Perfection

by Melissa Koberlein

  “Holy shit.” He looked at Iris.

  She was fidgeting with her hands. “I know. I’m very sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

  “Mad?” His mouth turned up into a smile. “That was freaking awesome. Literally, the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  Both of their breathing whipped up in a frenzy as he stared at her mouth. At the same time, they came together, and their lips locked in a kiss. Her hands ran wildly through his hair, and he placed his around her waist. The next thing he knew she was in his lap and they couldn’t get enough of one another.

  A loud honk startled them out of their embrace. A car had pulled up next to them with their passenger window down. Gage put down his window in daze.

  A middle-aged woman said, “Excuse me, but this is a public road.”

  Her comment registered in his cloudy brain. His cheeks enflamed as two kids in the back seat strained to get a better view.

  Iris moved back to her seat.

  “Sorry, ma’am.” He waved.

  The woman frowned and drove away.

  When Gage looked back at Iris, she wiped her mouth and giggled. It was contagious. He tilted his head back and howled. “You are so crazy, you know that?”

  “You mean that in a good way, right?”

  “I do.” Then he had a thought. Maybe his granddad could help them get Jack out. “We should have recorded him saying that they stole the drugs from Jack.”

  She smiled and tapped two fingers on her temple. “Who says we weren’t recording?”

  “You’re amazing.”

  “Dr. Rice can extract it. I’ll send you her address—” She looked down and growled. “Oh no.”

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “There’s blood on my coat, and this is my favorite. Do you know how difficult it is to get blood out of fabric?” She slunk down in her seat, a scowl on her face.

  Gage wasn’t sure how she knew that, but after what he just witnessed, he didn’t have to worry about it being her blood. He reached for her hand and squeezed. “Cheer up. I’ll buy you a new one.” He put the car in drive and sped off down the road. “You’ve earned it.”

  17

  Order

  Iris

  Iris’s head buzzed, and she felt more like a machine than a human. She hadn’t been alert-accessed since Bio-Core. But this was necessary. If they have evidence that Jack never sold those boys any drugs, Mr. Strickland could get him out. She turned her head, lying on Naomi Rice’s sofa, and focused on a nervous-looking Gage. She smiled to reassure him, but his eyes darted between Naomi and her. He was biting down on his bottom lip. Her heart clenched, remembering how passionately he’d kissed her.

  “How much longer?” Gage asked.

  Naomi continued to tap on the keys of her computer. “Almost to the right file. Oh. Oh my.” She turned her head toward him and smirked. “You do realize she records everything, right?”

  “Oh.” Gage’s face changed from one of concern to embarrassment. “That’s… um—”

  Naomi laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not snooping. Much.” She arched an eyebrow at Iris. “Anyway, I can see plain as day from looking at the two of you that you’ve got feelings for each other.”

  Iris had spent her whole life, what little life she’d led, with her mind being an open book. She didn’t know otherwise. And Naomi was correct. She did have feelings, and they were wonderful.

  “There.” Naomi placed a key fob storage unit by Iris’s temple. “Got it.”

  Her computer beeped, and she set the fob down next to her computer. She tapped a few more keys, pulled a flash drive from a port, and handed it to Gage. “Voila.”

  “Just like that.” Gage turned the flash drive over in his hand. “Very cool.” He looked at Iris. “Did any of that hurt?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Just feels funny.”

  “Now, if you two don’t mind, I have a very important meeting.” Naomi stood up.

  Iris got up. Naomi had been like a surrogate mother to her when she escaped Bio-Core. She took her job seriously. They needed to go.

  “Someone from Bio-Core?” Iris asked on her way to the door.

  Naomi pushed her hair behind her ears, her eyes wide. “Yes, a board member, actually. She’s working at Arcadia.”

  Bio-Core board members did not take meetings with subordinates like Naomi often. This must be a very important meeting. Iris asked, “What’s Arcadia?”

  “It’s a mental facility,” Gage interjected, his eyes unreadable. “Do you know what she’s working on there?”

