jRobot, Ch. 3, [NC-17], RPS, J2 AU

[sandymg]

Jensen - Doctor Ackles - directed the taxi to Rob’s apartment.

“We can trust him. He’s … not just a comic book store owner. He’s on my team.”

“We are going to Doctor Benedict?” Pro-One asked.

Jared still didn’t like thinking of him that way, but it was easier than trying to juggle between two Jensens. And for reasons he didn’t want to explore too closely, he couldn’t stop thinking of Doctor Ackles as Jensen.

Exiting the taxi, assured by Pro-One that it was clear, they worked their way up four flights of stairs in a shabby apartment building. Jensen pulled out a key. He called out Rob’s name as he opened the door, but the apartment was empty. Jared blinked as Jensen turned on the lights after quickly drawing all the blinds shut.

Chad whistled. The apartment was filled with computers. A half dozen monitors, some larger than Jared’s primary TV sat atop a long tabletop. Some were blank. One sported a Matrix screensaver. Green characters dripped down the screen. Jared refused to consider that he’d fallen into a sci-fi movie.

“So you’re like a Terminator?” Chad looked at the robot as if reading Jared’s mind.

“No,” Jensen replied angrily. “Pro-One is not a killer.”

“I promised Jared to not hurt anyone. Doctor Ackles. I am broken. Can you check my systems? I injured Jared when we first met.”

The doctor and the robot sat together at one of the terminals. Jensen’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “I can do some examining from here. We’ll need the Cybernon mainframe for a full diagnostic. But I think it was a language algorithm error.” His fingers danced some more over the keyboard. He hit another key and looked at the robot.

“Accepting,” the robot said.

Jared took a step closer. “Are you … uploading to him?”

“He can receive input wirelessly.” Jensen turned an impatient head and glowered at Jared’s surprised look. “What? Your phone can do it! And Pro-One is a helluva more advanced than an iPhone.”

Chad stared as Pro-One’s pupils did that odd vertical dilation twitch. Jared watched his friend jump back a little.

“I see the error now. Thank you, Doctor Ackles.”

Jensen smiled broadly. “You’re welcome.”

Pro-One looked down. “They are angry I left.”

Jensen put one hand on Pro-One’s shoulder and silent communication passed between the twins.

Jared met Chad’s eyes. The scene in front of them-the wordless trust-was moving. There really wasn’t any other word for it. He swallowed back his emotions because he still needed to learn what was going on and how they were going to get out of it. That’s when Jensen spoke again.

“You two can go now.”

“What?” Jared asked, voice soft.

“Nobody is after you. And we won’t be staying here long.” Jensen’s fingers were flying over the keyboard again. “I’m leaving a trail to confuse them. Airline reservations, bus tickets. It’s nothing that can’t be sorted out pretty quickly, but still it’ll take a little time to unravel it all. By then, hopefully Misha and Alona can meet up with me and we can figure out what do next.”

Pro-One perked up at this. “Doctor Tal is coming? She is not angry?”

Jensen spun. “Oh, she’s pissed alright. Gonna have to keep a hand over my balls. But. Hopefully she’ll still agree to help.”

“Nothing has changed, has it Doctor Ackles? I mean … “

“No, nothing has changed.” Jensen turned abruptly and resumed whatever it was he was doing on the computer.

Chad tapped his shoulder. “Jay, maybe we should go. This is beyond freaky, man.”

Jared knew Chad was right. This situation was insane even by Jared’s usually lax standards. And it seemed like the doctor wasn’t going to turn in Pro-One. Except. “What did you mean earlier … when you said you were ‘on their side’?” He couldn’t help the hard edge his voice took at this.

Jensen hesitated. Never turned around. “I’m Cybernon, dude.”

Jared instinctively stood in front of the robot. “I’m not letting you take him back where folks are going to take him apart. He’s not broken. He’s … “

Jared wasn’t prepared for Jensen’s sudden presence in front of him, close enough that Jared stepped back involuntarily. “He’s thinking! That’s the word you’re looking for. And that’s … fucking incredible.”



In the end the decision was made for them. “Shit.”

Jared peered over Jensen’s shoulder. “What?”

Pro-One reported it first, picked it up over air waves or whatever. “Your name appeared in three communications. Jared Padalecki, twenty-seven years old, Director of Happy Horizons Child Care Center located at-“

“We get it Pro-One. He’s been compromised.”

