Human Code

18 || E I G H T E E N

"I think all of us 'bots' have a few loose screws. Like humans, we're not perfect and a little crazy."

*

The sound of a slow clap hit my ears before the echo of running feet could. While the noise created by running droids above us made way like a brewing storm, I followed Axe's anxious gaze out into the hall that joined the room. A shadow approached us, taking long, wide steps in the dark. I could make out the hands as they met.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

My fingers dug into the handrest of the android-chair.

"I didn't know before..." Axe's hand slid over my shoulder as he moved around me. His fingers traced the lines of my sweater. "It would make me mad, you know, being compared to someone I'd never amount to be. I lack the materials, the fragments of a human body. A soul. You know that feeling, right?"

Being compared to my real self... being reminded of the life I had when I was alive...

"But he... he found a way to make it work, and not only for me but for everyone else, too. It's... amazing. To be human. It's... there... I can touch it, feel it..."

He moved forward, standing directly in front of me, blocking the path to the hall. I couldn't see who approached, but my computers could. My sensors locked onto a droid that could not only sync and share data but had a beacon more recognizable than my own.

Android AX1.

But... how?

"Rory..." His name left me like a whisper, too quiet to echo, but just loud enough that Axe turned around to look at me, eyes wide. For a moment, I locked onto his frightened stare until I saw the eyes that brought back too many memories, many thoughts. A pressure came over me and I thought a rock had fallen, crushing me.

But there wasn't a rock.

"Javi." Rory's eyes had changed. They weren't red like they'd been, but blue. Bright blue. And their gaze moved over me as he approached Axe. When they stood side by side, he lifted his hand, stroking his finger over the other droid's arm until he swooped his long, slender fingers around his neck. I couldn't help but watch, almost mesmerized, as his fingertips were suddenly lost in his hair. "How are you?"

How was I?

"Rory!" I tugged at my bands, fighting against the seat that kept me still. The feel of metal digging into my skin made me hiss, but I didn't look away. I kept my eyes on him, on his growing smile. "Rory, get me out of here!"

Rory's blond hair fell over his eyes as he dipped his head. His fingers pulled Axe's face closer to his.

I pulled my arms up again, but no luck. "Look, I'm glad you're working again. But, listen to me, this bot, this Axe, he isn't—"

"You?" Rory batted his lashes. "You think I don't know that?"

My mouth clamped shut, and I swallowed... nothing. Air. Confusion. Silence tasted like salt.

Rory, what are you doing?

"Funny little thing..." Rory laughed and turned his head, so his nose brushed against Axe's. "Do you see? I've never met a human like him. A heart and mind so strong, compassion that knows no bounds."

Axe slowly closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. One I heard. Felt. I looked down at my chest, confused.

What's going on?

"But, he didn't live long, anyway. Died so young, poor thing." Rory's eyes moved back in my direction and every memory I had of him came flooding back, like waves crashing against the sands. I squeezed my eyes and tried to push away the thought of the bot that was my friend, of the droid that held my hand in my darkest hour. I'd seen him through his creation, through his initial upload. Been there through his every step; his first step.

And he was there for mine...

My re-creation...

My initial upload...

My eyes snapped open. "I saw you... you were broken..." It wasn't a question or a statement. What I said was a thought, a moment of weakness. I could feel the edges of my eyes burn.

Tears. But droids don't cry.

"No." Rory lay his head upon Axe's but kept his eyes on me. "I was never broken. I just pretended to be."

Mary had diagnosed him as a broken droid, just like the rest of them. Had she gotten it wrong, and that's how he was... functioning? He'd been in my house, trying to help me... but now he was here, working against me? Looking away from the two of them, I looked back at the screens in search of her, of Mary, Will, and Wendy.

The halls were empty.

"I wanted Mary to think I was broken. Red eyes? Easy to fake." As Rory spoke, he moved away from Axe and approached me. The smile on his face dropped. "And I know you're wondering why, but it isn't easy to explain. Your compassion only went so far, and just like the rest of the world ignoring what you became, you ignored what I could've been..."

He kneeled before me, hands on my knees, and I couldn't help but listen to him and look in his eyes. Yet, even with our eyes locked, holding stares, I could see Axe's longing gaze behind him; red eyes glowing brightly.

"Do you remember what I was, Javi?" he whispered.

I nodded. The heaviness in my chest spread through my arms, my legs. And my power level...

"Battery at eighty-eight percent."

"I didn't have a face. A voice. I was just coding on a screen." He tapped my legs rhythmically. "But my response time was so fast, so advance, I was Mary's ticket into UIC. Her parents' path into money. And yet..."

His hands stopped moving. His brow pulled together, tight, with deep lines. Lines that seemed to create shadows on his face. All the signals he let out minutes before vanished, as though they'd never been.

He was broken. Like the others. He had to be.

"It's funny how toys can get tossed aside, you know?" Rory stood and I followed him with my eyes. He reached one hand back for Axe to grab. Their fingers met before their palms could touch, then closed. "The thrill and excitement die down so quickly..."

"Rory, what are you talking about?" I struggled in my chair again. "Mary never, I never—"

"Don't lie." Rory shook his head. "You both forgot about me like I was yesterday's news. And I was put here, down here, every day, with all of these replicas who just..."

He turned to Axe, and the two of them locked eyes. Smiled. Reached to place their hands on each other's shoulders. "These bots just needed someone to love them..."

A part of me felt sick. Was that how Rory felt? I considered him family. He was special to me. And Mary, too. I knew it. If he'd only seen the look in her eyes when she told me he had started to break down, he'd understand what he said was wrong. All wrong.

But as he and Axe turned to look at me, forehead pressed together at the temple, I had a feeling none of that mattered.

What was I missing?

"Rory, I don't understand... What does this have to do with me? With Wendy? Why did you have to—"

"Because," Rory cut me off before I could finish. "I think Axe deserves a mind just like yours, that life you take for granted."

My sensors pinged, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

But Rory kept talking. "And once I transfer all of that data of yours, they'll all have a brain just like you. And you can end up just like me."

What?