Asleep (Completed)

Chapter One

When I woke up, never had I imagined what was actually going to happen to me.
My eyes peered open. I breathed in deeply as I looked around my room. It was very nice and clean, very organized as always. I looked over, my beautifully brown curled hair getting in my face, and saw him. My boyfriend was asleep still, probably dreaming. I sat up and yawned, stretching awkwardly and then sitting on the edge of the bed. My joints made a creaking noise and I sighed.
"Joint parts are the worse these days," I mutter with distaste. "It's all about the hands," I continue on. He woke up with a loud groan and lightly slapped my naked thigh.
"Beck, you need to shut up sometimes. You're driving me insane," he laughed and sat up as well.
I looked down at my small hands. Like my hands, I was small. I'm not sure if that's just how my robot body is or if it's because that's how I see myself. I'm quite small compared to others. Yes, I'm a doctor, but I'm so insignificant.
I looked over at him and blushed slightly. I had just realized that I was mostly nude and sighed, more of a happy sigh mixed with an appealing giggle.
"Well, maybe you need to be louder", I retorted a bit harshly but only to make a point. I stared at his delightful body. He was also mostly nude which wasn't too bad but it made me nervous. He was tall, handsome, and popular. His brown puffed up hair, perfectly detailed eyes, and straight white teeth made him so attractive among others. It was a surprise he could afford such a body, but he was rich.
He chuckled a bit and then laid back down, hoping to fall back asleep sometime soon. I stood up and walked up to my dresser which had random robot parts all over it. I was an amazing mechanic as well as a genius doctor. I put on my normal clothes, a black shirt and baige pants, and then put my lab coat over. The hospital wasn't very far from my house so I could walk there.
I stared at myself. Humans no longer existed, just cyborgs. Well, for the most part, at least. Everyone was converted into a cyborg regardless of money but if you rebelled and hid then you could be killed. Still, some people chose that life. Personally, I was born and immediately turned into a cyborg. My first cybernetic parts were my eyes. I was born blind but thankfully the doctors could fix it quite easily. That's why I became a doctor; to save others. I love saving people, and nothing grosses me out so that's good.
"See you later, Luke," I whispered and headed out.
My black high heels clicked against the ground as I walked out of my house. Immediately, I realized something was wrong. It was very quiet near my house but as I got closer to the hospital I could see many people swarmed the large building. I gasped from awe. Thousands of cyborgs banged against the hospital doors and windows. I found my way to the back entrance and got into the hospital. It was a mess, nurses whizzed by and doctors screamed in terror.
"Becky?! Is that you?! Thank goodness you're okay!"
I turned around quickly and smiled a bit when I saw the old lady I said hello to in the afternoons. I think her name is Maggie but I'm not exactly sure.
"What's happening?" I shout and try and figure it out.
"You know how cyborgs can't get virus' anymore? Well, there's been a hacking, and everyone's been dying immediately. More than a hundred deaths have been already counted for. The best part is, in my opinion, that the first victim didn't die, she slipped into a coma," she replied in an excited way. "Since you're a doctor I think you should check it out. Third floor, room 340," she added and left calmy.
The old lady was acting suspiciously but I had more important things to worry about.
I ran up three flights of stairs and bursted into the room. A young woman laid on a soft bed, the only thing keeping her alive was our breathing machines and mechanics who worked on her tirelessly. I checked up on everything and got the 'special' clipboard off of the patient's bed. Her name was Allandra.
Allandra had a standard cyborg body and everything was normal about her but why hack her first? Was it because she was so normal and average?
"Hey, Rebecca, mind taking a look at her upper torso?"
I turned my body a bit and noticed that the mechanic that spoke to me was quite young.
I scoffed and lifted the sky blue bed sheet off of the patient and immediately gagged. I had never seen anything so gross and hideous. A large bruise like spot covered most of her chest. It wasn't a bruise though, obviously, it was some sort of infection.
Cyborgs can't get sick.
"Has she been tested for this?!" I looked away and tried to stop myself from gagging once more. I don't understand why I was so disgusted by the spot, it wasn't even that bad, but it looked devastating.
"Flora is getting the job done. She thinks it's a side effect of the virus, it has to be after all," the man chuckled in a strange way.
Looking back at Allandra I did notice something. She seemed dead already, her skin was so pale. Even her light brown hair seemed dull.