There was something about Jensen’s tone that chilled Jared. “My kids … they know where I work. Jensen … “

“Relax. Your imagination is out of control-“

“Out of control?! What if they send another robot out … a not-so-gentle one this time … Oh god, I have to call Sandy-“

“Who’s that … your girlfriend?”

Chad snorted. “Girlfriend? Jay? Dude, your gaydar is nonexistent.” Chad peered at Jensen. “You’re of his tribe, right?”

Jensen’s cheeks colored slightly, brought out the freckles which Jared was definitely not enchanted by. Not at all. “I’m gay. Not that it matters in the slightest.” Jensen looked back at Chad. “So are you two … ?” Jared snickered as Chad recoiled visibly. “What? Hell no!”

“Thought you were working on your homophobia, pal,” Jared lightly punched Chad’s shoulder.

“Fuck you. I’m no phobe. Just … you’re not my type.”

Jared laughed outright now. “No worries. You’re not my type either, dude.”

Chad brought his eyes back to the handsome duo still hovered over the computer screens. “Well, at least this one isn’t shitting on the ceiling.”

Jared colored as Jensen spun back around slightly shocked. “You dated a guy that shit on your ceiling?”

Jared was relieved that Jensen hadn’t picked up on the ‘this one’ part of that sentence. “He was a chimpanzee,” Jared responded.

“Studies claim eight percent of men have had sexual interaction with animals at some point in their lives. This goes up to fifty percent of people living near farms. But these reports are controversial due to insufficient samplings.”

It took Jared a moment to get past the horrified stare from Jensen. “Dude, no! I didn’t … I dated an animal trainer for a little while. He had me babysit his chimp for a weekend. It … got messy.”

Jensen’s already huge eyes seemed to grow even bigger. And then he cracked up. Laughter crinkling the corners of his eyes and head tilting up in a loud bark of a chuckle. The transformation from uptight scientist to loose, fun-loving gorgeous male heated Jared as if he’d entered a sauna. Whoa. Had to make that keep happening. Maybe he should start telling jokes?

The laughter was contagious and soon they were all giggling. Except Pro-One, who moved his head slowly in that processing way. “This is humorous?” he asked solemnly.

Which only served to set them all off again.

A short while later, calm restored, Jensen spoke the obvious. “We can’t stay here. It’s not secure.”

Jared ran his hands through his hair. “Are you sure they won’t harm my kids, my coworkers?”

“Positive. Jared … we’re a government facility, not some terrorist cell.”

“Right. And if I called the Pentagon right now would they claim knowledge of it?”

Jensen shook his head. “No, but that doesn’t mean … trust me. The daycare center will be fine. But I need to get Pro-One someplace safe.”

The robot looked at Jensen. “I rode in a taxi.”

“Yeah, he really liked that … kept his eyes out the window the entire time.”

Jensen met Jared’s eyes and Jared really wanted to understand what was going on, what was causing the sudden brightness. Before he could ask though Chad spoke up. “We could go to my parent’s friend’s cabin. You know the one, Jay.”

Jensen looked at Pro-One. Again silent communication ensued. “Chad Michael Murray is not coming up in any communication so far.”

“Chad, you’re off their radar. That’s good. Means you can just get out of here.”

“No way. Me and J-Pro-One bonded. Gotta keep the little guy safe.”

Jensen huffed. “Little? We’re as big as you, dude. Only look little next to the Sasquatch here.”

“Chad, Jensen is right. You don’t need to stick around. I’d rather know you were safe. Maybe swing by and check on my kids.”

“The kids will be fine. They have Sandy and Aldis. Besides, you won’t find the place without me.”

“He has built in GPS,” Jensen volunteered.

“Isn’t that convenient,” Chad replied. “Doesn’t matter. No me, no cabin. What’s it gonna be, science-boy?”

Jensen looked at his robot. “Let’s go.”

They’d been on the road about five minutes before Pro-One said, “We are being followed.”

“What? Fuck. Not again.” Jared looked toward Chad who was driving their ‘borrowed’ SUV - seemed like hot-wiring was another entry in the robot training manual. Jensen and Pro-One were in the back seat. “How do they keep finding us?”

