What Lies Behind: A New Adult Dark Science Fiction Romance

by Travis Simmons

  “Normally I don’t read robots,” she said. “They don’t have a future like humans do, but you’re different. I feel something special about you.”

  Cass couldn’t break her gaze from the green eyes of the psychic. From this angle the candle light behind Augury created a kind of halo of light around her brown hair. Brandon shifted uncomfortably beside Cass.

  Cass nodded. “Special how?”

  “I sense a huge shift in your past. A big change that happened.”

  Brandon cleared his throat as if stifling a laugh. Cass couldn’t fault him for that. It did seem like a pretty vague comment.

  “There was a fire,” she said.

  That made Cass sit up straighter, and Brandon uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.

  “It destroyed your home. You were given up,” Augury told her. “But you know this already?”

  “Partially,” Cass told her. “What I don’t understand completely is why.”

  “Or what is happening to you now. Why things are changing?” Augury probed.

  Cass could only nod.

  “You weren’t programmed right,” Augury said. “I’m getting a sense that you weren’t wiped, your memories were just hidden. You’re meant for more than the life you’re living.” Augury frowned. “This is strange. I see you in split fashion, almost like I’m seeing two versions of you, one blended into another. In one I see you happy with this young man. I get the sense of freedom from you, the sense that you are living out your free will. In the other image I see you as a classic warrior or a champion of some sort. This champion is the true reason for your programming. This champion is what you’re meant for.”

  Augury looked up to Cass. “The way before you is split. That’s why I’m able to read for you. I can read for humans because they are able to make choices. I don’t read for robots because there is no sense of choice. For you, there are choices you can make. Decisions that will change the outcome of your future.”

  “What are they?” Cass asked.

  “I get the sense that you already know that.”

  “My free will,” Cass said. She looked at their joined hands. One human, one robot, both flesh of a kind. Looking at the joined hands alone you’d never know one wasn’t organic.

  “Yes. You can follow your free will, or you can follow your programming,” Augury said.

  Cass sighed.

  “You didn’t think I would be helpful, did you?” Augury said, removing her hands from Cass’.

  “No,” Cass answered, clasping her hands in her lap. “I thought this was going to be a fun reading, but not overly enlightening.”

  “More things exist beyond your senses. Things you’d never guess at. Things I could never imagine. Things science has yet to find explanations for.” Augury looked at Brandon. “What about you? Would you like your reading now?”

  “I’m good,” Brandon held up his hands as if to ward her away.

  Augury smiled at him. “People are fine with readings when they think they are nothing but games, but when the truth comes out, they change their minds. It’s okay.”

  Brandon nodded.

  “Do you have any more questions for me, since he’s not taking his time?” Augury asked.

  Cass shook her head. “I need to get home.”

  Augury nodded as if she understood precisely why Cass needed to get home.

  The door to the shop closed behind them, and for a while as they walked down the street toward the busy intersection, Brandon didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until they turned into the busier street that he spoke.

  “That went differently than I expected,” he said.

  “Yeah,” was all Cass could muster in response.

  “Tomorrow I am coming over, and we are going to see if we can get to the bottom of this. We are going to go see this Olivia woman.” He looked over at her. “Do you know where she works?”

  “She’s pretty public, I’m sure I can find the address.”

  “Good. Do that tonight, when I come over tomorrow we will head right out.”

  What Madame Augury had to say stayed with Cass all the way home. In fact, flying didn’t bother her this time. She didn’t fully come to her senses until they were standing before the door to Natalia’s apartment.

  “So do your homework,” Brandon told her with a smile. “And I will come by and get you tomorrow.”

  He turned the handle and opened the door.

  Cass knew something wasn’t right when she stepped into the house, and saw Natalia sitting on the couch, a cigarette in her hand, a cloud of smoke wreathing her head. The holovision was on, displaying a soap opera. Natalia only put soap operas on when she wanted background noise to help her think.

  She glanced at the two of them when they entered, and then took another puff of her cigarette. She hissed the smoke out and started rocking her leg that was draped over the other.

  “Another doctor’s visit?” Natalia asked.

  “You could say that,” Brandon said. “How was work?” He kicked off his shoes, but before he could cross the room to Natalia, she stood.

  “You might want to put your shoes back on, because you’re not staying,” she said to him, putting her cigarette out.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I’m trying to figure out what your obsession is with my machine lately,” Natalia said. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him unblinking.

  Cass closed the door. Her hand was shaking again. She didn’t have a good feeling about this at all. Suddenly she was very aware of the lavender dress she’d taken from Natalia’s closet that morning.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, spreading his hands wide.

  “Why are you spending so much time with her?” Natalia asked. “Actually, I think I know. You need to leave.”

  “Um…”

  “No, there’s no arguing this,” Natalia said. She went to the door, ignoring Cass as she passed her. She jerked the front door open, and snapped her fingers, pointing outside and staring at Brandon as if he were an animal she was shooing away. “Leave please. We will address this later.”

  Brandon cast a glance at Cass. He wanted her to go with him, that much was obvious. She shook her head ever so slightly. If she went with Brandon, it would only make things worse on her.

