by Eliza Tilton
I pull up and he lifts his chin.
“Hello, Meredith.”
I unlock the door. “Get in.”
He climbs into the passenger seat and my heart races.
“Why are you outside?” I enter in the address to the yard.
“I thought it would be easier for you. Your friend said to wait for you here at this time.”
“Ugh. I have to lock the store.”
“I took care of it,” he says, glancing at me with those long lashes. Were they always that long? “I remembered the code you used last night.”
“Oh, okay.” My heart won’t slow down.
This is just too weird.
And kind of exciting.
We speed out of town to the old train yard. Though it’s more of a junk yard with buses and other old public vehicles. For us kids, it’s the perfect place to party, and since it’s far enough from town by the maintain, no one really cares. Sometimes the police will visit, but it’s rare.
The sky is clear. The moon bright.
As we head around the base of the mountain, pink and blue lights shine in the sky, holograms of fireworks spark in display, but that’s only a teaser. Once scratch starts spinning, the whole night sky will come alive.
I pull into the makeshift parking lot on the grass. There’s cars and trucks lined up, kids and older jumping out and heading deep into the yard where the DJ is set up. I text Nelly.
Here.
Yes! Meet us left of the booth.
Before we leave the car, I turn to Zane.
He has his left arm across the seat, his fingers close to me. With his other hand, he twirls the end of his hair. It’s a tiny curl, but long enough to grab. I’m a bit surprised he’s acting, human. I know I adjusted his settings to have traits, but I never specified which ones. Was the AI adapting?
“Before we go in, I need you to stay close. Don’t wander off.”
“I wouldn’t,” he states plainly.
“I know, but this is the first time you’ve been out in the real world. People aren’t always nice, just promise me.”
He reaches over and touches my shoulder. “I promise.”
Grabbing my purse, I get out, Zane follows.
We stand next to each other, me searching the people, around us to see if anyone knows. If they can tell I have an android with me.
It’s silly. I’m overreacting. Maybe if we were in one of the bigger cities, possibly, but out here, people are still reading paper books and not those high-tech virtual reality reads device.
“Should I hold your hand?” Zane whispers in my ear.
“No, that’s okay,” I say. “Stay close.”
He doesn’t nod or respond. Instead, his blue eyes scan the area. The flash is quick and only if someone was watching him could they tell.
“hey!” I stand in front of him. “You can’t do that here.”
“As your companion, it is my duty to scan the area for danger.” The fierce gaze in his eyes sends a rush through me.
“Okay. Fine, but no more,” I whisper. “No one can know what you are. It’s a secret, remember?”
His jaw twitches. “I do.”
What was that?
A voice I know to well is behind us talking to a girl.
Kyle.
When I turn around, my heart drops. It falls out of my chest to the dirt, shattering into a thousand pieces. I can’t move, speak, it’s too much for me to handle.
His eyes are wide, because he knows why I’m my heart is bleeding. It wasn’t enough for him to dump me, but now he’s going to show up with her? Out of every girl in a fifty-mile radius, he picked her, the girl he swore for months was just a friend.
“Meredith.” He steps forward.
“No, I’m not doing this.” My voice croaks as I try to hide the pain.
“It’s not what you think. I swear.” He holds his hand up in a plea. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
My body shakes. Sharon is nice enough to look away from me.
“I hate you.” A tear falls and Kyle’s shocked face melts to sympathy. Being with him for two years, I know when he’s being genuine.
“Really, Meredith,” Sharon says. “We’re not together. Promise.”
Always a promise.
I can’t.
Zane is eerily quiet. I look over at him, and he gazes back. “Let’s go.” I grab his hand and pull him into the forest.
“Meredith!” Kyle screams my name.
I run.
Zane doesn’t question where we’re going. He holds my hand tight, keeping pace with me. Tears stream down my face because in my heart, I know Kyle is lying. I’ve always known, but I was too afraid to leave him. I’m a fool.
When my chest is on fire, I stop and lean against a tree, catching my breath.
“What did that boy do to make you sad?” Zane kneels in front of me.
I slide down the tree, covering my face as I sob.
Zane puts his hands-on top of mine. “Talking will help resolve the issue.”
I shake my head. I’m not ready to talk. “No. Kiss me.”
Without pause, he leans over and kisses me, releasing whatever pheromones BORAS put in him. Here I am with a boy who would do anything I asked, and it’s nice.
Is it wrong? Maybe, but I don’t care, not tonight.
Tonight, Kyle will regret hurting me.
Zane caresses my face, kisses me until the tears stop. When he goes to break away, I pull him back, losing myself in his soothing cologne. Unlike most boys, Zane’s hands never venture anywhere else, not that I mind, but I wonder why.
My phone beeps.
Where are you?
“It’s Nelly. We should head over before she sends out a search party.”
Zane stands and holds out a hand to help me up. I take it, and he brings me to his chest, wrapping his arm around my waist, his palm resting on the top of my butt. “I don’t understand why you are upset. Will you explain it later?”
