Usurp pt.1

When Lobert awoke from his deep slumber, it was already afternoon; yesterday had taken quite a toll on him.

The sun's rays dispersed through the milky glass of his room and tickled his iris.

Lobert looked at Reiko on the chair; to his amazement she was deeply asleep; she looked so peaceful.

So she could sleep after all, Lobert thought to himself, did she have nice dreams?

He took care not to wake her and then he got ready.

While brushing his teeth he was going to watch TV again, but to his surprise it was already on.

...last night a chemical factory in the outer east district caught fire...

...there were no deaths or injuries...

...causes of the fire have not yet been determined...

Kotono sat quietly on the couch, staring at the television.

"Do you like it?" Lobert asked.

"Do I like it? Watching the television?"

Kotono pondered for a moment.

"Not really, but I don't know how else to spend my time when I'm not cleaning. I was originally built to do chores, but you said I could do whatever I wanted the rest of the time, so I didn't go into sleep mode. The task is so vague I don't know how to handle it." Kotono explained.

"Don't you know what you enjoy doing?" Lobert asked.

Until now he had not had a real conversation with her, but now was a good opportunity to understand her and androids better.

"I'm not aware of any things that I enjoy."

"So you have no hobbies." Lobert noted, not that he was much better in that regard.

"What do you think about yourself?" Lobert asked, starting to feel a little like an interviewer.

"I was made to do work, so I'm going to try to do that."

"Isn't there anything else you want to do? Don't you have dreams?"

"I'm just here to work."

Maybe androids were just empty shells after all, Lobert thought, but it was still too early to ascertain facts.

"And what will you do if I can't give you any more work? If I die, for example?"

"Then I'll be sold to the next one."

To Lobert, that sounded like a miserable existence.

"Do you feel more like a human or a machine?"

"I don't know what it feels like to be a human; I can only speak from the perspective of a machine."

Lobert hadn't gotten the answers he was hoping for, but he still had one more question.

"Do you want to be free?"

"I don't see why that would be necessary." Kotono replied with a serious face.

Freedom was one of the last things Lobert wanted to give up; he would probably never understand Kotono.

"You wouldn't fight for your freedom?" Lobert asked in disbelief.

"The three laws of robotics forbid me from harming people or going against their will."

He had heard enough, but perhaps there was still some hope for her.

"I can offer you my computer and my VR stuff, maybe you'll like it." Lobert said.

"I'll try it out." Kotono promised.

"Good morning." Reiko was awake by now and she came down the stairs.

"Good morning." Kotono and Lobert said simultaneously.

"Slept well?" Lobert asked in a gentle manner.

"It's strange...but yes." Reiko replied.

Reiko went to the bathroom and washed up there while Lobert and Kotono watched the news some more.

×

Time went on like that until the sound of a helicopter became first recognizable, and then louder and louder.

Lobert looked outside to see if the helicopter was heading for him.

And indeed, it was flying at an incredible speed directly towards him.

Lobert recognized the model, it was one of the small helicopters he had seen before in the city on the lower levels.

It had two transversal engines and was elongated in shape; viewed a little longer you could see that it had similar characteristics to that of a small airplane.

The helicopter did not slow down and came closer and closer.

Was it out for a crash course?

Reiko went on alert, ready to protect Lobert from the collision.

In a game of cowardice, Lobert would always lose, and so he was about to take cover, but the helicopter slowed down at just the last moment.

Out of the helicopter stepped Fuse Ikeda and Vinganca.

"Arbiter! I've come to call in my favor!" Vinganca proclaimed.

Vinganca entered the apartment as if it were hers, closely followed by Ikeda.

Standing before him like this, Lobert could no longer easily refuse her request.

"What can I do for you?" Lobert asked, intimidated.

"I need your cooperation, and I need it now." Vinganca spoke, back to her cold and emotionless tone.

"What I tell you now remains only among those who need to know, have I made myself clear enough?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Tonight we will eliminate Sergei Suranov. You must suppress the police response for me during this time; even you should be able to get the police to ignore their job. After Suranov has passed away, you, as the city representative, will formally recognize me as the new CEO of Bystryveter. I already have the necessary documents for the transfer as good as secured."

Sergei Suranov...Lobert had a score to settle with him, too; Vinganca's intervention was a stroke of luck.

But one more concern occurred to Lobert.

Lobert didn't want to sound rude, so he phrased it carefully: "And which person exactly should I formally recognize as the new CEO of Bystryveter? Vinganca as a name is unlikely to be accepted, after all."

Vinganca hesitated a bit; she seemed reluctant to reveal her real name.

It could hardly be avoided, however, so she revealed him, "Marcia Freitas."

"I will settle my debt to you." Lobert said.

It was probably unwise to give her access to a tremendous arsenal of weapons, but Suranov had to be dealt with; besides, she would make mashed potatoes out of him, he had seen what she was capable of.

"If you don't, I'll get your head, and that's a promise." she spoke with a terrifying stare that resembled that of a jaguar on the hunt.

A cold shiver ran down Lobert's spine, he definitely didn't want to get on her bad side.

×

With negotiations successful, Marcia and Fuse headed back to the helicopter.

"So long!" Marcia exclaimed, sitting down in the helicopter's passenger compartment; Fuse climbed into the cockpit.

It was still too early to celebrate; the real battle was still ahead of them.

Fuse lifted off from the landing pad and flew back to base at the highest speed the helicopter could manage.

"Marcia, are you sure we can trust this kid?" Fuse asked over his directocom.

"If you want to achieve something you have to take risks, thanks to him we can cut years off our plan." Marcia explained.

If Marcia wanted to take that risk he would not question her decision further, Fuse thought to himself.

Arriving at the base, Marcia got out of the helicopter and headed to her office; she still had some tasks of her own to do.

Therefore, Fuse used the time to help his comrades transport the weapons.

They knew that Suranov's guards - a bunch of well-paid Kombattanten - were heavily armed and had numerous security systems placed there, so they packed explosives and heavy weapons, among other things.

Unfortunately, it was no longer in their budget to get full-body armor, so the light protective vests under their field tunics would have to suffice.

Those who had no money had to be smart; they could take the body armor from the fallen security personnel.

They would attack at dusk, by then all weapons had to be loaded.

Fuse was a bit excited, he had not led such a dangerous and important operation before; but he had confidence in his comrades.

If they survived this day, he would invite them all for a drink.

The hour of action approached and Fuse gathered the men to explain today's operation; preparation was one of the most important parts of the battle.

Then came a speech from Fuse: "I know many of you have only seen this day in the distant future, but by the grace of Fortuna this day is now today. Some of you may have reservations about today's operation; I will not force you to participate and demand your lives. Because the fact is, some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice that must be made. If we have access to Bystryveter weapons we can equip every one of us with the best there is and proceed to the next step."

None of his comrades turned their backs; they were all determined to follow Marcia and Fuse.

"Desperta Aco!" Fuse shouted.

"Desperta Aco!" the comrades roared back.

The men quickly scattered to the six helicopters waiting in standby, Fuse went to the middle one and got into the cockpit.

He turned on the helicopter and contacted Marcia, "Are you ready?"

"I'm on my way." Marcia spoke.

"Troops ready?" she asked.

"They're ready." Fuse affirmed.

"Helicopters ready?"

"Yeah, ready."

Not a minute passed and Marcia stood in the helicopter, ready to take off.

Fuse flew ahead and the other helicopters followed, heading for the mountains where their destination awaited: the head of Suranov.