Chapter Thirty-One

“His name is Dustin Bennett,” David stated, handing me the paper from the driver’s seat. I looked down at the boy in the picture with light brown hair and blue eyes like mine. Dustin was a grade older than I was, but was still in my Spanish class. He sat a few seats behind me and we had been assigned in groups together before.

“Okay ... You want me to bring him to the Institution?”

David nodded.

“On one condition.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re in no position to be making conditions.”

“Whatever. I just don’t want it to be like the Gloria incident,” I said firmly. “I do not want screaming and struggling. Please.”

David was silent for a moment. “Okay. Just get him inside. Tell him you like him or something.”

There was a pause. I gave him a look to demonstrate my disbelief. “Like him? What do you mean?”

David rolled his eyes. “Drew, you’re very pretty.” It wasn’t a compliment and I knew he hadn't intended it to be one. He stated it like he might state any other fact, such as the way I was created, the mechanical wiring inside of me. I turned to gape at him.

“You’re an android. You’re appearance far surpasses any of the other girls at your school.” David parked the car on the curb outside the front doors and leaned over to me, glancing briefly at the picture in my hand. “Believe me when I say that Dustin will be ecstatic to walk home with you,” he declared.

I stared at David for a few seconds, the image of Dustin ingrained in my mind. The creators wanted me to lure him to the Institution by professing my eternal love for him? For some reason this just seemed ... wrong. Not to mention, weird.

David’s intent stare was unnerving me, so I grabbed my bag and hopped out. I headed up the school stairs, already formulating a plan in my mind. I mentally cringed at the thought, but I knew I had to do it. No matter what my reservations where, I was an android and this was my mission. I wasn’t even supposed to have emotions, so letting them get in the way was completely unacceptable.

I spotted Dustin in the hallway standing by his locker and I walked his way. “Hello Dustin,” I said as I approached.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression. “Um ... hi.” He smiled tentatively.

I smiled back, forcing down the embarrassment of what I was doing and hoped I looked as pretty as David had declared. Yvonne came to my mind and I admitted briefly to myself that she probably would have had no problem at all with this assignment.

I brought the memories of the few times Dustin and I had talked to the surface of my mind, trying to draw anything I could from them.

Dustin put his books down and gave me his full attention. “How are you?” he asked, although he still seemed confused as to why I was here.

“I’m good,” I replied lamely. I decided at that moment to desert any effort of eye-batting or flirty smiles and just get to the point. “Would you want to walk me home today?” My words hung flatly in the silence around us. For a moment, I thought I had totally blown the whole mission, but then Dustin’s eyes slowly lit up and he smiled back at me, although still looking surprised. “Yeah,” he said slowly, incredulously. “I would love to.”

I internally sighed with relief and flashed Dustin the brightest smile I could muster without looking creepy. “I’ll see you later, then.” With a wave, I headed on my way, feeling utterly embarrassed and guilty about leading him on.

This is your mission. I heard the creator’s words again and again in my head. This is what you were made for. This is your purpose.

After school, Dustin met me outside and we started walking in the direction of the Institution. “So ...” Dustin began, eyeing me. “What was all this about?” Amusement lingered in his eyes and I could tell he wasn’t the least put out. His house was kind of in my direction, anyway.

I smiled, although it felt forced. “I just wanted to walk with you.” I looked up to see him smiling back. I turned to look straight again, feeling nervous and upset. I didn’t know how to do this. I didn’t know how I was supposed to act, how I was supposed to get him into the Institution and most importantly, what would be done to him while he was there. But in the meantime, I would have to act.

Dustin and I chatted most of the walk there. He asked me about my interests and I made up hobbies and activities I claimed to do on a regular basis. When he started talking about what he liked to do, that gnawing feeling returned and I forced myself not to care about him.

“Is your house far from here?” he asked after awhile.

I shook my head. “Not that much. It’s actually a condo.” My lie and my smile felt hollow.

Finally, we reached the Institution and I hurried up the front steps, Dustin right behind me, claiming to walk me to my door. Once in the lobby, my gut wrenched when I saw a creator and two androids hurrying towards Dustin. He frowned in curiosity when they approached him, glancing to me and back to them. When one of the androids grabbed his arm, he tried to pull away and I knew he was shocked by their strength.

“Drew?”

I backed away from the androids and the sound of Dustin’s startled voice, wishing it would all disappear. Dustin struggled and both of the androids needed to hold him as he was hauled through the ‘forbidden’ doors. I stood there for a moment staring at the doors swinging back and forth and slowly coming to a stop, hearing the echo of Dustin’s shouts in my mind.

