The Mechanics of Being Human (11 page)

Fawn sat at the kitchen table with Jax lingering in front of her, his face pale. He gently pressed his fingers to the fake flesh beneath her hairline, running his nails over it to make sure it was correctly placed. After a moment, he drew his hand away. He placed the flat tool he'd been using to realign her skin into the backpack he'd brought with him to the apartment, then glanced at her parents who lingered behind him

"You did a number on yourself," Jax muttered. "You're lucky the skin is so pliable. That could have taken weeks of repairs."

Fawn didn't say anything. A part of her wanted to snap, "After I rescue Zelda, there won't be a week left before you destroy me." The other half of her, the part that had been rekindled after her mom hugged her even with her inner monster exposed, didn't want to leave anymore. She still wasn't sure. It was like she was being torn in two. She knew it was horrible, but she was almost grateful she needed to worry about Zelda. It would be a distraction from the horrors which engulfed her life.

Jax was the first person to bring it up. "So tonight we have to save your friend. I have a plan, a plan that will get rid of Ark for good. I came up with it when I was gathering my tools to fix your face. I've brought everything we need."

Even after what Ark had done, she didn't want to kill anyone. That was what it sounded like Jax intended for her. "You're going to kill Ark? No. I just want Zelda back."

"I'm not going to kill anyone." Jax's eyes were dark. "I would love to slaughter that man, but I'm not going to steal your innocence away from you. I've already done enough damage. Unintended damage, but it's still there."

An idea that would remove Ark from her life for good and save Zelda? Fawn tried to fathom it, but she couldn't. It sounded too good to be true.

"I don't understand." Fawn shook her head. "Ark and his men know I live here. They know who I am."

"No. I've been doing research." A wicked grin crossed Jax's face that gave her the shivers. "They
think
they know who you are. They
think
you're my invention."

Her stomach churned. She was too tired of questions to ask "What?" Every time she got an answer, she didn't like what she heard.

"Jax, you've been trying to come up with plans for years to get these men away from you," her dad said. "What's your grand scheme this time?"

Jax gave his brother a crusty stare. "This plan will work. I know it will."

Her mom sighed. Jax glowered for just a moment before turning back to look at Fawn. With a frown, he dug around in his backpack and pulled out several clear plastic food containers that were filled with dark red sloshing liquid that appeared strangely like—

"Blood," Fawn said, horrified.

"Sort of." Jax grinned. "It's stage blood. It's made from chocolate syrup, red food coloring, and water. And then there's this…"

Jax dug into his bag again and laid a black handgun on the table. Her mom screamed, then pressed her hand against her lips to forbid the noise. Her dad stormed over to Jax, glaring at him in anger.

"What are you doing with that gun, Jax?" her dad demanded. "I know you own them. It makes sense that you would. But to carry it around like that—"

"It's full of blanks," Jax said.

"Oh." Her dad's anger deflated like a popped balloon. "I see. But why would you need blanks in a gun?"

While her dad didn't, she was beginning to understand Jax's plan .Machines didn't bleed, so if she made it look like she was bleeding, then she couldn't be a robot. At least, that would be Ark's thought. If she wasn't a robot, then Ark would let Zelda go because there wasn't any use for her. It truly was the perfect plan. No death. No one getting hurt.

Jax's grin widened when he saw her expression. "Fawn gets it."

"It's
brilliant
," Fawn cried. "I pop the blood bags, but...how are you planning to make it so it looks like you shoot me? Ark knows you. You aren't the type of man who gets gun happy. He would sense something is up if you just walked up and pointed a gun me."

Both of her parents looked at each other in confusion, but Jax ignored them.

"You're supposed to go alone, right? I'll pretend like I followed you. It just so happens I'll whip out my gun and try to shoot Ark, but I'll be such a terrible shot I'll miss and shoot you instead. That's when you'll use a pin to pop the blood bags on your stomach." Jax looked her up and down. "Let's see how good you are at acting. There isn't a chip for that, so this is going to be interesting."

