Thank you guys for the posts, questions and suggestions. I do appreciate and enjoy them.
Thanks to AsgardianBlade for taking the time to guide me when I thought I was in a corner.
Thank you to Henrietta McArdle and M4BW who have done audio recordings of this Heir installment on Youtube - chapter by chapter.
Search - Art4Heir - to find the recordings these wonderful ladies have done!
And to everyone who is reading along - thank you for the gift of your time.
The Charge of the Light Brigade (Lord Alfred Tennyson)
Myka stared back at Jane, wondering what she was talking about. "Don't tell me someone is complaining about his howling already?" Myka asked incredulously.
"Myka, this is Officer Bell. She's a rookie, brand new to the force. Tell Myka what your primary job is, Officer Bell," Jane said, looking back at the woman whose hair was pulled back so tight into a bun, it was a challenge to make facial expressions.
"My primary job, ma'am, is to remind Detective Tierney how many days it is until she can officially retire, ma'am," the young woman said firmly.
"And what is that number?" Jane asked without looking at the assistant.
"Two thousand, five hundred and fifty-five," the officer reported on cue.
"I like to hear that," Jane said, smiling. "Especially when I am sent on ridiculous calls like this one, Myka. Can we come in, or do you want the press to hear the excuses your fiancée is going to come up with to explain this?"
Myka had long ago come to the understanding that Jane didn't mean to be rude. She was a trained, highly decorated detective who believed the job of checking on Helena was beneath her. But Jane understood the chain of command, and when the Mayor tells the Chief of Police that he wants Helena Wells handled with kid gloves, Jane puts them on. Or at least has Officer Bell carry them.
"You think …Helena stole something?" Myka laughed at how absurd that was.
Jane pulled a picture out of her inner pocket and showed it to Myka. Myka looked down at the picture of the very dog she was holding.
"Oh please, this has got to be a mistake. Come in," Myka said, opening the door wider. No sooner had Jane stepped inside when the press started to gather outside.
"Come on in, Bell. This is going to be a treat," Jane said dryly.
"This is so silly, isn't it?" Myka asked the unnamed pet who tried to bark, but could only howl.
Helena was still in the dining room and not pleased that the evening went from heavenly – to all hell breaking loose in so short a time. No one was following the step by step plan she had implemented for the perfect evening. "Could you tell me what the bloody hell is going on?" Helena demanded of the android.
"Well, I did want to inform you that in helping you plan the perfect evening, I found I had to make some conclusions on my own," Sui answered.
Helena drew a deep breath and clenched her jaw. "And what conclusions did you come to?"
"That I should get Ms. Bering a dog," Sui said conclusively.
"I said we would discuss that with her," Helena argued – with the bionic creation.
"My analysis was quite conclusive," Sui reasoned.
"Grrrr. Where did the dog come from?" Helena asked. "And I don't mean its geographic location."
"I located a private residence that was selling the canines. It's a purebred with papers," Sui said, proud of his acquisition.
"Who took you to the residence?" Helena asked, secretly hoping there was a partner in crime.
"I drove myself," he said and correctly read Helena's harsh look as wanting more details. "I located a car with an open door in the garage. I found starting it to be no challenge," Sui explained, trying to be as thorough as possible.
With each new detail, Helena's astonishment …..and concern….. grew. "Astounding! That you figured all that out. I mean, how am I going to explain all of this to Myka?" she asked, sounding distressed, while at the same time amazed at how he was evolving.
"I think Ms. Bering is very happy to see you. I am glad that you had some time to express your missing through physical contact before dinner," Sui said as Helena's eye grew wide.
"Were you spying on us?" Helena practically shrieked.
"Of course not! I would not do that. I came to this conclusion because your dress is on backwards which would indicate that you took it off and ..," Sui said.
Helena ran her hand up the front of the dress – and there was the zipper. "Never mind! What is taking Myka so long? "I'm going to see what is keeping her," the Brit said and made her way to the hallway, Sui behind her.
"Oh hey, welcome back, by the way," Jane said as she stood there with Myka.
"Thanks, how did you know I was….?" Myka asked.
"Because she wouldn't have pulled this with you in town," Jane said. "So here's the deal, we got a call from a woman out on Long Island that someone came to see her today about purchasing a dog. He's cute," Jane said, looking back at her notepad. "So the guy told her that he needed the dog, but didn't have a way to pay. This is where it gets really interesting," Jane said, sardonically because none of this really interested her. "The guy says that he works for Helena Wells, who wants the dog, and he will vouch for her."
