by Imran Siddiq
“Malfunction alert,” said the Comms-Hub.
The screen went blank.
Jordan Kade must have escaped from the Centurion before it detonated. He must have taken Rosa, otherwise how could she be here? Zachary’s thoughts returned to the crumbling room and the mere feet that separated him from her.
On her side, black fluid leaked from Rosa’s abdomen. Sparks fizzed out of her exposed metal neck. A tear running down her right cheek mixed with a glittering crack along her jaw. Dislocated from a spherical shoulder joint, her right arm whirred. Rosa’s left eye shook upward, almost turning in on itself.
Zachary’s limbs shuddered. He now understood the change of her childhood appearance from the files that Patch had shown him, the reason why her parents kept her away from others, and the need to seclude her.
He shivered.
His heart thudded under frantic breaths.
Zachary interlocked Rosa’s fingers and rested his hand under hers, not caring for the sparks.
Both her eyes twitched. “Zach.”
“I’m here.” The smile he tried to give didn’t happen.
“I see codes everywhere,” she mumbled. Skin shrivelled around her green eyes. “I didn’t know.”
Thick fluid gushed from her mouth.
Zachary tightened his hold. “I … believe you. I’m going to get you out of here. Someone can repair you.” His words quickened. “I’m not going to leave you.”
Rosa squirmed. “Zach.”
“This isn’t fair,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened. “Behind y –”
A hand sliced hard across Zachary’s face. Rolling on all fours, he spat blood. “And so it has come to this for my greatest creation.” Sokolov positioned himself between Zachary and the Comms-Hub. The General’s powerful arm wrapped around Rosa’s waist. She withered, exerting little pressure to escape. She was weak.
A flicker of energy shot out of Sokolov’s right side. Altering his stance above the uneven floor, the damage to the General came into view. Wires encircled a bolt with shifting pistons where his biceps should have been.
Zachary’s fingers curled. “You’re an android too?”
“Not exactly,” replied Sokolov. “Carell’s disrespect in attacking the Centurion didn’t just destroy the precious lives of many. It cost me my arm.” Blood seeped out of his mouth. “It is amazing what you can do with a few cogs.”
“You knew?” muttered Rosa.
“RNA extraction was your father’s idea.” Sokolov poked the crushed mesh of her stomach. “We simply added the necessary components.”
“Why?” she groaned. It was obvious from the fluid flowing from her stomach that he meant to hurt her.
“Jordan was arrested for aiding ROM. Everybody suspected him of conspiracy with his ex-colleague Carell.”
Zachary snatched a dangling cable to pull himself up.
The Russian hissed. “I overturned the charges but had to remove your father from office. He was a broken man. Your mother hated him for leaving you behind.”
Rosa cocked her head. “He … left me?”
“It wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t have stopped it. You died, Rosa.”
She whimpered. A spark fizzed along her cheek. “I never knew.”
“You never should have. You are the only one that we pushed to the limits.” Sokolov glared at Zachary. “Synthetic layers entwined to a life-replicator, every part of you was built to imitate a human. To grow like a human. To age. Shed skin. You would have died a human, if it wasn’t for him.”
The General’s hand raised her chin. “She was the most perfect we made. She accepted her RNA transfusion and connected with her past in an instant, unlike the others who took time.” Sokolov’s eyes narrowed. “She can be saved. Parts can be replaced. Skin will grow back. But first, you must do something for me.”
An electric current burst from Rosa’s abdomen. She wriggled at arm’s length from the General.
“The longer you take to think about it, the higher the chance her RNA implant will cease to function,” said Sokolov.
“What do you want?” Zachary released the cable, managing to balance.
“You will send a message to the Confederation to inform them that protesting scum instigated an illegal uprising, and fraudulent propaganda was created to harm the House. You will show them the module and name Sebastian Carell as a traitor.”
“You want me to lie.”
Remorse lacked in Sokolov’s tone. “Time to question me is not yours.”
“Don’t do it,” said Rosa.
