she would never set foot on the compound again. Never see Lucas again. She wondered if they were going to send her on a suicide mission in order to shut down the project. She saw a movie about that once. Or maybe they would just hand her off to new owners. Kaitlyn didn’t know which idea sounded worse.
“We need to upgrade your hardware. I want to add facial expressions to your database that you can filter through to make conversations easier. It will help you react to situations if you know what emotion the person is feeling. You will eventually learn to mimic expressions as well.”
“Fine.” Kaitlyn resigned to accept whatever was coming her way. Of course, he wouldn’t tell her anything.
“Please take a seat.” Lucas nodded towards her seat, the white seat that she had spent far too much time sitting in.
Once she was seated, Lucas hesitated before he stepped forward. “Please turn to the side. This is going to be a large upgrade so you will be unconscious for seven minutes. Give or take a few seconds.”
Her body moved even though her mind told her not to. She hated that mechanics had so much control over her.
Slowly, he pulled the collar of her shirt down, exposing her shoulder blades. She trembled under his touch, or maybe it was his hand that was trembling. It was hard for her to tell the difference. She felt movement, heard the soft click. He gently removed a chip, set it on the counter, and replaced it with another.
Her eyes closed as her body went slack for the update. She had no idea how long she sat slumped in the chair. Eventually, the humming in her head stopped and she sat up straight. She blinked a couple of times. The mess had been cleaned up and Lucas was sitting behind his desk staring directly at her.
“Do you feel any different?” Lucas asked. It was an unusual question coming from him.
She thought about it for a moment, and shook her head. She felt the same.
She still didn’t want to leave.
Chapter Nine
L ucas had seen a spark of emotion in Kaitlyn’s eyes. He knew he had.
He couldn’t get the image out of his mind. She’d genuinely seemed upset to leave the compound. The emotion was so fleeting that for a moment he thought he’d imagined it, but it was there. He knew what he’d seen.
The lab felt colder and more silent since she’d left. Lucas sank back into his chair, his mind going over the encounter from beginning to end.
Could she possibly still have feelings after all they had done to her? It was hard for him to believe. They had overridden the signals in Kaitlyn’s brain that caused any kind of human emotion. She was supposed to look human, but not possess human traits. That was the beauty of the project—or the tragedy, depending on how you looked at it.
He ran his hand through his hair, agitated. This was like his worst nightmare coming true. His justification for going along with the idea was that she wouldn’t understand what they had done. She wouldn’t care. When she awoke from the coma, she was supposed to have no memories of being human. In essence, they’d saved her life. She would have died from her injuries.
At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.
He needed to find out the truth before they sold her off to the government. If she was harboring any kind of human thoughts or emotions, not only would she pose a threat to government security if her own moral compass affected her decision-making, but it would fall back on IFICS.
Before he could change his mind, Lucas tossed off his lab coat and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, jerking it on as he exited the room.
He made his way across the courtyard towards the dormitory Kaitlyn shared with the groundspeople, cooks, and other workers that lived on the compound.
He hesitated as he turned down her hallway. In all the time he had known Kaitlyn, he had never entered her bedroom. There had never been a reason to. But now….
Maybe he should just turn around. It was none of his
“We need to upgrade your hardware. I want to add facial expressions to your database that you can filter through to make conversations easier. It will help you react to situations if you know what emotion the person is feeling. You will eventually learn to mimic expressions as well.”
“Fine.” Kaitlyn resigned to accept whatever was coming her way. Of course, he wouldn’t tell her anything.
“Please take a seat.” Lucas nodded towards her seat, the white seat that she had spent far too much time sitting in.
Once she was seated, Lucas hesitated before he stepped forward. “Please turn to the side. This is going to be a large upgrade so you will be unconscious for seven minutes. Give or take a few seconds.”
Her body moved even though her mind told her not to. She hated that mechanics had so much control over her.
Slowly, he pulled the collar of her shirt down, exposing her shoulder blades. She trembled under his touch, or maybe it was his hand that was trembling. It was hard for her to tell the difference. She felt movement, heard the soft click. He gently removed a chip, set it on the counter, and replaced it with another.
Her eyes closed as her body went slack for the update. She had no idea how long she sat slumped in the chair. Eventually, the humming in her head stopped and she sat up straight. She blinked a couple of times. The mess had been cleaned up and Lucas was sitting behind his desk staring directly at her.
“Do you feel any different?” Lucas asked. It was an unusual question coming from him.
She thought about it for a moment, and shook her head. She felt the same.
She still didn’t want to leave.
Chapter Nine
L ucas had seen a spark of emotion in Kaitlyn’s eyes. He knew he had.
He couldn’t get the image out of his mind. She’d genuinely seemed upset to leave the compound. The emotion was so fleeting that for a moment he thought he’d imagined it, but it was there. He knew what he’d seen.
The lab felt colder and more silent since she’d left. Lucas sank back into his chair, his mind going over the encounter from beginning to end.
Could she possibly still have feelings after all they had done to her? It was hard for him to believe. They had overridden the signals in Kaitlyn’s brain that caused any kind of human emotion. She was supposed to look human, but not possess human traits. That was the beauty of the project—or the tragedy, depending on how you looked at it.
He ran his hand through his hair, agitated. This was like his worst nightmare coming true. His justification for going along with the idea was that she wouldn’t understand what they had done. She wouldn’t care. When she awoke from the coma, she was supposed to have no memories of being human. In essence, they’d saved her life. She would have died from her injuries.
At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.
He needed to find out the truth before they sold her off to the government. If she was harboring any kind of human thoughts or emotions, not only would she pose a threat to government security if her own moral compass affected her decision-making, but it would fall back on IFICS.
Before he could change his mind, Lucas tossed off his lab coat and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, jerking it on as he exited the room.
He made his way across the courtyard towards the dormitory Kaitlyn shared with the groundspeople, cooks, and other workers that lived on the compound.
He hesitated as he turned down her hallway. In all the time he had known Kaitlyn, he had never entered her bedroom. There had never been a reason to. But now….
Maybe he should just turn around. It was none of his
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