Conduit

Ch. 18

Seeing Frank with a similar look on his face warmed me. Did he hurt because he believed I was hurting? I was, but I hadn't told him that. Victoria did.

As he closed the door behind him, Victoria crossed the rest of the living room and cupped his face in her hands. Then she whispered, "He's changed, and there's nothing I can do. As human as he made me, I'm not it. You're it. Could you," she rubbed her thumbs over his cheeks, "be the human ear he can talk to?"

I lowered my gaze. Did I seem that lost? I felt it, but I didn't think it was visible on my face like that.

When I looked back up, Frank's gaze met mine. His shoulders slumped before he looked back at Victoria. "What happened?" he asked her.

She shook her head, her waves swishing against her back. "He will tell you." She stepped away from him and turned, catching me standing in the doorway. I couldn't look at her, though she tried. I dipped back into the room and out of sight of everyone.

"Can I just go in there?" Frank whispered.

"I'm sure he won't tell you no," Victoria replied.

I rolled my eyes. That was rude. She just invited him into my space. As footsteps approached, I huffed, and my door opened, I glanced back, rolling my eyes again. Frank only leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets.

It was the first time I saw him so casual. Jeans, a T-shirt; he looked like he had raided my closet.

I couldn't help but look at the numbered tattoo on his inner forearm. 45741. Was that always there but because of his clothes I hadn't seen it?

Frank lifted his brows. "I heard about what happened today from Katherine."

Did he? Had she told him everything? I doubted it.

Facing my bed, I turned my back on him and rolled my shoulders. My hands were next until my wrists cracked.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Elijah," he said.

I sighed and dropped on my bed. My face smashed against my pillow.

Frank chuckled. "It's okay. You just can't give up after the first one."

I shook my head but didn't lift it. The pillowcase rubbed against my nose. "I can't replace fifty androids, Frank."

The corner of my bed bounced. I was sure he sat down. "What?"

Lifting my head, I glanced back at him. His hand tugged at the fabric of my unused blanket. I couldn't pinpoint the emotion on his face—was it worry? Was it fear? There was always a rollercoaster in Frank's eyes; it didn't help when I was rolling on my own.

"My mistake has cost the lives of fifty newly built, almost completed androids."

Frank looked away. Perfect because this was a ride I didn't want to be on.

"I never thought this would happen," he whispered.

"Oh?" I turned on my back and propped myself up on my elbows. "Funny, because me either." I sucked my teeth. "But I was the one who thought I could cheat the system the way I've always done and went to the person I thought could help."

Frank's gaze dropped as he tongued his cheek. "Should I guess?"

"You already know." I dropped back down on the bed. What bothered me the most, as I thought about what happened, was that I should've known asking Logan for help wouldn't work. The second he admitted to writing Technician 9 magazines, it should've been clear; the number of inaccuracies in those pages were the morning funny comics for me. Logan had a general idea and compassion for what he did, but he hadn't mastered it.

Clearly, I hadn't either.

I slid my hands over my face as I stared up at the ceiling. "Katherine ordered their disposal—"

"When?" Frank quickly asked.

I glanced at him and shrugged against my pillow. "I don't know. I assume immediately. She kept mentioning the price tag over my head like it was a debt I'd have to pay."

Frank chuckled lightly. "In her head, you probably will."

I closed my eyes. Well, that was great. There wasn't a chance I could go home any time soon, was there?

"But I know how we can save those androids."

I pushed myself all the way up as my arms slapped against my legs. Save them? "They're going to be disposed of, Frank. Destroyed. Probably melted down for scrap metal for new premium androids—"

Frank shook his head. "Premium models wouldn't be made from used parts."

My eyes widened. "Oh, wonderful. We're running out of resources and Katherine's over here creating new androids from scratch every time. Bullshit."

Frank nodded. "It is. But we can save them."

He was insistent. For once, the look on his face wasn't confusing. I believed he knew a way to save these androids. I needed to know. "How?" I asked. "If they've already been assigned a disposal, then how?"

"Full disposal doesn't start for another twenty-four hours after the order," he said.

My gaze bounced around the room as I tried to figure out what the plan would be. Saving fifty heavy-ass androids from Lyons' building wouldn't be easy. "So, what? We go there and move them?"

Frank nodded. "We go in and turn them on, instruct them to leave through the sewers."

Sewers? He said this so easily, as if he'd done this before. "Frank, I'm sure Katherine's going to check on the process. There needs to be evidence. How can we move fifty droids and have nothing left over from their bodies?"

He leaned against his palm and smirked at me. "I never showed you the disposal floor."

He hadn't. Biting my lip, I shook my head.

"It's a trash heap. So, if we plan to get them out tonight, then we'll have enough parts left behind as proof that androids were there for disposal."

My brows shot up.

Frank smirked.