Rogue *EDITING*

Life And Death

Father stopped in his tracks. He regained posture alarmingly well.

"How long have you been eavesdropping, Avis?" He asks me.

He doesn't deserve a real answer "Long enough." I reply.

He gives a half smile, and starts to speak, "Avis... I don't know what you think you're doing, but you're not going to get what you want. I am the adult here. I'm the one wh-"

"Shut up." I cut him off, genuinely hoping he'll stop so I can actually say something for once.

Father only pauses for a second, yet he continues, "I'm the one who makes the rules. After all, I am the one who created you, and I can deactivate you whenever I please. You're little more than a failed project in my book, I just need to go back to the drawing board..."

"Shut up" I say, louder this time.

"Tsk tsk" Father says, "That's the very attitude I intend to code out of the next one I make. But first, you-"

"SHUT UP!" I'm yelling now, and I'm not gonna let Father keep talking. I've heard enough. "I'm not doing anything for you! I am not entitled to you because you created me! 'C-cause, I am my own person, I'm not a little kid. I'm not under your thumb anymore or-or brainwashed by Simon. I am done letting people tell me what to do! I'm gonna get away from all of that. And I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it now!" I don't realise until after I'm done speaking how much I'm shaking. Father isn't shaking, but I notice a vein on his forehead moving as he clenches his jaw. Mother starts to say something as I make my way to a lab table, one with a computer, turning my back to Father.

I choke for second a hand grabs my collar. I don't lose my balance though, and stare Father in the face. "Don't think I won't fight you, old man"

The next few moments were a blur, an out of body experience. It wasn't a clean fight, but neither of us dared to seriously injure. I just knew I couldn't, and Father wouldn't dare destroy functioning hardware. I had clumps of his hair in my hands. My shirt had small rips in it. But my back was to the table, and we went in for the brawl, and it wasn't long before I fell onto the table. I rolled off to the other side and stood up. The distance between us was short but felt like miles, yet he didn't dare move. He was paces away from the table. I was looking at the computer out of the corner of my eye. Source code. New source code. For his replacement. My eyes snap back to him. "So," I say. "You gonna finish this? How badly do you want to win? To kill me?"

I could hear him breathe. "I didn't want to hurt you, Avis, credit where credit is due. You are an intelligent machine. You have all the right components. But you're just too free. If I have to, I will break you. You can be repaired." He took a few steps forward.

"Maybe I can. However, you said something that's just so true. Free. You can't stop me anymore." I retorted.

"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I CREATED YOU!" He yelled, starting to come for me.

I had to do it. Destroy the computer. I grabbed the table and lifted hard. I closed my eyes until I heard the crash. As it died down to nothing but the computer fizzing I opened my eyes. I inhaled deeply but stopped as I examined the scene in front of me. Father was under the table. I knocked him down. No. That wasn't what I wanted, I just wanted him to stop I don't want it to end like this. I had to see if he was okay.

Mother grabbed me as I started to step forward, strongly whispering "Avis, no!" She pulled me into a hug and I held my head on her shoulder for a second and felt just a little better. "I'll check on him, okay? Don't look at him. It's gonna be alright. I'm here. The fighting stopped," she said, and everything felt a little better. She stepped towards Father and knelt down.

"Is- is he okay?" I quietly asked. Silence was the only response. "Mother?"

She turned and looked at me. "Avis. He's fine." With those words, she walked towards me, and put her arm around me, and walked out of the lab. "How about we go outside?" She asked me.

I nod in reply, and sniff a little. She stops for a second to grab my bag from my room for me. We finally made our way out to the front entrance. She takes my phone out of my bag and and hands it to me. "Call the lady at your group home. Go back." She says, looking me straight in the eye before pressing her lips together and setting her jaw. In a flash, she flung towards me and hugged me tight, her hand stroking my hair, before setting on my neck. She gave one final squeeze as she cried a little, then shortly after, took her hand off my neck to ruffle my hair as she let go. "I guess this is goodbye." She says.

I blink back a tear and think of what to say. "Yeah, I guess it is. I love you. Tell Father I'm sorry for yelling at him."

Mother looks at me one last time and barely whispers, "don't worry about it." She looks down at the ground after that.

With those last words I turn away and start walking into town. It's dead silent as a walk to a small side street and turn on my phone and turn airplane mode off. I go quickly to the phone and put it to my ear, pacing as it rings. It isn't long before Mrs Alton picks up. "Mrs Alton, it's Avis. I'm okay and I'm sorry and I wanna come back." I start crying a little bit again. "Can you come get me? I'm a couple towns over. I'll text Marin my location..."