S.H.A.Y. (The Almost Series Book 1)

by Christina Leigh Pritchard

  Eric sat on my back, holding me down. “Who walks up behind someone and tries to steal from them? You don’t get out much, do you?”

  “Let me go!”

  “Are you still hallucinating?”

  I smacked him in the legs. They felt like human legs. What part of Eric was a machine? “I know what you are!”

  Eric lay across my body, pressing his cheek to mine. “What am I, cream puff?”

  “You’re a machine.”

  He released me. “Just go. Take your bag and go.”

  I sat up. Eric walked away, leaving me alone. He didn’t even look back. What just happened? “Wait!”

  Eric didn’t respond. He stood at the shoreline staring at the waves.

  Should I go to him? I glanced at my bag. Darla. I needed to find the extractor. It was a few yards back. I’d have to wait on Amie for the exact location. Whenever we touched it caused her to malfunction. It worried me.

  I shivered. My insides were still cold. I glanced at my arms. I could see my veins. They were almost glowing blue. Maybe Amie wasn’t the only one malfunctioning.

  “Amie, I need you.”

  She didn’t respond. I glanced at the boy. If he was only a machine, how could I hurt his feelings? His skin was warm. When he had touched me, it felt nice. I could still feel him pressed against my back. Amie said he was a threat.

  “Amie? Why is the boy bad?”

  I stood, walking towards the extractor’s location. I looked at Eric once more. He hadn’t moved. “Amie. Where are you when I need you?”

  My feet sank into the wet sand along the shore. My heart pounded. How long would she take to reboot? She needed to get back to me as soon as possible. Darla’s time was running out.

  I walked backwards, letting waves crash into my ankles. I could barely see Eric in the distance. He finally disappeared from sight. Maybe Amie was wrong about him. Sure, he was a pervert—staring at me naked and calling me fat, but he’d been nothing but helpful.

  “Amie, where are you? I’m at the location. I need you to guide me to the extractor.” I surveyed the island. The trees were overgrown, their roots pressing down into the water. Fish swam underneath the roots. I knelt, watching them.

  “You’re going to have to swim out,” Amie said. She appeared under the water in miniature form. She lay on top of a puffer.

  I laughed.

  Amie pointed at running lights. They went out several yards to deeper waters.

  “I’m not a physically active S.H.A.Y. How deep is the water?”

  Amie frowned. She grew larger, motioning for me to jump in. “You’re going to have to swim deep, at least twenty feet.”

  “I can’t hold my breath that long!”

  “You can if you try. Only, your head—”

  “Yeah, my head will explode!”

  “Your head cannot explode. Your brain may not be able to handle the pressure.” Amie shook her head, pointing at a dolphin. “Maybe you can get that mammal to assist.”

  “He’s wild.”

  “You trained him last spring. Call him.”

  “How am I supposed to get Darla out without the extractor?” I sat in the water. Amie appeared where my reflection should be. “I can’t train a dolphin within enough time to get to the extractor.”

  “As you know, mammals are intelligent. Dolphins have a mental capacity equivalent to a two-year-old human. I’m sure if you try you can accomplish much.”

  I whistled at Junior. He had been my favorite. The dolphin jumped, calling towards me.

  “He remembers you!”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to help me. Junior had a mind of his own. I’m sure nothing’s changed.”

  Amie stood on the water, kicking holographic waves at me. I smiled. She danced about. “Whistle again! Call your mammal.”

  I whistled, waving, motioning for him to come to me.

  “Jump in!” Amie clapped. “See! He’s going to play with you!”

  I swam out, meeting the dolphin halfway. He showed me his tail. It was synthetic. He remembered! I rubbed his belly. He barrel-rolled, encircling me. I treaded water, laughing as he spit water at me. Amie joined in, pretending to ride on his back.

  “This is a delight!” She laughed.

  “Where’s the extractor?”

  She pointed, sending rays of light through the water. It was so far down and in between two rocks.

