Souljacker

by Kodilynn Calhoun

  Silence spawns between our little group for several minutes before Sync lets out a low beeping sound. Her antennae goes from red to a soft purple. Still miffed, but not as angry as before. That’s a good sign. “I just want to be treated equally. Like you treat Caddie.” She pauses, then adds, “I want a body of my own, Luce. You’ve always said—”

  “Fine. Done.” Lucy’s answer is swift.

  I snap around to face her and find Caddie’s gaping as well. How the hell is she going to manage that one? It’s one thing if you’re rich—you can just buy a top-of-the-line shell for your machine, but even I don’t have that kind of money.

  “Lucy,” I begin, but she cuts me off with a raised hand.

  “No. She’s right. I’ve always promised her a body and that’s what she’ll get.”

  Sync glows blue and chirps. “You really mean it?”

  Lucy nods and smiles. “You’re my best friend, Sync. Now let’s go find you a sexy android body!”

  Chapter 21:

  Lucy

  I have no idea where we should even start looking for a body for Sync, but she’s right: I promised. Now’s as good a time as any and I’m determined to make things right between us. At least she’s stopped giving me the cold shoulder. Things are almost normal again, despite the fact that we’re running for our lives.

  We sleep under the cover of the forest canopy with the summer breeze dancing around us, keeping us warm. I’m snuggled up cozy beside Iofiel, his arm around my shoulders, my forehead pressed into the crook of his neck. I breathe in his scent with every breath I take and it’s wonderful.

  We wake before dawn and set off at a quick clip, rejuvenated. Iofiel pins his useless arm to his chest with his free hand and I can tell it’s bothering him. At the next town, we buy a set of fabric bandages. I wrap his cyborg arm up and create a makeshift sling around his neck, so that his arm is cradled close to his body.

  “I don’t like this,” he says quietly, running his finger along the metal plates of his arm. “I can’t change to my hound form with my cybernetics down. What if we get ambushed? I won’t be able to help you guys fight.” His lips turn downcast.

  “Don’t worry about it.” I can’t help but smile. He looks quizzical and I raise my hand. The electric energies I took from Iofiel to save his life are still swirling around inside of me, waiting patiently for release. I snap my fingers and tiny bolts of lightning arc from my fingertips.

  Iofiel’s eyes widen. “You can’t use too much! A little here and there is fine, but if you expel a lot of energy, it’ll surge and the Pack will be alerted of our location.”

  Damn, didn’t think about that. I’d wondered why the hounds had pinpointed us so fast. I close my hand around the zinging of the electricity, forcing it back inside.

  Caddie punches me gently on the shoulder. “Even I knew that,” she boasts, so I hit her back. She rubs her arm and looks up at Iofiel. “But we’ll use it if we have to. If those dirty dogs come after us, I’ll light them on fire.” Her grin proves she will, and have a great time at it too. “Plus I could cook anything that we catch if we run out of money. Yum, rabbit.”

  Yeah, if any of us could figure out how to catch a rabbit, that is. Iofiel would be our best bet as a hound, but he can’t shift so... Io and Caddie must be thinking the same thing because we lapse into silence all at once and it stays that way for a while.

  “I’m going to scout ahead,” Sync announces. She gently nudges me, a gentle smile on her face, and then flies ahead several yards. I stuff my hands into my pockets, fingering the lint and dirt at the bottoms of them as I walk.

  My feet kill—boots aren’t made for running. I have blisters on my blisters and my heels ache. I wish I would’ve worn something a little more practical for this crazy trip, but how could I have known? I take a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, trying not to limp.

  Then I run into Sync, who’s stopped right in front of me. She pings off my chest hard enough to hurt and without meaning to, I growl out, “What?”

  “Luce…” Her voice isn’t angry or even chiding—it’s awestruck. “Look.” Her base ejects slowly and she points with the tip of her long, metal pincer. I trace my gaze down her arm to where she’s pointing.

  And stare.

  We’re in the middle of nowhere…and there’s a junkyard out here, piled high with trash and useless things. A raggedy trailer with metal siding sits on a hill. A seven-foot fence encircles the area, keeping everyone out. The gate is locked with chains, but it’s what’s inside the fencing that has my heart beating double time.