Jensen sighed and damn if the robot didn’t look guilty. Finally, Jensen spoke, “They can track Pro-One. It’s not his fault. He’s blocking his signal but that block gets porous if you get too close. They’re close. If we can get some distance we’ll be off their grid. Chad, you have to lose them.”

Chad started turning the vehicle. “Working on that.”

Right, then left, then right again. Somehow Chad was just catching every green light. But they were still moving at the speed of traffic.

“Shouldn’t you be going faster?” Not that Jared really wanted to repeat the Bourne Identity car chase thing again, but Chad didn’t seem to be taking this seriously.

“Pro-One, tell me how they’re tracking you. Data pusher or data puller?”

Pro-One apparently knew what the hell Chad meant because he answered immediately. “I have already disabled the data pusher function of my GPS but I cannot damp the signal received by the data puller.”

“Okay, then, we need to disrupt it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Water?”

“Yes. That would be effective.”

And just as Jared had relaxed into the normalcy of Chad weaving through intersections at a quick but controllable rate, Chad spun the steering wheel and accelerated in a spectacular U-turn that left tire skid marks behind them. Along with Jared’s stomach.

“What the hell!”

“Hold on, this is gonna be interesting!”

Twice in one day-Jared didn’t know how action heroes managed to not toss their cookies, he was definitely wishing for a barf bag as Chad shimmied the vehicle between a bus and a taxi, leaving both of them slamming their brakes.

“Goddamn!” Doctor Ackles had been uncharacteristically quiet until that little maneuver, but it seemed he’d regained the power of speech. Not that Chad paid any attention to him.

“You’re gonna get us killed!”

“Nah, Doc, I’ve been studying car chase scenes m’whole life, know how it works.”

Jared was tempted to add his opinion to the doctor’s, but he didn’t want to distract Chad as he swerved into oncoming traffic and started a left turn.

“This should do, right, Pro-One?”

And Chad zoomed into the line at The Spotless Car Wash.

“Jay, give me your credit card - they already know your name anyway!” Chad ordered as he rolled down his window.

Too stunned to argue, Jared pulled out his wallet and flipped Chad his Visa card. As soon as the machine spit it back, Chad steered the front wheels onto the conveyor, rolled up his window, and sat back.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jared exploded.

“Water. It’ll disrupt Pro-One’s GPS signal,” Jensen stated, voice clearly admiring the plan.

“Doctor Ackles is correct, Jared. For the duration of the car wash, I am untraceable.”

“And that gives us time to figure out how to hide your signal long-term. Metal shielding would work … where is the transmitter located?” Chad asked.

The slapping of the cleaning strips across the windshield punctuated Jensen’s answer.

“It is in a location comparable to the human neuro-cortex.”

“In other words, it’s in his head?”

Jets of foam splatted over the vehicle.

“Yes.”

“What-“

Chad ignored Jensen as the scrubbers began to spin against the sides of the car. When he’d been a kid, this had always been Jared’s favorite part of the car wash, the satisfying thwack of dirt being removed from his dad’s Chevy. Going with his dad through a car wash had always seemed like an exciting adventure. Wow, he wished that this would be the most thrilling part of his day … Why couldn’t he have just walked away when he’d left the bar last night?

This was how Neo felt in The Matrix. Did that make Jensen Morpheus or Agent Smith?

Couldn’t he just relive the chimpanzee debacle? Jared would much rather play the comedic lead …

The high-pressure water blast shook the car.

“Now!”

Jared jumped as Pro-One suddenly leapt from the car, slamming the door behind him. The pounding of the rinse cycle gave way to the roar of the air dryers, and Jared watched Pro-One skip around the pipes and cables to reach a fuse box on the wall by the exit.

The robot pried the cover off like it was nothing, which to him it probably wasn’t, and then waited the few seconds until the rear door was even with him. He was back in the car even as Jensen was still stuttering, “…bad idea!”

Jared wondered if he could convince himself this was all a really bad dream. Maybe he could remember it in the morning and write a best-seller.

Chad pulled out into the parking lot. Jared looked over his shoulder and saw, to his bemusement, that Pro-One had bent the metal lid into a U-shape and had placed it over his head. Jared thought of the weird headdresses worn by royalty during the Renaissance. But he was sure they weren’t fashioned from fuse box covers.

Jared also noticed belatedly that Pro-One was thoroughly drenched and creating a large wet spot in the backseat. He fumbled for the zipper of the duffel he’d tossed in the footwell when he’d gotten in the car.

