I forced my eyes open.
“Daniel?”
He shot forward in his chair, reaching out to grab my hand. “You’re awake! I thought I saw you move.”
My eyes roved around, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. A tan canvas roof stretched overhead, low and propped up in the middle by a rusting metal pole. An old fashioned LED camping lantern swung from a rope, contrasting oddly with the state of the art machinery I was plugged into.
I looked back at Daniel. “What happened?”
He laced his fingers through mine. “You collapsed when we reached the camp. I thought – I thought I’d lost you. Your heart stopped. You weren’t breathing.” His eyes were wide, anxious.
A memory came back of the tightness in my chest, the blinding pain. “How? My heart – it’s not supposed to malfunction. It’s designed to never stop.” That was the promise that had been made to my parents when it had been put in. Or so they’d told me. It was supposed to be infallible.
Daniel shrugged. “They think it was the magnetic field. It fried some of the circuitry.”
Something about the tone of his voice frightened me. “But – but they fixed it, right?”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes and I took a closer look at the machinery beside me. I recognised it more than I cared to admit. I’d spent months when I was tiny hooked up to very similar machines, being kept alive until they could complete the dangerous surgery to replace my failing flesh and blood heart. It had been one of the worst times of my life. Tied to a machine, trapped in a hospital bed. There had been times when I’d wished my parents would just let me die.
I tried to sit up but Daniel pushed me back. “Don’t. Don’t strain yourself.”
“But –“
He forced me back down and I gave in. The pillows were made of a rough, scratchy material, but Daniel did his best to plump them up.
“They managed to get it restarted, but they don’t know how well it will last. Not if they take you off the machines. They think any strain will screw it up again.”
My eyes burned with tears and I squeezed them shut, but I couldn’t stop the few that escaped, rolling down my cheeks to drip off my chin.
Daniel’s hand caressed my face, the rough pad of his thumb catching the tears and drying them.
“I never meant for this to happen.”
My eyes flew open and I clutched at his hand. “It’s not your fault. We didn’t know. None of us knew.”
“Kendall did.”
I sucked in a breath. Daniel was right. Kendall’s once cryptic comment made sense now. He had been the one to suggest it wasn’t infallible. He’d known all along that the safety of the Sanctuary might have meant my death. Would have been my death if they hadn’t had the equipment they did.
Before Daniel could say anything else the tent flap rustled and someone came in backwards, carrying a tray of rattling equipment.
“I understand the patient is awake – “
The man turned and my stomach somersaulted. “Uncle Ian?”
“Hello Elizabeth.”
For a moment I was utterly lost for words. The last time I’d seen my uncle I’d been ten. He’d shown up at the house unexpectedly during dinner. My father had refused to let him in, but I’d heard them arguing in the hall. They’d called each other words I’d never heard before at the time, harsh things, and Ian had left, swearing at my father all the way down the hall to the elevators. Never in a million years would I have expected to see him there.
“What – what are you doing here?”
He smiled grimly. “Well that’s a fine thing. You really should be thanking me. If I hadn’t been here neither would you, young lady.“ He paused and gave me a far gentler smile. “Not so young now though.”
“You did this?” I gestured at the machines.
“Saved your life? Yes. I couldn’t let my only niece die. Though, I had to fight for it.”
I frowned and he sighed.
“There are quite a few here who are not entirely happy at the idea of wasting valuable electricity and machinery on a human girl. Especially not the daughter of Tristan and Clara. Your young friend here, however, argued vehemently on your behalf. Convinced them that you might actually be of some use to them.”
I shot Daniel a silent look of thanks but focused quickly back on my Uncle.
“I still don’t understand why you’re here.”
He bustled for a moment, checking the readings on the machine, and then manually taking my pulse and blood pressure – almost like he didn’t fully trust the machines. “Don’t you?” He glanced down at my blank expression. “No, I don’t suppose you do. You never were a very observant child. And –“ he added before I could protest. “Your parents did work rather hard to keep you in the dark all these years. I suppose they saw some of this rebellious spirit of yours before anyone else did.”
“Keep me in the dark? About what?”
“About their involvement in the Mechanicals project. About your involvement in it. About the original nature of the experiments, and how desperately they failed.”
I glanced at Daniel. He didn’t look like much of a failure to me. He looked like the perfect success. Human and machine perfectly blended to make the best of both.
Ian seemed to read what I was thinking in my face. “Oh, I’m sure in many ways it was successful. But not in the way they hoped. Not with most of their models anyway. The fact that they were ever able to break their programming for a start.”
I could accept that. The sudden turn of the Mechanicals on those who created them had come as a shock to everyone.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“No. I haven’t. And I’m not sure I will, not as fully as you would like anyway. Let’s just say that like you, I came to realise that the Mechanicals deserved something better than a life of servitude. We abolished slavery a very long time ago, and I didn’t think we should bring it back just because the slaves in question were part machine.” He waved one hand airily around the tent. “I helped build this place. I developed the magnetic field that would disable all of the communication between the chips implanted in the Mechanicals and their home labs, including the tracking devices. The same magnetic field that almost killed you.” He looked guilty for a moment, but shook it off with surprising ease. “But in my defence I never expected to see my brother’s daughter here in the Mechanical Sanctuary.” He glanced between me and Daniel. “Which reminds me. You clearly have a story of your own to tell.”
