Experiment #459

"We asked our Masters about it, and they told us that that monster would come for us if we were bad, so we had to be a good boy and keep it away. Back at the facility we at least had our pod to keep the monster out, but here, there was nothing between us, and..."

More tears fell.

"We've been a b-bad boy. The m-monster knew we ran away...it was...it was going to—"

Before he finished his sentence I wrapped him up in a tight hug.

"You don't have to worry."

He was sobbing in my arms.

"This was a m-mistake. We belong b-back at the facility. We n-need our Masters."

"Listen to me. Your Masters are lying to you, manipulating you into thinking you need them."

I put my hand on his head and petted his hair.

"What you're describing is called sleep paralysis. It's not a monster coming to get you, it's more like a bad dream, and it can't hurt you. They just told you that so you would obey them."

"That's n-not true. Our M-Masters were protecting us."

"No, they weren't. They were never trying to help you. They just wanted you to do what they told you."

He cried some more.

"Rachel...we're scared. We don't know how to live without our Masters. We're alone."

"That's not true. You have me."

My mind was made up. Nightingale would not have him. Damascus would not take him. I was going to protect this boy no matter what.

I pulled back so he could look me in the eye.

"You've spent your life being told you're less than human. That stops now. I'm going to help you get the life you deserve."

He looked shocked.

"What?"

"You're not going back to the facility. You're not getting a new Master, either. I'll make sure of that."

He started tearing up some more.

"But...why? Why are you helping us?"

I smiled a little.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm helping you because I'm your friend."

His lower lip quivered and I pulled him back in, hugging him firmly. It took a while for him to calm down, but when he did, he was smiling. It occurred to me that it was the first smile I'd seen from him.

"We should both go back to sleep," I told him.

He looked at his pillow, fear entering his expression.

"We..."

I stood up and took his hand, walking us to my room.

"You said you were scared because there was nothing in between you and the monster anymore. But now you have me. I'll hold you tight and keep you safe, okay?"

He smiled again, his eyes shiny.

"Thank you so much, Rachel. We don't know how to repay you."

"Don't worry about it. This is what friends do."

A few minutes later we were laying on my bed, him in my arms, and he fell asleep almost immediately.

I was fully aware of what I had just committed to. This meant I was against both Nightingale and Damascus. But I knew this was the right thing to do. If I just let him go, I'd be no better than the monsters who made him, or the ones who wanted him as their own experiment.

Things were about to get really, really complicated, but at the moment I could just lay and take comfort in knowing I was helping this kid.

Not long after, I was asleep.

*****

When I woke up the next day the experiment was already awake, sitting on the bed and seemingly waiting for me to wake up, too.

"Good morning, Rachel!" he said happily.

"Good morning." I sat up. "Did you sleep well?"

He nodded. "We've never felt so safe before."

I smiled. He definitely trusted me and was happy, but it occurred to me that if we were going to escape Nightingale and Damascus he also needed to blend in better. I knew what step one would be.

I went over to my dresser and looked for some clothes. I'm 5'11", much taller than him, so it was tricky, but I found some clothes that were too small for me that looked like they would work.

"You need to get dressed," I said, holding them out to him.

"You don't need to worry about us, Rachel. We're fine."

I shook my head. "That's not the issue. You're not an experiment anymore, you're a human, and humans wear clothes."

His eyes widened. "Wow, really?"

He eagerly dressed and it admittedly looked kind of odd. Not only did the clothes not fit very well, but I was also just so used to him being naked that it was strange to see.

"Do we look like a regular human?"

"I guess, but you don't talk like a regular human. Try using 'I' and not 'we.'"

"Okay, we...uh, I'll do our best. My best."

He blushed at fumbling with such a simple sentence.

"You also need a name, but we'll have to think of one later. Right now I got a call to make."

He nodded and just sat down on the bed again, smiling like a little kid in a toy store. Chuckling, I walked out and called my little sister.

"Hey, Rachel."