His AI must need explanation to adapt. “Sure.”
I switch to the find my friend app and follow the blue dot through the woods until we reach the party. Scratch has already started spinning, the music is fast and hard. Nelly waves me over. Her boyfriend’s jasper dancing behind her.
“Where have you been?” She grabs me in a hug. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. Is aw Kyle.”
Her mouth drops open. “And?”
“And he’s with Sharon.”
“Noooo.”
I wave away the horror on her face. “It’s fine. I’m over it.”
Nelly smirks at Zane. “Good. I’m glad you came Zane.”
He bows his head in perfect gentleman manner. “Thank you for inviting me.”
Jasper reaches out a hand. “jasper. I’m Nelly’s boyfriend.”
“Zane.” He shakes jasper’s hand.
The music slows, and Nelly starts clapping her hands. “It’s starting.”
Fireworks explode in the sky, except they aren’t real, none of the display is. It’s all done by massive projectors with holograms. A splash of red and green burst into falling stars that dance and turn into fairies that whizz through the crowd. Another explosion of color and the ski drips rainbows, as if the night is melting with color.
It’s mesmerizing.
I glance over at Zane who is staring at the display with fascination. Deep in his eyes, I see lights flicker, absorbing the display.
Even androids can have a good time.
He turns his head and when our gazes meet, he smiles. A real smile.
It’s the first one that doesn’t look fake or programmed.
In that moment, my heart explodes with something else.
Five
The Emporium doesn’t open for another two hours, but I wanted to check on Zane. Before I left last night, he seemed different, quieter, almost like he was contemplating every single experience from the night. He claimed he had to go into rest mode and update, but something was off. I just
couldn’t figure out what.
Sensor lights flick on as I enter and walk through to the warehouse. The second cup of coffee is only adding to my nerves. The warehouse is dark, quiet.
“Zane?” my boots tap on the tiled floor with each step. “Zane?”
He’s sitting on the floor, back up against the crate, staring.
“hey,” I say louder, but he doesn’t move an inch.
I crouch in front of him.
Blue lines of code are running through his eyes, moving too fast to decipher.
I put my empty cup on the floor next to his leg and kneel. My heart races as I touch a hand to hic chest. “Zane?”
When he doesn’t respond again, I panic.
Is he malfunctioning? What do I do?
On a whim, I squeeze behind his back to get to his panel. He’s a dead rock and heavier than I expected. With a giant shove, I move him aside and wiggle behind him. I pull on his shirt butt there’s no way, I’m getting this off without cooperation. “Screw it. I’ll buy him another one.”
I take the army knife out of my bag and rip through his shirt. With two presses, the panel opens. The main screen flickers on.
Menu
That’s a start.
Once I’m in the menu, I search for anything broken, but the menus are fine. I search for a help guide, but it refers me to the hotline which I don’t want to call. I don’t want someone contacting Uncle T back.
Restart.
That might be bad.
I click the more button and it explains that if your android is behaving buggy, sometimes a full shut down and restart will reboot the system. No data will be lost, and any learned behaviors will be accessible.
Learned behaviors? Wonder what that means.
Here we go.
I select the restart and hold my breath through the three very long beeps.
The panel shuts off and a tiny red dot blinks in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. After about two minutes, the panel turns on displaying the welcome sign. I close the panel, take the ripped shirt off and scurry around to see if Zane is back.
Please be okay.
His eyes blink.
Then blink again.
And again.
“Hello, Meredith,” he says, shifting his piercing gaze to mine.
“Hi. Are you okay? There was code in your eyes?”
His brows narrow. “Code?”
“Yeah. How long were you like that?”
He turns his head slightly to the left as if he’s thinking. “I don’t know.”
“What happened after I left?” Last night was a flurry of emotions, but I know Zane was his good old robot self when I left him.
“I came in the warehouse to rest.” He pauses. “I felt strange.”
“Strange how?” I sit and cross my legs, listening intently.
“The lights and music. It filled me with a strange response.” His voice trails off.
I take his hand and smile. “You are an advanced AI. What if, what if you’re adapting?” I wanted to believe that there was more o him than a machine, that he could feel.”
“Adapting? Yes. Maybe that’s what it was.”
We go silent and I want to ask him more, share more, help him to be more real.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“Oh, . . . you.”
“me?”
This is so insane.
“Yes, you.” I squeeze his hand, mainly to give myself the confidence I need to say what I’m thinking. “Last night was hard for me, seeing Kyle. But you made it better. You made me forget.”
He leans closer, staring into my eyes like he’s trying to read my soul. “Why do you want to forget?”
“Everything, because he hurt me.” The words fall out in a bitter spill.
“how did he hurt you?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” I shake my head at the ridiculousness of the situation. Robots can’t understand love or betrayal.
“Will you explain it to me?”
“Why?”
He looks at our hands nestled against each other. “I want to learn.”
