
sensor nubs providing him with 360 degrees' worth of precise observation.
/ am not alone.
IG-88 recognized each droid's full complement of weapons: blaster cannons built into the structure of
each arm, concussion grenades and a launcher at-tached to his hip, as well as other weapons not easily
recognizable integrated into the body structure-poi-sonous gas canisters, throwing flechettes, stun pulser,
paralysis cord. and a computer input port. IG-88 was pleased with his list of capabilities.
IG-88's first round of questions had been answered. He had only to study his memory banks and his
exter-nal sensors. He was designed to be self-sufficient. He was an assassin droid, resourceful. He had
to accom-plish his mission. though, checking his newly ini-tialized programming, he saw that he had not
yet been given a mission. He would have to acquire one.
Three seconds had already passed, and another im-portant question surfaced in his burning-awake brain.
Why am I here?
He traced sensations through his computer core and out the jack, which he now realized had already
been connected to the lab's central computer-a treasure trove of information.
IG-88 immediately began a search, scouring at hyper-speed through file after file, searching for anything
that referenced his model number or the code name of the assassin droid project. He gulped it all into his
empty circuits, gorging himself with information without di-gesting it. That would come later. It would
take many seconds to learn everything there was to know about himself.
He selected one file for immediate perusal, a sum-mary/PR tape that had been compiled for the
techni-cal sponsor-in particular, an Imperial Supervisor Gurdun who had apparently funneled a great deal
of funds into the creation of IG-88 and his counterparts. Without outwardly moving, IG-88 scrolled
through the file at high speed, absorbing the information.
The presentation opened with a brilliant orange logo that displayed orange flames and crackling lightning
that merged into the words "Holowan Laboratories- the Friendly Technology People." The logo
dissolved into an image of a smiling but hideous ugly woman. Her head was shaven completely bald and
glistened with perspiration under harsh white recording lights that gave her lantern ^jawed face a
cadaverous look. Her teeth were spaced with broad gaps, and she spoke by opening her mouth wide
and clicking down on the words, gnashing her teeth on every consonant. Circular blue lenses without
frames were implanted over her eyes like frameless spectacles. A credit line slugged across the image
under her ferociously smiling face. "Chief Technician Loruss, Manager IG Series Proto-type Project."
"Greetings, Imperial Supervisor Gurdun," she said. ' 'This report is to serve as a synopsis of the final
phase of our project. As you know, Holowan Laboratories was commissioned to develop a series of
assassin droids with sophisticated, experimental sentience program-ming. They were to be resourceful
and innovative and absolutely relentless at carrying out whichever missions the Imperial authorities choose
to program into them."
She rubbed her hands together. Her knuckles were very large, like boils in the middles of her fingers. "I
am pleased to report that our greatest cyberneticists have presented me with numerous breakthroughs, all
of which have been incorporated into the IG series. Because our timeframe is so short and the Empire's
need is so great for efficient covert assassins, we have not gone through the usual rigorous testing
proce-dures, but we are confident they will function admira-bly, though a bit of fine-tuning may be