Mechanical (12 page)

I shrugged, not wanting to discuss it.

Caroline frowned, and seeing I wasn’t at all
into the subject, changed the topic. “Well, anyway, what I wanted
to talk to you about is the history assignment. I forgot when it’s
due.”

“Thursday, I think.”

Suddenly, I noticed someone walking towards
us from the van. As he got closer, I recognized the gangly arms and
unsteady gate as Jeremy’s, one of the androids from the
Institution. He was walking very fast and soon I saw him break into
a run. He had a determined look on his face and didn’t show any
signs of slowing down, even when he was just a few feet from us.
“Hey Jeremy,” I called, confused about why he was here and slightly
concerned.

But he didn’t look at me. He didn’t even
glance my way. He was looking at Caroline. I saw her expression
turn to one of concern, but before I could even think about what
was going on, Jeremy had shoved Caroline to the ground.

“Jeremy!” I cried. “What are you doing?”

Just then I saw him pull something from under
his belt and my heart almost stopped, the blood chilling in my
veins—a knife. Caroline screamed and tried to scramble out of the
way. What was Jeremy doing with a knife?

“Jeremy!” I shrieked and launched myself
between him and Caroline. I felt the knife slice through my skin
like butter, stinging, and saw Jeremy step back in confusion. Blood
trickled down my arm, slow and warm. “What are you doing?!” I
screamed, but again I saw him lunge at Caroline, this time watching
in horror as the knife plunged into the pit of her stomach.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Caroline let out a blood-curdling scream as
Jeremy took a step back, clutching the knife tightly in his
hand.

“Stop!” I screamed at Jeremy, jumping in his
way as he tried again to lunge at Caroline.

Just then, I saw David sprinting towards us
from the van and I heard the sounds of police sirens. “What are you
doing?” I shrieked at Jeremy.

“Not ... perfect ...” he muttered, staring at
Caroline who was now lying on the ground huddled up in a ball,
whimpering.

I stared at him in horror as David grabbed
him. Then several police officers tackled him to the ground. I
turned away and knelt beside Caroline. “Oh no ...” I whispered,
noticing a pool of blood collecting underneath her.

Hailey ran toward us and burst into
hysterical tears. “Caroline!” she cried.

I heard another siren and an ambulance
arrived. Hailey and I, and a crowd that had now gathered around
Caroline, yielded to the EMTs as they hurriedly put her on a
stretcher and wheeled her away.

I scanned the crowd for David and saw him
talking to the police officers. I noticed Jeremy seated in the back
of the police car, his expression horrifyingly blank.

My stomach hurt and I felt like I might throw
up. Jeremy? What had just happened? Why had it happened? Had he
really just stabbed Caroline? For what reason?

I felt someone grab my shoulder and I turned
around to see Jessica, pale faced and looking sick with worry.
“Caroline ...?”

“She was stabbed ... she’s going to the
hospital,” I told her, my voice sounding oddly thick and unstable.
Just then I felt hot tears start to slide out of the corners of my
eyes. “I tried,” I barely sobbed. “I tried to stop him.”

Jessica reached out and hugged me. “We need
to pray for her,” she told me and I nodded.

Suddenly I heard David call my name and I
broke away from Jessica. “I have to go,” I said, wiping the tears
away.

She nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” The
comment was halfhearted as she looked off in the direction the
ambulance had gone.

I numbly walked back towards David, my heart
still hammering in my chest as the adrenaline worked its way out of
my system.
God ...?
I thought desperately as a sudden
thought darted through my mind and took hold of my heart, clutching
it tightly enough to squeeze the calm from me, to send me
panicking. I couldn’t save Caroline. I had tried and although what
I did had helped, her life or death ... wasn’t in my hands. I had
no power and I was only beginning to realize this.

Suddenly Jessica’s faith no longer seemed so
pointless, so vain. Because somehow, even if it wasn’t really true,
at least there was hope.

