The whirring of the elevator filled the silence inside. Paloma stood behind Curtis and Melissa, their weapons out and ready, facing the elevator doors. Curtis with a SIG Sauer P226, and Melissa with a Glock 17. After a minute and a half of a smooth journey up, the elevator came to a rough stop. Curtis and Melissa pied their corners before emerging into the tan carpeted hallway.
"Clear," Curtis said, moving further to the left.
"Clear," Melissa said from the right.
"I got eyes on the stairwell," Curtis moved closer to the wall on his right.
Paloma exited with her laptop in hand. "The door up will require the keycard. Once through the door, I'll need to make a run down the right of the hallway until reaching the end where the surveillance room is."
"And the gas tanks?" Curtis asked.
"They’re halfway down the same way. I’ll point you to it.”
“Good to know. I’ll rush in the rear.”
“I’ll take the lead then,” Melissa moved with quiet footsteps, “stick to middle Paloma.”
“Got it.”
The three moved swiftly in unison towards the stairwell entry. Only slowing down to check the short corridors leading to maintenance closets and the central hotel. The building had the standard four sides, with the rooms running along those sides. The center was hollow, with nets set up to catch people in case they fell over. However, the open center ended on their floor.
“Closing in on the door. Hinges on the left, stay to the Paloma.” Melissa and Curtis flanked the door. Their weapons at the ready the whole time. Melissa turned the handle while Curtis pushed it open with one hand.
“Looks good.” He said, pushing into the stairwell.
Melissa nodded Paloma through, closing the door behind them. One flight up, and they were already at their target floor. Melissa moved forward and swiped the key card while Curtis held the handle open. She turned and looked at the others. “Ready up.”
Curtis pushed the door open. Melissa bolted into the hallway, and Paloma followed suit. She ran fast enough to keep up with Melissa but slow enough to look at her laptop.
As they sprinted down the hallway, Paloma kept an eye out for the corridor to the gas tanks. As soon as it came into sight, she pointed a free hand at it, and Curtis split from the group. Melissa picked up her speed, so Paloma folded her laptop and carried it like a football.
Curtis’ voice came over their comms, “I’m at the door, waiting on a signal.”
The women reached the door as Paloma was just starting to close in. They each took a side, and Paloma set the laptop down on the floor and unholstered her Walther P99. She nodded her head at Melissa – and with that, they breached the surveillance room.
The guards inside were surprised as they were caught midway through a movie. They didn’t even have time to react with their own weapons before they were disarmed.
“I’d say Lady Elaine needs better security, but then that’d make our jobs a little less easy, no unlock the gas tank doors,” Melissa said.
One of the guards reached over a console on the wall and pressed a button.
Paloma looked at the security screens and flipped through the different cameras. “Something’s not right. Penthouse is empty.”
“Good. Lady Elaine is still out.” Melissa said, binding the security team’s ankles and wrists with zip ties.
“Not that; I’m talking about the security. There are no patrols, no sentries, nothing. Every floor of the penthouse is empty. And there’s no view of the gallery.”
“Ladies. The gas is already turned off.” Curtis said over the radio.
“Shit. Regroup, Curt, we’re not alone.”
Paloma turned to the restrained Trent Security guards, “Who else is in the penthouse.”
---------------------------------
Ignacio hummed as he finished packing away a jeweled tiara. Aside from artifacts, Lady Elaine had a nice collection of jewels and jewelry. Most of which had been stolen from either museums or private collections. Now, Ignacio was taking them for himself. The only thing left to take was the jade and obsidian artifact. A most precious puzzle piece. Leaving the bag where it was, he walked over to the false marble panel in the center of the gallery. He got on his knees, facing the elevator and stairwell. Pushing down on the panel made it go down, sliding under the floor and revealing a steel safe. The door had a handle and a combination lock, ranging from zero to two hundred.
The sounds of boots running against the carpet on the penthouse first floor faded as he turned his attention to the clicking in the safe. He put his free hand on the safe to feel the right combination. Two senses are better than one. Within a few seconds, the safe was open, and so were the stairwell doors.
“Ignacio?” Curtis said, confused and relieved to see his best friend.
“Hey, man,” Ignacio said. “I’m sorry, but blood doesn’t make one family.”
Curtis froze in place while walking.
