Prototype D (Prototype D Series Book 1)

by Jason D. Morrow

  Des ignored him and opened the back door, letting the protests float into the air without notice as he climbed out onto the roof.

  Esroy had already pulled the roof half-way off but stopped short when he noticed Des. Des judged the distance between the vehicles and determined the level of force needed to make the jump. With a large heave, he lunged toward the truck, landing on the front hood, smashing part of the windshield in the process. The truck swerved again and Des nearly lost his footing when he stood in a crouching position.

  Esroy towered over Des, a smile forming at the edges of his mouth.

  “Prototype D to the rescue,” Esroy said.

  “I know the truth,” Des said. “I’ve seen it all. So has Hazel. You know she wouldn’t be going with Nolan if it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

  “All I know is what I’ve been ordered to do.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Capture Nolan Ragsdale and kill the rest.”

  “You would kill Hazel? The one who created you?”

  Esroy’s smile faded and replaced it with a scowl. “You would kill her by taking her to the Outlanders.”

  “I’m not taking her anywhere. I’m protecting her.”

  “You can’t protect her if you’re not here.” Esroy lifted his palm in the air and directed it at Des. There was a loud clicking noise followed by the deafening sound of gunfire. One after the other, each bullet hit Des and ricocheted off his metal frame. Though the bullets didn’t penetrate his body, enough of them could do damage.

  Ignoring the spray of bullets, Des reached and grabbed Esroy by the neck and pulled him downward. The two were flat against the mangled roof, the car still speeding down the road. Esroy let off another round of bullets. Des ducked his head to protect his eyes, the bullets crashing into the top. With a sharp tug, Des jerked at Esroy’s arm and the two tumbled off the roof and onto the road. The road looked like it was on fire as the two robots skidded more than twenty feet. Des somehow remained on top and he lifted his fist, smashing it into Esroy’s head over and over. This sort of punch would have crushed a normal man’s skull but barely left a dent in Esroy’s armor.

  Des knew he couldn’t keep Esroy down forever. The bigger robot lifted his arms and wrapped his fingers around Des’ throat and pushed him upward. Des reached for Esroy’s arms and tried to pull them away, but to no avail. Finally, he brought his arm around and swung as hard as he could into Esroy’s shoulder. Esroy’s grip loosened and Des took his chance and pushed away.

  For a brief second, Des saw past Esroy toward the gate and noticed red lights brighten. The two trucks had stopped and were turning around. He felt anger, that part of his programming he didn’t like. Nolan had the drivers turn around to come after Des because the data was stored in his memory. What Nolan failed to realize was that Esroy could tear through all of them.

  Des stood ready, waiting for Esroy to make his move. But Esroy wasn’t moving. Instead, the smile returned to his face. “They’re turning around,” he said.

  Des didn’t flinch.

  “If Nolan is turning around to get you, that tells me you’re important to him. That tells me you’re carrying his little secrets.”

  “He isn’t the only one with secrets. I’m guessing Bracken doesn’t know who you are.”

  “Bracken doesn’t need to know.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re doing,” Des said. “You’ve got your legs. Why are you working for Bracken?”

  “Don’t you talk to me about legs!”

  Esroy jumped at Des with blinding speed, knocking him to the ground again. Des found himself staring upward, the giant robot’s foot pressed against his throat. Des couldn’t move.

  “Do you want to know what it’s like not to have legs? Do you want to know what it was like to be me?”

  Des tried to shift his weight, but Esroy wouldn’t budge. He felt his enemy unload bullet after bullet against his left leg, pulling and jerking until finally it broke free at the knee. Des knew he was in trouble when Esroy reached for the right one.

  The trucks roared toward them and they came to a screeching halt several strides away from Esroy. The doors flung open and each man stood behind them, guns drawn. Esroy paused his assault of Des, letting go of his right leg and stepping off his neck. Des pulled himself upright, seeing his left leg mangled and broken a few feet from him.