“Here, Pro-One.” Jared handed over a flannel shirt. “You don’t want to catch a cold.”

“Jared. I am incapable of being infected by a biological virus.”

“Humor me?” Okay, that sounded pitiful. On the other hand, his entire life had just spun out of his control, so Jared figured he was allowed to sound pathetic.

“A rabbi, a priest, and an atheist were stranded on an island …”

“No, I mean … just please put the shirt on, okay?”

“But Chad said that is the funniest joke he has ever heard …”

“Pro-One, your wet clothes are damaging the material of the car. Jared is asking you to put on a dry shirt to alleviate the problem.”

“Oh. I am sorry for getting the car interior wet.”

“ ‘S okay, dude. It’s not like it’s my car. Just keep your hat on, okay?” Chad replied softly to the robot.

Pro-One took the sodden shirt off and it fell in the puddle on the already wet floor. Jared took in his toned chest and couldn’t help but glance at Jensen wondering if everything about the robot was created to match his creator perfectly. That meant the naked body he’d seen in his kitchen that morning had been Jensen’s naked body. Jared’s face flushed. The robot quickly shucked on the dry shirt. Since it was Jared’s shirt, it was too big on him, and now Jared had a mental image of Jensen wearing his shirt. And damn … did this car have any goddamn AC?

“Do you think we lost them?” Jared asked, forcing his mind back to the matters at hand. He turned his head and Pro-One was nodding yes.

“That’s an affirmative.”

Chad chuckled. “Way to go, lil’ dude! Knew we could do it.”

The robot’s lips curved up. It was so human. “We make a good team,” he replied to Chad.

“Pro-One. That was very smart thinking,” Jared added.

Glancing over at Jensen, Jared was floored by the raw emotion in his eyes. It made him want to hug Jensen. Maybe hug him and his stupid robot at the same time. Like a huge group hug. Hell, Chad, too. Okay, clearly his stress hormones were now taking over. The truth was he didn’t know what was going on with Jensen or Pro-One or any of this. He had to get Jensen alone and finally get him to answer some damn questions.



Took two hours to complete the now uneventful drive. The cabin was secluded in a wooded area, a stream running along the back of the property. Jared had been here before with Chad once or twice. Chad’s parents and their best friends pretty much shared this cabin. Chad said the families came here every summer when he was growing up.

Jensen looked around, eyes taking in the rustic beauty. “Nice,” he uttered in a near whisper. “Haven’t been in a place like this in a long time.”

Pro-One looked at him. “There are so many trees, Doctor Ackles. This is … beautiful … correct?”

Jensen just stared at him. The silence lasted long enough for Jared to instinctively realize Jensen just couldn’t answer. He jumped in, “Yeah, Pro-One. It’s very beautiful. Is this your first time in an area like this?”

“Yes. I have seen trees. But not within a natural habitat like this. It was one of the things I wanted to see. It was on the list.”

Jensen stuttered, “Y-you made a list?”

“Yes.”

“An’ we knocked off one or two,” Chad added with a huge smile.

Both men turned to Chad. Jensen clearly surprised, Jared smiling at his best friend. He didn’t even want to know what Chad had helped Pro-One accomplish. Couldn’t be good. But still, he had the bestest best friend in the world.

“C’mon, lil’ dude … I’ll give you a tour. Jay, why don’t you open things up inside and I’ll show Pro-One around the trail. We’ll head down to the swim hole and then turn back. Too cold to take a dip. Although he probably wouldn’t feel it. But wouldn’t want you to rust, would we?”

“Oh … my plating wouldn’t-“

“It’s okay, Pro-One. Stay with Chad.”

Having Jensen’s permission, Pro-One headed out trailing Chad. It was suddenly very silent. Jared used the key Chad had pressed into his palm and unlocked the cabin.

The interior looked like Jared remembered. He thought they might have slip-covered a chair and replaced a worn table. The television was new and bigger. Still, it was homey and warm-feeling. Wood paneling and hunting lodge ambiance. The main room encompassed all of the primary living area. A huge L-shaped couch dominated the space facing the wall with the new large flat-screen television placed strategically over the fireplace.

He cracked open some windows despite the chill outside just to air out the space. Then he proceeded quickly to the kitchen to brew up some coffee. The cupboards were mercifully stocked.

