"Well, Menshikov? Spill it, speak your mind," Erko growled.
I swallowed, my connection to the real Menshikov, and his mind, was gone. I had no idea how to answer. He closed in, I could taste his breath.
"The better man holds all the cards. A leader appreciates how to use it," I manage to babble out.
"Clever words, but you didn't answer my question," he mutters.
I was about to retort when I heard someone enter the room.
"Boss, call for you. Important," a young voice called out. Erko looked over my shoulder and held out his hand.
I turned to see a teenager holding out a phone. He was no older than eighteen. He was shirtless, wearing long shorts and trainers. I didn't recognise him from any of intel we had on the two gangs. He had to be a runner for Erko.
Erko took the phone. "Talk to me!" He snarled. He listened for a moment then held his hand over the mouthpiece. "Take him to the lab. I'll be there once I've fixed this shit."
I followed the kid into the corridor. "What's your name?" I asked. He looked at me giving me a gentle, disarming smile. I wondered how he got mixed up with this scum.
"It's Jeremy. Do you know Erko?" he asked, biting his lip.
"A little, what about you?"
"My uncle works for him, Tony Brozek?"
I swallowed, that was Erko's right-hand man. He was from the Eastern Block, heavy set man with a short temper, but not so smart.
"Yeah, I've heard of Brozek. What happened to Rennik?"
"I don't know, he disappeared after Erko took over."
"When did that happen?"
He didn't reply, but opened a door, and we walked inside. The room was large, not so much a lab, but a storage facility.
There were eight tubes, reaching from floor to ceiling; lined up like a pipe organ. Next to them eight cabinets lined up just like the tubes.
I touched one, it was cold. I tried to see inside, it was dark, unlit. When I reached the last two, I could make out shapes. I pushed my face up to its surface and stared into the darkness. I saw an outline, and I took a gasp. I cupped my hands around my face and squinted. "What the fuck?"
Craning my neck upwards, I could just make out the face of the Marine I'd seen at the entrance. I moved to the next tube. It was the other marine, the one that had stopped and stared at me.
Then what lighting there was ended and their contents vanished into the darkness. I turned to see Jeremy, who was on the console.
"Take a seat, we should wait for Erko," he said pointing at a chair. I had nothing to say, my mind was racing, what were they doing? I walked past the eight cabinets, shutters were closed on some, others were empty.
Ten minutes later Erko showed up, a huge grin on his face. He walked up to one of the tubes and twitched a finger at me. "Come over here," he told me. "Menshikov, you know I was just messing with you before right?"
I shifted nervously. "Ok."
"I've looked through Rennik's books, and you do good business for us. I think it's time we brought you up to speed with our new plans."
"Sell more suit? You know they're killing people, right?"
"Yeah, I know. We make sure the odd one does that. They're from the Block. They're built like tanks, they don't fail," he said jabbing me in the chest.
"You make them fail?"
"Just a few of them, we want the jerks to think that's all the shit we've got." He grinned again. "They'd go ape if they knew the kit we had here."
"What does it do?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so let me show you. Jay, turn on the lights for seven and eight." Jeremy taps on the console, and the two tubes holding the marines light up.
I drift over to the where the Marine's were trapped, my eyes wide. They were both butt naked, metal clamps hold them in place. They looked unharmed; asleep. Now and again I could see their eyes moving--like they were dreaming.
"You've made clones of them?" I asked.
"No, that's been done," Erko exclaims. "These are the real fuckers, the ones that left are the copies."
"AI-suits?"
"Better, I call them 'Dupes.' The next level."
This wasn't new tech, our own guys had created Ivan, the AI-Suit that was based on my own memories and mannerisms--completely autonomous. He was designed as a mobile prison cell, holding the real Menshikov inside his body, but kept unconscious.
"So you can copy people?"
"Cool huh. Jay, check tube six see if it's finished cooking."
"Baked and ready to go," Jeremy replied, and turned on the lights for six.
There was another man naked, shorter than the other two, maybe five foot seven. Another young face, twenty or younger.
"Another Marine?"
"Yeah, but this one controls the comms--leads the unit at HQ. Ok Jay, pump his brain."
The kid flips a switch, and the restraints holding the Marine tighten. From the collar around his neck, two thin probes extend and push into the soft flesh under his chin. The marine eyes briefly open and he starts to convulse. There's a whine from the machine, and the man sleeps again.
"What the hell was that!"
"They pushed directly into his brain." He looked at Jeremy, who nodded. "We've got all his memories online now. Get the Dupe out Jay."
The shutters covering cabinet six rattled open, and Jeremy led out an exact copy of the marine that slept in the tube.
"So it's a suit?" I asked we could make copies of people back at tech, but they took months to create.
Erko laughed, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "And so much more, each Dupe is linked to the tube, and through the needles directly to the brain."
The Dupe was flawless, just like Ivan. "But it's just an AI-Suit?"
"Yes, and no. Jay, switch him on, but keep the safeguards on."
Jay smiled and flipped a few switches. The Dupe blinked, and his eyes fixed on Erko. Whilst the eyes of the marine in the tube started to move like his was dreaming.
"Stand still," Erko tells him.
"What the hell is going on?" the marine demanded. He tried to move but found his feet rooted to the spot.
"What's your name soldier?"
"Brown."
"Call me Sir."
"Brown, Sir." He looked down at himself, blushed and covered his groin. "Why am I naked?" he stammered.
"He's seen enough Jay." The kid flipped a switch, and the Dupe relaxed closing its eyes. "When they're like this, the Dupe sends all stimuli to the guy in the tube." He points to the marine. "He thinks he's standing in front of me, but he's really still inside the tube."
"But he listened to you, did what he was told."
"Yes, part of the safeguards, he follows orders of the first person he sees. Turn them off, and he'd think he was real. He could try and kill me," he laughed, "yeah, try."
"But what's the point of having them? I mean, they're the same as the originals right?"
"The point is, we can hear, see everything they do because it runs through our tech. But if we need control, we can use the Dupes in another way."
"Tell me."
"You make a lot of demands Menshikov," Erko mutters scowling at me.
Have I pushed too hard? There's no chance I can fake it without Menshikov's memories available. This might be my last chance before I'm discovered.
End of pt4, >> pt5
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