. Seriously though, there is only room for one more chapter before the next book.And I'll add a short prologue with the next chapter as a bonus. I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think!
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Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4.
Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8.
Chapter 9. Chapter 10. Chapter 11. Chapter 12.
Chapter 13. Chapter 14. Chapter 15. Chapter 16.
Chapter 17. Chapter 18. Chapter 19. Chapter 20.
Chapter 21. Chapter 22. Chapter 23. Chapter 24.
Chapter 25. Chapter 26. Chapter 27. Chapter 28.
Chapter 29. Chapter 30. Chapter 31. Chapter 32.
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Exo Saves the Day
Chapter Thirty Three: Void
By Gynoneko
Emptiness. Everything was nothing. Nothing was everything.
Slowly, I became aware of something. A constant beating, consistent and unrelenting. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. It sounded like a human heart. But no, there was something else. Something echoing it, higher pitched and electronic. The sound was relaxing and yet irritating at the same time. The warm 'Ba-bump' calmed and soothed me; the tinny 'Beep' jostled and stirred me. Muffled voices echoed through my mind, as though I was in a large empty room and they were outside yelling in. I couldn't make out any words, except that one voice was familiar. It was a girl's voice, but I couldn't remember whose.
"... Danny..." the voice came through clearer now, but still soft and muffled. The word was familiar. "Danny..." it repeated louder and to the beat of my heart. I remembered now, it was my name. "DANNY" it practically yelled, but remained calm and rhythmic.
"Danny!"
I opened my eyes slowly. My body ached, my throat was dry, and I was exhausted. A rhythmic "beep, beep, beep..." chimed from a heart monitor beside my bed. My bed? I had no idea where I was, except it wasn't my apartment. It looked more like a hotel except the bed was metal and only big enough for 1, and there were devices all around I couldn't recognize. A tube ran from under a bandage in the underside of my arm up to a bag located next to me, filled with clear liquid. I tried to sit up, only to realize I was still too weak to move, and too injured to try. Pain shot up my sides, as I realized I was bandaged and patched up all over my body. What had happened? Where was I? I looked around for some answers, to find a girl asleep in a chair next to me. She looked familiar, but my brain was still putting things together. Who was she? My mouth remembered her name before my brain did.
"Jen" my voice came out raspy and dry. I coughed just as Jen's head bobbed up at the sound of her name. Coughing hurt, a lot!
"Danny?" she said, sitting up looking worried and happy all at once. "DANNY!" If Jen was trying to break my ribs, she was succeeding. Her hug hurt more than I expected, but something inside me welcomed it... it meant I was still alive.
"Where am I?" I asked as soon as she released me. I was still trying to put the pieces together in my head.
"Danny, you're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened to you?" she explained with a note of seriousness in her voice.
I wracked my brain to try to remember why I would be in a hospital. Something happened... I got hurt, and here I was. I shook my head, hoping she'd give me some information, and my brain would remember the rest. "How- How long was I out?"
"3 days. They say you were in a coma, but weren't sure why."
"What happened?"
"You were with Joan trying to save Tera. Do you remember?" Jen started, but didn't wait for me to answer. "Rob attacked you but 262 saved your life."
Joan? Rob? 262? I didn't know what she was talking about. But the name Tera rung a bell... slowly but surely, my brain had found the connection it needed, and the memories of that night came flooding back!
"I remember! 262 grabbed him and threw herself out the window..." I followed the flow of events in my mind, remembering the entire last week in seconds flat. I remembered finding Tera, bringing her back to my apartment and fixing her up. She was so life-like, and yet was a robot... Cynthia and Tom came... Jack too. Tera was hurt by a virus, but we stopped it. And then we made love. Not just love, she ‘Binded’ with me. We shared a special bond. I recalled visiting Jen the next day, only to be attacked by Tera's oldest sister, Joan. I named her that. Tera hacked her system, and she joined us. Then Annie took a shot at us, literally. She was really good, and ended up shooting me and Tera. My vest saved me, but we had to take Tera to Tom's lab, where he fixed her. We tricked Annie, and almost lost her due to a booby-trapped collar. Jack managed to bring her back, but she now suffered from phobias. We attacked the gangster who tried to kill us, but... 262 killed him first. They kidnapped Tera! TERA!
"Where's Tera?!" I snapped. I didn't mean to snap at Jen, but I suddenly remembered that after we defeated Rob, she was taken away on a gurney.
"I-" Jen started, but never finished; lost in her own train of thought. I remembered they also took away Joan kicking and screaming.
"Joan?" I added.
Jen remained quiet and looked down, avoiding my eyes. Her hair hung down in front of her face, obscuring her expression from me, but I could tell by the shake of her shoulder that she started crying.
