Program 13 (The Emile Reed Chronicles)

by Nicole Sobon

  “Oh, Guards,” McVeigh called out. “Will you please bring her in?”

  “You wouldn’t.” Sterling’s head shot up, his eyes full of rage and locked on McVeigh, who stood before him smiling as to show that he would.

  The guards came through the door with a small girl in tow. She looked to be maybe ten years old. She was crying, scared about whatever was waiting for her. “Nina,” he called out, tears flowing down his face. “What do you want with her? She’s a child. She has no part in this. None!” Sterling was trying to keep his temper under control for his daughter’s sake, but he was failing.

  “Now see, that’s where you’re wrong.” McVeigh was laughing, making his way around the desk so that he was now standing in front of Sterling. “She has everything to do with this.” Nina looked over at me from across the room; her face was half human and made up of flesh, the other half made up of metal. There was no way Sterling could save her now. There was no way she’d ever truly be his daughter again.

  I could feel my body being dragged, my hard drive clicking into place. When I opened my eyes, I was expecting to see Colton. But it was Sterling. Where was Colton? How did he get out? I started to panic until I heard his voice.

  “She does this a lot.”

  “It has to be because she has two Programs installed – one human and one computer. They don’t fuse well together.” Sterling was shaking his head, his hand brushing the Pod window. “The only way to stop it is to allow the fusion to complete, which unfortunately, would allow McVeigh to locate the two of you. I’m sure that isn’t what you want.”

  “No, that isn’t what we want.” Colton approached the Pod, his eyes focused on me. He was worried, but trying his best not to show it. “What we want is to know more about you. What could have made you go from wanting to help her to wanting to destroy her?”

  The silence was overwhelming. There was a reason Sterling didn’t want to talk about himself. And I knew why. He watched as his daughter’s life was taken away after he tried to help me. Because of me, his daughter was now a Program. Because of me, his daughter no longer had a future. He had every reason to want me dead. He lost the one thing he loved more than life, and there was nothing I could do to fix that. Sterling looked at me, curious to see if I knew, to see if I understood why he hated me. I wanted to tell him that I did, but I wanted – needed – to hear it from him.

  “Colton, there’s a lot you need to understand.” He stood there waiting for Sterling to continue. “I was brought to work at Vesta Corp against my will. I was working at Virginia Mason Medical Center when I met McVeigh. He came in complaining of a pinched nerve. He was a friendly patient. I never would’ve thought that he could be the monster that he is today.”

  Sterling paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “I treated him and figured I’d never see him again. But I was wrong. He came to my house, two of his guards following closely behind him, and placed a bag over my head, dragging me out of my home. He threatened my daughter and my wife if I tried to escape. I didn’t want to be there. I wanted absolutely no part in his vision of a perfect society. It was nothing more than a deranged cause. But then I saw her…I saw Emile.” He looked back at me, his hands pressing against the Pod window. “She was so young, so full of life, and he was going to take all of that away for what? For absolutely nothing!”

  Tears began to stream down his cheeks. “I’ve lived a life. No matter how much I may miss my family at least I know that I lived my life. Emile hadn’t. She was a teenager with the future still ahead of her, a whole life she had yet to live, and I was supposed to take it away from her?”

  “You had no choice,” Colton whispered.

  “No, I didn’t. McVeigh was the one who cut the life out of her, but I had to reconstruct her into what she is now. He didn’t enjoy my protesting. He made me pay for it later that night.” And I knew what was coming. I knew he would tell Colton about his daughter, Nina. About how I was the reason he’d lost her. About how I was the reason she was gone.

  “My daughter was ten years old, even younger than Emile.” Sterling was choking back tears. “McVeigh felt that if I couldn’t obey orders, that I needed discipline. His way of disciplining me was to turn my Nina into one of his Programs. She’s not my Nina anymore.”

  “And you blame Emile for that?”

  Sterling looked at Colton and smirked. “No, I don’t actually, although it would make sense if I did.”

