Stephanie Steele
Chapter 11

Steele didn’t want to believe Nixon was involved in Mia’s abduction. For someone she knew and trusted (as much as she could trust anyone) to sell out a little girl, and worse she was a cop, was beyond evil. If it was one thing Steele hated more than anything it was a dirty cop. If it proved to be the case she wouldn’t hesitate in taking Nixon down with a massive bump.

Steele curtailed her simmering anger and strode towards Nixon’s desk. How was she going to play this? She couldn’t just ask her outright. Nixon would deny it, like anyone who was guilty, or innocent. She had to be sure. Be certain of her suspicions. Nixon turned towards Steele as she approached her. But Steele didn’t stop, didn’t even look at the blonde flashing her green eyes and indecent smile at her.

“You knock off in five right?” Steele enquired as she brushed by Nixon’s desk.

“Yeah, I was just finishing up.”

“You still want that date?” Steele couldn’t believe she was saying this but this was the only way she could think of to replace out if Nixon was involved in some way. Better than wading in and having her deny it. What good would that do?

Nixon’s face lit up, then a look of suspicion fell over her features followed by heightened excitement she tried to contain but was having a hard time doing so. “Nothing I’d love better.” Her face one big grin.

“See you in my cruiser in ten.” Steele said still walking.

Nixon hurriedly finished the report she was writing up. She was going to stay back twenty minutes to get it done but this changed everything. This was something she’d been waiting a long time for and she wasn’t going to be late. Walt was staring at her as she stood and smoothed her clothes down, a lopsided grin on his face.

“I want a blow by blow account.” Walt requested keenly. “And don’t leave out the juicy bits.” He added for emphasise.

If Nixon was capable of flushing with embarrassment she would have turned beetroot red on the spot. Instead she let out a giggle, turned off her computer and walked briskly away from her desk, running her fingers through her hair so it at least looked like she’d brushed it this morning.

Steele had stopped off at the locker room on her way out of the station. She kept a spare pistol blaster in her locker in case of emergencies. She made sure the locker room was empty and retrieved the weapon, slipping it into her holster on her hip. It felt good. Like a missing limb had been reattached. As an afterthought she took the duplicate detective’s badge she’d had Freddy acquire for her. Something told her she’d be needing both very soon. She slammed the locker door shut and left to meet Nixon.

Steele watched Nixon exit the station and make her way to her cruiser parked at kerbside with a skip in her step, her long blonde hair streaming out behind her. Her blaster holster tucked under her jacket. She noticed her small breasts bounced lightly under her white blouse, straining at her bra as she descended the steps towards her. Her long shapely legs in that small skirt caused a stir down below in Steele.

Nixon was beautiful she had to admit that, and if it hadn’t been for her feelings for Uma then she may have been tempted despite the fact Nixon was metal and not skin. She had found that android women were nothing compared to the smooth skinned beauty of a real woman. An android with all the human upgrades was still an android. But there was something about Nixon that . . . Stop it! She commanded herself. Remember why you invited her here. Steele gripped the cruiser’s steering handle tighter and braced herself for what she was about to do.

Nixon slipped into the seat beside Steele. Steele stole a small glance at those silky legs and small bosom. She met Nixon’s eyes as the blonde turned to her with a perky grin.

“I knew you’d change your mind. Where’re you taking me?” Nixon chirped. “I need to go home first and change.” Nixon’s face suddenly filled with dread and she moved back against the cruiser window to get away from the blaster Steele had just shoved at her. “What’re you doing?” Her voice faltered.

Steele’s expression was deadly serious as she said, “I’m going to ask you this one time. If you lie to me it’s going to get messy.” She reached and took Nixon’s blaster from its holster. “Did you tip off Leon’s men that Mia was at my place?”

Nixon frowned, confused by the question. So this wasn’t a date after all. Typical. “We’re on the same side Steele.” Nixon tried to push herself away from the blaster barrel but she had nowhere to go now.

Steele cocked the blaster and Nixon looked to see if anyone was watching what was going on. Perhaps another cop was near and was seeing this. She couldn’t see anyone so looked back at Steele. She needed to be strong here. She’d faced blasters before but not from a fellow cop. “No!” She spat, offended. “I’m programmed not to lie! You know that. C’mon Steph, it’s me, Rachel. You know I wouldn’t do that.”

The pair stayed in the same position for the next ten seconds, neither saying anything. Steele tried to read her face. Nixon looked like she was telling the truth but she couldn’t be sure. Steele lowered the blaster, fired up the cruiser and sped off at high speed, throwing Nixon back in her seat.

“Where’re we going?” Nixon ventured, unsure Steele would even tell her.

“See a man about a programme.”

Nixon blinked rapidly. Whatever this Freddy was doing in the back of her head was causing the involuntary response. Ordinarily she’d never let anyone access her maintenance port but Steele had insisted. She hated thinking that Steele thought she was guilty of hurting that little girl, any little girl. But why was she under suspicion in the first place? Steele hadn’t said. The call to Frankenstein! That must be it. Steele had got there ahead of him and must have reasoned that she’d delayed the call, maybe called whoever took her first. How could she think that? Maybe the case was scrambling her circuits. Maybe she was desperate to solve this case and was clutching at any straws. Letting her do this would prove to Steele that her suspicions were wrong about her.

