Captivate (Manipulate, Book 2)

Chapter 22

Basher watched the video recording of Claire receiving her injection in the medical room... again. There he was in the doorway while his partner led her into the room. Basher watched his digital self hang back in the doorway, visibly reluctant to enter.

She answered questions, getting angry at him and going off about the foods she remembered from her childhood.

He watched it carefully. The angle of the feed wasn’t great for getting her facial expression, but he was wondering if she'd known then about the escape plan. He watched her hands flutter for a second when he asked about her family. He watched her eyes dart back and forth between him and his partner while the syringe was slowly filled.

Nothing.

He switched to the video of the cell she’d been in. It had no audio, because the Rik never said anything worthwhile so the Spo didn’t bother. They just didn’t see the value in continual surveillance the way humans did. Basher had already pointed out that it was just such a situation as this that a continuous recording would be useful for, but there was no point in berating his partner again. In their defense, this was the first escape they’d had.

After the lights went off in the cell the recording was no good. He could barely see anything, and of course, he couldn’t hear anything either. He went back to the moment when she’d been brought into the cell. The other Rik had been doing yoga or meditation or something and she’d sat uncertainly on the empty bed watching them.

He watched the whole thing at high speed, only slowing whenever someone spoke. He’d watched this before, but now he watched their lips, doing his best to try lip reading.

It was no good. Half the time they were turned away from the lens, and the other time... he just couldn’t tell what they were saying. He slapped his palms on the table.

“I just can’t believe it has been a week, and we still can’t get a location on them. A week!” Basher said to Akemi.

He knew she could hear and see him through his computer. He’d given her access to it, and at first he'd been self-conscious that she kept the tiny video recorder going non-stop, but he’d gotten used to it. He felt bad for her, trapped in a computer with only a few visual outlets. It was still hard for him to grasp that she was only a computer. Having never met her before, he kept picturing a real girl, stuck in her room, bored out of her mind, texting everybody she knew.

He’d gotten used to her presence, and even started to enjoy bouncing ideas off of her. He had not gotten used to her reorganization of all his files and programs, but she insisted her way was better and he learned it was easier to let her have her own way.

Sorry.Akemi printed in a small text box on his screen.

She really hasn’t given me much to work with.

“I would go stir-crazy stuck in a tiny little apartment above a tiny little restaurant for so many days,” Basher said. “Why doesn’t she leave?”

She’s used to confinement. And she’s happy, mostly.

“Don’t even get me started on that,” Basher said. “They’re Rik.”

But they look human. It’s more than she’s had in a while.

“So you don’t think she’s going to leave any time soon?”

I can’t be sure. She COULD take a walk tomorrow, but I doubt it. :-(

“Hmm.”