"I'm so confused, none of this makes sense!" It was like I was losing my mind. I tugged on my curled hair and hissed a bit. This was frustrating.
The city was usually calm and there were rarely crimes committed but this was a complete felony and the predator could be sentenced to death for it. Not only that but it seemed so idiotic for someone to do this. There was no point in killing people these days. Money was easy to get, there was practically no government to blame, everyone was nice and happy. It seemed as if the person behind all of this is sitting somewhere and laughing at all of us, laughing at the way everyone is handling this. It's a riot outside the hospital, the hacker must think this is all a movie that's funny to watch.
I ran out of the room and looked for my laboratory. I usually worked with biomedical engineering to make cybernetic parts but I was also a family doctor. I slithered through the crowded hallway and made it into my laboratory.
The laboratory was surprisingly empty and seemed to be very still. It was a large room with technology based things on the left and biology based things on the right. Being an organized person, I find it hard to believe that I could work in the room any other way.
I dashed to my laptop and started typing. Most people preferred the high tech projector keyboards but I had an old solid keyboard, it was thick and bulky but very comfortable.
I swiftly typed in my username and password.
Username: 20504783
Password: ***************
I gasped as I read the news. The hacker had successfully killed 200 people. Rage built up inside me and my brown eyes scanned any bit of information I could access on this virus. It was a very basic virus, it killed cyborgs almost immediately but was very preventable. The government, before it was shut down, made an anti virus software that supposedly kept everything away. It worked fairly well, very rarely was someone killed because of a virus now a days.
"City officials of New Portland and New New New York City say that this virus is incurable and can not be prevented. Extreme caution is suggested and many high authority figures have even left the continent. The government of New Africa has been shut down due to sudden deaths and New Europe's people have been rioting for hours. When will the suffering end and who's responsible for this?"
I felt like crying from grief. What if Luke was going to get this horrible virus?
"Becky? There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Have you heard the news?"
I turned around and squealed in excitement. It was Burt.
Burt was a tall and handsome man, I even used to lust over him in my thoughts. His quiff of blond hair was gelled almost perfectly and his chiseled beard covered most of his jaw. He was known for his scars and tough guy look. He walked past me with a wink and I admit I did blush.
"Yeah, there's a virus going around. I wonder if the police have found any pattern among victims or if it's just random..." My voice seemed to trail off. I had a pretty high pitch voice, I was a great soprano singer, but now it was deeper because of the sadness and anger. I walked over to an empty wall and banged my head against it so it clinked slightly.
"Damn it, Burt, what if no one ever figures out who the killer is and everyone dies?!" I felt as if my plastic lungs would burst. I was frustrated and pissed off at myself. My impatience made this tough, not knowing things made the situation creepier.
He walked over to me and hugged me. He played with my brown hair and I just stared at the ground miserably.
"Calm down. A stressed out Becky isn't going to help anyone," he whispered and it immediately soothed me. I nodded and took in a few deep breaths. I pushed a button on my shoulder and my muscles were relaxed.
"What if I lose you?"
"Becky..."
I looked up at him and then walked back over to my laptop. I wasn't going to have affectionate moments anytime soon. I started looking up some things on the hospital database and then gasped.
I'm a literal genius.
"Burt, that's it! I totally just figured this out," I sighed in relief and walked back up to him. I had to look up at him a lot, but not because he was tall, because I was short. "Virus' are spread when you download software that is infected, in a sense. I can't track that but you are a full on mechanic, you can," my voice was soft. I seemed focused on him more than the virus though. In all honestly I highly doubted that I would get the Virus.
"I can pull everything up onto your laptop," he muttered and raced over to my thin little computer. His jaw moved back and forth as he concentrated on the speed at which he types. I could hear the horrible sound of his teeth grinding. He toiled away on the laptop until he yipped with excitement.
I read the screen and shook my head with uncertainty.
"This is days worth of information to read. What about the victims. They're all normal people with normal families and jobs, right? Virtually perfect people. Maybe that's how the hacker chooses its victims, it kills the fortunate," I whimpered and sat down is my spinning chair.
I just noticed that Burt was wearing glasses. He never wears glasses.
"I wouldn't draw conclusions yet but we aren't getting much progress here. Maybe if we go to the city's council they'll tell us some more information. They have to have suspects, right?"
