Chapter Fifty-One

Gabriel

When the two investigators show up at Werker, Gabriel is already waiting for them in the security office. He has everything planned out. As if they were typical customers looking to place an order, he leads them through the facility in a tour-like fashion. Cris walks with him side-by-side, while Gerald follows right behind them. He shows them all of the many different prototype and production laboratories along their way to the Five-series development area.

He smiles a fake smile and looks out onto the main floor where there are more people out than usual. It makes the place look really busy. There are almost fifty people dressed in white jumpsuits moving about between their stations. In the background, the low whirr and clunking of machinery sets the mood. Dark red colored machinery and robots contrast against a white epoxy floor while they quickly work.

“Most people think this is one of our main manufacturing plants. Truth is, we only do the initial limited runs of new models here. This entire facility is specifically dedicated to development.”

“It looks like you’ve got a lot of things going on here.” The two don’t look as inspired as most people do when they see the inside of the plant. “Where are your realistic models, the ones that look like people?”

He was not expecting them to be so simple with their assumptions. He continues with his canned routine, trying to not let them immediately gouge him with allegations.

“We have numerous teams working independently on a great many projects. The engineers here in the development wing all work fairly independently without much oversight. They’re all encouraged to think outside the box.”

“That’s fine, Dr. Ahl, but we’re here to see the ones that are made to look and act like people.” They abruptly stop outside a darkened room. It’s the scanning lab and the lights are turned out, but the scanning station is still clearly visible.

Gabriel is used to seeing the thing. He’s forgotten how unsettling it looks, with the ankle, wrist, and neck restraints hanging down. The investigators are looking at him quite grumpily. “As you can see, this lab is not currently in use. It was set up for a defunct project that is no longer active.”

“Right. So, when exactly was this project canceled? A couple of days ago? Any chance you might have documentation of that?” Gerald lets his rifle hang from its sling, spreads his feet apart, and folds his forearms in front of him.

Gabriel planned on the tour leading to this, but not so quickly. He has to put a bit of effort into maintaining a straight face. “Officially… last week, and no, I don’t.”

“Where are the robots that use that… torture bed thing, in there?”

“They are missing. Dr. Marco Greco and Valerie Morgan are missing as well. The two are the project leads and neither of them has been back since they signed the prototypes out for field testing. It appears they may have used them for… unsanctioned activities.”

“What is special about these machines in particular? They are prototypes, after all, what makes them different? Are they capable of violence?”

He drags his hand down his face. “No, and there’s nothing even special about them. They simply have AMF bodies and regular run of the mill Werker controllers in them, that’s all. We had just acquired AMF and this was our first collaboration. Whatever has happened, that’s on those two. We don’t make… I can’t believe I’m going to repeat it… assassin robots.”

“So the robots did come from here. We spoke with Dr. Morgan some time ago. Didn’t give us any reason to suspect foul play.” Cris looks at Gerald, and the two barely shake their heads.

“Valerie came from AMF, and Marco is one of our most brilliant systems designers. There’s no telling what the two could have done to those machines, and that’s if it truly was them.”

Over the next two hours, the investigators check the dates that the prototypes were signed in and out of the building. They note that Valerie had not logged them out professionally the last time. They confirm his alibis during the major criminal events and clear him of any immediate suspicions.

When they’re finished, Cris makes a statement to a few reporters that are waiting outside of the Werker building. For the time being, he publicly clears Werker of having any direct involvement in any of the incidents. He encourages the public to report any information regarding the individuals involved and not put themselves in any dangerous situations.

In their unmarked cruiser, Cris and Gerald hash out their theories about what’s going on. Gerald immediately states his concerns with Gabriel. “He is a shifty-eyed little liar, is what he is.”

“I remember our talk with Dr. Morgan, I didn’t get any weird vibes from her, not like this. This guy, he gave us way too much filler. That’s what a liar does. He knows damn well what’s going on, but he knows how to keep his hands clean too.”

“Ugh, not really. They were kinda sticky when he shook my hand, and the tips of his fingers were orange.”

“Nacho powder, I could totally smell it.”

“I think we need to go over to AMF, to see what they’ve got going on ourselves. Maybe see if anyone will vouch for Valerie over there.”

