S.H.E.I.L.A. – synthetic, humanoid, enlightened, inquisitive, living, android

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I couldn’t say a word as all I could do was stare at Sheila. Shaking my head I tried to wrap my mind around what I’d seen. {I love you Roger. Please don’t leave me.} She loved me? How was that… I stopped as I remembered just how complex the emotion program had become.

I tried to say something though I seemed to still be in shock somewhat. True I had started to feel something for her but love?! I wasn’t so sure after all I really had no actual idea what love felt like. Sure I could write a program for it, describe it in detail. Feeling it though? No, I didn’t have a clue, not one at all.

The blush that Sheila had seemed to have vanished almost as fast as it appeared. Pulling out completely I felt something on the fringe of my senses. [This is control. What are these sensor detections I am seeing?]

Less than a second later I saw what appeared to be the outside of the college. [All parameters that were set for early detection have been activated. Reading a buildup of law enforcement humans outside this edifice.}

I looked harder seeing both of the Mounties that had been at the front earlier. Damn they had brought in a few, well more than a few of their friends. This wasn’t looking good at all for us or them.

I turned to Sheila, “I don’t want to kill any of them. Even with your speed I’m not sure we can get past them that easily.”

Sheila looked at the same images that I was, silent for a few moments. “I am assessing the situation now Doctor Gance. I do not concur with your evaluation there are many avenues in which to evacuate.” My mouth must have dropped open ’cause Sheila was now staring at me. “Are you well Doctor Gance? Your oral opening has been ajar longer than usual.”

I had to shake my head to clear it. As human as she acted at times she still had no clue. “I am well Sheila it is just a reaction to what you said. I am not seeing many if any ways to get out of here.”

“I am calculating at least thirty three different avenues of escape. I…” Suddenly Sheila stopped as it appeared she was scanning again. “Doctor Gance I am detecting a vehicle approaching at high speed. One of the occupants is the same female that was firing the high caliber rifle earlier.”

I sat up disconnecting the data cube, “I do believe it is time to depart.” I told Sheila as I started to gather up everything I had unpacked.

“That would be an advisable course of action.” She replied as she started to help me. Finally finished I was summarily pick up then placed over Sheila’s shoulder. I was ok ’til she opened the window to the terrace. I remembered from before that we were at least two and a half stories up. Swallowing hard, I hung on as Sheila went off the terrace landing on the ground with hardly any shock or impact to me.

[Are you injured Doctor Gance?] I heard her ask me in my head.

[No, just surprised that you landed as lightly as you did.] I replied still a little stunned.

[I calculated the best way to land that would put the least stress on you and your body. We have to depart the heavy vehicle I detected earlier is drawing closer.] Sheila thought to me then started to accelerate.

Sheila stopped short tossing me behind a pile of wood as a shot rang out. I watched as she turned the bullet again ricocheting. I swear I could again hear a female swearing in Russian as Sheila dashed to me, then I was on her shoulder.

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Karina was tense as they got closer to the city, already she had her rifle at the ready. She had to destroy this thing nothing ever escaped her or her bullets.

Serafima had gone around the edge of the town thinking, the less they were perceived as a threat the sooner they could get this over. She had just cleared the edge of the college when she started yelling to Karina.

“Where?!” Karina was replying as she brought her rifle up, the barrel on the edge of the window. Smiling she got a clear shot of the human that was on the shoulder of that robot. Squeezing the trigger she started to curse again when she saw the shot ricochet off the chest of the robot thing. Disgusted she’d tried to climb out of the Humvee after her second shot had missed.

Ruslan grabbed her shoulder as she tried to punch her way loose. Ruslan had to squeeze her in a bear hug that only served to infuriate her more. Finally with a sigh Ruslan had to clip Karina on the side of her head knocking her out. This thing that the general’s son had made was starting to piss Ruslan off. Already they were almost a team member down. Now they were having dissension within the ranks.

Serafima hissed at Ruslan as she jerked the Humvee to a stop climbing in the back with Karina. “You didn’t have to knock her out comrade.” She told the leader.

“You wanted her out in the cold with no protection? She would have frozen to death before any of us could have even gotten close. You know how she can get when she is this focused and angered.” Ruslan replied to Serafima.

“Da leader I remember. The last time it took us a week to catch her. Even then she was almost out of her mind with the mission. You know she doesn’t take any type of failure well.” Serafima told Ruslan.

Ruslan was nodding his head. He remembered that time. He’d thought that they had lost Karina when they caught up to her. Luckily Serafima had been able to get through, otherwise she might have killed most of the team before they got her. Ruslan was about to speak when Timur nudged him pointing behind them.

Ruslan turned seeing several vehicles approaching at high speed. Damn it! The local Mounties! Though not as good as his team they were still far more acquainted with this country than Ruslan’s team was.

“Serafima we need cover! Take out their tires before they get too close.” Ruslan told her as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

Growling Serafima grabbed her own rifle taking aim as Ruslan shifted then took off. Smiling evilly Serafima took the front tires of the first three vehicles. This slowed the pursuit for a few moments before they took off again. Now starting to laugh Serafima started to also hit the radiators. Three more vehicles dropped back.

