Robots of Avery Five.

Chapter 6

Alex paced around the hallway, rubbing his face and hair. It was the moment he learned his life had changed forever. He wasn’t thinking of making his problem evaporate, but of a way to vanish himself from it. 

“I’m sorry.” Sadie cried. 

“I thought it would be an easy explanation to the Human Federation. I’d tell them your infertility was malpractice and now that you’re pregnant, I’d assume responsibility over you and the child. But I can’t explain this to them. My father’s gonna chop my head off.” Alex held his temples with a horrified stare. “A clone? I would smear the Singapore family name.” 

He was to blame, yes, but Sadie was also guilty. 

Maybe. 

“And how could a respectable woman like Ms. Stone let someone like you work for her?” he said. 

The girl lowered her head in shame. 

“That should be the least of your worries,” said Cam. “The law states clones are not citizens of the Human Federation. Human citizens can’t have love relationships with clones. They are ex-convicts and infertile by nature.”

“Who made you lord of the obvious—?” Alex grunted at Cam. Then he stood still as if his mind had left his body. 

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not having this baby.” Sadie rubbed her tears and stumbled upward. 

“Hold on. If you’re a clone, how can you be pregnant?” The Earthian had never been more confused. 

“You don’t need to be concerned with any of that, Mr. Singapore. Your reputation will stay intact. After you pay for my abortion, you won’t ever have to see me again.” Sadie adjusted her shoes and lifted her chin. “I don’t ever want to see you again.”

A fire scorched over the man’s body, boiling his insides. His heart struggled to stay in place, fighting to escape through his mouth. His tongue was heavy from the weight of a million words, and his nostrils refused to take any more oxygen.

“Over my cloned body.” He yanked Sadie’s arm, and raised his index finger toward Cam. “Don’t intervene unless you want me to shut you off myself.”

“You will understand I can not allow you to do that, Alexander.” Cam stepped in front of them.

“Do you want her to die?”said Alex. 

Cam’s ears raised as his gaze bounced from his master to the angry human male. 

“Then get out my way.” The Earthian got tired of waiting for a response. When Cam moved aside, Alex dragged Sadie outside into the field where they had left the aircraft. The robot followed them with a curious semblance. 

----------------------------------

Cam held the triangular shaped steering wheel as they flew low through an old paved road. “Alexander, I should inform you that we are approaching the Aver city limits.”

“I know.” Alex placed two fingers under Sadie’s jaw, checking for her pulse in the back seat.

“There are no hospitals outside the city, except a planet full of sea and vegetation. For security reasons, all camping sites are north of Avery Five. We are heading west.” The robot insisted although he made no attempts at changing course. 

“I saw on my arm comm, there are remnants of an abandoned building not too far from here. I want you to take us there,” said Alex. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

As the road made a steep turn and the foliage became more dense, they saw, indeed, an old café. Cam rotated the triangle and the tapered front side of the vehicle rotated down. The much thinner rear side folded in half and two landing skids replaced it. The top of the middle area slid open, exposing the passengers to the outside.

When they landed, Alexander carried Sadie bridal style and walked up a set of stairs. He didn’t know what he was going to find on the other side of the large double doors, or if he could open them. He watched curved leaves from the purple trees glide through a broken glass window. 

As Sadie’s body rejected the Met pills, he didn’t have many options to save her. His other choice would have been to wait for the zRNA pill to be ready, but his baby didn’t have that much time.

Cam waved his hand at the door but nothing happened. “Command open,” he said. “Unlock?” He pushed the handle but the foggy glass panel didn’t open.

“Try pulling it,” said Alex. 

The robot did as he said, and the lock easily detached. As they stepped into the nameless café, Cam knocked over a wooden stool that startled Sadie awake. In front of them, there was an empty bar with five broken cups. The checkerboard floor might have been bright in its glory days, but now the dirt added to its monotone shade. A luminous fork and spoon sign was the only thing that remained intact. 

