Stanley Duncan's Robot: Genesis David III (english reading book .TXT) 📖

hand and gave it to Frank. You can’t override my wishes because you have calculated that it’s best for both of us. I have feelings, you know.”

“So do I — or did you forget?” Dan’s face reddened. He tossed the tablet on the couch and shrugged.

“You know what? Go to your room. Or don’t — because clearly my opinion doesn’t matter much anymore.”

Dan’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but all that came out was a sigh. Without another word, he silently crept to his room and shut the door.

Teddy sat in the pitch-black basement. His limbs trembled as he waited for Brad to come home. Using the Cerebral Stitch, he had programmed a message to replay every few minutes in his mind.

Don’t believe the other voices. You must kill Brad tonight.

He wasn’t going to be tricked again. Tonight was finally going to be the night. Teddy longed to see the look on that idiot’s face when he plunged the knife into him. Darkness made it nearly impossible to see. Optical enhancements would be nice, definitely worth sacrificing an eye or two. His flesh body had given up on him years ago, and cybernetics had made him more powerful than any human. Why stop there?

Brad noisily entered the house, rampaging his way to the bedroom upstairs.

Then, all was quiet.

After half an hour of continued silence, Teddy slowly climbed the stairs. He’d gotten halfway up when the voices in his head returned, distracting him.

Leave. Don’t do this.

But this time, he didn’t believe it for long. The banal commands that had been on repeat all evening, insufferable as they were, became his saving grace.

Don’t believe the other voices. You must kill Brad tonight.

He kept ascending, ready to finally take the life of the ogre who had paralyzed him.

Soft footsteps sounded beyond the door.

Teddy tightened the grip on his knife. His heart pounded. This was it. The words in his head became a rallying cry. He was ready to kill Brad, to right the wrong that had been done to him so many years ago. He wouldn’t be tricked. A hundred stabs to his heart, and he’d laugh all the way home.

But the steps faded, disappearing into the upper regions of the mansion. The house rumbled. He could even hear that maniac smashing things and pounding the walls.

After another hour, Teddy crept upstairs and silently entered the bedroom. A musky cologne aroma pervaded the room. The moonlight shone just enough for him not to bump into anything. LCDs from the TV and cell phones charging on the table gave the room a blue hue.

A man-sized lump bulged beneath the blanket.

Teddy raised the knife over his head.

Leave. Just go.

Teddy felt an inexplicable peace and serenity, a happiness that he had long forgotten — but it wasn’t right. His looped command had dampened to a whisper. He wanted to leave this need to get his revenge behind, but he couldn’t let Brad get away with what he had done. He thought about how Brad had left his mom, undoubtedly the reason she left for Boston and didn’t come back, replaying it vividly in his mind, thanks to the neural prosthesis. She couldn’t stand to look at him anymore because he reminded her of his fa — of Brad. He reminded himself of the hours he’d spent at the bottom of the stairs after Brad had shoved him. He had called for help until his throat burned and became hoarse. This was the moment he had waited for. This was his destiny.

Don’t believe the other voices. You must kill Brad tonight.

The words pulled Teddy back to reality, urging him forward. Finally in control, he plunged the knife down with all his might.

Murderous screams pierced through his eardrums and scratched at his heart as he continued to stab. The body shifted, but it was no match for the immense strength of Teddy’s mechanical body. The blade cut through layers of cloth and flesh, impaling itself into the mattress. The sound faded to a gurgled pant. The emotional release was immense. He had done it, tasting the sweet revenge on the man who had —

Brad sat up.

Teddy jolted back, surprised he still had life in him.

“What the fuck!” shouted Brad, ripping the blood-soaked blanket off the bed and revealing another body beneath it. He picked the lifeless body up and howled.

Deep sound waves penetrated Teddy. Calculations raced through his head. Amplified by the Stitch, intense emotions unlike anything he had ever felt before screamed inside of him. For a brief moment, the evil in his own actions shook him to his core. He backed away, gasping at the body on the bed and knocking into a dresser.

Brad woke from his daze and reached for his gun.

Teddy bolted.

Shots rang out, barreling into him.

Pain ripped through Teddy’s body, but he didn’t slow down.

Brad hopped out of bed, took a few wobbly steps forward, and stopped, apparently too drunk to pursue Teddy.

Chills shivered up Teddy’s synthetic spine as he ran full speed down the stairs and out of the house. Brad’s wails followed him down the street and never left.

Chapter 14

A musical greeting played as Evan pushed open the glass doors of the android-run salon. He was pissed off that they had the audacity to think he wanted to use their services. Had it not been Shannon’s favorite place to get her hair done, he would never have gone there to look for her.

Evan’s phone rang. He looked at it, hoping to see Shannon’s smiling face, but it was Brad — a rare event. He answered quickly, his mind focusing because he knew how foreboding this was.

“Officer Michaels is dead.”

“What?” Evan got into his cruiser. The lights from the salon shined on him like a spotlight.

“He was killed by an abomination.”

“Holy mother of God.” The tires screeched as Evan pressed the gas pedal to the floor, sirens wailing. He quickly imagined the abominations closing in on them, slitting their throats as they slept in