Alt+Control 23

Shit, shit, shit! I force my hand through the gap and push more. The door refuses to budge anymore.

I can hear the robot coming closer to me. It sounds like footsteps, but it’s too even and methodical to be human. It sounds like a ticking clock, every second closer to me than it was before. The footsteps are now a car away from me.

I renew my efforts, but I can’t do anything. Nothing’s moving anymore. I take off both of my high heels, just in case I need to run.

I finally see what the robot looks like. It’s an android, probably an Alphaport 3.0 version. I’ve seen images of these on the internet, but they’re still very rare. No one can afford androids unless you’re a millionaire…or the government. Almost no one has ever seen a real life android, so I could count myself lucky. This android is probably the last thing I’ll ever see. It stops a few paces in front of me

The android is human-like in shape, but that’s where the similarities seem to end. The eyes are red bulbs, with no pupils or whites. The “skin” is a pure white, with no changes in colour anywhere, flaws or scratches. But the mouth is the scariest part: it’s stuck in a little half-smile, as if it’s going to take pleasure in tearing my limbs apart.

The mouth moves slightly, and the android starts to speak. “Oh, Kaya. Just surrender right now, and I’ll make sure you’ll fall asleep with no pain.”

“Screw off, android. No way am I going to do that.”

“You have a very dirty mouth for such a little girl. I’m afraid I’ll have to punish you, although I really didn’t want to.”

The android holds up a perfectly flawless hand, and to my horror, the hand starts to shirt and rearrange itself. When the transformation is done, I’m facing down the barrel of some sort of a gun.

“Don’t worry Kaya. It’s only an electrical stun gun. It won’t hurt a bit,” said the android. “Well, maybe it’ll hurt for a bit. But you’ll fall asleep right away.” The android steps forward.

I quickly step backwards, and try to keep the same distance between that gun and me.

“Come on, Kaya. I promise I won’t hurt you after.” The android picks up its speed suddenly, and closes the distance between us. I can hear the whirring and clicking inside of its chest, replacing the sound of a beating heart. A heat radiated off of the android’s smooth, white “skin”. If I didn’t know I am going to die, I’d think myself lucky to be so close to a working android.

“Sweet dreams, Kaya,” it smiles.

Before it can fire, I shove one of my heels down the barrel of the gun, and I slam the other into one of the android’s red, unblinking eye.

The heel smashed clean through the eye, and I can see the wires sparking and fizzing through the gash. Its free hand clasps over the gaping hole. I grab its stun gun hand bash it against one of the poles inside the car. The android steps back in surprise, and its hand switches back to its normal form, albeit a little deformed. I take advantage of its surprise by smashing the other eye too.

“Naughty girl, I’ll still be able to find you,” it said and swiveled its head around as if to survey the scene with its blind eyes. The eye I just destroyed is hissing more violently, and I can see I broke several wires inside. Thankfully, it only has its “ears” now, and I’m going to take full advantage of that.

I throw my shoe past the android as far as I can down the train, and it lands with a loud clack. The android’s head snaps backwards, and it heads towards the noise. With its back facing towards me, I kick it as hard as I can.

The android topples like a felled tree, not even bothering to break its fall with its arms. I must have broken some of the nervous system wires when I smashed through the eye. The company did a pretty bad job of wiring and protection if you ask me.

The android struggles to get up, but without its arms it can’t. I approach it cautiously and step on its head.

“I have places to go android,” I say, looking down on it. I place a little more pressure through my foot. “But before I go, tell me who sent you.”

“Access denied. You are not verified for that information.”

I place a bit more pressure, and I feel something give way inside. “I don’t want to kill you. Tell me who sent you and I’ll let you go.”

“Access denied.”

“Just tell me, god damn it!”

“Access d—“ the voice fizzed out, replaced by a new one.

“Well, I see you’ve defeated this one,” says the voice. It’s masculine, and definitely human.

“Who the hell are you?” I ask, although I already know. Who else would it be?

“That’s classified information Kaya. I was hoping that the Alphaport would bring you to us, but you’re very lucky today.” I can almost hear the amused grin on the other side of the intercom.

“What do you want from me?”

“Oh nothing much, Kaya. Just you. You’re very special you know?”

“Special like Lukas was?” I ask. My reply is just a chuckle.

“You’re much more special than him. Much more.”

“You must be pretty desperate to get me if you’re willing to send out the android. Trying to kill me with a car wasn’t enough, I guess.”

“Do not try our patience, Kaya,” the voice says, much colder this time. “We’ll let you go today, but trust me, we’ll find you no matter where you hide.” The doors open, and my phone beeps.

“Tell this to the rest of your organization,” I say, grabbing my shoes and putting them on. “I won’t be hiding. Rather, I’ll be the one waiting.” I kick the head of the android violently, and it falls silent.

I check my phone, and see that I have 4 missed calls from Marc. Shit! I’m 5 minutes late for the meeting!

I sprint out of the station, to the awaiting figure that belongs to Marc.