  “Can you dive?” I arched my hands, then pointed at the extractor. The dolphin nodded, slapping the water with his fin. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I tried to grab his dorsal fin. He jumped, splashing behind me. “Come here, I need you!” He swam away, jumping in a perfect arch.

  “That didn’t work.” Amie said. She sat Indian style on top of the water. She rested her chin in her palm. “There’s a solution.”

  “I’ll try to swim it.” I dove, kicking my feet furiously. My lungs burned and my ears felt as if they were going to pop. I fought against the pain, making it half way. It was useless. I drifted back up. I spit and gagged, sucking air into my lungs.

  “That didn’t work, now did it?” Amie lay on her back, one of her legs bouncing on top of the other as she thought. “I have an idea, but I don’t like it. Nor do I approve.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m only making the suggestion because of our time constraints.” Amie wrote a name in the sky. She used the clouds, sucking them into her fingertip then painting the letters before me as if she were a small plane. It was beautiful.

  She wrote E.R.I.C.

  “He’s mad at me for calling him a machine. I don’t think he’ll help me.” I swam back to shore. My legs were throbbing with exhaustion. “I thought you said he was bad and that I needed to stay away from him?”

  “He’s able to retrieve the extractor,” Amie said. She hung upside-down above me in the trees, her hair still perfectly intact.

  “Your hair should be falling because of gravity.”

  “Oh yes, thank you my Shay!” Her hair fell and I laughed. “We must not extract your O.H.P. near her E.R.I.C. Once he helps you, we must move on immediately.”

  “If he helps me,” I said.

  “It is imperative that you obey my directives.”

  “Can you feel and love? I mean, without it being because you’re programmed to?”

  Amie pressed her fingers to my cheeks. “I know my circuits are shorting as I touch you.”

  “Stop, I need you and if you overheat again I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  She nodded. “Let’s devise a plan to get the E.R.I.C. to assist with the extractor’s retrieval.”

  “How about I just ask him?”

  She shrugged. “That’s a very human idea.”

  Was she teasing me? I smiled. “Don’t make me splash you.”

  Code ran about me. Amie shook her finger in my face. “Splash me and I’ll force you to learn code.”

  “Ha!” I laughed, flicking water her way. “We’ll see about that.”

  She jumped, tossing code at me. “Take that!”

  I ducked. “I thought you were some kind of super machine?”

  “I’m going easy on you,” she teased.

  We played, scaring fish from the area. I rolled in the sand, avoiding flying code and thermal readings being tossed my way. She chased me across the beach, stepping in my footprints.

  My bag!

  I ran back, scooping it up, and then headed towards where I last saw Eric.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  LOCATION:

  Unknown Lone Key #1, Florida Keys

  I saw him standing at the shoreline where I’d left him. He looked lost in thought. Was he really that sensitive? Did he have feelings?

  My fingers trembled as I tapped him on the back. He didn’t respond. “Eric, I need your help.”

  Nothing.

  Amie sighed. “You should apologize.”

  “I’m sorry for calling you a machine. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  Nothing.r />
  Amie crossed her arms. “He isn’t downloading. The E.R.I.C. is refusing to respond to your inquiries.”

  “Are you listening to me?” I shoved him.

  “Go away, you bag of flesh and bones.”

  “He speaks!” I tapped him again. “Can you please help me?”

  Eric twisted sideways. His brown eyes bore through me. “You’ve run from me and resisted me for days. Suddenly, you need my help?”

  “I can’t swim twenty feet under water. I was hoping you could.”

  He smirked. “I’m a heartless machine, remember?” He turned his back to me.

  “I’m sorry! I never called you heartless. My Pop is a machine, but I know he loves me even if he’ll never admit it and my Amie—”

  Amie waved her arms. “Don’t mention me!”

  “Your Amie?” He twirled around. “And how is your Pop a machine?”

  “Never mind,” I said. “Please help me. I’m on a time-restricted mission.”