It already is.
Fawn bit her bottom lip and then nodded. Despite the fact Jax was grinning as though he'd already succeeded in his plan, her chest ached.

****

Fawn stood, fear coursing through her, beside an orange and red playground. The night sky revealed many stars and a glistening white moon. The crickets serenaded her, unawares of her trembling. She knew Jax and her parents were nearby, but that did little to ease her nerves. She clutched a fat silver pin in her fingers to pop the blood bags strapped to her waist when the time came.

Even now, with Zelda's life hanging in the balance, she kept imagining Gavin's horrified face from earlier. She tried to shake the memories from her mind, but it didn't work. It was like her head was a reel. First she imagined all of the horrible things that could go wrong with what they were doing, and then she imagined Gavin's face. Both she would rather not see.

As Fawn began to pace back and forth, she checked her wristwatch. It was time. As if on cue—or maybe she'd been watched—there was the sound of rustling bushes down the path to her right. She saw Ark up close and personal for the first time. He drug Zelda with a paper bag over her head. Her hands were cuffed. Two other men walked behind them.

"Zelda!" Fawn yelled, as Zelda thrashed and struggled.

Zelda whimpered in fear and aimed a kick for Ark's leg, but she missed. Fawn groaned and rushed up to her, but the two men withdrew guns from their belts and aimed at her. She froze. This was already not going according to plan. She wasn't supposed to actually get shot. There weren't supposed to be two other men either.

"Let my friend go," Fawn said. "I came just like you said. She doesn't have anything more to do with this."

With a twisted grin, Ark released Zelda's arm but didn't remove her handcuffs. He came within a foot of Fawn. Even in the dim light, she could see his black hair and eyes that looked like pits into a cold, dark cave where no light could ever hope to reign. She'd always wondered what kind of man would kill a wife and child, but now she knew. Ark emitted such coldness she knew he wouldn't have hesitated to kill thousands of people as long as he got what he wanted.

As Ark stalked around her, a predatory beast, Fawn stepped backward, shivering and wishing she could shove him away. She knew she couldn't.
Keep calm. You have a plan.
But a thousand plans wouldn't have calmed her. She kept imagining Zelda on the floor, covered in blood. Fawn didn't care if she got hurt herself, but if Zelda did…The idea made her bite her lip.

"You do look like a human," Ark said, pulling her from her thoughts. "Jax is truly a genius man. To think he could create something like you."

His words made her shiver. She could tell by his hungry eyes he was viewing her as an object and not as a person, but then again, she wasn't a person, was she?
Remember you have a job to do. You have to pretend you have no idea what Ark is talking about.
She bit her bottom lip, then shuddered.

"I'm a human." Fawn glared at Ark, nervously rolling the pin within her fingers. "I have no idea what you're talking about or why you came here after me. I just want my friend back."

"Sure you don't." Ark grinned, then reached forward and ran his fingers along her cool skin. His touch made her want to rip off his arm. "Interesting. You feel just like a human too. Maybe too cold, but soft."

"For the last time, I'm a human!" Fawn yelled, her eyes darting toward the foliage where her parents and Jax were. "I don't understand what you're saying."

Behind her, bushes rustled. That wasn't right. Nobody was supposed to come from
behind
her. Ark peered over her shoulder at the bushes. He pulled a gun out of his holster, then yanked the bag off of Zelda's head. Tears and snot streamed down the girl's bright red face as she trembled in fear. Ark yanked Zelda to her feet and pushed the gun against her temple. The girl stared at her, pleading and desperate. Fawn realized Ark tore off the bag just to torture her because now she could see her friend's devastated expression. It worked. It was as though a burning hot stone was in her throat.

"I thought I told you to come alone." Ark's voice had an edge of panic. "Who did you bring? Jax?"

"I, I didn't bring anyone," Fawn stammered. This time, she didn't need to fake it. She had no idea who was behind her. "I swear I have no idea who is back there."

Ark grunted, his eyes were still narrowed. He nodded at his two cronies. "Search the bushes."

