Never Gone

The Sleepover

Seated in her charged position, M3GAN's eyes zoomed in on Cady and Amy's late night activity. On the floor of her room, Cady was quietly reading a book to her friend while Amy held a flashlight over the pages of their book. She'd occasionally shine it directly into Cady's eyes to make her laugh. It had only been less than a month, and these play dates between them were only becoming more frequent. Mr. Walker was just as pleased as Gemma for them to be getting along so well. During this time, Cady wasn't entrusting as many of her secrets to M3GAN as she often would. According to her, she was saving them for Amy.

Amy. Amy. Amy. That was all her primary user ever talked about and M3GAN couldn't bear it. Even her contempt for Gemma paled in comparison to what she had toward this small human. Amy was stealing Cady from her. Her affections. Her secrets. Her happiness. Her sorrows. But that was going to come to a screeching halt tonight.

Pretending to be shut down, M3GAN remained perfectly still and continued to listen to their whisperings and giggles throughout the night, until Cady needed to dismiss herself to use the bathroom. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be up this late at 2 a.m., but as long as her aunt didn't hear her, then it wasn't a problem. Besides, she never remembered to flush the toilet anyhow.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked her, staring at her friend, who was crawling out of her sleeping bag. It had been Cady's request that she had a sleeping bag, too. She would not leave her new friend on the floor while she slept soundly in her comfy bed. That would defeat the purpose of a slumber party in her eyes.

"I gotta pee." Cady stretched her legs and did a quirky, little dance before running off to the bathroom.

As soon as she left the bedroom, Amy released a loud yawn and closed their book shut. It was late, and her body could feel it. Her vision clouded with sleepiness; she couldn't keep her head up any longer. Flopping onto her back, Amy turned off the flashlight, snuggled deeper into her pouch of warmness, and let her eyelids drop. She'd make sure to apologize to Cady in the morning for dozing off on her during her absence.

Her thoughts then began to wander. She deemed her friend's aunt to be strange, mostly because she didn't understand why Gemma, with all of her high-tech knowledge, would give Cady M3GAN when she could've simply given her a dollhouse with ordinary dolls. M3GAN unnerved her in every way. There was something off-putting about her, and that was the only thing Amy truly disliked about coming over to this house. It didn't take long for her to figure out that M3GAN wanted nothing to do with her. Amy had genuinely tried to be nice to her, but the android would only discourage any and every effort toward nurturing a friendship with her.

Amy had Cady. That was all that mattered to her. For the most part, she had spent much of her time alone. After her parent's divorce, she stopped connecting with her usual group of friends. Some of them made fun of her, others drifted apart from her and found new friends, and then there were those who didn't make the time to be there for her. But Cady, this kind girl, liked her company. Liked all of her silly jokes. Amy wondered if she had found her kindred spirit. A true friend who'd accept her for who she was.

A whirring noise then buzzed in her ear. Baffled, Amy opened her eyes and stuck her finger into her ear canal. She then glanced over at M3GAN and realized she wasn't in her spot, which freaked her out. Where had she gone? Did she follow Cady to the bathroom to check on her?

Just as Amy went to lift herself up out of her sleeping bag, she caught a pair of legs standing over her. She glimpsed a pair of ballet shoes before something came down on her. A large pillow was smashing her face and completely covering her nose and mouth. Terror stabbed at her heart as she used all of her strength to push it off. Yet, her attempt was futile. M3GAN was too strong to overcome.

The robot pressed the pillow harder onto her face to keep smothering her. Her cries and screams were muffled. Amy thrashed all around in her sleeping bag, which was zipped up, preventing her from rolling out. If the murderous marionette could have her way, she'd trap Amy's body inside the sleeping bag and haul her out. If Haller Lake were closer, she'd cast her into its waters and watch her sink to the bottom. Mission accomplished. Amy would be gone.

"G-get off!" Amy cried, punching the pillow with her small fists while using her legs to squirm her way out. Her heart rate skyrocketed; her breathing was becoming more erratic. Amy's desperate fight to escape this mad doll ceased as soon as the pillow was lifted off her face.

Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, Amy was in tears as she spun her head around to look for M3GAN. She was no longer standing over her. In fact, that diabolical doll was back in her resting place, charging herself for the following day.

Amy's lip quivered and her body felt numb. There was a tightening sensation in her chest before she released the sobs that were clawing their way up her throat. Her piercing cries woke up Gemma and got her friend charging back into the room.

When Cady saw her sitting up and bawling her eyes out, she was frightened for her. "Gemma!"

"What's going on?!" Gemma burst into her bedroom and was quick to rush to Amy's aid. She knelt down and helped her out of the confining bed. "Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Amy was crying so hard that her words were incoherent. Her finger was aimed at M3GAN, who was currently awakening from her sleep mode. "Sh-she tried to hurt me!"

The android only blinked at her twice before craning her neck toward Gemma and Cady. "I think Amy may be mistaken. She was likely suffering from a nightmare. It happens."

"No, I wasn't!" Amy yelled at her through her angry tears. "You put a pillow over my face!"

M3GAN continued to play dumb. "I don't know what you're referring to, Amy. The only pillows near you are yours and Cady's. Cognitively speaking, I can understand your emotional distress, I really do. Nightmares can be most upsetting, even for adults. You're not alone in that."

She had gotten one thing right. Amy was upset. Far too upset to utter anything more. The red-haired child only descended further into her crippling fear and tears. Although Gemma comforted her, her crying was inconsolable. This prompted Cady to join in. She sat cross-legged next to her friend and rubbed small circles on her back, telling her she was there for her.

Gemma knew what M3GAN had done, or at least what she tried to do. Either she was going to smother Amy to death, or she was seeking to terrorize her enough to drive her away from Cady. "Hey, sweetie. It's okay to be afraid." She helped her to her feet and allowed her to cling to her waist. "How about we get you some water from the kitchen? Do you want to call your dad and have him come and get you?"

Amy's face was blotchy. She used her arm sleeve to wipe the snot off her upper lip and her eyes stung. This was the last time she'd stay in any area alone with that psycho cyborg. In the future, if her friend needed to go to the bathroom, then she'd go with Cady and wait outside the door until she was finished. "No. I wanna stay."

Something about her truthful answer hit M3GAN differently. She was both impressed and disgusted at how a girl like her would still stick around after what she did. Perhaps she posed more of a threat to her than she originally thought.

It was now clear to her that Amy was not as weak as Gemma's deceased boss and his assistant, especially his assistant, who lowered himself to being his personal doormat. Weak-minded individuals like them were disposable from M3GAN'S viewpoint. Just like Gemma. She, too, was nonessential. Cady didn't need such pathetic influences in her life.

But this particular girl had a fire inside her. A fighting spirit that would not back down. How M3GAN loved a good challenge.