“Where have you brought us?” Sadie kept her head on his chest and her arms on her stomach.

“Kimiora?” Alex called, placing Sadie on a plastic chair. He went behind the bar, scavenging for any clue that gave away the strange woman’s location.

From a corner of the café, a smaller door shrieked, then opened all the way.

“You changed your mind.” Kimiora stepped under the glowing fork and spoon sign. She didn’t take any more steps, noticing the man and woman accompanying Alex.

“I didn’t change my mind. I’m here because I need you to help her.” Alex pointed at Sadie.

“Me? What’s wrong with her? I’m a historian, not a doctor.” Kimiora frowned. 

“She has become resistant to the Met pill. She’s starving.” Alex walked closer to her. 

“That’s a thing?” Kimiora watched Sadie as if she were a rare sight.

“No. No one’s ever been resistant to the Met pill.”

“Wait here,” Kimiora went inside a little room, and walked out with a bowl in her hands. The container had a cloth for a lid. “I’m going to help her because I don’t like letting people die, but I want you to remember this moment.”

“And I will be very grateful, and think about your previous request,” replied Alexander.

“Good.” She nodded and kneeled down in front of Sadie. “Hello, I’m Kimiora. This will make you feel better.”

She removed the cloth from the bowl. Sadie, Alex, and Cam looked at its content, trying to guess what it was.

“What is that?” asked Sadie.

“We call it white sand. It comes from a plant that is native to Earth, but we can grow it here.” Kimiora placed the bowl on Sadie’s thighs. 

The container had thousands of long white grains that reminded Alex of the clouds.

“What do I do with it?” Sadie heaved the mysterious grain. 

“You pick up the sand and eat it like a Met pill.” The rebel gathered a group in her hand and put it inside her mouth. 

Every muscle on Sadie’s face tensed up. She crossed her arms, rubbing her sudden chills. “I can’t. I shouldn’t. It looks like millions of larvae. This is wrong.” 

“I know you think it might kill you, but it won’t,” said Kimiora. “I promise you’ll feel more alive than you’ve ever been.”

“No, I can’t do it.” Sadie returned the bowl. 

“It’s only temporary,” Alex assured the nervous girl. “The lab we were in; I have business partners there. We’re developing a new pill.”

“So you’re still going to work for them?” Kimiora went into an upright position. 

“Hey, they work for me.” Alex pointed at his chest. “I refuse to destroy a quadrillion bitcoin business because some people like getting cancer and dying young.” 

“Look at your friend, or your girlfriend, whoever she is.” Kimiora was as close as a breath to his face. 

“She’s a rare case and the new product is going to fix the issue.”

“No, this will fix the issue.” She lifted the bowl and placed it back on Sadie’s lap. 

“Okay, whatever. I came here to get her enough of this...white sand to last her a few days.”

“This will make your life a hundred times better.” Kimiora turned back to Sadie. “I promise when you eat it, you won’t want to stop.” 

-------------------------------

The starving girl glanced at the food. Her fingers trembled until she touched them. The grains were a bit sticky. Although they were soft, they managed to keep their shape as she picked up a bunch.

“Is this enough?” she asked.

“It’s not like a Met pill,” said Kimiora. “You’ll have to eat a lot more than that to be satiated.”

“How will I know when I’m done?”

“Your body will tell you. Listen to it.”

It was a strange concept, but the savory smell of the white sand reached her nostrils and her mouth began to water. Her whole body felt urged to eat it.

“Don’t stare at me, please. Look away.” Sadie expected an embarrassing scenario, putting a clump of white sand into her mouth.

Kimiora left for a minute, then brought her own bowl of food, grabbed another plastic chair, and sat in front of Sadie. She picked up a handful of sticky grains, put them into her mouth, and chewed them. 

“It’s not space mining, you know. Eat it.”

The clone girl shut her eyes, and let her tongue receive the contents. As each grain made contact with her palate, her taste buds activated for the first time. Everything around her became so insignificant she forgot about her problems.

