The Survivor Program by Glenn Koerner

Author:Glenn Koerner [Koerner, Glenn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781449732370
Publisher: WestBow Press
Published: 2011-12-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6: The Prototype

Hundreds of people crowded the mall, filling the walkways and escalators with bustling activity as customers roamed between the shops looking for items to purchase. Centered in the lower level, with the mall surrounding it on three sides like a horseshoe, the food court held more activity than anywhere else in the building. Because of its location in the middle of the mall, with all floors open and looking down on its space, the mouth watering aromas of freshly cooked food spread everywhere, wafting up to tempt those passing by with their delectable scents.

Ian and Jennifer shared a table together amid the mass of hungry people trying to order and collect their food. In front of Ian and Jennifer, crumbs and wadded up burger wrappers on a green plastic tray were all that remained of their meal.

“How exactly do you eat?” Ian asked. “I know you don’t have a digestive tract.”

“I have a disintegration system,” Jennifer explained. “It atomizes every particle of food or drink ingested. On a different subject, what do you want to do today?”

Supporting a soda cup in his left hand, Ian’s right held Jennifer’s across their table. Three days had passed since SHARA entered his life as Jennifer, and Ian completely forgot all his worries as his life returned to the completeness it’d been before his late wife’s death. Alive again and reunited with him, Ian didn’t think he could be more happy.

“How about seeing a movie?” he suggested.

Jennifer didn’t respond, and Ian looked away from the movie theater on the first floor to see why. Her eyes were locked on a point over his shoulder near the video arcade, and her hand in his became stiff and immobile. Ian suddenly realized Jennifer no longer sat across from him, but SHARA did, running threat assessment protocols.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered.

“Behind you,” she said quietly. “Turn very slowly and look. The one in the leather jacket, do you see him?”

Ian observed the crowd in front of the arcade. A man waited near one of the two pillars flanking the door into the gaming room. With his white T-shirt and black leather jacket, the man resembled a biker. He didn’t have an expression of any kind, but his ink black hair and brooding eyebrows gave him a natural air of menace.

“Who’s he?” Ian asked, swiveling back around to face SHARA again. “Is he someone connected with the project?”

“You might say,” SHARA agreed. “He’s the prototype.”

“The what?” Ian stammered.

“The project created a prototype before me,” she explained. “It’s described in the files I downloaded from the facility. They retired it from service before you joined the project due to fundamental errors.”

“Anything we can exploit?” Ian questioned.

“Not likely,” she denied. “The errors were in regard to its conduct during missions. If human, the prototype would be classified as having psychopathic tendencies. It carried out its orders with ruthless efficiency, but it did so without regard for survival or stealth. When ordered to capture a target for questioning during a test, it blew the man’s leg off with a shotgun, preventing any possibility of escape.

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