What Lies Behind: A New Adult Dark Science Fiction Romance (5 page)

The holovision over the fireplace clicked on at the prescribed time to the news channel Natalia liked, but Cass wasn’t sure her owner truly heard any of it.

“It’s another warm day out there today,” the news broadcaster said. She was a petite woman with dark hair and a pale face. “And while it’s warming up outside, the tensions are mounting in the station over something that’s gained a lot of attention lately, android rights.”

“We should say
robot
rights,” a large man with white hair and a pinched face said. “Android means they are as close to human as they can be. I think even the
liberals
would agree with that.”

Beside him a blond woman nodded. Her face was pinched too, but not because of her size, more because of her expression and obvious dismay at having to agree with the man to her left. Cass sat down the knife and stared at the woman. That was the woman from her memory—or her whatever it was when the doctor turned her off yesterday. She could barely believe her eyes. This was Olivia. A smile spread across her face. If her memory had been right, this would have been her previous owner. The one who cared so much for her.

If she’s still alive, why did she give me up?
Cass wondered. Her smile wilted. She went back to chopping the fruit.
Probably didn’t want me. Maybe she got a newer model.

“That’s correct. Until they can function more in the capacity of humans, they are automatons.”

“And since they
aren’t
capable of functioning on their own, they shouldn’t deserve rights,” the man said.

“They
can
function on their own,” the woman said, turning to the man. “They are completely capable of living life as their own entity.”

“And you would have us grant them the same rights as us? The people who created them?”

“Why not?” the woman shrugged. “We create our children and don’t think they deserve any less than us.” Olivia argued.

Deserve to be abandoned?
Cass wondered. Her thoughts flashed to the day before with Gerard. The doctor seemed to know Cass in some capacity. She was
from
his showroom. The conversation had indicated that Natalia had bought Cass from him.
He knows something,
she thought. If she wanted answers, she should start with the doctor.

“And people enter into relationships with these things. Nothing more than a glorified sex doll,” the man said.

“Sir, please,” the anchor woman said. “Ms. Hampton, is it true that people are finding relationships with robots the way most people would human counter-parts?”

“No,” the man said.

“Please, let me speak,” Olivia barked.

“These circuit breakers—” the man started, slamming his fist on the glass table.

“Sir, please, watch your language.” The anchor woman frowned.

“Sorry, these automaton
lovers
are taking advantage of lesser beings.”

“Lesser beings who are able to think and act like humans. How can you portray
anything
as evil if it’s concerned with love?” The woman turned to him again. “Those of the right wing party are doing to robots what they’ve always done to what is different. Shut them away or focus on a sexual act that has nothing to do with equal rights.”

A door closed in Natalia’s room and Cass jumped.

“Yes Mrs. Birch, I’m preparing the files you want. Just like last month.” Natalia stepped into the living room and frowned at the holovision. “Yes, center spread and theme. Don’t worry, you’ll have them later today.”

Natalia was silent for a time, her eyes distant, listening to the person on the other end of her phone implant. Natalia tucked her dark hair behind her ear and tapped her foot. “Yes. I know what’s at stake here. Just assure me I will have a top ranking job when all is said and done?” Natalia nodded in satisfaction. “You don’t need to worry about loyalties, you should know that by now. I have to go. You’ll have the files later today.”

Natalia nodded one last time, touched a spot behind her ear and turned to Cass.

“Ugh, shut that off, I can’t stand to listen to them,” Natalia commanded and waved her hand dismissively at the holovision.

Cass sat Natalia’s breakfast out for her and obediently turned off the holovision. She then sat on the couch, as she did every morning, to give her owner peace and quiet before her trek to work. It wasn’t until after Natalia finished her breakfast, grabbed her keys, and whisked out the door that Cass went about cleaning up the kitchen, and then made her way into the bathroom.

