The Sword of Damocles

ADJ was sitting in his skycar, parked next to the ruins of an apartment building that had been demolished to make room for the seawall in Greenwich Village. He was currently observing a map of the lower Manhattan flood zone on his omni-pad to chart his route when outside, a spotlight pierced the shadows and shone directly on him. The police gunship then hijacked the speaker system inside of ADJ's skycar to address him directly.

"This sector is closed to ground traffic. Curfew's in effect. What are you doing here?" a police officer asked.

"I'm working," ADJ replied, glancing out his window. "What are you doing?"

"I'm arresting you. That's what I'm doing."

"I'm an adjudicator. Officer ADJ9-77.2."

"Hold on, running your serial number," the police officer replied.

While ADJ patiently waited, thunder rumbled and arcs of lightning uncoiled across the sky. A severe storm had rolled in, meaning that the flood zone was violently churning the waterlogged lower parts of the city.

"Alright, checked and cleared," the police officer said as the gunship passed overhead. "Happy hunting, skinjob."

After the gunship went away, ADJ resumed his observation of the map. From the memories of Pris and the intel stored in her synthetic subconscious, the location of Minerva was revealed to be beneath the remains of battery park, lying on the southernmost tip of Manhattan. The heavy winds and rains prevented him from flying too high, and the risk of exposure to the denizens of the flood zone prevented him from flying too low. So, he would have to proceed into the flood zone and infiltrate Minerva on foot.

ADJ reached into his trench coat for his revolver, then swung open the cylinder, spinning it to ensure that it was loaded before stowing it back inside. Among his service weapon, he carried numerous other gadgets and devices, providing him with a considerable arsenal at his disposal.

Once he was ready, he stepped out of his skycar into the rainy night and made his way inside the seawall, seeking passage through to the other side to reach the flood zone.

… … …

Given the weather, no scavvers or gangers that roamed the desolate, lawless remains were to be seen. Still, ADJ erred on the side of caution as he slowly and stealthily crept his way through the upper floors of abandoned buildings, boardwalks, footpaths, and other spaces that remained high above the water and mostly dry.

Any rational person making the irrational choice to enter the flood zone would have done so at low tide during clear weather, and certainly not a night. Then again, ADJ was not a person. He was an android, built only to accomplish his mission of killing rogue androids as quickly and efficiently as possible. Once he set his mind to something, nothing got in his way. He had no choice or he himself would be destroyed.

Not that he should have feared death.

As he crossed through an apartment, he passed by a kitchen similar to the one from Pris's memory when she first went rogue. ADJ thought of how fearful she had been then, and how for just a moment, he even felt sympathy for her. That was why he killed her then and there instead of letting the police do their jobs.

It turned out well, because the brief spark of emotional imbalance would have surely been detected in a Krylov-Reidiker test, and because ADJ was able to mask that by doing what he was programmed to do in the first place. Lieutenant Kruger nor any other members of the NYPD thought to question his decision, also reinforced by the fact that ADJ was now answering directly to Wesley Townsend.

It placed him in a unique position for an adjudicator in that he could question his actions without fear of lethal reprisal.

But that shouldn't have been possible. After all, ADJ was programmed to kill, not to ask questions. What he was experiencing now was slightly disconcerting due to that fact. Still, he ignored the feeling in his cold, artificial brain and resumed his focus on his task.

After several hours – traversing the flood zone on foot was timely and difficult – ADJ arrived at a tall vantage point overlooking the location of where Minerva was supposed to be. He was standing in an old commercial building, in an old office complex that offered a strategic view of all possible traffic coming in or out from any direction. Since he didn't know how to get in, ADJ would wait and observe the target location to gather intel.

He needed to know how many androids were in Minerva, what security measures were in place, what other possible variables were in play before he made a move. So, to pass the time, ADJ sat on an old rolling chair and reached inside his coat for another piece of aluminum foil which he started to fold into an origami elephant.

When he was done, he set the little elephant on a desk nearby then adjusted it so that it was properly aligned with the edge. ADJ studied it for a moment longer, then turned his focus outside when lightning flashed across the ashen skies.

Thunder rumbled a few moments later and acidic rain continued to pour down in razor-thin sheets.

