--Interface ports disengaged.--
--Exiting sleep mode.--
--Battery charge 100%--

Blinking I discovered I could move again. Sleep mode, huh? It seemed more like death. If not for that...dream? Fragment of memory? I would have thought I had died. The room was dark, with only small lights here and there winking in the gloom.

--Nightvision activated--

Suddenly I could see clearly in the room through a green tint. The previously tiny lights were veritable suns now, and I squinted before I realized I didn't need to. there was no pain from the brightness. a small audible click and the lights became more dim as I looked at them, the light being filtered somehow so I could make out details.

"Doctor?"

No answer.

--Query internal chronometer--
--Time 03:40 CST--

Of course, at nearly 4am, he should be asleep. I had the full run of the place. Time to snoop. The first thing I went for was the local paper, the Tribune, scattered messily over two consoles. The date was yesterday, and the headline was 'Daring daylight bank robbery by super scientist leaves 13 dead.'

Typical standard fare, an unknown member of the gifted had decided to make an unscheduled withdrawal from a branch office of first national, sending a full squad of military grade robots to peel the safe and rob the place. The standard bank drones were no match for the military grade machines, being outnumbered and outgunned, but the police had been tipped off somehow. Which meant
that lying in wait were two full squads of national guard bots. Que the slaughter, the criminal gets away in the confusion.

The most important part of the article was 'names of the victims withheld pending notification of next of kin'. If only it were that easy, sigh. I found a trash can and threw the paper away, incidentally cleaning a few other tables and consoles on my way. I didn't hear the voice in my head say anything about it, so I figured it must have come from my actual brain; OCD or something.

The computers were still on, displaying schematics of various robots or machines (once I woke them from sleep by the time honored tradition of jiggling their mouse). I recognized one as the one from my dream-memory. It's designation was the 'A.D. 1400-b'. A pretty obvious tool of war, not an espionage, housekeeping or bodyguard model. Judging by external appearance alone, it was
a 20-30 year old design, easily available by now to rich people and third world countries, and therefore well behind sota, or state of the art.

Just the kind of thing a gifted bank robber might have.

Not all gifted were made equally. The first ones were all super scientists that started popping up around the mid 20's, building the better death ray. they were rare but still managed a significant presence in world war 2, building the first super soldiers, rockets, robotic death machines and super tanks. Hitler, who had chased many of them out of country in the 30's, (he deemed them 'impure') never really knew what hit him, at least once America got involved with their resources.

Once the war was over, a type of cold war settled in, with America and Russia (and to a lesser extent other countries) snapping up the increasing numbers of gifted and their experiments, the aforementioned super soldiers, robots, and other miscellaneous crap. Russia of course lost that and fragmented, as they couldn't keep up with American production; Currently China is the only other country in the running for super power status.

But not all gifted were created equally...some were smarter than others, and this doctor who implanted my brain looked like one of the smarter ones. Like maybe top 5 in the world smart.

--Query Model--
--THL Hastur all purpose model 851--
--Software Kernel 1.0.0--
--Language Kernel 6.2--
--FE driver 1.1.2--

Whoa, got to watch that. One stray thought as to my own model number and I had an answer. Alright, now to use what I knew of computer speak to translate it. The Hastur all purpose...that was the chassis model. The 8 meant series 8, as in there were 7 other chassis types made before mine...the 5 meant modified, as a standard model would be an 800. So what did the 1 mean? Custom?
If this was a custom body, it'd mean it was built on consignment to conform to a specific customer's wishes.

I'd heard of such things, they were usually sex toys. The doc had better not of put me in such a body, no jury in the world would convict me of his murder.

The more esoteric stuff displayed around I couldn't make heads or tails of, not being one of the gifted myself. Of my other body, there was no sign. There was one room blocked by a large metal door, either steel or something more exotic, which was locked. The building looked to be one of any number of down and out warehouses of ancient make, all crumbling brick and leaded
single pane glass. I could smell odors which I associated with water. I assumed a large body of it was outside the windows, and looked out to confirm it.

Lake Michigan unless I missed my guess, which put us somewhere on the waterfront. At least I hoped it was; I could be at any of the lakes, but I felt that I looked at lake Michigan often. That it was a part of home. Did I live near the water? I still couldn't remember much.

I knew I worked with computers though, somehow. I had a recollection of games played in the past. Maybe I was a game designer or programmer?

I shook my head.

The lights came on with a loud clack.