She picked up all the things Natalia had left all over the place. She deposited the deodorant in the drawer, the dirty clothes lying on the floor into the hamper. She went to the closet to pick up what Natalia had strewn over the floor there as well. Cass wasn’t sure why some of the clothes were on the floor. Natalia never had to go through her own closet, Cass did that for her. Why she always left her closet a mess was beyond her. Cass placed the clothes by color and shades on hangers around the closet. It was as though Natalia had gone around and randomly pulled garments out of place and tossed them on the floor.

Her hand hesitated on the pair of white shorts. Her fingers quivered against the material. They were rough…whatever that meant. Her visual overlay would tell her when something was soft or rough, but they both felt the same to her flesh. Maybe felt was the wrong word. She couldn’t specifically feel them. There weren’t senses in her skin like there were for humans. She could determine hot and cold, and she could determine density and wetness. She couldn’t feel the cool rush of water, or what coarse material felt like slipping over her skin. She tried to imagine what rough would feel like on her.

What would these look like on me?
She wondered. To wear something other than the ugly blue pants she’d been given hadn’t been a thought to her before yesterday, when all of those other programs started coming online.

Cass’s gaze darted to the closet door. She stilled herself and listened for any noise within the apartment. She didn’t hear any, but still she was worried. What if Natalia returned?

She would make it quick. Cass shucked off her blue pants and pulled on the white shorts. Her fingers were shaking, but she managed to get them buttoned. She and Natalia were about the same size, though Natalia was taller than Cass. The shorts fit her well.

It was so strange seeing her legs. How long had it been? She couldn’t remember. She wore the same clothes day in and day out. Her legs were long and slender and looked a perfect shade of tan against the white shorts.

Once she’d changed her pants, Cass was emboldened. She pulled her shirt off as well. She ran her hands over the different shirts in the collection, finding one she thought was perfect. It was a white shirt with short, puffy sleeves. There was blue embroidery around the top and a blue decorative string laced through the collar. This was more flowing than the shorts. The shirt must be softer than the shorts.

She yelped when a knock sounded at the door. Cass tugged the shirt on and padded, barefoot, out through the living room and to the front door. At first she was worried that it was Natalia, but why would she knock?

Cass peaked through the peephole and saw that it was Brandon.

She’d almost forgotten about the surprise he planned today. In fact, she had been planning on investigating the doctor more before Brandon knocked on the door. She frowned. It wasn’t that Cass
didn’t
want to spend time with him today, it was that she’d rather spend time investigating what was changing about her. Why was she suddenly so different? Was it really because of all the abuse she’d been facing?

Cass opened the door and smiled at Brandon, pushing the thoughts aside.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as she closed the door behind him. He stepped closer to her and felt at her head. His face creased in a frown, his eyebrows pulling down.

“Fine,” she said, letting him feel where she’d been struck before.

“And everything is alright? Your programming is okay?” he asked.

She nodded, crossing her hands before her.

“Hey, new clothes!” he said. A smile spread across his face, showing a straight line of white teeth. “Did you do something special to warrant such kind treatment?”

Cass chuckled. “No, Natalia’s at work. She doesn’t know I’m playing dress up.”

“Well, then it’s our secret. What about your hair? You’re not going to leave it like that, are you?” he asked, steering her toward the couch.

“Well, I wasn’t really going to stay like this,” she said, trying to pull away from him. “Let me go change and you can show me what you have in mind for a surprise.”

“Not that fast,” Brandon said and laughed. He took her shoulders in his hands and steered her toward the couch. “If you’re going to get all dolled up, you need the hair to match, don’t you?”

She let Brandon set her on the couch and he went looking for a comb. She studied the hover cars as they meandered along outside. What if someone saw them through the patio door? But the people weren’t looking at the apartment complex. Or if they were, they weren’t studying the windows.

What did it really matter? Natalia had never given Cass anything other than damage that needed repairing and treating her like dirt. Brandon made her feel good. Should she feel bad for that? Should she be scared of Natalia because of how another person decided to treat her?

What’s happening to you?
She wondered. Why was she suddenly having these thoughts? What did it mean? She had always been a good servant before.

“Cass, what are you doing? Let me out!”

