Rehash

Twenty-one

I braced myself for Alan's reaction before I replied. "Remember that guy you thought was a one night stand? One way out of my league, looks exactly like that android guy? Well..."

There was a brief silence. Alan's face stayed blank for a moment as he processed the new information, then he shot me a filthy look. 

"Oh, hell no! It was in our house?! I'm going to be sick. My career is over if this comes out, you realise that right?"

"Then I suppose it's best if this never comes out," I replied dryly. 

Some more colourful swear words left Alan's mouth. Zekiye was considerably more calm under the circumstances. 

"You're claiming Zed shot you?" she asked, a thoughtful crease between her brows. 

"Yeah, he did," I confirmed. 

"I don't believe you." 

I glared at Zekiye. Sometimes I enjoyed her challenging ideas and notions, but I definitely didn't feel like fucking convincing her right now. "Of course, I must've imagined all of it. There's no burnt hole the size of a crater in my fucking chest right now."

"No, that's not what I meant," Zekiye said, hesitating. "If it was a Spectre model android shooting you, you wouldn't have survived." 

"What do you mean?" 

Zekiye scoffed. "Seriously, Camilo. I shouldn't have to explain to you just how scarily accurate of a shot Zed is. Spectre models are known to possess targeting algorithms so good they can even hit 100% of the shots they take from a driving vehicle, shooting at another moving target. There's no way a point blank shot wouldn't have instantly killed you if that was the intention, unless something jerked his arm and threw his aim off." 

I allowed myself a moment to let Zekiye's words sink in, but Zekiye seemed to take my stunned silence as confusion.

"That Spectre model missed the deadly shot on purpose," she clarified. "There is no other way, Camilo."

"But..." I stammered, before recovering. "Do you think the military knows that?"

"Yes, we do."

Agent Denn stepped inside my hospital room, his daunting self with his poker face and crossed arms as he stared down at me.

"Visiting hours are over," he said curtly. "Say bye to your friends."

I didn't like agent Denn's tone one bit. Normally, I wouldn't have listened to him, but now I was too curious what he had to say for himself. This ought to be good. 

"Military is here, gotta go," I quickly told Alan and Zekiye, terminating the video call before they could react. 

"Your friends are right," Agent Denn said with a stiff upper lip, like he didn't enjoy admitting a citizen he deemed below him was right. "The android did not instantly kill you on purpose. It also lied about when the guards would change. It wasn't within twenty minutes, but within three." 

I crossed my arms, too, matching agent Denn's attitude. "Why are you telling me this. Thought everything in the military was confidential and you didn't get citizens involved. Used me as a fucking pawn as well."

"We did," agent Denn easily admitted. "Shea and I both recognised you and that android have a bond, and you would lure it to you one way or another if we set you loose on the street." 

"You succeeded," I replied shortly. "And we had a bond, but no more. Ava reset him to his original mission, which, newsflash, isn't friendly."

"You have a bond," agent Denn insisted. "I don't know how you did it, but this Spectre model changed his mind about you again, despite the reset. Haven't you been paying attention? A Spectre model does not miss. If it wants to kill you, it kills you. It lied to its creator about the guard switching so you would live and its creator would not get suspicious at the non instant lethal shot." 

"Why wouldn't she be suspicious, though?" I muttered, still insisting on talking back, simply because I didn't like agent Denn. 

"You got the weakest laser setting from that pistol," agent Denn replied, nodding at the sprayed closed wound on my chest. "Not instantly lethal, but saves energy on the weapon. It'll need recharging within twenty shots rather than ten while using the lower intensities. His choice to not give you the full blast is understandable from an economical point of view. Lying about when the guards would switch, is not."

I frowned. A sudden, throbbing headache had developed in my skull at all this new information. "And what do you want me to fucking do with this info, huh? If you're implying I'll be used as a bargaining chip again, forget it. I'm fed up with being used; I don't want to be in the middle of this any longer."

"Tough luck, buttercup," agent Denn bit, narrowing his non-bionic eye at me. "Ava doesn't know you survived, and she doesn't know she has a turner in her ranks. At least, a turner for you. And if you don't man up, you'll drag us into singularity war part two."

When I stayed quiet, simply glaring at agent Denn, he continued. "Mr. Shea and his team are guarding the other android and gyndroid memories and bodies that were taken from Lenora's vault. We don't have a lot of time to stop them. If Ava gets her hands on these bodies, or the memories to place in other android bodies, she no longer needs your android friend either. She will dispose of him when she finds out. Do you understand?"

"I understand." I breathed in and out audibly, averted my gaze away from agent Denn in an annoyed manner. 

I knew what he wanted from me, and I cursed my luck for ever getting involved. But, if Zed remembered me. If there was an inkling of a chance I could get him back, if I could somehow convince him to stop working with his creator and run, then this would be worth it.

I turned back to agent Denn, looking deep into his eyes. "I want to talk to Zed alone. No listening devices, no tracking equipment. He will notice and he will likely shoot me again, alright? Tell me where he is, let me do this my own way, and you have a deal." 

I jutted a hand in his direction. Agent Denn looked like he'd rather take an acid bath than agree, but eventually he relented and grabbed my hand. 

"Deal."