She Is Not Human

Chapter 3

These days, Maya was as quiet as she'd been years ago when Max first left her side.

She sat silently in front of a medical device for hours on end.

Grandpa Jock thought Maya was just meditating, but really, she was busy recovering and tinkering with the machines around her.

The tech in this human space felt way too basic to her. Besides figuring out who people were and where they were, these machines didn't have any real smarts of their own.

Even though she used to be one of the top controllers in the mechanical world, managing a huge army of robots wasn't her thing like it was for others; she mostly worked with super-intelligent bots. Living among these low-end machines that couldn't even talk back?

That drove her nuts.

"Ah ah ah!" A scream echoed from the exam room outside, followed by Grandpa Jock clumsily knocking over some tools.

Before long, Grandpa Jock wrapped up his consultations and walked into the inner room looking pretty serious.

He grumbled, "This machine went haywire today! It missed the right spot and jabbed a needle right in the patient's butt!"

Maya glanced up at him without showing much emotion, thinking: Is there an error in simulating behavior circuits?

Suddenly, there were loud bangs as someone started pounding on the door outside, trying to barge in. This broke Maya's train of thought.

Grandpa Jock had just wiped his face when he turned around looking confused.

"I put up a sign saying I'm closed for today." He limped over to check who it was and asked, "Who's out there?"

With a loud crash, someone kicked open the door with force.

The heavy metal door swung down toward Grandpa Jock!

Luckily for him, he stood close enough to dodge it just in time; it barely grazed his arm as it fell with a massive thud that shook everything around them.

"You little b***h! Get out here!"

At the door, there were two groups of people.

One group was helping a guy who looked really weak. His face was pale, he had deep bags under his eyes, and his expression seemed totally off. He was giggling like he was under some kind of spell.

Another doing all the shouting was a woman leading the other group.

She couldn't have been more than twenty, with a curvy figure that her tight black clothes showed off perfectly.

But sadly, her fierce and angry look made her pretty face seem distorted.

Maya took a quick glance at the crowd outside but didn't see anyone worth her time, so she decided to leave.

Just then, the woman who had kicked in the door spotted Maya and stomped her foot while yelling, "Hey! Stop right there!"

"Are you looking for me?" Maya asked calmly; her voice wasn't loud but had an icy edge to it.

When Grandpa Jock recognized who this troublemaker was, his expression turned serious.

How could it be her?

This woman was Barbara—the only daughter of City 9's administrative chief, known as "the bomb" because of her fiery temper and arrogance.

The old man couldn't help but worry about Maya. How on earth did she manage to get into a situation with someone like that?

Barbara's appearance really lifted the mood for those who had been watching from the sidelines.

None of them wanted to take any chances, but this young lady stepped up for them.

For a moment, all eyes were on Barbara.

But she didn't care about anyone staring at her.

She scoffed and looked Maya up and down, her lips twitching slightly. With an air of disdain, she said, "A girl who hasn't even fully grown up is already trying to seduce men? I can only imagine how many guys you'll need in the future to keep you happy. Want me to send some over now to keep you company?"

Honestly, someone like Barbara usually wouldn't stoop so low herself, but today was different.

First off, she was feeling impulsive and hot-headed. Secondly, she was furious—seeing Maya made her want to rip that girl apart! How could she stay calm?

Whether Barbara's tone was nice or sarcastic didn't matter much to Maya.

The only thing that caught her attention was Barbara's offer for some guys.

But then it hit her that Max's research hadn't kicked off yet, and dealing with too many people would be exhausting right now. So yeah, no need for extra guys at this point.

So she replied honestly, "I don't need them right now."

"Don't need them? Not right now?" Barbara pointed angrily at the guy next to her. "Look at him! Do you even know who he is? Why didn't you say you didn't want him back then? You lot playing these dirty games—why did you set your sights on him?"

As Barbara yelled and got closer to Maya, the liquid metal inside Maya started forming into tiny needles, ready to defend herself if things turned aggressive. These little needles packed a punch way beyond what most people could imagine.

But Barbara, considering her status, didn't want to get too close to Maya, who had a notorious reputation in City 9.

She kept her distance and tried to chill out, saying with a snort, "Alright, I've got two options for you. Either I'll have them turn you into an i***t like him, or your brother can treat him for free. If he gets better completely, I'll let it slide."

Grandpa Joe quickly realized that this was an attack on Max's reputation.

He stepped in and said, "Miss Rodriguez, Max will be back in a few days. Why are you looking for him now?"