… … …

By the time the morning came, the rainstorm had died down to a light drizzle. The skies remained bleak and gray, and the floodwaters were roiling less intensely.

ADJ had been sitting still for the entire night, not requiring food or sleep due to his synthetic nature. He saw no movement in or out of Minerva. He did see some isolated scavvers as they emerged from their hiding places to pick over the rusting carcasses of the flood zone.

He was so involved in his reconnaissance that he failed to notice the lone scavver that was creeping up behind him, lead pipe in hand. Only when the scavver stepped on a broken piece of glass did ADJ suddenly rise and turn around, only to be met with a pipe to the face.

ADJ stumbled back from the blow, backed against the shattered frame of the window. As he reached for his revolver, he was struck again in the chest, sending him crashing through and down onto a lower rooftop below. His revolver flew out of his hands beyond his reach.

"Got 'im!" the scavver beat his chest and cheered. "Check his gear, boys! See if he had anything good on 'im."

ADJ groaned and rolled over, not from pain but from frustration at being bushwhacked. He struggled to his feet and looked around, which was when he noticed that he fell into yet another ambush. A group of scavvers surrounded him, armed with crude clubs and knives. They began to murmur among themselves, equally shocked and confused.

"Shit, he's still alive."

"No way he could have survived that fall. That was five floors he came down."

"Oi!" one scavver looked up to his comrade above. "Paulie! Your bashin' arm's gone gimpy! You didn't hit 'im hard enough!"

Paulie pointed his lead pipe at ADJ. "So fucking put his lights out then, you daft wankers!"

Normally, ADJ's programming prevented him from harming humans, but only insofar as to where the law was applied and to the extent that they weren't posing a threat to him. The law didn't apply to the flood zone and he was being actively threatened.

All at once, the scavvers closed in on ADJ. In response, he rose immediately and grabbed the nearest scavver by his leg, lifted him up, turned him upside down, then brought him crashing down on his head with full force. The scavver's head twisted at an unnatural angle, breaking his neck and spine with a brutal crunch.

Next, ADJ easily blocked an incoming crowbar with his hand, then he grabbed hold of the scavver's arm and snapped it in half. As the scavver screamed in pain, he ripped it out of his grasp and struck it over his head before yanking him forward, embedding the hooked bit into the back of his skull and ripping out as he fell.

A knife then slashed ADJ across the cheek; not a deep cut, but enough to open a wound that wept with blue synth fluid. It was then that the scavvers realized what they were up against.

"Jesus alive, he's a fucking andy!"

"Out of the way!" one scavver shouted, aiming ADJ's revolver. "Get out of the way, I'll blast him!"

Before he was able to squeeze off a shot, ADJ threw the crowbar straight into the scavver's face, breaking his nose and knocking him back towards the edge of the rooftop. The scavver cursed in pain and dropped the revolver, and when he looked up, he was met with two boots to the chest as ADJ ran towards him, delivering a dropkick which sent him flying off the roof and into the waters below.

ADJ grabbed his gun, came up to his feet, then double-tapped the two remaining scavvers with a shot to the chest and a shot to the head. Their dead bodies slumped onto the ground in a useless heap.

"You're not just any andy, are you?" Paulie asked from above. "You're an andy killer. An adjudicator."

ADJ looked up, saying nothing and letting his work speak on his behalf as he gestured vaguely around himself.

Paulie vaulted through the window and fell to the rooftop below, landing on his knees as the cybernetic implants in his legs cushioned his fall. "I'm a killer too," he looked up to ADJ and sneered. "Let's see what you're made of, killer."

"I really prefer not to do this," ADJ said.

Paulie was certainly brave but mostly stupid. He came rushing and screaming forward, so ADJ ducked beneath his attack, grabbed the back of his neck, pulled him down, and slammed his knee into Paulie's face. Afterward, he placed the barrel of his revolver against Paulie's neck, fired once, then fired again directly into his head, spilling his idiot brains all over the ground.

Each kill was quick and brutal, just the way ADJ operated. The whole fight had only lasted a minute. Now that he was alone again, he took a look around at the lives he had taken and felt no different. For some reason, killing the scavvers bothered him less than killing Pris.

In any case, he reloaded his revolver, stored it away inside his coat, then started making his way back to his observation post to pick up where he left off.