"This is how you remind me of what I really am..."

*

May 3rd, 2022

Natural. Organic. Smiles.

A school bell rang in the distance. Birds shot up through the sky, breaking the clouds like whips in the wind. I glanced up and watched them, smiled at them. To be free and soaring was an electronic dream.

Sounds. Oxygen. Breaths.

I heard everything. Saw it all. Pings of energy and data pulled my attention forward at the school just yards in front of me. Doors opened. Kids ran free.

"All right, class! Single file, please! Don't break the lines, now!"

Lines. Single file.

These were the words my internal device latched on to as I waited outside Harris Elementary. It wasn't because the words were repeated amongst the first-grade teachers, or because I caught them in passing. Rather, because I didn't abide by them.

That life. A constant order.

While the young children scurried behind each other, lazily making lines that weren't straight, the Androids to my left were just as the students were expected to be.

In line. Single filed. And in constant order.

Their programming didn't allow any different.

The humans to my right were the opposite-free, organic, full of life and sounds.

As excited giggles filled the air over the school's final bell, I glanced over at the bots I was easily compared to. Their faces looked human enough. Bodies were no different. Some smiled and waved, as programmed, to the family child they were permitted to retrieve. Others stood, awaiting commands, as most Androids would do.

I, on the other hand, neither waved nor remained still. I was relaxed, leaned back against a tree. My hands were pressed into the pockets of my jeans. And my sweater, with its hoodie loose around my shoulders, hid the Bionics symbol on the side of my neck. It was the one mark on my body that made me just like the droids at my side-robotic property.

The memories installed inside my hard drive allowed me to hide it, blend in, and feel different. Like the parents at my right.

Human.

Data analyzed.

"Can't I go?" a young voice whined. "I see Peter over there!"

Peter.

Pushing off the tree, I smiled as I caught sight of the red-headed little girl that called me everything but an android. My sensors made out her face. My computer outlined her image with her data, name, age, and weight.

But I didn't need the extra information. I knew my sister anywhere. And could spot her in the storm of children without trouble.

She locked eyes with mine, and her face lit up with happiness. I grinned, shrugged, and my hoodie moved an inch from my neck. The Androids beside me reacted, eyes on me.

Bionic property.

"Wendy!" I called out her name and waved my hand. "Let's go home!"

"Peter Pan!" Despite the line she was ordered to stand in, and the teacher who tried her hardest to keep her still, Wendy ran to me. Her pink sweater blew in the wind, her backpack slid down off her shoulders. Once she crossed the playground, she leaped over that line meant to divide human parents and Android assistants and came right into my outstretched arms.

The teacher shouted for her return, stomping in our direction. But Wendy, with her big smile, shook her head. Her small hands fixed my hoodie to hide my symbol. And the Androids looked away.

Synching connection lost.

"Hey, little Lost Girl." I tapped Wendy's nose. "Been waiting out here for you."

"Good." Wendy giggled. "Can we go to Neverland now? School's boring."

"Wendy Carter Morales!"

I glanced at the teacher as she approached. My computers identified her, too:

Michelle Williams, thirty-nine, twice divorced with no children.

Rather than humor the woman, I gave Wendy my full attention. Her green eyes shimmered in the sunlight. "Don't say that. You need school," I said with a smile. "What would you do if you didn't have school?"

"I don't know." Wendy scrunched her nose. "Fight pirates."

I couldn't help my laugh, but there was no escaping Ms. Williams as she too crossed the border between Android and humans. She bore no smile on her face. Frustration pressed lines around her lips. And with her hands on her hips, she looked me up and down, trying to spot my Bionics symbol. "You..." she huffed.

Wendy slid down my chest and stood beside me, her small hand grabbing mine. Despite the angry eyes from her never-happy teacher, I glanced over at the droids who followed orders. The students who were in line had finally been given permission to move, and their respective bots stepped forward. An array of "How was your day?" filled the air in various voices.

If I could puke, now would've been the time.

"What is your identification number?" Ms. Williams stood directly in front of me, breathing hard out of her nose.

My gaze slid over her face, and my internal computer reacted. Her temperature spiked, her emotions up with it. I didn't need my Android mechanics to know she was upset; I had common sense. And her cheeks were beet red.