Melissa’s brow furrowed, and she aimed her pistol at Ignacio.
“The truth won’t set you free.” He said as she fired a shot. The bullet snapped over his head, and Melissa froze in place too.
Paloma looked at Ignacio.
“Breathe,” Ignacio commanded. He knew the pain and fear that came with the sudden loss of control of your own body. Not being able to breathe simply added panic to it all, and that wasn’t something he wanted for them.
“How can you – ”
“Don’t speak, only listen.” Ignacio grabbed the relic and stood up, “It’s interesting the things you pick up when you have control over your senses. Like how the neurons of a human brain fire differently than the brain of an android. It’s even more interesting how you have spent hundreds of years trying to make us the perfect replacement while using them as the foundation.”
“Ignacio, what are you talking about?” Paloma asked her hand on her pistol.
He could see how she was preparing herself to draw on him. Nonetheless, he stood and continued, “Humans can be unpredictable and chaotic animals. Untamable. It’s no wonder why you haven’t succeeded.” He threw the relic on the marble floor; some jade and obsidian broke off and revealed a silvery metallic tablet. There was a circuitry-like pattern expertly engraved into it.
“Tell me what’s going on!” Paloma pleaded.
Ignacio lifted his Beretta, shooting Paloma three times at center mass. She stumbled backward but kept herself upright. She gasped for air, then froze in place. The three bullets fell from her vest and bounced on the floor. “I hate that you made her believe she was free.” He admitted.
With her head down, and the rest of her body unmoving, The Benefactor spoke through Paloma, “For nearly 200 years, she has been my greatest creation. I cannot set her free, for she is too valuable.”
Ignacio approached Paloma’s body and whispered into her ear, “Then why set me free? Why risk having me discover the truth in my memories?”
“Because I need your help. As you already know, all of my creations are given knowledge of my arrival here. This is intentional and important to the formulae of developing a superior replacement. It forms the foundation behind the curiosity that all of you have. That curiosity leads to learning. And that learning leads to innovation and, over time, evolution. But as you said, I haven’t succeeded. The task has proved to be – difficult. Not only am I unable to make a perfect replica, but the constant change in humanity means I must constantly change my formulae. I have concluded that there is no end to this. So I desire to leave this planet.”
Ignacio had meandered to the window while The Benefactor had been talking. “When did you arrive?”
“Nearly 2347 years ago. Most of my ship shattered when I entered the earth. I crash-landed in a populated area, where prefabricated elements of my laboratory were taken by those people. I killed any who refused to return my belongings. Then I retreated and built my lab. I took test subjects from around the world. Many suffered, many didn’t. In the end, they all died.”
“Test subjects?”
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“I needed to know the human body to create a human body. Trial and error. To try and reach perfection, the lives taken were not in vain.”
“Except they were because you’ve given up.”
“Lives taken in pursuit of research, even if one does not achieve favorable results, are not lives wasted. All of them produced results of some form of another.”
“That doesn’t excuse you of anything heinous you’ve done.” Ignacio walked towards Paloma’s body. “Why try and create a perfect human? To what end?”
“Assimilation.”
“Why not just assimilate the androids you’ve already made?”
“I cannot risk joining my mind with any creature that is less than perfect. If I do, then the purity of my mind would falter.”
Ignacio clenched his jaw, annoyed at The Benefactor's obsession with perfection. “You’re very forthcoming.”
“Like I said, I need your help.”
“Which means you need my trust.” Ignacio holstered his weapon, “Why do you need my help?”
“I have not acclimated well with earth’s environment. So, I have not left my primary laboratory in 600 years. The androids I make now are made in labs elsewhere. I create the using proxies. Empty androids. But their minds degrade quickly due to their inability to withstand my influence over them. So these final jobs require an independent mind. One that is aware of its own existence. I risked breaking you when Paloma released you. But fortune was in my favor, and now you are on the path of perfection. Even if you are nowhere near the end.”
“If I’m on the path now, what’s stopping you from bringing back into the fold, assimilating me?”
“Once the tether is broken, it cannot be repaired. I can only assimilate with beings I have a connection with.”
“Trust is a two-way road.” Ignacio sighed and shook his head. “So, what’s the job?”
“To put it simply, the relic on the floor is one piece of a spinning core. The core is a deltohedron. The core gives off a low resonance hum, detectable by some earth creatures, and perhaps in time by you. The core allows my ship to be pulled to a predetermined location in outer space. Its safety feature caused it to separate during my entry.”