Jensen stood on the opposite side of the wide counter looking a bit shell shocked. Jared realized the scientist didn’t know what to do.

“Sit. You really haven’t stopped since we met.”

Jared continued preparing coffee and searching for mugs as Jensen settled onto a counter stool. “Jared … I’m sorry you got mixed up in all this. He … Pro-One shouldn’t have involved you.” Jensen studied the slowly emerging coffee. “You must be beat, too. Haven’t stopped either, have you?”

Jared pulled three mugs out of the cabinet and set them down. He found sugar in a sealed container and filled a sugar bowl. Then he looked around some more and found some powdered non-dairy creamer. He set it down in front of Jensen. “Best we have.”

“ ‘S fine. Take it black anyway. Jared, you don’t have to keep doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Taking care of me. Of us.”

Jared ignored the comment. “Why did he leave your facility?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“His running off doesn’t fall under classified,” Jared argued.

“Everything about Pro-One is classified.” Jensen dragged a hand along the back of his head. “Look. I get how frustrating it must be for you. But it’s safer for you the less you know.”

“Jensen - they were shooting at me.”

“No. I mean it seemed that way. But they were trying to stop him. To get him back. He … he’s very valuable. And they don’t want knowledge of him to get out. The way he looks … “

He looks just like you. But he said instead, “They think people will be scared.”

Jensen looked away, wouldn’t meet Jared’s eyes. His voice was soft. “Even I didn’t realize … He’s learning so fast. I think he really could fool people.”

“Fooled me,” Jared said unnecessarily. “Thought he was … eccentric.” Really, nuts. But he didn’t want to insult Jensen’s child.

“Jesus, Jared. I didn’t think … “ Jensen stood all of a sudden. “Is there a land line? I can’t use my cell. I pulled it apart when all this started so I couldn’t be tracked.”

“Sure. Over by the sofa. But … who do you mean to call? Jensen, you can’t really leave me in the dark about all this. It’s not fair.” He suspected his voice was taking on a rather immature whine but he didn’t care. There had been men shooting at him. He deserved to know why.

Jensen finally met his eyes again. “Jared. I’m sorry. You seem like a really great guy. And under other … “

Jared nodded because he got it. Under other circumstances he’d have hit on Jensen, too. The guy was gorgeous. And smart. And pretty much everything Jared valued in a man. Except for an inability to share anything.

“ … The thing is, I like you. And I need to figure out a way to get you out of this. Not involve you deeper.”

Laughter wafted in from out the open window and both men simultaneously turned to look. Chad and Pro-One were tossing a Frisbee back and forth between them. Jensen’s eyes widened. Jared chuckled, his smile bringing out his dimples.

“Looks like our boys have bonded. And Chad’s not the only one. I care about what happens to him. What they’re gonna turn him into. I’m no robotics expert. Hell, I can barely handle my Mac at home. But he’s not … since when can computers … Jensen, what is he?”

The scientist turned and stared back out the window before returning his gaze to Jared. “That’s my baby,“ he said with a small, close-mouthed grin. “Best thing I ever did.”



Chad poured more coffee into his mug and glanced over his shoulder at Pro-One who sat flicking through TV stations at a pace too fast to be human. “So, you gave the scarecrow his brain?”

Jensen nodded. “I created the AI. Been working on the algorithm my entire career. Hell, almost my whole life. Since I got my first computer and started fooling around with code.”

“Isn’t AI like the holy grail for you types?” Chad asked.

“Yeah. A computer that can learn. There’s been some past successes. Deep Blue, of course. And then Watson. But those early algorithms all suffered from combinatorial explosion.”

“What’s that?” Jared asked.

“Oh. It just means there was never enough resource power to keep up with the so-called learning. But I went another route, using sub-symbolic reasoning and interface agents to create a neural net that mimics a Piaget way of learning.”

Jared’s eyes widened and his head flew to Pro-One before returning his attention back to Jensen. The scientist smiled broadly at Jared. “Thought that would get to you. You studied education.”

Jared nodded, still processing quickly. “He learns like a child?”

Chad interrupted, “Jay, what’s he talking about?”

“Jean Piaget. His theories on cognitive development pretty much defined how people learn. But … how?”

