Marcus 582: Book Three of Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined Read Online Free PDF

both on to cover as much of himself as possible. Popping a large pair of sunglasses on over his eyes, he tucked his chin down and followed the group inside, lingering on their edges until he saw a much better surveillance location.
     
    There was an unclaimed table just behind a revolving advertiser. Its constantly changing landscape of rotating commercials was the perfect cover. The attention of anyone looking in that direction would be drawn to the revolving panorama first. This included the geeky guy he didn’t trust and the woman he was protecting who just happened to be sitting with her back to it. He calculated that in most cases, his presence would be totally overlooked, especially if he kept his head down.
     
    Pulling out a small portable, Marcus lit it up and pretended an interest in something on the screen. What he really did was tune instantly into Rachel’s conversation with her date, his cybernetics easily filtering out the rest of the vocal chaos going on around him.
     
    ***
     
    Rachel sipped her coffee and looked over the rim of the cup at the attractive man sitting across from her. He was very good looking. So why wasn’t she enjoying this more? Maybe her lie to Marcus was tainting her enjoyment. She certainly felt guilty for no damn good reason.
     
    “So you’re helping the legendary Dr. Winters restore cyborgs.”
     
    Rachel nodded as she drew in a breath before attempting to speak. “Yes.”
     
    “That must be interesting work. I can always tell one when I pass them in the hall. They’re a bit like the sophisticated AI units manning the security scanners for most UCN buildings. They nod, but rarely speak unless you speak to them first. I have just two words to describe that behavior— very creepy .”
     
    Rachel shrugged. “You get…used…to…them.”
     
    “Maybe,” Nathan replied, shrugging himself. “Have you run across any rogues yet?”
     
    “Rogues?” Rachel spoke the one word question even though Captain William Talon came immediately to mind.
     
    “Yes. You know—what they talk about on the news. Rogues. Cyborgs you can’t control or help. They’re the ones who are more machine than human.”
     
    Nathan’s inference wasn’t lost on her even though she’d certainly seen evidence of what could happen when a cyborg’s cybernetics weren’t programmed right. However, that wasn’t the average guy Seetha calibrated and fixed. What she and Seetha mostly repaired were non-working cybernetic arms and legs.
     
    The brains of most cyborgs were only mildly advanced and not really threatening to her. It was the mega-intelligent human brain she had learned to fear. Evil Brad’s genius had been her downfall. Kyra Winters might not be evil, but she was more intimidating.
     
    Yet for all her own reservations, Rachel thought Nathan’s uneducated attitude was unfair considering the sacrifices the Cyber Soldiers had made for the global war effort. Whether you supported cybernetics or not, they were the only reason the world had found peace.
     
    She lifted her chin and met Nathan’s questioning stare. “No…rogues. All…norm…al…so…far,” Rachel reported, articulating each syllable carefully, so he couldn’t misunderstand. Looking into his disbelieving gaze, she had the realization she wouldn’t have told him more, even if she could have talked freely. His negative comments had significantly dampened her pleasure to have run into him today.
     
    “Normal is a strange descriptor for people who’ve had themselves converted into robots. I even heard there’s a female cyborg in Norton’s top-secret detainment center who went rogue. Rumors are that she tears up her holding cell all the time. They can’t shut her down or destroy her because of some high level technology she carries. They also say she tried to kill several of her caretakers. I don’t see why they don’t just gut her cybernetic compartment and start over with her programming. I’ve studied cyborg