Releasing in One Week - CyberServed: Made to Order

 

Sins of the past

“I’m experiencing a new, uncomfortable emotion. My matrix identifies it as guilt.”

“Guilt?” Tosha regarded him with surprise. “For what? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Do you know that for certain?” Brick’s heavy brow creased. “I poked through CyberServe’s records on myself. Except for my warehouse location after I was decommissioned, there’s no history. Did anyone tell you my specific background? What I did on Earth? What crimes against humanity I may have committed?”

“Beauchamp said most records to do with the cyborgs were destroyed by the corporations, in their hope to avoid prosecution for warmongering and genocide. Brick, why would you want to find out any of that?” Though she could imagine why. Brick was developing a conscience.

“I might have hurt people. Destroyed lives. That doesn’t bother you?”

“It did, a little, when I first considered buying you. But Brick, cyborgs were mere automatons during the wars. You would have been given a set of commands to carry out, with no choice but to obey. Whatever you did, that wasn’t you. That was the TWM-21221. That was the Wall, not Brick.”

“Do you believe that matters to men such as Rourke? I can tell he despises me.”

“He also encouraged me to buy you as my bodyguard.”

“He can separate emotion from utility. But he still hates me, Tosha. I’m the face of his enemies.”

“That’s no doubt true,” she admitted, though it hurt her to do so. “Welcome to human nature, Brick. The corporations were faceless entities, for the most part. Executive boards safely ensconced on their private islands voted to fight over water rights, mineral rights, land rights…whatever they could grab by coercion or force. Cyborg warriors gave them a face, so that’s what the people who suffered developed an aversion for.”

“I know right from wrong now. I feel I’m achieving sentience because I can weigh the outcome of my actions, but is it merely programming? Am I a thing with no real conscience? Am I simply an upgraded version of the soldier cyborg who terrorized?”

Tosha rubbed the back of her neck. It sounded as if she was being tasked in philosophy, with or without the damned program. She couldn’t turn aside Brick’s concerns, however. It was obvious he was struggling.

Just as a human would.

 

Releasing April 8. Pre-order now available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Print on sale now.

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.