“Does he remember anything?” I could just faintly make out the voice of Charles McVeigh, the man that had brought me here; the man that had made me into what I was now.
“Some things, yes,” a female voice answered him.
There were bits of a previous life that I recalled. Images and facts that had found their way through to my new state. Some of them made sense, but others? They were puzzles pieces that never quite fit right.
“That isn’t enough of an answer, Janet. Does he or doesn’t he remember?”
“Why don’t you see for yourself? His readings while he’s in Standby Mode will reveal everything that you need to know, Charles.”
I strained to listen to the voices that sounded from across the room, but my thoughts were weighed down; occupied by the image of a girl that I knew I wasn’t supposed to know.
Every bit of my programming was telling me that she wasn’t real. That she was nothing more than a figment of my imagination – a false memory, a false image.
But when I recalled her face, and her haunting green eyes? I saw life inside of them. I saw a girl that held the key to a life I wasn’t supposed to know about.
An erratic beeping noise sounded from outside of the Pod.
“I thought you said that he was in Standby Mode?” McVeigh shouted. “His readings are all over the place, Janet.”
“I’m well aware of that, Charles.”
Something about the way she answered him was off. I tried to pinpoint the emotions that laced her words. My programming sensed anger, pride, and desire – all three emotions merged into one. But that wasn’t all.
There was something else; something that I couldn’t comprehend. Not because I didn’t understand it – the human part of me understood rather well what she’d been feeling. No. It was because after everything that she’d done, after everything that she’d allowed herself to be a part of, I couldn’t allow myself to believe that the regret she kept hidden was real.
“He’s capable of overpowering his Program, of overpowering his entire system, Charles. He’s stronger than Emile ever was. Do you understand that?” Her voice grew more frantic as she struggled to convey everything she needed to say. “Just look at him. Think of what he could do for Vesta Corp!”
I knew that I should remain still, and do my best to calm my Program. Maybe then, they’d leave me be. But I also knew sitting there, inside of the Pod, completely powerless would only result in my end.
I pulled forward, yanking my hard drive free from the slot in the back of the Pod.
“He’s stronger,” McVeigh stated matter-of-factly. He furrowed his brows as he peered down at me, lost in thought.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” she said. “He’s more valuable than her, Charles. His free will has managed to survive. He’s able to overpower his programming without needing to have his human identity restored on his system. He has managed to exist even after the erasing.”
You are ordered to do as instructed, a voice echoed inside of my head, and I did everything I could to drown it out. But with each pull, and each tug, it only grew louder.
I bit down on my lip, hard enough to break the skin. I waited for the warm sensation of blood to spill down my chin, but it never came. Neither did the pain.
You can’t ignore what you’ve become, the voice said, you can’t fight the truth.
Maybe not, but I would sure as heck try.
McVeigh gripped the side of the Pod with one as he leaned in closer, his eyes locked on mine. “He’s uncontrollable,” he said curiously.
“You don’t know that,” she responded. “You’d be surprised what people are capable of when forced into complying.”
At that, he laughed, as though she’d revealed some private joke that was apparently meant to go over my head. “My dear sister, have you forgotten what we’re here to accomplish? We are trying to create a perfect society – a society that we are able to control. I can’t control a Program that has managed to retain it’s free will. He’s too strong to be of any use to me.”
“I could think of a few ways to make use of him,” she said.
He stood above me, his finger pressed against his lower lip as considering a few himself.
The cold stare on his face was enough to alert me that something was off.
Something was wrong. It wasn’t exactly hard to deny that. His discomfort, disgust, and caution were written all over his face.
I could feel the looming threat of danger tightening its hold on me, but I didn’t move. I didn’t move, because I knew that if I were to run, something bad would happen to her – the girl that had buried herself deep within my thoughts.
“He’s dangerous,” McVeigh’s voice cut through my inner monologue. “He’s flawed, Janet.”
“He’s useful, Charles.” She moved in front of the Pod, easing him away from the glass door. “He is the key to everything that you want. He is the key to bringing Emile back home, don’t you see?”
He is the key to bringing Emile back home.
I allowed Janet’s word to replay in my mind.
Emile. The one thing I’d fought so hard for, and I had nearly allowed myself to forget her name.
“He is your only way to bring Emile back, Charles. We don’t know where Colton and the others have gotten off to just yet. Hayden is your only chance,” she said. There was a slight hitch in her voice as she spoke, and I turned to eye her suspiciously.
I knew that I should’ve been more concerned with McVeigh and whatever form of torture he’d had in store for me next, but right now, I didn’t care because Janet Ward was hiding something. And secrets inside of Vesta Corp? Even inside of their off the radar locations? Well, secrets were deadly.