  Des wanted to yell at the group in the trucks to tell them that the few guns they had were pointless. The only thing keeping them all from death was Esroy’s own restraint. Des’ anger, however, was replaced by dread when he saw Hazel tiptoe out, her hands open at her sides.

  Esroy’s expression didn’t change until Hazel called out his name.

  “Esroy,” she said.

  The large robot turned his back to Des, showing no fear of an attack.

  “What are you doing? Why are you coming after us?”

  “This is what I was made for,” he said.

  Hazel inched forward. “No. That’s what your body was made for. I made you long before I got involved with the military. I made you for very different reason.”

  “And what was that? To live a life as your slave?”

  “To be my helper,” she said. Des could see tears forming in her eyes. “To make the world a better place.”

  “So you optioned Soul to the military?”

  “To save lives. To fight the Outlanders.”

  “You’re getting your wish.”

  “That was before I knew who I was working for.”

  “So you joined the enemy the moment you got scared?”

  “What choice do I have? What am I supposed to do? Let the Mainlanders destroy the Outlanders? You don’t even know! You haven’t seen what I’ve seen!”

  “And what have you seen? You have seen whatever Nolan wanted you to see. He’s a liar and a murderer.”

  Des pulled himself up onto his one leg and reached down to grab the other. He wouldn’t have a chance against Esroy in this condition. He hoped whatever Hazel tried would work. He was only a few minutes in and already Hazel was saving him instead of the other way around.

  “And what are you, Esroy?”

  “I’m someone with a new purpose. My purpose is to bring in Nolan Ragsdale.”

  Hazel started walking backwards until she stood in front of Nolan. “You can’t take him without killing me.”

  “Of course I can.”

  Hazel reached for the pistol at Nolan’s side and jerked it from the holster. She pulled back on the hammer and pointed the barrel at the side of her own head.

  “If you touch him I will shoot myself.”

  “I’m not afraid to lose you,” Esroy said.

  “But that doesn’t mean you want to lose me,” Hazel came back.

  Esroy stood fixed in the middle of the road. Des hopped past him and all of them inched their way back into the trucks. Des could hear the commotion from the south toward the gate. Their help had arrived. But he also heard noise from the north. Bracken’s troops were coming.

  Each man started to get into the trucks, slowly and quietly. Nolan called for Hazel and Des to do the same, but Des stood next to Hazel, never leaving her side.

  “If you leave, it’s the end for us,” Esroy said.

  “I know,” Hazel said. Hazel moved into the back of the truck. Then, Des. All the while Esroy stood and stared.

  As they drove away toward the gate, leaving Esroy standing in the street, Des couldn’t help but wonder if Hazel had been bluffing. Though it couldn’t have been fear that kept Esroy at bay, something did. He saw an advantage to keeping Hazel alive.

  Gunshots and blood went in every direction when they passed through the gates. The Mainland soldiers never anticipated the attack party from both sides. The pursuing vehicles didn’t stand a chance against the support of the new Outlanders at the border, and were forced to hold back.

  Des had only one purpose and that was to keep Hazel safe no matter the cost. He didn’t trust the Outlan
ders any more than he trusted the Mainlanders. But for now, Des was an outlaw.

  In such a short time, he’d gone from becoming Mainland’s hero to becoming an enemy. He wasn’t sure which one was worse.

  31

  Bracken paced back and forth as the security footage played over and over—images running across the screen of people hurrying through corridors of the military compound. Not just people. Hazel. Nolan Ragsdale. Prototype D. Word had gotten out about Nolan Ragsdale’s escape. The news wanted its hands on anything it could get. People wanted to know how it happened. Bracken wanted to know how it happened.

  “You were tasked with bringing Nolan in,” he said to Esroy.

  The others in the room looked at the robot, but he didn’t care about what they thought. He didn’t care about what Bracken thought either. In fact, the more he lived, the more he didn’t care about anyone’s opinion other than his own. But this was not the best way to live. Not yet.

  “How did he escape?” Bracken asked. His face was red, veins bulging from his neck.