  How couldn’t he blame me for his daughter? If it wasn’t for me - if he didn’t try to save me - his daughter would still be human. He’d still have his little girl.

  “If you don’t blame Emile, then why would you want to kill her?” Colton asked which I was incredibly thankful for. It just didn’t make sense as to why he’d want me dead if he didn’t blame me. “If I didn’t try to kill her, he was going to deactivate my daughter. I didn’t want to kill her. I honestly didn’t. But if I don’t kill her, he will kill my daughter all over again. I barely have anything left of her now.”

  McVeigh had control of our lives, and there was nothing we could to change that, especially now. He wanted me, and he wasn’t going to stop until he got me. He knew that Colton was with me, and now that he knew, McVeigh would have to kill him. And since Sterling hadn’t killed me like McVeigh ordered, his daughter would be deactivated. No matter how hard we fought, there was no way we’d ever win. We all had already lost so much that we’d come out as losers no matter what.

  “How would they know she’s still alive?”

  “As long as Thirteen still registers on her hard drive, they are able to tell if Emile is alive.”

  Colton ran to grab the backpacks Hayden left for us when we felt we needed to escape. “I have access to their system. Can you help me read through her folders, both Emile and Thirteen?”

  Sterling’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “How did you manage to hack into their system?”

  “I didn’t, Hayden did.”

  Sterling was smiling at the mention of Hayden’s name. “Yes, Hayden, of course.” He walked over to where Colton was sitting and grabbed the NetBook from his lap. He was typing away, mumbling words here and there. “Look, come here boy.”

  “It’s Colton, not boy.”

  Sterling laughed, pulling Colton’s arm towards him. “This is what they are seeing back at Vesta Corp. It’s her computer stats. McVeigh knows when she has one of her daydreams - he triggers those. You see here?” His finger tapped against the screen softly. “You’ll notice an increase in her RAM. She remembers what he has stored in her memory. And if you look over here, you’ll notice a line that lets them know if she’s in standby mode, if she’s powered up, or if she’s been shut down. If she was dead, then she’d be considered shut down.”

  “It says standby mode, so they know she’s in the Pod, then?” Colton asked him, clearly frustrated that they had access to all of this.

  “Yes,” Sterling replied. “It also means they’ll be sending a new group of men out here soon because they know that I failed.”

  “Your daughter’s deactivated.”

  Sterling nodded. “Knowing McVeigh, he probably deactivated her the second I left the building.”

  I knew that the time to run would be coming soon. He was just going to keep sending men until they managed to beat us. Why should we stay here like sitting ducks? Why should we make it easy for them?

  “You’re going to want to leave soon,” Sterling suggested as if reading my mind. “If it’s her Pod you’re worried about, I have an idea. You already have the NetBooks, as long as you bring the other laptop it should work.”

  “What is it?”

  “All you should need to do is connect her to that laptop.” He pointed at the one sitting beside the Pod. “If you connect her hard drive, she should be able to enter standby mode, and they shouldn’t be able to track you.”

  26 SACRIFICE

  “How long do we have until they get here?” Colton was pacing the room, his arms pressed against
his chest. “Shouldn’t we bring her out of standby mode?”

  “It probably would be best to unplug the Pod. We’re going to need her. She’s much stronger than the two of us.” Sterling pulled the plug from the wall and unlatched the door to let me out. “They’ll be here in no more than an hour.”

  I stepped out of the Pod slowly, one foot after the other. They’d be here soon. It was beginning to feel like a daily occurrence, having to fight McVeigh’s men in order to live. “Would you happen to know how many are coming?” I asked, curious as to whether he’d be increasing his attack after failing numerous times.

  “I wish I knew.” Sterling let out a stifled sigh, taking a seat on the couch. “He’s good at hiding that kind of information. The last thing he wants is for you to be prepared.”

  “Sterling,” I whispered. “You should go. You and Colton should both go. Go out there and live what’s left of your lives. I can handle this.”

  I didn’t want them to leave. I didn’t want to lose the only human connections I had left. But I knew that keeping them here solely because I wanted them around was only hurting them. I needed to at least give them the chance to leave. I needed to give them a chance at survival.

