"One can believe an android should be able to have the same right to be small and insignificant as the species who created them."

*

Time. Date. Year.

"Corrupted interference."

Weeks passed since I last saw Rory. I quickly realized loneliness was as painful as described. I know I wasn't alone; there were androids with me every day. But none of them spoke to me. I hadn't noticed that before, their inability to speak. Before Rory messed with my computers and opened my eyes, I was only focused on the task in front of me. Conversations only occurred in passing. Yet, weeks without it, silence as my only friend, I couldn't handle the idea.

I longed for contact—human and android alike.

Yet, despite that feeling, that yearning, the contact, and conversation from Sergeant Phillips wasn't what I had in mind. Nor did I want it.

He paced in front of us, dressed in black. I hadn't seen him in over a month, but he was normally clean-shaven. Today, as he glared at us with an unlit cigarette between his teeth, he looked disheveled. His five o'clock shadow wasn't neat; uneven bristles lined his lip and cheeks.

"Replicas!" He lifted one hand over his head as he looked at all of us androids waiting patiently in line for orders.

Each of us placed our hands behind our backs. We lifted our chins, eyes focused forward. While I'm sure my android counterparts remained still with their gaze, mine followed Phillips. Each step he took, I watched him.

The cigarette rolled with his tongue as he spoke, "Each of you has had time to properly process and recognize the last batch of simulations I had uploaded into your systems, right?" He did a slow circle, arm still lifted, single finger pointing towards the ceiling. "I need to see them tonight!"

Something changed. Despite the feeling I had moments before, I found myself smirking. My lips twitched, I felt the weight lift off my chest.

I had a month to review the simulations Phillips wanted us to learn. The fights seemed... mediocre, especially after the knowledge I gained from the other files; Javier's memories. To see the world, even in glimpses, from the eyes of a human is so much more informative than a video shot from the outside. Yes, seeing and recreating punches was necessary. But feeling the fight, being in the action with the heart and soul of a human?

No manufactured data could create that feeling.

Analyzing data.

Phillps approached the line and looked at each of us. His raised hand slowly dropped to his side before he placed it behind his back. "I know I give y'all shit from time to time, but you soldiers are premium grade, top of the line, with batteries and computers that can outwit any living man."

As he approached me, I straightened and hid my grin. He eyed me, his other hand scratching the bristle of his beard. "You're the exception, Mr. Replica B," he lowered his voice, "because these other boys and girls have EX Lithium batteries, you have an AX01, above premium. Damn near perfect." He grinned, then laughed as he walked back to his original place in front of us. "Well, at least, that's what they told me."

AX01 battery. Was that why Rory called me Axe? Was it based on my battery style, what powered me?

Curiosity rang in my core as I watched Phillips pace again. He looked at the ceiling as he spoke, "Now, let's get down to business, hm?" He turned his gaze back towards each of us. "I want y'all to run that simulation."

The androids on both of my sides placed their hands behind their backs, waiting for orders. I wasn't as quick to react as them. I paused, looking at Phillips, wishing he'd said different.

The simulations that ran for androids were primarily for the Replica A squad. I was the lead of Replica B, squeezed in between two A androids. And within that last simulation, as strong as it may have ended, in the beginning... my side saw no victories.

A ball swelled inside of my throat.

I feel human, think human, but lack the ability to behave and make decisions as one.

With a hand lifted over his head once again, Phillips smirked. "Line three, look ahead!"

My hands fell to my side. I have to take a beating, crumble, fail, because I'm ordered to do it.

"Replica-A squad, load the simulation!" As he spoke, both androids at my side turned and faced me. The Replica-B's beside them stepped back, a line behind us, giving room to others within the A section to approach them; they prepared themselves for a losing fight.

Looking ahead, at Phillips, I knew I had to do the same. I was programmed to lose; forever the enemy in the data's internal, cybernetic eye. The others may have allowed their computers to fall into a dormant state, to allow their systems to behave as a loser would, but I couldn't just do it.

With my gaze focused on my Replica Sergeant, I clenched my jaw. My left eye twitched. Knowing my orders, my rank, I forcibly placed my hands behind my back. With my chin lifted, I locked eyes with the man just seconds away from sending the command that could send me back to the medic's room; just seconds away from yelling out my demise.

Data corrupted.

As I crossed my fingers, linking my fists together, Phillips noticed my stare. His head dipped with curiosity. With a flick of his finger, uncertainty rang in his voice as he ordered my android counterparts. "Replicas-A... begin."

Battery level unstable.

The first punch landed on my right temple. My head knocked the opposite way as my vision blurred. My jaw cracked, mouth hung open. The second android hit my left cheek and my head swung the other way. Sparks of electrical fire went off under my skin. My lips pulled back in a hiss.