I thought about it for a while but eventually nodded. I threw off my lab coat and it landed on a school desk we kept in the room. My black shirt was now completely visible. Burt did the same, revealing a very nice putty green shirt.
We immediately ran down the three flights of stairs and made our way out of the hospital by the rear entrance. Citizens were still rioting everywhere and the hospital wasn't an exception.
"Hey, I don't mean to flirt while there's people dying all the time but maybe this is good bonding for us," he laughed inaudibly. I barely heard what he said.
I looked up at him and punched him in the arm, it wouldn't hurt much.
"Just shut up for now, I'm not ready to be all lovey dovey with you," I grunted rudely but didn't care. I was too worried about Luke for flirting.
He yelped a bit when I punched him but understood. He's caring in that way, he can always take a hint.
* * *
After quite a while of walking through a violent riot, Burt and I made it to the city council. They were holding a meeting in the large blue building. Angry politicians were all seated in the tiny meeting room and when Burt and I walked in they all stopped and stared.
I cleared my throat to speak and put my hands in the pockets on my pants.
"The health department of New Portland needs information that you're keeping from us. We need a list of suspects and possible ways that the hacker has accomplished their job," I spoke loudly but mellifluously.
Burt smiled down at me.
"The health department? That's some bullshit, we aren't telling some doctors anything!"
I turned my head and glared at the fool who spoke up.
"It is in my best interest to inform you that we are not allowed to give out this information without actual rea-"
I walked up to the man who started to speak and held my drivers liscense up close to his face.
"My name is Rebecca. I am a biomedical engineer at the nearby hospital and I demand information," I shouted and breathed in the manly words I ranted on about. Burt wouldn't even say this I bet.
The man nodded slowly and slipped a piece of paper into my hand. It had long lists of names and technological terms. It was a jumbled mess but I'm not surprised.
"Thank you all," Burt giggled a bit and we both left. Everything was still a mess.
The streets were littered with murdered cyborgs. Honestly, I can and always will the look and smell of the corpses. It looked gory, plastic tubes and blood littered the streets. The smell was worse. Imagine mixing gasoline with blood, that's what it smelled like. It was absolutely horrible and the worst part was that it might happen to me.
I'm not exactly sure when we got back to the hospital but it was past lunch.
"Becky you should go get some food cubes for us, I can go start analyzing all of this information. Hopefully, when you get back I'll have this all organized for you!"
He gave me a playful wink and then left before I had time to respond. I simply nodded to myself and headed to the nearest food joint that was open. I grabbed some turkey flavored cubes and then headed back. Two cubes were considered a portion but I got six for the both of us since we were so hungry.
I got back to the hospital and was informed that the coma patient was beginning to get worse. Her once benign infection on her chest had covered her whole torso and became extremely malignant. I raced to see Allandra.
She's dying...
I finally got to the room and many doctors flooded the room. She was still breathing but her heartbeat became irregular and would cause her to have a heart attack at any moment. Tears flooded my eyes, I didn't know why though. I've seen myriads of deaths in my life, well at least a hundred.
Eventually everyone cheered and the woman was back to her regular pattern, still in a coma but alive. Everyone left after that except me and another nurse. Allandra and the nurse looked similar.
"Wow I can't believe that just happened... The hacker can do this, it's monstrous," I stutter out and then hug the nurse.
"Allandra went to college with me, she was so nice and smart... Why would anyone want to kill her?"
I couldn't answer that, not without Burt at least.
"Listen, if we have one survivor then we can help others. Don't give up," I replied and stormed off.
Burt ran into me so fast after I turned a corner. I fell over and a loud thud could be heard.
"Becky, I figured it out! It's a nosebleed virus, as I like to call it. It's a virus that, when inside the body, takes over and seems to continue unless you plug your nose! It doesn't make much sense now but I know a possible cure."
He was talking way too fast and I was busy getting up.
"How do you plug someone' nose? Blocking the software! And I think I know how!"
I smirked widely and kissed him on the lips, immediately regretting that decision. What about Luke?
"Well, how about we get to the lab and start sending it out on the radio towers?!"
I started running and he ran after me.
I could still taste his lips whenever I licked my lips.
Eventually we both got in and he showed me these graphs and diagrams. It was hard to figure everything out so quickly but I liked Burt's idea. Perhaps it would work and we would save the world.
"Burt, can you hack into the hack at all?"
"I can try but I think hacking the software and targeting the other hack is easier."
