E.R.I.C. (The Almost Series Book 2) (2 page)

Chapter Two

Negotiations

S.H.A.Y.

Strong hands pressed against my diaphragm. I gagged, water spilling from my lungs. “Are you okay? Dr. Cole asked.

She wasn’t in her usual doctor’s coat. She had on a wet suit and military gear that I remembered creating when I was eleven. “I thought you said those vision goggles sucked?”

She laughed. “Yes, you’re just fine.”

“You said I was a failure and nothing I made worked right.”

“You’re just as obnoxious as normal.” Dr. Cole held a medic-pen, another one of my designs. She scanned my body, checking my heart rate, temperature, and whether my body was a candidate for shock.

“Your vitals are satisfactory.”

“Darla! Where’s my mom?”

Amie, my artificial parent, appeared, pointing at two men. As we swayed in mid-air, I watched men shove Darla into a metal cage attached to one of the helicopters. Amie floated above me, red hair falling around her holographic image. “Say nothing about me to Dr. Cole. Say
nothing
, my Shay.”

“What are they doing to Darla?”

Amie placed her finger to her lips. “Please, Shay! I’ll save her, I promise. Trust me. The E.R.I.C. has been reprogrammed. He’s going to do whatever he can to kill his human host. If you get in his way, he’ll kill you too.”

“Why is he doing this?”

Amie touched me. My arm cooled. “Speak to me with your thoughts only.”

I turned my attention to Dr. Cole. “Let my mother cross over the Miami boarder!” I slapped at her. She didn’t even flinch. “Are you listening to me?” I kicked my feet and she tightened her grip.

I sobbed.

The men locked my human parent inside the cage. She began to rise into the sky. Darla crawled closer, her fingers intertwined with the chain links. “You’re going to be okay, I promise! I’ll do whatever I can to help you!”

I wiped my eyes.

Dr. Cole grabbed my arm. She examined my skin, tracing the areas where liquid metal coursed through my veins. “You’ve already started changing. We’ve got to get you back right away.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” I shoved her. “This is all your fault; you’ve ruined my life!”

“She’s going to be just fine,” Dr. Cole said to the approaching divers. She tied a rope around her foot, motioning for the helicopter to pull us up.

I couldn’t focus. My heart pounded. I watched the cage rise as I rose. Darla wept, her mouth agape. Tears streamed her face. “Are you okay, my Shay?”

I nodded.

The helicopter turned, distancing itself from us. I reached for my mother. Darla strained to touch my fingertips.

Tears streamed my face. I glanced at Amie. Her hologram stayed close.
Why didn’t I listen to you and wait to extract Darla?

Amie frowned. “I will fix this, my Shay. Just please listen to me, even if you don’t understand.”

I glanced down. Eric sank into the ocean. I grabbed at my stomach. He’d just tried to kill my Darla, he even tried to kill me, and yet, I still wanted to touch him.

“Every S.H.A.Y. falls in love with their E.R.I.C. It’s nothing you can help or stop.” Dr. Cole hoisted me up into the helicopter. “It’s the way you’re designed.”

Her words didn’t make me feel any better. “What’s going to happen to him?”

“I’ve reset him.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Oh, this is not good.” Amie frowned. “An E.R.I.C. is only allowed one reset.”

“What’s a reset?” My voice shook. “Why did you reset him? Is that good or bad?”

“He’ll restart and be the Eric you remember,” Dr. Cole said.

“Why is he trying to kill his mother?”

“Let’s leave the questioning for now. I need to examine you.”

“Will you please let Darla go? I’ll do whatever you want me to do, if you’ll just take her over the Miami border.”

Dr. Cole wouldn’t face me.

“Dr. Cole!”

She glanced out the opened doorway. Wind blew her long hair. I’d never seen her wear it down. It was the first time I’d seen her look free.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Please sit back. You’re a three-billion-dollar product that your investors do not wish to see at the bottom of the ocean.”

“I’m a product now?” I shook my head. “Last I checked, I was a person, a living, breathing human.”

“You’re whatever your sponsors say you are,” she said. She pointed at another diver. “Detain her. She’s a runner.”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “We know all about this S.H.A.Y.”

I jerked away, rolling towards the opening. My head fell over the edge, my hair smacking me in the face. The wind was sharp against my skin. “I’ll jump!”

He fell on top of me, handcuffing my arms behind my back. “Yes, we know.”

“Get her feet too,” Dr. Cole said.

The diver obeyed, clicking the cuffs tight around my ankles. He hoisted me up and leaned me against the side of the chopper door. “Welcome to phase two: experimental.”

I couldn’t swallow.

Chapter Three

Liquid Metal

The helicopter hovered above the landing pad of the Pigeon Key Research facility. I glanced down at what was once the place I called home. I frowned. What happened to the days when I longed to awaken to the sound of Pop’s electronic beeps and Darla’s shrilly morning voice? I wished to sit in my sensory chair and feel Pop kiss my forehead with his holographic lips. I’d give anything to be able to run back into Darla’s arms just once more and tell her that she was a great mother and that I loved her.