--Nightvision disengaged--

I whirled to see the doctor standing there as the green fled, having just come out of one of the doors I'd meant to try when I had gotten distracted. I could see a bed behind him before he shut that door. He waved halfheartedly to me as he shambled to the coffee maker.

He looked like death warmed over.

"Rough night doctor?"

He blearily tried to stare me down. I shrugged.

"It's been a rough two days, that was the first sleep I've had in about that long. How long have you been awake?"

--Query internal chronometer--
--Time 6:00 CST--
--Time elapsed since last sleep session 2:20:37--

I blinked.

"Two hours and twenty minutes roughly."

"Battery status?"

--Query battery charge--
--Battery charge 95.4%--

"Just over 95%. Is that good for that amount of time?"

"Not really good or bad, actually. Use is a little high, but you're likely still um, recompiling."

--Data retrieval 42%--

Damn, this was going to get annoying. Was any stray thought or phrase from someone else going to bring out that stupid processor?

"Forty two percent doctor."

"Good, good. considering the amount of data that actually lies in the human brain, that is pretty good progress."

Wait a minute.

"So wait, this processor is assigning a file address to all my memories? That's why I cant remember anything?"

"That is likely correct."

He poured himself a cup of the now freshly brewed coffee and headed to another door while I pondered how I could possibly have worked that out. I had to have been a programmer of some sort. I followed him to find a rather dingy and run down kitchen. Doctor Langford was currently burying his face in a day old (I hoped it was only a day old) powdered doughnut.

"I'll try and figure out who you are today since you seem stable. It will be hard with no picture, ID, or fingerprints. I do have some DNA of course, and I'll be typing it and running through various agencies in hope of a match but it may take awhile. I would suggest you stay nearby where I can monitor you in case anything goes wrong, but I won't insist."

"I'm fine with possibly staying close, but I don't see myself staying cooped up in here for long. By the way do I need to eat or drink? I mean, I don't have much biological matter, but it'll need some nutrition. I breathe and I assume you have blood pumping somehow...."

"Yes yes, of course I've covered all that, you've no need to worry. While you can eat, you don't strictly speaking need to. The umbilical pumps the nutrients you need into a reservoir which feeds your brain. You haven't died so I must have done something right, no?"

His irritation was real and immediate. His face was flushed, heartbeat elevated, body language showing the warning signs of rage just that quickly. What had I said? It took nearly .004 seconds for me to figure it out.

I'd questioned his work, of course he'd be angry. Though the level of anger indicated that he suffered from triple S, or super scientist syndrome...a rage brought on when someone else impugned their work, or implied they were stupid. Perhaps he got that often? I'd heard the community wasn't exactly nice to failures.

Now where had I heard that?

"I'm sorry doctor. I merely had the idea suddenly and blurted it out. I didn't mean to imply anything. I'm just worried...this is my life after all."

His gaze softened and he calmed.

"You're right, I'm sorry too. I forgot for a moment how personally invested you are."

"So um, about that new body...."

"I'll get started on it today; just need to perform a few errands first."

"Oh? Like what? Can I help?"

"Just need to get a few of my other robots here to assist, and have some parts shipped. You caught me at a bad time, from an infrastructure perspective."

Was that a smirk? I answered it in kind.

"Well I'll try to do better next time."

"Let's hope you do. Did you want some coffee?"

He asked, tipping the carafe in my direction.

"No thanks, if I don't need it you should get it; after all you look like you need it all. Think I'll go for a walk."

"Sure, just try not to get mugged. The neighborhood isn't the best, but it's all city zoning allows me to have."

"I'll be careful."

I unlocked the door and walked out to enjoy the air.

**********************************************************************************************

Kaname answered when conversing, assuming even when not looking at him, that he was talking about her. Kaname smiled, laughed, frowned, and looked tense...naturally. no hesitation in the facial servos, no hesitation in the display at all. Kaname cleaned and opened doors with less deliberation in her movements than yesterday. Anyone else would need a full body scan to determine what she was, and that only meant one thing.

He was SUCH a genius!

Her muscle memory was linking perfectly to the servos, moving them without conscious thought. she was making past associations to food and drink (no way could he fail to notice her rather longing look at his coffee, no matter how out of it he was). And most importantly she was reasoning, complete with those troubling leaps in logic that could never be programmed. She had deduced why he was angry as quickly as his peers would have.

In short, she acted perfectly human.

It was enough to make him feel guilty...almost.

