Perfect (2 page)

I soon realized that we were walking closer
to a road, although still sheltered by trees. Yvonne went ahead to
check that there were no creators before ushering us up to a dark
colored vehicle stationed at the side of the road.

“Why should we go anywhere with you?” Michael
demanded, eyeing the car.

Yvonne gave him an annoyed look. “Because if
you don’t, the creators will find you.” She raised her eyebrows as
if asking him which he’d prefer—the creators or her.

He heaved an irritated sigh. I saw him pat
his pockets then groan quietly. Jessica nudged him, a worried
expression in her eyes. “The cell phone—it’s gone.”

“Where?” Jessica demanded.

He shook his head. “Must have fallen
out.”

Suddenly Yvonne grabbed my arm and pulled me
toward her car.

“Is this yours?” I asked as she turned the
ignition on.

She shrugged. “Got it from one of the
creators.”

I wasn’t sure if “getting it from them” meant
that they gave it to her or she just took it. I guessed probably
the latter. Michael looked at me and I could see in his dark brown
eyes that he was thinking the same thing.

“So where exactly are we going?” he demanded.
When Yvonne didn’t reply, he repeated his question.

“I heard you,” she snapped irritably. “But
you’ll find out whether I tell you or not, so I don’t see much of a
point.”

Michael sighed loudly.

Yvonne switched to drive and pulled out into
the road. After a twenty minute ride up a long spirally road that
nearly made Jessica carsick and caused Michael to snap at Yvonne
every time she sped too fast or turned too sharply, we came across
an old broken down house. Or more like a cabin or a shack.

“Um...” Jessica stared out the window at the
building that seemed like it would fall apart any second. The
window facing the driveway was broken, dirty panes of glass
glinting in the sunlight. The door stood slightly ajar and the
steps leading up to the front porch looked rotten and crumbled. I
didn’t even want to go inside, much less live here while Yvonne
thought up some crazy way to use us to her advantage. “We’re
staying
here
?” Jessica squeaked.

Yvonne gave her a dirty look as if to tell
her she was wasting her time. “Yeah,” she answered.

We walked up the steps and into the house,
surveying the broken windows and rusty front steps. The inside was
completely bare except for a couch at the end of the room that
looked moldy and untouched for decades. There was only one room and
nothing else. We stared around in discontentment.

“What about bathrooms?” Jessica cried,
looking completely horrified.

“Not my problem,” Yvonne replied, sounding
bored.

“So you’re just making us stay here?” Michael
asked her, shock and disgust in his voice.

She shrugged. “Pretty much. Otherwise, you’ll
get caught by the creators.”

Michael sighed irritably. “Hold on a second,”
he snapped. “You can’t just do this. How long are we going to stay
here?”

Yvonne rolled her eyes. “Stop being so
melodramatic. You’re a tough boy. You can rough it for a few
days.”

Michael looked as if he was going to say
something else, but Yvonne was already heading for the door. “Oh,”
she added turning back. “Don’t try to run away or anything.” She
held up the tracking device once more, dangling it before us with
an impish smile. “Or the creators will be right on your heels.” And
with that she turned and left.

Chapter Two

I looked at Jessica,
who was staring open-mouthed at the door. “What?” she managed to
blurt out in a near shriek. “What’s going on? One minute we’re
about to go home after school and the next we’re being chased into
the depths of who knows where!” She threw her arms in the air, an
expression of horror and shock etched on her features. Although she
was trying to keep her composure, I could tell she was more freaked
out than she let on.

“Calm down, Jess,” Michael told her, although
he looked just as concerned.

“Don’t talk to me,” she snapped angrily,
pushing a strand of long brown hair out of her eyes. “Drew, what’s
going on?”

I sighed. “It’s a long and complicated story,
and I’m sorry you had to get caught up in it,” I told her
sadly.

She continued to look at me expectantly, her
soft brown eyes rimmed with worry, her chest rising and falling
rapidly—her breathing labored.

