Human Code

20 || T W E N T Y

"But you know the saying, right? If it isn't broken, don't try and fix it."

*

"Can I go back? Will it turn on?"

Words repeated in my head, in my voice, but I wasn't the one talking.

"What if it hurts? Will there be light when we get there?"

I was listening, trying to put together the broke sentences like a puzzle with missing pieces.

"I want to see the stars, bright in the sky. The ocean is nice."

But the pieces didn't fit together, and none of it made sense. As I tried to pull myself out from my mind, I felt myself falling further, deeper. No matter how far I reached, how hard I scratched, there was no ledge to grab onto. It was just air. Wind. Words. So many words.

"The wind smells like honey. Can you look at me? Look at me. Hey. Hey!"

I groaned in discomfort, but there was no actual pain. There was an emptiness, and like a room with no windows, it felt tight and small. Enough to make me claustrophobic in my own mind. My next reaction was to scream. Scream until I couldn't.

I opened my mouth, so wide it hurt, and I searched for the sound to burst from my lungs. But the moment I found it, hands touched my face.

Warm, real hands.

My eyes snapped open.

"He's awake...." Wendy's face came into view, blurry at first, but clear seconds after. Her bright green eyes were filled with tears as she laughed, happy and relieved. And as her small fingers touched my cheeks, she turned and looked behind her. "Mary, he's awake!"

I'm awake.

I tried to follow her gaze across the room but realized my line of sight was too low, too far. Turning my head also wasn't an easy thing to do.

Yes, I was awake. But I was also on the floor.

When did I get down here?

"Javi!" The sound of Mary's squeaking shoes hurried in my direction, so fast, my head snapped back. With the tears streaming down her face, it was my turn to be filled with relief. I smiled as she dropped down beside Wendy and the two of them cupped my face. Hands filled with warmth, with love. It was my turn to feel happiness burn in my eyes.

"Javi, you're awake." Mary's thumb brushed under my eye as Wendy sat back on her knees. "I thought... I was worried that..." She sucked in a deep breath before giving me a weak smile. "We're happy you're okay..."

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, then realized they shouldn't be in the room with me. They shouldn't have been in the building at all. "Why... why are you here?"

Instantly, I pushed myself up to sit and searched the room. At first glance, it was the same; monitors and computers all in the same location. But as the lights flickered and another set of feet rushed in, I knew it was different. The hall was behind me, not in front of me.

Where am I?

"Where are we...?"

Mary's hands looped around my arms, pulling me up to stand. Wendy's fingers linked with mine as she pressed herself up against my leg. I looked at both of them before turning back around to glance at the hall, just as Will hurried in towards us.

"Where's Rory?" I asked, looking at all of them. "Axe?"

"Rory?" Mary's hands tightened their grip. "Did you see him in here? Is he okay? They didn't get him... did they?"

Her questions made me tense, and I couldn't look at her. I ignored her.

"Will?" I kept my focus on my friend. The sweat that sprouted on his forehead worried me. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

For a second, Will didn't speak. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, sucking in deep, rough breaths as he tried to look at me. For the first time, I wasn't reactive to his emotions. Or anyone's, really. When I looked down at Wendy, her shaky, fearful breaths didn't bring on the horrible rock filled with tension. And when I glance back at Mary, her worrisome gaze did not create a worry of my own.

I felt neutral. Numb. Calm.

What's wrong with me?

"Will?" I finally looked back at him as he sucked in another breath, standing up straight. "Why am I here?" I asked again. "And where did they go?"

"I don't know," Will panted, glancing back into the hall. "We.. we followed your signal here. Mary wasn't going to leave until we did."

"I said I couldn't," Mary whispered as she tugged my arm.

Looking back at her, I remembered her messages. But I also remembered being strapped to a chair. And computers... so many computers.

Rory said he only needed to copy and upload my data into Axe. After, he promised to let me go. Had he really? Did he keep his promise? Are we free to go?

Something doesn't feel right...

"But... that shit doesn't matter," Will said as he pushed his hands up into his hair. "I just scoped the sides of the building and they fill the streets, man."

My brows pulled in tight, and I narrowed my gaze. I tried to read his readings from my sensors, but they had to be off. Happiness? There was no way he was happy. He looked terrified.

I'm not calm, I'm broken.

I took a step towards him. Wendy and Mary moved with me, stuck like glue. "Filled with what? Who?" I asked Will. "What's going on?"

He dropped his hands before he looked up at the ceiling. My sensors picked up bitterness, anger, but the glistening in his eyes, to me, was sadness. Regret.

Why are my main computers so wrong?

When Will looked back at me, that sad tear, filled with every emotion I knew he had, fell. It slid down his cheek as he sucked in one long, slow breath. "The androids," he said. "They're everywhere. Every corner, every inch, every fucking mile." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I thought getting out of here would be easy, but Javi... I feel like we're stuck."

Silence fell over us. I dropped my gaze down to the floor and stared at the lines that separated the tile. They moved with my thoughts, swaying like docile ocean waves.

We were stuck. The warehouse was surrounded. And no one knew where Rory or Axe was. Or why I was suddenly in another room.

I looked back at Mary. "Did you move me here?" I asked her.

"No." She shook her head, finally dropping her hands. "We had come in to shut down power. I thought.... I thought if I blacked out the warehouse, the droids outside would stop moving. But the second we made it down to the lower floors, we were chased... or, we thought we were being chased."

My gaze moved from her back to Will. He accepted his turn to talk. "They weren't chasing us," he said, pointing back into the hall. "They were all running to get outside and stand in the rain, like..." his voice trailed off and I took in what he said.

The warehouse was empty, all the androids had gone outside. But why? Had Rory and Axe gone out, too?

Trying to remember the layout of the building, I moved towards the room's exit. If I could pinpoint Rory's location, then I can get each of us out of here. Because I knew it wasn't the power that connected the droids to each other, it was him. He had said it:

They were copies of him and he controlled each and every one of them.

Rory was the key.

I need to stop him.

Yet, the second I lifted my foot to leave, Wendy held on tight. Her tiny fingers tugged me back. When I looked at her, I saw tears in her eyes, too. And these my computer could read with no problems.

"Peter..." Her voice trembled as she spoke, "Are we going to die?"