"They... I can't-" she interrupted herself. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and started toying on it, occasionally wiping away a tear while looking down at the screen.
"What about Annie?" I asked, realizing she remained behind with Tom and Cynthia when the robot attack struck, and the police brigade moved in. It was a busy night.
"Read this" she said, stifling a sob, as she handed me her phone. I reached out to grab it, and realized my arm would only move so far. It didn't hurt or anything, but looking down I saw my right arm was handcuffed to the side of the bed.
"What-?" I asked to no one in particular as I stared at the reflective metal restraint.
"They arrested you Danny! You're in the criminal ward of the hospital" she said, stifling a tear.
"Arrested?!" I said shocked. My stomach started to ache at the prospect of becoming a criminal. "Under what charge?"
"They won't tell me" Jen said, shooting a dirty look at the door to the room. I observed the closed wooden door with frosted glass shut tightly as two silhouettes of large men on the other side obscured the light on the glass. "They won't tell me anything" she added. "Just read this" she handed me the phone again.
I reached up to grab it with my left arm, but realized it was in a cast. That's right... Rob broke my arm. I was glad to see it didn't hurt at all, and managed to get a grip with my fingers well enough to hold her phone. Upon the screen was a news article. 'ROGUE ROBOTS DESTROYED IN MYSTERIOUS EXO CASE'. The headline was a tad confusing, but as I read into the article, I realized the ache in my stomach was about to get a lot worse.
"This was the headline this morning" Jen added. The article detailed how a man believed to be the dangerous vigilante, Exo, who was wanted for questioning in the murder of night club owner Joey Liberati, was found unconscious inside a man's house after being discovered during an attempted breaking and entering. The homeowner was found dead, having been killed by his own robot when it turned rogue and pushed him out of a second story window into a pool of water. He drowned in part due to a health condition. The remaining robots were restrained, and discovered to be connected to the recent virus that attacked local business owner, Thomas Pygmalion, and his wife several nights ago. Pygmalion was brought in for questioning in his relationship with the vigilante Exo, as well as the rogue robots found at both scenes. According to the CCD, the rogue robots have been terminated and are being studied for the cause of their malfunctions.
I realized they got a bunch of the facts wrong, but quite a bit right as well. I wasn't sure how much to believe, but if what they said was true, Tera and her sisters were... dead! I felt my heart skip a beat as I read the story, and started to feel sick. I re-read the article several times just to make sure, but there it was, plain as day. All the rogue robots were terminated! I couldn't quite believe what I was reading. Tera was gone!
"Oh God no..." I muttered.
"I'm so sorry Danny!" Jen cried, burying her face in the side of my bed. "They took them away and... and killed them!"
I was in shock. My mind couldn't process this fully, and I sat there shaking with anger.
"Where's Jack?" I asked, hate filling my voice.
"I don't know. He vanished after the police arrived; I haven't seen him since..." She seemed saddened by this, but I was furious! I clearly recalled now that the last face I saw that night before they knocked me out was Jack's. He was the one that took Joan away. He was the one that stole Tera from me. He knocked me out and killed my friends! I was going to get revenge... somehow.
I was silent for a long time after that. Jen dried her eyes and sat quietly next to me. My mind was filled with thoughts rushing back and forth, trying to catch up on everything. I almost wish I never woke up; it would have been better that way, at least for me. Finally I broke the silence after calming down a little, although my heart had started to race.
"How about you? How are you doing?"
"Surviving..." she said with a long sigh. "I'm looking for a new job, but I haven't really started searching much yet. Mainly I just come here and sit with you. There isn't much to do when you've been fired from your old job and your best friend is in a coma and 3 of your other friends are..." Her voice trailed off. Something told me that she had grown to love Tera and her sisters almost as much as I had. After all, Jen was a much the robot nerd as I was, and probably got a kick out of just hanging out with them. "Strange men have been following me" she added.
"What?"
"Just 2 at a time. Guys in black suits with no sense of humor follow me everywhere. They don't even try to hide or anything. I think it's the police or something. They act like I'm going to blow some shit up" Jen said angrily.
"They're letting you know they're there."
"Why would they do that?" Jen asked sharply.
"I don't know. It's a mind game or something. Or it could be a warning... I'm not sure." I mumbled.
"Well I wish they'd stop."
"They're probably doing it to get to me... I guess." I was not feeling well at all, and was getting light-headed and nauseous.
A knock at the door interrupted us, and a middle-aged woman in a nurse's gown walked in holding a chart. "I see we are awake" she said. "Very good. Visiting hours are over miss, you'll have to come back tomorrow."
"Sure" Jen said sorrowfully. She leaned over and kissed my forehead before gathering her things. As she turned to leave, I couldn't help feeling lonely already; she had been such a good friend. Jen turned around at the doorway. "I'll see you tomorrow Danny" she said.
