Chapter 1
639 Words
Victor Langford was the husband of Helena Langford, Evelyn's twin sister.
Three years ago, Helena had died in a car accident despite every effort to save her. Evelyn Whitmore had been devastated, and she swore she would take care of her sister's family in her place.
At the time, I had been moved by the kindness of this young woman. Looking back now, maybe I had been a fool from the very beginning.
*****
They marched me into a gray building and forced me into a cold interrogation chair.
The door opened. A man in a gray suit stepped in, his hair combed without a strand out of place, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
I knew him too well. It was Victor, one of the researchers on the Bionic Android Project and a man who answered to me.
He pulled up the chair across from mine, sat down, and crossed his legs with easy confidence.
"Alan, do you like it here? I know you can't accept this, but it's already done. You'd be wise to cooperate with the NSB and try for leniency." His tone hardened, making it plain that my treason was a settled matter and that I had better confess if I knew what was good for me.
I ignored him. All I wanted to know was where Evelyn was.
"At home, of course, looking after Lily. You know how it is. My daughter has been without a mother since she was small. It's a sad thing."
"So the two of you planned this together. She stole my research data and handed it to you." A bitter ache twisted through my chest.
"No. The core technology was never yours alone. I understand how to play the game better than you do. It belongs in my hands now."
He stood and walked over to me, looking down at me. "And one more thing. Evelyn says she has no regrets."
"Well, I should be going. You stay here and reflect on your crimes. The sooner you confess, the less you'll have to suffer."
The door of the interrogation room slammed shut, and I was left alone.
*****
I had to use this moment to reach Evelyn and find out exactly what was going on. After what had happened to Helena, I had implanted subdermal communicators in both of us so we could always reach each other. This was the first time in three years I had ever activated mine, and of all moments, it had to be this one. My palms were damp with sweat.
The signal connected.
"Hello? Evelyn? Can you hear me?"
There was only a faint sound from the other end. I strained to make it out, and then I realized she was crying.
"Evelyn, don't cry. I'm here." I tried to soothe her the way I always had.
"Sister, I did it. Did you see?" she whispered. "I promised you I would take care of Victor. Look, I gave him the core algorithm of the Mark VII. He's going to surpass Alan. He's going to become the greatest researcher in the history of synthetic robotics. Sister, are you happy?"
My fist clenched without my willing it. So she really had engineered all of this herself, only to clear a path for Victor. Even knowing that branding me a traitor would destroy me beyond saving, she had still wrapped a blade in love and driven it through my chest.
Evelyn, you are too cruel.
She was still murmuring to herself. "Alan will hate me, won't he? But he loves me more than his own life. He'll forgive me. He's only making a small sacrifice. When this is all over, I'll make it up to him."
The signal cut out. I sat frozen in the interrogation chair, hollowed out from the inside.
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