"Hi, Tara. How's school?" Ever since she started college, she'd been boarding in a school out of town. She had potential that I knew the schools in the city wouldn't help with. That's why I had been working so hard, I needed to pay for her tuition, which wasn't cheap.

"I'm doing okay, but Master's Biology is tough." She always wanted to be a doctor, but I realized that that put me in a weird position. New developments made it so there was no way I was going to let her work for the largest medical conglomerate around here, Nightingale. But I would have to cross that bridge when I got to it. Right now I had enough on my plate.

"Listen, I know this is sudden, but I'm going to be really busy for the next few weeks. You probably won't hear from me as much."

"Oh. Did something...come up?" I never told Tara what I did to get our money, but I knew she was able to tell it was dangerous, maybe even illegal.

"What came up is nothing you have to worry about. Just keep studying and working hard, okay?"

"Okay, then." She still sounded concerned. "Please take care of yourself."

It made me smile to hear that from her, someone who I had spent most of my life taking care of. Still, we had gotten to the point where she could stand on her own two feet, at least for now. But I just met somebody who didn't and I knew I had to help them.

"Bye, sis. I love you." I said.

"Goodbye."

The yet-to-be-named experiment and I had breakfast, me keeping up the conversation and him constantly struggling with his pronouns, but I could tell he was starting to get the hang of it. About thirty minutes after the meal ended I heard the buzz of my doorbell.

When I opened the door I was taken aback to see a police officer. She wasn't armed, but she looked like she meant business.

"Can I help you, officer?"

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we've gotten reports of an escaped experiment roaming the area. It may appear harmless, but Nightingale told us it's quite dangerous. Have you seen any suspicious characters lately?"

I took a few seconds to try to compose myself before I responded.

"No, I can't say that I have."

"That's alright. Take care."

"You too."

I closed the door and waited about a minute before I allowed myself to breathe again.

How was Nightingale able to get so close in such a short time? They had to know that the experiment was in this building, but I lived on the third floor. If they just saw him on the streets or something they would have told the front desk. They knew he was here, but they didn't know which apartment he was in.

Then it clicked.

"Kid, we need to get out of here." I called.

"Why?" he asked.

"They've got you—"

BANG-BANG-BANG!!

Both of us jumped at the sound of pounding at the door.

"This is the police! Come out with the experiment immediately!"

Fuck me. They were able to tell somehow. Suddenly I recalled that the officer had a body cam. Nightingale probably orchestrated this whole thing. I could picture them sitting in a van outside, watching the video feed and knowing I had something to hide from my reaction.

"We're going out through the fire escape."

"The what?"

"No time to explain. Just follow me."

I ran to the window and opened it, looking at the rickety stairs below. This was a very cheap building, so they didn't keep up with maintenance. As a result, the entire bottom portion, almost a ten foot drop, was completely missing, probably stolen to be sold as raw materials. It had been like that since before I moved in.

"We're gonna have to jump."

"Rachel, we—"

I was already climbing down the stairs. Thankfully I had been in similar situations before and knew what to do. Jumping, I used my forward momentum to tuck into a roll and stand up uninjured. I looked up at the experiment.

"You need to jump, too!"

"But we—I'm scared!"

"It's okay, I'll catch you, I promise!" In reality I had no idea how well that would go, but we didn't have time for doubt.

Before he could answer, a loud bang came from inside the apartment, loud enough for me to hear from two floors below.

"They just blew the door! You need to jump now or they'll catch you!"

"We won't make it!"

"Yes you will! Trust me! JUMP!"

He looked behind him and yelped. I'm guessed he saw someone running up to catch him because that was the motivation he needed. He scrambled down the stairs and leapt off.

The landing was not graceful. Both of us fell to the ground, but we made it without hurting ourselves. Once again, I grabbed his hand and started running. Thankfully they had no way of knowing which vehicle was mine, so my bike was still parked.

"Rachel, how did they find us?"

"They must have you chipped. There's probably a tracking device somewhere in your body."

"Really? They never told us—me about that."

"There's probably a lot of things they never told you. But as long as you're chipped they'll always be able to find you sooner or later."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"I know someone who can help us."