"Okay" was all I could say in reply.
"Well now, Mr. Hawthorn, let’s take a look at your charts" the nurse said as the door closed behind Jen.
The rest of the day, and that night, were more of a blur then they should have been. Doctors and nurses surrounded me and were very busy doing stuff I didn't register. One man in a white coat asked lots and lots of questions. A woman messed with the IV bag and the monitors, while another took a blood sample. Even my fear of needles was long forgotten, drowned in the memories of Tera, Joan, and Annie. It took me all day just to register that they were gone. I could never see their faces again, have a conversation, or even enjoy their presence. I was dying inside, even though my body was healing fast.
I don't remember all that happened, except that I thought they were making a bigger fuss about me than they had to. It didn't matter though, not anymore. Nothing mattered now.
The next day, I sat forlorned and contemplative in bed. I never bothered to turn on the TV they provided; I never even looked at the food tray. I did look forward to seeing Jen though. Only, she never came. Instead, the same nurse from the previous day came into my room with a male nurse, who didn't say a word.
"Well, Mr. Hawthorn. You've surprised us all. You're arm has healed completely, your broken ribs are mended, everything has healed at an accelerated rate. You have to be the fastest healing patient I've ever seen." The head nurse talked to me without looking up from another chart, and started signing papers. The man started unplugging devices and disconnecting me from pretty much everything, including a few rather... uncomfortable ones I don't wish to relive. He even cut away my cast with a laser cutting tool, leaving my arm feeling weak and exposed, but relieved to be free from the enclosure. In 5 minutes, I was completely unhooked from everything, and the room was dead silent with all the machines off. "Well, it looks like you're free to go" the nurse added. "And by 'to go' I mean we're kicking you out. And by 'free'..." She took a step back and knocked at the door. The two large men from the other side, who never moved from their position before, entered. They were large, square, and daunting, wearing black suits and badges.
"Time to go" one of their voices boomed.
"Sorry about this Daniel. Good luck" the nurse said, as the two men approached me on either side.
"Get dressed and come with us" one of them said as he undid my handcuff, at least from the bed.
I might have been healed, but I still hurt. I was tired, and surprisingly hungry, but most of all I was depressed. At this point they could take me out back with a shotgun and I wouldn't complain. Instead of re-enacting "old Yeller", I got dressed as best as I could in some clothes I guess Jen brought over for me a previous day, and was directed to seat in wheelchair, where I was promptly handcuffed to the arm rest. The two men rolled me out into the hallway, and turned toward the back exit; the one reserved for criminal patients. As they turned the chair, I heard a commotion behind me.
"Let me in! He's allowed to have visitors" Jen's voice echoed.
"Not today ma'am" a male voice replied. I turned around in my chair as best as I could to see Jen in the hallway detained by what I presumed was one of the men who had been following her. She was very active, and eventually saw me being rolled away.
"Danny! Danny! I'll get you out!" Jen yelled. I just looked back as they rolled me away, unable to think of anything to say back. "Where are you taking him?"
I didn't hear anything else, since they rolled me through a set of double doors and into a much shorter hallway. This time, they unlocked the doors ahead of me, and rolled me out into the bright midday sun.
My eyes had to adjust to the light, and before I could fully look at my surroundings, the men stopped the wheelchair and un-cuffed me again.
"Stand up" one of them said, putting a tight grip on my arm. I complied, and expected them to handcuff my hands behind me, or to his wrist, or something. Instead, he took them off completely. I rubbed at my wrist while my eyes adjusted to the light. Before me stood a long black unmarked car. It was like a limo, only not as long. The tinted windows reflected my still bruised face. I was startled when the door suddenly opened toward me.
"Am I under arrest or something?" I asked, looking back at the large man who nudged me forward.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Hawthorn. Come in, come in" a friendly male voice said from within.
Reluctantly, I climbed into the back seat of the car, and sat down. I noticed as I got in that the doors and the glass were incredibly thick, at least an inch thicker than I expected, and the door sounded incredibly heavy as it closed behind me. Sitting next to me was a lean black man with a million dollar smile. His face looked like it had his friendly disposition etched into it, like it would be impossible for him not to smile. Like his counterparts, he wore the same black suit and tie, the official uniform of "the man".
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you" he said, shaking my hand.
"The pleasure's all yours" I said, and I meant it.
"Ha! Very funny. Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chris Lincoln, and I work for the CCD. That's the Cybernetic Crimes Depart-"
"I know what it is" I said sharply but in a low tone. "Look, if I'm not being charged with something, you can't hold me for more than 48 hours."
"That is true, but who said I was going to charge you with anything?" he replied.
"Then let me go" I muttered, not really caring anymore about what they did with me.