  Androids. Discards. Thousands of them, as motionless as the dead and staring at us with blank expressions on their too-perfect faces. This is where we’re going to find Sync’s new body. Sync chirps happily and zooms ahead and I’m running after her, boots clunking against the earth. I hear Iofiel and Caddie behind me, but I don’t stop until I reach the fence line.

  A huge dog lumbers from behind some junk, barking at us. The fence rattles violently beneath his weight and he makes a riot. I freeze, jerking around, afraid that he’s alerted whoever lives in the crappy little cottage. Caddie covers her mouth with her hand, as if to stifle a yelp. Iofiel crouches down, his eyes wide, and it looks like he’s trying to scent the air. We stay like that for a few minutes, watchful and unmoving.

  “I don’t think anyone lives here,” Caddie says after a minute, pointing to the dog, who has long since fallen silent. He’s big and fluffy with a coat of rusty red, but he’s skinny underneath all that fur. His bark is ferocious, but his tail is wagging slowly and his hackles aren’t raised. A sheep in wolf’s clothing.

  Before I can say anything, Caddie shoves her fingers through the fencing. Instead of biting them off and eating them, the dog begins to lick her hand and wiggle closer to the fence. “Aww, poor baby,” she croons, scratching his ear. He leans into the touch, his back leg kicking. “I’d say he’s not dangerous, guys.”

  “I can’t believe this is actually happening.” Sync’s excited.

  Iofiel looks at me, then glances to the android shells. “They might be faulty,” he says softly, more for Sync’s benefit than my own. She’s still buzzing around, chattering happily, but I know I can’t break my promise. I won’t.

  “I know, but I’ve gotta try. C’mon Sync.” I pet the dog with one finger and kick the toe of my boot against the fence. The dog backs up, regarding me warily as I climb. I reach the top, throw my leg over, and drop down with one prayer that the dog doesn’t have a change of heart and eat me. His ears are flat as my feet hit the ground in a cloud of dust. Sync floats easily over the top and whizzes around my head.

  “Hey there, puppy.” I bend down and snap my fingers and he wiggles his way over. My hands roam over his body to find him bony, the sharp angles of his shoulders and hips jutting through his fur. I frown. He looks so young… “I don’t think anyone’s around to feed this guy.”

  Iofiel kneels on the other side of the fence and clucks. The dog rushes over to him, a wagging bundle of fur as Io and Caddie slather him with attention he’s probably never had. I glance to Sync and meet her gaze. Together we set off down the dirt path.

  An android graveyard.

  They stare at me from where they lay, their pale faces void of any and all emotion. Their eyes are as blank as a Wraith’s. I wrap my arms around myself as visions coil around me, visions of the machines springing to life like the undead, ripping us limb from limb in a bloody spray of violence. Maybe there’s a reason they’re behind bars.

  A shiver twines up my back and I rub the back of my neck. The sooner we find Sync’s body, the better. I’ve never been afraid of robots, but I can’t wait to get out of here. I shake off the thoughts of android homicide and take the next path. One android has his head tilted back, staring up at the sky, as if praying to God. His arms hang loose at his sides and for a moment, I think I see movement.

  Did his finger just twitch?

  I skitter to the side and freeze, nerves making my
stomach flip. Sync gasps and I nearly jump out of my skin, spinning on her. “What?” My voice is filled with alarm and Sync gives me an odd look.

  “I found myself.”

  I glance back over my shoulder. The android hasn’t moved. My imagination just runs wild sometimes. I force several deep breaths and follow Sync to the shell that she’s found.

  This android is beautiful, a newer model with flawless milk-and-honey skin and long limbs. She looks graceful, even if all she’s doing is laying there. Her brilliant ruby hair gleams in the sunlight, curling around her chin in waves, the wind whipping it across her face.

  I think of Sophia, with her red hair and green eyes, and my heart pings with the tiniest of aches. Can I handle it if Sync picks a model so close to my once-best friend? But it’s not up to me, now is it? “Are you sure?”

  “That’s me, Luce. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire existence.”

