NO ROAD HOME Book Two: Hunter, Hunted by John Prescott

Author:John Prescott [Prescott, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-09T22:00:00+00:00

6

“I sense that you are still upset about the jacket.” Mark turned his head around awkwardly only to see the back of Raven's head.

“I'm not mad... Okay, maybe a little mad.” Raven's breathing was labored.

“I have apologized and explained how my actions were not my own. Is there something else I should do?”

“Yeah. Stop bothering me about it.” Raven sighed heavily. “I'm sorry.” He shook his head. “Christ, now you got me apologizing to you.”

“I am sorry.”

“Damn it!” Raven stopped. He started laughing. “God, this is so ridiculous.”

“I fail to see the humor in this situation.”

“I wish you could, buddy.” He hoisted Mark higher on his back with an “oof!”

They were walking... somewhere. Mark was equipped with GPS, but the unit was apparently damaged. The motorcycle was beyond damaged. The handlebars were bent, the front wheel pointed the wrong way, the engine was dead in the water.

So was Mark's new body. Raven was actually okay with that. Their new “friend” Sarah Wetherbee may have been sympathetic to the Diamondback Coalition's cause, but it was apparently in Smith's favor.

Mark tried to explain it: something about a simple artificial intelligence planted within the Synthetic endoskeleton feeding off something or other. He didn't know. It made Mark attack him. That was the important part.

Shooting that one spot severed Mark's neural link to the body. He couldn't control it anymore, but neither could the rogue AI. Raven removed all four limbs from the torso, but...

“Damn, you're heavy.”

“With head, I only weigh approximately twenty-three kilograms.”

“This is America, Tin Man. Stop speaking in metric.”

“That would be fifty pounds.”

“Just fifty pounds.”

“Yes. You could have simply removed my head again, as I suggested.”

“Fool I am not to listen.” Raven sighed, hefting the remains of Mark again. “Is your GPS still broken?”

“Affirmative.” Mark scanned the horizon over Raven's shoulder, his infrared lamp shining dull red in the night. “There is a structure ahead to our right.”

Raven stopped and stared in that direction. He zoomed in with his Synthetic sight. The magnified, night-vision image was blurry, but the bot was correct. “I think I just found us a hotel room.”

“I do not believe this structure is a hotel. It appears to be a lean-to.”

Raven smirked in the gloom. “Well, it will feel like the Ritz, compared to sleeping on the ground.”

“I do not think it wise to sleep in the wilderness. I am unable to adequately protect you from local wildlife. I suggest continuing until we find a more substantial structure.”

Raven shook his head. “Mark?”

“Yes, Raven.”

“I'm tired.” He pointed at the lean-to. “That's where I'm going to sleep.”

Mark paused before answering. “Understood.”

It was quiet. Peaceful. Exposed. The robot might have had a point. Still, it's not like they could continue on, quietly hoping there would be a Motel 6 around the bend.

Mark was quietly ticking away somewhere behind him in a corner. He was in some sort of maintenance mode. He wanted to ensure the secondary AI was adequately quarantined within the Synthetic torso.

Raven was laying in the middle of the lean-to, more or less.

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