"That is ridiculous," Myka said, laughing nervously, holding the squirming evidence.
Suddenly, Helena and the man who fit the description of the thief were in the hallway.
Jane looked at both of them. "This is great. Some days…..," Jane said to the young rookie, "…things just fall into place."
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Helena asked, very perturbed by the presence of more people.
"Hey Wells, sorry, Ms. Wells, but we got a complaint from the dog's owner that he was in fact snatched by a man who claimed to be there on your behalf," Jane said, reading the description and looking Sui up and down. "You sent your waiter to fetch you a dog?"
"OK, wait," Myka said. "I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for all of this."
"That's what I like about you, Bering. You really believe that," Jane said, because nothing was ever reasonable when it came to Helena.
"Detective…..," Myka said as if scoffing the whole idea. She looked over at Helena who had a worried look on her face.
"Hey there," Jane said to break the silence as she extended her hand to Sui. "Detective Tierney. Where were you today, say around 11 AM?"
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Sui said politely. "I was driving on the Long Island Expressway in route to the Locust Valley exit," he said precisely.
"And eh…Mr...?" Jane said, because she didn't know his name.
"Generis," Sui answered.
"Mr. Generis, did you in fact inquire about this dog and then when the owner told you payment was due, you said you would vouch for Ms. Wells?" Jane asked.
"Maybe we should talk to Mr. Generis before you question him," Myka suggested.
"Really? You want him to lawyer up on a dog-napping?" Jane asked.
"This is ridiculous," Helena finally chimed in. "Mr. Generis made a mistake. We will make the owner whole immediately and apologize for any inconvenience we caused them."
"Oh okay, good," Jane said, ripping a piece of paper out of her notepad. "Here's the name and phone number of the owner. The agreed amount was two thousand dollars."
"Two thousand dollars? For that?" Helena said, her accent if full force. Then she looked over at the dog that had his head nestled into Myka's neck. She would have paid any price to see that look on Myka's face. "Of course," Helena said, staring at Myka. "We shall pay them double."
"OK then," Jane said, putting her pad away. Myka smiled and Helena let out a sigh of relief that a solution was found. She had planned on telling Myka about the android over a glass of wine, not in front of the detective.
"That just leaves this," Jane said, taking out her handcuffs. "Mr. Generis, I'm placing you under arrest for stealing the 2014 Jaguar XJ car." She walked over to Sui who simply complied and put his hands behind his back. "You have the right to remain silent," Jane started and Helena put her hand on the detectives arm.
"You can't do this," Helena said.
"No, she can. She's reading me my Miranda Rights. It's required in order to use my confession in a court of law," Sui said.
"He…took…a…car?" Myka asked, getting concerned. She knew people jumped when Helena said jump, but stealing? No! "Helena, how did your waiter steal a car and then steal a dog?" Myka asked and she wasn't sure if she wanted Helena to know the answers or not.
"Wait! Detective, could you please give me a minute?" Helena said and Jane knew it was only going to get more interesting.
"Sure," Jane said, finishing reading him his rights first. "Don't worry, Wells, he'll be charged with joyriding since he did bring the car back."
Helena gently pushed Sui into the library, his hands still secured behind his back. Myka smiled uncomfortably at Jane as she followed Helena inside. Myka quickly put the tired puppy down, but he maneuvered himself between her feet, as if he knew something was about to happen.
"Helena, we'll go to the station with him and post bail. I can't imagine….," Myka was saying, trying to sort out how this happened.
"We can't," Helena said flatly.
"Sure, Jane will let us go down….," Myka said, because they were all too familiar with the process.
"She can't take him anywhere," Helena said. The android looked at Helena and then at Myka. The disconnect was obvious.
"Oh you have not had time to tell her?" Sui said to Helena.
"Tell me what?" Myka asked, looking at both of them.
"Myka, this was supposed to be a surprise," Helena said slowly.
"And it was!" Myka said, smiling as she looked down. "I never expected a puppy!" The canine's ears pointed upward and his small tail flapped on the floor.
"I knew it!" Sui said, quite pleased with himself.
"Actually, darling," Helena said and moved in closer to Myka. She played with Myka's sleeve, a dead giveaway that there were more surprises in store.
"Helena, you heard Jane. It's a misdemeanor at best. He'll get off with Community Service," Myka said. "Although that was an expensive car. That might be an issue."
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time," Sui said, pulling up slogans from television shows. He thought the cultural reference was most appropriate.
"Myka, there is something about Mr. Generis that you should know," Helena tried to say without her throat getting dry.