  Colton looked at me as though I’d lost it. “I’m not entirely sure what brought this on, but there is no way I’m leaving. I can’t say the same about him.” He pointed at Sterling, his brows creasing in curiosity. “But I have every intention of seeing this through with you.” Sterling jumped up from the couch as if in a hurry to leave. “If he’s in, I’m in. I can’t let you down again, kid. Plus, I have nothing left. My wife, my daughter, they are both gone. I have nothing to go back to.”

  “Just remember, you can leave at any time.” As the words came through my lips, McVeigh’s men came bursting into the house. There were five of them: one White Coat and four guards. None of them were recognizable. “At least I know he can’t use my memories against me,” I whispered, hoping no one would hear.

  One of the guards ran up to me, a replacement hard drive in his grasp. If he managed to get near my back, near where my hard drive was, he’d be able to wipe away my existence. I couldn’t let that happen. He tried to wrap his arm around my waist, but I fought back, throwing him to the ground, my foot on his chest to ensure he wouldn’t get up.

  The hard drive in his hand was labeled “Thirteen.” Why would it be labeled “Thirteen” when she still existed on my core, although hidden? There would be no reason to re-install a program if it had already been installed. I reached down and took the drive from the man’s hand, trying to figure out what they were planning.

  “Here, I’ll take that, Emile.” Colton reached his hand down to me. There were two guards about to grab him, so I pulled him down towards me and handed him the drive. “Go find out what’s on here,” I whispered. “I’ll take care of the rest of them.”

  Colton ran over to the computers while I took to my feet, anticipating the attack headed my way. The two guards were armed with guns, both of which were locked on Colton. My eyes zeroed in on the men, refusing to let either of them pull the trigger. I threw up my arms; the two guards fell to the ground with their weapons pointed up at me now. I should be alarmed, the human inside of me should feel worried, but I wasn’t. Their bullets couldn’t kill me, they could pierce my skin, but I wouldn’t bleed out. There was no blood in my body to allow for that.

  “You better move, sweetheart. Unless you want this bullet to go through your chest,” The guard was smiling, his finger on the trigger. I looked down at him and laughed. Using my left foot, I kicked the gun from his grasp. “Colton, grab it. It looks as though you may need it.”

  Click. Clank. A bullet fell from against my right arm. The other guard fired his weapon while I was busy dealing with his friend. Flinching would be ordinary. Bleeding would be ordinary. But I wasn’t ordinary. The bullet tore the tiniest bit of flesh, nothing some thread and a needle couldn’t fix.

  “Are you okay, Emile?” Colton was panicking.

  “Bullets can’t hurt her.” Sterling was limping towards me – the wound in his leg was now inflamed and oozing puss. If he came any closer, the guards would kill him. I couldn’t let that happen. “Sterling, go help Colton, please.” I was pleading, hoping that he’d listen to me.

  But he didn’t.

  He limped slowly, moving directly in front of me. “If you want her, you’ll need to go through me first.” He had no intention of moving and that scared me. I wasn’t willing to risk his life when I wasn’t in danger. Colton and Sterling were, and I needed to protect them.

  “Emile!” Colton screamed. A guard stood behind him with the gun pointed at his right temple. I lifted my foot to run and help him, accidentally freeing one of the guards. Click. Click. Boom. “Go help him,” Sterling whispered, blood oozing down his chest. He’d been shot near his heart. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening.

  I stared at Sterling’s body, the life draining from his eyes, before looking back at Colton. Sterling fell to the ground, his hand reached out to me as if to say thank you. If I didn’t move now, they’d both be dead. I lunged forward, grabbing the gun from the guard’s hand.

  “I think that you should back away now, sir.” I was trying to keep calm, but failing miserably. I’d just witnessed one man - a stranger who once wanted nothing more than to help me - die in order to protect both Colton and me.

