by C. W. Crowe
“And Nick?”
“I don’t know, Lucy. I hope he got away, but I don’t know.”
Lucy said, “Thank you, Leo” as she put her face down on my chest and I listened to her until her noises became regular with sleep. She snored quietly, but I didn’t mind.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Approach
I woke up and Lucy was still lying on me. Her eyes were open though. “Hey,” she said quietly.
“Hey back to you.”
She smiled at me and moved her face so it was right above mine. “You know, Leo, I was thinking about last night, about what you said. In a way, our stories are kind of similar, aren’t they? We both were strange kids, you know? Kind of loners.
“But now, well, it’s good. I know I’m not saying it right, but I think I’m happier right now, alone with you out in these woods, than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”
She kissed me and we held it until we both had to breathe.
I realized she was right - I was happy right now with her in my arms. I couldn’t remember being happy like that at any other time.
*.*.*
We broke camp and packed, snacking on the last of the venison. I was hopeful that we'd sleep in a real bed under a real roof tonight. It had been a long time, but the houses down below in Los Alamos seemed intact so the prospect of a good night's sleep was real.
We'd passed the outskirts of Albuquerque a couple of days ago and it appeared to be mostly a smoking ruin, likely due to either lightning fires and bombing or both. We'd seen this before in our journey.
But Los Alamos looked, from this distance, untouched, a slice of intact America.
The horses seemed ready to go too, snorting and bobbing their heads up and down. I wondered if maybe they were sensing an end to our long journey.
Probably it was just that they'd had some good rest and their fill of late fall grass, but I liked to imagine sometimes that they were actually aware of what we were doing. When I told Lucy, she said I was 'a romantic'. She'd said it with a big smile.
I was just getting ready to mount when Lucy called out to me, "Leo. Come here a minute."
It wasn't her command voice that she sometimes used when she was exasperated or mad at me, instead her voice sounded surprised and curious. I walked over to her, automatically putting my arm around her waist.
"See that? What is it?" She was pointing down.
At first I only saw a dim impression. The weather had been dry for us, but it did sometimes rain in this area. The impression must have been left when the ground was muddy.
It was a footprint. It had three large toes.
"I . . . I've seen it before, Lucy. Back in Ft. Smith. Back at the zoo. It's a Raptor footprint. There was one here."
She automatically reached for her gun, as I scanned the flat area we'd camped on. It was silly, of course. If there had been a Raptor around and it had wanted to harm us, we would be dead by now.
I smiled reassurance at her. "It's an old track and it's obviously not around. Best to head on down to Los Alamos."
She nodded and said, "Okay. I'll watch your back . . ."
I completed it, "And I'll watch yours."
*.*.*
Some of the trail down to Los Alamos looked to be pretty steep, so we decided to walk the horses. We made good time since the travel was all downhill until, below us, we could see someone - though at this distance I couldn’t make out many details.
“You don’t think they’ll shoot at us, do you?” Lucy asked.
“That would be stupid. Travelers could be dangerous, but they also have news or maybe goods to trade. I suspect it’ll be like it was with Lucky - they’ll be careful until they know we’re peaceful. Besides . . .”
“What else can we do?” She cut me off again. How did that girl know what I was going to say before I even said it? I had just about decided to talk to her about it and risk a fight when she called out, “Hey, it’s a kid!”
She was right; there was a child sitting on a little pile of snow, playing.
*.*.*
As we got closer, it became clear it was a girl. One of our horses whinnied and she looked up, her eyes big in surprise.
From her size, I guessed she couldn't have been more than five or six. She was dressed from head to toe in a snowsuit, mittens and face mask so that I could only see her eyes.
She glanced back over her shoulder to a nearby home - probably the one she lived in. I had a momentary vision of a mother inside, washing dishes or doing some other household chore secure in the knowledge that her little daughter was safe playing in their own back yard.
Lucy's face broke out in a big smile as we moved towards the girl. "Hello, darling," she said as she took my hand with one of hers and moved the other one up to hide her face.
We approached the little girl together. I was just about to call out a greeting to whoever might have been in the house when the little girl said, "Hello, Lucy and Leonard."
Before I could process this, she used her mittened hands to grab our ankles.
I should have known before, but I'd gotten so used to not hearing any noises other than Lucy's that I hadn't even noticed that I didn't hear any human sounds from the little girl.
She was a robot - my robot sister from Ft. Smith.
Her name was Elle.
*.*.*
Both Lucy and I tried to move, but it was no use. It was as if our legs were stuck in a thousand pound rock - no amount of effort would let us move away from that child. From one of the nearby houses, an adult female emerged and headed towards us.
Lucy looked a question at me. I said, "She's a robot. There's no use to try and resist. She's got us."
I saw her move her hand from in front of her face to her waist - that was where Lucy kept her knife and also the pistol.
I knew what she was thinking, "It's no use, Lucy. They're almost here. We're caught."
