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General Mueller continued
,
“I made a damn speech to congress
.
”

Mueller growled, “I bragged about wounded warriors going back to fight again.  It brought tears to their eyes.  It was so damn patriotic!”

Then continuing, “You need to understand what the implications are here.  This is a war of attrition and we are fighting on two fronts. The action in the desert is not as hot as the war in the press here at home.  For every boy we lose, the press is eating us up.  The Alliance politicians are looking for any excuse to pull the plug.”

General Mueller stopped pacing and squared off across the table from McKnight.  The loose red skin on the general’s face and neck contrast
ed
sharply with the stiff starched green of his uniform.

Mueller said,
“This is a disaster McKnight, and you need to fix it. Fix it or I will call my contacts in the Senate and tell them to go ahead and vote YES on the Anti Organic Robotics bill that they are considering.  That weasel of an activist Hans Hoobler has stirred up a small army of liberal anti-war lobbyists and they are camped out at the capital making the senators quite nervous.  If I pull my support, then that bill will pass and you are out of business.  Do you hear me McKnight; you can be gone like that!

Mueller punctuated the last word of this monologue by lifting his hand up by his forehead and loudly snapping his fingers.

Anand, who had been working side by side with top neuro-surgeons for the last year or more, took interest in the large artery that was pulsing along the side of General Mueller’s forehead, right next to where the General had snapped his fingers to accentuate his point.

Anand filled the uncomfortable silence that followed the General’s ultimatum and loud snap by counting the pulses of that artery.  Anand wondered silently if the General might soon keel over; victim of a brain aneurism or thrombosis.

Anand counted thirty-eight pulses across Muller’s forehead when McKnight finally broke the silence.  Al McKnight did not make a promise or a speech. 

Instead, he asked a question
,
he said,
“Did it work?”

”Did it work!” General Mueller echoed McKnight’s question incredulously
. 

He
then added,
“What have I been saying to you
.  I
t was an unmitigated disaster.  Every Synapse Soldier is dead and the wounded veterans who were in the Synapse Suits are now in Psy-Ops dealing with a whole new kind of traumatic stress syndrome.”

Al McKnight remained unruffled.  He clarified his question saying,

“But did the technology work?”

Mueller looked like he was about to explode and Anand lost count of the pulses across his forehead.  In order to make some headway, Al McKnight turned and looked at Chris Mark and repeated the same question. 

He said,
“
Chris,
did the technology work?”

Christopher Mark responded simply and quietly, saying,
“Yes, it worked perfectly.”

Al McKnight continued, now returning his attention to General Mueller
.

“If the technology worked,” McKnight reasoned, “but the application was ineffective, then we need to change the application.”

Al McKnight waited
,
in case General Mueller reacted
.

B
ut he did not, so McKnight continued leading them to follow his logic
,
“The reason our test failed
was
because the wounded Veterans we selected to Synap into the volunteers were too concerned about wounding the bodies of the host soldiers.  They were too afraid of letting the Synapse Soldiers get hurt the same way their own bodies were wounded.  The wounded veteran’s were too careful, too cautious, and too defensive.  Synaptic Derivation is an offensive weapon if used properly.  If we change the application I can guarantee there will be no more alliance casualties.” 

Al McKnight paused here waiting for a reaction
. 

A
gain
,
General Mueller remained uncharacteristically quiet, so he continued,
“I guarantee you, no more body bags, no more flag draped coffins, no more grieving mothers.  Synaptic Derivation will help you win the war on the ground
.  B
ut
,
more importantly it will assure you of victory at home fighting the public relations war in the media.”

“Not possible,” General Mueller said, “How are you going to guarantee no more casualties?”

“It’s actually a simple solution,” McKnight answered, “Now that we are at this juncture
.  I
t’s a logical extension of the technology that we have already developed.  Instead of using volunteer soldiers to host the device
,
instead of using our own troops
,
our veteran commanders will Synap into the enemy combatants.  When our veterans are remotely controlling the bodies of enemy combatants, they will be fearless.  They will be bold.  They will take the offensive
,
and more importantly none of our own soldier
s
will be at risk.”

“What are you suggesting?” Mueller asked, “Our veterans are going to Synap into captured enemy combatants? 
Prisoners of War?
  It’s a ludicrous idea
.  T
here are international laws that govern the treatment of POW’s.  The politicians will never allow anything like that
,
they would call it torture.”

“No,” McKnight said, “We will use Synaptic Derivation to form a new fighting force using the bodies of the enemy that we have already killed.  When your veterans are controlling the bodies of the enemy combatants, you will have an army that is immune to political pressure. You will have an army that cannot be killed. You will have an army of the dead.”