  The guard threw up his hands and slowly backed away. Colton nodded and kicked the man down to his knees, his weapon drawn in case he needed to use it. I made my way back to the two guards still lying on the ground where I’d left them. I wanted to kill them because to me, they were McVeigh in one way or another. He made them. He ordered them to destroy me. They were just like him, an extension of McVeigh, and for that, they didn’t deserve to win. But what I wanted and what I did were two different things, because I didn’t have control of what I did.

  There was the sound of a gun going off in the background. I wanted to scream Colton’s name, but I couldn’t find my voice. My eyes closed as my body fell to the ground.

  “Sir, do you really think we can beat her? She’s already killed a decent amount of guards.”

  McVeigh was laughing at the worried guard, not because he felt there was a chance of them succeeding, but rather because he found it amusing that the guard would think he’d be concerned for their safety. “I will continue to send my men until I get what I want. If they have to die, so be it.”

  The guard was pacing the room, his hand reaching for his gun. “I don’t think I can do this anymore. I don’t think it is worth risking my life for some Program that you’ll probably never find.” He pulled his gun from his holster and pointed it at McVeigh.

  “Now, Alex, I don’t think that’s a smart move.” McVeigh hadn’t bothered to turn and look at the guard. He knew he’d win. He always did. Alex lowered his weapon and shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir, but she can’t be worth all of this trouble.”

  And then there was a bang.

  Alex was gone.

  There was a struggle in front of me. Colton must have been wrestling the two guards. “Wake up,” I tried telling myself. I knew it wouldn’t work. I was awake; I just wasn’t able to function at the moment. It wasn’t that I needed my Pod, either. So what the hell was going on? I could feel Colton grabbing my hand, trying his best to pull me up.

  If he died now, it was my fault. I couldn’t lose him, not now. Not him. He was the one person I needed to protect, outside of my family. If they killed him with me lying here lifeless, I’d turn myself in. I’d stop fighting. There wouldn’t be a reason left to fight.

  Short voltage spasms started throughout my body, forcing my body to shake. Thirteen. Emile. Thirteen. Emile. Blank. Thirteen. Emile. She was trying to force her way back through. “No!” I screamed, once I was sure that I could speak. Colton gripped my hand, not saying a word. I knew he was in trouble, and I knew that I needed to help him.

  I forced my eyes open and jumped to my fe
et. One guard had Colton in a headlock while the other was trying to wrestle the gun from his free hand. I needed to act now. “Let him go! This isn’t his fight,” I said through clenched teeth. They were here for me, for Thirteen.

  The one guard laughed and turned to face me. “You will address me by my name, which is Alex. As for your friend, I can do whatever I want.” He turned back to Colton and pulled the gun from his hand. Alex. This was the same guard that didn’t want to risk his life to catch me. What was he doing here now, then? What would have made him want to fight?

  I noticed a blinking light on his back, located where a hard drive would be installed on a program. That was it then, he was a Program. He was like me. All I needed to do was pull the hard drive from his back and it would deactivate his Program. Then there’d only be one threat left to take care of.

  Colton looked me in the eye sensing that I had a plan. “Go for it,” he whispered.

  I walked up behind Alex, my eyes focused on the task at hand. He turned to face me as I stood behind him. Alex pointed both guns to my chest and smirked. “Do you really think you could kill me? I have two weapons. You have none. I’m pretty sure that I have the advantage here.”

  Was he honestly that oblivious? Didn’t he know what he was? Wasn’t he aware that the bullets wouldn’t hurt either of us? I laughed, shaking my head. “No see, that’s where you’re wrong.” I tripped him, the guns both flying two feet in front of his body. He tried crawling to grab them, but I had already managed to pull the hard drive from his back, completely shutting down his Program and body.

  One guard remained, and he wasn’t letting go of Colton without a fight.

  I could hear their hearts racing, Colton’s because he was anxious and the guard’s because he was fearful. Unlike the other guard, he was human. He’d be easier to kill, and he knew it. Colton broke free of his choke hold and flung the man to the ground in front of him. “You are no better than Charles McVeigh, and for that very reason, you don’t deserve to live.”