She turned to me and the look on her face was beyond anguish as, in an instant, our freedom was gone. Her eyes were big and shiny. "Leo, I love . . ."
I didn't get to hear the rest of it because the robot child pulled out a pain stick and touched me with it.
That didn't matter too much though because I knew what Lucy was going to say.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Capture
They must have done something else to me since I usually regained consciousness in a few seconds after a robot used a pain stick on me.
It had to have been longer this time because, when I woke, I was strapped to some type of examination table in a small bare room. A harsh spot light shown down on my chest from the ceiling. A single closed door was in the far wall.
They'd taken all my clothes, leaving me wearing only a tight fitting pair of underwear. My arms were spread out to the side on a T shaped upper part of the table, while my wrists were bound with leather straps at each end of the T.
The bottom part of the table had a Y shape and my legs were strapped to each of these so that my legs were spread out.
I tried to move, struggling as panic built up inside me, but it was no use.
I started to cry out for Lucy, but forced myself to calm down enough to listen for her noises.
There! I could hear her. She was alive at least!
Her sounds were fragments, like a jumble. It was kind of like how she sounded when we were having a yelling type argument. I could tell she was fighting back against whatever they were doing to her.
"Lucy!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. From the strength of her sounds she couldn't be that far away. "Lucy!" I could tell she heard me as her noises spiked.
I was ready to yell again when the door opened and my robot mom walked into the room. She moved over beside the table and stood towering over me, looking down and shaking her head. She'd changed her hair color to orange and was wearing a slim red dress that showed off her figure. "Leonard, your father and I are so disappointed in you. Here we give you Lucy only to have the two of you run away rather than mate with each other. And now
what? We find you have been mating."
The sight of her was almost too much as hatred welled up inside like a volcano erupting. "Untie me," I said through clenched teeth. If I could get free, I'd try and rip her head right off her body with my bare hands.
She tapped my chest with one of her manicured nails. "Soon, Leonard. But first, would you like to see Lucy? We're done with her for the moment."
The anger that had exploded in my chest evaporated and turned into fear. What had they done with Lucy? "Bring her to me," I said.
"Now Leonard, your manners. You'd think you were raised in a barn."
I would rather have eaten broken glass, but I had to see Lucy. I had to know. "Please," I said in a whisper.
Mom smiled, showing her perfect teeth outlined by her red lips. She left the room to the sound of her clicking heels, but returned a few seconds later. Lucy walked in behind her.
*.*.*
I had been afraid that Lucy would have bruises or broken teeth or something even worse, but she looked whole and unhurt. I could tell because she was dressed in something like a loose fitting hospital gown. It hung down only to mid-thigh, so I could see quite a lot of her.
She walked up to the table beside me.
I could only think of her writhing in pain. "Did they use . . ."
"A pain stick? No, Leo, they can't."
She started to unbuckle one of my shackles and mom didn't move.
"They can't? What do you mean?"
"They can't use one of those things on me because it might hurt . . . because I'm pregnant, Leo."
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see mom grinning from ear to ear.
*.*.*
I was too stunned to speak. Lucy finished freeing one of my wrists and went to work on the other. Finally, the words started to come. “But how . . .”
She knew what I was going to ask. Anyone would have known. “It was when they first captured me, back in Ft. Smith. Remember I told you they examined me? Well, it turns out they did a bit more than that. They unblocked my tubes, Leo.”
I looked at mom as Lucy finished releasing me. “You knew that all along, didn’t you? That’s why you wanted us to mate. But why?”
“All in due time, Leonard. You’ll get all your questions answered. But first, I want Lucy to show you something. Go ahead Lucy, show him.”
She turned so that her back was to me and lifted her hair up above her head. Her garment was like a hospital gown in that it was open in the back. I could see she wasn’t wearing anything other than the gown.
Her hair had initially hidden it, but right at the top of her spinal column was a black spot. It seemed to rise slightly above her skin. It looked kind of rough, like a large black scab. I reached up and touched it gently.
Lucy flinched. “Damn!” she said.
Mom had a smug look on her face. “Lucy is right. We can’t use a pain stick because of her condition. But this will do as well. It’s a little parasite, one that lives happily on Lucy doing her no harm. It has, however, connected itself to a large bundle of nerves at the base of her brain and, if threatened by even a touch, will cause her pain or even to lose consciousness.
“But that’s not really all. This is a robot - though admittedly a simple one. It will, however, obey orders and we can tell exactly where it, and Lucy, is. Right now, its orders are to not let itself be removed and to ramp up the pain sent directly to Lucy’s brain should someone try. Since the baby is not involved, it won’t be hurt. But Lucy will. We tested it out and it worked, didn’t it Lucy.”
She finished with the last strap. "Yeah, it worked." I could tell from her noises she was angry.
I sat up as mom looked me over. "And that's why you can now be free, Leonard. We believe you'll behave yourself now that Lucy would have to pay for your misdeeds. And don't think her implant can only cause her a little pain, it can do far more; even kill her if we order it."