* * * * *

“I knew it,” Franklin exclaimed, and then immediately regretted
saying
it. 

They were starting to make some good progress
,
finally
.  T
he last thing Franklin wanted was an ad homonym conversation about the morality of reanimating dead enemy combatants.

“What?”
Anand
asked
,
“You figured out that Warmbots are reanimated dead people?”

“Yes
,
” Franklin said quietly, and then he
continued
quietly, “Never mind, please
continue
.  W
hat did General Mueller say?”

“This is the part that amazes me
,
” Anand said, and then continued,
“McKnight predicted it, planned for it
,
and executed it
.  N
ow here you are.  You, Franklin, are a man who is part of a society that reanimates the dead and uses them as servants, and only recently you started to notice it.  You live in a mad world, engineered by Al McKnight and Christopher Mark, and I helped them build it.”

Franklin unhappily wrote down a few notes into his notebook. 

“Where did you think the Warmbots came from?”  Anand asked, “Did you think we cloned them or grew the organics in a giant test tube?”

“I guess I never thought about it,” Franklin admitted, angry with himself for inviting this tangent and now seeing no way to avoid following it to its conclusion.

“No, you would not think about it.” Anand continued,

You didn’t think about it because Al McKnight did not want you to think about it.  This
was
his greatest achievement.  M
ore than
the technology or the industry, Al McKnight effectively changed the way our society thinks.  He changed our perception of reality.  He engineered a new world where we no longer notice the atrocities all around us.  You grew up in a world where Warmbots are normal; they are around you every day.  They drive the taxis, they work the fields, they clean our houses, and they take care of our young children.  Warmbots are normal for you
,
like slaves were normal for the ancient Romans.  The Romans did not stop to think that this man or this woman who is serving me used to be a free citizen of a state we conquered.  They did not consider that the gladiators in the Coliseum
,
who fought and bled for their entertainment
,
were once free men.

Anand trailed off, and then restarted, saying,
“I’m glad you figured it out.  Yes, Warmbots are created from dead people.”

“How did he do it?” Franklin asked, hoping to get back to the narrative.
“How did Al McKnight introduce Warmbots into a society with
out
people recognizing them for what they really
were
?”

Anand answered,

“
He
did it b
y creating a false opposition.  He knew that the masses would protest.  He knew that if he started marching reanimated dead soldiers down the streets during
V
eteran
s D
ay parades that the people would revolt against him.  So
,
he introduced the concepts slowly, step by step, and more importantly
,
he organized the resistance.  Al McKnight organized his own protesters.

At the beginning they were small and their cause seemed inconsequential.  But
,
as the technology expanded and the adoption grew
,
the opposition polarized around the structure that was already in place.  A structure that McKnight himself had built and continued to control.  It was a brilliant long term strategy and the key was hiring the right guy to inspire the opposition.  McKnight need
ed
the right guy to lead the counter argument.

“So McKnight hired someone to create an opposition to his own technology?”  Franklin asked.

“Correct,” Anand said.  “Like an expert debater, he prepared his team to argue both sides of the matter.  Remember the liberal anti-war lobbyists that General Mueller said were camping out around the capital, pushing for an Anti-Organic Robotics bill?  They were all responding to the same guy who had been there leading the opposition to Organic Robotics from the very beginning.  He was a young revolutionary student that Al McKnight handpicked to build the opposition case and lead the counter-argument.  His job was to lead the argument against the introduction of organic robotics into society, and then ultimately fail.”

Anand paused a moment to recall the facts, then said,
“He was a strange little fellow, the guy that McKnight hired for this job.  His name was Hans Hoobler.”

“I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs”

- Mary Shelley

Anand stepped across the security threshold, flashed his badge at the uninterested guard and then put his hand into a metal box affixed to the door jam.   When he first arrived at the security compound, he was greeted by a contingent of severe
m
ilitary police who explained the security procedures.

“This is a top secret security compound,” the crisp officer explained in a no nonsense tone of voice. 

We operate under security lockdown at all times.  What this means to you is that entry into and out of any building on the compound will require you to successfully pass a three tier interrogation.  First, an armed military guard stationed at the building exit will review your credentials.  Do not attempt to enter into dialogue with the guard; do not question his authority to prevent your entry or exit.  Second, a passive Radio Frequency Identification tag embedded into your security badge will update our central security control of your whereabouts.  If your entry or exit is denied by central control, the door will not open and the guard will be notified.  Finally, at exactly eight hundred hours every day
,
you will be issued a four digit entry and exit security code.  You are expected to memorize this code.  The four digit code must be entered into the security box affixed to the door.