Zachary closed his eyes. He had no idea of what remained in Underworld. Was it wiped clean, leaving a polished hull? Had the Black Lake been drained into space? How many humans had burned in the melting pots of the Base’s engines? But what Zachary did know was a person in front of him, tugging on his heart.
He limped, keeping his head facing the General, toward the Comms-Hub.
“Comms-Hub, activate connection to SC001,” said Sokolov.
“Voice recognition applied. Connecting,” replied the Hub.
“No trickery. Do this, and I will ensure she is fixed,” said Sokolov.
Back turned to the General, Zachary pulled out the module. “And me?”
“One life must cease before another can live.”
“Zach.” A tinny sound followed Rosa’s voice. “Don’t.”
Swimming specks of light dazed Zachary’s own sight. He leaned onto the Hub, feeling his spine tingle. A hole in the centre of the Hub, between notches, seemed to match the shape of the module. The screen of the Hub activated to a man wearing a cap with several blue-uniformed people wandering behind him.
The man spoke, “Please state who you are. I cannot identify you amongst personnel authorised to use this terminal.”
Zachary heard Rosa call his name again.
He slapped the Comms-Hub. “I am reporting an invasion by the Right Order Movement of Hadrian Tower.”
“What? Who authorised this intrusion? Who are you?”
Another, older face appeared next to the man.
Zachary tasted blood building under his tongue. “My name is Zachary Connor … from Underworld.”
“How did you gain entry to this terminal?” asked the first man.
“Keep going,” muttered Sokolov.
Zachary turned, ignoring the rants from the Hub. “Give her to me.”
“Finish the broadcast.” Sokolov glanced at the currents pouring from Rosa.
“Tell them the truth,” she moaned.
Zachary spun in a heap onto the Hub. “ROM has invaded the Tower because the House of Representatives did this.” He rammed the module into the hole. An ‘Activate’ symbol floated over the module. He pressed it. “Save Galilei.”
“Coward,” bellowed Sokolov, hurrying toward the Hub.
Zachary’s eyes swept for a weapon. There was nothing. He had seconds.
“I’m going to tear you apart!”
“NO!” screamed Rosa.
With the next wave of currents dispensing out of her, she ploughed herself into the General’s broken arm. The current spread. Metallic whirring sounded under his right torso. Bolts of electricity surrounded them both as they reacted against one another. A loose bolt smacked Zachary onto the Hub.
Currents raged deeper with Rosa maintaining her push into Sokolov’s socket. Purple veins protruded across his face. Gasping, he let go of Rosa. Light flashed between them, throwing her away from him.
Zachary caught her. Prickling currents decreased along her body.
Sokolov stood, wide-eyed, with smoke trailing from his open mouth. Stiffened, he fell forward through the hole to the third level.
Zachary cradled Rosa on the floor.
Gnashing sounds increased inside her. “It hurts.”
The girl he knew was there. “We have to get out of here.”
“I don’t feel … like an android.” Dozens of tiny lit-wires switched off in her stomach. “Weak … ening.”
“Stay with me.”
“For … give … me.”
Rosa whirred to a halt.
Chapter 28 - Dying
Zachary brushed Rosa’s hair, hoping the twinkle in her green eyes that hadn’t dimmed and the warmth of her face meant she wasn’t gone.
Death shouldn’t have come so quickly.
“You’re still there,” he mouthed. “I know you can see me. Blink. Please, blink. Tell me you can hear me. Please.”
Fearing harm from his action, Zachary shook Rosa with care. Nothing about her responded except further black fluid filling his palms. It didn’t feel right to class her as a bot. With his hand over her shredded cheek, Rosa appeared almost the same as the day he’d met her. Without the worn state, the scruffy, non-straightened hair and the smudges of battle, she was still Rosa Kade.
Zachary’s spasms, tightening into knots, swamped his senses. Maybe he’d lost as much blood as she’d leaked fluid. Maybe it was time to accept that he couldn’t keep outrunning death.
There was nothing to live for.