Jensen’s smile was filled with pride. “It’s in the algorithm. But I couldn’t really test it all until … well, he had a body.” Jensen looked away again, clearly uncomfortable. He took a deep breath and then continued. “Then he went through the stages textbook-style. Sensory-motor, pre-operational.”

“He’s formal op now?”

No father ever looked prouder. “Yep.”

“How’d you create his body? He a clone?” Chad asked.

Jensen looked surprised. “Y-yes. Partially. It’s not that simple.”

Jared startled at this. A clone? “You mean … he … he really is you?”

“No, he’s not Dolly the sheep. It’s not what you think. He’s a robot, pretty much. Except the skin’s grafted atop the mechanical interior. Look, I’m not a biologist. I did the AI. There’s a whole other team that created the body. It’s run by Doctor Tal. Alona. And I have to call her.”

“Why?”

“I can’t answer that.”

Jared bit back his annoyance. At least Jensen had told them something. And he was still reeling over the fact that Pro-One wasn’t just child-like … he was learning like one. The speed human children learned was amazing. Children were amazing. Their brains absorbed like sponges. There was a reason humans were at the top of the food chain. But now … this machine. Where did he fit in that pecking order? Jared fought back a shudder.

He pointed out the phone to Jensen, who took the handset into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Jared turned to Chad. His friend looked on concerned. “Jay? What are they going to do to Pro-One?”

“I don’t know. But if what Jensen says is true then he’s … something new. And the one thing I know for sure is how scared people get over new things.”



“Stop yelling at me!”

It was faint but Jensen’s voice telling the biologist not to yell came through despite the shut door between them. He must have had to raise his voice just to be heard.

“Oh. Doctor Tal is upset with Doctor Ackles.”

Chad and Jared turned to Pro-One. Jared asked, “You can hear their conversation?”

“Of course he can. Lil’ dude has awesome hearing. Told me what song the gal in 4B was singing in the shower.”

Jared shook his head. He didn’t want to know this. He hesitated only a moment and then asked the robot if he’d mind relaying what he was hearing. Sure it was eavesdropping, but Jensen was leaving him no choice.

“You have to bring it in,” Pro-One said in a woman’s voice.

Jared blinked. He’d forgotten the voice mimicking - geez, it was weird. Chad took it in stride. Jared guessed his best friend was aware of this talent already.

“I can’t ... “ The robot spoke in Jensen’s voice. It was slightly different from Pro-One’s although they certainly sounded alike.

“Jesus, Jen. Your career. Your life. The brass is flipping out. Beaver wants your head. Said you’re out of control. A loose cannon. Forget prison. I think they want to institutionalize you. Not sure he’s not right.”

“Alona ... “

“Don’t you ‘Alona’ me. It’s so wrong what you did. I can’t even ... Jensen, you argued and lost. You needed to accept that ... not just ... Of course, Morgan caught on. How could he not?! Pro-One blew past all expected results. Underestimating it was beyond stupid. And now ... what the hell, Jen. What are you even thinking? Nothing has changed. At least in the lab we could have-“

“Nothing. You could have done nothing. Like you said. Nothing changed. He ... Alona, he’s safe and he’s ... oh my god ... you should see him. He’s incredible.”

“It’s not a ‘he’ Jensen. It’s a valuable piece of equipment and you have to bring it back.”

“That’s not an option. I’ll call again. Will you come ... when ... “

“Jensen, dammit, I didn’t want this. I told you how it would be. Beaver and the ethics committee were right. How dare you put this on me now!”

“Alona. It’s done. You can make it easier or not. Either way, nothing’s changing. It wasn’t my fucking failure that -“

“Fuck you! That’s not ... How dare you ... ?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. God, Alona, please. I’ll call. Come, okay?”

“Bring it back.”

Pro-One paused. Jared assumed that meant a pause in their conversation. Then he spoke again in Jensen’s voice, only softer than Jared had ever heard it. “He rode a taxi. He hung out in a bar.”

“What?” Alona’s voice was equally soft.

“He played Frisbee. He told me trees were beautiful.” Another pause. “He made friends.”

Alona’s voice cracked. “Goddamn you to hell, Jensen.”

“I’ll call you.”

Pro-One fell silent and Jared was left with a hole in his gut that churned like a mole was trying to burrow its way out. He looked at Chad whose eyes were suspiciously shiny and had to literally force himself to not grab the robot-child and run away to where nobody could find them.

To Chapter 4
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