The Android Chronicles Book One: The Android Defense Read Online Free PDF Page B

female androids called Siris. We’ve got partnerships
lined up with Wal-Mart, Martha Stewart Living, Adidas, Volkswagen,
Pepsi, and a number of other big names as well.”
    “Impressive,” Luke
said.
    “But our primary focus will
of course be our own company androids,” Damian said. “We’ve got
twelve product lines in active production. You saw one of our
Fantastic Domestics, specializing in housework, and the Corporate
Clones, designed to fill staff shortages in any kind of
corporation. You’ll see the rest of them in a few
minutes.”
    They rounded a corner and
headed towards a small, elegant elevator lobby with see-through
glass walls. Elevators that resembled glass boxes in glass-walled
chutes moved up and down slowly behind the walls.
    A tall, slender woman who
looked like a model dressed in a dark gray business suit, her blond
hair gathered in a bun and delicate glasses on her eyes, was
waiting by the elevators.
    She turned at their
approach.
    “What a superbly-timed
coincidence,” Damian said. “Luke, this is Lina Calders. She’s one
of the lead designers on our android lines.”
    Lina took Luke’s
hand.
    “Charmed,” she said, with a
slight obscure accent. She assessed Luke up and down without
seeming to feel the need for tact.
    “Wow. I thought you were
exaggerating when you described him, Damian, but you weren’t. He’s
unparalleled. I was sure we were the ones breaking new ground with
our androids, but he’s a whole other level. You were designed by
Argonaut Laboratories?”
    “Yes,” Luke said. “And your
accent suggests you’re from eastern Croatia.”
    “I was born in Osejik,” Lina
said. She looked unabashedly intrigued and impressed.
    “I’ve just made Luke my
Director of New Technologies, Lina,” Damian said. “You’ll be
working closely with him.”
    “How wonderful,” Lina said.
“I can’t wait to start.”
    Carlie looked subtly
contemptuous.
    The glass doors of the
elevator opened and the four of them stepped inside. Damian pressed
a button on the touchscreen elevator panel.
    “We’re going to the fortieth
floor,” he said as the elevator whisked upwards silently. “Product
development division. The star of our show. Nobody can access floor
forty without getting corporate permission first. Everything that
goes on in P.D. is done in absolute confidentiality. Right,
Lina?”
    “Completely right,” Lina
said. She was still studying Luke with steel-eyed fascination,
looking as though she was valiantly restraining herself from
frisking him with her hands.
    “Ellen at the Sci Fi Channel
just sent an email,” Carlie said, looking at her iPad. “She has
some ideas to add to the list you sent her about the unveiling
ceremony.”
    “Tell her to send them
over,” Damian said. “We’re in early discussions with the Sci Fi
Channel for them to broadcast the launch ceremony for our android
lines, Luke. Kind of an appropriate venue, don’t you think? Science
fiction meets reality.”
    “My experience with human
television is limited,” Luke said. “But to me the words science
fiction sound like a paradox.”
    Damian laughed.
    “What’s the latest update on
the Hero Patrol line, Lina?” he said.
    “It’s nearly completed and
ready for testing,” Lina said. “We’ve delayed testing because we
wanted to make sure the gun usage settings on the androids were
accurate.”
    “Of course,” Damian said.
“Very important. But are any of them ready for us to show to
Luke?”
    “One of them is,” Lina said.
“We all got your memo last night, and stayed in the building until
four a.m. getting the androids ready. I barely had time to run back
to my place and put my make-up on for today.” She laughed
self-consciously.
    “You look great,” Damian
said. “As usual.”
    The elevator stopped and the
glass doors opened. They stepped into a large, airy room that
seemed to be made entirely of glass. It had glass walls, a glass
floor, and a glass ceiling. In all of the glass