Modifying the Contract (Ch2)

[General]

For a few moments, the android and Mike both stayed motionless, until he finally released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Oh thank God,” he mumbled as he pulled in another breath, savoring the ability to do so.

“What did you do to me?!?” the android bellowed, her lips not moving at all. “Release me know or I will make your death more painful than you can possibly imagine.”

“You’re not moving anywhere,” Mike replied, “at least not for a while.” He slowly pulled himself back to his feet and reached the wall to flip on a light. Suddenly and for the first time in a few days the lights in his apartment flickered to life. He frowned as his gaze first caught sight of the mess that was his apartment, but he soon turned back to the frozen android. Putting aside the fact that she was trying to kill him, the android was actually quite attractive. She had smooth, creamy skin and dark brown hair pulled back in a tight pony tail. Her face was locked in a wide grin; her pure white teeth visible against crimson lips and dark blue eyes. She stood about five feet, eight inches tall and had a thin frame that hid the power the must posses. She wore a tight fitting combat suit constructed of what looked like dark grey, blue and black leather and spandex complete with tactical webbing and pistol holster on her right hip. Harnessed just above her firm ass, sat a very compact, P90 submachine gun.

Mike observed the frozen android for a few moments before he stepped forward and carefully removed the submachine gun. He set it on a nearby table before also removing the pistol. He then stood beside the android and reached up to touch her hand that held the blade up, ready to strike. Her skin was smooth and warm and gently yielded under his touch. “Don’t touch me you pile of filth!” she snapped. His hand jumped back at her sudden outburst, it soon returned to her hand. He was able to open her fingers with slow, steady pressure and eventually removed the knife; leaving her hand slightly open.

Mike sat the blade down next to the other weapons and sat down in a chair. He rubbed his hands over his face, trying to figure out what to do next. He had just nearly escaped a slow and painful death and it took a while to come to terms with the fact that someone was really trying to kill him. His eyes darted from the weapons to the frozen android and back. He wasn’t sure what her exact model was, but from her lifelike appearance, she probably wasn’t a dedicated combat model. A few shots from the pistol or a burst from the machine gun to the back of her head would put her down permanently.

Mike stood up and carefully raised the machine gun. He rolled it around in his hands until he found what he thought was the safety. The small lever flicked up with a quiet click and he held the weapon’s muzzle just inches from the back of the android’s head. “Go ahead and kill me meatbag. You may have defeated me, but there will be more that follow. You will not survive.”

His finger hesitated over the trigger as Mike almost fired just to shut her up. After a second, he relaxed his arm, re-safed the weapon and placed it back on the table. “You’re right,” he admitted as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Of course I’m right,” the android tossed back, “now release me so I can go ahead and kill you. I’ll make it relatively painless.”

“No I think I have another use for you,” Mike chuckled as he wandered over to his desk and began typing away at his computer. He made note of which code triggered the android’s manual shutdown, and saved a rapid shutdown application to his phone just in case he needed it again. He spun around in his chair and once again looked over the android. “Now where is your primary programming port?” he asked.

“Fuck off,” the android calmly replied.

“If you don’t want to cooperate, I can just find it myself,” Mike said as he stood up and looked over the android. He reached just below her neck and found the microzipper than held the front of her suit together. He pulled the zipper down and the suit split almost silently. He smirked a little as he saw that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath the suit. Her large but firm D cup breasts started to spill forth from the suit as the zipper hit a nylon webbing belt around her waist. “You see I’ve issued a hardware stop command to your systems; a little manufacturer’s back door that explains your lack of motor movement.” He popped open her belt, then pulled the zipper the rest of the way down to just above the crotch.

“I’m going to kill you,” the android hissed as Mike walked behind her to manipulate her arms like a life sized Barbie doll. He carefully pulled the suit off her shoulders and then down off her arms. The upper half of the suit fell limply around her waist just exposing the top crack of her ass.

“Now let’s see where that programming port is,” Mike mumbled as he started to run his hands over the android’s skin. Just like her hand, her arms and torso were smooth and warm. He checked in all the normal places for a hidden port: in the armpits, at the base of the neck, behind the ears… He was running his hand over her firm stomach when he felt a hard corner. His middle finger slipped into her navel and pushed the folds of skin aside to find a micro USB port. “Bingo,” he said as he found a cable and plugged it into his nearby computer.

“I’m still going to kill you,” she said again as he plugged the small cable into the port in her navel.

