Mechanical

by Pauline C. Harris

  I nodded, wondering how Yvonne always seemed to show up at the worst times. I spun around. “So you’ve been bringing people in, too?” I asked.

  She nodded, as though it was the most ordinary thing to do in the world.

  “From your school?”

  “Yes.”

  We stood in silence and I stared at the double doors through which Cecelia had vanished only seconds before.

  “Why? Do you know?” I asked, turning towards Yvonne.

  She raised her eyebrows in an indifferent expression. “Doesn’t really matter. As long as we do what they want us to, we get what we want.” A smug smile appeared on her face.

  “Huh,” I replied. “But doesn’t it bother you? I mean, they could be giving away our secret; what we are. I mean ... don’t you want to know what they’re doing?”

  Yvonne looked thoughtful for a moment. “Don’t really care,” she finally said.

  I gave out an exasperated sigh and started to head for my room. Or should I say my and Yvonne’s room? Because she followed me right there.

  We talked briefly until we started doing our own things. I mostly thought about Cecelia. What were they talking to her about? And what was I going to tell her when I saw her again at school?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I walked slowly towards my history class, trying to think up some excuse to tell Cecelia about the day before. I hadn’t seen her since yesterday when I brought her in. Would she be angry? I didn’t even know what they had talked to her about.

  I walked into the history classroom and scanned all the faces for Cecelia’s, even though I knew she was always late to class. But then, surprisingly, I saw her at the back of the room. She was hardly recognizable without her signature, edgy black jacket and boots that had been replaced with some plain jeans and a white T-shirt. When I took another glance at her I noticed the bright pink stripes that had once littered her hair were gone, replaced with her natural dirty-blonde hair.

  I walked to the back of the room and approached her. “Um ... hi Cecelia,” I said timidly.

  She looked up at me. “Good morning, Drew,” she said with a smile that was very unlike the Cecelia I had known.

  “So,” I said, sitting down at the desk beside hers. “What did they talk to you about yesterday?”

  She looked confused. “Yesterday?”

  “Yeah,when you came to my um ... house.” My skin tingled, sending chills through my body. Something was wrong.

  She still stared at me like she didn't understand what I was talking about and I was starting to get a little freaked out. What was wrong with her? She looked completely different—and acted like it, too.

  “Well, how was your piano lesson?” I asked, trying a different approach.

  She still looked confused. “Piano?”

  “Yeah,” I said, now officially concerned. “You really like it.”

  “Oh ...” she said vaguely. “Then I must’ve stopped or something. ‘Cause I don’t play piano.” She looked at me blankly, her hazel eyes expressionless.

  “Cecelia,” I said firmly, shaking her a little by her shoulders. “What’s wrong? Snap out of it.” I heard my voice rise a little.

  She didn’t do anything, just sat there staring at ... nothing. I let go of her and watched her face the front of the room again. I noticed other people in the class give her strange looks once they realized it was actually Cecelia and not some new kid in the class.

  Eventually I turned away from her and tried to focus on the lesson. But how could I? What had happened to Cecelia? What had they done to her?

  Throughout the day, more and more people noticed the strange change in Cecelia. Her friends seemed even more freaked out than I was, and all Cecelia seemed to do was go through the motions. She didn’t seem to be living at all. Even Jessica had noticed and told me about it, but I brushed the subject away, not wanting to think that what had happened to Cecelia was my fault.

  Later, as I walked outside towards the van after school, I heard footsteps approaching quickly behind me. I turned to see Caroline and smiled at her. “Hi,” I said.

  “Have you seen Cecelia?” she asked me, her blue eyes sparkling with the excitement of some good gossip.

  I nodded. “Yep.”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” she said, drawing out the subject in hopes of some information or at least a good talk.

  I shrugged, not wanting to discuss it.

  Caroline frowned, and seeing I wasn’t at all into the subject, changed the topic. “Well, anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about is the history assignment. I forgot when it’s due.”

  “Thursday, I think.”

  Suddenly, I noticed someone walking towards us from the van. As he got closer, I recognized the gangly arms and unsteady gate as Jeremy’s, one of the androids from the Institution. He was walking very fast and soon I saw him break into a run. He had a determined look on his face and didn’t show any signs of slowing down, even when he was just a few feet from us. “Hey Jeremy,” I called, confused about why he was here and slightly concerned.

  But he didn’t look at me. He didn’t even glance my way. He was looking at Caroline. I saw her expression turn to one of concern, but before I could even think about what was going on, Jeremy had shoved Caroline to the ground.

  “Jeremy!” I cried. “What are you doing?”

  Just then I saw him pull something from under his belt and my heart almost stopped, the blood chilling in my veins—a knife. Caroline screamed and tried to scramble out of the way. What was Jeremy doing with a knife?

  “Jeremy!” I shrieked and launched myself between him and Caroline. I felt the knife slice through my skin like butter, stinging, and saw Jeremy step back in confusion. Blood trickled down my arm, slow and warm. “What are you doing?!” I screamed, but again I saw him lunge at Caroline, this time watching in horror as the knife plunged into the pit of her stomach.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Caroline let out a blood-curdling scream as Jeremy took a step back, clutching the knife tightly in his hand.

