Human Code

03 || Wendy

Wendy

*

Tears slid down Wendy's face as she watched Javier crash to the ground below. Her fingers trembled, gripping the roof's ledge. She failed him. She had snuck by the broken androids, up the flight of stairs, all to save him. Yet, she didn't. She couldn't. Wendy felt smaller than she ever had before.

"Wendy, come here." Mary tried to hold Wendy. She reached for the young child, placing her hands on her shoulder as she wiped tears from her face, but Wendy shook her head. She stepped back, away from the ledge. Mary frowned. "No, Wendy, come here."

Wendy sniffed. She turned her gaze to Will, who reached for her, too. "Peter can't die..." she whispered.

Will kneeled in front of her, rain dripping from his hair. "Wendy, he saved us, he—"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Wendy bit her lip. "But I didn't save him," she whimpered. "A Lost girl never leaves Peter Pan behind."

"Help me here," he whispered, looking up at Mary. "Say something."

Wendy glanced up at Mary as tears welled up in her eyes. She wanted Mary to say something; say anything from deep in her heart. But the older woman had the same amount of tears. She couldn't open her mouth. Her face scrunched up to keep from openly crying; something Wendy couldn't do.

Wendy slid her hand over her nose as thunder roared overhead. She took one glance over the edge of the roof and spotted flashing lights in the distance. Police lights. Her heart crashed as she looked down at Javier's destroyed body once more.

"They're coming." Covering her mouth, Mary spoke into her palm. "They're going to scoop up the androids."

Wendy's eyes widened. As Will stood and walked to the edge, her mind raced. She thought of the horrible things that happened to the androids. The police had killed them on the news, and people were calling for their removal for months. She had never been blind to the truth, she was aware. But because Javier was sweet, gentle, and cared for her, she knew it couldn't be all machines. If they came to remove the broken droids, what would happen to her brother?

"What'll they do to them?" Will turned to Mary. "They're shut off, right?"

"Yeah." Sighing, Mary stood next to him. "All of them are. They'll probably remove each of their brands and—"

"No!" Not wasting any time, Wendy pushed off the ledge. With tears on her cheeks and her hands in fists, she pumped her legs to run down the stairs.

"Wendy!" Mary and Will called for her, but she didn't stop. Her mind was filled with the worst. If they were coming to scoop up and destroy the remains of the androids, then what would happen to Javier? She understood that his body was destroyed, but what if it was just his body? What if there was a piece of him left? He wasn't like the empty androids' bodies on the floor. He was real, full of life; he had a soul just like every other human.

"Bionics said we can just take them all," a voice echoed through the halls as Wendy hurried down the stairs to the facility's lowest levels. Jumping the last two steps, she needed to catch them before they started.

"And do what with them?" another voice asked. "They're all dead, aren't they? And this one—"

The facility's door was wide open. Wendy passed the android charging pods buzzing with life and crashed into the entrance's side. Her small hands gripped the metal doorframe. With wide eyes, she spotted three officers outside. One of them hovered over Javier's fallen body.

Wendy watched as he lifted her brother's head enough to see his face. The sides were scratched because of the fall. His eyes were white. But Wendy saw a flicker of life; a little blue light in the corner.

He's alive!

"This one probably attacked the other one—" The officer dropped Javier's head to grab Rory's. "—and this shows how messed up these machines are, killing each other."

"No!" Wendy took three quick steps outside and froze in front of the men. They each looked at her, confused. One of them slowly approached with a hand outstretched. Wendy shook her head. "No, that's my brother, he saved us!"

"Little girl," the officer kneeled in front of her, "why are you here? Is there someone with you?"

As if summoned by his words, Mary and Will came outside. Seeing the officers, they quickly moved in front of Wendy to defend her. But she didn't need them to; she wanted the police officers to understand and listen.

The officer stood and looked at Mary. "Ms. Jordan, you're here, too?" He glanced at the droids. "We have been looking for your parents, talking via email, and—"

Wendy didn't care what they had to say, didn't care what Mary's parents had ordered everyone to do. She only cared about Javier; her brother's life was above everyone else's. Yet, as she tried to move forward, Will reached out and grabbed her hand. "Wait, stop," he whispered.

She ignored him and looked at the officers who'd already made their decision. "My brother didn't hurt anyone," she said. "He saved everyone. He saved the world. He's Peter Pan."

The officer hovering over Javier's body raised his eyebrows. A disappointed head shake followed. "Little girl—"

"Wendy." She tried to sniff away her tears. "My name is Wendy."

"Okay." The officer stood and moved beside the others. "Wendy, these androids have gone around the city attacking people. And if they hadn't randomly shut down, then—"

"No!" Wendy tried to pull herself free from Will's grasp. "Mary put them to sleep! And my brother stopped him—" she pointed at Rory. "—from hurting more people. He's a hero!"

"Look, Wendy," Mary sighed as she made her way over to the little girl and cupped her face, "Javier knew what he was doing when he jumped. He knew this was it. He saved us, yes, and I'll always love him for that."

"Will you?" Wendy bit her bottom lip so hard it hurt. Another tear fell from her eye. "If you love him then can you look at him and see he is still alive?"

Mary blinked, wiping at her own tears. "Wendy, I—"

"Javi did what he did because he is brave! He wants the best for everyone!" Wendy snatched her hand out of Will's. "And if you know that and believe that, then you'll bring him back because he is not dead."

Slowly, Mary pushed herself to a stand. She saw the pain in little Wendy's eyes and bit back her cry. "Wendy, Javi is gone...."

"Look at him." Wendy pointed at Javier's fallen body. "He's still in there. My brother is still there. And if you love him, if you want to make this right, you will bring him back."

Mary covered her mouth as she glanced back at Javier and Rory. The officers gave her the space to walk over to them. She lifted their heads, one at a time, before holding Javier's steadily in her hand. Her shoulder trembled as she slid his body closer to hers.

Behind her, Wendy sniffed again. "All he wanted was for you to see him again," she whispered, wiping her eyes. "He just wanted everyone to love him... was that so wrong?"

Wendy's eyes passed over everyone; Will and the officers included. "He just wants people to accept him..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "So please... bring him back and love him like I did." When she opened her eyes again, tears rimmed her eyes. "Make him feel real."