Program 13 Book One (28 page)

I watched as
Colton
navigated his way through Vesta Corp’s system. “Bingo!” he said cheerfully, but that happiness was quickly replaced. “I think we have something here, Emile.” The color began to drain from his face, and I could hear him struggling to swallow. His eyes never left the screen, afraid to meet the curiosity in mine. “I’m reading Thirteen’s file and according to their report, you didn’t die when you were run over. You died in the operating room.”

Colton
turned to stare at me and cleared his throat. “That’s not it, though. When they installed Thirteen
on
your core, they were unable to completely erase you from her system. Your body died, but
you
never actually died. That’s why she’s so important to McVeigh. Thirteen embraced her human counterpart and she wasn’t supposed to. The two of you had already begun to merge before Hayden brought you back. He wants to destroy the both of you.”

A mistake. The Program that he was supposed to hold near and dear to him was a mistake, and he needed to get rid of her before she caused any more trouble. But he couldn’t just get rid of her. He needed to get rid of me, too. I was a part of the mistake. I needed to protect her just as much as I needed to protect my family.

34
FAMILY

C
olton
spent the night hovering over the NetBook, trying to find out whatever he could concerning Thirteen and my family. I knew that he wanted to check on his parents, but I knew that if he did, it would kill him. He was still reeling over the fact that they weren’t dead. They were still out there, lost underneath a computer program. Accepting me was one thing. Accepting his parents, that was more difficult. He’d have to let go of the past, the memories he had left of them, and I didn’t think he was quite ready for that. And I couldn’t blame him.

When he looked out the window and saw that the sun was starting to rise,
Colton
ran around the other side of the bed and started to disconnect the wires plugged into my hard drive.

“Rise and shine.” He smiled, extending me his left hand.

“Someone’s cheerful,” I mumbled. This was not a time to be smiling. Not when everything was falling apart.

“I wish. I’m just trying to lighten the mood. Things can’t get much worse at this point, but I want to be there for you. I know what it’s like to lose everything you care about.” He turned to look down the hallway, avoiding eye contact. “I’m going to go raid her kitchen. If you need anything, let me know.” He shot me a sly smile and walked out of the room without saying another word.

It was wrong of me to want to leave
Colton
behind. I knew bringing him with me to Vesta Corp would be dangerous, but I had to remember that he had lost his parents to McVeigh. He knew what it felt like to be helpless. The pain that came with losing those you cared about. He wanted to help me because he didn’t want to see me like that.

I understood now.

“
Colton
,” I called out. “We’ll need to head out soon. He’s waiting.” Part of me wanted to let the bastard wait, but this wasn’t about him anymore. This was about my family. They needed me now more than ever.

He came running into the room with a bag of Lay’s potato chips in his hands. “We can leave whenever you want. There’s no reason for us to stay here anymore.” He threw the bag of chips on the floor and wiped his hands on his shirt. “Should I start packing?”

I nodded and proceeded to head into the living room. Everything was in disarray. Besides the bodies, neither of us had bothered to clean up. What was the point? When the next set of men came, the house would just get destroyed again. And there was always another set of men waiting to attack. I noticed two guns lying on the ground and decided to stuff them into
Colton
’s backpack. There was no way we could honestly be prepared for what we’d be walking into, but the guns offered some sort of safety. At least
Colton
would have something to use against McVeigh and his men.

“I think I managed to gather everything from the room.” He was carrying the NetBooks and my standby supplies in his arms as he made his way into the living room. “Do you have the backpacks?”

I grabbed the bags and slid them over to where he was standing. “Maybe you should grab some of her food,” I joked. The ride wouldn’t be too long, but I knew he had to be starving. He grinned and ran to the kitchen, dumping all sorts of snacks into his bag: potato chips, crackers, protein bars, and various fruits among his selection.

“Emile?” Suddenly his voice became serious. “Do you think he’s changed them yet?”

I didn’t need to ask who, I knew he was referring to my family – Hayden and my parents. “I don’t think so.” I pulled my backpack on, the straps getting stuck on my elbows, and took a seat on the couch. “I think he’s waiting for me to arrive. He wants me to watch them suffer before he destroys me. That’ll be when the transformations take place, after I’m taken care of.”

Charles McVeigh was a vile man, plain and simple. Everything he did was full of malice. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew there was a chance that even upon my arrival he’d kill them. Why not? He was already holding them hostage. But I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to stop him before it was too late.

“We need to go now.” I stood up and walked towards the front door.

“I’ll go find the keys for the car. I’ll be right out,”
Colton
responded.

I opened the door and proceeded to wait outside for him. The sun was shining, and there was not a single rain cloud in sight; it was absolutely perfect out. This was the calm before the storm. Soon everything would fall apart. Soon the rain would come and wash away the quiet, leaving scattered pieces behind of what once was.

“Found ‘em.” He came running outside with the keys in his hand. “Should I bother to close the door? It’s not like anyone is really going to come searching for them once we arrive back in town.”

“No, it’s fine.” I turned to peek at him and smirked, forcing myself to hide the pain lurking in the background. “Let’s get going.”

We walked down the trail, a walk that seemed much shorter going down than it did coming up, avoiding conversation the entire way. What was there to say? Good luck? There was no good luck. McVeigh would win either way. He wanted me, and he was going to get me, but not without taking every piece of me first. And
Colton
was a piece of me now.

The car ride into
Seattle
was just as quiet.

