I glanced back at them only once, and then Daniel poked me gently in the side.
“Keep your eyes peeled. We need to keep out of sight as much as possible.”
He needn’t have worried so much. We didn’t see another soul on the road the whole way into town. Not that I was really surprised. People didn’t travel much between the cities. There wasn’t any reason too. The only things that moved were the military and the big supply trucks.
Part of me hoped we might see one. I had a half-crazed idea that we could hijack one. It would probably be easier than finding an open store. But the road stayed silent.
Like most towns the outer areas of Newcastle had been abandoned. Particularly the nicer areas with the bigger houses. No one could afford them anymore. Besides, the police had all but abandoned large swathes of most cities. They simply didn’t have the numbers to police the growing levels of crime. And those nicer areas hadn’t stayed nice for very long.
Once we reached the inner city we started to see more people, depressed and downtrodden though they seemed.
Daniel kept his own eyes downcast, relying on me to lead the way. After the third time he nearly bumped into someone I reached back and linked my fingers though his, pulling him closer to my side and taking more care to steer him around the obstacles.
The warmth of his fingers in mine was kind of distracting. But I could feel the tension in his body every time we brushed shoulders.
“So, where are we going to find a shop?” he asked finally, as we moved deeper into the city. He was getting more nervous and uncomfortable the further we got. It didn’t help that the streets were getting busier.
Keeping his eyes down wasn’t exactly a fool proof method of hiding his Mechanical nature. Sooner or later someone was going to catch sight of his eyes. I wished we still had my sunglasses, but they’d disappeared somewhere along the way.
I was so busy worrying about it that I didn’t notice the streets ahead of us getting even busier until we began to get swept up by the moving crowd. Even more people began to show up, running in from other streets to swell the numbers. Everyone was heading in the same direction. Towards the growing sounds of a mob.
“We should –.” I looked around, searching for an alternative route. It was impossible. The crowd had grown so thick that in order for Daniel and me to reach a side street we would have to push and shove our way through. There was no way we could do that without someone noticing Daniel’s eyes.
The growing crowd around us pushed us inexorably forward, and we had no choice but to go with the flow. Anything else was only going to draw unnecessary attention to us. The only thing we really didn’t need.
All of a sudden the street opened out into a wide area. In the centre an old plinth rose up. The statue at the top of the pillar was long gone however. The crowd was packed around the pillar, all looking at something. I was too short to see over the crowd to find out what was so interesting.
Beside me Daniel risked one quick glance. His height gave him a clear line of sight to whatever was at the base of the pillar.
His head shot back down, tucking his chin even tighter to his chest. He started swearing under his breath, his fingers locking around mine in a death grip.
“Daniel? What is it?” I bounced on my tiptoes, trying to get a glimpse.
“We need to get out of here,” Daniel muttered. “Now.”
The crowd shifted in front of me and I finally caught a glimpse of what pushed Daniel into such a panic.
A young man stood at the base of the pillar, bound head to toe. Whoever had done the job had used whatever bits and pieces had been at hand. Rope, bits of old chain, washing line, and electrical cable. It seemed like overkill, the way he had been tied, but it wasn’t a man, not exactly, it was a newer model of Mechanical. Not quite as lifelike as Daniel, but certainly better at blending in than most. His silicone skin looked almost real, far better than Sarah or Robert.
He was in bad shape though. One arm was mangled, a confusing mess of blood and wires, and a deep gash on his scalp exposed a flickering circuit board.
The crowd pushing in around us was so hostile I could practically taste it. Both Daniel and I knew what was going to happen. And I didn’t think there was anything we could do to stop it. Two of us against hundreds.
Daniel’s fingers dug into my arm, forcing my attention back to him.
“We need to get out. Now,” he said again. He kept his eyes fixed resolutely on the ground in front of him, but with the crowd jostling around us it was only a matter of time before someone caught sight of them.
And then all hell really would break lose.