He still couldn't wait to rub it in the society's collective noses, The bastards. First things first though. He texted his other hidden lair in a predetermined code, then settled in to read the text log of commands Kaname was generating. He knew it was working, but he needed to try and figure out how.

************************************************************************************************

The waterfront was mostly deserted, with warehouses of varying ages placed side by side, shipping containers packed ground to sky, and trucks picking up or dropping off containers in a dizzying patternless chaos. There was a small wharf at the edge of my visual range, but no beach in any direction. Just a steep rock filled drop-off.

I didn't let that deter me however, there was a road that ran the length of the coast with a sidewalk beside it. I walked along it, listening to the gulls and taking in the air. I realized it was cold, seeing everyone bundled up. I was still dressed in the stupid cosplay outfit, and stood out.

But I could actually feel the cold leeching warmth from my skin, which was a plus. The closer this body behaved to my biological one, the less the chance I would go stark raving nuts. I don't know how I know that, but I do, and I won't question it.

--Warning! Adverse temperatures detected. Continued unit heating to current temperatures will result in increased power drain.
Continue heating? Y/N--

Hmm, well what was the lowest temperature I could operate at?

--Query operational temperature extremes--
--Core temperatures: low 0 Celsius. High 66 Celsius.--

I mentally turned my heating off; I could 'see' my own internal temperature gauge, and it was well above 80 degrees. furthermore I knew somehow that I would be warned if I were reaching unsafe temperature levels.

Save for the temperature, it was a beautiful morning. Sunny, with few clouds, and the heat like a gentle caress rather than a slap to the face. A small breeze (5 to 7 mph) from the east, frothing up the water a bit. A few hardy gulls were lazing around in the sky, looking for garbage. I took advantage of a small park like viewing area to watch the boat traffic.

I'm not sure how long I watched....

--Query internal chronometer--
--Time 09:26:03--
--Elapsed time 2 hours 25 minutes 26 seconds--

Ahem! AS I WAS SAYING, I wasn't sure how long I stood there watching, leaning against the railing, Until I saw something rather unusual. A blonde female in her 20's leading a veritable brigade of bundled people behind her. She was dressed in black denim jeans, a white blouse and a lab coat, and nothing else. Behind her were 14 people bundled up like Eskimos, though I wasn't sure if the bulk was provided by their clothes or themselves. Each one was carrying a bulky bag or piece of equipment.

The most likely projected route had them going to the doc's place.

Following them proved easy, they didn't so much as glance in any direction but forward. The woman in front led the procession right into the doc's warehouse like a mother duck leading ducklings, through one of the larger doors. I moved to the door I'd come out of earlier, and eased it open as quietly as I could.

Which of course means it made enough noise to wake the dead.

the doc and his...assistant? were stopped in gestures that looked like they had been arguing, trapped gesticulating at each other like flies in amber. The Eskimos in my visual range were free of half their clothes, revealing silvered steel plated humanoid robots that were rather plain looking. The weapons they were pointing (high yield co-axial pulse lasers) stifled any thoughts of me insulting their lack of panache. I closed the door with my foot, and raised my hands.

"Um, hi? Doc can you call them off?"

"No need."

They all lowered their weapons a nano second later, acting for all the world as if I'd ceased to exist.

"Huh. Why did they stop?"

"They recognized your IFF as belonging to me, as they do."

Identification friend or foe, huh? that meant I had a chip broadcasting. Of course I had a chip broadcasting.

--Query location IFF transmitter--

A wire frame image of my body sprang to life in my mind's eye, showing it buried under where my stomach would be were I human.
Good to know I guess.

--Query unit and model number--

Without meaning to I had just pinged the identification of all robots within my visual range. The answers poured in, the
display made an odd kind of sense. My left and right eye displayed different units.

--Model number 400 unit number 42-- --Model number 400 unit number 49--
--Model number 400 unit number 58-- --Model number 400 unit number 83--
--Model number 400 unit number 59-- --Model number 400 unit number 64--
--Model number 400 unit number 62-- --Model number 400 unit number 74--
--Model number 400 unit number 63-- --Model number 400 unit number 85--
--Model number 400 unit number 67--
--Model number 950 unit Sara Merit--

The last was a surprise. the mama duck was a robot herself, a fairly sophisticated android. I took the opportunity to
approach.

"Doctor Langford, Unit Kaname just employed her IFF devices."

A bit closer, the facade of her sophistication began to crack a bit. Her skin looked a bit off, her movements stiff and her face and gestures tried to display emotion, but seemed to be aiming for the wrong ones. Unless anger was what she wanted?

