Book 2 of the Five Series
Chapter One
Aaron
Aaron looks up from the embers of the campfire in the backyard of the farmhouse. It feels like it’s been hours since he first fixated on them, but it’s only been a moment. Valerie says his name again, to get him to look across at her. This time with a little bit of concern in her voice. The dull glow of light on her badly bruised face makes it look even worse. The guilt of what happened to her seems to settle more firmly on his shoulders whenever she uses that tone with him. He knows it wasn’t his fault, but that doesn’t help.
“Aaron… I’m going to bed.” She raises her eyebrows at him, then glances at Five and Arma when they turn their faces toward her with blank looks. She tries to not notice, and looks back at him. “Are you coming with me, or are you staying up all night again?”
He knows she isn’t really asking, but that doesn’t sway him. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight sweetheart. I just….” He looks back down at the fire and then over to the others.
He doesn’t want to get into it with her right now, not in front of the others. Telling her that he doesn’t need to sleep anymore isn’t the best way to put it right now. The fact is, he can sleep, but he can’t imagine it happening anytime soon. He doesn’t need to remind her that he’s a robot. She’s already been doing that enough on her own. If he tells her he’ll be in in a little bit, it’d be a lie.
After giving the other two accusing looks, Valerie stomps off, alone. He knows it was a poor move on his part. He probably shouldn’t be shirking such lifelong norms so soon, it’s upsetting her. He decides to go ahead and head on in. He should be with her. She needs him now more than ever, and he probably needs her more than he knows too.
Before slamming the door behind herself, Valerie stops and turns her head to the side a little. She heard something in the dark. He heard it too. It was only a soft crunch, like a foot in the dirt, but that’s the problem. In the darkness, his eyes snap to something passing in front of the old pickup truck parked along the side of the farmhouse. The tiny glint off the glass headlight had blinked. All of them look up at the same time to the faint sound of a low jet coming in hot from the distance, getting loud very quickly.
As soon as he looks to Valerie, a pure black void, like some kind of silhouette snipped out of absurd darkness rushes along the side of the house at Valerie and takes hold of her. She can’t even get out a scream before seemingly being consumed by the thing. As he lunges to save her, multiple more pure black demon shapes come out from everywhere. There are only faint muffled screams from her and the others as they are taken.
Aaron punches and slams himself against whatever the shapes are, not knowing at all what he’s hitting. The things are solid and move like some kind of creatures or something. It’s only when they cuss and yell, that he finds them to be men. His new body is incredibly strong, but whoever these people are, they’re not going down anywhere as easily the rats did at Evan’s place, the night it burned. He can’t see anything but nightmarish black voids now smothering him. They slam him to the ground like bullies would with a smaller child, startling him. Within seconds, they have him bound and a bag over his head. Only one thing comes clearly through his mind. “Valerie!”
“You open your teeth one more time, and I’ll pry em out with a crowbar, you stupid piece of shit.” They make it sound personal.
He thrashes about with everything he has while they drag him through the dirt, but he’s bound tight. Expecting to be thrown into the fire again, like last time, he searches for it, panting with dread. For some reason though, they’re going in the wrong direction. To his sides, he watches the others being dragged along by the nightmarish large blotches of black too.
He has to close his eyes when his face gets blasted by flying dust and grit. The thunderous screech of the jet engines is right over top of them now. Everything not mounted to the ground is getting thrown all over the place by the hurricane around them. There’s a sound of hydraulics and then the sound of something heavy plopping onto the ground.
It sounds like a hundred boots are around him as he’s dragged up the metal ramp into the back of whatever these ninja-style commandos are flying. The only thing he can hear amongst the loud engines is a nearly drowned out voice talking into his com-link.
“You guys got everyone? There should be a woman, a man, and at least three robots.” There’s a pause while the pilot waits for confirmation. “What? Seven people and only one robot! Screw it, if that’s everyone that was here, we’ll sort em later, let’s go.”
Aaron counts everyone, Valerie, Mikel, Clarice, Alexis, Marek, Five, Arma, and himself. That’s all six of them. When he tries to turn over and look for the others, a boot stepping firmly on the side of his face reminds him to stay still. As soon as the rear door of the jet closes all the way, the sound drops enough for him to hear the men speaking more clearly.
“They are not to be damaged Reese, get your shit off im now.”
“That fucking cock broke the shit outta ma face! Look at it! My nose is fucked man!”
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“Pay attention next time! Shit’s gonna get you smoked one of these days.”
As soon as the boot lets up off of him, it feels like gravity has increased double-fold as he’s pressed to the floor. The sound of the engines outside pick up, lifting them straight up off the ground in a hard climb. He never expected the military would come for them like this, but it was only a matter of time before the rumors would end up reaching them. Suddenly he feels something strange when someone kneels at his side, like cool, soft hands on his neck. He tries to jerk away when something is jabbed into his skin.
Aaron suddenly finds himself in that same darkness again, where death has found him and is crushing him like a python. A strange notion washes over him. Like there was never anything before this place, and there won’t be anything after. All he can do is release that all-consuming rage he chains down inside of himself. It’s the only release he has left anymore.
No matter how strong he has become, he never seems to be any match for the phantom monster that has stalked him for so long. He thrashes against it with everything he has, so hard that his body and soul start tearing themselves apart. He can feel it, he won’t be getting out of it this time, it’s finally going to be over.