  “Stop!” I screamed at Jeremy, jumping in his way as he tried again to lunge at Caroline.

  Just then, I saw David sprinting towards us from the van and I heard the sounds of police sirens. “What are you doing?” I shrieked at Jeremy.

  “Not ... perfect ...” he muttered, staring at Caroline who was now lying on the ground huddled up in a ball, whimpering.

  I stared at him in horror as David grabbed him. Then several police officers tackled him to the ground. I turned away and knelt beside Caroline. “Oh no ...” I whispered, noticing a pool of blood collecting underneath her.

  Hailey ran toward us and burst into hysterical tears. “Caroline!” she cried.

  I heard another siren and an ambulance arrived. Hailey and I, and a crowd that had now gathered around Caroline, yielded to the EMTs as they hurriedly put her on a stretcher and wheeled her away.

  I scanned the crowd for David and saw him talking to the police officers. I noticed Jeremy seated in the back of the police car, his expression horrifyingly blank.

  My stomach hurt and I felt like I might throw up. Jeremy? What had just happened? Why had it happened? Had he really just stabbed Caroline? For what reason?

  I felt someone grab my shoulder and I turned around to see Jessica, pale faced and looking sick with worry. “Caroline ...?”

  “She was stabbed ... she’s going to the hospital,” I told her, my voice sounding oddly thick and unstable. Just then I felt hot tears start to slide out of the corners of my eyes. “I tried,” I barely sobbed. “I tried to stop him.”

  Jessica reached out and hugged me. “We need to pray for her,” she told me and I nodded.

  Suddenly I heard David call my name and I broke away from Jessica. “I have to go,” I said, wiping the tears away.

  She nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” The comment was halfhearted as she looked off in the direction the ambulance had gone.

 
I numbly walked back towards David, my heart still hammering in my chest as the adrenaline worked its way out of my system. God ...? I thought desperately as a sudden thought darted through my mind and took hold of my heart, clutching it tightly enough to squeeze the calm from me, to send me panicking. I couldn’t save Caroline. I had tried and although what I did had helped, her life or death ... wasn’t in my hands. I had no power and I was only beginning to realize this.

  Suddenly Jessica’s faith no longer seemed so pointless, so vain. Because somehow, even if it wasn’t really true, at least there was hope.

  Please watch over Caroline. Please make sure she’s okay, I thought as I climbed into the van, numbly setting my backpack beside me. I had never prayed before and couldn’t be sure if I was doing it right. Was anyone even there? I sighed and hoped there was because suddenly I realized that if it were true, I had something to turn to when things went wrong.

  We drove in tense silence for a few blocks, my anger and shock slowly bubbling towards the surface, threatening to explode. I knew it wasn’t right to become angry and yell, as the creators always said, but right at that moment I couldn’t help myself. My anger was too great and my shock was even greater. “What was that?!” I shouted at David, who jumped in his seat. “What happened?”

  David frowned grimly, looking stressed out. “Jeremy ... he said he needed a ride. I don’t know what happened ... when he saw you walking with that girl, I don’t know, he snapped.”

  “Why would he do that? How could you let him do that?” I cried. “She could have died! She still might die!” I was nearly hysterical now.

  David sighed. “Drew, it happened. There’s nothing we can do about it,” he answered through clenched teeth.

  I felt the tears threaten to pour out again, but I held them back. “Where is he?” I asked, staring out the window.

  “With the police. I don’t know when you’ll see him again. This really complicates things. Ordinarily, we would just take him back to the Institution to be altered, but with the police involved, we can’t do that.”

  “How did we get away without being questioned?”

  “I took care of it,” David replied, and I asked no more questions. He looked over at me, a strange expression lining his face. “You’re acting ... different, Drew,” he commented.

  I only shook my head and stared out the window until we arrived at the Institution. I got out of the car and headed towards the doors. I was met in the lobby by a smiling Yvonne whose expression dropped once she noticed mine. “Where’s Jeremy?” she asked, looking behind me to see if he was there.

  I knew Yvonne had always liked Jeremy. I wouldn’t have called them a couple, more like the kind who made out behind the building from time to time. Would this really hurt her? Or would she just move on like he was an old, forgotten toy?

  But right then I didn’t feel like telling Yvonne where Jeremy was. I numbly walked past her and on to my room.

  “Drew?” I heard her call.

  I slowed, paying attention when she asked David the same thing she had asked me and strained to hear David explain to her the short version of where he was. Then I heard nothing from Yvonne, for a change.

  Silence.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” I said to Yvonne. “She just seemed different.” I was sitting on my bed watching Yvonne from across the room.

  I couldn’t get over the incident with Cecelia. She was so different, so unlike her former self. It was as if she had been remolded, brainwashed. As if her soul had been stripped away.

  Yvonne nodded absentmindedly as she skimmed through the pages of her history book while lying stomach-down on her bed. “Yeah, I’ve noticed the people that I bring in end up like how you described Cecelia.” She bit her lip in thought.