"Indeed Sara, this does not surprise me."

"But, her response indicated surprise in knowing she had an IFF, yet she employed the device .35 seconds before an 800 series would be able to."

"That's because she is human where it counts Sara. How are the preparations?"

"The portable manufacturing devices are being reconstructed here as per orders, estimated time to completion 2 hours 37 minutes.

"good, now all I'll need are the materials."

I interrupted while staring at Sara as nonchalantly as possible. She didn't seem to mind.

"So whats going on?"

"These are the devices for constructing a male body for you. I only need some raw and processed materials to begin. Sara is my assistant at another lab, and these other units are muscle. Very old, but still usable and more importantly all I have available at the moment. My real lab is a country away, and I've been working on a shoe string budget."

"You don't have a human assistant? No offense Sara."

"No offense taken unit Kaname."

Doc looked a bit irritated for some reason...but he wasn't looking at me, so I let it go.

"I do, but she's busy at the moment gathering a few of those harder to find materials, as well as running down leads on who you are. Sara, 2 coffee's please."

"Yes Doctor Langford."

She moved away with decent speed to the kitchen.

"Sara is an amazing result of technology, few are better than her, but she has her limits."

I could think of several androids that were at least slightly better for some reason, but the spirit of what the doc said was correct. Most androids were easily discernible from humans, as were most cyborgs. most of either stripe were also downright stupid, either taking to long to process data (androids) or being those who regularly fail IQ tests (cyborgs).

The first because they lacked the processing power of humans, and the second because they lacked the common sense of humans. Except now, all unwilling, I had joined the latter group in spectacular fashion.

Sara came back with coffee, place a cup in front of each of us. the doc caught my surprise.

"Sara can't drink I'm afraid. she wasn't designed for it. Sara why don't you tidy the place up?"

"Of course doctor Langford."

I watched her go to the small closet tucked in the corner, and remove the cleaning supplies. I drank the brew and watched my
host.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

I smiled.

"On the house, was just thinking I remembered a bit of rescuing you a few days ago, or whenever it was."

"Four days ago. You saw the date on the paper."

"I did indeed, and it matches your chronometer. So when do you think you can finish the body for me?"

"Assuming all goes well, and there are no snags? Probably a few months. Realistically? Probably closer to three months. I'm sorry I can't really speed up the process."

Shaking my head cause my hair to slap me. That was annoying.

"Don't be, I wouldn't be alive if not for you. I can be patient. So how are you going to classify me to the government?"

To be legal, all androids, cyborgs, and super soldiers had to be registered with the US government upon creation or entry into the country; it allowed the bureaucracy to keep tabs on who was who. I had no idea how I knew that.

"I'm not. If you desire it, you can register yourself. I'd suggest as a partial conversion cyborg; a full conversion registration attempt will garner far too much attention for your liking, even if it succeeds."

"How so? Celebrity status?"

"And possible guinea pig status, ending in vivisection. Full conversion cyborgs are very sought after."

"I can see how that would be a problem. You'd end up in open war or kidnapped of course, your secrets stolen."

He nodded.

"But if I don't, I run the risk of getting caught in the country as an unlicensed cyborg, which might lead back to you anyway. And I would need to prove who I was, and I can't yet. So unless I get false paperwork, which would cause even more problems...."

He nodded again.

"Ugh, I hate walking around illegally!"

I sighed and relaxed back in the chair.

"I'm sorry."

I looked up to find him giving me a hangdog look, like a whipped puppy. I waved him off.

"Not your fault really, and better than the alternative."

"Sara?"

"Yes Doctor?"

"Acknowledge User Kaname Ningyo as assistant three, class 2 clearance."

"Acknowledged doctor."

I looked around to find Sara still cleaning away.

"What just happened?"

"Simple, to Sara and any other robots here, you're now an assistant of mine. They will follow all of your orders unless they conflict with mine or my other assistants."

"but why would..."

He interrupted softly.

"It might prove necessary. I went to much trouble to save you, I'll not see you troubled if I can avoid it. The life of a scientist can be hectic, so you might need the support. Like it or not, currently you are in an area of grey legality. Support of any kind should be considered a blessing."

I nodded, conceding the point.

"I'm hoping that doesn't last long."

He nodded regally in turn, conceding my point. His phone rang, interrupting whatever sage wisdom he'd opened his mouth for. He looked at the smartphone screen. I didn't recognize what type of phone it was.