  Amie stood behind him. She made faces. I smiled.

  “What’s it to me?” He tapped my knapsack. “Aren’t you hungry? You look pale.”

  My eyes blurred. I was hungry. “Food doesn’t matter without my extractor.”

  “I refuse to comply.” Eric folded his arms.

  “Excuse me?” I poked him in the chest. “You need to help me!”

  “I don’t need to do anything, marshmallow.”

  “I’m not fat,” I said. I turned to Amie. “Am I fat?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Eric waved his hand in my face. “Are you getting delirious again? You need to eat. Open your bag and give me one too.”

  I jerked away.

  Amie took my measurements; her eyes scanned my vitals and imaginary scales lined the ground before me. I stepped onto them while I struggled to keep my bag away from Eric. He wrapped his arms around me and I doubled over, hiding my backpack. “You can’t have it! It’s mine!”

  “I just want something to eat.”

  Amie sighed. “You’re not obese, but you could lose at least ten pounds. If you were an active S.H.A.Y. you’d be fit. But you’ve spent most of your time inventing and not conditioning.”

  “So I’m fat?” I froze.

  Eric chuckled. “No, you’re not. Right now you’re melting away.” He snatched my bag and tore into it. He handed me a nutrient pack and took one for himself.

  “How can you eat if you’re not human?” I ripped the outside packaging off my food. When was the last time I ate?

  Amie sat between us with her own food supplement. She pretended to eat. “This is not a good idea, befriending the enemy. I suggest we eat in silence. The more he knows the more I fear for your safety.”

  “I’m a human, not a machine.” Eric bit into his food. “I survive off food like you and I’m a teenager going through puberty.”

  “That’s not possible. You’re a humanoid.”

  “His organs and nervous system are artificial, but he does possess human fluids and flesh via his human host.” Amie pointed at holographic strands of DNA that floated around us. “He is your equivalent. This is his DNA to the left, and to the right, that is yours.”

  “He’s nothing like me!” I shouted.

  Eric shook his head. “Who are you talking to?”

  I ignored him. I was famished and inhaled my food. “I need another nutrient pack.”

  Eric grabbed my wrist. “Why do you have glowing skin?”

  My eyes rested upon my veins. They shined blue underneath my skin in swirling patterns. “What’s going on?”

  Amie examined me. “You’re entering phase two.”

  My heart pounded. “I’m going to die in less than two years.”

  Eric stood. “You’re weird.”

  Amie frowned. “I’m going to help save you my Shay. I will not allow your termination.”

  “What’s happening to me?” My heart pounded as I felt twinges of pain. Something attempted to break through my skin. Bumps resembling hives appeared scattered about me. “What are these things?”

  Eric took my hand. “I’ll help you find your extractor thing. You need all the help you can get.”

  Tears threatened to spill. Amie wanted to touch me, but I jerked back. “I need you, so don’t.”

  Eric released me. “That’s ironic.”

  I shook my head. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  He laughed. “Who are you talking to, then, your imaginary friend?”

  “You could say that.”

  Amie placed her hands on her hips. “I’m not imaginary.”

  I smiled at her. “I know,” I whispered.

  Eric shoved me. “Stop talking to your fake friend. I’m real and better looking.”

  “Says who?” I teased.

  “He’s dangerous. You must not befriend the enemy. Retrieve and leave.” Amie grabbed my arm. Chills ran through me and gave me brain freeze. I cringed, grabbing my head.

  “Stop it,” I said. “You’re hurting me.”

  “I’m not touching you,” Eric said.

  “Not you.”

  Amie kicked at code, running messages on neon signs in the trees and sand.

  Retrieve and leave.

  The words flashed. They ran like tiny birds after the waves and bounced in the swaying trees.

  Retrieve and leave. Retrieve and leave. Retrieve and leave. Retrieve and leave.