Please watch over Caroline. Please make
sure she’s okay,
I thought as I climbed into the van, numbly
setting my backpack beside me. I had never prayed before and
couldn’t be sure if I was doing it right. Was anyone even there? I
sighed and hoped there was because suddenly I realized that if it
were true, I had something to turn to when things went wrong.

We drove in tense silence for a few blocks,
my anger and shock slowly bubbling towards the surface, threatening
to explode. I knew it wasn’t right to become angry and yell, as the
creators always said, but right at that moment I couldn’t help
myself. My anger was too great and my shock was even greater. “What
was that?!” I shouted at David, who jumped in his seat. “What
happened?”

David frowned grimly, looking stressed out.
“Jeremy ... he said he needed a ride. I don’t know what happened
... when he saw you walking with that girl, I don’t know, he
snapped.”

“Why would he do that? How could you let him
do that?” I cried. “She could have died! She still might die!” I
was nearly hysterical now.

David sighed. “Drew, it happened. There’s
nothing we can do about it,” he answered through clenched
teeth.

I felt the tears threaten to pour out again,
but I held them back. “Where is he?” I asked, staring out the
window.

“With the police. I don’t know when you’ll
see him again. This really complicates things. Ordinarily, we would
just take him back to the Institution to be altered, but with the
police involved, we can’t do that.”

“How did we get away without being
questioned?”

“I took care of it,” David replied, and I
asked no more questions. He looked over at me, a strange expression
lining his face. “You’re acting ... different, Drew,” he
commented.

I only shook my head and stared out the
window until we arrived at the Institution. I got out of the car
and headed towards the doors. I was met in the lobby by a smiling
Yvonne whose expression dropped once she noticed mine. “Where’s
Jeremy?” she asked, looking behind me to see if he was there.

I knew Yvonne had always liked Jeremy. I
wouldn’t have called them a couple, more like the kind who made out
behind the building from time to time. Would this really hurt her?
Or would she just move on like he was an old, forgotten toy?

But right then I didn’t feel like telling
Yvonne where Jeremy was. I numbly walked past her and on to my
room.

“Drew?” I heard her call.

I slowed, paying attention when she asked
David the same thing she had asked me and strained to hear David
explain to her the short version of where he was. Then I heard
nothing from Yvonne, for a change.

Silence.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” I said
to Yvonne. “She just seemed different.” I was sitting on my bed
watching Yvonne from across the room.

I couldn’t get over the incident with
Cecelia. She was so different, so unlike her former self. It was as
if she had been remolded, brainwashed. As if her soul had been
stripped away.

Yvonne nodded absentmindedly as she skimmed
through the pages of her history book while lying stomach-down on
her bed. “Yeah, I’ve noticed the people that I bring in end up like
how you described Cecelia.” She bit her lip in thought.

“Don’t her parents care?” I added, suddenly
wondering what they must think. If her change was as obvious to us
then it had to be to her parents as well.

Yvonne snorted. “Cecelia doesn’t have
parents. None of the kids do.”

I paused for a moment before answering,
“What?”

Yvonne shook her head at me. “Don’t you know?
Ugh, Drew, the creators aren’t stupid. They know if they take
people’s kids, they’re not going to get very far. The people we
bring in are orphans, foster kids, troubled ... that type of
thing.”

I was silent while I considered the idea. I
felt kind of stupid for not thinking about it before now. “Poor
Cecelia. She doesn’t even have a family who’s looking out for
her.”

“Doesn’t really matter.”

I stopped, surprised at Yvonne’s lack of
interest. “But, aren’t you at least concerned?”

“Well, all you have to do is think about it
for a minute. It’s pretty obvious what they’re doing.” She looked
up. “They’re the kids no one will miss, they’re not as perfect as
we are, so they’re definitely different. I’m guessing they’re using
the humans to make better models of us. Maybe they take something
from them like information or ...” She shrugged. “I don’t really
know, but I’m sure they’re using them for our benefit and whatever
they’re doing causes them to
change
I guess.” She looked
back down at her history book.