  “I’m not sure.” Naomi shrugged. “We’ve only spoken on the phone about some Bio-Core drug trials. She lives in California but is vising for a while.”

  Gage nodded. “Oh. Well, we’ll get out of your way.”

  Before they left, Naomi pulled Iris aside, her eyes brimming with affection. “I want you to know that I’m very happy for you. You’ve turned into a wonderful person.”

  A lump formed at the back of Iris’s throat, and her eyes felt funny. She hugged Naomi. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

  Once they were back in town, Gage dropped her off at Dalia’s and headed to meet his granddad. If all went according to plan, Jack White would be out of jail by that evening. She reached for the door to Dalia’s and was met with a bustle of hammering, chatter, and clothes. The store was in full transformation mode for the fashion show tomorrow night. Dalia was at the center of the excitement directing people with clothing, chairs, and papers. She spotted Iris and waved her over.

  “There you are. Can you believe this?” Dalia beamed, breathlessly.

  “It’s really coming together,” she replied.

  “Where do you want these?” A woman with a pile of clothes over her arms approached them. She nodded to some racks of clothing. “And the rest on those?”

  “Those can go upstairs,” Dalia said. “Iris, can you go in the back and organize the clothes for our models? Some of your friends are back there, and I don’t want them fighting over who wears what.” She arched an eyebrow. “The designer chooses.”

  “I’m on it.” Iris could imagine Mazy and Sloan duking it out for quite a few of their designs. She heard them arguing before she even entered the back room.

  “I’m taller than you. This would look better on me,” Sloan said.

  “But it’s much more my color,” Mazy retorted.

  Iris’s jaw dropped. The back room was a mess. Clothes were strewn over tables and sewing machines, and the accessory bins had been rifled. Sloan and Mazy were arguing over the champagne-colored dress. Evie was sitting in a chair looking bored, her head propped up with her hand. Shannon, the attractive, cheerful, makes-Gage-smile-and-laugh cheerleader was also there, amid a gaggle of girls going through the racks of clothes.

  Shannon noticed her presence first. “Oh, hi, Iris.”

  Iris fought back the desire to have her internal weaponry reactivated and ignored Shannon as the others turned to the door. Instead, she strode over to Mazy and Sloan.

  Sloan held up the dress. “Will you tell Mazy that this dress would look better on me?”

  Mazy rolled her eyes.

  “This dress is for Evie.” Iris took the dress from Sloan.

  “Huh? What?” Evie said, her eyes sleepy.

  “You are going to wear this for the fashion show.” Iris held out the dress.

  “But I don’t want to be in the show.” Evie sat up in her chair. “I was going to help Adam.”

  “Well, I’m sorry. But Dalia put me in charge of who wears what, and this dress was made for you.” Iris narrowed her eyes, daring Evie to challenge her. She could understand that Evie didn’t like fashion, but this was important to Dalia.

  “It is very pretty.” Evie grazed the satin fabric with the back of her hand.

  Iris arched her eyebrow. “Yes, it is.”

  “Fine.” Evie took the dress.

  Iris turned around and glared at the other girls. “All righ
t. I can’t handle the disarray back here. I want dividers on the racks for each of you. Then, I’ll tell you which outfits you will wear and in what order.” She glared at Shannon. “Do you think you can handle that?”

  Shannon stared back as if to say, What did I ever do to you? “Uh huh.”

  “Good, now let’s get to work.”

  A couple hours later, the girls were spent. But the back room, which would be the changing room for the show, was in perfect order. Rows of pressed clothes were organized by dividers with shoes and accessories set out accordingly. Iris smiled at the work they’d done.

  “Iris, we’re hangry,” Evie moaned, frowning. The girls behind her looked equally miserable.

  Iris searched up hangry and pursed her lips. Okay, so that’s a thing. “Let’s break for the night.”

  A massive sigh spread across the group as they gathered their coats and bags.

  Sloan linked arms with Mazy. “Dixon’s?”