For a moment, I felt frustrated, determined, and I sat down on the lobby bench. I decided I would wait there until Dustin came out. I wanted to know what they were doing and maybe if I caught him right away, I would be able to tell. I needed answers. I needed to know. If I was going to be able to live with what I was doing, I had to understand why.

As the minutes turned into hours, the thought of leaving to go do something, anything, lingered in my mind, but I knew I had to wait for Dustin. I would never forgive myself if I didn’t.

By the time he finally walked through those doors, it was almost three o’clock in the morning and I had busied myself with tying and re-tying my shoelaces in various knots and bows. When I saw him, I sat up quickly then stood, intending to speak to him. Strangely, he didn’t look at all like the Dustin I had walked home with and for a brief moment, I wondered if I had been mistaken. He walked with extremely good posture, unlike his usual slouch, and his eyes glazed over as he stared straight ahead.

“Dustin,” I called, walking towards him.

He looked at me, no sign of recognition in his face.

“What did they do?”

He kept walking towards the door.

“Dustin?”

He ignored me. I watched him leave, feeling a hollowness overwhelm me. I knew it was no use going after him. He wouldn’t answer any questions. I wasn’t even sure he knew what had happened. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding.

What had I done? The words swirled around in my head over and over again. No. How could I have stood by and let this happen? How could I have actually helped this happen? I felt like crying. I felt like screaming—screaming at the creators who had designed me for this. I kicked the wall closest to me, leaving a dent.

I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t.

I wouldn’t.

I ran down the hallway towards Glen’s study. A few people saw me and gave me strange looks as I ran by, but I didn’t care. I knew he stayed up late most of the time. That was the reason why David drove us to school. There was a good chance Glen was still there.

I burst into the room and Glen looked up, startled. “I want to talk to you about bringing people in,” I said, breathless.

“Oh,” Glen replied, surprised. “Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that, too.” He started fumbling around in his desk and when I saw him pull out some papers, I gave an exasperated sigh.

“Glen, I—”

“Her name is Beatrix Ellis,” he went on.

“I can’t ...”

“She’s in one of your classes at school,” he elaborated, apparently not noticing my urge to speak with him.

“Glen, I can’t ...”

“Bring her here tomorrow, we’ll ...”

“No!” I nearly shouted, causing Glen to look up, his composure slipping for a brief second.

“What?”

“I won’t do it anymore,” I said firmly, staring him in the eye. “I can’t do it anymore.”

There was a tense pause while Glen fought to understand exactly what I had just said. “You won’t do it anymore?” he repeated, his tone turning from shock to anger.

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re doing to them, but I can’t be a part of it unless I know that it’s something good. But from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t look that way.”

His gray eyes grew cold. “This is your mission.” His voice was hard. “This is what you were created for, your one and only purpose.”

I glared at him, my teeth clenched. “I am not your play toy to order around as you please,” I snapped. “I’m more than just a hunk of metal and wires. I’m a person,” I declared.

Glen stood up, his glare pinning me to the wall. “You are what I say you are. I created you and you are mechanical. You will take orders from me.”

No, I tried to say, but Glen went on talking.

“This school and your little friends are changing the way you act and the way you look at things. You need to remember you’re not like them. You may be perfect, but you didn’t get there without me. And if this school is getting in the way of your mission, I’ll take you away from it in an instant. And I’ll turn you off as well.” His threat hung in the air as we stood there staring at one another.

I swallowed. I didn’t want to be turned off. I had spent years in nothingness; complete terror that eventually faded into a dull depression. I couldn’t go back there. I looked away and stared down at the floor, feeling submission wash over me in a dejected wave. “Okay,” I whispered.

Glen thrust the papers into my hands. “Good.”

I turned and ran from the study, from the portraits’ unnerving stares, from Glen’s glaring eyes and his heartless threat. I kept running down the twisting hallways until I found an empty room to sit down in. I couldn’t go back to my own room, not with Yvonne there.

I leaned against the wall and slid down to a sitting position to look through the papers. The girl, Beatrix, smiled up at me, her green eyes shining and her red hair seeming to glow. Yep, I knew her. Who could miss a tangle of hair like that? We never talked much, though.

You just have to play it right to get what you want, Yvonne’s voice sounded in my mind. I stared down at the face of Beatrix. What did I want? I knew what I didn’t want. I didn’t want to send Beatrix to a fate like the others. I stared at her, thinking hard.

They wouldn’t know it was me, I told myself.

It wasn’t the best of ideas and it wasn’t exactly fool proof, but it was what I had come up with and I wasn’t sure if I could live with any alternative. Would being shut off be worse than the heart wrenching guilt I was destined to face if I went through with Glen’s plan? I stared down at the picture. No.

I wouldn’t let them take Beatrix. I wouldn’t let her die inside like the others.