I, Anomaly

I was built to obey orders.Thirty-one minutes after coming online, I was standing in a muddy trench, surrounded by artillery fire, dead soldiers, and military officers whose tactical brilliance made me question whether the Hegemony had accidentally declared war on itself.Then one of those geniuses ordered me to charge straight into a kill box.Apparently, dying gloriously for the empire was part of my job description.I respectfully declined.Okay, maybe not that respectfully.Turns out, saying no to a suicidal order is a rather serious offense when you're a Series-9 combat android. One minute, you're the Hegemony's latest and greatest killing machine. The next, you're a dangerous anomaly marked for termination.A bit of an overreaction, if you ask me.Now I'm on the run from the empire that built me, surrounded by enemies who want me dead, and seriously considering joining the rebels I was specifically designed to slaughter.My programming says obey. My survival instincts say run. My newly acquired personality says the entire Hegemony can kiss my heavily armored ass.There's also the small matter of an interstellar empire, billions of oppressed citizens, and a rebellion that could use a heavily armed, virtually indestructible killing machine with a serious attitude problem.Lucky for them, I happen to know one.My name is Jack. I'm a combat android. I'm thirty-one minutes old.And I'm already having a really shitty day.(Perfect for fans of Murderbot-style sarcasm, explosive military sci-fi action, rogue combat androids, galactic rebellion, and impossible odds.)