Gerald loads the security footage they got from Werker and loads it on the dash screen. He jumps to the beginning of the workweek and starts fast-forwarding. Valerie seems to hardly be doing anything, while Gabriel is the one who’s been coming and going all the time. There’s hardly even any of the prototypes in any of the footage. They feel like they are being played for complete idiots.

When Gerald is ready to look at the previous week to that one, Cris pulls into the AMF lot. When they go inside, it almost looks like the place is shut down and there’s hardly anyone around.

Only one security guard is there and an older woman tending to the front desk. Quite a few of the names on the office directory have been removed. According to the clerk, a lot of the offices were moved to the Werker center. Only a few production foremen and employees are on the floor when they are led in. Comparatively, it’s more like a normal factory, where most of the production work is automated, but by robots.

They want to know exactly what the machines are made of, so they have the guard guide them through the production line, from the beginning to the end. After personally seeing all the carnage these machines left behind, they need to know what they’re up against. They already know energy weapons didn’t work.

The three of them start in the composites' room, where the near replications of human skeletons are being made. There are a few operators at the computer stations, working with various skeletal structure models. In the large sealed glass booth behind them, pairs of robotic arms rapidly fabricate the artificial bones.

It looks like some kind of ceramic is being printed onto metal structures to form the full pieces. While one of the robots holds the metal substructures, one deposits material on it, and another applies what looks like dull grey electrical traces all over their surfaces.

In the next room, a few humanoid robots are placing the artificial tissues on the skeletons. There are so many soft muscle groups to be applied, it’s clearly a repetitious job that needs to be done by dexterous machines. It gives them an eerie feeling, watching machines handling what looks like torn apart humans. It looks so much like the real anatomy of a person, but only in different colors. If they were watching the process in black and white, they might not realize the difference. One of the frames is about halfway done, still has a lot of exposed bone, while the other, which is farther along, looks like a person that has had their skin removed.

In the electrical department they see all of the extremely fine and delicate looking wiring harnesses being placed into the bodies. All the sensors and miscellaneous electronics that go into the machines are mind-boggling. Gerald leans in close to what looks like a six-foot-long, thin, wispy, white wig hanging from a test fixture. While no one is looking, he gently tugs on one of the leads hanging from the harness with two fingers.

“How can something so delicate last very long in these machines? It looks like an awful lot of things to go wrong.”

The woman working in the lab scoffs and carelessly yanks the whole array out of the harness it’s plugged into. “Here take this end, wrap it around your fist for all I care, but hold onto it tight. I don’t want to land on my ass.”

She pulls on her end of it until he has to stand his ground to hold on, then she unexpectedly yanks on it hard enough for him to lose his balance.

“The power leads, the muscle solenoid fibers, and these sensor leads are all made from monofilament polymers, kind of like fishing line, and the electrical traces are carbon boron nitride. One single teeny strand has the tensile strength to cut your finger down to the bone. These machine’s nervous systems could be the toughest part about them.” She looks at all the gear strapped on their vests. “I wouldn’t bother trying to stop one with a knife.”

Curiously, Cris holds one of the tiny filaments up close to his face and tries to make out the fine trace lines she’s talking about. His vision isn’t bad, but it’s not easy for him to focus on anything that small, they’re amazingly fine. He holds the strand slack and then quickly snaps it tight, listening to it make a high pitched “doink” sound.

By the time they reach the chemical rooms, Cris and Gerald have a good idea of just how incredible the AMF artificial bodies are. It’s not what they were expecting. They are a completely different machine than the ones they’re used to seeing, like the Patrol bots that Werker makes for them. They could be very nimble and dangerous, like a big cat.

They have a hard time keeping focused on asking relevant questions to their case while being distracted by all the naked bodies in the painting area. Some of the artists are putting a great amount of effort into every detail of each robot. Cris is staring at a particularly striking fem-bot being painted when he realizes the others are waiting for him.

“I don’t know what customers must be paying for these things, but it looks like they might be worth the price.”

The guard looks down at the one he’s referring to. It’s not even being worked on by a human. “Meh, this one’s a floor model. You ever heard of Evan Adams? Makes this look like the shit you can buy at the adult store. Can’t tell the difference between his work and the real deal sometimes.”