When the briefing officer concluded
his
spe
ech
, the team was led out to the
next
phase of their orientation.

Anand remembered that briefing every time he exited the men’s dormitory.  He entered the four digit security code that had been issued at 8
A
.
M
.
the previous morning.  The door buzzed and opened.  Anand stepped outside and into the dim blue morning.  It was his routine to get out of the windowless buildings and take an early morning walk.  Anand enjoyed watching the sky change from black to dark blue as the sun appeared from behind the distant Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The wind blowing across the compound was surprisingly hot.  Anand had spent the winter months here and now
,
as the summer season was upon them
,
the temperature outside was steadily rising.  He set out upon the walking path which circumnavigated the buildings.  One circuit was two miles.  Sometimes he would see colleagues walking or jogging along the trail
,
but usually at this early hour he was alone.  He preferred to walk the trail alone.

He set out with a strong walking pace
,.
  He was
anxious to get some exercise before he returned to the compound and started
,
what he was sure would be
,
another long day of sitting in meetings or in front of a vid-screen.  As he walked along
,
the path was clear in front of him.  The white cement was illuminated by a waning moon.  The white path indicated a clear way forward, splicing the darkness of manicured lawn on the left and rough rock and desert terrain on the right.  Beyond the dark lawn he could see the dim hulking shapes of the windowless buildings that made up the compound.  Obscured in darkness, beyond the rough desert
,
he knew he would find a security perimeter marked by a tall cyclone fence and patrolled by guards with dogs.

Anand stuck to the narrow path which led him on a slow counter-clockwise arc leading him back to his starting place.  As he walked he considered his career.  His first project utilized remote sensing systems to allow surgery
,
and his current project utilized surgery to allow remote sensory systems. 

Anand considered that he had not traveled very far in his career.  His life’s work was a jumble of technology and biology; semi-conductors and neural-conductors. The result was obscure, like the windowless buildings.  Where was he going?  Would he now work to re-animate the body of a dead soldier as Al McKnight had suggested?

As he walked, Anand considered the moral descent of his efforts
, which at first were
unquestionably noble
.  H
e was helping to build the remote surgery system which would have saved lives and enriched society.  But then later he progressed through a loop-hole in morality
,
to
where he had committed adultery
,
and then murder at Wild West Alive.  Was he really blameless behind the shield of Synaptic Derivation?  Where was he going next?  Would he now work to raise the dead?

Today they planned to begin work on the fresh corpse of an enemy combatant.  Anand was unsure if he was willing to take this next step.  Up ahead, the white cement path veered to the left following the contour of the dark buildings.  As he walked, Anand strained to see into the darkness to his right
.  H
e could not see it, but he knew that in this direction was the security fence
,
and beyond that
,
the open desert.

From behind him, Anand could hear the sounds of quick footsteps on the path.  Someone from the team was out jogging.  Anand stepped off the path and onto the soft desert ground in order to clear the way for the fast moving jogger.  Once off the path, he felt a pull from the open empty space.   He took another step and then another.

From behind him he heard the jogger call out to him, breathless from the run.

“Anand, Anand
,
is that you?”

It was Christopher Mark. 

Anand retraced his steps and met his boss who was now standing on the white path.

Chris Mark said, “Where are you going?”

Anand made up a bad excuse saying,
“I thought I saw something moving out there.”

“It was probably an armed guard
,
” Mark said, “If you catch up to them they very well might shoot you.”

“Quite right,” Anand said, “I was not thinking.”

Anand stepped back onto the white path and resumed his walk.  Mark began walking along next to him.  The path was narrow
,
so the two men were pushed uncomfortably close together as they walked.

After
they
walk
ed
at a normal pace for a while, Chris Mark stopped panting from his run and resumed a normal breathing rhythm. 

When he was comfortable, Chris said,
“I was hoping to find you out here.”

“Here I am
,
” Anand said, not so sure he was happy to be found.

“It’s Dr. Singh
,
” Mark continued, “She has left the project.”

Anand was shocked by this news.  Sadhna was his confident.  They were intimate albeit via Synaptic Derivation.  If she was making a decision to leave the project she would have discussed it with him.  Anand felt confused and hurt.

“It’s true
,
” Mark said in response to Anand’s silence
,
“She left the compound late last night.”

Anand slightly quickened his pace
.  H
is neck and shoulders were rigid
and
his eyes
were
looking straight ahead.  He did not want Christopher Mark to read the emotion on his face
,
so he stayed a half step ahead.