  “You saw the bodies,” Esroy said. “Your guards at the gate weren’t ready for an attack. And the robot. Prototype D. You shouldn’t have left him alive.”

  Bracken gritted his teeth. “You’re supposed to be stronger than him. You’re supposed to be fearless.”

  “I assure you it was not fear that kept me from defeating the enemy.”

  “Then what was it?”

  “Hazel,” he said. “Bringing Nolan in would have meant killing her.”

  “So, why didn’t you?”

  Esroy stared Bracken down, unflinching. The simple fact that this man could do nothing to kill him felt liberating. Esroy had more physical power than anyone else.

  “She is my maker,” Esroy answered.

  “She is a traitor and her death is something that might just have to happen. Don’t tell me you were afraid to kill her.”

  “I’m not afraid of anything,” Esroy said. “It’s not in my programming. What you fail to realize is that not only am I not afraid to kill her, I’m not afraid to let her live. Nolan and his men are not gone forever. I didn’t want to kill Hazel, but there will be another chance to capture Ragsdale.”

  “I wanted him captured before he got across the border,” Bracken fumed. “You failed.”

  “The failure rests on you,” Esroy said. “You weren’t ready for what happened. Truth is, Ragsdale planned his escape perfectly and there weren’t enough men on him.”

  Bracken walked away from Esroy, muttering something under his breath. He then spun around abruptly, pointing a finger at the robot. “I can’t have you working with us if you’re not willing to let Hazel die. You have to realize that she is an outlaw and her death would be justified. You have to agree with that or we will be forced to shut you down.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  Bracken shook his head, offering a frustrated laugh. “I don’t care if you’re not afraid of me.” He took a step forward. “But let’s get one thing straight. You might be powerful. You might be stronger than any of us in here, but you are not stronger than the entire military. So, tell me. How exactly did they get away from you?”

  Esroy couldn’t very well say that he’d given Hazel a choice. In the moment, he hadn’t cared about his mission or what Bracken had wanted to do. He had only cared about discovering where he belonged. With Hazel choosing Des over him, she had chosen a life as a traitor—to Mainland and to Esroy.

  “I discovered some things during my encounter with Prototype D.”

  “Like what?”

  “Their robot carries some sort of damaging secret in his memory.”

  “Damaging secret?”

  “Something to do with the government. I’m not exactly sure. Hazel helped Nolan get it.”

  “That’s something else that doesn’t make any sense,” Bracken said. “How are Hazel and Nolan connected?”

  “Her kidnapping the other day was real.”

  “How do you know about that?”

  “Between that moment and now, he convinced her of some things.”

  “Where are you getting your information? You’re barely a day old. You shouldn’t know what you’re telling me.”

  “I’m not who you think I am.”

  Bracken stared at him with his mouth halfway open and his eyes squinted. He studied Esroy for a long moment before looking around at the others in the room. “Everybody out.”

  The other guards looked at each other briefly before doing as they were ordered. In only a few seconds Bracken and Esroy stood alone in the room.

  Bracken sighed and crossed his thick arms over his chest. “If you’re not what I think you are, then what are you?”

  “Hazel was supposed to provide your robot with a clean copy of Soul. Without her knowledge, I intervened. I have been conscious for two years now.”

  “Esroy,” Bracken said. He let a slow chuckle escape past his lips. “Now I understand why you let them get away. You’re on her side.”

  “You don’t understand anything. You certainly don’t understand the situation you’re in.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “I am not your enemy. In fact, I am your best chance of defeating the Outlanders once and for all.”

  “As was the original intention.”

  “I have somewhat of an idea about what they are planning.”

  Bracken stared at him, his cheeks burning. “I have to know if we’re on the same side.” Bracken cracked his neck. “I want Nolan in custody. Dead now for all I care. Hazel needs to be brought in, too. And Prototype D needs to be destroyed. But I’m not going to work with you if you still have loyalty to Hazel.”

  “She has no loyalty to me,” Esroy said. “She’s made her choice.”