  I turned to Eric. “Are you going to help me or not?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  LOCATION:

  Unknown Lone Key #1, Florida Keys

  We stood at the shoreline together in just our undergarments. Eric said it was safer to come out of the ocean and put on dry clothes, especially since the sky was becoming overcast. I wished I’d thought of that the first time I went diving into the water.

  “Don’t look at me,” I said.

  He smiled.

  “I’m serious. This is a business transaction.”

  “Oh really, so I’m getting paid for this?” Eric held out his hand. “I’d like fifty percent down and the balance upon completion.”

  “Ha, ha. You’re funny.”

  “Please refrain from flirting with the E.R.I.C. He is the enemy.” Fish jumped with pictures on their bodies of Eric’s face surrounded by a red circle with a slash through the center.

  “You’re being a little dramatic, don’t you think?” I asked her. “You don’t know for sure that he’ll turn on us.”

  Eric scratched his head. “Okay, now you really are scaring me.” He felt my forehead. “Are you sure you’re okay? There’s something wrong with you, I mean, look at your skin, and you can’t deny that you’re talking to yourself. Let me take you to the scientists.”

  “No!” I jerked back.

  “They could maybe help you.”

  “No, they can’t.”

  “Do you even know what’s happening to you?”

  I nodded. “I’m going to die in two years or less. That’s my life expectancy.” I tried to speak with authority but my lips trembled. “I’m a research project.”

  Amie gasped. “Do not tell him anything else!”

  “If it makes you feel any better, so am I.” He touched my cheek.

  “You’re going to die too?”

  He shrugged. “I dunno, but I’m a research project. I’m able to adapt to most environments, but at a cost. It takes time. Like, wait till you see how I’m going to be able to retrieve your extractor.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Amie shook her head. “Don’t play into his game. He’s trying to impress you. It’s what the male species does so that they may win a choice female and procreate.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her.

  She turned her back to me. “Don’t respond. Your new mate will think you’re mentally unstable.”

  “He’s not my mate.”

  “What?” Eric said. “Okay, you loon. Let’s get this over with already.”

  “What are you going to do?”
/>   He motioned for me to get into the water. “Ladies first.”

  “Don’t look at me, close your eyes.”

  “I’ve already seen you naked.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want you to look at me.”

  “You’re not the boss,” he said.

  “You need to do as I say.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  Eric stepped closer, his chest bumping mine. “Now, I’m going to look.”

  My heart pounded. “Excuse me?”

  “Yeah, now, I’m going to undress you with my eyes.”

  “I’m going in with my undergarments, so ha!”

  “Once they’re wet I’ll be able to see through them, so it’s not going to matter.”

  “Well then, I’m not going to get in the water.” I bent over, grabbing my clothes. He helped me, handing me my shirt. I snatched it from him. “I’ll just wait up here for you to get back.”

  He laughed, poking me in the stomach. “Look, cream puff, I’m not going in without you.”

  “Oh yes you will, or I’ll—”

  “You’ll what? Talk to yourself some more?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, stumbling as I tugged my pants on.

  “You’re the one who needs my help, remember?”

  “You make me sick.” My shirt slipped down over my head and I struggled with the buttons.

  He smiled. “Take your clothes off.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  Amie groaned. She stood beside me, rolling her eyes. “You’re just creating more and more sexual tension with the E.R.I.C. Soon, you’ll forget all about your Darla and I’ll have no human mother for S.H.A.Y. 319.”

  “I won’t!” I unzipped my pants again. “I’ll do whatever it takes to save them both.”

  Eric backed away. “Whoa, there, I was just teasing you.”

  “I’m not talking to you.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Right, I forgot, you have others here with you.”

  “I’m not doing this for you, you’re the enemy. I’m trying to save my, my—”

  “You’re trying to save your ‘what’ exactly?”

  “It doesn’t concern you. Just follow me into the water. That way, we can get started.”

  “Are you hitting on me?” His eyes widened. “I enjoy a little banter and all, but—”