"I can't do that. It hasn't been 48 hours since we put those cuffs on you, so I still have some time. Besides, if you want to be charge with something, I have a small list here" he said before clearing his throat and pulling out a sheet of white paper from his vest pocket, along with a pair of reading glasses. "Trespassing, breaking and entering, destruction of private property, destruction of public property, assault, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assaulting an officer, grand th-"
"I never assaulted an officer" I muttered to myself, not expecting him to stop reading from his list.
"Actually you did. An agent, Jack Tripper, better known as Jack Ripper, you did try to strangle him the other night."
"Really? His name is Tripper?"
Chris nodded, before he started up from his list again. "Grand theft auto, reckless endangerment, wiretapping, multiple traffic violations, leaving the scene of a crime, possession of stolen property, possession of a stolen weapon, unauthorized possession of a controlled product, assault with a deadly weapon, illegal modifications to an A.I. system, accessory to murder, attempted murder, and of course murder. Oh, here's one I don't see every day, Vigilantism. The list goes on."
I felt sick, like my stomach had just dropped below the ground. While I didn't do all these things myself, I was involved in many of them, and could still be held accountable for a lot of it. Anything Annie, Joan, or Tera did could also be held against me, and that included murder. It was one hell of a list, and I knew with so many charges, I couldn't fight them all. It would take years just to get through the legal hassle, let alone sentencing which would likely cost me the rest of my natural life.
"You might as well add breaking promises and failure to save a loved one's life while you're at it" I mumbled. "Maybe I can share a cell with Tom."
"Yes... well, those are not crimes I can charge you with. Besides, Tom Pygmalion and Cynthia were released this morning. The DA didn't have enough evidence to charge them with anything, so they dropped the charges. Personally, I'd rather not charge you with anything either, Mr. Hawthorn. I'd rather make you an offer."
"An offer?" I said only half listening to the conversation. My mind was still lost in the reality that 3 of my best friends were gone. At least Tom and Cynthia were ok. Jail looks like a viable option at this point.
"I would much rather have you come work for us Danny. May I call you Danny?"
"No! Only my friends call me that. And I'm not interested in working for the people who murdered my girlfriend and her sisters."
"Tsk tsk. That's too bad. And here I was hoping there was something I could do to change your mind."
"I don't want your money!" I barked, getting aggravated at the man who continued to smile despite it all.
"We're offering a lot here. A man with your talents would be very useful to us, and we are willing to compensate you well."
"You want to compensate me? Then GIVE ME BACK MY FRIENDS!" I was furious that this man would have the audacity to offer me a position at the place that killed Tera.
"I see. Your friends... Alright" Chris said to himself, folding up the paper and putting his glasses away, his smile fading from his lips. "And what about Jennifer? Is she your friend too? We can charge her with a list very similar to yours."
"Leave her out of this. She's has nothing to do with it."
"Reconsider your position on this, Mr. Hawthorn, and I will reconsider mine."
I thought about it for a while looking out the window at the passing buildings and people. I didn't want Jen to get in trouble for this, but at the same time I'd be working for such monsters. There was no way I could bring myself to do the same thing to others as they had done to me and Tera. Jen could take care of herself, I knew she could. Besides, what talents of mine could they possibly want? My Exo-suit was gone, fried to a heap of worthless metal and fabric.
"I can't help you" I said after a few minutes, breaking the silence.
"Hmm. That's too bad. Well if you insist on going to jail, we can arrange that, but first I need to pick up something I left at the office. Maybe I can change your mind when you see how nice it looks."
The rest of the trip was quiet, with only the hum of the engine to keep us company. Before long, we had pulled into a gated driveway with a security booth. Without even needing to see who was inside, the guard opened the gate and allowed the car access. Ahead of us, a large modern looking office building towered above the horizon. I don't know what agency or company or organization was housed there since there was no sign, but I knew that the CCD had to have at least a part of that space. We drove up to a parking garage, where another security guard scanned a tag on the front windshield and waved us in. We parked in a reserved spot, with Chris Lincoln's name printed on a sign. Fancy.
The two large men in the front of the car got out first, and opened the doors for Chris and me. Of course, I was escorted by the two men, who decided surprisingly not to handcuff me again. They placed a badge on my shirt that read 'Guest', and led me down a walk way to the entrance of the building. It wasn't as grand or as impressive as I thought it would be. In fact, it was rather conservative, but still big enough. I got the impression a lot of important things happened in this building, things which I probably never even thought about before. They took me down the main corridor a ways until we reached a large room with elevators on either side, 6 in all. Chris pressed for an elevator, and within a minute, we were heading up to the 7th floor.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and I was directed passed a receptionist desk into a busy work space filled with cubicles, desks, computers, and a myriad of people on phones, in conversation, and typing away at their workstations. No one paid attention to me, save the large men behind me. It looked like a pretty dull life, a prison in its own way, but I was surprised to see how many people were smiling.