"Same thing..."
Burt looked over with a cute look and then looked back with a chuckle.
"We're fighting over something really stupid, it's almost like we're already married."
I blushed heavily and punched him in the arm again. I got less of a reaction that time but he still flinched.
"Got it! I got the hack ready! But there's another huge problem. It'll kill people who aren't affected by the virus, so I'll also need to hack the radio tower which will be even harder... It's also about three miles away and teleports aren't working."
I groaned loudly and mumbled a long series of curse words.
"Alright I guess we have to walk, but maybe I have my hoverboard on my somewhere..."
I dug into my pockets and pulled out a tiny little eraser.
His frown flipped around immediately and we both started quickly walking to the roof of the hospital.
I can't recall what the weather was exactly but I know that it was gloomy and it might have even rained if we weren't so lucky.
I threw the eraser onto the ground and a large flash of light lit up the gloomy surrounding and a hoverboard was floating about a quarter foot off the ground.
"Burt, I'm sure this thing can carry two people maybe you should go ahead and I'll catch up. Please...?" My voice was sad but sincere and very desperate. I needed him to do this for me.
He stared down at me with his nice hazel green eyes and then seemed to nervously shake a bit. I shivered more than shook.
"But Becky, I can't do this without you..." His lips almost touched his ear as he whispered. I waited for him to pull back from my ear but before I could hug him he kissed me and then jumped on the hover board.
If it was Luke I would've giggle and said that he kissed like a dog but Burt deserved better than that. He kissed like a god, literally. I felt as if I had already died and this was just a dream.
* * *
As I ran my curly brown hair swayed violently behind me. As cyborgs, people could run at an average of 12 miles per hour. I could run at a little over that but not for long. About five minutes in, or about a mile in, I had to stop. I laid down on the side of a road. Everything was happening so quickly, how could this be happening?
I shivered and felt like crying but kept my thoughts to a levity level so I wouldn't depress myself into giving up. Sometimes I felt like leaving Burt on his own but I wouldn't do that to him or anyone, especially someone who kissed me.
I thought about my day so far, about how it started with my mostly naked body and Luke's. I was confused now, did I actually like Burt or was that just adrenaline? Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up loving both of them since I always seem to have that personality.
I stood up and started jogging to the radio tower once more. I slowed down my pace just so that I wouldn't have to stop every five minutes.
Eventually I got to the radio tower, but I wasn't too happy to see it. It was being guarded by some army soldiers but I couldn't see Burt anywhere. He probably found a way to sneak in, perhaps he had already started hacking. Either way, I needed to see him.
I approached a guard and smiled a bit. I gave a snarky and quirky glare, I probably looked ridiculous.
"Sir, my name is Rebecca and I work for the health department of New Portland. May I please enter?" I showed the man my identification and he burst out laughing.
"The health department? Tell them to suck m-"
I thumped his forehead and he shut up pretty quickly. He seemed ashamed afterwards but still wouldn't let me in. He had a scar on his cheek, he was an experienced soldier. Maybe if he wasn't so smart, I could pinch a pressure point and make him fall asleep. It sounded like a good idea to me anyways.
At first I walked away but then I realized something. The phone lines still seemed to be working, I could technically ask Burt how he was. I pulled out my very thin and flat smartphone, Burt's number was on speed dial so I was able to start calling him in seconds. Burt didn't pick up until the third ring but when he did he sounded very excited and happy.
"Becky, you won't believe me but I got in here! I bet you can't get in here but don't worry about it I'm almost done. I need you to start heading back though, when I finish I need you to type in a simple code for access. Think you can do that?"
I didn't think about it I just started walking back quickly.
"Burt, are you sure this is going to save everyone in the world? It seems to me that this is too simple..."
I didn't want to doubt but there was that voice in the back of my head that whispered back things to me. Even the verdant and placid surrounding of the road didn't calm my itchy nerves. A cold breeze went by and I felt as if maybe this was the beginning of a dark time. I shook my head at the thought and started thinking about the positives.
Well first off, I still have Luke. I also still have Burt.
"Becky, I need you to have more faith in me and smile a little because I know you're not smiling right now," he seemed to whisper into the phone. His fluid voice soothed me and I giggled a bit.
He was right I shouldn't have been freaking out, I'm still alive so that's good.