The memory came and went so fast she couldn’t be sure if she’d experienced it or not.

I have to see Gerard,
Cass thought.
Something isn’t right with me. He’s wrong. He needs to fix me.
Did she really want to be fixed though? Didn’t she like what was happening to her?
Everything had been so much simpler before,
she thought.

Cass was staring at the floor in disbelief when Brandon returned.

“Alright, since your hair looks like it’s going to be long when we get it all untangled, I found a hair clip for you.”

“Thanks,” Cass said.

“And here,” Brandon said, placing a pair of leathery sandals on the floor before her. “Put these on.”

They were dainty and showed of the gentle arch of her feet and the narrowness of her ankles.

Brandon positioned himself behind her, moved her around slightly so he could get a good angle, and started combing out the tangles that had become of her hair. He was gentle and slow, making sure he didn’t tug more than necessary.

“I don’t know how people like her get away with doing this,” Brandon said.

“Like who, and doing what?” Cass wondered.

“People like Natalia and how they treat robots.”

Cass shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it. Do they treat us bad?” That was a lie. She had thought about it. Part of her, no matter how comfortable she felt around Brandon, still couldn’t trust him completely. She didn’t want him to know what she was thinking, not after how he looked at her yesterday at the doctor’s office.

“Some people do,” Brandon said. “You were bought used, don’t you remember your family before Natalia?”

“A little bit here and there,” Cass said. She looked at her hands in her lap and started picking at her nails. She didn’t really like where this was going.

“Did they treat you better?” Brandon asked.

“They treated me different, that’s for sure,” Cass said.
How different I need to talk to the doctor to find out.
If only Brandon had forgotten their meeting today. If only he’d forgotten his surprise.
What could it be?
If it didn’t take too long maybe she could sneak off to Gerard before Natalia got home.

But he said she was working late today and that means whatever he’s planning is going to take some time.

“No beatings, no closet?” Brandon asked.

“No beatings,” she said with a shake of her head.

“You know why she does it right?” Brandon asked.

“No,” Cass said.

“Her father left her mother for a robot,” he told her.

“Is that normal?” Cass wondered. She remembered the news broadcast from earlier and wondered if that was something that commonly happened. As far as she knew, she was just programs and wires, nothing much to love, unless you programmed the robot for such a thing. She toyed with the hem of her shirt.

“It happens from time to time,” Brandon said. He pulled her hair back and twisted it up. She felt the clip go in place in her hair.

“Isn’t that strange?” Cass asked.

“Why would it be strange?” Brandon shrugged.

“A robot with a human?”

“What’s so different?” he wondered.

Cass frowned. She shook her head, there was no point in getting into it with him. “So what’s this surprise?” Cass asked. She turned to Brandon with a genuine smile on her face. Doctor Gerard would have to wait. Right now she was getting to spend time with someone who didn’t make her feel like a robot. Even if their interaction wasn’t genuine as she feared, at least Cass could enjoy how it felt to be treated as Brandon’s equal for a time.

“You’re killing me,” Brandon said.

“What did I do?” Cass asked. She turned to him and placed his hand on his arm. She looked him over, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him.

“Just an expression.” Brandon laughed at the look on her face and took her by the hand. “This time I’m driving, my plans don’t include us going several miles away from our destination to some strange place that makes you faint.”

“Power off,” Cass said. “Automatons don’t faint.”

“Isn’t it still kind of the same thing?” Brandon wondered, tugging her toward the door. She followed him out the door and to the elevator.

“I don’t know, is it?” Cass asked. She fingered the delicate flower clip he’d placed in her hair. She could see it in the reflection: thin and transparent with pink petals that seemed like they were spun out of the very air itself.

“Well, technically I guess not. You power down and everything stops running. That can’t happen for humans, when it does we’re dead.” He said it as if she didn’t already know that. The elevator whisked them up to the roof and she followed him out into the overcast day. “But really, something happened that frustrated you or disturbed you and you sorta passed out. That’s a reaction with humans.”