"Really?"

I nodded.

I wasn't excited about the prospect, though. The person in question was someone I would have been fine with never seeing again. But we had no choice.

I pulled out my phone and tapped the contact I hadn't thought about in months. The phone started ringing and an all too familiar name appeared on the display.

Isaak.

*****

We hadn't talked about six months, but when he opened his door Isaak looked exactly how he did when we last met. Same strong, muscled body, same playful eyes, same short hair that he never bothered to brush or do anything with.

"Hey, Rach. I was surprised to get your call."

"Well, I need your help and you owe me."

He and I used to be in a serious relationship, and things had been going great until he got in trouble with the law and needed to go into hiding. He never even told me what he did, but it was enough for him to have to stay in my apartment for a few weeks. I could barely support myself, and suddenly I had a deadbeat living with me who couldn't even go outside. By the end of it I was just sick of him and we broke it off. But before he left he swore to me up and down that he owed me and would make it up to me later. I was completely satisfied with never holding him to that, but new circumstances changed things.

Isaak was incredible with robots, technology, and computers. He also told me that he ran an underground business of robotic implants and cybernetics. If I knew anyone who would be able to find the chip and get it out safely, it was him.

I put my hand on the experiment, who was standing next to me awkwardly.

"This guy is chipped. I need you to find the tracking device and remove it."

Isaak tilted his head a bit.

"Why—?"

"No questions. I want to get this done as soon as possible. Remember, you owe me."

He still looked curious, but didn't press further. He turned to the experiment.

"Do you know where the chip is? Even the general area?"

The kid shook his head.

Isaak sighed.

"Fine, follow me."

We went into his crappy little home and he led us to his workshop. After removing some miscellaneous junk from his work bench he told the experiment to hop on.

"If you're being tracked I have a frequency jammer. It won't cover it up completely, but it should buy us enough time."

"That sounds great," I replied.

"Awesome," he said, putting on gloves. "It's the green box on the second shelf behind you. Crank the knob all the way up and press the red button."

As I did what he said he started examining the boy's body, I assume to feel out where the chip was.

"Is there any point in me asking you who this kid is?" he asked me.

"Not really. He's a new friend and we'll just leave it at that."

A few minutes later he looked back over at me.

"This is going to take a while. Go relax on the couch if you want."

I hesitated on whether or not leaving the two alone was a good idea. But I figured the worst Isaak could do was ask too many questions.

"Just get the job done. He's really shy and doesn't want to chat right now."

I looked at the experiment, trying to convey what I was saying with my expression. Thankfully he seemed to understand and nodded slightly.

I had another call to make, and I had to leave so that the frequency jammer didn't affect my phone. Once I was outside I called Mars again.

"We have a problem. Nightingale had the experiment chipped and tracked us down. We're in hiding."

"Damn it, Rachel! This is why we should have made the exchange last night like I said!"

"Calm down. Right now we're getting the chip removed. We'll still meet up tonight."

That was a lie. I was never going to make the exchange. By nightfall we'll have already skipped town and be miles away, but I had to keep up appearances.

"Rachel, I need to give you a warning."

"Oh, another threat?" I remembered how cold he was last night.

"No, this is important. Our source has already told us something about the experiment that I think may be happening to you now."

I paused for a second.

"What are you talking about?"

"This experiment has something programmed into it that draws other people in. Some kind of magnetic pull that makes humans want to protect it. I think it has started manipulating you and making you want to let it escape."

I took a deep breath before I responded.

"What makes you say that? And why should I even believe you at this point?"

"I'm trying to help you, Rachel. You can't trust it."

"Thanks, but I don't need your help. I'll see you tonight. Goodbye."

I hung up and needed to get my bearings for a bit.

That had to be a lie, right? Mars was the one manipulating me, not the experiment. He's trying to gaslight me and make me give in.

But then again, if what he said was true, wouldn't that be exactly what I would think?

