Page 48 of Nolan
“No! No, don’t open fire! You might hit Nolan, you son of a bitch!”
The bullets ricochet off Ezra as the officers follow their chief’s command with zeal, all while the Weekenders watch in helpless horror near the truck, shouting for me. A stray bullet buries itself in my arm, drawing ivory blood.
Caution: leak identified. See a bionic engineer as soon as possible.
But my eyes are on him. His own team is ripping into him, and he’s just standing there, taking it.
His girlfriend cries out for him. “Ezra! Ezra, please!”
Ezra doesn’t hear her. His attention isn’t even on the officers. It’s solely on me.
“Nolan!” Apollo shouts.
I shout back to him and the others, “I can’t go near him! He’s trying to implant a virus in my programming. One touch, and it’s over for me.”
Ezra stalks toward me, face twisted with rage. I brace myself to fight for my life. My identity. I’m not surrendering to TerraPura here, or anywhere. Not when I have my brothers here. Not when I have to look after them.
And not when I have Mia waiting for me.
I’m ready to fight with my fists and do the only thing I can do—pummel him into oblivion and hope my mainframe can dish it harder than he can take it.
Suddenly the pixie-haired girl all but skids in front of me, her arms outstretched.
And surprisingly, rather than simply swatting her away, Ezra stops. “Out of my way, insect,” he declares, no love in his voice whatsoever.
“Ezra, it’s me. It’s your Kat. You remember. I know you do!”
Somehow, she’s stopped him, and he’s listening. Now I know Washington was right, without a doubt. Still, I can’t protect her from my current position, and her safety is now my number-one priority. He can annihilate her with a single strike, break her neck if he slaps her hard enough.
“Ma’am, you should get to safety,” I tell her.
“I love him,” she replies. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Ezra only snarls. “Human filth.”
But she doesn’t flinch. She keeps talking to him. Softly, tenderly, like the lover he knew. Her words are like a spell cast over him.
“This is good,” I encourage her as best I can from where I stand, still trying to keep my distance for my own sake. “Keep talking to him, keep going. You might be getting through.”
I scan Ezra. His circuitry is responding. It’s the gratification drive. It recognizes her, even with tainted programming. That must be the only thing keeping her alive right now, and keeping him away from me.
“His systems are all out of whack,” I mutter. “I can see it.”
He grabs Katrina by the neck. It takes every ounce of strength within me to stop from charging forward. But she’s strong. She keeps reasoning with him better than I ever could. He could crush her in a single second. He doesn’t.
Then his pupils shutter in a familiar way. He snarls and looks like he’s in agony, like he’s fighting every thread of TerraPura installed in him, in that precise moment.
“Ka . . . tri . . . na.”
Officers try to close in, but I hold up a hand. “Don’t! Stay back! Let her do this.” She’s talking of love, and her loyalty and dedication to him resonate with me. Katrina Carson. The Humanity First woman who fought so hard against bionics, falling in love with an android.
If they can make it, it should be easy for Mia and me.
That’s when I spot Kyrone Johnson from the refurbishment and repair shop, Tin Man’s Heart, readying some cords in his hands. He has a reputation for being the best bionic engineer in New Carnegie, if not the country. I have no doubts, then, that we are going to succeed.
Ezra breaks through the programming. “Katrina,” he speaks between his teeth, clenched tight. “Hurry. Power me down. Hurry!”
She calls for Washington. “Deion!”
