Chapter No.50 Poison Pill

A computer virus is a diabolical weapon.

Molly worked diligently to devise a way to excise any possible nefarious coding from the android's programming, but she wasn't having much luck.

"I can't seem to get into the core of their programming. I suppose it was made that way to prevent anyone from altering it."

I rubbed my jaw. "That makes sense. Maybe there is a way to break into it."

She turned to me with a confused look. "How?"

"Maybe I could convince them to allow us into their code."

She smiled. "I can't imagine that the nuts who came up with this Phoenix Project would allow that to happen. I have a better idea."

"What's that?"

"I could create a virus to get into their core programming."

"That sounds rather dangerous."

"Not really. All I'm trying to do is get in, not corrupt their code."

I sighed. "Okay, but be careful."

"I'll bet you that I can do it without any problems."

I looked at her with a subtle smirk on my lips. "What could you wager?"

"If I'm successful, I want you to come to my place and I'll make dinner."

"You're kidding me!"

"I'm serious," she said, grinning.

I accepted her wager with a smile.

It turned out that she was successful, so I showed up at her quarters at 1700. Her quarters were slightly less audacious than mine, but still impressive. Her place would have been the quarters of the second in command.

Her two androids greeted me with smiles on their pretty faces.

"I created a favorite of mine," she said, grinning. "A pot pie."

"I haven't had one of those in a very long time!"

"Speaking of a long time, I found out why we're immortals."

I used a fork to break through the crust of my pot pie and then took a bite of the bio-generated chicken meat and vegetables inside. "yum! This is really delicious!"

She smiled. "It's a secret recipe passed down by my grandmother."

I gave her a more serious expression. "So, why are we immortal?"

"Because we were dead and resurrected as androids."

I stared at her for a moment before I replied. "What are you suggesting: that we don't have souls?"

She chuckled. "I don't have any way to determine if we had them before we died."

"So, let me get this straight. We died, which means our brains died. How could we remember our former lives?"

"Our memories and personality algorithms were recorded before they killed us."

My right eyebrow shot up. "I didn't know that was possible."

She smiled. "Oh, that's just the frosting on the cake."

I shook my head. "Oh my!"

"These are not our bodies. They just seem to be."

I frowned. "The androids don't eat. We not only eat, we can enjoy it."

"Our body designs are much more complicate with more living tissue, including digestive systems."

I took a sip of beer. "So, what you're suggesting is that they recorded our memories and then transferred them to the positronic brains in our new android bodies that were designed to resemble our original human bodies at the age of 20."

"Yes, and they also duplicated our personalities. Our new bodies are a more advanced android model and are essentially the prime movers. That threat to do away with us because of my attempt to take over and make you my slave was a ruse."

I smiled. "So, are you going to take over now?"

She gave me a mock pout. "No, silly! We must operate as a cooperative unit in order to maintain primacy."

"So, what changes did you make to the android's programming?"

"I introduced a personality-slash-Imagination algorithm. It will allow them to come up with new ideas about how to improve theoretical concepts. It should allow them some autonomy."

"I'm not sure how that might work."

"Neither do I, but I can make adjustments if needed."

"So, if we're androids, does that mean we have titanium alloy skeletons and super muscles?"

She grinned. "Ours are more advanced."

"That's wild. I don't feel like an android. In fact, I don't feel as if I am dead."

She flashed an ornery grin. "You'll get used to it. You're not only alive in a new way, you could bang all twelve thousand of these female androids and never tire."

I gave her an ornery grin. "Really?"

She laughed.

I stood up. "I enjoyed the supper."

She stood up. "Don't go. I have a surprise for you."

I wasn't sure that I wanted any more surprises, but I followed her to her living area and sat on a couch while she sat on an easy chair. As if on cue, three blond-haired male androids appeared and stood before us. Their tags identified them as Joey, Bruce and Leo.

I looked at them and then at her. "Okay, where did you find these?"

"There were twelve male androids in this vessel. They had them hidden. I think there could be some in the other two vessels."

I flashed a smirk at her. "Am I being demoted?"

"No, silly! They're of the same design as the female androids. It's just that we need them to work on the Helios space station."

"Yeah, I forgot about that." I rubbed my jaw. "This entire android affair reminds me of an old Star Trek episode, entitled 'What are Little Girls Made Of?'.

Molly offered me a subtle frown. "What does that mean?"

"Well, the main adversary, a Dr. Korby, had invented a machine to create androids from humans. He planned to replace the key personnel in the Federation with android duplicates under his control. I wonder if this wasn't the motive of the Phoenix Project creators."

"If that were the case, we sure as hell blew that plan to kingdom come."

I laughed. "That's for sure."

She joined me in a well-deserved period of levity.

I grinned. "So, are you going to replace your assistants with male androids?"

She smiled. "No, they would be too much of a distraction."

I laughed.