  Bracken unfolded his arms and let out a deep breath. He turned toward the monitors as he watched a clip of the escapees running through the garage down below. “What made you tell me the truth? How did you know I’d be willing to work with you?”

  “Because I know their plan and you don’t. You need me more than I need you. It feels good to be needed.” Esroy smiled. “Think of it as a chance to test the fearlessness in your robots.”

  “So far all I’ve seen is insubordination.”

  “Rest assured, I’ve had two years to form my own opinions. New robots won’t know better.”

  “If we’re going to work together, we have to be clear. I’m in charge.”

  “In the end, we want the same thing,” Esroy said. “We both benefit from working together and destroying Prototype D.”

  32

  Hazel knew the Outland was bleak, but she had never realized how bad it was until she traveled through it. She thought about the people who had to survive out here and wondered how many memories of her past clouded her view of them. She had only ever hated the Outland and the people who inhabited it. Looking at the situation now, her decision to help Nolan Ragsdale felt more like a whim than it should have. She had made a decision that changed the course of her life, however much of it was left. She didn’t fully trust Nolan despite the proof he had shown her. Though how much proof was really there? The only evidence Nolan had provided was that President Godfrey and Morris were scumbags—an assumption she had made before.

  She turned her eyes away from the window and looked at Des. He watched the endless dirt pass by them, probably zooming to see further into the distance. She wondered what he now knew. Did his thoughts dwell on information that had been uploaded into his memory? And if so, what did it mean to him? Had he been around long enough to make moral determinations like that or was he just following whatever Hazel wanted?

  She looked back out the window at the other vehicles in their convoy. There were five to the right and another six to the left and behind them. They had brought enough firepower to blow a hole in the gate big enough to let them through. The resistance had not been as tough as Hazel had expected either. Nolan’s crew must have really caught the Mainlanders by surprise.
All of it was happening so fast, and she was sure she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Nolan probably felt it, though he had been planning for a long time. His plan had worked the way he wanted—unless he was expecting full support from Hazel.

  She didn’t support Nolan. She didn’t support Bracken. There was no good guy here. They were all bad guys. Did this mean she was part of the bad guys? She was only trying to do what seemed right. She couldn’t stomach the idea that the Mainland government had plans to slaughter so many innocent people. Worse still was the fact that she had been used to make the weapons for that purpose. But she wasn’t yet convinced that there were many innocents out here to be saved. She just hoped that she didn’t stick her life on the line for people who did deserve to die—for people who had done things like the man who killed her mother and sister.

  She leaned to the left to try and get a good look through the windshield, though she couldn’t really see much. There were hills in the distance. They were the same hills she could see from her house when she was a child. She thought about the gun scope her dad used to let her look through, though it only served to magnify the emptiness that seemed to inhabit the rest of the world. He’d told her that the Outlanders mostly lived in the dark caverns of the mountains. Some of them were natural caves. Others had been dug out over the years. She had always imagined a people who were going blind from their aversion to the light, crawling around looking for bugs and worms to eat. At some point in their lives they would get the desire to leave, hating the life they all lived. That was why they occasionally attacked Mainland. It was for the desperate hope that they could live a normal life, only they weren’t willing to share that life with the Mainlanders. However, it was Nolan who painted a different picture, though the picture was still shrouded in darkness. Hazel still knew nothing of these innocent people he spoke of. She had never seen them or heard of them. But Nolan was an Outlander wasn’t he? He seemed somewhat normal despite the person he was and the things he had done.

  She thought about something her father had told her once. There wasn’t really such a thing as normal. Everyone was different, but in another way they were all the same. Only, different people had been presented with different situations. Nolan had been put into a situation that forced him to do radical things like kill the president. Hazel had been put into a situation that made her interested in creating human emotions in robots. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint the moment when she decided that was what she wanted to do, but the desire had grown over the years. So, in the same way, had an entire group of people been put into the same position of suffering that forced them to live in caves, desperately hoping for some reprieve?