  “Okay then. Let’s get out of here.” I pick up the red-headed android shell and find her surprisingly lightweight. I throw her over my shoulder and we head back to the group and I’m faced with my next task: How the hell am I going to get this thing over the fence?

  “You find something?” Iofiel’s voice has me smiling.

  Caddie claps. “Oooh, nice pick, Sync. She’s gorgeous. I’m jealous!”

  Sync squeaks and turns to me. Her eyes flash with little hearts. “Thank you, Luce.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. Your new shell might be faulty or have a virus or something. There might be a reason she’s found solace in this place.” I size up the fence and shake my head. There’s no way I’ll be able to climb it with my passenger, lightweight or not.

  I walk around to the side of the junkyard. The gate is secure with a rusty chain and padlock. “Sync, can you get this?” I nod my chin towards the lock.

  She nods and begins to fiddle with it, inserting the tip of her pincer into the small hole. It takes her two tries, but on the third, there’s a metallic clunk and the lock falls to the ground. We pull the chain out and I shoulder through the gate. I shut it behind me, only to see the junkyard dog looking pitiful behind the bars.

  Shit. We don’t need another mouth to feed, but…

  “We can’t just leave him here, Lucy,” Iofiel says, my inner conscience.

  “We could take him with us!” Caddie adds, one hand cupped around the fence. The dog licks her fingers and wags his tail. “Look how cute he is.” She gives me puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”

  Iofiel looks at me when I hesitate to agree. “I’ll go check out the trailer up there. If no one’s here, we’ll take him with us.” I nod and he slips through the gate and into the junkyard. He doesn’t seem bothered by the vacant stares of the androids. Caddie loves on the dog and I position Sync’s new body better over my other shoulder.

  Iofiel comes jogging back a few minutes later. “Nobody’s been here for awhile. The trailer’s abandoned and the dog bowls were empty. I think he’s been drinking out of puddles from the leaky faucet out back. We can’t leave him here.”

  What happens when we run out of money? How will we feed all of us, plus a dog? I sigh and lean down next to the dog and he swipes his warm, purple-splotched tongue across my cheek. I can’t help but smile. We’re making the right decision; it’s not this guy’s fault that his owners suck. “Alright, he comes with, but he needs a name.”

  Iofiel’s lip quirks up at one corner. “What about Chip? Like a computer chip, seeing as this is an android junkyard.”

  “I like it!” Caddie says. “Chippy, is that your new name? Oh yes it is, yes it issss!” I groan as she baby-talks the dog. He eats it up. She rubs him down with both hands and I open the gate. We leave the junkyard and the dog hesitantly follows. He looks back over his shoulder, as if he might get beaten for leaving.

  “C’mon, boy! Come on,” Caddie calls and he trots over to her, his tail beginning to wag.

  “Great. Now let’s get some food. For all of us,” Iofiel says, catching my eye. He reaches his hand out and I twine my fingers through his. He smiles. “Thank you, Lucy,” he says softly, placing a gentle kiss on my cheek and I can’t help it—I’m once again on cloud nine.

  Chapter 22:

  Iofiel

  I know where I’m going—I just don’t know if it’s such a smart idea.

  When I was ten, my scanner went haywire and malfunctioned. Not wanting to make Lylan mad, I tried to hide the fact that it wasn’t working, but I ended up getting lost in the woods during a hunt, trying to find the Pack without my GPS.

  Lylan found me two days later, cold and exhausted, and I tearfully told him what had happened. He frowned in that way that made me swell with guilt and I asked if our queen could fix it.

  Lylan had laughed. “The queen doesn’t have time for trivial matters like a malfunctioning Cyberhound.” Like I should’ve known this. It only made my heart sink deeper into my chest. Then he smiled and ruffled my hair in a sort of almost-fatherly way that he stopped portraying once I’d hit my teen years. “But I know of someone who does. Come on, Io, let’s get you fixed up.”

  Now it’s just a shot in the dark if the oddball hermit who’d helped me before is still around. All I can do is pray that she’s here…and that if she is, she won’t turn us directly over to Lylan.

