When Good Toys Go Bad (9 page)

Pounding on the door intensified.

“Well, let them in,” Marjin ordered, obviously not willing to give up her perch on the stairs.

“What’s going on here?” the much more feminine voice of a colony police officer asked.

“I have Darra Athol and the Kai unit here. I made arrangements with the magistrate to have them turn themselves in to you tomorrow morning. These Consortium goons—” she spat it out like bitter apple, “—showed up and demanded I turn them over. I refused and called you.”

“Under what authority are you taking these citizens into custody?”

“The Consortium,” the butch guard answered with conviction.

“Last time I checked, the Consortium guards didn’t have any authority off Consortium property. I suggest you leave this to the real police.”

I swore I heard the Consortium guard growl. Whatever connection that existed between The Consortium and the colony police apparently didn’t extend to the officers.

“You can come down now,” Marjin yelled up the stairs.

Kai entwined his fingers around mine. We cautiously made our way down the stairs.

To my relief, there was no sign of more Consortium guards. Two blonde, pony-tailed, colony police officers stood by the front door.

“The arrangements were—” Marjin held up her fingers as she counted off the list, “—they are not to be separated. They will remain in the same condition they are right now. Not that I don’t trust you, but half the press corps is outside to document their condition both physically and mentally. They will make a statement assuring everyone they have no intention of killing themselves or each other. They will not be running away topside. And last but not least, neither of them has any physical conditions that could lead to their untimely demise. I will have complete access to them, and Darra will be allowed two phone calls per night.”

“We’re not barbarians,” one of the officers chided.

“I’m just making sure you stay unbarbarian-like.”

Marjin’s speech went pretty far in quelling my terror, though Kai’s grip on my hand remained the only thing grounding me. The whole situation felt unreal—impossible.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll take care of making the statement to the press. You don’t talk to anyone. I will be right behind you.”

“So will I,” Brynn added.

Night had fallen, but it was hard to tell. Lights radiated from every corner of the neighborhood as the entire press corps gathered for the spectacle of the heterosexual and her android lover being led out in handcuffs. Impeccably dressed women shoved microphones in my face. Some expressed sympathy for me, asking how I felt. Others conveyed their disgust, asking me what it was like to be a freak. Under Marjin’s orders, I kept my mouth shut, though it took all my willpower not to fight back at the Consortium reporters’ verbal attacks.

Under the prying eyes of the press, the officers were exceptionally polite as they escorted us into the police car. They even put a blanket around Kai’s waist to cover up his bare butt.

I surveyed the scene as the tram pulled away from Marjin’s pod. Brynn stood in the doorway crying. Marjin was in her glory handling the press. She even had her bullhorn.

When we arrived at the police station, the guards were not as polite. They stripped me naked and spat on me before throwing me like a sack of potatoes into the cell, which smelled more like a hospital room than a police cell.

“Where is Kai?” I pounded on the wall where the door used to be. “We are not supposed to be separated.”

“I’ll pass your complaint on to the magistrate. I’ll let you know when she gets back to me,” a voice echoed from an unseen speaker.

I heard the other guards giggling through the wall. I’m sure they thought all of this would break my will. They were very, very wrong. Every indignity strengthened my resolve. I would survive this. Kai would survive this. And we would be together.

The place was spotless, barren and cold. I sat down on the cot, the only piece of furniture in the room, and drew my knees up to my body to try and conserve warmth.

It seemed like hours before the door finally shimmered opened again.

“Get her some clothes, you animals,” Marjin roared like a mama bear.

She took off her jacket and put it around me, taking a seat next to me on the cot.

“These bitches need a good dose of humanity,” she said softly and stroked my hair.

I pulled my legs closer to my chest and used the jacket to cover my vulnerability.

“Where are those clothes?” Marjin shouted. A moment later a guard tossed an orange jumpsuit into the room. “Thank you,” Marjin said, vitriol and sarcasm dripping off her words like sweat off a runner’s forehead.

I slipped into the jumpsuit. “Where is Kai?”
 

“He’s being processed. He’ll be here soon, though you and Kai are being tried separately and for two different things.”

“What is he being charged with? He didn’t do anything wrong. He can’t be accused of stealing himself.”

“He’s not actually being tried for anything. There will be a trial to determine if he is the property of The Consortium and subject to their whims or if he’s a sentient being and entitled to determine his own destiny.”

“Why would The Consortium allow that?”

“Because I put the two of you in front of the world, and they can’t afford to be seen as cold and callous.”

“What am I being charged with?”

“You’re being charged with theft and resisting arrest.”

“Brynn?”

“She’s not being charged with anything. That was part of my deal with the magistrate.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god for small victories.”

“So, down to business.” She slapped her knees. “They’re going to try you first. It’s going to be difficult for them to convict you of stealing a sentient being. And they’re pushing this to trial quickly. I think they want as little media coverage as possible.”

“Like you’re going to let that happen,” I said, teasing, though I was sure she wouldn’t.

“Exactly. I want public outcry. I want the world to see you and Kai as two people in love instead of the social deviants The Consortium is making you out to be. I need the community to be rooting for you and Kai. I want the jury to think twice about throwing you into a jail cell and turning him into a martyr.”

“So when is the trial?”

“Tomorrow. Like I said, they want it fast.”

“Tomorrow!”

“Yes. I need to go prepare.” She pounded on the door for the guard to open. “Try not to worry.”

I thought about sniping a response when the door shimmered open and one of the guards shoved Kai through, nearly knocking Marjin down. They tossed sheets and a blanket in behind him.

