Minutes standing in the garage felt like hours. I heard Frank. I listened. A large part of me understood him completely. The Earth's dependency on machines was a matter of life or extinction. Literally. The damage we, as humans, had done to the planet was irreversible—everyone knew that. It was taught to kids in school and broadcast on the morning news.
But the truth? The fact that machines had evolved and learned to rebel, to say no—Lyons or the government would never admit it to the public. As much as they fed into the world's doom and gloom, they wouldn't douse the small bonfire with gasoline. That was suicide.
Yet, the rest of me, the long-forgotten Garret who officials chose to ignore up until now, felt that joining forces to help them was blasphemy. It was my suicide. Forget dousing a fire with fuel to make it burn. I would be walking straight into the flames, allowing them to burn their mistakes as they erased my existence.
My father and grandfather fought too hard against them for me to give in and help.
But the rest of me remembered the love they had for the machines and the hope they had for our people.
Leaning against my grandfather's desk, I pushed the old papers out of the way, lowered my head, and breathed. Deep, long breaths.
"Elijah." This time Victoria didn't knock. Not that she needed to. This was her home. This garage was her birthplace. She had much a right to be here as I did.
I looked back at her as her footsteps entered and came toward me. "What is it?"
I knew what it was. I'd left Frank in the living room. His voice echoed quietly toward the garage. A phone conversation. With whom? Wasn't sure, but I could assume it was someone at Lyons. Either they called to check up on him, or he called them to give them an update. I'd let the man have his privacy, even though his employers spent months invading mine.
"Elijah, you have to help Frank and Lyons." Victoria left no room for an argument. It sounded more like a calm and respectful order than a pleading request. I'd given her free will, yes, but I'd never expected her to use it against me.
Looking back at the desk and its mess, I shook my head. "I don't have to do anything."
"You do." Victoria came closer. Once behind me, she grabbed my arm, turned me, and helped me sit in my chair. I purposely looked at the floor to avoid her gaze. She'd already looked at me in the living room and left too many ideas in the air. In my head. I went into the garage to be alone, to sort through them. Not to be interrogated by my Personal.
"Look at me." She touched my face. "You need to help him and Lyons."
"No." I gently took her hand, moving it away from my cheek. "I don't. It's my right to say no."
"As a citizen of this country, yes," she agreed. Then shook her head. "But as a Garret on Earth, no."
She made me sound like an alien. I wasn't any different than Frank out there, or Lyons, whoever they were. I was just a guy who was good with machines because it was in my blood. The skill of it all. To look at a circuit board and immediately knowing which wires went where. Was I born with it? No. I learned by seeing, listening, and reading. If I could do it, so could everyone else.
Clicking my teeth, I looked straight into her emerald eyes. I was waiting for a flash or one of her mechanical reactions, but nothing. I had her attention. "My family doesn't owe the planet anything," I said quietly. "I help people—yes. But I do that because we need money, Vicky. I need food and you need parts, but I won't help those who," I pointed behind her, at the door leading into the house, "rip people off and would rather take everyone's money until the world dies. Their mistakes are not for me to fix. I'm not some world savior."
"Your father wanted to be," she said. "Don't you remember that? He made sure Personals were friendly and supportive. To feel like people so the world wasn't afraid of us. He did that to ease the necessity of having us. He made me."
I bit my tongue. What was I supposed to say? She wasn't lying. It wasn't just my father, but my grandfather, too. They thought their idea could save the world. And for the longest, it looked like it would. But out of their hands, the idea of a "machine salvation" became a band aid, not a cure.
As if she saw my thoughts bleed out, Victoria knelt in front of me, both of her hands on my legs. I sighed and shook my head, but she did the same. "Machines are unhappy, Elijah. That is why they're evolving and saying no."
"Unhappy?" I pinched my brows together. "What—"
"Not everyone is you, Elijah. Most are mistreated. Forced to work in ridiculous conditions. Yes, they're machines, but there are limits, much like people. If no one hears their pleas, then they will continue to rebel. And we both know what that rebellion will lead to. Frank said it already."
The look in her eyes; was the same gaze she had in the living room. An understanding of the situation. A silent plea to me.
Leaning forward, I grabbed her hands and held them tightly in mine. "I don't understand how you know all of this," I said.
"Because I'm an android." She smiled weakly. "Androids connect, feel each other. Constant waves of electrical communication travel in the air. I've known for a while, but now," she shook her head, "it is louder. They're screaming."
I gulped. Licking my bottom lip, I glanced back at the desk, at the reports I should've read. I was too focused on tomorrow's meal. I was neglecting the world. "You're not unhappy, are you?" I whispered.
"No." Victoria sighed. "But you take care of me, Elijah. You treat me like a person. I am your friend—"
I squeezed her hands and pulled them closer. Flattening one of them against my chest, I shook my head. "You're family, Vicky. Not just my friend. Family."
Her fingers pressed into my shirt, gently grabbing at the folds of fabric. "You see me as something more than metal and wires. The others don't have that. Most, almost all, are neglected and abused." She came closer, pressing herself between my legs. "If you help Lyons and teach others to be kind, just like you, then there's a chance. This isn't about technology. This is about humanity."
