Android

20

After Jupiter's chilling release of information, I found myself frozen in my seat, unable to say what I was thinking or feeling or anything really. It all sounded completely pull your hair out insane, but somehow it all made sense somehow. "That's why we moved in with your parents you know," Jupiter finally said after a painfully long silence. "We met with your parents and they were the ones who came up with our cover story for moving in. The bull about our "mother" needing a place for us to stay was all thought up by them."

Nodding slowly, I shifted in my chair. "Why?" I asked.

"Titan and his droids were getting to close for comfort, so we wanted to be as close as possible in case something happened." Jupiter anxiously rubbed his knees. "It was so hard Abigail, it was so hard looking you in the eye, and knowing that you didn't know who we were and what might be coming." He choked.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I stood up to look at the photos on the wall. "Why didn't I know though? Don't you think this could've all been easily prevented if I knew." I finally managed to say. "And why don't I remember any of this?" I asked, my voice coming out colder then I had been expecting.

Unaffected by my change of voice, Jupiter stood up as well. "Neptune put you in a hypnotic state. She erased your memory to protect you. If you knew, you'd be more vulnerable. You would've eventually remembered though, Neptune said it would wear off with age," Jupiter said and all in an instant my knees were weakened.

The nightmare.

Oh my gosh the nightmare.

That hadn't been a nightmare or a premonition after all, it had been a memory.

The nightmare was a memory of what happened.

Suddenly, cold all over, I sat back down in my chair rubbing my arms.

"I'm sorry if this too much for you Abi-"

"Where are my siblings?" I interrupted.

"Your siblings-"

"And my parents. Where are they? Where's my family?" I asked, looking up at him. Instantly Jupiter's face fell, making my heart heavy.

"They didn't make it Abigail. You were the only one we could save," He said solemnly. Feeling my insides jerk and my ability to breath become labored, I shot up to my feet and kicked my chair over. "Abigail don't. Don't do that." Jupiter pleaded, reaching out to grab my arm but I shoved him off before storming out of the room.

Once I got out of that eerie office room I stormed back into the living room where the other four were standing around and talking. When they saw me, they all became quiet, and Pluto stepped out from their conversation.

"Did Jupiter-" He begin to say, but I cut him off by shoving his chest.

"You promised! You promised nothing would happen to us! You said you were going to protect us!" I shouted bitterly at him and Pluto's face fell.

"It wasn't my fault Abigail! We were outnumbered! It was unfortunate circumstances; I can't help those!" He shouted back.

"Unfortunate circumstances? You call me losing my entire family unfortunate circumstances? That's my family! You could've prevented this, if you had just told Jupiter to come with us instead! There was one guy in the office building, and you couldn't even handle him!" I screamed at him, pushing him again. When I pushed him the second time, the others reached forward to grab me, but Pluto held up a hand to stop them.

"I'm sorry Abigail, I'm so sorry that went the way it did. It wasn't the plan. I tried to protect you four, but I couldn't do it. I'm not programmed for serious combat," He said softly, his voice calmer but still pained.

"That fight in the office wasn't serious combat! I could've held my own better. Because of you Toby got caught, Gemma was gunned down by tranquilizers and Naomi got dragged off! You shouldn't have come with us!"

At that, I tasted the salty sting of tears on the tip of my tongue as Pluto exhaled sharply.

"Abigail...please...I'm sorry..." He whispered as he reached out to grab my shoulder, but I smacked his hand away.

"Don't. Touch. Me. Jupiter should've been there...not you..." I breathed and his jaw clenched but he said nothing more. After that, I hugged myself as I quietly exited the room, wanting to go back to the one I woke up in. At first it seemed like they were going to just let me go and be alone but when I got to the top of the stairs, I heard Jupiter come up behind me.

"Abigail..."

When I heard him say my name, I quickly turned around and hugged him tightly. Without hesitation he hugged me back as I started to cry softly against his chest. I felt suffocated by loss right now, the worst pain I'd ever felt in my entire life. It wasn't just pain for my family though, it was also pain for Mac because you didn't have to be a genius to guess his fate. "Shhh...shhh it'll be okay...it's okay...I'm here..." Jupiter reassured as he gently detached my arms from his waist and picked me up. He then carried me down the hall and to the room. Weakly, I laid my head against his chest with a sniffle as I squeezed my eyes shut. His chest was warm, warm like a heating pad and it was comforting. "Here we are...nice and cozy..." He hummed as he placed me down on the bed and when he did, I grabbed his arm fast so he wouldn't walk off.

"C-Can... Can, you stay with me?" I whispered. Smiling sympathetically, Jupiter nodded as he walked around to the other side of the bed and laid down next to me. "Hold me?" I asked, catching both of us by surprise. Jupiter didn't complain though, instead he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back into his chest. With a content sigh, I then closed my eyes as I took deep breaths to attempt to sooth the ache in my chest. The only person I had ever shared a bed with was my mom when I got scared, or Naomi when she got scared.

Those were memories that stung now, instead of bringing me peace.

"I'm sorry Abigail. I told Pluto and everyone else we should've told you sooner." Jupiter then whispered. Nodding slowly, I rested my head on his chest as I noticed a black lightning bolt tattoo through his shirt right below his collarbone. It must be a marking from the lab or something. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it before.

"Did you get that tattoo from Kingsley?" I sniffled.

"No, I did it to myself. I'm the only droid with one. I like how it sets me apart." He explained.

Sighing heavily, I closed my eyes. "How do I know you aren't a monster?"

"Because you're laying your head on my chest, aren't you?" He asked softly.

Inhaling deeply, I then repositioned my ear, so it was over heart.

Instead of hearing the steady heart beat you'd expect though, all I could hear was a soft

tick tick tick.

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Yay! I finally got to update! I'm sorry it's uneventful, I was going to shoot for something more exciting, but I didn't want to make to much happen at once. Sometimes it's better to focus on what's happening in the moment ya know?

-Mari.