Standby (The Emile Reed Chronicles, 2.5) (2 page)

She remained calm, and collected, as she leaned down and released the straps binding my wrists. Fear did not radiate off of her like it had Harold. She was a blank state, someone that I was unable to read, and that was a rather terrifying thought.

A clicking noise sounded from behind me, and was quickly followed by a tugging sensation near the small of my back. I tried to ease myself out of the chair, but my found myself unable to stand.

“What’s wrong with him?” Harold asked. He took a step forward, careful to retain a safe distance between us.

“His body is trying to adjust,” Mrs. Ward answered.

“His body should’ve adjusted during the transformation. The programing should’ve erased his human identity. He’s of no use to us like this. You can’t
control
him like this!”

I tried to make sense of their conversation, trying to analyze each and every word, but it was as though my thoughts were at war with one another.

Nothing was making sense. But I knew that the girl? I had to remember her. I couldn’t lose the image of her face, even if I didn’t know her.

“Come, Forty-Six,” Mrs. Ward said, pressing her tablet to her chest as she reached for my hand.

“Where are we going?” I asked, glancing up at her before taking to my feet.

“To see an old friend of yours,” she said, smiling smugly as she did so. “He’ll be quite pleased with how you’ve turned out.”

LOG 04613:

One would think being surrounded by so much death would make you automatically immune to the emotional pain it brought with it, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Sometimes I felt as though I was the only living person within these walls.

None of them seemed bothered by killing innocent people.

They were so convinced that were they were doing was okay; that they were helping to fix our world. It was pitiful just how blind they’d been to the truth.

They weren’t fixing shit.

All they were doing was destroying everything in their paths.

They lived for destruction and ruin.

They lived for power and control.

It hadn’t mattered that their choices affected the lives of others. It hadn’t mattered that they were basically committing murder. None of that mattered to them.

What mattered was that they assumed absolute control.

It was always about control.

We were all mere pawns in their game.

And the only way we’d be able to survive was if we were strong enough to rise up against the monsters threatening to destroy us.

“D
oes he remember anything?” I could just faintly make out the voice of Charles McVeigh, the man that had brought me here; the man that had made me into what I was now.

“Some things, yes,” a female voice answered him.

There were bits of a previous life that I recalled. Images and facts that had found their way through to my new state. Some of them made sense, but others? They were puzzles pieces that never quite fit right.

“That isn’t enough of an answer, Janet. Does he or doesn’t he remember?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself? His readings while he’s in Standby Mode will reveal everything that you need to know, Charles.”

I strained to listen to the voices that sounded from across the room, but my thoughts were weighed down; occupied by the image of a girl that I knew I wasn’t supposed to know.

Every bit of my programming was telling me that she wasn’t real. That she was nothing more than a figment of my imagination – a false memory, a false image.

But when I recalled her face, and her haunting green eyes? I saw life inside of them. I saw a girl that held the key to a life I wasn’t supposed to know about.

An erratic beeping noise sounded from outside of the Pod.

“I thought you said that he was in Standby Mode?” McVeigh shouted. “His readings are all over the place, Janet.”

“I’m well aware of that, Charles.”

Something about the way she answered him was off. I tried to pinpoint the emotions that laced her words. My programming sensed anger, pride, and desire – all three emotions merged into one. But that wasn’t all.

There was something else; something that I couldn’t comprehend. Not because I didn’t understand it – the human part of me understood rather well what she’d been feeling. No. It was because after everything that she’d done, after everything that she’d allowed herself to be a part of, I couldn’t allow myself to believe that the regret she kept hidden was real.

“He’s capable of overpowering his Program, of overpowering his entire system, Charles. He’s stronger than Emile ever was. Do you understand that?” Her voice grew more frantic as she struggled to convey everything she needed to say. “Just look at him. Think of what he could do for Vesta Corp!”

I knew that I should remain still, and do my best to calm my Program. Maybe then, they’d leave me be. But I also knew sitting there, inside of the Pod, completely powerless would only result in my end.

I pulled forward, yanking my hard drive free from the slot in the back of the Pod.

“He’s stronger,” McVeigh stated matter-of-factly. He furrowed his brows as he peered down at me, lost in thought.

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” she said. “He’s more valuable than her, Charles. His free will has managed to survive. He’s able to overpower his programming without needing to have his human identity restored on his system. He has managed to exist even after the erasing.”

You are ordered to do as instructed
, a voice echoed inside of my head, and I did everything I could to drown it out. But with each pull, and each tug, it only grew louder.

I bit down on my lip, hard enough to break the skin. I waited for the warm sensation of blood to spill down my chin, but it never came. Neither did the pain.

You can’t ignore what you’ve become
, the voice said,
you can’t fight the truth
.

Maybe not, but I would sure as heck try.

McVeigh gripped the side of the Pod with one as he leaned in closer, his eyes locked on mine. “He’s uncontrollable,” he said curiously.

“You don’t know that,” she responded. “You’d be surprised what people are capable of when forced into complying.”

At that, he laughed, as though she’d revealed some private joke that was apparently meant to go over my head. “My dear sister, have you forgotten what we’re here to accomplish? We are trying to create a perfect society – a society that
we
are able to control. I can’t control a Program that has managed to retain it’s free will. He’s too strong to be of any use to me.”

“I could think of a few ways to make use of him,” she said.

He stood above me, his finger pressed against his lower lip as considering a few himself.

The cold stare on his face was enough to alert me that something was off.

Something was wrong. It wasn’t exactly hard to deny that. His discomfort, disgust, and caution were written all over his face.

I could feel the looming threat of danger tightening its hold on me, but I didn’t move. I didn’t move, because I knew that if I were to run, something bad would happen to her – the girl that had buried herself deep within my thoughts.

