“Yes. Even though he’s no longer with us, his… his thing is.”
Zane realized he was talking about the robot. Interesting. The operative filed that piece of information away for later use.
Koehler continued, “She was his creation, one of the crown jewels of his work here at Renaissance. As she is so quick to tell, there is no other robot in the world like her. She has more movement, more physical strength, more brain power, and more cognition than any other machine out there.”
“What’s not to like?”
“What’s not to like is that she is Higgs.”
“She’s Higgs?”
“She’s like him in every way, including this nasty little habit she has of standing in the way of progress.”
Zane made yet another mental note. “Progress as defined by you and Mironov, of course.”
“You know, for the longest time I couldn’t figure it out. How could a robot be that much like its creator? How could it be so useful in so many ways, and still have all the characteristics of the annoying man who built it? It’s almost like he’s still alive, wrapped in all that metal.
“And then I realized it. He managed to program his personality into that machine, right under our noses.”
“Then why don’t you do something about it?”
“Oh, trust me, I’d love to. I’d love to, Monsieur Bergeron,” the tall man said. He looked over at his partner as though a piece of information was being passed silently between them. “I just keep getting overruled.”
His partner shifted nervously. “I don’t think—”
The German held up a hand as if to convey he understood. “But anyway, that’s not your concern, Mr. Bergeron. It's mine.” And he looked down at Zane, almost as though seeing him for the first time. The way he shifted back and forth between violent rage and pensive thought indicated he was on the verge of breaking. “But I have a question for you, Bergeron. And it’s a question you will answer. Who sent you to break into our building?”
Zane thought for a moment before responding. “Just think of us as an exterminator. When we smell a rat, I’m sent to go find that rat.”
The German frowned, but then his mouth slowly transitioned back to a smile. “Just keep holding everything back. I’ll enjoy beating it out of you later. Anyway, we’ll find that out soon enough from the remnants of your phone. But I have another question for you. Who were the two women?”
The way he framed the question didn’t give Zane a clear indication of what might have happened to Carmen and Amanda. Were they still alive? Did they get away? He shrugged and said, “I have no clue what you’re talking about. I was alone.”
“Do you think we’re idiots, Bergeron?”
Zane tried the softer approach, in the hope of getting more information. “Look, I don’t know who you’re talking about. Why don’t you ask them?”
“I can’t. They’re dead.” Zane’s face flinched slightly, and the man smiled at the reaction. “Yes, that’s right, pretty boy. I killed both of them.”
“You’re lying,” Zane said, his face expressionless. It was hard to get a read on the German, but Zane doubted that what he said was true. The tone of his voice sounded contrived for effect.
“Oh, I’m afraid not,” the German said, clearly enjoying himself. “Of course, it wasn’t a complete loss. I did have a little fun with the dark-haired one before I shot her in the head.”
Zane jerked forward, straining at the cuffs.
The man laughed. “Well, it looks like you do know them after all. Bravo. And don’t worry about giving us everything you know just yet. As I said, I’ll enjoy beating it out of you later. In the meantime, we’re going to put you down so you can rest for your big meeting.”
And with that, he nodded at Shovel Face, who withdrew a syringe and approached the bed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“What do you mean you haven’t heard from Zane?” Carmen asked, her voice rising. She and Amanda had checked into a small boutique hotel in Vevey, on the northern shore of Lake Geneva. The Italian was standing at the window, looking down into the square.
“I wish I had better news.” The Oracle's voice came out of Carmen’s phone, which she had placed on the table. “Brett is working on it as we speak.”
“What about the tracking device? Do you at least know where he is?”
“Not yet, but—”
Carmen slammed her fist on the table. Amanda, who had been lying on her side on the bed, sat up at the sound.
“Listen to me,” the Oracle said.
“No, it’s not you. I should have waited until that backup unit got out of range and then proceeded to the building. Zane was outgunned in there.”
“First of all, we still don’t know what happened. He may be fine. Second, your duty was to protect the private US citizen who was there with you, and you did precisely that. Ms. Higgs is now safe because of you.” Carmen remained silent. “Look, we’re doing everything we can to locate him. Unfortunately, our system crashed right as we began tracking.”
“What was his last position?” Carmen asked.
“The last signal hit was right outside of Geneva on Highway One, which runs east across the north side of the lake.”
“Interesting. That means he was actually moving toward where we are now.”
“Correct,” the Oracle said.
“He was being taken somewhere against his will.”
“We have no way of knowing that. He could very easily be following the Renaissance security team.”
There was the sound of typing and another voice in the background. “Carmen, we just pulled up your location. It looks like you’re right on the Grande Place, correct?”
“Correct. Do you want us to stay here?”
“Yes, for now anyway,” said Ross. The typing continued. “Which reminds me, there is something else I want to discuss. Brett received the image you took of the license plate on that SUV that the Renaissance security team was using.”
“Was he able to trace it?”
“Yes, he was. And we discovered something interesting. The vehicle is owned by a subsidiary of Renaissance. We think it’s the company that pays their security team. Anyway, the interesting piece is that the address of record for this entity is in Martigny.”
“Is that in Switzerland?” asked Carmen.
“Yes, it’s a small town in the Swiss Alps.” There was the sound of more typing. “I’m looking at the map now, and it appears to be in a mountain valley about an hour or two southeast of your location. We did a quick search, and Renaissance appears to be the owner of several properties there, including the address listed for that plate.”
“Is it another office building?”
There was a pause before the Oracle spoke again, “No, and that’s what’s so interesting about it. The address appears to be on a remote road north of Martigny. In looking at the satellite view, there's an asphalt driveway that runs up the mountain and then disappears into a grove of trees. Other than trees, there doesn’t appear to be anything else up there.”
Carmen left the window and sat down at the table again. “That's interesting. There are no structures whatsoever?”
“None. And those trees are at a high elevation with a pretty steep topography. Not the best place for a building, even if you had the desire to put one there.”
“Any thoughts?”
“Brett believes there may be a facility inside the mountain. That seems a little fantastical to me, but I have to admit I don’t have anything better.”
“Ross, I need to go up and check that out.”
“I agree. But our priority right now is finding Zane. It’s possible he may have some additional information that we don’t yet know about.”