"Here we are" Chris said, returning from a hallway I never saw him go down. He held in his hand a digital tablet and some papers. "Just had to grab some paperwork. So what do you think of the place?" he asked.
"... Dull" I said with as much cheeriness as a funeral procession.
"Oh? Well I suppose an office like this is boring for such a tech-minded guy like you. Here, let me show you the labs" he said almost giddy.
"I'm not interested" I muttered, but it fell on deaf ears. 'Bruno' behind me decided to give me an incentive push to follow Chris down another hallway, putting me a little on edge.
"Look..." I said getting a little upset. My emotions were high, and I didn't want to see any more, but still they led me farther down the hall toward some fancy laboratory. "... I'm not interested in how fancy your lab is, or how nice your offices are. I could never work at a place that would treat advanced cybernetic beings like garbage and KILL them when you don't like what they did! And I don't care if you don't like what I say. I will NEVER work here!" I barked at Chris, who stopped and stood against the hallway wall, his face lit by a large window on the opposite side.
"Believe it or not, I'm glad to hear that." Chris said, and pointed to the window behind me. I heard a faint tapping sound, and realized the window was not leading outside, but rather into another room. I turned around and looked through the window to see Joan pressed against the glass, her fists pounding against it. She wore some kind of clean white hospital gown, and wires ran from her back to a computer situated on a table beside a bed in the background. Every time her metallic hand pounded the glass, it tapped quietly on this side.
"Joan!" I yelped and pressed against the glass myself to get a better look. She was repeating my name, but I couldn't hear anything through the thick glass wall. Her eyes were stained with dry tears, but glad to see me. She turned her head and seemed to say something to someone else in the room but I couldn't see who. Behind her were two metal beds, much like in a hospital, and both were empty. However, they both had computers next to them, and I could see wires running down from the second computer to a space behind the bed. Annie popped her head out from her hiding place timidly looked around until she saw my face. A smile ran across her features, and she shot up to join her sister at the window, the collar still around her neck but otherwise dressed the same as her sister.
"Annie! Joan! I thought you terminated them!" I said looking back at Chris.
"We did... sort of. All records indicate that the robots associated with the events of that night were destroyed. Both the public and MMR needed to hear it, so we made sure they did. It's too bad we couldn't save their sister" he said.
"Tera?!"
"Umm..." he looked at something on his tablet. "No... 262, unless she had another name. She was... beyond repair." He sounded genuinely sad, and for the first time I saw him as something other than just another government man. "We surrendered her body over to her parents. Maybe they'll get some use out of it, or perhaps some kind of closure."
"Where's Tera? Is she alive?"
"Tera? Hmmm... Tera..." he tapped away on this tablet looking up information. "I think I remember now... cute girl, blue eyes, brown hair?"
"Auburn" I corrected.
"I don't seem to have anything on her. Are you sure she was there?" he asked.
"POSITIVE!" I growled.
"Well it seems her data has been wiped from our system. Strange, only someone with exception skill or a high clearance could touch her files. I'm sorry; I don't have any information on her."
"What do you mean? She's missing?! Has she been kidnapped again?" my heart sank. I had fought so hard to save her and keep her close, and now I had no idea where to look, and I was out of energy.
"I doubt that, I probably just don't have the clearance to answer your question" he apologized. His eyes looked sincere, as he continued to scour his tablet looking for information on her.
"Where's Jack anyways?" He was there when they took her; he should have some idea where she was.
"Jack's on a special assignment, dealing with the aftermath of the virus that infected all those robots and attacked the Pygmalion factory. I'm sure you'll understand if he can't be here right now." Something told me Jack was behind this, somehow. Once again, a faint tapping on the glass distracted me.
I turned back and looked at Joan and Annie. They looked like lab rats in an experiment, doomed forever to remain trapped inside a box performing tests. A technician entered the room from another door on the side. Annie instantly jumped behind her sister and held on tightly to the collar around her neck and the front of her white hospital gown, cowering from the man. "What are you doing to them? Please don't hurt them!"
"I wouldn't dream of it" Chris said. "We would never harm one of our own."
"Wha- one of your own? They don't belong to you!" The man approached the two girls with a chart in hand. Joan stood defiant, protecting her sister behind her, keeping him from getting closer. It was apparent he was after Annie and not Joan, although he didn't look like he intended to hurt them.
"No. And they shouldn't belong to you either, but they do; something I was hoping to remedy before we released them. You see... those girls are like sisters to me. Here, let me show you." Chris rolled up his sleeve and with a push of his thumb against his wrist, a faint whirring sound emanated from his arm before a panel clicked open and revealed mechanical inner workings. He smiled at me with that same million dollar smile, almost like he wanted to laugh, and flexed his hand. Rods and gears inside his arm moved with his hand motion, before he closed up his arm and readjusted his sleeve.