"Alright, well I'm halfway back to the hospital. What do you need me to do again? Write some code on my laptop?"
I seemed suspiciously confused but in my defense I was confused. This was a lot of pressure for one girl. Burt and I talked for a while and eventually I got back to the hospital. I walked up to the third floor and checked on Allandra.
She was still in a coma but her eyes were wide open. I walked up to the nurse from before and snatched her clipboard.
"What the heck happened here?!"
I seemed angry and scared, but I was mostly worried for Allandra. Her turquoise eyes were too beautiful to lose. She was lucky to afford such a body, she must've paid a lot for it. I got a pretty standard body with only a few modifications.
The nurse ran over to Allandra and started babbling and pointing to different parts of Allandra.
"Alright, I get it, is there any chance of death soon?"
"The other say that she's completely dead already, we're keeping her alive with breathing machines. The mechanics said she's a goner but she's still alive so...."
I was already crying, how? I couldn't let this poor woman die, she was so close to living.
I ran out, dropping the clipboard on the way out, and made it to my lab.
Everything was a mess now, as I looked around my room everything was either missing or broken on the ground. My laptop was missing, it might still be intact.
I didn't hesitate to immediately run around the hospital. I spent half an hour looking for that darn old laptop but it intrigued me to realize that it wouldn't be here. Everyone as rioting outside and no one can get into the hospital without a key. A doctor had to have my laptop.
I ran back to see Allandra and the nurse smirked.
"Finally! You're here..."
"Listen up you idiot I need my laptop and-"
The nurse walked up close to me. Her blonde hair almost whipped my face but I stepped back. Now I knows she's the hacker, I couldn't tell earlier but now my hunch was coming true.
"Listen up, Rebecca, you can't save Allandra or the other people of the world. Pete did this to themselves and made themselves fake. It's not my fault everyone is so easy to hack, especially as a nurse," she muttered and then pushed me aside.
I was not in the mood for a fight but I chased after her and tugged on her hair. She screeched as I tugged her hair until she was back to me. I felt like slapping her but it wouldn't do much. I would either have to rip off a limb for her to give a significant amount of pain or I need to kill her by ripping out her robot from her back.
I stepped on her toes, hearing a ring from the metal as she stumbled back slightly.
"Give me my laptop or I swear I'll kill you... I'm a doctor I've killed many!" I growled and stepped closer to her.
She tried punching me but lucky enough I dodged. This was very unfair for me though, how was I suppose to find my laptop if I killed her?
"Exactly, that's why I won't tell you a thing about how to save everybody. Come on, you said it yourself, you are a doctor, right? You should be smarter than that."
I swallowed a lump in my throat and I nodded slowly. She was right I couldn't kill her and she wouldn't talk either. I had to knock her out.
I launched myself at their and tried tackling her down but I'm so light that she caught me and threw me down. I groaned loudly but mostly because I heard the deafening sound of my back creaking. I honestly didn't care if I got a dent in my body though, I could pay to fix it.
The nurse ran as fast as she could down the hall and giggled with victory. I sighed deeply and my phone buzzed, causing me to just up from the aghast jump scare. I felt like I had just failed the most important test in the whole world, it technically was.
"Burt?! I'm so sorry but I couldn't do it. The nurse has my laptop, she's the hacker! That little bitch...."
I heard a slight crash in the background of the call and my face wrinkled to a concerned look. I seemed so disappointed in everything and everyone at the moment. I felt like crawling away into a corner and crying there but eventually I would have to crawl out. I never wanted to crawl out ever again. Crawling out meant revealing myself and letting others make fun of my for being a wimp. I don't want to meddle in the nurse's things but I think I have to, to save myself from crawling away.
"Becky, the guards found me but I locked myself away into the storage closet. You need to get your laptop, the fate of the world rests in your hands!"
He hung up.
I literally felt like I was about to puke. I threw my phone at the wall and screamed in anger. I was losing my mind and couldn't stand this.
I guiltily ran all the way back to the first floor of the hospital. I had to save Allandra and all the others but how? I was weaponless, but I did have an idea. Cyborgs can't die from gunshot but they can die from many things. I compiled a list in my head. Starvation, battery loss, extreme shock, explosions, losing limbs (not very likely though). I needed a way to quickly kill the nurse and then look for my laptop. My mind was so jumbled.
Without thinking I went to the storage closet and found a metal rod.
"Becky? Stay with me!"