“Yvonne is one of the androids I grew up
with,” I started. “We were best friends when we were younger, but
after I came back...” I noticed the puzzled expression on Jessica’s
face at the words “came back” but decided to go on anyway. “She had
changed. She was selfish and did things only for herself. I knew
she would probably get in the way and turn me in, I just didn’t
want to see it.” The confession made me realize how true it was. I
knew Yvonne. I knew this was coming. I had just refused to believe
it.

Jessica nodded, although she didn’t look like
she understood in the least. “So, this whole android thing? What’s
going on with that?” she asked slowly. Her tone suggested she
didn’t really want to know, but had to ask anyway. Guilt gnawed at
my insides.

I shrugged. “From what I hear, the creators
want to make a perfect world by making everyone in it perfect.” My
words frightened me. For some reason, saying them out loud made
them more real. “They started with people who wouldn’t be missed,
mostly kids with no families. But now everyone’s on their
list.”

Jessica’s eyes widened a little. “Perfect, as
in robots?”

I nodded slowly.

She gave a small, disbelieving sigh. “It’s
like one of those sick science fiction movies come to life.” She
stared at the floor with a look of horror and hopelessness. The
comment would have been funny if we weren’t all so upset. And if
the subject was even remotely humorous.

“I’m sorry, Jessica,” I told her truthfully.
“I’m sorry you had to get caught up in all this.”

* * * *

The night was cold. Jessica ended up sleeping
on the couch once it had been dusted off but Michael and I had to
sleep on the hard, rotting, wood floor. There were no blankets or
pillows anywhere in the house and the night was frigid and
damp.

In the morning everyone was hungry. Well, I
wasn’t since being an android doesn’t call for food, but Jessica
and Michael were. Since there was no food and we were forbidden to
leave the house, they were forced to stay hungry.

“Who does she think she is anyway?” Jessica
snapped at no one in particular. Michael rolled his eyes and I
wondered if Jessica was normally grumpy when she was hungry.
“Making us stay here of all places.” I could tell it wasn’t going
to take much on my part to convince them of Yvonne’s treachery.

“Well, she could turn me in,” I explained
sadly. “But you guys are free to go at any time,” I said, sitting
on the couch, hesitating for only a second upon seeing the
moth-eaten cover.

“Where would we go?” Michael asked me with a
shake of his head. “Even if we wanted to leave you, we would just
get caught by the creators, or whatever they’re called.”

“Jessica would,” I agreed. “She’s already on
their list. But according to Yvonne, everyone is supposed to
eventually end up on that list.” At my words, Jessica’s face
paled.

There was silence.

Then I heard a noise outside—a car door
slamming. I scrambled from the couch as Michael walked toward the
window and I followed him. There was a knock on the door, making
Jessica jump. “Can you see who it is from the window?” I asked
Michael.

He shook his head. “They’re too close to the
house.”

I walked to the door and cautiously opened
it, ready to pummel whomever it was if they turned out to be a
creator. The door creaked as I slowly opened it, but to my relief
and surprise, it was Jeremy, an android I had known back at the
Institution.

But as I stared at him, memories surfaced.
Hadn’t Jeremy been sent to jail? He had attacked Caroline, one of
my friends at school a few months back, severely injuring her
because of the fact that she wasn’t perfect. Could Jeremy be
trusted?

I slowly let him in but watched him
carefully, making sure to stay between him and Jessica and
Michael.

“Hi, Drew,” he said with a smile. “Haven’t
seen you in ages,” he added as if we were merely old high school
friends. It seemed an odd remark considering the last time I had
seen him, he was jamming a knife into my friend’s stomach. Needless
to say, we didn’t exactly part on good terms.

“Hey, Jeremy,” I replied cautiously. “Aren’t
you—”

“A criminal?” he finished for me, and then
laughed. “Yeah, the sentence was commuted.” He raised his eyebrows.
“The governor was
altered
.” He made quotation marks with his
fingers as he said the last word. He laughed again.

I just stared at him. They were getting more
people than I had realized. The governor had been perfected? “So
are you over your grudge against normal humans?” I asked carefully,
acutely aware of the presence of Jessica and Michael behind me. I
didn’t know what had gotten into him back at the high school with
Caroline, but I didn’t want to take the chance it could happen
again.