"You're a-"
"An Awakened, Mr. Hawthorn. I take it you've heard of sleepers, well when we become-"
"-become aware of your existence you are 'Awakened'." I finished for him. "I know. My... friend is one too. Please, tell him to stop!" I said looking back at the room. Annie was backing up into a corner, looking for a way out, while Joan continued to try to hold the man off.
"Who?"
"The technician in there with them!"
"Oh, no I meant the Awakened."
"Um... Cynthia" I said, and realized I was giving them a lot of information that I probably shouldn't have. "Please, you have to get him to stop."
"So she's finally figured it out?" he asked to no one in particular. Looks like I didn't exactly let the cat out of the bag. Then again, I recalled Jack mentioning something about monitoring her. "Don’t worry, he won't hurt Annie."
"Well Annie doesn't know that! And no, not exactly. Cynthia's known about her nature for a long time."
"Has she? Well she has done a good job hiding it" he commented with a smile, and tapped something on the tablet which was probably a note to himself. "That's good news. We'll keep it under wraps."
I pounded my fists on the glass. "Stop it, you're scaring her!" I yelled, but they couldn't hear me.
"She'll be fine" Chris tried to reassure me.
"No! She has a fear of men. Strange men terrify her."
"Oh... Oh! Oh geez. I never knew of any androids with a psychological disorder that wasn't programmed. How did she-"
"Just tell him to stop!"
"Oh, right." Chris tapped on the class with his pen, and the sound of metal tapping was strong enough to pierce the thick glass and draw the attention of the man away from Annie. With a gesture of his hand, Chris ordered the man to leave the room, which he did, much to the girls' relief. Annie stayed close by her sister as she looked out at me.
"I'll just get a female technician to remove her collar" Chris added.
"NO! Don't touch that collar!"
"Why not?" Chris said defensively, as if I just insulted him. "It's a symbol of your authority over her, your elevated status in-"
"No it isn't! It's keeping her alive! Trust me. I tried to remove it once, and it fried half her brain! We were lucky Jack could re-outfit it to make up for the loss in brain function. She needs it to live now!" We were lucky Jack was there then, but where was he now?
"I- I had no idea. She is a special case isn't she? No wonder she's been so hard to deal with..." Chris took down some more notes. I could see how scared the girls were, and remembered seeing Tera scared like that before. "You really do care for them, don't you?"
"Yes. They're my friends, and my responsibility. I made a promise..."
"I'm glad to see a human like you being as accepting of robots as you are. It isn't something we see enough around here. You'll find an awful lot of Awakened at CCD. We sort of serve a double purpose. On one hand we investigate cybercrimes and peruse criminals, human and robot alike. But secretly, we've been investigating the insurgence of sleepers hidden in society, and harbor those who become aware of their true nature. Sometimes people don't react well when they find out."
"There are more of you? How many?" I asked.
"That is classified information, but I can tell you more than you realize. We've been trying to figure out who has been filling the population with sleepers and to what end. Even we Awakened don't know why we were made. But enough about us, I believe you have a ride to the prison to catch" he said checking his watch.
"Wait! No! Don't leave them here" I said turning back toward Joan and Annie, who were still watching us intently.
"We were going to erase their registries and allow them to live free from their forced servitude, but Pygmalion but such a strong bond on their systems with it that we've been finding it hard to remove. We are striving for equality here, Mr. Hawthorn. These girls should be free to live their own lives without the chains of servitude inflicted upon them by people like you."
"I've never restricted them! These girls don't have to live bound to me. They are free to do what they want. But I am still their friend, and I want them to be happy and safe. They are only registered to me because everyone trusted me. They knew I'd treat them well. They need me, as much as I need them."
"If you agree to help us, I would be more than happy to release these two into your custody" Chris persuaded. I thought about his offer again. I wasn't sure exactly what they wanted from me, but I knew now that Joan and Annie were safe, relatively, but I was still unsure about Tera! Perhaps if I did get involved, I could find out more, but what did I have that they needed so badly?
"Want do you want from me?" I asked.
"Excellent! To put it simply, having someone with your skills and accessories would be most useful in the field. We were hoping to use Exo as a way of making issues important to us known to society, and to protect those of us most in need of it."
"But my Exo-suit is dead. It got fried by an EMP field."
"Well I'm sure a smart man like you can build another one. We'll be more than willing to fund your project to repair and update your suit."
"That thing took me 3 years to get right. I can't just build it again overnight."
"That is why we'll give you a month, and see how your progress is going from there" Chris said. "If you agree to help us, I'll gladly turn these two ladies over to you. And we'll drop the charges against you, and we'll close our investigation against your friend Jennifer."
