New Breed

Williams

“What do humans think about when they’re asleep?” YOKO was perched on the arm of the couch.

Amelia sat with her legs crossed. She stared at the kitchen table while in thought. The kitchen table appeared crooked. “They don’t. It’s called dreaming.”

“What are dreams?” The metal bird tilted his head.

She forced her eyes to close in a synthetic blink. “Memories of the day being filed into long term memory. The brain is always working.”

YOKO fluttered his wings. “Do you still dream?”

“No.” Amelia ran a finger over her lips. She tried to ignore the lopsided view in her kitchen. “I don’t sleep. There’s no chance to dream.”

“Do you miss it?”

She rose from the couch. Her strides were perfectly even as she entered the kitchen. “Miss? I don’t have any emotions.” Amelia fixed the crooked table by sliding a piece of metal under it.

“Amelia.” YOKO landed on the counter.

Amelia was crouched on the floor eyeing the shorter leg of the piece of furniture. “What YOKO?”

“Who killed you?”

“You have a lot of questions for a robot.” Amelia raised an eyebrow. “Are you learning?”

YOKO nodded. “I am growing by learning. Is this what the humans fear?”

“Yes.” Amelia straightened her back. “Humans fear BioPets becoming aware. It could lead to another war.”

YOKO fluttered his wings. “I would never war with humans. I like humans.”

“You don't have a concept of ‘like’.” Amelia returned to her workstation. She strung the wiring through the tiny metallic pieces. The small icon flashed in the corner of her screen. “YOKO, can you read through the BioPet manuals?”

The robot bird landed on the desk with a thud. “Which manual should I read?”

“All of them.” Amelia finished the small piece of robot she was working with. She attached the actuator to her new joint and into a fusion core. The finger moved with precision. “I need you to read every document on every BioPet type. I need you to look for icons.”

She moved to sketching a quick eye design for the newer models. “YOKO.” Amelia pivoted to her pet. “Memorize everything you read. Search for inconsistencies.”

“Amelia.” YOKO was near a USB port. “You have a human brain, why don’t you have emotions?”

She tapped a finger on her desk. “I didn’t finish the Transfer System for human brains. The emotions must be in there somewhere, but there’s no technology to connect the organic to the wires.”

Something was wrong. The words she spoke didn’t match her memories. In her human form, Amelia knew most of the facts of the BioPets. This form knew things from the BioPet perspective. But it still lacked important information.

Perhaps there was more information available to Amelia than before. No, all data on BioPets was shared among the people of The City. That’s not true. Amelia tilted her head as her mind attached to her thoughts.

The company knows many things not shared with the public. It is a business, after all. Prototypes and some of the inner mechanics of the BioPets were kept secret to keep any competitors from stealing the designs.

Competitors? BioPet Industries talked about them, but Amelia had never seen someone challenge the company. She guessed the security did its task and kept others from stealing ideas. BioPet Industries was the only company with mechanical beasts to fight the New Breed.

This was something the elders of The City called a ‘monopoly’. It was a term Amelia didn’t know. The term was another relic of the time before the New Breed.

“YOKO,” Amelia replaced the contacts in her eyes. “I’m going out.”

YOKO chirped, “You don’t look human.”

“I know.” She didn’t want to be recognized where she was going.

It took moments to reach Lab 01 with this body. The joints moved with precise smoothness and no pain. Amelia never had to worry about physical pain again. Or aging.

“Let me in,” Amelia messaged.

A Type 5 raccoon scurried across the floor. It reached its small fingers to the lock. Amelia heard a faint click as the door popped open.

Before the alarm blared, she offered her wrist to the scanner. A tiny port shot into the scanner. She sent data to the alarm and disabled it.

The metal on the marble floor clacked with every step. Difficult to sneak into a place with marble floors, they announce the arrival of the intruder. All buildings should install marble as a security system.

Amelia was able to bound up the steps within seconds and get to the upper floor. “This should be right.” She thought to herself as she checked the installed schematics in her.

The plans zoomed in on Floor 45 and lowered the angle. A marker hung above the office in the south wing. “Williams,” the tight, thin font spelled out the name. Amelia counted the doors to Williams’ office.

She lowered the blueprint. Her eyes fell to the placard on the front of the door. “Billy Williams.” Who named this guy? No wonder he was always a jerk at the meetings, his name is “Billy Billy.”