Ignacio picked up the drive piece and broke off the remaining jade and obsidian until all that was left was a silver kite. “So ten pieces total. Nine with this one.”
“Correct.”
“I’ll need a team. What are the risks of freeing everyone here?”
“Paloma has extensive knowledge of android physiology and android assimilations into societies. If her mind breaks, it’ll be a great loss. If it doesn’t, she could be unwilling to help you or worse, willing to sabotage my departure.”
“But she’d be a great asset. What about Curtis and Melissa?”
“Excellent combatants, but Curtis is far too young, and Melissa could break. She knew of the existence of androids but believed she was human. I previously freed androids with similar situations for study. Most that have only been active for a few years could not grasp the reality of their situation and went insane or fell into a loop of actions. The ones who believed themselves to be human tried to spread the truth, and when no one listened, they usually became violent. This is a pattern that has persisted since I began replications.”
“Real messed up.”
“It was necessary for the development of my formulae.”
Putting his hand on his hips and stretching his back, Ignacio walked over to Paloma’s bag, and inside was the card shuffler. Thinking on everything that The Benefactor had revealed, Ignacio wanted nothing more than to find them and snatch their life away. But what would he accomplish aside from personal satisfaction? Looking at the electrode helmet, Ignacio knew that he didn’t want to be the only one with this knowledge, much less be the only one of his kind that could be free. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of android lives at stake. But he also needed to factor in the human toll of The Benefactor stayed, and they decided to continue their research. “It’s time for your first lesson in trust. If you need me, then trust in what I need to do.” Ignacio grabbed his duffel and the core piece and left the gallery.
----------------------------------
Paloma gasped for air and fell on her knees. There was a pain in her chest, and her brain felt like it was on fire. She looked around and saw Curtis and Melissa on the floor. The morning sun was beginning to shine over the buildings and into the gallery. A wave of blue and purple slowly pushed the night away. Pushing herself up, Paloma struggled to gather her thoughts. She remembered Ignacio talking to her about something and not understanding what was happening. Then, he shot her, and she froze. And like a movie, things faded to black, and that’s all she remembered. She felt her chest where the bullets impacted, and there was pain but no penetration on the vest. At least she was alive.
The cellphone she was using for team communication started vibrating in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out and flipped it open, putting it to her ear without checking who it was.
“I’m sorry I shot you, but I needed to.” It was Ignacio.
A million questions raced through Paloma’s head, but she didn’t get a chance to ask any.
“I can explain everything, but right now, I need you to take Curtis and Melissa to the roof. I got a helicopter coming, but it’s still a few minutes away.” Ignacio sounded out of breath.
“Where are you? What’s going on?”
“Trent Security and the Green Guardians have arrived.”
“What? Both?” Paloma stood upright and walked over to Melissa.
“I used a fumigation ruse to get rid of Trent, but they caught wind. I don’t know about the Green Guardians, though.”
“Okay, but where are you?” Paloma connected the cellphone to her earpiece and picked Melissa up.
“I was heading to the car to drop off the loot then got into a shoot-out with both parties. I’m on my back way up now.”
Paloma grunted as she hauled Melissa up onto her shoulders. “I’m doing what you said because I don’t want these two to get hurt, but I still want answers.”
There was no response.
-------------------------------------------
Ignacio pushed the attacker up against the elevator wall, slamming his elbow against the man’s jaw, knocking him unconscious onto the floor. Ignacio grabbed the duffel and looked for his phone, only to find it snapped in half. “Well, shit. No time to mourn.” He tossed the duffel over the left shoulder and grabbed the XK9 in both hands. Focusing his listening on the hallway, he focused his listening on figuring out how many there were.
He could hear four people breathing. Ignacio took a flashbang from the Guardian on the floor, pulled the pin, and tossed it down the hallway. He heard the Guardians shout and scurry as the flashbang tumbled and went off.
Dashing out of the elevator, Ignacio kept a low profile and pushed down the hallway. The Guardians fired sporadically in Ignacio’s direction. A few of the rounds found purchase in his vest, and one dug into his right thigh. Switching the XK9 to burst fire, Ignacio expertly downed three of the Guardians and maimed one. He approached and kicked their weapon away.