“No, you’re going to protect me,” Mike said as he turned back to his computer and checked to see what he could find on the other end of the wire. “Hrmm, an AI 3515 series,” he mumbled. “So you’re an adapted companion unit?” The android didn’t reply but it still made sense to him. Allied Industries couldn’t get away with creating a dedicated assassin unit, it would be too cost prohibitive to produce a custom model like that, and if the unit was ever captured, it could be traced right back to the company. He knew they made security models, but they were larger, bouncer type units rather than the slinky form he saw before him.

In a few minutes, Mike found an open source configuration program for the 3515’s, and fired it up. A clean and efficient GUI appeared on the screen and allowed him to navigate around the android’s systems. He just looked at first, not changing a thing until he knew exactly what he was doing. It had been a few years since he’d worked on androids and he didn’t want to screw anything up. He found her primary program cluster but it was heavily encrypted to the point where he couldn’t even read it, never mind modify it. He was about to try to hack the password when something made him stop.

“This is too easy,” Mike mumbled to the suddenly silent but topless android. He switched modes of attack and started looking at the hardware drivers. Most devices looked fairly straight forward, but he found a non-standard, extra I/O card. The card was linked to her primary program cluster via several function calls, and on the other end it lead to one solitary device. “Oh clever girl,” he growled as he saw the target of the device; a two pound lump of C9 high explosive. If he changed anything in her systems, it would trigger the bomb and blow him, his apartment, and half his building to fine vapor.

Mike sat and mulled different theories for a while. He might be able to get around the bomb, but he still couldn’t access her primary program. It took another five minutes of silence before he smiled and nodded to himself. “First let’s see about this bomb,” he said as he went back to work on his computer.

“Bomb, what bomb?” the android asked, her voice giving away a slight sense of fear.

“Oh you didn’t know?” Mike chuckled. “Your bosses installed an anti-tampering device that could reduce you to your component elements. I guess they didn’t think you needed to know.”

“It…it doesn’t matter,” she countered, back to her previous calm and icy voice. “If you tamper with me, we will both die, but I will have accomplished my mission.”

“I’ll pass on that, thanks,” Mike said as he tried out a long shot theory. Working outside of the monitored areas, he uninstalled the strange I/O card. He hoped that if the device wasn’t online, whatever program would try to trigger it would fail. He wasn’t 100% sure it would work, but lately his long shot theories seemed to work quite well. He stopped for a moment, contemplating what he was doing. There was a good chance his next few actions could kill him easily, and logic dictated he simply walk away. But in the long run he knew the android was right; there would be more assassins sent to kill him. AI wouldn’t just let him go. He got lucky this time, but the next attack might come from anywhere. He needed this android to protect him if he wanted to have a chance of living long enough to find a way out of this situation.

Mike took a deep breath and pushed his way into the root programming area. His eyes were shut for several seconds, expecting the worst, but when he opened them he was rewarded with a single line on the display that read ‘Function AA423 failed; hardware device not found.’ He exhaled and smiled as he continued his drive into her root programming sector. He knew he couldn’t access her primary program node, at least not until he break through that encryption, so he turned his attention to the root sector.

Root programming was normally a very poor idea for androids. It allowed the user to input high level master commands that would execute regardless of other programs, but their interaction with program directives weren’t very predictable. It felt like dragging nails across a chalkboard for Mike, but he knew of no other option with the android in front of him. He formulates his orders very carefully then inserts them into the androids root command directory.

1. Obey the commands of Michael Kugel.
2. Do not harm or attempt to harm Michael Kugel.
3. Protect Michael Kugel from anyone or anything that tries to harm him.

Mike figured those commands should keep him safe from her existing orders to kill him, and the catch all that she would obey his commands would allow for future assignments. He saved the new root commands, and added one more program. It was a low level virus that would slowly attempt to crack her main programming module. It might take days or weeks to get through, but it should run safely in the background. Finally satisfied he then triggered a software reset of her systems.

“What are you doing to me meeaaaattbaaaaaa….” The android trailed off as her systems shut down. Several seconds later she started back up again. “Allied Industries 3515 series, model A71215, system boot in progress,” she said with a thin monotone voice. “Loading primary program module,” she was silent again for a moment before she spoke in her previous hostile tone. “What have you done to me you pathetic pile of grease and hair?”

“I made a few changes to your root directory,” Mike explained with a small smile. “You’ll find that you need to be much more cooperative. Now what is your name?”

“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on,” the android snapped back.

Mike frowned then rethought his approach, “I order you to answer all of my questions truthfully and fully. Now what is your name?”

If the android could have shown expression it would have appeared furious, but it remained stock still. “I am model number A71215…” she paused for a second, “but I have also been referred to as Nikki.”

