Midtown

Ten

Nathan

"He must have seen it by now." Nathen thought as he sat in his house watching the time tick away. He knows that wont stop him, but any distraction he could get was worth the risk. KP moves fast since his connections are easier to get a hold of as he's able to move freely around.

Nathen went to use the land line phone. KP could pick up any signal with the barrier he has around the town and has the ability to redirect, cancel, or track the call. This line belonged to the previous owners. Nathen has one source that he can call only on this phone to someone who managed to get a local number.

"Any new reports on Miku?" Nathen immediately asked.

"Your patients get shorter by the day. She's still not stable. We've had to remake and reprogram it twice because it self destructed. I don't think we can input everything you want in her."

"What do you mean you can't?! What are you getting paid for if you can't do the job? I need this thing now!" Nathen demanded.

"You're asking us to risk our own safety. After self destructing, it caused two of our men to be hospitalized and one was nearly killed. It's too dangerous for us to keep trying with the power levels you requested."

"All I hear are excuses. I want you to meet me by the edge of town in seven hours with Miku. You do what you can until then and I'll take over from there." The line grew silent. Nathen waited for a response.

"We'll do what we can."

"Good." He hung up the phone. Meeting under the highway on the far west side of town is the only opening Nathen has to meet anyone on the outside without raising suspicion. Meeting at midnight meant not many people, and not a lot of distractions. 

He looked to his hand and saw it still wasn't back to normal. Naturally, KP knows what does and doesn't affect him. But he somehow knows what he's been exposed to and knows how to use it against him.

It's easy to be effected in this world with the excessive exposure to nuclear and toxic compounds in the air and growing in the food. Just about anyone can be harmed if the right combo is made.

After attempting to fix his hand and letting it soak in medicine, night had fallen, and it was just about time for him to go. He walked outside the back door with his bag to a partly cloudy sky. He peaked over at Carly's house. There were lights showing through the curtains meaning they were still awake. He walked carefully making sure she didn't hear him.

Nathen walked through the ally to a car that sat at the end of the block. He got in and threw his bag to the passage seat taking off to his meeting location. The barriers around the town were so strong against Nathen, he needed to park at least a mile a way and walk to the meeting location hoping he still wouldn't be too close to the inner shield. 

"Jess didn't come with you?" Nathen asked the lone man standing under the bypass.

"She would've if she didn't have to go to the hospital last minute." Tank answered him.

"And Miku?" Nathen went on. Tank threw his head to the left gesturing behind him. Nathen followed his point and saw a small shadow sitting on a rock running their hand through the dirt. He walked over to examine the figure.

Miku looked up to Nathen. She looked like a regular girl. Her hair was long and brown, covering her green eyes. Her skin was smooth over the metal that should be underneath. She appeared to resemble a young teen. When she stood, he noticed her arms seem slightly out of proportion. The more Nathen looked at her, the more dissatisfied he became.

"This was the best you could do?"

"She destroyed the body three times. We were lucky to fix it back to this state." Tank told him. He knows this is just an android prototype, but he still expected better despite it being a first attempt. Nathen was going to respond to him when he felt something on his back. He turned back around to see Miku staring at him.