EXTINCTION WARRIOR

Chapter 22

Hold tight to the railing. Hop down the stairs, and limp down to the bridge. Tuk is still slumped where I left him. My mouth falls open at the eruption of the freak-a-droid's body parts. Of Big Bear in pieces...everywhere. Sleuth was right. Except for Big Bear's head, still intact, what's left of him is exploded in pieces. I scan his mauled remains on the floor. The quiet whirring, beeping, clunking of his dying drives fills the small room. Sleuth ripped every piece of droid apart. Specks of blue droid oil fleck the bridge like a dot painting. The freak-a-droid's dismembered head lies at his feet. Pink and blue oil drips from under his chin, and forms a puddle, like a purple pancake. Lifeless, his frozen eyes stare wide-eyed at the ceiling. Multi-colored wires and tubes burst from every shredded, crushed section. Chunks of his feet are scattered.Some with, some without toes. One calf has a kneecap, the other doesn't. Fingers still twitch on a hand torn at the wrist. It drips pink oil. The other with two fingers is ripped above the elbow. One thigh still has a butt cheek. The other doesn't. The largest piece—the freak-a-droid's arm-less torso riddled with teeth marks,oozes a steady stream of oil spreading slowly, oozing into the room.It's as if he was assaulted by a pod of orcas, not a lone dog.

Limp over to Tuk, kneel, pull him flat on the floor, feel through his shirt for his concave belly button and press. Nothing. Press again. Still nothing.

"Come on..."Hair falls in my face, in my eyes, in my way. Pushing again, I hold the button, counting "one, one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand..." I get to ten, and his eyes flash open. He shakes his head, gets to his feet, and stomps on the floor.

"What happened?"He says in a monotone, expressionless, like a total robot. Then stomps again and says, "Androids have feelings."

Something's wrong.

"Sleuth happened."I say, worried, wondering if I can fix him.

He stomps again, "Too bad." He jerks his head left and right six or seven times.

"Too bad? For what?"I ask.

"...That I did not see the painted dog's jaws rip that anus-of-an-android apart."He replies in the same monotone, with a vacant, vicious smile I've never seen before.

Something in his neural network is definitely damaged.

"Look," I say pointing out the window, "we're in Mandalay, about to dock. Did you really contact WEAPP and INTERPOL?"

"I did not say that."He shakes his head and stomps again. "Androids have feelings."He replies expressionless in a monotone.

My eyes go wide. Stay calm. Take a deep breath. Be gentle. "Before Big Bear, the freak-a-droid gave you that massive head-butt, you did say that." The words come out slow. "Remember?"

"I lied...it was easy," his eyes blink furiously, "How about that Luki?"he squints, and shoves my shoulder, hard.

Losing my balance, I nearly fall over.

"Ha, ha." He says flatly. His words don't flow. They're disconnected, staccato.

"I am more human than you ever thought possible." He adds, sounding like a complete automaton.

I feel sorry for him, and wish Woka were here! He'd know how to fix him.

"That's what I thought," I say, and lean in closer, to peer at his forehead,searching for a crack, a tear in his smartskin.

He squints, jerks his head back and forth twice. "What about Red Wolf?"

"You mean White Wolf?" I grin, hoping my correction won't upset him.