Mark continued, “We have decided not to replace her.  We are giving you full control of both teams.  The bio team will report to you now.”

Anand interrupted, “Thank you, thank you very much for your confidence in me.  I have been working side by side with Sadhna… Dr. Singh, for over a year, but I cannot replace her…  I am a data and network engineer.  I specialize in robotics and systems.  This is my resume in its entirety.  I cannot replace Dr. Singh.”

“Nonsense
,
” Mark replied, “You are the only one qualified to take over
.  B
esides
,
we are at a critical juncture.  We cannot bring in someone new.”

Anand said, “Excuse me Chris, but you misunderstand me.  I mean to say that I literally cannot replace her.  She is the only neuro-surgeon on the team.  The rest of the bio staff is geneticists and biochemists and the like.  Without Dr. Singh, there is no one who can perform the surgery and implant the Synaptic Interface device.”

“Wrong
,
” Mark said, “You can do it.  In order to gain our agreement to let her out of her contract and off of the project, Dr. Singh agreed to one last surgery.  But this time, she will perform the implant operation remotely.  You will be the host.”

“The old RSI device we used for Wild West Alive?”  Anand responded, “I doubt that this will be sensitive enough for a delicate medical procedure.”

“You will do it,” Mark said flatly
,
“Remember
,
you are implanting the device into a corpse
,
so you don’t have to worry about making a mistake.  We can always bring you another dead body and you can try
it
again.”

Anand realized that Mark was right.  Anand had already watched and assisted with the procedure numerous times.  With Sadhna directly controlling him
,
and the experienced team standing by
,
the surgery could be successful.

Mark continued enthusiastically
,
“
T
he best part is we will be able to record the procedure.  The data relayed to you by Dr. Singh will be stored in our database
.  O
nce we have this
,
we can re-play the recording and allow any competent medic to perform the operation.  It solves our scalability problem.  We will now be able to deliver new organic robots as quickly as fresh bodies become available.”

Anand grimaced as he thought about cutting into grey lifeless tissue.  It seemed a cruel joke that his final interaction with Sadhna would be as her semi-conscious host
,
and together they would create an abomination.

“I see,” Anand said.

Looking up, Anand could see
that
a ribbon of sky across the horizon was glowing with a warm blue light; the sunrise would begin soon.  To his left, the new light allowed him to begin to distinguish the buildings in the compound.  He could make out the shape of the men’s dormitory where he had started his walk.

Walking mindlessly now
and
no longer thinking of his career or his future; not thinking about gruesome task before him, Anand simply put one foot ahead of the next, he simply followed the path that lay in front of him.

* * * * *

“Lift your arm
,
” Al McKnight said.

Anand and McKnight were seated inside the surgery recovery room of the medical building.  They were watching the first true organic robot.

Christopher Mark was across the room inside a Synapse Suit.  The Synapse Suit was connected directly to the Synaptic Interface recently implanted into the cadaver via a black data cable.  The cable tracked along the white tile floor and then up and onto the crisp bed linen.  The cable entered directly into the top of the organic robots head.

Anand felt a chill
.  H
e wondered if it was an after effect from the high dose of Somnambutol or if he was catching a fever.  The operation was a success and McKnight was anxious to see the organic robot perform some basic tests.  General Mueller was expected back at the end of the week to see results.  There was little time left to improve the process if there were any problems.

Mark used the Synapse Suit to remotely lift the arm.  As the arm lifted off of the bed, McKnight clapped his hands together.

“Ha Ha
,
” He said, “Very nice!”

“Now
,
” McKnight continued, “Can you stand?”

The organic robot lifted its head and torso and sat up in the bed.  The black data cable danced about and the head lolled to one side
,
then lifted
,
then fell again.

McKnight said, “Stand.”

The motion of the organic robot was stiff and jerky.  His right arm spastically flailed about before coming to rest on the bed rail.  Then the legs swung out and contacted with the white tile floor.

“Can you smooth it out?” McKnight called out to Mark across the room.  Mark could not respond as he was engulfed by the Synapse Suit.

“I am not sure what is happening
,
” Anand offered. 

Anand activated a vid-screen on a nearby workstation and began accessing the communications data that was moving between the organic robot and the Synaptic Suit.
The organic robot pushed with both hands and was off of the bed and on its feet.  It teetered for a moment on stiff legs
.  Th
en
,
swinging both arms uncontrollably
,
it fell forward and slapped face first onto floor.  It sounded like wet meat hitting the tile.  Clear spinal fluid began to form a pool around the top of its head, leaking from the entry point of the black data cable.