"Are you an undocumented worker, Mr. Generis?" Myka asked, coming up with the best answer to this riddle.
"I am an android," Sui answered and Helena clenched her eyes shut. He was programmed to answer questions and so he did.
"You're a what?" Myka asked and now the puppy sat up between her feet, panting, and looking back and forth.
"Darling, this is Sui Generis…," Helena said her formal introduction weak at best. "Surprise!"
Myka frowned as she tried to take in what she just heard. "Sui Generis is Latin for - of its own kind," Myka said because of course she remembered her Latin.
"I told you she would get it," Helena said out of the side of her mouth to the android.
Myka didn't mean to stare, but for the last hour or so, she had assumed he was a hired waiter. She leaned in and looked at him. There was no indication whatsoever this man was – not a man.
The silence was killing Helena. "You were away and I was so terribly bored. I went to my laboratory downstairs and …voila!" Helena said, smiling sheepishly.
"But he's so …," Myka said and both Helena and Sui smiled.
"Yes, I know," the Architect said proudly.
"He's all …..?" Myka said, looking at him from head to toe.
"I am anatomically correct in all aspects of design. I am a synthesized organism with internal processes in my brain that handle gesture expression, body coordination and emotion expression. I have over sixty artificial joints and my software is state of the art as developed by Ms. Donovan," Sui reported.
"Oh Helena," Myka said, a mixture of wonder and astonishment.
"He was supposed to be surprise," Helena said, casting an annoyed look the android.
"Oh, I'm surprised," Myka said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Could you tell me how this all happened? She meant Helena, but it was Sui who volunteered his version.
"Ms. Wells is upset because I took it upon myself to procure the canine your voice indicated you wanted. I analyzed the situation and determined that the only way for me to get to the seller was via a motorized vehicle which I learned to drive in twenty minutes," Sui explained.
"He is amazing," Helena said, forgetting what else was going on.
"Right and…?" Myka prompted, shaking her head at the fact that she was asking the android.
"I knew I had to jam my GPS program or Ms. Donovan would worry when I left the premises," Sui continued as Helena praised him again with – "Remarkable!" "I took the easiest vehicle to procure and I had every intention of returning it," Sui said sincerely.
"Great," Myka said, still trying to take it all in.
"I went to the address of the seller and viewed the available canines and chose this one because of his face," Sui said looking down at the dog, which wagged his tale back. "I explained that I was there on Ms. Wells' behalf and would see that the seller was paid. They hesitated and said they would require proof. I gave them Mrs. Frederic's number. They returned and said she was unavailable. I gave them Ms. Wells' number. I determined that with rush hour traffic approaching, I had to leave immediately in order to get back. So while they tried to call you, I wrote them an I.O.U. for the full amount and signed it. Mr. Lattimer assured me this was an accepted way of doing business," Sui said, missing the part about 'between friends'.
Myka stood there wide-eyed as he concluded his story. The more she listened to him, the harder it was for her to believe he was …..not human. "Helena, did you know he would be capable of such independent thought?" Myka asked, her lawyer brain forming their options.
"I knew there was a strong possibility that Mr. Generis would soon be able to cross connect his resources and eventually come to his own conclusions. I did not expect him to steal a dog!" Helena said.
"I do apologize," Sui said.
"Are you saying that because a program tells you it is the appropriate response?" Myka inquired with great interest. If Helena built him, there was no limit to what he might be capable of, she thought.
Sui had to process that question. If he had tapped into the appropriate response when someone gives you a deadly stare, it would show in his transmissions. "No, I am sorry because I upset Ms. Wells. I do not like to do that," he answered sincerely. "It does not feel good."
"Helena, he's forming his own opinions, feelings, actions. I think we're going to have to tell Jane about this," Myka said, seeing the bigger picture. She looked over at the android. "He really is amazing."
Helena beamed. "I know." She felt proud of her design before, but to see Myka impressed was a whole different level of pride for her.
Only Helena's unquestionable faith in Myka could make her entertain the thought of telling the detective the truth about the culprit. "Let's tell the good detective then," Helena said.
"Shall I put these back on?" Sui asked as he placed his hands in front of him, holding the handcuffs.
Myka actually let out a laugh. "Oh my God, Helena, what else has he learned from you?"
"Yes, put them back on. The detective does not have the best sense of humor in these matters," Helena said, knowing this from personal experience. Now was not the time to taunt the policewoman, even if Helena was good at it.
Helena called Jane into the library where the entire situation was explained. Jane's expression didn't change. She had been to Helena's house so many times, for so many things that very little surprised her anymore. She was impressed, however, that Pete had kept it a secret.
