He pondered his next move. They could forget the compartment and leave quietly. Or he could try something else. The question was: what? How much sensitivity could he trade for effectiveness? At what point should he overstep the bounds of caution and take the chance of setting off a silent warning of unknown proportions?
It was too early for breakfast and too late to go to sleep. Vyra would be sleeping hard enough for the both of them.
“Sense anything outside?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Whoever is responsible for the security of this structure seems to have the usual misplaced confidence in expensive electronics.”
Not all mechanicals would be so disingenuous, Manz knew. Turning to the Minder, he indicated the door to the compartment. “What’s your opinion of this?”
The sphere descended to examine the barrier. “Commercial floor safe. Very advanced, very expensive to install. Nearly seamless, with the lockseal woven into the structure of the opening itself. Without additional input I cannot identify the source of manufacture.”
“That doesn’t matter right now. Our conclusions are the same, and I can’t figure the bastard out. Any clever suggestions lurking in those data files of yours?”
“None that present themselves immediately to mind.”
Manz turned to his other mechanical. “How about you, Moses? Any ideas?”
“First, a query. There is nothing else in this room you wish to examine?”
“We’ve run a pretty thorough check. Anything else worthwhile’s likely to be in here.”
“Do I have permission and leeway to proceed?”
Manz rose and stepped aside. “I’m sure as hell not having any luck. If you think you can do better with a different approach, have a go at it.”
Rolling over, the humaniform studied the recalcitrant safe. Two tentacle-tips descended to slip delicately into the only visible depressions in the otherwise smooth surface: a pair of finger holes. These would be utilized by an authorized user to key the seal and release the door.
“Why not put your ear to it?” Manz murmured sarcastically.
Moses replied without rancor. “I’ve tried that before. It does not work with steady-state or fluid-switched devices. Ah. I believe I have secured a purchase.”
Manz blinked. “What do you mean, ‘secured a purchase’?”
“You gave me leeway, remember?” The two tentacles contracted.
The door came up in the mechanical’s grasp. So did the entire compartment, along with loose bolts, flashing optical fibers, and several chunks of floor.
“Unconventional approach.” An anxious Manz knelt to examine the contents of the eviscerated container. He knew he didn’t have time to bawl out the mechanical. That could come later. “Never mind resuming watch. That human company you alluded to earlier is probably on its way here now. I don’t have enough time to scan any of this properly, so you’d better make copies. Don’t dilly-dally.”
Bent over the container, Moses was already hard at work at the task. “This will not take long. I might add that quick scan reveals nothing of relevance to our assignment.”
“Great. I was kind of hoping Borgia was our target. It’d save time, besides which I didn’t much care for the company’s chief executive.” Leaving the humaniform to its work, he moved silently toward the doorway. “We might still be on the right track. If we’re not, at least this break-in will give Monticelli something to worry about. That’s an image that gives me a nice, warm feeling inside. Aren’t you done yet?”
“Just finishing.” The mechanical straightened.
“Then let’s get out of here.” Leading the way back toward the corridor, he paused at the office door. “I guess maybe Borgia’s just good at what they do. Maybe another approach …” He popped the door.
Just in time to intercept a loaded right cross from a large individual clad in the uniform of a private security service. It sent him reeling backwards, fighting to hold on to consciousness as he instinctively rolled with the punch. The Minder bobbed wildly as it sought to maintain contact with the repulsion bar embedded in its owner’s jacket. Dimly Manz glimpsed other shapes milling about behind his assailant.
Moses caught him before he fell.
“Your fear appears confirmed,” the mechanical declared.
“Tactful as always,” replied Manz as he charged, taking his startled attacker low in the gut and driving him backwards into the man crowding close behind him.
The building’s security guards were not particularly adept at their work or well trained, but there were a lot of them. They swarmed the intruder. Puzzled expressions appeared on one face after another as their crowd-control stunners failed to put him down. Sooner or later one of their number would have figured out that their target might be wearing the kind of special, very expensive antistun-tube attire that would harmlessly dissipate the effects of their weapons, but Manz wasn’t worried about eventualities, only the conundrum of the moment.
Since he was in tight among them before they could react properly, they couldn’t use their synthesized pepper gas or other organics without equally immobilizing themselves. That they might try it anyway was a chance Manz was willing to take, since Moses would be quite immune to any such incapacitating devices and could carry him to clean air and freedom while his erstwhile captors rolled about on the floor choking and gasping on their own chemicals.
During the fight he displayed anything but a surgeon’s touch. About the best that could be said for his actions was that he delivered his multitudinous kicks and punches in a craftsmanlike manner.
The security squad pretty much ignored their quarry’s attendant mechanical. Standing as if deactivated, Moses would bestir himself on occasion to remove startled battlers from the scene like a vintner plucking grapes. Thanks to his subtle efforts the pile of struggling humanity surrounding Manz diminished rapidly.
The adjuster adjusted the final grim-faced survivor with a side kick to the solar plexus. The man turned white and doubled over, collapsing to the floor. Panting heavily in his combat stance, Manz hunted for his next opponent, only to discover that the sole remaining individual besides himself still left standing was a friendly one composed of inorganic materials.
“Resume station,” he wheezed. The Minder, which at the onset of fighting had risen to hover safe and out of the way near the ceiling, returned to its accustomed location hard to port of its owner’s head. It had not been damaged in the altercation, nor had it partaken of the activity.
“Thanks for the help.” He eyed Moses uncertainly. “I never knew that your programming allowed for actual physical intercession during combat. What about the mechanical’s prime directive, ‘Thou shalt not harm a human being’?”
“I did not violate the prime,” replied Moses primly. “I could no more do that than could any other mechanical.”
“Uh-huh.” Manz’s respiration was slowing. “Then what happened to her?” He indicated a prone form lying spraddled on the floor. “I didn’t lay a hand on that one.”
“As I recall, the poor woman tripped and struck her head against the corridor wall.”
“Sure she did. And the guy next to her?”
The humaniform’s synthetic lenses considered the body in question. “Didn’t watch where he was going. He ran into something unyielding.”
“Like what?” Manz was straightening his attire.
A thick, flexible tentacle semaphored rhythmically. “I believe it was this limb.”
“And the one next to him?” The adjuster stepped over a snuffling form he was sure he wasn’t accountable for.
“Oh, him. I believe that he …”
“Never mind. I know: he did a double two-and-a-half forward flip with a half-twist and didn’t lay out properly.”
“In actuality he …”
“I said never mind. Come along.”
“I recorded everything,” declared the Minder helpfully, “in case you wish to analyze the actual sequence of events at some future time.”
“I doubt it, but you were only doing your job. I don’t suppose it matters that these unhappy campers will be able to recognize me now. I’m more concerned with whoever’s trying to vape me.” He continued down the corridor, moving quickly but with renewed caution. “Both of you remain on full alert. We’re not out of here yet.”
They reached the intersection he remembered and paused. Moses could sense an organic presence from the heat it emitted, but if building security also had any mechanicals on the prowl they risked charging blindly into them. Manz peered around the corner, his goggles manufacturing daylight out of the feeble illumination.
