Bought

Purchase

I was a little girl again, perched on the edge of my bed like a bird prepared for flight. My arm trembled as Mister Derpit slowly wound gauze around it.

"Destiny, that was very stupid of you to do," he growled.

"I just wanted to go outside," I mumbled to my shoes. "Why'd that guy have to attack me?"

"He was an Enforcer." A small grin creeped onto his face. "I will say, I think he was rather surprised to find a Product that close to the wall. Nobody has ever gotten so close to the facility boundaries before."

"I'm not a product, I'm Destiny."

"No, you have a barcode." Mister Derpit stood and pocketed the extra gauze. "Behave yourself. Stay in the facility." He shook his head. "But somehow I get the feeling you're going to be a handful."

"She's a handful."

My eyes flickered at the voice which swam in and out of earshot. I couldn't force my eyes open long enough to actually see what was going on, but I could sort of feel that I was sitting on something soft, almost velvety.

"We didn't come here to buy a product, Tyler," a voice I didn't recognize said. It sounded like a car, if a car had a voice.

"But I could really use some help around the house," a different voice, one that I didn't know, replied. This one sounded younger. It was probably Tyler.

"If you want a product then we'll look at the catalog."

"We have a great selection here." That was Derpit.

"But I don't want to sit here forever," Tyler said.  "She's right here.  Let's just buy her and go."

"How much is she?"

They were going to buy me?  The whole point of this stunt was for me to either escape or die trying, not be purchased!

I forced my eyes to cooperate and open.  I was still in the reception room, slumped into one of the armchairs that were sprinkled generously around the room.  Three people were talking just in front of me.  One was Mister Derpit, looking somewhere between nervous and excited.  Another was the sick-looking guy who had been here when I broke through the door.  The third person was a thickly muscled man, definitely the result of a genetic enhancement.  He frowned at the younger guy and I quickly made some connections.  Sick guy equals Tyler.  Big guy equals guardian.  And this Tyler guy wanted to buy me.

I hated it.

"You can't buy me!" I wanted to shout, but my mouth didn't cooperate and it came out sounding more like "mu man't my mee!"

Tyler gave me a weird look and Mister Derpit shrugged.  "It's just a strong taser.  That'll wear off."

"Here, scan me so I can pay for her," Tyler said, holding out his left arm.  A white patch had been stuck to his wrist, printed with a pattern of black and white boxes.  Mister Derpit scanned the patch and started the transaction on his handy tablet.

"This comes out of your allowance," the bulky man warned Tyler.  He shrugged.

"Maybe she'll grow on you."  He glanced at me again.  "Could you carry her?  I don't think she can walk, and . . ."  He glanced at the big guy's bulging arms.

The man approached me and hoisted me into the air, slinging me over his back as if it were the easiest thing in the universe.  His shoulder dug into my ribs as they finished up with the purchase.  Tyler and the man both put on airation masks to protect against the pollution outside.  I wasn't given one.

A hovercar was waiting outside for us.  I was tossed unceremoniously into the backseat, not even so much as buckled in.  The man climbed into the driver's seat as Tyler claimed shotgun.  The vehicle slowly pulled away from the facility.

"I don't like that stunt you pulled back there," the big guy growled.  I stopped trying to get my arms or legs to do what I was telling them (either run or strangle these people) and listened.

"What do you want from me, dad?" Tyler responded.  Aha.  So I was right.  This was a father-son thing.  "I'm serious.  I need help around the house."

"That was not the time to discuss it.  If you wanted a product, you should have mentioned it before we came."

"You're just worried about her getting out."

"Obviously. We arrived in the middle of her escape attempt. What more proof do you want that this is a bad idea?"

"I can handle her."

The dad grunted but didn't pursue the matter. I felt the car slow down and curve, probably meaning we pulled into some driveway. My new owners climbed out of the car. Seconds later my door opened and I was swung onto the dad's meaty shoulder once again.

I couldn't see where we were going, but I could see where we had come from.  A protective dome stretched high above my head, the iridescent glass shimmering in the bright sunlight from somewhere high above.  The ground had grass, actual green living grass, and trees.  I had only seen a tree once before.  One of the people who had purchased me kept a small tree in a wire cage within their house.  That tree had been scrawny and wilted, nothing like the pillars of wood I could see from my twisted position.

Obviously my new owners were very, very rich.

I heard the sound of a door sliding open and suddenly we were inside.  I was dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

"Make sure she behaves," Tyler's father growled.  He sealed the door shut with his ID Patch and marched away to some unknown destination.  I took the moment of respite to massage my aching ribs and look around.

The room was large and airy.  The walls had been painted a cream color and the floor was glittering marble.  Several doors led into other rooms and a single staircase stretched upwards, large enough for five or six people to walk side by side.

"Not much, but it's home," Tyler said.  "Come on, I'll show you around."

A house tour?  I'd never had one of those before.  Besides, how often does your captor offer you the chance to scope out your escape?