What Lies Behind: A New Adult Dark Science Fiction Romance (9 page)

“Did he?” Brandon asked.

“Yes.” Cass told him.

“Did he tell you?” Brandon glanced over at her. They turned right onto a street that wasn’t as busy as the one they were just on. It was in the opposite direction of where the GPS said she needed to go to get home.

“No,” Cass answered.

“Well, maybe the psychic can tell us,” Brandon said, nudging her with his elbow.

She smiled, but there was no real emotion behind it.

“Or, maybe we can do something more productive like try to figure it out ourselves?” He asked.

“I know that I was previously owned by Olivia Hamilton,” Cass told him. “Maybe we should go see her.”

“Go right to the source?” he asked.

“Why not?” Cass wondered. He drew her to a halt outside an old wooden door that had been painted black. Time and weather had peeled the paint away in various spots giving the door an antique look. The glass window in the door was detailed in golden paint that displayed the hours of operation and that this was, in fact, Madame Auguries Psychic Parlor.

“Madame Augury?” Cass asked. The eyes she turned on Brandon wasn’t amused.

He snorted. “This is going to be epic.”

He pulled open the door to the sound of a bell jingling to let workers inside know there was a customer. A petite girl in a black dress with a pentacle necklace pushed her way through a beaded curtain from the backroom and into the main shop. She slipped behind the glass counter opposite the door.

The Door swung shut behind Cass. The shop was rather small. A display of jewelry and one of incense stood on the scuffed wooden floor. Along one wall were jars of herbs. Along another wall were posters and tapestries.

“Can I help you?” the girl asked. Her hair was red and tipped with blue dye.

“We are here to see Madame Augury,” Brandon said. “We would like a reading.”

“Both of you?” the girl asked.

“Yes,” Brandon said.

“A full reading, a mini reading, or a half reading?” the girl went to the register and flipped open an appointment book.

“What’s the difference?”

“Length of the reading and price,” Fire Hair said.

“Mini,” Brandon told her pulling out his wallet.

While they made the appointment and cashed out, Cass perused the shelves. She wished she could smell the incense. It looked so wonderful. A small display of essential oils reminded her how much she
wasn’t
human. If she were, she would enjoy the smells of the shop. She wondered what lavender smelled like, or lemon grass. They both sounded pretty.

A couple minutes later they were being led through the beaded curtain and into a dimly lit room. In the center of the room stood a table draped with purple and with a crystal ball perched on the top. A woman sat behind the table. Cass wasn’t sure what she expected, maybe a turban or a large robe? Instead, the woman was dressed in jeans and a flower print shirt.

Candles flicked all around the room providing the only light.

“Sit,” the woman spoke softly. She motioned for the chairs on the opposite side of her. “I’m Augury.”

Her presence wasn’t anywhere near as outrageous as her name professed.

“Cass,” Cass told her. “This is Brandon.”

“Did you have any specific questions for me today?” Augury asked them as they sat in the puffy red chairs. “Or do you just want a reading; a glimpse into your future?”

“A reading please,” Cass said, taking her seat before Brandon did. Now that she was here she couldn’t help but get wrapped up in the idea of it all. What if the psychic was able to feel something about her that could help her?
At least it would be something,
she said.

Augury rubbed her hands together vigorously as if she were trying to warm them. She snapped the tips against her thumbs, and then reached out for Cass’s hands.

“Normally I don’t read robots,” she said. “They don’t have a future like humans do, but you’re different. I feel something special about you.”

Cass couldn’t break her gaze from the green eyes of the psychic. From this angle the candle light behind Augury created a kind of halo of light around her brown hair. Brandon shifted uncomfortably beside Cass.

Cass nodded. “Special how?”

“I sense a huge shift in your past. A big change that happened.”

Brandon cleared his throat as if stifling a laugh. Cass couldn’t fault him for that. It did seem like a pretty vague comment.

“There was a fire,” she said.

That made Cass sit up straighter, and Brandon uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.

“It destroyed your home. You were given up,” Augury told her. “But you know this already?”

