SENTIENT

Annihilation

The other Connor used the handle of the gun and bashed it against Connor's face. He lost control of his balance. The other Connor took another jab to his stomach. The intensity of steel colliding with steel, blasted him to the ground.

The gun was fired once. The bullets did not strike him. He watched the other Connor laugh. The gun fired twice, and again. Connor dodged them by a millimeter.

The other Connor smirked over his body, "I've been watching you, Connor."

Connor wiped away the blue blood from his lips. He said nothing.

"Since the beginning of your days with Hank, and now, you've partnered up with the beautiful Detective AJ Whitley," said the replicant, emphasizing on the phrase 'partnered up'.

The replicant gave his target the repeated kicking of his boot. Connor coughed up more blood on the red grass. He wondered why it mattered, when he has already failed two of the people that he trusted the most.

"But you managed to blew off both of that relationship, didn't you?" The other Connor laughed, "Did it ever occur to you that your system is setting you up for emotional failure?"

He watched the replicant circle around him. He responded feebly, "I know what's real."

"You also know it's not part of your programming, Connor." The replicant said, "So, let's try this again. Do you think you're alive?"

The last blow to his chest was the loudest one yet. The pain stings, a reminder of the joy he had with her. He knew it was real because he felt it was. Her smile embedded in his memories like a virus that alters his codes. It was precise mathematics, but it couldn't stop him from feeling this way.

He made up his mind not to question it, even with the tip of a loaded gun between his eyes. If he dies and she waits on the other side, he'll tell her he loves her.

He said, "I'm alive because I love her."

The bullet fired from the barrel and travelled through his metal cranium, dragging along the pain with it. The exiting of the bullet marked the ceasing of his existence.

AJ parked the Chevy at a corner between Dunard Garden and 12th Street. The branches gave shade from the illumination of the street lamp. She watched in the dark. Not knowing, the darkness is watching her too.

A few times she glanced to her side, wishing that passenger seat wasn't so empty. For a second, she wondered if Galloway had been right. She was unarmed and alone. Maybe she's just putting herself up for a dangerous encounter. Then, she knew for a fact that he was right about everything. Sometimes it takes a mirror to realize who you really are.

The rear mirror showed her face, exhausted. It also showed a man, in a black hoodie that covers his face, walking down the curb. His hands hiding something inside his pocket. She did not like the way he carried himself.

At this moment, she had forgotten everything about Galloway's profiling method. All she knew was that her guts are the sharpest tool she has now. AJ waited until the distance grew between her and the man, then she exited her vehicle.

"Doctor, I think I'm onto something," she whispered.

On the other line of the call, Dr. Galloway's hands were trembling, pressing the right button to the receiver, he asked, "What do you mean? AJ, where are you now?"

"Dunard Garden and 12th Street," said AJ.

"12th Street, got it." Dr. Galloway had a bad feeling about this. He knew he was going to blame himself, he swallowed, "AJ, please be careful."

The hooded figure made a right turn at Webster Lane, walked past a few houses and abandoned properties. As she followed in his steps, she thought of where to strike when he attacks. She thought of escape paths and ways to subdue her opponent.