Program 13 (The Emile Reed Chronicles)

by Nicole Sobon

  Program Thirteen’s existence was altering my human memories. While they still existed, they were far from exact. I knew he’d hoped that my memories would’ve remained intact because he wanted to hope, if he’d ever managed to see his parents again, that they’d remember him. Problem was that I couldn’t lie and tell him that, not when my memories were being rebuilt now.

  15 LOST LIFE

  I sat up on the couch, my eyes fixated on Colton. I knew I’d need to enter standby mode soon, and actually complete a session, but that could wait…for now. It had to.

  “Colton.” His eyes shot up, searching the room for mine. “You told me about your family and how you lost them, but I don’t think you’ve really told me about you.”

  ‘What’s there to tell?” he asked, shrugging. “I’m far from interesting.”

  I could feel my body starting to shut down. I wasn’t used to skipping standby mode. My body had become so used to a routine, so used to shutting down as scheduled. I was throwing my core into panic mode by forcing myself to run per normal.

  Keep pushing, I told myself, just keep pushing.

  But it was too late.

  I could feel my body slowly shutting down as everything around me became a blur. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t find my voice. I wanted to throw my arms up, but they wouldn’t move. I was frozen and lacking the necessary energy to function properly.

  “Emile.” Colton was standing in front of me, his forehead creased with worry. “Lie down. You’re zoning out on me. Emile?” He was panicking now. I could feel him trying to move me, but it was no use. My body was fighting back, angry that I was ignoring its desire for rest. Pull after pull, my body refused to move. Colton grabbed hold of my arms, trying desperately to pull me forward, but instead found himself lying on his back. He was too weak to move me.

  “Damnit!” he yelled. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.” I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I could hear Colton’s feet scampering down the hallway. What was he doing? “I’m coming Emile, hold on!”

  There was a squealing sound making its way towards me, as if Colton was dragging something heavy from the room. I listened as the heavy item dug into the floor below, forcing Colton to grunt as he shoved the item down the hallway.

  “This will work, won’t it?” he asked, more so to himself than to me.

  “Colton,” I whispered, my lips hardly parting. He didn’t answer.

  The squealing stopped, and I could feel Colton pulling on my arm again.

  “Emile, I brought your Pod out here. Unfortunately, there was no way I’d be able to get you to your room, so I had to improvise. I need your help, though. Can you muster up enough energy to walk a few feet?”

  I barely managed to nod in response. “Good, let me just plug it in and then I’ll come get you.” He searched frantically for the power cord. “Okay, I think I got it.”

  I could hear the buzz of the Pod as it powered up. The sound echoed in my mind as if it was calling to me.

  Colton made his way back to me, and then brushed the hair from over my eyes. “Emile, I’m going to need you to push off the couch for me. Can you do that?”

  I couldn’t answer him, but I knew that I needed to try and move. I pulled every bit of energy I had left in my body and pushed myself up, throwing my arm around Colton’s neck. Carefully, I rose to my feet, fighting the urge to use him to balance myself. “That’s perfect. Now just keep pushing, you only have a few more steps to go!”

  He was trying his best to help me; I only wished that I had enough power in me to say how much it meant to me. One foot in front of the other, we made our way over to the Pod. As soon as I felt the window, I pushed off of Colton and lunged for the latch.

  The door opened, and he pushed me inside the Pod gently, making sure my hard drive clicked into place before he allowed the door to close. It’d be at least eight hours before I could leave the Pod, eight hours in which I wouldn’t be able to do a thing.

  He stood beside the Pod, leaning over the window to make sure that I was alright. He was antsy, not sure how to react. I couldn’t blame him though; humans didn’t need to plug into a machine daily, but Programs did. This was just as new for him as it was for me.

  “You asked to know more about me,” Colton began, his thumb pressed against his chin. “What better time than now to tell you, right?” He forced a laugh, but I could still see the worry that was clear on his face.

  “Well, before I lost my family I guess you could say I was a troubled child. Truth be told, I’ve never truly appreciated the beauty of life until I met you, and that isn’t sucking up.” He made sure to look me in the eyes, a smirk wide on his face. “Anyways, I spent most of my younger years putting my parents through hell. I guess I just wanted their attention, no matter how I managed to get it. There were a lot of drugs, a few suicide attempts – more like threats to be honest – and I had a tendency to run away. But that’s how I’ve always been. When things get hard I run until I can’t run anymore.”

  I let his words fill my mind, creating an image of his past.

  “My parents used to have daily talks with me to see what was wrong. What could possibly be destroying their innocent child?” He scoffed. “Back then, I thought all of it was hilarious. But if I had to do it all over again, I would’ve spent every minute I had with them telling them just how much I truly loved them.”

  Colton was beginning to tear up at the thought of his parents. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t let them go. He wanted to start fresh, but there was no denying the heart what it longed for – especially when it longed for home.

  He placed his hands on the window. A tear rolled down his cheek, splashing against the Pod window. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to head to my room now. Talking about them, it’s just not making it any easier.”

  Colton pressed his hands harder against the window before pulling away.