With each bite, her body begged for more. Her hands dug into the food, filling her soul. She pushed her silver strands away from her shoulders, leaving grains all over her face. A few crumbs fell on her blouse.

“The white sand turns humans into animals.” Alexander took a step away from Sadie.

“I told you not to look,” she replied with a mouthful. 

Cam did what robots do when they don’t have an opinion: keep an expressionless semblance. 

Kimiora cackled at Alexander and threw a bunch of grains at her own face. She opened and closed her jaw, making sure he saw her teeth smashing the forming paste.

“Yuck,” he said.

“Want some?” she mumbled. 

“No.” He looked down, not wanting to give in to the temptation.

“It’s so good. It’s like I’m eating the clouds.” Sadie smiled. 

At the same time, glass exploded and three men barged inside the café, holding long knives and spears. The white sand scattered on the black and white tiles as everyone took cover under the old wooden tables. Alexander crawled toward Sadie and shielded her with his body.

“Don.” Kimiora jumped, waving her palms at three thugs.

“I paid you to kill the bastard, not feed him.” A muscular man with long black hair swung the back of his hand across her face. Kimiora flew across and hit her forehead against the edge of the bar.

Cam analyzed Kimiora’s reaction and understood her fear, but he was not drawn to help her. He scanned Sadie, who was also scared and confused. She was not in danger just yet. 

“Kill them all and make sure their comms are off. The Human Federation needs to know we aren’t playing,” said Don. 

“Wait. I made a deal with him.” Kimiora raised one arm while holding her bloody forehead. “He will speak for us.”

“And make sure she dies first.” Don pointed at her, dismissing her. 

One of the men snatched her hair and dragged her toward the café’s entrance. 

“Hey, hey, hey, she’s telling the truth.” Alexander brought his palms up to his shoulders and stood cautiously on his feet. “You and I,” he moved his hands between him and Don, ”we believe the same thing, man. The Human Federation is using the Met pill to control society. They made us dependent on that crap and made us forget how to live on our own. We can work together, but you can’t kill her.”

The gangsters scowled at each other and the executioner nodded at his leader. Don stared at the young Earthian with seething anger, then waved his index and middle fingers at his men. His associate jostled the woman against Alex.

Don raised his knife and pointed it at them.

“You both sit down.”

“What do we do about them?” asked the man behind him while pointing at Sadie and Cam still on the floor.

“We don’t need them.”

The executioner nodded again and raised his spear in the air.

Alexander leaped over a plastic chair before Sadie had the chance to gasp. He forced the tip of the spear to the right and rammed the man against the wall. The other gangster locked Alex’s neck with his forearm, making Sadie scream. Without a thought, she lifted one of the plastic chairs and hit the aggressor on the head.

The annoyed Don jerked the chair away from her and dug his fingers into Sadie’s neck. 

In a second, Cam measured Sadie’s temperature, heartbeat rate, and her chances of dying. The high numbers allowed the robot to reach a different side of his programming. He squeezed Don’s shoulder and banged his head against his knee.

Alexander pushed the man behind him and buttheaded the one in front of him. Kimiora jumped on one of them and punched the side of his head. All men freed themselves however.

“Sadie, run back to the air craft,” said Alexander.

The pregnant woman darted outside. 

Cam punched one of the men in the face and followed his master.

“You’re supposed to help us,” Kimiora yelled at the robot.

“He’s not human.” Alexander grabbed her hand and dragged her outside before the killers recovered.

As they ran toward the spacecraft, Alexander noticed Sadie and Cam were getting off of it.

“Start the damn engine,” he shouted.

Sadie took a moment to catch her breath. “We can’t. They did something to it. It’s not starting.”

“Moonlanding!” When Alexander spoke again, a spear cut through his jacket and buried itself into the ground in front of him.

He held onto his blood-gushing elbow while both girls screeched in terror. The humans, the clone, and the robot darted into the forest.