“Partially,” Cass told her. “What I don’t understand completely is why.”

“Or what is happening to you now. Why things are changing?” Augury probed.

Cass could only nod.

“You weren’t programmed right,” Augury said. “I’m getting a sense that you weren’t wiped, your memories were just hidden. You’re meant for more than the life you’re living.” Augury frowned. “This is strange. I see you in split fashion, almost like I’m seeing two versions of you, one blended into another. In one I see you happy with this young man. I get the sense of freedom from you, the sense that you are living out your free will. In the other image I see you as a classic warrior or a champion of some sort. This champion is the true reason for your programming. This champion is what you’re meant for.”

Augury looked up to Cass. “The way before you is split. That’s why I’m able to read for you. I can read for humans because they are able to make choices. I don’t read for robots because there is no sense of choice. For you, there are choices you can make. Decisions that will change the outcome of your future.”

“What are they?” Cass asked.

“I get the sense that you already know that.”

“My free will,” Cass said. She looked at their joined hands. One human, one robot, both flesh of a kind. Looking at the joined hands alone you’d never know one wasn’t organic.

“Yes. You can follow your free will, or you can follow your programming,” Augury said.

Cass sighed.

“You didn’t think I would be helpful, did you?” Augury said, removing her hands from Cass’.

“No,” Cass answered, clasping her hands in her lap. “I thought this was going to be a fun reading, but not overly enlightening.”

“More things exist beyond your senses. Things you’d never guess at. Things I could never imagine. Things science has yet to find explanations for.” Augury looked at Brandon. “What about you? Would you like your reading now?”

“I’m good,” Brandon held up his hands as if to ward her away.

Augury smiled at him. “People are fine with readings when they think they are nothing but games, but when the truth comes out, they change their minds. It’s okay.”

Brandon nodded.

“Do you have any more questions for me, since he’s not taking his time?” Augury asked.

Cass shook her head. “I need to get home.”

Augury nodded as if she understood precisely why Cass needed to get home.

The door to the shop closed behind them, and for a while as they walked down the street toward the busy intersection, Brandon didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until they turned into the busier street that he spoke.

“That went differently than I expected,” he said.

“Yeah,” was all Cass could muster in response.

“Tomorrow I am coming over, and we are going to see if we can get to the bottom of this. We are going to go see this Olivia woman.” He looked over at her. “Do you know where she works?”

“She’s pretty public, I’m sure I can find the address.”

“Good. Do that tonight, when I come over tomorrow we will head right out.”

What Madame Augury had to say stayed with Cass all the way home. In fact, flying didn’t bother her this time. She didn’t fully come to her senses until they were standing before the door to Natalia’s apartment.

“So do your homework,” Brandon told her with a smile. “And I will come by and get you tomorrow.”

He turned the handle and opened the door.

Cass knew something wasn’t right when she stepped into the house, and saw Natalia sitting on the couch, a cigarette in her hand, a cloud of smoke wreathing her head. The holovision was on, displaying a soap opera. Natalia only put soap operas on when she wanted background noise to help her think.

She glanced at the two of them when they entered, and then took another puff of her cigarette. She hissed the smoke out and started rocking her leg that was draped over the other.

“Another
doctor’s
visit?” Natalia asked.

“You could say that,” Brandon said. “How was work?” He kicked off his shoes, but before he could cross the room to Natalia, she stood.

“You might want to put your shoes back on, because you’re not staying,” she said to him, putting her cigarette out.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m trying to figure out what your obsession is with my machine lately,” Natalia said. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him unblinking.

Cass closed the door. Her hand was shaking again. She didn’t have a good feeling about this at all. Suddenly she was very aware of the lavender dress she’d taken from Natalia’s closet that morning.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, spreading his hands wide.

“Why are you spending so much time with her?” Natalia asked. “Actually, I think I know. You need to leave.”

