contAIned

Chapter Six

Lexi's PoV

"So hold on a minute. You're programmed to save any human life even if it's not your... your-" Neither myself or India could think of the word that was meant to finish this sentence. Were humans their owners? Their bosses? What did these artificially intelligent humanoids regard us as?
We walked out of the car park feeling slightly uneasy, but knew that right now we needed to get even further away than we already were. If one defective robot could find us, others would and right now, none of us were particularly in the mood for fighting and stabbing human-looking robots in the heart. Aidan was quick to grab my arm and march me away from the car park with Melody and India hot on our heels. For some reason, he seemed to really want to protect me. I wanted to ask why he had looked into my eyes before he'd killed that robot. I knew that they would protect you if you were fearful, but why did he only look at me and not at India? Did he not care for protecting India the same as he did for me or was it that one robot could only protect and link to one person unless written in the contract? I was so desperate to know yet I couldn't bring myself to ask, especially when India was next to me.

"The contract that you sign is imprinted in us when we are bound to you. You're our owner, our friend. You are where our loyalty lies." It once again sounded like a sales pitch, but with Aidan's smile making the corners of his eyes turn up, it didn't feel as harsh as a normal salesperson. India, however, disregarded his nice facial expressions to further question him.

"So the contract is what links you and your owner and their family. I get that. But why have you and Melody stayed with us? We're just average joes who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. You stopped us from being in imminent danger. You're still here. Why?" India stopped for a moment to turn and take in Melody and Aidan once again. Their faces faltered for a second, glancing at each other to work out how to answer such a question. It felt as if they'd linked with us without the contract, but that couldn't be possible could it?

"Well, the threat hasn't completely been eradicated yet. We have scanned and know what the plan is, so we know there is more danger to come. We will still protect you and any other human we come across between now and the end of the robot war." Melody tried to explain, though her use of the word 'war' only worried us more. Aidan held his hands out in innocence, realising our eyes widening in shock.

"What Melody is trying to say is that we know the danger might not be over. Until we scan the area as being safe, we won't leave you." He offered a small comforting smile as he tried to calm us, realising that us being in a state was only going to make their jobs worse.

"But you wont link with other humans, only protect them from imminent danger?" I pried, wanting to get even a step closer to the questions I really had in my mind. 

"It appears that we have linked with you because of the nice interactions prior to the danger." Melody said as she looked over Aidan as if analysing him. "Once linked, we won't link with anyone else unless requested by our owner. We always protect anyone where we can but we will not want to remain with them as we would with you." Melody and India locked eyes again and India shyly looked away, a smile growing on her face as she cleared her throat. "It's weird because we're not usually making contact with humans until we have already been linked with the contract. Bradley doesn't normally have those open house meetings so we are learning something new too. I'm sure he's aware though, our thoughts and feelings are regularly uploaded to the team who work through them all and feedback anything new." We fell into a comfortable silence as we continued up the road towards our apartment. There was a weird calm feeling that seemed to run across us all as we noticed the area to be particularly quiet, as if we were momentarily safe and out of harms way. India picked up speed to walk beside me. Aidan noticed this and took a few steps back to fall into step with Melody, whom he sparked a conversation with instantly.

"I don't like the silence. Do you think they're done? Like Bradley's already dead? Or all the robots have been shut down?" I turned to look at Aidan and Melody, who were caught up discussing the thrill of the event they were at and how it had changed their views of humans. I sighed as I shook my head, my gut telling me something different.

"Not that it's going to make you feel any better but I think they're hunting." India's body language changed instantly, she suddenly shrunk into herself and was conscious of all her surroundings, how loud her footsteps were and how the wind was whipping the crunchy leaves in our direction.

"Oh." She muttered, suddenly slowing her steps to get back to Melody, leaving me alone in the front of the group. That moment was all it took...

"Human DNA detected." A voice said as something flew past me at super-fast speed. Before my brain could even compute what had happened, I was laying down with my back against the cold floor with a red-eyed robot straddling me, her arms wrapped around my neck in a vice-like grip.

"H-help." I squeaked out as I gripped the robot's hands, desperate to try and somehow loosen her hold. It felt  like the other's were in a different bubble where time seemed to run so much slower than it did for me here and now. Whilst it felt like I was going to fade into unconsciousness momentarily, it seemed they'd not even registered that I was in any danger. "Aidan..." I whispered out, his eyes suddenly flicking up mid-sentence to look out for me. 

"Lexi!" He suddenly shouted, steaming ahead to catch up to us. He threw a heavy kick at the robot's head and sent them skidding away from me, giving me the few seconds I needed to gasp for breath and shuffle away from the red-eyed robot. Aidan was quick to scoop me up off the floor and practically handed me to Melody, who easily kept me standing despite my barely conscious state.

"Human DNA detected." The robot was back, her voice now strained from damage caused by the kick. Aidan placed himself between the robot and myself and India who were now huddled together in fear. I could still feel the strain on my throat where those robot's hands had been, her clasp only having one end goal - death. I stroked my throat gently as I looked up to Aidan, readying himself for the fight.

"We need to help him." I croaked out. "Find something sharp."