Automaton

Revelation

Desdemona startled awake. She blinked hard and squinted at her surroundings. She looked over at the television, which was playing a thriller film of some sorts. She reached over for the remote and rubbed her temple. She looked at the time on her phone, and was surprised.

"Guess I took a little post-sleep nap?" She giggled at the thought. She pointed the remote at the television and flipped through several channels before her screen went dark.

"Oh? What's up tv, what's going on?"

The picture resumed and on it was her living room. She watched and her smile began to fade. She looked around at her surroundings, and made the connection. On the television, was Desdemona, surrounded by two strangers.

"What the fuck is this?" 
The picture cycled between several clips of her going through her daily routine from various hidden angles.

She grabbed at her head, hyperventilating. She saw them working on her face and sealing the wound shut. Her face was drenched with sweat as she began to search for the seam on her face. She scratched at it lightly as she gasps in horror.
She backed up into a wall and spied the front door, making a run for the door. She opened it and was greeted by Alpha. Alpha grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her back, down to the ground. She tried to scurry around her, but is stopped by The Controller.

"Desdemona please don't struggle."

"I'll struggle if I fucking want!" She shoved Alpha away and before Alpha could go after her, Alpha's head cocked up.
She turned her head and threw an elbow back behind her, smashing into something fleshy and hard. Francis' head flew back as he appeared almost instantaneously in the hallway. He hit the ground and groaned as he felt around his face, blood spurting into his hands.
"Run away Des, go!" He shouted weakly at the girl.

"Who the fuck is he!?" She screamed at The Controller.

"A pain in my ass. Alpha, make sure he doesn't poof away."
Alpha dragged him to his knees and held him up by his head. He faded in and out of consciousness.

"Desdemona, there's nowhere to run."

"Yeah we'll see about that."

Des pushed past The Controller, running down the hallway, disappearing into one of the rooms.

"Alpha, could you-"

Alpha grunted and slammed Francis' head into the ground, eliciting a groan from the man. Alpha walked down the hallway, disappearing down the same room.

Furniture was shoved around and glass broke. The room was turned upside down by the two women fighting. The Controller knelt down near Francis.

"Why won't you go away? Why can't you just die?"

"Trust me I've tried" he uttered facedown on the floor.

The Controller heard a low growling scream and giant slamming from the room.

"Alpha?"

A long time passed before anyone emerged from the room. A scratched, bruised Desdemona emerged from the room, and she dragged Alpha's body behind her. She dropped her facedown in front of The Controller, who looked on wide-eyed. What seemed to be a look of horror, became joy.

"I am very impressed!"

Des breathed in raggedly, animal-like. She coughed out a smirking laugh.

"I'm serious. Here, I'm going to lay it out very simply for you. You've got three choices, and only one of them is positive. I take this gun here and I point it at you, and i kill you with it. Not fun, is it? Choice two, I motion to the cameras, and several bees rush in here, detain you, we wipe your brain back at the lab and you forget this ever happened and we start the test over, yeah? Now due to the nature of uh... well you, this little incident we're in the middle of could happen again and we're going to present you with the same three choices if Alpha doesn't kill you and Francis doesn't get to you in time and blah blah blah."

Des stared at The Controller.

"Don't do it we can still get out Des, please" Francis screamed from his blood puddle.

"Option three you ask? Well they rarely pick option three but it's the best one in my opinion. Option three, we give you a big upgrade. Upgrade your body in whatever way you want, give you anything you want and all we do in return is add in a little bitty tiny line of code that would make you  do what we say when we ask you. No brain wipe, you get to be your own person. You'll just have to answer to us. Almost like a job. That you can't quit, but it is what it is. What do you say?"

The Controller extended the hand holding the gun towards Des. She cocked the hammer back on the handgun.

Francis lifted his head up in time to see Desdemona make her decision. He screamed at her.
"Des oh god no Des!"
He then disappeared into the floor, as if he were falling.