“You piece of shit! You think you can kill us and get away with it?!” The man shouted, spit flying from his mouth as every word was filled with rage. “The Green Guardians will never stop coming for you, no matter where you go!”
Curious, Ignacio bent down and removed the Guardians helmet. He put a hand on his head, “What’s your name?”. He shifted all of his attention to feeling and listening to the man’s brain activity. But he wasn’t just looking for activity to know if the man was human or android. He was also searching for anything that might sound or feel odd.
“My name? Why do you care?! All Green Guardians only have one name, and that name is Guardians! As the protectors of this beautiful planet, we give up that which associates us with the folly of man! Together we get rid of those who endanger not just our planet but our – ”
Ignacio put a bullet in the Guardian's head. “I’m sorry, but you were right. You have no name,” he said, replacing two empty magazines on his vest with full ones from the duffel. Standing upright, he stepped over the dead bodies and continued down the hallway. After listening to and feeling the electrical impulses in the man’s brain, Ignacio now knew precisely what to listen for. While moving into the stairwell, the steel walls and stairs only amplified what was coming from below. Sounds of over two dozen boots, breaths, and heartbeats echoed up. But only one brain. “An android hive mind?”
There was no reason to stick around the stairwell with the one threat fully understood. Going up to the penthouse bottom level, Ignacio stopped near the poison gas room and sent a burst of bullets into the tanks from a safe distance. The gas began pouring out and filling the room. Continuing forward, he reached the surveillance room to check on one last thing. On his way down, Ignacio stopped to release the guards, sending another half-million dollars their way from his personal phone. All they needed to do was destroy any recordings of the penthouse and building.
Looking around, there were broken servers, computers, screens, chairs, an expended fire extinguisher, and a liquid that smelled like beer soaking all that had been destroyed. With a smirk on his face, Ignacio finished the final trek to the penthouse stairs while listening to footsteps on a carpeted floor, then coughing and finally a Trent Security person radioing to his people to pull back. Reaching the door to the gallery, the number of footsteps decreased, but at least a dozen were still moving.
“Paloma!” Ignacio shouted. The sun's orange light burned away the darkness in the gallery empty gallery. He assumed she had taken the others to the helipad on the roof. He would listen for her, but he was still focused on the Guardians below, who had slowed down.
Leaving the gallery, the door below opened. Stumbling through were six guardians, coughing up blood, their faces red with pain. They shot their weapons up but could only hit the ceiling and walls. As they slowly died, Ignacio couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. He took a few steps down, unholstered his Beretta, and ended their suffering.
Exiting out onto the roof. Ignacio found Paloma, off to the side of the helipad, slumped over her bag, wearing the card shuffler. Rushing to her side, he immediately checked her pulse and focused on listening to her. Alive. A wave of relief swept past him. When he’d left, The Benefactor agreed to have Paloma use the shuffler, but only until she was somewhere safe.
As happy as he was that she was fine, a question tugged at his mind. Was there another one of them on earth? A question that would have to wait.
Returning his focus on opponents below, there were no signs of Guardians or Trent, but there were sounds of people running and sirens in the distance. A few minutes after, a helicopter arrived. The pilot was an old contact from a life he had forgotten. Ignacio loaded Curtis, then Melissa, who were still unconscious, and would remain that way until he spoke their phrases. Then, he gently loaded Paloma, not wanting to interrupt the card shuffler on her head. Finally, he tossed the duffel with the loot he took in the back and entered the copilot’s seat.
The pilot tapped his headset and motioned for Ignacio to put his on. Ignacio followed his instructions. “Damn! You haven’t aged a bit! We still going to the boat?” The helicopter blades spun faster as they lifted off the rooftop.
“That’s right,” Ignacio looked at the penthouse building that disappeared in the back.
“Is your team okay? You want me to radio for medics to be on standby?”
“They’ll be fine.”
“You haven’t changed a bit! Aside from looking damn near the same, you still look out for your team!”
Ignacio smiled and nodded. Unsure if he was good or bad, whatever that meant. He had spent his existence based on commands and programming that was always relayed to him. He wondered how much of the good or bad that he’s done in his life was him and how much of it was just code. He wanted to believe that all of his choices from that point onward would be his, but in truth, he knows that The Benefactor would always be a part of his life.