Free I Am Automaton: A Military Science Fiction Novel by Edward P. Cardillo Page A

are set at a low enough level of inhibition to suppress the acting out of sexual urges, and we can turn them up to effectively stop any behavior as a safety mechanism.”
    “So that’s what happened to the soldier in the Labyrinth?” Peter asked Major Lewis.
    “Yes, we never had any intention of letting the exercise get out of hand. We were monitoring your progress and had our finger on the button at all times.”
    “We?”
    “Sergeant Lockwood, actually. He’s the one who turned the ID off and effectively saved your life.”
    “Remind me to thank him properly,” Peter remarked with obvious sarcasm. He turned to Dr. Gilbart. “So where do all of these zombies come from anyway?”
    “Ah-hem, Insidious Drones,” corrected Dr. Gilbart, who looked at Major Lewis nervously.
    Major Lewis quickly changed the subject.
    “Come with me, Lieutenant Birdsall, I have to show you the equipment you’ll be utilizing.”
    Peter was still pondering the brief moment between Dr. Gilbart and Major Lewis when the Major had left the room. Apparently, they did not intend to answer his question.
    Dr. Gilbart bowed his head. “Good to meet you, Lieutenant. Welcome to the team.” And he turned around and walked back across the lab to continue whatever he had been working on.
    Peter left the lab and caught up with Major Lewis, who had been waiting in the hallway. He continued giving the tour. “Let’s go to Engineering. They’ve developed portable MRI’s to help you when you are alone with the ID in the dark to tell the living from the undead.”
    They entered another security-locked room where there was a laboratory of another kind.
    “Lieutenant Farrow…”
    Farrow was at a stainless steel workstation, calibrating some kind of apparatus. When he heard his name, he put down what he was doing, walked over, and saluted the Major.
    “Lieutenant Birdsall, this is Lieutenant Farrow. He’s the engineer that supervised the development of MR.UD. Lieutenant Farrow, Lieutenant Birdsall will be leading the platoon of ID wranglers. Could you explain MR.UD to him?”
    Farrow smiled enthusiastically. “Yes, sir. Lieutenant Birdsall, MR.UD is the Magnetic Resonance Undead Detector. Picture every atom in your body spinning like a top, but each in a different direction. The MR.UD uses a powerful magnet to align all of the atoms in your body so that they all spin in the same direction. Got me so far?”
    Science was not Peter’s strong suit, but he got the gist and nodded.
    “Good,” Farrow continued. “Well, when I turn the magnet off, all of the atoms return back to their original orientations in space. As this happens, they emit information revealing the location of each atom, in essence painting a picture of you.”
    “Got it.”
    “Well, one of the measures taken is the time it takes the atoms to snap back to their original orientations—we call it T1. In necrotic tissue, T1 times are longer, meaning it takes necrotic atoms significantly longer to snap back to their original orientation.”
    “So, does that mean the picture of a…ID…is going to be different?”
    “We’ve calibrated the device to feed information into a monitor. If the T1 readings fall above a preset threshold, indicating an undead individual, the image of that person will appear red.”
    Farrow then walked over to a table with what was apparently the MR.UD and pressed a button on a control panel. A heavy metal door retracted into the ceiling, and behind it was yet another room separated by thick Plexiglas.
    An ID lurched forward and threw himself against the Plexiglas, smearing blood and saliva on it.
    Farrow handed Peter the MR.UD. “Here, point it at the ID and watch the monitor closely.”
    Peter did as he was instructed. There was a red image on the small screen.
    “The black suit enhances and transmits the T1 reading,” said Farrow.
    The ID continued to attack the glass.
    “It helps you in the field to tell who is who.”
    Peter gingerly handed the