“See that’s much better Nikki. Now what is your current mission?” Mike asked, already knowing the probable answer.

“I am programmed to terminate you in a violent and intimidating manner. You are to be an example to others,” Nikki calmly explained, still unmoving.

“Who sent you and will they send others?” Mike asked.

“I..I am not entirely sure who sent me. Evidence points to someone from Allied Industries but I have no concrete data to support that. As for the follow up group, my mission had a timeout of 0600 hours tomorrow morning. If I have not reported in success at that time, a second wave will be sent.”

“OK so that means we have to get out of here soon,” Mike looked down at his watch. “It’s nearly midnight already, that doesn’t give us much of a head start.” Mike got up and recovered Nikki’s submachine gun. He clicked the safety off once again and pointed it at her. He waited a few seconds, then pressed a few keys on his computer to remotely remove her hardware lockout.

Mike’s fingers tensed around the weapon as life suddenly returned to the android. Her body relaxed and she pulled herself to an orderly standing position. She frowned looking down at him. “Do you even know how to use that?”

“I think I can figure it out,” Mike said as he adjusted the aim at her chest.

“Don’t worry, while my main program still wants to kill you, my root directives won’t allow it. While I am not programmed to protect you, I’m not sure if I will be effective against my successors. I am obviously flawed if you managed to capture and repurpose me so easily,” Nikki said flatly but with obvious shame in her voice. “In the mean time though, why don’t you give me the weapon before you shoot yourself. My targeting programs are 232% more effective than a trained solider with that weapon. I will make much better use of it than you will.”

Mike hesitated for a moment, then handed the weapon over. Nikki gracefully accepted the weapon and immediately engaged the safety. She was about to attach it to her back holster when she was reminded of her current state of dress. “If you are done with my systems, may I disconnect and re-dress? Unless you would like to just stare at my tits until my successor kills you.”

Mike looked at the computer then back at her. He would have liked to spend more time exploring her system, but there’d be time for idle curiosity later. “No go ahead,” Mike mumbled as he saved a few files to a portable drive and shut down his computer. Nikki silently removed the plug from her navel, letting the cable fall to the floor as she slipped back into her suit.

Once the computer powered off, Mike cracked open the side of the large tower and removed three hard drives. “What are you doing?” Nikki asked as she finished getting dressed and started to replace her weapons.

“The data on these drives is the reason Allied wants me dead,” Mike explained. “I’ve been working on a new processor that will change the world. If I end up dead, it won’t be in vain. I need to get these drives back to my company, but we can mail them out later,” he said as he took the stack of drives and stacked them on the desk. “Get your gear together. I want to get out of here in ten minutes.”

Mike turned on a few more lights and walked into his spare bedroom. He returned a few minutes later with a backpack and a large padded envelope. He shoved the drives in the envelope and sealed it before writing an address on the front and affixing a long line of stamps. He then grabbed a laptop and shoved it in the backpack along with several carefully selected disks and cables.

By this time, Nikki had returned from Mike’s bedroom with her small backpack and suction climbing system. “Well that would explain how you got up here,” he said as he observed the system. She just shrugged and stood in front of him. He put the backpack down and advanced towards him. “Give me your knife,” he ordered.

Without hesitating Nikki reached into her forearm sheath and quickly pulled the blade out. She silently handed it over to Mike who took it and walked over to his couch. He laid the knife on an end table and then violently flipped the couch upside down. Nikki watched in curious silence as he retrieved the knife and put a large slash into the bottom of the couch. A few more cuts later, and he pulled out a large duffel bag.

“You keep your luggage in your couch?” Nikki asked as she tried to understand what was going on.

“It’s a ‘go bag’,” Mike explained. My dad used to work for the government and was paranoid about emergency situations; I guess enough of it rubbed off. I’ve got clothes, food, water, medical supplies, basic tools and $50,000 in cash. I never thought I’d actually use it though.” He slung the bag over his shoulder, grabbed the backpack and the envelope and looked once more over his apartment. It wasn’t much of a home, but he wondered if he’d ever see it again. “Alright, let’s go,” he said as he shut out the lights and lead Nikki out the front door.

[Sthurmovik]

Awesome work dude, I look forward to more.

[xBOT]

Loving this so far!

[tectile]

off to a great start. Looking forward to more.

[Bart]

Amazing! Installing a rootkit so geeky, I love it! Please keep writing. I can't wait to see what happens next.

[DollSpace]

I'm enjoying reading this one so far; can't wait for the next part!

[Enchanter]

I'm liking it!