"So, he's an android that you built while Myka was away, and he's so smart that he figured out a way to escape from Wells Corp, steal a car, drive to Long Island, dognap a dog because he analyzed Myka's voice and decided she wanted one. Is that about it?" Jane asked, staring at the man.
"Well, yes," Helena said, not liking Jane's version of the events.
"And he did this on his own, you didn't tell him to?" Jane asked Helena.
"I most certainly did not!" Helena protested.
"OK. So here's what we're going to do, Wells," Jane said and Helena looked at Myka who waved her hand that this was not the time to call the detective on manners. "Myka, what do you say we take your client in for the night? Let him 'process' the consequences for his actions," Jane said, tapping her pen on her notepad now as she thought this through. "This way, the press sees me leave with the suspect, and it doesn't look like the Mayor is giving Helena's employee any special favoritism. Helena, you make amends with the dog owner and everyone will be happy in the morning."
"Helena, do you feel confident that Claudia could monitor him and that he won't disrupt his programs?" Myka asked.
"I give you my word not to alter any of my programs," Sui said to Helena.
"Yeah, I'm not taking his word for it, so Helena, I'm going to need that from you," Jane said.
"Yes, we can make modifications so that he can be monitored," Helena said.
"I have re-handcuffed myself Detective Tierney," Sui said as he walked through the door she opened.
"You can pick him up in the morning. He does have fingerprints, right?" Jane inquired because lack of them could be an issue at the station.
"Of course he does!" Helena said insulted at the hint she might have overlooked that detail.
"Oh and there's another part to this deal," Jane said and Helena sighed and was about to ask what it was. "Bering?" Jane said, looking directly at Myka, who was now holding the stolen goods. "You are never to go away for a week again, unless you take her with you. Deal?" Jane said, and was serious.
Myka bit her lip, but managed to say 'deal' anyway. It wasn't a hard bargain to strike; she had missed Helena too much to want to do this again.
"How many days, Bell?" Jane shouted to the Officer waiting by the door.
"Two thousand, five hundred and fifty-five, ma'am," the woman answered.
"Still?" Jane asked as they all left, because it had been such a long night.
"I am sorry, Myka. This was not the way I had planned to tell you about Sui," Helena said.
"I know," Myka said, leaning in to kiss the pouting lips. "He's …well…the work of a genius."
"Do you like him?" Helena asked with renewed energy. "He knows over twenty languages!"
"I'm not at all surprised," Myka said. "Now, what are we going to do with you?" Myka said, petting the dog that quieted down in Myka's arms.
Leena came into the room. "He stole the dog?" she asked, having gotten just the highlights from Sui.
"Yes, but he's paying for his crime," Helena said.
"There's a crate in the kitchen," Leena informed them. Myka went and got a blanket and clock and put it in the crate where the newest member of the household crawled in and promptly went to sleep. Then Leena cleaned everything up, said goodnight and left. The house was quiet and Myka was very tired from her long day.
"Why don't you get ready for bed and I'll be right up," Helena suggested. Myka agreed and when she was upstairs, Helena went into the library and dialed Irene.
After explaining to the woman the sequence of events as she paced the room back and forth, Helena waited.
"Helena, are you worried he will do something?" Irene asked, but Helena said no. Irene had to think about this. "Helena, it's important for people… or androids with human like qualities …..to learn that there are consequences for their actions," Irene said.
"I don't like it," Helena said, but couldn't explain why.
"You never do," Irene said, gently reminding Helena how long it took her to learn this very lesson. "But he's going to be okay, Helena."
"Okay," Helena said, somehow reassured now that Irene agreed to it. Helena hung up with her sage, and went upstairs.
"Hey you," Myka said sweetly from the bed.
"Hey you," Helena said, her attention now focused on Myka. Helena slipped out of her dress and boots and slid next to Myka, taking her in her arms. "It is so good to have you home."
"How good is it Helena?" Myka asked, playing with the pendant than hung around Helena's neck.
"Let me show you," Helena said, leaning in to kiss Myka.
Helena expressed her yearning for Myka in exquisite fashion, until Myka was left breathless and consumed. She slept peacefully in Helena's arms the rest of the night.
Several blocks away, in the holding cell at the local police precinct, Sui sat among the other criminals brought in that evening. Unlike those individuals, he required very little downtime. He sat there and accessed his programs on jail time.
Suddenly, the entire room filled with the melodic sound of someone singing –
"Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows my sorrow…."