Zachary sunk to Rosa’s chin. It felt cold. Tiny pieces, built inside her jaw to meet a purpose, glimmered. Miniature coils surrounded pistons the size of a pin. She was a giant Harmon Bracelet. A walking Raptor. An android. She could be repaired.
Although the neck crack was deep, it hadn’t pierced the inner metal. Zachary furrowed his brow. Wasn’t that where the RNA was positioned? He lowered Rosa, peering into her neck. There was a definite green glow, and if it glowed, then surely it worked. She wasn’t all gone.
Staggering, Zachary lifted Rosa up. Heavy, and with no flexibility in her limbs, he dragged her towards a collapsed wall where he could see the outline of steps.
“Confirm that this is not a hoax,” said a voice from the Communications Hub.
“What do you care,” replied Zachary.
“We have to be sure before forwarding this to Command.”
Specks of light returned to haunt Zachary’s vision. He rocked, keeping his hands around Rosa. Acid burned his throat. “Comms-Hub, send all Intel of the Souls Programme to the Confederation.”
“Sending,” responded the Hub.
Zachary shivered on the staircase, moving downward with no control in his speed. Rosa’s legs trailed behind. The staircase darkened as he descended.
Hard smacks into the wall shook him more than the bullets spraying across the horizon that he could see through cracks. Two flights of stairs remained. Zachary’s neck drew inward, and then his legs gave way. He crashed onto rubble. It was over.
Eyelids fluttering, Zachary gasped above her face. “Rosa.”
He couldn’t end it.
* * *
Cold air rushed through Zachary’s head.
He sat up, catching a rubbery hand over his stomach. Another hand gagged his scream. Something forced Zachary down to lie flat. Bright light hung overhead in an otherwise dark room.
“Tranquillize him,” said a woman in grey clothes.
“He’s had too much already,” said a male.
“Just do it. Hurry up.”
Something pierced Zachary’s neck. A chilling freeze gripped him.
“Carell wants him,” added the woman. “Applying support-apparatus.”
A veil of darkness lowered toward Zachary.
He hoped the veil would miss.
It didn’t.
* * *
Zachary’s eyes opened to a fresh sensation tickling him. Not a single part of him ached or felt out of place.
He stood, barefooted, surprised by the aqua-coloured mist swirling around him. A perfect white, full-sleeved top covered him over trousers that felt so thin they almost didn’t exist. There were no cuts or grazes on his smooth skin.
Was he dead?
The mist dispersed a little after a brush of his hand.
Zachary cleared his throat. “Hello?”
Nothing responded.
His ears twitched at a single flute easing into the silence. It came from neither below, above nor around him. Panpipes joined the flute, then the ascending strum of a guitar and the patting of several hands as if a chorus of people hid within the mist. Zachary recognised the tune; it’d been the one that played when Rosa had danced.
If this were heaven, enjoying it without her seemed wrong.
Intrigued, Zachary ran forward, wanting to know who was playing. The melody intensified with crashing crescendos. A rush of wind halted it.
His skin prickled at the whispering wind.
It spoke to him.
“Wake up.”
Chapter 29 - Disconnected
Zachary awoke to a haze.
Something flapped on his left. Dagger-like stabs ran along his body as he lay on a flat bed. Blinking he saw the flapping belong to an upright drum beating in tune to his inhalations. That, and the curtains around him, and he couldn’t be mistaken. He was in the Medics Section of the Ark.
A woman in grey stepped out from behind the drum. “How are you?”
Zachary sighed. “I feel weird.”
A sharp twinge pushed him deep into the mattress.
“Careful, don’t strain yourself,” said the medic. “You’ve been through a lot, but you’re past the worst of it. You’ll feel a little lightheaded with the quantity of the blood we’ve transfused.”
Staying still, throbbing pain built inside Zachary’s thigh and shoulder.
“Your tissue damage wasn’t severe; it’ll heal.” She patted him on the forehead. “Don’t worry. You’re in safe hands, though you won’t need us. It seems that you have your own assigned nurse. She’s been waiting here for the last few days.” The medic glanced to Zachary’s right before leaving behind the curtain. “He’s all yours now.”