  “I said leave, now!” Natalia picked up Brandon’s shoes and threw them out the door. She was reaching for his arm, but he jerked away and stomped out the door. He turned to say something, but Natalia slammed the door in his face and threw the bolt, locking Cass inside with her.

  Natalia stood facing the door for several moments, her back to Cass.

  “Did you think I didn’t notice that you were combing your hair in the morning?” Natalia asked. Her voice was low. “I didn’t give you permission to do that.” She turned to look at Cass. Her brown eyes took in the entire outfit the automaton was wearing. “So do you fancy yourself a pretty girl now?”

  “No,” Cass shook her head.

  “Are you sure? You seem to be going out of your way to doll yourself up.”

  Cass didn’t say anything. Her hand shook harder. She clasped it in a fist behind her back to stop the nervous tick.

  Natalia crossed over to Cass and ran her hand through her hair. “It’s so real feeling. One could almost imagine you weren’t a machine.” She spoke softly, staring into Cass’s face. “I know the difference. Do you know how?”

  “No,” Cass whispered.

  “It’s right there.” She jabbed a finger into Cass’s infrared eye.

  Cass stumbled as the world around her blurred and went fuzzy. Natalia balled her hand in Cass’s hair, not allowing the robot to fall.

  “Did that hurt? Machines don’t feel pain. Did that hurt?” Natalia said. Her voice was dangerously low.

  “No,” Cass whimpered, shaking her head. The room was coming into focus. “I’m a machine. Machines don’t feel pain.”

  “And they don’t almost strike nurses. And they don’t fall in
love with humans because they can’t feel love and they aren’t human.”

  Cass steadied herself.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t know about the incident with the nurse?” Natalia asked. She was steering Cass across the living room by the hair of the head. “The doctor’s office called me when you left to tell me. I know that you should have been home much earlier that day, and that you didn’t need to rest when you got here. I didn’t want to believe it at first. I didn’t want to think that my boyfriend who I’ve given so much of my life to would be a fucking circuit breaker.”

  She yanked open the closet door and pushed Cass inside. Cass fell to her knees, her face inches from the stool where she powered down at night when Natalia was sleeping. There on the stool was the white shorts and the blue peasant shirt she’d worn the other day.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t notice my clothes were coming up missing?”

  Cass shook her head. “I only took the one?”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” Cass said. Her voice quivered in time with her hand.

  “Because you want to be a human, is that it? You want to know what it’s like to be me?”

  “No,” Cass said.

  “Lies!” Natalia slammed Cass’s face into the stool.

  Cass reeled backwards. Natalia took her by the hair once more and dragged her out of the closet. She pushed her to the floor and straddled her. “Did your nose break?”

  “No,” Cass said.

  “Why?” Natalia asked, slapping her upside the head. She had Cass’s arms pinned to her side, held in place with her knees.

  “Because I don’t have a nose made of cartilage like you,” Cass told her.

  “Why?” She slapped her again.

  “Because I wasn’t made like that.”

  “Right, you were made. You’re not human. You’re a filthy machine.” She slapped her again. “Is your skin going to bruise?”

  “No,” Cass said.

  “Why?”

  “It can’t.”

  “Why?” Natalia asked louder, slapping Cass harder.

  “Because I’m a machine.”

  “No, you’re a filthy machine!” Natalia stood and dragged Cass to the closet. She pushed her inside and slammed the door shut. “And filthy machines don’t feel pain. Machines can’t love. All they can do is pretend to be human, but they aren’t. And to show you that you aren’t.”

  The inside of the closet flared a blinding white. Cass listed to the side, falling into the stool. She tried to stand up, but like the day at the doctor’s office when the nurse shined the light into her infrared, Cass was blinded. Circuits all along her nervous system screamed out in pain at the blinding light.

  It was more than the light. There was a noise underneath. A high-pitched, droning noise that made Cass lose all control of her body. She fell to the floor. The stool tipped over, spilling the shorts and shirt onto her. The clothes missed her face. They didn’t blot out the light, or the noise that chased her into oblivion.

  The white light shown on Cass. She was on her back again, the metallic surgical table under her. There were other people in the room with her. She couldn’t see them, but she knew they were there.

  “And it’s done?” a man to her right asked. “They’re dead.

  “Yes. Jack is dead,” the woman said.

  The light shown on her painfully. The memories were still there, but Cass wouldn’t let them in. She didn’t want to see what they offered.

  “Will she be alright?” the girl asked. It was the same dream as before, but this time the memory was slightly different. Was she experiencing the same moment?

  “She will be fine.”

  “She didn’t get burned?” the woman asked.

  “That would have been against her programming,” the man told her. “Is that the memory stick with her next programming?”

  “Yes,” the woman told him. A shadow crossed over her vision as the woman handed the crystalline memory stick to the man on Cass’s right. When her hand retreated, the light blinded her once again.

  “Perfect. Let me get these last couple memories and we will upload this new programming.”

  There was movement to her left as the woman knelt beside Cass. “I’m sorry for what’s coming,” she whispered into her ear. “But in the end, everything will turn out the way it should. On to the next project.”