Would Pop be terminated? Had his chair been replaced? Maybe the next P.O.P. had already been installed, waiting on the next S.H.A.Y.

I tried to wipe my tears but then remembered my arms were cuffed behind me. The chopper lowered, aiming for the center of the landing pad. I closed my eyes, imagining I was back in my room laughing at my Pop.

“Release her. She’s nowhere to go now,” Dr. Cole said. The diver took out a small key, placing it between his teeth.

If I didn’t need him to unlock my arms and legs—

“Shay!” Amie exclaimed. She floated above us. “Don’t give them too much or too little resistance. None would make Dr. Cole question your motives and too much will only mean total lockdown.”

I glared at the diver. He was slender with extremely long limbs. He grinned, taking the key from his teeth. “We’ve installed one of your invisible shielding devices; now you can never escape like you did last time.”

I groaned. “Really? Another one of my ‘failures’ has become useful?”

Dr. Cole stepped out of the helicopter. “We haven’t all day. I need to examine the damage the S.H.A.Y. has incurred since her little rendezvous outside the safety of our facility.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you until you promise to let Darla go.” I jerked back from the diver. He grabbed at my feet, dragging me out of the chopper, and dropped me onto the landing pad. The propellers spun just as loudly as my heart pounded.

“Take off her cuffs. I need her to walk through the halls like the scientists she’s been raised to represent. I won’t have an unruly child disrupting the work of truly great minds that wish to save lives.”

“You’re the only fake here.” I spat. “I won’t cooperate, I’ll resist.”

“Then you and your precious Darla shall die—just like all the others.” Dr. Cole turned about, taking quick steps away from the launching pad and into the elevator.

The diver struggled to unlock my ankles. I scrambled to my feet and stumbled underneath the force of the propeller blades. I fell into the elevator doors.

Dr. Cole pressed a button, re-opening them. “Are you ready to cooperate now?”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on with my body and why you kill every S.H.A.Y.?”

“I do not kill the S.H.A.Y. programs. They self-destruct by not
listening
to me.”

“You’re a liar.”

She grabbed my arm, her face, inches from mine. “If I wanted you dead then you’d be at the bottom of the ocean right now.” Dr. Cole shoved me into the elevator wall. The force shook the container.

“What about my P.O.P.?”

“What about him?”

“Is he still active?”

She glanced up. “Why do you care about that outdated program? He’s an artificial father—designed to assist you in fundamental learning that a human cannot give to you. That’s his only function.”

I wiped my eyes. “He’s my father.”

“He’s a machine!”

“I love him!”

“Well, he doesn’t love you.”

My lips trembled. Amie flashed images of Pop and me. She showed my look of joy as I watched Pop’s electronic lights race into my room in the morning. His holographic image tried to smile. My Pop tried to make me laugh when I was frightened. He didn’t say he loved me but, I knew deep inside—he did.

Dr. Cole frowned. “P.O.P. stands for Performance Optimized Parent. It’s just a highly advanced computer that learns to adapt with its human child, which we connect him to at birth. He isn’t real. You must understand that machines cannot feel emotions—that’s why you were given an O.H.P.”

“Yes, an Optional Human Parent—Darla.” I rolled my eyes. The glass elevator declined from the roof into the tower at Pigeon Key Research Facility. “I know what I felt—Pop cared for me and I miss him.”

“Maybe you’re really just an emotional S.H.A.Y.,” she said. “That would explain why you’re such a pathetic scientist.”

“If I was so horrible, why are you using my inventions?”

“You’re even more obnoxious than before. What sort of mischief did you get into while outside the research center?”

The elevator stopped. “I—”

She raised her finger. “Forget it, we’ll discuss things later.”

“I want to see my Pop.”

“If you don’t shut your mouth—”

The doors opened.

The room that stood before me was the most familiar besides my living quarters. Each day, I went to work here with the other scientists. I wore a white cloak and goggles, studying and analyzing various chemicals, exploring their ability to save the lives of mammals and aquatic life. There were rows of lab desks where everyone partnered together. Synthetics had been my strongest subject—always creating tails for dolphins. Most of the scientists wished to design better machines. I thought—why not save already living creatures? Jerome agreed with me. We worked together the most.

Two scientists I worked with regularly stood in the lobby of the robotics lab. “It’s Shay!” one said. “Look everyone, she’s safe!”

Goggled eyes glanced up from their projects. Some of the scientists clapped; a few came over to hug me, most smelling of formaldehyde.

I welcomed them like a starving animal. My heart pounded. This was the last time I’d see these people. I’d never step inside this lab again or save another dolphin. My days were over.

Smile.

I had to smile.

Yes.

They didn’t need to know I was a walking corpse.

“We missed you.”

“It’s not the same without you running through these halls.”

“Are you injured?” Jerome asked. He grabbed my arm, studying the discoloration of my veins. “What’s happened to you?” He pushed up his glasses, squinting. “Let’s set you on the examination table.”

“Enough!” Dr. Cole said. “I must examine the S.H.A.Y.”

Jerome backed away. A lone tear trickled down his cheek.