My gaze strayed back to the bound Mechanical. Just a few weeks ago I would have been a little upset by the hostile crowd, but at the end of the day, I had truly believed Mechanicals were just machines. Clever, impressive ones, but still just machines. But now the truth weighed heavily on me. How could I walk away knowing that what was chained at the base of the pillar wasn’t just a collection of metal, plastic and clever computer programming, but something that had been entirely human once, before being corrupted and changed against his will. A boy just like Daniel, just like any of the boys at my school.
I wanted to help. I wanted to stop what I now knew was nothing less than murder.
Daniel’s fingers locked around mine, and when I glanced back into his eyes it was clear he knew exactly what I was thinking.
He kept his face down turned, but I could see the fear, the wide eyes, the flared nose. And I realised something. Saving the Mechanical in the square wasn’t just impossible, it would also put Daniel at risk. He’d be ripped apart by the mob just as quickly.
The choice felt like a weight in my stomach, but realistically there was only one way to go. As much as I wanted to help the stranger, I wouldn’t risk Daniel. I couldn’t. I was already more connected to him than I ever thought possible.
I squeezed his fingers back and scanned the crowd for any kind of gap. The press of bodies was claustrophobic. Hundreds of sweaty, dirty, desperate people packed themselves into the square, driven by fear and hatred.
A part of me hated them for what they were about to do. But another part of me couldn’t blame them. They didn’t know the truth after all. All they knew was what the government told them. That Mechanicals were dangerous. Deadly. And not human.
I wished I could tell them the truth. I wished I could proclaim from the rooftops that the ‘thing’ they were about to kill was actually human. Horribly altered, but human. I didn’t want them all to become unwitting murderers.
But no one would believe me, even if I could get them to listen in their riled-up state.
The crowd around us shifted, pressing forward as a man climbed up beside the bound Mechanical. With the noise of the crowd around us it was hard to hear him, and I only picked up the odd word here and there. ‘Abomination’ and ‘unnatural’ were repeated more than once. But as the crowd began to listen it became clearer.
“Right from the start the Government lied to us. They promised us so much.” The man was a skilled orator, his voice pitched just right, emotion dripping from every word. “The dawn of the Robotics Age was supposed to set us free. Prosperity. Comfort. There were the things they promised us. Does this seem like prosperity?” He gestured at the crumbling, graffiti covered buildings around us. “Does this look like comfort?”
The crowd roared its disapproval.
“They took our jobs, they crippled the economy. And still Genesis labs made more. Machines replaced us in every industry. And we fell further into poverty. My children, your children, don’t get enough to eat because of machines like this one.”
He kicked the Mech in the side of the head. Daniel’s body tensed and I tightened my grip on him.
“And now, now they are malfunctioning. Now they are actively killing us. And what does the government do? Nothing. They recalled all the private models, but all their models, in the factories and the warehouses? They’re still out ther
e – just waiting – “
I tuned him out. He didn’t even realise how self-contradicting he was. A machine couldn’t ‘wait’, couldn’t plan. But admitting sentience? Out of the question. Sentience would make it harder to justify the killing.
The crowd surged forwards and a space around us opened up and I squeezed Daniel’s hand, starting to edge my way to the closest alley.
Behind me Daniel muttered apologies every few steps, bumping into people as he fought to keep his eyes down.
Every time it happened my heart leapt into my mouth, fear balling in my stomach. If someone caught a glimpse of his eyes we would never make it out of there alive.
The crowd reached fever pitch, but neither Daniel or I looked back. Tears burned my eyes as we finally reached the mouth of the alley. I’d never been so relieved.
We didn’t get far before Daniel stopped, leaning against the graffiti covered brick wall. One shaking hand covered his face.
It was the most human I’d ever seen him look. Vulnerable, hurt and frightened.
“Daniel? Dan?” I reached out and touched his trembling fingers. For a second he flinched away and then he dropped his hand. His glittering eyes were wide, wild with fear.