  “And that’s what she said? On to the next project?” Brandon asked. He looked up from his sweeping chore. Natalia had left Cass with a huge list of chores to do that day—

  Probably so I wouldn’t go anywhere—

  So they could go out and investigate, Brandon had decided to help her.

  “Can’t you see though?” Cass asked. “She got rid of me because I killed her husband!”

  “That’s not what it sounds like,” Brandon said with a frown. He returned to sweeping the kitchen. “It sounds like that was your project.”

  Cass’s hand twitched violently and she dropped the plate. It shattered on the floor, glass skittering over the tiles. Cass growled in frustration. Her hand kept shaking.

  “I got it,” Brandon said, bending to pick up the larger pieces. “Is that from what Natalia did to you last night?” he asked, glancing at her hand.

  Cass nodded. “I don’t know if today is a good idea,” she said honestly.

  “Why, because of Natalia?” Brandon asked.

  “No, because of my dream. If I killed her husband, then why would she want to see me?”

  “I doubt that’s the case,” Brandon said. “You can only do what you’re programmed to do.”

  You’re a filthy machine, she remembered Natalia saying. She shook her head.

  “I’m right. Who was this voice you heard in your dream?” he asked.

  “I recognize the voice, but I don’t know the person.”

  “Then we will find out what’s going on,” Brandon said. He clasped her hands and held them tight until the shaking was gone. Only then did he let them go.

  About an hour later Cass reviewed the list and determined they were done.

  “Even if we aren’t, I’m done with this, and so are you.”

  “What about Natalia?” Cass asked.

  “Screw Natalia,” Brandon scoffed.

  “Are the two of you through?” Cass wondered. She could hope. In fact, she felt the uncertain swirl in her stomach again.

  “I don’t know to be honest. She isn’t the same woman I fell for. She’s changed. She’s kinda violent now.” He itched the back of his head, a confused look on his face. “She did call last night to smooth things over. Mainly I’m sticking around for you,” he told her.

  She couldn’t help the smile that split her face.

  “Anyway, we need to go if we want to get back before she gets home.”

  It was later in the morning, so there weren’t as many hover cars circling buildings and creating havoc that would normally have delayed them. Cass input Olivia Hamilton in the search engine and in moments an address and a dotted path lit up on her visual overlay. She transmitted the GPS coordinates to Brandon’s hover car, and they were on their way.

  The building was taller than most around it and the windows were clean and sparkling in the late morning sun. All of the other buildings around it shown silver in the sun, but the building the GPS was taking them to was a smoky colored brick. It was an older building.

  Cass could remember this place well before Brandon landed on the rooftop parking lot. She’d been here many times before, that much was obvious.

  “I don’t know,” Cass said, hugging her arms around her chest when Brandon shut off the car.

  “Don’t know about what?” Brandon asked.

  “I’m just uncertain if we should go down there,” she told him. “Olivia is doing so much for equal rights, even after I killed her husband. You’d think something like that would turn her against us, but it didn’t. She’s still fighting for us.”

  “This is true,” Brandon t
old her. He chewed on the edge of his lip in thought. “But there are a lot of unanswered questions here Cass.”

  “I know.” Cass sighed.

  “You have to know what’s going on,” he said.

  “I could just wait for Natalia to beat me again and see what memories crop up from that,” she said.

  “That’s not funny. You need to get out of there,” he said. His eyebrows drew down in a frown.

  “Not like I have a choice,” she commented. The conversation wasn’t helping, so she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

  “Where to?” Brandon asked, joining Cass. He slipped his hand into hers.

  “This way.” She instinctively pointed the way.

  The path she chose inevitably led them to the elevator that went down from the rooftop parking lot. They went down ten floors to the twenty-second floor before the doors dinged and Cass stepped out into the silent hallway.

  Offices stood on either side of the gray hallway. According to the signs outside the doors, each suite of offices had their own function.

  “This isn’t one floor dedicated to the android equal rights thing?” Brandon asked.

  “It doesn’t appear so. Her office is this way,” Cass said, her feet remembering the way to Olivia’s office better than she did. As they traveled the gray carpeted hallway, Cass felt as if something was coming to life within her. A sense of purpose. This was what she was meant to do, but it felt wrong somehow.

  Brandon was talking, but Cass couldn’t hear him over the need filling her mind. She was supposed to be here, but something was off. It only took her a moment to realize what was wrong.

  Cass stopped so quickly that Brandon ran into her. He grabbed hold of her so that she wouldn’t fall.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, steadying her.

  “I’m too early,” she said.

  “What do you mean too early?”

  “I think I’m meant to be here,” Cass said, turning to Brandon. “I feel this sense of accomplishment, like this is what I’m meant for, but it’s too early.”

  “Like your fulfilling your duty ahead of schedule?” Brandon said.

  “Something like that,” Cass said. When she admitted it, another feeling rose to the surface. This feeling was telling her to leave. She wasn’t meant to be here. Other things had to happen before she could fulfill her destiny. She had to leave now or it could all be lost.