I turned around so fast that I got dizzy.
Oh shit what's that feeling...?
My head hurt immediately and I was blinded by a bright white light. Metal and plastic flew around my face and I groaned loudly. Moving figures gasped and started poking me again.
Beep Beep Beep Beep
I heard my heartbeat, I was dying.
I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was back.
No one was there, no one stood in front of me. I held the metal rod tightly in my hand and blinked.
I ran outside through the back entrance and looked around. The nurse had to be around here somewhere, if not in the hospital. I sighed and started running around. I needed to find a way to shock the nurse.
After about an hour of searching, the sky was pitch black. Everyone had left the main streets and people were hiding in alleyways. I was one of the only cyborgs walking down the street normally. I had a three foot pole in my hands.
The crisp air blew by me and whistled into my ears. My chapped lips were so rigid and my skin was also rough and dry. My shirt was uneven and messed up but at least my pants were fine through this whole experience. I looked around at the street, noticing I was on New Jasper street, and smiled. This is where I met Luke.
Oh my god...
LUKE!
I stopped immediately and my heels almost broke my heels as I started walking back to my apartment. What if Luke was dead? The nurse probably already killed him just to mess with me. I was so cold at this point and I just wanted this all to be over. I must've been going crazy too because of my previous headache and flashback or something. I don't even know why I'm trying anymore I'm just too sad to see humanity go.
I made it back to my apartment building after two hours and barely made it through the door. Everything was a mess, shrapnel from an explosion was scattered all other the ground. Smoke filled the air but my plastic lungs could filter it most likely.
"Luke?!"
No response. No sounds. Nothing.
I hissed quietly and walked to the stairs. The stairs were clogged with wood but that wouldn't stop me. It took me a few minutes but I was able to push out a small tunnel for myself. I crawled through and sighed in relief as I could run the rest of the way. As I ran to my apartment I noticed that no one was there. I was the only fool in that building.
Right before I could get to my room I saw the nurse. She stood in the hallway with the laptop.
I gasped so loudly that she smirked. I guess we're both pretty open but that's the only thing we seem to have in common.
"Rebecca, please stop this. I'm trying to make the government of other countries realize that we can't have everyone be cyborgs! In fact, even I'm a human! I only have a bionic leg!"
I immediately burst out laughing. Was she serious? She couldn't be serious because the government would...oh right. What government?! New America doesn't have one anymore. But how could she be human, she had to be at least twenty and that meant she had to be cyborg. I gripped my metal stick and reading myself to hit her. If I hit her and she was human, she would help and fall over from pain. Oh yes, this was my master plan that I thought of in a few moments.
I ran at the nurse with my pole but she threatened to drop the laptop so I raised my hands and immediately dropped the pile to be behind me.
"Alright, fine, you win. What do I have to do to stop you?"
My brown eyes were pleading for everyone to be safe. I was so cold and I felt lifeless. I felt helpless most of all. This was the worst, why me? I'm such a good person! In fact, I would say I'm meritorious for my outstanding medical work.
"You can't do anything but I will tell you what I can do. Luke?"
I tilted my head in confusion but then felt warm hands grip my waist from behind. I felt him, I could tell it was him because of how his hands held me.
"L-Luke?"
He laughed over me and I just looked up at him. Suddenly, I realized I couldn't move. His grip was holding me in place. This was ridiculous and tedious. Why must the nurse do this?
"Listen up, Rebecca, I know you love Luke and all but he's gone. I hacked into his brain, wiped everything off, and replaced it with me," she squeaked proudly and put a sassy hand on her hips.
I was crying heavily and I didn't even realize it.
"Luke? Luke, please, you have to remember me!"
No response, no movement, no flinch at all, he just looked forward.
"I fucking swear, Luke, you have to remember me!"
I was resting my back against him and crying like a baby. I couldn't stand this, was it true?
Suddenly, I felt his grip loosen completely and I saw the nurse scream. I took a step back and moved my view in time to see Luke fall to the side.
Burt had ripped out his battery and that meant he was dead, or about to very soon.
I screamed but I couldn't hear anything. My ears ringed, my hands were clenched into fists, and my vision was blurred from all of the tears. I hugged Luke and saw his eyes flutter open and closed a few times. He seemed to mumble something about love and then breathed his last breath. I couldn't believe it and continued crying into his masculine smelling sky blue shirt. I felt Burt try to pull me away. Me hugging a corpse probably looked very inhumane so I understand why but I didn't let go. I wanted to wait until all the warmth came out of his body but that would take too long.
