Read In Makr's Shadow - Book One: Symbiosis Page 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  "No one is more miserable than the person who wills everything and can do nothing." - Claudius

  The Master would not be pleased. At least the last Bio in this position had had spunk. However, Marlene's connection was long gone. She was probably one of them now, Makr thought. He knew new State Prosecutor, Winston Salem, was a born-again—tedious and dull, but He didn't know that Salem was smarter than he seemed. However, the Master always got what the Master wanted. In this case, it was an unimaginative Bio perspective.

  With Makr's vast knowledge, He perceived His analyst as a dullard with hard-to-read emotions. He couldn't understand it; the Bio had scored high in the ability to read Bio behavior. He should have been perfect. Then again, Harry Bolls should have been ideal, too. It was enough for the artificial intelligence to scream; that is, if he had a real mouth and emotions to go with it.

  "Master, may I ask a question?"

  "Yes, of course. Ask your question." Makr had evolved beyond mere intervention with human behavior; in fact, He had come to enjoy being the master. Bios still called him Makr, too, but that would change. That name had served its purpose, but He liked the sound of Master.

  "Why didn't you just kill Harry Bolls like the rest?" It was a simple question with a more complex answer. "You had him and his companions in your grasp."

  "That's not important. I merely wanted to question him about the other renegades. He won't disappear for long."

  In truth, Winston Salem was no fool. He knew Makr had more at stake. Bolls was dangerous. Just how dangerous, he had no real idea—only what he'd been told. Patience, he told himself. Be patient and play the fool until you discover the truth...if you live that long. He had his doubts; this job had its liabilities. He was nervous, but he appreciated a challenge. In other circumstances, some might call it bravery. Winston would disappear long before he became a liability to Makr—or so he thought. He wasn't the only one who thought that.

  "How can Harry Bolls destroy a Cyber street cleaner when he is programmed with an advanced inhibitor against damaging any Cyber? He shouldn't be able to throw his alarm clock, let alone vaporize a Cyber."

  "As you know, Master, some Bios can be very emotional," the new chief prosecutor volunteered. "Sometimes when the adrenaline takes over, it makes for irrational, unpredictable behavior. You know, 'brain says one thing, heart says another.' He acts on his feelings. He is one of these more irrational Bios, yet strangely enough he holds an unusual place in PerSoc."

  Winston wasn't sure of his part in this battle for symbiosis; but he had no choice but to support the State. And the State—well, that was really Makr, wasn't it?

  The logic trail for a Bio in this was easy to follow. Winston's washed brain told him that Cyber were responsible for Man's safety. That Cyber were Man's caretakers was simple and true; also that it was preposterous to war against what keeps you thriving and alive. He didn't like this war because no one likes wars. He couldn't take sides, but he couldn't help feeling something for his own kind. Like Harry, though, he was unable to harm a cyberserver; and it would have been easier for him to kill a Bio. But then Harry had destroyed a cybert! A minor cleaner cybert to be sure, but the act was definitely an anomaly—an anomaly representing hope. That did not compute—even for Winston Salem.

  Logical and rational, Makr regarded the war as a slight annoyance, a delay. Delete them, he computed. They're only Bios. End of process.

  Winston didn't know everyone had a plan—all the big boys and girls involved, especially his own self-proclaimed master of the world. As for himself: If the master let him live, he'd have to choose a side—a loyalty. The years of brainwashing had taken a toll on this man, one who had also lost at least one Bio identity and lived again with yet another Bio identity created by machine. What if, like Harry, I can harm a toaster after all? Strangely enough, he liked the idea.