THEREFORE I AM [Completed]

Chapter Thirteen

Eli
Now, 2078

My body took on a mind of its own as I shielded Benny from the bullets that were fired towards the crowd. I was not hit, but when I looked over Benny's shoulder, I saw another Android whom I recognised from the underground falling to the floor with silver liquid streaming from the hole in her head. Humans and Androids collided into my stiff body, and I felt Benny's nails gripping onto my arm like a cat on the edge of a cliff. A sudden jolt of noise crashed into my ears, causing them to stop working. Relying solely on my eyes, I took a quick glance around. A bomb was detonated near the guards, killing most of them on impact. The smoke was about to engulf the square, and it was too thick for me to find out where Saul was. I couldn't let anything happen to Benny. I couldn't let him kill her. I didn't even know why he wanted to kill us, but I put that in the back of my mind and quickly analysed my surroundings. Noticing the crowds running away from the smoke, debris fell to the right of me, and that's where the smoke billowed more.

The iridescent picture showed potentially dangerous ash if we ran through the smoke towards the apartment block. I could also see the long-term damage on Benny's lungs. To the left, there was no smoke, but there were crowds of people. Eventually, more guards would come in, and they would shoot without caring who they hit, just to gain control over the situation. I chose the path with the least danger, taking Benny in tow and holding her up, making sure her shoulder was covered. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. "We will be okay," I reassured her.

We walked towards the crowd but took a sharp turn down an old mostly abandoned street with rundown townhouses. "Here. In there," she pointed to a house. Before I could contest it, she opened the door, and we hid inside. The place was dusty, with the air filled with pathogens and dead skin. Benny wobbled toward a table in the other room and lightly pressed her hand on it. It looked like what would have been a dining table. I quickly peeked through the blinds and as I had envisioned, I saw crowds running in the other direction as shots were fired. I pulled the blind back and saw Benny's eyes widen in horror. "What has happened?" I knew she was asking out of shock and not dementia. There was a conscious thought to her tone. "Saul..." she added. Saul. The recall came back with perfect precision. Saul, shooting into the crowd and aiming his gun towards me. He was there with Deus Ex Machina, like he was a part of him. A loyal pet. He was meant to be just a mentor. How could I have not seen this? Logical outcomes were starting to become completely illogical, inaccurate, and full of shit. My grasp on reality faded as the pressure built; it was as if my eyes began to blur, as if my whole body was shutting down in a fit of rage. I let the pressure rise further, allowing myself to have one release. I punched down on the sink at full force with a scream. The filthy ceramic crashed into pieces on the floor, and the shaking stopped. Be careful.

In the fit of rage, I didn't notice the vibrations of Android footsteps, and a yelp escaped Benny. I quickly pivoted, seeing Kelvin holding his leathered hands over Benny's mouth. I stood still, trying to be careful.

"What are you doing, Kelvin?" Trying to be soothing. Plead stance. I held up my hands to show I wasn't hiding anything.

"Did you know Saul was going to start shooting at us? Did you know why he was with Machina? He brought you to us!" he said, his voice sounding erratic and uncontrollable.

"No, he pointed the gun at me too. I don't know why he did that. I've been asking myself the same question," I replied, giving Benny a reassuring glance. The whites of her eyes stood out starkly against her skin, and the veins began to show streaks of red. It only fuelled my anger, but I fought the urge to stop the shaking.

"Why did you come here to Saul's old hideout?" I looked around, dumbfounded. I hadn't noticed anything indicating that Saul had been here, apart from the dusty plugs scattered around the room but that could have been any Android.