The Wrong Side

Chapter 7

"Are you insane?" Ada asks.

After I arrived with the soldier, Ada took the girl downstairs where I had gotten my operations and treated her injury. When she was declared alright, Ada had grabbed me by my ear, dragged me upstairs and started lecturing.

"I dunno," I reply with a shrug. "Maybe."

"What were you thinking?"

"That she was going to die?" I try desperately.

Ada rolls her eyes. Whenever she does stuff like that, I really want to meet her programer because he did an absolutely fantastic job with her.

"Venning doesn't want you interacting with anyone from either sides. Why did you bring a soldier here?"

"She was dying!" I repeat angrily.

Ada shakes her head. "She was fine! The bullet didn't even hit her. She may just have bruised ribs but you have to call Venning about this. You have to clean up this mess. I'm completely uninvolved in this."

I nod as she turns away and goes into the kitchen. "Can you make me something to eat?" I ask and she stabs a knife into a cutting board with enough force that it stands up on its own. I back away slowly and make my way to find the video-phone which is on my desk in my room. I've only had to call Venning once before and that was three years ago, when I had accidentally shut down Ada. He had to come over and reboot her.

I dial his office's number on the touch screen and after a few seconds, a woman with white teeth, red lipstick, blonde hair and a bright fake smile answers.

"Doctor Venning's office. Ca-"

I hang up before she can continue. If he's not available when I first call, I'm to wait a minute, then call again. If he's still not there, I call three times right after the second and that way he'll know it's me. He told me that he instructed his assistants to not call back if they experience this. Last time I called, the assistant was a different woman. She seemed like a nice lady and not fake like the woman who had just answered me.

I count to sixty and call again. The assistant picks up and I end the call almost instantly. I call again, and again, and again. Each time, I get the same face appearing on the screen and each time I hang up before the woman can speak. I take a deep breath, realizing that I have no idea what I would say to Venning even if he was available.

Out of nowhere, a loud ring resonates from the video-phone, resting on my desk. I've never had anyone call the house before and the sound makes me jump. I answer the call hesitantly and the assistant's fake smile fills up the screen. I almost fall out of my chair at the sight of her teeth close up. When I recover, I hear the woman talking in a false high voice that sounds like she's scolding a young child.

"-prank calls are not tolerated here at the Endurance. Doctor Venning is a very busy and important man-"

"Yeah, I know," I mutter through gritted teeth and I end the call. I lean back in the swivel chair and press the palms of my hands against my forehead in exasperation. It feels weird with my artificial arm. I don't get the same sensations with it and I honestly miss my real one at times like this.

The phone rings again. I answer it and who should be calling but Venning's assistant? I end the call before she can open her stupid mouth and I add that number to the reject list. If Venning is going to call me, he'll have to call me on his phone and not with his office's.

I let my head fall onto my arm which is laying on the desk. When my head hits my upper arm, the lower part swings and hits the desk with a satisfying thud. There's a mechanical pencil and paper within my reach. The paper has a few physics calculations scribbled on it. Ada had been teaching me earlier and the paper is what remains of the lesson. I had been trying to get used to the sensation of writing with my new arm with no luck. I wish that I was left handed in this situation.