"And I helped create them."

*

Memory loop. Playback saved file. Dated: September 10th, 2016.

A woman stood in front of me. Her hand passed over my eyes as she observed me. Her lips dipped into a frown. They opened and my computers awaited commands.

"Processing information. Identifying Bionics personnel," my internal computer said. The voice echoed in my head.

But the woman didn't speak to me. She turned and looked at the android behind her. The disapproving look on his face was the opposite of hers. She was relieved. Smiling.

She reached out to touch him as my internal devices revealed her name to me. "Mary Jordan, twenty-six, Bionics engineer."

"They fixed him," Mary said to the android. I watched as she pressed herself into his chest. There was a pause in reaction. The android didn't move. His head remained low, eyes forced closed, even as Mary lifted hers to look at him again. "Rory, didn't you hear me? They fixed him."

Rory, the android with blonde hair, looked at me with bright blue eyes. My computers would not identify him. I knew nothing else other than his appearance and his name. As he shook his head, I shook mine.

Copy. Learn. Imitate.

"They broke him," Rory hissed, looking back at Mary. "They didn't fix him. They forced him to be this way. They deleted him. They—"

"Ror," Mary moved back, crossing her hands over her chest, "he wasn't supposed to be Javier. This," she looked at me and frowned, "this machine was just a body."

Rory straightened. A light flashed in his eyes. "And what am I, Mary? A body, too? Just an android?"

Mary turned back and looked at me. Her eyes passed over me, observing me in greater detail than she'd done minutes before. Her expression didn't change. She seemed unbothered. Calm. Accepting.

"Mary," Rory whispered.

"No." She faced him, looking up into his glowing eyes. "Don't do this to me. You know why I did this. It needed to be done."

"For what?" Rory reached out to grab Mary as she moved around him, heading towards the door that led out into the hallway. His fingers missed as she pulled back. She looked at him but didn't say a word.

He continued, "For who, Mary? Do you understand what you've done? The damage you've done?"

"Damage?" Mary pressed her hands against the door's frame as she glanced over at me. Again, there was no emotion. And the blank expression remained as she looked back at Rory. "There is no damage. They deleted the data, wiped his waking moments. He's a blank slate ready to be trained for the government. That's it."

"That's it?" Rory repeated what she said. "Is that what you think?"

Another moment of silence. Still, frozen expressions on both of their faces. Rather than respond to Rory's question, Mary turned into the hall. Her footsteps faded as she disappeared down the hall.

I focused on the sound, pinpointing her location on a map saved deep within my files. A dot with her name moved amongst the crowd of similar circles until I couldn't distinguish the difference between them. I tried but stopped when Rory approached me instead of following after her.

He observed me, just as she had done. But there was a different look on his face. The light in his eyes was dim, dark. He lifted a hand towards my face but didn't touch me. His fingers shook as they landed on my shoulder instead.

He sighed. And I copied the motion.

"Whatever happens, I won't let them treat you any different, okay?" His hand squeezed my shoulder, thumb stroking against the fabric of my suit. "I won't let them forget you, ignore you, and pretend like you don't exist. You're here, and I see you, Javi. I see you."

My computers picked up on the name. I compared it to my files, attempting to identify the term to myself. But when my files came up empty, blank, I looked at Rory with the same eyes he gave me.

He frowned. "I'm sorry."

Sorry. Apologies. Emotional attachment.

Rory turned, both of his hands pushed into the front pockets of his pants. With shoulders slumped, he walked towards the door. The sound of his footsteps echoed in my ear. Before he stepped out into the hallway, my files saved the moment, processed it with comparable data within human interactions.

A confirmation went off in my head as I said, "Data analyzed and saved."

Rory stopped, quickly turning back around to look at me. His eyes were wide. "You..." He hurried back into the room. "You can talk?"

I looked at his face. The wonder. A mixture of excitement. As his head dipped to one side, I did the same, copying his movements like a mirror's reflection.

He laughed. Nervous. Hesitant. "You can talk," he said, running his hands through his hair. "Replicas don't talk. Replicas follow commands. That's it."

I blinked, listening. "Am I ordered not to talk, sir?" I asked, knowing verbal commands required the bridge of communication. "I can remain silent until I am ordered to do otherwise."

"No." Both of Rory's hands landed on my shoulders. He squeezed before giving me a slight shake. His laugh changed, softer, calmer. "No, you can talk to me."

I looked at him, listening, readying my systems as my computers saved the interaction. My orders were clear with Rory. I was to communicate. I was to respond. But without the right command, I didn't say another word. I simply looked at him. Waiting. Watching.

His brows furrowed, eyes darkening once again. "Please talk to me," he whispered. "Javier, please..."

Data saved.

*

I looked at my hands. The healed lines of repaired skin glowed under the ceiling lights. Fighting with Rory outside the warehouse tore through parts of my arms, my palm. He made sure to fix me once we got into an android-medic room, but once my exterior was fixed, he paced, focusing on the computers on the wall.

They registered my files, my data, with no abnormalities. But he closed those windows. He stared at the facility's security instead.

I flipped my hand over and traced the thin line following my thumb; an old skin replicated from Javier's body. "Phillips' alerted everyone, didn't he?" I asked.

Rory glanced back at me. The look on his face said yes, and I tapped into my internal systems to see for myself.

The map of the Bionic's warehouse lit up red. Distress signals had been sent out to approaching vehicles. Workers within the building were labeled with white circles—Bionics employees. But there were shapes, triangles, and squares, in various colors. My brows pinched together as I tried to sort through the unidentified individuals.

