Deviant Heart

Chapter 24: The Release

Jan. 25th, 2040 11:15 am

Leo rolled Carl over to Luther, Alice and Hank. "They sent a nurse to go get her," Leo reported.

Alice grabbed Luther's hand and tugged on it. "Luther, is Clara going to leave with us today?"

The android smiled down at his adopted daughter. "Yes, little one. She is." A wide grin crossed Alice's face.

"Where's Markus?" Carl asked as he looked around.

Hank crossed his arms. "He, Connor and Kara went to see if they could get the car closer for Clara, that way she doesn't have to walk as much."

"Why'd Connor and Kara go, too?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hank shrugged.

"Ah, there they are," Luther said.

The group turned toward the door, where they saw the three androids walking and talking together. Kara was in the middle, Markus on her right and Connor on her left. The others didn't know why, but a strange aura seemed to radiate off of the three of them.

"Is it just me, or is it really intimidating seeing the three of them together like that?" Leo asked.

Everyone else slowly nodded.

Kara patted Connor's back when they got near the group, then asked everyone, "Is she good to go?"

"Yeah, a nurse went to get her," Hank answered.

Connor glanced in the direction of Clara's room, and noticed two nurses were panickedly whispering to each other. "Something's wrong."

The others looked at him in confusion, then a nurse quickly approached them. "Um, I'm terribly sorry about this, but Miss Manfred is not in her room. It appears she left on her own."

"WHAT?!" Hank exclaimed.

"Did she check herself out?" Carl calmly asked with a sigh.

"No, she hasn't been checked out yet. We think she's still in the hospital somewhere."
A memory of something that Clara mentioned to Markus crossed Connor's mind. He started to walk away from everyone.

"Connor! Where the hell are you going?" Hank called after him.

Connor turned slightly and called over his shoulder. "I'm going to check something." He went to an elevator, then pressed the button that would take him to the roof.

Clara stared out over the city, shivering against the brisk wind that blew over the roof of the hospital. She turned around and started to slowly walk through the snow covered rooftop garden. It was filled with flowers and bushes, and a handful of leafless trees gave light shade to the scattered benches. Her dark turtleneck sweater and jeans contrasted greatly against the bright white snow. As she walked, the snow crunched beneath her boots. She took a deep breath of the biting cold air, and a chill spread through her body, giving her goosebumps. It was cold, but she could still feel it. It assured her that she was still alive. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to guard against the wind.

"Everyone's worried about you, you know."

Clara dropped her chin to her chest, a smirk on her face. "How'd you know I was up here?"

The sound of crunching snow sounded behind her. "You mentioned to Markus that you heard the rooftop garden was quite beautiful, and that you wanted to visit it at least once before you were discharged... and so far you hadn't."

"... And if I wasn't up here? What then?"

"Then I would use my programming to find you. Wherever you may go."