunately, the screams stayed at an even level of desperation. The person was about to die or had been dying for a while. I continued my controlled descent humming a happy tune. I did not want the dark claustrophobic space getting to me.

I eventually arrived at the bottom where a single man sat in a chair sat. He was gagged and blindfolded. His screaming had stopped and was watching me with eyes of scrutiny. Maybe he thought I was in league with the psycho doctor.

Ungagged and untied he took a moment to catch his ragged breath.”Thanks” he replied.

“What’s your name?”

“Dr.Quert, pleasure to meet you.”

“Then who was the other guy?”

“An old colleague of mine who went crazy. He was big into conspiracy theories and got hooked up with a cult. We split ways after that. He tied me down after he failed to get a medical license. I don’t know what he was doing up there.”

“Was he good at what he did?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t going to wake up dead.

“Top of his class, but he tended to ignore the ethical side of being a doctor. He only begrudgingly took the oath not to harm others.”

Well now I was looking at waking up a freakish monster. Things were slightly better. Being dead did not sit well with me. I thought about those old detective novels my sister had read. What was my next plan of action? Judging from my past laziness, I would call the authorities.

Getting the jist of the idea, I led him up and out of the pit. I was happy to be back with the sky over my head. I called my government number and explained the situation. They sent me to a portal close by and beamed me back onto the clone ship. Hopefully, the Navy were an efficient bunch.  Playing with other seven year olds bugged me. Manipulating the other clones grew old a while ago. I would have to come up with some new fun while I waited.