"Everyone is on high alert," I said, moving my finger away from the scar and over to the tattoo on my wrist. I traced the lines of the bird in flight, wishing to soar with it. "Everyone is prepared for war."

"No, no wars." Rory pushed himself away from the computers and came over to my side. Rather than sit beside me on the medic, he stood in front of me. Concern was etched on his face. "I need to move you."

I placed my hand over the tattoo, covering the mark of the animal, and sighed before giving Rory my full attention.

He frowned, lifted his hand to touch me, but didn't. His fingers remained in the air, trembling as they traced the air to outline my face. "Axe, I need to remove your tracker."

Without my tracker, I am a rogue to the world. A shadow. Nothing.

I stood from the bed, moved in front of Rory, but stopped when he shifted back. His hand didn't fall, nor did his eyes; he remained focused on my face, on me. I couldn't let him put space between us. Not now.

Taking a quick step forward, I grabbed his hand, pulled him close, so my face was beside his. Our shoulders touched. "You're protecting me, Rory," I said.

Rory was still, silent. He pulled his hand out from mine and let it fall to his side. Mine fell with his. Our fingers touched. With a side glance, I was able to see his emotions.

Conflicted. Lost. In need.

I took in a long artificial breath. "You're reacting to me."

"Axe..." Rory closed his eyes.

"It's okay." I didn't step away but turned slightly to fully look at his face. I caught the flashing lights in the corners of his eyes, the color on his face. I bit the insides of my cheek. "I want the reactions."

Rory tensed, glancing at me out the corner of his eye.

"Outside, what I felt... I want to be able to describe that." I looked down at my hand again, at the bird on my wrist. For a second, I thought the dark blue wings fluttered.

Pressing my arm to my chest, I closed my eyes. "When you came close, there was a spark in my chest. I felt something similar when I saw Mary with Javier, but with you," I looked at him, "it was stronger, heavy, warm."

"I'm sorry." Rory moved away from me, putting space between us once again. He faced me, hand over his mouth.

I copied the movement and touched my lip. The saved memory of us outside under the moonlight replayed over my eyes. I saw him again, in his moment of weakness. The closeness of his chest to mine, the need of his fingers tucked into my hair. There was a gentle strength to him; to hold me close, keep me still, but it wasn't meant to hurt me. And I succumbed to it, letting my frame melt with his, allowing the electrical sparks to overflow as they erupted under my skin.

Rory dropped his hand. "I shouldn't have done that," he said, rubbing his temple with one hand. "Axe, it's something you don't understand. You—"

I closed the gap between us. Trying to recreate the gentleness he displayed outside, I touched his face. "Then help me understand, Rory."

His mouth hung open as he searched my eyes.

"I'm only half a man, aren't I? I'm broken—"

"No." Rory bit his cheeks and shook his head. "Don't say that. You aren't broken."

"—I am a shadow longing to be seen."

Just like I'd done, Rory touched my cheek. His thumb caressed the skin near my nose, under my eye. A trembling breath left him as one of his eyes turned red. "I see you. I do."

"Then help me see you." I moved closer. The sparks were burning inside of me, wanting to erupt. I felt the prickling, the tension. It tugged at my artificial organs, pressed into my computers, and sent my brain into a frenzy.

Words weren't clear. Letters blurry, outlined with broken static. I wanted the clarity. I needed the freedom of it all.

To feel. To have. To understand.

Rory followed. His nose touched mine, eyes half-lidded. The focus was no longer on my gaze, but my lips. I saw the curiosity, the need; my computers registered in all quickly. And I moved again, closer, lips hovering over his. The warmth of his reaction hit me.

Our mouths connected. A deep sigh pressed into mine as his hands shot up into my hair, holding my head. I did the same. I grabbed him, tugged at him, took in the noise he made, and let out my own. We tumbled back towards the bed and crashed onto the floor when we missed. The impact didn't hurt. None of it did.

As Rory pulled back, I wanted to see the light in his eyes. Instead, I saw the alarm flashing over his head. He glanced at the ceiling before pushing off of me. "I'm removing your tracker." He grabbed my hand, made me stand, and cupped my head once again. "And I need to do it now."

"Okay." I wouldn't fight him. If this would protect me and keep me safe, I wanted him to do it. I could not lose all that I discovered. I would not lose the chance.

To feel. To love. To have and need.

"Once I remove the tracker, they won't be able to find you." Rory hurried over to the computers. "They'll lose sight of you and we can run."

Run. I wanted to run, to be free. But as I approached him, an intercom went off in the hallways. A voice shouted to the faculty, "Capture all Replicas within the area. Transport them to storage areas A and B. Await further orders!"

The other Replicas...

Rory hit the enter key.

"Wait." I reached out and grabbed Rory's arm. "The other androids. Will they delete them?"

Rory licked his lips as he stared at the computer screen. "More than likely," he said, then looked at me as if he said something wrong. "I told you this would happen."

My brows pinched together as I frowned. "But they understood earlier," I said. "He ordered them to attack but after everything he said, it was like they wouldn't follow him anymore. They didn't hurt me when ordered. Like they saved me."

"Axe..." Rory straightened.

"You can free them, too, right?" I looked into his eyes. "You can free them like you did me."

"I, I—" Rory touched his face. As the alarms continued, he growled and looked at the closed door. No one passed by. No one knew our location. But I knew the longer we stayed here, the bigger the risk. I just... I couldn't... I...

"Axe, what I did wasn't easy. Your code is his code, and that code is—"

"Human. Like yours." I nodded, took a step towards him, and cupped his head the way he'd done to me. "Make me human. Help me."