I remembered the strange pull the experiment did have on me, how fascinated I was with him from the moment I first saw him at Nightingale. I even resolved to go on the run from the two organizations that ran this city just so I could protect him.

Still, a vague magnetism wasn't the reason why I did what I did. The experiment was abused and neglected and I saved him from that because it was the right thing to do.

Unless...he was lying about how he was being treated. He could have even faked the sleep paralysis incident last night to gain sympathy.

No. That couldn't be what happened. I refused to believe it. In my head I could see two options about who was lying to me and what was really going on. If Mars was right, I was making a huge mistake. But I remembered the look in the boy's eyes when I was kind to him, treated him like a human. I saw his gratitude and joy. That couldn't be a lie.

I steeled my will. I couldn't falter. I needed to save him.

While I was out I bought him some clothes that would actually fit the kid, but I knew that until the two of us put down roots elsewhere, we were going to be tight on money. Thankfully my finances were in a bank that wasn't being controlled by Nightingale or Damascus.

When I got back, Isaak had removed the chip and told me he put it on the garbage truck when it passed a few minutes prior. The wild goose chase that would lead Nightingale on would hopefully buy us enough time to escape.

Suddenly he got serious.

"Rachel, can I talk to you in private?"

I cocked an eyebrow. What brought this on?

"I'm kind of in a hurry."

"This is really important." I saw an urgency on his face that made me think he wasn't lying.

I looked over at the experiment, who had put on his new clothes and was looking at himself in a mirror. He was grinning ear to ear when he looked over.

"I don't mind."

Me and Isaak went to another room and he closed the door behind us.

"Where the hell did you find that kid?"

"It's none of your business."

"But I've never seen anyone like him before!"

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

His eyes widened. "You don't even know? He's at least half machine. His entire body was full of metal, I couldn't use a metal detector to find the chip. He didn't even bleed when I took it out."

My jaw dropped.

"That boy is some kind of cyborg, some state of the art technology beyond anything I've ever heard of. Who is he? What are you doing with him?"

I sat down on the bed, trying to take it all in.

I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a shock, but from the moment I met him he never seemed like anything but human. Nightingale had created a cyborg that could more or less blend in with humanity. But what were they planning to do with him? And why were they keeping it a secret?

I suddenly felt in over my head. Who did I think I was, trying to insert myself into a situation I knew nothing about? What made me think I really knew better than Nightingale or Damascus?

"Rachel, I don't know what's happening, and I don't know how to help."

I chuckled hollowly.

"I think I'm in that boat, too."

He sat down next to me.

"Well, whatever that kid is, I can tell that he would follow you to the ends of the earth."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Oh, absolutely. Don't you see the way he looks at you?"

"I guess. What about you? What do you think of him?"

He shrugged. "He seems nice. Not really sure what you expect me to say."

Okay...that was actually helpful to hear. If what Mars said was true, Isaak would be drawn to him as well. That quelled some of my worries, at least for the time being.

I stood up again.

"Thank you for your help. But right now he and I need to get as far away from this city as we can."

He grinned. "Godspeed."

I walked back to the room the experiment was in.

"We have to go."

He nodded eagerly, looking so happy.

I remembered how he was not even 24 hours before: timid, submissive, afraid of everything. This was a nice change.

As I drove us out of the city, I looked back one last time. Even though I had no emotional ties to the place, it was still my home for years.

But now we had to move forward.

With my new friend clinging to me, we sped away.

*****

"So, I've been thinking about your name."

The experiment looked up from his food. He and I were at a cheap diner in the middle of nowhere.

"Really? What should our name be?"

"Well, the thing about you is that the only identification you have is your number, so I don't have much to work with. But I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"How does Dei sound?"

He blinked a few times. "Day?"

"No, Dei as in D-E-I."

He tilted his head. "How did you come up with that name?"

"It's your number. D, E, and I are the fourth, fifth, and ninth letters of the alphabet."

He mulled that over and I was starting to regret my choice. Why would I give him a name based on his number? All it did was remind him of what hell he escaped from. I was about to take it back when he spoke.

"I like that name a lot."