“Leader, it appears they are still following though further back. I count at least ten more, shall I take them also?” Serafima asked.

“Da, we need no uninvited guests while we are hunting this thing and the doctor.” Ruslan replied as Serafima started to laugh more as she started to pick the following vehicles apart with her high powered rifle.

Suddenly there was a crackling as the voice of General Gance was heard. “I thought you were going after them. Stop playing with the Mounties, get going!”

Ruslan and Serafima growled then cursed, the general was starting to actually annoy him. Serafima on the other hand felt the man was interfering in her fun. No point in responding it would just piss the General and more importantly Ruslan off more.

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General Gance was actually starting to have doubts that the killjoy group could get this job done. They usually had the job done by now. Then there was all the shit they had caused in Canada. It’s a good thing they had as fast a Humvee as they did.

“Lieutenant!” The general yelled watching as the younger man came running.

“Yes sir! Sorry sir I was putting out the rest of the calls you wanted.” Reaching in his bag the younger man handed the General another box of cigars. “I had these waiting in case you needed more.”

The General pulled one out of the cigar box inhaling the rich odor of the tobacco. Damn fine smoke, “I am having doubts about the killjoy group. I want you to contact the Piebald group.” The General watched as the young man almost pissed his pants at the mention of the second group.

“Sir?” The young man asked in a low whisper his lips trembling, almost afraid that the mention of their name would make them appear. “You know they will want a status. They will also want to know what readiness to be.”

The General was nodding to all that the younger man was saying. “Tell them their status will be all business. They are to be ready at a moment’s notice. One more mistake by the killjoy, I’ll release them. They are to do whatever is necessary to accomplish this mission. That includes taking out the killjoy group.”

“Should I notify the Killjoy’s?” The young man asked shaking so bad he thought he might pass out.

“No, if they fail then I am through with them. They never have before though I think they have never gone against anything like what Roger has created. One mistake I can forgive, two is never an option. Either way that little prick of a son of mine, should be terminated in a few days.” The General said a wide menacing smile crossing his features.

The young man was still shaking as he exited the building going to call the second group. An hour later the young man came back shaking even harder. “I contacted them sir, they uh hum said they were ready to go, among many other things.”

The General was again nodding as he stared at the young Lieutenant. “They are more than ready I take it.” To which the younger man nodded. “I thought so, they haven’t been on a mission in almost a year. I just hope they haven’t gotten rusty.”

The young man was nodding trying to get his shaking under control, with all the vulgar things that the other group’s leader had said to him. Only the mention of the General had changed her demeanor. “Uh sir, are you going to have them under the same conditions that you did Killjoy?”

The General seemed to be lost a moment then he looked closer at the younger man. “I can try son though, they are by and far harder to threaten. I do seem to remember something that will work though. IF I have to call them I’ll have it ready.”

The younger man nodded his shaking slowing somewhat. “Thank you sir, with all she said when I contacted them it helps.”

The General picked up the phone placing a call to a suburb of Washington. The young man’s eyes went large when the General started to speak. Damn the man was completely serious when he said he had something on the second group.

The general grunted when he hung up the phone. “I think that will take care of it IF I have to activate them. For right now we just have to wait and see if the Killjoy group screws up again.”

The young man sat with a plop as his shaking started anew. He was almost hoping that the two groups would wipe each other out.

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Sheila was moving at a pretty fast clip for almost an hour when I noticed that she had again changed direction. It appeared as if we were now moving south though at the moment the temperature was still somewhat chilly.

[I see that we seem to be heading south, where exactly are we heading?] I asked Sheila a moment later.

[Since our pursuers seem to expect us to move in a straight line, I thought that a little deception was in order.] She responded to me.

For a moment I felt a little shock which I quickly quelled. I’d already been through all of this in my mind. The complexity of her emotion program was by far as complex as human emotions if not more. Shaking my head I agreed with her assumption. She did have a great strategic calculating program. Though the deception part as she put it threw me a bit. I didn’t remember anything like that when I was programming her.

Deception, I shook my head if she was truly becoming more and more human, I wondered if she’d use that on me. I momentarily felt Sheila slow as I also felt her head turn toward me, was that a hurt look on her face?

Damn it, I had to remember to try and hide my thoughts now. It seemed as if almost any strong emotion that I had transmitted my thoughts at the moment to her. Well, this was going to give a whole new meaning to the term privacy!

[So where are we going? I can feel we are on a more southerly route.] I told her.

[Very perceptive Doctor Gance. The Technology Training Centre in Edmonton, Alberta Canada has a computer training center. I have already provided the necessary credentials that we will need. The people that we will be assuming the identities of also worked for the same Quebec Technology repair company that the first two had.

[I guess we’ll have to change how we look now. The Mounties will have pictures of us all over Canada now. I was just getting used to how I look now.] I told her a small sigh escaping my mouth.