Zachary eyed the fat bandage wrapped around his shoulder, then beyond to several feet away where, on a chair, sat a girl with her knees bent up to her brow. She had buried her head, leaving only black hair flowing down her legs. Dressed in grey, she resembled a medic.
“I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk to me,” said the girl.
“Rosa.” Zachary’s heart beat faster than the pump. “You’re alive.”
Her green eyes welled up with tears. “You mean, I’m working.”
Back ache resisted Zachary’s attempt to sit.
Rosa rushed to his bedside. “No – stay down.”
The crack that had existed on her jaw could barely be seen under light stitches. Nothing whirred in her movement as she reversed away from the bed. She was almost perfect again, except for the remorse on her face.
“Come back,” muttered Zachary.
“Why? You must really hate me. You’ve been through so much, and look at the state you’re in.” A tear crossed her cheek. “It was all my fault.”
“But you didn’t know.”
Rosa swivelled. “How couldn’t I? It’s my body.”
Zachary couldn’t be sure, but her figure appeared intact with no sudden sparks, dangerous currents or leaking black fluid. “They mended you.”
“Patch collected you from the Tower.” Rosa’s tone brightened. “You must have told him a lot about me. He brought us both back to the Ark.”
“Is he okay?”
“Not really. He keeps complaining about the generators not having as much oomph as a fully-loaded Bombay.”
Zachary dropped the brief chuckle. “Did they look after you?”
Nodding, Rosa stroked her arms. “I don’t know who I am anymore. Whose parts are in me? They did the best that they could, but I won’t be able to do the things I used to, like eat and drink.” She gave a severe, long, drawn-out sigh. “They’re the least of my worries.”
“The medic said you’ve been waiting for me.”
“Just to check that you’d be okay.”
Adjusting his position so that his back was up against the pillow, Zachary said, “Is that it?”
Tears flowed down both Rosa’s cheeks. “What do you want me to say? That things can be like how they wer
e.” She laughed onto the back of her hand. “I don’t even know how they were before? All I know is what runs in my programme.”
“You’re different.” Zachary winced at the tight sting in his thigh. “Did Carell explain the RNA process to you?”
“That doesn’t change what I am. You’re human, I’m not.”
Zachary glared. “Part of you is human.”
Rosa pinched midair. “A small part.”
“It’s better than nothing.”
Rosa approached the bed. “When they switched me on, I thought I was in heaven. Everything felt new. I wonder if the rest of me is waiting for the missing part.” She rubbed her head
Zachary let his pulse quicken. “Rosa, I still like you.”
Rosa shook her head. “How can you? I’m an android.”
“And?”
“And? Don’t you get it? We can’t work. I’m not real.”
“You are.” He watched her quivering lips. “Androids don’t cry, but you can.”
Zachary knew that many faced with this dilemma would run from the lie they’d believed in, but how could he blame Rosa for actions beyond her control? Ahead he saw a girl; a girl he’d travelled through the pipes of Galilei and fought an army to reach. So what if she was a creation of metal, modelled by people, made to look perfect? If the Centurion attack had never taken place, would Rosa have grown to look the same? It didn’t matter. She was here and still tugging at his beating heart.
“I don’t want to have anybody else around me but you,” said Zachary.
Rosa’s eyes twinkled as her hands lowered. “Do you mean that?”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”
“But, do you mean it?”
Zachary heaved in a lungful of air. “Didn’t we agree that we wouldn’t argue over answering questions?” He grinned at her raised brow. “Of course I mean it.”
On the bed, Rosa edged to within a foot from his face. “All I thought about, while you slept, was would you still like me?”
Zachary touched her warm hand. “I don’t care what anybody says.”
Rosa leaned close. He took over, wrapping an arm around to bring her to his neck. Her hair smelt like fresh air. Stroking Rosa’s back, Zachary felt her forehead rise up. It wasn’t hard like metal, but soft.