The next second I was against his chest, his shaking arms wrapped around me as his desperate lips sought out my own.
The kiss was bruising, almost painful in its intensity. His fingers clutched at my hips as he tried to lose himself in me. He needed some kind of escape and I was it.
When he finally broke away it was only to bury his face in my neck as I grasped for breath.
“Sorry,” he muttered, his lips grazing my skin, sending heat pooling into my stomach in spite of our precarious situation.
I shook my head, still a little too breathless to speak.
He pulled back, keeping his hands on my waist.
When I looked up into his glittering eyes the fear was still there, but it was tamed, controlled.
“We should get out of the city,” I said finally, glancing back in the direction of the now invisible crowd.
“Not until we get what we came for,” he replied firmly. “You still need – “
“It’s too dangerous,” I insisted quietly. “Things are – worse. I didn’t think it was possible. Do you think something else has happened?”
He shrugged. “More deaths I’d imagine. On both sides. Not all of us want to live in peace with humans – other humans. You should know that. There are some of my kind who would like nothing more than to see your kind destroyed or enslaved. The way we were.”
“How do you know?” As far as I was aware Daniel had very little contact with his own kind.
“You forget. I grew up in the lab. I saw other Mechanicals when they were brought in for ‘malfunctioning’. I heard their ranting before they were – reprogrammed.”
I shuddered. I had a feeling it wasn’t as simple a process as it sounded.
“Anyway,” I said trying not to think about it. “The point still stands that this city is not safe for a Mechanical. Even one who blends in as well as you do.”
He looked reluctant, but finally he nodded. “All right. I suppose we head back out of town.”
I squeezed his arm gratefully and turned to head further up the alley, hoping it would come back out somewhere far enough away from the crowd. I froze, my stomach plummeting.
Three men stood at the corner of the alley watching us. Neither Daniel or I had noticed them arriving, so I had no idea how long they’d been there, or how much they’d heard. But judging from the ugly looks on their faces it was more than enough.
Fifteen
One of the men swore and spat on the ground. “You ever seen one like him, lads?” he said over his shoulder to his two friends. “He’s so real looking.” He shuddered.
Instinctively, despite Daniel being stronger, faster and bigger than me, I stepped in front of him protectively.
The three men exchanged incredulous looks. “You - you protecting a machine?” The biggest of the three made a retching face. “You sick in the head, girl?”
“Look, just let us go,” I said quietly. Behind me I could feel Daniel tensing up, preparing himself for what seemed like an inevitable fight.
The first guy laughed. “You can go any time you like, sweetness. But the machine ain’t going nowhere but the scrap heap. After we take him to the square. Folks ought to know that there are ones like him out there. Pretending to be human. Hanging around with humans. I wonder if Davis knows?”
I had a feeling Davis was the speech maker.
“They aren’t what you think,” I gasped as the three men began to advance. One of them snatched a broken bottle up off the ground. The other kicked apart a wooden pallet and hefted one of the slats in one hand.
“We know what they are,” the man sneered. “Machines that think they are better than us – “
“Can’t you hear what you’re saying? Machines that think? If they can think then doesn’t that mean – “
I didn’t get to finish, the bottle shattered against the wall inches from my left ear and I ducked the shower of glass with a scream.
As the three men charged forwards strong hands bodily lifted me and suddenly Daniel was in front. He’d never looked less human as he dropped into a half crouch, his glittering eyes flashing with rage.
The first man reached him and Daniel snatched him up by the front of his shirt and the belt on his jeans, flinging him across the alley and into the side of a dumpster.
The other two men faltered. They might have outnumbered Daniel, but his strength was superhuman. It was one of the things that scared people the most about the Mechanicals.
“What are you waiting for?” Daniel snarled. I’d never seen him so angry. Even I felt a thrill of fear. “I thought you wanted to turn me into scrap metal?”
