Dahlia Frost entered the control room. Gregor was seated at his workstation, typing furiously at the keyboard.
“Any progress?” Dahlia asked.
“No, I can’t get the doctor’s drones online. Something’s wrong.”
Dahlia frowned. Gregor used to be one of the most talented hackers in the industry. Now he’s a liability. Time to get rid of this dead weight.
“We need to show some progress, and soon. You don’t want the doctor angry at you.”
Anya strode into the room. She was dressed in a black dress, and a katana was in a scabbard on her back. Her expression was blank, as Gregor’s mind seemed to be.
“Father would like a status report.”
“Send Gregor. He has been working on the new code longest, and can provide a unique perspective,” Dahlia said.
Gregor glared at her. She smiled to herself. It was time to jettison this garbage from her life and take back what was hers. Putting a stop to this world-domination madness was good for business. If there was collateral damage like Gregor, so be it.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I’m coming,” Gregor said.
Dahlia watched Anya escort the disgraced hacker out of the room and hopefully into certain death. No sooner than they were gone than Dahlia left in the opposite direction. Dahlia had memorized the route, but time was of the essence. Doc Chop’s lack of human guards would be her advantage. Since he had drones and robots guarding the perimeter, they would be easily defeated. Dahlia discovered a little package on the ship’s central computer. It was a Zero Day malware program that was going to detonate soon. She thought about cleansing it from the system, but that wasn’t part of her plan. She recognized the code signature of the person who wrote it. Every programmer had a particular writing style, and this one was an ally. As she rounded the last corridor to the holding cells, she checked for any activity. Other than some hallway-cleaning robots, there was nothing. She opened the door of the last holding cell and saw Treeka strapped to a table. She appeared malnourished and battered. She looked up at Dahlia and smiled.
“It’s time,” Dahlia said.
She removed a metal and glass cartridge from her belt and lifted Treeka’s shirt. It took a moment, but she was able to eject the spent nutrition cartridge and replace it with a fresh one. Treeka perked up almost immediately.
“I’m ready to crash that motherfucker’s party. Can you take me?” Treeka said.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Dahlia said.
She removed the cyborg’s restraints. Treeka stretched and undid the remaining restraints. Dahlia hit the side of a nearby computer workstation. A panel ejected. She fished out two guns and several spare clips, and handed one of the pistols to Treeka.
“Let’s party!” Dahlia said.
Treeka smiled as she inserted a fresh magazine. “With pleasure.”
Moments later, the two cyborgs left the room with a renewed purpose.