‘You should. I lured you out here so my men could deal with your companions without interference. I also lured you out here because I knew that even though Mr. Crane here will have no problem scrapping you, it will be a noisy affair.’

Again the look of contempt. ‘I am a Golem Twenty. That creature is a metal-skin. He is something manufactured Out-Polity from Cybercorp leftovers and sold for far too much to the likes of yourself.’

Pelter smiled his nasty smile. ‘You couldn’t be more wrong. Mr. Crane was a Golem Twenty-five who used to work for ECS. His moral governors were broken by full sensorium downloads from the mind of a psychopath, and then he was reprogrammed for our purposes. The metal skin you see is case-hardened ceramal, netted with superconductor, over his usual ceramal skeleton. He runs from four different micropiles and all his joint motors are somewhat more than Cybercorp standard.’

‘I am to believe this?’ the Golem woman asked.

‘Let me convince you.’

Pelter turned to Mr. Crane to give his orders, not because it was necessary for him to give vocal orders, but because he wanted the Golem woman to hear.

‘Mr. Crane, tear this arrogant machine into pieces and scatter those pieces here amongst the rest of this scrap.’

Crane kicked up a huge clod of earth as he went from stillness to terrifying speed. The Golem had time only to turn before he hit her. The sound was like a slab of iron being dropped onto a car. Her feet were driven deep into the ground. She struck at Crane with blows too fast to see: each blow a gun shot, each blow without noticeable effect. He bowed, looped his right arm under her right, his left arm round her hips, and he bent and twisted her. Clothing ripped and artificial skin split. The flashes of shorts and system diodes blowing could be seen through her parting flesh. She started to make a high keening sound, for even androids do not like to die. The sound ceased when Crane finally tore her in half and methodically began to pound those halves to fragments.

‘How far are you?’ Pelter asked into his comunit.

‘Be with you shortly,’ Stanton replied. ‘Everything OK there?’

‘Yes, of course,’ said Pelter, shutting off his com. He stared at Mr. Crane now and, with the huge clarity he now had through his new aug, he could almost feel the android’s longing.

‘No, Mr. Crane,’ he said, ‘you cannot keep her head.’

Mr. Crane reluctantly tossed his trophy into the bushes, then turned, at Pelter’s instruction, towards the approaching AGC. Pelter turned his comunit back on.

‘That you, John?’

‘It is. Where’s the android?’

‘About, I think would be the best description,’ Pelter replied.

The AGC halted and the five men got out. Stanton looked at some of the bits scattered around where Mr. Crane stood, then turned to Pelter.

‘What now?’