“Um…”

“No, there’s no arguing this,” Natalia said. She went to the door, ignoring Cass as she passed her. She jerked the front door open, and snapped her fingers, pointing outside and staring at Brandon as if he were an animal she was shooing away. “Leave please. We will address this later.”

Brandon cast a glance at Cass. He wanted her to go with him, that much was obvious. She shook her head ever so slightly. If she went with Brandon, it would only make things worse on her.

“I said leave,
now
!” Natalia picked up Brandon’s shoes and threw them out the door. She was reaching for his arm, but he jerked away and stomped out the door. He turned to say something, but Natalia slammed the door in his face and threw the bolt, locking Cass inside with her.

Natalia stood facing the door for several moments, her back to Cass.

“Did you think I didn’t notice that you were combing your hair in the morning?” Natalia asked. Her voice was low. “I didn’t give you permission to do that.” She turned to look at Cass. Her brown eyes took in the entire outfit the automaton was wearing. “So do you fancy yourself a pretty girl now?”

“No,” Cass shook her head.

“Are you sure? You seem to be going out of your way to doll yourself up.”

Cass didn’t say anything. Her hand shook harder. She clasped it in a fist behind her back to stop the nervous tick.

Natalia crossed over to Cass and ran her hand through her hair. “It’s so real feeling. One could almost imagine you weren’t a machine.” She spoke softly, staring into Cass’s face. “I know the difference. Do you know how?”

“No,” Cass whispered.

“It’s right there.” She jabbed a finger into Cass’s infrared eye.

Cass stumbled as the world around her blurred and went fuzzy. Natalia balled her hand in Cass’s hair, not allowing the robot to fall.

“Did that hurt? Machines don’t feel pain. Did that hurt?” Natalia said. Her voice was dangerously low.

“No,” Cass whimpered, shaking her head. The room was coming into focus. “I’m a machine. Machines don’t feel pain.”

“And they don’t almost strike nurses. And they don’t fall in love with humans because they can’t feel love and they
aren’t
human.”

Cass steadied herself.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know about the incident with the nurse?” Natalia asked. She was steering Cass across the living room by the hair of the head. “The doctor’s office called me when you left to tell me. I know that you should have been home much earlier that day, and that you didn’t need to rest when you got here. I didn’t want to believe it at first. I didn’t want to think that my boyfriend who I’ve given so much of my life to would be a fucking circuit breaker.”

She yanked open the closet door and pushed Cass inside. Cass fell to her knees, her face inches from the stool where she powered down at night when Natalia was sleeping. There on the stool was the white shorts and the blue peasant shirt she’d worn the other day.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice my clothes were coming up missing?”

Cass shook her head. “I only took the one?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Cass said. Her voice quivered in time with her hand.

“Because you want to be a human, is that it? You want to know what it’s like to be me?”

“No,” Cass said.

“
Lies
!” Natalia slammed Cass’s face into the stool.

Cass reeled backwards. Natalia took her by the hair once more and dragged her out of the closet. She pushed her to the floor and straddled her. “Did your nose break?”

“No,” Cass said.

“Why?” Natalia asked, slapping her upside the head. She had Cass’s arms pinned to her side, held in place with her knees.

“Because I don’t have a nose made of cartilage like you,” Cass told her.

“Why?” She slapped her again.

“Because I wasn’t made like that.”

“Right, you were
made
. You’re
not
human. You’re a filthy machine.” She slapped her again. “Is your skin going to bruise?”

“No,” Cass said.

“Why?”

“It can’t.”

“Why?” Natalia asked louder, slapping Cass harder.

“Because I’m a machine.”

“No, you’re a
filthy
machine!” Natalia stood and dragged Cass to the closet. She pushed her inside and slammed the door shut. “And filthy machines don’t feel pain. Machines can’t love. All they can do is
pretend
to be human, but they aren’t. And to show you that you aren’t.”

The inside of the closet flared a blinding white. Cass listed to the side, falling into the stool. She tried to stand up, but like the day at the doctor’s office when the nurse shined the light into her infrared, Cass was blinded. Circuits all along her nervous system screamed out in pain at the blinding light.