Marcus 582: Book Three of Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined by Donna McDonald
Authors: Donna McDonald
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walked to lean against the com workstation in her lab.
Around every turn was another horror story being written in the cyborg creator code she helped develop. Were these new customizable men part of the unstoppable cybernetic future Dan Masters had warned William and Peyton was already happening? She knew without a doubt some invisible puppeteer was operating strings those men probably didn’t know they had now.
Sighing, she looked back at Eric who was more solemn than she’d ever seen him be.
“How many of them did you find?”
“Thirty-one,” Eric said, watching Kyra’s jaw tighten. “All code monkeys…I mean, software programmers. It’s been going on for several years. There was a rash of them initially. Now a new one gets discreetly registered every two or three months. The only reason they’re in the main cyborg database is because of the physical enhancements. If all they got were neural implants, they’d only be listed in the socially modified database.”
Kyra nodded. “Yes—you’re right. However, being listed in the socially modified database would guarantee they couldn’t hold high profile jobs at trillion dollar corporations or work for the government.”
Marcus huffed. “You mean they couldn’t work for places like Norton.”
Kyra nodded again. “Yes—exactly. It doesn’t surprise me that we’ve overlooked them in our work. Out of fifteen hundred existing cyborgs, we’ve only been focused on those in captivity. If what you suspect is true in every case, they’re all running around and living like the rest of us.”
Peyton sat at the end of the conference table they had added to her lab. It was the one place they could for sure talk without fear of being monitored. Nero and a host of others had made sure of it. He had been grateful for it many times. It allowed them to speak freely, a rare capacity in their highly monitored lives.
“Several centuries ago, guys took steroids and worked their asses off in gyms to get those sorts of bodies. Science hadn’t progressed to pulse technology back then. Other than their conversions being done illegally, and seemingly without a creator, have these guys broken any real laws? Or put anyone in danger?”
Marcus firmed his mouth, but shook his head. Nathan’s very existence bothered him, but he couldn’t say the kid had done anything illegal. “The one we found that brought all this to light works at Norton. He was having coffee with Rachel. I sort of followed them and listened in.”
“Translation—Marcus was stalking Rachel as usual,” Eric supplied.
“Good thing I was or we’d never have known about him, now would we?” Ignoring Eric’s smirk, Marcus fixed his gaze on Peyton. “The guy went on and on about rogue cyborgs and how he thought the government should control them all. Rachel got fed up with his extreme bias against cyborgs and left him sitting at the table. My dumb jealous ass had smartass here investigate him because his conversation didn’t sit well with me.”
“Ha! I knew you were jealous.”
“Shut up, Eric,” Marcus ordered, sending a glare Eric’s way before continuing. “When the Nathan guy popped as a cyborg, I didn’t know what to think. He didn’t talk like one. I’ve been following him around just to see what he does in his normal life. It was all very typical, except for his visit to a sex club over on Johnson and Limestone. I didn’t go in to watch. He was there three hours and came out looking much happier. The rest of his social life centered around visiting a gamer store and taking in the latest horror vid. All pretty typical for a geek…I mean, a smart kid like he seems to be.”
Kyra’s gaze went back and forth between Eric and Marcus. “We can keep an eye on them, but there’s really nothing to report to the world. If they’re volunteering for their conversions, and it seems like they are, then we don’t have any super
Around every turn was another horror story being written in the cyborg creator code she helped develop. Were these new customizable men part of the unstoppable cybernetic future Dan Masters had warned William and Peyton was already happening? She knew without a doubt some invisible puppeteer was operating strings those men probably didn’t know they had now.
Sighing, she looked back at Eric who was more solemn than she’d ever seen him be.
“How many of them did you find?”
“Thirty-one,” Eric said, watching Kyra’s jaw tighten. “All code monkeys…I mean, software programmers. It’s been going on for several years. There was a rash of them initially. Now a new one gets discreetly registered every two or three months. The only reason they’re in the main cyborg database is because of the physical enhancements. If all they got were neural implants, they’d only be listed in the socially modified database.”
Kyra nodded. “Yes—you’re right. However, being listed in the socially modified database would guarantee they couldn’t hold high profile jobs at trillion dollar corporations or work for the government.”
Marcus huffed. “You mean they couldn’t work for places like Norton.”
Kyra nodded again. “Yes—exactly. It doesn’t surprise me that we’ve overlooked them in our work. Out of fifteen hundred existing cyborgs, we’ve only been focused on those in captivity. If what you suspect is true in every case, they’re all running around and living like the rest of us.”
Peyton sat at the end of the conference table they had added to her lab. It was the one place they could for sure talk without fear of being monitored. Nero and a host of others had made sure of it. He had been grateful for it many times. It allowed them to speak freely, a rare capacity in their highly monitored lives.
“Several centuries ago, guys took steroids and worked their asses off in gyms to get those sorts of bodies. Science hadn’t progressed to pulse technology back then. Other than their conversions being done illegally, and seemingly without a creator, have these guys broken any real laws? Or put anyone in danger?”
Marcus firmed his mouth, but shook his head. Nathan’s very existence bothered him, but he couldn’t say the kid had done anything illegal. “The one we found that brought all this to light works at Norton. He was having coffee with Rachel. I sort of followed them and listened in.”
“Translation—Marcus was stalking Rachel as usual,” Eric supplied.
“Good thing I was or we’d never have known about him, now would we?” Ignoring Eric’s smirk, Marcus fixed his gaze on Peyton. “The guy went on and on about rogue cyborgs and how he thought the government should control them all. Rachel got fed up with his extreme bias against cyborgs and left him sitting at the table. My dumb jealous ass had smartass here investigate him because his conversation didn’t sit well with me.”
“Ha! I knew you were jealous.”
“Shut up, Eric,” Marcus ordered, sending a glare Eric’s way before continuing. “When the Nathan guy popped as a cyborg, I didn’t know what to think. He didn’t talk like one. I’ve been following him around just to see what he does in his normal life. It was all very typical, except for his visit to a sex club over on Johnson and Limestone. I didn’t go in to watch. He was there three hours and came out looking much happier. The rest of his social life centered around visiting a gamer store and taking in the latest horror vid. All pretty typical for a geek…I mean, a smart kid like he seems to be.”
Kyra’s gaze went back and forth between Eric and Marcus. “We can keep an eye on them, but there’s really nothing to report to the world. If they’re volunteering for their conversions, and it seems like they are, then we don’t have any super
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