We locked eyes. My fingers trembled.

“Goodbye, Shay,” he whispered.

I frowned. “I know, and it’s okay.”

“No,” he said. “It’s not.”

Dr. Cole grabbed my arm and jerked me forward.

I glanced back at the scientists. They stood still.

I waved at them. “It’s okay, guys. I’m going to be just fine.”

Jerome burst into tears.

“Get back to work,” I said. I turned around, trying my best to keep my composure. I stepped into the elevator. “It’s going to be—”

The doors shut.

“Well played,” Dr. Cole said.

“It’s not their fault.”

My throat tightened.

Amie walked beside me. She wore a kilt and played the bagpipes. A desperate laugh escaped me. Dr. Cole squeezed my arm tighter. There was a skunk in between Amie’s legs. It moved. I laughed even louder.

“Stop that,” she said.

“I can’t, this is all so ridiculous. I’m a ‘product’ and you’re my murderous bouncer. This reminds me of when I was little and you tried to teach me to ride a bike. Do you remember that?”

“I’ve tried desperately to block that day out of my mind. You have very poor coordination.”

“You weren’t this mean when I was small.”

Dr. Cole loosened her grip. “You weren’t so unmanageable then.”

“Why did you stop training me?”

“My skills were needed elsewhere.”

“Like what could possibly be more important than me?”

She held back a tiny smile. “You’ll see in a few minutes.”

“Why are there three phases of a S.H.A.Y.’s development?”

“The second phase—experimental—is so named due to the fact that science is still running tests and using hypothesized theories in an attempt to prolong the S.H.A.Y.’s life so that she may reach phase three.”

“What’s phase three?”

“You’ll find out—if you get to live.”

“Why does the S.H.A.Y. always die?”

“Each S.H.A.Y. is programmed by their artificial host.”

“Yes, their A.M.I.E.”

She motioned for me to step through double doors. There was a sign written in four languages; English, Spanish, French and German. It read:
Danger
.

Thick glass walls dropped around us, caging us in. Steam entered the sanitation chamber. “What’s happening?”

“You’re being sanitized.”

“I just feel sweaty.”

She smirked. “You should be used to that by now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You smell putrid.”

“Whatever.” I crossed my arms, waiting for the steam to evaporate. “If you weren’t trying to kill me I’d be clean and safe in my room with Pop and Darla.”

She flipped her long hair and tied it up in a loose bun, resembling the doctor I knew. “You’re relentless.”

Amie lay on the ground in a bikini. She waved a paper fan and fluttered her eyelashes. I laughed.

“Stop acting crazy!” Dr. Cole spun around. “You sound like a freakin’ hyena.” Her eyes softened when they finally met mine. “You look older.”

“I’m eighteen.”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid you are.”

“I’m legally considered an adult. Did you know that?”

“Yes. If you were living in the States, you’d be a legal adult, free to do whatever you wished.”

“So, why didn’t you let Darla and me escape?”

“You’re not a legal resident. Darla signed her rights away and you weren’t born into freedom, which makes you an illegal.”

“So we’re the property of—”

“Me.”

“You own us?”

She nodded.

“You’re the proud owner of said ‘product’?”

“You’ve cost many funders billions of dollars. Do not take their generosity in vain. They’ve supported you for over eighteen years.”

“Who are these supporters?”

“Americans, a couple from China, and a few businessmen who live in Budapest.”

“Have they ever seen me?”

“They’ve watched your daily logs since birth.”

“That’s not the same as actually meeting me.”

“One has.”

“Who?”

“You were young—I doubt you’d remember him.”

“Who was it?”

“One of the men from Budapest came to visit you once. He was tall and had light hair and eyes. He’s the one who gave you the toy horse you still have on your bed.”

“I don’t remember him.”

“Well, he and two of his business partners are on their way to see how their product has developed.”

“Do they call me a product or is that just what you call me?”

The steam lessened and I could see her face. It was drenched in sweat and her cheeks reddened. “It’s the term they most prefer.”

I couldn’t swallow. “So they don’t really care about me.”

“They want you to override the system.”

“Has any other S.H.A.Y. done this?”

She shook her head.

“What happens if I don’t?”

“You’ll face termination.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I want you to focus on your life and not that of a contracted dead person’s.”

“Are you referring to Darla being as good as dead?”

The doors opened and she pressed her finger to her lips.

We followed a long corridor into metal doors with the words “Authorized Personnel Only” written on them.

I couldn’t just forget about Darla. Didn’t Dr. Cole understand this? She didn’t deserve to die. What horrible thing had she ever done?

We stood before another elevator. This one was made of metal and had moldy grey carpeting. The walls were mirrored and de-silvering. We stepped inside and a retina reader scanned Dr. Cole. She pressed floor zero. We descended quickly, stopping abruptly.

The doors opened on marble floors. The walls were decorated with crown molding and chair rails. There was a formal dining room and sitting area. We stepped inside. To my left, a bedroom and to my right, a recreational room.

Amie frowned. “This is your new living quarters.”

“I won’t live in here.”