Misfits (Original Version)

Chapter 3; Not His Fault

       I needed to eat dinner, but with Jeremy and Mack so on edge I didn't
know if I could turn on the stove without a fight breaking out. They
just stood on opposite sides of the room, staring at each other
silently. It was so uncomfortable. I had to break the uneasiness.

"So do either of you eat?"

        Mack shook her head.

Jeremy verbally responded, "I can, but then it requires cleaning I
don't desire to do."

"Desire, yeah right." Mack mumbled in reply.

"Just because I'm not organic doesn't mean I cannot want or not want
things." He backlashed.

"Organic my butt, you're just a walking computer, you can't want things!"

        I was not looking forward to another fight, I didn't have enough scab
left to fix Jeremy's face if something happened.

"Both of you shut up. I'm going to eat because I have to, but while
I'm cooking you aren't going to argue or I'll throw you out. Got it?"

        They nodded.
        Satisfied with my discipline, I went to the kitchen to make dinner.
The only thing I could reach was a box of macaroni and cheese, so I
settled on that. I put the water on to boil, and headed back over to
the weirdos just standing in my living room.

"Are you gonna stand there and glare, or can you come over here and
explain to me why you hate each other so much.?"

        They followed me as I went back into the kitchen to put the cheese in
my noodles. Mack had taken a seat at the table, but Jeremy stayed
standing, just watching me attempt to prepare my food. I couldn't
reach the top of the pot when it was on the stove. It wasn't like I
could stand and do it from above.

"Do you need help?" Jeremy fixed the silence.

"I'd appreciate that yeah" I muttered, a bit frustrated. The one who
wasn't supposed to be able to feel anything noticed my problem before
the butthurt, passionate, alien.

        Jeremy followed my instructions on how to finish it, and he put in in
a bowl for me. I took it gratefully, and spun around to the table
after grabbing a spoon. Mack was still sitting, resting her head on
her arm while glaring at Jeremy. She wouldn't stop scowling at him.
That was when I realized he wouldn't sit down.

Between bites, I invited him to take a seat, "Jeremy, you can sit ya know."

        He sat down next to me, directly across from Mack.

Curiosity grew the better of me, I had to know why she was so angry
with him, "So why do you hate each other so much?"

Jeremy was about to speak when Mack interrupted him, "Because he's a
government working android who made my life so far a living hell."

"I must disagree, figuring it was not my fault you were there in the
first place."

"You did the tests you moron."

"Under influence of programming I couldn't control."

"You did it smiling." Mack's voice grew uneven, like she was about to
start crying.

"Again, I had no idea what I was doing." Jeremy held a monotone voice.
Mack was right on one thing, he clearly didn't feel.

"What?" I was so confused, they weren't explaining anything at all.

"Hrrmph." Instead of answering, Mack just crossed her arms and looked
away pouting.

Jeremy was kind enough to properly respond, "I'm a prototype of a
special unit protocol android. I was built to simply do average tests
on subjects in whatever section they gave me. One of my main units was
hers, and I did a majority of tests on her, most of which I can
imagine where very painful."

"You wouldn't know pain if you were human." Mack spat.

"Let him finish," I commented, and let Jeremy continue.

"But since I was a prototype, they didn't have total control over my
programming yet, and somehow I was able to develop my own thoughts.
I'm not sure how. The thing was, because I could think on my own, and
they didn't know about it, after awhile I knew what I was doing to
her. Most of it stunted her growth or hurt her, but I wasn't aware of
what pain was," His voice quieted, "I didn't understand why she would
scream and claw and try to run. I assumed she was just misbehaving."
He became louder again. "But after a while, my underdeveloped
programming made me malfunction in an awful way, and I was supposed to
be decommissioned over a year ago. Instead, I ran away."

"That's pretty interesting," This whole thing was so much more complex
than I though before, " What way did you malfunction?"

His face scrunched in what looked like guilt, "It's better I not tell you."

Mack commented, "He went whack during a showing of his design. He
killed the scientists and the viewers, I watched it happen. That thing
is a murdering chink of metal."

That was great to know, "Watch your words Mack, I thought of you as a
thing before I figured out you were and alien."

She kept going, "No. I'm going to call him thing all I want. He
tortured me for years and years, not even trying to conceal that he
felt nothing towards my agony. He's an unfeeling killer machine. If he
malfunctions like he did all those years ago, you'd be dead where you
sit in a matter of seconds!"

Despite my urge to trust Mack's words, I rested my hand on Jeremy's
arm and denied her statement. "I'm sure nothing will happen, he's
perfectly fine to me."

"Don't call to me when you're being murdered by a computer."

Jeremy pushed up his glasses and stood before talking, "I just told
you I can think on my own. I highly doubt that I would do anything, I
can tell when it's going to happen."

"Liar"

"Would you like to step outside and get your attitude together before
you make me malfunction?"

        I nervously motioned for him to sit down, but he stayed still, not
breaking eye contact with Mack. She was fuming, he was focussed and
determined. If I wasn't about to be stuck in the middle of another
fight, I would've started to ship the two.
        Out of nowhere, Mack bolted across the table, tentacles outstretched
and grabbing for Jeremy. She tackled him to the ground, ripping off
his shirt and the artificial skin under it to reveal more metal.

"See? Nothing! He's not human, he's not living, and he never will be!
And look!" She ripped further down, to show a pallet of assorted
buttons, switches, and wires. "All done by programming and other
people's intentions." She looked down at him and hissed, "You don't
think on your own because you can't and never can"

        I did my best to pull Mack off of the surprised robot beneath her. I
blocked her behind me as she wiped her claws off, clearly content with
her job.

He stood up, refusing to look at either of us as he put his shirt back
on, "I'm sorry for what I did to you, but that's behind us now. I
believe our host would like it if we didn't fight." He sat back down
calmly.

"Fine." Mack stormed off to my wreck room.

I could only think of one thing. "I don't have enough scab to fix that."