I spoke up, "You wouldn't do that. It would kill the baby too."
Mom actually laughed and I wanted to kill her more than anything I'd ever wanted in my life.
"Baby! We are interested in your child, Leonard, but only up to a point. For one thing, we believe you will behave and do as we say if you think your . . . mate or child is at risk. But even that interest on our part may not last; once a certain procedure is perfected, we'll have our own supply of human offspring whenever we need them. There will be no need to put up with the unpredictable nature of human reproduction. It'll be regulated, perfectly organized.
"We believe you will obey us to spare Lucy a great amount of agony, regardless of the child. We have a little chore for you Leo - a job we would like you to do. Lucy will be the one who sees that you do it."
I stood up from the table I'd been strapped to. I went over to Lucy and tightened the strap on the back of her gown, though I didn't know if it even mattered if a robot saw her almost naked body.
I reached for her hand and she took it, but she kept her eyes straight ahead.
Suddenly, I felt a feeling that I'd never had before. The idea that Lucy and I would never spend another happy night holding each other close in freedom was sad almost beyond endurance. I felt an actual pain in my chest and knew why they called it heartbreak.
I managed to get out my next question. "What are you going to ask me to do?"
I thought she was going to laugh again, and if she had, I might have snapped right there and attacked her. I fought for control because I knew that I'd never be able to hurt her unarmed and that she might really hurt Lucy.
She grinned and that was bad enough. "All in good time Leonard. First, we want you to get acclimated to your new situation. We thought about taking you back to the home you ran away from, but it may be better for you to stay here with your own kind."
Lucy perked up, "With humans?"
"Yes, Lucy, with humans. We have a colony here. They are quite creative, always organizing themselves and planning their future."
She frowned and asked, "Were you expecting us to show up here?"
Mom nodded, "Yes, we spotted you just as you reached that farmhouse and knew that you would likely be on the way here because we spread the information that people lived here in freedom. We even do a radio broadcast designed to get people to come to Los Alamos. It's not heard by many, but the rumor is passed on from person to person."
I had to ask, "Why didn't you capture us at the farm then?"
"Because soon after that, you started to mate. That was what we wanted and you had demonstrated a lack of cooperation, so we let you come to us."
She handed us two robes, then turned and started to walk. "Follow me."
She walked away and we had no choice but to do as she said.
Chapter Twenty-Six: New Home
Being around such a large group of humans was very difficult for me. I'd almost forgotten how noisy and chaotic they could sound in a large group, so when we arrived and were greeted by a crowd of nineteen people, I found myself struggling to act normal.
An older man, tall but with longish brown hair stepped forward. "I'm Peter, Doctor Peter Readner. I see they didn't think to provide you any real clothes even though it’s more than a bit chilly. Robots can be so thoughtless. They did tell us you were coming, so we had time to get some things ready. Let's get you into a house so you can rest up from what they did to you. Inside are clothes that should fit and food. There's a community center building right in the middle of the development, let's meet there in a couple of hours and we can all get introduced properly and share a meal. We don't get new humans here often, so I know we're all anxious to hear your story and any news you might have."
I was still struggling with understanding him while so many noises swirled around my brain. Lucy sensed something in my hesitation and said, "I think that'll be fine. I know I feel kind of wiped out."
Peter Readner nodded. "It's the black thing on your neck. We call it a DRP for Damned Robot Parasite. Putting it on you is draining, but you'll be fine soon."
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Lucy asked, "Does everyone get one?"
Peter Readner replied, "No. We think it's just people they believe might run."
*.*.*
The houses were mostly similar and we ended up with one near the outskirts a couple of blocks from the town center. Mercifully, the noises diminished with each step as Peter led us away from the crowd and, by the time we arrived at our new home, I could only hear Lucy and Peter.
Peter's sounds were very regular and highly organized. Lucy's were the opposite. She was upset, but that was totally to be expected. I was too.
As soon as we were alone, Lucy said, "Take off that underwear."
My expression must have told her how confused I was. "You were strapped to that table, right? I was too. They needed me to be still so they could implant that . . . that thing in my neck and then they examined me. Trust me, Leo, it was a thorough examination."
I still didn't get it. "We need to see what they did to you. Why strap you down unless they were going to do something. Do you have a DRP on your neck?"
My hair had grown on the trip so that it was longer than usual. I reached up and felt my neck. Nothing.
We both searched and found no indication of any new incision or anything else that would indicate the robots had done anything to me as I’d slept.
Lucy found some clothes and went off to the bathroom to dress. I did the same in the bedroom.
*.*.*
She was in there for more than an hour. I didn't blame her because we'd been on the road for a long time, bathing in cold streams when we could find them, never quite clean enough or warm enough. Just like back in Ft. Smith, the lights, heat and hot water in our house worked and if she wanted to shower until the hot water was all gone, then that was fine with me.
