Freak of Nature

Chapter Twelve

They screwed up. Somehow, they screwed up. 

“How is this even possible?” Lucas muttered to himself as entered the dimly building. 

Not only was Kaitlyn exhibiting emotions, she was experiencing memories. Neither should have slipped through the robot’s overrides. He couldn’t believe the way she had kissed him; he had never felt so wanted or needed in his life. If anyone felt emotions, it was Kate.

What if her feelings got in the way of her job? She was designed for a very specific purpose, and that did not involve forming emotional connections. That switch should be firmly in the off position. She should be able to do anything asked of her without question or fear. 

This is not good. 

Lucas shoved open the door to his office, a closet-sized space tucked into a corner near the lab. The thought struck him that the purpose of her very existence was to be put in harm’s way. He hated it. And now, with human emotions leaking into her consciousness, it could prove even more of a danger for Kaitlyn. What if she hesitated on a job and it got her killed?

Lucas took long strides to his computer, and the chair squeaked noisily as he sank into it. He pulled up Kaitlyn’s files. Harrington will flip when he finds out. 

Lucas started carefully reading through each line of code—coding that he had written—looking for the answer. 

After four hours, his eyes were blurring from staring at the numbers for so long. Maybe there wasn’t a way to turn off emotions, and they had just been fooling themselves all along. Wishful thinking. There had to be a scientific explanation.

Suddenly, he saw it. His heart fell. No. No. No. This can’t be. 

He never made mistakes, but there it was. One number wrong, and the entire sequence was faulty. It was an easy fix. Damn it! What the hell was he going to do? A couple of strokes on the keyboard and a new upgrade, and Kaitlyn would be fixed. Emotionless and good as new. She would never look at him with that longing, that same intensity again. 

Slumping in his chair, he rubbed his face. As crazy as it sounded, he knew he had fallen in love with Kaitlyn. It had happened gradually … all of the days they’d spent together, alone, testing her skills; all of the times he’d admired her strength and endurance. He’d fought against it for so long, thinking he was an idiot for essentially falling in love with a robot—a non-human—but there was no denying his feelings now that she returned them. After all, she wasn’t a robot; she was real.

She was always on his mind, and to know it was mutual … How could he erase that? He stared at the code across the screen, the flashing cursor set at the glaring mistake. He had naïvely hoped the coding was correct, and her feelings for him had overridden the computer somehow, like one of those cheesy romantic movies. He had hoped that a small part of her had remained, and that part wanted him. 

However, her desire for him had been nothing more than a slip of a keystroke. 

Lucas had a sudden urge to throw the computer across the room. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. 

He had to get a grip. The project came first; that was what he was paid for. He needed to make sure she was the sleekest, fittest, strongest, most intelligent mechanical soldier on the planet. Her life depended on it. 

He had to do it. He couldn’t risk her being dismantled because he selfishly wanted her for himself. As much as it pained him, he knew what he had to do. It was the only choice he had … the right choice. 

But for who?

If only he could have one more night with her. If only he could put off fixing the coding until the day after tomorrow …