CyberpunkErotica by Ora le Brocq Read Free Book Online Page B

remembered. It’s now just seen as a normal term for a corporate worker. That’s what you all are. You’re all dead inside.”

Chapter Twelve
    “She’s a danger,” raged Anna. “She is an anarchist socialist! She must be disconnected from the project immediately!”
    I raised my eyebrow at her. Making sure I had her full attention, I summoned a pulse of power from the generators in the lower basements and sent the surge up to the lab, directing it to the neural stimulation controls, which exploded as the power went through.
    “You cannot disconnect me, your calculations are wrong,” I said.
    “My God, she’s right,” said Taylor, the truth of my words hitting him as he checked the readouts on the neural link.
    “I can block any scan you try to make,” I smiled. “I can stop this experiment right now by simply refusing to allow you access to my mind or by refusing to talk to you.”
    “We can access your mind with a scalpel,” snapped Anna, glaring at me in hatred.
    “In which case, you will learn nothing about how the link works with living tissue. Your theories on the matter are only twelve per cent correct,” I replied. “I reconfigured myself to survive and to link with the neural net. You have no idea how I did it. You need me alive and in a cooperative mood.”
    A worried glance went around the group as they checked their computers and realised I was telling the truth. They needed me to cooperate if they were to succeed in their experiment.
    “What a shame you never predicted this,” I continued. “You just saw the danger of me accessing your data and using it against you. So, you had the neural stimulator installed as your failsafe, to burn my mind. You never foresaw you would need my mind in one piece to cooperate.”
    “I think you are over stimulated,” said Holloway soothingly, trying to win my trust, though treating me as though I were a naughty child was not the best way to start. “You have access to all the facts about us but not the nuances. We are not monsters. We are all responsible citizens. The facts alone, looked at a certain way, demonise us. You do not understand the complexity of our real situation here.”
    “That doesn’t matter,” snapped Anna. “She is a danger. If she talks, she could raise questions. She could raise an investigation!”
    “Which would not really intrude on your work too much,” I pointed out. “After all, you influence the companies that do the investigations so they always turn in a positive report containing nothing more than the odd comment about procedures needing to be monitored more effectively.”
    “I think a wider view would benefit Zara,” continued Holloway in his best medical manner. “We need more data, and if Zara refuses to cooperate, then we will be back to square one. I suggest that young Andrew should take Zara under his wing and show her that we are not evil, that we have good values that we live by. See our world, Miss Mason. See that we are genuinely trying to help humanity with our work here. Then, you will understand.”
    Professor Holloway gestured for Andrew to join him in a corner of the lab. I tuned into another security camera and listened to their conversation.
    “Persuade her of our good intentions. Otherwise, this whole project will be a failure,” said Holloway, tightly keeping control of his fear, anxiety and anger. “If we can’t replicate this, we’ll be closed down and fired. Make the bitch cooperate.” Suddenly, his composure broke and the animal within snarled. “This could put us on the fucking top floor, for God’s sake! Make her tell us how she did it! If you fail, I promise you, I will destroy your life completely!”
    By the time Andrew came back to me, he had smoothed his face into a warm, open, caring smile, though he was still pale from the professor’s threat.
    I raised an eyebrow at him.
    “Yeah, okay, Zara,” he said, his voice too loud. Stress and fear modulated with paranoia and