The Determinator: The Further Adventures Of Fembot Sally, #4

By Samantha Faulkner

You can't change the future. We live in a deterministic universe. But one man is determined to try. And Fembot Sally is determined to stop him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Samantha Faulkner
• Release date: Feb 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386821755

Book preview

THE DETERMINATOR

The Purple Pussy Club in Soho is heaving with people. Eardrum-shredding music is booming across the floor and the whole establishment is shrouded in a fog of tobacco. I am working undercover as a waitress. I have been on shift for three hours now, keeping a close eye on one of the other workers. Delia is a short, rather pretty girl in a purple leotard. She has black pussy cat ears and a ridiculous tail hanging down from her backside. Every club needs a gimmick, I suppose. I am dressed in exactly the same fashion – if you can call it fashion – and that damned tail gets in the way of everything. Delia seems at home, though, smiling at the punters and exchanging good natured jokes. It is obvious she has not seen the news this evening. If she had, she would probably be in hysterics. Her life expectancy is currently running at about twenty minutes, or would be if I wasn’t here to keep an eye on her. It’s lucky I got to the club in time. I wish Delia worked somewhere quieter, though. That music is playing havoc with my audio receptors and there are far too many people strutting their stuff on the dance floor.

I spot my target as soon she steps into the club. For one thing, she is on her own. This is not the sort of club for an unattended woman. But it is her eyes that are the real giveaway. The girl is a Fembot, like me. A simulated human being. A Mark 2 model, if I am not mistaken, easily detectable to anyone who knows what they are looking for. Not that any of the men here are likely to be looking at her eyes; not in that top. I am still rather surprised to see another Fembot out and about. If you had asked me a week ago, I would have told you there were no Mark 2s left in circulation, apart from myself. No other Fembots at all, in fact. But that was a week ago.

The girl sashays across to the bar and orders herself a drink. Even with the din of the music, she is already drawing attention. That is hardly surprising. Drawing attention is what a Fembot is designed for. That and killing people. It makes undercover work like this really tricky. But the girl is a professional and is equally adept at deflecting unwanted attention when she needs to.

She spots Delia at once but makes no move towards her. I finger the ring on the middle finger of my left hand. It is a compact sonic oscillator, a useful little gizmo from the boys at K Division. One twist and every Fembot within a fifty yard radius will be knocked out for two and a half minutes. Unfortunately, that includes me, so it is very much a weapon of last resort. I don’t think the girl at the bar is an immediate threat in any case. The fact that she is here, however, means that things are about to hot up. I need to get Delia off the floor as soon as I can. There are too many innocent people milling around. I don’t want anyone getting in the way when the shooting starts. My bosses at MI6 have given me very clear instructions when