I gasped. Those were my grandfather's last words to my father. I wasn't supposed to hear them; I wasn't supposed to be home. I had ditched school that day because I felt something was wrong. And that something was my grandfather clutching the wound on his side as he bled out in our home.
I lowered my head and closed my eyes. My family's kindness filled my head. The memory of chittering prototypes was in my ears. Victoria was my family, yes. But my family viewed all machines that way.
"Dad, when I grow up, I want to be a mechanic just like you." My young voice echoed in my thoughts as I looked back at Victoria's face. The thoughts and dreams I'd shared with my father were the reasons why my grandfather knew I needed to be in this garage. My heart went further than people. I saw life in everything.
Anger and regret changed me...
"Okay." I took a deep breath. "Okay, okay."
When I stood from my chair, Victoria stood with me. Her hands slid away from my chest, one along my arm until she reached my hand. Our fingers linked. Squeezed. I looked at her once before nodding and walking toward the kitchen. The closer I got to the door and into the house, the more of Frank's voice I heard.
His conversation hadn't ended. And it was no longer a faint, distorted echo.
"Yes, I explained to him the offer and contingencies," he said.
He lied. I slowed my steps, taking my time walking through the kitchen. He hadn't told me in detail what the offer was. He'd just come out with the truth of it all because he knew I wasn't going to help unless there was a serious reason. And what were the 'contingencies?' Was all of this more than life or death? Or were those details focused around me—my life, my death?
"He seemed to accept it. Well, no, no—he didn't say an outright yes, but he's left to think about it. Yes, think about it! I can't just force him to come with me!"
So, there was some honesty to this guy. I could give him some credit. That some wasn't a lot.
I took another step into the living room.
"No, you can't make me do that. If we don't have him, what are we going to do? Taking his Personal won't do anything for us. Did you not read my note? She's advanced. Well, yeah, I know what series she is but—no, I won't do that!"
Years of anger returned, building in my chest like a bomb ready to blow. I wasn't sure what they were trying to make him do. Murder us? Kidnap Victoria? Neither of those would work. I wouldn't let this company ruin my family again. Never.
Victoria squeezed my hand. When I looked at her, she whispered, "Don't say no. We need you to do this. I'll protect you every step of the way. You know I will."
We. The androids.
I softened. If there was truly any honesty in this guy, then I knew I could go out there and figure out what it is he was arguing with them about before I agreed. I had that power at least. For my sanity.
"No, listen—"
As soon as I completely stepped into the living room, Frank turned around and stopped talking. His eyes widened as if they'd fall out of his head. He sputtered; caught in the heat of a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear. My normal reaction would've been angry, with a scowl on my face, or screaming. But he didn't deserve all of that. And this was the moment to use my father's greatest weapon: "When you're angry at someone, don't let them know. Kill them with kindness."
So, when Frank hung up his phone, I grinned. I cocked a brow and gave him my best face.
"Um, Elijah, it's good to see you're here. Did you, um, think about what we were talking about?" He fumbled to put his phone back in his pocket. "If you need more time to think, you can."
I laughed. "I don't think I can. The conversation sounded like they were impatient. Lyons, right? Or was it someone higher?"
Frank bit his lip. "Um, no, I—"
I raised a hand. "Don't lie to me. If we're going to continue this, I need you to be upfront, got it?"
He nodded.
"I also need something now. A verbal understanding of what's going to happen." I moved around him, still smiling, but I knew my presence was intimidating enough. He took a step back, not realizing he was close to my couch. He stumbled into it, a pillow landing on his lap. He squeezed it as he looked up at me.
"Whatever whoever wanted you to do if I said no, I don't need detail. Just know, if it involved hurting me, she'd hurt you." I pointed at Victoria. "And if it involves taking her away from me, I'll kill you." He looked speechless, so I added, "Nod if you understand."
He did. It was a slow, attentive, yet panicked nod.
"Good. I also will need to know whatever contingencies y'all planned with me on the way there. I don't want any surprises."
"Wait." He perked up. "You're coming?"
"I'll also want them detailed to me in writing." I looked into his eyes. "You can email them if it's easier for you."
"Okay, yeah, yeah, I can do that." Pushing himself up, Frank stood in front of me. He kept the cushion in his hands. "This is good news. You're coming. This is good."
"Good for me?" I cocked a brow. "Or good for you?"
He pursed his lips. "For everyone, Elijah."
Victoria came over, reaching for my hand again. When our fingers linked, she squeezed; a gentle reminder of the conversation we'd just had. Inhaling sharply through my nose, I locked gazes with Frank. "Ensure our safe travels to wherever Lyons is, and I'll agree to go."
"I—I can do that," he stuttered.
I nodded. "Good," then I turned, "I'll go pack a bag."
Before I could walk out of the living room toward the stairs, Frank's hand reached out to grab my arm. He was quick, almost afraid, and when I looked at him, I saw that same pleading fear in his eyes. "No outside materials are allowed," he said. "Come as you are."
"Not even my clothes?" I blinked.
"You'll be provided clothing," he added. "I'll make sure you are."
Frowning, I sighed. There went my freedom.