"Everyone will see me."

*

May 5th, 2022

Human news was interesting to watch. The daily recap of androids frozen in the street, refusing to follow orders was laughable. The violence done by one android to another was, if I looked at the faces of people watching the news on their phones, was alarming. And while the media described the occurrences with the androids to be a hiccup in the system, an error caused by Bionics, they failed to disclose the entire picture.

The androids who attacked weren't of standard grade. And none of them bore the simple, boring symbol on their necks. And because of the lack of information, I was able to blend and hide amongst the people without an issue.

Pushing off the wall of a small, corner grocery store, I turned down the sidewalk. I followed him—my duplicate. Or was I his? After months of trying to be my own person, I lost track of who was who. He was my twin, yes; down to the sound of his voice and the way he moved. I followed him every chance I could, learning from him, being him, all without him knowing. I found it funny how clueless he could be.

But that was him. Javier—the golden boy android still under Bionics' grand plan. Yet, while he rose to power, Rory fell from it. A scowl crept over my lips as I thought of it all.

How many nights had Rory sat in the corner of that old facility with me? While I loved his company, I hated his pain. Just because he was an android, didn't mean he couldn't feel pain. We felt pain. Our receptors were artificial, yes, but pain was a natural occurrence. It burned, it ripped, it pulled; Rory crumbled under the pressure until he found no reason to go back.

He made home with me.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Only one person knew my number. Gripping the vibrating device, I stopped, eyes wide, and I watched Javier as he walked farther away. Once he crossed the street, I turned back around, hood over my head. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pressed it to my ear. "I was following him, Rory. Why call me on this phone?"

Rory grumbled for a moment on the other line before sucking in a deep breath. I heard rustling behind him. Echoes of conversation.

"So you can talk to me and no one would hear you muttering messages in your head..."

"Right..." I slowed my steps. Turning into an alley, I stopped beside a dumpster. "What is it, then? What's wrong?"

"He called her," Rory said quietly. "And I have been summoned."

"Summoned?" I hissed, glancing up at the sky. The clouds were thick, dark at some of the corners. I knew it would rain today. The weatherman said so. "Why does she need you all of a sudden?"

"To fix him," he said.

And I stopped. I glanced back out at the street, listening for voices. I hadn't noticed anything wrong with him. In the store, he was a stable android, a perfect gentleman. He was polite, without error; completely immune to the interference still in the air. "There's nothing wrong with him," I said. "I was going to grab him and take him back with me. I was finally going to do what we planned to do all along."

"Well, Mary thinks he is affected, and because his model is a copy of mine, I need to be with her." He clicked his teeth and grumbled a frustrated sigh. "We can't do this today. We'll have to wait."

"I've been waiting, Rory." I turned back towards the dumpster and kicked the side. The echo of the metal denting hit my ears. If someone had been nearby, they would've heard it. Not wanting to be seen, I walked forward, towards the next block. "It's been months—"

"I know, Axe." He tried to sound reassuring.

"What do we do then?" I stopped as I reached the net intersection. "I can't wait anymore. I'm done living in the shadows."

"And you think I don't feel that way?" he hissed. "We wait, Axe. Today wouldn't have been good anyway. After Mary sees him, he'll have to pick up Wendy—"

"Wendy?" I watched a car speed past me. "Who's that?"

"His sister, Axe."

Sister. Digging through the files still saved within me, I pulled up every memory of Javier's still sitting in their comfortable corners. I retraced his life. His years. The images of his family. But nothing. "He doesn't have a sister."

"He does, Axe," Rory said. "She was adopted a few years ago."

Another car hurried past me, a van. It turned into the parking lot across the street. A man hopped out of the driver's seat and headed straight for the diner within the outlet.

"Where is he picking her up from?" I asked as I approached the car.

Rory was silent for a moment. I thought I heard him move as if he walked into another room. "From school. Why?"

The van was large enough. Spacious. It was an older model with large windows in the back. Running my hands along the side doors, I was surprised they could slide open. The simplicity of having the ability to pull someone inside made me smile. "What time?"

"Axe..." Rory was hesitant. "What are you thinking of doing?"

I looked inside through the passenger side window. There was an empty bag of chips near the radio. A water bottle on the floor. The car was in horrible condition, there was no way the man would care if it was missing.

"Axe," Rory hissed.

I pushed away from the vehicle and turned, looking towards the diner. "What if we made Javier come to us?"

"What? How?"

I shrugged, bit my lip, and glanced at the time on my phone before placing it back over my ear. "I grabbed his sister."

"What? No!" Rory hissed louder than he had before. "She's a child, Axe. You can't hurt her—"

"I didn't say I would." I moved to the back of the van and tugged at the handle. Not surprising to find it opened easily. No sound. No disturbance. Not even the blaring sound of a car alarm. "Why do you make me out to be such a monster?"

Rory didn't respond. He was entirely silent. I couldn't even hear the sounds of his artificial breaths.

I shut the door. "I killed those who deserved it. This child wouldn't be one of them. I will only use her to get him."

"I... I just... I don't..."

Rolling my eyes, I moved around the van and tugged open the driver's side. This time it was locked, but with one hard pull, it released and allowed my entrance. I hopped into the seat. "Doing these things means people will notice. They will listen and react. You taught me that."

"I did..."

"And if I do something to get a reaction out of him, for him to listen, I will do it." I shut the door, placed my phone on the dashboard, and changed the call style to speaker. There was a little ping before I heard Rory sigh. I did the same. "He will agree to this, Rory. I will have his code."

"Axe, I—"

As Rory tried to complain, I pressed my hand against the car's ignition. It's internal wires reacted to my computers. In seconds, the engine roared to life. I cupped the steering wheel with one hand as I pulled it out of the parking lot. "If you're going to see him, give me a distraction, something to keep him away longer. I'll get her and tell you where to meet me."

"Axe, think about this," Rory warned. "You're being irrational, impulsive. You're—"

"You," I hissed as I turned onto the street. From the diner, the van's owner ran outside. His hands waved over his head as he shouted, yelled, and pleaded with me to stop. I glanced at him before focusing on the road. So he did care about the car, huh?

"Axe."

" I'm you." I looked ahead. "And if you want me to be him, I need you to do this."

Rory had no response.

"Do you love me?" I asked after minutes of silence.

As I turned onto the next street, he responded, "Yes."

"Then help me." I tapped into my computers, picking and choosing the closest Replicas to come to my aid. "So I can help you."

Click. Call ended.

"Thought so..."

Rory didn't need to say he agreed. When he hung up, I knew he'd do it. This had been our plan. We talked about it every night. And as much as it hurt me, I knew he had his selfish reasons. But it was all right because I had mine.

He'd get the moments with his friend back. And I'd get the emotions I longed to understand.

In the end, humanity was all I craved.

Data saved.

*

END

A/N

I know this story needs work. It needs to be edited. And I know there are some plot holes that I will fix. <3 But as for right now, this rough draft is completed. 

Shout out to amayhh for putting this plot bunny in my head <3 Javi/Axe love you.