For a moment Daniel and I only looked at each other. What could I tell my Uncle? That Daniel had essentially kidnapped me? Used me as a human shield to get away from those looking to kill him, because he didn’t think they’d harm a human? That we’d hidden out in the woods together, that he’d saved my life and I’d saved his? That somewhere along the line, before I’d even known about his humanity, I’d fallen for him. Hard. That somehow I’d grown to love the boy sitting beside me, despite the fact he was half machine? And I was fairly sure he loved me back.
“We just sort of – fell in together,” I said finally, choosing to gloss over anything more complicated.
“And Daniel here told you the truth about the Mechanicals?”
“That they are actually human? Yeah, it might have come up.”
Ian smirked at my wry reply. “Most people wouldn’t have believed him. It’s easier for most people to hold onto the lie, that the people who died in the streets were nothing more than metal and code. The alternative is too horrific for most people to ever accept.”
“They won’t be able to deny it for much longer.”
The voice that spoke from the tent flap was oddly artificial, hoarse and cracked. But despite that it was also a voice tinged by a bone deep weariness. Not physically tired, but emotionally exhausted. Ian turned and I saw the newcomer. He was an old model of Mechanical. One of the very first. One who really did look like a machine. He limped across the tent floor towards us; one of his feet was
nothing more than a tangled mess of metal and wire, and I wondered why he didn’t simply have it removed and replaced.
“It’s a reminder,” he said, as though he’d read my mind. He thumped one fist into his thigh. “A reminder that those who made me, are also those who tried to kill me. They might lie to themselves, fool the public, but I will remember, and I won’t let them forget.”
“Kendall, does it have to be now? The girl is barely recovered.”
I started at the name and Daniel whipped his head round, but the newcomer, the new Kendall merely laughed.
“Yes, my creator named me after him. His great vanity. After all, I was the first.”
“The first?”
“The first that worked. The first he didn’t kill in his experiments.”
I looked at this strange man, this man who really was more robot than human, with a new respect. I had heard about him, of course, though not by name. Most of the time he was simply referred to as The First. The first creation, and the first rebel. The first to break his programming and throw off the shackles that bound him. But most people thought he was just a myth, an urban legend or an online conspiracy theory.
“Honestly, Kendall,” Ian said again, stepping into the line of vision between the two of us. “I really must protest. The girl needs rest.”
“The girl needs to earn her place here. I’d have had her thrown back across the line to die in the dirt if Daniel here hadn’t convinced me that she might actually be of some use to me. But of course, if you would prefer that – “
“No, no.” Ian waved his hand dismissively. But I saw the fear in his eyes. He really believed Kendall might do it. That he might just throw me out to die. “Just – don’t tire her out. She needs rest to recover.”
“I’m not concerned with her health, Ian. I am concerned with whether or not she can fix me.”
Now I really was surprised. What could I possibly do for the First?
“Fix you?”
“The other one, the female, Sarah, she said you fixed her. And another one, even more corrupted than she was.”
I nodded slowly. “Robert. He had a failsafe. I rewrote the code, overrode it completely.”
“I have a failsafe too. A different one, for sure. But one I would like removed. A lot of our experts have tried, but they have been - unsuccessful.” His gazed settled on Ian who flinched back. “If you succeed, I let you live. If you fail – then you die.”
“You can’t do that.” Daniel leapt to his feet, suddenly between me and Kendal, his eyes blazing. “She hasn’t done anything. She isn’t like the others. You can’t – “
“Don’t presume to tell me what I can and can’t do, boy.” In the blink of an eye Kendall’s hand was around Daniel’s throat, lifting him from the ground as though he weighed nothing. His fingers began to squeeze and Daniel scrabbled frantically at the hand. He could hold his breath for far longer than any regular human, an hour or more, but Kendall’s metal fingers were crushing, and if he squeezed much harder he was going to snap Daniel’s neck.
“Wait, stop.” I flung myself out of bed, throwing myself on Kendall’s arm, heedless of the searing pain in my chest. “I’ll do it. Leave him alone.”
Kendall dropped Daniel in a heap and looked between the two of us in amazement. “You – you two care about each other? You have feelings? For a Mechanical?”
“Yes – no – I mean – “ I looked down at Daniel helplessly, and out of the corner of my eye I could see my Uncle’s horrified face.
“That’s – interesting.” Kendall’s face became carefully blank. “In that case – both your lives are forfeit. Fix me, or you both die. That should prove sufficient motivation for you.”
“I’ll give you the rest of the day to recover. But tomorrow you start work.”
Without saying goodbye he was gone, but before the tent flap dropped behind him I noticed two Mechanicals on either side. Guards or bodyguards? I wasn’t too sure. I got the feeling I wasn’t a particularly popular person in the camp, but I also wasn’t in any fit state to do a runner.
My uncle waited a moment until absolutely sure Kendall was gone and then turned on me, his face white with fear.