We took Nadine’s car since she had no use for it. I didn’t know if the car had a tracker, or if they were able to hear inside of the vehicle. None of that mattered to me now. I was going back to McVeigh, I was forfeiting.

All I wanted to do was jump out of the car and run until I reached Vesta Corp. I needed to get there faster. I needed to see that my family was still alive. But I knew they would be, at least Hayden would be. He was McVeigh’s leverage over me. The one person in the world I loved more than anything. He’d want me to watch as he killed Hayden and turned him into one of us. He’d want to see my reaction, my pain, my weakness – the human inside me.

McVeigh wanted me to break, because he wanted Thirteen to resurface. The mistake he claimed had a greater purpose. The mistake he refused to admit was just that – a mistake.

We were approaching downtown
Seattle
. The streets were crowded with people. I watched as families passed by. They had everything I wanted. They had the chance to build a life full of memories with their families. That was taken from me months ago. Their hearts could break from loss. Their eyes could cry from pain. I couldn’t do any of that. All I wanted was to truly feel again, to allow my emotions to show. But they never would.

“Are you okay?” his voice cut through the silence. “You don’t seem like yourself.”

His words stung a bit. “But I’m not myself,
Colton
. I never was myself. She’s still inside of me. Her presence is still lingering somewhere inside of me.”

Colton
sighed and pulled into a parking garage. Peering into the rearview mirror, I could see Vesta Corp’s building sitting behind u. The building was white in color and two guards, dressed in black suits, stood on both sides to the door. It was surrounded by apartment buildings, which hovered above the building. This place was my worst nightmare, nestled neatly in my home – the city I grew up in and loved dearly. The unsuspecting people in the apartments lived right next door to hell without even the slightest clue.

“I’m not going to bother paying for parking. What’s the point? We can’t even be sure we’ll be alive in an hour.” He was trying to mask his concern, but it didn’t work.

“We’re going to make it out of there,
Colton
. I promise.” He didn’t need to know that I had no intention of leaving Vesta Corp. There was no way McVeigh would let me be free. But I had every intention of making sure
Colton
made it to safety. His life still mattered. He still had a future to live.

We swung open the car doors and grabbed our belongings.
Colton
left the keys in the ignition; we’d no longer need them. When he got out, he’d need to travel by foot, a car would be easier to trace. Especially Nadine’s.

“Are you ready?” he asked, reaching for my hand.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

35
THIRTEEN LIVES

C
olton
and I walked across the street to Vesta Corp. There were people filling the sidewalks, paying no mind to us as we crossed the street. McVeigh already had his men waiting outside, ready to bring us in upon our arrival. There was no turning back now. I looked at
Colton
who was sweating, fear overtaking every bit of his strength.

McVeigh’s men smiled when we reached them, their hands reaching out for ours. The one man placed a cuff around my left hand, chaining me to
Colton
’s right hand. “
Colton
.” I took my free hand and brushed it against his cheek. “In case I don’t make it out of here, I need you to promise me that you’ll never give up on life again. I need you to promise me that you’ll keep fighting until you have nothing left inside of you. I need you to promise to fight.”

Taking in the meaning behind my words,
Colton
nodded as to avoid alerting the guards.

“Are you two lovebirds finished?” one of the men mumbled.

“Yes,” I snarled.

“Good, then let’s get going. He’s been waiting all day for the two of you. I’m pretty sure his patience is beginning to wane.” The men yanked our hands apart, the cuffs breaking instantly, and dragged us inside the building. Standing in front of the reception desk was Charles McVeigh.

He was wearing a black suit with a turquoise tie. His greasy hair was illuminated by the bright white room. “Emile, or do you prefer Program Thirteen?” He chuckled, adjusting his cuff links. “I’ve been waiting all day for you, child.”

McVeigh walked forward and wrapped his hand around my neck. “And we all know I don’t like waiting.” When he released me, he turned his attention to
Colton
. “And you, why the hell are you here? She’s a Program. She’s dead! She’s nothing worth dying for!”

“You don’t know a damn thing about her,”
Colton
said through clenched teeth.

“See that is where you are wrong, my friend.” McVeigh laughed. “I know everything about her. I created her. I’m the reason she’s alive.”

“You are the reason I am what I am, correct?” I lowered my head, refusing to make eye contact with him. “So then I suppose it’s your fault that I’m a mistake? Is that why you’re desperate to get rid of me? Vesta Corp isn’t supposed to allow mistakes.”

I knew I had angered him, but quite frankly I didn’t care.

Charles McVeigh destroyed everything I once was, and now he was trying to destroy the only thing I had left – my family. I wasn’t going to allow him to walk all over me. Not without a fight.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Perhaps you’re experiencing another false memory. Say, how were those anyway? I worked rather hard on them. I needed them to be lifelike.” He smirked. “Anyway, enough with the chit-chat. We have business to attend to.”

McVeigh turned around, clapping his hands for his men to follow. I watched as they dragged
Colton
off in a separate direction.
No
. Not him, I wanted to shout.

One of the guards followed my eyes and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry. He’ll be just like you soon.” Hostility rang in every word.

Neither of us would be leaving here. McVeigh was getting exactly what he wanted and then some. He was getting another teenage Program to test out. He was getting
Colton
.
Because I was naïve enough to bring him with me.

We stopped at room 305. The lights were off, but I could hear screams from inside. Hayden’s screams.
You can’t do this to me, please
. I wanted to argue with him, but I didn’t want to entice McVeigh anymore. I knew what he was capable of. It wasn
’t worth risking.