Lidda awakened slowly as though coming out from under anesthesia. Her first sensation was one of pain in her left arm. She vaguely remembered falling and guessed she must have injured herself. Her mind began to clear, and she recalled the events leading up to the last moments on the roof top. That bastard Widhbo!

She remembered what happened. Widhbo had copied her mind, escaped in the drone, and left her behind. As her consciousness improved, she realized she had probably suffered a concussion. There were murky holes in her memory. If it hadn't been for the computer chip in her head Lidda was certain she would be left a complete simpleton.Her vision cleared and she heard footsteps. She could see a figure approaching her in the dim light, then heard Hal speak her name.

"Lidda, it's me, Hal." Hal leaned over and put a warm hand on her forehead. "You're going to be all right."

"Hal, what are you doing here? Where are we?" Lidda asked. She was lying on a padded table in a room washed in the glow of night lighting. The white walls were lined with polished steel tables and glass doored cabinets.

"The university's infirmary," Hal said.

She tried to sit up, but a light head and dizzying sensation sent her reeling off balance.

Hal grabbed her and steadied her body to prevent her falling off the exam table, then helped her sit up. "Easy Lidda, you've been through a lot for one day."

"How did you find me?"

"Widhbo."

"Widhbo! That lying little snake," Lidda said. He had fooled her for the last time.

"Yeah, I don't blame you for being mad."

"Mad doesn't start to cover it, Hal. I hate him now," Lidda said. "Really hate him."

"I'm not making excuses for Widhbo, but trust me, Lidda. I'll work this out," Hal reassured her.

"I don't know who to trust anymore. Widhbo said Reddge was sending the hover craft. Does that mean Reddge set me up too?"

"Sort of. Well, yes. He did." Hal sighed, sat beside her on the table, and put an arm around her shoulders.

Hal's last admission did her in. Her tears overflowed and soon she was crying uncontrollably. Hal held her until the sobbing subsided. There was nothing he could say. The truth was undeniable, and she was facing it poorly.

"Why Hal? Why do they torture me? What did I ever do to deserve this? I don't know if I am even in love with Reddge anymore. I don't know what part of me he is manipulating, physically, emotionally, what? Everybody is playing with my head. Widhbo says that at least when you're mortal you can slow things down or just die and end it all. Maybe it's time for me to put on the brakes or get out. They can have their damn copy. This Lidda is through."

Hal continued to hold her without saying anything for a moment. She could feel his heart racing where her head lay on his chest. He was stuck there the same as she was.

"It's not right Lidda." Hal said stroking her back to comfort her. "I'm not sure what else Reddge could have done under the circumstances, but we'll have to get out of here on our own. I promise you we will make it out, then you can decide what you want to do. And we have a new Conner now to help us."

"A new Conner?"

"I installed the mother board in him this morning. It seemed the best way to smuggle it past the police," Hal explained. "The servos were not suspected of anything."

"Wait, you said install, not just hide the chip in him," Lidda said. "That would make Conner our first prototype of the new magiton."

"It does. Now we'll find out how well you did your job," Hal teased.

"All my programming came straight from Widhbo, well most of it. And I know it's right because Widhbo checked it last night," Lidda said. "But can Conner manage it?"

"Imagine if you were born blind and deaf, then suddenly had sight and hearing bestowed on you. It would be quite a head rush to take it all in, learn to filter the input and make sense of the world. It may take Conner a while to adjust," Hal said. "But once the magiton circuitry has fully merged with Conner's, it can imitate a servo and can keep a low profile. Nobody will know."

"Poor Conner. I can sympathize," Lidda said. "And you know what else? It's painful to become intelligent enough to find out what a small speck you are in the universe. To look back and see that you were just a tool to be used and tossed aside. You see what a stupid fool you were to believe anything else."

Hal took a deep breath, took her hand, and held her closer. "Lidda you're a rare jewel. Don't ever think anyone is tossing you away. Something else is going on here. I'm certain we don't have enough information to judge."

"That's just it, Hal. I never have enough information," Lidda complained. "Never. How can I trust them when they don't trust me? If you know anything, anything at all that you haven't told me, then I want to know. I don't want the truth trickled to me on a need-to-know basis anymore. I won't accept that. If my life is in danger, fine. I can deal with that, but I can't handle being lied to. Lies of omission included."

"I agree. No secrets between us." He pointed to her arm. She had not noticed the bandage until then. "I removed your tracking chip while you were knocked out. And mine too, while I was wide awake unfortunately."

"So, we aren't able to be tracked anymore?" Lidda experience a sudden burst of hope. Maybe they could get away. Just the thought of being free was exhilarating.

"That's the idea. You can just fall off the map and stay lost if you want to," Hal said.

"Well for what it's worth, I can't think of anyone I'd rather be lost with at the moment," Lidda said and gave him a hug. "You have always been straight with me, and I appreciate it."

Hal smiled at that. "Tempting. But, I said you can stay lost. I'm still connected. I'm free of the locals, but not the aliens."

"You are one of the aliens, Hal," Lidda said. She stopped to consider what her definition of alien was. "And technically, with a chip in my brain and ring DNA, so am I."

"Let's talk about that later," Hal said getting to his feet. "Right now, we need to get out of Provendor."