As abruptly as the darkness came for him, his eyes flick open. Somehow, he is awake, and alive. His eyebrows scrunch with the absurdity of what is going on. It’s impossible, but he’s been here before. Taking in a gasp of air, he cautiously eases off the force he’s exerting against the restraints that are holding him in the scanning station.
The problem is, the station is not where it’s supposed to be, not where it used to be at least. He isn’t at Werker or AMF, and the faces in front of him are those of strangers. A tall blond man in a sharp black suit flips the sides of his jacket open as he puts his hands on his hips. There’s a big automatic handgun in a shoulder holster at his side, double spare mags on the other side, but the man is no officer.
“Holy crap! Is it always THAT bad every time they wake up?”
A faintly familiar voice answers the man. “No, definitely not. That was… worse than usual. For a second there, I thought you guys might’ve broke him or something. We probably shouldn’t shut him down like that again.”
From out of his peripheral vision, a face he didn’t want to see ever again comes into focus. It’s Gabriel. He’s probably the little bastard that sold them all out and shut him down in the jet. A ruckus approaching from another room catches the attention of everyone. Valerie’s voice is clearly recognizable over everyone else’s, and she’s making quite a scene.
“They aren’t robots, you son of a bitch! You just kidnapped all of us in the night, beat the crap out of us, and now you want us to be all cool! I don’t think so!”
About a dozen more people pour into the room, shoved in all around him. As he looks everyone over, he begins to piece things together. He’s in the Werker scanning lab, but somehow, it’s not at Werker anymore. He looks out the window and through the doorway, where the manufacturing plant should be. The lab has literally been rebuilt in what looks like some kind of dimly lit concrete bunker somewhere. There’s an entire team of people in white jumpsuits outside setting up all the old equipment that remade him.
He looks to the man in the suit. He’s who everyone else is looking at too. “Mind telling me what the hell just happened?”
“Heh, now you want to be civil. Alright Aaron, my name is Sy, and this is Space Security Services headquarters.” He spreads his arms aside presenting the dingy place as if it were a grand hall. He drops his hands when all he gets is unimpressed looks. “Well… this used to be our ordinance storage room, but not anymore. You see, I’m the new owner of the Five-Series project.”
Valerie interjects quite passionately. “That’s just great. F-you, and F your friends! That doesn’t mean you own us!”
Sy is visibly getting tired of her loud fussing, but holds his temper back for the sake of first impressions. “No, I suppose I don’t.” He doesn’t sound sincere. “As a matter of fact, Tony, would you mind escorting this woman out, along with the other humans.”
She jerks helplessly against the Tony when he grabs ahold of her. The man is probably the biggest dude he’s ever seen. At an easy six-five and an easy three hundred pounds, the man is all muscle. His shaved head, biker beard, and neck tattoos scream mercenary. Let alone all the little kill pins on his gear. The man’s forearms are so big, he probably has a hard time fitting them in through his plate carrier vest.
Valerie throws her legs out at Sy, trying to kick him. “You can’t keep them either you piece of shit! They aren’t robots, they just have robotic bodies. They’re still people!”
Sy is hardly amused. “Are they really though Valerie?”
Valerie laughs half in incredulity and half in despair, fighting to point a finger at Gabriel. “What did that fat little worm tell you, huh?”
Sy shrugs his shoulders at her and looks over to him, still strapped down in the upright scanning station. There’s a slight, but unsettling smirk settling on his face now. “Fine, go. Call a cab or whatever.” He steps aside while Tony lets go of her.
Valerie stands there, not sure of what to do now. She, as well as everyone else, knows it’s not actually a bluff. He’s serious. Their very lives are in his hands now, willing or not. She nearly collapses down on her haunches in grief and defeat. There’s nothing any of them can do about what’s happening.
Sy almost puts a hand on her shoulder, but reconsiders. Instead, he squats down in front of her. She refuses to look up at him, but he understands. “It was either this or the dumpster Valerie. I heard about you guys well before I bought this project. I know what you’re capable of, and that’s really what I’m after, you see.”
Her eyebrows are smashed down hard enough to completely conceal her eyes. “I’d rather die.”
Sy chuckles. “Oh, c’mon now, this is gonna be fun.”
Valerie finally looks up at him, confused. She shakes her head and looks at everyone else around her. The SSS guards all have their arms folded, looking down at her as if she were a child throwing a tantrum. While Sy makes a gesture of peace, by unbuckling his restraints on the scanning station and telling the guards to release Five and Arma.
Gabriel helps, but gives him a cautious look, imploring him to not go off the rails as soon as he’s free. When Five and Arma shove their way in up front, they help Valerie up off the floor and put themselves between her and Sy’s guards. Slowly, he gets down out of the scanning station and reaches out to Valerie, protectively pulling her against his chest.
“I few stay, we get paid. Don’t think you own us just because we need you. You may think we have nothing without you, but it’s actually you who has nothing without us.” He notices Gabriel is smart enough to keep his mouth shut this time, whether he be on their side or not. He knows how to play the game. “I promise I’ll earn my keep, and the others if I have to.”
The look on Sy’s face has turned devious. “Oh, I don’t doubt you will Aaron. I wouldn’t have you any other way.” He holds his arms out again in agreement. “Welcome to your new home.”