Inhuman(87)

“That’s no reason to go committing suicide,” James responded. “We could find the code we’re looking for five minutes from now.”

“Or five hours from now,” Thel countered. “And Aldous is with the Purists. If he finds a way to disable their defenses—”

“Assuming he’s the perpetrator here!” James shouted out.

“Oh, good grief!” Thel guffawed. “Who else could it be?”

“1!”

“If she’s still alive,” Thel pointed out. “Remember, we all saw you kill her. And even if she is still alive, why would she imprison you in the sim? James, sooner or later, as much as you don’t want to admit it to yourself, you’re going to have to face the fact that this is a mystery we already know the answer to. Aldous cut a deal with the androids, and that son-of-a-bitch is with the Purists as we speak. We don’t have hours or even days for you to pore through code.”

“This isn’t even a discussion worth having,” James responded, dismissing the idea. “Even if your idea worked, the signal wouldn’t be strong enough to reach Earth and my body, so it’s a moot—”

“I wasn’t talking about your body,” Thel replied.

James’s eyes widened. “Thel,” he spoke slowly, realizing he was too far away to reach her before she did something rash. “No!”

Thel unfolded her arms, revealing that she’d been holding her de-patternizer during the entirety of the discussion. “I’m sorry, James. I love you. But I have to do this.”

“Thel!” James shouted as he jumped to his feet.

At the very same moment, Thel shot her own hand, de-patternizing it and screaming out in agony as her hand disappeared in an explosive pulse of golden coding. In her next motion, she reached out to the Kali avatar and joined her handless arm to Kali’s, the severed limbs instantly connecting and sending a pulse of energy through both of them as their patterns began to fuse.

The A.I. intercepted James, holding him back as he tried desperately to reach her. “No, James!” the A.I. shouted. “If you touch her, you could make it worse!”

“But she’ll die!” James protested as he fought to get free.

The candidate jumped to his feet as well, aiding the A.I. as they worked to hold James back, keeping him several meters away from the figure that was slowly, spectacularly melding into one entity before their eyes.

“Perhaps, James,” the A.I. conceded with enormous sympathy in his tone. “But it’s already done.”





15



“WAKING UP as a robot wasn’t exactly on my bucket list,” Colonel Paine gruffly spoke as he opened his eyes and held his new android hands in front of face, “but it beats kicking the bucket altogether.” He stepped out of his pod and turned his head to see that Samantha was standing next to Old-timer and two females he didn’t recognize.

Then something extraordinary happened and the breath caught in his throat. There was a third woman, a woman he did recognize, and from her disbelieving expression, she clearly recognized him too.

“Daniella?”

“Colonel Paine?” Daniella replied, terrified.

Paine stepped toward her, his hand outstretched as though he were going to grab her, but she quickly stepped behind Old-timer, fearing for her life. “Craig!” she shouted.

“Daniella?” Paine repeated again. “Do you know me?”

“She knows you,” Old-timer confirmed. “And, believe me, she doesn’t want you to touch her.”

Paine’s expression was one of complete and utter confusion as his lips trembled while he tried to assemble a response. “But…why? Daniella,” he said to her as she stayed behind Old-timer, barely daring to peek an eye out to examine the monster from her distant memories. “Baby…”

Old-timer’s eyes widened like saucers. “Baby?”

“Baby?” Djanet echoed, stunned.

Daniella’s eyes widened with utter disbelief.

“Yes,” Paine said, licking his dry lips before he continued, gently, “in my universe, Daniella is—was—my wife.”

“What?” Daniella finally, reacted. “That’s impossible.”

“Why?” Paine responded, perplexed as he held his hands to his head.

“Because you’re a murderous piece of—”

“Honey,” Old-timer cut her off, quickly, “this isn’t the same man you knew.”

“Honey?” Paine reacted, his head jutting back as though he’d been punched.

“Colonel,” Old-timer turned to Paine, “Daniella is my wife in this universe.”