“He’s dangerous,” McVeigh’s voice cut through my inner monologue. “He’s
flawed
, Janet.”

“He’s useful, Charles.” She moved in front of the Pod, easing him away from the glass door. “He is the key to everything that you want. He is the key to bringing Emile back home, don’t you see?”

He is the key to bringing Emile back home.

I allowed Janet’s word to replay in my mind.

Emile. The one thing I’d fought so hard for, and I had nearly allowed myself to forget her name.

“He is your only way to bring Emile back, Charles. We don’t know where Colton and the others have gotten off to just yet. Hayden is your
only
chance,” she said. There was a slight hitch in her voice as she spoke, and I turned to eye her suspiciously.

I knew that I should’ve been more concerned with McVeigh and whatever form of torture he’d had in store for me next, but right now, I didn’t care because Janet Ward was hiding something. And secrets inside of Vesta Corp? Even inside of their off the radar locations? Well, secrets were deadly.

I
listened from inside of the Pod, the only place McVeigh trusted that I wouldn’t be able to hurt him apparently, as they discussed their plan to lead Emile to me.

They planned to use me as bait, and then destroy me the second that they got what they wanted.

Maybe the idea of truly dying this go round should’ve upset me, but my life was nothing in exchange for hers.

When it came down to either me or her? She would always be my first choice.

“You know the boy is going to fight,” a male voice stated.

“I wouldn’t expect any less of him,” McVeigh answered calmly.

The doors to the room opened and heels clanked against the tile floor. “We’ve found her.” Janet’s voice rang throughout the room as she made her way over to the two men. “It shouldn’t take too long now.”

“And what about the other one? That troublesome daughter of yours? Have we been able to locate her yet?”

“She’s still at Vesta Corp.” Janet shot me a wary glance.

McVeigh shook his head as he fought back a laugh. “I always knew that boy had weakened her.” His eyes trailed over to where I lay inside of the Pod. “I just never understood what she saw in him. He was far too naïve; far too driven by his emotions, and yet, she risked so much to try and protect him. It’s quite foolish, really.”

“Quite foolish indeed,” Janet agreed.

I watched as Janet followed McVeigh out of the room, leaving only Douglas Todd to watch over me in their absence. My eyes met hers for a brief moment before the door slammed shut. It was only for a moment, but it was enough time to show me that there was something there – something that wasn’t there before – a spark of life, of hope, of something more than the lifeless woman that had willingly assisted in my death.

H
ours had passed before they’d returned.

Hours spent lost in silence, of memories that had forced themselves to be remembered; an entire life that my thoughts wouldn’t allow me to forget.

They were going to take her from me again.

They were going to destroy the last living thing that I loved all over again.

And I couldn’t allow for that to happen.

The glass doors to the Pod opened up and my hard drive slid out of its slot in the back, freeing me of its hold. I wrestled with the idea of stepping outside the small confines of the Pod, when Janet’s voice caught me off guard.

“Scared are we, Forty-Six?” she teased. “I can assure you, child, no one is going to hurt you. You’re free to leave the Pod, if you wish.”

I turned to glare at her. “And why should I believe a single word from your mouth?”

“You’re not the only one with regrets, Hayden.”

I lifted my foot onto the tile below, easing myself out of the Pod. “Where is he?” I glanced around the room, expecting to find McVeigh waiting nearby, but he was nowhere to be found.

“He’s attending to other matters right now,” she answered with a shrug.

I looked around the room once more, this time turning my attention to the small cameras tucked away in the corners of the room. The red lights indicating that they were recording were off, but that hadn’t meant much of anything.

I’d worked for Vesta Corp.

I knew just as well as they had that it was easy to hack a camera; that it was easy to make people see what they wanted to see.

“They’re off,” Janet said. “I promise. I’d be risking far too much if I allowed them to record any of what I’m about to tell you.”

There was a part of me – a rather large part of me, frankly – that didn’t want to believe a single word that escaped from between her lips. After all, she was part of the reason that I’d lost everything that mattered in my life.

But there was also a part of me that wanted to believe her, because I knew just how desperate people could become when they allowed their selfish needs to drive them.

Her daughter’s selfishness had destroyed my family, but in the end, she had done everything that she could to try and fix the destruction that she’d caused.

Unfortunately, not everything was that simple.

There was no undoing death.

“Where’s Emile? Where is my sister?”

Janet leaned back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. “She’s fine,” she said. “She’s on her way here, which I’m sure you’ve already overheard, but Charles isn’t going to hurt her. You and I both know that.”

“That’s funny,” I snapped. “You know, given the fact that he killed her.”

A soft sigh escaped her lips as her eyes fell over me. “She’s his precious gem, Hayden. He won’t destroy her, not until he gets what he wants from her, at least.”

Before I could respond, she waved her hand at me to stop me from speaking. “I don’t have much time,” she said. “Look, we both know what goes on inside of these walls, Hayden. We both know how power hungry my brother is. But what you don’t realize is that everything I’ve done, it’s all been to protect myself. All of the pain I’ve caused my daughter? It’s been to keep us alive, Hayden. I’m not proud of the choices that I’ve made, but I can’t rewrite my past.”

“And why does any of that matter to me?” I asked.

“Because I can’t save you,” she answered. “But I can try and save your sister.”

J
anet’s words still linger inside of my mind.
Because I can’t save you, but I can try and save your sister.

She’d left me there alone, strapped to a metal chair, to try and make sense of it all.

And although there was still a rational part of me that believed she was lying, there was still a part of me that hoped she’d been telling the truth.

“Hayden!” I listened as she screamed my name. It took everything inside of me not to call out back to her, just so that I could see her face one last time.

“Where are you? Hayden,” fear and anger laced her words as her frantic screams grew louder. “Please, Hayden.