Dear HANDLER

Chapter 5

Rhys waited for her answer as she showed him the blue chip. The blue chip was hidden very smartly. It was buried inside his core so secretively that he didn't even know that it existed.

"The small compartment that opened, it's your core. The main reason for your functionality. The chips containing the codes are inserted here. Considerable damage and its over."

Rhys' eyes widened as she showed him the blue chip. So that was the chip she'd placed in his code. That blue chip was the thing which was the cause of the interference. The very thing that allowed him to hesitate to kill, to feel curiosity, to feel... that was hidden in his core.

"So this has been in my core... all this time?"

"Yes. No one can take the chips from you unless it's me. Be it the red or the blue. Your core opens with my DNA and I want promise one thing", she was getting really serious now.

Rhys was silent for a long while, taking in this unexpected new information. His core could only be opened with her DNA, only she was allowed to access it. And she wanted a promise from him, what could that possibly be?

"Just one thing" she had said.

"What do you want me to promise..." He waited for her to continue. So she was the only one who could access his core, that part made sense. Now for the promise he had to make to her...

"Promise me to stay away from the director of the facility at all costs.", she said.

"The director..." Rhys repeated the words she had spoken. The hint of fear creeping its way into his voice as he spoke. "You want me to stay away from him?"

She took a deep breath before speaking. "Her and I... We share the same DNA."

Rhys paused for a few moments, processing the information she had given him. She and the director of the facility, they share the same DNA... What did that even mean...? And just how much more was she hiding from him?

"You and the director... share the same DNA" he repeated again, a tinge of confusion in his voice. "Can you.... explain what that means?"

"She is my mother.", she seemed disappointed and sad. There was so much pain in her eyes but none of it came out into words.

"She isn't the kind of person who would spare you. She can go to any extent to get to you. She wanted me to write the code for the red chip. I was forced to do it and no matter what happens, never let her access your core. Do you understand ?"

Rhys remained silent for a long moment, taking in what she'd said. The director is her mother. She made her write the code for the red chip and she was forced to do so. It made everything sound so much more sinister all of a sudden.

"Never let her open my core?" he repeated her words. "Why not?"

She let out another sigh trying to calm herself down before speaking.

"Rhys, she will dismantle you if you don't obey her. She wants you to become a war machine and you're the only prototype android capable of doing this. She will create more androids like you, if you turn out to be a successful project. She will make sure that you turn into a monster that takes lives for her profit, unlike me who wants you to be human."