Racing Heart

Partners

Melanie Hill's Point Of View

"Come on, keep going. Keep going!" I said encouraging A.X.L as he tugged on the car in attempt to pull it out of the hole it dug.

Sara sat inside the car driving in reverse trying to get out of the hole as well. I crouched by the side of the truck to see if the car had come out, also to stop her from going to far once she gets out.

A.X.L growls while puling on the chain. I clap smiling when the truck is free and go over to unhook the cain from the car. "Alright lets get out of here." I turn to her with a frown and ask about what we'll do with the robotic dog. "What, do you want to take him home? Melanie, he's not some kind of stray dog that you just found. He can hurt someone."

"We'll do what you said last night, okay? We find out who made him." I said and pull at the chain from the dogs mouth, "Come on, give it." I scold, he opens his mouth and drops it making me laugh. Patting his head I throw the chain in the back of the truck.

I turn around and walk over to Sara, her door was open and she sat with her legs dangling from the edge. "You know you're using the word 'we' a lot." She comments. Smirking I step between her legs and wrap my arms around her waist, her hands going to my shoulders. "I came out here to make sure you were okay. That thing-"

"-Needs out help, Princess, all right?" She smiles at the name and sits up straight. "Besides, if we just leave him out here, what do you think is gonna happen to him?" She shrugs saying we'll simply call the cops causing me to scoff. "You saw how he reacted to this truck. What do you think he'll do when he sees a bunch of police cars coming up here?" She sighs and gives in smiling at me. I turn to tell A.X.L to hop in the back only to see him do it without me saying a word.

Sara chuckles and I shake my head, tuning back to her I pecking her, biting her bottom lip softly getting a moan from her. She blushes and pushes me away with a flustered grin. Walking away she shuts the door and I got to my brothers bike then picking it up and placing it on the back of the truck. I get the blanket and cover both A.X.L and the motorcycle.

I run around the car and hop on the passenger seat. She drove to a gas station and I got out to put gasoline in the car. I called dad and spoke into the phone, "Hey, dad. I'm sorry for leaving last night without a warning, but I'm okay." I say, picking up the gas pump and inserting it into the tank. Glancing at Sara I smile, "I'm more than okay, actually. I had a lot of fun with my friend. I'll see you later though, tell Miles I got his bike fixed and that I don't want to see a scratch on my baby." He laughs over the line and hangs up. I slide my phone into my back pocket and exhale deeply, turning to Sara, "Hey you got money? I didn't think about taking my wallet with me when I searched for my brother." 

She shakes her head, "No, let me check the glove compartment though. Wait, you didn't pay already? It says you did." She frowns pointing at the machine. I turn around and watch as the numbers go from zero up. "Hold on, did he just buy us gas?"

Chuckling I shrug, "I guess he did. See, it was smart to bring him with us." Sara gives me a sarcastic laugh and I push a strand of hair out of her face. "I couldn't even get my last dog to stay off the couch." I joked then frown when there's a sudden beep coming from the ATM machine. Rushing to A.X.L I cover his head patting him so he knows he isn't in trouble, "Hey, you gotta stay down, buddy. All right?" I take out the gas pump and close the lid of the tank rushing to get in the passenger side again.

"Melanie, it won't stop." Sara says, frustrated. I laugh and tell to get it all. "Yeah, like I didn't think of that already." She chuckles taking a handful of 20 dollar bills until it stopped. Running to the car, she shut the door and made it rain on me. I grabbed her by the back of her neck and kissed her, she grinned at me and pulled out of the gas station.

We drove far in the middle of nowhere, to an abandoned place, which was covered in graffiti. I stared amazed at the art, "You did all of these, didn't you?" Sara hums, confirming my suspicion. She takes my hand and I walks me to the back of the building, A.X.L follows behind us. "Do you think he'll be safe here?"

"He should be fine for the night. No one really comes here except for me." She shrugs and grabs a spray can. I go up behind her and hug her kissing her cheek, whispering in her ear 'You're beautiful'. Her laugh makes me frown, "Stop, I will punch you." I wave her off and let go of her to watch as she puts on a gas mask and begins to paint on the wall.

Sara paints a feather with the black paint and turns around surprised at the blue lasers emitting from A.X.L's head just like he had done last night when we danced. "I think he likes it." She laughs and I nod walking up to her and wrapping my arm around her shoulder, stared at the opposite wall confused as the canine opens the projector that way and plays a clip explaining the purpose of A.X.L.

A voice spoke from the clip gaining out attention, "The Department of Defense, in collaboration with CANINE Systems, is pleased to present the A-X-L, which exceeds any UGV module available today." Sara and I share a look, then turn back to the wall. "The AXL has been engineered upon a foundation of canine human interaction that stretches back millennia. As the war dog of the future, the A-X-L bio-metrically pairs with a designated soldier, making him as loyal as the real thing while being decisively more lethal." The sound of a motorcycle getting close brought me out of a trance. Miles came into view and stood beside me staring at the wall in shock. "Specially engineered vehicles and accessories give the soldier that the A-X-L is paired with enhanced mobility and faster evasive opportunities. A suite of cyber warfare abilities make him an ally in disarmament and intelligence."

"Melanie, he was made to-" I cut her off with a nod, knowing what she was about to day. Sara looked displeased at the thought of A.X.L hurting anyone.

"The A-X-L not only has the ability to source and direct maintenance, but also to self-destruct in order to avoid enemy capture." I scowl and turn to the robot telling him to stop. When he does a flat object that resembles a key pops out of his head where the projector it.

Miles takes it as Sara and I tell him not to touch it. I roll my eyes when he ignores us. "Of course he touches it." Sara sighs annoyed resting her head back on my shoulder. My brother places his thumb on the pad and hisses pulling away then looks at his thumb confused as he sees it's been punctured and taken a blood sample, pairing him with Ax.

My brother smiles goofy and I shake my head at his moronic behavior, "You idiot, you just did that pairing thing with him." I tense up when I get a feeling of someone coming near. 

I look down at Sara and she pokes her head through the broken window. "It's Sam." I huff and cross my arms turning to Miles with a glare.