Conduit

Ch. 7

"What happened on our testing floor isn't a standard occurrence, Mr. Garret." A slender woman with fiery red hair looked at me from across a large matte table. Her hands cupped under her chin, the kindness in her eyes had to have been trained. No way was it real. "I do want to apologize for this being your first experience with Lyons Corp."

I wanted to burst out laughing. This wasn't my first time dealing with Lyons but the chaos and single-minded behavior for one's self and not others was very on brand.

After watching a man's neck snap in two, their solution was to bring me up to the fiftieth floor with no immediate medical treatment for my legs. I hadn't gotten the chance to see where they'd taken Reginald. The only reason Victoria sat beside me, was because I didn't let her go.

"Normally, when a new employee begins at Lyons—"

Was I an employee? I didn't see it that way.

"—We would schedule a meeting. A moment to touch base with expectations between us and the newest member."

I glanced over at Victoria. She kept her hand on my knee. The pressure she applied relieved some of the pain. Without any medical tools, it was hard to treat me. I appreciated her attempt.

"Now that we're here, my name is Katherine Bigon, and I will facilitate this meeting. So, please, tell me how I can make your time with us pleasant."

Pleasant wasn't a word to use. A man just died in front of me, at the hands of an android. Was it wrong that I thought the worker had it coming?

I'd never thought of this company as pleasant. Paired with the government, Lyons was one half of an evil powerhouse. Just the lesser of two evils.

I leaned forward in my seat. "The android, Reggie, where is he?"

Katherine's brows lifted. There was no change of emotion on her face. "The Assembler Prototype?"

Assembler? That was new. But I realized quickly she hadn't acknowledged the main description—the name I gave him. "Yeah, Reggie. I want to see him."

Katherine's brows shot up higher. With the large windows surrounding her oversize, metallic, and clean Lyons office, the sunlight hitting her eyes should have been alluring. The brown was a nice color. Too bad I wasn't feeling this first introduction.

"Unfortunately, the Assembler is in transit for disassembly and deletion. We can't tolerate the type of violent behavior exhibited today." She placed her hands on the table. "I hope you understand."

"No, I don't." I folded my hands in front of me; two tight fists to hide my true thoughts. Being here was my opportunity to say what needed to be said. I owed that to Victoria and those like her. Lyons needed me to fix their mistakes. They couldn't get rid of me for speaking against them.

Could they?

"See, Miss Katherine, can I call you that?" I glanced at her. When she nodded, I continued. "Have you ever seen an angry dog?"

Katherine blinked. She relaxed her hands and shrugged, confused. "I have, sure, once or twice in my life."

Slowly, I nodded. "Do you think that dog was born angry?"

"Well, I don't think so." Katherine pursed his lips. "What does this have to do anything?"

"Everything." I scratched my chin with my thumb, looking at her still, never breaking my gaze. "What about an angry person? Someone with rage. Hostility."

"Mr. Garret—"

I forced a smile. "Answer the question, Miss Katherine."

She sighed. The look of frustration was obvious on her face. "I haven't," she said. "But in a person, if you're trying to say that one's anger issues are the same as a dog's or the Assembler we'll take apart today, then I need to tell you it is different."