  Mazy nodded. “Yes, please. And I don’t care if we are modeling tomorrow. I’m having a cheeseburger and French fries.”

  “Count me in,” Evie said. “Iris, you coming?”

  Iris looked around the room. She should stay and tidy up a bit more. She wanted the show to be perfect. “Um, I think I should—”

  “No. You need a break.” Evie picked up Iris’s coat and bag.

  Her stomach growled as if in response. She took her coat from Evie. “Okay.”

  The girls headed over to Dixon’s and grabbed a booth in the front. Iris smiled at Celia, who was standing behind the counter, on her way in. She returned the smile. Her secret, or whatever Gage and Garcia told Celia about her last incident, was safe.

  Once they ordered, Iris broke the news about what she and Gage did earlier, leaving out the part where she had to get physical. She didn’t want them to be afraid that she’d reverted to Killer Iris.

  Mazy smiled. “That was really nice of you to do.”

  “Yeah, you’re bad ass,” Sloan added.

  Evie looked down at her phone. “Guys, Adam just texted me. Jack’s been released.”

  “Good.” Iris exhaled.

  “Yeah, Adam said that Mr. Strickland hooked Jack up with a lawyer,” Evie said.

  “Well, when you have that kind of money, you can make anything happen.” Sloan poked her straw around in her soda.

  “Hey, isn’t that Gage?” Mazy asked.

  Iris looked up. Sitting at the other end of the diner at a table were some of the other girls planning to model in the fashion show. Specifically, Shannon was there, and she was sitting next to Steel. He was laughing and put his arm around her.

  “Nope.” Iris narrowed her eyes. “That’s Steel.”

  “Oh,” Mazy said. “Well, I guess that’s good.”

  “Why would that be good?” Evie asked.

  Mazy glanced at Iris. “Well, you know, because of Iris and Gage.”

  But it wasn’t good. No good could come out of Steel cozying up to Shannon. He had an agenda. Steel met Iris’s glare, sensing her eyes on him. He smirked and fondled Shannon’s shoulder with the hand he had around her. He leaned in and whispered something to her, and she giggled.

  Iris fought every impulse current in her CPU to not get up and strangle both of them.

  “Hey, Iris.” Sloan snapped her fingers in front of her.

  “What?” Iris blinked a few times, coming out of her haze.

  “I know you’re different now and all that, but the look you had on your face just then was scary as shit,” Sloan replied.

  “Sorry.” Iris looked around at the others. They all shared Sloan’s sentiment. Heat flushed her cheeks. “I’m all right. It’s just unnerving to see Steel.”

  “With Shannon?” Evie asked.

  Perceptive. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “I think I know what’s going on here. Seeing Shannon with Steel makes you think about Gage with Shannon. They are twins, after all,” Mazy chimed in. “You know that there’s nothing going on between Shannon and Gage, right? They’re just friends.”

  Mazy was only partially correct. Seeing Steel with Shannon did make her think about Gage but not in the way she thought. Steel knew things about her, things that she didn’t trust him with. Her chest clenched. If he told Shannon—ugh. She couldn’t even compute the rest of the thought. She had to do something.

  “I’ll be right back.” Iris walked over to Steel.

  “Can I have a word with you?” She tried to sound congenial, but acid dripped from some of her syllables.

  “Is that okay with you, Shan?” Steel smiled, his tongue meandering around his bottom lip.

  Shan?

  “I guess.” Shannon glanced up at Iris, her eyes unreadable.

  “Okey dokey,” Steel said, slithering out of his seat.

  Iris turned and walked outside, Steel in tow. Once they were alone, she whirled around. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Making friends.” He stepped toward her. “Why? You jealous?”

  “No.” Her stomach turned over a few times. He was beyond repulsive. “Why her? What are you up to?”

  “What’s wrong with Shannon? I like hot girls.” He reached for her arm. “You know that.”

  She swatted his hand away. “You are the most vile, disgusting person. Why don’t you leave Ashwater? No one wants you here anyway.”