“He is not a man to trifle with, Ellie. I really do hope you’re as good as your – friend here suggests.” His attention shifted to Daniel and he studied him for a moment. “What exactly is going on here? I did wonder when Daniel argued so vehemently on your behalf. Not many Mechanicals would care what happened to a human.”
Daniel and I exchanged a long look. Part of me wanted to confess it all to my Uncle. I wanted to put words to the things I was feeling. I wondered what it would be like to say it out loud. I think I love him. Would saying it out loud give me the same tingle? The same butterflies in my stomach? But I couldn’t. I didn’t think anyone would understand. We might both be human in the end, but there was a gulf between Daniel and myself. Between our two worlds. And I wasn’t sure that even love could bridge that gap.
“I owe your niece my life,” Daniel said finally. “She saved me more than once.”
“And vice versa,” I murmured, not willing to take all the credit. “Please, Uncle Ian, just leave it for now. Please?”
For a moment I thought he was going to protest, but finally he nodded. “All right. I don’t think now is the time anyway. You need to rest.” He gestured to Daniel for him to stand, but I reached out and laid a hand on his arm, keeping him in place.
“Could you just give us a minute, Uncle?”
With pursed, unhappy lips, he nodded, disappearing out of the tent with a frustrated sigh.
Daniel turned back to look at me. With the globe of the light behind his head he looked almost like he had a halo, an effect intensified by the faint glow of his irises.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I whispered finally. “I thought – I thought for a minute he was going to kill you.”
A wry, pained smile flickered across Daniel’s lips. “For a moment, I thought so too. He is strong, far stronger than any Mechanical I’ve met before.”
“How is that possible? If he was the first, surely all the others have been improved since then? You must be stronger?”
“Improved, yes, but also ‘fixed’. I don’t know everything, but I know the story, the legend that has come to surround The First. He is truly more machine than human, more so than any of the later models. As far as I understand it, only his brain retains his own organic material. Everything else is metal and silicone.”
I shuddered. “That’s horrible.”
“It’s also what makes him so strong. But after the First the scientists realised that they were creating something far too powerful. And so they began to make alterations. They gave us weaknesses. Made certain that we could be beaten.”
I cocked my head slightly and smiled. “You have a weakness? I’ve never seen one.”
His eyes met mine and I saw a vulnerability in them I’d never seen before. “I have more weaknesses than I care to think of. But my biggest weakness – my biggest weakness is you.” His fingers found mine in the folds of the sheet, silencing me even as I opened my mouth to protest. “I can’t stand the idea of seeing you hurt, and I will do everything in my power to prevent that. I – you are – I think – I believe -“
A grin forced its way onto my lips. “I think I love you too.”
Seconds later his lips were on mine, burning in the intensity of the kiss. He edged onto the bed, wrapping me in his arms as the kiss deepened. The taste of him, the feel of his skin, all of it overwhelmed me until I was so wrapped up in him that I wasn’t sure where he ended and I began. One of his hands found the gap between my top and my jeans, his fingers spaying against the skin of the small of my back. Everywhere our skin touched was like electricity sparking.
The machine beside me went wild, a shrill, piercing bleat echoing through the tent and the camp beyond. Searing pain ripped through my chest even as Daniel disentangled himself. He lay me back onto the pillows as my un
cle burst back through the tent flap.
“I’m OK,” I managed to gasp out between bursts of pain. “I just – “
“You just did exactly what I asked you not to do.” Ian grabbed a syringe, plunging it into the IV bag still connected to the crook of my elbow.
“What’s that?” I asked, my speech already slurring.
“A sedative. Clearly you are not capable of resting of your own accord.” He looked down at me, ignoring Daniel who hovered on my other side. “I am deadly serious, Ellie. Your heart cannot take any strain right now. It’s barely keeping you alive as it is. Sleep.”
The sedative was creeping through my veins and I couldn’t have disobeyed him if I’d tried. My eyelids fluttered closed, and as though from a great distance away I heard my Uncle berating Daniel, shooing him from the tent.
I didn’t want him to go, but I didn’t have the strength to protest.
Eighteen
“Do you think I care? Do you think I give a damn about the health of one silly, little human girl?”
Despite its volume the voice took a while to penetrate. The heavy fog of the sedative made me feel like I was wrapped up in a cocoon. I struggled to shift it, feeling like my eyelids were weighed down with lead.
Finally I lifted them a crack. Uncle Ian and Daniel stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking my bed from the tent flap. Ian was trembling, but Daniel just seemed angry, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
“She’s barely conscious. It’ll be hours before the sedative is out of her system enough. You’ll just have to wait.”
A metal hand shoved between the two men and Kendall shoved Ian to the ground. Daniel rocked on his heels, but kept his feet.
“Then how come she’s looking at me?” The huge Mechanical stared down at me, then prodded me hard in the shoulder. I yelped and he nodded in satisfaction.
Ian struggled up from the ground, but had the sense not to get between me and The First again.
I tried to speak but my voice came out in a croak and Daniel hurried to bring me a glass of water. Kendall ignored him, snapping his fingers at the two guards standing by the tent flap.
Metal in the Blood (The Mechanicals Book 1) Page 16