Phillips watched me the entire time as he repeated the same routine. "As an enemy, you may cower, you may cry." As the word cry, he inched closer, as if he could see them welling up in my eyes.

I closed them just as a fist hooked right into my ribs. The sound I made, the growl, the scream, didn't feel programmed. It was real. This hurts.

Phillips stopped a foot in front of me. "In a fight, the expected outcome will be for the victor to overcome its enemy and inflict crippling damage. In this case, Replicas-B, load behavioral nodes."

I was supposed to scream, cry, and hold my head. But I couldn't load those nodes. My systems was frozen, wondering why I was forced to take such a beating. Why were we built to just be destroyed? I may have dropped to my knees, but it wasn't because I was programmed to do it; I fell because I was in pain. Every part of me was hot, burning, fire.

Battery shutting down.

I closed my eyes before a kick knocked the 'air' out of me.

Unable to process data.

*

The bright lights of the android medic room shone bright overhead. I didn't flinch as I opened my eyes; I stared right into the light. And listened to the voices around me.

"Now, where's Ms. Jordan, hm? I need to know what she delivered to me down there?"

Turning my head to look out of the room, I saw Sergeant Phillips with his finger pressed against Rory's chest. Rory didn't back down from the military Sergeant, but he also didn't defend himself. He simply looked at the older man without blinking.

"That droid in there, that replica for a second didn't want to do what I ordered him to do." When Phillips glanced back inside the room, I turned my head, refocusing on the ceiling. It was too late; I knew he saw me. He said, "He's too smart for his own good."

"He's an android, premium grade," I listened as Rory defended me. "His computers will behave the average android and—"

"Is it that kid he's designed after?" Phillips' question caught my attention. I wanted to look at him, to catch the look on his face, but common sense told me to keep my eyes elsewhere. Looking at him would be dangerous.

"Kid?" Irritation rang in Rory's voice. "He isn't a kid."

"Right." I heard Phillips' feet as he stepped back, away from Rory. Judging by the slight echo in each step, he had turned and started to walk down the hall. "Just fix him. Make sure he works like the others."

"Works like the others..." Rory mocked him, then chuckled. As he turned back to step inside the room, I glanced at him. Watched him as he closed the door behind him.

When he locked it and shut the blinds to the single window, I sat up. "Rory."

Rory's head turned, eyes fixed in my direction. He didn't blink as I sat up and straightened. Instead he approached as I pushed off the white blanket covering my legs. He placed a hand on my shoulder, gently squeezing. "Are you okay?" he asked me.

Never before did he ask if I was okay. It was simply a review of my systems, ensuring my computers would run without errors, and if I bore any physical injuries, he would repair my synthetic skin before returning me to my android line. But now, to look up into his eyes and see the care and concern in his eyes, I felt it; his emotions hit me.

What did you do to me, Rory?

As if he knew my silent question, he made himself comfortable on the bed beside my feet. He then placed the same hand that was on my shoulder on my calf. Two gentle pats before he looked back into my eyes and said, "I never told you what I did to your computers, did I?"

I bit my lip and shook my head.

He sighed. "The man you're copied from, Javier Morales, his systems..." he paused for a moment, shifting his gaze up towards the ceiling, "are replicated from mine."

I knew Rory was advanced, that was obvious. He was the only android I had seen that wandered with the humans, lived with them, and worked alongside them as equals. Yet, I also noticed, despite what he was capable of doing, he lingered around the android line more often, walked through the warehouse with us, the replicas.

There wasn't a reason for him to be with us so much. But I also couldn't complain. I liked his company. I felt as if I learned more with him. And now...

"After you seemed to question your existence, I felt as if... I thought I should..." Rory lowered his head and looked back at me. "I know what made up his programming and memories are still inside of you. I may have tampered with your computers to do it, but..." he smiled, "I think I unlocked the systems to free you. I see it in your eyes."

I blinked. My lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm aware."

"No, it's more than being aware, Axe." When he said my name, his eyes flickered. His hand moved back to my shoulder as he leaned closer across the bed. "It's about being alive. Being human. My programming is the closest androids have towards their existence. And I know because Javier has it; he lives everyday, free amongst those living. I want the same for you."

Analyzing data.

Every sensor within my being reacted to what he said. Happiness, if that's what I could call it, rang in my core. I couldn't help but smile. To be free and living, to be accepted; all of the memories I reviewed and replayed made me want that. Just that.

To be human. To be loved.

Before Rory pulled away and got off the bed, I grabbed his hand and made him look at me. I squeezed his fingers as I said, "If I'm to be free like him, I have... I just have one request."

Rory's eyes widened. His brows lifted. "What's that?"

"Take me outside. Show me the world."

*