“Oh yeah,” he said, “don’t worry about that.
I just freaked out for some reason.” He explained it as though he
didn’t even know himself why he had attacked Caroline. “But anyway,
I went back to the Institution and they talked to me and stuff and
it’s all good now.”

“Huh,” I replied, still unsure whether or not
to trust him or what exactly they had “talked” to him about. He
seemed too happy. Too normal. But then again, all the androids were
strange. Me included.

“Anyway,” he went on. “I brought you guys
some food.” He held up a plastic bag.

“Thanks,” I replied, taking it from him.
Jessica and Michael, who had been standing a few feet back watching
Jeremy, stepped forward to view the contents.

“So, you’re with Yvonne?” I asked Jeremy,
just now realizing that he had to be on either her side or the
creators’. And considering the fact that he hadn’t immediately
hauled us off to the Institution, I guessed he was siding with
Yvonne.

He nodded. “I agree with her plans and
stuff.”

I wondered if he really did or if he just
went along with it strictly because he liked her. I remembered back
at the Institution before Jeremy was sent to prison that he and
Yvonne had liked each other. Although I wouldn’t exactly say Yvonne
was one to be faithful to just one person. After all, she had
kissed Michael, knowing I had liked him, and while she had still
liked Jeremy. Yet another reason why I didn’t exactly like or trust
her.

“Well, it’s a relief to know you won’t turn
us in to the creators,” I told him, giving him a meaningful
glance.

“Yeah,” he replied. “At this point we’re not
really going along with the creators,” he said, giving me the
feeling he was only repeating Yvonne’s words. “We just make them
think we do.” He laughed again. It definitely sounded like
something Yvonne would say.

“So where’s Yvonne today?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “Institution, I would
guess.”

“Oh.” I looked over at Jessica and Michael,
who were sitting on the couch opening the bag of food.

We stood there for a moment in awkward
silence. “Well, I’d better be going,” Jeremy said with a wave.
“Later.” He opened the door and walked out, not even bothering to
close it behind him. I followed after him to shut the door.

Then I turned to the others. Michael held up
a sandwich, although I noticed that Jeremy had only brought two.
“You want one?”

I shook my head. “No, you guys go ahead. I’m
fine.”

He gave me a puzzled look. “Aren’t you
hungry?”

“No. I don’t need food,” I replied. “I’m an
android, remember?” I laughed, feeling self-conscious about it.

He smiled uneasily and shrugged. “Okay.” I
couldn’t help but notice Jessica looking surprised by my
statement.

I sat next to him on the couch and watched
him and Jessica eat. I leaned backward, feeling the wooden
structure beneath the cushion, and started thinking about Yvonne.
What would she do? She would undoubtedly use me for whatever insane
plans she had to ensure her future power. But what about when she
was done with me? Would she continue to protect me? Or would she
turn me in to the creators? After all, it probably took some work
keeping me safe and away from their reach. And would she be willing
to keep it up once I became useless to her?

I leaned forward and put my head on Michael’s
shoulder. It was warm and he smelled good. He looked over and slid
his arm around me. “What’s wrong?” he asked, surveying my
expression.

“I’m just worried,” I told him.

“Yeah. Me too.” He squeezed my shoulder.

“You guys need to promise me something,” I
said.

Jessica leaned over so she could see me.
“What is it?” she asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

“If Yvonne is going to turn me in, I want you
both to leave me,” I said. “I’m the only one with a tracking
device. She can’t find you unless you’re with me.”

Michael sat up straighter, causing me to
raise my head. “Drew, we’re not going to leave you,” he said
sternly.

“Stop it,” I told him, starting to truly feel
irritated. “I would stand a better chance with them than you would.
And what good are you if you’re dead?” I whispered the last word,
looking away.

Michael frowned, running his fingers through
his brown hair, in frustration.

“They wouldn’t kill us, would they?” Jessica
asked timidly, her voice betraying her shock.

“Don’t you guys see?” I asked, standing,
frustration dripping through me, although not for them. “It’s
practically the same thing. They change you. Make you a different
person. You wouldn’t be you anymore. You’d be a robot. It seems the
same as death,” I said, remembering the years I had spent “shut
off” and the feeling of nothingness that had enveloped me.