Chapter Nine

“Drew,” Glen said, greeting me as I walked through the doors of his study. He was sitting behind his desk, as usual, doing paperwork. He leaned back in his chair, one elbow propped on the armrest, holding the book open to review.

“You wanted to see me?”

He nodded. “You can sit.” He gestured to the chair and I sat down. “You’ve been doing well on your mission,” he said, his expression truthful. He leaned forward to set down his papers.

I watched him closely, hoping to hear what I was expecting. My mind whirled to the possible conclusions, stopping on the one I calculated was the most probable and the most inviting.

“And I want to ask you to do something else for me, as well.”

I nearly sighed in relief. This was it. He was going to ask me to start bringing people in like Yvonne and Jeremy were doing. Finally, I wouldn’t be behind anymore. I wouldn’t be the lesser android.

“There’s an android that ran away from the Institution,” Glen said.

My mind balked. What was he talking about?

“She’s ... not the same anymore. She’s confused and we need you to bring her back.”

I tried to hold back my puzzled expression. This couldn’t be right. An android? They wanted me to fetch a runaway android for them? A simple rebel they couldn’t control?

“She’s been wounded and will be easy to bring back. Her name is Marian. We just got word a few hours ago that she’s hiding out at a hotel downtown. Here’s the address.” He handed me a piece of paper.

I reached out and took it numbly. I couldn’t believe he was deploying me on such an unimportant mission while Yvonne and Jeremy were doing things significant for the creators. But I nodded to Glen anyway, even though my insides burned with disappointment. You never doubted the creators. I took the slip of paper and left his study.

I hurried on my way to find Marian. I ran all the way downtown and by the time the hotel came into sight, I was calm again and had accepted the mission Glen had given me. He must have had a good reason for assigning this to me. Maybe this smaller mission would lead to something bigger.

But I couldn’t smother the feeling inside that I wasn’t valued as much as some of the other androids were.

I hurried to the hotel and walked through the glass doors into the lobby and wasted no time approaching the lady at the counter. “Is there a Marian staying here?”“Last name?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, scrambling for an excuse. “I just met her this morning...”

The woman started clicking away on her computer until she finally seemed to find something that satisfied her. “Yes, there’s a Marian Jacobson staying here.” She looked up. “Did you want me to call her for you?”

“Is there any chance I could have her room number so I could go talk to her?”

The woman pursed her lips and shook her head. “Sorry, can’t give you that information.”

I stood there for a second, thinking. I was partially irritated that this wasn’t going as easy as I'd initially expected, and now not wanting to waste time on something so trivial. Just then, the phone rang. “Excuse me,” the lady said and walked a few feet away to answer it. “Yes, we have rooms available,” she said in a singsong voice.

I watched as she gestured with her hands and started to lean more towards the phone, turning her back to me. I looked swiftly around and then took my opportunity, leaning as far over the counter as I could to catch a glimpse of the computer screen. I saw Marian Jacobson at the top of the screen and looked lower, searching for her room number.

“Hey!” the lady snapped. She hung up and rushed towards me. I backed away, but not before memorizing room number 347. She glared at me and pointed toward the door, her eyes cold and unforgiving.

I didn’t say a word, simply headed for the exit. I stood outside, watching parties of three and four enter the building, but waited for a larger group. Leaning back against the wall, I bided my time.

Finally, a group of six headed towards the door. I moved quickly and became part of their cluster. As we walked into the lobby, I was relieved to see the lady at the counter preoccupied with a family.

In the elevator, I pushed the button for level three. The elevator whizzed to life, passing floors and flashing lights. Once the doors opened, I stepped out. I started skimming the room numbers as I walked down the hallway until I finally came to room 347. I knocked firmly on the door and waited. When no answer came, I tried again, but as before, no one answered. I grabbed the handle of the locked door and confidently turned it until I felt the metal snap between my fingers like dried clay. I shoved against the door until it reluctantly cracked open.