The two guards exchanged glances, let out two grunts, then prowled the foliage. Fawn was strongly reminded of hungry animals hunting their prey. People yelled. It took her a moment to recognize one voice as Gavin's. She gasped, pressing her hand over her mouth. A second voice came, high and shrill. If Fawn didn't know the person wailing was Bo, she would have assumed the person captured was a woman. There was also a soft grunt.

"Oh, no," Fawn said.

A moment later the two cronies came out of the bushes. Bo, trembling, stumbled over a log as his teeth chattered madly. Their eyes met, but only for a moment. Mute crunched through the underbrush, held by the arm by the same man who dragged Bo. The second man pointed a gun to the back of Gavin's head. Despite everything, when Gavin met her eyes and trembled, she still felt everything for him she had before and more. This was truly her worst nightmare. The boy who'd helped her through so much now was in great danger.

"What were you thinking?" Fawn said. "Why did you come here?"

"Friends don't abandon friends." But Gavin's eyes didn't flicker toward Zelda. They stayed steady on hers.

"Shut up," the drone holding Gavin grunted.

Gavin fell silent. In desperation, Fawn faced Ark.

"So your friends decided they would play hero, huh?" The grin on Ark's face widened. "How sweet. Your main system must be advanced to be able to interact with humans well enough to establish a following. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to take that out when I replicate you. Can't have any models rebelling, can I?"

"I'm a human." Fawn's fists clenched at her sides. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why?" Ark's grin widened. "Galliham has been planning this for ages. Of course, in the beginning I had no idea how big of a project I stumbled upon when I overheard Jax talking in private to a colleague about his work. I became intrigued by him. It was only then I discovered what he was up to. He was inventing the perfect drone, a mechanical being who could think and feel like a human but without the health problems. Manual labor could be done cheaply and effectively. All it would take is a little tinkering and these drones could blow up or kill entire cities. Jax gave his creations heart, but they don't have to have them. Unfortunately, he's making this way more complicated than it needs to be. If he'd just given me his model plans from the beginning, his family needn't have died. He can blame himself for what happened."

An angry lion roared in her chest. This man would blow up innocent people in a heartbeat. Fawn could practically see inflamed cities in the reflection of Ark's eyes. "You're a terrorist. That's what you are. And don't you dare insult Jax. By keeping his inventions away from you, he's saved millions of people. His wife was a hero too. She knew what he was fighting for."

"How touching." Ark cocked his head. "But I thought you didn't know anything. For an outsider, you seem to be far more educated than you let on."

Fawn clamped her mouth shut in horror.

"Enough now." Ark tossed a look at his two men. "Kill all the spares. We can't have any witnesses."

Footsteps came from her right. Her parents and Jax rushed to her. Jax held his gun aloft as he glowered at them. She heard the sound of him firing a bullet and saw Ark's mouth open wide. Everything slowed down. She could see every last sprig of grass and the intricate veins on the leaves of the green trees. Suddenly, she remembered the blood bags on her stomach. Using the pin in her hand, she drove it into the bags, feigning dramatically that the bullet pierced skin. The bag spilled and dark red coated her shirt and hands. She looked down at her fingers, coated in sticky fake gore, then glanced up at Ark. He was shocked and pale faced.

It's working. But he won't let my friends go. Jax's plan failed.
She still tumbled to her knees as she'd told Jax she would, holding her stomach. She prayed Jax would use the time she'd bought them to rescue her friends. As she stared at the dark sky, not blinking or breathing which was the easiest thing in the world for her, she was grateful for the first time she was a robot. If she wasn't, she wouldn't have gotten this chance to save her friends.

"What's going on?" Ark asked, as he and his two cronies stared down at Fawn in shock. None of them moved to hurt her friends. "That's impossible. Machines can't
bleed
."

"What did I do?" Jax asked. "My niece. I just shot my niece."

Even though Fawn forced herself to hold picture still, she could see Ark was gaping at her. The gun in his hand trembled as he lowered it from Zelda's head. Mute shoved his fist straight into the crony's face. Real blood splattered from the man's nose. He fell backward, knocked out in a minute. The second crony took out his gun and then aimed it at Mute, but Gavin tackled him in the middle. The two of them rolled down the hill. A gun discharged. She almost screamed in terror, fearing Gavin was shot. She heard him speak and knew he was okay.