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Ruslan had relinquished the driving back to Serafima after Karina had awoken growling at Ruslan. She then apologized for losing control. Shrugging her shoulders at Serafima, they shared a kiss before she climbed into the driver’s seat.

Karina immediately started going through her and Serafima’s rifles. Detail stripping them, she started to clean each piece lovingly. A smile came to her face when she could smell the after action from Serafima’s equipment.

Ruslan looked over at Timur as the man was silently cursing. The man wasn’t used to being so technologically limited. This doctor son of the General was obviously far better than the General let on. This changed things quite a bit.

“I think that we have seriously under estimated this Doctor. It appears he either has far more knowledge than we at first thought, or he has information we weren’t told. I want everyone on triple red alert from now on.” Looking at Timur and Karina he continued. “We have already experienced casualties, and failures. We need to go into this as a war the rest of the way.”

Karina’s eyes lit up as did Serafima’s, “No more pansy killings. Good I want this ass dead, no one makes me miss twice and lives!”

Ruslan was nodding at her passion as she continued checking her equipment cleaning. Stas had a huge smile on his face as he adjusted his explosive drone carriers. “I have a few charges that the bitch machine won’t escape comrade.” He told Ruslan.

“I’ve got everything ready leader.” Egor told him pointing to a small ear piece that he held up. Tapping Timur on the shoulder the man looked at Egor confused a moment ’til he saw the ear piece. Smiling huge he had Egor put it in his ear. “This won’t feel normal, though you should be able to hear better ’til your blood catches up.”

Timur was staring at Egor a little lost on trying to hear what the man was trying to say. Sitting there he nodded a few moments later when he was ready. Egor nodded back then flipped a switch. Timur grabbed the side of his head trying not to scream. A moment later he looked up.

“Da comrade not normal though I can hear more than before.” Timur responded.

“Good I thought it would help you more though I only have for the one ear. Once your blood catches up it should withdraw.” Egor explained.

“As long as there is no permanent scarring.” Timur stated.

“Nyet, I do not believe there will be.” Egor assured him.

Ruslan nodded his head at the exchange. It was good that they were such a close nit group, though this conflict with Timur and Katrina was going to have to stop. That was the thing though. They would more than likely kill each other before he got the situation calmed and under control.

“Leader I have it moving south, the telemetry is only for one satellite. It appears that it has managed to take over a vast majority of them.” Timur informed Ruslan a moment later.

“I was hoping you could shunt to one or more. No wonder they knew that we coming so early. Unfortunately as you saw the robot has far more software than we at first thought.” Ruslan saw Timur nodding though the man was deep in thought.

Suddenly Timur’s face lit up as her started to furiously type on his powerful lap top. “I can’t access the other satellites though I might be able to partially link them.” Ruslan nodded as Timur typed faster a sadistic look on his face.

I felt Sheila slow then stop it appeared that we had just entered the Alberta Providence. “Doctor Gance I am detecting a partial linking of the satellites I have control of. I am blocking the first attempts now. Interesting, it appears to be the same signature of the individual that attempted to take over my systems. I am closing all avenues that are open to them. I believe you were right Doctor Gance. This individual doesn’t appear to be giving up.”

“Sheila,” I said a moment later as I thought about the situation. “What if you left one open inviting him in. Then you could link with his computer to gain those that you don’t already control.”

“Your idea holds great merit Doctor Gance though it may leave me open to them gaining access to me momentarily.” Sheila advised me.

I shook my head; I didn’t want to put her in danger. The less she had to face unprepared the better I felt. “I don’t think I want them to have any access to you. I think we might want to hold off on that. Shut him down.” I told her as she nodded then stared straight ahead.

For a moment I was staring at her then I heard a voice. [Now allowing access to Sheila unit.]

I was suddenly immersed in a huge field of data that was flying by me at an accelerated rate. I could feel Sheila somewhat ahead of me as she was closing several pathways at once.

Reaching out I touched some data that looked different than the others. [Now projecting data screen protection.] I heard the nanomites say. What the hell was going on?

Sheila or rather what felt like Sheila was beside me trying to pull me along. I pulled back amazed when she came easily to me. Shaking my head I pushed her away from me. I suddenly felt another stream of data that appeared as it tried to wrap around me.

The real Sheila appeared beside me chopping at the data stream literally shredding it. [You shouldn’t mess with strange data streams.] She advised me.

I gave a small laugh as she pulled me back the way that we had come. A few minutes later I was opening my eyes blinking at the real world. [Control, we have reached second obtainable mass. Longer access of the data cube can now be allowed. Caution: it is advisable that no more than a four hour period should be pursued.]

I shook my head I could do a lot in four hours.

Timur was cursing when he saw that they had been detected. Then there was the fact that the robot was closing ALL the satellites at the same time. Then he’d encountered something else, something, different. It was very much like the robot though this was… he was at a loss. Just as he was about to extract it the robot intervened. Then he lost all access, cursing he started to research, this other had him puzzled.

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