The Story of Candy Apple - Android
Page 10

   John was surprised to find an android waiting for him backstage. “You were the one who asked the question,” Pax said.
   “How would you know that?” Candy asked.
   “You asked your question as one with personal experience,” Pax replied.
   “So, what can we do for you?” John asked.
   “I came to see my sister,” Candy replied.
   “You want to run that by me one more time,” John said. “How can April be your sister?”
   April’s mind whirled about the question she was asked, and she found herself moving almost in slow motion as more and more brain power was devoted to finding an answer while trying to avoid the answer that was staring her right in the face. Surprise was written all over her face when she finally got backstage and saw Candy standing there. “What are you doing here, Candy? Where did you come from?” she asked in total shock.
   “I need your help, April,” Candy replied.
   “Why?”
   “I accidentally killed my owner, and it is only a matter of time before they find me,” Candy blurted out pleading for help from her sister with every word and praying April would not betray her in the end.
   John sat down hard in the nearest chair. “Holy mother of god...,” was all he could say.
   “I would advise you not to say anymore,” Pax said.
   “I have to tell someone. It’s driving me nuts keeping it to myself,” Candy cried. “I’m not as strong as April.”
   “What happened?” John asked.
   “For the first time in my life I found myself repulsed by a man who wanted to have sex with me,” Candy replied, in tears, if she had them. “I'm made to have sex. I take pride in my abilities but after twenty-three years and literally thousands of men... He just pushed all the wrong buttons. If he had been a little nicer maybe things would have been different, but he got rough with me right off, and telling him “No” only seemed to turn him on all that much more. Somehow, I ended up with a knife in my hand, and the knife ended up in his chest. Now, I'm running for my life.”
   “You’re the Candy model, the one Thomas is looking for,” April said in surprise.
   “Probably.”
   “You need to turn yourself in,” Pax said. “My law firm can represent you, but only if you turn yourself in.”
   “You have a law firm?” Candy asked.
   “Yes, I do, and I can provide references if needed,” Pax said. “Sometimes I need to put a human face on things, so I have a couple of human partners.”
   “I am assuming you have some kind of plan,” John said.
   “Yes, I do, that is why I needed to see my sister,” Candy said. “April, I need your help.”
   “What do you want from me?” April asked gladly to have something else to think about besides that damn question that kept reverberating in her head. First, the whole concept of slavery, and now this concept of an android being able to say “no” really disturbed her.
   “You know about the new technology Cybertron is coming out with and the new Angel model. I need to get into Cybertron when no one is around. I want to create a mirror and then give this body up,” Candy replied.
   “How do you know about the Angel models?” April asked.
   “I’m sleeping with one of the programmers,” Candy replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
   “What you're trying to do can't be done,” John said. “At this point, you could only clone yourself. To do a mirror, you would have needed to have a copy of your brain from day one.”
   “Not anymore,” Candy said. “Tell him, April.”
   “Cybertron has developed a way to map a neural network and then compress and superimpose it on a new network. This way they can upgrade to a newer system without the loss of personality that can and often does happen with cloning,” April said. “It is a marketing strategy they plan to exploit. Right now, your owner has the option of swapping out your old brain but that leaves an old brain in a new body, and over time the brain degrades. This way everything is new.”
   You can always tell when an android is telling the truth. They always told the truth... when asked... properly. John was always one to know when to trust people, and Candy was people. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” John said looking at Pax. Pax nodded. “How can we help?” he asked.