Ark held up his gun again and pointed it at Jax who froze.

"Tell me what's going on and you'll live," Ark demanded. "I know you. This is all a part of your plan."

"What plan?" Jax gazed at the gun with no fear. He acted like he knew Ark would not shoot him. "I followed my niece here. This was an accident."

"With you, there is no such thing as accidents, just careful planning." Ark's eyes narrowed. "Tell me what you're hiding."

"You can point that gun at me all you like, but you need me." Jax's brows furrowed. "You and a thousand men could never come up with what I have. You and I both know it."

"Hmmm. Perhaps you're right about that. I do need you." A wicked grin crossed Ark's face as he switched his aim from Jax's head to her dad's. Her mom screamed and Fawn almost echoed it. "Let's see about him. You held your wife's body in your arms, then your precious daughter's. Let's see how you feel about holding your brother's."

"Wait. No. Don't!" Jax yelled in panic.

"You're listening now, aren't you?" Ark said. "Tell me where Model 29 is. If the drone's not this girl, then she's around here somewhere. You were bugged. I heard you talking about her performance. Tell me
.
"

Time slowed down again. She saw Jax's strained face as he tried to decide between her and his brother. A bead of sweat trickled down her dad's face, but even though his life was on the line, he didn't announce to Ark she was the invention. At that moment she realized it didn't matter if she was a human or a robot, the love she felt for her family and for Gavin was real. It didn't matter
why
love was felt as long as it was. She may have the mechanical parts and gears, but she cared about so many people in her life, even though she'd been around for a short time. Ark, even with his brain and beating heart, was the robot, not her. He was the one who didn't feel. He was the one who didn't care he'd taken away so many beloved people.

Everything burned red. Fawn knew their plan failed. People were going to die, just like last time. But something was different now. She wasn't going to make somebody Jax loved die in his arms again. She was his true daughter, just like she was the true daughter of Oliver and Delanee. Ark was going to rue the day he ever messed with her.

Her eyes zoomed. She heard a whirling sound in her ears, like she had a camera and turned on the lens. Ark glanced her way for the first time and his mouth dropped open. If his eyes grew any wider, she wouldn't have been surprised if they popped out of his head.

Ark gaped. "What the—"

With a growl of anger, Fawn shot forward faster and with more force than even she imagined she could. Air whistled in her ears. She heard the sound of a gunshot and sharp pain burned her stomach. She tackled Ark by the waist. The two of them rolled around in the grass. Ark raised his gun again and fired a second shot into her shoulder. Searing pain radiated from her limb, but she didn't care.

She glared into the eyes of the man who had killed Jax's wife and child and the part of her that had control shut off. Everything was anger. The ground, the air. Something in her head kept telling her what to do. She wrapped her cold fingers around Ark's neck and clamped down tight. Behind her, she heard her mom scream.

"What is she doing?" her mom said. "She's going to kill him."

"What did you do to her?" her dad asked. "What kind of program is this?"

"I…I just wanted her to be safe." Jax's voice sounded tense. "She's supposed to protect me and herself."

"Fawn, let him go. Stop choking him!" her dad shouted. "I know there's something inside you telling you what to do, but you've got to fight it. This isn't who you are. Don't let the machine win."

Ark's face got paler and paler. She couldn't grasp onto thoughts. People kept shrieking, telling her to stop. Two parts of her warred. A voice whispered in her head,
Stop. Fawn. Stop.
It hurt. She couldn't stop. She was being told to protect.

But she knew if she killed Ark, a robot would be all she would ever be. She screamed as she fought the part of herself telling her to clamp her hands over his throat and loosened her grip. A strange buzzing sound, like hornets, permeated her ears. She could distantly make out the screaming of others.

"Impossible. She fought the chip." Jax gasped.

Fawn felt something white hot implode in her head. For a minute she saw only electricity and knew only heat, but then there was nothing.