I sat in silence for a minute. It made sense,
but I wondered why the creators didn’t just tell us this in the
first place, but I pushed the thought away. You never doubted the
creators. They knew best.

...right?

* * * *

“His name is Xavier Richards,” Glen told me,
handing me some papers.

I stared down at the face I had seen only a
few times passing me in the hallway. “How am I supposed to get him
here?” I asked Glen, trying, but not succeeding in thinking up some
clever plan to get him to the Institution.

“We’ll make it easy for you,” Glen told me.
“We’ll have a car parked and waiting just a few blocks from the
school. It’s about half-way between the school and his house where
he will be walking. If you can, get him to the part where we can
hide the car and be less noticed, across the street and up a ways.
There we can get him.”

“Okay,” I replied, imagining the layout in my
mind.

“David will point out the place when he
drives you to school.”

“So, what do you guys ... do to them?” I
asked, almost afraid of the answer after what I had seen with
Cecelia.

Glen shrugged. “None of your business.” He
said it nonchalantly, but I could detect a hint of irritation in
his voice.

“Is it morally right?” I wanted to know.

Glen looked startled and gave me a surprised
look. “Um ... does it matter?” he asked.

“Well, to me, yeah!” I said. “After all, the
school you sent me to is Christian.”

Glen looked puzzled and angry at the same
time as he awkwardly turned away. “Just do your mission, Drew,” he
snapped at me

Later that day, as I was sitting in class I
thought about how I would get Xavier to the site. I knew the bell
was due to ring any second and I searched my brain frantically for
a plan. Why didn’t the creators do their own dirty work? Why make
me do it? Whatever they were doing to them, they could do it on
their own.

But I had been assigned to this mission and I
had to do it. No matter what.

Suddenly the bell rang, startling me.
Students all around me jumped up and headed for the door. I
followed them quickly, grabbing my bag from my locker and heading
towards the road that Xavier took home every day.

I waited for about five minutes. Sure enough
there he was, walking along towards his house. I hid in the bushes
until he passed me and then walked a little ways behind him on the
other side of the street. It took about five minutes more to reach
the site where David said the car would be waiting. I walked
towards the bushes at the fork of the road and took a deep
breath.

I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I
could, falling to the ground in an act of sheer helplessness.
Xavier’s head swiveled, following the sound and then he saw me. I
watched as he broke into a jog and was soon at my side. “Hey,” he
said, leaning down, “What happened?”

“Oh, I just fell. I think I broke something,”
I lied, faking a pained expression that I knew was working by the
look on his face.

He looked confused, at a loss for what to do.
“Do you want me to get someone for you? Or I could help you walk?”
he suggested.

Where was David or Glen?
Hurry up
please,
I thought.

But just as Xavier was pulling me to my feet,
I saw a dark shape loom over him and a large scary-looking needle
plunge into his shoulder. He made a noise like a strangled animal
then fell to the ground.

I stared at his unmoving body as David and
some other person picked him up and put him in the car. I felt
guilty. And shocked. Xavier had done nothing, but who knew what lay
in store for him.

I numbly climbed into the back of the
car.

* * * *

“Why do you look so low?” Yvonne questioned
me as I walked into our room.

“I feel a little guilty about bringing these
people in,” I said truthfully.

Yvonne snorted. “Oh please. Don’t feel bad.
They’re just humans.”

I felt like retorting back, but didn’t want
to start a fight. “Have you talked with Jeremy?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “They won’t let me.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged indifferently. “It’s fine. I’ll
live.” She gave a halfhearted laugh. “So, how are you and Michael?”
she asked, studying me.

“Yvonne, it’s not like we’re dating.”

“Huh,” she replied and dropped the
subject.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I hurried towards the bedroom door. “Come on,
Yvonne. David is waiting in the car,” I called. I didn’t want to be
late for school.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” As Yvonne
spoke, I saw something dark being flung my way. I ducked as my
backpack flew towards my head, scraping my arm on the side of the
dresser. “Ouch,” I cried, surveying the exposure of wires on my
arm. “Stop throwing things at me!”