Inside, the room was dark. I heard the TV blaring in the other room, sending lights flashing along the wall. I made my way around the corner and saw a dark-haired girl lying on the bed, watching the TV. She turned to look at me as I entered. Shock registered on her face and she gasped, springing off the bed.

“Don’t take me back,” she pleaded, her eyes filled with fear. I studied her. Physically, she looked like one of us, but she was behaving oddly. Strong emotions like shock and dread were never exhibited among us, and we definitely never begged. We were far above that.

I started to walk towards her slowly and noticed she limped as she edged backwards. “It’s okay,” I said, “you’re going to be fine.” But my words sounded hollow, even to my own ears, and she just looked that much more frightened.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, her voice quivering.

“I’m going to take you back to the Institution,” I answered, thinking that telling her the truth could do no harm since I was blocking the only door.

She shook her head violently. “No. You don’t understand. What they’re doing is wrong. You can’t do this.” Desperation clung to her voice.

I moved closer to her now and she started to panic. Her terrified expression surprised me and caused me unease. What could make an android so afraid? Certainly not the creators?

She suddenly turned. My mind raced, and before she had even made a move, I knew what she was going to do. She ran towards the balcony, her limp making her gait uneven and awkward, the one place I hadn’t thought of.

“No!” I breathed, wondering why I hadn’t noticed it before. Why had I failed to assess the situation fully? Why hadn’t I realized the full potential of this threat? I rushed after her as she scrambled out onto the balcony and reached for her arm, but she was too fast. She jumped and threw herself over the edge.

Instantly, I reached over the railing and grabbed her arm, hearing her cry out. The force of her weight coming to a stop yanked me forward and my grip slid to her wrist as my other hand braced myself against the railing.

“No!” she nearly screamed, trying to claw at my hand. Her thrashing started to loosen my grasp. She was slowly slipping away. I grabbed her other wrist and pulled, hauling her over the railing. Once on the floor of the balcony, she started struggling again, kicking at me and trying to get up. I held onto her wrists and leaned down to talk to her.

“I’m going to take you back to the Institution,” I said quietly. “You are going to be fine. It would be nice if you would just walk along with me, but if you scream or shout, I’ll knock you out and carry you there,” I told her. “Either way suits me fine.”

Marian stared at me. “Don’t you know what they’re doing?” she asked, accusation lining her voice. “Anything they say to you, it’s all lies!” She was near tears now and I could almost feel the panic rising within her.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Glen was right, she was confused. I pulled her to her feet, and still gripping her wrist, headed for the door. We went out the back way, avoiding the lobby and were soon on our way back to the Institution. I noticed her limp became worse and a few times along the way, I had to help her walk.

“What happened?” I asked her.

She looked up at me. “I was shot.”

I frowned in puzzlement. “By whom?”

Anger blazed in her eyes. “The creators.”

I shook my head in disbelief. The creators wouldn’t shoot their own creations. Well, maybe if it was the only way to slow them down ... but still, I couldn’t believe that they would be that cruel. I disregarded the thought and let myself believe that Marian was just confused and delusional enough to think the creators had shot her.

We walked a ways more, Marian needing more and more help as we went. She started to cry softly when the Institution came into view. I kept telling her she would be fine and that the creators would fix her imperfections, but it only seemed to make her cry harder. I had to practically drag her up the front steps.

Glen was happy with my work and smiled as a few creators took on the task of taking Marian away.

“Good job, Drew,” he told me and I stood there waiting, hoping he'd speak of my real mission; bringing people in, humans. I wanted the chance to be as good an android as Yvonne and Jeremy. If only he would give me the chance, I knew I could be perfect. I knew I could be a good android.

But he turned and walked away, leaving me standing in an empty room.

I stared at the ground. I wasn’t a good enough android for Glen to want to employ me on something important. I wasn’t even a good human. And the realization stung.