  And then he was gone and I was left alone to live in my contrived memories.

  “Emile!” I could hear my mother calling my name from the kitchen. I threw my book on the couch and ran to see what she wanted. She was standing over the stove, a tray of fresh baked bread in one hand and a pot of sauce in the other. “Can you stir the noodles for me, please? I’m kind of out of hands here.”

  She laughed, twisting her way around me. She moved like an angel, swiftly and without a sound. As I stirred the noodles, I watched my mother set the table. She placed the tray of bread by her plate and the sauce in the middle of the table before backing up to examine the place settings. Every day, every night, my mother would do the exact same thing. I laughed as she crossed her arms and her eyes zeroed in on the table. She was always convinced that she’d forgotten something, but she never did.

  She never did.

  And that was where the memory ended. One minute I was helping my mother, the next I was watching as my entire family stared down at me while I fell from the sky. They waved goodbye, not bothering to jump after me, not bothering to save me.

  I landed on the ground, watching as they were sucked into a black mist.

  They were gone again.

  Just as I allowed them to live in my mind, I allowed them to die.

  16 FALLING

  I was lying on my bed at home, my heart racing. the sound pulsing through my eardrums. Above me was my mother, a wet cloth in her hand. “Do you need more medicine, dear?” she asked. Her voice seemed to be a bit shaken. I wanted to scream for her to help me, but the words wouldn’t find their way out. She reached out for my hand, and then she was gone.

  And I was falling, my body closing in on the ground below.

  “Mother,” I cried out. But there was no response. I slammed into the concrete below me, warm blood oozing out from my skull.

  When the Pod door unlatched, I realized it was all part of another false memory. I flung the door open and ran from the room, wanting to get as far away from the Pod as possible.

  “Colton,” I yelled when I noti
ced he wasn’t in the living room yet.

  But there was no answer.

  I looked down the hall only to find his bedroom door wide open. I ran to his room and found him lying in the middle of his room in the fetal position, shaking. There was confusion and pain in his eyes.

  “What happened?” I asked, picking him up carefully so that he was in a sitting position.

  “Have you seen the news today?” he asked.

  His question was random, and I didn’t understand the meaning behind it. Staring back at Colton puzzled, he shook his head and then continued. “You were on the news this morning.”

  No, not this, I pleaded. Anything but this.

  “They said you were dead, that you died in a freak car accident last night. The news even showed your photo and pictures from the scene of the crime. The caption read ‘Emile Reed, 17, killed in a car accident.’” Colton was shaking, tears running from his eyes. “But that wasn’t the worst part, Emile. I saw them.”

  As I took in Colton’s words I began to realize what they truly meant: He saw his parents. Which meant that McVeigh knew that Colton was with me. That fact scared me more than knowing they announced my death on the news…months after it actually occurred. Vesta Corp was desperate to find me, so desperate that they needed to create the illusion that I was killed in an automobile accident the previous night. It was smart on their part, as it would make life a bit harder for me now.

  But what I forgot was that it wasn’t just my life this would affect, it would also affect the way Colton lived his life from here on out, too.

  “You saw who?” I asked Colton after I was finally able to relax my body. I knew the answer, but I needed to hear him say it. I needed to hear it from him.

  “I saw my parents, Emile. They were in the background of the accident coverage,” he whispered. “They looked like normal people. They looked alive.”

  They had to know Colton was with me. Programs were not sent out into the human world if their family remained behind. The fake death, the fact that his parents were there…it was a set up to draw us out of hiding. It was a trap and I wasn’t going to take the bait.

  “It’s a trap, Colton,” I whispered, trying to remain calm.

  “What the hell do you mean it’s a trap?” he screamed at me, his anger winning over.

  “Think about it, Colton.” I shot up and looked over at him, grabbing hold of his hands. “Why do you think they announced my death on the news? Why do you think your parents were there? It wasn’t a coincidence. It’s because they know that you’re with me. They are trying to lure us out so that they can find us. We can’t let that happen.”

  “And why’s that?” He tried to pull his hands from my grasp. “Why can’t I see them?”

  “If we go back there, you will become one of us,” I sighed, allowing what I was about to say next penetrate my thoughts. “The minute we go back into the city, McVeigh will know and he will send his men to find us. And when they do, because they will, you will become one of us. And I will be deactivated.”

  Silence filled the room as Colton realized I was right. We couldn’t go back. We would need to keep running if we wanted to stay alive. And I needed to keep him alive, at least.

  Hours later, when we were both able to come to our senses, we made our way out to the living room. The news was still airing their report of my death. Part of me was curious as to whose body it was being taken away, mainly because I feared for that person. I feared that they’d become like me, something I wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

  “How do they get away with this stuff?” Colton asked, making sure to avert his eyes from the television. The last thing he needed was to see their images again.

  “Unfortunately, I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “Part of me thinks they are in cahoots with the government. I mean, how else could they get away with collecting dead bodies, and turning them into Programs? It’s not like they only bring in a body every now and again; it’s a daily thing. Someone in the government has to be involved. It’s the only reasonable explanation as to why they haven’t been discovered by the general public, yet.”