They must have really wanted me if they were going to such lengths to get me on board. It was a deal I couldn't pass up. I could save Joan and Annie, help Jen, and get out of trouble myself, all at once. Unfortunately, sometimes my mouth acts faster than my brain. I found myself talking too late to turn it off.
"What about Tera?"
"Ah yes. You seem to be especially bound to her" he commented. I wasn't sure if he realized what he was saying, but he hit the nail on the head. "Tell you what I'll do... As well as funding your project, releasing your friends to you, dropping all charges and investigations, and paying you a reasonable salary, I will open a new investigation into the disappearance of Tera, and I will make it your first assignment. Of course, you'll need to finish your suit first before I can allow you to go out into the field. Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand for me to shake, and beamed his radiant 'sales-man' style smile at me. How could I possibly say no... There must have been something more to this.
"What's the catch?" I said, staring at his outstretched hand.
"Catch? No catch, not really. Only you will agree to a contract that stipulates your actions as Exo will be guided by us for the next 10 years."
"So all you really want his to control Exo? I'm not an assassin" I pointed out.
"And we will never ask you to do anything you are not willing to do. However, I think when it gets down to it you will find that Exo will be more than willing to help us. Deal Mr. Hawthorn?" I nodded my head and shook his hand. He never stopped smiling. "Right this way then, we'll fill out the paperwork."
Before I had gone very far, I stopped and turned around. The 2 faces of Joan and Annie looked longingly toward me, and I knew I couldn't leave them there another moment. "They come with me now, and then I'll sign" I said.
"You really do like to push things don't you? Very well" Chris said, nodding to one of the large men near me. He went over to a door next to the glass, typed in a code on the small keypad by the door, and like something from Star Trek, the doors slid open with a 'whoosh' and a 'hiss' of pressurized air.
"Danny!" the two girls yelled in unison as they bolted toward the door, before getting caught by the wires still attached to them. They pulled the cables out of each other's backs leading to the computers, and ran out of the door into my arms. I was never so glad to see them, and even more glad to hold them.
"Get them their things" Chris said to the man. "Wait- on second thought, have Laura do that" he suggested, thinking about Annie. The man nodded and vanished down a hallway.
"Danny! I was so scared you died when I saw them carry you out on that stretcher" Joan said holding me tightly. "Where's Tera?"
"I don't know... but I aim to find out. They told me they terminated you! Are you two alright?"
"They didn't hurt us, but Annie's been having a hard time. I'm just so glad to see you!"
"So am I" I replied just as Chris tapped me on the shoulder. A young woman came up to us dressed in a similar lab coat that the previous technician wore, and stood by patiently. "I have to go sign some papers with Mr. Lincoln now, ok? I'll be real close by. But this lady will help you get your stuff together so we can leave."
"Sign some papers?" Annie asked. "Don't leave me alone again."
"Joan will be with you the whole time, and before you know it I'll be right back. Just gather your stuff and get dressed and I'll meet you at the front." Annie nodded, but found it hard to let go. Joan had to literally take her hand off my shoulder and guide Annie back into the room where the young woman followed and helped them. Meanwhile Chris and I walked down the hallway to his office, and started the arduous process of signing my soul over to them, or at least Exo's soul. I made sure to read all the fine print, to make sure everything we agreed to was written out in plain English with no funny business. It all looked legit to me, and probably an hour later, I had finished my final signature and initials and shook Chris's hand.
"We'll have someone escort you and the girls home. We'll bring by what's left of your Exo-suit, and let you get to work. Remember you have my number and access to the network where you can request compensation for the parts you need. And of course, we'll be by in a month to see how you’re doing."
"Of course. I need to find Tera, and I'll do whatever it takes to get her back" if I can find the energy.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's so important about this girl as opposed to her sisters?"
"I love her." I was going to say something else, about how she meant everything to me, or that she was mad for me too, or maybe that she could topple the government if you got her in a bad mood, but I opted to remain silent.
"You are Jack really are alike."
"What?"
"Jack Tripper. You two have a lot in common" he clarified.
"Like what?" I asked, almost offended that a guy who held a secret from me as big as his involvement in the CCD and who may have taken Tera was anything like me at all.
"The reason he works here was... well... It happened a long time ago. I'm sure he'll tell you next time you see him."
I went to ask him to clarify, but before I could, the door knocked, and the same young woman from before peeked her head in.
"Excuse me sir" she said. "The girls are getting a little restless. Could we maybe..."
"Of course! We'll be right there!" Chris led me out of his office, shook my hand, and blinded me with his smile. I followed the woman out to the hallway back toward the front where an anxious Joan and Annie stood around waiting impatiently for me to arrive. They wore the same outfit, something they must have provided them with: a simple t-shirt, CCD jacket, and matching dark blue skirts, all cleaned and pressed, completely stain-free, and carried with them dark blue bags with 'CCD' written on them.