By the time I had come back to reality I jumped up and looked over to where the nurse was standing. She wasn't there anymore, the laptop was smashed into the ground and stepped on multiple times.
It was over, I had lost the battle and everyone was going to suffer because of it. I hugged Burt quickly and I felt his warm chest with my face. Tears stained his shirt and he seemed to shuffle a bit from the hug being slightly uncomfortable but eventually he hugged me back and I could stop crying as much.
"Burt, it's over. The nurse won... Luke is dead and everyone else will eventually die," I mumbled in such a depressing tone that I'm sure he cringed at the sound of it.
"Becky, it's okay it's not your fault. I still love you, even if you didn't accomplish one thing in your life. You're still amazing to me."
I didn't really like how flirty he was being with me but I didn't care I needed his comfort. I eventually let go and looked up into his green like eyes.
"What now? There has to be a way to save everyone. Maybe we can get another computer to enter the code or something..."
He had doubt in his eyes and I could tell it wouldn't work just from the way his eyebrows twitched.
"Roburt!"
He spelt his name weirdly but I loved his name. It was definitely different than all the other names I've heard. My name is so plain and common.
He frowned and moved down the hallway a bit so I wouldn't be so close to Luke's corpse. He seemed almost as upset as me but, unlike me, he refused to cry.
* * *
Depression is strange. I don't really know the true meaning of being sad but I know I've been there. All night I sat in my wrecked apartment room with Burt. He pet my thigh, he was flirting clearly but I wasn't accepting it. I just sat there with a sad look. My paint smeared, cyborgs don't put on makeup they put on special paint that's really easy to use but very potent. I looked like I was just learning how to put on paint.
I do remember the burning pain of losing someone you love. I remember how horrible it was to realize that I'm all alone except for Burt. I had no friends or family really. It was even more painful when I realized how much of a failure I really was. I let down Luke, Burt, myself, and everyone else on the planet except for the nurse. I don't even recall her name.
Burt walked up to my apartment desktop and read the news to me.
"Straight from New Providence Portland Medical Center comes breaking news. This virus has not stopped. Thousands are dead and more are dying right as we speak. The city council of New Portland have released news on who the number one suspect is. Buffy Josephine Carlton, 24, is a young female nurse who has gone reportingly crazy. Citizens of New Portland recall her snatching computers from many stores and taking them away. No one can catch her and she's a suspected murderer. Please, if you see Buffy, report her to the council immediately."
I loved the part at the end when they couldn't use the word police. Without a government in New America there is no police. Even the city council is self made.
"Burt what if it really is over. When do you think we'll die?"
Burt walked back over to me and lovingly kissed me but I forced him to pull away with my small hands.
"Becky, I know you were never fond of me," a complete lie, "but I think think you should stop focusing on death and start focusing more on the friends you have now. How about we just go sleep?"
Now I felt guilty and wanted to kiss him so he could forgive me but that was out of the question. I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. It was probably the sadness talking but I looked disgusting and I felt gross. I heard him take off clothes, he was probably going to sleep in his underwear like the flirt that he was. Honestly, I wasn't interested in getting another boyfriends at all. I changed into a large shirt and large sweatpants with new underwear. Yes, I changed in front of him but I don't think he was impressed. As I said earlier, I had enough money to change my cyborg body slightly but not by much. I was more focused on my hands either way, like everyone else. I had model 350 hands which is a lot better than having a model 350 face.
"Becky I think you should realize that it'll all be fine. Someone will catch that Buffy chick and kill her for good! She's broken so many laws! It'll be fine I promise."
He slowly motioned for me to come to bed but I just walked to the window of my apartment and looked outside. People were probably calming down because no one was out in the streets anymore. Everything was quiet and still, no sounds or commotions at all.
"Burt, if we caught Buffy then we could've saved so many people..."
He didn't answer and I didn't add anything to that. He probably already felt bad for all of this.
"Come sleep, you need it. Face it, people are going to die. But, face it, it's not our fault."
I remember walking to the large bed and laying down next to Burt. I cuddled with him until my eyes felt very heavy.
I didn't want to sleep, it was as if I was too scared. I closed my eyes.
And then I woke up.