contAIned

Chapter Seven

Lex's PoV

I could see the deliberation in Melody's eyes; she wanted to leave us to find something to help Aidan but she was also scared of leaving us two to fight for ourselves should any other red eyed robots come around. After all, they had known that over 80% of the total robots from Bradley Prince's inventory had now been overridden and set to kill Bradley Prince - and any human after that.

"Go." I ordered her as I shifted my weight from her to India. The two of us made our way to the closest wall for me to lean up against as India cowered beside me. Melody nodded resolutely and took off with speed, going to find something that Aidan could use against this red eyed robot. India's eyes remained on my neck, clearly taking in the bruise that was forming from how tight the robots hand was.
My eyes, however, stayed on Aidan. Somehow he'd managed to hear my croak for his name when I was close to passing out and he didn't hesitate, he ran straight to my aid and began the fight with the robot. The fight looked tough too, both of them athletic and programme with martial arts training. Watching them felt like I was watching a movie; as each one threw a punch, the other ducked or blocked it and counteracted it. They were both very highly skilled, though you could see that Aidan was programmed with more moves than the other one.

"This is truly horrifying." India whispered to me, hoping not to catch the attention of any robots that may have been hiding in the shadows. "That was barely even a second. I'd only stepped back to speak with Melody... We hadn't even noticed..." Her sentence faded out, the reality hitting her hard enough not to want to repeat it. She hugged me tightly, her body shaking in fear as her arms enveloped me, her head resting on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Shh." I soothed, my hand stroking her hair. My voice was still raspy but I was feeling better, glad that I was out of that situation and safe again. "It's not your fault. None of this is your fault." My shoulder felt damp and as I pulled India away from me, I could see her cheeks streaked with tears.

"I'm scared, Lex. Scared we'll get caught by a robot, scared I'll die, scared you'll die." She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, following that by wiping the back of her hand on her trouser leg. "Seeing you there, feeling helpless, I don't want to feel that again." I grabbed her shoulders and held her at arms length.

"Indy, I love you so much, but right now we cannot think about the worst cases. We need to think about what we can do to protect ourselves. As much as I hated you for dragging me to that bloody sales pitch," We both let out a sad, breathy laugh, "We are now better off than we were. We wouldn't have known what had happened if we were at home. We'd have been unprepared. And, look who we have by our sides; two of the most expensive AIs who have linked with us without contracts and are willing to risk their lives for us." We both looked over to Aidan, who was still locked in a battle with the robot, and Melody who suddenly skidded back into our eyesight clutching what looked like metal bars from a gate.

"Aidan, catch!" She threw one at Aidan, who caught it effortlessly and in one swoop stabbed it straight into the chest of the robot. A sizzling, cracking sound for a second before the red eyes faded to black, the robot crumpling to the floor like a dead weight. Aidan brushed himself down, straightened his shirt and walked back to us. Before anyone could even congratulate him, he was beside me pulling me into a hug.

"Lexi, I'm so incredibly sorry. Please forgive me. I shouldn't have let myself get distracted like that. If you wish, I can shut myself down now. Just say the words and-" it was scarily human of him, his emotions seeming real as he held my hands to express his sorrow.

"No." I interrupted him, which seemed to surprise him. He remained silent whilst he waited for me to continue. "It was no one's fault. I don't want anyone to feel like it was or shut down or anything. We are all we have, let's just keep going and find somewhere safe to-" It was my turn to be interrupted by a robot, but not one that I wanted it to be.

"Human DNA detected, scanning for Bradley Prince."

"Fuck." India breathed out. Melody put an arm around her shoulders and closed in, her eyes scanning the area for the robot. Aidan mirrored that with me.

"I promise I won't let that happen to you again." He whispered to me as we began walking slowly and quietly, assessing every shadow before we stepped near it. Melody handed myself and India a metal gate post each, the end had a pretty decorative design which was a diamond shape - perfectly sharp to stab hacked robots. India and I exchanged glances at each other as we held our new weapons, gulping down any fear we may have had knowing that we needed to soldier on.

"Human DNA detected, scanning for Bradley Prince."

"Oh God." India but her lips together as she let out a sob, her eyebrows furrowed together. "We're going to die."

"India, please. You need to try to stay calm and quiet." Melody stroked her arm to try and soothe her. Aidan wasn't as nice to India as he had been to me.

"Shh!" His eyes narrowed at her. It was weird to see how they changed their persona dependent on who they had linked with and who they were around. I shot Aidan a glare to tell him to be nice to my friend. He offered me a sorry smile.

"Human DNA detected, scanning for Bradley Prince." We tiptoed in silence, our breathing so quiet as we went round a car to cross the road. It didn't take long, just like last time. That split second where Aidan and I had begun to cross the road and Melody and India hadn't yet.
India's ear piercing scream caught us off guard, I jumped at the sound and then spun round to see two robots, one fighting Melody, the other attacking India - her metal pole laying out of her reach.

"Aidan, let's go!" I called as we both took off in a synchronised run, Aidan heading to Melody as I ran to India. This was going to end one of two ways. Let's find out which it was going to be.