"Danny!" they chirped when I walked in, with big smiles on their faces.
"Took long enough" Annie complained.
"Sorry, there were a lot of papers to sign. My hand feels like rubber" I joked. They snickered at the joke, and grabbed onto my arms, one on each side, and walked with me out of the building, following one of the large men who drove me there.
I thought about the problem that faced me the entire way back to civilization, and had come up with an answer. I knew Joan and Annie would want to stay with me, but I also knew my place was tiny, barely big enough for 2, let alone 3, and I would be very busy for the next few weeks trying to fix my suit. I knew that even though they were robots themselves, they were not very technical minded, and couldn't possibly help me with my task at hand. The thought of finding Tera and bringing her back home again consumed me, and I knew I had to work harder than ever to complete my suit so I could charge head-first into my first case as 'Agent Exo'. There was only one thing I could think of, and while they wouldn't hate it, they also wouldn't like it.
"Could you take us to the Pygmalion factory please?" I asked the driver. He nodded, and Joan and Annie looked happy and confused at the same time.
"We're visiting mom and dad?" Annie asked.
"Sort of. I'm sorry, but I need to fix my suit so I can find and rescue Tera. I'm hoping they'll let you stay with them for a while until I'm ready" I explained. They both looked a little disappointed, Joan more so than Annie.
"Do you not like me... us anymore?" Joan asked. It hurt when she said that.
"No! That's not it at all! I love you girls! But I can't take care of you right now; I need to concentrate on this for now. We'll be together soon though, I promise!"
"Couldn't we help?" Annie asked.
"I wish you could, I really do. But this is something I have to do alone, and I'll need to focus intently on it for a few weeks."
"A few weeks?" Annie objected.
"Danny," Joan said calmly, "I've really missed you. You're my best friend, and I would do anything for you. I know I could never replace Tera, but I am willing to do whatever I can to help you, anything at all. If this is how you want me to help, to be out of your way, then I'll do it." She looked sad, and I could see she wanted to stay with me, but I just didn't have the room.
"It is... for now" I replied.
"Alright. I'll stay with my parents and look after Annie for a while, for you. But promise you won't forget about us. Take a break and visit us sometime. Ok?"
I nodded, and not another word was spoken. The girls laid their heads on my shoulders and sat quietly, while we approached their home. A few minutes later, we pulled up to see a repaired but still dented and scratched Andrea repairing damage to the side of the building with Tom. They looked up from their work as we came to a stop a few feet away. Cynthia, her arm completely repaired, came out as well to see who would drive up in such a 'government' car. They looked tired and worn, and sad.
Annie kissed me on the cheek before she darted out of the car with a big smile and ran toward an unsuspecting Tom. "Dad!" she yelled out. Tom was taken by surprise, as was Cynthia, who probably never expected to see their girls ever again. Andrea had no emotional reaction, but stood watching over the proceedings like a surveillance camera. Joan gave me a tight hug and kissed me on the lips.
"I'll be waiting for you. Please don't forget us" she pleaded before wiping away a tear and getting out of the car. "Daddy!" she yelled as she ran toward Tom, giving him a flying hug as he tried to understand what was going on. He was completely caught up in the moment, and could only look between his girls and cry hugging them. Cynthia joined as well in the emotional reunion, but I... I couldn't bear to face them after losing Tera. I watched for a short moment, before closing the door and asking the driver to take me home. I spied as the car started to pull away a grave marker in the corner of the property near the trees. When this was all done, I'd have to pay my respects to 262 properly for saving my life. It hurt to leave them like that, but I was glad to see them reunited as a family again. As for me, I had work to do, and as soon as I could no longer see them behind me, I focused my mind on the task at hand.
My apartment was a dump! I forgot that Diane and Bob, or maybe they were two other Liberati goons, had ransacked my place looking for Tera or any sign of her. I wasn't sure what they were looking for exactly if not for her, but it didn't matter now. My place was a mess, my mail had stacked up, and the place had this eerie stillness to it. It smelled different, not bad, but it smelled faintly feminine. I'm sure I would have bad food to deal with, but what I smelled was something different, something sweet, and something familiar. It was Tera's scent, from the time she stayed here. I needed to concentrate, so I shoved that thought to the back of my mind, and started cleaning up the mess. With almost 2 weeks having passed by since I was last in my apartment, there were all sorts of things to take care of, from bills to food to trash to mail. I occupied my mind with whatever I needed to do to get started, so that meant cleaning up my work station, my bedroom, and my kitchen. I left everything else as it was, and prepared to get something to eat. Of course... I was still out of milk!
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/Chapter 33
Chapter 34 (Finale) here.
