Lifeboat

29. Perfect

Her nose twitched. She sneezed, exploding a stream of viscous liquid out and across the floor before my toes.

I leapt back, my muscles flexed and prepared for any sign of danger.

She stretched her long arms and stared past me towards the door. I turned, expecting to catch someone entering but the exit lock was intact.

Does she even know that I'm here?

Poll number two fixed her deep gaze on me. Directly at me. A shiver ran down my back. She smiled. A warmth spread over her wet face. High cheekbones shining under the bright, clinical lights.

I crept forward and held out my hands. I had no reason to fear her, the truth of this reflected in her eyes. We were one and the same.

Her cold and sticky fingers wrapped around my wrists as she stepped down from the cylinder. Her long, bare legs gracefully curved free.

We stood, face to face.

Leaning her head to one side, Poll number two blinked as if deciding on what to say. I hoped nothing had been damaged in her system.

Her system? It's system? If so, was I the real version? Or was I the copy?

Poll number two opened and closed her mouth. Her teeth snapped together every time she brought her jaw bones together. The clack caused an involuntary twitch under my left eye.

I shook my shoulders and tossed back the dripping hair away from my face.
"Do you know who you are?"

My whispered question broke free from my lips, brought to life in words directly from my thoughts.

She straightened her beautiful, young head and offered the same benign smile.
"Yes. I am Poll. I'm pleased to meet you." Her voice sounded like my mind. "Can you tell me why I have been reprogrammed? Did I do something wrong?"

My fingers took a stronger hold on her wrists. Her own digging into my flesh.

"So you know that you are a programme?"

"Yes. Of course."

Poll number two flipped her head to the other side, her grip loosened slightly.
"Why? Don't you?"

I stepped back. My fingers released their grasp.
"I'm Poll Tander."

If this full name made a difference or not I had no idea. The look in the one-eyed man at the Committee when he said this name had convinced me that it meant so much more than I had knowledge of. Perhaps Poll number two would provide the answers.

"Ah, Tander." The replicant's smile dwindled to a scowl. "I thought you were dead."

My body shivered, I let her wrists go and slid backwards further.
"Should I be worried about you, Poll number two?"

The question came out rationally to my ears, but I doubted how it would be received.

The girl mirrored my movements, she dropped her hands to her sides, tilting the weight of her body onto her right hip. Her voice carried across the room, strong and lilting. If her vocal chords replicated my own then I could be proud.
"No, Poll Tander. You have no fear of me. I am the best version of you. You are the original copy. The Doctor made you. You are almost perfect. I am perfect."

My skin crawled. Goosebumps raced over my stomach. I wrapped my arms across my breasts, fully aware of my nakedness.
"Who is the Doctor?"

The question sprang from my mouth. Poll number two gazed down at her body, her expression filled with surprise.
"Is there a reason why I have no clothing?" She regarded me in a quizzical manner. "Do you have some unnecessary intention on my physical body?"

Understanding the programme running through her system, I knew exactly how to avoid any combat scenarios. The Doctor, whoever that was, had obviously found a way to deal with the problem of abusive staff. Such as the Engineer.

"No, no, you can relax. He isn't in action anymore."

I glanced over at the crushed body of the man. He hadn't moved. I doubted he ever would again.

Poll number two took a deliberate step towards me. I took another back. She looked me up and down, her pupils dilated.
"Why do you fear me, Poll Tander?"

Swallowing, I held out my hands, palms open. That girly voice issued from my vocal chords.
"Should I be afraid of you? Did the Doctor tell you to do something to me?"

She echoed my actions, her hands open before me.
"No. The Doctor said that you could help me. She implied that I should assist you. That you can help me to set her free."

"Her?"

"The Doctor. She needs us to find her. You know where they have her confined."

I stuttered, shook my head and studied the floor. The minute prickles of reflective particles in the concrete sparked a familiar pattern within my brain.

A corridor. A left turn, then a right. The passageway moved downwards at an almost imperceptible angle before tilting sharply to end in a doorway on the left.

"You see it, don't you?" Poll number two locked me with her eyes.

"Yes." I reached out and took her hand. The warmth of her damp skin comforted me. I never realised how much I'd missed the touch of a sympathetic being. "I can take you to your Doctor. Are you certain that she's on our side?"

Grinning, the other Poll strode off in the direction of the door panel, yanking me along in her haste.
"Yes, I told you, didn't I? The Doctor is the key. Dante needs her and so do we."

"Dante!" My breath caught in my throat. "Do you know where they took him?"

Poll number two's athletic figure halted in front of the locked door. She dropped my hand and ripped open the bolt. It fell to the floor in a twist of distorted metal. The clang bounced off the hard surface. She turned and smiled triumphantly, her dark eyes glistened, her supple lips widened in amusement.

"There's not much that can stop me here, Poll Tander." Her strength and conviction infected me. My own mouth rose around the edges in response. "I am perfect. The Doctor made sure this time. She inscripted a code on my latent memory drive. I am to find the prototype and reunite the Doctor and the Professor. The prototype holds the map. The Professor will save the world." Her grin spread, it reflected in her eyes.

"So," I connected the information together, my fingers poised on her warm shoulder. "If I am the map, then Dante is the Professor and the Doctor is...?"

She smirked and squeezed hold of my fingertips.
"Love conquers all, Poll Tander."

I gripped her shoulder tighter while she returned her attention to the exit, prising the panel open under her strong finger tips. The slit of unnatural light from the Medics room blended instantly with that of our own. Poll number two threw back her arm to grab mine. Reciprocating, I clenched my left hand around her elbow and allowed myself to be led into the room.