Single Wired Female (Wired for Love Book 2) by Greg Dragon Page A

turn on your television to any of those boxing matches or gladiatorial competitions. Now, the new models that Fritz and Isaac are rolling out will be a bit different. Androids meant for the home should never need to be violent, so there is absolutely no reason to provide an override or workaround for the laws.”
    “What if there’s a break-in, a robbery, or an android being raped? Shouldn’t that person, though synthetic, have a way to defend herself?” Tricia was almost shouting and Stephen had to touch his glasses as he stared on in disbelief.
    “Oh my god, you’re really alive, aren’t you? You—you’re one of them, one of the … oh my god,” he said and broke off into muttering things under his breath while adjusting his glasses for fear of them falling off. “I’m so sorry.”
    “Sorry for what?” Tricia asked.
    “For a moment there I thought that you were merely a rigged, unrestrained, android, and I was going to talk you into finding a shelter so that you wouldn’t get yourself disassembled. I had no idea that you were a true-synth. See, my whole life I’ve always wanted to create an android that could break past the programming to become like you. To engineers your level of function is a mere legend, but to hackers and the underground community you’re a reality. It’s just that, I never thought I would meet someone like you.”
    “Well, here I am,” Tricia said, smiling. She was happy that Stephen had recognized her as being alive. His demeanor had changed from slightly arrogant to meek. It was as if he had reverted to being an awkward boy who was seated next to a supermodel. She noticed that he could barely look at her now that he knew what she was.
    “Now that you know what I am, could you tell me why you warned me about the building?” she asked.
    “The people who work in there have a very binary outlook on androids, Bonnie. You either serve us or you are dangerous to us. There are no gray areas. As soon as you walked through the main doors to talk to one of their monkeys, the silent alarm would have gone off and they would have touched you with a jolt-stick and then wheeled you away to examine you. Fritz and Isaac do a lot of sinister things with androids in the name of profit, and if you say that they had something to do with your friend’s death I wouldn’t be surprised. Was she a synthetic, like you?” he asked and the fact that he didn’t refer to her as an android did not get lost on her.
    “No, she was a human being. But there is something else,” she began but caught herself. “There’s more, but I don’t know you well enough yet to share. I’m sorry.”
    “I saved you from the alarm and that wasn’t enough?” he joked and Tricia kept her eyes low, staring at her toes in the grass. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me but I’d love to help. Especially if it means that we can talk more. You’re like…no, what I mean is that meeting you is one of the most spectacular events of my life.”
    Tricia thought about this and the fact that she had almost walked in on her own doom. She needed allies, human allies like Sal but who were well aware of what she was and what she needed. Stephen was too convenient so she needed him to prove where he stood. He was also too important to blow off, so she smiled at him and put a finger to the side of her lips as if to think.
    She didn’t realize how cute this motion made her and Stephen’s tanned face couldn’t hide the blushing. He began to fidget a bit nervously and Tricia picked up on it and thought that is was adorable.
    “Can we get some coffee in the morning before your work?” she asked as he tried his best to play it cool.
    “Of course, coffee would be great! How about eight o’clock at Marlene’s Dark Side Café? It’s right there at the old stoplight—that’s unless you have a preference. I can go wherever. I just assume you want to be close to Fritz and Isaac in case you need to find out more and—”
    “That