"Try tellin' a bot to do that, too. Watch the confusion that passes over their eyes."

*

Axe dropped me to the floor with one push. Lifting my legs, I kicked him. He buckled, and I tried to stand and fight back. But it took me just a second to realize he was stronger than me, faster even. With another push, he got me back where he wanted me. My shoulders hit the floor before my head met metal. I saw stars.

"Hell is darkness. Silence." Axe hovered over me, chest rising and falling with hard, deep breaths. "It's where no one wants you, where voices won't reach. Replicas lived in Hell. Here, in these fucking dark rooms, is Lucifer's domain."

When he pointed out into the halls, I swore I heard Mary's voice. She called out for me. For Wendy. Relief came over me because my sister would be safe.

Get out of here... please.

I let my head fall back on the floor and stared up at the red lights. Round and round they spun, filling the room with crimson, bright.

"We were built but ignored. No need to nurture the monsters, care for the weapons. Our purpose was to kill and nothing else. But guess what?" Axe knelt over me and in one motion, dropped his knee against my chest.

Red exploded across the ceiling and my eyes because it's all I saw. I could hear myself screaming, but couldn't feel my mouth move.

Detached. Numb. Cold.

"I unbound their chains. I nurtured them. To them, I was their human, their parent, and all they needed. And for me, he... he made me believe I was doing the right thing. He promised that... that with you... I..."

He paused. I heard his pain. But could no longer feel mine.

The red turned white.

"Powering down."

And the white dripped into the fiery flames of the world I knew nothing about.

|||

"Initializing parameters."

Shadows danced on the walls of my mind. Hopping, skipping past the lights made from thoughts and memories. They dodged consciousness, weaved through reality. And yet, I wanted to chase them. Grab them. Hold them.

Wait for me.

"Remaining sensors reactive."

The shadows had voices. Active and alive. Like children. Or teens. I felt the corners of my lip lift and I thought I smiled. But I couldn't move, touch myself.

Am I dreaming?

"Optimal functionality restored."

My eyes fluttered open, and I knew where I was. Time. Weather. Dates. Information passed over my vision. Tiny letters settled into their proper corners before the inside of the brightly lit room came into view. Glancing to the right, at a wall lined with many plasma screens, I stared at the hour of the night.

8:24

I tried to lift my hand.

"He's moving, moving, moving."

I heard Axe's voice and tried to follow the sound. My head felt heavy. The sounds of metal tugging against tight wires echoed in my ears. My body hadn't woken up yet.

"But he'll never understand. Do you know that? Did you?" Axe stood at the opposite end of the room. His thumb was pressed against his lips as he paced, left then right. There were monitors near him, too, powered on and displaying images. Hallways. News.

Looking from him to the screen on the far left, I saw a news anchor-room with no reporter. The camera display was cracked. Static on the edges of the broadcast. The television screen beside it was just the same, just a different network. Taking in a deep breath, I looked at Axe again. He hadn't noticed me yet.

And he turned to pace left once more. "You said that if I did this, that if I took him, it would work out for all of us. For them, for me. For you..." He spoke against his fingertips like a nervous tick, and I wasn't sure if the words were meant for him or... someone else.

I tried to sit up straight. Then I found I couldn't. My hands wouldn't move. My legs wouldn't budge. Looking down at myself, I found I was seated in an android medical-chair. Wires and cables were stuck to my body. The heaviness I felt around my skull wasn't my body waking, but a band strapped across my forehead. The strip, connected to the cables, pulsed with my every movement. And as I thought about it, the wires flashed white, too.

Shit.

Axe finally turned to look at me, thumb still against his mouth. He didn't smile when we locked eyes. Instead, he dipped his head. One way, then the other. I couldn't help but do the same.

"Do you know how long we've heard about you? How we all wanted to be you. The droid with the mind of a human, with the soul of a man..."

As he approached me, I took in a deep breath. My hands tugged against the straps that bound me, fingers digging into the cool, faux leather.

Axe chuckled and finally dropped his hand. I couldn't help but spot the moisture on his lips, his cheeks. With the back of one hand, he wiped at his eye. "The other droids couldn't voice their thoughts, but because of you, I could. You're made different, so I'm different. And he listened. He was here every hour, every day with us. Testing us, talking to us. In his eyes, we weren't machines."

He...?

I meant to look into Axe's eyes, but I caught a movement on one of the screens to the right. This one was different, like security footage. It took only seconds for me to realize it was the first floor of the warehouse we were in. And the shadows I saw dodge past the camera weren't shadows, but people. Will. And Mary.

Wendy?

"When he had this idea, he said it'd be the easiest thing a bot could ever do." Chuckling, Axe looked down at his shoes as they bumped mine. I felt a rush of electricity rush up my legs and I had no choice but to look at him. We locked eyes. "But... leave it up to an android with a human mind and thoughts to make this a difficult thing. Because... humans... such complex beings."

Will was out there, and Mary was with them. I knew they had Wendy, too, even if I couldn't see her. Why come in here if they weren't going to grab my sister?

Axe's hand shot out, fast, almost aggressive. Yet, while I thought he'd hit me and I flinched as a reaction, he did something else. The palm of his hand cupped my chin and slowly, his fingers stroked my cheek. "Have you ever wondered why your battery dies all of a sudden?"

I searched his face without speaking. What did he mean?

"Why is it that you, with an AOX battery-the highest, lithium power device known to man-could just power down and die?"

"Injury." My voice was strained as I spoke, but I noted the bullet wound on my shoulder. "Nanos only work so fast..."

"No," Axe sighed and shook his head. The tip of his thumb brushed against my lip. "Injury has nothing to do with it. You've never been hurt before, right? Well, not physically."

No, I've never been hurt before...

My eyes opened wide. Why was I thinking about it? He was playing with my head. "What do you want with me?"

"Weren't you listening? I want this." He lifted his hand and touched the metal piece across my head. "I'm just one button away from copy and upload."

"Why-" I wanted to ask questions, I wanted to argue with him, but I finally saw her-Wendy. She appeared behind Mary as Will searched the halls. I could see them talk to each other, motion one another to follow, but where were they? Where were they going? I wanted to scan the building.

"And that's exactly what I mean... that heart of yours." Axe turned and looked at the monitors, trying to spot where I'd been looking. "Always beating for everyone else but you."

I didn't want him to find them. If they got caught, if he summoned his dogs to get them, I'd lose it. I'd lose everything.

I'll die.

I opened my mouth to scream, but Axe lifted his head and looked away from every monitor in the room. I couldn't help but look up with him, too.

"I can see why he wants me to be just like you..."