WIP Wednesday - CyberServed: Made to Order

 A decommissioned cyborg wakes up:

Passcode accepted. System online. Functions within normal parameters. Awaiting sensory calibration. Calibration complete. System ready to respond.

Input: sound.

“Open your eyes, TWM-22121.”

Input: sight.

Brightness. Blinding. Automatic dimming for maximum response enacted.

This unit is located on a raised, round platform. The bright light beamed from overhead. Beyond, a long stretch of a stone-colored podium. Two figures stood behind it.

Living beings detected. Analyze.

Humans. Male. The sentients are smaller than this unit. Matrix identifies Alexander Beauchamp, this unit’s owner. Standby for further orders.

The chamber they stood in felt small despite the darkness hiding whatever was in the room’s further reaches.

Scanning.

Tables. Computer units. Chairs. Tools for adjustments. Tools for repair.

“Say hello, TWM.”

Input: speech.

Subjects’ language identified: ITCS common speech, fourth generation.

“Hello.”

“How are you feeling?”

Input: tactile sensation.

Warning: multiple sites of damage to unit.

Right elbow joint system inoperable.

Right shoulder joint system inoperable.

Right hip joint system compromised; seventy percent operational.

Right torso casing damaged, still within operational parameters.

Multiple outer skin and base covering lacerations, thirty percent of endoskeleton exposed, no operational anomalies occurring as a result.

Unit’s memory grid of operations and orders: zero percent.

Operational programming: baseline for understanding and carrying out simple orders only.

Appropriate response computed.

“I’ve felt better.”

Auditory input: laughter, male on left identified as Alexander Beauchamp. Humor response graded as positive interaction.

“It took a couple of seconds before it answered you. That’s some serious lag.”

Auditory analysis: skeptical tone, male on right. Response graded as negative interaction. Searching files for appropriate response.

Data insufficient for appropriate response. Maintain silence and do not respond.

“It’ll get faster as the matrix comes up to speed. It’s an eighty-two-year-old unit, shut down for thirty of those years. We’ll be boosting the performance ratio as well. In a couple of hours, it’ll answer at a perfect conversational level.”

“Conversation is the least of my worries. Tosha Cameron’s life hangs on how well this thing can protect her.”

“When we have the TWM repaired and upgraded, she’ll be in the best possible hands, Mr. Rourke. You have my word on it.”

“Make sure of that, Mr. Beauchamp. I’ll hold you personally responsible otherwise.”

Auditory analysis: male identified as Rourke issuing threat directive to male identified as Mr. Beauchamp. Graded negative. Searching files for appropriate response.

Data insufficient. No directive exists for answering threats. Maintain silence and do not respond.

 

Scheduled to release in April.

She’s marked for death. He’s her only hope. But can a de-commissioned cyborg once programmed to kill humans be trusted with her life…or her heart?

They called him the Wall, part of a cyborg army that terrorized humans during a long war waged by those intent on wielding power. When Tosha Cameron, owner of a multi-billion corporation, first sees the deactivated cyborg, he’s a tattered remnant of a horrific past.

Most would prefer to see cyborgs destroyed, but those with vision see a valuable resource. When Tosha’s business rivals target her for assassination, the Wall—whom she renames Brick—is her best bet for protection.

Reprogrammed, Brick proves he’s more than a mere machine. Programmed to guard Tosha, he can supply her every need. He soon develops beyond his learning matrix and software, becoming capable of humanity…and more.

Dark secrets from a bloody past are waiting deep in his circuitry, however; secrets that could kill the woman he loves and has sworn to protect.