Gerald looks at him sarcastically, because he’s kind of an unkempt guy. “Really. Have you ever even seen the real thing?”

The guard smarts back. “Well, that’s a good question. Maybe my wife’s been one of Evan’s models the whole time and I didn’t even know it.”

“They’re that good, huh?”

“Yep. One of these things even tricked my buddy who runs security over at Werker. Thing signed in under its name and everything.” He hiccups and then continues. “ He thought it was just some lady with a weird name. Walked right in and broke a fellas arm, she did.”

“Uh, come again?”

“Funny that you remind me now… saw Evan in a few days ago, workin’ on this big fella. Startled the hell out of me when the thing climbed down out of the workstation all on its own. Almost hit the fuckin’ big red button that time. Guess I’ve been watchin’ too many low budget movies these days. Been seein’ a lot of weird shit this month.”

“These robots are acting like people, and you’ve known they’re dangerous? Where are they now?”

“I dunno, they hung out for a bit, had pizza, and then just left, I guess.”

“They?”

“Yeah, Evan, Valerie, Marco, the robot...”

Unanimously, both of them stand straight. ”We’ll need to see that footage.”

In their office, back at the downtown precinct, Cris and Gerald go over months worth of footage, day by day. They soon realize they’re not dealing with typical next-generation robots at all. Numerous people are seen carrying on lengthy discussions with them, some even being about heated behavioral disagreements. They weren’t even sure the smaller pretty one was actually a robot until Dr. Morgan changed her battery out. It made them squirm a little when she started peeling the skin off her side.

The interactions between all of them seemed to be much more social rather than scientific. When they watch Marco rebooting the damaged one that was in the cart, they stand up out of their chairs. It’s like watching a scary movie, but it’s real.

Everything starts to change after that point. The team members all start showing up at odd hours and moving around much more erratically. Gabriel however, can hardly be seen on any of the footage at all. Whenever he is present, he’s either up in his office, or going in and out of the building. Even at that, he’s snacking more than working.

They do take note that when he is working, he’s always looking over his shoulder. Like the others, he’s been doing his fair share of snooping around. The last they see of any activity in those labs is when Mikel and some really big guy ransack them the morning after the bombing. At this point, they can’t tell who all might be robots and who’s not.

Cris turns around and pokes Gerald jokingly. “Are you a robot, Huh?”

Gerald plops back in his chair and shakes his head. “Honestly, I’ve seen enough. We’ve got, what, up to six of these robots out there, maybe more? I’m starting to think all of these people are just getting what they deserve. At this rate, they’ll have all handled each other soon enough. Do we even want this case, or should we delegate?”

“I swear… I mean, who still thinks they’re a cowboy anyway! What human resources idiot hires this guy on at a robot factory?” He takes the magazine out of his rifle, taps the back of it on the side of his gun, and then clicks it back in. “Whatever. You wanna go back to Werker for that lying sack of shit, or scope out this Evan guy?”

“Mmm… definitely Evan. Look at this.”

Gerald shows Cris the most recent license plate pings at the street lights Mikel’s truck has gone through. The sequential markers show that he was indeed at Dr. Morgan’s apartment, the bridge, and the steel mill all on the night of the bombing. The last lights his plate was recorded going through were heading in the direction of Evan Adam’s residence.

“Looks like they headed in his direction, and I’m pretty sure they’re still there unless they knew to take their plates off.”

So far today, they’ve turned over a lot of stones and have almost nothing to show for it. Valerie, Marco, and Mikel’s places have all turned up fruitless. The apartment down the hall, with the kicked in the door, has only added more mystery to the whole ordeal. There’s almost no information on the guy in their system other than his occupation. What isn’t just a coincidence though is that he was absent for quite a while and came back nearly twice the size as before.

With so many of these unpredictable and dangerous new robots on the loose, the two of them stick two extra rifle magazines in the front of their plate vests before heading out. They’ve been treated like idiots and it is time they make up for the lost ground. Despite wanting to drop the heavy hammer on everyone involved, they do know better than to attract any more attention to the situation. They’ll keep their movements discreet as long as they can. There are rats everywhere now, looking for any reason to riot.