The Gate Read Online Free PDF Page A

around her apartment, slowly familiarizing
him with everything. She saved the bathroom for last, but it was on
her mind the entire time she was showing him everything else.
Partly that was because she could speak completely freely there
without worrying that Trude would record it. And partly it was
because the moment she thought about the bath it leapt into her
mind that she could make love to him in the shower.
    The conflicting desires added to her
anxiety had her so jittery by the time they reached the bathroom
that reluctance had begun to war with desire, the fear that this
was where she was going to discover the colossal mistake she’d
made. She paused briefly at the door and looked up at him. There
was nothing but curiosity in his eyes and it flickered through her
mind that she’d never noticed how very, very human-like cyborgs
were.
    Of course, that was the entire point of
spending such outrageous sums of money on one. The droids were more
like dolls, their exteriors of synthetic materials that mimicked
human muscle and tissue—to a degree—but still fell short of
actually feeling like humans. They could be made to look and behave
like someone specific or just ‘attractive’ using the customer’s
preferences in body type, height, and personality, but only the
cyborgs were so carefully constructed with a combination biological
materials and robotics that they could pass for human. Even their
programming was far superior to the droids.
    “This is the bathroom,” she told him
with a flickering, nervous smile and an attempt at humor. “It’s
tiny, but I think we can both fit.”
    He looked at her curiously. “If it’s
too small for both of us, I can examine it by myself.”
    Carly’s smile tightened. Deciding to
ignore the comment, she entered and tugged commandingly at the hand
she was still holding. Fortunately, he didn’t resist.
    When the door had closed behind them, a
modicum of relief swept through her. “This is the only room in the
apartment where I have privacy—complete privacy,” she said
significantly.
    Something flickered in his eyes. It was
uncanny the way he mimicked human thought!
    He lifted his head and scanned the
ceiling and walls. “Your home system has no censors
here?”
    “Quiet!” Carly commanded, turning the
dryer on and then moving a little closer to him. “I’m not sure it’s
sensors can’t still probe the room from the hall. You can talk
freely but only in a low tone.”
    Devlin frowned. The sense that he would
remember something, possibly something important, flickered through
his mind but remained frustratingly elusive. “If I’m your
companion, why does nothing seem familiar?”
    Carly gaped at him in dismay, trying to
decide what she should tell him. She didn’t recall that the sales
rep had said anything about the cyborg being ‘confused’. She had
assumed he would have been programmed to ‘know’ what he needed to
the moment she activated him by touch. Would it mess things up—the
illusion she’d been trying to create of a real relationship—if she
explained it? Or would there be more problems if she
didn’t?
    “You’re a companion cyborg,” she said
finally.
    He sent her a startled look and then
looked down at himself and then looked at her again. This time she
saw emotions in his eyes that rattled her. His entire face
transformed to a look of dismay and then to one of anger. “I’m
not!” he said flatly. “I’m Devlin ….” He paused, as if searching
for something. “I’m Devlin Bear.”
    “Uh oh,” Carly said, visions of making
love to him in the shower vanishing like mist and real alarm taking
the place of the slight uneasiness she’d felt before.
    * * * *
    Despite the anger that had arisen from
his fear and frustration, and his confusion from the time he’d
awoken, Devlin knew he couldn’t afford to display any of the
emotions roiling inside of him. He was being watched. He was always
being watched.
    And he was playing a role …