"It's my assistant; if I might take this call privately?"

"sure thing, I'll just take my coffee over there."

I moved to the other side of the warehouse, watching the robots set up machines of various esoteric make. I couldn't make heads or tails out of any of the new ones either. The best I could do was recognize which were C.A.D. (computer assisted drafting)manufacturing machinery.

That told me a little bit at least.

Like they had before, the robots ignored me. I took note of what they were doing, in case I needed to construct or break down those same machines. After all, like the umbilical machine I plugged into every night, my life might depend on them.

"Alright all done, she was just calling to inform me that the DNA tests are underway. By this time tomorrow, if you're in the system anywhere, we will know."

"Really? Seems a bit fast."

He smiled.

"It is, but you're unhappy with not knowing right? I owe my savior all due diligence where I can. But now, I'd like you to do a favor for me. I'm going to be here setting this up, and I need cash. Could you go to a branch of first national and make a withdrawal for me? I'll give you all the information necessary."

Oh right, like me, he had been interrupted from his banking.

"Um, sure. But how will I get past the metal detectors? Pretty sure those will go off and I'll be arrested for being illegal?"

"Not at all. Just wear this,' He held up a rather bulky black jacket; 'and it will detect you as human. Then you simply hand the teller the envelope in the pocket. I have an account there, and that's a legal permission for you as my assistant to withdraw money from it. It also has my ID in it so they know you're working for me, and a few other odds and ends in legalese."

"So how much am I withdrawing?"

"1 million."

"A million?!?"

While I'd heard the super science business paid, I had no idea it paid that well. His tone implied that a million to him, was walking around money. Chump change.

"I'd have you get more, but it's really all you can safely carry without notice. Take the briefcase in the corner there. Ask Sara for some other clothes. I'm sure her clothes are too big for you, but you won't really have a prayer of blending in otherwise. No reason to give trigger happy police on alert from the attack a few days ago a cause to stop you, eh?"

Now that was a sentiment I agreed wholeheartedly with. I shrugged and went to see Sara. She was still cleaning, mopping the kitchen floor in this case. I didn't really see her making a dent in the grime on the old tile, but she gamely kept at it.

"Sara?"

"Yes assistant Kaname?" She didn't stop.

"I was told to borrow some clothes from you. Do you have a spare set?"

She paused a moment, stuttering a little...then started mopping again.

"I do, located in box 4, near the door. You can get them yourself of course?"

"I can, thank you. Do you mind which ones I borrow?"

"No I do not. They are all similar to my current clothing in any case."

I left her to her work and found the box with no trouble. Inside, packed neatly next to other odds and ends, were three sets of black pants and white blouses. They weren't jeans thank goodness (Sara was a good 5cm taller than I was, no way would jeans fit) and one pair even had a belt built in. I grabbed it, one of the blouses and walked into the doc's bedroom to change.

Yes, I know he's seen it all, but old habits die hard; I'm a pretty private person. Once I got the skirt of, I realized...I wasn't a barbie. I had what to all appearances was the appropriate plumbing down there.

--Sexual activity requires use of Geisha mode; enable Geisha mode? Y/N--

Oh HELL no. No no no no no. I heard the threads creak as I pulled the pants up, and eased the force down a bit changing shirts. Jacket, sneakers...as ready as I'll ever be. Grabbing the jacket and my 'clothes' (stupid costume) I presented myself before the doc.

"How do I look? Passable?"

"Passable." He agreed, giving me a twice over.

"So doc, I was changing and my head hinted that I had a 'Geisha mode'...exactly what might that be, hmm?"

My sickeningly sweet tone did nothing to put him at ease...if anything he paled, then paled further as my words sunk in.

"Your body is an all purpose model designed as a bodyguard. Of course it has one of those modes. At least mine has some class. You're designed for companionship, not simply sex. Besides, as I said before, it was the only body I had available. I didn't even have one of the 400's near me, and you were dying."

"Fair enough. I guess. Maybe I can even see how it works for the other side, assuming...?"

He picked up what I was saying readily enough.

"You'll feel everything in as real a manner as I can replicate; I am nothing if not a perfectionist. All my creations have as full a range of senses and sensation as my understanding allows."

I nodded and turned away, donning the jacket.

"We will see, for now it's time to get you your operating funds. Be back in a bit."

"Take your time if you want; enjoy yourself."

I closed the door with a wave.

(tbc)