"Ms. Williams-" I forced a smile. Wendy gripped my hand tight. "-what seems to be the issue today?"

"Issue?" Ms. Williams took a step back to get a better look at me. "You're bypassing commands and pulling children out from class early."

I lifted my brow and fought the urge to laugh. "Early? Class is over, Ms. Williams. And how am I bypassing commands? We've gone over this. I don't receive commands."

"Well, you should." The woman's brow knitted close together. "A free-roaming Android isn't safe for society. The likes of you are..." She paused and glanced down at Wendy with curious, saddened eyes.

This happened daily-the belittling, berating interrogation. And yet, the woman always looked at Wendy for confirmation. Because my little sister was a human, with a mind and a soul, able to react on thought and reason. Ms. Williams always ignored the fact that, despite my build-up and metal interior, I could do the same.

That I, too, was once a human being, just as they were. Death and cybernetic recreation made me no different. At least, not in my eyes.

"Wendy." Ms. Williams face softened. "Because of everything going on right now, every android needs a command. It's the only way Bionics can track them. Can't have them just breaking on the street, now, can we? Haven't your parents watched the news? Have you?"

Not this. Not now.

"Ms. Williams, I think this is unnecessary..." I said.

"Oh?" The older woman looked at me. "How can you assure me that you won't attack the androids out here? What kind of commands did your parents give you this morning?"

"None. But with or without commands, I'm no different than them." I pointed at the androids who walked with their anchored children, then I pursed my lips and sighed. I looked at Ms. Williams. "Or you."

She folded her arms over her chest. "I beg to differ," she said, then dropped her voice to a whisper, "because there's no possibility that I'd wake up in the morning and kill people in my house. That's an android thing."

A hard puff of air pushed out from my nose. I didn't breathe, but the physical reaction was fitting. This woman bothered me, and regardless of the emotions I was permitted to express under my Bionics contract, I couldn't hide it.

I forced a smile and narrowed my gaze. "I guess you don't watch crime dramas, do you, Ms. Williams?"

The woman's mouth opened. Jaw dropped. I wanted to laugh because boom, point for me.

"Hello?" Wendy tugged at my arm and stomped one foot against the grass. When Ms. Williams looked at her, she said, "Javi doesn't get commands. He's free."

Ms. Williams pursed her lips and tried to look apologetic. "He's an android, sweetie. All Androids receive commands. And we can't risk having him endangering real people out here."

I looked down and at Wendy's big, green eyes. Instantly, my emotions faded away, while my computer told me hers. She wasn't frustrated or annoyed, but determined and strong-willed. No spikes in her normal exterior. So, when she smiled, I smiled, too.

"He isn't an android," Wendy said as she tugged at my hand again. "He's Peter Pan."

Ms. Williams shook her head. "Peter Pan is a character in a book, Wendy. He isn't Peter Pan."

"Yes, he is." Wendy looked back at her teacher, and for a moment, her data fuzzed out of clarity. Confused, I shook my head and tried to clear it. Wendy didn't notice and kept talking. "Peter Pan never gets old, never follows rules, and always cares about his lost boys-"

"Wendy..." Ms. Williams closed her eyes.

"-and that's exactly who Javi is. He doesn't get old, doesn't care about your rules, and cares about me."

Silence fell over us. The androids were gone, a few students wandered the playground. Teachers had conversations near the door that I couldn't hear unless I tried. But I didn't want to. Once my data cleared and my computers stabilized, I looked back at Ms. Williams and smiled. Because the look on her face meant she couldn't argue with Wendy.

The little girl had won.

Point for you, too, Lost Girl.

"Can you just have your parents call me, please?" Ms. Williams asked. Before turning around, she looked at me. "I'd tell your brother, but he doesn't seem to want to accept commands."

"Or, you could just ask me," I said as Wendy handed me her backpack, unbothered. "You know, like a person. A human being."

Ms. Williams froze for a second, just as the clouds swam over the sky. I saw her face in different shades, different hues, but once the shadows were freed from the space, I saw sadness in her eyes. And that sadness danced around the brown flecks that darkened with each passing second.

Regret. Guilt.

I blinked, stepped back, and wanted to say something. Yet, the second I could, she ignored me, turning back towards the school. "Please..." She glanced at Wendy before leaving. "Have them call me. And have a good day, sweetie."