  “Wow, what a train wreck,” Caddie says as the little makeshift town of Polaris comes into view. She’s right, of course—Polaris consists of a square of little brick buildings and even tinier cracker boxes for houses. Most places have broken windows, long since boarded up, and the doors look ready to fall off their hinges. Rusty chain-link fencing surrounds the place and the grass sticks up in wild sprouts here and there. If anything else, it’s gone downhill in the seven years since I’ve been here.

  “I know, but be nice,” I tell her. We creep a little closer and I stop, wishing desperately for my hound nose. I feel a bump at my leg and Chip stares up at me, his ears flopping into his face in a goofy manner. I reach down and scratch his neck, looping my fingers around the orange nylon collar we bought him at our last stop.

  I turn to Caddie, offering the dog out to her. He looks up at me with worried eyes. “Hold him, would you? I don’t know what to expect and I want you guys to stay safe. If you see me wave my arms like this,” I demonstrate and Lucy snorts, “Then run like hell and don’t look back. Stay here, I’ll be back soon.”

  Caddie nods and kneels next to Chip and I take off. It only takes two seconds for Lucy to thunder after me, grab my arm, and haul me back around to face her. “Uh, hell no. You’re not walking into some deathtrap alone. I’m coming with you.”

  “Lucy.” I say her name on a sigh, but inside I feel like grinning. She’s such a spitfire and I love her all the more for that. She gives me a look and I shrug. “Alright, let’s go.”

  Sync floats off ahead of us with a beep. Lucy hauls Sync’s new shell higher up on her shoulder, so that the android’s ass is swaying in the air, and stalks after me. She’s like a lioness…with blue hair. This time, I do grin and it must be contagious, because Lucy’s lips twitch into the beginnings of a smile as well.

  As we walk down the street, passing the rows of houses, I feel a tickle at the nape of my neck. Like eyes, watching my every move. I suppress a shiver and sidle a step closer to Lucy. She looks at me, her lower lip drawn between her teeth, nibbling gently, and I brush my hand against hers. It will all work out, I want to tell her, but I can’t conjure up the words. I just shrug instead.

  Her head snaps up and I follow her stare to where a couple of teenagers bolt out from behind a house, their sneakers slapping pavement as they head into town. They freeze when they see me and the boy lifts a lip in a sneer. He grabs the brunette girl’s wrist and they hurry off. It’s my turn to chew on the inside of my cheek: This isn’t a good sign.

  But I hold my head high. I won’t be scared off.

  The Chopshop is exactly how I remember it as a kid: A tiny brick building, glass store front with a long, diagonal c
rack down the middle, taped over to keep it from splitting. The sign for the place is sprayed in red paint across the door, sloppy letters that don’t match one another.

  I shoulder through the front door. Bells chime to announce my arrival. Android and robot parts are strewn across the counter, stacked up in boxes, and arranged on bookshelves. A perfectly molded android hand points to the front of the shop with a sign hanging off its wrist that simply says “Assistance”.

  Sync shrills in alarm and I turn to the front counter—only to stare down the barrel of a sleek, black pistol. My gut coils and I take a wary step back, holding my hands up in front of me. I stumble into Lucy, who gasps.

  The woman on the other end of the gun is tall and slender with wild blue hair done up in spikes and curls, making her look like a punked-out fairy godmother. She hasn’t changed a bit in seven years—except for instead of the motherly smile I’d been given as a kid, her lips form a hard sneer.

  Shit. Maybe we were stupid to come here.

  “I stopped working for your kind years ago.” Her words are sharp. “Get out before I count to three. I won’t regret pulling this trigger and exterminating you.”

  What? My mind blanks—I can’t think of anything to say, grasping for words to hold on to, but they slide away as if covered in grease. Lucy leaps to my rescue, dropping the android shell to the ground and throwing her free arm out in front of me, shielding me with her body.

  I couldn’t live with myself if she got killed because of me. I reach for her, but she shrugs me off. She’s bold, fearless, maybe a little reckless. “He’s not even with the cyberhounds anymore! They’re hunting us! We need help and—”

  “One.” Diesel’s voice rings out, ominous.

  I latch my hand onto Lucy’s shoulder, pulling her out of the way of the gun. I look at Diesel, trying to plead with my eyes, all those years of puppy-dog eyeing the girls around town hopefully paying off.