She was relieved when Freddy pulled the plug on his testing.

Freddy removed a cable connection from a handheld device which ran into the back of Nixon’s head. He turned to Steele who was sitting arms folded watching the whole process on the arm of an easy chair across the room.

“She was telling the truth. She’s programmed not to lie. Interesting though.” Freddy went on, studying the components in Nixon’s head like a gypsy reading tea leaves. “There’s a whole load of other stuff in there, decrypted, must be defunct files. I’d love to study them.”

“No thanks.” Nixon said and reached behind her head and closed up the port. Freddy sealed it up.

“Had to be certain.” Steele stood up. “But someone is feeding Leon info. That’s why he’s been one step ahead of me all the time.” She said, folding her arms across her chest again.

“A dirty cop? What the hell Steele?” Nixon was shocked. Was someone at the department part of this whole sordid business? She didn’t want to believe that one of her colleagues was involved in some way. She wracked her brains trying to think who it could be. No one came immediately to mind.

“You want to tell me who I’ve been probing? I mean, it would be rude not to introduce us after I’ve been inside her.”

“Eugh!” Nixon turned away with a furrowed brow. Freddy’s humour was lost on her. Why did she feel so invaded? Who the hell was this sleazeball Steele had dragged her to see anyway?

“Freddy ‘The Chip’ meet Detective Nixon.” Steele waited for Freddy’s reaction, one that she was going to enjoy. And it was priceless.

Freddy looked like he’d just been invaded himself. “You brought another cop here? Jeez.” He began gathering up components and small parts and hiding them away in drawers. “There’s stuff here even you don’t know about. Stuff that could get me a long vacation in a small room.”

Now Steele looked at Nixon to take in her excruciating expression. “You brought me to an illegal programmer?” She was stunned Steele would do such a thing. She knew she would never have approved that even if it had meant Steele thinking she was on Leon’s payroll. “Thanks a bunch Steele. Now I’m implicated in your underhand dealings. I’ve turned a blind eye in the past but you know I can’t lie about this if I’m asked.”

Steele picked up her coat and slung it on, checked her blaster and holstered it.

Freddy tucked away a final bit of kit and leaned against a bench. “Well actually, I made a little adjustment while I was in there.” He indicated towards his head. “So now, yeah, you can. You can lie your little ass off.” He smirked. “And may I say, it’s such a cute ass as well.”

Nixon was stunned. She looked at Steele then Freddy with an open mouth. “You upgraded me without my consent?”

Steele smirked. Nixon’s disbelief at being dragged into an illegal activity was just more proof she wasn’t involved in Mia’s abduction. If a simple upgrade was a kick in the teeth for her then child rape and murder was way beyond her capabilities. She was relieved. Her amusement at Nixon’s discomfort was just part of that relief.

“Why does that sound so sexy.” Freddy grinned, looking at Steele who was grinning equally as wide now.

“Relax Nixon. It’s not permanent. Freddy’ll put you back to normal when we crack this case. I just don’t want you telling anyone about my arrangements with Freddy.” Steele said as she slipped Freddy a few dollar bills for his trouble.

Nixon still couldn’t get over what they’d done to her. It was obscene. “But he upgraded me!” She protested with wide eyes.

“Can we move passed this?” Steele asked as she retook her perch on the edge of the easy chair arm, her leather coat creaking as she did. “You’re off my list of suspects, but someone at the station told Leon where Mia was. It wasn’t Frankenstein . . .”

“Frankenstein?” Freddy said.

“Some supped up droid from Cyber Corp. The point is, Frankenstein got there after me, which leaves one other person who knew Mia’s location . . . Edwards!”

“The ch . . . chief is Leon?” Nixon said, her lower jaw dropping open.

“No, but I think he knows who is and he’s protecting him.”

A sudden noise from way in a darkened corner of the room signalled someone else’s presence. Steele stood and drew her blaster from its holster in the blink of an eye. Her speed was worthy of any wild west gunfighter. In that same moment Nixon grabbed her own blaster from the bench where Steele had placed it when they’d arrived. Now both of them where pointing their blasters into the shadows at something unseen. Was it just a rat scuttling in some dark recess? No, it would have had to have been some size rodent to make such a loud noise.

“Come out!” Steele commanded, her finger tensing on the blaster trigger. One false move and the mystery person would feel burning lead.

Freddy moved in front of them with outstretched arms. “Don’t shoot. It’s okay.” Freddy’s brow was moist, his hands shaky.

Happy the two cops weren’t going to be trigger happy Freddy stepped into the darkness and emerged with a female. “It’s just . . . This is Annie.”

