Page 2 of Linked to the Rogue Cyborg

“Right—I’m the only one left after Silas cleaned house.” Corinne couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Dr. Silas Drex had led the inquest that had ousted her from her position as the head of the Cybernetics Division and had then taken her place. He was a misogynistic pig—always joking that the only good place for a woman was on her back or in the food-prep area. Sexist, stupid remarks that had no place in the twenty-second century. Yet males like Silas persisted and their hatred and disdain of women did as well, even after the Equality Act, which had been passed hundreds of years ago.

“Actually, Silas is trapped in the lab with that thing,” Jose informed her. “He’s hiding under a desk, I think. Just imagine how much he’ll hate it if you’re the one who saves his ass.”

Corinne considered. There would be a certain satisfaction in proving her successor wrong about his loud and proud beliefs that “women have no place in the lab” and “female Handlers are useless.”

But it might be even more satisfying to watch him get body-slammed by the Rogue Cyborg.

“Give me one good reason I should save him,” she said to Jose. “He made his bed—got rid of all the female Handlers as soon as he took over the Division. Now let him lie in it.”

“Don’t you see? This could get you reinstated!” Jose exclaimed. “If you can get this K-Unit under control, you can get back into the lab. Maybe not as the Director, but at least it’s better than being stuck on Cleaning detail!”

Corinne had to reluctantly agree he was right.

“True,” she said. “But I don’t know if I can get him under control. Just because the K-Units won’t hurt women, doesn’t mean he’ll obey my commands.”

“Just try,” Jose pleaded. “He’s trashing millions of credits worth of equipment in there! The Company will shut down the whole station and drag us all back to Old Earth if we can’t make good on their investment. And you know what a shithole that is!”

Corinne knew it firsthand. She’d been born and raised on one of the moon colonies but she’d visited the dying planet often and she had no wish to go back. The station might be boring and monotonous but at least it was safe. Back on Old Earth you couldn’t go ten feet without someone trying to mug you, rape you, or cut you up for illegal cloning. Or all three.

“All right,” she said, making a decision. “I’m on my way.”

“Hurry!” Jose pleaded. “The only other option is to send in several of our own Units, but this Rogue is so strong you know he’ll destroy them—the Company won’t like that!”

He was right—the only thing the Company liked less than the destruction of property and equipment was the destruction of one or more of their multi-million credit Cyborgs.

“Coming,” Corinne told him and waved to end the interface. She was already on her feet and striding down the corridor before the holo of her colleague faded.

She just hoped she could stop the Rogue unit in his tracks. Otherwise, they were all going to pay the consequences.

2

CORINNE

The main lab was even more of a mess by the time Corinne got there and the spiderweb of cracks in the safety glass had grown substantially.

Peering between the widening cracks, she could see her successor, Dr. Silas Drex, shivering under a desk. The look of abject fear on his narrow face was quite satisfying. However, her satisfaction faded when she considered that she was going to have to go into the lab with the Rogue Unit which was currently going crazy.

“He’s having some kind of a neural meltdown,” she said, watching the muscular mechanical arms move in a jerky, chaotic pattern. “Probably has something to do with the extreme difference between his environment when he was put into Stasis and what he found when he was brought out of it.”

“Do you think you can stop him? Calm him down?” Jose was running his hands through his thinning hair in agitation.

“I’ll try. Give me a Neural Linking set,” Corinne ordered.

His eyes went wide behind his oculars.

“Corinne, no! You can’t Link with him! You’re not really his Handler!”

“I’ll do what I have to in order to calm him down,” she snapped. “Do you want my help or not?”

“Fine.” Jose ran to a free-standing metal cupboard and dug out the set. It consisted of two linking stars in a small box.

It wasn’t lost on Corinne that in order to use them, she would have to get within reach of the Rogue Unit’s massive, muscular arms and huge, dangerous hands. He could rip her head off with the same effort it took a regular male to tear a piece of paper in half. But if there was no other way to get through to him, she would have to risk it.

“Be careful,” Jose said, his voice shaking as he watched her approach the lab door.

“I’ll try.” Corinne couldn’t promise any more than that. Her throat was dry as she contemplated entering the enclosed lab with the Rogue K-Unit. What if the old information Jose had dug up was wrong? What if he would be more than happy to harm a female, Kindred DNA or not?

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