A buzzer breaks our moment. I grunt and stand to go get today’s deliveries. Zane follows as I smash the button to open the receiving door. The delivery guy, Jacob, is standing outside with his pad.
“Morning, Meredith!” He tips his black hat.
“Morning, this is Zane, our new hire”
“Nice to meet you,” Jacob says while handing me the pad to sign.
“Nice to meet you,” Zane replies in a monotone voice.
If Jacob notices the odd tone, he doesn’t respond to it. I sign the pad and Jacob rolls the shipment inside.
“Not too many today,” he says.
“Good. Less I have to put away.”
He laughs and tips his hat as he heads out, Zane standing eerily to the side.
When the receiving door closes, I poke Zane in the chest. “What’s wrong?”
“I dreamed,” he says.
“How can an android dream?”
“We can’t.” His face is scrunched in what I think is confusion.
Do robots get confused?
“And you just remembered now?”
“yes.”
“Okay, let’s talk about it while you help me unpack.” I pick up a package and hand it over to him, followed by an exacto knife.
With my own knife, I slice open the box, and wait for him to speak.
“Dreams are a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurred during sleep,’ he says, “except androids do not sleep.”
“Yeah, but you go into rest mode.” The package I have is shoved with bouncing balls with led lights inside that turn on when they get bounced.
“This was different. Images I have no memory of were in my system. Places, I have no information on.”
I pick up the next box and put it on the table. “What do you think it means?”
“I may have a malfunction. You should contact the company I came from and request a repair.”
The knife slips in my hand and I slice the side of my finger. “ouch!”
Zane grabs my finger and puts it in his mouth. The gesture makes my heart beat. The intent gaze he sends while sucking on it sends my head into a tailspin. A cool liquid coats my finger, instantly relieving the pain.
He pulls it out of his mouth in a super seductive manner. “That will help the healing process.”
Such a simple statement and it make me have all the feels. “Thank you.”
“may kiss you?” He asks.
“Um, yes?” I’m not sure why he’s asking. it’s weird, yet slightly sweet. Maybe a code thing.
“Your pupils are dilated and you’re exhibiting signs of arousal.”
Well, that’s not romantic. “Do you have to say I like that?” I fold my arms and look away.
“is it wrong to ask?”
“No, it’s not, it’s sweet, but stating why you’re asking reminds me that you’re not real.” Suddenly, I don’t know if I want to make out with dollboy.
He places his hands on my hips and leans down until his mouth is an inch from mine. “Out of the five definitions of the word real, one is to exist as a physical entity and have properties that deviate from an ideal, law, or standard. I am a companion droid, and, in that fact, I exist.”
Before I can ponder his exceptional, slightly romantic and philosophical response, he silences me with a deep kiss, proving everything he just said.
Six
Zane is ringing a customer. It’s been a full eight hours of no one noticing he’s not human. Can’t they see his features are too symmetrical? That each eyebrow is perfectly aligned above his eyes. Or, his lips. No boy should have lips that full and pink. I tug at my bottom lip, wishing I had those puckers.
Or how about his smile.
Is that all programming? The manual mentioned adaptive behaviors and that has to be what’s happening. The kiss, and now him smiling when he’s supposed to? Do
computers learn that quickly?
A purple hologram butterfly lands on the top of the book I’m holding. It’s glittering wings flutter rainbows in the air. I’m supposed to be putting away the books that a group of kids took out, instead I’m glancing at old picture novels and spying on Zane.
If everyone else thinks he’s real, couldn’t it work?
It’s a ridiculous, stupid, crazy thought. I fall back onto the purple stress chair, letting the squishy rubber soak me in. It can’t last. At some point he’ll need maintance. Maintence on a real android coud cost thousands of dollars. Id’ never be able to make that much money.
Then there’s college.
But I could have one really fun summer.
One last summer before college, and then I tell Uncle T.
The doorbell chimes and I crane my neck to see who it is. Zane should’ve locked the door after that last customer.
Oh no.
Uncle T walks in with Mom.
What are they both doing here?
I lay flat on the floor and peek through the iron railing.
Mom’s dressed in black slacks and a matching black blouse, her pulled back in a tight bun. She’s in business mode.
“hello,” Zane says as he walks over to the greet them.
I shiver in anticipation of Mom giving him her disapproval.
She doesn’t bother taking off her sunglasses, even though we’re inside, and nods at him.
Uh she’s so rude!
Her mouth is moving and by her avoiding glance I can tell she’s got her ear piece in.
Doesn’t she ever stop working?
Uncle T gives Zane a handshake and they walk further away, out of my earshot. Tossing the book, I shuffle down the spiral staircase and follow them before Uncle starts getting noisy. Mom’s by the front door and blows me a kiss when I pass.
“Hi.” I wave, very unenthusiastically.
Uncle T goes into the warehouse, Zane right behind him.
I sprint across the store to catch them.
“Where you form?” Uncle T asks while taking the shipment pad off its dock.
“He’s on vacation,” I butt in with a smile. “Spending the summer with his grandparents.”