The fact Daniel seemed so human, that he spoke so normally, only seemed to piss them off even more. The second guy charged wildly at Daniel, swinging the length of wood. The wood stopped dead mid swing as Daniel flung up one arm to block it.
The edge of the wood cut into his arm and red blood began to flow. But even that hint of humanity was marred by the sparking of wires buried under his skin. The cut from the wood exposed them, severing more than one.
Showing no pain Daniel pressed his advantage, using his other hand to wrench the plank of wood out of the man’s grip. He slammed it back into the guys face, shattering his nose and putting him on the ground.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. I’d barely even taken a breath. Then Daniel was grabbing my hand, dragging me passed the two prone men and knocking the third man out with a single right hook.
There wasn’t a chance in hell that no one had heard the racket. Someone was bound to come check it out before long.
Suddenly Daniel threw on the brakes and spun back to the third guy. In just a few swift moves he stripped off the man’s jacket and shoved it into my arms as he began to haul me back down the alleyway.
Part of me was repulsed enough that I contemplated chucking the jacket away. After all, who knew how hygienic the guy was. But the other part of me, the sensible, rational part of me, knew it was the only way I was getting a warm winter coat. And it was a nice one. Soft beige suede, lined with fleece. It was an expensive jacket. Stolen no doubt. Street thugs couldn’t afford nice clothes like that.
I nearly tripped and forced myself to pay better attention to where we were going. Daniel had already led us through most of the inner city and we were back in the suburbs. The downside was that we were on the opposite side of the city to where we had left Peter and Sarah.
“We could go back,” Daniel said when I pointed that out to him.
We both glanced back towards the city. The mob mentality hadn’t dispersed with the killing of the Mechanical. It had only spread. Smoke rose in more than one place, and no doubt looting, and fighting had spilled outwards from the public square.
“Perhaps not,” I replied with a slightly
forced smile. “Of course, they will have moved on by the time we reach them. If Sarah has her way.”
Daniel smiled grimly as we reached the deserted bypass and started back around the city.
“She’d like you to think that. But Sarah needs you too badly to actually leave you behind. Her failsafe wasn’t her only programming issue.”
“But she said – “
“I know what she said. She would never admit to needing a human. I can’t think of a single Mechanical who would.”
“Talking of needing a human,” I said tugging him to a halt. “Your arm. Will you let me see it?”
He glanced down at it in mild surprise, as though he’d pretty much forgotten about it already. The wires had stopped sparking, but it was still bleeding lightly.
“Are they anything important?” I asked, pointing at the wires.
“Nothing much,” he replied, flexing his hand. His little finger twitched out of rhythm with the rest of his fingers.
Looking up at him for permission I reached out and took his hand. The workmanship, the science behind what Daniel was, was breath taking. It was also heart breaking. To see the way they had corrupted him, changed him. The wires snaked through his entire body. Over riding his natural impulses. I shuddered to think of the hours on the operating table, the pain and the suffering he must have endured as a child.
Daniel covered my fingers with his own. “It’s ok.” Somehow, he knew what I was thinking. “I’m used to it now. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
I snorted as I ripped a couple of inches off the bottom of my shirt and used it to bind the cut. “Not the point.” I tied off the fabric. “That should hold it for now. I’ll see what I can do about reattaching the wires when we get a chance.”
Before I could step away he caught my hand, tugging me in and dropping a single, soft kiss on my upturned lips.
“Thank you.”
Somehow that single kiss felt more intimate than any of the others we had shared yet. I found my mind lingering on it as we hiked up the road.
Our luck held and the road remained deserted. I found my thoughts moving away from the kiss and onto wondering what the world had been like before the collapse. When people travelled freely, when cars had been numerous. It was impossible to imagine. Now days few people could afford cars, or more importantly the petrol to run them. There were a few electric cars, but electricity could be just as expensive. Even my parents only used the car for short local trips. The petrol cost twice the drivers wage.
Metal in the Blood (The Mechanicals Book 1) Page 13