  Colton nodded. “It’s just sad to know that these people think they are fulfilling their loved ones’ wishes by donating their bodies to science. They have no way of knowing that they are allowing them to become lifeless machines.”

  He was right. Their families thought they were doing the right thing. If only they knew.

  “Screw it,” Colton demanded. “Why don’t we just expose them? People need to know.”

  I wanted to tell him, okay, because I knew that he was right, of course, but I knew that we couldn’t. The second we put our faces out there, we’d be dead. Plain and simple. There was no way around it. We would need to sit back for now and try to live our lives to the fullest extent possible, no matter how hard it might be.

  “I’d love to expose the scum just as much as you want to, but we can’t. Not yet.” I shot him a stern glance. If I could, I’d tear them to pieces this instant, but this wasn’t a war that could be won overnight.

  “So, for now we run?” he asked, although he wasn’t actually looking for an answer.

  “Yes, for now we run.”

  And we did.

  I closed my eyes, allowing the next spliced memory to fill my mind. I was in an alleyway, a car’s headlights shining on me from behind. My first instinct was to run. As I ran, the car sped up, keeping pace with me perfectly. When I turned to look back, I saw my body lying lifeless on the ground. There were no witnesses, no one to tell my parents I was hurt. It was the perfect scenario for a crime of this nature. The two men, Charles McVeigh and Douglas Todd, got out of the car and lifted my lifeless body into the trunk.

  “Let go of me,” I screamed. I ran towards the car, which was backing away with every move I made. I tried to save her. I tried to save me, but I couldn’t. I turned and fell on the ground. Colton stood above me with his hand reaching down.

  “We need to go,” he said.

  He pulled me along as we ran down an endless road into the darkness. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening. I turned to face Colton only to realize I was alone, running directly into the darkness. No, I screamed. No. I failed him.

  My eyes shot open to reveal Colton standing over me. I lifted my arm, brushing my hand gently against his cheek, relieved to know that he was here, and that I wasn’t zoning out again. He appeared to be worried, and I couldn’t blame him. I was worried about myself as of late, too. These dreams, or whatever the hell they were, just kept coming, and I wasn’t sure how to control them. Or if I even could.

  “I take it that you still refuse to find Hayden?” he asked.

  “You know that isn’t an option.” I looked at Colton and shook my head. “Besides, I’m sure I’ll figure this out eventually. You live and you learn, after all.”

  Colton sighed before taking a seat on the couch. We’d been locked away in this house in the middle of nowhere going on twenty-four hours, and it was doing neither of us any good.

  “So what would you like to do today?” I kicked him lightly, trying to avoid hurting him. “There’s a whole world out there. There’s no reason to be stuck inside all day.”

  “I was under the impression you were trying to keep us alive. Last I checked going out there was a suicide mission. After all, you are supposed to be dead, or did you forget that all of Seattle believes you were killed in a car accident yesterday?”

  I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “Well, they wouldn’t believe wrong. I was actually killed in a car accident, remember?”

  As much as he tried to avoid cracking a smile, he didn’t last long. There was only so much one could take before they broke. All of the tragedy surrounding us was now allowing us to break free and live.

  “So, where do you want to go, ma’am?” Colton turned towards me, smiling. “We can’t go into the city, that’s for sure, and we’re pretty much in the middle of nowhere right now.”

  “How abou
t we head to Portland?” I suggested. It was far enough from Vesta Corp, far enough that, hopefully, no one would realize I was supposed to be six feet below ground.

  “You want to go out of state?” He started to laugh. “Eh, what the hell. Why not?”

  We packed our belongings, unsure if we’d be coming back, and made our way to the front door. Colton opened it and gently pushed me out front, locking the door behind him as he followed me out. The walk down hill was a lot easier than the walk up, something I was incredibly thankful for. Colton took off towards the car, a smile sprouting from the corners of his mouth. He reached the car before me since a few twigs gave me trouble, causing me to lose my balance a couple of times.

  Given the fact that I’d been experiencing random dream episodes, I figured it’d be best for Colton to drive. “You do have a license, right?” I asked, trying not to laugh. Truthfully, I didn’t care whether or not he did, but then again, I wasn’t the police. Avoiding trouble would probably be more beneficial in this situation than allowing it. Just a guess.

  “Of course!” He grinned.

  Before I could question him, he handed me his license.

  “Everything check out okay with you?” Colton elbowed me trying to be funny, but hurt himself in the process. “I really need to remember that your insides are solid.”

  I looked over at his face to make sure that he was okay. There was a tear streaming down his cheek, but he was bent over laughing.

  “Are you sure that you’re good to drive?” I asked, handing over the keys.

  He didn’t say a word, just grabbed the keys and went to the driver side door. Colton’s excitement captivated me, causing me to run around to the other side of the car.

  By the time I reached the passenger door, he was already buckled into the driver seat. He threw open my door, waiting for me to step inside. But once Colton put the key in the ignition, it became clear that we weren’t going anywhere.

  “The damn thing won’t start!” He groaned, looking over at me for an answer.