Amelia nudged the handle but felt the resistance of a lock. She offered her wrist to it in the same way she offered it to the alarm. The thin port slid into the keyhole. She tested each pin.

Click. She retracted the wrist spike and entered the office. Williams was in charge of BioPet security risks and keeping BioPet information to the company. As a member of the board, he had opportunities to decide what to hide from the public and what to print in the manuals.

Amelia gambled that if there was information hidden from her and other board members, it could be found here. This was like a treasure of BioPet intelligence. Perhaps she would find that strange icon’s meaning. Or, even better, she would find data of a hacker’s presence in the system.

Her fingers slid across the smooth surface of the interactive desktop. A password screen appeared. Her vision shifted around the room. What would his password be?

She had watched many detective movies where the characters discovered the password by observing objects in the room. Amelia targeted in on stacks of folders and manuals. If she had the time, Amelia would have read through each one.

Amelia glanced for photos of loved ones. Mr. Williams had no family photos. There were zero frames in the office, minus the diploma behind the desk. She noted that Mr. Williams was not a family man.

The password could be anything. There were no clues in the office. Amelia didn’t know the man enough to make a guess.

There was little time.

She extended the lock pick into a USB port. Data whirled in her vision. Her hacking system tested all possible combinations for the password. Within a moment, Amelia’s drive had unlocked the computer.

Without removing the connection to the port, Amelia searched through the computer files. She accessed anything that could be related to secret information about BioPets.

A file was removed recently. Was it the hacker? The system stated that Williams had removed the secure file.

“What are you hiding?” Amelia spoke to the empty office.

She searched through more files rapidly. Important words were highlighted as she dug through the decades of information. None of the information was what Amelia wanted.

An alert chimed at the top of her screen. “There is a board member entering the building.” The Type 5 raccoon’s text was displayed in bold, red print.

“Can I see the log?” Amelia replied as she began downloading the files.

“Log entry- doors unlocked- access code- Board Member- Williams, Billy.”

Amelia reread the log entry. She measured the amount of time before Williams entered the 22nd floor. The download would not be complete in time.

“Stop the elevator on the 10th floor. Use William’s access codes to take control of the elevator.” Amelia finished her message to the raccoon and attempted to increase the transfer speed.

Forcing Williams to climb the stairs would buy Amelia more time. She ran the calculations. Her transfer would end close to the moment Williams would enter the office.

“Hurry, hurry,” Amelia muttered to the loading bar.

She pulled up a heat sensor and scanned the building. Williams was still in the elevator. Amelia guessed that he was waiting for the elevator to start working again.

Amelia watched the transfer bar fill on her screen. “Yes.” She clicked from the USB port. In her rush to leave the office, Amelia elbowed a stack of folders.

They scattered across the floor. Some slid under the desk. Amelia swept a hand under the desk to retrieve them.

Her hand bumped something. A small screw was lifted from the floorboards. She finished unscrewing the hidden panel. There was a rattle of paper.

A warning text sprang across the screen. It detailed that Williams was on the 21st floor. Amelia pulled the hidden papers to her and photographed each one.

She carefully shoved the paper back in their hiding place. After another quick check of the office, Amelia slipped out the door. She was along the side of the wall and sneaking to the elevator when Williams reached the office door.

“Do you know what time it is?” Howels glared as he stepped past Amelia into her apartment. “We have been on duty for three days straight. This was the only night to catch up on our sleep.”

Amelia acted out an empathic sigh. “I’m tired too. But this is important. I have to show you what I found in Williams’s office.”

“Who?” Sparrow closed the apartment door and gave Amelia sturdy look. “When did you go to someone’s office?”

I’ll be arrested, Amelia thought to herself.

"You're less chatty than usual." Howels squinted at Amelia. He appeared to being reading her. "What have you been up to?"

Amelia gave a fake sigh. "I found something very important to the case." She glanced at Sparrow as she stepped past the detectives. Perhaps the information would distract them from how she acquired the pictures.

Howels reached for the papers before Amelia turned with the stack. She hesitated before handing over her only hard copy of the evidence. These two had proven to be trustworthy and have the citizens as their main priority.

The tall detective flipped through the stack of detailed photos. "Where were these documents found?"