"I heard he's back," she cut him off. In City 9, who didn't have a few informants? News about Max's return spread fast.

Barbara scoffed and said, "I've heard he's famous but has an even bigger temper. He doesn't care about those who can't pay up. But I don't care about his rules. If you don't treat my fiancé, I'll make your sister pay!"

Maya finally chimed in, "Me pay? Why?"

Barbara pointed at the guy next to her and snapped, "He's like this because of you! Are you really going to deny any responsibility?"

Maya nodded slowly and replied, "Okay, I get it."

"Hmph, you're sharp. Go get your brother," Barbara sneered. She looked down on Maya as if she were beneath her.

But unexpectedly, Maya stared at her seriously and asked, "So just because your fiancé got sick because of me means I should also suffer like he did? Is that what fairness is supposed to mean?"

Barbara frowned slightly.

Maya looked so serious that it didn't seem like she was putting on an act; however, what she said had a different ring to it for Barbara.

For someone who's used to dealing with power plays all the time, every word from anyone needs careful consideration to catch the real meaning behind them.

Calling out fairness when Barbara brought people here just to cause trouble—wasn't that pretty much a jab at her?

Everyone knew Barbara had some serious backing, allowing her to act recklessly outside of places like this clinic; as long as things didn't escalate too much here, it'd be tough for anyone to take Maya's side.

"Don't even start with the whole fairness thing. There's no such thing as fairness in this world. If you don't like it... Hey, what are you doing?" Barbara yelled, startled, when she saw Maya brush past her and head straight for her fiancé.

Barbara had heard about Maya's fiery temper and reckless behavior, so she wasn't about to let her get too close to Leo.

Maya turned around and said coolly, "I just want to check on him."

"No need," Barbara stepped in front of Maya, suspicion written all over her face. "Leo got hit in the head by a mechanical cop while he was running away that night—he had brain swelling from it. Plus, some weird substance got into his brain and caused an infection and lesions. The doctor caught it early on. The swelling is manageable, but that substance? It's really strange; we can't just mess around with it. That's why I'm here!"

Even after hearing all this, Maya didn't stop; she kept walking right up to Leo.

Barbara wanted to block her again, but froze when she caught Maya's icy stare. At that moment, there was no emotion on Maya's face—just calmness and confidence that made Barbara feel small, almost like standing before several mayors or higher-ups.

She hated to admit it—or even believe it—but suddenly felt a chill of fear creeping in.

How could this be happening?

Seeing that Barbara wasn't going to stop her anymore, Maya approached Leo directly.

She didn't say anything else; instead, she stood there staring at the tall bodyguards surrounding him tightly.

The guards exchanged glances—it did seem odd for them to be protecting a defenseless girl like this—and finally started moving aside slowly at Barbara's signal.

Barbara stared at Maya, surprised to learn that this little girl had medical skills.

She was curious about what Maya would do next. Just to be safe, she shot a glance at the bodyguards around Leo, signaling them to keep a close watch on her. Barbara didn't think Maya could pull off any tricks with so many eyes on her.

Among everyone there, Grandpa Joe seemed the most anxious.

He knew exactly what Maya was capable of. If she wanted to study medicine, he and even Max—no matter how busy he got—would teach her everything they knew. Watching Maya press her hand against Leo's head in such an unprofessional way made Grandpa Joe want to look away; he shook his head in disbelief.

There's no way this could actually work!

If it did, all those years of learning would have been for nothing.

What was this girl thinking?

Time ticked by as Maya stayed completely still in that position.

Even the guy standing next to her started shifting his weight and stretching out his muscles, but she remained rock solid without budging an inch.

Suddenly, Leo's blank expression changed dramatically; his eyes rolled back, and blood came pouring out!

Barbara's eyes widened sharply as anger bubbled up inside her. "I shouldn't have trusted you! Everyone attacks her and catches her!"

Realizing things were going south fast, Grandpa Jock rushed over trying to intervene, but before he could reach them, he saw the big bodyguards being thrown aside with cries of pain—they crashed into a steel support beam in the alley hard enough to bend it like it was made of tin.

Only three guys wearing matching black windbreakers were behind the attack.

They moved so quickly that the bodyguards barely had time to react before they were sent flying—it looked like their coats hadn't even fluttered yet!

Barbara noticed the golden patterns stitched onto these men's sleeves and felt a chill run down her spine.

Members of the Radiance Organization?

Was Max really backed by them?