Design Flaw
IX
“Are Jo and Kyohei expected to make a full recovery, Professor?”
“Yes, Mr. Glenford. The injuries were not that severe. And remarkably, considering the circumstances, young Kyohei suffered no serious damage to his--”
“Too much information, Professor.”
“Yes, Mr. Glenford.”
“What about Jo and Meg’s personal relationship?”
“Healing, sir; Jo apparently completed the transition to her normal state during the assault. We should be able to use Meg as leverage when the time comes.”
“Finally, some good news. Now, do we know why what happened…happened?”
“We think so, Mr. Glenford. As you know, the genocide angels were conceived as having several rolls, not just as front line troops but also in intelligence gathering and infiltration, and that included being able to function as seductresses.”
“Yes, Professor, the so-called Angel of Love programming. But I thought it didn’t work.”
“That’s what we thought when we ran preliminary tests on the girls when they…matured. But it is there, and even then, it is not working right. Instead of a seductress, the angel becomes clingy and insecure with an insatiable sexual appetite as a result of the smallest act of kindness. That’s how we found out. A technician who has become fond of Maria snuck her out of the facility and invited her to join in with his friends in a weekly poker game. She went through those men like a hot knife through butter.”
“How are they doing, by the way?”
“No lasting physical injuries, but I’m afraid they will require psychotherapy for some time, Mr. Glenford.”
“Indeed, Professor. Well, what is to be done about it? Can we rewrite their DNA?”
“Not feasible, sir; we’d never get all the cells in their bodies. But once we identified the relevant neural pathways, we were able to implant a suggestion in Maria that if she feels the Angel of Love programming start, she should go to sleep. A ten minute nap is long enough to reset it.”
“So if you’re nice to her, she falls a asleep.”
“It’s more like fainting, Mr. Glenford. I’m sorry, but that’s all we can do. And that’s for Maria. We can’t do anything to Jo until she’s in our custody. We can’t even warn her friends. We’ll just have to hope this doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes, for the sake of people we hope to use and discard, we’ll just have to hope that a genetically engineered living weapons system doesn’t become an emotionally troubled nymphomaniac the next time someone gives her the time of day. I have to hand it to you, Professor: That is one heck of a design flaw.”
THE END