The Cyber Chronicles VIII - Scorpion Lord Read Free Page B

him?"
Vardin, head of Myon Two research and development, asked. He was a
stocky man with black eyes, a lantern jaw and a high forehead that
a receding hairline made more prominent.
    "This is him,"
Jorran agreed.
    "We're all
eager to see what he can do."
    Jorran
inclined his head, and Vardin ushered him into the palatial
reception, where he was logged in by security and given his
clearance and access code. The official business done, he followed
the department head along many smooth white corridors to a bright,
sterile room filled with experimental equipment and monitoring
consoles. The techs gathered around, murmuring, as he deactivated
the antigravity fields and activated the unlock sequence. They
waited for several minutes while the lights changed from red to
amber to green, and the lid unsealed with a faint click. Mist oozed
from the crack, then billowed up as Jorran opened the lid. The
techs crowed around to peer inside as the mist cleared, revealing
the cyber within.
    "He's older
than I thought he would be," Vardin commented.
    "He's got a
lot of scars," another tech said.
    "He's been in
service for eight years," Jorran informed them. "There's bound to
be a bit of wear and tear, but he's in good condition."
    "Well, let's
get on with it." Vardin rubbed his hands.
    Jorran glanced
at him. "Just remember, this one is dangerous. We'll need a cyber
to guard him, although I have an override with his codes." He
pulled the little black trigger from his pocket.
    Vardin
signalled to another tech, who spoke into a communications link.
Moments later, a cyber entered and took up a guard stance just
inside the door. Jorran looked down at Sabre. He had learnt the
free cyber's name from Grundel's records, but refused to use it,
although he found himself thinking of him as Sabre.
    "Cyber Seventy
One, stand up."
    Sabre sat up
and climbed out of the casket with the lithe ease that all cybers
possessed, turned to face Jorran and assumed a guard stance, legs
apart, hands clasped behind his back. The techs gathered around to
examine him.
    "He doesn't
look any different," Vardin commented.
    "No," Jorran
agreed. "Until you shine a light on him."
    A tech gave
him a hand-light, and he shone it on the cyber's arm, causing the
skin to emit a soft golden glow.
    "What causes
that?" one tech asked.
    "Reflective
melanin. It has an iridescent quality, so it reflects between
eighty and nighty per cent of heat and about twenty per cent of
light."
    Vardin peered
at the brow band. "I thought this one was supposed to be free."
    "He was, but
he's put himself under cyber control to avoid painful tests."
    "So then a
host really feels no pain while under cyber control?" a young
female tech with mouse brown hair and wide green eyes asked.
    "No, we know
they do, but he figured that if I couldn't get any results from my
tests, I wouldn't run them. And he's right; it's pointless now that
he's under cyber control."
    "You spoke to
him?"
    "Yes, for
about fifteen minutes."
    "What's he
like?"
    Jorran frowned
at her. "It doesn't matter. He's just a host."
    Vardin glanced
at the data record Jorran had given him. "So, all his tests were
ten per cent above normal for an A-grade. It's not much, and we
don't know whether it's due to the changed DNA or just the result
of good training and exercise."
    "No, we don't.
But what we're really interested in is the fireproofing, in any
case."
    "True. Would
you give us a demonstration?"
    "Of
course."
     
    ****
     
    Tarl looked up
from the clump of wires, crystals and electrical components on the
workbench in front of him as Tassin entered his lab for the
umpteenth time, her too-frequent visits harassing him. The
diminutive raven-haired Queen looked exhausted, her azure eyes
haunted and her skin paler than usual. Her thick hair was swept up
in a simple braid atop her head, and she wore no jewellery other
than the delicate, elegant engagement ring Sabre had given her a
month ago. A simple dark blue gown clad her slender form, its
sleeves and