Machine Man - Max Barry [101]
CASSANDRA CAUTERY hesitated. “You mean okay as in, ‘Okay, I’ll get in the truck’?”
I shook my head. Lola edged toward me, relief spreading across her face.
Cassandra Cautery looked around. “Everybody see that? Refusing to follow orders. He’s raging out of control.” She gestured to Jason. “Do it.” He began to peck at his tablet. The forklift rumbled toward me.
Lola gasped. I could grab her. Run. I would make maybe five steps before my body turned to stone. Then brain death. It was not a great option. I could lunge and club Cassandra Cautery into the wall. More appealing. But with the same result: me dying. Jason was a little farther. I could possibly close that gap, swat the device out of his hand. It was a temporary solution, in that this was not likely to be the only method of shutting me down. But since all other alternatives were death, I liked it.
Jason’s thumb slid over the keypad. His eyes held mine. I recognized his expression from the day I’d waited for him in the lab, one leg dangling in the Clamp. He’d lunged for the Big Red Button and been too late. He seemed to have learned from his mistake.
“Quick,” said Cassandra Cautery. “No time to lose.”
I could stomp. Create a shock wave that would ripple through the floor and knock Jason off his feet. People would shout. Jason would scramble on hands and knees toward his computer, but I would be faster, and crush it beneath one hoof. The guards would fall back, knowing what I could do. Before they rallied, I could sweep Lola up in my arms. I could leap out through the broken ceiling and land on the roof. There would be police and ambulances, but I could run until they were all far behind, until Lola and I were beyond Better Future’s digital reach. Before dawn, in another city, we could break into a factory and use their equipment to locate the part of me that transmitted. I could teach Lola to use a magnetic drill and she could straddle my chest and ensure we would never be found again.
This was a good plan.
I raised a hoof. That was as far as I got. It hung there. It did not feel different. It did not deaden. But it did not listen to me. I was a statue. I tried to turn my head to look at Lola but could only shift my eyes. Lola shrieked. I began to choke up, because now I was going to die. But I did not die, either. I just stood there.
“Congratulations,” said Cassandra Cautery. “You always wanted to be a machine.”
Jason poked at keys. My hoof came down. My legs jerked forward. I was not a statue. I was a puppet.
“Make him hit her,” she said. “Club her or … punch her in the head or whatever.”
“What?” said Jason.
“Make him hit her. She’s no good to us alive.”
“I don’t think—” Jason started, and Cassandra Cautery turned and stared at him. “Okay.” His head bowed over the tablet. It was typical. Technical people always talked about standing up to management, but when the moment came, they turned to water. We are not a confrontational people.
“Lola,” I said.
My hoof thumped to the floor. There was a pause. My abdomen swiveled toward her. I took a step.
“My God, Jason,” said Cassandra Cautery. “Can you go any slower?” He pushed sweaty hair from his forehead.
“Run,” I said, but it probably didn’t matter, did it? In any case, Lola did not seem to want to run. She stood still until I stopped in front of her and raised my gun arm. Then she leaned forward and hugged my metal chest. “Please. Run.”
“I love