"How exactly are we going to do that?"

"We'll just have to figure it out as we go."

"Why do we have to run and hide like criminals?' Lidda asked. "We haven't done anything."

"Well, for one thing, whoever killed Gliedan is looking for the real mother board. Apparently, they think it's worth killing for and are bound to go after whoever made it."

"And the other thing?"

"I'm not sure, but I got a brief transmission earlier before I was cut off," Hal said.

"You're cut off? From the hub?"

"It looks that way. Total silence. They are hiding from something. Widhbo is virtually indestructible. He has nothing to fear from the locals, so I am suspecting he ran from something more in his own league."

"If you're connected, how can they just cut you off?" Lidda asked. "And if you're cut off, how can they find you?"

"Widho can suspend transmissions from the hub if he thinks they might be intercepted. I've quit trying to communicate. He can still find and contact me when it's safe. The transmission I received said something about a probe showing up."

"A probe? From where?" Lidda asked. Her hope faded. Here was yet another unknown factor to deal with.

"It could be sent by the Gordaylians, a rogue magiton ship or worse, one of the demon's ships." Hal said. "He's the only one who would pose a real threat."

"But we're not ready to fight him!"

"Exactly. And if a probe is here, we don't know how close the mother ship may be."

"Ok, now you're scaring me, Hal." Lidda got up from the table. She was still a little dizzy and unsteady on her feet.

"Well, no secrets Lidda. That's our deal." Hal reached out to hold her arm and stabilized her.

"Right. Thanks."

"Come on, we need to move," Hal said. "I asked Conner to procure a van for us under the guise of a routine supply run."

Hal was familiar with the building complex and led the way down by a service elevator to a hallway toward the rear of the supply warehouse where they would not be seen. They went into an empty employee lounge where they both donned uniform coveralls over their clothes. Lidda tucked her short hair under a hat.

The van was waiting as promised. A forklift was busy loading a stack of boxes, but there was no driver. Lidda could see a servo unit by the side of the van.

"Greetings. I have almost finished loading." The servo was Conner.

"So, Conner, how's it going?" Hal inquired.

"Splendid. I am quite intrigued with the new abilities Master Widhbo has given me."

Master Widhbo was it? Lidda could barely stand to hear his name anymore. "You are driving the fork lift remotely?"

"Yes, Miss Lidda, I have accelerated my learning at a pace that would make him proud," Conner replied.

"Impressive," Lidda said. She had to stop herself from going off on a rant. She and Conner had very different opinions of Widhbo, but it would serve no purpose to disparage Conner's mentor.

"Very efficient." Hal interjected. "Let's change to telepathic communication until we are clear of this place. What are you loading up for us there?"

"Supplies that you mortals may need. Food, water, clothing. I'm also packing basic survival gear in case we have to rough it."

"Good thinking Conner. I'm glad to have you with us." Lidda really was glad and realized how much she had come to depend on having a magiton in her life. She only hoped Conner was more trustworthy.

"I just regret there wasn't time to properly install a chip in one of the new androids." Hal lamented.

"But then we wouldn't have our Conner, would we?"

"Master Hal, I hope you won't mind that I proceeded with the manufacture of a couple of android prototypes today and have already loaded one into the van," Conner said. " I hoped you might transfer me to one later."

Hal laughed. "Good thinking. I thought it would take longer for you to get the hang of things, Conner. Now's as good a time as any. Plus, I have a whole library of information I want to give you before we leave. Let's go upstairs to the lab."

"Isn't that risky?" Lidda protested. She wanted to get out of Provendor as soon as possible.

"I have the lab and all my equipment here. If we take Conner as he is, it will be harder to blend in and we will be much easier to spot. The new android models pass as human."

"I have taken all precautions and looped the security video while preparing to leave," Conner said. "There will be no evidence. We are not being recorded now and I have adjusted the inventories for our supplies."

"Won't they notice the two of us missing?" Lidda asked. "We are confined to quarters remember."

"Conner hid our tracking chips back in our rooms. They won't know we are gone for a few hours, maybe days." Hal assured her.

"Give me a moment and I will adjust the security record to show you never left your rooms." Conner said moving to a computer terminal. "And since my old body will be staying behind, I can take of any future problems as they arise. You will leave my new brain intact, won't you?"

"Of course," Hal said. "I will only load a copy of you into the new android. You can be our inside man here at Provendor."

"This might actually work," Lidda said. "Just be careful, please."

"Get in the van and hide. We'll be back within an hour." Hal said opening the driver door for Lidda. "If anything goes wrong, leave without us."

"I'll expect to see you both back here pronto," Lidda said. "And I don't know how to drive this thing."

A familiar sensation swept over her brain, and within seconds her driving lessons had been installed. "Ok, I got it. Thanks Conner."

"We'll be fine Miss Lidda. I can't wait to get a real body!" Conner exclaimed and rolled away to go with Hal.

Lidda tilted the seat back and lay down out of view. She raised the bandage on her forearm and peeked at her wound where Hal had removed the tracking chip. There was a neat surgical incision with three perfect stitches. Lidda supposed she was only a download away from learning any new skill she wanted. Hal had mentioned a whole library of information he wanted to give the android. The possibilities were endless, but at what price?