"Williams's office. He is a member of the board. They were hidden under a floorboard." Amelia pointed to the background of the photo. It showed the detail of the floor. Another showed Williams's desk feet.

She had taken the pictures with the office shown. In case she had to enter these into evidence. Or, more likely, it was insurance for Howels and Sparrows scrutiny. Amelia knew she would have to prove that the documents were from Williams's office and not something she had access to.

"These are the victims. All of our victims from this case." Howels stared at Amelia and lowered the papers for Sparrow to view. "You found these in a board member's office?"

"I think he knows something about the hack into the company's servers." Amelia gave a firm nod and tried to look important.

Howels tipped his head.

He doesn't believe me? Amelia had a tough time reading Howels, he was more robotic than she was. She handed Howels another document. It was the employment record of Williams.

"He heads the part of the company in charge of information available to the public and the rest of the company. He helped the hacker or is the hacker. Either way, he's in this conspiracy."

Howels scoffed. "It's a conspiracy now? You fell into this role as a detective. Are you fulfilling some dream of solving crimes. You are a scientist."

"I am head of Research and Development for a Robotics and Technology Company." Amelia defended her life's work and position. She had worked hard to reach a place on the board and create these amazing creatures. Howels didn't understand. Why did he hate her?

Sparrow's eyes flicker between the two. "It doesn't matter. We're on the same side now. These pictures are clear evidence that the company or someone in the company is taking part in these murders."

"So, what else did you find after your breaking and entering stunt?" Howels raised his eyebrows. "Thought I wouldn't realize that you obtained these illegally? You took photos of hidden documents in a dark office. And you called us after printing them off probably only an hour later? Your company building has been closed for hours."

He's a senior detective for a reason. If only he had a better personality, he could rise into office positions. Amelia wondered what Howels would be like as a mayor.

"I found something about a gathering of New Breed not far outside The City." Amelia was scanning the files in her download from Williams's computer.

Howels nodded and gave a Sparrow a stern look. "We discussed something similar. With the peak in attacks, it would benefit our little rag-tag team to go on an expedition."

"An expedition?" Amelia raised an artificial eyebrow. Howels couldn't be thinking of leaving the safety of The City. They are humans and would die within a day.

"Yes." Howels used a patronizing voice. "That when you go on an adventure and plan to find something important."

Sparrow stared at the two with a sprig of fear. Amelia could read from Sparrow's face that he was worried about the two fighting. He might not be wrong. Amelia toyed with the idea of knocking Howels out.

Amelia walked gracefully to the kitchen. "Thank you for explaining, Detective Howels. When were you planning on going on this death hike?"

"Tomorrow." Howels answered immediately. "It's our day off and I'm guessing you can get most of the day free?"

"I'll tell them I'm in the middle of work and can't be disturbed." This was one positive to her job. Amelia made her own hours and didn't have to check every day. She had the option to leave when she wanted.

Sparrow folded the papers and stuffed them into his inner coat pocket. Amelia had guessed they would take the documents. She didn't think Sparrow would be the one to rudely steal them.

"Those are mine." She tried to guilt him.

Sparrow glanced at Howels, then shrugged. "Howels said to keep anything you showed us. See you tomorrow." He walked to the apartment door quicker than usual.

Amelia guessed that Sparrow was avoiding confrontation. "He takes your orders well." She offered the empty compliment to Howels. "Why is he in this line of work, if he doesn't like arguing?"

"I don't know everything about Sparrow." Howels stepped past Amelia without looking down. "We'll meet you here?"

"Yeah."

She waited for the door to close. "Why do they think they can boss me around?"

"They think you're a civilian." YOKO offered a reasonable explanation. "You wanted to join them in this case and they are allowing you. Why complain?"

YOKO was a silly bird, but he had moments of clarity. Detective work was not her job. She wanted answers, but it wasn't her job to find them. If they failed in this adventure outside The City, it wasn’t Amelia that would be blamed.

“BattleCat, we have to take a trip outside tomorrow.” Amelia patted the feline’s head. “They’re will more dangers than we have ever faced.”

“We will be fine.” BattleCat’s message scrawled across Amelia’s vision. “The New Breed outside should be calm.”

Amelia was didn't understand what BattleCat was saying. She had no data saying that the New Breed beyond The City were calm. It was more likely that they were dangerous and feral.

“I have to call Stacey.”