  Steel raised his eyebrows. “I think Shannon would disagree. She seems super into me.”

  Iris groaned. None of this was going as she planned. “If you do anything to hurt my friends—”

  “And boyfriend?”

  “Especially Gage.” She took a step forward.

  He snickered. “You’ll what? Huh? Kill me? I’m sure my brother would love that.” He leaned in closer. “He’d dump you so fast your robot head would spin.”

  She’d had enough. Calling her a robot? She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close so that their noses were almost touching. “Don’t you ever call me that again.”

  “It’s the truth. You’re automation at its finest.” Steel stared at her mouth. “Through and through.”

  Iris pushed him away. “You’re disgusting.”

  Steel raised is hands in the air. “Why? Because I tell it like it is? You forget that I know you, every inch of you.”

  A lump formed at the back of her throat. She opened her mouth, but no words formed.

  “Aww, did I hit a circuit?” He pressed his lips together forming a mocking pout.

  A nervous twitch reverberated through her as she glowered at him. She glanced up at the diner. Shannon and her friends had their faces pressed up against the window. They were pointing at them and talking. Iris rubbed her arms, feeling self-conscious. What must they be thinking?

  “Quit trying to be like them so much.” Steel closed the distance between them again, his eyes softening. “Don’t you realize that you were already perfect before you ever came to this town? Beautiful, sexy, lethal.” He reached to touch her cheek. “Deep down, you know he’ll never love you.”

  His words stole her breath. She took a few steps back as her heart heaved and tears formed in her eyes. The world started to spin. A tear slipped down her cheek. She caught it, realizing she’d never cried before.

  “Leave me alone.” Her voice shook, and she feared she might glitch again. She turned and took off running, headed to the one person she knew would understand.

  Iris stumbled into the arcade, her chest heaving. The place was dead. She didn’t even know what time it was anymore. She swiped at the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand. She thought about wiping her hands on her jeans, but they were designer and that would make her feel even worse. She ran back to the snack counter and pulled a napkin from a dispenser. She dabbed her cheeks and eyes and blew her nose.

  Daisy popped up from behind the counter. Her hair was electric blue. “Whoa!”

  Iris jumped too. “Oh. I didn’t see you there.”

  “That makes two of us.”

 
; “I’m looking for Adam.”

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” She walked around the bar to the stools, where Iris stood.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Daisy reached for her and pulled her into a hug.

  Iris sobbed on her shoulder. “It is.” She hiccupped and pulled away from Daisy, covering her mouth. “Excuse me.”

  “Is this the first time you’ve ever cried?”

  She nodded. “I don’t like it.”

  “No one likes to cry, but sometimes it’s necessary.” Daisy sat down on a stool and patted the seat next to her. Iris complied.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s part of what makes us human.”

  The sentiment and idea that Iris had assimilated to humans to such a great degree made her heart even heavier. More tears flowed from her eyes, and she put her head in her arms on the counter.

  Daisy rubbed her back softly. “It’s okay. It’ll pass, and when it does, you’ll tell me what happened. Then you’ll feel better.”

  Iris sobbed and grabbed a few more napkins from the dispenser. After a few minutes, she lifted her head and blew her nose hard. She took a deep, labored breath and tried to find the words.

  “Is it Gage?” Daisy asked.

  “No.” Iris balled the napkins up in her fist. “It’s Steel.”

  “What? Why would you be crying over Steel?” Daisy’s eyes widened.

  Iris shook her head. “No, not like that. Steel has been trying to get me to go back to Bio-Core.” More tears formed in her already full eyes. “And he might be right. Maybe I don’t fit in here.”

  Daisy opened her mouth to say something else, but Adam came through the front door. His pleasant nature snapped to serious as he saw Iris, and it made the tears come again. He was the one person she could count on no matter what.

  “Are you crying?” he asked her.

  “Yes.” She dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

  “I’ll leave you two to talk. If you need anything, you let me know.” Daisy patted Iris’s knee and headed to the front of the arcade.

  “What’s wrong?” Adam asked.