  “Don’t her parents care?” I added, suddenly wondering what they must think. If her change was as obvious to us then it had to be to her parents as well.

  Yvonne snorted. “Cecelia doesn’t have parents. None of the kids do.”

  I paused for a moment before answering, “What?”

  Yvonne shook her head at me. “Don’t you know? Ugh, Drew, the creators aren’t stupid. They know if they take people’s kids, they’re not going to get very far. The people we bring in are orphans, foster kids, troubled ... that type of thing.”

  I was silent while I considered the idea. I felt kind of stupid for not thinking about it before now. “Poor Cecelia. She doesn’t even have a family who’s looking out for her.”

  “Doesn’t really matter.”

  I stopped, surprised at Yvonne’s lack of interest. “But, aren’t you at least concerned?”

  “Well, all you have to do is think about it for a minute. It’s pretty obvious what they’re doing.” She looked up. “They’re the kids no one will miss, they’re not as perfect as we are, so they’re definitely different. I’m guessing they’re using the humans to make better models of us. Maybe they take something from them like information or ...” She shrugged. “I don’t really know, but I’m sure they’re using them for our benefit and whatever they’re doing causes them to change I guess.” She looked back down at her history book.

  I sat in silence for a minute. It made sense, but I wondered why the creators didn’t just tell us this in the first place, but I pushed the thought away. You never doubted the creators. They knew best.

  ...right?

  * * * *

  “His name is Xavier Richards,” Glen told me, handing me some papers.

  I stared down at the face I had seen only a few times passing me in the hallway. “How am I supposed to get him here?” I asked Glen, trying, but not succeeding in thinking up some clever plan to get him to the Institution.

  “We’ll make it easy for you,” Glen told me. “We’ll have a car parked and waiting just a few blocks from the school. It’s about half-way between the school and his house where he will be walking. If you can, get him to the part where we can hide the car and be less noticed, across the street and up a ways. There we can get him.”

  “Okay,” I replied, imagining the layout in my mind.

  “David will point out the place when he drives you to school.”

  “So, what do you guys ... do to them?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer after what I had seen with Cecelia.

  Glen shrugged. “None of your business.” He said it nonchalantly, but I could detect a hint of irritation in his voice.

  “Is it morally right?” I wanted to know.

  Glen looked startled and gave me a surprised look. “Um ... does it matter?” he asked.

  “Well, to me, yeah!” I said. “After all, the school you sent me to is Christian.”

  Glen looked puzzled and angry at the same time as he awkwardly turned away. “Just do your mission, Drew,” he snapped at me

  Later that day, as I was sitting in class I thought about how I would get Xavier to the site. I knew the bell was due to ring any second and I searched my brain frantically for a plan. Why didn’t the creators do their own dirty work? Why make me do it? Whatever they were doing to them, they could do it on their own.

  But I had been assigned to this mission and I had to do it. No matter what.

  Suddenly the bell rang, startling me. Students all around me jumped up and headed for the door. I followed them quickly, grabbing my bag from my locker and heading towards the road that Xavier took home every day.

  I waited for about five minutes. Sure enough there he was, walking along towards his house. I hid in the bushes until he passed me and then walked a little ways behind him on the other side of the street. It took about five minutes more to reach the site where David said the car would be waiting. I walked towards the bushes at the fork of the road and took a deep breath.

  I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I could, falling to the ground in an act of sheer helplessness. Xavier’s head swiveled, following the sound and then he saw me. I watched as he broke into a jog and was soo
n at my side. “Hey,” he said, leaning down, “What happened?”

  “Oh, I just fell. I think I broke something,” I lied, faking a pained expression that I knew was working by the look on his face.

  He looked confused, at a loss for what to do. “Do you want me to get someone for you? Or I could help you walk?” he suggested.

  Where was David or Glen? Hurry up please, I thought.

  But just as Xavier was pulling me to my feet, I saw a dark shape loom over him and a large scary-looking needle plunge into his shoulder. He made a noise like a strangled animal then fell to the ground.

  I stared at his unmoving body as David and some other person picked him up and put him in the car. I felt guilty. And shocked. Xavier had done nothing, but who knew what lay in store for him.

  I numbly climbed into the back of the car.

  * * * *

  “Why do you look so low?” Yvonne questioned me as I walked into our room.

  “I feel a little guilty about bringing these people in,” I said truthfully.

  Yvonne snorted. “Oh please. Don’t feel bad. They’re just humans.”

  I felt like retorting back, but didn’t want to start a fight. “Have you talked with Jeremy?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “They won’t let me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She shrugged indifferently. “It’s fine. I’ll live.” She gave a halfhearted laugh. “So, how are you and Michael?” she asked, studying me.

  “Yvonne, it’s not like we’re dating.”

  “Huh,” she replied and dropped the subject.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I hurried towards the bedroom door. “Come on, Yvonne. David is waiting in the car,” I called. I didn’t want to be late for school.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” As Yvonne spoke, I saw something dark being flung my way. I ducked as my backpack flew towards my head, scraping my arm on the side of the dresser. “Ouch,” I cried, surveying the exposure of wires on my arm. “Stop throwing things at me!”