Annie was wearing a see through negligee and sexy underwear. Steele and Nixon looked at her with astonishment, their blasters dropped involuntarily to their sides. Not because she was as sexy as hell, which she was, but because she was the exact duplicate of Steele in every way. The only differences being that she had a warm and inviting expression and demeanour. “Annie, this is Stephanie Steele.”

“Nice to meet you Stephanie.” Annie stepped forward and shook Steele’s hand. “Freddy has told me so much about you. It really is an honour to meet you in person.” She finished her sentence with an excited little high pitched squeak that made Steele frown, for although she was Steele’s twin she was ditzy and submissive. Nothing like her. She was Freddy’s plaything.

Nixon’s face had broken into a wide smile. This was the best thing she’d ever encountered. The look on Steele’s face was priceless. Now it was Nixon’s turn to have a laugh at her expense.

“You made a replica of me?” Steele turned her attention from Annie to Freddy. “A weird me.”

“I think she looks cute.” Nixon chipped in, still beaming and enjoying Steele’s discomfort.

Steele threw Nixon a sideways glance. “Where did you get the blueprint? No don’t tell me. You copied my files didn’t you?” Steele went for Freddy. Freddy took flight and she chased him round the shelving units.

“I’ve modified you on numerous occasions. I took measurements and copied your hard drive while you were offline that time you damaged your head. She is you with a few minor adjustments.”

Steele caught him and pinned him to a wall, raised a fist to punch him. Freddy held up a defensive hand and tucked his face into his chest awaiting the impact. “What adjustments?”

Freddy opened his eyes to see Steele had lowered her fist and wasn’t about to clobber him. He swallowed hard before answering. “The main one being that she does everything I tell her.”

Steele pushed him aside in disgust. Nixon chuckled.

“I thought I had it bad but this is taking it to a whole new level.” Nixon turned to look at Freddy who was adjusting his glasses. “Do you hire her out?” She was certain her date with Steele was just a ruse to get her here, so this could be the next best thing.

“She’s my girlfriend.” Freddy said, slightly disturbed by the thought of sharing Annie.

“I feel sick.” Steele grimaced and turned away in disgust.

“Argh Steph, you’ve got a sister now.” Nixon teased.

“Can you stop talking about me . . . her . . . whoever she is. I outta run you in for . . . something.” Steele threatened then turned to Annie with sympathy. “You alright with this?”

“We’re in love.” Cooed Annie. “Freddy’s a great lover. The best.” Again that high pitched squeak at the end of her sentence. Steele could see that becoming an annoyance.

“This is so funny.” Nixon said gleefully, standing back to watch this play out, still revelling in Steele’s discomfort. “Wait till the guys at the station hear about this.”

“Shut up Rachel!” Steele ran her fingers through her hair. They were wasting time with this. She had work to do and they were distracting her from that. “May I remind you both, that a little girl’s life is at stake here, and this stupidity is wasting time. Time we could be spending looking for her.”

Nixon and Freddy hung their heads in silence.

“Look, forget this. Here.” Steele pulled the computer from the back of her pants and stuffed it in Freddy’s palm. “Mia hacked someone’s computer.”

“She’s good at that.” Chipped in Nixon.

“I thought these went out with the cavemen.” Said Freddy, turning the computer in his hands.

“The files are encrypted. I need to see what she saw.”

Freddy laid the computer on the bench and set to work on it, accessing it with ease, his mind lost in the job at hand.

As she waited Steele cast a curious gaze over Annie who was standing patiently with a stupid grin waiting to be told what to do by Freddy. Her appearance was frighteningly identical to hers. It was like looking in the mirror, only the other version was demure, held herself like she was nervous, frightened almost. Freddy had programmed her to be that way. If she’d had an identical personality to herself then she wouldn’t have done what Freddy wanted. She shuddered to think what Freddy was doing with her. Did he think of her when he was bedding her clone? The thought repulsed her. She looked away with a certain amount of disgust and caught Nixon smirking. She threw Nixon a skewed look of contempt.

“This will take some time.” Freddy said with a furrowed brow, his nose still in the computer. “Probably all night. Can you leave this with me and I’ll video you when I have something?” He looked over his glasses at Steele.

“I’ll wait.”

“I’ll have to set a programme to run. It’ll be hours and I’ve promised Annie I’d spend the night with her tonight. Know what I mean?” His mouth twisted upwards and he looked embarrassed.

Steele got what he meant alright. She rolled her eyes and curled a disapproving lip as Freddy draped his arm around Annie’s waist and pulled the doppelganger close to him, giving her a squeeze. Annie placed a hand on Freddy’s chest and kissed his cheek and laid her head on his shoulder.

Puke! Steele went to leave. “Call me as soon as you get something. I don’t care what time it is, just call me. Alright?”

“Of course.” Freddy told her, slipping his hand over Annie’s ass.

“In the meantime, you owe me a date.” Nixon said.

Steele rolled her eyes again. She had of course asked her out. But she hadn’t meant it. Not like that. Not a proper date. She hadn’t dated anyone since Uma. Would this dishonour her memory? Perhaps not. What could one drink do? It wasn’t like she was going to sleep with her. They were work colleagues, that’s all.