Within seconds of the door shimmering closed, Kai had me in his arms. Tears of relief flowed. I didn’t even notice he was naked until I heard Marjin in the hallway.

“Again with the no clothes. Are you serious? You people disgust me. He had better be fully clothed when I get back.”

“Are you hurt?” I looked Kai up and down. It was reassuring he was naked because I could to see without question he was unharmed.

“I should be asking you that. When they took me away from you, I experienced what I assume was fear. What a horrible emotion. I never want to experience that again.”

“That is all part of being human, my love,” I said, cradling his face in my hands.

Kai took my hands from around his face and kissed each of them with soft lips before turning around and picking up the bedding lying crumpled on the ground behind him. Without saying a word, he dressed the cot as neatly as possible, trying to make the cold metal platform resemble a bed.

As I lay in the bed, engulfed in Kai’s arms, about to succumb to sleep, I said a silent thank you to Marjin for making sure we remained together.

“Oh my god.” I heard my mother’s startled voice in the doorway as she drank in the sight of her daughter curled up with a naked male android.

“Shit,” I said, pulling the thin sheet over Kai and myself.

“What?” Kai asked.

“My parents.”

“Really? I’ve been wanting to meet them.”

To my horror, and to my mothers’, Kai jumped off the cot and strode toward them in all his naked glory, his hand outstretched in greeting. Mercifully, someone closed the doorway before he reached them. When the door shimmered opened again, Bema lay passed out on the floor.

“The prisoner will clothe himself.” The guard threw a jumpsuit in the room and closed the door again.

Kai’s face crinkled in confusion. I’d seen this expression a lot since he started thinking and acting outside his programming. Certain social graces eluded him, and modesty was undoubtedly one of them. Humor was another one, but he was getting better on that front.

“Just put your clothes on,” I chided.

He stepped into the jumpsuit and zipped it up. I announced to the air, “He’s dressed.”

The door shimmered opened and my parents stood motionless in the opening. Bema looked haggard. Her face was white, leaning toward gray, and her eye makeup ran down her cheek. She wasn’t terribly steady on her feet. Mema held her by the waist, perhaps for fear she would faint again.

I wanted to run to her. Instead, I put my arm around Kai’s waist and waited for them to make the first move.

They stepped into the room. The doorway disappeared behind them. At least now the guards could stop gawking at us like we were animals in a zoo.

“Do you see what you’ve done?” Mema pulled a stool over and sat Bema down. “What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you’ve disgraced the family. You’re having…” she paused and threw out the word for effect, “…relations with this…thing. Look at her.” She pointed at Bema. “You nearly killed your mother.”

Tears welled in my eyes. I brushed them away with the backside of my hand. “This thing, as you call him, is the man I love. All he wanted was to meet you, the parents of the woman he loves. I’m sorry if you find that a disgrace, because I find it a miracle. It’s not my fault if you have horrible timing. If you’re waiting for an apology, you’re going to be waiting till the topsiders come back.”

“Hello, I’m Kai. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Kai again approached my parents with his hand out, which they stared at like a poison orb.

I took Kai’s outstretched hand. “I’m going to make this easy for you. I love Kai. Kai loves me. I will be with him or die trying. You can help me and remain my parents, or you can go away and never speak to me again.”

Bema found her voice, “Malvina, they love each other. Let them be.”

“You can’t be serious, Aprika. Our daughter is in love with an android—and a male one at that—and you want me to let them be?”

“Yes, I do. I’ll admit I was a bit taken aback by the scene we walked in on—” she forced a smile, “—but I don’t care if she is in love with a kitchen table if that kitchen table makes her happy.”

“You’re a romantic and a fool, Aprika.”

“And sometimes, as much as I love you, I wonder if your heart has turned to stone. Our child needs us, and I for one am going to be there for her.”

Bema reached her hand out to Kai. “I’m Aprika, Darra’s birthing mother. It’s very nice to meet you.”

The smile spread broadly across Kai’s face, and I had to smile also. He lifted Bema off the stool into a bear hug. She turned even whiter.

“Kai, I don’t think she can breathe.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kai said, releasing his grip on her and helping her back onto the stool.

“This is ridiculous,” Mema exclaimed. “Guard, open up. I need to get out of here.”

Bema came over and hugged me. “Don’t worry. I’ll work on her. She’ll come around,” she whispered in my ear.

“Aprika, come on,” Mema shouted from the door.

She kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll see you in court tomorrow. Don’t worry. Everything will work itself out. I love you, baby.”

“Aprika!” Mema bellowed.

“Coming,” Bema answered, and they both vanished with the cell door.

Chapter Nine

The morning of the trial, suits arrived for both Kai and me. Mine was gray with a thin blue pinstripe. Kai’s suit was navy with white details. Both appeared brand new and expensive.

“Glad they fit.” Marjin appeared in the doorway. “Getting a suit to fit a man was no easy task.”

“They do. Thank you, they’re wonderful.”

“We don’t have much time. They’ll be taking you to the hearing chamber shortly. As I said before, they’ll be hearing Darra’s case first and then they’ll be starting Kai’s case. The magistrate we drew is fair and was outspoken against the laws allowing The Consortium to act as their own prosecution. She won’t let them get away with anything. I think we have a good shot at a positive outcome.”

“What’s a positive outcome?” I asked.

“One where you stay out of a Consortium jail and your boyfriend here—” she poked a thumb at Kai, “—doesn’t end up in the scrap heap.”